Introduction: I already have a few project logs here on Dakka but this is something a little different, more like a lifestyle blog...
The main function of this blog is just to chat about the hobby but I'll also use it to post small side projects and to do some personal blogging. It'll serve as a nursery for fledgling projects before they get up the pace for their own threads and, most importantly, it'll help me get feedback on all of that from you. So it's a kind of 'master blog', 'one blog to rule them all' kind of thing. As an added bonus, this blog won't dry up because I'm not working on a specific project, I'll always have something new to add.
My Knightley in shining armour! I was just writing up the first topic and hoping someone would give me a bump.
And yes, I've been sitting on 500pts of Marines for over a year now and it's about time I gave them some attention!
Despite having had the army all this time I've just started to put together the fluff for them in the past week. I'd developed an exciting background before I bought this army but recently decided that it deserves much more hobby time than I'm going to put into what is a small gaming force. So I'll set that project aside for a rainy day and push this army through so I can get them on the tabletop.
The Fluff: The new lore is taking shape around my love of grimdark and the 3rd Edition Rulebook which is a true celebration of all I love about the 40k universe in writing and art. Now, grimdark is wonderful flavour but it's a design choice and not something I can hang my fluffy hat on. So I need something else, in this case the Ecclesiarchy is the perfect 'grimdark incarnate' hat rack and they have a history of using strange little forces like this one. I considered a humorous name like 'Fathers Grimn' but I'm much more likely to go with some like 'The Fatherhood'. So that's my core structure in place but anything else is open for discussion at this stage and I'd love some feedback.
The Miniatures: I went a bit mad, clipping bits off sprues and taccing them together, to give me an early sketch. Below is 'sketch one':
I've put a little thought into a paint scheme too! I would like to represent the art in 3D so I'm considering only painting the front of the miniatures and using a very stark black and white scheme. To liven that up I'm thinking that a deep wine red will pop well on occasional details and be in keeping with the grimdark/gothic horror vibe.
The List: The list was originally written as 90% competitive, not to WAAC but to weather all storms, codex creep and new editions. Considering how long ago it was written(almost 2 years) I think it's pretty astounding that nothing has really shaken it. I have to thank all the people that helped me with it back then but it's also got a lot to do with the small points limit, 500pts doesn't really change much edition to edition in my experience.
The one thing I've not settled on after all that time is Infernus Pistols or Meltaguns? They are very well balanced against each other and it comes down to a very slim margin of close combat vs range. I'm leaning towards Meltaguns... But anyway, here is the list:
Codex: Blood Angels
Reclusiarch + Infernus Pistol = 145pts
5 Assault Marines + Infernus Pistol = 115pts
Razorback = 20pts
5 Assault Marines = 100pts
Razorback = 20pts
Predator + Heavy Bolter Sponsons = 100pts
Total = 500pts
I'll stop rambling on now! Any and all feedback or general chat is welcome, don't be shy!
Thanks, panda! I'll get too it as soon as possible although my entry to your competition will have to take precedence. I'll make a post about that soon too and give you a plug!
Thanks, panda! I'll get too it as soon as possible although my entry to your competition will have to take precedence. I'll make a post about that soon too and give you a plug!
Yep, I've been running the Dakka Painting Challenge and it's the best one yet, even if I do say so myself! It's a really exciting theme and it's highlighting the game Infinity which, if you don't already know, is amazing!
There is one thing though, one thing that would make it even better... YOU! Yes, I want you to join in and I want you to bring a friend, the more participants the better and it's very easy to enter. Just click on the link above and get involved, there's nothing to lose and some awesome prizes to gain!
Check it out! The deadline is the 16th July and entries can take the form of Tanks or Monstrous Creatures.
This is actually a bit of a personal challenge that I set myself I while back. I spend so much time on miniatures and never seem to finish anything so I really wanted to force myself into getting something started and finished quickly, preferably within the confines of a competition. I put a quick sketch together during Round 4 but I pulled out because it wasn't the right theme for me, luckily this round is perfectly suited.
I also wanted to work on something very artistically freeing for a change, I'm a glutton for over-constraining my projects with difficult briefs so this had to be a simple concept. I dug through the dark part of my brain where I keep my project ideas and then my bits box. A few things stood out and I ended up with a loose concept for a Nurgle Ork Warboss with a possible Circus/Ringmaster theme. The bits I had struck upon were big and leant themselves to true-proportion which quickly lead to my first sketch:
There was a second sketch stage during Round 4 where I added the other leg but the pictures were a bit dark so I dumped them. Since 5 has commenced I have gone a long way to building up the body. This is the closest I've been to sculpting from scratch so I've been very careful to add muscle before flesh then fat and finally skin with each section. He's taking shape slowly and I'm using a tonne of reference pictures to try and put down accurate fat deposits. When I feel a little more confident that I've got it right I'll get some more pictures.
I'm still looking for feedback on the Marines to some extent but they have been developed a little more now. Pictures on that soon!
Thanks man! He's growing fast and daily. The proportions look mental because I'm working on one area at a time but as soon as it's even I'll take more pictures.
Haha, yep, he's out of private messages and into the cold light of day! Thanks for all your help, I hope I can do it justice.
A little bit of personal blogging now I think...
I used to play Rugby and kept a very intense training regime. Sadly, for a few reasons, I stopped about 4-5 years ago and since then I've piled on the weight. The thing about being in a rut is, the longer you're in it the deeper you go and the deeper you go the harder it is to get out. So things have been getting progressively worse and I've felt caged into a body that wasn't mine. I'm happy to talk about this stuff but I shan't dwell on it unless I'm asked.
