Alright, the title might be a bit misleading but it was the best pun I could come up with. There were quite a lot of headaches this week as I continue this long-running project. The first thing I should mention is that I broke a piece while trying to put the quiver together that couldn’t be fixed. So I had no choice but to remove it altogether. Let me show you the mini and then I’ll show you what’s missing from it afterwards and talk about the implications of it as well.
And here’s a high tech drawing that highlights the missing piece.
So yes, the “purity seal” which I’m putting quotes because that’s basically what it is, even if it has a crystal on it instead of a seal because GW can’t help but make the Stormcast into Fantasy Space Marines, broke while I tried to assemble the quiver. I thought I was being careful but I snapped it in half and there’s no way on a display project that you can just glue that piece back on and pretend it wasn’t broken. So instead, I just cut it off and tried to smooth out where that piece was. I think it largely worked and you can’t really tell that its missing.
The big question is whether this affects this miniature’s chances at Golden Demon and the short answer is: I have no idea. Its worth mentioning that this is an area where the judges not sharing feedback really hurts competitors so I can only speculate here. If the judges know the sculpt well, they would recognize the missing piece but GW has hundreds of models in production so I question whether anybody would notice or not. Truthfully, I started this miniature as practice and a chance to experiment but its taking so long that its starting to elevate itself to competition piece. It doesn’t hurt that it is looking really good either, I suppose.
Surprisingly, I wasn’t particularly upset about the mistake I made. I’m realizing that I tend to make modeling mistakes from time-to-time and also that its hard to give a project maximum concentration when you’re in month two of working on it. I think in the future, I need to try and find a miniature that is less time consuming because after about a month or so, its hard to maintain a high level of concentration.
I will also try and pick a better mini because this “Easy to Build” mini caused some headaches with the quiver. It was hard to paint the quiver separately. I painted most of it that way but eventually I had to attach it and then paint some difficult to reach places. I made some mistakes (that were really to have happen) and got paint where it shouldn’t have been and was very fortunate to be able to fix those without them being noticeable. The reality is still that there are a couple of places that aren’t painted as well as the rest of the mini, simply because I can’t access them properly with a brush. I should have known that this mini would go this way and I absolutely will not buy another Easy to Build miniature for display painting again. I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t see this mini show up in many future painting competitions because its a tough one to paint compared to the typical GW mini that is sub-assembly friendly.
To be honest, I’m lucky that I made as much progress as I did this week as I haven’t been feeling well for the last 4-5 days. I won’t go into too much detail but something seems to be wrong in my abdomen and I’m having trouble eating a normal meal without pain and discomfort. I tried to see a doctor when it first happened and the Urgent Care place I went to was no help. I have a doctor’s appointment lined up for Tuesday and am hoping that gives some insight as to what’s going on. All week, I was half expecting to not be able to paint due to shaky hands but as of last night when I finished the quiver up, I was still able to handle a brush okay. All this is to say, I don’t know if this will slow down my progress or not. The timing of this is certainly unfortunate but I’ll do the best I can and try to get back to feeling healthy as soon as possible.
Kuribo's Painting 
Looking brilliant as usual mate. As for the broken piece… perhaps if life gives you a lemon you can make some lemonade by converting the broken piece to be a “proper” purity seal after all?
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Cheers, mate. You certainly could do that though an actual purity seal would be mixing your Warhammers together and who knows what the judges would think of that… I suppose this highlights how goofy the no feedback thing is. You have almost no idea what is okay and what isn’t.
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I figured GW was already mixing 40K and WHFB with Sigmarines… er I mean Sigmarites…. but you are right of course. I hope you are feeling better!
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The fact that it is so easy to believe that should be disturbing to GW but I’m sure they aren’t too bothered. I’m better than I was but still not right. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow so that is another step in the process hopefully.
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Looks beautiful and if the judges don’t give feedback – wtf?
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Thanks, Mark and yes, no feedback. It seems to be a Games Workshop policy even beyond the painting competition and they’re “hiding” their employees from the public to some degree in the last year or two. I’m not sure if anybody knows why that is.
