Musica

by Roman aka jar

Work in Progress

by Raffa

Hello everyone,

at the moment I am again away from planet earth and spending most of my time in the studio working on my next project for Monte San Savino.

I am still not sure if I can make it in time, but I will try my best! Finishing one little puzzle piece by another the project grows...

What it will be? See it in Monte San Savino :)
But here are some photos!











Cheers,
Raffa

1:72 - Shinobi

by Roman aka jar

Hi!

Recently I really am in love with painting 1:72 figures.

This one is also from Zvezda and it was a lot of fun trying to build the small base with the same detail as I do with big ones ... haha, no not really. On the cabinet shot in the end you can see the small Shinobi for size comparision...



If you want to see more photos of that stealthy ninja sneak over to Putty&Paint!

Hope you like him!
And remember always beware of the Ninjas!!

Keep on happy painting!
Best Wishes
Roman

Painting Jam 32 - FAQ

by Roman aka jar



Another Painting Jam rolling in ...
I hope you enjoy...

Roon asks via mail:

"Prior to the paintworkshop in december I wanted to ask you for some advice. 

So far I don't have experience painting display models, and hope to improve this during the workshop. 

I have a small miniature called little 'Thulu ( I believe from MEOW miniatures?). There have been several painted versions of it on the internet, and it inspired me to make my own version. Here's why: the miniature has one big eye looking, and one almost closed. The big eye made me think of (here it comes...) SpongeBob SquarePants. So Cthulhu being in the water as is SpongeBob made those characters connect into the miniature. I wanted to paint the mini yellow like Spongebob, with his big eye blue. But I'm afraid I won't get enough contrast with the yellow mini on the base, since I thought of a sand/seabottom base. So to give the scene more contrast I thought of it to place a small pink seastar (Patrick) on the base as well. 

Ok, ok here finally comes that question: do you think it will have enough contrast all together? Or do you have some advice how to improve this? There is no hurry to give an answer, as I want to use the learned skills from the workshop before I take on this project." 


My answer:

Yeah I know the figure.
Already painted it myself and it is a lot of fun indeed.
A yellow figure on a yellow sandy base wil definatly not use its maximal contrast ability.
I would seperate the base in two parts. For example having the figure standing on top of a underwater rock (painted dark, blueish black grey with gentle highlights, maybe some shells there). The rock could be on top of the sand, so you have the a dark seperation between the two bright parts (figure/sand). This could help making the scene not only yellow and make it clearer to the eyes of the viewer. You even could add some underwater plants here and there to make the base more detailed.

I hope my thoughts help you!

______________________________________________________________________________

Aleksey asks via mail:

"Good day or night, Roman!

I decided to write this letter because i have a terrible questions about painting miniatures ... 


I`ve learnt how to prepare minis also learnt to prime but i have a real barrier to begin painting! This is big stone wall in front of me that don`t allow me to understand the principles of miniature painting. (0)

I want to ask you: what is in the beginning? (1) I saw different paint manufacturers with its huge paint sets, a lot of brushes and other painting stuff. But i cannot decide what i need. (2) 

Another my big problem that i cannot understand how to choose main paint scheme right. (3)

I decided to repeat painting process in your wip "Step by Step - Daemonette 1.0 ". I like this set of Demonettes too. They are beauties :) And here we can see my another painting phobia. I afraid of miniature waste. If i get new mini and began to paint it i can do something wrong. And mini will be lost... (4)
 
Also i bought many DVD about miniature painting. But i cannot investigate for myself the beginning of this process. (5) Please give me the advices about my problems. What paints i need to buy? (6)
 

Can i buy a several colors or huge paintset? How can i decide a right paint scheme? Can i ask you a questions about colors in your Demonette wip particulary? (7)"


My answer:

These are particular some interesting questions and I would love to help you out of the "mysery" that you explain. I put numbers to your questions and will answer them by using the numbers.

