Bold

Perhaps it might be nice to still have the Brinewind Store open after the conclusion of the auction, even if just for a half-hour? I'd hate to see someone get outbid for a fancy item, then walk away extremely disappointed with a pocket full of useless Reaper Bucks. If they could still pick up some a t-shirt and a coffee mug, that might send 'em home on a happier note. I saw this over in the other thread, but wanted to voice my approval here as well. Not everyone wants a mousepad (even a 16k mousepad ), but I think many ReaperCon attendees would dig getting a couple paints or Bones minis. Oooo, or maybe a bucket of Sample Paints? That might add a unique flair to the offerings. Suggestion: I love having the cameras and TV in the classrooms (what an improvement over years ago!), but would it be possible to adjust their settings? Specifically the brightness of the TV, and the color depth of the camera? I had a number of classes in Classroom #1 (Connemara), and found it difficult to see anything on the TV when I was sitting in the back half of the room: the miniature on-screen was just a big dark blob. It may be worthwhile talking to people who run Twitch streams of their painting to offer advice since they have so much experience in this area; I don't know if it was a lack of lighting, or TV settings, or camera settings, etc. Similarly, there was a weird "posterization" effect occurring. For example, Derek Schubert's amazingly-smooth blends looked blocky or cartoonish when viewed on the TV. I don't know if this was an issue with the "color depth" of the camera, or TV settings, etc. It looked a little like this:

Understandable, especially if they've been there since Wednesday night. If there are any artists who arrive later in the week would be interested in running a class on Sunday morning, I suspect those of us who fly out on Sunday night would be interested. This year there were only a couple classes offered at the Sunday 9am and 11am slots; I attended a class during each slot, and would gladly do so again. Part of the reason I started this thread was my memories of a wonderful Labor Day gaming convention which used to be held many years ago in Omaha. It ran Friday-Saturday-Sunday, with Monday a half-day allowing for convention clean-up and attendee travel. Sunday was well-attended since it was just the third day of a 3-1/2 day convention (a bit like Saturday at ReaperCon) and featured a giant "interactive" module on Sunday night (like DDAL Epics, if you're familiar with those) which was the highlight of the convention. That schedule made for a fun convention weekend with minimal impact on jobs, college, etc. But as you pointed out, Monday is a holiday for your employees, and I can certainly see why as a business Reaper would want them to have some downtime (and a chance to enjoy the holiday with their families!) before returning to work later in the week. Thank you for providing the inside scoop!

Oh, absolutely! And that's why I raised the question, because I suspect the assumption has been "hey, let's keep things exactly the same" even though ReaperCon was moved to a 3-day weekend with a holiday on Monday. This is kind of a follow-up to my comments elsewhere last week about how not all ReaperCon attendees watch every Twitch stream, and it would be mistake to assume they do. Likewise, not everyone spends a day or two driving each way; plenty of us fly in. In faction, my later suggestion today about offering additional classes & games on Sunday is precisely because not everyone will be happy with one solution. With that Sunday extension, some people could attend on just Thu/Fri, some just on Sat/Sun. Some might split the difference with Fri/Sat, others might come for three days, and some die-hards would likely cannonball all the way through the full four days. Inarah's comment about artist fatigue would certainly be valid for those that chose to attend all four days, but that's kinda' the point: perhaps some would only want to come & teach for Sat/Sun? Or maybe Fri-Sun? Other attendees have complained that artists/judges weren't available on Sunday morning for critique; perhaps they would've been at their tables if they had arrived Friday morning, rather than Wednesday night? I completely understand why many Forumites love the traditional Wed night through Sunday morning schedule, with a road trip to & from. But I'd hope that they would also be open to the preferences of those artists and attendees that attend fewer days, or fly in, or whatever.

Another possibility: Given how much the convention has grown, and how hard it is for people to get into classes, would it be worthwhile extending Sunday to a full day? That is, have a full day of classes and games on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday? As it is, there are only a few classes offered on Sunday morning, and not much of an incentive to stick around, even for the "Saturday 1-day" attendees. Offering a full day of events on Sunday would more effectively take advantage of the event occurring on a holiday 3-day weekend. It would benefit those people who cannot attend Thursday and/or Friday, as well as people who have lots of vacation time and would like another full day of ReaperCon. It would also make it easier for attendees to get into classes which are sold out, since there will be that many more slots. It may also make the event more of a draw for artists who would prefer to come for just Saturday/Sunday. What did you do prior to 2018, when ReaperCon was not on a holiday weekend? For so many years, it ended with the auction mid-day on Sunday, and most people returned to work Monday morning--no time at all to decompress. And of course, if we kept the current days and merely extended Sunday to a full day, you could always leave early on Sunday if you wanted more time for travel and/or decompression.

