SlayerCon 2011
The con was held this weekend, August 27-28, in Edgewood, MD.
Met several customizers from both here and other boards, including (by forum names): SlayerDave, Obi-Shinobi, Daremo, Jedi Master Ben, DarkWynter, Bamphalas, Meddatron, Jimsloth, KeepItCleanCustoms, Ronin and others I'm no doubt forgetting. Putting names to some faces was very useful. Also in attendance was Hurricane Irene, whose presence caused several other attendees to no-show.
Day one:
Mostly consisted of several demostrations/classes, including how to make molds and cast parts (both using the "Slayer method" and that of another attendee), painting eyes, using Reduce-It to scale down stuff (like heads from larger scale figures), and lots of just hanging out and shooting the breeze. Videos will be forthcoming at some point.
SlayerDave presented (along with four of his artists and one of his sculptors) their plans for the storyline of the "15" - artwork for which has been showing up on Facebook, and a few sculpts for which have been appearing in the store. There was a lot more artwork on display, and Dave talked a little bit about the universe, some backstory, and their plans to develop it. It's an ambitious project, for certain, with plans for not just custom figures but comics, a roleplaying game and other media.
The new Slayer-designed "Modern O-ring" figure was also introduced, with a prototype (of one of the characters from the "15" universe) on hand for viewing. I think customizers will love these - they're re-introducing the O-ring and back screw, but with (most of) the articulation that we've come to expect out of modern figures. The loss of the mid torso joint is made up for by the ease in disassembly. They're also designed to be somewhat modular, making switching out heads, hands, feet, arms and legs as easy or easier than on modern figures.
Lunch and dinner were catered by Dave's pizza place - highly recommended if you're ever north of Baltimore. Sadly I forget the name so you're going to have to ask him.
I got a brief tutorial from DarkWynter - not filmed, sadly - on making dios (both small dios and large dios).
Slayer was selling parts (many of which haven't been in the store in a while). Deals were had for those in attendance that others will likely envy. A few guys (jimsloth in particular) had brought stuff for trade or sale, as well, and I saw quite a few items changing hands.
Jedi Master Ben had a number of his prototypes there as well, so you could see the actual sculpted pieces.
Several people brought customs to show off - in particular, Obi-Shinobi and Daremo had two impressive displays of their stuff. Seeing their customs in person and getting the chance to handle them is nothing like seeing photos posted, let me tell you. Some fantastic stuff all around.
Day two:
Thanks to loss of power in the area of the show, day two was mostly near the doors. A demonstration on dio-making was made to the rest of the group, which I missed as I showed up late. A few door prizes were awarded (a bunch of sweet-looking dio pieces) - sadly, I won nothing.
Day two was all about customizing. Everyone present worked on a themed custom - in this case, space figures. The guys from Slayer had made up a number of kits from which people could draw parts and make their own space themed figures, and everyone was busily painting when I arrived.
The sculpting in wax demo which was supposed to be given on day two was scrapped due to lack of power.
A few door prizes were awarded (a bunch of sweet-looking dio pieces) - sadly, I won nothing.
I also took a trip with SlayerDave and got to check out their studio, "where the magic happens". Those guys have thousands of parts, no lie.
Daremo and Obi-Shinobi did a little cosplay/costuming of ninja outfits (costumes? uniforms?) that was pretty cool. No con is complete without someone in costume.
Overall:
As (I believe) the only completely novice customizer present, I was very well taken care of by the whole crew. Obi-Shinobi and DarkWynter in particular were very good about answering my questions and generally checking up on me to make sure I was doing okay - thanks, guys.
It was a really great time - there was a great sense of camaraderie and sharing of knowledge through the whole event, and it was really great to have people there willing to answer questions and demonstrate techniques. I can't wait for the next one.
Thanks to all the guys from Slayer for putting it on!
The con was held this weekend, August 27-28, in Edgewood, MD.
Met several customizers from both here and other boards, including (by forum names): SlayerDave, Obi-Shinobi, Daremo, Jedi Master Ben, DarkWynter, Bamphalas, Meddatron, Jimsloth, KeepItCleanCustoms, Ronin and others I'm no doubt forgetting. Putting names to some faces was very useful. Also in attendance was Hurricane Irene, whose presence caused several other attendees to no-show.
Day one:
Mostly consisted of several demostrations/classes, including how to make molds and cast parts (both using the "Slayer method" and that of another attendee), painting eyes, using Reduce-It to scale down stuff (like heads from larger scale figures), and lots of just hanging out and shooting the breeze. Videos will be forthcoming at some point.
SlayerDave presented (along with four of his artists and one of his sculptors) their plans for the storyline of the "15" - artwork for which has been showing up on Facebook, and a few sculpts for which have been appearing in the store. There was a lot more artwork on display, and Dave talked a little bit about the universe, some backstory, and their plans to develop it. It's an ambitious project, for certain, with plans for not just custom figures but comics, a roleplaying game and other media.
The new Slayer-designed "Modern O-ring" figure was also introduced, with a prototype (of one of the characters from the "15" universe) on hand for viewing. I think customizers will love these - they're re-introducing the O-ring and back screw, but with (most of) the articulation that we've come to expect out of modern figures. The loss of the mid torso joint is made up for by the ease in disassembly. They're also designed to be somewhat modular, making switching out heads, hands, feet, arms and legs as easy or easier than on modern figures.
Lunch and dinner were catered by Dave's pizza place - highly recommended if you're ever north of Baltimore. Sadly I forget the name so you're going to have to ask him.
I got a brief tutorial from DarkWynter - not filmed, sadly - on making dios (both small dios and large dios).
Slayer was selling parts (many of which haven't been in the store in a while). Deals were had for those in attendance that others will likely envy. A few guys (jimsloth in particular) had brought stuff for trade or sale, as well, and I saw quite a few items changing hands.
Jedi Master Ben had a number of his prototypes there as well, so you could see the actual sculpted pieces.
Several people brought customs to show off - in particular, Obi-Shinobi and Daremo had two impressive displays of their stuff. Seeing their customs in person and getting the chance to handle them is nothing like seeing photos posted, let me tell you. Some fantastic stuff all around.
Day two:
Thanks to loss of power in the area of the show, day two was mostly near the doors. A demonstration on dio-making was made to the rest of the group, which I missed as I showed up late. A few door prizes were awarded (a bunch of sweet-looking dio pieces) - sadly, I won nothing.
Day two was all about customizing. Everyone present worked on a themed custom - in this case, space figures. The guys from Slayer had made up a number of kits from which people could draw parts and make their own space themed figures, and everyone was busily painting when I arrived.
The sculpting in wax demo which was supposed to be given on day two was scrapped due to lack of power.
A few door prizes were awarded (a bunch of sweet-looking dio pieces) - sadly, I won nothing.
I also took a trip with SlayerDave and got to check out their studio, "where the magic happens". Those guys have thousands of parts, no lie.
Daremo and Obi-Shinobi did a little cosplay/costuming of ninja outfits (costumes? uniforms?) that was pretty cool. No con is complete without someone in costume.
Overall:
As (I believe) the only completely novice customizer present, I was very well taken care of by the whole crew. Obi-Shinobi and DarkWynter in particular were very good about answering my questions and generally checking up on me to make sure I was doing okay - thanks, guys.
It was a really great time - there was a great sense of camaraderie and sharing of knowledge through the whole event, and it was really great to have people there willing to answer questions and demonstrate techniques. I can't wait for the next one.
Thanks to all the guys from Slayer for putting it on!
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