Across the Fediverse - Rushputin
I wanted to start finding some more interesting people to follow on the Fediverse, so I am going to start highlighting some interesting ongoing projects.
To kick it off, I reached out via my account on Infosec.town to see what people were working on across the web.
Introducing Richard aka @rushputin@warhammer.social
I reached out to them with some interview questions after seeing a post about their current project.
Check out who they are, and what they are working out below!
Tell us a little about yourself, who are you, what do you do, and what interests you about mini painting?
I like the tacticle, toylike thingness of minis.
"I'm Richard and I'm a software developer outside of Washington, DC (or, if you're from the DMV area, I'm in Manassas nowhere near DC). Painting minis is how I spend the bulk of my free time: it's nice to be able to focus on it. I like the tacticle, toylike thingness of minis."
How did you end up on the Fediverse/Mastodon/Pixelfed?
"I deleted my FB years back because I realized it was making the world worse and no longer wanted to help facilitate that. Twitter: not an improvement on that. I'm a human being in the 21st century, though, so I need to have something to satisfy the social media braindamage we've all developed."
Want to share any contact information?
"I've maintained a hobby blog at https://www.warpstonepile.com/ for about 15 years. It's much less active now, but I like to think it's where I live.
I'm also on Bluesky at @rushputin@warhammer.social.bsky.social, but it's harder to curate that than Mastodon, so I don't love it."
How long have you been in the mini painting hobby?
"I've been painting minis since something like 1993 or 1994. I saw the rack of minis of at the comic store and just fell in love."
Are you primarily a wargame player or a mini painter?
"Both, really. One feeds into the other: painting minis makes me want to put them on the table, playing games makes me want to paint minis."
"That said: we've been buttoned up since the pandemic, and although I've gamed a little, it's nowhere on the level it used to be (something I hope to change in 2024)."
"This has had a pretty big impact on what I've been working on. For example: I love Infinity - I think it's the best miniatures game out there, full stop, no contest. The minis are excellent but: I have had zero excitement for painting them. I've painted maybe a dozen in nearly 4 years... Meanwhile, although I generally disdain GW games, their minis are such a delight to work on I've painted 4 Age of Sigmar armies in that same time."
In your own words, what level of painter are you?
"I think I'm pretty alright. I have a long list of people who paint better than I do, but I also know I can hold me head pretty high when I show up at the game store or at an event.
I used to do a lot of painting competitions; I even managed a Bronze at NOVA's Capital Palette (after it got insanely competitive). I haven't since then, though: it causes weird stress and strange competitiveness.
I don't want to look at someone else's mini and think "I paint better than that" or "My paintjob looks like shit compared to that" neither is the sort of energy I want to have, but both were the sort of energy painting comps inspired in me."
Current Projects
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What mini(s)/ model(s) are you using for your current project?
"I'm mid-stride on painting some Sicaran tanks for Legions Imperialis, but I'm just miserable doing it. I think I took on too many and it's become and enormous chore. I set them aside to paint some Martians to use in Lunar to cleanse my palette, but 20 minutes after I went back to the tanks... set aside again to paint the Mawpit for Warcry."
What is your favorite part of the model(s) you are working on? What makes it your favorite?
"I'm a big fan of edge highlighting. It's not the most sophisticated technique, but it requires a steady enough hand and really makes the details on the mini pop. It's also easier than most people realize: your line doesn't have to be perfect if you just go back with the main color to clean up any mistakes."
What are the most important paints that you are using for your current project?
"I don't think the current project is going to produce an interesting answer ("Averland Sunset is a great yellow") but in general, I find a number of P3 paints to be so incredibly useful they're crutches: Menoth White Highlight, Hammerfall Khaki, Cryx Bane Base and Highlight, Bastion Grey are always on my table."
What do you like most about them?
"P3 has excellent flow: it's so easy to work with (Menoth White Highlight is easier to work with than any other ivory I've used). Hammerfall Khaki is just the right color for what I want to use it for and I can't find a good match. The Cryx Banes and Bastion Grey are just wonderful, rich green-grey-brown colors that I honestly can't get enough of."
What do you like least about them?
"I'm constantly in fear that Privateer's going to go out of business (as someone bilked by the Mythic Games Monsterpocalypse Kickstarter, I kind of feel like maybe they should go out of business) and therefore these paints will cease to be available."
What are you learning while you paint the model?
"I'm always trying to get a better feel for how to punch up contrast. I need to get the darker spots darker and the lighter spots lighter: whatever the scale, improved contrast gets those details to stand out better, the mini to be more interesting, and the colors richer."
"A specific thing I'm still reeling from (and this is from a project I worked on late 2022, but revisited in 2023 and plan to do more with in 2024) is glaze shading with contrasting colors: e.g. shading green with purple, or red with green. It feels counterintuitive... and while I intellectually understand how it works it never fails to just blow my mind when I do it. I do it and the colors just become so much more rich and vibrant."
Have any cool events coming up that you would like to share?
"I'm still not gaming in stores, so events are off the table... but I'm a big fan of the NOVA Open (https://www.novaopen.com/), in Washington, DC on Labor Day weekend. It's always a great time, the new venue is a huge improvement over its old home, and I'll definitely be stopping by for at least a day."
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