With the event on Labor Day weekend, the days it is held could theoretically have been changed to make it more accessible to more people. Lemme 'splain! Up through 2017, it was held on a non-holiday weekend: Thur/Fri/Sat full days of classes & games, Sun a few classes and the auction, people drove home Sunday night. And then back to work on Monday. But in 2018 with the change to a holiday weekend, everything could have been shifted back one day... but it wasn't. If it had been shifted, it would look like this: Fri/Sat/Sun full days of classes & games, Mon a few classes and the auction, people drive home Monday night. And then back to work on Tuesday. Pros of keeping the same schedule: An extra "free day" on Monday, before most people return to work on Tuesday Some people can stay longer on Sunday, rather than leaving early for extra travel time Cons of keeping the same schedule: Attendance at all three full days requires people to take off TWO days from work (Thu/Fri), rather than just one (Fri) Not all employers will allow people to take two vacation days right before a 3-day weekend Students/teachers are just starting their year, and may not be able to leave class on both Thu/Fri People who cannot take ANY time off of work can only attend one full day (Sat) I'm a teacher, so the current schedule is unworkable: there's no way I can take off two days when the school year has just begun. If we did the shifted schedule, I could still attend two full days on Sat/Sun, a partial day on Mon, then head back in time for work on Tuesday. Same for other people cannot take off work this time of year. As it is, I can attend ReaperCon for only ONE full day. (This year I got lucky with the dates of Rosh Hashanah so was able to attend Friday as well, but this year was the exception.) I wonder how many other people struggle to take off enough days this time of year. Thoughts?

I’ve been out & about for the last couple of days, handing out chocolate. If you’re trying to get a Bingo and need to find the elusive Bold, look for a doofus wandering around between classes with a cup full of gold-foil coins. 😉

I may be hard to find, but I’m giving out GOLD! Bold’s Gold! * * No actual gold will be given out. But hey—it’s chocolate! And that’s nearly as good.

I didn't sign up this time because I'll be there for Friday/Saturday/Sunday, but not on Thursday. (And I take a lot of classes, so I'm notoriously hard to find. But I did always give out foil-covered Bold's Gold chocolate to people who find me!) But if you have a spot to fill, I'd be happy to participate! Forum name + avatar is fine.

Agreed. Some additives should be used very sparingly, such as surfactants (aka "flow improver") or drying retarder. Confusingly enough, some products are poorly-labeled. For example, most products labeled "flow improver" (e.g. Liquitex Flow-Aid) are just surfactants. But Vallejo's "Flow Improver" is actually a drying retarder. If you add too much to the paint, it'll cause problems. For transferring Citadel paint to dropper bottles, I'd recommend not adding anything at all at first. (Use disposable plastic funnels to make it easier.) I have seen suggestions on WH40k forums to add flow improver when transferring Citadel paints to dropper bottles, but I don't think those people understand what the product is. Surfactants just break the surface tension so that the paint doesn't bead up on the surface of the miniature; I think these well-intentioned hobbyists wrongly believe that "flow improver" will help the paint flow out of the pot, but what's really happening is the flow improver is thinner than paint, and effectively thins the paint. To avoid the problems caused by too much flow improver, it'd be smarter just to use distilled water to thin the paint as need: to get the last bit of paint out of the pot, add a bit of distilled water and swish it around with a clean brush, but accept the idea that you're not going to get every last bit out of the pot. And unless the pots are brand new, watch out for dried chunks of paint, especially near the lid. You can also use fine mesh paint strainers if you're using older pots.

If the nozzle is getting damaged, you may be pressing too hard when you "seat" the needle. That is, when you push the needle forward and then tighten the needle chuck, don't press so hard on the needle that stretches out the opening of the nozzle--they're made of soft brass. As for clogging, try running isopropyl alcohol through your nozzle as a part of your cleaning process. It will do a great job of breaking down paint. Be careful of the tools you use to clean the nozzle, however; avoid items which will scratch it, like wire brushes. You can use soft interdental brushes on an airbrush, and on the wide part of the nozzle. There isn't much documentation (video or otherwise) on the Reaper VEX, but it's essentially a modified Badger Patriot 105, and there is a TON of useful information online for how to clean a Badger Patriot, how to assemble & disassemble it, etc.

Reaper’s fantastic customer service has already replied to my email from last night, and they’re sending replacement parts. Awesome!

