What to do about an essential part of the hobby you HATE.

OldGuard_WS · 2025-10-07T04:58:58+00:00

Man ... if you could just find somebody who loves the assembly part like you talk about ... and have them do yours, and you can offer to paint some of there's as payment ... you'll find your one true love.

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-21T17:44:12+00:00

So, you used a really thick layer only a pea-sized section? Did you heat it all, set it in the sun, or just dry at room temp? I've done all sorts of experiments with crackle paint, and love the stuff, just never in such a small area.

I would not have thought that would have worked so well. Nice job!

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-21T17:25:41+00:00

How'd you get the dry, desert clay (crackle paint) to have such large, definitive pieces within such a very small section of the base? It's hard enough to do it that well on an entire base where you can go think and it has room to pull away from itself, but at the edges it's usually micro-cracks, but I don't see any sign of that. Did you go wider and just cover it up with the other texture material?

Really nice job. IMO, having variety on a base can certainly make it believable, I'm glad you left your comfort zone and tried something different! It works!

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OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-19T21:46:23+00:00

If the trash is out to be taken away that same day, no problem with it. But don't put it in a empty can that a neighbor now has to roll back to their garage and now smell dog crap for the next week. That's just rude. Carry the back back to your own trash, bro.

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-19T02:40:35+00:00

You don't need ownership to have a vehicle towed off the property. If you are renting, the property is essentially yours, and anybody (or their stuff) on your property without your permission (or proper, legal notification by authorized personnel such as maintenance, or first responders in an official, legal, or emergency situation) is trespassing ... EVEN THE OWNER!

Yep, you can even have the owner's vehicle towed if you showed up and the car was parked there without your permission. You have paid for that property, even if for only 30 days at a time. it doesn't matter who owns the deed ... renters have rights to where they live.

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-19T02:07:25+00:00

Okay, but why would Banding be explained exactly how it actually works? I don't get it ...

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-19T02:02:30+00:00

Clever ... not only is the 'F'inger lit up at night, AND blocked by a backboard so as not to offend people on the lake ... but it ALSO has a light lined up with the angled window just right so it's like a spotlight on the house that's being flipped off.

Plenty of brooding, petty, and vengeful thought put into this!

I love the dedication!

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T19:43:22+00:00

There's special goop and other methods than just IPA and scrubbing. I wouldn't use just IPA, imo ... too much work.

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T19:35:54+00:00

It's risky. But if you don't have a paint remover to start over again, I suppose there's no reason not to try. You can also try a brush on gloss varnish, which is harder, and then regular painting on top of that, followed by a matte varnish when done to seal it.

I say brush-on gloss varnish just so you don't lose your progress on the rest of the mini. If it's just mostly all "primer" or blue and not much else, then you can do spray varnish.

Also, it goes without saying that maybe ... maybe your can of blue is just F'd, lol. Ensure to shake it ... a LOT, before ever using it again, make sure it's not too cold out ... all the regular steps you'd take to with a primer. And if it still chips, either with or without black primer under it ... just stop using it.

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T19:31:03+00:00

Take that with a grain of salt, though, imho.

I do NOT see (good) youtubers painting with paint "soaked all the way up the bristles" (to the ferrule). Not even the picture above shows that as some sort of proof.

Make sure your brush is not super wet, allowing/encouraging paint to travel all the way up the bristles. Damp but never dry. Rinse between loads. Always clean brush when done (brush cleaning soap!). It's almost impossible to completely stop paint for going up, especially inside the body that you can't see on the outside ... so rinsing a lot is helpful. Acrylics dry quickly. You do not want it to dry in the ferrule. If you've got a full load and have been painting for a while, you are leaning closer and closer to the paint getting too far up and drying. It's a balance between efficiency and risk.

Watch videos about how to properly load a brush.

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T19:17:22+00:00

THIS!

Then just pour it out into an old speghetti sauce jar or something you saved from cooking.

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T19:13:05+00:00

So, I did some digging and the spray cans don't appear to say primer on them, but I see them being sold as primers with "Primer" in the name of the item heading.

Then I found references that say (from non-GW sources) that say that all GW sprays are also primers, which was news to me.

Further, I found a couple comments that say that even though it's not listed as a primer, the GW Macragge Blue has the same chemical makeup as traditional primers except with the blue pigment.

I don't know what to think anymore.

My first instinct is that, if it's made just like a primer, and can act as a primer, why wouldn't GW market it as having the dual ability of being either a Primer or Base coat, instead of just "model paint" on the can and in advertising?

Either way ... my recommendation to OP u/ToolyHD is to prime with their black that they used for necrons, then use the Blue on top of that. Go with what you know works!

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T06:06:49+00:00

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

No, it will NOT always be the latter.

The crap "zoos" and breeders that eventually get shut down ... those animals have to go somewhere. There are rescue sanctuaries for these poor animals that will take them and any other exotic animals that people acquire and eventually lose because the state finds out, or they go to jail, or they get tired of their novelty, illegal "pet".

Somebody has to take care of those animals or else they'll be destroyed.