So why am I telling you this? Well something clicked recently and I started running again! I say 'something clicked' but I know fine well that it was a myriad of factors coalescing into one big gear change. Healthy mind, healthy body. Healthy body, healthy mind.
I've still got some leftover hang ups like being very self conscience. I'm currently tackling that by being nocturnal and running at 4am before bed, ahah! Not the most sensible plan but I've got that flexibility at the moment and it's growing the confidence I need to start running at quiet but more conventional times. There are bonuses to running in the Scottish countryside at 4am though, the air and the view:
Lucky me! Plus it's even better in the rain and there is a lot of wildlife around as the sun comes up. I'm not focusing on the stats at the moment but I think I'm running about 5k in 40mins which is terrible but it's a start. I'm doing it every day right now so I'm seeing a lot of improvement very quickly, hopefully I can whittle that time down.
I think that's enough rambling for this morning! Have a lovely day/night Dakkanauts!
*drools* oh man... if I had such a view around the place where I have to live... I wouldn´t mind running a few miles each day too... but berlin is quite comparably uglier than this by a long shot...*envy you*
the orky concept looks very interesting... my steampunk frame of mind kicks in a higher gear instantly...
as for the other stuff... I am scrolling upwards to see what else you are up to...
damn... these comps are all out only it seems to catch me following yet even more threads
Interesting idea for the paint scheme, kind of like a zenthil basecoat, but for a top coat. do it to one model and let us see how it looks!
Also I know what being in a rut is like, I used to be in the military and when I got out I stopped all exercise and ballooned up, didn't help I was playing WoW for 5-6 hours a night as well and sometimes 14 hours a day on the weekends (not conducive to painting might I add)
also... i now had a look at yon marines... and i must say i like the name fatherhood... (me being a dad and so on ) and from what i see...(to be frank... a zoomable pic would have been nice...) i can say atm the one that looks like a jon woo fella... the one on the far right... i like the best...the others need a closer look...
Viktor von Domm wrote:*drools* oh man... if I had such a view around the place where I have to live... I wouldn´t mind running a few miles each day too... but berlin is quite comparably uglier than this by a long shot...*envy you*
Haha yeh, I used to live in Glasgow which is like Necromunda with lots of parks. The funny thing is, if you live in the country you want to be in the city and when you live in the city you want to be in the country! The grass is always greener on the other side! My aim is to eventually move back to Glasgow but only if I can manage to keep this house too, that'll be years off though.
Dr H wrote:Yeah, I know what it's like being stuck in ruts. Good luck to you, you can do it.
Thanks H! I'll give it my all.
Knightley wrote:Also I know what being in a rut is like, I used to be in the military and when I got out I stopped all exercise and ballooned up, didn't help I was playing WoW for 5-6 hours a night as well and sometimes 14 hours a day on the weekends (not conducive to painting might I add)
Two things strike me about this. Firstly, it never fails to astound me how many wargamers are ex or current military. Secondly is that I've seen mention of your Warcraft phase in your blog but I don't think we've ever discussed it. It sounds like you were in deep and I'm not surprised, I was too for a couple of years. It's scary how much of a hold it can have on you actually, I still get a huge dopamine rush when I think about it and I haven't played since I was at school. Clearly gaming addiction is no myth and Warcraft is a heroin grade habit with a fraction of the price tag. I'd be interested to hear your experiences: good and bad!
Viktor von Domm wrote:the orky concept looks very interesting... my steampunk frame of mind kicks in a higher gear instantly...
Dr H wrote:I like the Ork concept, look forward to seeing more of him.
Thanks guys, I'm not sure how steampunk I'm going to go but time will tell. I'm still working on blocking in the fat deposits so it's still rough and no where near the final shape. Nevertheless, here is a quick snap to show my progress :
Viktor von Domm wrote:damn... these comps are all out only it seems to catch me following yet even more threads
Haha yeh I have a huge list of threads to read! I'll get through them all eventually... I hope.
Knightley wrote:Interesting idea for the paint scheme, kind of like a zenthil basecoat, but for a top coat. do it to one model and let us see how it looks!
Very much so, I'm not sure it'll actually look good but it's worth a try so I'll give it a go on a test model first to see what you all think.
Viktor von Domm wrote:also... i now had a look at yon marines... and i must say i like the name fatherhood... (me being a dad and so on ) and from what i see...(to be frank... a zoomable pic would have been nice...) i can say atm the one that looks like a jon woo fella... the one on the far right... i like the best...the others need a closer look...
Thanks, the Fatherhood was a reference to the Catholic church but I've decided to change it slightly. I've pretty much settled on Ministorum Patriarchus now, which means pretty much the same thing but with some extra Grimdark thrown in. Thanks for telling me about the pic, I just access Dakka from my phone nowadays and I struggle to format my updates so that they view well on PCs. I've fixed it now I think, should be easy to view and zoom in to. I doubt any of those models will actually make the cut though, they are just an early sketch using some of the right bits.
Tonight I'm taking a break from my Warboss and I'm going to put together a new sketch for the marines.
that lot of fat surprised me quite a bit... but you totaly hit the nail on its head... the hoof looks quite fitting too!
as for the better pics... now that´s what we need! due to that the fella with the meltagun just left of jon woo is now my second favorite... he has a very manacing non chalante stance...i am not that fond of those BA masks... but that is something fluff always could justify^^
Hey Casey, good job on the marines and I can't wait to see what that Ork boss turns into. You and I have a pretty similar style of kitbashing marines lol, just clip out all the best looking bits from everything and to hell with whether it all matches up exactly.
