Every Store Needs One

Post 100...When is organized too organized..?

2012-02-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

Well, I sat down to write a quick post and low and behold this is my 100th post. I would have never thought when I started this blog that I would have made it to 100 post. In addition, I think it is neat the amount of people that come and look at my digital diarrhea and for that I thank you.

So I managed to work in quite a bit of hobby time this weekend. I got all my Chaos Marines stripped and broken down into as small of pieces as I could with out breaking stuff. Saturday I got the parts all separated into the parts that I want to use. Is this a bit over the top?

Sunday I took the time to put some models together. The thing is, when I start assembling models I often lay all the parts out that I want to use before I start. This keeps me from searching on sprues or in bins and boxes for the parts I want. It takes a few minutes to set up, but it makes the actual assembly fly by.

So I finished the day with 24 models assembled and ready for paint. Maybe I will get a chance this week to get some paint on them and you can see how it is going.

I Don't Paint Like That No More!!

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

I have been going through a bit of a funk lately. School is taking a large chunk of my free time so the hobby time has been extremely limited. The problem is, with the limited time I have I am starting to tire of painting black and white on Templar so I have been looking for something different to do. I decided to take a crack at working on my future Chaos Marine army.

See, I have an Emperor's Children army that I started a long time ago. This was my attempt at a fluff based list. It was pretty much done construction and in the painting stages. After a while of playing the army the current codex was released and pretty much torpedoed the army I had constructed. I made several attempts to try to figure out a way to make the army work, but the codex really does not allow for a very good mono-god Slaanesh.

So you may be asking yourself what that has to do with anything. Well the Emperor's Children army and I had and my future Chaos army are on and the same. The problem is that I truly do not paint like that anymore. The models above are the only models that were completed. They were the initial test models and I have many other models that are in various stages of completion. I am pleased with the way they look, but there are several problems with them in my eyes.

First off I am not sure I want to use the same color scheme. Even if I did choose those colors, my painting skills have progressed way past the basic basecoat/drybrush/wash/highlight techniques I used at that time. That means I could probably figure out how I did it, but I now have other tools at my disposal that may make my minis better and overall take less time.

There in lies my dilemma. Do I paint the rest of the army to match these models as well as completing the ones that are done, or do I strip them and start all over? Not sure why I am asking that as a question, because as this is being published, those models and any others that have paint on them are sitting in a bath of Purple Power.

After cleaning many of them will get broken down. I will assemble a few of them so I can work out a paint scheme. It will most likely be something similar to what I did here. The finished product will be cleaner with more details, but I am sure I will start somewhere near what I did there. Basecoats and directional highlights done with my airbrush, and detail work done later.

So, we will see where it lead. I will try to keep you posted on my progress and results.

An Experiment...or rather, "Don't Leave Your Models at the Store!"

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

So, this post is actually a bit overdue. In response to the title, one of the guys from the FLGS has a bad habit of leaving his miniatures at the store. So to teach him a lesson I took two of his Grey Knights. I had a pretty good idea what he was planning on having in his army so I made sure to not take anything that was essential.

Now, Evil Homer had asked at one time about a way to do black metallic armor. I had several ideas of how he could have gone about it. I actually did some tests on a Necron to see what my ideas would look like. I was fairly pleased with the results, but I knew he wanted to use it on Marines and I was not sure it would translate over well. In came the Grey Knights.

Since that time though I believe Evil Homer no longer has the army he was intending on using the technique for. Even though Evil Homer no longer needed the recipe, I decided to use the ill gotten Grey Knights as my test subjects. I figured the owner would not learn a lesson if I simply gave them back.

One small note that I want to include. These models were assembled when I acquired them, and I did not do any cleaning on them before painting. That means the bolters are not drilled, and there is flash visible in several places. One of them was already primed and some of the detail has been obscured because of it. Before I start with the steps let me give you some info for those following along at home. VMA= Vallejo Model Air, VGC= Vallejo Game Color, and VMC= Vallejo Model Color.

So I intend to use a combination of airbrush spray and washes to get the look I want. It should also shade the armor sufficiently for basic troopers. The steps are quick and simple.

After both models were primed black I busted out my airbrush and sprayed them all over with VMA 71072 Gun.

Once dry, the entire model was washed with GW Badab Black Wash.

After the first wash was dry, I sprayed the model with VMA 71065 Steel. This coat was done from above at about a 45 degree angle. This makes the top a bit lighter as the washes are applied.
Now we are starting to get some definition.

I follow the last directional spray with 4 more washes of GW Badab Black. No need for me to label each step, but I am including them so you can see the progression.

You can see here after the 4th wash the armor is really dark, but the metallic paint underneath still shows through.

After the last wash was dry I blocked out some of the other colors. Normally I would hesitate to paint this straight over a metallic color, but the black washes make a good base to work from. For those who are curious, here are the colors I used. The lettering areas and gold accents are done with a 50/50 mix of VMC 984 Flat Brown/VGC 55 Polished Gold. The cloth and books were based with VGC 72140 Heavy Skintone, and the Storm Bolter and Purity Seals were done with VGC 72141 Heavy Red. I deliberately chose those colors because I wanted ones that can all be washed with the same color for shading.

Now the base colors are done, I washed all the colors with a 50/50 VGC 72033 Skin Wash/Water.

After the wash was dried I returned back to the areas with the original base color on the high areas to give it some definition. Pay no attention to the swords. In the spirit of experiments, I was attempting something that failed miserably.

Slowly Working

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-06:00

Well, I had a week off from work and very little hobby time. I decided to renovate my shed and replace a sliding back door with a set of french doors. Both went about as well as could be expected for a 95 year old house, but unfortunately they took more time then I wanted to spend.

Between some spare minutes and a easily officiated local tournament, I managed to finish a model. Well almost finish should really be what I said. It is about 98% done, but I noticed a few things on the pictures I would like to fix. Those will have to wait till later. I want to move on to another model.

This should be the standard I look to maintain throughout the basic troopers. I may spend a bit more time on the special, heavy, and power weapons, but for the most part this is it. In addition, once I have all the unpainted models finished I may go back and re-do a few small units that are already completed. I say may because I am not super satisfied with how they look, and they will look a bit different to the ones I am doing now.

As a side note, we had a pretty good day at the local Cites of Death tournament I hosted Saturday. Pretty much the core group of 40Kers plus a few stragglers. Very relaxed with little in the way of issues or drama.

I do want to send a special thanks to Evil Homer for making the drive up from Austin for the event. He managed to parlay a child's requested birthday trip into a road trip to the old stompin grounds. Overall he finished 4th out of 10, but I am sure had he been here leading up to the tournament, and had time to play some CoD games before the event he would have fared much better. Regardless, it was nice to hang out again.

Airbrushing for Base Colors

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

Well I started this day with the idea I would write a short post about how you can cut a huge chunk of time out painting your rank and file by using an airbrush. I did some basic models to give you examples the only problem is what happened on the paint table did not transfer well in pictures. Even so I will put up the steps with a few explanations of how I did it as well as some things you can try with your own models. Here are the models after priming and the base coat color sprayed onto them.

Before I get into the meat of what I did, I should warn you that I am far from an expert when it comes to my airbrush. I have what I would consider a better than basic grasp of how to use it, but that is about it. There are plenty of resources out there to learn the basics if you look.

   Another note, this technique will work better with some armies than others. Any army that is going to have large areas that are covered by the same color.

    The idea with this is to use the airbrushes ability to create an extremely fine mist and combine it with directional spraying to give you some smoother highlights without needed to dry-brush or other techniques. After I had my models primed I picked out three colors that I would use to make up my basic color. As always, it is not important what colors I use but I will include them for you anyway. You simply need to find three shades of color that you want for your models. The one thing to keep in mind is that the fist color or coat should preferably be a darker color.

     For the Eldar models I have started with VMC 862 Dark Gray. On the Chaos model I used VGC 72142 Heavy Violet. This first coat should cover the entire model. Since this is going to be part of your shadows be sure and get it in all the cracks and crevices. For these models it took 2-3 coats to get the color solid enough.

Once the initial coat of paint was dry I moved on to the first highlight color. On the guardian I used VMC 836 London Grey and on the Chaos model I used a mix. I thought the magenta was going to be too bright to be a mid tone so I mixed the VGC Heavy Violet with VMC 945 Magenta. The important thing about this coat is you want to keep your spray coming from the top part of the model. It is best if you move turn the model as you spray, and spray from the top at about a 45 degree angle. Some of you may recognize this as it is similar to Zenithal Priming that I picked up from some blogs out there most namely Massive Voodoo.

Now for some reason it seems I missed the photos for the second step. I thought I took them, but evidently not. See what happens when you don't blog for long stretches.

The final spray will be the lighter of the color I chose for the model. On the Eldar it was VMC 989 Sky Gray and on the Chaos model it was the Magenta from the mix in the second stage but sprayed un-mixed. Now on this coat I followed the same approach as the last one by spraying from the top down. The difference was that I kept the brush much higher on the model therefor limiting the amount of things it could hit. I can not stress how important that is. The idea here is to keep the lightest color to the extreme top surfaces and if you get to far from the top you will simply cover the second stage color.

Now, as a final step I washed the entire model with GW washes to tie the different stages together. For the Eldar it was good ole' Badab Black and for the Chaos marine it was Leviathan Purple.

Once the wash dried I went back and added in some additional color so you can see how it looks broken up by other color. Overall I like the way they came out, but I would think when I put it into full scale production for each army I will need a bit more separation in my colors. Another thing to consider and this is really important if you are considering this technique. You must be tidy when painting other colors on after the base. Using a spray like this it will be very difficult to match on a model if you need to cover over a mistake. That is also going to make it difficult if you use dry-brushing for some of your other colors.

As for time, it took me about 90 minutes to do these four models. That includes the time it took me to snap the photos between steps. On a larger scale I would stick them down to a paint stick and do at least 5 at a time to speed things up. I can say the spray portion would not have taken any longer had I sprayed 5 models instead of 2. Below you can see the models after I put on the other color. They are by no means finished.

More Terrain

2011-11-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

Well I have managed some hobby time for myself and with it I created another piece of terrain. I had someone comment that they liked the start to finish approach so this one took me a few days to get all the pics I needed for the post. No other formalities lets get right to it.

I start out with some sort of base for the piece. This happens to be a piece of 1/4" plywood. Since I have really liked what I am able to get by starting with some pink poly foam on the base I cut a few pieces from the scrap and arrange them on the base. I like using this on the base because it allows me to do some work below the floor. I can make craters or carve out parts of the side. Overall I just like what it does to a simple piece of ruins.

The rest of the process is after the break.

Before I glue the foam to the base I take a straight craft knife and carve out a bit to get the beginnings of a crater. I intend to add a bit of rubble and spackle to the edges so here I just need a basic out line. As you can see I added some tubes into the side to look like broken pipes. This is what I was talking about when I said working below the floor. I am able to sink a crater into the floor as well as add elements to show what might be underneath. You may also notice I added a few scrap pieces to the caps left where my two pieces of foam did not connect. You can not see it here but they are sloped a bit to add to the crater look.

As I let the glue dry on the base I drew out some lines on the foam. By using a ball point pen to do this they will show up once I paint the piece and it will look like flooring. I also added a small piece of foam to form a step where I intend a door to be located.

Here is a bit of a tool tip if you use the GW Cities of Death terrain. I can be a bit anal so I created a jig out of Legos to hold the walls at right angles while they dry. If you use super glue to glue them it really does not matter, but I am a firm believer in plastic glue for plastic parts as I have found the long term bond to be much stronger.

Ok using my handy jig from above I created some corners to define my ruins. I am not always happy with the end pieces that GW has and I never seem to have enough. So, I make my own using intact sections. This has several affects. First it helps keep my buildings from all looking the same. It also allows me a bit more freedom in how big or small I want a wall section to be. Finally I can use the pieces I have cut off the section on the base to give it a bit more character. You can see the cast offs in a pile next to the piece in the picture below.

Now there is one down side to using foam to build up a foundation on the ruin. I have yet to find a glue that I feel holds the walls securely to the base. To remedy that I use some brass tubing I bought at the local hobby store and pin the walls to the base.

Before I actually glue the wall to the base I take some drywall spackle and fill in the crater. I also glue the cast offs from earlier into the areas I want them.

     Once the glue holding the walls to the base dries I move on to the sprue rubble. In case you don't know what sprue rubble is, sprue rubble is simply left over plastic sprue in to small pieces. It can be very time consuming to create as it needs to be fairly small pieces to look right. You can speed this up if you have an old meat grinder, but I would definitely recommend any grinder used for this never be used for food again.

     Anyway, I lay out some glue where I want my piles to be and sprinkle the rubble. I leave it set for just a few seconds and then shake the excess off. Immediately after I shake off the excess I sprinkle some sand on the base. This is not for the entire base it simply allows some sand to collect in the recesses around the rubble. this way your rubble will look like it fell at the same time as the sand.

Okay, I am evidently missing a step here. I must have forgot to take some pics after I glued sand to the base. And by that I mean everywhere on the base as well as in the crater I lay down a thin layer of white glue and cover it in sand. Once dry it will give a rough look to the base. You can see how I do it here if you are interested.

Once all that is dry it is time for paint. I have not covered the details on the paint, and if you are interested you can see a similar approach here. That link is similar to what I have done here. The main difference being that on this piece I completed the entire thing using my airbrush and dry brushing.

For the walls I started with a dark grey, followed that up with some over spraying of a lighter grey. Once that was dry I used an even lighter gray and sprayed the edges very lightly with a top down angle so it gave it some highlights. Once dry I took an even lighter color and did some dry brushing with top to bottom strokes only. This is important as it kept most of the paint on the tops and gave the piece some highlights. The rubble got the same treatment.

In between the second and third gray steps on the walls I sprayed the ground with a dark brown. I avoided the rubble piles but was not really worried if I hit the bottom of the walls too much. A small amount actually looks like mud that was splattered on the bottom during some rain. At the end I dry brushed the soil with a lighter brown to really make it pop.

Anyway, here are the completed shots. Hope you like the way it came out. As a side note, while I was painting this piece I also repainted some of my older CoD terrain. The LGS owner painted it long ago and I never really liked it. I was not going to complain because he took his time when I did not have any, but I figured I could do it in a batch with this piece and I am definitely happy with the way it came out. I have three pieces that I will not have time to finish before next weekend, but for the most part it all looks pretty similar.

Another Piece of Terrain

2011-10-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here are some shots of one of the other pieces of terrain I have recently worked on. This piece was done with pretty much the same steps as this one was. Just a few pics and a real brief explanation of what I have done. More pictures after the jump.

