"That's a Bingo!"

Martin Lymer posted this great "miniature painting bingo" card on the 'Eavier Metal Facebook page. You can see his unaltered card here if you want to take the challenge yourself. Here's how I did in 2016:

Bingo!

 

Repaint a Badly painted Mini From Ebay

Paint a Mini from the Bottom of Your To-Do Pile

The ghouls I added to my undead army fill these categories. The extra ghouls were indeed picked up on Ebay, badly painted, and needed to be stripped with a Simple Green bath before I painted them. The Crypt Ghast Courtiers were converted ages ago and were so low in my painting queue that I don't even think I counted them as part of my Shelf of Shame. The only thing lower (so low it technically wasn't in my to-do pile) was Heinrich Kimmler. I must have bought him in 1998, and he's been in my parts box ever since. (I don't have a photo of him yet.)

 

 

Paint a New Version of a Mini You Painted Years Ago

Korak MKII takes this roll. I don't know if the category's intent is to paint a new version of the same exact miniature, but whatever. It's a new version of an old mini. 

 

 

Paint a Mini in a Color You Don't Like Using and
Paint a Mini In a Scale You Don't Normally Paint

I don't like painting Purple. I paint plenty of deep reds, but not purple. The Bloody Reaver's sails are a purple-y sanguine mix that makes it stand apart from my traditional Scab-Red vampire models.

 

 

And Dreadfleet is certainly in a scale that I don't normally paint.

 

 

Paint All the Minis for a Board Game and Play It

Dreadfleet could also fill this roll. I painted it all and played with Chris Walton when he came out to visit. But the card says no doubling up with the same mini, and I already ticked off the "scale" box for the bingo. Maybe I can get that box with the new Blood Bowl set this year.

Paint a Faction Box

Nope. I haven't bought any faction boxes, and I don't know if I will unless GW puts together a set of new models for the undead in Age of Sigmar. Maybe a Skaven Blood Bowl team box would count?

Sell a Mini For More than You Paid for It

Paint a Mini as a Gift

I've done a lot of assembly and conversion commissions, but technically haven't sold a painted miniature this year. I also generally don't give out painted models as gifts.

Paint a Scale Model
Paint a Bust
Paint a Garage Kit

(Aren't all miniatures technically scale models?) Most of what I work on is for miniatures games. No wait– I did build and paint a scale mock-up of a train car for Dark Tech Effects, a company that designs escape games and attractions. You can see it on their site. I've got more photos of the model that I'll post here eventually. A bust and a garage kit, however are things I don't normally paint, so I'll have to make an effort to work on some.

Paint a Unit Above Tabletop Standard, With a Display Base

I paint every unit above tabletop standard, but I never make display bases for them. Maybe if I put together an Armies on Parade force, but I'm not near any stores that host Armies on Parade.

Buy and Paint a Mini Within 48 Hours

I mentioned Heinrich Kimmler above, and I painted him in less than 5 hours. But I bought him like 30 years ago, so it doesn't count. I think the goal here is to get a model and paint it immediately rather than sitting on it for months as most hobbyists are prone to do.

Enter a Competition
 

My local shop held a small painting competition, so I can check that box. I didn't win, but participation is what counts.

Paint in the Company of Others

Yuck. I have worked on model assembly up at the shop, but that's not painting. Painting in public is a little more involved; since I have to drag out all my stuff, it's not worth it unless I can get in a few hours. I'm also claustrophobic when I paint– I don't like people hanging over me, bumping the table, squeezing past my chair, etc.

Repaint a Prepaint

I haven't bought any pre-painted miniatures, and I don't play any pre-painted games, so I may have to pick up an X-Wing ship or something, just to fill this spot.

Convert a Mini

This should just be the free spot in the middle for me. I convert practically everything, but this year I'll give it to the Red Rain Archers' unit champion. Sculpted chain mail, head swap, arm swaps, leg swaps... There's less of the original miniature than the stuff that I added. A full figure was essentially reduced to a torso to make this guy (or these guys, since I made two).

 

 

Paint a Mini Using a Technique You Haven't Mastered

Source lighting is something I haven't quite mastered. I painted a lighting effect on the banshees that I'm not entirely happy with. And I don't care, this nightmare of a model is finally done.

 

 

Build Something

I built everything. But I'm probably most happy with the new resin casting station I constructed with shelves, a ventilation fan and a paper towel holder! It's awesome.

Make a Diorama

Not this year, unfortunately. Maybe in the coming year. If I don't have a large commission, I may have to put together a small diorama for myself just to check off this box.

Contribute to the Community With an Article or Tutorial

Every week, baby (mostly).

Paint a Mini From a Range You've Never Painted Before

I didn't get this one. If I ever get to my Wild West Exodus or Flames of War models, that will take care of this spot.

Try To Replicate the Paint Job of Someone That Impresses You

When painting my initial Spirit Hosts and then the spectral effects on pretty much everything else, I was inspired by some models I saw on the Vampire Counts forum: 

http://www.vampirecounts.net/threads/show-us-your-spirit-host.11911/
The spirits by Dogmar and Seth Drallitoc had a beautiful ethereal tone that faded from a deep green to almost black at the bottom. I tried to emulate that, but ended up taking it much brighter. I think the resulting color fits in with my army's palette pretty well.

 

 

This year, I am going to make an effort to fill the card, or at least fill in more spots than I previously had. Too bad there aren't any scenery building spots on the card, or I'd clean up. How did you do this year, and are you going to try for your own Bingo in 2017?

'Til next time!