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Unfinished Business and New Year’s Ramblings

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It has been a strange couple of weeks for me and this will be a long and winding update I imagine as well. I had a strange holiday break that also had a lot of family drama so perhaps the less said about that the better. There will be no retrospective on 2021 or goals for 2022 for me. I have tons to do but I’m not going to create any plans this year. There is no try, only do, as Yoda once said. With that said, I do hope that it is a better year than the last two have been. The pandemic winding down would be an excellent development, if nothing else.

Before I start rambling, let’s talk about hobby progress. I have been making good progress on the Fallout Shotgun House but I would have thought I’d be done with it by now. I’m about 80-90% done at this point with a few staircases to be painted and assembled. I need to attach the foundation as well. Here’s a quick look at where the house is now.

As you can see, the doors open and close which I think is pretty neat and a big upgrade from what Sarissa kits can do. I also got everything assembled pretty easily with some patience and sanding so I’m very pleased to see so much of the house completed. I do need to get some wood filler like friend of the site, Dave Stone, recommended to fill in/cover up some of the pegs. Once that is done, I think this will be a really nice looking piece of terrain. I’m not thrilled about how long it has taken to make but I do really like the results. If you were curious, I’m fairly certain that the yellowing that has occurred with this kit has something to do with the MDF itself and isn’t the varnish itself. The AK Interactive Gloss Varnish still has some yellowing though it is a bit better than the Vallejo so that is the only disappointment I’ve had with this MDF kit. That is also why I went with gray windowsills when I would have preferred white ones. I figured gray would be dark enough that there would be minimal yellowing and that proved to be the case.

A big reason why I haven’t finished the terrain yet is I got distracted this week by something new and more urgent. As I mentioned, I am going to try and paint something for the Golden Demon competition which is near the end of March. I don’t have a ton of time to finish a display-level project so I started brainstorming ideas right away. My idea was always to enter in the MESBG category because there have to be way fewer entries in it compared to Warhammer so that would at least in theory improve my odds of doing well in the competition. As I started to look for ideas, the only thing I could find that I thought I could pull off was Eomer (pictured below).

However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I would be rehashing color schemes that I used on previous projects and that I wasn’t all that excited to take on the project. Especially painting a horse really well. Its hard to be excited about that! If I had a bit more time, I think I could have ordered something from Forge World and still entered in the MESBG category. The new Easterlings that GW has been teasing would also make strong candidates, but alas, it just wasn’t to be this year.

So instead, I am painting something Warhammer where I think the competition will be a lot tougher but I have a project that I’m excited about and I think will use my creativity as well so I’m looking forward to it. I’m not going to spoil what mini it is so you’ll just have to wait and see as I meticulously make progress on it. Here is a sneak peak at the leg. I’m sure this will confuse some of you like it did the last time I had to paint in sub-assemblies but I don’t think it can be helped.

There’s still plenty to be done on this piece so hopefully next time you see the leg, it will be closer to done. While I don’t know that it really matters, I know a lot of people who paint for painting competitions don’t like to show off their work before they enter and I will try and do the same. Don’t expect to see any updates on this project outside of this website and I won’t advertise what it is in the title either just to be safe. It’s all hands on deck for the painting competition now!

There was some news that happened this week that I wanted to touch upon. The Walking Dead miniatures game by Mantic is ending this spring. I don’t play or collect minis for this game so you might be asking, “Why does this matter?” Well, to be honest, I was entertaining thoughts of getting back into the game. It was probably a bad idea because I have too much to paint now as it is but I was thinking that the buildings I make for Fallout could be pressed into service and it would be great fun to have a zombie wargame to play to get even more life out of the Fallout terrain I have. Well, that obviously isn’t going to happen now which is okay, I’m not too disappointed about it. I did give The Walking Dead: All Out War a try once and it didn’t click with me so giving it another chance is probably foolish even if the miniatures are fun to paint. But it did get me thinking. If you play a licensed miniature game, there is some incentive for keeping up with the releases because what is happening with TWD could happen to any game. For example, if Modiphius cannot keep the Fallout license or decides it just isn’t profitable anymore, they could stop making all miniatures for the game on short notice. Do I think that is likely to happen in the near future? No, not at all, but it makes a certain amount of sense to try and collect the miniatures you want for the game gradually over time instead of thinking and acting like they’ll be around forever. A game line may not be and so I think I’m going to try and buy something miniatures related every month or two and steadily build my collection. This is going to make my backlog grow to an enormous size but since I know I really enjoy the game and would like to own many of the miniatures, I think it is the safest and smartest thing I can do. It does make me a bit envious of those of you who play unlicensed games. You don’t have to worry about Warlord Games losing the WWII license and shutting down Bolt Action for example!

