Raggy's Gaming Adventures

After a year in lockdown, many of us are suffering failing mental health, isolation and general ennui. Painting has provided many of us with something to focus on but it often spins into unhealthy cycles of competition. Instagram has provided a whole world of competition for likes, followers, engagements. It can become a dangerous cycle and this post really highlighted to me the importance of revising my objectives. So what do I want out of my hobby? Since I really started working to improve the calibre of my painting, I've been torn in this regard - part of my wants to become a better painter, another part of me has been focused on eroding the rather daunting pile of opportunity I've developed over more than 25 years in the hobby. Generally speaking I've been fairly successful in both areas in the last few years but more recently the quest to conquer that backlog has become rather 'all consuming'. I dedicate blogs to tallying what I've painted, what I'...

Welcome, welcome! For those of you reading in the distant future - the world is currently being ravaged by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The result is what seems to be the prelude of a massive depression and a lot of people stuck at home either unemployed or 'working from home'. For many it seems like the perfect time to branch out and try their hand at making some money from their hobby. For myself - it felt like a good time to share some advice. There is an old adage - "How do you make a small fortune in the restaurant business? Start with a large one." For commission painters the outlook is somewhat bleaker - "How do you make a small fortune as a commission painter? YOU CAN'T HAHA!" I may be painting it a bit bleakly but that's the basic reality. Almost every commission painter you can think of makes their money through something else. They either have a day job, teach painting (through classes or patreon) or have some other way of ...

I have talked in the past about my reticence to strip models. Particularly my own. (In summary - if you want to paint a model again that badly - you can probably find somewhere online that sells it, there's value in holding onto examples of old work). Even with second hand models - I often find you can paint over the previous work as long as it's not too thick... sadly an eBay rescue I picked up the other day was too far gone for a simple paint over and so I was forced to explore the options available to me. In the past I was in the UK, stripping lead models and I got to mess with Nitromors - the big daddy of paint stripping. Unfortunately it's potent enough that it'll take plastic along with paint into a sorry goop and so I needed to source some alternative. I tapped into the CK Alumni community for some advice and was pointed in the direction of this gem of a video: I can't express how much I value controlled testing of hobby products like this. They are v...

This weekend I went to my first Ever Warhammer Fest. It was quite the event. I got whooped in Underworlds Grand Clash, and entered Golden Demon for the first time (more in my next post!). But the big news of the weekend for us hobbyists was of course the new Games Workshop wonder paints - Citadel Colour Contrast! Well between all the other things, I also got a chance to put some paint to plastic and try this new hotness: Sadly those are not my work. The full line is some 34 paints of which 10 were available for us mere mortals to test. I did some quick work on a Poxwalker to make sure I could try a little of each paint: About the paints: These paints are really what GW is pitching - a way to get a contrasted, coloured and shaded model with a single coat. It seems GW have designed a couple of new primers (grey and ivory corresponding to warm and cool colours). It seems these are a smooth finish primer (still on the matt side of what I'd call satin). This i...

Warning: I'm a numbers guy... there's a lot of that in this post! Well, I posted a few months ago that I had already completed my resolution to paint 365 minis in 2018. At that time I set myself a stretch goal of 500 minis!!! Soooo how did I do on that one? Well... I didn't paint 500 minis from scratch in the year, but I completed 511 minis in 2018 and another 45 smaller pieces. A really healthy total I think. I feel like this year has taken me a long way toward getting back on top of that lead mountain. There is still a lot to do but I honestly think that I could be realistically on top of things by the end of 2019 if I continue with the same mindset. Carry over: (22 + 11 small) Space Hulk:  6xTerminators Mansions of Madness:  2xShoggoths, 2xCthonians, 1xDark Young, 1xDunwich Horror Blood Bowl:  Wood Elf & Chaos Apothecaries, Ball Marker Warhammer Underworlds:  Reaver 5xSpiteclaw Lady Morrigan Wander: Tank Misc: 10xBarrels Comple...

Hi everyone! I wanted to announce a new weekly YouTube Livestream I will be doing over on my channel . Weekly Live Stream Thursdays 8pm GMT / 3pm ET / 12pm PT The idea of the show is to go through getting into the Hobby from scratch with as tight a budget as possible. I will be looking at where you can cut corners and where you can't and I'll be painting a few models holding myself to the same restriction. As this will be a live stream - I'll be answering questions as I go which will hopefully help people with specific issues and capture elements I haven't considered. Basic shopping list: Paints + Brush -  GW Set (includes Clippers)  £25/$40 /  Army Painter Starter  £25/$30 (Clippers -  Army Painter Side Clippers  £10/$12) Spray primer -  GW Chaos Black  £12 /  Rustoleum Painter's Touch Flat Black Primer  ~$4 Baking Parchment (Parchment Paper US) / Morrison's Baking Parchment (UK) Reynold's Parchment Paper (US) ...

In the main, I am far to English to go around tooting my own horn, but I feel this occasion warrants some yelling from the rooftops. I am now Community Coordinator for CK Studios ! Regular readers of the blog will have seen the various posts I have made in the past following classes I have taken with CK Studios. It's not an exaggeration to say that Kat and Caleb are the single biggest reason for my painting improvement over the last 2 years and it's a huge thrill to get to work with them. Not just that but several other incredible teams are also joining the Studio. Sam Lenz ( Blog ,  Facebook ,  Instagram ) - I first heard of Sam through Uncle Atom's Tabletop minions and have seen the many amazing works he's done. Sam's also an advocate of cheap brushes for 90% of painting, something I am also a firm believer in. Vince Venturella ( YouTube ,  Twitter ) - Vince's YouTube channel has been a must subscribe for me for a long time. Vince has a fantastic ...

Working away at my Space Hulk set. I am currently stumped by the basing for the terminators. My original intention had been NMM but I am realising that will take forever so I am now reconsidering - particularly as there is a lot of metal also on the genestealer models. Tank from Red Panda Games is a great sculpt and I have really enjoyed pushing my skills on this figure with the help of Miniature Monthly . I am really happy with how he's looking and can't wait to sit down and do a little more on him. Finally a departure for me - 54mm figures. Not something I usually do but has been a great way to really practice faces. I am now working on the skin tones and then it will be a test of my skills with fabrics. Missing Pictures: Space Hulk Genestealers The last couple of years have seen a lot of focus on Blood Bowl miniatures as I work to paint up a new team for every season/tournament. I am going to cut back on this a little. I want to finish up the mi...

Wow, looking back over this year - it's been super productive! 2 Blood Bowl teams, 2 competition pieces, 5 display pieces, a gang for Test of Honour, the miniatures for a boardgame and the start of another as well as a bundle of other miscellaneous pieces. There is a lot more here than I'd expected when I was sitting down to start this series of posts. It's maybe still not as much as I'd really like - there are plenty of boardgames that I really want to get the figures for painted up, but it's been some good progress none the less. Missing photos: The Chaos Pact team - Raggy, signing out