Kent's PaintStuff

Okay, it's been a while since I really posted anything of real relevance as to what's going on in my life, but last few months have been a whilwind of activity. So, with that in mind, I guess I'll begin to go through several things with this post. Most of this is ALMOST a year old at this point, but I figured it would be good to put the relevant info up for all to see anyway.

To begin with, I was in frantic preparation mode for Games Day Chicago. I always enjoy attending these events, sponsored by Games Workshop as their big "dog and pony show," but they're a bit more enjoyable when I get to attend such events with some of my buddies. This time, my friend StrayCatt invited me to stay the weekend at his house and use it as our base of operations. I readily accepted, thus feeling like I had sealed my way into attending this year's event. No backing out now...

So, I had been working on a few entries for the Golden Demon painting competion at GD Chicago. The demons are a fairly prestigious award throughout the miniature painting community, and I'm proud to say that I already have a couple of those resin-cast statues on my mantle. (I really do hate bragging about it.) But, just like potato chips, one or two is not enough.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring my schedule to a grinding halt and work solely on painting for the 4 weeks prior to the competition. Instead, I leisurely worked on a few entries that I hoped that I'd get done in time. Prone to distraction, at one point I even stopped to buy a gallon of paint and then painted my hobby room, thus destroying the horrible mint-green walls that had infected that room before I purchased my house. A nice neutral-colored environment to paint in now soothes me instead of stabbing my retinas while I attempt to paint...

Then for some reason, I shifted the focus of my attention to the batmobile (my '98 metallic navy blue Trans Am), as it had taken some damage when I hit a curb earlier. Several months earlier. For those several months, it was resident within the garage. It was obvious that I messed up the actual wheel, but there was also some damage to the suspension for that wheel. So I slowly pushed forward, aquiring one component at at time, until I finally had the necessary pieces/parts to reassemble the suspension to a satisfactory state. After which I (finally) drove it down to one of the local shops to have the wheels aligned and have my work checked by a professional. Mind you, I completed my share of work on the suspension at 4 am before I was planning on leaving for Chicago, then took it into the shop for alignment promptly at 9am... Can't fault me for timing on that one, eh? To sum it all up, I had an 8 hour test drive to make sure that the work was done properly. With all of that out of the way, I was able to drive my own car (instead of the "green beater" loaner car from my parents). This in itself pleased me to no end...

Eventually, I managed to get going down the road to the Windy City. An uneventful drive out... Made to StrayCatt's house and we stayed up for a few hours painting together to finish out our respective entries. A good time painting and hanging out with him is always worth the long drive. Of course, the entries I was working on had to be changed before I walked out the door in KC, simply for the fact that I'd NEVER get my original ideas finished in time to enter them, in addition to working on the car and driving out... Corners had to be cut, so I chopped them off full force. But, since I was going to visit my bud, I figured I'd let them be and stop worrying about it. I'll try to use those uncompleted ideas for (1) next year's Chicago or (2) another Games Day event, such as Baltimore, Atlanta, or LA. I do see it as unlikely that I'll make it to LA though. Hmmm something to think about later.

The event itself was a lot of fun. StrayCatt and I dropped off our entries and chatted about with some of our mutual painting friends. I strolled about through the store, looking at GW stuff I refrained from buying, including some of the Forgeworld resin models that I'm kicking myself for not pre-ordering. Then I visited with some of my friends from KC that were participating in the plastics conversion contest. (Although they were mainly doing so in order to get the free squad of space marines that was provided, but I can't blame them for that one...) StrayCatt and I went out to eat with several members of the Mini-Painters' list, while we waited on results from the first round of Demon judging. When we returned, two of my three entries had made first cut. Not bad. I'll take it.

I attempted to pass through the Demon entries and scrutinize them a bit closer, but continued to run into friends and aquaintances to talk with, so I didn't get too far through the line. A few hours later, I returned to pass by to see the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place entries marked above thier respective diplay cases. As I went through, I saw that StrayCatt's entry in the Duel category placed 3rd, so that was encouraging. (It's always cool when one of my close friends wins.) But, one of mine made it to the final 3, so I was excessively pleased with myself. I had to do a double-take to realize which place I had actually been awarded... 2nd place in 40K single mini. That was a bit impressive to me, considering that particular category usually has more entries than any other. Wow.

After the awards ceremony, StrayCatt and I headed out to eat with a more expanded version of the mini-painter list. We had a bit of fun chatting things up there. I got to know a couple other guys a bit better from that, including the Slayer Sword winner, Chris Borer. Everybody was a hoot to get along with though.Eventually, as everybody was getting ready to turn into pumpkins, we decided to take off and head back to StrayCatt's house. We didn't stay up late, but we sat around for a bit BS'ing and throwing out a couple of ideas. Eventually Catt started twisting my arm a bit harder for me to make an appearance at GenCon in the next couple weeks. He twisted a bit harder, but I have to admit, taking 2nd in a diffucult category started to revive a bit of enthusiasm in the hobby for me. I told him I'd think about it a bit more seriously.

The next morning, I got up bright and early and headed out to make the long trek home, but my buddy had already headed out the door that morning. He and I are very similar in that we jump through all kinds of hoops to help our good friends out with manual labor. StrayCatt was on his way to assist in building a deck for a buddy. No problem. I was able to get going on my own and eventually made it back to the land of wheat and sunflowers. A relatively uneventful drive, therefore affirming some of my semi-mechanical skills fixing the batmobile prior to the trip. I returned somewhat tired, but at the same time, but also with some slightly renewed in painting motivation. Not a bad trip. Not at all....

Now, to see if I can duplicate the accomplishment (or better) for 2006 GamesDay.

Labels: Demons, Games Day