Ann's Immaterium

Mostly physical culture but also writing, gaming, and other dark procrastinations

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April 2020 “Paint the Crap You Already Own!” Painting and Hobby Challenge

My first painting challenge, March Might & Magic, is wrapping up on April 3rd, so I thought I’d announce a new painting challenge for this month:Ā  Paint the Crap You Already Own!*Ā  The idea is simple.Ā  You can paint anything you want so long as you owned it before April 1, 2020.

Also, as a Hobby Challenge, you don’t have to confine yourself to painting models.Ā  For example, you can finish a short story, poem, write a roleplaying game adventure, craft a mandala, paint a picture, post a Youtube video, complete a needlepoint project, finishing putting together a swing set out in your backyard, etc.Ā  Pretty much anything fun or hobby-oriented that you started before April 1st.

Always good advice! šŸ™‚

Rules of the Challenge

  • Models for this challenge must be ones you owned before April 1, 2020.
  • Before pictures are great, and I’ll use them for updates, but they are not required.Ā  We’re on the honor system here.
  • If your project doesn’t involve painting models, you must have started work on it before April 1, 2020.
  • The challenge closes on May 3rd, 2020 at midnight (your local time).Ā  If you can’t get your pictures posted by that date, it is fine.Ā  Just post them as soon as you can.
  • You can complete one model for this challenge or as many as you want.Ā  Basing is great, but is optional.
  • Models and projects you feature in other challenges are welcome here too.
  • You can join in, and add more models at any time as the month goes along.
  • Models from any company, range, time period, scale, etc. are welcome.
  • Questions and/or ideas?Ā  Let me know in the comments.
Pioneer’s Cabin Diorama by Dave of The Imperfect Modeller.

Painting an entire diorama is certainly a worthy project and who doesn’t love a fully painted tank?

Panzerkampfwagen VI, Pattern Tintenfisch, from Sir John’s Just Needs Varnish!

Of course some good, old-fashioned space marines are always welcome.Ā  One or a whole squad.Ā  (Wretched, Gollum-looking person peering out of a hole optional.)

My friend, Daniel’s, Deathwing terminators from a March 2017 game.

Like I said, a project doesn’t have to be painting miniatures to have a place in this April challenge.Ā  Something like this map I made using Campaign Cartographer software or one drawn by hand would find a welcome home here.

Might be fun to run a Fantasy-meets-Old West mini-campaign using my little map?

Learn the rules for a board game, play a game and then report your thoughts or review the game.

From review of Tiny Epic Galaxies game by Justin of The Solo Meeple.

Carve some pumpkins, perhaps?**

IfĀ  you don’t want to paint a picture, play a game, paint a model and making videos is lame … then when all else fails bake a Cthulhu pie!

Once again, ā€œIn his pie at Rā€™lyeh, dead Cthulhu dreams for (drowns in?) whipped cream.ā€

Tree Symbol Clip Art

* This being April 1st, I was going to put up an April Fool’s challenge that for the month you could paint your entire backlog of unpainted models, but decided maybe to save that for next year.

** Ensorcelling said pumpkin(s) as containers for the bewitched life forces of extinct but somehow still nascent beings of pure song is entirely optional and probably beyond the scope of this hobby challenge.

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102 responses to “April 2020 “Paint the Crap You Already Own!” Painting and Hobby Challenge”

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    • Thank you. It is always nice to know that in some tiny way I’ve helped a mini sitting in a garage, neglected and afraid, realize its greatest dreams of being painted! šŸ™‚

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    • Nicely painted and thank you for another Reaper miniature for the painting challenges. That is quite an impressive miniature; it is sort of a mini-diorama all on its own. I particularly like how you did the green-black ghostly wraith thingies. I have a box of those AoS wraiths, that I was thinking of painting up sometime and was just going to paint their robes like they are on the box, but I think I like your scheme better.