Finally, I will say that it is funny how the pull of a particular setting can draw you in out of nowhere. A while ago I was planning on doing some kind of pulp/prehistoric wargaming and was all but ready to buy some minis. I don’t know why but the urge to do something like that has returned. Who knows, maybe in 2022 I’ll pick up yet another new game that I don’t have enough time to get painted up and play. I’m sure I’ll be in good company if so!

39 thoughts on “Unfinished Business and New Year’s Ramblings”

  1. The building looks great and good luck with the competition. From my experience there is a learning curve with competitions. Painting Something excellent is of course important but so to is choosing an entry category and, if possible, doing something different to stand out. Will be very interested in due course to learn how you get on and how the competition is organised and run. 🙂

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    1. That is very well said, mate and I completely agree. I’m sure I’ll learn some things and be humbled this year but I’m sure I’ll emerge a better painter at the same time.

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    1. I knew someone else had an interest in it and its not hard to see why. It has a lot of potential for wargaming! There are so many rulesets to choose from. I’m sure you’re used to that with WWII but for me, it is definitely a novelty. If you decide to take up some pulp/prehistoric gaming, I’d be excited to see it! 🙂

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  3. Fantastic looking progress on the building Jeff, Hope all goes well for Golden Demon, and you get your entry done in time, off to a great start.
    Licensed product always has that element to it, and can be off putting when choosing a game to start, if you do want to pursue a zombie game, to get more use out of your scenery, there are many other zombie games out there, but as you have the itch for some prehistoric pulp again, just go with what you want to do.

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    1. Thanks for the kind words, Dave! I hadn’t thought about licenses being a downside to a wargame as I tend to like them overall but you can’t sit around and wait forever if you want to collect and play them, that is for sure! As usual, the problem here is not enough time and a desire to do many different things 🙂 The classic wargaming dilemma!

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  4. Loving the shotgun house mate, it is brilliant! And can be used for more than Fallout, for sure.

    You make an excellent point, as usual, about licensed IP games. I thought the very same thing when I saw Mantic ending their Walking Dead line. It reminded me of them ending their Mars Attacks line. I am still irked I lost an auction bidding war for a lot containing an entire all-in Mars Attacks Kickstarter bundle. The other bidder just seemed to have much deeper pockets than me. Not that I wanted to play Mars Attacks per se, but the Martian minis would have been brilliant for my own 1940’s pulp alien invasion idea. Especially the flying saucers and giant robotic walker.

    You can never count on anything being permanently in production or available at a good price. Brexit and Covid have seen my hobby costs continually going up.

    I look forward to seeing your Golden Demon entry as it develops.

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    1. Thanks, mate. I’m glad the hard work is paying off with the terrain.

      Your experience with Mars Attack really shows the downside to these types of games. I’m going to try and buy Fallout minis gradually over time and build up my collection just to be on the safe side. Especially since I know I like the game and will play it many times in the future.

      Of course, painting for gaming will have to wait for a bit. That is my only annoyance with doing this Golden Demon project but its been fun to work on thus far so I can’t complain too much!

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  5. The building looks excellent so far, and I’m glad the varnish issue wasn’t too big a deal. Good luck with the Golden Demon entry, and that leg is a good teaser image!

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    1. Same here, Matt. I was definitely concerned for a while there and I’m relieved the house is nearly done now. Thanks for the kind words on GD too. We’ll see if everyone gets sick of seeing me paint black armor before this is all done because there is a lot more to go!

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  6. I think you made the right choice going away from the Eomer model, like you say, been there, done that.

    Your shotgun house is looking great, all it needs is to be covered in kudzu. I do believe kudzu will survive the apocalypse.

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    1. I wish I could have entered in MESBG as I would love to show what I can do with those models but it just isn’t in the cards this year.

      Kudzu is pretty hearty! I’m not sure how it grows in Boston (or Chicago) though. I feel like it does better in the temperate climate where you live! 🙂 That very climate has my wife wanting to move to Seattle in fact…

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  7. Good luck with the golden demon entry! Your discussion on picking categories gave me flashbacks to my own GD attempts many years ago! Pretty sure I spent as much time agonising over category and model choice than I did on painting 😉 Unfortunately we haven’t had an Australian GD in many years now.

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    1. Thanks mate! I’m not surprised that you entered as you’re a skilled painter and category and model choice seem to matter. I know nothing about what you should pick and not pick. I’m just making it up as I go along. Unfortunately, the US has been like you in Oz and there haven’t been any Golden Demons here for years. I’m sure that will bring out the best painters (which doesn’t bode well for me!) but it should be exciting to enter and see what I can accomplish, if anything.

