Round Six Report from Garness-at-Home

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Dread Pirate Garness writes:

Howdy, all. This is the final round of the Last Painter Standing painting contest. I would first like to say a couple of things:

First off to Rob, my friend

I have been a fan of your work for a while now, and this contest has done nothing to diminish you and your skill in my eyes. Were it not for your kind generosity, this would have been yours months ago. I salute you for your skill and personal demeanor. The absolute best of luck to you and in all your future endeavors, whatever they may be.

To Bill

Were it not for you we would not even have this contest, nor do I think I would even be in it. I was the least likely (I think) to get in, given that I was the one who somehow managed to get a tie and make it in by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin. You have been more than generous and gracious in your handling of this whole thing. Thank you very much.

To the other contestants

It is you to whom I owe a great debt. All you guys and gals have done wonders to help me improve, far beyond what I thought I could.

And to the readers here at TMP

I only know a few of you personally, but you guys are the judges, and I liked hearing what each of you had to say about each figure. Not everyone likes the same thing, but I did appreciate you saying what you did (and did not) like about my entries, as well as all the others. It helped me to understand what kinds of things were popular, and what things weren't. Thanks y'all!!!

And lastly, to Lone Star Historical Miniatures

You guys have been my biggest fans and supporters all through this. I can't adequately express just how glad I am to be one of the gang, and to have our friendship last for all these years. Thanks guys!

In this round we were given the Crucifier Bird of Prey to paint up. I had no idea what this thing was supposed to be - or how it was supposed to look, for that matter - so I downloaded the VASA Forcebook and did some reading on the fluff. It is some kind of Samurai robotic battlesuit. There is a pilot, who controls it through VR technology. It functions in support of VASA combat operations, and this suit is used to smash strong points of resistance.

With this entirely in mind, I was completely clueless as to what to do with this thing. It was big and awkward-looking, with no clear indication as to what certain things were.

I finally elected to go with something simple. For me, it worked. I had a really difficult time trying to develop any complicated pattern that was not too gaudy, or that worked with the overall theme and fluff. I thought a plain green with some nice accents would be best.

I began by cleaning all the parts and getting rid of the flash lines. I also wanted to try to assemble as much as I could, but decided the arms and head were best left off for now. The legs and torso were pinned together, and then the figure was mounted on a small wood block (which I use for handling the mini without actually having to touch it). The figure was primed in light grey using Rustoleum primer.

I then painted the canopy - or at least I thought it was a canopy - black...

...along with the metallic ball joints and pistons.