(0)  "I`ve learnt how to prepare minis also learnt to prime but i have a real barrier to begin painting! This is big stone wall in front of me that don`t allow me to understand the principles of miniature painting. "

Go easy with yourselve. Miniature Painting is such a complex thing, you just can't learn everything when you are about to take the first step. Don't see the big wall ... see a big alley you are walking, with cherry trees and you pick the cherries you like to study them and learn them and use them on your way of the miniature painter. Easy, miniature painting is like building up muscles, hard work, training, but still a lot of fun. Or do you think this guy did get his arms without hard training.

No really I mean what I say about that. Go easy on yourselve and don't put too much pressure on you. Miniature painting is a great hobby, do not destroy it with fear of doing failures or too high expectations. The only thing you can learn it is by painting. It is not about talking about painting, not about reading about painting, not about watching DVDs - it is just the painting that you do on your table that pushes you forward, because you will fail during your studies and you will fail on your goals, but with that mistakes you learn how to ask the right questions to other painters on how to improve and get the right answers. Your muscle will grow, but not without painting.

Don't try to understand all which is out there about figure painting at once - you just can't. Go step by step. So I think it is a good thing that you asked me those questions. I try to help you as good as I can, but always remember, these are just my thoughts and they don't have to be perfect for you. Pick your cherries! Thanks for letting me answer this in public - I hope this might also help some others.

1) What is the Beginning?

And in the beginning there was chaos and from chaos your passion will rise and ... blablubb ... ok, well, I can understand you about being unsecure on where to invest money. There are so many things outthere and so many different brands and so many more stuff that many are talking about - definatly not an easy decision. Again, keep it simple. Walk the alley and pick what you might need. This guide should help you choosing the essentials that will help you on your way of the figure painter.

2) What do you need for the start?

You don't need all of that in the beginning, but brushes, primer and colours ... and a wetpalette, a cutting knife for cleaning and a lamp is money well spent. The rest grows from itself. If you have a look on this article which shows you different brands, you might see that my own collection also grew from small too big. I suggest buying a red, green, blue, yellow, white, black and some brown and sandy tones for a healthy start. Even you won't have all the colours available with that you can still mix them by your own. For example red and blue gives purple. The White and Black can be mixed into those colours to make them darker or brighter. Go with 2 brushes. My recommandation is the Windsor & Newton Series 7 (long, not short) in Scale 1 and 0. Great brushes, great to work with. I don't think you need a big painting set for the start. Maybe buy those colours I have mentioned from different brands to see which one you like the most. I personally prefer Vallejo Model Colour and Games Workshop colours.


3) Another my big problem that i cannot understand how to choose main paint scheme right.

Well this is not so easy to explain, but I found this guide that could really help you with its theory. It's simple but effective. Now starts the hard work, read it, make notes for yourselve while painting, understand it, learn from it. There is no perfect formula for the perfect colour scheme. You will not find it by searching, just by painting. Inspiration is everywhere, for example if you see an Artwork you really like or see a scene from a Movie where you love the colours ... BOOM ... give that colour scheme a try on one of your figures. Again you see the experience comes from the act of painting.

4) If i get new mini and began to paint it i can do something wrong. And mini will be lost... 

I can tell you one truth when you starting with painting by showing you my very first figure:


This is my first painted figure, ever. And it is nothing I feel ashamed of or think that the figure is lost. I had my fun and joy painting it. You can see again - experience grows as a muscle, by training. For sure you will get some results that you are not happy with, but you are not allowed to take these as failures that kills the figure. These are your steps while learning to paint. You just can't paint and already have all teh experience. It needs time to grow. If you are feeling bad painting up an expensive model, if you are scared of "destryoing" it by painting it ... start with simpler testing models. Really this thought will get you nowhere, change it. Every figure is a step, sometimes you go a step forward and sometimes you go three back. It's normal, that is how learning works.


5) 6) have been answered in the upper answers already ...

7) Can i ask you a questions about colors in your Demonette wip particulary?

