Video Game Binge

Oh, hi there... I didn't notice you. In fact, I forgot what day of the week it is. I've been on a video game binge lately. It was The Other Half's birthday on Friday and part of his present was video games all weekend until one of us passed out. We played Divinity, Star Wars, Rocket League-- wait, what's that? You've never heard of Rocket League? Well if you ever wanted to play futuristic soccer with turbo boosted cars in low gravity, this is your game:

It sounds silly, but it's stupid-fun and difficult to master. There was also some Divinity: Original Sin...

...and last, but not least, Star Wars: The Old Republic. I played 10 hours of SWTOR on Saturday and don't regret a minute of it. I love my character "Mynx Mocha". SWTOR just released the Togruta race and I was all over it. We leveled up to 23, hit the dance club, and disarmed a bomb-- our dog was very impressed. (We took another break for a walk right afterwards).

Other than that I've been pretty busy with work, remembering to eat, and making an effort to go out with friends and maintain a healthy, goofy social life (I'm the chile pepper on top there). 

I have to say, life's pretty good right now. I'm appreciating happiness where I can and rolling with the punches. I feel like I'm finally pulling out of the crushing sadness that's plagued me for the past few months. I'm painting again and I just bought a few tools that I've needed to replace after losing some in the move/flood-- new needle files, a range of sand paper, brass rods for pinning (so I don't use staples), and some wire clippers. 

After playing all this Star Wars, I had the idea of white pants stuck in my head-- I also needed to test out white-to-light beige color combination before I painted it on Miss Carla McCarthy. I assembled this Infinity miniature and ran a few tests of white options. I also remembered how stupid it is to try and paint white over black primer (trust me, it takes too many layers!). I'm looking forward to trying out some of my new purchases. In the meantime, I better save enough time tonight for painting-- I'm long overdue!

ReaperCon 2016 Dates

Latest news: ReaperCon dates have changed!

Rather than late-April/early-May, the convention will be in late-October. While there's been a bit of an uproar with the initial "I have to wait 6 more months?!" (which I admit was my first reaction), I'm interested to learn the additional reasoning behind it. I can only assume some things at this point (which can be ill-advised), and I'm sure it has something to do with event pricing, available site dates, expanding space, and possibly the Hilton Garden Inn and other guests being overwhelmed with our late-night shenanigans :) In any case, the Bones III Kickstarter will demand much of the Reaper team's time in the coming year. To help myself sort through my feelings about this change, I decided to write a list of my own personal pros & cons about my favorite annual convention: 

Pros

  • Bigger space: more inclusive & room to expand for amount of guests & events (i.e. classes won't need to be held in hotel guest rooms due to lack of space)
  • Open-concept gives more versatility for events, vendor expo space, etc. 
  • Hotel won't be far from the convention site (~3 miles)
  • No need to choose between ReaperCon & AdeptiCon in 2016 
  • More time to paint!!! That's rarely a bad thing (unless you're a procrastinator like we can all be)

Cons 

  • Not held at the hotel: Less convenient, especially for those without cars & con-goers who carry lots of supplies around during the day (me). I'll have to make sure & pack light!
  • Open-concept: potential for high noise level & without lobby/hotel rooms to escape to (ouch)
  • Dates aren't in the "slow months" at work. Requesting vacation during Oct may prove challenging 
  • Con is now over a year away and that means longer to wait :(
  • It's change. As a "Type A" person, I struggle with change. I was looking forward to the convenience of the hotel

While there's no such thing as "the pros outweigh the cons" (since each idea holds different weight to each person), the fact is I have not seen this venue. It may just be one big concrete room with no sound barriers or it may be one open room with smaller, quieter rooms off to the side where they'll hold additional classes or events. I'm sure there are additional reasons for the new dates, and it's silly to try and predict what may/may not happen as a result of this change. Honestly, I know what I'm upset about and that's change and the unknown. I at least knew what to expect with the convention held at the Hilton Garden Inn and now I have no idea. However, Reaper has over a year to make it work and I'm sure they have some creative solutions for some of the "Cons" I've listed above. Either way, I'm looking forward to ReaperCon 2016 and I know without a doubt: it'll be worth it! 

Painting Power Hour

I have the painting bug! Don't worry, it's nothing dangerous but it is contagious. The last few days, I've been wanting nothing more than to paint when I get home from work. Like most of us, my time is limited and it's hard to justify "me" time, especially when there are so many other things to get done (getting the oil in my car changed, acquiring food and cooking for Other Half, cleaning up the house, and even simple things like bathing, etc). Joking aside, it's hard to find time to paint, especially when it's 11pm and I think, "I could paint for an hour or I could get one more hour of sleep before the busy workday tomorrow". I won't lie, sleep usually wins.

When I worked on Carla McCarthy, I conquered one of my personal demons in this hobby: pinning. I dislike the pinning and gluing process so much since it stresses me out-- there are just too many ways to ruin a miniature before you even start painting. However, I don't have the luxury of sticking Carla miniature on the Shelf of Shame. She's just too awesome and I can't disappoint Ludo! Now that she's been assembled, it's time for gap-filling. However, I needed some time to research and practice some 50/50 Water/Milliput "painting" technique that I found on Massive Voodoo's blog. 

I also took some time to paint on my first Kingdom Death pinup and assembled my second Infinity miniature. Since Carla will be the focus of my time this weekend, I wanted to use the momentum I have to assemble things and paint some NMM (which is rare for me!). I'm just gearing up and making the "Power Hour" a habit on most workdays. 

Assembling the Infinity Miniature

Our Zerat Sniper is primed and ready! While her primer dried, I decided to work on my Kingdom Death "Twilight Knight" and researched how segmented armor would reflect light off the different sections, which I learned are called "lames". 

“A common construction technique utilized “lames” or strips of metal which overlapped, somewhat like the shingles on a roof. These laminations were often used in the collar, shoulder, and abdominal areas to facilitate movement.”
— www.medievallifestyle.com
“A lame is a solid piece of sheet metal used as a component of a larger section of plate armor. Multiple lames are riveted together or connected by leather straps or cloth lacing to form an articulated piece of armor that provides flexible protection.”
— The Watanabe Art Museum Samurai Armour Collection Volume I

I decided I wanted the highest reflection to be on the front of her legs and forearm, so I attempted to blend my darkest color into my lightest "Leather White" color. I used pure white as the highlight on the knee armor (which I painted as jewels) and I'll use it as the final touch on the edges of the armor as soon as I'm done. I was able to paint the front of one of her greaves as well as her forearm armor. I also temporarily attached her head and cape since I was getting tired of photographing a headless miniature. Ha! I still have a long ways to go, but as soon as I finish her metal armor, I can paint the underside of her cape and attach it permanently to her body. Well, Painting Power Hour is up! So far so good-- plenty to do tomorrow :) Have a great night!

Kingdom Death Pinup WIP