Also, kudos on getting back into shape. I've had to do the same thing a few times and it always makes me happy to see other gamers getting up and exercising.
Man... I was in deep, like real deep, flashbacks and dreaming about raiding kind of deep.... (sounds awfully like a flash back from Vietnam)
Plenty to read below
Spoiler:
I started off innocently enough with vanilla wow on Blackrock, rolled a Shaman and got him to level 20 in the first couple of hours or so, then had to get to work. When I came back from work I was greeted with a 3 hours queue to play the game. Thought stuff that and messaged some of my older gaming mates and they had rolled on a Dath'Remar so created a druid on there and due to my complete noobish tendencies i leveled as Resto... yes you read that right, resto, it took me 6 months to get to 60...
But once I was at 60 then came the next part, raiding. I got to learn MC and the horrible trash pack pulls and runners and I was put into the healing role, I do recall my first raid ever getting three piece T1 then the next reset getting another two pieces I was considered rather jammy back then, but of course has no DKP for the next 4 months. Got to run through AQ20, ZG and hit a wall at BWL. At this point I was single and raiding till 2am NZ and ended up burning my self out pretty quickly. I moved north to the only big city NZ has and found out that Blackrock's queues has dissipated, so I left Dath and leveled my shaman to 29 and created a PvP twink character had a blast doing that and there were about 4-5 guys at work who rolled an twinked with me, and I tell you having 6 people rolling into an AB or WSG and melting face was very fun indeed.
BC came out and we lost one of the guys as he moved overseas and the group of us decided why not level to 70 and see what happens. Well over the weekend I was in outland, with very little sleep at all, this was probably the sign I was addicted. What really spurred me on was a good mate from Battlefield 2 messaged me wondering what game I was playing and after a brief chat he had an account and was leveling a BE paladin (I should add a disclaimer here, I thought I was addicted, I had nothing on my mate) he caught up to me within a week. Turns out he had gone online and looked at leveling guides, builds, grinding routes, you know everything someone would do if they didn't want a life.
He hit 70 well before I did and started running dungeons to gear as a tank and I was going to gear as the healer, except another mate wanted do to that so I ended up going enhancement on the shammy and we had a holy priest to throw out heals. Once I hit 70 I was probably playing 3-4 hours a night and about 5-6 hours on the weekend, I resisted regular raiding because going to bed at 2am really didn't suit me well. BC was dungeon and pug raid central for me. However. IIRC towards the end of BC they allowed PvE to PvP transfers and my brother had leveled my druid as boomkin from 60-70 and had siphoned the gold/rewards off which didn't bother me because I didn't use it. But now I had the opportunity to being back the druid.
Feth.
So transferred the druid, ran some dungeons to get healing gear (Preist gave up trying to raid against welfare epic'd noobs) and started running with my tank mate (who was raiding SSC and TK and was geared to the teeth so running hard dungeons got me geared pretty well. I socially ran Kara/Mags/Gruul to get some better gear and before long had out geared those raids and joined the SSC/TK guild, however they had moved onto BT and MH, the addiction kicked in full earnest and i was raiding till 1am, a small consolidation at the time in my mind. we tried Sunwell when it came out however the guild was carrying to much dead weight in terms of players not learning fights and which spec was the best and the guild imploded about half way through.
I thought I was done raiding then. I was wrong. So very very wrong. Up until now I had been raiding with Americans/Aussies with a smattering or Kiwis thrown in for good measure, but what happened next was awesome and terrible at the same time. There was a central person who started it (I think his toons name was unownable - ele shaman) and he wanted to raid NZ times with other kiwis, and he managed to get about 50+ kiwis to abandon their guilds and join his new one (Noxious I think it was called) This was about 3 weeks before LK was released and we spent the next 3 weeks smashing (and I mean smashing) the current content, We were clearing BT in under 3 hours to try get those swords from Illidan for our fury warriors, then LK hit.
I took two weeks of work for the release and was the 6th person in the guild to hit 80, I leveled having remembered not to level as resto and instead leveled as moonkin, switching to resto for dungeons, Once 10 of us had hit 80 we started with the 10m Naxx waiting for the next 10 to get into Naxx so we could then do 25m Naxx. At this point I was getting home around 5pm and playing till 12 every day, for weeks, On weekends I was blowing off mates and parties to farm mats, or do raids pretty bad, it got to the point people stopped inviting me anywhere (worked well for raiding, not for keeping up with what other people are up to) We cleared naxx, OS and Maly with quick ease, then the gak hit the fan, turns out our guild leader was turning up to raids under hit cap, claiming BIS gear and picking favorites. What happens when people get power hungry? Yep a coup happened, Noxious imploded, the old GL quit and 60% of the crew moved to the new guild (Called Intolerance, irony much?) and I moved across as well. I raided with them for about a month and blew out, I pulled out of hardcore raiding (and this was at the start of Ulduar) and had a casual streak.
That lasted till just before ToC came out when I ended up chatting to another bunch of mates from Battlefield 2 who just happened to be on Blackrock as well, they were getting through 10m Ulduar focusing on the Hardmodes, so I picked up and went through as moonkin (there was already 2 really good healers) we finished Hardmodes and went into ToC 10m cleared normal easy enough, then went into Hardmode and got stuck on the Faction Champions for what seemed like months, finally got them down and got through to Anub and spent about 2 months on him, once we cleared that we stopped raiding till IC came out and that was a good break.