Sure, go ahead via mail :)
______________________________________________________________________________

Rik asks via facebook:

"Good evening mr. Lappat, I'm following the interview for sunshine and moonbeam. 

You talked about "focusing" on winning prizes is something not very worthy, but enjoing the hobby would be a lot better. I totally agree, my question is: does this help in being reknown among people who ask for paintjobs (high level in your case)? According to the fact you paint for living. I also paint for living, but at the moment we are lightyears far from each other. Thank you very much, hope to write you soon. "

My answer:

A competition is definatly not a bad thing and winning an award can be a great thing. What I wanted to say is if you are focusing only on the winning aspect, you will lose in the end. You can lose your passion for the one thing that you love: sit down and paint figures. Don't take competitions too serious or the dark side can swallow your passion. Take it as a chance to compete with others but always keep in mind that a contest is judged by judges, which are also only humans and the result of a contest always depends what other projects there are from different painters. I always try to paint what I want to paint and if there is a competition I bring the pieces that are ready. In rare cases I prepared myself for a contest and in the end it is only about the time management that comes from such a preparation: you have to finish your project in time. It is best to not think about winning or loosing during the work on this project as this will get you nowhere.

I will be very honest with you: Sure it does help to get a bigger name in the industry if you are able to win a prize. This will also lead to comissions. It is that way, but I can tell you from my point of view and my way I have went while starting to do a living from it. I never did participate in the Golden Demon in the early years, just started to enter three years ago. When I started I tried to give the best that I could with my comissions, always have a win-win situation for me and the comissioner, be friendly, honest, good in what you offer to do, good in what you do and help others. That is why I write so many articles, because I am able to help others. Somehow this made my internet nickname and my painting as 'jarhead' "famous". It was not taking part in competitions. There are different ways to handle that and that was just my way. There are other painters outthere who focus on the competition painting to carve their name in a stone to never be forgotten and get comissions. This also works, it is just what you prefer.

______________________________________________________________________________

So far, keep on happy painting to everyone - I hope my answers helped!
Best Wishes
Roman

Sunshine and Moonbeam Season 2 Episode 4 ft. Roman Lappat

by Roman aka jar


Well, 

it's been a cool time during the interview I had with Mario and Jed at the Sunshine & Moonbeam - Journey to Crystal Brush. It was a live show last Sunday and honestly I was pretty nervous about having the interview live and from home on Sunday. Sunday is usually the big lazy day when I am not traveling for painting classes and events.

Jed and Mario really helped me with being so nervous by their cool way of hanging out together. It was my pleasure to speak to you guys and thanks for having me. Thanks for the nice chat we had.


I already recieved your adresses and I now got to find the two figures I will sent you :)

Many thanks to everybody who listened to the live show on Sunday!




If you are interested in more of those videos check the latest episodes.
I already watched some myself and enjoyed the one with James Wappel and Damon Drescher so far.
Stay tuned for more live Sunshine & Moonbeam on their blog!

Keep on happy painting!
Best Wishes
Roman

1:72 - The Last Stand of the Daimyo

by Roman aka jar

Heyho,

again it is the company Zveda who keeps me painting 1:72s.
Cool stuff, never seen such a quality in such a small scale so far.
A true fun to tell little stories with ...

This is the story of one honourable Daimyo, betrayed by his closest advisors and now just standing his Last Stand with the few who have honor and still are alive! !!


Hope you like them, even it is not really a historical piece as I did choose to paint the colours I like to paint there ... sorry for my dirty hand in the picture, but the hand was dirty because I was at work :D

If you like to see more views on the scene or even ugly close ups of way too small figures follow this link to Putty & Paint.

Keep on happy painting!
Best Wishes

Roman

Very funny indeed ...

by Roman aka jar

Private Practice: Lorenzo

by Roman aka jar



Aloa!

