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crazmadsci Tools & Organization

Storage Wars (Part 2) The Hobby Space

Introduction

As part of my large overhaul in storage and organization, (State of the Crazy: Storage Wars Part 1) a revamp and improved Hobby Space was in order.

Now a hobby space is a highly discussed topic and almost an extension of yourself as a creator. Pictures shared of your hobby area or tours are often discussed and shared as much as pictures of paint jobs and projects it seems. The community almost enjoys sharing their hobby “home” as much as they share finished projects. If you doubt me just search “Hobby Space” on YouTube and you will see numerous videos of creators talking about how to improve and maintain your space as well as showcasing their own. One of my absolute favorite discussions on the topic is the Paint Bravely Podcast “What Makes a Good Hobby Space” and they go as far as to rate your hobby space by level. The more sophisticated the setup the higher the level within the realm of miniature painting.

The ultimate goal of having a hobby area is to have a place to maintain momentum, have everything you need, and hopefully inspire you to create. For me my hobby desk has evolved significantly over the years. As always it just began as a place to hold my paints, brushes and what you i’m painting. So I think it is time to show you my current version of my hobby desk and areas of focus for me. However before we go into what i’ve done let me show you the evolution of my Hobby Space over just the last 3 years.

Hobby Desk Evolution

Unfortunately I do not have photographs of my very first hobby stations growing up. Even though I distinctly remember them. My first ever real “hobby area” was at my uncle’s house who loved cars and putting together model cars. I would paint with Testors enamel paint and work on model cars in his basement surrounded by tools of all sorts and trades. I loved the space and most importantly loved painting with my uncle. I learned which various components of the engine where a unique color while hearing his stories growing up with different vehicles. Throughout my childhood I did love hobby crafting and mingled in other types of hobby crafts like model trains briefly.

Painting miniatures did not truly start until 2014/2015. My D&D group and husband would paint figures sitting at the dining room table preparing for the next dungeons and dragons game. Nothing was organized and was a complete free for all. While a ton of fun it was not the most conducive to having good light, tools, or improvement. The focus was purely for socialization. Lets just say were not the best of painters but the community & socialization aspect was a blast. The group and painting slowly fell apart as we graduated and moved all over the country starting our various lives and careers.

2018

Flash forward again to 2018 when I started 3d printing and the paint finally got pulled out again. I wanted to physically build the world I have imagined so much and provide a great tactile experience for myself and my players. With that I knew it was time to take painting more seriously.

My hobby desk was predominately made up with 2oz cheap craft acrylic paints, an old adjustable spice rack to hold the paints and create a shelf. I commonly used magazine pages to protect my desk.

Slowly I graduated to include a homemade wet palette, a white shelf that I was supposed to hang up on the wall somewhere, a very small self healing cutting mat, and a singular desk lamp. It wasn’t the fanciest and sat on my desk unless the project was too big for my small area and I could bring out the trusty old card table.

Eventually after the birth of my son my hobby space turned into the nursery. Thus resulting in having to migrate to a new room since most of my hobby time was after the baby went to bed. Better not use daylight bulbs in the same room as a small sleeping kiddo.

2020



The year of 2020 definitely resulted in the most growth for my hobby “stuff” and therefore the most improvement. Moving to the new room definitely was tricky. I was lower in the ground and it was definitely darker. Also this room has many many purposes. It is the main room walking into the house, TV space, laundry room, and my office. Having to attempt to keep it clean is always tricking as well as the rooms layout.

The first move into this space you can definitely tell I had boxes everywhere. Things weren’t labeled and the most noticeable feature is the cat ramp to let the cat look out the window and watch me while working.

Slowly but surely I added some important features:

Custom designed LED light tray to mount on shelf with parchment paper diffuser
3D printed brush and tool holder
Foam core, Work in Progress shelf to keep track of my many active projects

I also was given a large self healing cutting mat and added a second lap to round the whole place out. Towards the end of 2020, I got my resin printer and built a really wonderful enclosure for all my 3d printing next to my desk. I definitely was feeling more confident, really motivated, and immensely began to enjoy my space.

Dreaming of More

However i’ve always been jealous of the “Hobby Zone” Organizational systems with those sleek white drawers and having all of your tools and supplies organized on top of your workspace.

Picture of Hobby Zone Product from their website: https://www.hobbyzone.biz/modules.shtml


I cannot even articulate the number of times i’ve used the online desk mapping software to design my “ideal space”. If you want to design your own setup check out the Modular Workshop System Designer. However I knew I could never make the argument or afford such an epic system.

As a result I started to dabble in what 3d printed systems are on the market. Being able to 3d print my own system could potentially save more more money in the long run and make me feel like I contributed to its creation rather than just purchasing outright. To begin with I originally purchased the “Ultimate Modular workshop system” on myminifactory made by Meian. Never before in my life have I made a 3d printed purchase I regret so significantly. As a whole I found that many of the designs were missing and still after 8 months of purchase the files have not been updated. Also the parts themselves were not all labeled upon purchasing that it were be too large for the size of my 3d print bed. Not to mention the numerous failures due to poor design. This is the one situation where I wish there was a larger global system in place for customer reviews.

Then I found the “Paint Station Starter Set with UV curing station” by Esteban Cantu. Also located on myminifactory I purchased the STL set for $10 and got to work. Overall I enjoy the system, although at times I do find the boxes a bit too small. Over time I’ve been slowly working on adding more and more boxes as needed for my work bench. Also utilizing some old boards to make shelves.

3d Printer enclosure (left) & first major iteration of 3d printed drawers

2021 Hobby Desk Redesign

Fast forward to the last several months i’ve been growing and hobbying with significantly more gusto, including really working towards this blog. Which of course led to gaining more tools, supplies and need for organization. Also on top of that the region I call the “Baby Danger Zone” was constantly growing. I had to keep my area almost meticulously clean after every evening hobby in order to keep objects from being confiscated the next day (shown in image below). Even boxes on the shelf were no longer safe as he learned how to open and throw its contents everywhere.


As a result there was no choice but to grow upwards and deeper into the corner of my desk. This could not happen as my computer was sitting in the center of my desk. So I shifted it to the side in order to open up the entire length of my desk. I also was capable of getting my laps off the tabletop which opened up more space as well. This has been the most exciting installment of my renovation. This change alone almost doubled my available workspace. I am now capable to easily keep my notebook nearby for notes, a warm drink and my active project!

I converted a paintbrush drying rack into a tools rack giving my brush holder more space. This along with adding another paint rack and a DIY dowel stand to stack it upwards really changed the game of things that just sat on my desk.

The last major change and creation was to make a shelf/drawer box to hold all of my glue and adhesives. This is been a large problem for me since the super glue containers were too tall for most boxes and resulted in being spread out across the desk. Of course was not going to work having to protect my small from glue.

What’s Next?

Overall it has been interesting and a blast to see how my desk as changed and evolved overtime as I have. I still have a lot of things I want to improve upon such as organization for bits, greebles, basing materials, etc. I still haven’t found a permeant home for my paper towels.