This one was a bit more straight forward. Used some of the left over CoD plastic pieces I had and made a small building. Then I added in a some parts from a hardware store to make something that will look a bit different on the table. Followed that up with the normal bits, sprue rubble, and sand.

Here it is painted up like the last. Some airbrush work on the pink foam parts, then some spray to make the rest go quickly. I used three different colors of spray. A black base spray,a light dusting of grey over the walls and sprue rubble, then some brown on the flat sanded portions.

Some new terrain

2011-10-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

I am back to my old ways again and I am running a Cities of Death tournament. I have managed to square away some time to my self so to prepare I have been working on some new terrain. I have been trying to add more detail to the pieces I am able to do.

I started with pink foam insulation glued to a piece of hardwood base. I want the look of a foundation as well as the ability to work below the ground level of the building. I took the foam and carved out a hole so I could imbed one of the pieces of terrain from the Battle for Macragg box. So the foam looks like a floor I scribed some lines into foam with a ball point pen. I did make one mistake when doing this. I drew the line all the way to the edge, and I probably should have stopped before I got to the edge. I also added some wedges at the tip of the cockpit so it looks like the wreckage has buried itself into the foundation.

Once I had the foundation I added some CoD plastic terrain. I wanted to make sure the building parts did not separate from the foam after the whole thing was finished so I drilled a few holes and basically pinned the building to the base.

After the glue dried I added small pieces that were cut from the plastic wall sections to the base to give the rubble piles some definition. After that I added some sprue rubble and some sand. I also cut some foam steps and scribed some lines just like I did with the floor. I also cut some plastic sign and etched some lines to look like cracks to make some sidewalk.

Once all that was dry and secure I sprayed the foam parts with my airbrush and then hit the rest with some black spray paint. I know I could have done the whole thing with my airbrush, but the spray paint is just so much faster in this case. I am not looking to be exact or precise I just want to cover the sand and plastic as fast as possible. Plus I have found in the past that the spray paint has a more durable finish over time. I also dusted it a bit with some grey paint to give it some definition until I get the time to paint it a bit better.

So here it is. Hope you like it. I have another piece that is almost done maybe I will get a second post done in a bit to show it to you. If I am really lucky I will get some time to paint it better before the tournament.

I'm Not Dead Yet

2011-09-26T20:33:00.001-05:00

Some older WIP models

Well, still pluggin away at some consolidation of my gaming stuff. Unfortunately school takes a lot of my time, and when I do get into my game room I have to work on getting that wrapped up. Having said that I think I am at a point where I can pause that for a while and actually work on some models.

Recently I have been playing some 40K with my Black Templar. Trying out a new list that I plan on taking to a local tournament that "I am not running". It is 1500 and I am taking the list a completely different direction. I used to play multiple Crusaders with troops inside along with some other mech. This time I am going all deepstrike. Played 2 games so far one win, the other a loss to Brent's Eldar that I will say had a bit of influence from my dice.

Anyway, hopefully after I build the models I need to complete the 1500 points, I will see if I can get some painting done.

No time to work on minis...clearing out old stock.

2011-08-17T09:06:00.000-05:00

Since I have not had any time to work on any new minis, I therefor have not written anything for you lovely people to read. Most of my spare time lately has been devoted to making an attempt to clear out some of my older minis that I am pretty sure will never get used. I have been thinking about paring down my collection since the beginning of the year and now I need to consolidate my computer room into my game room so no time like the present.

I have however had a few moments to assemble and test a bit of Helldorado. My initial impressions are pretty good. It is hard to say right now, but I think I am going to like the way some of the interactions work. Add to that the fact that I like a lot of the miniatures and this one may have staying power. We will see how the locals take to it.

As for the minis...I like the look and feel of most of the factions. There are a lot of smaller pieces that may become a problem later on if they get lost but they do make for a good looking miniature. The casting is good but not great. What do I mean by that? Well almost everyone of the models I bought had mold lines that needed to be cleaned off and some were fairly thick in places. In addition there were a few models that had mold lines running right down the center of the face. That is a pet peeve if mine. As a manufacturer you have to know that any mold line on a face will most likely be unrepairable by the normal gamer and therefor curses the model to look like Slough from the Goonies.

On the other hand, maybe when I am done removing minis from my collection I can do a hobby cribs article about what is left.

Confrontation-Alchemist of Dirz (Characters, Mages, and Monks)

2011-08-01T07:00:00.004-05:00

Well I have finally pulled my self away from World Of Tanks long enough to finish this series. I have already shown you my Wolfen of Yilla, my Dwarves of Tir-Na-Bor, as well as the first half of my Alchemist of Dirz models.

This post will cover the second half of my painted Dirz models; the characters, magicians, and monks. As with the other armies I tend to be easily distracted and many of them are unfinished.

Dirz Character Monk Sykho Volesterus

Sykho Volesterus is one of the first models from the Confrontation range to catch my attention. When I first noticed Rackham's minis it was while I was working on an Emperors Children army for Warhammer 40k. This model had a similar feel to what I was wanting from my Slaaneesh models. Little Barrera found it in a game store while visiting his brother and decided it was for me. Along with the model came the rules.

Dirz Character Monk Sykho Volesterus

We had been playing Confrontation for quite a while before this model saw the table or even paint. You see in the version on Confrontation we started with (v2.0) this model lacked much use. It was not until later editions did he start to find his place. Unfortunately he was never finished.

Dirz Character Sin Assyris

Sin Assyris was one of the first characters I regularly used in my Confrontation armies. It was not only a model that I liked the look of but I also like the way he played in the game. His ability to deflect attacks and turn them back on the attacker made him especially useful.

Dirz Character Vargas Metatron

Vargas is one of the models that has gotten some of the most usage with exception of a few trooper models. He has the ability to inspire others and is fairly inexpensive so he tended to be the go to guy for me. Even now I find my self including him in armies when I am worried about my forces succumbing to fear.

Dirz Character Arkeon Sanath

For a time Arkeon Sanath was the character loved the most by me and hated the most by my opponents. He has some special rules that allowed him to work himself into such a frenzy that he could continue fighting fight after fight as long as he could find living opponents.

Dirz Vicar of Dirz

The Vicar of Dirz is a non-character monk that gained much more use when v3.0 came out. More specifically they gained more use when Rackham released the Ira Tenebrae models. The vicar had the ability to summon the Ira Tenebrae so his use was multiplied. If it had not been for that I doubt this model would have seen the table for me. His stats are good, but the Vicar is one of the few Dirz model I do not really like.

Dirz Musician

I know this is supposed to be Characters, Mages, and Monks, but I had to include the musician. You rarely see musician or standards fielded in Confrontation unless they are done in what is called a War Staff. The war staff gives you the ability to spread out the affects of your characters ability to lead. With that in mind I felt it only appropriate that he is included in this post.

Dirz Scorpion Oriflamme

Ahh the Scorpion Oriflamme. This is one of my favorite Dirz models. He was ofter fielded as a normal standard bearer because I love the model but did not see me using my standard bearer the way this model is intended to be used.

Dirz Biopsist

There are two different model and profiles for the Dirz Biopsist. This is the one I prefer. I love the sculpt and I was fairly pleased with the way the paint job came out. I often refer to this model as "the old Asian woman" because his hat reminds me of the hat one of our neighborhood ladies wore when she was out working in her yard.

Scorpion Neuromancer

The last model I have included here is the Scopion Neuromancer. This model is largely unfinished but I included him anyway. I love this sculpt and it gave me the opportunity to attempt a few things that I was not that familiar with. The first would be the freehanded designs on the lower left (our left) or the model. It was something that was prevalent on many of Rackham's company paint jobs, and was something I wanted to start including in my future paint jobs. The second was the source lighting on the orb in his hands. I am not sure I was on the right path, but I think the result was pretty good. In addition I continued to work on my NMM metals on this model.

Well I hope you have enjoyed seeing my Confrontation models. Many of them are unfinished but yet they are model I am proud of because of where they are at and how they look at the point they are. Maybe someday I will be able to continue them and bring you some finished pictures.

As for Confrontation the game itself. Well that is a different story probably for a different time. I will say this though, I probably got more enjoyment out of playing Confrontation than I have from any other game I played. In addition almost all of my great gaming memories have come from times I was playing this game. With the current movement by Legacy miniature to resurrect the model line and the hope that the game as well will come with it , there has been some life to my Confrontation gaming. Regardless of how long it last, I am sure there will be more stories to add to the ones I already have.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

2011-07-26T11:15:00.000-05:00

Another year older. This one is a big one for me. I understand they are just years, but the ones with "0"s always seem to be the hardest for me.

Not much going on. Wifey threw me a small get together at the FLGS on Friday, and tonight its dinner with some family.

As a side note, I have the pics but have yet to write the info for the second part of my Dirz post. I hope to get a chance to get it done soon. I have stumbled onto a new distraction.

World of tanks is a free to play multi-player online tank fighting game. It is not perfect but it has some great things I like about it in addition to it being free. Check it out. The game is free and the online play is free. There is of course a pay portion but I am not sure it really makes a difference for the everyday player.

One Year going...and my own little top ten.

2011-07-21T14:05:00.000-05:00

Well well, it seems I have been going at this blog thing for a year now. I honestly have to tell you I not only figured at the beginning that this thing would fade long before a year, but there have been times during this year that I thought the same.

With that the blog sits here a year older and I figured it might be a good time to toot my horn a bit. Hopefully there is something in this list that is useful to you or maybe it was what made one of those cool people click the follow link to help boost my ego.

With that I thought I would do my own little top ten.

This is where I learned that comments can spawn some good content. SAJ asked about paint brands and I obliged him with "What' in the bottle".
Here is one of my first walk through posts about basing with sand and static grass.
Another one. This one is for those who are not sure what to do with flimsy metal parts. Pin them, I say.
When I first started this blog I generated posts from comments people made in comments or in person. This one is about an easy method to painting red.
What I think is another good walk through. This time about painting eyes.
Ever used a Wet Palette. Here is my take on them.
Number 1 of 3 Choir of Menoth.
My Converted and Painted Eldrad.
My Painted Rackham Jackal Master of Rites.
This last one is simply one that tickled my fancy. Brent from Strictly Average is probably the biggest reason I have a blog, and it was funny to see how he reacted to some of my content.

Now we have the first year out of the way, lets see if we can make another. BTW..part 2 of my Dirz showcase should be up in the next couple days.

Confrontation-Alchemist of Dirz (Grunts and Beasts)

2011-07-19T07:00:00.002-05:00

The Alchemist of Dirz are my favorite army that Rackham put out. There is something about the way the minis look that I just love. They are the army I have played the most, the one I enjoy the most, and of course the one I have the most miniatures for. Of course since it is the one I have the most for it is gonna take two parts to do them all justice. Having said that lets start with the troopers and beasts and then later I will look at the characters, mages, and monks. I also want to apologize there are a couple of pictures that did not come out that well and I will fix them later if I get a chance.

Clone of Dirz

The Clone of Dirz models were the first blisters of models that I got with multiple weapon options for Confrontation. Up to this point all the blisters that were released were made to be built one way. These models were also some of the newer model for this faction and represented a slight change in style for the army.

Dirz Crossbowman

The story with the Driz Crossbowman models lies not with the models themselves but with what they have accomplished in my many games with them. They tend to be the superhero of the army at the most unusual of times. While they always do okay in normal situations, it is when the games turn the most sour that they tend to be responsible for heroic measures. The death shot from across the table or the well place knife in hth to make the kill that made absolutely no difference in the game. That is what I get outta these models. In particular the one kneeling is the most shifty.

Dirz Halbardiers

The Dirz Halbardiers represent the initial Dirz basic trooper. Most of the original factions have them. They look good but they have an obvious difference from the rest of the line. If you look at them versus some of the rest of the line you can see a progression as the company matured and they really started to explore what they could do with miniatures.

Dirz Hybrid

Dirz Hybrids were release initially in Hybrid board game. They are some of my favorite sculpts in the range.

Dawn Warriors

Here are some of my more favorite models in the army. I guess we may hear that a few times with this faction. Seeing how they are my preferred faction based on models more than anything else.

Dasyatis Clone

The Dasyatis Clone was the centerpiece of my army for quite a long time. This model is the largest of the painted models I have for this army. Its hard to tell from the picture but this model is big. The base he is on is a 50mm base so two times a normal base, and he is at least 2x taller than most of the models in this army.

Dasyatis Clone

In addition to being the center piece visually it did a lot of the heavy lifting for a long time. That changed a bit when the game switched from version 2.0 to 3.0. Less because he became less effective, but more because the new rules changed the way I played the army and he was a casualty of that change.

Centarus Clone

Centaurus Clone

The Centaurus Clone is one of those models that I initially did not use in my army. It was initially just a model that I felt like painting and then in one of our Confrontation flirts I started using it.

Dirz Tiger

Dirz tiger

This is one of those I talked about earlier with the less than stellar photo. I learned a valuable lesson when I was painting the Dirz Tiger. Be sure to clean all the mold lines before painting. Unfortunately for me, it was the crown portion on the back of the head and it was painted almost last. At that point in the mini I did not want to damage the work I had already done and I was not willing to go back and fix it.

Ira Tenebrae

The Ira Tenebrae are not really part of the Dirz faction but I use them A LOT when I play the army. They are models that are summoned during the game, and many armies can use them. I included them because I use them with my Dirz.

Well this is the first Dirz post and in the next post I will show you the Characters, Mages, Monks and a couple other specials.

Confrontation-Wolfen of Yilla

2011-07-16T07:00:00.003-05:00

So to continue with what I started I bring you some images of my Wolfen of Yilla. It was an odd set of circumstances that led me to this army. I have sister that works for one of the local apartment complexes. Her job is to make newly emptied apartments ready for new tenants. One day she called and said she found had a bag of stuff that looked like some of the things I played with abandoned in one of the apartments. To my surprise it was a Wal Mart bag full of Wolfen. Some of the models were in poor shape, and I ended up buying a bunch more minis for the army but what can I say. What I did use from that bag were free.

Wolfen Prowler

The Wolfen Prowler is one of those models that just automatically catches your eye. The design is great and it really portrays a creature stalking watching its prey from afar planning his attack. This is one of the few models from that original bag that made the army. Also one of my favorites.

Wolfen Sacred Vestal

When I started building this army I told myself I was going to concentrate on the models that I liked and fill in with what was needed. This model is definitely one I liked. Once again the design is great and of course what 14 year old adolescent trapped in a middle aged mans body does not love a great pair of unrealistic tatas.