As you might have seen, last week we had another one of MV's private coaching, in our Studio, in our Hometown. It is always a great time to help another painter with our experience and we were happy to welcome Lorenzo, from Italy. A really cool, funny and kind person with whom time flew by way too fast, but not without the lack of sleep :)



So far Raffa and I enjoyed only private coaching with painters from Germany or Austria, so every coaching was held in german language or german language with strong austrian accent. Let me say some words about our first international private coaching: The language was never a problem. I already knew this while writing email with Lorenzo as we planned his days in our hometown in Augsburg. And if a mail subject looks like this, you can be sure that we had some stuff to plan:

"R: Re: R: Re: R: Re: R: Re: R: Re: R: Re: R: Re: R: Re: I: Re: R: Re: R: Re: Painting Trip" :D

 I have to tell that Lorenzo really did something to be proud of. Not by taking the class, the class was about learning and going further on the way of the miniature painter. I mean something different. Lorenzo showed some balls for his passion. Something to be really proud of is taking holidays from work off, to sit in a train to Germany and spent some days there for painting. Every normal person would say "Why not do holidays at the ocean instead?" ... the reason is passion, the fire that burns in everybody. With painting Lorenzo found his passion that burns him from the inside and it is always good to listen to the inner voices ...

 Lorenzo brought his passion ...


A describtion on what we exactly did during the private coaching will following my words here, written by Lorenzo as he was so kind to write his impressions down. We can only say we had a great time with him, even he was a little tired from the though train ride on the first day. Many thanks to you Lorenzo, it has been our pleasure. Raffa and I found some things you forgot, we will make a little parcel ready for you soon with all that is missing. From now on enjoy Lorenzo's impressions!

"Hi there, jungle people!
 
My name is Lorenzo, i’m from Italy and I just returned home after a private coaching with Roman & Raffa.

I want to give you my point of view about this kind of coaching, both because I think it’s been a great experience and because I hope my review can be helpful and inspirational for others fellow painters.
I’ve been painting miniatures for a long time but never constantly: after a long hiatus, 2 years ago I realized it was one big passion in my life, and now I’m putting lot of effort into it. So i decided for this private coaching to help me boost my skills, and I admit my expectations were very high.

I choose the guys because I really like their style, and also because I think they share their “happy painting” philosophy: we need more such people in this hobby. :)

We met on Tuesday, October the 22th at Augsburg train station, were they picked me up. I felt we immediately got along, and soon we were at the studio and I could see they were as eager as me to start the lesson, but before that we sat down to discuss: they looked at the figures I brought along and they asked about my goals for these 2 days.
After a little talking, we started with Roman showing me some color theory, warm/cold and saturation/desaturation contrast and much more: things I already knew about, but listening to him was way better than reading a book. That was the first time during the 2 days where I realized that having someone show you the way is very different than trying alone.
Then  it was time to start painting. After some basecoating, I started working the skin of my figure: one of my goals was to increase my blending skills, and I was shown a new method of doing it. I was out of my comfort zone but, after a few hours, I started getting confident with this technique and results soon followed.
I was constantly asking Roman & Raffa for suggestions: another goal was to better understand light and shadow placement, and they helped me explaining where I could push the lights further, or where I painted wrong areas. Things i could not see by myself.

From time to time, they showed me models they were working on to share tips, tricks or just to explain how they applied the same things I was being instructed in. My main “duty” for the first day was to complete the face, and I was able to: the result was many steps ahead of my previous level, and I must thank their constant support for that.

Painting time ahead!

Lorenzo brought a cool demon figure from Clockwork Paladin!



We also were accompanied by Sanne, a very cool lady and our awesome trainee during these two days as she is working on her first figure ever ... more about Sanne and that evil Zombie soon!


Lorenzo's first steps ...


