PAX Australia, how do I adore thee? Let me count the ways!

You might have noticed by the flurry of posts about PAX Australia that I am smitten with this incredible games convention. They literally have something for everyone including painting miniatures which you could have a crack at doing for free! Yes people, you read right, for free! All you have to do was queue up, pick a figurine to paint and then go and find your place at one of the tables set up with paint, a brush and water.

I've been thinking about painting miniature for ages because I bought some games during lockdown that came with unpainted figurines. I was a little daunted by the prospect and didn't want to mess anything up. So when I discovered that I could paint at PAX, for free, I was in. It was great because I got to ask someone about the best tips for painting figurines. And let me tell you, those guys are serious painters - they spend up to eighty hours painting one figure. You're read right, a whopping eighty hours! Apparently some people spend hundreds of hours. I can believe it. I spent two hours painting mine and could have easily spent much longer perfecting it. But the call of more games was too strong so I reluctantly stepped away from the table.

I choose the figure you can see in the photos because they said it wasn't too hard to paint. (For those of you who are curious about the figure, it's a Marid from Nolzur's Marvellous Miniatures if that means anything to you. I have no idea what it does but it looks cool!). My eyesight is pretty crap for fine detail these days so the paint job is a little rough around the edges - my prescription needs updating and the light wasn't great as I discovered when I went home and saw my figurine in the sunlight! But all in all I'm pretty stoked with my first attempt at painting a figurine. I'm not sure if I'll do this activity again at PAX next year but I do think the at some point I'm going to be brave and paint my figurines so the games I have can look all pretty!

After I finished painting my gal one of the experts told me there was scenery all set up, ready for a photo shoot starring my freshly painted figurine. You know me, I love to take arty photos and I had a blast taking my gal and setting her up in all the different locations. How cool does she look, checking out the town?

Seriously, these guys at PAX Australia are pros - they think of everything to make your experience fantastic. From wet palettes to keep your colours fresh to gorgeous scenery that must have taken hundreds of painstaking hours to create, it's all there.