GW's Army Painting Contest

My local GW (the only LGS near me) is having a contest. You choose one of the Space Marine Chapters listed on a poster they have hanging in the store, purchase a box of Space Marines in Power Armor (no Terminators or Scouts because they have “Terminator Armor” and “Scout Armor”), then paint them up to look like the chapter you chose. Then one model from each chapter will be placed in a display case with the person who painted it and the chapter listed. The one unit that is voted “best painted” will get to create their own chapter and that will replace the “erased” listed on the poster hanging in the store. AND the life size model of the Space Marine that is the Icon of the store will be repainted with those colors chosen by the person who wins.

My Wife deiced that the whole family should get involved. At first I thought we’d pick one Chapter and then we’d all paint our units to look the same, but then only 1 model get’s in the case.... so we all picked a chapter and a unit box of 5 models. My wife wants to have some sort of posterity in the store since I spend so much $$ on GW products, this way we support the store community and not just the store.

I chose the Black Dragons. Not my first choice, but the Grey Knights were already taken. I will painting a Devastator Squad.
My wife chose the Hawk Lords, mainly because they were purple.... and a Combat Squad to paint.
Eldest chose Knights of the Raven and will painting up a Sternguard Veteran Squad
Middle Child chose Salamanders and will painting an Assault Squad.
Youngest chose Death Eagles and will be painting up a Combat Squad.

The only obstacle I can see hitting is the logo’s of each of the Armies above since GW does not produce emblems for each and every Chapter they list. I know that The Bolter & Chainsword Forums have dedicated members who create downloadable images that can be used to print out the decals on transfer paper. Since I have a color laser printer, I’m hoping to obtain some decal paper and actually try printing them out and seeing how it works to actually put them on... freehand painting that small is extremely hard and I really don’t have the time or inclination to do so.

At The Moment, my middle son is the one most enthusiastic about this endeavor. I’m really swamped at work, coming home and putting in another 3-4 hours remotely. Nice that I can do from the comfort of my own home, but it cuts into family time.... which my wife considers this event. A chance to have our family do something together and encourage each other to complete the task. My youngest and eldest are not that enthalled and are like “sure Mom”.... while still sitting at the computer playing Modern Warfare 2.... when she says we should start working on them. My wife has not been enthralled in the past with doing this type of hobby, but she’s grown to it and really wants to learn how to build/paint the miniatures. I’m hoping I have the patience to do it.

As I stated my Middle Son is the most enthusiastic. When he goes to play at the GW, people treat him as a fellow gamer and they don’t judge him based on his Autism, they judge him on how good a player he is. While he loses almost all games (he’s probably 5 wins to 100 loses, but he really get’s into the game and when he has his Warboss declare a WAAAAAGH... my son does just that..... at the top of his lungs he bellows out “WAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!” It is awesome and since he hasn’t been able to go and play, the store personnel and other gamers always ask if he’s coming back to play since they miss his antics acting like an Ork. I’m glad he’s found a place where he’s accepted.

-TTFN-