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“Easy to build” – ha! Maybe quit licking your paint brush and your stomach would feel better 😁 Seriously though, hope you feel better
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“Easy to build and hard to paint” should be the branding! The idea is that you can easily put it together and if you’re a beginner, give it your best shot, I think. I’ve never licked a brush before truthfully. I know some people swear on it but I’m pretty sure that didn’t help Van Gogh’s mental state much!
I went to the ER today so its been a long day. I got no answers, just a very expensive CT scan. The wait and pain goes on for now…
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Hope you’re back to full health soon! The miniature is coming along great, and I don’t think a missing purity seal would be a deal breaker, but then I’m not a Golden Demon judge either.
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Thanks, Dave! I think its going to take a while yet before I can figure out what’s going on with my stomach. A trip to the ER didn’t do me much good today. I wouldn’t think so either on the purity seal but unfortunately, all we can do is try to guess how the judges might think since they don’t provide any feedback! If I enter this mini next year, I’ll certainly be hoping they think the same way as you 🙂
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The mini is looking great, and now he’s looking much more like an archer with the quiver! Interesting how the weight and the angle of the quiver add a lot to the movement of the mini! Sorry to hear about the health issue, hope everything is all right?!
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The quiver certainly adds something to the mini and it isn’t too hard to imagine the bow on there now thankfully. I’m doing okay but could be better. I went to the ER today and really got no information other than go see a GI doctor so the wait and pain for me goes on for a bit. I’ll have to find a way through the week, one way or another!
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Shoot man, hang in there! Hopefully something temporary!
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I appreciate it, Brian, and I think this is temporary, thankfully. I’m on a liquid diet so far today and that has minimized the pain. So that’s some progress anyway 🙂
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Sorry to hear about your health issues, hopefully the doctor can get to the bottom of it fast. As for the “purity seal”, I wouldn’t worry about it, your repair is clean and converting minis is more than encouraged for GD so I’d assume they think it’s intentional if they even spot it.
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Thanks, Nic. I’m hoping for some kind of an answer this upcoming week. Its been a tough few days for sure. I would tend to agree with you that they probably won’t notice or hold it against me too much. The not painting a spot or two well could be a different story but with how long this project is taking, this could very well be my 2024 entry for Age of Sigmar unless I can outdo myself between now and then. I’ll certainly try! 🙂
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Hope you can get your health sorted and be feeling better soon! 🙂 As far as the mini’s concerned I think it looks better without that bit you’ve removed – to my eye it looks to be at the wrong angle anyway when it’s there!
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Thanks, John! I’m doing a bit better so far today though I haven’t been up for too long so things could change, I suppose. I agree that the laurel or ribbon is kind of extraneous on this miniature. Hanging it off the quiver is a bit of a strange choice too not that I’m a weapon or armorsmith or anything 🙂
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Hope you get better soon Jeff, and the Doctors can get you treated quickly, by the sounds of what you are describing you could be developing IBS, or a food intolerance, we’ve been going through similar with my wife recently, and she’s had to cut out two food sources.
The model is looking great and I agree with John, the piece looked at the wrong angle, so it being missing is a good thing.
As for the judges knowing the models, NOPE ! it’s getting harder and harder to get recognition for conversions, and that was 16 years ago, with how much the model line has changed over the years, I very much doubt they will know ! LOL
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Thanks, Dave! Your medical expertise is pretty good. The doctor in the hospital mentioned IBS as a possibility. My completely unqualified opinion is that it is a stomach ulcer because I can’t anything without a lot of pain. I’m doing better today on a liquid diet so that’s an “exciting” development. I’m hoping it buys me some time to get in to see the right kind of doctor.
I’m glad you don’t think the laurel is a big omission on my part. I think GW is putting too many fragile pieces on their miniatures these days. This kit is meant to be for beginners and there’s no doubt in my mind that one tumble off a gaming table and that piece is going to break if it lands on the back of the miniature.
As far as the judging goes, I tend to agree. I don’t want to slight the Warhammer Community team but I would think their expertise is less than ‘Eavy Metal team who are building and painting many GW models though I could be wrong. Ultimately, its impossible to guess what the judges will think so I won’t waste time trying to psychoanalyze them 🙂
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That’s a quiver??!! What’s he shooting? Spears?! He can’t even pull one out without taking the whole thing off. Lol. I find that stuff amusing. The painting is really nice though. 😀
Hope your stomach stuff works out. I had stomach/ digestive issues for years before I went gluten free and it cleared up. So I know the discomfort.