Wolfen Champion-Onyx the Prowler

When building a force in Confrontation you always have to have a "character" to lead the force. The army really has two cost effective ones that I like. One of them I liked was The Watcher which was being used in The Mighty Mighty Carlos' army and the other was Onyx the Prowler. The model you see above is slightly different from the original Rackham model. The copy I had received in the bag of minis was missing the head. Since the Wolfen Warriors box came with some extra heads I simply used one of the extras and my friend sculpted the connection. Unfortunately I never finished this model.

Wolfen Grave Guardian

This model is also one of the ones reclaimed from the bag. It is one of my favorites from the Wolfen line which pretty much goes for all the models I use in this army. These wolfen were painted while I was first learning about Non-Metallic Metals or NMM. So there are many weapons that were never painted because I struggled with getting a realistic effect on the large flat surface of the blades.

Wolfen Great Fangs

Wolfen Great Fangs are one of the two profiles that come in the Wolfen Warrior boxed set. These models were a step up from the original Wolfen Warrior blisters and most of the reason that this army had models that did not come from the bag.

Wolfen Warriors

To round out this episode we have Wolfen Warriors. They are the grunts of the Wolfen army. Like the Great Fangs they come from the Wolfen Warrior boxed set and are a step above the original Warriors that were in a blister pack. Like all the other in this list I love these models. Unfortunately they were never finished. I tend to lose focus and models such as these often fall victim to that.

Confrontation-Dwarves of Tir Na Bor

2011-07-13T07:00:00.002-05:00

Well with the recent announcement that Legacy Miniatures will start producing Confrontation miniatures I am well bit with the bug. I normally get one of these every 5 or 6 months anyway and this has now become a bad one. I plan on playing games and I will be doing a few posts showcasing what I have done in the past. Keep in mind these are just the models I have painted or quite a bit done. I have a ridiculous amount not painted that I am not showing.

Tir na Bor Mountain Warrior

We start this off with my Dwarves of Tir Na Bor. This is the second army I painted for Confrontation. The thing that drew me to this army was the faces. Across this army they have some of the most characterful faces (is that a word...spell check thinks so) of any minis I have seen. Dwarves from most ranges have that but these ones excel at that. I added my thoughts in between. One other interesting thing is that I left this army on display at a friends game store for a couple months. When I came back to claim it there was a guy there who had duplicated the color scheme pretty much exactly down to the armor, cloth, and even hair tones. From what I was told he made about two trips a week to the store to see where the colors were.

The Mountain Giant was one of those models that I bought intending to paint only but he actually saw the table. I never finished him though as the rules changed from 2nd to 3rd edition and he did not fare as well once they did. Not only did I not play him after that but I also stopped painting on him. So as you can see he is a WIP. Btw, you may not be able to tell but this model is almost 6" tall.

Soldiers of the Plains

Soldiers of the Plains are some basic Tir Na Bor troops. I liked the faces on these models and I felt they lacked the typical "armored to the teeth" dwarf look.

Khor Warrior on Rhazorback

This model may not be that dynamic but I though it was a good subject. While it was not a great model, especially compared to the others in the range, it filled a need on the table so it was added into a list and painted.

Boor with Hammers

Boors with Hammers were some of the older dwarfs of the line. They were later replaced with the soldiers of the plains.

Khor Warriors

Here we go, "armored to the teeth"! Khor Warriors are the epitome of that they came two ways either two handed weapons or sword and board.

Forge Guardians

Forge Guardians are some of the first "steam powered" models they released. These model carry a boiler on their backs that enhances their attributes.

Armorers

Armorers are some of my favorite models in the Tir Na Bor line. They have the characterful faces as well as some other great details.

Nerak the Bold

Nerak the Bold was added to my list because I loved the model and he was a bit cheaper points wise than some of the others I liked.

Thermo Warriors

Thermo Warriors are the big brothers to the Forge Guardians. Once again they carry boilers on their back that enhances their attributes. That and they remind me of the aliens in suits at the beginning of "The Fifth Element".

Lithomancer (sorry for the bad pic)

I screwed up the front shot of the Lithomancer so I apologize for that. It was in the middle of a large series of shots and I was too lazy to go back and fix it. Another model with a great face. In addition he carries gems around in that chest that he can use to give a model a spell like ability.

Thermo Priest

Thermo Priest are not really priests per say but more a wizard. In case you don't notice a theme here...boiler on his back.

Good news for Confrontation

2011-07-10T07:00:00.003-05:00

Well, it seem good things my actually come to those who wait. I have a fairly wordy post for you, but I am gonna toss in a couple of my favorite models from Rackham as painted by me.

Goblin Champion Bazuka-Front

Many years ago I was introduced to what is my favorite miniature game, Confrontation. I can not remember exactly when I started playing Confrontation, but I think I played it pretty much solid for about 4 years (I still play now albeit much less frequent). Now that may not seem like that long but I would estimate that I played more games of Confrontation in those 4 years than I have played 40K or Warhammer Fantasy Battle in the 20 or so years of playing those games. Its just a game I like that much.

Goblin Champion Bazuka-Back

There is probably one reason that I do not play the game as frequent as I used to. Several years ago in an effort to not only move their company in a different direction with their models but also to increase profits Rackham made what many consider the worst move in the history of mini gaming. They decided to not only move their game from a skirmish level game to a large scale game, but they also decided to transition from their current metal line to pre-painted plastic models (while completely discontinuing their current metal line). I am not going to go into how or why I think this failed other than to say that after they did so they lost a significant chunk of their fan base and they never were able to gain them or new ones back with the current game.

Collector of Mid Nor-Front

So for several years now I have maintained my collection and continued to play the game every once and a while when the mood stuck me or one of the local gamers. As the Rackham as we knew it was changing and moving from one company to another each time we would wish they would realize the mistakes made and re-start the metal line and the game we all enjoyed so much. Well fortunately it seems that has finally happened. As you can see here a company has acquired the rights to the miniatures and is planning to re-launch the mini line. I have heard whispers that the game it self will follow but at this point I am happy with just the minis.

Collector of Mid Nor-Side

The news almost slipped by me as well. I was wasting some time waiting for the misses to finish preparing for a Saturday afternoon out and about. We were heading to brunch and then she was dropping me at daycare (what see calls the FLGS) so I could ironically enough get in a game of Confrontation with a good friend of mine. As I waited patiently I browsed my email and was deleting the normal stuff I get. One of things I often pass over and delete without reading was the CMON newsletter. Man am I glad I read it.

Collector of Mid Nor-Back

So there you have it. I can honestly say I am excited. Granted I have learned over time to temper that excitement until it actually happens cause I have been burned before. I definitely have a new found bug for the game and plan on playing a few games the next couple of weeks. With that in mind don't be surprised to see some of my stuff show its face here .

Cynwall Magician Galhyan

Rackham Animistic Shaman on a Brontops...WIP2

2011-07-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

I managed to squeeze a bit of time out to get some work done on this model. I have not had a lot of time for anything hobby related so I really have not got much done. I blocked out a few of the colors and did quite a bit of work on the skin of the brontops. I still have much more to go. As you can see I have not done anything to the rider yet.

Here is the mount without the rider.

Here is the base the I am working on for the model. I sprayed a good portion of this with my airbrush. Unfortunately I struggled to get the look I wanted. Afterwards I tried to paint a bit on with a brush and I am starting to get closer but I think I am still a bit away from where I want it to be. In case you are wondering I am trying to get a look of desert rocks or sandstone.

Rackham Animistic Shaman on a Brontops...WIP1

2011-06-30T07:00:00.003-05:00

Well here it is in it's early stages. This a Animistic Shaman on a Brontops from Rackham (sorry Brent, maybe next one). I really love this model and it is one of my all time favorites.I think it might actually be my favorite mounted model.

This belongs to the Orcs of Bran O Kor which is an army I played for a while in Confrontation (god I love that game). We don't play it much, but it does get drug out from time to time when the locals get bored of 40K/WFB/Warmahordes or whatever we are pushing. I play Alchemist of Dirz most but I have a sizable collection of several other armies and this is part of that collection.

The model is currently mounted on a standard black plastic base and then sticky takked down to a wooden box so I have something to hold. The base below is where it will eventually be mounted. I simply cast some plaster in some empty blister packs and then broke that up. I then glued those pieces down. I followed that up by gluing down some soil from my front yard. That is something I picked up from MassiveVoodoo. The soil breaks down into smaller pieces than sand is and it looks a bit more realistic. I intend to add some additional details later but I am not sure what. Of course I will paint it as well. I tend to go for a SW desert kinda look.

Still here

2011-06-27T08:43:00.000-05:00

I am still here. Unfortunately I have not been doing much hobby related. See I get in funks when it comes to the hobby. Any of you that come to this site more than once have probably seen that. This last one has been the worst. Normally my hobby work is driven by what I am playing. Recently though I have not really felt like playing anything. WFB has my interest a bit, but I have no idea how long that will last. Even if it does last I don't really feel like working on anything for it.

So yesterday my wife wanted to spend some time at here parents house. She has recently bought a 67' Mustang and her and her father have been working on it. That leaves me with nothing to do, but she still wants me to go with her. So I packed up some stuff to work on.

In digging though my minis to find a project I settled on one of my favorite miniatures of all time. You will soon see what it is but for now that is all I will tell you. I spent a good portion of the day pinning and cleaning the model. I do intend to once again create a scenic base for the model. While I was cleaning the model I had some plaster poured into basic molds so I can break it up and use it on the base. This model is for one of the armies I play for one of the games I play so it will need to be on a standard base but I intend for it to be a lot more dynamic.

I hope to have some WIPs up for you soon.

Dark Age Whisper: WIP....scrapped

2011-06-10T11:18:00.002-05:00

So this model has been scrapped. The more I worked on it, the more I felt like I did not like it. Since I normally will force my self to work on models this one is going back in the box. I will push the base to the side for now and I may try to find a use for it later.

Big question now is what to work on.

Dark Age Whisper: WIP

2011-06-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

Not a whole lot going on around here. Fighting the urge to start some WFB and struggling to find time to paint. I did manage to get a small amount of work on the Whisper model I am working on.

I finished building the base and I blocked out some of the color on model itself. Other than that not a lot to say.

Good Luck Evil Homer

2011-05-28T13:46:00.000-05:00

Well the time has come for Evil Homer to take his leave of the local scene. His wife and family had already made the move to their new home in Austin as he stayed behind to finish up some critical stuff with work and take care of the final details of his move.

Got to play a game of Confrontation (god I love that game) with him last night at the LGS. It was great fun and we had a great time. We really had a great run with Confrontation and even though we hardly ever play it anymore it was really nice that the last game we played (for what I think will be a long time) is Con. Fitting I think.

I just wanted to take a second to give him one last good luck. He has been a good friend and I will miss the regular talks we have about the good and bad we see on the net. I am sure we will still keep in touch but it is not quite the same when your friends are 5 hours away.

Thats right...I said it...friend. Damnit I avoided that for this long and now I stick myself with it. I need to take a look at the rules again. (thats and inside joke for anyone not local)

Good luck Evil Homer..hope to see you back soon for a tournament or some other event.

New Project...and dumb mistakes

2011-05-25T07:00:00.004-05:00

So I have been feeling a but lost working on my Black Templar. Normally I would push forward until I get to a point that I feel I have it worked out. Well I am at a place where I think I am happy with what I was doing with the black, and I am also kinda bored with messing with them. So I need something else.

I dug out a model that I bought from Dark Age. I bought some of the minis for this game and even at one time intended on playing it. The models that caught my eye to start are the Dragyri Whispers. I love the models and so I thought I would dig one out and have a go at it.

Since I do not really intend to play this game anymore, I figured this would be a great time to try my hand at a nice scenic base. This will really be the first time I try this and I am not entirely sure where I am headed with it and it may be a bit off genre but I need to start somewhere.

As for the mistake....the model you see in the picture will probably need to be re-primed. In my infinite wisdom I took the model outside and primed it about 2 hours after a rain shower. The humidity did a number on the primer so I may need to strip it and re-prime. I know there were condensation water drops on the surface when I brought it back in from the spray. Guess we will see how it goes later.

Learning Curve...black....I think I am getting it

2011-05-18T07:00:00.003-05:00

Ok I think I have got to the point I am happy with. The unfortunate part is that I have not had that much time to paint so I have not got that far. I started to block out some colors so I can see what they look like with other colors on them. Maybe if I get some time this weekend I can get one finished for you to look at.

Learning Curve...black....getting there.

2011-05-13T12:51:00.000-05:00

Ok I bet you are tired of seeing these posts. Trust me I am tired of doing them. Like I said in the first one I am hoping that what I am going through will help you out. Spending some time looking at some other painters, mainly those who are much more talented than me, gave me an idea of what I wanted. When I attempted to match their work using the steps I thought they would take, my results were less than spectacular.

Well the one that caught my eye the most was from a link that SAJ over at Works In Progress posted a few links in the comments a few posts ago and one led me to some Death Company marines that are painted by Gimiak over at Brush Borthers. BTW, if you have not ever visited Works In Progress you should really stop by there some time. SAJ is like me in that he tends to work really slow, but he finishes some really nice stuff. Anyway, I followed the link to The Brush Brothers blog and got a gander at the Death Company models that were painted by Gimiak. He pretty much hit exactly what I was aiming for.

After failing to replicate his work using the steps I thought were needed, I emailed him and asked about his process. Not only was he kind enough to reply but what I got back was great. He gave me the recipe for all three of his attempts at black. A very basic one he started with, then the next step in his evolution, and finally the process he used for this wonderful Relusiarch.

I hurried home after work yesterday and immediately tackled a few minis. They came pretty much how I expected and I think with a bit of work they will be almost exactly what I am looking for. As soon as I perfect what he sent me and tweek it a bit for my liking I will get a tute done for you all.

Oh BTW...here are some WIPs of the ones I started yesterday.

Learning Curve...black....your doing it wrong.

2011-05-11T22:07:00.000-05:00

Well well...can someone say epic fail. I thought I had the right idea, thought I would whip out a quick mini that is somewhere close to what I want. Then I could figure out some shortcuts for the basic soldiers.

WELL WELL WELL...I could not have been more wrong.

So that makes test number 11-12. I am not even really sure where I went wrong. But the mini on the left could not look more grey. I might try to work some black into some shadows to see if I can pull it back to what I want.

If you want to see test model 9 check after the jump....

This model was done using an edge lining technique. Not terribly happy with it, but it might just have to do. Any way...back to the drawing board.

Learning Curve...black.....still working

2011-05-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

Well not much to report right now. I have had little time or inspiration to work on minis. When I do get time I tend to work a bit on some black and then quit in frustration. I have done a few trial pieces and have not been satisfied with anything I have..so no pictures.

