I'm back from The Gauntlet tournament.
I finished 15th out of 32 with one win, one draw and a loss. Congratulations to Francis whose Orks took the top spot and Derek whose Imperial Guard won best painted.
I had hoped to compete in that category but I had a disaster the day before the tournament. I finished all my painting and varnished the models to protect their painstakingly applied paintjobs. Then the f***ing varnish frosted my models.
I now need to look into techniques to try to save them. Binning all my cans of Games Workshop varnish is a good start.
I might pick up some tips from the Imperial Armour Model Masterclass Volume One. I bought this from Warhammer World as it never appeared in my local store (nor did the Lemartes model I had ordered for The Gauntlet tournament, but that's another story). I've just had a quick flick through so far but it looks fantastic, with loads of great photography, modelling and painting tips and the shock of seeing some non-Games Workshop products. I wonder what varnish they recommend?
I'll post up a review of the book once I've read it. Because of the tournament I haven't even read the Space Marine codex yet, so that will also be on the reading stand. As is the Siege of Vraks part 2. It's just as well I'll have a little more time on my hands now.
My blog, and the rest of my hobby related activities, fell by the wayside while I was speed painting for the tournament. With that out of the way I can return to my duties on my blogs. I'm trying to regulate my Blood Angels painting through the Warseer Tale of 40k Painters and the upside to cranking out a couple of new units in a short space of time is that I don't have to paint Space Marines for a couple of months. I'll photograph them, hopefully once I've rescued them from the frosting of doom, and post them as I present them on Warseer.
With my new-found time I can update my Battle Reports blog with my tournament games, review the books I'll read, sort out some technical issues with the blog (the photos and other niggly things I'm not happy with) and maybe even paint some of my Warriors of Chaos models for Fantasy.
Get ready for take off...
Irregular Magazine
4 hours ago
8 comments:
No way... frosted your models?!?
I would have probably had a stroke if that happened to mine. I was terrified the last time I varnished one of my models since it was a contest entry.
My word you spent ages on those models, it must have completely ruined their look I hope you can salvage them
Try signing up to Ron's Blogger group you will get more publicity and tips.
I've seen it happen a few times with the GW varnish cans.
A guy I met at the tournament had a nicely painted high elf army but the chariot looked 'grey'. He'd used a new can the night before just for the chariot and ruined it.
Sadly I don't have any tips to resolve it.
Hi LP,
I've been lurking for a while - nice bloggage sir!
"Frosting" is a b*gger and there are a few tips to try and correct the issue. Please see links below. Hope they help!
http://www.miniaturewargaming.com/index.php/wiki/Frost_Issues_With_Spray_Varnish/
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=137518
Was at the Gauntlet myself and finished around the same place due to a win then a draw and a loss.
Frosting is an annoyance but can be avoided by taking 4 steps of care.
1. Wait at least 1 day after finishing your painting - Believe it or not but the GW paints don't set completely after they seem dry, hence you should leave them about a day for all the moisture to escape.
2. Shake the can well - A strange fact but just by making sure you shake the can up for about 5 minutes it'll ensure that the mix is good in the can and that any potential "air bubbles" that may be produced are worked out.
3. Spray in a dry place - The most common cause of frosting is the moisture in the air getting caught by the spray as it goes onto the model and thus creates the frosting effect.
4. Don't apply too lightly - Putting on too little of the varnish will create an uneven cover and even leave you with the same sort of frosting that the moisture will cause. For a more visible example of this try using the undercoat sprays on a flat of plastic. Give it a light dust with undercoat and you'll get a "grainy" effect but with a good covering you'll get a nice smooth finish.
In case you're wondering which army I was, it was the Eldar with 2 prisms, 9 jetbikes and a white to blue fade effect from nose to tail on the prisms and jetbikes.
One thing I was disgusted at was the fact I ended up playing my own housemate for the 2nd game and the judges wouldn't switch us and then in the 3rd game I played some-one else from the same store as me! That means I played 2 games with people I can play any time I want! Not to mention the fact we know each others tactics, armies and weakness's.
Anyways, I'm off to GT with a tweaked list and upgrade to 1500 (definitly taking the Seer council that my friend Andy, who got 3rd place, had in his Eldar army).
Good luck in fixing the frosting by the way. You may want to try using a toothbrush and a lot of patience.
Thanks for all the comments.
I've now checked out the links you provided Helical Strakes. I've fished the GW cans out of the trash to give them one last chance...
The annoying thing is that I made sure I shook the can more than usual before this particular attempt AND I sprayed a test mini first. I even waited until the girlfriend was out so I could spray indoors. Only after all that did I spray the real thing...then instant frosting. Bah!
I remember your army Conrad - very striking. Derek who won best painted reckoned his Guard could take them (all T3 5+ saves) but I pointed out the two Prisms and T4 3+ save jetbikes!
I feel your pain with your opponents. I played my mate Gary in the second game and was prevented from swapping opponents despite the fact I have played him thousands of times before (we've been playing each other since Rogue Trader days). That's the second time it's happened in the four Gauntlet tournaments we've attended!
Anyway, good luck in the GT.
Yeah, I realy fancied a crack at that Guard army, felt it would be a good game. On top of the Prism blasts, I'd also given the Reaper Exarch a Tempest Launcher with crackshot (no cover saves and 2 small blast templates) so I felt I could have a realy good bite at a guard/hoard army...shame I didn't face any.
Anyways, thanks for the luck, think I might need it!
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