ReaperCon, Days 3 and 4

Last one!  There's two more below this, so if you just see this, scroll down a bunch and start reading down there.

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Reapercon Day 3

After another early morning and good breakfast, I didn't have anything scheduled until 4:00 in the afternoon, so I took my time in the morning. I read the forums, considered whether or not to bring pizza or other goodies, looked for interesting games, that sort of thing. After a slow-going morning, I headed over to the con to do some stuff.

On the way in, I'm sure, I got stopped and asked about my Backpack. I got noticed for it *all the time*. People were super curious and wanted to know more about it, and I can't blame them. Its primary goal seems to be looking really, really cool. I'm going to change my Forum name to GuyWithCoolBackpack.

My first stop was to talk with Jeremy Bonnot, he's the guy that taught the 'how not to suck' class. Really nice guy, I asked him about getting smoother blends, and he invited me to just sit and watch him paint. It was very informative, and I'm super glad I took the time. I watched him paint for about an hour until they announced they were going to start the VCR teardown competition. That's where you get to break apart a VCR and build something cool out of the components. I was the only one there, at the start, and so I got to tearing it down and getting all the cool parts out. I found the head of the VCR, and pulled out the innards, and made the cool thing that I made. I'm sure you've seen pictures. It took a while, and my paint job was pretty spotty, but it was an absolute blast. I spent a lot of time working on it. Eventually a few others joined in, too. Tonya and Adam, Richard, and another lady named Lynn. There were some pretty good ideas in there, though all the paint jobs were clearly pretty rush affairs. I had a lot of fun doing that.

 

(This is my guy.  the neat metal thing in the middle spins!)

After a lot of that, I joined my color theory class. Yes, more color theory. It was incredibly useful, though. Whereas the beginner class focused on more practical rules, the more advanced class talked about visual design, composition, and other graphic design ideas that really made me think about color and where to put it in really great ways. It was a super-great class.

After that, and a little more milling around, and some dinner, it was time for the awards ceremony. My piece won a Bronze, which was actually right about what I was expecting. A lot of other people won bronzes, slivers, and golds, too. We were all very pumped. Richard, Ben's dad, actually won a Silver Sophie...completely by accident, as it turned out. But he got to take the trophy and hang onto it, and I'm sure they'll just cast another if they need it. It was neat to see one of the Sophie trophies, too. Something to aim for in the future.

After all of that excitement, I went out to dinner with Ben, Aaron, Vincent, Tonya, Adam, and a whole big bunch of other people. We had sushi, and I had a couple sets of crazy rolls. We sat around and chatted, handed around the Sophie, made jokes, and met a few new friends. A very nice ending to the eve. I got back home, did some packing, and then went to sleep.

Day 4:

Got up bright and early, got some breakfast, and packed up my stuff. Managed to get it all in one trip, surprisingly enough, and then got my stuff out to the car. A guy asked for a ride, and I said I would, as long as he would stop somewhere to get bagels for me. We went to one, but it turned out to be at a University, and it was all closed down. So instead we just drove back down to to convention, getting some donuts on the way. Yum.

I got there in plenty of time for my morning class: brushstrokes. I got some more instruction on layering, side-brushing, and plenty of other techniques. I'll have to go over my notes again to make sure I've got it all, but it was a very useful class. Anne Forester, the lady that taught it, had lots of energy, and she's actually in charge of the paints for the entire company, so she is an endless font of knowledge. She gave me some good advice on my minis, the same advice pretty much everyone gets: more contrast with highlights and shadows.

After that I stumbled into a CAV game, a mech-based wargame, and played that for a while. It was pretty fun, but large-scale wargaming isn't something I'm looking to get into anytime soon. Regardless, it was neat to learn the system, and I got some Reaper Bucks out of the event.

