This week’s Fangirl Feature is from ScarlettKingdom

Hobby showcase! Share with us: Your favourite images

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What games/systems are you most interested in/do you collect?

At this current moment in time, it would have to be Horus Heresy as the game system I am most fond of in terms of collecting to play for. It seems to be the most balanced system and with the absurdity, that 8th has turned into it’s hard to keep the passion going for it. 7th ed has its own messy web of rules to untangle but once you have gotten your head around it I think it strikes a much better balance of game rules and thematic balance. There are definite armies that have had a proven track record of being disgusting, but every game system has that problem. Unless everything is the same, there will always be the best list. Just unfortunate that 30k’s best list really is a step above others. But I am glad to see it’s finally getting the support it really needed!

Any specific armies?

Specific armies I am mostly known for two. My Thousand Sons across both 30k and 40k, and my Tyranids. My Thousand sons are my current favourite, I love everything about them from lore to models to gameplay. For me, this is just THE army for me. From the day I saw rubrics in my Local GW hanging on the shelf I was like. I knew I had to have these one day. And I bought three boxes about three weeks later. My Tyranids was my first army and I regret it because it still is a project bigger than I can currently handle. But I love my bug boys. I just bought way too much at one time and really wish I had more time to paint em up. And Motivation. My smaller projects are my Knights Army Which is coming on very nicely. Giving I don’t have much to actually paint! And my Nightlords 30k army is being assembled as I write this when I think about how to answer. 

What aspect of the hobby are you most interested in?

I think If I had to pick a MOST interesting part it would be the building phase. I love building things. I like seeing models like a jigsaw, Each piece eventually picking up to construct a 3D image and it turns from a pile of bits into something I have created. It just feels so satisfying that it was created and the sometimes frustration of building it makes it all the better.  I see it like cooking food. Yeah, I could order some of the best food in the world and have it prepared for me by the best chefs in the world. But the enjoyment only lasts as long as you eat it. Preparing your own food always seems to stick with you of going through the effort and it always seems to taste better giving you made it to how you like it and the satisfaction lasts way longer than just the eating part.

What compelled you first start or restart the hobby?

In my younger years, I was really into collecting Model aeroplanes. I really liked the modern Jets the army uses and I always aspired to be a Pilot one day.  But that sadly never came to pass. After failing to join up in the Air Force due to my psychosis and somewhat poor athleticism, I sold all my model Jets out of pain and frustration. Something I deeply regret and that was it for building for a few years. Just got thrown off doing it because you know, shattered dreams and such. Then I got a steady Job and I finally took a look in my Local Warhammer store after eyeing it up for a long time but never having the funds to even bother looking. I still remember the original Manager Kerry and she was fantastic. She sold me on the idea of the up and coming 8th Ed and as soon as I bought my first box of Gaunt. Now I have invested probably close to 2 grand into the hobby over the two years since I started. Whoops!

Do you have any future plans for your hobby?

For future plans, it’s hard to say because I have new plans every other day! But I think if I am settled on anything it’s one of two choices, Mechanicium in Heresy, or go pretty deep into collecting Imperial Knights. The Mechaniucm is something really fascinating because I love the steampunk aesthetic it’s going for. I would also be tempted in them for 40k but I like working with Resin more than plastic so given the choice, Heresy first.  Knight’s is something I just keep learning more and more about and the more I do, the most gripped I am by them. I currently only have 5, (2 questoras, 1 dominus and two armigers) but I really wanna see this one expand. I really want a Porpyrion Acstus Knight Porphyrion as it’s my favourite. And I really really want a Warhound Titan. Like a lot a lot. 

What sort of materials do you use to create your hobby? How long does it take you to complete a project?

At this point, I use pretty much a no set formula depending on the model but I do like some very specific things. Miliput is my preferred green stuff and is also cheaper than green stuff in just pure volume which is nice. Daler board is a really nice material for any regit kind of basing material, cork, resin plastics, rocks etc for ascents and such. I tend to get all my supplies away from Games work shop and go to a local crafts store because I just look around for twenty minutes and spot new things to mess with. It’s a really good way to just come up with ideas.

What inspires you to keep going? Do you admire any other hobbyists?

