Just paint the thing.

I am currently being stared at by a large green reptilian like eye from my case of painted models. This eye is also attached to a taco truck. Why a taco truck you ask? Simply put, my contemporaries in the Reaper miniatures discord thought if a bunch of us submitted said trucks into the ordinance category of the Reaper MSP Open this year, it would be fun. That along with my need to be liked, included, and praised led me to joining in.

 I ordered a model off a sight that took so long to shop it out I was convinced I got scammed, and another off etsy that listed the model as 28mm. This wasn't 28mm scale but the actual model was 28mm tall, something I’m still a bit salty about. The scam was in fact not a scam and I received the original chunk of resin I ordered. I made plans, cut wood for a base, modeled an eye with rolls of flesh and tentacles. Then the model sat unpainted and needing more and more work as my idea ballooned. I purchased more models for a full line up of clients to eat at this eldritch establishment. They remained grey. First it was after the pigment miniature show, then after the next round of commissions. Suddenly I wasn't painting it at all, instead looking to the new bust I bought, something else to enter in the MSP Open. 

I had a lot to do in the lead up to Reapercon, copies of “Wizard Turf War” and “Sprue & Goo” to order, containers of basing material to fill. I was much too busy, burnt out, and suddenly too cool to conform to a trend. I was (and still am) an idiot. 

Sometimes we just need to get out of our own way. I painted the truck. Two things happened, a friend showed me one of her entries which is a masterclass of fuckery and shenanigans. That along with me pre registering my 4 models for the painters category, and one in diorama. Is an entry into ordinance that much more to accomplish? Something that goes along with the crowd of peers and friends? 

Just paint the fucking thing. 

This truck is arguably one of my favorite things I have painted. I ripped off tentacles and armatures, re-worked it onto a smaller base, and got to work. I hated this truck until the very end. Thought poorly of my techniques and processes, hated my own work. I almost gave up numerous times in the week of scattered painting, but with most of my pieces the final touches made me think differently of it. Limited use of effect paint, a stark contrast in the matte/glossy finish. Those attributes along with an eye that creeps out my wife (a medal of honor in it’s own right) endeared me to my own art.

Now that I'm out of my own way, time to paint my entry into the open category.