After a good night’s sleep ( and breakfast with german food, yay!) we headed for the studio again where Roman put down a schedule of “to do” things for the second and last day: we started with Roman showing me his wet in wet technique for blending, which I tried on the arm and legs of the demon, shifting the color from purple to black: I tried this thing before with poor results, but again, it’s different when you have someone showing it to you and, in fact, the blending was pretty good IMHO! Bam! :D

Then, metallics came:  I usually paint my models in NMM but this time Roman & Raffa talked to me into trying true metal because, even if I don’t use them so often, they could teach me their way so that I could have the technique available for the future.
The important thing is that they never forced me, and that is what good teachers should do: also in other occasion, for example colour choice for the eye, or the lava on the base, they gave me suggestions I was free to follow or not. Sometimes a teacher can show you the way, but you have to decide for yourself and, maybe, go your own way and fail so you can understand on your skin what the teacher was telling you. That is my humble point of view.


 
 Many different things on our schedule ...




 After that we stopped painting for a while and moved to creating the lava. It’s amazing how these guys were unsure how to proceed but found a quick and realistic solution. Raffa helped me putting the lava in place and he painted a separate piece of it, so I could take inspiration.


Raffa also helped me with colour choice and painting of the flames: we went magenta because, really, is there something cooler than a demon with magenta flames bursting from his back ? :P
Again, he invented an incredible yet simple effect for the fire and I was like “ how could not think about it?”… that happened a lot during the coaching, and it helped me widening my mind towards new ideas: you have to take into consideration every strange solution, because it could work.
Time passed very fast and soon the coaching ended, but I was satisfied.
















Before closing the review, I want to give you my personal interpretation of it.
It’s not like this kind of coaching it a “magic wand” that immediately makes you a genius painter: sure, I’ve made big progress and learnt many tricks, but now I have to do a lot of practice to develop these newly acquired informations.
I see this coaching sorta like planting seeds in your mind: you are responsible for making them grow, and both Roman & Raffa pointed out that, without practice, you go nowhere.
Having a great teacher can help you improve faster, and also can help you remove some blocks in your way of understanding miniatures: things that maybe, on your own, would take months or even years to develop.

So, have my expectations been met?
Yes, I’m happy to have invested in this lesson and now I feel more self-aware and inspired in painting miniatures.

But this went beyond the coaching and I’m satisfied also on the human side: I’ve met 2 incredible persons which whom to share my passion for painting, persons I could laugh and talk with about everything, not only miniatures.
They helped my finding a place where to sleep, they gifted me with many things and we went out for a dinner and a walk in Augsburg. I felt not as a “customer”, but as a honored guest.

Thanks again Roman & Raffa for this experience and keep on the happy painting! :)"




Our only group shot, early in the morning, close to Lorenzo's departure. We went to such a cool place to eat in our hometown the night before, in the dungeons under the city's main hall and said all the time we have to make that photo here, but we failed, instead we had a great time all along with some strong german food and beer and cocktails and water ...and the lack of sleep :D

Many thanks again to you Lorenzo, for being open in learning new things, fighting your way through unknow terrain and your patience with the both of us. I am looking forward to meet again and as I told you, try your best to show up in Monte San Savino this or next year ... so cool and by the burning heart of passion that you got in your chest I know you would love it there!


Keep on happy painting, Lorenzo! Explore the myths of miniature painting further, test, paint, paint, test, paint, test, paint ... learning never stops!

Best Wishes
Roman and Raffa

Maybe you are interested to get your very own private practice? Or want to see more reviews?  
Check this link!





Let's have a Brekk!

by Roman aka jar

Ho!

During the end of September Raffa and I have been to Hamburg for two weekends to teach two of our BAM classes in the great Wu-Dao Kung Fu school. Meanwhile you can find the reviews of the classes linked up here!

We did also paint a demonstration figure during holding the class and individual training at both weekends and they will show up here in the jungle finally. Brekk-time! A normal version of Brekk and a Zombie-Brekk with small conversion work.






We hope you like them!
Keep on happy brekking!

Musica for nice epic painting time! !!

by Roman aka jar

MV Quest: Respiratory System check!

by Roman aka jar


Our all passion is dangerous ...
welcome to another one of our MV Quests!

