SMC'17 experiences and... LOOT!

Hello fellow painters, builders, and other hobbyists,

In this article, I wanted to share my experiences at the Scale Model Challenge 2017. I could only attend one day so I didn't enter into the competition. I arrived around 10AM when the convention just opened its doors, but it was already very crowded with people! There were 138 exhibitors divided over 122 stands and 575 people from 40 different countries participating in the contest with 1987 entries!

I quickly entered the contest area to get a peek of what people had entered but there were already so many people there that I only managed to get a couple of photos. (you can see them in my experimental slideshow, frames 2 and 29 are my favorite!)

It was a lot of fun to meet some of my old friends and to create new ones. I also met up with some people that I know from facebook but who I have never had the pleasure to meet in person.

At the stand of Mr. Lee's mini's, where I spent a lot of my time, I found my friends Dennis, Kyle, and Kris. I also met Fancagne, Drew, and Norm. I recently won a model from Kaha miniatures, Fancagne's model company that I could pick up at their stand. This is where I picked up my first piece of SMC loot... the Megaprimatipus Kong!

Kong! Based on the recent movie.

My friend Dennis from Savageforged Mini's also had a 75mm model that I wanted! C-48 Roy is a post-apoc styled android or cyborg. I love cyberpunk almost as much as I love orcs, so this was a must-have for me!

Also at this stand, there was a demo area where renowned painters like Roman Lappat, Roman Gruba and Drew Palies demonstrated their painting techniques and skills. I attended to Roman's demonstration on how to paint eyes and skin on a 1/10 ogre bust. For me, it was very interesting to see his method of painting. I will be using what I've seen on future projects for sure!

Me watching Roman explain how to paint eyes

My friend Kris from Broken Toad also had a lot of goodness for sale. Next to his awesome brushes he also brought his busts to the scale model challenge. I've had his "Rage" bust on my radar for a while, but only now learned that it represents a character from the world of Guildball.

"Rage" by Broken Toad, a Guildball character

Finally, I brought some of my busts to find them a good plinth. I've heard many people speaking very positively about Dino Pivato's plinths. Now I must say that I do find them a little pricey at between €15 and €20 per plinth, but they do look very nice and Dino does try his best to find the perfect match for your project.

That pretty much sums up my day with all my experiences at the Scale Model Challenge. I hope you enjoyed reading this little article.

QUESTION:
What do you think about the slideshows? Do you like them? Do you have any suggestions on how to improve them? Please leave your answers in the comments!

Thank you for reading and I will see you next time!

Scale Model Challenge 2017

Hi guys and girls!

I will be visiting the Scale Model Challenge 2017 this Sunday, October 22nd, 2017! I'm hoping to meet up with friends, make new ones, and to bring back some loot, so stay tuned!

I hope to see you there! 

Broken - by Trovarion

Hello, dear paint-sprayers and brush-lickers,

In this article, I want to show you guys and girls a beautiful little bust by Trovarion. Christoph Eichhorn, the person behind Trovarion, is a painter and sculptor. He has made many figures and bust that can be often seen on Putty&Paint, Facebook or at conventions and competitions.

The bust I got is a very cute, small bust of a damaged android. I haven't measured it but I'd say it's about 5cm high. The droid's right jaw and cheek (the viewers left) is damaged due to some unknown cause.

Front view of the bust

The undamaged side of the android

Shot of the damaged cheek

As you can see, the bust doesn't feature a lot of different textures, but it does have more than enough options for patterns or some nice weathering. Since there are not a ton of cool sci-fi busts out there this is a real gem! The original price was €25 but Christoph figured out how to get the price down to €21 for new buyers. Contact Christoph via the Trovarion Facebook page to check the current price and availability.

Well, that is all for this little review. I hope you enjoyed it as I will enjoy painting this little droid bust.

Thank you for reading and don't forget to keep the tip pointy and the airbrush needle lubed up!

Katsumoto - by Mitches Military Models

Hi everybody,

I want to apologize for my lack of recent posts but I've been busy with everything except painting. I did paint a few small project or made very little progress on current projects but nothing worth posting or writing about.

At the moment, my hobby seems more to be a collector of models and busts instead of being a painter.

My most recent purchase is a bust portraying Katsumoto from the movie The Last Samurai by Mitches Military Models. They have a large assortment of 120mm, 200mm resin figures, and busts. They range from historical models to modern day soldiers.

Some of the movie inspired pieces immediately caught my eye, and some of them were on sale as well! Lucky me!

The bust comes in 3 pieces. the head
and body, and 2 pieces that might be
ornamental or added armor

The bust is cast in light, yellowish resin. I believe this resin is toxic when inhaled so be sure to wear a dust mask when sanding or sawing! That being said, it is good practice to always wear a dust mask when sanding resin, to prevent Pneumoconiosis.

The model does require some cleanup, there is a pretty nasty mold line on the back of the model, running across the back and the back of his head. There are also some little blobs of resin between his collar and neck. The obvious flash should also be removed.

The blue-green dot is a part of the
silicon mold

Okay so it's obvious that this bust needs some serious cleaning up, but I'm still pretty excited about it! The bust is a perfect resemblance of the actor and character in the movie and it has some beautiful details! I'm definitely adding this one a little higher on the to do list for future projects!

A comparison between the bust and the original

So we have reached the end of this article. I will try to write more in the coming months. I have some interesting projects on the shelf so I hope I can find the time to start and finish them and write about it.

Thank you for reading and until next time!