Grayfax WIP

[Grayfax]

Hello world!

Isn't that how all of these things are supposed to start? At least it seems that way, but then I have been working in IT for too long. Which is a pretty darn good reason to find something fun to do instead of staring at a computer (or tv) screen when I get home in the evenings. I have wanted to take up the hobby for a long time, but was intimidated by how much there was to learn (though, the info junkie in me also likes that), how good so many of you people really are, and how far I have to go to get that good.

My father always said, "You can do anything!" and I believed him. Still do, actually, even though I'll never see the green slopes of The Hill again. He just never taught me how to focus and stick to anything long enough to see if I wanted to do it. In spite of his business / education sense, he is a kind of dreamer and was always talking about ideas. My mother was the artist and she hopped from project to project... and still does. To some degree I have done that. But I aim to misbehave... and in watching how miniatures are painted and the WIP blogs I have followed on and off for a few years, I figure if other people can do this, then so can I! I don't mean I'm looking at holding a Slayer sword, I just mean that I can get proficient in techniques and find out how far I want to take this hobby. As most art type things are, I can lose a lot of time in them once I get going, so, in a way I'm looking forward to that as well.

Obviously, a few years ago, I picked up the Warhammer Island of Blood because I thought painting Skaven would get me in better practice for the High Elves. I then found out about Zombicide and had a double thought. My wife loves zombies... and there are a ton of zombies to paint... thus helping both of us. I painted some, read some, watched some videos and took a wrong turn into X-Wing (at least they don't need paint). Getting two kittens did not help in the prospect of painting.

I was coming back into the painting phase as I really want to finish up her Zombies and realized that I was spending too much time on Vassal and not actually playing with my X-Wing miniatures much anyway. I came back to the CMON forums and picked up on the threads I had read long ago and saw how some had improved while I was away and rededicated myself.

Then I had an epiphany which led to a revelation. Reading that AndyG painted toy soldier in the loo... I saw a sudden potential which led to action:

I actually had a great spot to paint in the spare bathroom... and there was a door between me and the commode.
Obviously I got busy pretty quick and had everything in there, realigned the shelves, put in the paints and the minis I need to work on first.

And then the revelation came. Of course my wife would not be happy with this setup. I am about as far away from her in the house as I can be. We are opposites on many levels... she loves social interaction and I crave solitude. This would fit my needs just fine, but I'll never get to paint there because she will find excuses or honey-dos to keep me near her.

Okay... well, not what I had intended to find out about our relationship, but it fits with what I have struggled with for a long time. We talked about it. We agreed to do some Painting Fridays a couple of weeks a month and see if I can get her interested in the hobby too, and also settle on my painting area being in the Den, where I had previously setup for games. I might get to paint here for a bit while I am working all of that out.


.... Update ....

Now that I knew the problem, I set to work on a temporary solution until I can find real furniture to do what I need.
Reconfigured the den with a portable table next to my computer desk:

And I have the bonus of having the backyard to look at so that I can keep my eyes fresher longer:

 

[Grayfax]

Semi-productive night. As I had the setup, might as well get the paints and throw some on some miniatures, right?
Mostly, I want to include these as it is where I started, but never finished. Originally, I wanted to add weights to my Zombicide figures and had glued quarters and washers to the bottoms of the miniatures. The only problem was, the weight stuck out past the base. No problem, I'll buy some greenstuff and just add to the base, right? I bought it, but then started reading more about it and decided that was going to be very problematic. And there they sat for a time, forgotten by the world... and by me...

Recently I decided it was time to progress and so I threw all of the based zombies into the freezer in a ziploc bag. Cool. Glad that trick worked.
And tonight I began painting the bases. These three had already had the strong tone wash applied to them and really just need the base finished so I can dullcote them and put them in the box to play. Lots of things I have learned since applying paint to these, but no reason to destroy the first ones I had done, because, honestly, they are still zombies and I can look back at where I was if I ever get to where I want to be:

We can ignore moldlines, paint thickness and lack of highlighting details. That will come now that I understand it more. I will paint the rest of these two spare boxes and then get into the game boxes. I might show some group shots, but most of you have seen plenty that are better, I just want the record. Once I'm done with Zombies, I'll move on to Black Plague zombies and then I'll go back and start on the Heroes. I'll show progress on those, as I aim to have improved significantly by then. I also will do some WIP posts as my wife and I decide what we are going to do for our Friday Night Painting sessions which will help me to get away from zombies a bit every now and then.

 

[SaintToad]

If those are your first figures, they look really nice! Your game will look amazing if you paint up the whole bunch like that.
It sounds like you are wrestling with all sorts of motivational/organizational/whatever issues. I'm familiar with those. Actually, one reason I decided, like you, to jump into painting (a skill I'd always admired in others) with both feet was a desire to exercise some control over my self-defeating/perfectionist/fearful tendencies. If you want to do it, do it; if you want to improve, don't make excuses! There's a lot more to be said (not that that's so insightful anyway), but the internal component is not that complicated if you don't let it become so. Best of luck to you, I hope I see more of your work on here!