You see the problem I have is two fold. First off, you can not shade and highlight black like you do other colors. Normally you have your base color then a shade and a highlight. The highlight is simple. The shade not so much. What do you add to black to make a shadow? So after a bit of hard headed struggling I gave it up. The other problem I have is that I am not terribly hot for the traditional hard edge lining that most people use for black.

So what am I going to do? Well the last couple of test models I have worked on (and I think the count now is up to 9 or 10) I am using a bit of a mix. Instead of hard lining both the top and bottom edges of the model I am only hitting the areas that would get light. For the most part that means just the top edges. In addition to that I will be hitting some of the larger flat areas with some normal shading to try to give a nice contrast. Could this work? I hope so. It could also lead to test models 11 and 12. Hopefully I can get something to a point where I take some pics for you soon.

Learning Curve...black

2011-04-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

So about nine months ago I discovered Roman and his group of talented painters over at MassiveVoodoo. After spending quite a bit of time reading his blog and the articles he had, I decided it was time for me to change my approach to painting.

My technique before the switch could best be described as make a mess and spend time fixing it. This often left me with results that were sub par and blending that was not quite good. So after reading Massive Voodoo I decided I would change to many, many, many, extremely thin layers. Along with this I have forced myself to use higher contrast start to finish with my blends. Roll all this together with a two color Zenithal Lighting priming. This has been rather successful for me so far, but some of my fall back recipes require reworking. Up to this point I have managed to figure out what to do to create the blends I need to get the colors I am happy with.

Here are some models that are in an extremely early stage.

Cut to my Black Templar. I have found with my recent models that I really like this new style. The problem is it does not suit every color the same. The technique require you to start with your base color, darken that quite a bit for shadows, and then lighten it quite a bit for highlights. As with most colors this works well and is fairly easy to pull off. This is not entirely the case with black. I know many people use a simple lining technique, but I want to see what I can do.

Lets take a look at the model above. First off I have only really worked the leg closest to the camera, and the lights make it look a bit brighter than it is. As you can see if you apply the same thoughts and technique to black it tends to look like a dark grey instead of black. This is the problem I am dealing with. How to get more contrast from the lightest to darkest areas with out washing out the black and making it look grey. This is still a work in progress so I will toy with it a bit more and see if I can bring it down a bit more. I just thought it would be interesting for you to see what I was working on and my thought process. Maybe as I go though the test with black you can get something that may help you.

WIP: Eldar Guardians...Time for some troopers

2011-04-12T07:00:00.002-05:00

So I figured it was time for me to get off my ass and post something. Since I have been concentrating on painting individual models I figure it would be a good time to take a break and do some units. We are doing a Ard Boys build up again this year and I am working on Eldar. So that means I am going to be painting Eldar. I already have quite a few models painted up for this army, but I am going to be starting over and replacing the old painted ones with new ones.

The pieces of my new Eldar models

Here they are ready for new paint

See, the Eldar models I do have painted were painted quite a while ago and as the locals have heard me say before "I don't paint like that anymore". I really mean that too. The models below were painted using a base/wash/drybrush method. They are not bad looking models they just are not up to snuff with what I paint currently. Since I do not have enough to make a full army I need to add and adding means starting over.

My Old Eldar

So I am starting over. I will use the ones I have painted until I get all the new ones painted. Once they are done I can replace the painted ones either by re-painting or replacing. The pictures below are of a mini that I painted about a year ago when I first decided to re-do the army. At this point it is pretty close to what I will be going for now. There are a few minor differences. The red I will be using should be a bit darker than what you see below, and I will be doing the chest armor to match the grey. I realized after getting the model to this point that there was a bit too much red and the grey should help break that up a bit.

Eldrad Conversion Painted and Finished

2011-04-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

Well, here he is I hope you like him. Thanks to a fairly rules knowledgeable group of local gamers I was able to finish him during this weekends 40K tournament I was hosting at the FLGS. I turned in the pics over at Dragonpainting forums and know I just wait to see what they think. I also hope you like it as well. Maybe my next project will be a bit less intensive.

More pics after the jump

More WIP: Converted Eldrad...Getting closer

2011-03-31T07:00:00.001-05:00

Well, as with most of my projects now it seems this one is going to take me forever to finish. At least with this one I have something to push me a bit. I have started this for a March challenge over at DragonPainting forums. Well entries are due on Sunday night at midnight. So I need to finish this up by then.

Since the last time you saw this I cleaned up a few things and tried to block out most of the colors so I could see what some things look like. I also fought with the free hand on the back. I wanted to do something larger and still may, but I could not get anything I liked. Hopefully you like what you see.

More WIP: Converted Eldrad

2011-03-23T07:00:00.002-05:00

Here are some more WIPs of my converted Eldrad. The change in style has really challenged me when it comes to metallics. I am still not 100% sure what I am doing but I feel like I am stumbling in the right direction.

More pics after the jump..

Wave Serpent Turret Conversion

2011-03-21T07:00:00.001-05:00

So we are doing a build up for Ard Boys at our FLGS again this year and this year I will be working (or reworking) on my Eldar. Well almost any incarnation of an Eldar list I can come up with at this point is going to need at least one or two Wave Serpents. I do not really like the stock turret. I like the Forgeworld one, but since there is a good chance I will need several serpents for any larger list I did not want to go about paying $15-$20 to buy the turrets. So, I figured my only option was to make them.

This is a really easy conversion once I figured out what I was going to do and how I needed to cut the materials. All the plastic pieces are from the kit so I did not need to bastardize any of my bits or other kits to do what I needed. The one are you may need to look at for your self if you do this is the Shuriken Cannon upgrade piece. I do not play on using them on my serpents so I was not worried about cutting them. If I change my mind later I will have another article to write about converting Cannon upgrades.

My thoughts behind this conversion is that I wanted to see if I could get something closer to the Forldworld version. So I wanted to get the weapons together on the same side of the turret. Once I laid that out I knew I wanted something on the opposite side to balance it out visually. The final thing was the antenna that was sticking up from the center of the turret. It made it look a bit Tau'ish for me. I also wanted to avoid having to buy a bunch of materials that I did not already have.

Above you can see the pieces I used laid out in the order that I used them in. I started with a piece of brass rod (bottom) that I would use to replace the center bar that comes with the kit. On the right I start with on of the weapon covers that comes with the kit. I attach this to the end of the brass rod. Next I place one of the weapons on and follow it on with a small piece of brass tubing. The tubing will help keep the guns evenly spaced. The next thing is the large center spacer. I have placed an even bigger piece of tubing on the center spacer so the finished piece will not move back and forth inside the turret.

The next part is the tricky part, and I think you may be able to skip it if you can not find a suitable piece to use here. The picture above shows the Shuriken Cannon upgrade. I cut the sensor off the left side of that assembly and drill a hole in it so it can slide onto the brass rod. After that part I place the left weapon cover. Finally I glue the assembly into the turret and then glue a gem from the kit onto the top of the turret. Below is a picture of the assembly from behind.

A few important things to consider. First off, be sure to glue the weapons on straight and parallel to each other. Second when drilling through the sensor part from the cannon upgrade be sure to keep the hole straight and level. Otherwise it will look a bit wonky.

Here is what it looks like together. There is a chance that I come back later and add some plastic-card to the weapon guards but I am still unsure.

Hope you like it.

Moving along with WIP: Converted Eldrad painting pt. 3

2011-03-17T07:00:00.002-05:00

Got some work done on this and have made some progress. I moved to the shoulder armor and I tend to use this as a location to bring the red from the army scheme into the mini. The cloak on the back is going to remain a darker red and might even get some brown added to it. The helmet is just getting started and I intend for it to eventually look like the rune armor.

More pictures after the jump.

Keeping you bored..WIP Eldrad Conversion pt. 2

2011-03-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

Here it is.... Not much change at this point. Mainly worked the Rune armor and a few other things. I really have only had an hour or so to actually work on him.

WIP: My Eldrad Conversion

2011-03-08T07:00:00.008-06:00

Well slowly but surely I am getting something done. I started this model for a monthly painting challenge over at the Dragonpainting forums. The theme is simply sci-fi. Since I already have my Howling Banshee Exarch pretty much finished I decided to start something new.

It was a toss up between and Eldar or Black Templar model and I am intrigued with my Eldar at the moment so I decided to do another.
I am not entirely thrilled with the current Eldrad sculpt so I took one of the current farseer models and added Edrad's head, his sword, and the top of his staff. Add in a bit of green stuff here and there to meld it all together and this is what you have.

This is simply a few of the initial base colors. They are painted to match where I am headed with my current Eldar scheme. I also started on the second step on the red and a few of the highlights of the gray so I can see where I am headed. Hope you like it.

Evil Homer: Test Model Retribution

2011-02-19T07:00:00.001-06:00

Well, Evil Homer traded some models for a Warmachine Retribution army. So now he has tasked me with some pics of the test model.

Personally I like it. I am not a huge fan of the Retribution models, but I think this color scheme works for them.

Evil Homer: His Dilemma…And a new year’s resolution update

2011-02-17T07:08:00.000-06:00

So some follow ups on my new years resolution and a Dilemma I need help solving. I find it easier to complete New Years resolutions if I no longer have the models to deal with…

It's not failure if you change the rules!

Warma/Hordes: No longer Rhulics, its build and paint 50 points of Retribution. The Rhulics got sold to a local player. I used that money to begin funding at Retribution of Scyrah army. The good news is the test model is painted and I am motivated to get them done. Maybe I can get the MM(esno) to snap some pics of the test model.

The Rulics I sold

40K: My Imperial Guard has found itself a new home. More trades to come as I move what I got in trade along for a second WarmaHordes army. That still leaves the question of my Thousand Sons. This army was always a labor of love based on my enjoyment of the T-Sons fluff rather than any competitive build. I may have found a way to do both though. Stay tuned. Bolter & Chainsword’s Dornian Heresy supplement may solve all my problems.

Confrontation: I’ve down sized my Confrontation collection quite a bit, sending both my extra Mid-Nor and all of my Cynwall to new homes. I think I may have a new home for my Griffons as well that leaves Orcs, Tir-Na-Bor, and Mid-Nor. I’ve painted a little on my Mid-Nor but nothing serious. I will still paint 400 points of Confrontation this year. Just need to decide on a faction.

Project Completion: -going on here. My plan is to finish my Retribution as my first completed project. Once I get some feedback on my test model and really nail the scheme I can get started in earnest.

Tables: The MM(esno) has put up the Hirst Arts table I built and he painted and did the base work on. There is a second table in progress. They have been built. He will do the paint and base. I’ve got some trees to do for them. I’m calling this one progressing. And ¾ complete. GO ME!

And now…the Dilemma…
I got rid of my Guard army. I need a new 40k Army for competitive play. It is what it is. I don’t consider it reneging on my Resolution, just changing it from Guard to something else. So I have a few options but am having trouble deciding. I am notorious in our group for being indecisive. Hell the only reason I had a Guard army is because we rolled randomly to decide what armies we were going to build and that is what I ended up with. Here is an explanation of the options:

Dornian Heresy Thousand Sons-this army will be based on the fluff presented in the Dornian Heresy supplement from the Bolter and Chainsword . This army will be built to handle to various marine codexes but based on the rumors about the forthcoming GK book, it will probably be built to handle that book specifically. Read the Dornian Heresy fluff then read the GK rumors. Match made in heaven.
Sisters of Battle – This army is the one I want to build but the sisters themselves are becoming hard and harder to get. A real pain to build I think but I know exactly what I want. Probably typical Immo spam but Sisters are gorgeous.
Dark Eldar-I have not really studied the book so I don’t know what I would build here but the new models are very, very nice and the army is something completely different than anything I have played before.
Tyranids-This is the wild card in the deck. I think there is a competitive army in the book, but I don’t even know where to start with it. Again something completely different.

So Vote and leave your thoughts, comments, and suggestions. If you have a different suggestion let us know.

More WIPs...Howling Banshee Exarch pt5, Dark Eldar Incubi pt1

2011-02-14T07:00:00.004-06:00

Some quick WIPs for you to look at. The first is one you are probably getting tired of seeing.

I really have not had a lot of progress on this Banshee Exarch because I am struggling to get the weapons to a point I am happy with. I worked on the weapons a bit and I think I am real close to where I want to be. I really wish I could get a better picture of the weapons. They look ok here but I could not really get a top down angle of the shot to best show what I have here.

I also mounted it to a base and did a bit of work on the base with some weathering powders. This is a first with the powders for me and I am happy with what I have got for a 1st try. I am sure I will get better with them as I go. As I get a bit more familiar with them maybe I can do a step by for you. First I have to make sure I know where, when, and how to use them before I can help any of you.

There really is not much more to be done. Hopefully I can have some finished shots for you later this week, time permitting. I need to finish fleshing out the gems, some of the cloth, and the rest of the weapons. That should pretty much be it.

This next one is a new project. I bought this right after these models came out but I have not had the time to start on it. The other night I was looking for something to throw paint at with my airbrush so I figured I would use it to base coat this model.

This is a simple spray on of VGC Heavy Purple followed by a wash of black, then purple inks to give it some tone. I also did a quick dry brush of the purple so I could see some detail but in the end most of that will be covered with other work. Other than the purple the tabard and arm sash got a coat of VGC Heavy Green and the cloth on the hands, back of the thighs and parts of the arms got a coat of VGC Heavy Grey.

So far I am fairly happy with the "Heavy" line of Vallejo paints. I guess it is Vallejo's answer to GW's Foundation line. I does not cover as heavy as the foundation paints but for most part it performs just as well. At least for my purposes it does.

Fighting through the funk; Howling Banshee Exarch...WIP 4

2011-02-09T06:30:00.004-06:00

So the funk has been pretty heavy with me lately. So instead of wasting time looking for a new project, I decided to just push through on an existing one. I drug out my in progress Howling Banshee Exarch and did some small stuff on this model. Since it is most of the way done it is easy for me to pick out some smaller areas and work for a few minutes and then move on if I start to bore with it.

More pics after the break....

I worked on the mask and blocked out the colors on the weapons. I am still not entirely sure what direction I will go with the weapons but I wanted to block out some color so I could get rid of the plain white primered spots. Also the pics don't really show the definition on the mask as much as I would like, maybe I can get some better pics on the next set of WIPs.

Crappy Weather, Wet Palette, and a Funk

2011-02-08T06:30:00.004-06:00

So the past week in North Texas has been pretty much the same as the rest of the country. Cold as can be and covered in snow and ice. This is far from the norm here. If we get snow it is usually once a year and it hardly ever sticks to the ground for any length of time. This batch hung around for four days and pretty much crippled the town.

