An idea for a painting event - asking for opinions and more ideas

Hello friends!
I don't know if this is the right section for this topic. It's related to painting models but I'm not showing you new figures today but rather asking for opinions and ideas.

I've noticed that some of you, just like me, may have a little "problem". A growing collection of unpainted projects to paint "someday in the future". I have nearly 20 horses waiting for the paint job and a small number of animals of different kinds that are waiting even longer than the horses now.

Stories like that inspired the Namopaimo event in the model horse hobby: way too many unpainted models, never the right time for painting.

I was thinking, what if our forum could create a special event dedicated to painting models? (in a form of a new topic in the custom models section?). If we choose one month when everyone who wants that commits to painting one model during that month. So at the beginning of the month, we show photos of our unpainted victims and the ready results at the end of the month. I could even think of sending small gifts to everyone who finishes, like stickers or/and postcards And we could have a digital collage of all finished work at the end? It would not be a competition but just a friendly challenge to commit to and finish a project (that would otherwise probably be waiting in the box/shelf for a long time). Basically a small Namopaimo (national model painting month) for this forum.
For sure I would like to keep it small and make it only for this lovely forum, the actual Namopaimo grew really big and it's a ton of work for the organizers.

My questions are: what do you think? How many of you would like to participate? What month would be the best for that? Any other ideas? Perhaps any of you would like to help with organizing it?

EDIT, I added a summary here:

STS Model painting month starts in May 2021. You can sign up with a before photo here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  - You can join anytime, the only deadline is for finishing painting before the 1st of June

You can continue painting for a whole month and share work in progress pictures with us on the topic here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - it's also a good place to share any additional project you may have.

When your project is finished (before the 1st of June), please share a photo here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I love this idea!!
It would be great fun, repainting is such an enjoyable hobby and I think it would be another lovely aspect to STS, if all the organising works out ok!

I think it ia a great and wonderful idea, I think I'm in, I think we could begin a STSmopaimo new tradition on May. I think you must be the mod for this job

I would love to join too! I'd also be willing to help in some organizing if it stays a small sts event and if needed I could help in making little gifts (drawings) too

I think it might be fun to hear each other's stories on why and how they want to paint a specific model at the start of the 'STSmopaimo'

I don't have a specific month preference at the moment.

Kikimalou wrote:

I think it ia a great and wonderful idea, I think I'm in, I think we could begin a STSmopaimo new tradition on May. I think you must be the mod for this job  

STSmopaimo?

I'm really happy to see your enthusiasm! I'll think about how to do it without making it too complicated

Caracal wrote:

Kikimalou wrote:

I think it ia a great and wonderful idea, I think I'm in, I think we could begin a STSmopaimo new tradition on May. I think you must be the mod for this job  

STSmopaimo?

You can suggest a better name, of course!

STSMopaimo = STS MOdel PAinting MOnth.

But I agree for another name of course !

Oops! I red too fast Ana's first post with the explanation of the name!  Thank to you both Ana and Christophe.
I think it's a good idea Ana! :)

I'd definitely be up for it if it's forum-based!
The only reason I've never done NaNoPaiMo is because all the community/support/discussion stuff takes place on Facebook, I don't have an account there for privacy reasons, and don't use Instagram or Youtube or Tiktok to have hobbyist 'followers' of my own. So I'd feel a fraud using the NaMoPaiMo name and tags on a painted model when it'd just be me talking to myself about it on my hardly-any-readers blog, not with other collectors at all, and not seeing what other people are up to at the same time. It just never has felt like something I can honestly be fully involved with.
But if we can discuss our ideas and share progress and encourage each other with support and tips and questions (and ooh & ahh over everybody's lovely work!), all right here on the forum, without needing other social media to feel 'in the loop', I'd love it!

Kikimalou wrote:

I think it ia a great and wonderful idea, I think I'm in, I think we could begin a STSmopaimo new tradition on May. I think you must be the mod for this job  

In May, oh wow, that's soon but I think you're right! Let's use the enthusiasm while it's fresh

A-J wrote:

I would love to join too! I'd also be willing to help in some organizing if it stays a small sts event and if needed I could help in making little gifts (drawings) too

I think it might be fun to hear each other's stories on why and how they want to paint a specific model at the start of the 'STSmopaimo'

I don't have a specific month preference at the moment.

That's great A-J! I would really appreciate your help! I was thinking, perhaps you could design a congratulations card? That would be in a form of a postcard that we can print later when we see how many people finished. What do you think?

Caracal wrote:

Oops! I red too fast Ana's first post with the explanation of the name!  Thank to you both Ana and Christophe.
I think it's a good idea Ana! :)

No problem at all! And thank you, I'm glad you like the idea! Would you consider joining too?
And by all means, feel free to suggest a new name. This is a topic for brainstorming, so it's a perfect place for new suggestions!

George wrote:

I'd definitely be up for it if it's forum-based!
The only reason I've never done NaNoPaiMo is because all the community/support/discussion stuff takes place on Facebook, I don't have an account there for privacy reasons, and don't use Instagram or Youtube or Tiktok to have hobbyist 'followers' of my own. So I'd feel a fraud using the NaMoPaiMo name and tags on a painted model when it'd just be me talking to myself about it on my hardly-any-readers blog, not with other collectors at all, and not seeing what other people are up to at the same time. It just never has felt like something I can honestly be fully involved with.
But if we can discuss our ideas and share progress and encourage each other with support and tips and questions (and ooh & ahh over everybody's lovely work!), all right here on the forum, without needing other social media to feel 'in the loop', I'd love it!