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He basically is shooting spears and that’s why he’s so powerful! 😉
Thanks for the kind words and sorry you went through that as well. I’m a vegetarian who likes spicy food so I’m dreading that they will tell me to cut back on that. In my late 20’s I already had to give up greasy food so life is pretty hard 😀
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Aye, GW do like their little extra details don’t they? I’ve got nothing against it in principle but they never know when to stop. Take this Stormcast for instance (who’s looking really, really good by the way) – I think he looks much better without that trinket. Whether the Golden Daemon judges agree is another matter of course but if it’s purely based on the look of the final model I think snipping it off is a big improvement.
Sorry to hear you’re under the weather, hope the doctor is able to help and you’re feeling better soon.
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I’m sure we’ve talked about this before but GW’s intent on making their miniatures as detailed as possible really goes against what a huge chunk of their customer base wants (and I would argue needs). Details don’t bother me, generally, if I like the miniature but in this case, I feel like the “purity seal” was entirely unnecessary and didn’t add much to the mini. And if a GD judge asks me, that’s exactly why I did that “conversion” 😉
Thanks, mate. I’ve got a trip to the doctor in a couple of hours so I’m hoping for some answers today.
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Hoping you feel better very soon!
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Thank you! 🙂
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Hope you start to feel better soon and the doc helps!
On the broken bit, it does not distract from the model (to my eye) so I don’t think it will have a negative impact. A judge would have no idea it was a mistake, with all the conversions out there it could be seen as something you removed to make the model look better.
The progress on this is great and looks splendid!
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Cheers, mate! I’m glad to hear that the broken piece isn’t noticeable to you as well. I wasn’t too upset about it which I guess is a sign that the piece wasn’t too important to the model as a whole. Thanks for the kind words as well. There isn’t too long to go now, thankfully!
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Lost my original comment here – typed it up some time ago but then got distracted and obviously didn’t save it.
Most people wouldn’t notice the purity seal – there’s a small chance that a GW employee who has also painted the model and so has that familiarity would, but then you’ve cleaned up the spot so it can be seen to be purposeful.
I wouldn’t get so wrapped up in Golden Demon though – as you said in an earlier post – better to see what happens with smaller competitions than put too much energy into something where your chances are far slimmer. (and you know you won’t get any feedback from the judges!)
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Its always a bummer when that happens, mate. That is well said on the purity seal and that is what I tend to think as well. I appreciate your perspective on painting competitions as well. As long as GD comes to Chicago, I probably will enter some stuff so I’m thinking about it partially through that lens. Truthfully, I’m not good enough to win any trophies in the near future so I’m more focused on improving as much as I can and learning new stuff. Maybe after doing that for a while, things might be different but for now, just doing my best is all I can do. Thanks for your feedback and sharing your thoughts as always!
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Oh yeah, for sure if you’re painting models for competition and you’re going to Adepticon anyway, you may as well bring stuff for GD. I’d bring some Hellboy stuff that you’ve painted on the side for the Mantic comp as well for that matter. You never know when they may finally have their shizzle together for their painting comp and you don’t want that to be the year you left Hellboy at home packed away. It’d be a good example of a small pond and I think your stuff from the blog here would certainly be in good standing at worst for a Mantic comp.
Depending on what’s around you though, smaller comps seem to have more opportunities for feedback from people like Vince or Ninjon who I have seen mentioned on Tabletop Minions’ channel as judges in these smaller competitions.
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This is all well said, mate and I completely agree. That is my plan for next the rest of this year and into next 🙂
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I realise that I’m rather late to the party here but it seems unlikely to significantly affect your rating whether or not the purity seal is present. In previous years converted, kitbashed or even scratch built minis have done well and even won. And, as you say, few people will have the needed familiarity with the range to even notice that the piece is absent in the first place.
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Cheers, mate. That seems to be the consensus amongst regular visitors and I’m thankful for it. Hiding your mistakes seems to be just as important as not making them as it turns out!
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