Tell us a little about yourself
Hi I’m Gary, fast approaching 40, well not as fast as others
maybe but it’s all a bit downhill from here as I understand it! All jokes aside
I enjoy life in sleepy Holbrook, a village in Suffolk where I live with my
partner and my daughter of 7 years. As an avid footballer, I support Arsenal
and funnily enough my favourite number has become ‘4th’. Having now
retired from football, I spend my weekend’s wistfully dreaming of running around
in the ran with my mates, but instead I redecorate a house that we are in the
process of gutting and re modernising! Its great fun, honest. I work in
business development within the utility industry and do a lot of travelling,
which gives me the chance to continue my project with Purgatory, which is
starting to get exciting.
How long have you been painting, and what made you get
into the hobby?
I have been in and out of the hobby since I was probably
around 12 or 13. I used to work on a market stall from an early age and had a
fair amount of pocket money. GW lured me into the hobby, much like many others
and in my home town it was in Debenhams. The good old days.
My first model was a space wolf long fang with a heavy
bolter, you know the huge unwieldy ones from back in the day. From that day
forward my love of space wolves was cemented forever. I left the hobby when
girls came along, but after a tough time with football injuries and work I
drifted back to the hobby around 26 and I haven’t really looked back since.
Though I would like much more time at the desk than I currently get.
Have you ever won any competitions?
Yes. I have a silver scrap demon from 2009 to my name, where
I mangled the recently released chaos space marine possessed sprue. I have a
silver demon from 2011 for a space hulk, blood angel and genesteeler diorama. I
have won other local painting competitions as well as a first placed at
conflict Norwich for a space wolf army.
I was the first ever winner of the GW kill team event in
2014, where I led the demonic to victory and I have won ‘best general’ and
placed in the top 10 of a number of grand tournaments.
Name three things at your workstation you couldn’t live
without.
Scab Red! (How dare GW stop this product!)
Nail file (well 4 way buffer) for cleaning up models. It’s
the modern modellers accessory of choice!
Sculptiboard – this stuff is a revelation
Do you have a brand or size of brush that you favour
using over others?
I need to be a lot braver than I currently am. I have the
WAMP brushes which are very good from the successful kickstarter, though
historically I have relied on the good GW tried and tested fine detail and
detail.
I get ‘turned off’ by funky or chunky brushes, not the tips
or bristles, but the but you grip. Especially the triangular ones, they can do
one!
For me it’s about control, I like a small brush because I am
quite neat, I don’t splash paint around and correct it, I like to work on an
area, finish it and then move on.
What’s the last model you finished painting for your own
collection?
Ha! Bobby B is in the middle of being completed at the
moment and it is safe to say that he is very much from my own collection! That
aside, as in the last model I finished that was not my own I would probably
suggest that it was Gandalf of the LOTR range for GW, but I do have a 90’s
Ragnar Blackmane on the go.
True Metallics or NMM?
I love the look of NMM, it really makes model ‘ping’ though
equally, TM looks excellent if done properly. So I will sit on the fence and
say I prefer whatever is appropriate for the model/scene.
Do you use an airbrush and if so, what do you use it for?
No. I don’t use an airbrush. I might drift into it in the
coming months and years and time becomes fraught but I prefer the blade to the
gun.
Do you suffer paintbrush envy? Is there a particular
painter that you wish you could paint as well as?
There are so many painters out there that are really pushing
the boundaries. I like the work of Peter Bell as his barbarians are always so
very nice, especially the skin. Ben Komets is person who in my opinion is at
the pinnacle of his powers. It is important however to apply a caveat to some
painters, they are professional painters who don’t have the same commitments as
others who have a ‘day job’ do. I know a good many painters, who if they could
have the time, could very much excel and join the ranks of the elite.
I suffer army envy though. There is a chap called ‘Dave
Paints’ who just knocks out ‘gaming’ standard models every single day and the
quality is quite high.
What do you feel the need to improve and why?
Prep. I don’t have a lot of time, so I usually end up wind
milling into a model and don’t consider the colour scheme or what I am trying
to achieve. The one time I really planned something properly was my silver
demon, though I poured everything into that and it paid off.
I am very much a person that feels that every part of my
‘game’ can improve. Aforementioned painters produce some fantastic stuff and I
know that I can improve as a painter even more than I have with more time and
perhaps somebody sitting beside me to show me a few trade secrets. I would
really like to attend a masterclass and it is in my agenda in the coming 12
months, along with sculpting.
Do you, or have you ever, felt like a Noob with just his
Paintbrush?
Yes and no. I remember meeting Nigel Carman. This guy had
(not has anymore, which is a shame) a real passion for the hobby. He would
embark on mad projects and I remember the first time I met him at a Platoon
Britannica event, that I was in awe of his approach and his general zest for
projects. I learnt a good deal from him.
But I like to learn and discovered a long time ago now, that
there is no point in feeling inferior or in fact, a noob with his paint brush,
but to instead embrace what others do and see what you can draw from that to
enjoy your own hobby even more.
What are three things you’d want with you if you were
stranded on a desert island?
Ok, excluding family, because obviously the right answer is
my wife and daughter. So if we are considering items:
A serrated knife (to cut trees, branches and fruit)
Mosquito repellent (pesky midges)
The Gaunts Ghosts book collection (something to idle the
time)
Note: I would take a toothbrush, but that goes without
saying and would be boring.
Some work by Gary:
If you've got any questions for Gary, drop them in the comments below and we'll put them to him to answer for part 2 next week!