I'll be happy to have you on board!
Yes, the event would be only for this forum.

I have a few ideas about how our "STSmopaimo" could work. Let me know what do you think.

• If we start painting in May, I would open the first topic in April. A place where you post a photo of your victim before repainting it. At the same place, you can tell us about your plan for the color and technique that you want to use. It would not be a place for work-in-progress pictures, just a "before" photo and a small description. I would suggest only choosing one official model and not changing it after committing to that one. When I see your post there I'll write your forum nickname on the list of participants, together with your chosen species. Important: we don't start painting the official model before May. But you can start prepping your model in April already. It means removing seamlines, and any annoying elements. You can also cover the model in primer or gesso.
  
  
• In May I would open two more topics. The first one for discussion and work in progress pictures, and anything you like, tips, questions, etc.
  
  
• The other one would be for finished projects only. And only your official projects (extra projects would go to the general topic). Early in June I would create a photo collage with all finished projects together and post it there too.
  
  
• That would be 3 topics in total, I hope it would still be simple to navigate? I think doing it this way would help me see how many projects are finished. Early in June, if you finished your project I will contact you via PM and ask if you would like to receive a congratulations card (and possibly a sticker, I don't know yet). If yes, I would ask you for your address. If you would rather not like to receive any post from me, I can still send you a digital congratulations picture if you like
  
  
• I think we can also choose one animal that could be a mascot of the event and would appear on the congratulations card I have one or two ideas, but I will reveal them later.
  Send your suggestions here
  

This sounds perfect, I am very excited!!!

Sounds good!

Ana wrote:

That's great A-J! I would really appreciate your help! I was thinking, perhaps you could design a congratulations card? That would be in a form of a postcard that we can print later when we see how many people finished. What do you think?

Yes, I'd be happy to help by designing such a card

A-J wrote:

Sounds good!

Ana wrote:

That's great A-J! I would really appreciate your help! I was thinking, perhaps you could design a congratulations card? That would be in a form of a postcard that we can print later when we see how many people finished. What do you think?

Yes, I'd be happy to help by designing such a card

Awesome!!

May is ideal, just long enough to order in something if we haven't got our planned 'victim' already, or paints and brushes if we need to top up supplies, but not so far ahead in the future we'll have trouble waiting to get started!

I think I know who I'll do, one I've been procrastinating and avoiding cos it's not easy! Plus a tiny little bonus project I think people on here will enjoy

That's great to hear, George! I think I'll open the first topic this weekend
I'm also almost sure about my victim so I maybe should start prepping it soon.

About the animal species representing this event, I was considering a sloth or a sloth bear. Perhaps as a symbol of working slow (like in my case) . But maybe we should choose something that is more colorful and artsy, like a super colorful bird or something, any ideas?
The picture of that animal would appear on the congratulations card, and maybe also stickers

How about that internet-famous pied peacock who's half-colour and half-white? Photos of him have been doing the rounds online for several years, he's very pretty and kind of looks like a blank white model partly painted into colour. I'm too new to the forum to be allowed to post links yet, but if you google image search 'half colour peacock', the first result is the exact picture I'm thinking of.

Ana wrote:

I've noticed that some of you, just like me, may have a little "problem". A growing collection of unpainted projects to paint "someday in the future". I have nearly 20 horses waiting for the paint job and a small number of animals of different kinds that are waiting even longer than the horses now.

Oh, that's a mood haha.
I still have so many planned repaint and resculpt projects left but on some days I just lie in my bed and stare holes into the ceiling.
It's an endless circle of feeling bad due to no creative distraction and not engaging in a creative distraction due to feeling bad.
A monthly theme would be a fun way to motivate.

I like the sloth symbol a lot

We could always go for a sloth mascot that is holding a paintingbrush/covered in paint to add colours depends on how realistic we want the mascot to be.

The peacock and sloth are both fantastic ideas!
I'd of course always suggest a dog, but I'm struggling to think of an artistic breed! I think Picasso owned a Dachshund called Lump, and Dachshunds are typically seen as very long slow breeds- but I'd be very happy with any mascot that's picked!

What a fun idea. May is a difficult month for me, but I might be able to squeeze in a few sessions on weekends. I definitely have a big backlog (perhaps 30 figures, either pewter or 3d-printed).

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Ohhh, I would love to see repaints from you, I can't remember if I already did, I only remember your excellent drawings.
Do you have a thread on here or at the Dinosaur Toy Forum?

I wholeheartedly second this idea! There are some of us that see the amazing Breyer on NaMo Paimo and think that our own customs aren't anything like the quality of Breyer pastels (lets just also say Pastelling is expensive and some people can't afford Breyer or Pastels) so I never enter.
I feel a lot more comfortable with acrylics and Schleich type models as well - because they aren't super smooth they need a lot less work with priming and the final coat, and the textured plastic takes a lot better to the acrylics.
I would absolutely love to do something like this, it's a great idea.
Just my 2 cents =)

Burgerenby wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Ohhh, I would love to see repaints from you, I can't remember if I already did, I only remember your excellent drawings.
Do you have a thread on here or at the Dinosaur Toy Forum?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Thanks for the kind words on my drawings. I have only done one repaint so far, which I included in my DTF collection thread rather than starting a whole new one (http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=3390.msg280895#msg280895). It certainly doesn't rise to the standards of your repaints, but I learned a lot from the first attempt.