Sanding resin parts, breathing milliput dust, using many different glue sorts, working with multiple component putty or resin, sanding white metal in different qualities, sniffing strange colours smells ... eeeeecceeettaaarrrraaaa!!! Not the best conditions to grow old so it is good to check for your respiratory systems once in a while and take care to keep them away from danger. That is what this quest is about! It's breathing mask time!!

Many thanks to Dragonlord Games which is supporting not only the Article section with their banner, but also sponsoring a big load of figure candy to this Quest, for you to win!

Thanks for the support to

 ______________________________________________________________________________

So, a dangerous passion it is.
We think everybody who loves Miniature Painting should have a breathing mask at home to have a longer life and paint more and more figures! If you already got one at home you are prepared for the upcoming quest that we ask of you. If you have none so far, get one, not only for this quest, also for your health.

Quest Rules

- Make a cool photo* of yourself** on your workbench while wearing your breathing mask
- Sent the photo via mail to jarhead---at---massivevoodoo---dot---com
- Name the mail like this "MV Quest - Respiratory System check - *your name*" to take part
- Sent your photo until 1st of December 2013
- we are judging the coolest photos, craziest ones, funniest and impressive ones, etc. - may the most creative of you win!

*entries will be made public on Massive Voodoo
** you can also make a photo together with your friends, pets or alien friends but everybody has to wear a breathing mask. If you enter a photo with multiple persons you are handled as a single entry. If you might win something with a photo of multiple persons you win as a group.

WIN one of those three prizes, sponsored by Dragonlord Games:




Now it is up to you! Show us your creativity and do something for your future health. When you did sent your entry you will recieve a confirmation mail by me. I will try to do so as soon as possible after the arrival. Hope to read you soon!

Keep on happy questing!
Your MV-Team

Wow! MV's heart goes BOOM!

by Roman aka jar

Hey,

just recieved some mails that really makes the jungle heart go "BOOM" ... thanks for such nice words about the work we do ...


________________________________


"I think that MV sets different standards in the modelling community, as did we with our show internationally and some other stuff, like workshops etc., on a more national level. So somehow I feel a good connection between MV and us. If you are ok with it, I already invite you guys back for next year... "

Robert, Head of the SMC


"I received the book and all the awesome inspiration that is contained within its covers. Well done gents! The book is a big favorite already with several of my staff members here at sideshow Collectibles!"


________________________________

Really from the depths of the jungle heart: Thank you for such nice words! 
Another big thanks goes out to Harald and Michael for pressing the Donation button in the last weeks!

Thank you!

Review Preview

by Roman aka jar

Soon ... 

Lorenzo's impression on the private coaching, here on this station.



Painting Class Deluxe in Blumberg-Achdorf announced!

by Peter aka Baphomet



Hey friends,

the next one of Roman´s painting classes in 2014 is ready to be announced. It will take place in Blumberg-Achdorf at the weekend of  

28th-30th of March 2014


And this time it´s a "Deluxe-Version". This means there is a full catering and place for overnight included! Just check the review if you like to know more :)

So if you would like to attend, just send me a mail (baphomet[at]massivevoodoo[dot]com).

The following link will get you all the information you need (in German, if you need it in English, feel free to send me a mail).

CLICK ME!!! 


If you would like to have a class in your village/town/city/state/country/continent feel free to write a mail and we´ll make it possible!

Regards,
Peter

Massive Voodoo TV Update

by Roman aka jar

Heyho!

This morning we had to say "Arrivederci!" to Lorenzo who was our guest for the last two days for some private coaching lessons. We had a really cool time together and the time we were painting in these two days was massive. Expect a detailed review about the private coaching with Lorenzo soon in your jungle! For the three of us the last days were very cool, but also exhausting. So today has become a day of relaxation while Lorenzo is still travelling with the train. Have a save trip!!