IC was probably the most fun I had raiding, we had many lols took down some hard bosses, the problem was there was no new content for almost a year when IC came out so before RS came out I had gear for every druid spec, Resto/Moonkin/Bear/Cat/PvP Hard mode LK was the only thing we were working toward and that wasn't even that hard. It was about this point that my girlfreind raised questions as to why I was playing so much and was it good for me, so I took a break and started painting some 40k guys (Spoiler-ception incoming)
What I painted like
I didn't like what my models looked like to much and I went back to raiding when RS came out. When Cata came out I took another 2 weeks off work and powered through to 85 and started the whole process over again, leading the charge as a tank this time in 10m content we breazed through normal and got right onto hard modes and it was at this point I had a revelation, there was never going to an end to this game, I could stop at any point and I would have nothing to show for it. so I stopped. Cold turkey, gave all my gold/mats etc to the guild and stopped playing. I've been painting ever since and I seem to get a lot more enjoyment from painting than I have ever done while raiding.
High points while playing WoW:
Twinking at 29 and having 8 out of the 10 members of the other team trying to kill me, and not being able to.
Getting the lore master title before all the quests were adjusted
Almost getting the insane title (I was at honored for DMF - the last rep to do)
Getting rare mounts - Red Drake, Red Scarab, Headless horseman and the Ravenlord
Downing HM bosses for the first time.
There might be more to add later. A wall of text crits you for 9999
Man... I was in deep, like real deep, flashbacks and dreaming about raiding kind of deep.... (sounds awfully like a flash back from Vietnam)
Plenty to read below
Spoiler:
I started off innocently enough with vanilla wow on Blackrock, rolled a Shaman and got him to level 20 in the first couple of hours or so, then had to get to work. When I came back from work I was greeted with a 3 hours queue to play the game. Thought stuff that and messaged some of my older gaming mates and they had rolled on a Dath'Remar so created a druid on there and due to my complete noobish tendencies i leveled as Resto... yes you read that right, resto, it took me 6 months to get to 60...
But once I was at 60 then came the next part, raiding. I got to learn MC and the horrible trash pack pulls and runners and I was put into the healing role, I do recall my first raid ever getting three piece T1 then the next reset getting another two pieces I was considered rather jammy back then, but of course has no DKP for the next 4 months. Got to run through AQ20, ZG and hit a wall at BWL. At this point I was single and raiding till 2am NZ and ended up burning my self out pretty quickly. I moved north to the only big city NZ has and found out that Blackrock's queues has dissipated, so I left Dath and leveled my shaman to 29 and created a PvP twink character had a blast doing that and there were about 4-5 guys at work who rolled an twinked with me, and I tell you having 6 people rolling into an AB or WSG and melting face was very fun indeed.
BC came out and we lost one of the guys as he moved overseas and the group of us decided why not level to 70 and see what happens. Well over the weekend I was in outland, with very little sleep at all, this was probably the sign I was addicted. What really spurred me on was a good mate from Battlefield 2 messaged me wondering what game I was playing and after a brief chat he had an account and was leveling a BE paladin (I should add a disclaimer here, I thought I was addicted, I had nothing on my mate) he caught up to me within a week. Turns out he had gone online and looked at leveling guides, builds, grinding routes, you know everything someone would do if they didn't want a life.
He hit 70 well before I did and started running dungeons to gear as a tank and I was going to gear as the healer, except another mate wanted do to that so I ended up going enhancement on the shammy and we had a holy priest to throw out heals. Once I hit 70 I was probably playing 3-4 hours a night and about 5-6 hours on the weekend, I resisted regular raiding because going to bed at 2am really didn't suit me well. BC was dungeon and pug raid central for me. However. IIRC towards the end of BC they allowed PvE to PvP transfers and my brother had leveled my druid as boomkin from 60-70 and had siphoned the gold/rewards off which didn't bother me because I didn't use it. But now I had the opportunity to being back the druid.
Feth.
So transferred the druid, ran some dungeons to get healing gear (Preist gave up trying to raid against welfare epic'd noobs) and started running with my tank mate (who was raiding SSC and TK and was geared to the teeth so running hard dungeons got me geared pretty well. I socially ran Kara/Mags/Gruul to get some better gear and before long had out geared those raids and joined the SSC/TK guild, however they had moved onto BT and MH, the addiction kicked in full earnest and i was raiding till 1am, a small consolidation at the time in my mind. we tried Sunwell when it came out however the guild was carrying to much dead weight in terms of players not learning fights and which spec was the best and the guild imploded about half way through.
I thought I was done raiding then. I was wrong. So very very wrong. Up until now I had been raiding with Americans/Aussies with a smattering or Kiwis thrown in for good measure, but what happened next was awesome and terrible at the same time. There was a central person who started it (I think his toons name was unownable - ele shaman) and he wanted to raid NZ times with other kiwis, and he managed to get about 50+ kiwis to abandon their guilds and join his new one (Noxious I think it was called) This was about 3 weeks before LK was released and we spent the next 3 weeks smashing (and I mean smashing) the current content, We were clearing BT in under 3 hours to try get those swords from Illidan for our fury warriors, then LK hit.