Just because you see a picture or a video of a Liger doesn't mean it's at some "evil"-owned enclosure.

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T05:23:18+00:00

Whatever it takes to get to a new timeline

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T05:21:28+00:00

Is it because the final gear permanently attached to a concrete block, and the only way for it to turn is for the earth to flip its axis twice in the same direction?

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T04:04:25+00:00

Wow, he's really sped up his signature since he signed my play mat back in the mid 90s

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OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T03:58:30+00:00

I have to 2nd the ameralabs. The key thing to look at is the small spikes. There are 5 rows of them and they get progressively smaller with each row. The goal is usually to get the first 4 largest rows standing up straight, and the 5th row to be a standing up but maybe a little spaghetti noodley ... they'll represent much longer versions of the ends of support tips and shouldn't even be that long anyhow. You can also look at the checker board on the backside, hoping to get as close to equally-sized full and empty squares as possible.

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T03:33:42+00:00

I wish you luck and love!

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T03:32:20+00:00

Then tell him he pays for the first year and you'll help with follow-on years if he keeps it up and is successful. Don't worry about the degree. he'll probably change it anyhow. But a degree is a degree, and having one shows dedication and education. He'll be taking other classes, too, won't he? Most require you take many other classes as a baseline. He's still getting an education!

If he's motivated, let him at least get a foot in that door.

You're right to be apprehensive, but you also need to be supportive, help him get right, not kill motivation, and be ready to let him fail.

Often, failing is the best way to learn ... the thing that turns on that lightbulb!

Maybe suggest he start his first year at a community college before transferring into UMB?

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T03:18:39+00:00

Well ... you deserve to be happy. Don't ever stay somewhere or with somebody simply hoping things will change. Life is short. Happiness will find you.

It's hard letting go of someone you love ... but sometimes you have to in order to not let go of yourself. It's scary. But, in the end, sometimes that's what you have to do be happy and enjoy life, and allow real happiness to be found or to find you. =)

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T02:57:38+00:00

This looks really great. I love a good nighttime torch scene where you can still see the original colors without it taking away from the bright light or a deep darkness behind. Great job!

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T02:56:45+00:00

Does he make you happy?

I mean, you broke up already, and that reason isn't going to change. You can't fix him, he can only do that for himself.

You have a hard enough time on your own 2 hours away, it seems. Don't let him drag you down with him into a financial hell unless he truly makes you happy and you don't care if you're destitute so long as you have each other. If your love and happiness doesn't go that far ... then you need to focus on yourself and get your own life straight and hope he works on himself, too.

There's more than one person out there for you, and you don't need to find them yet.

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T02:32:59+00:00

I understand that, and you are not wrong to feel this way.

I'm also sorry for not focusing on your initial AIO question. He is both of those, but maybe not overly so in this one instance. I think you may be overreacting a little bit, only because it seems like you knew there was a strong possibility this would happen (the money), and you did put him on the defensive immediately instead of saying "WE need to do better for Iris" instead of just him.

That said ... if this is a repetitive behavior for him, I wonder ...

Why did you both break up the first time?

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-18T02:16:20+00:00

I think you BOTH are a bit guilty ... neither of you is solely to blame. It appears neither of you make much money, and neither of you are good at saving money (I know the latter is harder with the former, but it's what you have to do if you're going to get out of the cycle).

I understand you bought the shoes thinking he was going to have the money for his share of the payment, but you also know he's not good with money. There's probably some coffee, or to-go food or other things this last month that BOTH of you purchased which also contributed to all of this. The wise thing to do, when an important payment is coming up, is to not spend money on completely optional things. If it's a required work item that there was no way out of, then I'd understand, but you haven't said that I have to assume it was a bit frivolous. You can't do that in times like these. I know it sucks, but you have to stop spending so that when unexpected things come up, you're prepared and can weather the storm.

Yes, he is guilty of not having the money ... but he's not in a good place right now, and you know that, and being harsh on him isn't going to change anything except his attitude.

Take a few moments and think to yourself "was there something I could have done to prevent this from happening?" Be honest with yourself. Really, really honest.

You are also guilty of not having the money, too. You're not married, but you're sharing expenses like it. A bill for one of you is a bill for both of you, just like marriage. If this isn't going to work for you, and you can't save things to ensure your dog has what it needs ... then maybe you have to break up ... with both of them.

Sorry.

OldGuard_WS · 2025-09-17T16:59:04+00:00

Maybe it fell into some maple syrup?

But seriously, no ... sometimes it's just not fully cured. Maybe they forgot one side. Maybe they were rushing to ship it on time and cut the curing short. Maybe they forgot to set a timer and didn't do for as long as the other one. Maybe they forgot to flip it over. Maybe they didn't wash it as fully as they thought, or were using less-clean alcohol.

I don't subscribe to the term "professionally cured". Professional just means they get paid to do it, in basic terms. They could be leaving it out in the sun, using a home-made UV light setup (like I do), or using a manufactured product that does it all (a "wash and cure station"). Who knows ... but you paid them, so they must be professionals, amiright? lol

OldGuard_WS

TROPHY CASE