Along with the depression caused by being couped up in the house for 4 days straight, I am once again in a funk. I have been searching for something to spark my taste. The locals are knee deep in some Warmachine and I have been playing some of that myself. I painted some models for my Protectorate army but I am struggling to continue them. I have several projects on my bench but I am finding it hard to put any real time in them. I would probably be interested in building some terrain, but I can't come up with anything I want to build. Kinda like a writers block of sorts.

As a side note. Many of you took your time to take a look at my article about wet palettes. Well I thought I would do a quick update with something I noticed today that was quite surprising.

This is the palette I made when I was doing the article, and that was back in December. This picture is taken yesterday. Much of the paint on the picture you see here is the paint I applied right after the article. In addition I have not really used this paint in about 2 weeks. The thing that surprised me was that when I sat down yesterday to paint, much of that paint is still wet and usable. Now I do not recommend you leave paint on your palette for two weeks, but it does show exactly how much you can extend the life of paint on your palette if you choose to use one of these. This piece of paper was discarded after this photo so I could push out some new stuff. I just though you might find this interesting.

Tag-Teaming Some Terrain Projects Part 3: Flock and Grass

2011-02-02T06:29:00.001-06:00

Well I am nearly done with this terrain. This final post should be a quick one that really quickly covers the grassy areas I wanted. You can see the post where I textured the bases here, and where I painted the terrain here.

I originally started out with the intention of covering a lot more of this terrain with grass. After I started working on it though I really did not want to cover up the great look of the Hirst Arts molded bricks. They really are great and if you have never used them they are a easy way to get some fantastic looking stuff if you don't mind the time input. Time input because casting does take some time. Outside of that, once you have the blocks cast it is like Legos for adults.

I started off with my painted terrain. I applied a coat of PVA glue (Elmers) to the areas where I wanted my grass to be. Then I covered the glue with some flock. Be sure when you do this step to allow the flock to sit on the glue for 1-2 minutes before you shake off the excess. That will give the glue additional time to soak into the flock. This time will make the flock stick and hold better.

I have to admit that I did make a mistake here. The flock that I ended up using was not the flock I originally intended. This will highlight the importance of labeling thing in my terrain boxes from now on. I have two colors of flock. One is your standard green flock. The other is supposed to be a harvest mix so the grass is a bit darker and it has some random bits of other color thrown in. It works all the same, but not the color I intended.

The final step was to add a bit of static grass. This will give a look of a few areas of taller weeds/grass. I wanted this look but I did not want it everywhere so I kept the patches small and did not do that many. Once I added the static grass, the mistake with the wrong color flock became more noticeable in my mind. I applied the static grass the same way I talked about here.

So there it is. I hope you like what you see. I think many of the folks at eh FLGS will really like this stuff and I hope they get as much enjoyment out of using it as I did working on it.

Tag-Teaming Some Terrain Projects Part 2:Paint

2011-01-30T07:39:00.000-06:00

Well maybe I should change the title of this one. This tag team project that started here turned into a solo project. I guess it is still a tag team project as Evil Homer cast the bricks and built the terrain. As for painting the terrain, that never came to pass. My hobby interest has been starting to wane again so I decided to do what I could to keep it going. The other day I dug out my airbrush did some work with it on an old unfinished piece of terrain. Evil Homer commented he never managed to get the terrain from the tag-team project painted so I told him I would do it.

The how and why are after the jump. Oh and lots of pictures.

As I said earlier Evil Homer was supposed to paint this but do to lack of time/motivation it was never finished. Since I have renewed my love/hate relationship with my airbrush I figured it would be a great time to get them done. See, I say love/hate because I love the effects and final product I get when using my airbrush. Unfortunately since I don't use it that often I tend to hate re-learning what I did before. Well I have been watching some airbrush vids on the net and there were a few things I think really helped me so this time it went a bit quicker. So more love...less hate.

Here is what I had to start with. When I completed the sand and gravel before I sent them to Evil Homer. Well actually there is step missing here. See I know Evil Homer quite well and lets say I am not surprised that they never were painted. Knowing that, before I sent them to him I sprayed the terrain with some black spray paint. I also did some light quick coats of gray spray paint over the bricks. The primer was meant to hold the sand on a bit better and the gray was to give the terrain a bit of definition until he painted it. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures before I sent the terrain off to Evil Homer.

Here is the first base coat. As with most of my terrain I use cheap craft paints to do this work. Because of that I will not be giving any specific names. For anything you want to do just find something that looks right for you. The pictures above have only received an initial coat of a mix of burnt umber with a small amount of black. This will give me a good dark base to work from for my soil. The gray is the gray spray paint I talked about earlier. I made sure to hit the gravel and larger pebbles with this color as well. Even though they will be gray I want the area around them to match the soil.

Since these Hirst Arts bricks can be a bit difficult to spray paint into all the cracks I also came up with a good way to cover the areas in the cracks and crevices that did not get hit with the spray paint.
You can see the brown spotty areas on the cobblestones. Well that is the left over from me filling in the cracks. The paint I am using for this is quite thin so I was able to spray along some of the larger cracks to cover the white underneath. Where I over-sprayed onto the tops of the bricks I simply sprayed air only out of my airbrush to blow the majority of the paint into the cracks around it. I also did this with some of the piles of gravel. To my surprise it actually work quite well.

Once the initial coat was dry I moved on to a second color on the soil and the first on the bricks. For the soil I took the burnt umber color that I mixed with black and sprayed it straight this time. I hit all the soil but avoided the gravel. Then I took medium gray and added a touch of black to it and sprayed all the blocks. I am not worried about complete coverage here. If you miss the cracks or lower areas it is ok. It adds some randomness to the bricks and that is really what you want as natural stones have a lot of variations to them. When I sprayed the gravel/pebbles I tried to make sure and go easy so the gray did not pool up and cover the soil underneath.

The final step with the airbrush covers only the bricks. I take the medium gray I mixed with black and spray all the bricks ad gravel again. I try to concentrate on the tops of the bricks and not really hit the lower areas much. This will give it a bit of shadow/highlights. This is a pretty quick step here.

Finally I took a lighter color brown and drybrushed the soil with it. This gives it some dimension and really makes it pop. As for the bricks they were drybrushed with the medium gray. I tried to use more strokes down then up to help concentrate most of the color on top. On the ground bricks I tried to stay towards the center and leave a bit of the darker gray around the edges. After that I drybrushed one more time with medium gray mixed with a bit of sky blue. The final drybrush was concentrated to the tops of the bricks. This really picked out the texture in the Hirst Arts bricks and gave it a nice look.

So now its all painted up and hopefully soon I can tell you about the grass work. I hope you like it.

Throwback to my Eldar

2011-01-26T06:30:00.004-06:00

Well part of my resolutions was to take stock of what armies I have and make an effort to reduce the amount of "stuff" that I have. So in doing that I have been going through my collection and looking at all the stuff I have. One of the armies that I am keeping but still need to take a look at is my Eldar army.

This army was the first army that I had completely painted. Keep in mind this army was constructed to compete in 3rd edition. After I played it for a while and won a couple of tournaments with it I moved on to something else. It was based on the Ulthwe list outta the Craftworld Eldar book. Before you say anything I know it was not very fluffy based off the Ulthwe story but I did not care. The list included 2 Wraithlords, a Falcon, Striking Scorpions in a Wave Serpant, 2 units of Guardian Defenders, 1 unti of Storm Guardians, a Vyper, a Seer Council, and an Avatar.

The Seer Council is pretty much straight forward except that I removed the Shinning Spears and replaced them with Witchblades.

The Avatar has a bit on conversion. The arms were moved slightly and the sword was removed and added to a piece of rod to make a spear.

The army went pretty much unplayed until the latest Codex Eldar was released. I wanted to take the painting in a different direction that did not involve as much drybrushing. So I set out to build a new army to go along with the new list.

The colors I chose would still be basically the same but I wanted to go with a more subdued color scheme, The warlock above is an example of what I wanted to do.

This is the conversion I did for Eldrad. I took the standard Farseer model and added Eldrads weapons and head. I wanted something that was not as flat as the standard Eldrad mini as well as making mine stand out a bit.

The Howling Banshee Exarch of course has made an appearance here before. It is also still a WIP and I have it out on my table to finish soon in the future. You can see the same colors used from the warlock. Grey and red will be the main colors for this army. I try to integrate the main army colors into my aspect warrior schemes. Luckily for me it was easier with this model because red is both one of my army colors and one of the common colors for Banshee aspect.

Unfortunately the latest codex came at a bad time while I was playing different games and my interest did not last long. So the army got shelved once again. Hopefully I will find new interest in the army later or perhaps they can be resurrected when the next Codex Eldar comes out. Hopefully you will like the pics.

On Old Projects, Sisters of Battle, and Resolutions

2011-01-21T06:30:00.006-06:00

So a couple of weeks ago I posted a list of resolutions here. In the article that I would reduce my armies to Black Templar, Eldar, and Chaos Space Marines Slaaneesh armies. I wrote that with every intention of following that resolution. The problem I have is that not only did I have an old project that was out of sight it was out of mind.

My Sisters of Battle!

So many moons ago I started this SoB army for a Cities of Death build up we were doing at the FLGS. I really enjoyed the army at the time but when 5th Edition came out I was not really happy with the way it played with the new rules. It had a lot to do with the way my army was constructed and not as much about what the army was capable of. If I remember correctly I had also been painting on it to prepare for a Rogue Trader tournament that was coming up. I found out I was not going to be able to attend the tournament. So I tabled the army and worked on something else.

Fast forward to two weeks ago I am writing a list of hobby resolutions. I thought in my head about the armies I really enjoyed playing and working on and the army I had not touched in several years was forgotten. So I made a list and my SoBs where left off.

So a day or two ago I was sorting through some of my stuff. You know making an honest attempt at completing a resolution. When I pulled out a box containing my SoBs I wondered to myself; "Was that on my list?" To my astonishment it was not.

So now I have a decision to make. Do I honor my resolution as written and sell/trade away my SoB army? Do I re-nig on that and keep the army? Perhaps I swap that army for one of the armies that are on the list?

Its a tough decision to make. I really enjoyed working on this army when I was doing so. I have considered re-starting that work several times in the past but never really wanted to make the changes I think I would have needed to make to have an army that worked well in the current game. With those thoughts though the only thing I have done with this army in the past 4 or more years is paint the Cannoness. I could hold out and see what comes of a new codex if they get one.

I could pass it on to someone who might be interested in using it as is right now. They are painted fairly well and there are the conversion on the Exorcist tanks ( I have the GW model). I am not sure I would be able to duplicate the painting on them if I restarted them at this time, but it should not be too hard. Not sure what to do here. I will have to take a bit of time and decide what I am going to do. Whatever way I go hopefully you will enjoy the pictures of what I have finished so far.

Some tabletop quality Trollbloods stuff from one of the locals.....

2011-01-17T08:19:00.000-06:00

Here is some trollbloods that have been painted by Little Barrera who is one of the locals. I can not stress enough how this is simply his tabletop quality and he is more than capable of producing much better results. Recently he has been un-inspired and gets most of his painting gratification from seeing completed armies and forces. So lower quality yet still some good looking stuff. Oh and it shouldn't hurt for me to do my part of inspiring those with disabilities/disorders. These models are painted by someone who is color blind and has sausage shaped hands that shake.

This model had some battlefield repairs as one of the cockscomb things on his head where damaged before they got to me for photos.

More pics after the jump......

Choir of Menoth #1 Finished

2011-01-13T06:45:00.002-06:00

Well, I am pretty much finished here. I Completed the eyes and added the freehand to the scroll. I also added some basing. I think I might have been able to do more to this model but I was starting to get to the point where I was fighting any ideas I had and just needed to get it done.

I spent a lot of time trying to decide what to put on the scroll. Between my own apprehension about actually messing it up and trying to come up with something I really liked, I did about ten to fifteen different practice ones on some paper. Finally I just had to find something simple that had more than just squiggly lines to look at.

As for the basing I am not real sure on that. Like a lot of other things I am doing right now I was trying some new techniques. On this one I actually applied some ink and then dry-brushed some paint over the static grass to give it a different look. Even though I do not really like the combined look I like what I learned about the grass and I think I might be able to take that and use it to a better affect later.

So hopefully you like it. I will keep you updated as I work on the rest of unit.

WIP: Choir of Menoth #1 v2, Plus some jabber from me

2011-01-09T06:30:00.015-06:00

I have been trying to paint on a regular basis lately. Even if I am only able to get 30 minutes or an hour out I try to sit down and at least paint. Here is a bit of WIP from those efforts. This model is getting close to being done. I want to do some freehand on the scroll, and the face needs a small amount of work. I also need to do the eyes.

After the jump there are some other pics as well as a bit of blabber about my current mindset with regards to painting.

I have problems painting multiple models at a time. This is something that I seem to have to re-learn every so often. There is something about my personality that bothers me if I am not painting to a certain standard. Now I know I have painted ranked up armies in the past, but those are a bit different. Those models I am less concerned with the overall product and more concerned with completion. The thing with my Menoth is that even though I feel the Privateer Press models leave a lot to be desired (I am an old Confrontation player and the quality and character of Rackham's sculpts spoiled me), I have been using them as an exercise to work on my technique.

Why am I even bringing this up? Well it actually has to do with the project at hand. See the model picture here is one from a group of three that I started at the same time. You can see the WIPs of them together here. That was pretty much the last I worked on them together. It was handy at the time because I was able to work out some of my color combinations. After that point though I felt more comfortable sticking and keeping with one model. So you get this one. Hopefully I can maintain focus long enough to get them all done.

Evil Homer: Stand and Deliver

2011-01-07T08:06:00.000-06:00

So as part of my New Years Resolution, I resolved to keep updates on where I am with each project. Here is the first update. For Warmachine I play Mercenaries, specifically Seaforge at the moment. Here is the current state of my Seaforge army.

The bare metal models are a minimum units of High Shields on the left, an unassembled Basher in front on the left, Thor Steinhammer, and Durgen Madhammer are also both in the front. As you can see the rest is painted. You should be able to get a good idea of the paint scheme but if not here is a close-up of the Gorten Battlegroup Box and the Forge Guard.

Next up will be assembly of the High Shields, Thor, The Basher, and Durgen; probably in that order. The Basher and Thor will be up for paint first as a change of pace, since I finished the Forge Guard last and a jack and solo will make for a nice change.

Menoth Choir: WIP 1

2011-01-05T06:30:00.003-06:00

Well figured I would start on my resolutions right away. Here is some WIPs of the Choir of Menoth I am painting for Warmachine. The robe and tabbard are both the only thing that are done. The rest of the model(s) are in various states of progress. The sashes hanging from the belt as well as the cloth hanging from the staves will be red. The armor will be silver and the Menofix will be gold. I think I will do the canisters on the back either silver or bronze I am not really sure at this point.

