Across the Fediverse - iainvdw

Ethan

— 6 min read
Across the Fediverse - iainvdw
A recently completed bust of a mummy Iain painted

Introducing iainvdw, who reached out in response to a post on the Fediverse!

Tell us a little about yourself, who are you, what do you do, and what interests you about mini painting?

"My name is Iain and I live in the Netherlands. I am a front end web developer, which basically means I build websites. Currently I'm leading a team developing a new website for an energy provider.

My name is Iain and I live in the Netherlands.

For me, miniature painting is a way to express my creativity and take my mind off of things. It allows me to just focus on this one small thing in front of me for a short while and relax. As a kid, I've always been interested in drawing, crafts and games, and I think miniature painting is something of a natural extension of those hobbies I've had years ago."

How did you end up on the Fediverse/Mastodon/Pixelfed?

"Back in 2018 I first heard about Mastodon as a federated alternative to Twitter. I created an account, lurked around for a while, but it never really caught traction for the people I followed on Twitter. Fast forward to 2022, when rumors started that Elon Musk wanted to acquire Twitter. Immediately I saw a lot of people creating accounts on Mastodon, and sometimes even permanently moving there and deactivating their Twitter accounts.

Then in November 2022, it actually happened, Elon Musk acquired Twitter. In a short period I saw a rapid decline in quality of posts on my timeline, and an increase in obnoxious behavior that wasn't acted against. So then I decided to move over to Mastodon, dusting off my old account and following the people that moved over there as well. On Mastodon I noticed an increase in positive interactions with other folks on a number of topics, despite having way fewer followers. In general, Mastodon felt like a much nicer place than Twitter. After a few months, I decided to permanently remove my Twitter account and have not regretted that decision since."

Want to share any contact information?

"You can find me on Mastodon at https://mastodon.social/@iainvdw, that's where I regularly post photos of my ongoing and completed projects. Also, a shout out to the Minipainting Discord server! I've been a bit of a regular there for the past two years, great community of mini painters and scale modelers. Come say hi at https://discord.com/invite/minipainting! "

How long have you been in the mini painting hobby?

"Around four years now. A good friend of mine got me into the hobby back in 2019. He started playing Warhammer Age of Sigmar earlier that year, and I bought my own Nighthaunt army somewhere around November. Not long after that, the covid pandemic hit and everyone had to go into quarantine, so I suddenly had loads of spare time! So then I started focusing on my new hobby, and painted more and more Nighthaunt and some board game miniatures during 2020."

"Then some time later I got into D&D as well, so another world of player and monster miniatures opened up to me. I started painting minis of my own characters, and soon the other players in the group also asked if I could paint miniatures for their characters, which I gladly accepted!"

Are you primarily a wargame player or a mini painter?

"I started out as a wargame player playing Age of Sigmar with my Nighthaunt army, but these days I'd say I'm more of a mini painter than wargamer. I love painting miniatures for board games, D&D characters and monsters, and recently I've started painting busts and display pieces."

In your own words, what level of painter are you?

"Oof, this is a tough one for me to answer! 😅 I guess I'm an average mini painter, maybe above average? I mean, I am pretty proud of some figures I have painted over the last 2 years, but it's nowhere near the level of quality of some painters out there. Folks like Sergio Calvez, Marco Frisoni, Sam Lenz, to name but a few from a veeeeeeeeery long list. They have a level of understanding of lighting, reflections, contrast, drama, colour theory, etc. that is just mind boggling to me sometimes... 🤯 I can only dream of achieving that level of painting some day!"

Current Projects

What mini(s)/ model(s) are you using for your current project?

"Currently I have two busts lined up next: a pirate captain bust, and a dwarven alchemist bust. The pirate bust is by Flesh of Gods, the dwarven alchemist by DM Stash. Both are (groups of) sculptors that create monthly STL packs that you can 3D print. Since I don't own a 3D printer myself, I found a webshop where I could get them printed and shipped to me.

Next to that there are a number of board games that I need to finish painting, like Nemesis, Unmatched and Star Wars Rebellion. And I still have a few Nighthaunt units I need to finish off to get them off of my backlog. But hey, what's a mini painter without a backlog, right? 😄"

What is your favorite part of the model(s) you are working on? What makes it your favorite?

"My favorite part is just trying to experiment and learn new things along the way. Both of the busts I mentioned feature three main components I want to get better at: skin/face, fabric and metals. Since these busts are on a way larger scale than what I painted before, there are techniques I can apply that simply wouldn't work as well on a smaller scale. For example, skin and fabric can be textured in greater detail, and metals can be painted in a painterly non-metallic metal style."

What are the most important paints that you are using for your current project?

"The brands of paint I mainly use are Vallejo Game Color and Scale 75 Fantasy & Games. I just ordered some Scale 75 Artist range heavy body acrylics, as I've heard good stories about those as well. I'm probably going to use them on the next projects!"

What do you like most about them?

"Vallejo has a great range of paints with good coverage, great for base coats and layering. The Scale 75 paints behave a bit differently as they are a bit more translucent, which makes them great for blending and glazing."

What do you like least about them?

What makes Scale 75 paints great is also their weakness

"With Vallejo sometimes there is a bit of an issue with consistency in coverage. Some paints cover really well in 1-2 layers, while others take a few more layers. But I've heard that consistency is much improved with their updated range, so I'll find out if that's true when I buy some new bottles :) "

"What makes Scale 75 paints great is also their weakness. Don't expect Scale 75 paints to cover like other paint brands do, because if you do, you'll be disappointed. Treat them like paints for different purposes (blending and glazing) and it'll turn out much better for you."

What are you learning while you paint the model?

"Lighting, texturing and non metallic metal still have a lot of secrets to reveal to me, so I try to pick models on which I can practice those techniques. The Minipainting Discord server I mentioned also has been a great help, as there are lots of folks happy to help out and answer any questions or provide some guidance."

Have any cool events coming up that you would like to share?

"I've been eyeing some events for a while and am currently considering visiting at least one of these:"

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