Still a lot of work to clear from the to-do list and believe me, I will not forget something. Today I was able to finish another video for MV's youtube channel ... hope you like it!


 
Enjoy the Sun!


The Art Critic

by Roman aka jar

Musica

by Roman aka jar

Kong's WIP-thoughts - October #03

by Roman aka jar


The last look on my table has been a while - check the last steps here!
Right now it is colour time! Still finding my vision of this project, but looking forward to it!
Painting wild and hard!


Still WIP - More soon!
Keep on happy painting!


Scale Model Challenge 2013 – Review

by Phil


What a great show!
Last week six monkeys + a cool daddy + a funky trainee made their way to the Netherlands to visit the Scale Model Challange.
Some of us have been last year to SMC 2012 where we had a booth for the first time. But this time we had a jungle! Trees, plush monkeys and bananas! It's crazy how well organized the Scale Model Factory guys are, and they never lose their happy smile.


It's a gigantic hall. No. two halls! A huge shopping area, dozens of club tables, a kids area, a large spacious competition area and for the first time the game zone.
Raffa has a new video camera, so we took opportunity to make some really funky interviews. Soon on MassiveVoodooTV!



If you have never been to a SMC you definitely missed something. So be sure to come next year!

Will the MassiveVoodoo jungle dwellers be there next year? You bet!

And now some personal impressions

Roman
When I was entering the halls of the Scale Model Challenge after a car ride that took forever, but a funny one, I never did my find so impressed by the size of an event.

Finding the Massive Voodoo both ready for preparation on Saturday night was great and speaks for the awesome organisation behind that event. The SMC Team is a crowd of madmen, when it comes to perfect organisation. I even saw yellow robots driving the halls on Sunday during the clean up. During Saturday night we went to a great dinner, played some basketball, got lost in the big complex labyrinths of the hotel several times, enjoyed some drinks at the bar, had some great talks, hunted rabbits out in the parc, got lost in the big complex labyrinths of the hotel several times and partied with nice people to the early morning. Let's say 1+ for that aspect.


Sunday Morning got me surprised again. A healthy breakfast makes you much more powerful than the usual coffee and cigarette I enjoy daily. Powerful, after that night of too many polish lady drinks, we went to see Saturday and the show. Again, Organisation was perfect and this time I did not get lost in the big complex labyrinths of the hotel several times, 1+. Entering the already crowded hall I was massively impressed again. Many clubs appeared, figures in the contest, big light armies from the top roofs, nice people all around, a cool chat here and there, meeting friends from the adventures of the big complex labyrinths of the hotel-quests we had the night before, talking about figures, judging my part, enjoying conversation, meeting old and new friends, chatting about figures, hunting painters for our interviews, recieving a bag full of bananas (YEAAAHH!!!) and much more happened! Really, really, really, really cool time we had. I was happy that many monkey brothers and sisters followed the call of the SMC and the booth was so crowded. Thanks to the SMC Team for this great offer to share our idea of painting!

I really enjoyed some nice days at the SMC, met great people, saw some great modelling and really had an awesome time. I wish there would have been even more of it!

Raffa
When I visited the SMC for the first time last year, we were invited from the organisation to make a Massive Voodoo booth. It was such a great event so we just had to come again to this show (we were also invited again, so how can you recline?).

Before and after the event we were staying at Mareike & Philip's place. No words can describe their kindness and the good feeling you have when beeing around this great couple!
I was really looking forward to this weekend and the event, in the end we were eight people at the booth, six of them from the MV crew... a big family meeting! And also the biggest thing to look forward to.


Apart from that fact, the event is just jaw-droppingly good organized (you will never see any chaos from the organisation which is very good, especially if you are a part of the event. I was judging the Fantasy Standard category and we also managed our MV-booth again and everything we needed from the organisation was there), there is soooo much to see and sooo much to do there... it's insane.
The only critique I have: one day is too short!!!