There is also always the discussion of what warrants being within arms reach at all times for your hobby space and what could be put away and used more sparingly. This is something I think i’m going to have to just adapt over time. My biggest dream is to one day figure out a way to incorporate an airbrush and ventilate it. But that is a dream for much later.

I do love having the capability to organically grow my hobby space by 3d printing all the storage containers and drawers for my hobby space and being able to have more functional prints is fun.

How do you maintain and organize your hobby space? What priorities do you have for your area?

As always thanks for hanging out and reading. Let me know what you think.

Sincerely,

Crazmadsci

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Storage Wars: Part 1
Storage Wars: Part 3 Miniature Storage
Storage Wars: Part 4 Project Tracking
crazmadsci Uncategorized

State of the Crazy: May 10, 2021 Storage Wars

Introduction

So i’ll admit it has been quite some time since I written a “State of the Crazy”, knowing its been at least over a month since my last update I figured it was about time. Strangely I have felt like the majority of March & April have been a whirlwind of a lot of things happening but not necessarily cool & flashy project completions. Instead I have been predominately focused on the inevitable enemy of every tabletop gamer: Storage and Organization.

Like every aspect in life, eventually the issue of storage becomes a primary concern. Either in your kitchen with that drawer of miscellaneous utensils and tools you don’t know where to put, or organizing your closet, insert that place that holds all the junk that doesn’t have home. This issue is no different than the hobbyist and crafter. But how in the world can you stay organized and make sure you aren’t accidently buying a tool or material you already own?

Storage and organization is probably my largest issue when it comes to the hobby. Not knowing if I have the tool, material, models, etc and continuously buying or making more because I am not organized is the largest point of waste in my space. Also admittedly mess.

An example of how chaotic my area can/ has gotten

I mean how many goblins do I really need? Continuously making more because I need 12 models for session on Saturday and they are scattered throughout a series of boxes instead of organized by monster type has really hurt both my time management as well as backlog. I now have WAY more than 12 goblin models laying around the house due to constantly making more. Please never buy me skeletons or goblins.

Now that I have a small assistant in my house who loves to explore. Storage has become even more of an issue. How can I protect models, figures, and even him from the destruction? It has become an ever-growing issue. The most concerning is safety. With resin, sharp objects, and even boxes I must think of ways to keep my kiddos safe. Even the other day he pulled a box off the shelf of scatter terrain and cut his head on the lid, poor guy. He even thinks of himself a crafter and gets upset if I’m in my chair and will commonly “push” me off until he can climb into it.

My assistant in “his chair”. Look at how smug this kid is and ready to hobby.

Why Now?

If this is an ever present issue that never seems to end. Why the current crusade for storage and organization and why is it important to me now? Well in short I believe that I am currently struggling with a deep biological drive called “nesting”. As a 9 month expectant mother i’ll just say hormones are…. strange. Even though I’ve had other plans such as my Wood painting deepdive for the month of April. All previous plans got derailed for the time being. For the last month or so I can hardly focus on anything but organizing. However, this biological need to organize and prepare my house for a new baby is manifested almost exclusively into my hobby. Since I already have a young son not much in the house is needed to be updated or changed. Instead, I’m working on improving my space. I’ve even gone as far to ask several of my “mommy friends” if I am just going crazy and apparently nesting in strange places such as your workplace office is not uncommon for second children. So well here goes what I’ve been doing.

Over the course of the last month, I’ve been working on improving 3 main categories.

  1. My hobby desk
  2. Miniature Storage
  3. Project workflow & Completion

Issues 1 & 2 are current active problems with either my current mass production tendencies and/or the assistant’s curious hands. Giving myself a deeper area to work would allow me to get more things off the floor and easier to find items in the long term. The miniature storage aim is to make it easy to find miniatures along with keeping them safe for long term storage.

Issue 3 is entirely based on the mentality that I just won’t remember what I was working on once the newborn arrives (t-minus less than 30 days!) Being so sleep deprived might completely make me forget, where I was on a project, what is next, and where to find things.

Goals when tackling the issues.

  1. Staying organized to know where hobby tools & materials are located?
  2. Keeping those tools in a safe location away from my small assistant’s hands until he is big enough
  3. Stay cost effective
  4. In some cases be able to easily move into an outdoor shed for long term storage.
  5. How to I remember what specific step I was on for a piece of a project.


Storage & Organization solutions are different for everyone and the most popular and common solutions I find are people with essentially a library of bookshelves full of miniatures and terrain. While I think these wide sweeping shelves full of terrain and miniatures look amazing. I do not have the space for that and know that the tiny humans in my home would get into WAY too many things.

The location of my storage is currently predominately in our large outdoor shed. If It is not being actively worked on, or in use. I need to be able to about to transport from crafting station to shed to play space easily. Also, since almost all of my hobby time is after kiddo goes to bed I also have to be able to navigate in the dark to find the specific box I’m looking for. The space is not insulated as well so can be cold depending on time of year. Organization and labeling is key.

Since this undertaking has been so extensive and can tap into numerous discussions i’ve decided to break this write up smaller consumable chunks that could be referenced or read as interested. Also when writing this post I realized how incredibly long it was.

I don’t think any system is perfect and overall my goals are still a long work in progress. However the changes i’ve been working on have been essentially the last two months of my hobbying.

In the future I am hoping to do more Works IN Progress posts which will be better reflective as to what I’m working on while also making these types of updates easier to write and keep up to date with.


As always thank you for hanging out with me throughout the process!

Sincerely,
Crazmadsci

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Storage Wars: Part 2 Hobby Space
Storage Wars: part 3 Miniature Storage
Storage Wars: Part 4 Project Tracking
crazmadsci Developing Skill

How Do You Magnetize Models Anyway?

Over the last several weeks in between a nice vacation to see my family after almost a year, my 30th birthday, and preparing for our new arrival to the family (about a month to go!), hobbying has been slow but steady. Overall I’ve been working on tieing up loose ends in my attempt to 3D print all the miniatures from the Lost Adventures Vol 1 Kickstarter. I have been printing a significantly large amount of miniatures and keeping track of them has been complicated along with keeping the models safe from my one year old. However I’ll get into that storage and project management at a later date.

I recently did a project that i’m immensely proud of and thought i’d share my experiences…. I magnetized my first ever miniature successfully!

Magnetized Model of a Hydra


For some this sound silly but for others this is an incredible feat that opens up the realm of endless possibility. If you do not understand what I mean by magnetizing miniatures let me explain. Magnetizing miniatures commonly occurs on models where the player or hobbyist desires to be able to swap out arms, heads, weapons or more on the model. This could be done for aesthetic reasons or be a functional part of gameplay. Players could “purchase” weapon upgrades or armored machines could be “destroyed” and fall apart while actively playing a game.

In the case of this project I magnetized, a Hydra. This Hydra model I got my the Lost Adventures Vol 1 Kickstarter and it has been on the list of things to print. Finally getting it printed and coming out terrifically I decided to add some extra TLC to this figure. For information regarding my print history check out the print log, Hydra Horror.

