Fen Model Show, and the week that was…

It’s been quite the week at TMS… and if you’ve been following any of the goings on through our Instagram you’ll have an idea of some level of the stress that my week started with last week, and the utter elation with which it ended. I want to break all of that down, as a cautionary tale, as a feel-good story…but most importantly, just as my truth.

My gold medal for standard figures at Fen 2026

Spoiler alert, folks… this story has a happy ending, however to say we had to “go through some shit” to get to it is probably about the biggest understatement I could make.

It was about a week ago on the day of writing this, that I received a shocking image in my inbox of a company producing a VERY close copy of one of our marketing posters, with what appeared to be a bit of AI fiddling and some not very well executed compositing. This would be bad enough to upset most business owners… especially when their business is loudly against the use of AI in creative works. However what made it immediately worse, was that said marketing poster was for a collaborative brush I’d released previously with my good friend LeafyDecays.

Not only was this a clear violation of at the very least business courtesy, but it tarnished a hugely triumphant moment for Leafy. Worse yet, Leafy had taken the original photos and produced the poster that was copied herself, and so naturally felt like she’d been stolen from.

As the day progressed, posts were taken down, apologies were issued, but none of it felt sufficient. From my side I was left with broken trust (something I’ll expand on shortly in this very article), but more broadly, people felt that the apology was written in ChatGPT and lacked sincerity. Like it was an attempt at damage control, rather than genuine. Over the course of the next few days, artists who were sponsored by the offending brand started leaving en-masse and posting videos saying so. Of course this is somewhat healing for us, seeing people choose the little guy who’s trying to do right, over the bigger business who’s acting in a way that doesn’t align with their beliefs.

Yet somehow it managed to get far worse, before it got better.

I received another picture that revealed a depth to what was going on, far beyond what I initially thought.

Our brush, directly beside the brush from the “copied” promotional material

You see that marketing material that we felt was copied from ours… it had a brush in it. It just so happened a friend of mine had received that brush, because they’re friends with the collaborating influencer, JustJakGaming. When my friend received it, they placed it immediately beside mine, with a very suspicious eye.

Here’s the part I haven’t mentioned previously, and why this all hurts so much.

See it isn’t a secret, but it’s also not commonly known that Golden Maple is a retail brand, owned by a company called Jiangxi ZeKun Trading Co. who make a lot of brushes for the beauty industry. That company also owns the factory that produces not only TMS brushes, but a fair few other brands of brushes out there. They are capable of everything from the exquisite quality of our brushes, all the way down to literally disposable brushes.

When you factor in that all the best sable comes from China and Siberia and that the lack of travel miles and storage on that hair do WONDERS for the quality (if you’ve used our brushes, you’ll know)… it was a no brainer to work with this factory. The actual name they use is a little opaque so for now I’ll call them GM OEM (original equipment manufacturer).

Thing is… when I first started speccing the TMS brushes, we weren’t using a white label service (that’s where they take one of their existing products, and make it look how you want, but don’t change the product itself) because we weren’t happy with the performance. We custom specced everything that they would let us. One of those things we custom specced were the colours, and those colours we had to pay to have specially mixed, so that we’d have unique looking brushes. The only exception to this being the drybrushes, where we used our colours, on their best goat hair brushes from their existing lines.

Now I haven’t seen the comparison in person… but that purple looks IDENTICAL to the one I’d paid for, to have used for my brushes. It’s colour sampled from my branding. It’s part of my brand identity. The people who HAVE seen the brushes in person have also conveyed to me that they can’t tell the difference. GM OEM says it’s slightly different…buuuuuut I know who I feel more inclined to trust.

I should point out at this part of the proceedings that JustJakGaming knew NOTHING about any of this. He’d asked for purple and blue and that’s what he got sent. The finished colour didn’t look the same as the spec sheet he’d been sent, so he had no idea. He’d also never seen our brushes in person at the time (he now owns a full set though and pulled out of this collab with GM, what a G!).

I think with this understanding you can see the scope of the problem… whilst there are absolutely “legally distinct” changes between the collab brush and mine… they do look close enough that someone might assume one is the other and vice versa, or at least that they’re related, or from the same people. Since it’s known that we do collabs too… that was a bit of a problem for us. Not being able to control how our brand is associated with others opens us up to all sorts of problems and it’s something we HAVE to be sharp with.

Deeper though, on a personal level… it was such a betrayal for me. I’d developed a strong rapport with my contact at GM OEM, we’d exchanged Christmas gifts last year, we were talking like a team, but also like friends. All of this happened so fast and with such force, that I really could only process it on the raw emotional data and it felt BAD.