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      • Thanks Ann glad you like it and it was a pleasure to participate in your challenge. This figure would almost certainly not have gotten finished without it to push me on. One I lost my way on but that’s the way it goes. Part of the price we pay for our creative minds and enthusiasm for the next project. Well that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! šŸ˜‰

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        • Thank you, and I’m very glad you did.

          Hehe, yeah, it is so true about painting miniatures. The trick with these projects is to only undertake ones that are large enough to be of interest but small enough to be completed while they still hold our interest. I have to say, Reaper ought to give you some kind of kickback or something because of your influence over the past few months I have created an account on their site and put a bunch of stuff into a Wish List. To my eye their mini’s are a lot nicer and have more character than the plastic (pre-primed or no) offerings that I bought a bunch of not too long ago.

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          • I like the idea of a kickback. If you can influence them I will be happy to take payment in figures šŸ¤—. I fell in love with Reaper when I started to embrace the fantasy genre and also began to concentrate more on single figures once again rather than just dioramas and vignettes. I think other manufactures offer more figure variety and scope for dioramas but when it comes to a bit more of a painting challenge and an impressive single piece I just love what Reaper have to offer. I have a nice list of those I want to buy. At some point I would be interested in knowing what has caught your eye and compare notes. By the metal figures though. I hear the bones ones aren’t up to much although I have never done one.

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    • Sounds good. I’ll probably do one for May unless someone else steps up and wants to run one. In that case I’ll take a month off. Not sure yet about what to do for the next challenge. Maybe something a bit more focused than the first two, which were pretty much nearly anything goes. I’m not sure yet; certainly open to suggestions/ideas. šŸ™‚

      So far as the challenges I’m organizing go, stuff that is being done for commission is fair game for being included. Painting for fun or pay or both is all equally good in my book.

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  30. 100% of my models are pre-April 2020, so if I get anything done, I win! Hard to resists that one!

    I do have a few that are getting close, potentially before end of April, so will see what I can contribute. šŸ™‚

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    • Well there you go, handy that every model you own would fit into the challenge! šŸ™‚ The same here, though I did buy a box of undead guys that I don’t really need but think might be cool to throw into a D&D game sometime. I got them mail order from my LFGS because I wanted to support the owner in his efforts to keep his business alive.

      Looking forward to seeing what you come up with April. I’m thinking for myself I’m going to finish Poxwalker #18 (and maybe even #19), the owl from the familiar set that Cat and Toad came from, which will finish up the box, and a WizKids D&D halfling with a somewhat sour expression branishing a pointy little shiv. (And they say “halflings look like human children” … not so much with this lady, lol.)

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      • Haha, and I’m looking at finishing 1 mini. So underwhelming! Maybe if I get that one done, I can try to finish one more that I got primed up while I whittle away at the Blood Bowl team I’m working on.

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        • Heh, I know what you mean. I’m the person who has been working on the same miserable mob of 20 poxwalkers since I bought the Dark Vengeance box in 2017 and I’m still working on #18. So when I decided to run some painting challenges I thought that it would be great for people to show off complete squads and the like, but what about painters like me who sometimes only get one mini done in the course of a month and consider that a decent output? šŸ™‚

          So finish your one mini and whittle away at that Blood Bowl team, my comrade-in-paintbrushes, lol. šŸ™‚

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  35. Hello Ann. Excellent challenge idea for Lockdown and a good follow up to Alex at Lead Balloony’s FEMbruary female figure painting challenge. (Thanks to Marvin at Suburban Militarism for letting me know about this on his blog).

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    • Thank you. I was going to jump in myself and paint something for Alex’s challenge but I saw it too late and was in the middle of painting a bunch of stuff that wouldn’t have qualified for his challenge. With people being at home more and having more time for painting, it seemed a good time to start doing some painting challenges.