For the extra work for this model I desired to simulate a core behavior of this ancient Greek and Roman mythological monster. If you are not familiar with a Hydra, it is most famous for its mythological fight with Hercules son of Zeus.  I was first introduced to this ferocious monster in the 1997 animated film “Hercules” by Walt Disney Pictures.

In the movie Hercules is seeking to become a hero and is baited by the minions of  Hades to fight a Hydra. This young and arrogant man takes his sword and repeatedly cuts off the head of the Hydra. Little does he know is that a Hydra is capable of regrow its head and replacing it not with one but two new Heads. This was the behavior I wanted to simulate.

Animated Hercules fighting the Hydra in the beginning.
The result of the Hydra after getting heads cut off in the movie.


While working on my project of printing the miniatures from the Lost Adventures 1 Kickstarter I encountered the perfect model.

Their Hydra Horror named “Malgáthez the Devourer” sculpted by two freelance sculptors,  Artem Bespalov & Deryck Pelligrini, is a Hydra that comes with a main body, 5 neck slots and the choice of either 1 neck or 2 necks for each slot. This allows for the flexibility of this model to be created with 5 to 10 heads in 120 possible combinations. Now I will admit that I did not actually realize that there were 10 printable necks for only 5 printable slots until I accidently printed them all up regardless. I mindlessly just filled my Phrozen Sonic mini 4K build plate with models and hit go. Not wanting to waste any resin and seeing the opportunity for something really and truly epic I decided to attempt magnetizing the model. Yay for happy accidents.

I then again was faced with questions in the hobby space. How in the world do I magnetize a model? Where do I begin? What tools do I need? Is this worth investing into?

Normally I would be hyper critical and ultra analyze others and their projects for magnetizing models reading blog posts, searching forums, watching youtube videos. But for some reason I decided to blaze into the challenge blind. Which I should say was a ton of fun. I was not completely oblivious to the process of magnetizing models as a viewer of hobby youtube channels have shown this being done several times throughout the years of watching. However those are typically 30 second clips in 15 minute videos with no obvious guide.


In this case I knew a few things that I needed.

  1. Magnets
  2. A way to create recesses in the model for the magnets

Goals:

  1. Magnetized each neck to be replaceable on the model
  2. The magnet should be strong enough to hold the neck in place
  3. The magnet cannot impede the fit of the neck on the model and sit as seamlessly as possible.

Project Shopping

Now I had an idea of what I needed I decided to tackle the first problem: what size magnets? Knowing that I desired the strongest possible for the size chosen regardless I restricted my search to rare earth, neodymium magnets. I have previously used magnets in terrain such as my magnetized dungeon tiles using 5mm sphere magnets. I have also gotten magnets for other projects and had 3x1mm cylinder magnets for a previous attempt at magnetizing miniatures. These were not strong enough for the weight in last attempts for magnetized storage. I also had some 6×2 mm cylinders from a project I was supposed to do years ago…

Knowing this I decided I needed a bigger magnet than 3×1 cylinders but smaller than the 6x2mm. The end goal was to hide it in the model itself and not have it show through. Therefore I needed to purchase something in between. Normally this is the time where i’d go online and try to hunt for the very best deals and in some cases wait months for my magnets to arrive. Since in this case I wasn’t sure what I truly needed and wanted to get stuff moving off the tabletop. So I decided to go through Etsy to buy magnets. Etsy is not only a site where people can buy most commonly crafted goods & even 3d printed miniatures but also materials. Finding a vendor I ordered some 4x2mm cylinder magnets. My order was quick and much faster than if I ordered from a large magnet site that could take months.

With part 1 of the things I needed down I had to figure out a way to make holes in the solid resin model pieces to place the magnets. I already owned an affordable pin vise as I tried to learn its variable uses. Pin Vise link shown on the right.

However I did not have any drill bits that were big enough to make one hole for the magnets I ordered. Knowing I wanted to make only 1 hole to cut out as clean of an area as possible I ordered a set of big bits for these types of projects.

Being so excited to have my pin vise, magnets and models I set out on my mission. Only to discover that the pin vise would only hold up to 3.5 mm bits…. well I guess I need to find another tool for the job. After doing some research and even considered 3d printing a vice from thinigiverse I merely purchased a beefier vise on amazon that can hold all my new drill bits.

Magnetizing in Summary:


After buying all of my fun toys. I was off to the races! Overall this was surprisingly easy to accomplish. Each neck had a great fit into the main body and overall lead to making sure the alignment of the magnets went by super smoothly. I did not have to worry about the neck being too off center from the body due to the pretty impressive male/female pegs cut in the STL. Shout out to Lost Adventures Co and their sculptors for that hard work. In almost all cases the fit and form of the neck to the body was pretty close to seamless, well for a body that has swappable heads.

As for the strength of the magnets I only encountered trouble on neck #2 (moving left to right). Due to the fact that this neck is pointing down with gravity this neck needed a stronger magnet in order to stay in place. I ended up not realizing that this was such an issue until after the magnet was glued into the body. However I was able to cut out the magnet from the double necked head and replace it with one of my 6×2 mm magnets. This provided extra strength and helps attach the neck. Unfortunately the neck is very sensitive to movement and is more likely to fall off. All in All i’d recommend potentially gluing this head and magnetizing the rest to make it more sturdy.

Magnetizing Process:

  1. Find the two pieces that fit together and check their fit.

This was the time to check to make sure that no support marks were left on the model and I indeed have the correct pieces to go together.

  1. I used my small pin vise and drilled a pilot hole

I did this to help with the use of the big drill bit and assist in not shattering the resin model with force. Overall this helped to center the larger bit as well.

Hydra with pilot hole
  1. Use the larger bit (4mm) to drill out a hole.

I always ended up having to go a deeper than I thought I needed to. This accounts for potential space with the glue & fragments. I’d rather have the magnet slightly inside the model as opposed to sticking out.

  1. Check the fit of the magnet.

    If magnet did not fit correctly then I extracted the magnet from the hole, commonly using a pair of metal tweezers and repeated step 3 as needed.
  1. Check the polarity of the magnet.

    Overall I wanted the necks to always be attracted to the body. This was overall accomplished really well with the exception neck 2 of which I got the polarity flipped.  Most commonly I would mark the side of the magnet that would have glue on it and go into the hole drilled with a black sharpie pen so I could remember which side was which.
  1. Apply glue.

For my 3d printed resin models I used super glue.

  1. Using a tooth pick help navigate the magnet into the hole.

I made sure not to use a metal tool placing the magnet so that way the magnet would actually go into the hole and stay centered in the hole. If using a metal tool the magnet was “accidently” pulled away and glued to the tool. No of course this would never happen to me…..

  1. Once safely dried enough check model again for fit and polarity.

If polarity was accidently reversed then models would not connect and magnet would have to be removed and flipped. This only happened to me once or twice and was relatively easy to fix. I know this will not always be the case.