I dunno what really inspires me directly. I am not good at hobbying when it comes to getting stuff done due to a fairly consistent battle with psychosis and mood swings. So what really it is, is, when I can feel happy enough to do something it’s put like twelve hours into it, and then wait for that next twelve hours be it a few days or months between them.  As for hobbyist I admire, God there are too many I could name in the space of a short interview segment. So I’ll just rapid fire a few with a brief reason as to why for each. Heretic_Debs for being the one responsible for motivating me to share my stuff with the internet. Leaky_cheese for being the best builder I am aware of on the internet. Schomodizzle for being better than some of the ‘Eavy Metal team with his technical skill. Dr_Dave and Kirioth for being some fantastic kitbashes and modifiers. Nikki and Scott Sulivan for being just fantastic people and even better painters, Maryse Ouellet for being able to put out so much high-quality stuff so consistently. Magos Terra for just being funny as hell to motivate people to enjoy the hobby. Evil Kipper Rob Office Painter, @wulfdir (Becky)  and @aifendragon (Andrew)  for much the same reasons, Occulus Imperia for being so so sexy. Stephinie swan quills for having a voice to die for and being amazing to work with. And honestly I could keep going on and on but we will be here all day otherwise

What do you find most frustrating about the hobby?

Gatekeepers are what single-handedly ruin the image of this hobby to those not in it. From preventing people from enjoying things because it isn’t 100% lore accurate, to miss understanding the lore, to people using tools to assist the hobby. all this stuff puts such a huge negative image on the hobby and actively prevents it from growing. It is disgusting and they should be put in there place. There is only one rule in this hobby. There is no correct way to enjoy it unless you are telling others how to enjoy it. 

Do you have any tips for any aspiring hobbyists – beyond the usual ‘practise daily’? 

Honestly, my tips are buried in bad habits and probably stuff that isn’t recommended for others. The only one I will suggest is when you are at your local game store, try and find a group of people with similar interests to you. Having local friends is the single biggest motivator for me and if it wasn’t for my buddy Ben I probably would have abandoned this hobby a year ago. 

What is your fondest hobby memory?

Hard choice. I would have to say two because I can’t pick. First one is when I played VS stormgradgames on Warhammer TV, I got to Meet Wayde and talk to him for a bit, got to see many people for the first time and demolish storms hellblasters with a single shot from the Kelptomorpth (aka Billy the Nid) The other would be starting the podcast with storm. Because of this, I have managed to meet so many of my idols in this hobby like Tactica Imerpialis, Remleiz, NornQueen Alexis, Kiri, Leaky Cheese and have made friends with so many people. I have made more friends through my twitter that will last more than I have done in the past 7 years of my life. People that accept me for who I am. People Like Bees, Storm, Caitlin, Yourself, Dr white, Adrian, Dr_Dave, Debs, Nikki and Scott, Tidenzio, Becky and Andrew, TempusUltra Vincet knotly, Onkel Harrowmaster, SonicSledge, all the fantastic RP accounts like Fulgrim, Angron, Magos terra. Heck even manged to have a brief exchanges with Black library writers like Gav Thorpe, Graham McNeill and Gaeme Lyone. I even got a shout out from Alphabusa and that made me fangirl so hard I cried. Basically. the memory of these people and so many more are my fondest memory. 

Anything else you would like to tell our readers?

Honestly, All I want to say is thank you. thank you to everyone who has gotten me to the position I am. I am now somewhat decently known in the warmonger’s community on twitter. I have my foot in the door of a community that has accepted me. I don’t think I will ever be able to show the gratitude I have within me to the world that I am in. Having social anxiety is hard, being trans is hard, being a fair but unstable and emotionally over the top is hard. Yet despite my flaws, you guys gals and everyone in between has not only accepted me but seem to care about what I have to offer. And I just don’t know if I will ever be able to do justice to the kindness everyone has shown me. All I can do is go on and keep doing what I can to make everyone’s day, just that little bit better in some way. So thank you so much to you all..

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Many thanks to Scarlett for taking the time to answer these questions for the Fangirl Feature this week.

You can find Scarlett on Twitter, YouTube and Twitch

And if you’d like to be featured on the blog then please, don’t hesitate to get in contact.