I took two weeks of work for the release and was the 6th person in the guild to hit 80, I leveled having remembered not to level as resto and instead leveled as moonkin, switching to resto for dungeons, Once 10 of us had hit 80 we started with the 10m Naxx waiting for the next 10 to get into Naxx so we could then do 25m Naxx. At this point I was getting home around 5pm and playing till 12 every day, for weeks, On weekends I was blowing off mates and parties to farm mats, or do raids pretty bad, it got to the point people stopped inviting me anywhere (worked well for raiding, not for keeping up with what other people are up to) We cleared naxx, OS and Maly with quick ease, then the gak hit the fan, turns out our guild leader was turning up to raids under hit cap, claiming BIS gear and picking favorites. What happens when people get power hungry? Yep a coup happened, Noxious imploded, the old GL quit and 60% of the crew moved to the new guild (Called Intolerance, irony much?) and I moved across as well. I raided with them for about a month and blew out, I pulled out of hardcore raiding (and this was at the start of Ulduar) and had a casual streak.
That lasted till just before ToC came out when I ended up chatting to another bunch of mates from Battlefield 2 who just happened to be on Blackrock as well, they were getting through 10m Ulduar focusing on the Hardmodes, so I picked up and went through as moonkin (there was already 2 really good healers) we finished Hardmodes and went into ToC 10m cleared normal easy enough, then went into Hardmode and got stuck on the Faction Champions for what seemed like months, finally got them down and got through to Anub and spent about 2 months on him, once we cleared that we stopped raiding till IC came out and that was a good break.
IC was probably the most fun I had raiding, we had many lols took down some hard bosses, the problem was there was no new content for almost a year when IC came out so before RS came out I had gear for every druid spec, Resto/Moonkin/Bear/Cat/PvP Hard mode LK was the only thing we were working toward and that wasn't even that hard. It was about this point that my girlfreind raised questions as to why I was playing so much and was it good for me, so I took a break and started painting some 40k guys (Spoiler-ception incoming)
What I painted like
I didn't like what my models looked like to much and I went back to raiding when RS came out. When Cata came out I took another 2 weeks off work and powered through to 85 and started the whole process over again, leading the charge as a tank this time in 10m content we breazed through normal and got right onto hard modes and it was at this point I had a revelation, there was never going to an end to this game, I could stop at any point and I would have nothing to show for it. so I stopped. Cold turkey, gave all my gold/mats etc to the guild and stopped playing. I've been painting ever since and I seem to get a lot more enjoyment from painting than I have ever done while raiding.
High points while playing WoW:
Twinking at 29 and having 8 out of the 10 members of the other team trying to kill me, and not being able to.
Getting the lore master title before all the quests were adjusted
Almost getting the insane title (I was at honored for DMF - the last rep to do)
Getting rare mounts - Red Drake, Red Scarab, Headless horseman and the Ravenlord
Downing HM bosses for the first time.
There might be more to add later. A wall of text crits you for 9999
Good god! and I thought i had no life. Knightly! no one can kill you man. I glad to see you choose a lesser deamon however.
So my chatty blog hasn't seen much chat has it? I've been a very busy little bee recently not to mention getting my phone repaired. Although I'm still very busy I'm back and I'll get the pace going here again. Let's start with some very belated replies and then we'll see what I can do about an update or two!
Viktor von Domm wrote:that lot of fat surprised me quite a bit... but you totaly hit the nail on its head... the hoof looks quite fitting too!
Yeh it's a big change, he's even fatter now and still piling on the pounds. And I'm losing them in exchange! But that's for another update. If you've followed any of my work before you'll likely have seen how much thought I put into each decision I make and this is no different. Many of my Nurgle cues were pretty obvious but I researched them anyway. The fat is obviously very common especially on Great Unclean Ones but what I didn't know is it's actually bloating caused by all of the diseases that infest Papa's minions. The fat I'm sculpting is more like standard fat than bloating but it's aesthetically pleasing in a grotesque way and makes sense for The background story. Since he's an Ork Warboss, Papa Nurgle has bestowed him with the exponential growth that he desires to cement his rule but it's not necessarily the growth he wanted before the tainting. The goat leg was another obvious choice since it's a common Chaos design which stems from the Christian devil being depicted as half goat. I decided that just doing it to one leg was more striking and the right leg remains as a reminder of his Orky heritage.
Viktor von Domm wrote:as for the better pics... now that´s what we need! due to that the fella with the meltagun just left of jon woo is now my second favorite... he has a very manacing non chalante stance...i am not that fond of those BA masks... but that is something fluff always could justify^^
I'm sorry to say that, that sketch has been disassembled and a new one has taken it's place. I'll save that for another update but i've glued the main components now, filed off the details I didn't want and am replacing the rest with press moulded ones from other miniatures. They are starting to look like a proper unit now.
bossfearless wrote:Hey Casey, good job on the marines and I can't wait to see what that Ork boss turns into. You and I have a pretty similar style of kitbashing marines lol, just clip out all the best looking bits from everything and to hell with whether it all matches up exactly.
Thanks matey, definitely a good way to go with marines! Get the bits you like and make them match up later! A little update on the Warboss below, I hope you like where I'm going with it.
bossfearless wrote:Also, kudos on getting back into shape. I've had to do the same thing a few times and it always makes me happy to see other gamers getting up and exercising.
Thanks man, it feels amazing and yeh it's really nice to see other gamers do the same. There is a motivation group of a few of us DCMs which is a really nice way for us to keep each other focused. I'll try and slip in an update about it today.
Knightley wrote:World of Warcraft..
Man... I was in deep, like real deep, flashbacks and dreaming about raiding kind of deep.... (sounds awfully like a flash back from Vietnam)
*snip*
Deep? You ain't kidding mate, that's insane! I wasn't in anywhere near as deep but the vivid dreams are something I can relate to. Sometimes I even got confused about whether things had actually happened or if I'd dreamt them. I even told my friends a really long story about it once only to realise that only the first half had even happened and that I didn't know the ending because I had woken up. Man, it really gets it's claws in, you know something is wrong when you wake up early to check your mail and spend a couple of hours doing business at the bank... in Azeroth.