After that, we gathered everyone together that did the VCR build, including the guy I gave a ride to the Convention with. He had built something overnight. So we all stood up there while Reaper Brian announced the winner. I was expecting the lady that made the imps tearing through the wiring to win, especially when Brian announced that it was the one that made the judge laugh the most. But in a shocking turn of events...they gave it to me! I was genuinely surprised, and really happy! I got some cool mousesling bar-goers. I really like the mundane kind of stuff, so getting such a nice set was a real treat.

(Myself, ReaperBrian, and the Mouselings I won!)

Then was the Auction. There was a lot of neat stuff, but nothing I was planning to really go after. I figured the really cool stuff would be out of my price range, so I thought I'd bide my time and wait to see if there was anything I wanted. Also, the whole event was a lot of fun to watch. Cool things going, people winning stuff, it was a hoot. After a while, me not seeing anything particular I wanted, Tonya and Adam started bidding on some magnetic character markers that they used in their gaming. Not really having anything I wanted that badly in mind, I just gave them my tokens to see if they could win with it. Turns out they didn't need it, but the gesture was kindly received...

...especially a few minutes later, when something did come up that I wanted. A case for carrying miniatures, something I didn't have but could really use. I bid on it, and it ran up to $220, which was as much as I had. It looked like I was going to get it...until someone bid $230. Tonya just gave me some of hers, putting me up and letting me win it. Very nice of them.

Of course, as the auction went on, people had less and less money, and Vincent managed to clean up on a couple of really cool things. He got to design his own mini, got a bunch of cool figures, and then, in the greatest gesture, picked up a figure case that was going for far too cheap and just gave it to Adam and Tonya. They were quite pleased, and there were hugs and smiles all around.

Then the auction wrapped up, and I was anxious to get back on the road, in case I got to see Tyler before he went to bed. I said my goodbyes, thanked everyone I met, and many people at the company for putting on such a great event, and then got on the road. There was some really annoying traffic, but it was an uneventful drive. I got home filled with figures, painting knowledge, and really, really warm memories.

-N

ReaperCon, Day 2

More of this!  I wrote a lot

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I got up early again this morning, had a nice waffle and some other fixins for breakfast (very yummy) and then went off to the convention space to start the day. I got a nice parking space really close in (parking is at a premium out there) and walked in after everything opened up. My first order of business was to check my class schedule, I didn't want to be late again. Then I went over and got my Vampire bones box set. So excited! It was all dense and heavy and full of fun things to paint. I also got a whole lot of paint, which is good, because I'm still building up my paints at home, and also because I didn't bring any paints with me, and the paints they had available were a bit limited. I also called up Todd and eventually picked up his Vampire set. I'm excited to give that to him. After a little bit more hanging around, I went off to my first class of the day, one on Basic color theory.

The color theory class was great. It went over some basic terms, and gave some straightforward rules on how to know when colors work well on a miniature. In essence, you don't want too many colors that are too close to each other on the color wheel, they don't offer the contrast that you want. You can get around this by muting colors, making them darker or lighter, things like that. Very useful. I took my new found knowledge with me back to the paint-and-take table, where I painted up another guy too see what I could do with his color scheme. After a little bit of Struggling, I went back to Anne Forrester (the lady that taught the class, and also a Reaper Employee in charge of all their paint, she had a lot of knowledge to share) and she gave me some tips on how to make it better. I also took my frog king-and-queen to her, and she gave some tips on things to work on (higher highlights and darker shadows). Very nice.

I also took a factory tour of Reaper on this day. It was really intriguing. Reaper Brian (the production manager, big honcho at the company) took us around and showed us the process. We got to see their fancy new plastic injection machine, look at how they made molds of figurines by pressing them in rubber disks that looked like tires. Then the cut channels for the metal to flow in and the air to flow out, and then the mold was ready to go. If you make your own mini, you can even contract them out to make molds and cast copies of your mini for you. Not cheap, but pretty cool. Then we got to go back to where they cast the minis. They had hot metal all ready to go, they grabbed a mold (asked for a mini that people liked and Reaper Brian just remembered the mold number off the top of his head) and cast some minis right in front of us. We got to ask questions about the metal, the process, how hot everything got, it was all pretty fantastic to do. And at the end, he gave us some of the minis that he had casted. Very nice of him. I can see why the company has so many fans.

