Judged and found wanting...

There are very few things about my hobby I dislike, and last night, three of them happened, all related...
1) Miniatures falling apart
2) Not being prepared
3) Having to scrape black paint off my fingernails at work the following morning, looking like I had a late night at a goth club
As some of you might know (From things like Twitter, not from this now rarely-updated blog), I've got myself involved in a Malifaux Slow Grow to try and clear out some models I have had backlogged for a while.

Years ago (As far back as "Malifaux hadn't been a game for more than about a month, I wasn't aware of it, but Wyrd Miniatures made pretty models and that was good enough for me") I got my hands on a Lady Justice and blister of Death Marshalls. And then eventually, about a year ago, bought The Judge. This means I had bought a starter box in the most expensive way possible, and still only had one stat card (The Judge) to show for it. I had also bought two Guild Austringers and a Governor's Proxy model, so figured I could throw these together and make a decent start at a crew.

Over the weekend, I filled and polished the crew. I also got all but a few of them assembled and stuck to the bases (Photos of these will arrive later). I was also using Araldite for these, as I had been told that by an Infinity player at MOAB it was good for holding together delicate models. And with these being gaming pieces, I was happy to try it on them. As of last night, I had all but three models completed, and was left with the Brutal Effigy (I had picked up a Scales of Justice as well as the Effigy from Aetherworks to fill out a few gaps I saw in the Govenor's Proxy), the leaping Death Marshal, and ... The Judge...

The Judge was a model I was kind of avoiding. I'm not too keen on the giant swinging chain on his sword, and was considering for a while clipping it off. I've used it as a handle since then, so I'm glad I didn't. Last night, I got the rest of the models assembled and ready to undercoat, hoping to be able to get some airbrush time in on them, and start filling out details over the next few days. I spent ten minutes sitting with The Judge cupped in my hand, holding his sword in place, just to make sure it would stand up to being knocked around and set right. I dragged the models outside to undercoat, and set about it.

The first batch went OK, however I do have to go back and do another coat over the top of them as the can ran out (I had a backup ready). I then went to attach the Judge to a temporary base with the others to hold when I sprayed it. I picked up the Judge... and felt his sword fall off...

This wasn't good, because I was in a dark garden around midnight spraying these, so for a moment I thought it was lost for good. Then I felt it roll into my hand, so I avoided the mad panic/scramble and looking like (more of) a weirdo to my neighbours.

So at the end of the day, I ended up with a broken model (1), and because I wasn't prepared enough to remember to take a glove with me for spraying (2), I also got a hand coated in black paint (3). This means I've still got scraps of black paint all over my hands... Not the best start to this crew...
Anyway, while I was re-glueing the sword, I was talking to some friends while they painted their models, and learned several interesting things about The Judge:
"Ah, The Judge. He's the model you *don't* take."
"Yeah, I've never found him to be more useful than an overpriced Death Marshall."
"He's never made much difference in my games."
Hoo...Rah...

Still, he's being put together, and I've always believed in using a model a fair bit to try to figure out its uses before I dump it, so I'll at least get a few games in with him to see what he is like. His arm seemed stronger this morning. Let's just hope it holds...


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Things Get Painted: Lessons Learned from Black and White Painting

Things Get Painted: GW Contrast Paints

Things Get Painted - Seishin, and some first impressions of Hexwraith Flame