Gamergrrrl’s Corner: SMARTMAX-Workshop with Matt Cexwish and Ben Komets

I finally got the time to write this piece. :)  So here it is:

As a regular visitor of the SMARTMAX Homepage I found an announcement several weeks ago  for a SMARTMAX painting workshop in Lüdenscheid, Germany from December 9th-11th 2011. Lüdenscheid isn’t too far from my home so I didn’t hesitate and immediately signed up for the workshop – actually it was already fully booked but I was incredibly lucky (I prefer to think I’ve got really good Karma and/or Mojo going) because somebody had just canceled, so I got in. YAY! :D

I even got a single room, which was great because I was the only girl (as was probably to be expected), and so I didn’t have to participate in all that “man fun” (whatever it was the guys did in their rooms– I wonder if I really want to know…). 

The workshop was hosted by Matt Cexwish and Ben Komets of massivevoodoo.blogspot.com, both of them winners of several Golden Demon trophies and 4 (yes, 4!) Slayer Swords. That’s really impressive, and to see some of their work in reality was even more impressive because their models look even better in reality than in the photos. But the best thing of all is that these two are such likeable and funny guys who are also very helpful and humble. A big part of the good atmosphere was due to them and their way to guide through the workshop. They were always willing to lend a helping hand, share their creative perspective on anything, show again how it’s done, come running when we called (“Benbenbenben!”), kid around, encourage the bloody beginners like me when it didn’t work out immediately… you name it. I really grew to like these guys a lot during these 2 days. The group was great too – everyone was so friendly and cooperative, always willing to help the others to achieve their goals to create something to the best of their abilities.

During the 3 days of the workshop we did a really special thing: everyone created his or her unique part of a Victorian street  - special bases which were created especially for the workshop by the instructors Ben and Matt - and a SMARTMAX mini to go with it. We were able to choose between Lord Holmes and Jeremiah Crow. I chose Jeremiah because I had ordered Lord Crow in my big SMARTMAX order anyway. (Special workshop price, great thing – I was able to add a lot of beautiful minis to my collection, maybe I’ll write more on that topic later).

On the first evening  we had a creative session where everybody tried to find some inspiration for the project with the help of photos in magazines. My idea had something to do with Jules Verne’s “Journey around the World in 80 Days”, more on that when I’ll present the finished model later…

Then we started preparing the model and the base. After applying the foundation in the next morning we started painting our minis and bases. We learned a lot of techniques for blending, painting wood, true metal, faces (for that most participants chose to give their model one of the several available heads by Hornet instead of the original model’s face with gas mask) and much more.  

Kind of depressing to see how fraking easy it looks when Matt and Ben do it. When I try it myself – “Valley of Tears”, as a fellow painter called it… Luckily Ben and Matt know something about motivating people – put some easier techniques, like painting leather, in between the hard stuff and everybody’s happy again. ;)

I didn’t quite finish my mini at that weekend, but that's OK, I didn't expect it. I wanted to finish it after Christmas but with a big performance of my other hobby, dancing, and training sessions almost every evening, I haven’t found the time yet. I’ll present the mini here after it’s finished, I promise. :)

I’m very proud of the work we did together as a group and individually. The skills of the participants varied very strongly, there were painters who were in Ben’s and Matt’s league (or close to it), beginners like me and everything in between, but the greatest thing was that everyone did his/her best. I had such a great time! Besides meeting lots of nice people and improving my painting skills I also learned funny new things: e.g., do you know what a “nerd’s skateboard” is? *lol* 

Thanks a lot to Matt & Ben for their support and to the other participants for the nice conversation and help (especially to Steffen for lending me all his stuff and to Vlado for letting me use his workshop photos for this blog - if you speak German you should totally check out his own blog http://dievincis.blogspot.com/ - there’s also a painting contest going on at the moment where you can win a “Golden Vinci”:

Now isn't that the the cutest trophy ever? :)

XOXO Gamergrrrl

Gamergrrrl’s Corner: Smog 1888

The finest Steampunk minis ever

How I loved the SPIEL 2011 in Essen, Germany… (even despite the fact that there are less and less role-playing and tabletop exhibitors every year, probably because the SPIEL’s organizers don’t seem to value us gamers very much, which is a shame... but back to topic). I love these moments when you don’t really expect anything cool to happen and then you run right into it. As happened when I ran into a booth which was shared by Taban Miniatures (who produce the glorious EDEN minis) and Smart Max, both from France. While Kronos was depletingthe EDEN’s jokers assortment, much to the astonishment and joy of Taban’s team, I fell in love with the terrific, highly inventive miniatures of Smart Max’s steampunk game SMOG 1888 – The Thirteenth Hour. There was a SPIEL special offer, 4 minis plus the game for a really good price, lucky me! :)

So now I’m the proud owner of Little Alice, Reverend Dudley, PiotrGoodenough and Fu Manchu. It was really a hard decision which 4 minis to pick because all of them are so gorgeous. What I love about them is that they are obviously sculpted with so much skill, heart AND creativity. I think it’s not an exaggeration to state that SMOG 1888 brings the world of steampunk miniatures to a whole new level! Every one of their minis is special and beautiful and I can’t wait for ordering the next load… (a pleasure that will be hard on my wallet – but which smart girl saves her money in these bad EURO times anyway…). Actually I bought them more for the miniatures than for the game, but now I’m really looking forward to testing the game, too. My experience with that will be posted here as well.

I’ll start painting these small freakifications as soon as I’ve gained some experience with the ogre army because the SMOG minis have such a lot of details that they’ll probably be hell to paint. Fortunately they’re produced in a bigger scale (1/35), so maybe that’ll make it at least a bit easier. (You see, I’m still optimistic, being a newbie and all.)

XOXO Gamergrrrl :)