With the implications of potential AI use (later admitted to by GM in their apology), the art being unfairly sourced (also admitted to in their apology) and now the security of my brand identity also at risk, my immediate thoughts were that I can’t work with this company any more. I need to change factory. Problem is changing factory is EXPENSIVE. New samples, iterations on those samples, new origination fees for colours and tooling and then the initial production run itself to bring new stock in. All of that costs money, to the tune of (at my best estimate) £4-5000 GBP.

So when I was a few hours deep into processing all this, I genuinely believed TMS might be about to go out of business. That’s money I don’t have and without it a situation I can’t fix.

Now I don’t want to spoil all the fun stuff coming up, but I will take a moment to say that a lot of these problems are now fixed. GM OEM have asked me for a bit of a grace period before I make my final decision on whether or not I move factory, to give them a chance to show improvement, and whatever the outcome (we all know the outcome), we SHOULD (fingers crossed) be fine. Thanks to unbelievable community support, unwavering trust in me as a product designer, and the excellent track record we’ve built up in making quality gear, people don’t want us to go down over this, and they’re doing everything they can to help. To all of you doing something, anything, to keep us going… it means the world. Thank you.

My Fen Entries in their Case

With all of that now out in the open… I’m sure you can imagine that when I packed this lot in to their case on Friday, to set off for my favourite show of the year (and one I was feeling immense pressure about on the runup)… I really didn’t feel entirely up to it.

I knew spending time with my closest friends and peers would do me good. I knew getting out the house and getting some sun would also help. I knew that a good result at the comp would be a nice balm to the wounds from earlier in the week… but in all honesty, that last point was a problem.

See… this year I’ve hit gold every comp I’ve entered. MPO Online, Squidmar Open, Sir Coate’s Painting Masters… but Fen is the big one for me. I’ve never hit Gold in Standard at Fen, and with me now moving up to Masters in all my other competitions this felt like make or break. I either deliver the goods and get the medal, or I’m going to have to jump to masters anyway, without ever having felt that sense of pride of achieving the highest standard at the competition I love most.

It’s probably tricky to understand if you’re not a competition painter, because the medals don’t REALLY matter, it’s the journey, the improvement, the feedback. But as a business that sells painting services to miniatures companies, the medals matter to THEM. Fen is a VERY prestigious show with a ridiculously high standard of entries. Topping Standard there is HARD, and I really felt like I needed that metallic disc for my CV (that’s resumé if you’re of the American persuasion).

But there was no way I was pulling out, so I pulled my socks up and headed off to what I truly believe is the best show on the UK Calendar. And now I’m gonna break down why!

My housemates and I, for Fen 2026 (Jen my partner is taking the photo)

Firstly of course, the people. Fen is a social show - by design it’s kept little and has minimal traders. What you bring to Fen are your friends and your passion and you spend the weekend immersed in those things. I was lucky this year to share a house with people I genuinely love, admire and respect. All wonderful artists in their own right, all wonderful people in their own way.

Secondly, Fen isn’t hyper commercial. The trader list is small and curated. You tend to rarely see “here’s my Fen haul” posts on social media, because that just isn’t really why people are there. Influencers blend in to the crowd and just chill with everyone. Some of the most famous miniature painters on the planet are there and they’re just having a pint with their mates. It’s really community and creativity focused and doesn’t make it all about the money.

Third, the competition - the judging quality is always absolutely incredible, and the level of entrants is commensurate. You’ll regularly see the likes of David Soper, Magnus Fagerberg, Andy Wardle, Natalia Oracz, Nat Heywood and many more names you know and love, on those shelves, beside maybe even your own entries. Amongst the judges, you’ll see people like Aaron Clark and Liam Hearn. That level of pedigree means you know you’re getting feedback you can trust from both your peers and your judges and its truly precious.

And finally the vibes. Fen is pure vibes, through and through. It’s a gorgeous setting, surrounded by nice places to walk, nice places to eat, lovely fields and quality places to pop your head down. A stay at fen almost feels like a hobby retreat… like some kinda cast resin reiki tribe, except instead of yurts we live in a sweaty grain hall. At its worst it’s a very healing, reflective experience.

Fortunately for me, the Fen I got was far from my worst or any kind of bad experience. It was incredible. Not only did I get to take home that beautiful gold medal I showed you at the start of this article, but I got to see my friends achieve things they really wanted. There were golden banana awards from Taro, Cryptic Cabin were handing out awards, SMC were giving out little coins to pieces they loved (I got one of those!!).. even those of us who didn’t take away a prize of some description left the show feeling accomplished and seen, and that’s really cool to be a part of.

My beautiful friends Jade and Tiz scored bronze medals and a commendation respectively, and in a field so stacked that it must have felt amazing… I mean look at Jade’s face, it definitely felt amazing, and it was so deserved. Jade is working incredibly hard on her craft at the moment, as is Tiz. You should go find them both on Instagram. They’re @j_littlen.creates and @tizpaints

Jade collecting her bronze medal

As for my own award… it was weird. Whilst I was standing waiting for the names to be called, I already knew I’d medalled, but didn’t know at what level. I did NOT feel confident it was gold and considering the week I’d had and the pressure I was feeling, I was genuinely having a hard time holding it together.

