Listen to "The Story of the Spanish Team" (only in Spanish)

This is one of those posts that if you are not a Spanish speaker, you will not be able to fully enjoy. I will translate it anyway, so that you know what this is all about, perhaps you decide you want to learn our language just to understand everything!

The Astronomicon is back! The best podcast about wargames and miniatures in Spanish!

And this time I am not writing about it in the blog to announce our monthly program "The Big Three", in which David Rodríguez (Karaikal), Pablo López Jimeno (Paloji) and I entertain you with lots of painting and even more laughter, in Spanish of course. This time it's about something quite different!

Would you imagine that no one dreamt to reach higher, to improve and be able to do things that time before seemed like impossible?

This is how the most endearing (and cheesy) program I have ever listened to in the Astronomicon begins.

Anyone that reads this blog from time to time will probably know what the Spanish Team forum is. A place where, nearly 10 years ago, the most important fantasy painting community that has ever existed in Spain was created. It all began a few years before that, when the Spanish Team was created, a group of painters who, desiring greater glory, united to test their skills out of our borders.

Once upon a time... there was the Spanish Team

The program is a tribute to a group of painters who were, in my opinion, pioneers in our little painting world, who founded the bases of a huge community in Spain of which many, like me, are still part.

I invite you all to listen to the program, if you know Spanish of course (if not you won't understand a single thing). Some parts of the podcast are really endearing and nearly made me cry, reminding me of those great times.

As my personal tribute to that era, I leave you a collection of "Magic" cards which I created during the Golden Age of the ST Forum, in the best moment of our most beloved initiative: "La Raspura Oscura".

Anyway... La Raspura Oscura...

La Raspura Oscura is a whole different story... one that might also be told one day. :)

First speculations on Golden Demons 2014

Let's talk a little bit about Golden Demon competitions this year.

As you know, last year's Golden Demons were quite disappointing. About half of them were cancelled, and the ones which were celebrated didn't live up to everyone's expectations. Especially flagrant was the quality of GD UK 2013, the flagship event for GW, most important traditionally and the one held at home (Games Workshop's home I mean). Some months have passed and attention has been drawn to other fronts of course, but let me gather up a few links that I compiled at the time which show the general feeling of what Games Days/Golden Demons were last year:

• http://matthewsylvester.com/2013/10/03/gamesday-2013-why/
• http://blog.spikeybits.com/2013/10/games-day-past-present-future.html
• http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/555176.page
• http://pinsofwar.com/sales-day-2013-the-games-day-without-games/
• http://masterminis.blogspot.com.es/2013/10/future-of-games-days-7.html
• http://www.karaikalstudio.com/2013/10/games-day-and-golden-demon-uk-2013.html
• http://www.corehammer.com/there-is-no-reality-me-games-day-2013/

Even so, people like me still want Golden Demons. People like me want them back, and want them back for good. The problem is that the information around their future is very dark. There are rumours of every colour and taste, but the main trend seems to defend that there will only be one, in UK, and that the rest will be cancelled. Others, also very strong, seem to suggest that there will be no GDs this year, not even UK. From what I have been hearing here and there, and using my own intuition and prediction, my guess is leaning more towards this last one, that there will not be any GDs this year.

Sad as these news may be, I have been lingering on to them for quite a while now, and I am at peace with this notion. There are many other contests and events, so even it being a huge loss for the community, we can always defer to the many other initiatives, less commercial, open out there for us. GW and their event will always be in our nerdy hearts, a good memory of a very dear past.

But then again, we are just speculating here. There are no official news or confirmations whatsoever, so maybe there is still room for optimism. Like the one that arose last week when Hugo Matte, winner of 2013's Japan Slayersword, posted this picture on his Facebook page:

I already showed this on Facebook, but I thought it deserved some space on the blog.

Hugo just posted it to show pride for having his name on the famous plaques at the Warhammer World in the Games Workshop HQ. But as you can see, they had to put a new plaque to accommodate these new names, leaving a full plaque empty, waiting to be filled. Could this be a sign that GW is not planning on killing the most famous miniature painting contest in the world? Could it be just an anecdote? Have at it guys! Let me know what you think!