I can't say much about raiding because it wasn't my interest, that probably saved me getting any deeper actually. I was a huge PvE fan and loved doing business and quests, I levelled really slowly becuase of it but I was still obsessed. It was very much big boys Runescape for me if that makes sense. The guys that got me into the game were lvl40+ at the time but I caught up at what they thought was immensely fast but was actually very slow. Still, I spent hours just standing in the bank sometimes and always stayed at least 10lvls behind them. I think I was pretty good at actually playing despite my lack of commitment, I did very well all the way to lvl60 with 5 lvl40 Blue armour items which was a running joke between us.
I'm so glad my mate wasn't as much of a geek as he thought and that we liked to drink as much as game. We talked about power levelling guides, max grinding and buying gold but never really carried through with it apart from him buying a little bit for his flying mount. The power levelling stuff is scary deep as you obviously saw in your friend, you have to plan breaks to eat and power nap, scary, scary stuff.
When I hit lvl60 raiding became my main option like lvl70 did for you. My guild, The Lost, were really nice guys, all max level and they made an exception to let me in and train me up from lvl30. At lvl60 it was time to harvest so we started raiding dungeons way out of my league to get me the gear I needed, I honestly didn't enjoy it much though but I owed them that for all the help and free stuff they'd give me. When I first joined they got me a full set of Netherweave bags for a fraction of the mats for instance and used to power me through low level dungeons to grab loot and experience.
It sounds like your girlfriend did you a huge favour by questioning how involved you were. A lesser woman might have ragequit the relationship and forced you further in. Then where would I get my crisp and grey fix from?! Give her a high five from me! My girl at the time was pretty supportive of it but as I said I was equally as interested in getting steamboats and hanging with her so it wasn't as much of an issue for me. I was playing during the week, 5pm after school till between 1am and 5am so I was tired a lot and skipped a lot of school bit I had my weekends and the occasional night free. Well... some weekends I guess.
The revelation that ended it for you was very similar to mine. I realised there was no end to it, there was always something to do and they were going to keep adding more levels. I had a load of chars by that point and decided to take a break. Next thing I know I get an email saying my account has been hacked and that sealed the deal for me. I didn't make a complaint, just walked away. Best decision I could have made although it tore me up inside.
Knightley wrote:High points while playing WoW:
Twinking at 29 and having 8 out of the 10 members of the other team trying to kill me, and not being able to.
Getting the lore master title before all the quests were adjusted
Almost getting the insane title (I was at honored for DMF - the last rep to do)
Getting rare mounts - Red Drake, Red Scarab, Headless horseman and the Ravenlord
Downing HM bosses for the first time.
There might be more to add later. A wall of text crits you for 9999
The funny thing is, no matter how much we know it was a sickness those high points were really high, weren't they?
I got quite obsessed with the PvP battlegrounds with my main char since I realised I was pretty good at it despite my class and equipment. So I ended up rolling a spoilt rich kid of a twink too. Level 29 twinked Blood Elf Rogue with maxed Alchemy/Enchantment. That's the sort of guy you want to punch in the chops... I can't remember the name now but there was a huge Blue item sword for lvl 29, they went for about 100g at the time, I got him a couple of them to dual wield. Not a common loadout because of the cost but probably the best at the time. Pretty rare drop from one of the dungeons.
Other highlights of mine were pretty varied.
Orgrimmar got attacked by three lvl70s once and I lead at least two full raid parties to Stormwind for an almighty clash on the bridge. Amazing fun. Ended up with just me and some heavy geared lvl70 rogue hiding in the train station type place preying on whatever dropped by. Eventually a few of their best came down and got us though. Must have taken most of day but felt like minutes had passed.
Seeing a lvl70 Tank Warrior get overrun in RFC and promising never to tell anyone who it was. I'm not sure I remember his name now anyway but he was very embarrassed.
Beating my friend in duels that I should have lost within seconds.
There is a tonne of other stuff but I don't remember a lot of the names and places now so I won't bother. I even had to check the professions of my twink.
Thanks for going into so much detail man, it's brought back loads of amazing memories but also made me feel quite sick. Sorry I couldn't go into as much detail but ny memory is hazy and my lack of raiding and serious PvP makes my stories slightly less interesting.
cormadepanda wrote:Good god! and I thought i had no life. Knightly! no one can kill you man. I glad to see you choose a lesser deamon however.
Right!? That's what Warcraft does to you, it's a dirty habit! It's really scary how pumped up I get with adrenaline and dopamine when I talk about it, it's still rooted deep into my psyche. I imagine Knightley is the same or worse. I'm really glad he ended up with the much more expensive but less dangerous habit, the plastic crack we all know and love!
Okay! So you deserve some sort of update at the very least if you even read a snippet of that.
I've been crazy busy as I said so I'm way behind on my Warboss and the deadline is coming at me like 20stone of loose head prop. I'm really determined to get it finished so cross your fingers for me! Here is my progress as of yesterday:
I'd love to hear what you all think, hopefully I'll churn out some more for another update tonight.
Thanks Dr H! I'm putting a lot of effort into getting accurate and realistic fat deposits so I'm glad it's coming across. The goat leg is the only bit that's really near finished in that picture. Once everything gets to that stage I'll add details and give the beast a layer of liquid green stuff to give it a final smoothing. I hope I can keep up the accuracy!