Back side picks after the jump...

Evil Homer's New Years Resolutions

2011-01-04T06:30:00.000-06:00

The inspiration for my "Hobby New Years Resolutions" post was a post on our FLGS forum by Evil Homer. When he saw that post he decided that keeping up with, and tracking his progress on his own resolutions would be a good motivation. He talked about posting those sort of things on a blog somewhere and I offered him my site. So with this you get my first guest author as well as hopefully a regular topic to take a gander at.

You can see his post after the jump;

So as you saw in the MM(esno)’s entry in this category, New Years is a good time to reflect on the conditional figementia* suffered by most mini-wargamers. I posted these on our local forums and a slightly different list on the PP forums. Here are Evil Homer’s New Years Resolutions:

(1)Build and Paint 50 points of WM Rhulic Mercs. This may end up being Highborn so the models overlap. No more WM/Hordes factions until complete.

(2)Complete both my IG and Thousand Sons before starting a new 40k Army. The IG needs some assembly finishes and a complete paint job. The Thousand Sons needs some purchase (vehicles, terminators), some conversions (oblits) and a complete paint job. Oh, the Thousand Sons also need a list.

(3)I want to paint a 400 point Confrontation Army as well. To a decent standard, not just my normal table top quality. Also I want to finish out my Tir-Na-Bor (need a giant and 1-2 other pieces), Orcs, Mid-Nor (demon tower, Neran the Scary, and 1-2 other models), Devourer (Shurat, another tyrant and a couple of other common pieces), and Cynwall (need a dragon and Syd’ de Kaiber). I think I will paint either Orcs or Mid-Nor.

(4)Begin completing projects before moving on. Unlike the MM(esno) I don’t have to downsize much. I am a bit of a trader rather than hoarder so I’m pretty good about moving armies on that I’ve no longer got an interest in. What I do need to do is begin completing projects before moving on and to really consider whether I need a new army or project before buying.

(5)I want to build 2 quality Skirmish tables for the store. This one I am flexible about though.

The new rule is, with the exception of what I need to complete 1,2, and 3 above no new models until those are complete.

So once a week I will try to post progress on something on this list. First up will be a series of overviews of where each project currently stands.

Hobby New Years Resolutions

2011-01-03T09:42:00.001-06:00

The idea of new years resolutions is nothing new. You see it all the time. Many people set them, and do so for various parts of their lives. Well I have decided to make a list for myself.

Like many of the things I do recently I decided to take a minute and really look at what I want outta this list. If I am really looking to use this this list constructively then I should not only make a few tough decisions, I should also bet realistic with the things I add to my list. For example...I know there is no way I will get all my minis painted this year so there is no sense in making that a resolution.

So here is the list I have along with some explanations of why...

1. Commit to at least one post a week here. I started this blog with the intent that it would merely be a place where I could spew my thoughts and if people read it so be it. The blog is barely six months old but I think I have some great people that come here and read as well as comment on my stuff. Well in my head if you are going to take the time to read it, I can take the time to write it. I can't guarantee they will all be great but will try to make sure I get at least one thing up a week.

2. Complete one models a month. Let me temper that statement with the following; I am talking about one well painted model a month. This may not seem like much, but I do tend to go through long stretches of inactivity. Combine that with the fact that I am typically a slow painter as well as my limited hobby time and I think this is a healthy goal. I may have to allow myself some leeway on this and occasionally count quantity as quality, but the result will be the same. Consistent effort in the hobby.

3. Post at least one "Step by Step" or tutorial a month. Pretty self explanatory. I want at least one tutorial or step by step a month on here. I hope to do more but I want at least one a month.

4. Reduce my collection of miniatures by at least 25%. This one will require a bit of speculation on my part. I am not sure exactly what 25% will look like but I think I will know when I get there. Like many of us out there I have amassed an enormous collection of miniatures. Many of them are for projects started or conceptualized and never finished. Some of them are just really cool minis I just "had" to have.

Those were my generalized and generic resolutions. Less about a huge change (except #4) and more about a consistent hobby effort throughout the year. The rest of these will be specific.

5. Finish building and painting my Black Templar army. I started this one last year for a build up event we did at the FLGS. Once I realized I was not going to be able to participate in the main event for the build up I kinda lost focus. I need to finish the model I own and build the rest of the models I want for this army.

6. Consolidate and re-evaluate my Eldar armies. I have two different Eldar armies. One of them I constructed, painted and played in 3rd edition. When the newest codex came out I started a new version with different models that were to be painted different (or slightly so) than my old army. I should have simply re-painted the old ones but I did not. Now I need to re-examine what I have. Decide what I need to keep and remove anything I do not.

7. Paint my Menoth army for Warmachine. This one may take a some time but I am adding it to my list for this year anyway. Maybe it will give me direction so I can maintain work on them.

8. Reduce my 40K collection to Black Templar, Slaaneesh Chaos, and Eldar, and do not start any new unless they are completed. This is sort of related to #4, but it is a more specific address. It is also one that may not be completed this year. I own a lot of models for 40K. Many of them will never see the table top. They need to find good homes to people who will take them out and roll dice with them.

So that is my list. I hopefully will do a follow-up post in March letting you know how I am doing on my list. Hopefully it will be well under way.

Making a wet palette.....and why.

2010-12-31T08:19:00.000-06:00

I am going to start this article with a few simple questions that I hope to answer for you. What is a wet palette? What does it do? How does it work? Why do I need one? Finally where can I get one or how can I make one?

My completed and used wet palette

What is a wet palette? Well, a wet palette is a painting palette made from a porous material that extends the amount of time paint stays wet and workable.

What does it do? Simply put, it extends the amount of time that paint stays "wet" or workable on a palette. In my experience, paint on a wet palette can stay workable for several hours to several days if handled properly.

How does it work? A wet palette is normally made with some type of porous material that allows water to soak into the paint from below. This in turn keeps the paint workable and extends the amount of time you hae to use it (on the palette, it has no effect once the paint is on the model).

Why do I need one? You probably don't. For most painters some simple plastic palette that they can thin and mix paint on will suffice. If you are working with extremely thin paint as well as a lot of glazes then it will help those thinned paints stay wet longer. This will in turn mean you don't have to constantly re-thin paint. It can also allow you time to work with several colors at once.

The final question is a two part one and probably the most important of all. Where can I get one or how can I make one. The first part of that question is easy. Most art supply stores or web sites should stock a wet palette in some form. I also think that several of the mini companies may make them. I believe Privateer Press does but I am not sure of any others. Regardless they are fairly easy to find if you don't want to take the time to make one. I did not want to spend the money for one as I knew after reading about them that it would be easy and fairly inexpensive to make one. The second part of this question is how do I make one? Well I will walk you through how I made mine, and I will try to discuss some of the options that I know of.

The first thing you are going to need to make a wet palette is some sort of container. For obvious reasons the container needs to be some sort of bowl or box that will hold water without leaking or falling apart. It also helps if it has a lid. Even more helpful is if that lid and container make a air tight seal when closed. I chose a small plastic bowl with a lid that I had laying around the house.
EDIT**Something to keep in mind. You want the thinnest bowl/container you can find. Anything too thin/deep and it can feel in the way. You really only need something deep enough to hold one layer of sponge and the paper.

Next you are going to need something to actually hold the water.I know what you are thinking....isn't the bowl going to hold the water? Well yes, but you can't just lay the palette material in the water and hope for the best. you need something like a sponge or paper towels that can give the palette substance as well as hold and release water into the palette. For the last couple palettes I have made I used blister foam. Blister foam is the small rectangles of foam that you commonly find tucked into a blister pack that a miniature is packaged in. You can also use paper towels, but when I did so in the past they tended to dry out a bit too fast. Plus, who in this hobby does not have a pile of blister foam laying around somewhere. If you don't a few purchases from you or your friends will get you what you need.

Finally you will need the actual palette. I use what you see above. It is an acrylic palette paper. It is actually the refill paper for a store bought wet palette. Since my palette is significantly smaller than the one this paper is made for, I cut the sheet down and I actually get three pieces to each sheet. Any type of wet palette paper will suffice. I have seen tutorials where some people have used parchment paper you might find in a grocery store. I have never tried this and of the people I know who have they reported that prolong use caused the paper to start to come apart and leave small paper fibers in the paint. I am unsure of this since I have not used it myself, but it is a possible alternative and your experience may vary.

Now that we have the material lets get to building the thing. This is extremely easy but I will give you a quick step by step for those that need it. These steps are for the one I have made, but the substitutions I mentioned above should just be worked in at the appropriate time.

I start off by filling the bowl with my blister foam. I have several pieces from Infinity miniature boxes and they make it easy as I only need two pieces to fill this container. Once I have filled the bowl it is time to cut the paper. The important thing to remember here is that you want to make sure that the paper is just a tad bit smaller than the sponge. If not, the paper on the edges will dry out and the paper will start to curl up. As long as the sponge reaches all the way to the edge of the paper you should not have any problem. After this, fill the bowl with water. You may need to give it time for the water to soak into the sponges, or squeeze the sponges so they fill up with water. You just need to make sure the sponge is saturated with water, and you may even have some water around the sponge in the bowl. With the paper I am using you have to prep the paper before you can use it. Simply hold the paper under running warm/hot water for one to two minutes. You will know when it is ready because the paper starts to become somewhat transparent. After this, put the paper on the sponges and have a go at it.

Here is my finished pallete with the paper (used) added

An extra tip for you. If you are the type that carry paint around and want something more portable. I have made one of these out of a two part blister pact that worked extremely well "on the go".

Hopefully this will help you.

Happy New Year!! Well soon anyway.

2010-12-29T08:09:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I post just for the sake of posting. There are a lot of things going on for me lately so not much blog content. EQ2 is taking more and more of my free time recently so not a ton of mini work has been going on. I have been able to get a few games of Warmachine in over the holiday so that is nice.

I have managed to at least put paint to model. I did some additional work on my Menoth Choir but the progress is slow because I am working in spurts. I will try to get some WIPs up for you in the next day or two.

I made a wet pallet to see if it will help with the style of painting I am currently working with. I recently started using more thin glazes and I am fairly happy with the results. The problem is with a standard pallet the thinned paints dry way too fast and I find myself constantly going back to the bottle for more paint. The wet pallet should remedy this. I tossed something together for now, but it is far from a suitable permanent solution. Perhaps a tut is in the making.

This weekend its off to Big D to catch a Stars game and the New Years Eve festivities of downtown Dallas. It is a yearly thing now with my wife as well as my best friend and his wife. All four of us are big Stars Hockey fans and this is a great time to enjoy the game (as well as libation for the normal driver) without the worry about a 2.5+ hour drive home.

Happy Holidays

2010-12-25T06:30:00.001-06:00

This may come across as a kind of corny post but I wanted to put it out there. No matter what you celebrate this time of year, or if you even celebrate anything. I just want to take a second and wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. May your days be filled with the joy of your friends and family. Please take a minute to think about those who are not able to be with you. Be it is those past, those far away from you, or even those just across town. Know that in spirit they are right beside you.

Once again, happy holidays. Oh, and thanks for taking time to drop by here and look at the things I have to show and tell. I have enjoyed it and I look forward to doing more and hearing more from you.

Scribor Mounstrous Miniatures: Angel SF Knight

2010-12-19T06:30:00.001-06:00

Well, let me start this by saying this should be a review of a Scribor Mounstrous Miniatures: Templar SF Knight. This was initially suposed to be a character for my Black Templar army but, thanks to my inability to double check my order I entered the wrong item and got this model instead. I am not too upset as it is a great mini. This is also a good thing as it means I can paint it in anyway I want without any color requirements.

I ordered this along with several other things from the "Cool Mini or Not" store. Let me give a quick word about that. The website was pretty easy to use, and the order was shipped and received in a timely fashion. Nothing really outstanding, but definitely nothing negative at all.

I want to break this down into the individual pieces because I think it will handle a bit better that way. Any good building starts with a good foundation and I can only say one thing about the foundation about this mini. WOW! The subject is excellent. A broken statue face next to a piece of ruins. My Black Templar are based on some Micro Arts ruin bases and I almost want to save this base for a mini of that army. Since I most likely will order the correct mini in the future I think that might be the plan. The casting quality is good. There is not a lot of flash on this base and the mold lines are non-existent. A quality piece.

The actual figure of this model is broken into several parts. The body seen above, the left shoulder pad, left arm, shield held in hand, and the sword. The body is again a beautiful product. There is a lot of detail here. The model is a bit massive and I am still not sure if I consider that a pro or con. Here is a pic next to a basic marine so you can get a sense of the size.

The flash and mold lines on this model were pretty good. There where a few spots that did not cast properly but nothing I did not expect. The one thing about this; the details on this mini are so fine you have to be extremely careful when cleaning or you will scrap/file them off.

The left arm components came as several pieces. These pieces were on a large piece of resin connected at the bottom. They were easily removed from the sprue and it did not leave a huge chunk of resin on them. I can not stress enough how important that is. Since the resin they use for this is a bit fragile in thin or small sections, the easier it is to get off the sprue the less chance you will damage it while removing. The detail on these pieces are just as good as the previous pieces and the flash or mold line were good as well. The one complaint I do have is that on the shoulder the lines around the outside of the shoulder pad were uneven and when I tried to clean them I knocked one of them off. I am not sure if I am going to take the time to fix it or just paint it as is. I am not sure I have the skill to replace something that thin.

That leaves the sword. The pic is not that great so you can not see the detail along the blade. It is very nice. It was connected to the sprue in the same smart manner as the details above. Unfortunately this piece suffers from the same issue that the shoulder pad had in that some of the finer details needed to be clean and almost were knocked off by knife/file.

This is a really nice model. The details are fantastic and the quality of the casting was pretty good. With the exception of a few of the finer details it was fairly easy to clean. I can't wait to get some paint on this. I doubt I will paint it anytime soon because I am knee deep in prepping for some Warmachine/Hordes stuff at the FLGS. When I do though you can be sure you will see the progress here.

Tag-Teaming Some Terrain Projects

2010-12-15T06:30:00.004-06:00

So my actual hobby interest has been at an all time low the past month or so. I have not been working on anything of any real interest so I have not been posting all that much. Recently Evil Homer approached me and asked if I would help him with some terrain he was making. He has a lot of Hirst Arts molds and he likes to cast and build. For the most part he does not mind painting terrain. The thing is he either is not happy with his ground work or not entirely sure how to approach it.Either way he decided to ask me if I would help him out by working the basing.