Do Not Miss: February 2014

A weird month for me because of my stupid bike accident, but being as it is the shortest month of the year, surprisingly good activity-wise all round the Internet!

• Typhoon by Pedro Fernández in Rafa Coll's Blog: Cool article on the sculpture of this miniature for Spherewars by Pedro Fernández.


• Samurais in 1:72 scale in Massive Voodoo: Interesting range of miniatures to work with, check them out in MV!


• Ork Face (3UP) by David Rodríguez (Karaikal): David paints this collector 3-up version of a GW Ork head.


• 1/35 Coke cans tutorial: Arne Wilkens shows us how to create simple yet effective miniature soda cans.


• Sered, Templar commander by Arsies: A Rackham miniature in the blog of Javier González (Arsies).


• The Nightwatch by Roman Lappat: I saw this scene starting to be built a long time ago. Good thing he finally managed to complete it! Amazing work as always.


• Proteanc, Fickle Lord of Uroboros: Very cool sculpture by Roberto Chaudon.


• Maintenance area 2.0 by Aliaume Chapelle: ALiaume is a great master of vehicle painting. This scene is mind-blowing. I'm so going to use those scratched yellows... ;)


• Deser Storm 2084 by Raffaele Picca: Super cool Infinity miniature by Raffa.


• King Maulg by Raffaele Picca: Another King Maulg from Raffa, I don't get tired of them!


• Marble tutorial by Cuttyflam in Eurekaminiature: Very interesting tutorial on painting marble in a base, in Spanish.


• Tomoko, Hasslefree babe by C'tan: Little beauty painted by this great Polish painter.


• Building a base with water for a Tau Crisis Battlesuit in Stockholm Warpaint: Swedish modelling in this link, really interesting, on how to build a scenic base.


• The Great White Werebull by Raffaele Picca: Painted some time, I'm still astonished with the little time Raffa spent to paint it!


• Terminator Chaplain by Flameon: I love the glowing blue effect in the helmet of this great terminator.


• Zombicide miniature painting in Massive Voodoo: Want to paint Zombicide miniatures? Check out this article for tips and tricks.

Help Painting Buddha with subtitle translations of seasons 1.2 and 1.3!

As you guys know, Painting Buddha is preparing two new releases of their Season 1 of DVDs.

First we have Season 1.2: "Freehands & Banner" with Stephan Rath

Then we have Season 1.3: "Basing Alchemy: Earth" with Matt Cexwish and Ben Komets

These are now in pre-order mode as they have not yet been released. This time, Painting Buddha plans to have as much languages as they can in the subtitles. As you know, I was in charge of all the subtitles in Spanish for Season 1.1: Target Identified. I want to have these 2 new sets of DVDs translated into Spanish too, but I need help! It's a lot of work for just one man in his free time (my free time is already swarmed with stuff to do!). For this reason, Painting Buddha has organised a group of people which will help with the translation of subtitles.

We need people who are able to translate 6, 7 or more chapters of a DVD, each between 4.2 and roughly 42 minutes. Average length is probably around 21 minutes.

In exchange for this great help, and being Painting Buddha a very generous initiative, this is what people who become Bable Fishes (helpers of this translation mayhem) will receive:

• Everyone receives custom Bable-Fish T-Shirts, Stickers, Buttons and more - all designed by none other than Ben Komets and hand-made. This rare and valuable loot will not be available for sale ever.
• Everyone receives a free Season 1.2/1.3 Bundle, signed by the team Each chapter will show the name and/or nick of the respective translator and - if you would like - the URL to your blog, social media page or website.
• On our blog and our future website (planned for 2014) you will be eternally recognized as one of the immortal heroes of Painting Buddha with special titles and privileges.
• You will be the first to be involved in Project "Beeble-Bable" - and that could possibly open a chest full of free stuff and gold for you.
• We will not forget that you helped us.

Very very generous if you ask me!

So if you want to become a Bable Fish, go fast to Masterminis Facebook page and leave a message to Michael Bartels. If you especifically want to help with the Spanish translation, you will serve under my command ("Ahoy sailors! Best crew and captain in the world!"), so just contact me by email or commenting here. I will make sure you join my crew!

Happy "Bable Fishing" everyone!