This week’s Fangirl Feature is from GroadmiralThraw

Hobby showcase! Share with us: Your favourite images

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

Currently Warhammer 40k (again after a hiatus during 6th and 7th Edition), Horus Heresy, Frostgrave and Lord oft the Rings.

I played X-Wing a lot while 6th and 7th Edition raged across our FLGS with all their bloated special rules and formations.
But 2nd Edition of X-Wing drove me back to 40k. As well as the sudden urge to collect 30k models ^^

Any specific armies?

Absolutely AdMech. I love transhumanism and the AdMechs grimdark take on it is something I really enjoy. Give me my Cogboys and I’m happy!

For 30k it’s Thousand Sons. Yep, I’m a nerd! So Magnus and his librarians are my go to army for 30k!

Lord of The Rings: Gondor and Isengard. I like armoured line infantry and heavy cavalry so is there any other choice? 😉

What aspect of the hobby are you most interested in?

Currently it’s mostly painting and converting. My Girlfriend and I have the habit of reading novels to each other while painting so lore also applies.

In general I love all aspects of the hobby! The priorities are shifting according to my free time and the energy/spoons I can put into the hobby.

And the next thing we have planned is to build an Elder Scrolls Table and Warbands for Frostgrave. And I really enjoy the whole planning and theorizing part.

What compelled you first start or restart the hobby?

I built scale models of aircraft and tanks since I was… 10 or so.
The idea to play games with them (with rules!) amazed me the first time I heard of it. I think my first contact with the hobby was at a scale model convention where a bunch of guys played a massive game of 4th E. apocalypse. Still remember those purple Tau drones.

My friends got me into the hobby when I was 14. I sold all my Magic The Gathering stuff to get my starter complement of Imperial Guard.

Do you have any future plans for your hobby?

Finishing my Thousand Sons at around 4000 points. Get the mentioned Elder Scrolls Frsotgrave stuff ready for a neat campaign.
Maybe even 30k Mechanicum. I love the Thallaxes and I want to build/paint them!

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

Like my engineering prof. always says: “It depends”… My 2500 pts AdMech got finished in under 3 months. Fully painted and based.
My Imperial Guard still is waiting fort he finishing touches after ~ 10 years…

I generally think I have managed to develop a certain way of working through projects that is pretty efficient. But as I want to maintain a uniform look for my armies my older projects are still bound to my old ways of working; in other words: sloooow.

I’m also big into scratchbuilding. My most precious projects are my 30k Landraider (build from a regular 40k one) and my Star Wars ships for Full Thrust (in 1/123000); which I sadly can’t show you now as the images were hosted on imageshack which is now useless…

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

All my great #warmongers friends on twitter. Seriously you guys are the best!

Also the balance it brings to my life. Painting and scratchbuilding is very relaxing. Put on an audio book and take a nice cold glass of beer and I’m happy.
Also I like to create stuff. I like to know that that what’s now standing on the table in front of me is made be ME.
Maybe that’s why love converting and scratchbuilding so much. I can give the model something personal from me.

What do you find most frustrating about the hobby?

Dropping a painted but not sealed metal miniature…

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

Find your own way to paint. You all know of those fancy tutorials and ‘how-to’s? They are awesome; and I could recommend you 10 people who are really good in teaching all this stuff on the spot.

But the most important thing is to find your own way to implement those techniques.

I used to wash and highlight every miniature I painted as most tutorials tell you to do it. It can be very time consuming or, even worse, you may not like the look of it.
Find your style!

I forgone almost all highlighting techniques when painting my AdMech. Just a quick wash and then putting most of the work into painting the glowy stuff like plasma coils and so on. It adds character and draws the attention to the important parts oft he minis.

Painting Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum? Experiment with washing and then drybrushing. Drybrushing and then washing.
Edge highlights but just on the armour. Just on the fatigues.

Try!

I think that’s the most important thing: Not just to practice but to try; try out different stuff. Experiment. Your army will be unique (in a good way) and even when your painting skill has improved after some time you will still like your army. Maybe not because it is painted in some fancy way. But because the way you have painted them gives them character.

What is your fondest hobby memory?

Hmmm. That’s a hard one. I think it’s reading Gaunts Ghosts the first time combined with reading it to my Girlfriend and see her experiencing all those emotions I had

Anything else you would like to tell our readers?

Try and experiment!

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

You can find GroadmiralThraw on Twitter, Alternative Twitter and Reddit

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