      This should be a two part post maybe three if I can get Evil Homer to cooperate. He built the terrain. I am doing the preliminary basing. Then he is going to paint them and return them to me so I can do the green work afterwords. If I can get him to take some WIP shots as he is painting maybe I can write up some of that for you as well. Regardless you should see a second post in the near future when I do the green work after it is all painted.

     I decided to try a slightly different approach with this terrain than I normally take. Normally I simply squeeze some glue out in places and pile on some gravel. Then I spread glue out over the entire base and cover it with sand. Plain and simple. Since Evil Homer took the time to make some fairly nice looking pieces I thought I would take it a bit further on this. On one hand it was actually a bit easier and I think I got a better result. On the other hand one of the steps I added required a day of drying time so I had to space out my work.

     As you can see in the pictures above, Evil Homer has some broken down ruins that he constructed out of blocks made from Hirst Arts molds. Those molds are great, but the casting can be time consuming. In addition when you are working with ruins like this the bricks can look out of place if you don't treat the area around them properly. Since the eventual look he is going for is "over-grown" ruins I thought it would not look right with the square sides of some of the brick sticking nicely out of the grass/dirt. So I decided to treat the base around the ruins with the some drywall patching material to build it up. This will create a slope from the base to the bricks that should look like dirt and grass growing/building up around it.

     Above there is a group shot once I had them all spackled. The bottom one a close up so you can hopefully see what I did. There is no real science to what I did here. I simply spread the spackle out along the edges of the brick work where I wanted the slope at. Some areas got more, some got less. Pretty much like salt...season to taste. I went through three different tools to spread the spackle and ended up using the ones god gave me. I figured out a gloved hand worked the best as it gave me the best control of the spackle and did not leave any hard edges that needed to be smoothed out. At this point all the pieces needed to be set aside to dry.

      I want to apologize now that I do not have some additional in process shots for you. You see I wanted to get this done so I can get it back to Evil Homer, and I completely forgot to take some shots to show you exactly what I did. I promise if the end result works the way I hope I will definitely do a more detailed post telling you how.

     After the spackle dried, I coated the entire base with glue. The area were I wanted to add bigger gravel for rubble got an extra shot of glue right before I hit the base with material. I added the piles of of rubble where the extra glue was, I then sprinkled a few loose pieces of bigger gravel around the base and then the whole thing was covered in sand. Normally that was several steps, but this way I did not have to worry about leaving a ridge where the sand met up with the gravel. In addition the sand fills in any areas where the glue is between the rocks and kinda pulls it together.

     After this it is back to Evil Homer for painting. Here is another group shot after the sand/gravel and a couple of close up shots of one of the pieces.

Warmachine/Hordes: Trying to have a fresh perspective.

2010-12-07T13:21:00.001-06:00

I should start this off by saying I made and attempt to play Warmachine on several occasions using he MkI rules and it never really worked for me. There are several things in that system that made me really dislike playing. When Privateer Press released the second version known as mark two or MKII, I took a quick look at the rules and realized many of the things that I disliked about MKI where still there in MKII.

This is an Avatar of Menoth from Jolly Rogers Studio, check out their blog.

I guess before I talk about MKII I should talk about the things I did not like about MKI. Lets start with the basic turn system. Warmachine/Hordes is pretty much the extreme of the "I go, you go" style of game. Granted other games such as 40k/Warhammer Fantasty follow a similar system, but at least with them I have interaction during my opponents turn. I can make saves, I fight in the HTH phase, and in WFB I can counter magic. So to me the system presented in W/H (Warmachine/Hordes) really seemed to me like the only thing I did in my opponents turn was pick up models. For the most part that is true. Another thing that I did not like about MKI was caster kill. Caster kill is when your warcaster or warlock is killed. At that point in the game you have lost. It does not matter how badly you may be winning or losing. If your caster dies, game over!

So now we are back to MKII. At the time of release there really wasn't any interest in W/H at the FLGS so no body really did anything with it. Since then a few people had bought book or experiment with the rules but no none ever really made a run at playing it or getting people involved. Recently though that has all changed. The gaming at the store was focused on WFB but had started to lull a bit. The players were trying/testing new or different games looking for something that would grab their attention. When a couple of them discussed giving MKII a try I pretty much decided I would sit this one out. I am normally game for just about anything, but I did not like MKI and I had not seen anything to really change my mind much at all.

Now if you don't know, you should know a few things about me. I run a lot of the events that are held at the LGS. Not to sound like a braggart but I hold a lot of influence over the games that are played there. We have a smallish group and they tend to follow the leader so to speak and I am normally the one at the front playing away on my pipe. Having said that I tend to have a pretty unforgiving attitude when it comes to games and people being able to get games. When something is hot or new, don't wait a few months to get in if you are interested. It may have faded by then. Also, don't complain if the group is not playing "your" game. I feel that if you like a game find someone else who also does and play it. Unfortunately I have also complained my self when folks who have models for a game don't support it when it is started or is getting played. So it was kinda hypocritical of me to not at least give MKII a try. A new system could offer other things that I like enough, but I would not know till I tried.

That brings me to my point I guess (I know finally right). I decided to get out my Warmachine models and give the game a shot. Now I will say that I am surprised by the fact that I am quite enjoying the games I am playing but not necessarily the game. Many of the issues I had before are still there. It is still extreme "I go, you go" style of game. I still sit there and remove models as my only action during my opponents turn. Losing your caster still costs you the game. I am still finding things that I am not happy with, for some reason I am still enjoying playing the games I have. I am not sure if this will last. I may bore of this like I do many others. As I learn the game I may find even more things that I like and this may drive me out. For now, I will keep playing.

Addiction...it's not just for drugs!!

2010-11-30T15:06:00.000-06:00

So, I guess I should start this by saying two things. First off I have no prior training about any type of substance addiction and any comments made are my own opinion and not trained or scientific in nature. Second, I am not trying to trivialize any struggle that anyone may be going through as I understand that dependencies can be very difficult to deal with. On with the post.

So you tell your self you don't really need "it". You are strong person and you can control how and when you use "it". You go quite a while and you think you are doing well and pretty much over "it". You stay busy with things and your mind seldom wanders back to "it". Things are going great.

The holidays come along and "it" starts to creep back into your mind. You are left alone for long stretches of time and have a lot of leisure time. Hmmm...maybe I should try "it" again. Nah.

Free time again. I could paint some minis or "it". Hey maybe I should play Fallout NV or play some Civ 5. What could it hurt so you break "it" out again. "It's" not as good as you remember but "it's" nice.

Less free time available now. Well the game is on tv and I can do "it" and still watch the game right? Sure I can.

Hmmm..time off work coming up. Cool! More time to do "it".

What in the wild wild world of sports am I talking about? Fuckin Everquest 2. I used to play several accounts and log lots of hours online. About six to eight months ago I closed all my accounts but one and pretty much stopped playing. Well several weeks ago I started to think about the game again. I was playing Fallout NV at the time and when I would sit down to play I would find myself wondering do I want to play NV or some EQ2. Well as if you can't tell from the post above EQ 2 has won out in the battle for my time. Like a drug I was once addicted to I fell off the wagon and now I spend a good chunk of my free time playing. So if you are interested in why no updates that would be it. Nothing new to show because I don't think you want to see screen shots of my Barbarian Beserker getting pommeled by some quest mob.

On the hobby side though some of the guys at the FLGS have started playing Warmachine/Hordes. We played the game in the past and have not tried to play since MK II came out. I will be honest in the fact that I did not care for the game in the past. There were a few things about the basic mechanics that really bugged me. That said I am keeping an open mind and giving MK II a chance. With that you may see some WIPs or completed shots as I try to get some of the stuff for it painted.

Howling Banshee Exarch...WIP 3

2010-11-13T06:30:00.001-06:00

Well I managed to to squeeze some painting time in between tending to my wife who is recovering from recent surgery. There may not seem like much change as I only refined a few things that were done and added some smaller details to see how they would look with the completed color.

From the last time..I pretty much finished the red armor plates. I refined the color on the tabbard but I am not sure it is finished at this point. I added the brown to the anklet, belt, and the hip pouch. I also painted the silver on a few of the gems and baubles to get a feel for what they will look like. I plan on using green for the gems and I did paint on a base coat but they are far from finished. I lightened the hair up to the point that I am happy with. I was wanting a "flaming" look to the hair not only for the idea of a banshee with flaming hair but also to help distinguished the hair from the armor.

Here are a bunch of other shots, I hope you like them.

Howling Banshee Exarch...WIP 2

2010-11-06T11:00:00.002-05:00

Well I am plugging along with this one. Not quite the pace I would like, but I am steadily getting work done. I am working with a new style where I emphasize shadows and highlights to give a bit more contrast than I have in the past. So far I have been happy with the results although they still look a bit rough in places. I am having to be extra careful with my blending because it can be really distracting if some of it is not clean.

It may not look like a lot of process, but I have pretty much finished the red on the legs and I am real close with the red on the top. The hair has been re-worked because I was not happy with the way it looked before. I fell back to old techniques and it just was not gonna fit with the style I am using on the rest of the mini. I have also started working on the tabard and it still needs some additional highlights and shadows, but you can get a feel for where I am going with it.
Here are a few extra shots...

Howling Banshee Exarch...WIP 1

2010-11-04T06:30:00.002-05:00

Well I am starting to break out of my funk and started to actually work on a mini. Since I am not currently working on any particular army for any particular game I just grabbed a model from one of my armies and started painting. This model may never see the table but I like it none the less.

I am not the type of eldar player to worry too much about painting aspects in their traditional themes. I do however try to incorporate a bit of the aspect colors in with my chosen craftworld color scheme. Since I paint guardians in my army with red armor and gray cloth I wanted to have those colors on this model. I also want one of the aspect colors along with them so I decided to use the light tan color you often see on banshees.

I decided to go with the red on the armor as well on this banshee and I think it goes well with the tan I chose for the cloth. I intend to use the gray on the tabard to tie the army together.

The tan is really the only thing that is remotely close to being finished on this model. The red is simply a base coat, and the hair is still in the experimental stage. The hair may change but even if it does not it is still far away from finished.

Here are some additional shots for you to look at.

Infinity: Something to catch my fancy.

2010-11-02T06:30:00.003-05:00

So I have been in a funk recently when it comes to gaming. I am starting to bore with my WFB Orcs, but no army peaks my interest to work on at the moment. I don't really feel like playing/working on 40K right now, even though several of the locals are back at it. When I get this way I normally migrate back to Confrontation, but even it does not strike me. So I thought I would take another stab at Infinity.

We have given Infinity a try before at our LGS, but it did not hold. What we saw of the system looked very promising but there was a major issue we stumbled onto. We realized quickly that the game not only requires more terrain than we are used to, but is also required a different type of terrain than we had. With the way the order/reactive order system works in Infinity you need a lot of terrain. In addition to the amount you need plenty of it that blocks line of site. Otherwise it becomes a shooting gallery and that is no fun, or at least it wasn't for us.

So here we are taking another stab at it. Quantity of terrain was never a problem, and I think we have figured out a way to make the quality of terrain we have work with a few house rules. So we will see how it goes. Hopefully it will hold my interest for a while.

Anyway, since I was digging out my stuff I thought I would show you a few of the Yu Jing basic trooper models I painted the last go round. Hope you like them.

Missing in Action

2010-10-27T09:51:00.001-05:00

I want to apologize to those who stop by here frequently (the few of you) for the lack of updates or posts. I have been in a pretty nasty funk lately and have not done any work to speak of. Between that funk, Civ 5, and now Fallout: New Vegas I have barely set foot in my game room to work on anything. Hopefully something will come along soon that will help break me out of my funk. Soon as it happens I will get you folks some WIPs or tutes.

And so it begins...

2010-10-14T21:32:00.000-05:00

Another season of hockey is underway and tonight my faves the Dallas Stars kick off their season against the New Jersey Devils. I am so syked

Easy Painting: Eyes

2010-10-05T06:30:00.002-05:00

I spend a lot of time looking at others painted minis on the internet as well as in person. One of the things I think can really make a mini pop is the eyes. The face of a mini is normally a focal point and even a decently painted pair of eyes can make the difference.

Many of my friends comment on the way the eyes of my minis look. They are not spectacular in any way, but they do tend to say the right thing about the mini. So, as with all the other areas that people tell me they like about my minis I decided to do a step by step to help others who may need it with this area.

Some people I have seen start with the eyes when they work on faces. For me personally the eyes are normally one of the last things painted on a model. Since I typically use a wash on the flesh when I do the face I don't want the eyes getting covered in it. Anyway, we need somewhere to start so here I have the one decent picture from my failed faces post. This technique is fairly straight forward and does not need a lot of explanation so you may see more pictures than words here.

The first thing we do is fill in the eye as well as a small area around the eye with black paint. Don't worry too much if you cover a bit too much. You can always clean it up later. This will for the background we will paint the eyes on. You can also experiment with some darker browns as this can also look good.

Once we have a base we need to actually make the eyes. Paint a thin white line across the eyeball. Be sure to leave a bit of the black showing on the top and bottom of the eye.

What we have now is starting to look like an eyeball. Only problem is we need a pupil. There is really two ways to approach this step. You can use a dot or line. For mine I draw a straight black line from the top of the eye to the bottom. It may seem odd, but at this scale you won't really be able to tell when we are done. If you use a dot be sure to touch the top line with the dot at the least. The most important thing here is to make sure the lines are in the same place on both eyes. Otherwise your beautifully painted model will look like Sloth from "The Goonies".

Finally we need to come back in with our original flesh color as well as a well placed coverage of the same wash so we can clean up any areas we may have over covered. I hope this will help you in the future. It is the technique I have used for quite a long time now and it has always done me well.

When good intentions fall through!

2010-10-04T06:30:00.001-05:00

So I spent about 2-3 hours yesterday painting up some marine heads and snapping some pictures so I can do a walk through about painting faces. Long story short...the pictures came out like crap so I need to start over and do the heads again. SO..the post I had planned will have to be delayed a day or two. Be sure to check back with me and see how it went. Here at least is a picture of one of the finished faces for you to look at.

Back At it..some WIPs

2010-09-29T06:30:00.000-05:00

Well I have pried my self away from Civ 5 long enough to do a bit of work. Since the models in the Island of Blood set are so nice, I decided I needed to buy one. I traded the Skaven to a friend of mine in exchange for his High Elves. I assembled and cleaned the Swordmasters and the mage from the box.

The mage from the box is a really nice model but I want to do a good job this one so I decided to keep it in pieces to paint it. The have all the seams in places where I will not have to worry about color differences between the pieces.

