Max's (2024) NaMoPaiMo, part three

Part three. Max is all of us but cooler. Thank you, Christine.

Max Does NaMoPaiMo 2024

by Christine Sutcliffe

Juno heard her crying from another room and rushed in to comfort Max. She'd dealt with all manner of craft related injuries over the years so it was a relief to see Max unharmed, and not a repeat of the Dremel vs knee incident from a few years before. She was still clearly very distressed though, and Juno had a horrible feeling she knew why...

'Oh no, what happened? Are you OK?!'

Max gestured vaguely at the damaged horse between sobs.

'I...I dropped her! Her bloody ears have come off and I can't find them, and her paint's all messed up and...and...and there's only a few days left to finish everything and I'm just so angry at myself!'

Juno squeezed her shoulders affectionately and smiled sadly.

'Oh damn, that's frustrating, I'm so sorry. She was looking so good as well.'

Max wailed even harder at this and Juno decided that now was the time to give her a hug and let her cry it out. After a few minutes held against a now a tear-soaked cardigan, Max finally pulled away.

‘I’m so stupid, I knew I should have held onto her better and now she’s ruined!'

'Shhh, now, you're not stupid, these things happen. I know it's frustrating, but it's not the end of the world, you can fix it, I've seen you resculpt all sorts of things!'

'But I’ll never manage to get them fixed by the deadline! I’m crap at resculpting ears!'

'Just look at the state of this! Urghhhh, I knew I left it too late! Why couldn't I just start on time like everyone else?!’

Juno thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully. She didn't want to minimise the impact this had had on Max, but she also knew that her partner really struggled with confidence when problems like this reared their head and she needed to reassure her that the world wasn't ending without sounding patronising.

‘OK, so you don't think you can finish this one on time, could you work on something else or start a smaller one you know you can do in the meantime?’

She looked across at the cluttered workspace in front of her.

‘What about that one? That’s been unpainted for years!’

Max sniffed loudly and frowned. ‘Yeah, I know, but I’ve got specific plans for that model and it’ll take way too long. I definitely couldn’t do it in a couple of days! Besides, it won’t count as my official model, so what’s the point?’

‘The point is supposed to be about enjoying the process, right? Trying out new techniques and ending up with a painted pony by the end?’

‘…Yes.’

‘Yes, and? Wouldn’t you rather accomplish ‘something’ rather than get upset over not completing the whole thing? If you ran a marathon but didn't finish it, you'd have still run most of a marathon which is impressive as hell. Even if it takes a few days longer to fix this one, you still did most of it this month, so that’s a win as far as I’m concerned. Even if you don't get your 'official' model done, you've still achieved a lot.'

Max smiled, tears finally starting to dry.

‘Urghhh, stop being right when I’m grumbling, it’s very annoying.’

Juno chuckled. ‘I know, I love you too. Right, get yourself sorted, dry your eyes and work out what you're doing next, I'll be back in a moment.'

A few minutes later she returned with a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a cinnamon roll.

'There's nothing that can't be fixed after some pastry, chocolate and a good vent session.'

Oh, I don't deserve you, you're the absolute best girlfriend ever.'

Juno smirked. 'I know, you have excellent taste!'

They sat and talked and laughed and ate, and gradually Max could feel her disappointment and anger start to fade. This was an unfortunate blip in an otherwise straightforward custom, but Juno was right, it was fixable. Ears weren't her speciality when it came to resculpting, but she could do with the practice, and as the original ears seemed to have vanished into the aether, she was going to need to replace them eventually.

She could just relegate this one to the WIP box, but that was just going to postpone the inevitable, and she was so close to being finished. Max knew in her heart of hearts that she'd never be able to look at this custom again if she didn't do something now, so her mind was made up.

Those ears were going to be remade, and remade today.

What was left of the original ears was cracked and broken, and useless to sculpt over, so Max got the Dremel out and sanded them right back to the surface of the skull.

Safety first, always! Resin dust is no joke - wear safety goggles and filter mask every time!

Next, she drilled holes to embed wire, which would act as an anchor for the new ears and as a structure to be sculpted on top of.

Once fully embedded and cured with epoxy glue, it was time for the tricky part, actually sculpting the ears themselves. Every time she got one perfect, the other didn't want to match, or she'd accidentally smoosh one out of position. She should probably have done a simple layer first, let that cure and then do all the details in a second layer afterwards, but that kind of sensible thinking just wasn't happening. 

'Did I ever tell you how much I hate sculpting ears?' Max grumbled as she stabbed at the clay in frustration for the nth time that afternoon.

'In the last half hour, at least thrice.' said Juno, 'but I'm sure you've got more to say.'

'Yeah, you're right, I really hate sculpting ears.'

A few hours later Max surveyed her work while Juno peered curiously over her shoulder.

'I'm sure they're too big, but at least they kind of look like ears.'

'They look good to me, not out of proportion or anything! I knew you could do it.'

'Meh, they'll do. I just want to get back into painting, I can feel the urge to shade coming back full force which is a nice surprise given the fact I was ready to give up entirely earlier. Thank you again for that by the way, I definitely needed that pep talk.'

The epoxy was left to cure overnight, and for the first time since the accident, Max felt like she'd accomplished something. The next day she got the paints back out and resumed work.

Carefully, she began to fix the damaged areas, and as she did, decided that the original colour was too dark and would look so much better with lighter shading. With every dapple and subtle bit of pangare she added, the model that she initially just wanted to get over and done with started to become something she was actually proud of.

'I think she definitely needs some markings. I was going to keep her plain bay originally, but she needs a bit of chrome here and there I think. Maybe a little blaze and a couple of socks...'

'Oh yeah, this looks way better!'

On the other side of the room, Juno smiled to herself. She hadn't seen Max in such a good mood for a few days and it was a joy to witness. She'd got herself so wrapped up in the idea of missing the deadline and 'failing' that she'd forgotten how much she actually enjoyed the process of painting; arguably what the whole challenge was about.

Finally the time for the last layer of sealer approached, and Max was taking no chances this time. She held the horse with both hands, and Juno followed her outside with the spray can. No falls or issues this time, the spray went on smoothly, and while waiting for it to dry, Max found her attention fall on one of her many unpainted minis.

'I don't 'need' to paint this one, but I'm in the mood now, so let's just see what happens...'

'So, I take it you made the deadline?' Juno asked a few hours later, noticing a new model in her hands.

'Just! It was a close run thing though, if you hadn't pushed me-'

'-encouraged you'

'Yeah, that. If you hadn't given me that talk I'd probably still be moping and moaning about not getting anything done. But now, I have this, and this one too!'

'I can't believe after all the stress of the big one, I got this little guy done in an afternoon.' Max chuckled. 'All that panic and freaking out and here I am with two finished models at the end of it.'

'You just needed to be kind to yourself and not stress so much over the negative 'what ifs'. said Juno. 'Easier said than done, I know, but you managed it. Hobbies are meant to be fun and at the end of the day, that's what happened, you fell in love with painting all over again.'

Max still reckoned the ears were too big, but in the grand scheme of things it didn't really matter.

She was a winner either way.

The end.