 

[KruleBear]

Those zombies look great for first minis and as Toad said will look awesome massed together on the game board. Definately tabletop plus quality. Don't worry about mold lines. I plan to ignore them when I get to my zombicide minis.

I am impressed you can even get your wife to try to paint. My best hope is to get my 3 year olds fine motor skills developed. My game room is a finished bedroom in the basement...but my social butterfly wife has been suggesting that it becomes a bedroom again..I guess I may be moving into a broom closet.

 

[Grayfax]

Thanks guys! As for procrastination due to perfectionism... it is a thing I have had to learn to live with. Keeping sight of small goals is very important or things become too big. Last night was easy. I checked off the 'acceptable workstation' and did not look at all the minis, just the three that needed bases painted. Bam! (Now I just have to remember that and set a pace I want to maintain without it being work).

My wife likes to color to relax herself. Someday she wants to paint canvas. I sold her on the idea that this is just 3D coloring... she will at least try it and no harm done if she doesn't like it...

Ok, I meant to add this but forgot at the time (and no reason for another post). If anyone else is having trouble with photos attaching the photo you are sharing from a photo sharing site, use the '

' tags. Going through the options in imgur.com, using the BB Code option works, and choosing the thumbnail size makes a difference. In the ones above, the big fella is the Large Thumbnail and the two walkers are Medium Thumbnails for sizing comparison.

 

[Grayfax]

Got home at lunch today to a total Catastrophe... and I'm not sure if it was Rey or Berkley that did it. I know it wasn't the dog.
The box that I had the three nearly finished models in was on the floor. The white ceramic tile from on top of it was wedged in between the slats (no idea how they did that). All of the (empty) coffee mugs and weighty objects I had around the box were all still in place.

No figures in sight...

Spent half of lunch crawling around on the floor. Finally found the Fatty figure and put him on a high shelf they have not managed to reach yet... yet... (learning not to trust these cat-oudinis)!
No sign of the other two. Glad I got a picture of them last night... it may be their memorial photos...

At least it wasn't the abomination or any of the heroes. Need to rethink my mini storage solution as it may be more vulnerable than I thought. And a good place for them to dry when I have to put them up out of sight and mind.

----- Friday Night Paints Update -----
My wife finally decided on her initial choice of miniatures for our Friday Night Paints sessions: Malifaux - Kirai (Vengeful Spirits). I guess that makes me the Lost Love (gulp), but hey... at least she decided which miniature manufacturer she wanted and the faction. To be honest, I may have forced her hand a little as I know how much she loves zombies and sent her the Resurrectionist T-Shirt link (rez-tee... reduce, reuse, recycle... with zombie arms instead of arrows).

Now that I know which one to work on, I'll be getting the Temple of Dawn set with Shenlong and his monks. I really like the low-river monks better than the high-river monks. At some point I want to move on to the Lone Swordsman, Izamu the Armor, the Katanaka Snipers, the Ten Thunders Archers and the Dawn Serpent... maybe even Yamaziko for the long swaths of cloth. I was tempted to look at buying all of it at once, but realistically, I need to curb that habit. I'll be good and buy the Temple of Dawn set and invest in better brushes and some different paints / shades / washes. Once I finish all of the first figures, I'll be able to buy the next one. Its not like I won't still be painting zombies like a madman as often as I can get to.

 

[Grayfax]

Weekend is looking GREAT! Was discussing all of the paint options with my wife last night and she said, "Why don't you use my PayPal and get the big set?" Or something like that... pretty much in a state of shock as I logged on and put it in the cart and watched her buy the 72 VMC suitcase set! WooHoo!
Meanwhile, the cats finally drug out both of the missing minis and (thanks to the hard shell of the QuickTone) seem no worse for wear! Will get to do a final coat on the base and then can dullcote this weekend. Last night was also kind of peaceful as we put on the SDCC and I cleaned about half a box of zombies. Some of those guys are just going to have to have lines (both raised and sunken), but I figure if I can get better on them, I can do pretty good on some quality casting! Hope to have photos before the weekend is over!

 

[KruleBear]

Congrats on the paint haul and recovered minis.

 

[BloodASmedium]

You do some very nice work gray fax!!! And imho I thought my girl was THE most supportive women in the world of miniature painters and their spouses.however getting your main squeeze to try painting tells me she's a keeper.

 

[Grayfax]

BAM, she's been a keeper since before our 20 years of marriage began!
And something showed up in the mail today!
View attachment 50962
I won't get to use it any until my Malifaux models come in. They will be ordered Monday, unless the Wyrd site is still down for GenCon maintenance.
Still, all in all, very happy with today.
I did paint some more zombies, but no reason to show you those guys until I have a full box of 24 done and ready to trade out with another set.

 

[Sicks]

Its so pretty, I want one but I already get complaints that my paints take over my work station