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    1. Thanks, mate! I appreciate all your support and you’re too kind to say that. I know many painters better than me but I try my best to keep improving or at least as much as a hobbyist (and not a professional) can.

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  10. Time for me to play “guess that leg”! Actually, I’m struggling to identify it, I’ll have to have a look around on the GW website and try to work out who it belongs to. Anyway, you’re off to a fantastic start, I’ll be cheering for you. The house is looking great as well. 🙂

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    1. If I were starting a pool (or our hype man, TIM for that matter), I’d bet on you being the first to guess correctly, mate! I think I know what will be done during this week and I don’t know if it will be a huge help in guessing. I’m sure you’ll get it within 2-3 weeks however. Thanks for all your support as well. I appreciate it! 😀

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  11. Wishing you the best of luck in the competition. As for gaming, that’s one additional reason why I don’t get wrapped up into rules that require me to buy from one company. I prefer to play (or write) rules that make sense to me and then source the figures. There’s no reason you cannot do the same with Walking Dead. I similarly have a bunch of Mars Attacks stuff for retro sci-fi, but I will likely be using Combat Patrol as I have done in the past. And as IRO wrote, you are an amazing painter – enjoy the ride.

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    1. Thanks, Mark! I think your attitude is best. I tend to get sucked into as a collector and want the official licensed stuff but you can save a lot if you can resist that temptation. I’m going to try to have fun with display painting on this mini and hope that it leads to good results. We shall see!

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  12. I forget why it’s called a shotgun shack but it looks great so far. Suitably dilapidated.

    IP games can suddenly go but some stick around. How long has GW held the Lotr IP?

    Good luck with the GD stuff. I would of thought that the main reason people entering it don’t show WIP is just because it’s more impactful to show the finished miniature at the end instead of in phases. 😀

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    1. I don’t know where the shotgun-style name comes from. It is a funny name to me anyway.

      Surely, Lord of the Rings is the exception to the rule here. First off, its LOTR, one of the best licenses around. Additionally, other strong licenses like Marvel and Star Wars have bounced around a lot among different companies, even before Disney owned them.

      Your reasoning on why you don’t show off a mini before competition is exactly what I think too. If nobody has seen it before, they’re more likely to be blown away by your creation. I don’t know if I can blow away regular readers with anything I do anymore (you guys are a cynical lot haha!) but hopefully it will have some impact on the judges anyway!

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  13. The ebst of luck with theGD. I hope you win a trophy. Do they still do the Slayer Sword? The NMM on that leg looks already really good and I am looking forward to the grand reveal. The weathering on that ruinous house is also spot on. Really satisfying to look at.

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    1. Thanks, mate! I believe they do the slayer sword and the gaudy Demon trophies both. I won’t be sniffing that sword I imagine though 🙂 I’m glad that people are liking the house. It makes me feel like the long hours putting it together were worth it 😀

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  14. The house is coming along nicely mate, you’ll soon have it finished.
    All the best with the GD, looking forward to see where you go with that leg, and more importantly, what fits on the end of it!

    It can always be a gamble with miniatures games, look at Runewars from FFG, that only lasted 2 years and I know some who were really into it and quite distraught when they announced the end of organised competitive play. At least Mantic and TWD got a good 8 years in, and it really came to a natural end as they had covered everything from the comic series.

    Finding a game you really like and want to become invested in can lead to some great experiences, as long as you keep in mind that it might not be around forever. Still, if you don’t play organised events does it actually matter. Build up what you need for Fallout and it will be there for you to play for as long as you enjoy it, and that’s what counts, at least in my mind😁

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    1. Thanks for the kind words and support as always! I would have to agree with you on games ending before you want them to too and Runewars is a great example of that. I am going to do exactly as you propose with Fallout and future games I want to play. I will also try and remember that the game isn’t going to be available forever so if I am interested, I may want to start buying what’s available before its too late. FOMO has got us firmly in its grasp, mate! 😀

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  16. As a late observation – it might be time for you to get that Eomer model and paint him up as a MESBG/pleasure project after all the intense work you’ve done on that Stormcast. It’d also be good to see you paint some LotR again – I can’t hold Middle Earth up by myself and there’s very few of us in this little blog corner that paint the ME stuff! 😉

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    1. I haven’t painted anything MESBG in a long time now. Part of it is because I don’t play the game any longer but also GW hasn’t put out a lot for the game lately. I do kind of like the Easterling models they’ve been making so I’ll see if I can’t pick something up in the nearish future 🙂

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