An example of a neck swap of one and two necks on the model.

Conclusion

This project has been a ton of fun and is one that I will take pride in. I am definitely intimidated with the concept of having 15 total heads to paint and what color scheme to paint the whole body. Should each neck slot be a different color like the famous Dungeon and Dragons Tiamat dragon? Should it all be the same? My husband thinks I should make the 2 neck variant a lighter color than the one neck to represent new growth. What do you think? Have you magnetized anything cool?

In Progress Shots

crazmadsci Deep Dive

Wood Painting Deep Dive: Part 1 The Questions, Inspiration and Self Reflection

Herein lies the first installment of the beginning of my wood painting deep dive. Wow, do I have a ton to unpack for this series and am already running out of “time” as I attempt to break things down and schedule them out. I can already tell that like all things in art and hobby there is no definite end or mastery but rather a continuous journey. So lets get to it!

The Problem

I do not know about you but I absolutely hate painting wooden textures in the tabletop space. In my mind almost every aspect of the hobby includes wood of some form. Miniatures have shields, perhaps wooden tavern bases, wooden helmets, bows, staffs, handles to weapons etc. Terrain can be trees, a fort, a barricade, tables & chairs to just name a few. Don’t even get me to start listing different buildings built out of wood. Everywhere I look I have to paint more wood onto objects. 

As a crafter I am now faced at a crossroads. Do I continue doing the same thing, paint, method and color? OR Do I attempt to grow my knowledge and skill? Obviously since I am starting a deep dive category regarding the subject I’ve obviously chosen road number 2.

Now let us face the looming question. How do I make all the things with wood in my collection not look the same? I am aspiring to diversify my collection and wheel house of choices as well as skill.

The Questions

1) How can I paint different wood species to provide a larger variety color palette while still looking realistic?

2) What are the main wood types that I can use in the space and still not break the immersion of my tabletop? Primary focus in Fantasy or medieval time periods.

3) What are the various ways to add mold, decay, age, etc to wood grain?

4) What if the piece of terrain does not have a wooden texture. What mentality should I have while painting by hand? What are great ways to practice this?

5) How do I increase the variety of plant life on my tabletop based on season and biome? Almost all my trees end up being deciduous tree from a temperate climate.

6) Is there a “best” way to make trees? How many should I have? Considerations to have when playing on the table?

7) What about paint on wood? How do I paint color onto a wood finish and still keep the texture?

These are just a few of the numerous questions I have when painting wooden things for my tabletop. I am sure there are going to be plenty of others and not all will be answered in this short series but at least it will get my foot in the door, of things to look out for while I’m researching and painting.

The Inspiration

Part of the inspiration for doing deep dives at all is from a facebook post by a man named Michael Cavagnaro in the Miniature Painters Tips and Tricks group on December 4, 2020. He created a large collection of wooden floor tiles for reference using different washs & contrast paint on top of 2 undercoats. The first was just a printed Brown PLA and the second primed with white spray paint. 

Inspiration Work by Michael Cavagnaro

While this is a great reference document, I am unable to find the original source as well as do not frequently use or own many contrast paints. I am also someone who currently has the mentality that the extra time spent on learning, and making it look as good as I can. My intention is that each wagon, tree, shield I make and paint will last year’s and I am in no rush to make my ultimate game table, battle map, and epic miniature paint job. Within reason of course, finishing projects is the goal after all.

My plan is to make not only my own sample selection of paint for wood like Michael did but also be more transparent on paints used for others to grow the collection. 

My Wood Painting Journey Thus Far

In reality I did not truly get into the miniature painting and tabletop gaming hobby until 2014 of which was a brief introduction which was not rekindled until summer of 2018 when I started 3d printing. Check out the Beginnings into 3d printing if you are curious about how I got my start specifically for 3d printing. 

Like almost all people the starting prints in the hobby consisted of scatter terrain things like treasure chests, trees and the like. Then I saw the project that I absolutely MUST do. My first ever 3d printable file purchase was a lake backer purchase of the Forest of Oakenspire by Evan Carathers. This project is royalty among wood terrain. A fully modular, livable, tree village! I mean come on who doesn’t want to make that? 

Kickstarter Image of the Forest of Oakenspire Tree house.

In the end as a brand new person into 3d printing I decided to start with something “small” (insert laughter) of a flying airship from that Kickstarter set. To this day it is still a project I haven’t completed and is looming over my head. One day i’ll finally finish it.

Airship work in progress project from 2018.

Not too long after I started diving into Dungeon tiles and 3d printed some tavern tiles.

We can say that the project got a little bit out of hand. Also that I might seriously have an affinity towards Dungeon Tiles.

I worked on docks for city harbors, these are made an Openforge design by Devon Jones.

I’ve also made bookshelves, tables, trees, and so many more things made out of wood. With the exception of the dungeon tiles, every single one of these projects I have never completed because I was unhappy with the quality of paint job and diversity of my wood based builds. 

Wood Painting in 2021

This year however, 2021, I have decided to put more work into painting wooden textures and have already tried a few different things and learned quite a bit already.

Starting one of my first paint jobs I painted the siege equipment from the Fantasy Props Kickstarter. The Trebuchet and Catapult I learned a very important lesson about underpainting. So far I have always primed the wood brown and layered up. The method used for the siege was a black base coat then dry brushing up. I love the dark hue underneath and there is definitely something there that deserves more time and experimenting.

Another wood paint style i’ve attempted this year is a more dynamic wood age and weathered look. Painting the fishers hut I used a large variety of colors to attempt to give the grain and planks their own unique look rather than a static uniformity that I think tends to be dull. I have gotten so many compliments on this specific paint job and am excited that my going in blind approach of throwing colors at it actually came out great. I would like more confidence in doing this though rather than just throwing a hail Mary and hoping it turns out well.

I also really really loved the fact that I added bronze paint to attempt to showcase a rusted nail look on the planks of the Fishers hut. It is actually my favorite painting aspect of the entire project.



All in all wood is the perfect example of just how crazy in depth the crafting hobby can go. Due to the sake of length as well as providing more time for research I am going to extend the research portion this deep dive for next week. While I think I have had a great start in improving my skills of wooden painting for the tabletop hobby there is so much more I can do. I’m excited about pursuing it further. 

Stay tuned for next week where we break down various applications of painting wood textures, materials commonly used, where its commonly found, and the planning of future painting projects to test new concepts.

Do you have any questions about painting wood? What kind of things would you like to see experimented?

Part 2: Wood Painting Color Palette

New Website Sections!

I’ve recently added new sections to the website to make this conversation and others for deep dives more easily accessible. Found under Painting you can navigate to either the homepage of all Deep Dives or directly to Wood Painting for more easily accessible information and pictures of the color palette.

Deep DIve HomePage
Wood Painting

Previous Write Ups

crazmadsci Uncategorized

State of the Crazy: March 30, 2021

Update Quicklinks: Printing, Painting, Blog

Happy Monday late Tuesday evening everyone! I hope it has been a productive week for you and everyone is doing well. This crazy household has been well with the largest nonhobby related highlight being that we got a new car in preparation of adding yet another tabletop gamer to the family. ETA 2 months and counting!