I spent a long time after that just working on my mini, painting him very slowly and taking my time with the color scheme, before it was time for me to go to another class: how not to suck. It's widely billed as one of the best classes on offer, and I happen to agree. It was very comprehensive, straightforward, and was focused on techniques that will help you learn how to become a better painter. It was all very impressive and informative.

Oh, and somewhere during all of this (I think it was the day before) I submitted my guys to the painting competition. The neat thing is that they took pictures using their fancy lightbox (making everything look really cool) and then those pictures got displayed on big TVs overlooking the main floor. I'll admit, I sat there for a while and waited until mine came up so I could take a picture.

Oh, and during all of this, I'm making new friends. Just constantly getting into random, mostly effortless conversations with people that just happen to be sitting across the table from me, or what have you. Everyone was very, very friendly, easy to talk to, and made me feel very welcome...even though most of them actually were there for the first time too. I wrote down a lot of names and forum handles, because there was no way I would have remembered it all.

So after some more random painting (working on lining my miniature, something from the previous class) Reaper Brian and some other people from other gaming companies sat down and just started talking about how the whole kickstarter thing went. It was mostly advice about what works on kickstarter, which wasn't really useful to me, because I'm not planning on starting one, a lot of complaining about kickstarter's website (it does need an overhaul) and a few interesting stories tossed in here and there. I stayed for quite a while, then decided I was done for the day and rolled on home. I got to talk with you for a while, missed you greatly, and then actually took some minis outside and primed them. One of the advantages of the new bones minis is that you don't have to prime them, but the paint still, often, beads up and rolls around, like water off a freshly waxed car. It's hard enough for me to paint when my paint does stay where I put it. Having it move isn't helpful. I let them dry off overnight, and then reorganized my backpack and paints, and then went to sleep.

-N

ReaperCon, Day 1

I'm back from Reapercon!  Well, technically, I have been for a while.  I did some daily write-ups like I do when I'm on vacation so that I can remember things better, and since I have all of them, I thought I'd share them here.  Enjoy!

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I drove up on Wednesday, and on the way up I drove up past this big plume of smoke. They were in the process of closing down the southbound traffic, but the northbound traffic was still going, though I suspect I was probably one of the last few to be allowed through. I saw on the news later that I was probably driving past a burning fertilizer plant that exploded massively. Yikes. The rest of the drive was uneventful, though, except that the bombcast I was listening to kept having to restart. I checked into the hotel and was instantly on the lookout for people that I thought would be at reapercon. I saw a couple where the guy had a star wars figurine on his backpack. My people.

I realized that I forgot pretty much all of my toiletries, but the hotel had free backup toothpaste and toothbrush, and they also had some contact lens solution for sale. I kept my lenses in creamer holders overnight, and then in the morning I got some new cases, so I'm set. But I got up really early in the morning because I didn't want to have to wrestle for breakfast and also because I was *so excited* for the con that I didn't want to miss anything. I got my food, did my shopping, and then found Reaper HQ. It's a warehouse building on a normal road, and when I got there the sign that said 'enter here' was pointing at a closed and locked door. It was also raining, something else I hadn't planned for. But before too long, the rain stopped and the door opened for registration.

I was nervous about meeting people cause I really wanted to, but always have trouble just introducing myself. I needn't have worried, the guy right behind me, who is named Aaron, and goes by Adrift on the forums (you have to have both names) started talking me up, and I spent most of the rest of the day just hanging out near him and meeting people he knew. I've also met several on my own, though, it's really easy to just strike up conversations with people you've never met before.