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  37. […] Ann’s Immaterium has issued forth a challenge for the month of April – “Paint the Crap You Already Own!” The aim is to pitch into some of our collectively large pile of unpainted crap (aka our precious collections) and the restrictions of national lockdown are providing the perfect conditions to do just that. […]

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    • Yes, I know what you mean. I have a huge pile of unpainted plastic/resin/metal/etc. too and sometimes figuring out what to paint is hard. These days I’ve been painting more fantasy stuff because I’ve been playing D&D and the 40K stuff I’ve been working on is either stuff that I can also use in fantasy games or finishing up uncompleted projects.

      Looking forward to seeing what you choose to paint….

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  42. Hey Ann! Good to see you’re blogging again these days, and …you’re running challenges too? Models I owned before, uh, yesterday? I guess I could probably find something that fits that category. Hmm.. and one that wraps tomorrow as well, I see? Interesting.

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    • Yes, back to blogging again. Took a couple of months off in mid-2019, which seemed to recharge my batteries a bit. When I started painting again I poked around looking for challenges and I noticed that some of the people, who had been running them, didn’t seem to be currently and the ones who were either weren’t doing the types of miniatures I wanted to paint at the time or I was too late in jumping in. So I thought I might try running a few myself since it seems like fun. I’m glad you were able to paint a couple of miniatures for March. I feel like any painting challenge is made better by having one or two Azazel Originals in the gallery, so to speak. šŸ™‚

      I decided to end my challenges on the 3rd of each month instead of the end of the month like most people do it as a way of making mine slightly different. With this April one, having it end on the 3rd will give people the entire weekend at the end, so that might be useful as well perhaps.

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  43. Excellent idea, miniatures ought to be painted and enjoyed, not stored away on their sprues to gather dust! At the moment, in this country, pretty much everywhere that sells miniatures has shut down so pretty much everything I paint this month will count. Silver linings and all that though, it’s a fine opportunity to clear some of my backlog.

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    • Wonderful! Can’t wait to see what gruesome but artistic beauties you come up with in your studio/laboratory. šŸ™‚ I agree, miniatures should be painted and if they gather dust it should be in a display case not on their sprues.

      Yes, things are shut down here too and hobby stores are certainly considered “nonessential” and have shut down. The local store I usually patronize is doing mail order, and filling orders very quickly too, so I did end up buying a box of undead guys as well as some paints and such that I wanted in order to do my small part in supporting his efforts. I’d hate to see his store go away since first and more important I like the owner, consider him a friend and secondly because his is the only full gaming/hobby store in my immediate area.

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  44. that Cthulu pie is awesome, and also I do have 3 or 4… hundred minis that could do with being painted… in fact I’ll move my Blood Bowl trophies up the queue. I’e had them since about 2002 so it’s about time I painted them!

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    • Nice! Yes, 18 years is probably long enough to wait, I agree. I’ll look forward to seeing them when they are done. I’m a big fan of pie myself, both making and eating them, and what goes better with pie than a Great Old One? šŸ™‚

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    • Certainly, and thank you for letting me use your pictures. Thank you about the map. I used Campaign Cartographer 3 to make it, which is pretty good software though I’m finding there is a learning curve to it. Some people are able to use the software to produce some stunning work. As for myself, I’m happy with the maps I’m able to make using mostly the basic features.

      Looking forward to seeing what you paint. I liked that last semi-retired blue guy you painted. He almost seems like he’d be at home walking around in a John Carter novel even if doesn’t have enough arms.

      I do favor my friend Daniel’s terminators that he painted. I’ve murdered them many times in games of 40K and facepalmed just as many times as they teleport in at some unfortunate time and spot and evaporate some key squad of my guys or a sub-commander in a hail of “Death to the Heretics,” stormbolter rounds, and flashing power fists, etc.

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  50. Count me in! šŸ™‚ Coincidentally, I have been looking at my mountain of unpainted stuff and thinking now is a good time to pitch into some of it rather than keep thinking about the next new thing.

    I’m going to pitch into a box of Napoleon’s Old Guard doing absolutely nothing except standing to attention.in various ways. Perfect for lockdown conditions.

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