This week has been surprisingly productive. Overall I could have sworn almost every print i’ve done over the last 4 days was going to fail as there were record storms of thunder, hail, and rain. It was the most rainfall in 48 hours recorded for my region in over 10 years. I cannot believe that we never lost power and that I kept starting 18 hour plus prints trusting our cities electricity, like a crazy person. But huzzah! I never had a fail and power never went out. This along with several other things has put this crazy crafter in a very great mood. 

Printing Updates


Printing this week has been immensely successful for me. In the last week or so I have taken the plunge into a new resin, the Epax Hard Grey resin. Previously I have been using Elegoo ABS-like resin and many of the supports on my prints have been failing. Many of the larger monsters don’t come out at all and pull off from the supports. However since changing materials it has been smooth sailing. I feel like my failure rate has decreased by an order of magnitude but would have to consult my spreadsheets more thoroughly for a definite value.

Here are some direct examples of Elegoo fails vs Epax Hard (dark grey) successes.


I have also been successful at printing and assembling quite a few larger monsters which always feels like an accomplishment even though I feel like I go through resin incredibly faster. Sorry wallet and handsome husband. Three finished and assembled monsters include a Graveyard Stone Golem, Guardian Dragon, and Ettin models. Several more have been started and are in progress of assembly.

For the FDM printer I have been finishing up the cottages from the Kingdom of Thamarya kickstarter. In this print project I decided to print not one but two buildings. There are 3 variations of the model, one being two story and two being different 3 story options. I opted to create the two story variant and a 3 story. This took an immensely long time and even longer because either i’m juggling WAY too many projects or my little dungeon master in training walked off with several roof pieces. Even my husband tried to help me find parts that I printed. In the end I was forced to reprint several pieces. Maybe one day in the future i’ll find some extra roofs laying around to use for who knows what. At least I have the magic of 3d printing to replace pieces.

Kingdom of Thamarya Cottages


I also lost a few pieces for the Blacksmith building and reprinted them. On top of that I printed for the first time with “Transparent” filament. Although PLA is commonly more yellow in color from production after modification and treatment people can create semi transparent prints. It can be complicated and a lot of features are involved to consider when printing. Knowing I wouldn’t get a true see through print was not important but I really wanted the coals from the Blacksmith to be glowing and will attempt to paint really thin layers to give it the effect I desire. All in all i’m really happy with the result.

First usage of transparent filament for a lighted coal effect

Painting Update

This week like the consistent theme of March I have been doing very little painting. I started to paint the plaster of the Blacksmith but just couldn’t fully immerse myself into the project. I realized that I still had pieces and things I wanted to do on the print itself before I could truly call it ready for painting. The first part was that I decided I wanted to try a glowing LED portion for the first time ever in any of my collection to date. Since it was a Blacksmith why not have a glowing forge of hot coals?

So I did a bit of modification to the original design and drilled and cut out a hole for a tea light. I also used a bit of milliput to smooth up the edges as I didn’t want sharp plastic rubbing or potentially cutting people as they pulled the light in and out to flip the switch. In an ideal world I would have modified the STL file before 3d printing it but too late for that now. Not wanting to paint any of the stonework until I had the hole drilled this was something I absolutely HAD to do before continuing on in the project. I think it went really well. Although it was a bit more difficult to cut out a hole because I had to cut through not one but two floor pieces that was a seam in the building assembly.

Tealight hole drilled into Blacksmith model

Blog Update

For the blog I have planned to start a Deep Dive series of write ups posted on Fridays regarding research, experiments, and methods revolving around a category in the tabletop hobby. I am really excited to see where this goes and would be keenly interested in hearing your thoughts as I progress through the month. For more of an introduction to what is a Deep Dive you can find my write up here.
I have slowly been cataloging more miniatures & sculptors as well but the process has been slow. The goal is roughly 2 miniatures logged a day which seems reasonable however as I encounter miniatures that I have 3d printed and/or painted and they do not have write ups I require myself to have a write up for them before the go in the index. It will get done but slow and steady wins the race. 

Conclusion

All in all its been a really great week. I solved the riddle to a lot of my 3d printing issues, changing resin brands. I assembled buildings and models i’ve had laying around. I have started tackling some of the storage problems I have inevitably begun having since my printers. On top of that I did two things for the first time, the use of tealights in my builds and printing with transparent filament.

Now if only I could have this kind of week of tying up loose ends every week.

As always happy hobbying. What have you been working on? Have a specific highlight you are proud of?

Happy Crafting,

Carrie aka crazmadsci

crazmadsci Deep Dive, Goals

Introducing: Crazmadsci “Deep Dives”

Introducing a new post series: Deep Dives

As a 2021 Hobby Goal it is my ambition to work on “Deep Dives” of 4 different major topics. This is a post series i’m extremely passionate about and look forward to starting.

What is a deep dive?

From an analytical standpoint a deep dive is an “intense, in depth analysis of a certain problem or subject.” What does that mean for the tabletop hobby? Well for one I want to research, explore and experiment with all the different ways myself or my fellow hobbyists tackle a subject in the tabletop space. Either painting, printing, playing or something perhaps something else entirely. A deep dive will document my entire journey, the successes, failures, and methods.


The Never Ending Questions


The primary goal of a deep dive is to begin to answer some of the many questions I face when crafting and playing. Some of those questions include:

Where do I even start for X Project? How do I break out of the rut of doing the same method over and over again? How do I make my collection of scatter, miniatures and terrain stand out and be unique as opposed to all look the same? What materials do I need? What problems will I face? What is the lore or history around this project?

The downside is that some of these questions end up becoming so overwhelming for me, projects never get completed or even started. Uncertainty and fear of messing up especially when I have so little hobby time can be debilitating.

Since the purpose of crazmadsci.com is all about sharing my experiences in the hobby, how about also including my experiments?

Introducing…


The crazmadsci DeepDives. This area of the site is going to be the location of all my “experiments” or rather rabbit holes. For painting I admit while learning and figuring out color schemes, paint recipes, paint techniques etc. I do have an affinity for painting along with others or taking the advice and experiences of others to heart. Almost every youtuber, guide writer or instagram poster has a different method of painting bone for example. Or depending on the area of focus either via 3d printing, buying kits, or foam crafting the process of painting terrain may vary based on materials and tools on hand. The goal of my deep dives are to attempt to figure out not only why these other hobbyists make these decisions but also what suits my current skills, materials, and preferences the most. Why not take advantage of time spent by others to figure out what works?

Perhaps painting bones, wood, metal etc in a dozen different ways apiece will give me a wide array of experiences and examples to choose from to help diversify my hobby playbook.

Deep Dive Goals


What are my goals for the Deep Dives:

1) Learn numerous ways of tackling a problem

2) Increase the diversity of painting in my collection

3) Grow in both mentality and skill for the hobby as a whole

4) Understand more the mentality of others who are also in the hobby

5) Create a collection of choices or swatches, when painting for future inspiration. A portfolio of sorts.