Nope, the VEX parts are designed to be tightened/loosened by hand. The VEX is essentially a modified Badger Patriot 105, and both airbrushes use a compression-fit nozzle which is held in place by a head cap and spray regulator, both tightened by hand. The VEX also has a needle guard, which should be hand-tightened (but on mine is stuck). Most airbrushes by Badger and Harder & Steenbeck feature heads which have tool-less assembly; even the newer versions of the Badger Sotar now come with the nozzle head brazed to the airbrush body, eliminating the need to remove it with a wrench. Iwata airbrushes, on the other hand, typically require a tool either to remove the nozzle cap (Eclipse) or the nozzle itself (High Performance series, Micron). The stuck VEX parts haven't yielded to my efforts, which have included soaking with solvents and using two pairs of soft-jaw pliers. As noted above, applying more force or using tools with harder jaws would damage the knurling or even crush the parts. At this point I'll contact Reaper support for a replacement. Thank you, everyone!

When airbrushing with acrylic paints, "tip dry" is a common issue where paint dries on the tip of the needle. Removal of the needle guard allows access to the needle to remove dried paint without disassembling the entire head assembly. Experienced airbrushers often paint with the needle guard completely removed, allowing frequent access to the needle (the "pick" method of dealing with tip dry).

I appreciate the reply! Unfortunately, this VEX is brand-new, never been used, so there's no dried paint inside. I had sprayed some distilled water through it when I first got it, but since then I've been using my other airbrushes. I did initially do a quick look-over of the VEX that first day, and noticed these two parts were stuck together. "Huh," I figured, "I would've thought these were separate parts. Maybe it's one solid piece?" When I finally looked at it again this week and checked the schematic, I discovered that they are in fact two separate parts which should come apart. I've had it soaking in isopropyl all morning, but no joy. I'm going to try increasingly potent solvents, but I think it's more of a manufacturing defect. Short of heat (butane torch) and/or penetrating oil, I don't think these are coming apart without damaging the parts: if I use regular pliers (rather than the soft-jaw pliers I've already tried), I could probably separate them but would gouge the knurling or even crush the parts.

The Reaper VEX has a combination of two parts for its spray regulator (RPR-0003) and needle guard (RPR-0002). On my VEX, however, these two parts are solidly stuck together--I've practically destroyed my fingers (and the plastic teeth of my soft-jaw pliers) trying to separate them. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

Sounds good! Send me a message with your Discord username, and we can coordinate when we will submit our entries together this quarter.

Users Jedijared, Lana, and I are doing a “Wizard’s Tower” group for Q1, if you’re interested. Jedijared is painting an Astrolabe, Lana is painting a wizard, and I’m going to do a scholar (or something; haven’t yet decided). If you (or anyone else) wants to join us, post a reply!

I have a TON of Bones miniatures from past Kickstarters, and I imagine many other people do as well. Is this a good thread to see if anyone else is interested in participating in a monthly Duo or Trio to work on our backlog of minis from Bones 4? (Or Bones 3, or 2, or...) Maybe come up with a bunch of minis we'd each like to do, confirm we all have 'em, and pick one each month for the participants to paint and submit? I don't post on the forums much (and everyone's inability to find me for Forumite Bingo at ReaperCon proves my lurker status! ), so I'm not sure if this is the best place for a "looking for group" thread, or if another sub-forum would be more appropriate.

Thank you! My “birthday present” arrived today. Well, I ordered it about two months ago, but it arrived today so I’ll claim it’s a gift to myself.

My Reaper order arrived today. Feels like Christmas morning!

I dunno, I guess it was a little bold...

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! I ended up DM'ing a one-off D&D Adventurer's League game on my birthday (local store had a an open table and a long waiting list of new players), as a last-minute favor to a local games organizer. I used pre-painted minis, but I'm starting to feel some guilt: lately I've been sorting through a mountain of unpainted plastic acquired during the Bones 1/2/3/4 Kickstarters, and I thought, "Y'know, I have the perfect mini for this monster... if only I had painted it. <sigh> Looks like I'll have to use a pre-painted mini instead." My goal for this year, before I turn 48 in 2020? PAINT MORE MINIS!

For ten years, I’ve been hearing the same story about W&N Series 7 brushes: “They were good up until a couple of years ago.” Again, I’ve heard that exact line... for ten years. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. But the timeline does strike me as odd...

I’ve successfully removed primer from WizKids miniatureswith LA’s Totally Awesome cleaner, which you can find in your local dollar store. Let it soak for a day or three, occasionally scrubbing with an old toothbrush. I discovered LA’s Totally Awesome cleaner on a roundup of different products tested to see which was best at stripping old minis, and it came out on top: better than Simple Green, Isopropyl Alcohol, etc.

My Ghoulie Bag arrived today!