Apart from the great event, the dinner and meeting in the bar at the evening was just great! So many good talks, so much laughing and fun... It's really like a big family. It doesn't matter if you paint figures, build tanks, jets, boats, propeller planes..... everyone is happy and has a good time!
Every great achievement takes hard work and sacrifices. Ok, maybe that's a little over the top, but driving the car for around 16 hours on one weekend is exhausting. A small sacrifice for such a awesome weekend!

Oli
It was my third year at the Scale Model Challenge and I am still impressed about the size of this event. They really did a great job and a good organization. And so many visitors were there, I think it is an advantage in our hobby, if we connect the historical, fantasy, tanks and dioramas like they do it in that event. Beside that, it was really funny to meet many of my painting friends. I really enjoyed that weekend, Thanks SMC, I think it won't be my last time in Eindhoven ;)



Valérie
I've never heard about the Scale Model Challenge before, I was just basically happy to have the occasion to meet "…-finally-once again-…" my beloved monkey brothers, and was just told before leaving that we would have a big MV booth there, with banana trees and all, and even monkey stuffed animals! Anyway, those 2 only things would have convinced me to go anywhere really, ahahah!! kidding.


...What I could not imagine was how HUGE this contest would be
It would be too long to explain you the whole experience from my window, so I will just keep it in a few words: a very organized organization team that really made us feel at home, unexpected basket ball monkey moves, basing material served at table at the same time than the "buffet", never ending corridors which made any trip to the toilets look like a quest  , many "sudden death" beers (Mort Subite  ) and nice talks, some really stupid interviews with monkey petting and bananas ...so many retailers and minis, sculpting, painting…  Yeah, I definitely had a lot of fun!
Eindhoven is only a 4 hours road trip from Paris and it's really manageable by car. If any french buddy wants to join in next year, you just should not hesitate

Bene
I really enjoyed the Scale Model Challenge. For me it was very fascinating as I'm normally on events, where it is mostly about figures and not so much about scale modelling. So it was a cool new experience to see so many new stuff and aspects I´m not so familiar with in our beloved hobby. It was really a blast for me because it was also one of the bigger (may be the biggest) figure/scale model related event I entered so far. It has a huge area for all the hobby clubs and also a big sales area, where you can get many cool things for our hobby. There is also a pretty cool prepared area for the contest, with many daylight bulbs, so you have nice light when looking at the models.


Unfortunately I had not as much time as I wanted to have, to take a closer look at all the cool stuff which was offered on the SMC. So there wasn´t even really time for me to do some bigger shopping which I had planned to do, because stuff like filming and helping at the booth really kept me busy but it was definately a lot of fun and I enjoyed to do it and to be at the SMC. It was nice to meet many friends again and to meet new ones, especially the saturday evening in the bar was great. And I also have to say a big thank you to Phil and Mareike for their great hospitality in the days around the SMC, it is always nice to have a stay at yours. All in all I just can say that it was a great weekend and I am already looking forward to the next years SMC, I will be there.

Philip
I really love the SMC. It was the event I was looking most forward to this year. We had a MV booth, a super versatile competion, shops over shops and a lot of cool people. What I like most about the SMC is the perfect realisation and that it is so modern. They think of everything. Scale Modellers for tanks, planes and ships, figure painters, historic and fantasy etc etc. Even for the kids. Demos by renowned artists, funny contests and french fries!

To sum up the SMC you could say it's a huge well organized family event with a modern competition and a big nerd supermarket – everything serverd with a happy dutch smile.

Sanne – Jungle Trainee
What a lot of fun we had at the Scale Model Challenge! I couldn't believe the size of the hotel and still have no clue why it needs to be so big that roomnumbers and colours have to be combined to find your way around - which I didn't... I got lost but found some amazing art and great people instead. What a lovely crowd! Thanks for having me!

Galleries and more reviews

Phil's photos
Review on Corvus Miniatures
Report on dieVincis 

... and our video footage from that cool day!
 
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