After taking my time looking around the reaper HQ area, including the break room still dressed up like a pirate pub from last year, the metal bits exchange where you can trade random metal from a HUGE table of random parts, and plenty of paints and minis everywhere, I dropped my stuff off and joined a random RPG that needed some extra players. It was a hacked-together system from a bunch of other RPGs that I've never heard of, but it was easy to pick up, and the guy running it was a LOT of fun, very enthusiastic and very flexible. The setting was far more interesting.

For the convention, they came up with a story about a hell-bound slice of Victorian London hosting a dark carnival of the damned. They came up with factions, too, the Carnival, which are all crazy legions of hell, animal trainers, strong men, that sort of thing. The League, which are traveling adventure-types, out for the forces of good. The street thugs, urchins, cutthroats, dockworkers and other Victorian unsavories. And my faction, the stickmen, which are crazed doctors and their monstrous experiments that are looking for the secret of eternal life. Your faction, both in the RPG events using this world and in the actual convention, gets points for particpating in things, and whoever has the most points at the end of the con, and the end of the RPG stuff, wins. Pretty neat little thing. Anyway, the RPG was great, I got to play a Frankenstein monster, I hit a lot of things very well.

After that I went over to the paint-and-take, where you can pick up random miniatures, paint them, and then take them home. It's very nice, and that's where I got the mimic I sent you a picture of. I painted him for a while, and then got some lunch, all while chatting with random people that were coming and going at the table.

Sonic was there, yes, the drive-through place with the onion rings that you don't really like much anymore. They brought a frier, and some hot plates, and a bunch of food, and they stayed open from lunch all the way through dinner. The food isn't *amazing* or anything, but considering that most Convention food is actively junk, the fact that it's pretty decent is high praise.

Anyway, after some more painting and some more eating, I realized I was a little late for my first class. I considered just skipping it, so as to avoid embarrassment (copping out, as I do) but decided to be bold and walk over. I strolled right in, apologized for being late, and jumped right into class. The guy teaching it was Lazlo Jakusovski. If the name sounds familiar, it's the guy that did the Hot Lead DVDs that I was watching that Todd got for me. He was a good teacher, and seeing his technique was a really big help, it gives me a lot to work on, which is pretty good, actually. I messed up the technique on the example minis they gave us to work on, but I understood why I was messing it up, at least, so I have some hope of improving.

After the class, I went back to the painting table to hang out with some new friends, a sensation that was really quite pleasant. I worked on my mimic some more, and then when everyone was going to head off for dinner, they asked if I wanted to come along, and of course I said yes. We got in a few cars, and I carpooled with Adam and Tanya. Adam really, *really* reminds me of Kevin. You remember Kevin and Clarissa in Albuquerque? Adam has the same long hair, same beard, same nerdy shirts, same warm personality and everything. They were fun to hang out with. Anyway, we drove down to Bjs, which is part of a Brewpub chain that they actually have down in Austin, too. We've never been there, though. Anyway, we got there first, and then I went off to the bathroom. When I came back, everyone had arrive, and they were all standing around a 5-year-old who was playing some dungeon game on his Ipad, and everyone was entranced. My people! (Yes, the dad was there too, he kept his eye on us, but he could tell we were all just really being nerds. Totally harmless.)

We had a great dinner and cracked a lot of jokes, told stories, compared convention plans, and generally had a really nice time. I made a great joke about how scatterbrained Aaron was being when he got hungry, and that became a running joke for the evening. I also saw a tiny baby bunny outside of the window. I guess they just live in the city around here. So cute!

When we were done with Dinner, I drove Tanya and Adam back to the hotel. They said they were going to be up for a while, working on some painting. They also asked if I had some 'Green stuff' (Epoxy modeling putty) and I did, and they were very glad for that. They also asked if I had some superglue, and I had some of that too. In exchange, they let me use their paints. I worked some more on my guy, admired their pieces for the competition, and then got sleepy and decided to call it a day. I got to sleep a little after midnight, and had a great, great day.

-N