6) Document the process so I do not forget what i’ve learned and have reference material to go back to.

Deep Dive FAQ:


1) Will the deep dives stay purely focused on painting? 

Absolutely not. I plan on doing deep dives and focus research on many aspects of the hobby such as miniature photography, materials for crafting, various aspects of 3d printing and more that come along the way. I do want primary focus for the time being to be on painting though.

2) How do I choose what is researched? 

This will mostly be revolving around the subject matter that currently perplexes either myself or a reader. Once we encounter a question we will tackle it as it comes. However there will sometimes be some larger pre-planned projects resulting in a “series” of posts and experiments.

3) Once researched once will I ever go back?

Absolutely! As I grow in the hobby i’m sure my questions will as well requiring me to constantly come back and fine tune. I”ll try to keep every major category numbered to more easily follow along. Find more guides online that you think I should try myself and add to the collection. Don’t hesitate to bring them up as I will constantly be evolving myself.

4) Where will my “research” be coming from?

All of the experimentation will have references & links to the original source of that method. Sources will come from as many places as I can find: Youtube, Blogs, Random search engine responses, Pinterest, Facebook, Discord groups, etc. No credit will be taken in my hobby experimentation but rather become a repository to hear how something is solved in numerous different ways. All ideas, methods, and concepts learned from a particular location will have the citation to go with it so you can hear it from them as well. 

5) Format of Deep dives on the site:

The current intent is to post more about my current project progress rather than just start and finish. So hobby posts which subscribers/followers of the site get notified of upon publication will get updates of project progress after milestones are completed. Eventually upon project conclusion a reference page will be created so we all can go back and refer to images, paint schemes etc as needed. This will make it easier to find information down the road if you are not following along. Also all posts will be hyperlinked for easy navigation. Posts will occur on Fridays if a series is in progress. 

Potential Future Deep Dive topics

Current areas that I as a hobbyist am planning to investigate (No order of importance):

  • Painting Bone
  • Painting Wood/ Trees
  • Printing with Transparent filament
  • Supporting models in FDM & Resin
  • Miniature Photography
  • Flocking & adding foliage to my terrain
  • Painting castle/ruin terrain, various stonework
  • Painting Skin, humanoid and other

Conclusion

For the month of April I am currently planning on doing a 5 part series on a deep dive into painting Wood & Trees. Starting with its introduction on Friday, April 2nd. Stay tuned.

This will allow me to better compile my experiments while answering some of the many questions I have about the hobby. Perhaps others might have the same questions as well or if i’m lucky answers. These deep dives could also prove valuable in the years to come as I hope to repeat or reuse pieces of builds or add to my collection. Lastly the aim of this is to instill confidence and a form of accomplishment in the hobby. It is incredibly easy to always feel like nothing is ever done in a space of never ending goals and projects.

What kind of questions do you have in the hobby space? Have any questions about painting wood and trees? 

As always Happy Hobbying,

Carrie, aka crazmadsci

Wood Painting Deep Dive Part 1

New Website Sections!

I’ve recently added new sections to the website to make this conversation and others for deep dives more easily accessible. Found under Painting you can navigate to either the homepage of all Deep Dives or directly to Wood Painting for more easily accessible information and pictures of the color palette.

Deep DIve HomePage
Wood Painting

Previous Write Ups

crazmadsci Uncategorized

State of the Crazy: March 22, 2021 & Major Website Additions

Update Quicklinks: Printing, Painting, Blog

Hey everyone! Happy Monday, I hope your week starts out well and you all had a productive hobby weekend. Looking at my notes it definitely appears that I missed posting last week, my apologies. Over the course of the last two weeks there was definitely a period of time where I ended up in a “hobby rut”. I broke my 77 day hobby streak on Instagram to rest up, feel better, and spend a little bit of time with my family and it has been a challenge to get back into a groove to put paint on a brush. I even took a few days off from 3d printing, gasp.

However I have worked extensively to add more functionally to the website and although there will appear have more empty sections to various places on the site it is a step in the right direction to build the foundation of what is to come. Below in the Blog section of todays write up I go into detail of some of the things i’ve been working on as well as its vision.

Printing Updates

For printing over the last two weeks, I took almost an entire week off from printing anything on my Prusa FDM printer which if you are a regular reader know that is not a normal behavior for my hobby. One very special event did happen while printing this week though. After about 3 years of printing I finally got my first spool tangle and print failure. I can truthfully say it has never happened for me until last week on a spool of ESun PLA+. I will admit that the error did result in poor handling on my behalf and I let the filament get loose and fold in on itself. But I feel like I have finally joined the club for people who have encountered this issue. In case you are not familiar with FDM/filament printing this means that a knot was created in my filament causing the printer to not be able to feed and continue printing. I am glad I know what my printer should sound like and ran over as soon as I heard something was wrong. This could have been a really bad issue.

The tangled spool in question.


Resin printing i’ve still be working on miniatures from Lost Adventures Vol #1 but need to go back and resize and finish up the files released for Lost Adventures Vol #2. Its been going slow as i’ve been experimenting and even moved to trying out a new resin, Epax hard grey. I will do a massive dump of print logs and such when the project is completed.

Painting Update

As for painting I will admit i’ve been in a bit of a hobby rut due to breaking my hobby streak but I just recently started back up painting two things:

1) The carnival wagon that reader grumpgnome101 suggested I work on. Thank you for the input! I am going to attempt to make the wagon painted in bright colors to suggest it is trying to attempt to lure in customers at a carnival. This will also add more variety to my wagon collection. This is also inspiring a write up series i’m currently working on. Stay tuned.



2) Finally getting some paint on  the blacksmith building from Kingdom of Thamarya. It has been slow as I have been seriously debating on attempting to print using transparent filament for the first time in order to create a working tea light in the interior furnace to really make it feel alive. I have decided i’m going to go for it!

At this point it looks like I might not be painting any miniatures for the month of March, but work is still getting done.

Blog Update

This is an area I have sunk a massive amount of time. I am definitely motivated to catch up in my notekeeping for the site and continue to actively work on flushing out the true image of the dream I have for this place. Overall I am hoping that this blog will become more than just a list of archived posts that lose relevance over time or contain valuable information that is hard to find in the future. As a result hierarchical pages are being developed with a massive amount of cross referencing for easy navigation and capability to find things.

I am currently working on flushing out primary areas of the site which will hold my many ramblings, guides, and experiments. I will introduce sections as they are developed.


The first major area that I started to jump into as it is a 2021 Hobby Goal is to catalog my entire collection and host at least the basic information and photographs. At the moment this will only be my printed & purchased collection either painted or unpainted. Yes this means that my pile of shame/ sea of grey will be shown to the world but perhaps it will also motivate me to paint more of it up. I am currently not including the digital collection of files and STLs on my hardrive. Perhaps in the future.

