Old Creaky Bones

Dusting off the ol' pots

I'm about to start painting soon, I swear. Sorry for another wall of text but I wanted an update, and I'm bored at work.

I got my desk totally cleared and prepped for painting and will be adding a picture of my work-space soon. Here's what I consider essential to have at my painting area:

- Tile pallet        (awesome way to have a pallet as its so easy to clean)
- Paper Towels   (for blotting and dry brushing)
- Plain Paper      (to cover the surface and use for dry brushing)
- Plenty of light  (using two desk lamps on either side of my space)
- Water pot         (I use a small glass jar)
- Brushes            (I try to keep the selection limited so I can find things more quickly)
- Other tools       (knives, pin-vise, pliers, cutters, files, etc.)
- Minis on-deck (Again, only limited to what I'm currently painting)

I have found keeping things simple helps in several ways. First, it allows me to clean up. If company is coming I don't have much to put away. Second, it prevents me from getting overwhelmed, which I've found really helps me with my motivation to paint, and keeps productivity up. Its hard to want to sit down and paint if you have to clean up a bunch of crap first.

Fits and starts

After I got my station set-up I opened my box of paints, and suddenly realized I had a big problem. Most of my paints (probably about half) are older GW paints, in the old, flat top pots with the dimple on top (shown below). These paints are notorious for drying out, and after about 2 years of sitting in a cardboard box, that's exactly what happened.

Lucky for me I'm somewhat of a pro at revitalizing old, dried out paints. To speed the process I got a baby medicine syringe from the last time my son was sick, and used it to regulate the amount of water I added. After adding water to each pot I stirred it thoroughly with an old brush handle and so far most of them have come out no worse for wear.

Rectifying water based acrylics

It is almost always possible to save a pot of acrylic paint as long as it hasn't totally dried out. If it has its not worth wasting your time as the paint has chemically changed and water won't save it (to my knowledge). One trick I've always used with my paints is adding a chunk of metal, usually a large piece of flash, or base rail from a metal fig, to the pot. Some companies already do this in fact. Reaper uses a small plastic skull. The whole point is to have something in the pot to help mix the pigment and medium back to together after your paint has been sitting for awhile. All you do is pull it out, and assuming its not dried at all, give the pot a shake and mix the 2 parts back together. Voila!

So to summarize/recap the rectification process:
1. Always add something to help in mixing as soon as you get a new pot.
2. Always shake a pot thoroughly before use.
3. If paint seems a bit thick, slowly add drops of water (less is more)
4. Ideally wait until paint is on your pallet before thinning to avoid over-thinning the whole pot.
5. If paint dries out in the pot, slowly add drops of water (again, take your time to get it just right)
6. Mix well with a toothpick or other stick thingy.
7. Shake thoroughly again.

Goodbye

That's all for now. I should be done clean up my paints tonight, and ready to lay some brushstrokes this weekend.

Quick Update and Next Steps

Preparation

So last night I started prepping my painting area, also known as my computer desk. Had a significant pileup of old papers, tax returns, and fishing odds and ends (my other hobby is bass fishing, go figure).

I also got out my boxes and cases of models to ascertain what all I have and what I need to prep. I totally forgot I had a complete Fog on the Barrow Downs box set, which is great because it makes up an entire scenario, as well as being pretty hard to find for a decent price on eBay.

I also found my mounted Arwen with Frodo model. Since I plan to paint the foot version of Arwen, as well as the foot and mounted version of Glorfindel, and all of those models use similar pallets, I am going to hold off on painting until I get a chance to base coat the Arwen model.

The weather here has been good, if a bit humid so that should be tonight. I will also likely base some other models to save time.

On tonight's to-do list are:
- Base coat a handful of models (Fog on the Barrow Downs will for sure be getting a coat)
- Check paints for clumping/drying and remedy any issues
- Pick pallet for Elves, Horses, and injured Frodo
- Plan next steps for painting
- Stare at blue foam and be afraid of scenery construction

That's all for now! I'll probably be posting pics of everything I've painted so far, as well as a list of the models I have and need in the near future, or between painting updates.

"A light from the shadow shall spring..."

Aure Entuluva!

I am back! Recently at work I was bored and started browsing The One Ring, currently the best LoTR SBG forum with active membership. Looking at some of the beautiful and inspiring work on its extensive pages, with some projects going back years, I found myself yearning to paint and create once again.

I have recently been working on clearing out a lot of my excess hobby materials, including old armies, dusty board games, and general junk. This has given me a lot of extra space, and handling all my old stuff has made me nostalgic.

Another driving factor is that I'm a teacher, and the school year is approaching a close, leaving me with a good bit of free time on my hands. Therefore I hope to begin keeping a decent schedule of work, and hopefully you, the readers, will hold me accountable.

I intend to continue this project where it left off, painting Glorfindel and Arwen, as well as new variations on the 4 hobbits. I also have some other pieces which are primed and may get a splash of paint simply to help me brush up my skills, but we'll have to see how motivated I can be!

One more small note, if you've noticed, I have added ads via Google AdSense. This is a way for me to make a small amount of money through my blog. It amounts to about $0.01 per ad click, but I plan to take any money earned and apply it toward purchasing more models for the project. All you have to do is click the ad, you can then close it, or continue looking at whatever it is they want you to buy. This would be greatly appreciated.

If you want to catch up on what this project is, or why I'm doing it as such, read through the old posts (there aren't that many honestly) or just check out the introduction post. And finally, if you are interested in my work, then I strongly encourage you to head over to The One Ring and register and browse the WiP and Campaign sections, ESPECIALLY Celevue's LOTR Campaign Thread and the accompanying "behind the scenes" WiP thread. It is a similar project to mine, but taken to the 1000th degree and done way better.