All the bronzes were called and I wasn’t with them, so I was preparing myself to walk up and collect my second silver in a row (which was about where I felt my entries were, when trying to review them objectively). When my name wasn’t called for silver either, it became clear I’d done it. I almost burst in to tears then and there. My partner Jen said I looked like a rabbit in headlights. I was just stunned… and it wasn’t REALLY the medal, it was the release on the pressure valve. I’d entered the event scared, unsure of the future, under pressure (mostly self inflicted) and just trying to tread water. I’d had heatstroke Saturday so had to spend a portion of premium friend time in bed. I was tired from bad AirBnB sleep. It was VERY nearly too much.

When I actually stepped up on stage, I did feel my bottom lip quiver a bit… but then the macho bullshit trained part of my boy brain kicked in and told me I’d look like a right bell in front of everyone if I cried over a gold in the lower category and apparently that caused me to instead just squeeze all my muscles and make stupid faces on stage, whilst feeling extremely self conscious. Better than crying? You tell me.

Me trying my best not to become a 186cm muscle cramp

Also, whilst we’re on this moment, I want to give a special shoutout to Dusty on the right there in the beige tee. I’d actually coached him on his entry (something which surprised me when I saw the order come in from him because he’s a HELL of a painter) through my feedback service and I was already acutely aware how stunning it was and how hard he was pushing on it…and BOY did it show in the final piece. Hats off my dude, you deserve the gold so damn much and I can’t wait to see you in Masters next year.

It took me a minute to recover from this win… in all honesty I was still processing it for most of the car ride back. Those two hours felt like ten minutes, because I was just lost in my head trying to understand the week I’d had and how it ended. I was later blown away even further to learn that I was second in line for the standard best in show… which is the second time I’ve been told that by a judge in my last two comps.

Now when I talk about my achievements here, I’m not blowing my own trumpet, no matter how much it might seem like it. I need to talk about these things with you honestly, in order to convey the hard work, dedication and never give up attitude required to keep pushing in to this higher level of painting. Masters is no joke, in ANY comp that has it. You are competing solely alongside the best painters in the world. Every comp becomes as demanding as Golden Demon. It is going to be a HARD road ahead and I can’t hide from it any more.

I am still going to produce models I hate. I’m still going to cock up competition pieces and have to fix them. I’m still going to think I’m doing something really cool, only for it to not go over with the people viewing the piece. Those things are natural parts of the journey of improvement and they have to be accepted, absorbed and learned from. It’s the only way to continue to prosper and develop.

Despite how it may look… I don’t get a TON of compliments on the vast majority of my work, because the vast majority of my work is still commission work from clients who aren’t hiring me to paint at my highest level. Most of what I put out goes under the radar and gets pretty minimal kudos (and rightly so). I’ve had to learn to self-motivate (not easy for an ADHDer), source my own inspiration and maintain whatever amount of focus I can, in order to dedicate myself to this.

I also need to take a second here to celebrate my partner Jen… without whom, quite genuinely, this wouldn’t be possible. She has chosen to show up and support my dreams, my business and the sacrifices we make for those from day one. She backs me no matter how hard it is to do so and she is truly the secret sauce behind any measure of success I’ve had. Without her I would be, quite genuinely, nothing. Thanks Bean, you’re a top egg. I’m also working on her, to persuade her to enter Fen next year… she is a BRILLIANT artist in her own right, who practices far less than her skill would suggest. One of those true, natural talents, who learns artistic technique so easily.

The crowd for the awards ceremony

This show, this place, these people, this hobby, this pursuit, this artistic endeavour. Its all so truly special to me. Its the reason I get out of bed and the reason I work myself to near death sometimes. It’s my literal life’s blood… and through both the awful and the triumphant end of the spectrum, this week has taught me all about it. I often fear for the future, when it comes to both the world, and my place in it. I’m quite a scared person, if I’m honest with you. Most of my confidence is just a brave face, and most of my achievements are internalised by imposter syndrome. But after the week I had last week… I’ve started this one feeling like everything is a little lighter, and a little brighter. Life IS hard… so hard, but we are strong creatures. I see my friends battle through things that would drop me in an instant and their strength and determination truly inspires me.

This week the real work begins, both for Tesseract the business and for me, Stu, the person behind it, who’s trying to be the best artist he can be.

Thanks for reading gang. I really appreciate every single one of you, and if no one has told you today, I love you, I’m glad you’re here, and your art is worthy.

Seeya at the next show people.

Oh and P.S… Fen is fucking mint. Huge thanks to everyone who made it happen. It’s a can’t miss show and you better be there next year, my dear readers.