So anyway, it's a beautiful summer afternoon and it's Saturday! I think Dakka needs some livening up with a bit of music so crank up the volume, press play and enjoy the sun!
And here is a little something to cue up while your listening.
I've been keeping up my running too! I'm taking a couple of days off right now to try and swap from staying up to 4am to getting up at 4am and although it's a nice break I'm itching to get back out there. I'm easing into the new routine quite well and am confident I'll be ready to go tomorrow morning or the day after at the latest. There has been a big change in my attitude now that this is part of my standard routine. I run about 3 days in 4 and no longer feel the need to beat myself up for missing a run to recover or get a bit of extra sleep since I know I'll be back out there the next day.
My occasional smoking is definitely slowing me down so I need to stop that. My lung capacity just isn't good enough. Likewise my legs sometimes still get tired after a few days without a break which can kill a run time so I'm going to introduce some squats soon to encourage some muscle growth and build some stamina. That'll slow me down to start with but once I'm comfortable with it, it'll help a lot. My best time is 37m30s now but I was really hoping for 35m at this stage, the smoking is the big problem here.
Well that'll do for now, get outside and enjoy the sunshine! If your on Dakka or working on a hobby project then take it to your garden or something, you won't get this day back! I hope you enjoy the music, I'll leave you with a picture from one of my runs!
Medium of Death wrote: Great idea on the early morning summer running, those pictures are very nice. South side of Glasgow I assume?
Also, what's happening with your awesome Tyranids?
Yeh i'm normally a fan of the winter months but this is a great time to be out running. I can't take much credit for the pictures, my phone camera and the great scenery are doing all the work there. I'm a bit further south than that actually, I live in Strathaven. a town south of Hamilton and East Kilbride. Yourself?
The Nid's are crying out for my attention and I feel really bad about neglecting them. I still love my concept and I think they have been working out nicely but I'm not particularly inspired right now and I don't want to do a slap dash job. I'm really glad you like them, I'm very proud of them and I think they'll look tops when they're done. The Warboss is giving me tonnes of confidence in sculpting the rest of them and they are more and more on my mind these days. I am certain they will get some attention this year but I couldn't say exactly when that'll be. It's likely that I'll have my Bakunin and Necromunda painted by August at this rate and at that stage Blackbird will become my priority again with the Marines seeing work at the same time. The real focus right now is clearing up my to do list, 5 active projects is too heavy especially with at least 3 more in concept. When I get it down to two I can spend more time keeping them rolling.
I'm glad you mentioned them for sure, talking about them always gets me thinking about them more and pushes them further up my to do list.
inmygravenimage wrote: Looking good mate, excellent sculpting - I was a bit unconvinced by the idea initially but it's really coming together. Also, Mon the Biff!
Mon the Biff!
Not their greatest song but it seemed apt today. I totally get that it wasn't a convincing concept and probably still isn't at this stage, I tend to see things in a very strange way. A couple of unusual bits at a certain angle can morph into something completely different in my mind and even then the concept is very much alive right through the process. This is a prime example, I saw a certain poise in the bits and it fleshed itself out in my mind. Hopefully I can do the idea justice.
Knightley wrote: I guess you think the WoW thing was bad, do I go into the Diablo 2 addiction?
Also liking the sculpting and its direction!
Thanks mate, curing time is putting huge dents in my progress and I'm more and more certain I'm going to miss the deadline but I'm keeping at it and crossing my fingers in between sculpting.
Are you telling me that your WoW addiction was dwarfed by a greater beast?! That's a worrying concept. I've never been hugely into computer games but I tend to get very obsessed by the ones I do play. I've purposely not bought Skyrim or anything that'd require similar commitment because of it. If I were to play something like Warcraft nowadays I'd go way too deep, my age saved me first time, I was too naive to bolster my experience via the internet. I'll keep my distance now I'm a little wiser, I've grown fond of human interacrion and bathing over the years.
My friend does a little baking and she told me a while back that she had to pass on a wedding cake that she couldn't do but that she gave the woman a recommendation. Thought it might coincidentally have been you she recommended.
Not much in the way of an update today but I've pretty much pulled out of panda's competition at this point. This was my first time seriously entering a competition and I bit off more than I could chew. I'm taking this as a positive experience though, it's a lesson learned and in future I'll know my capabilities and tackle something that I can actually finish in time. I plan on entering many more competitions from now on as it really pushed me out of my comfort zone.
I'll still be finishing my Nork Warboss but at a slightly more relaxed pace. This'll allow me to take more time over the details anyway which is nice. Eventually he'll also get a little entourage but I'm in no rush to do that.
Been a bit quiet round these here parts! I'm really busy right now and the hobby time I do have I'm putting into entering competitions. The one I'm working on right now has a really short deadline but it's really exciting!
Check it out! The deadline is extended to the 18th August and the theme is recycling.
So it seems that I've really caught the competing bug! It's pushing me to work outside my comfort zone and I feel like I'm improving already. My first competition, C&R's on the previous page, was an incomplete but as I have said already it taught me what is, and more importantly what isn't, possible within a certain period of time. This current project is still quite complex but I spent a few days doing detailed drawings and test pieces which has made me confident that I can do it in time. I've actually entered three competitions and I believe there are a few more on their way so I'm going to keep a tally of how I place in the OP of this thread.
My entry to this competition is very much underway and I want to be painting it by 1st August. Because it's a short deadline I'm sidelining my other projects for a short while to focus on it so I won't be updating much, please do feel free to chat though. I want to get that punch factor of having a completed entry all of a sudden so I won't really be posting WIP pictures until I'm finished. Well... maybe some teasers if you ask nicely!
