Sunday 5 August 2012

Forgeworld Vindicator Masterclass

Hola,

Today I got I got up at silly o'clock (for a Sunday), and headed down to Nottingham for the Forgeworld Masterclass. Tuition was provided by Mark (Bedford) and Phil (Stutcinskas), and ran from 0930hrs to around 1800hrs, with an hour lunch, 15 minute afternoon break 45 minute Q&A to close. Having just got back, I thought I'd share a few photos, then make a few comments - in case you're thinking of going to one yourself.




First up, pics:

The demonstration model, taken during the afternoon break.

A close up on some of the weathering that was demonstrated


Mark brought his Astral Claws......











...and Blood Angels for us to look at.






Phil had a cabinet full of Red Scorpions. For some reason I only have a single photo(?!).


There were also some orks (not sure who's), with ace war paint:


















So. £115. I was a bit put off by that at first, and a few people commented on it when I got my ticket. Was it worth it? In short, yes. Slightly longer: Well.... In product terms, I got a vindicator (£35) and:

Well, not the tools/ paint station, but still..
A.K.A. 12 paints (£27.60), a pot each of lahmian medium and 'ardcoat (£4.60), 4 brushes (med. drybrush, fine detail, wash and basecoat - 10.70), one citadel p.v.a (£5.10) and 4 weathering powders (£11.80).

I make that £94.80 worth of product (bought directly). Plus lunch provided (I reckon about £7 if you bought it from the bar?) and all the tea you can drink.... Which makes 7 hours tuition (from two extremely talented people) a steal at £13.20! Or, less than £2/hour!

Price wise, the event is a really good buy. Couldn't be more happy.

Size wise, it was also good. There were 26 students, so everyone had time to speak to the tutors individually. All the guys there were really friendly and willing to share what they knew as well, so I picked up lots of tips from them.

 Picture break:

Word of warning: Don't go to one of these events expecting to walk away with a finished model. The demonstration of techniques moves quite fast (to fit as much as possible in), so you only have time to try things out over a relatively small area. As you can see above, I chose to do a lot of work on the dozer blade, as it allowed easy comparison of effects.

Generally speaking one of the instructors would demonstrate the technique (projected really clearly in real time onto one of the walls). The other would move around the students giving pointers or helping those who needed it. I can't speak highly enough of Mark and Phil, so helpful, patient, and really generous with their time and advice.

Use the workshop as a place to make mistakes. As you can see, I made a few!

The techniques we learnt are all widely applicable to both infantry and vehicles (and non-40k models systems if you really want...). More importantly they are easy, quick and look good: so useful! Look out for future vehicles from me...

The main point I took away was to think in layers, and have a little bit of faith. The early layers look a bit messy, and you do get a bit panicked. However, it;s the end result that matters. The combined effect of all the techniques is what makes the models stand out - and if you make any mistakes they are easily corrected as all the layers you do are so thin.

Here are some of my more successful attempts. Above shows the wash (picking out detail and adding tone), over heavy weathering applied by sponge. Below is the vindicator gun barrel. We masked off to simulate the area where the barrel would recoil, and later applied a sepia wash to this area to replicate the effects of oil or lubricant.



In conclusion, this event is well worth it. If you get the chance, go!

Adios!




4 comments:

  1. Was that a deimos pattern Baal predator? Sweet :D custom done or a sneak preview? ;) (PAM)

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  2. So better value than we first thought then!
    Did you work on your own vindicator on the day, or did they supply you with assembled / undercoated ones that you had to leave there?
    Prospero

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  3. Yea, demios patter, looked so sweet! Unfortunately it's a conversion :'(. The main cannon is from the landraider varient. Will try and remember where the sponsons came from... I know the decal is from the valkerie sheet.

    They assemble and basecoat the Vindicator for you to practice on, but you get to keep it- and the rest of the box.

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  4. Bit late now, but I went to this event, too. It was great. The Deimos' sponson flamers were from the FW Dreadnought arm with the Inferno Cannon.

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