(Painting) Venusian Pond Scum

I know I'm a broken record when it comes to this, but my blog drafts is my repository of cool ideas I've "stolen" from the internet.   While I don't have a timestamp on when I originally saved these little kernels of awesomeness, I know I was reading Armored Ink fairly early on in my blogging.  Alfrik hasn't posted anything since 2015, and slowly but surely, the pictures are disappearing into the ether of the World Wide Web, but I'm a fan of all his projects, big and small. 

I saved the Venus Pond Scum project early on, with the intention of it being something I could do with my kids.  The idea of using bulk scenery using plastic plants from Michael's (and a gift card and big coupon) seemed right up my alley.  My girls are far more competent with a glue gun than I'll ever be, so it was just finding time, with school and more basketball than the NBA on Christmas.  

Like many Millie projects she boldly dashed forward, clipping the leaves from the sprues and going to town gluing them only the wooden bases, but when she thought she was done with one, she was done with everything.  It took to months to finally get some time, but over the holidays, I cleaned up the bench after a long hiatus, and finished up the three little ponds.  

For Millie's I did give a quick drybrush of purple over the excess glue, and some of the leaves.  I also took an old, extra-crusty cap from a bottle of Zap-a-Gap, and painted it to look like some toxic waste barrel, to fill on one large spot that Millie never finished.  

The other two I finished over two days of clipping and gluing.  I learned three things about glue guns: they are HOT, they can be sticky, but they cool/dry/harden ridiculously quick.    I was lucky to get four, maybe five, leaves glued on before even the slightest tackiness disappeared.

An assumed surprise:  Using a matte sealer on plastic plants will dull them down.

A bigger surprise: The full-sized glue gun I purchased in the distant past and never opened, survived the last basement flood during Hurricane Ida.  

PROJECT: 350 - Even after a holiday of pre-set daily posts full of Gnome/Tomte/Elf art, I've discovered even more Gnome/Tomte/Elf art to add more pre-set posts, plus I'm framing the posts of the #CharacterCreationChallenge.  I'm surprised it only rose to 475 (315 drafts/160 scheduled) from 469 (317 drafts /152 scheduled)

Next:  With one project down, I'm going to knock out some random individual figures before going back to the Gnomish Space Marines.  The individual figures are pretty significant, as they are actual GW space marines, and will be my first test concepts into the WarWorld concept I have to bring the small mass of 40k and other lines into the GSM universe.  

From this point forward, I'm also painting the GSM not only by the pack, but also to match up to Imperium Battle Lists for Laserburn, complete with scouts, medics, and heavy weapons.  I may abort that mission soon, but I'd like to have some cohesiveness before I complete another swath of them.