Fighting the Gray Tide (Miniature Painting)

Zardnaar · Sep 16, 2026

MGibster said:
That's a good idea. And remember, don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Personally, I've always felt a bit more pressure when painting something that actually exists, like horse or dog, because we've all seen examples in real life. It's easier to paint a dragon or a Space Marine because nobody really knows what they look like.

I do not miss metal miniatures. Nice job!

We've all been here at some point. Or we're almost done and realized we glued something wrong, missed something, or otherwise made a glaring, obvious mistake we somehow missed. Glad you were able to find a replacement.

I lost two eye stalks for my Reaper Fathom Tyrant. I used some putty to cover the stalk holes and moved on with my life. I found the stalks a few weeks after I finished the miniature.

Last week I lost a shoulder joint/arm connection.

Another smaller joint, sprue, glue and shoulder armor hides it well. Theres a small bit in the recess but paint hides it. You woukd need to lniwvits there.

Mad_Jack · Sep 17, 2026

MGibster said:
That's a good idea. And remember, don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Personally, I've always felt a bit more pressure when painting something that actually exists, like horse or dog, because we've all seen examples in real life. It's easier to paint a dragon or a Space Marine because nobody really knows what they look like.

My personal philosophy is that if an animal is generally only found with one specific set of colors or I'm trying to replicate a particular example (coral snake patterns, etc.) I try to get as close as I can to the real thing, but for things that naturally show up in a ridiculous range of colors like spiders/frogs/butterflies I just go for whatever colors and patterns look the most badass on that particular figure.

MGibster · Sep 18, 2026

This is a model I finished a few years ago, but I’m entering into competition and decided to touch it up a bit. The judges tend to go hard on visible seams, so I’ve done my best to get rid of what were very visible seams on the tops of the barrels.

My Dredd model is likely to get low marks because I didn’t do any clean up and it shows. The helmet looks like wear and tear but the back of the jacket is sloppy. Live and learn/

RangerWickett · Sep 22, 2026

MGibster said:
A xenomorph I tried to paint closer to the way Giger originally painted them versus what was in the movies. Oh, man! I painted and repainted the carapace on the head three times and I’m still not happy with it. That’s okay though. This was a learning experience.View attachment 447487

The glossy head -- did you use a varnish for that effect, or is just shiny paint?

MGibster · Sep 22, 2026

RangerWickett said:
The glossy head -- did you use a varnish for that effect, or is just shiny paint?

I used a glossy varnish from a spray can. I forget the brand.

MGibster · Sep 26, 2026

Today was Rock-Con 26 model show put on by the Central Arkansas Scale Modelers club. I entered four models beacuse the price of my ticket allowed me to enter that many. This is the first modeling competition I've entered before so it was a new experience for me. Let's start with the judging criteria.

They have an open judging system where models might be awarded a bronze, silver, or gold ranking with anything below that not receiving recognition at all. The advantage to this is the same criteria is use to judge each category across the board. You also avoid situations where someone competing in a small category but submits a mediocre model won't get a gold just because there's only two other entries while someone who submits gold level work in a category with a lot of competitors will still get recognition for their good work.

Bronze: Model has no obvious flaws at casual glance. Upon closer inspection, flaws are visible, but are not concentrated in any one area or demonstrate a lack of basic modeling skills.

Silver: Model exhibits very few construction errors and a better grasp of finishing techniques.

Gold: Exceptional levels of craftsmanship with practically no flaws or omissions of basic techniques and the finish should be near perfect. i.e. Model has almost zero defects.

So how did I do? Let's start with the best!

Category: Wargame
Model: Imperial Knight Baneblade Tank
Rank: N/A

The judges took one look at the model and collective said, "Awww, hell no!" My entry sheet mention seam lines, mislaigned parts, and gaps.

Category: Figure
Model: Judge Dredd 3D Print
Rank: Bronze (high)

I did a little better with this one. The big flaws were having some gold paint visible where it should have been blue, they didn't like the pits on the helmet (they missed the pits on his back), and there was some visible glue on the base. They did write the model was "Otherwise very nice," so I might have been able to bump this one up to a silver with a little more effort.

Category: Figure
Model: Red Sonja in Tactical Swimwear
Rank: Bronce (high)

I did okay with this one as well. They noted the face was quite nice, which is the part that made me the most nervous about, but they felt like the rest of the body was inconsistent. I'm not sure if they meant the flesh or something else. I guess I was pretty close to a silver with this one.

Category: Wargame
Model: Imperial Knight Questoris Knight Styrix
Rank: Gold

They didn't wrote any notes for this one. I won two awards for this model.
Best Wargame Model: As it sounds, it was the best model in the wargaming category which had six other gold entries besides mine.
Fellowship Award: I'm not sure what this award was for. It wasn't best model in show, but enough judges thought my model was neat or something.