The Morning After…

++++ UPDATED ++++

So the Tale of 3 Painters charity auction finally finished on Saturday evening and I find myself with something of a morning after the morning after feeling.

The self-imposed pressure of painting something to be sold for charity that became so high profile left me burned out once the models were complete. The marketing push kept going and the momentum and exposure had to be maintained until it was all over and the auction ended. Luckily the burn-out didn't last too long and I got back into painting more 'comfortable' things. Yet I didn't feel I could post anything other than charity related news – I didn't want to undermine the momentum of the project. So there is some relief to be gained now that things are settling back to normal. I can post about various stuff again.

Anyway, back to the auction.

I have to admit that I was frustrated when the bidding stopped at £260 midweek last week – In my role as organiser and project perfectionist I wanted to raise as much money as possible. I comforted myself that Ebay etiquette would kick in and there would be a late flurry at auction's end. When I logged on Sunday morning to discover that the total had not moved on I was disappointed. The retail price of the bits we had on offer came to £250, which meant our painting time and effort had resulted in almost no value (I'm being deliberately simplistic in my thinking here) – somebody was getting a real bargain here for sure!

This project has been a rollercoaster from day one and I should have known that fate would not let it end like a damp squib. In a final act suitable for a Hollywood movie the twist at the end lifted my spirits and ensured the happy ending…

It turns out that the mysterious winning bidder was none other than Brian from A Gentleman's Ones blog. B and I started our blogs at the same time back in 2010 and have been great supporters of each others projects ever since. This was highlighted with our Hailed vs Hated collaboration that included the first transatlantic game of email 40k. Had this recent charity project been entitled A Tale of 4 Painters, Brian would undoubtedly have been the additional artist so it was strangely fitting that he should end up winning the auction.

I can walk away from this project feeling happy that the models are going to a good home, that we managed to raise some money for charity and that I made a few new friends and managed to finally meet some 'old' ones. A lot of individuals stepped up to help throughout the course of this project and I will be eternally grateful for their efforts to make this a success.

+++++ UPDATE +++++

Brian has just been in touch and DOUBLED his winning bid!

I'm absolutely stunned by his generosity – I am genuinely overwhelmed – and I'd like to sincerely thank him on behalf of everyone involved in the project for his contribution. It means we have a final total of £520 which is fantastic! Thank you so much.

(I'm struggling to put words in a coherent order, so I'll leave it there.)

++++++++++++++++++++

I will be doing a post-project thoughts blog post and video in a couple of weeks time but for now normal service will resume.

Malifaux Charity Auction Ends Tomorrow…

++ Go to ebay and see the auction here ++

With less than 36 hours to go before the Tale of 3 Painters Malifaux charity auction ends I thought I would do one last shout out.

It's been quite a journey and it would be great to see a final winning bid that reflected all the time and effort of the people involved – it is all for charity after all!

My thanks go out to my fellow painters Andy Walker and Michael Awdry, as well as Joey Berry and the Malifools podcast crew. I'd also like to thank anyone out there in the community who blogged, tweeted, podcasted or emailed about the project – your help is appreciated.

I'd also like to thank our supporters who have been very generous with their donations. I'll do a quick recap of the final contents of the auction –

Of course you have the 30ss Hoffman crew comprising of C. Hoffman, Mechanical Attendant, Ryle, The Guardian, The Hunter and The Watcher, all painted to a great standard – believe me, the photos do not do them justice!

You have the character cards in Toploader Ultra Pro card protectors and some plastic 'soulstones'.

Firestorm Games kindly donated a Malifaux Fate Deck and a Rules Manual which the painters all signed, as did Joey Berry.

There are TWO full sets of resin bases – 'Rubble City' (pictured) and Cobblestone – in 30, 40 and 50mm sizes kindly donated by Fenris Games.

SnM Stuff have kindly donated a set of Vallejo Foundation Paints and 5 Kolinsky Sable brushes.

Element Games kindly donated an Army Painter Model Tools Set.

KR Multicase kindly sent us TWO carry cases – the Half Width Aluminium (pictured) and the Aquilla 4 – and also an Accessories Case with Tape Measure and Dice.

And finally, Wyrd Games have promised us (to arrive at a later date) some of their new plastic miniatures – The Rail Crew box set (pictured), The Rail Golem and the limited edition Miss Terious.

To see more photos have a look at the original contents post.

++ Go to ebay and see the auction here ++ 

Normal service will finally resume next week, with the exception of a post-auction summary with behind-the-scenes video.

Then I'm away to San Francisco for a couple of weeks, but fear not – there are scheduled posts already waiting to entertain you!

Malifools Interview…

Continuing my marketing push for the Tale of 3 Painters Malifaux charity auction, I was kindly asked to go on the Malifools podcast to have a chat about myself, the project and final auction.

In order to get the podcast out in plenty of time before the auction finished, the interview became the podcast's first 'maliblip' mini-cast. Mind you, I still managed to chat to poor old Jon for 40+ minutes.

So, if you're not fed up of hearing about the project, want to find out what a terrible gaming opponent I am, or how I got started doing this thing of ours have a listen at the link below…

Malifools Broadcasting Network: Maliblip One – When Jon met Dark Templar