IPMS Hobby Expo 2014

The first show of the year net me five wins at the IPMS Hobby Expo in Petaluma, CA:

Gold - Dioramas - "Castle in the Sky"
Gold - Automobiles - Landscaping Truck
Silver - Figures, Fantasy - Ruby
Silver - Figures, Historical - Japanese Bust
Bronze - Automobiles - Oldsmobile 442 Junker

The automobiles category was a surprise for me, as I never would have guessed that judges would rank my landscaping truck ahead of my junked 442. I'm certainly not complaining about taking two trophies in a category, but I was certainly surprised by the results. When I got the bronze for the 442 I figured that was it for me -- and when they called me back I had no idea what it could be for.

Let me add that the Hobby Expo was, without question, probably the best single day event I've ever attended. It was very well organized, had an INCREDIBLE showing (easily 300-400+ models!), a lot of displays, and other clubs -- such as the 501st Garrison, Astro Mech makers, and lots of prop builders -- in attendance.

And now... back to the hobby table so I can get some painting updates posted.

Nurgle Gunner - WIP

I took a little break from the Hello Kitty car to work on this converted Nurgle gunner, using the WFB Nurgle Lord body with a new head, and the heavy bolter in place of the axe.

At this point only the armor on his legs is finished, but the rest is coming along nicely. I'm actually going to re-paint the gun in a blue - slightly lighter than the cloth you can see on the back of him.

I also need to do some touch-up where he was dropped on his back. OOPS!

The base was made by Roman Lappat of Massive Voodoo fame, and the ammo belt is from Dragon Forge Design.

Friday Night Jukebox: Lull It By (Greg Brown)

This is one that came up on the Tom Waits station on Pandora - and I've had it playing a lot while I paint recently. Enjoy.

Commission: Hello Kitty Supra GT - Sans Transition

I really didn't like the transition - and so today I re-masked the hood and gave the coat an even coverage of a deeper pink metallic. This also allowed me to paint the rims, so they'll match the paint now. It looks a bit more red in the camera phone pic, but it's actually a salmon pink.

The chair received a pink seat, and a carbon treatment similar to the hood. I'll might do some of that on the interior too... but only if it makes sense at the time. I'm still sorting through the pieces and working out the build/paint plan as this is the first time I've done this kit.

Commission: Hello Kitty Supra GT - Paint Transition

The plan for this one was to fade it from a bright pink, to a dark purple, with the carbon fiber hood. Although I've managed to do this, I'm not entirely sure that I like it at this point. I'm hoping that I'll feel differently about it once the Hello Kitty icons are in place.

Commission: Hello Kitty Supra GT

I don't take on a lot of commissioned projects these days, but when my friends at Powered Play told me they were releasing a new light rig for car kits, and that they wanted me to do a Hello Kitty themed car for them... well... I just couldn't say no.

Now I haven't painted a pristine vehicle since... I honestly can't remember when. But I love Hello Kitty, I like the people involved, and I was glad for an opportunity to use some techniques that I don't generally get to play with. For instance:

I've known HOW to use a mask to create a carbon fiber effect, but I've never had a reason to try it.

Of course the hood on the kit is part of the body - which means that I now have to mask it off, and hope I don't mess it up, while I'm painting the rest of the car.

And the rest of the car will transition from a dark purple metallic in the front, to a bright metallic pink in the back. Because I can. I'll use masks to put Hello Kitty on the doors, tail, and on the hood.

IPMS Regionals - 2013 - Best of Show!

I had the pleasure of attending an IPMS Regionals event, and came home with my first "Best of Show" award -- along with 5 gold, and 2 bronze awards. One of the judges let me know that one of the bronze would have been a gold, but for a very, painfully obvious seam... which I had, of course, totally overlooked. Alas. Still, you won't catch me complaining as I hadn't expected that model (Castle in the Sky - Diorama) to even make the first cut.

Best of Show - Marder III M (Artillery)
GOLD - Ruby (Figurines)
GOLD - "Fresh Meat" (Cars - Custom)
GOLD - 1966 Oldsmobile 442 Junker (Cars - Stock)
GOLD - Alien Bust (Sci-Fi)
BRONZE - "Castle in the Sky" (Diorama)
BRONZE - VW Chicken Coop (Cars - Custom)

I got some great feedback from the judges on several of my entries, and I'll make some improvements before the next show on those models that didn't place this time.

I have to admit that I was totally taken by surprise by the "Best of Show" award. I had already handed out the "Best Weathering" award (sponsored by Secret Weapon - so I got to hand it out) and figured my job was done for the day. They actually had to call my name three times to get me back up there. When I finally got to the stage we had a discussion that went something like this:

Me: Sorry, what's up?
Head Judge: Best of Show
Me: Sure, what did you need me to do?
HJ: You won.
Me: What?
HJ: Best of Show, you won it. For your Marder.
Me: Really?

There was a fair big of laughter at this point as much of that was picked up by the live mic. Oops!

And now it's time to get on to the next projects, and keep right on painting.