This past weekend saw a bit of progress on painting!
Me and a couple of friends decided to get together this weekend at our LGS (The Last Square, Madison, WI) and paint together. We did it for several reasons, but really one of our friends (Michael) just received a new air brush and compressor. He was all "geeked" out about getting to use the tool. In addition, his lovely wife is battling cancer, so this was a way for Michael to get a sense of normalcy. We were all really glad to get the group together. Michael has not played FoW in over a year. He was tired of the game and it really showed. Heck, if you are not having fun then do something else! That was Michael's motto and I really understand.
Is it a bad sign that you pack your car the night before? Or that you believe you need a list to make sure you brougth everything?
Air brush - Check
Compressor - Check
Brit Paras - Check
33 brushes - Check
110 bottles of paint - Check
Cup for the air brush to actually work - ahhh. yeah. forgot that.
So I was not able to air brush with Michael, but he took to it like a trooper. He is building a Tiger I model and did a great job with the base coat and practicing his dots and thin lines. I was finishing up my son's Leman Russ and doing detail work on Brit Armour. Joe was going to town on his new buildings. Be sure to check out his pictures in the terrain section of the flames of war forum at flamesofwar.com where he talks about his Total Battle Mitiatures buildings. They do look fantastic!
Then it happened.
I had just finished a pin wash on the Leman Russ using MIG Brown Wash. I was about to start a wash on the Brit Armour with MIG Dark Wash. I see the pigments in the bottle were stuck at the bottom. So I violently shake the bottle. In 2.3 seconds I realize that the bottle was not fully sealed. That was 2.3 seconds too late. I splattered EVREYTHING. My stuff, my hands, the table, the surrounding 23 feet. The good news - I did not get Joe, nor his buildings. The bad news - Michael got it worse that anyone or anything. I splattered the poor guy. Hands, face, arm - EVERYTHING. The new, nicely painted Tiger I - nailed it.
After 20 minutes of clean up and me feeling as big as a tick, Michael was presentable. With Joe's help, we got as much as we could cleaned up around his work area. But the Tiger I was staring at me. I knew I ruined the model. I can't clean enamel off acrylic that has not yet been sealed. If I put the thinner on the model, the basecoat is ruined.
The first think Michael says when he gets back "Hey, that looks like rust!" I think it is utter "bs", but that is his view. I wanted to crawl away. I figure my penance should be painting three battalions of Soviet Strelk. But Michael continued to insist and tried his best to make me feel better. I don't. And I won't for a while.
We did keep painting, but my heart just wasn't in it. So Michael, if you are reading, I am still very sorry and feel like a total loser! Thanks for the comments to make me feel better. But I still feel like a dork. Oh, replace a couple of letters in Dork and you get a better picture.
After a few drinks at home and a day to put it behind me, I did finish up some stuff last night with my son. He is painting his Grey Knights 40K guys. He used the air brush and put a basecoat of Vallejo Model Air Gun (Metallic) on the guys. Promising start! I used the airbrush to fix my Typhoons (a victim of "splattergate") and to put a light grey on the underside of the fuselage. I also now have all my Brit Armour tracks finished and just a little detail work needed before decals and weathering. But it will be a few weeks before I can finish since I have some time off coming up and a trip planned.
So a gentle reminder to all - Check and double check that your MIG bottle is fully closed before violently shaking the bottle!
Oh my....I can't imagine a nicer guy unduly beating himself up so unnecessarily. Sure, the lid was a little loose and it spilled a bit.
ReplyDeleteSo, for all those who would read this, let me tell you all about the "Mad Splatter-(er)." There hasn't been a better and more geniune bloke that I have met at the store. In fact, I hold he and Joe in rather high regard. I can't imagine having better luck in meeting two better friends and gamers.
Over the past few years both have taken me under their wings at different times and have taught me more about painting and gaming than I would have ever learned on my own. They did so out of the genuine good nature that makes them who they are. So, on a pleasant Saturday morning, they both sat some time to plan the day around "teaching me how to air brush with my new toy."
They took time from their families and things that could have been done to help some schmuck like me out. So, I get to learn at the feet of talented painters and they have to spend the time there teaching me. Talk about an unfair trade.
And yes, my wife is over-coming cancer. A disease which has indiscriminately selected her to struggle with. The fact that she is now past chemo and is doing well has allowed me some measure of thought of returning to gaming. It has sucked watching some one so wonder suffer with it while I could do nothing but try to be supportive.
It was then I started to feel the wet drops. The funny thing was that being the dope that I am, I actually looked up to determine why it was raining inside. I then got some wash in an eye and learned that Allen was shaking a bottle.
To be honest, yes, it got on my shirt, shorts, face, hair...well, like Allen said, all over...yes, even a couple splatters on the 1/35 Tiger I was working on.
1. the stuff cleaned off my skin with out problems.
2. The shirt was a dark color and you couldn't see anything of the wash on it.
3. The shorts already had paint on them as I anticiapted making mistakes myself. So I was dressed for the occasion.
4. the couple splatters on the tank itself DO ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE RUST DIVOTS! I ain't fibing.
5. It was one of the funnier things to happen in a long time.
So, I would appreciate if everyone would let Allen know that he shouldn't beat himself up like he is. If anything, I appreciate him more now than I did before the modeling Baptism. A good man doing a good thing is more a cause for a good laugh than it is for letting something that small to be bigger.
Besides, ask Allen who dropped his "just-finished-it-looks-great-15mm-Sherman (and it looked awesome) on-to-the-hard-tiled-floor-only to-watch-pieces-break-off-it-as-it-bounced? He quickly and sincerely forgave me. I hope he realizes that he should forgive himself too...if only for me.
You and your buddies will be able to look back on the mishap and laugh about it. Besides, friends quickly forgive. I wish I could say something similar has never happened to me. Hang in there!
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