New Major Site Category: The Collection

The Collection will be the primary landing page for all of the things i’ve created or purchased through this hobby. I has broken it into 9 primary categories:

  • Miniatures
  • Scatter Terrain
  • Terrain
  • Buildings
  • Greeblies
  • Dungeon Tiles
  • Bases
  • Bits
  • Accessories and Props


Each of these categories will not only have indexes, galleries, and crosslinks to the various print logs and painting writes ups I do but also provide images of inspiration and direction on where you can acquire these models and figures.

Eventually I hope to have everything crosslinked so if you find a base you like there will be a corresponding writeup/guide on how it was created in the painting section of the website that is linked and easy to navigate to.

Examples:

Curious as to if dungeon tiles are for you? What kind of dungeon tiles are out there? The collection can show you how i’ve used my tiles, what areas I hope to improve upon, what tiles are in my collection, paint schemes, and guides on what to consider when deciding on using dungeon tiles for yourself.

Even an area of the hobby that I am still not fantastic in: Foam Craft. I am trying to keep track of all the small incredible bits and bobs which could help to assist adding those fine details to your crafts with greeblies. Greeblies are all the little things that you may not want to hand craft but rather use the advantages of 3d printing to enhance your tabletop and crafting experience.

These are just a few of the things I have planned for The Collection which will essentially act as the glue to showcase all the other various aspects i’m working on.

New Site Section: ABC Miniature Index (By Name)

To get started on fleshing out the collection i’ve started (very very new) a ABC Miniature Index by model name. This index will go by file name of printed models or name of manufactured model purchased. The entire index is created to easily move from A to Z while also breaking up what will eventually be a massive collection of miniatures for easier loading on your browser.

Currently each miniature will look like this in basic information:

Information It will contain

  1. The name of the model
  2. A link to the print log (print set) that the individual model belongs to
  3. A listing of where that print set originated from in this case Lost Adventures Vol 2 kickstarter.
  4. What the model is made out of, its size (in case that matters to you for scaling),
  5. Where you can acquire the model
  6. Who Sculpted or created the model
  7. Its price (now. I do not document how much I paid for it in the case of kickstarters or patreons as they are bulk discounts)
  8. How much it essentially cost me to create if printed
  9. Lastly the miniature number which is purely for my own database documentation.

Let me know if you think something is missing from this list!

New Website Major Category: Index of Creators and Sculptors

A special feature included in the documentation of each miniature in my collection will also contain information on who sculpted & sold the model or model set. This is going to be a really cool addition to the site as I have also been creating an Index of Creators and Sculptors. This will showcase the individual artists of the models so if you enjoy a specific aesthetic perhaps it can show you more created by them found on the site.

This will also include information that could help you the consumer know more about the various storefronts there are out there. I will include answers to questions like:
“What is their STL distribution method”
“Where can I purchase more of their models?”
“Do they allow merchant licenses?”
“Is this good for FDM/Resin printing?”
“Do the models come presupported?”
“If I subscribe to their Patreon is there a discount code for MyMiniFactory or other stores?”
“What is my personal experience & review of them?”

Some of these questions are incredibly difficult to answer unless you have supported or purchased from the creator so eventually the Sculptor/Creator Index will be a reference point in helping others make an informed decision if spending the money to support them is right for you.

At the moment the Sculptor & Creator section will grow as I encounter each individual in my miniature collection as it gets added to the site. I do not want to discuss the practices or provide endorsement/ review of a company unless I have personally used at least one of their products. If you have a question about a company, brand, sculptor, Kickstarter or Patreon let me know. I will investigate the group and likely add it to the print queue to create a page.

Conclusion

I know this update was a massive amount of information and i’ll intersperse the intro information and goals of each section onto their pages for future reference as well. I have been working hard to bring my dream to life of creating a home which can be a useful resource for other hobbyists such as myself. Everyday a little more gets worked on and I am proud of what has been accomplished in such a short amount of time. Thank you for reading.

Happy Hobbying! Don’t forget to share what you have been working on.

Sincerely,

Carrie, aka crazmadsci

crazmadsci Uncategorized

State of the Crazy: March 10, 2021

Update Quicklinks: Printing, Painting, Blog

Its that time again for my weekly updates! Man time moves way too quickly. Also I cannot believe it is March. Before I begin my weekly summary I have to give a massive shoutout to my Baby Sister as its her Birthday today!! I love ya sis.

As for what I’ve been doing for the last week. Well lets just call it “If at first you don’t succeed try try again.” For both FDM and resin printing i’ve been testing and testing my printing settings in attempt to improve both print quality and success rate for the various difficult prints i’m currently attempting to accomplish. I’ll get into a few of my experiments down below.

This week was also exciting because it was Reaper Con virtual expo! I was so pumped to be able to attend virtually and have so many virtual classes that were absolutely free. I ended up recording most as I did not get the time to sit and paint along as much as I would have liked.

Printing Updates

As I’ve said above this week has been entirely focused on the beginnings of going down the deep deep rabbit hole of experimentation. On the Prusa FDM printer i’ve been attempting to figure out support settings for various roof pieces of the Kingdom of Thamarya Kickstarter. Since most of the roof pieces do not have a good flat plane of which start for printing, I am forced to float the pieces while using the support material as the starting point. Because of this and the whimsical nature of the roof it is more difficult to really tune in the support settings for a smooth underside of printing. Since it is the underside I can easily craft over it and smooth it out so the pieces are absolutely functional. I am just a perfectionist. I keep telling myself that once I nail the overhang/bridge printing of these roofs then my support settings will conqueror any terrain life throws at me.

This weeks deep dive support setting: Support Density.

Example of Orientation for printing the roof of the Kingdom of Thamaraya Cottage
Example undersides of roof prints with varying degrees of support density. Not shown a 35% density test.

As for resin printing I’ve been really trying to dial in my exposure times using Elegoo ABS-Like resin for my sonic mini 4k. Knowing that not all presupported models are alike i’ve started to encounter some that are giving me more trouble. Knowing that others have had success with them i’ve been determined with walking the fine line between great dialed in exposure times while also making sure that 1) my prints adhere to the build plate and 2) adapt to the small supports provided by some companies which are incredibly difficult which require higher exposure values. I’ve even been going so far as making reference charts for myself. Its still an ongoing experiment but I believe i’m starting to understand it all better.

Exposure Validation Matrix Testing
Exposure Time and observed miniatures of 4 different goblin files.

There are some weeks when you can crank these out and others when all you do is experiment. Sometimes it can test your patience and endurance but i’m determined to learn as much as I can about the 3D printing hobby. This is yet another reason to start a 3D printing guides and troubleshooting section on the website.

Painting Update

This week in painting i’ve definitely suffered from extremely lofty goals. There is so much I want to accomplish but yet I am struggling to start and finish projects. This week the focus was definitely ReaperCon Virtual Expo. I went through the entire online class schedule and picked the ones I wanted. However I think I signed up for 8? classes and only sat through 2. I recorded as many as I could and got notes written downloaded to access later but it is definitely a lot of content to go through.