In addition the mage I also assembled the Swordmasters. These are some really nice models for being single piece plastics. There are few chunky areas but for the most part they are quite detailed.

Now I just need to settle on a paint scheme that I am happy with. I am not sure I will do the traditional white/blue/silver. If I do I may use some darker subdued colors. I really like the colors on some of the LOTR elves so I may try that.

Back home, but not really back at it!

2010-09-23T14:54:00.000-05:00

Well I am back home from my tour of the great north. The trip was a bit long, but Alaska was beautiful and the weather was fantastic. Now to get back to it. All I need to do is find something to catch my interest that is not Civ 5. Buying that may have been a mistake.

Nothing for a while.....

2010-09-09T06:30:00.003-05:00

Alright folks, you will have to learn to entertain yourselves for a few days. I am off for some R&R with the misses today and I will not be anywhere with an internet connection. Not only is that why you will not see any posts or updates for a couple of weeks, it is also why I have not done anything the last couple of days. I knew I was leaving and did not want to start any projects till I got back.

Oh, someone once told me you like pictures to look at. So here is one...

I have a friend that says my cat looks like Clint Eastwood since he squints all the time. So I made this for him and sent it to him.

Enjoy

Step by Step: Pinning

2010-09-05T06:30:00.002-05:00

No matter what draws you to our hobby or what segment of the hobby you enjoy you will inevitably encounter metal models. If you prefer gaming you will most likely have at least one or two models in your army/force that are metal. If you prefer the modeling/painting aspect, some of the most dynamic and interesting models are made of metal. So you will find over time that super glue just does not hold well enough for those pieces such as arms, hands, or whatever you have. Well pinning is a good way to overcome this.

Basically pinning is the process of drilling a hole in both pieces to be joined and gluing a piece of wire or rod in the hole. This increases the amount of area that has glue on it, and thus strengthens the hold. This post will cover the steps I take when pinning as well as some of the pitfalls I have learned to avoid along the way.

First off you are going to need some tools. Well to drill the holes you will need a device called a pin vise. A pin vise is simply just a really small hand drill. It has a collet (the piece that holds the drill bit) and often has a rotating ball or knob on the other end. This allows you to twist the vise while applying pressure with the palm of your hand.

Click for larger version with sizes.

      Once you have a pin vise you will need drill bits, and something to use as a pin. I am not sure about where you live, but in the town I live in we don't have many local sources for drill bits as small as I use. Fortunately if your FLGS does not sell the bits there are several online vendors that do. I prefer to buy from a site called Widget Supply. They have a good assortment of bits and their prices are pretty decent. They normally run about $2.30 for a pack of ten.

     Drill bits this small are often measured in wire sizes or wire gauges. After a bit of experimenting I managed to find the sizes that work for the materials that I use as a pin. I have seen people buy brass rod to use as a pin. I tend to prefer cheaper and more commonly available options. I use either a large paper clip, a small paper clip, or a simple stick pin. They are all readily available at your local mega store and they are extremely cheap. You get 100 paper clips for less than a dollar and the stick pins are similarly priced.

     For the pins I use I have found that the following bit sizes are pretty close to perfect; Size #53 for a large paper clip, Size #63 for a small paper clip, and size #71 for stick pins.

Now that we have the tools out of the way lets get to the good stuff. For this example I will be using a out of print Rackham Orc Brute. This model has a two piece arm that will work great to show you what to do. Now most of the time you will have some sort of ball and socket to work with. When this is the case we start with the ball portion of the model. If you have two flat sides to a joint the process is pretty much the same but it does not really matter which side you start with. After I figured out roughly where the arm will go I used my vise to drill a hole into the shoulder. Remember, do not apply too much pressure on the drill bit. Let the tool do the work or you take a chance on breaking the drill bit. These bits are not made for a lot of force, and they break easily and are a pain to get out when that happens.

Once I have the hole drilled we need to figure out where we need to drill into the arm so we can match them up. I start out by putting a piece of pin in the hole I just drilled. I tap down on the end of it to make sure it is all the way in the hole. It is important part that I will explain later, just make sure the pin is as far in the hole as you can get.

Now we cut the pin down really close to the model. Do not apply any glue yet as we will remove this pin later. We just need to make the other side of the joint so we can see where to drill.

Now we have to prepare the arm section. This step you may be able to skip once you have more practice, but it is really good use when you are learning. Take the socket section of the join and color the inside of it with a black marker or some thin paint.

Once it is dry I take this part and press the colored area up against the pin we left in the body. Once you get it as close to where you want it as you can apply pressure. This will press the pin into the colored area marking it where we need to drill. This is why we tapped the pin down well into the hole before we cut it. If you do not, then at this step you may press the pin further down into the hole making it all but impossible to get out.

You can see here how the pin left a spot showing through the marker. Now we know where to drill.

Now with the spot marked we can drill the hole for the arm side. You want to drill as straight as you can, and be careful that you do not drill to far in and come out the other side.

With the hole drilled into both sides we can start gluing. First I remove the small pin we cut and used to mark the arm section. That was simply used for that mark and is much too small to be used as a permanent pin. I apply some glue to a new pin and insert it in the hole.

Once the new pin is dry I cut it to a rough length that I think will fill the hole. Then I dry fit the arm onto the pin. If needed I cut a bit more off the pin until the arm fits properly. If you need too you can bend the pin a bit to make sure a good tight fit. Finally I apply some glue to the pin and the metal on the model and put the two pieces together. Let it dry and you should have a good firm joint that should resist most bangs and knocks.

Well I hope this helps you. Feel free to post any questions if you have any.

Rackham Jackal Master of Rites

2010-09-01T06:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I think I am done with this one. I am fairly happy with the turn out. I may do some clean up here and there, but for most part it is done except for basing. I was considering some tattoos or war paint and I still am debating that. Unfortunately I was feeling myself start to get a wee bit bored and I did not want to force my self to work any more on him. Sometimes my impatience can cause me to rush on things I really need to take my time on, so I will walk away from this one for now.

I hope you like him. Working on this model has definitely made me want to do some more painting though. Of course some more pictures after the jump.

WIP: Rackham Jackal Master of Rites pt4

2010-08-31T06:30:00.000-05:00

Okie Dokie...got quite a bit done last night. I am starting to wrap this thing up. I still need to finish the metal parts, most of the staff, the hair on the skull next to his leg, and of course the eyes. I am still not sure how I will do the eyes. I am contemplating adding some tatoos, but I suck at freehand stuff and I do not want to mess up what I have done.

Oh yeah...note to self; Don't test new products on a model you care how it looks. Luckily it was an easy recovery. The new matte coat I bought is not really matte, it is kinda satin. If only friends would answer their texts, or I would listen. Oh well, I was able to correct it and I will not make that mistake again.

There are some different angles after the jump.

WIP: Rackham Jackal Master of Rites pt3

2010-08-30T06:30:00.000-05:00

Here is the latest. I did not really get much accomplished. I blocked in a bunch of the smaller areas is about it. Hopefully I will get some shading and such done on them tomorrow. Hope you like it so far.

Easy Painting: Reds

2010-08-27T06:30:00.016-05:00

Well the title may be a bit misleading to some, but to me it seems easy. It can take a little bit of time, but the steps are easy.

Several of the locals (such as Brent, or Evil Homer) comment pretty frequently that they like the way the reds on many of my models look. So at the request of Brent, I decided I would try my hand at doing a write up to see if it will help some of you out there that may struggle with the color.

I picked out a genestealer model I had laying around and gave it a spray of black primer. As I stated in a few other post, I am currently using Krylon Camouflage Ultra Fine Black to prime with. The main issue with using this method for painting red or any color for that matter is that you must thin your paints. Extremely thin! Multiple layers of similar colors will be used to build up from one color to the next. Be sure and be careful that you remove some of the paint from the brush before you go to the model or it will run out all over the place. I tend to run my brush across the back of my thumb.

Primed and Ready for Paint

In order to give you an idea of how this will look I have traveled down two different paths. The left set of arms will be done with one set of colors and the right will be done with another. This will allow you to see the progression a bit differently. Hopefully it will also allow you to adapt to the colors you own, and help you avoid the feeling that you have to use these colors.

(L)VMC 859 Black Red/(R)VMC 984 Flat Brown

Like I said I have done the two different sides of this stealer in two different colors. The colors will be in the caption of the pics, and I will describe each step different when needed. Also, I have painted the carapace to match the arms at this point. I will be leaving it the base color so you can see a start and finish.

(Left) The left side was base coated in VMC 859 Black Red. I really love this color for doing red. It is a fairly dark red with out the feeling of any purple in it. It could be that for years I used to start with brown and it is a red tinted brown color. Either way, I like it. This will allow me to stay a bit darker along the way.

(Right)The right side was based in VMC 984 Flat Brown. I probably use this color more than any other color in my box. It is a good even toned brown that can be used for cloth, leather, wood, even a base for flesh if you like. This is a bit lighter than the Black Red and should help it to have a bit brighter tone at finish.

VMC 926 Red

After the base coat is dried each side received 3 thin coats of VMC 926 Red. Each coat after the next covers a bit less area than the one before. Be sure and make sure each coat is completely dry before moving on to the next one. If it is not, you take a chance of picking up some of the paint you already laid down and that will leave a dark spot that will be very difficult to cover up. Also be sure and cover any really high spots. Since you are using thin paint it takes more coats to really show so you need to make sure the edges of plates or high ridges are covered as well as possible.

(Left) Since I am looking for a darker final color for the left side, I make sure and leave a some larger areas exposed in each step. This will allow the dark background to show through more.

VMC 908 Carmine

Now we are starting to see some progress. Up to this point we are still using the same color. The main difference is the amount of space we are covering. Once again, keep the paint thin. Also remember that in each step of the way we are covering less and less of the model, concentrating on the high spots. It is interesting at this point to look at the back carapace and see how far we have come.

(L) VMC 908 Carmine/ (R) VMC 909 Vermillion

Here is our first real deviation on color. I want to enforce the red color on the left while lightening up the right.

(Left) On the left side I continued with another coat of the Carmine. This will help give a richness to the color.

(Right) On the right I have now switched to Vermillion. This color is much brighter than the Carmine and has a touch of orange in it. I cover the same areas I have on the left so the tone should rise a bit.

VMC 909 Vermillion

Both sides are now getting the Vermillion. Same color, different amount of coverage equals a different look. We are almost done at this point.

(Left) On the left we are starting to finish up. Concentrate on the high points and you really should not do much on the lower areas of the model. Use this color as pretty much the final highlight on this side.

(Right) Once again over the high spots. I covered a bit more than on the left and this should help the whole side look brighter when done.

VMC 909 Vermillion

This is pretty much the last step. Both sides get a final touch up on the highest edges with the Vermillion. This should make the edges stand out nicely. Afterwards I went and painted the joints and exposed areas with a bit of VMC 811 Blue Violet washed with GWs Leviathon Purple to help define the areas we were working on.

I hope this has been helpful. It can take some time to get this method down, but once you do it can be very helpful in getting some rich reds on your models. Just remember to keep the paint thin, use multiple coats, and work on successively smaller areas as your paint get lighter. The paint should do the rest for you.

WIP: Rackham Jackal Master of Rites pt2

2010-08-26T22:13:00.000-05:00

Here are some more WIPs of my Rackham Orc. Hope you like it so far.

Front

Back

WIP: Rackham Jackal Master of Rites

2010-08-26T06:30:00.003-05:00

Needed to work on something significant. I am getting bored turning out table top stuff. So here it is for you to gander at. Pretty much just worked the skin.

I have always loved this model. I should be able to finish it fairly quickly because almost the entire back of the model is fur.

Back in Business

2010-08-25T06:30:00.005-05:00

Well, I placed 2nd Overall in this past weekends local WFB tournament. That includes a crushing defeat of Strictly Average's Brent. Actually it was a hard fought game in which he had completely overlooked the scenario when he was prepping for the tournament. In addition to that, I bought some new lights for my paint table so I am back in business and should be able to bring you some new stuff to look at. For now, here is a pic of the beginning of me an Brent's game, and after the jump there is some pics of my old then new setup and some explanation of why I chose the lights I did.

I went out and replaced the broken light that I had so I am now able to work again. Since I am OCDP (I was informed recently that I should not say OCD as I have a OCD Personality so I was incorrect, like I did not know that) I had to buy two of the same lights. Brent had offered to give me one he had, but I was really looking for something different since replacing the light with the same light would most likely result in breaking another light.

If you notice in the bottom left corner of this pic, is where my light broke. See in addition to using them for painting I also use these lights for my photos. So that means I have to pull them way forward on the table so they shine on the side or front of the model or item I am shooting.

As you can see here, it was only a matter of time before they broke. No matter how well the light was built, they are just not designed to be pulled that far out and manipulated repeatedly. They are simply built to allow you some flexibility and really a limited range of motion.

After a failed visit to Office Depot, I was not sure what I would do. Me and the misses needed a few food stores so off to Wal Mart we went. Since there I stopped by the furniture aisle and found these gems.

A pair of brushed aluminum flexible clip on lights. I swapped the bulbs from my old lamps, clipped them on to the wooden box and they were raring to go. These will also be nice when taking photos because I can clip them to the front of the desk or simply hold one in my hand if I have a particularly stubborn shadow to remove. I also have the added benefit of being able to use a larger bulb in these if I want.

So, there we have it. I am back and business and should be able to continue posting some of the semi-helpful content you have come to expect here.

Strictly Average: Stictly Awesome!!

2010-08-23T16:36:00.002-05:00

Let me set the story. Several weeks ago during one of Brent's (Strictly Average) post about Wargames Con I noticed that he always stood pretty much the same way when he was gaming. So I took a photo of him next to the table and sent it to one of our local artist for a work up and here is the result. I think it is excellent work, and quite a good resemblance.

This piece is done by a friend of mine, Carlos Aleman. He does some great stuff, and I thought he did a great job on this. Follow the jump to see the pic that gave me the epiphany and the one he worked from.

This is the pic Carlos worked with.

This is the one that made me notice he always stands the same!

Hope you like the pictures. I will definitely like the look on his face when he sees them.

Tournament Day: Something for you to look at!

2010-08-21T06:30:00.001-05:00

Well the WFB tournament is today. Unfortunately I did not manage to get completely painted. I still need to base by Orc Boys and paint and base the last Doom Diver.

Since I don't have anything to show you, I thought I would steal some content. Here is a picture of a Vampire that my friend Little Barrera painted for his Vampire Counts army.

This is his idea of table top quality. Something else to ponder; he is colorblind and his hands shake. Sickening. A few additional angles after the jump.

Hope you like them. Enjoy.