Mark "Liffy44" Lifton
Painter from Byfleet, Surrey, UK
About
I’ve been painting models since the late 1960s ... Now that’s a scary thought ... But did not try to paint anything ‘properly’ until the late 1970s when we were all still struggling to paint with enamels. The turning point for me was discovering White Dwarf, Games Workshop and their acrylics, and being inspired by the thought of entering Golden Demon, which I first attended in 1992. My stuff was pretty awful back then, but the competition gave me the focus to try and improve. It took me a couple more years to sneak a finalist and then I finally achieved my goal of bagging a Demon Statue (2 in fact) in 1996. Those models from back then would not even make the finalist cut these days, so I feel very fortunate to have been around then. The ever increasing standard of entries is now a constant source of inspiration for me to improve my own skills. I confess that I am very driven by competitions, but without them I would not have the focus and drive to paint ... I need a target and a deadline.
I like to try to paint models as realistically as possible ... Er in a fantasy world, but still love all other styles of painting. I rarely paint models straight from the box, as it were. I have always loved converting miniatures and trying to unearth something new from a model. I even used to cut up and convert HO-00 Airfix soldiers. I’m really a frustrated diorama builder ... Which is why I love to create duels for Golden Demon. If I had more time, and the space to store them, I’d definitely be entering diorama categories, but I really love the challenge of Duels and trying to find something that fits into that 50mm square.