Preparation for ReaperCon

On top of that I spontaneously had the house invaded by my family. Although it was great seeing them as I haven’t seen some since August it definitely cramped my style in the planning of painting over the weekend.

Overall I’ve decided to attempt to wrap of some projects on the site and printing projects in order to lessen the amount of things happening on the hobby space. This will definitely result in painting less but also a large portion of mental sanity.

Blog Update

The Blog as seen some growth over the last week most namely the addition of the Painting homepage of the site. It is still largely empty but gives an image of the direction I hope to go in for the future of painting for the site.

As always my ambitions & goals are far exceeding my output. I am still adding content regularly but some content is not yet ready for you incredible readers. I don’t have a timeline but I promise i’m doing my best to really build a solid foundation for the future of the site.

I’ve really struggled with finding a balance in accomplishing all the things I scheme and plan about. I believe it is a combination of being a perfectionist, absolutely exhausted from life due to being in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy, and having so little hobby time. I have soo many ambitious project ideas and choosing which ones to knock off the list is hard. I am always extra motivated knowing that people are interested in particular things. Do you think if I have a potential project page of things I have been scheming about, you’d be interested in helping me narrow it down by nominating ones to work on? Let me know what you think.


Again thanks for reading. Feel free to comment on what you are working on as well. Happy Hobbying,

Crazmadsci

crazmadsci Uncategorized

Catfolk Fisher: Lost Adventures Vol 2

Quicklinks: In Process Photos, Final Photos, Where to find STLs, Conclusion

Print Log: Heartwood Tradefolk Storytelling Poses

In February, I finished only one miniature for the month. This Catfolk Fisher was a model I’ve wanted to paint since I saw it on the Lost Adventures Vol 2 Kickstarter page and extremely wanted to paint as I was working on the Fishers Hut project. In my miniature collection I have so few miniatures that are just living their life and aspiring to do more than kill monsters. Almost all my miniatures wield weapons or are monsters. I love being able to grow my collection beyond that. It also gives me a ton of opportunity to just have fun with it.

This miniature painting project was definitely one however where I feel like I dreamt beyond my current skill set. For the first time ever I created a mood board containing images depicting different aspects I wished to capture for this model. The most notable goal was in making the cat calico. Having spots of different colors yielding to a truly unique and one of a kind coat. While painting I realized I did not like the attempt and instead just turned him into an orange tabby cat. While I think I did an ok job having his jacket as red with an orange coloration of lightening really kinda just blurred the colors together. This was supposed to be mitigated by having different colors broken into the fur of his coat.

Positive things about this paint job is that I made one of my first stabs at free hand painting by painting on a woven texture to his hat. I definitely feel like the intent and message comes across well but I of course see growth potential in my brush control. I printed the wooden floor base from the Welcome Pack of the CastnPlay Patreon and painted it quickly, due to project burn out.

Overall, I see a lot of room for growth in this miniature and definitely lost focus of what paints I used, how I used them, etc due to jumping around projects so much. In the end of the day this is good practice and yet another miniature for the collection. There is nothing disappointing about that!

Don’t miss the in progress shots and final photos below! See you next time.

Sincerely,
Crazmadsci, Carrie

In Progress Photos

Final Photos

Where to Find the STLs

This model is from the Lost Adventures Vol 2 kickstarter which can be found on the Lost Adventures Co website and consumers can purchase for $8.99. Design/ sculpt of this set was by Andrew Biernier and Matt Gubser and distribution made by the company Lost Adventures Co.

crazmadsci Uncategorized

Painting: The Hobby is the Journey

So I admit it. I have been avoiding talking about and showcasing my painting skill, or rather what I consider lack thereof. While deep down I know it is not true and that I do know some things about painting figures and terrain, I admit to still feel very much in the infancy of where I eventually desire to grow and become. So what is wrong with posting about personal growth and showing in detail my painting skills?

I struggle showcasing my skill because I am aspiring to turn this site not just into a blog of my personal past time in the hobby space. I aim to turn this site into a cornucopia of material, tutorials, assistance and inspiration for others. However, it is difficult to feel like I have enough authority to write or share on a subject these days when there are so many living examples of expert skills and mastery on the internet. Imposter Syndrome begins to sink in.

So I am forced to ask myself the question. What am I going to do about it? The answer is complicated and one I have been giving a lot of thought. To start I am going to lean into the questions, lean into the experimentation and all the vulnerability that goes along with it. Perhaps readers and others will find something to relate to. Besides wouldn’t putting it out there and seeing the transformation firsthand really be something special? Showcase the journey that my boys can one day see for themselves?

I commonly listen to podcasts and watch more YouTube videos on the subject of painting miniatures then I admit to actively doing. Going with the advice of 10/90 from Uncle Adam of Tabletop Minions I am definitely not painting 90% of the time and watching to learn 10%. I like to pretend that its because of the baby and having so little hobby time. In reality there is fear related to jumping into a project and finishing it. Not wanting to “Ruin” the model. This thought process probably deserves a write up of its own in the future, and one I need to let go of.

However the most recent podcast of Trapped Under Plastic “How Should Beginners Learn” has really struck home with me. Scott the miniature maniac stated that miniature painting is not like grinding your WoW from 1 to 60. That there is no end to the hobby and it is constantly changing and growing. Attempting to jump straight to the end is meaningless. Painting is about the Journey to get there. As someone who has a video game background longer than miniature painting the difference in mentality while basic is a fundamental shift for me. MAN! Why am I so embarrassed showing my journey? So lets change that. I shouldn’t be ashamed of my current location and progress, I mean I have fun painting. That is what is important.

Introducing: Painting

Today marks the launching of a new page which will grow to do exactly what I aim to tackle my insecurities and goals. This will both serve to showcase my growth while also being full of reference material of project documentation and links to places where I’ve learned techniques and skills.

This page will consist of 6 primary categories to help navigate to different areas of the painting past time. Eventually these categories will grow into their own pages and in depth write ups. And of course like any crazy project potentially grow into more categories.

Miniatures: This will contain a showcase of my growth and painted miniature collection.

Buildings and Terrain: This will be a listing and gallery of painted buildings and terrain. I may possible split scatter terrain into another category in the future.

Basing: The collection of bases for miniatures, ramblings of techniques & thought processes of a basing a miniature as well as inspiration of different types of bases.

Tools and Materials: What are the tools and materials at my disposal? What are my personal must haves?

Tutorials and Techniques: There is no better way to learn than to try to teach. Write ups of the various techniques, documentation of information from various sources and my journey through them.

Experimental Deep Dives: How many different ways are there to paint something? How many recipes of bone, wood, leather, armor etc? What is my preference? This will be a deep dive study into how others achieve their goals and direct comparison for future reference material on painting recipes.

Conclusion

The progress of growth in all hobbies is the journey and not just the destination. I need to let go of mental barriers and just jump in. Lets grow the site to be a organized repository of this growth so people can follow along in areas they desire for themselves.

What are you working on? Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,
Crazmadsci, Carrie