My Nork Warboss will get some attention again when this is done, I'm really psyched by that project and want to get it finished soon.
Until you lose control? Haha! Well okay since it's you!
I doubt I'll be wowing anyone but thank you. Your set to run away with this by the looks of it but I'm going to strive to get as close to your work as possible. A little friendly rivalry hopefully!
Oh man!! Whenever I make sketches like that, it usually turns into something big! Except my sketches are sometimes illegible even to myself I like the engineering brainwork going on here.
I hate running with a passion, I hated it since I was in school sports, especially wrestling, we had an OLD school building where we had conditioning/practice. We had to run the gym steps, and each step was only 6 inches high, we had to hit each and every step...Wrestling shoes are more like socks with a rubber sole, and I have big, flat feet. I fething hate running!
dsteingass wrote:Oh man!! Whenever I make sketches like that, it usually turns into something big! Except my sketches are sometimes illegible even to myself I like the engineering brainwork going on here.
Haha, my Graphic Communication skills may paint a considered and focused picture of myself but my written notes tell the opposite story. They're scary. Scary like the ramblings of a madman scratched into the walls of an asylum, scary. I've got Physicists handwriting, illegible and I write in tiny capital letters. Haha!
I don't know if I'd call my entry big but it's quite intricate and heavily researched. I had to learn about building construction! Which, interestingly, is incredibly simple at the most basic level.
dsteingass wrote:I hate running with a passion, I hated it since I was in school sports, especially wrestling, we had an OLD school building where we had conditioning/practice. We had to run the gym steps, and each step was only 6 inches high, we had to hit each and every step...Wrestling shoes are more like socks with a rubber sole, and I have big, flat feet. I fething hate running!
That's a real shame but I bet you could learn to love it. It becomes very addictive. That does sound painful though and would really put you off. I got obsessed the first time round through rugby. I used to stick around for another hour after training to do full pitch saltires and suicides eventually just to get the burn for longer. That's where I'm trying to get back to really, you hit a kind of wonderful nirvana.
Blimey Casey, you sure do put some thought into your concept sketches don't you... I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of those pages. Oh and sorry for not stopping by sooner
Ruglud wrote: Blimey Casey, you sure do put some thought into your concept sketches don't you... I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of those pages. Oh and sorry for not stopping by sooner
A little too much some might say! I try to fight it but OCD rules me with an iron fist at times, this extensive planning and the research I do for my projects is a prime example. The project is bounding along nicely but it looks like I'm going to have to wait for the PVA to dry before I can do much more. I'm trying to use the spare time by working on details that I'll add later. Time management isn't my forte but I'm getting better!
And I'm pleased you dropped by at all, thank you! I've got a tonne of blogs still to read and it's really hard to find the time to read one through and add it into my circulation.
I wonder if I could conjure up another teaser of some kind... But what would it be?
When I do sketches for a model, they don't look anywhere near as neat as that, it's usually just to capture the idea though. I like the level of detail you're planning at.
I was tempted to build my hut using proper woodworking joins, but decided against it due to time.
And as for handwriting, I've only met one person with worse than mine. I'm of the "drunken spider that's fallen into an inkwell" variety.
I could never get into running. I'm not that sort of person. Cycling I could possibly due to the sense of speed, but as far as sports go I'm more of the slower persuasion, like climbing. Although I did used to play rugby for the school and a local team, usually as second row or flanker (so again less running that playing in the backs).
When I do sketches for a model, they don't look anywhere near as neat as that, it's usually just to capture the idea though. I like the level of detail you're planning at.
Thanks! To be fair, I don't always go into so much detail but I felt I had to here because there are so many little bits that I wanted to be at the correct scale. My Nork Warboss for example was all designed in my head and I collected a tonne of reference images to guide me, I only made a couple of quick drawings when I needed help visualising a certain structure. I'm actually doing this piece at 30/35mm truescale because it fits a lot of game systems and GW heroic scale doesn't look ridiculously out of place beside it. I think that is my best bet in terms of the competition rules. I'm using an Infinity miniature to check scale but I have an IG on standby as well to make sure it's not too small.
Dr H wrote:I was tempted to build my hut using proper woodworking joins, but decided against it due to time.
I'm still not sure about that myself! I have to decide today but I'm not sure it's worth it as 90% of it will be covered up.
Dr H wrote:And as for handwriting, I've only met one person with worse than mine. I'm of the "drunken spider that's fallen into an inkwell" variety.
Haha, I know what you mean. If I write anything longer than note taking I revert to standard hand writing and it's just a lot of squiggles, in school I'm pretty sure some of my teachers used to just guess my grade rather than try and read it.
Dr H wrote:I could never get into running. I'm not that sort of person. Cycling I could possibly due to the sense of speed, but as far as sports go I'm more of the slower persuasion, like climbing. Although I did used to play rugby for the school and a local team, usually as second row or flanker (so again less running that playing in the backs).
I think you'd be surprised, I think, given enough time, it can get it's claws in to anyone. I played a little second row myself, nice position because you form the core of the forwards whatever they are doing. Spent most of my time as a loose head though despite being too tall and actually pretty damn fast.
Well! How about another little preview? Nothing too exciting but this is my first real WIP:
Well, remember it's a model, only what's on the outside will matter in the end. Unless it needs stability under serious stress, there's realy no need for "real" construction techniques. Making it look like real construction is usually enough. However, the laws of physics still work on a model level too.
Casey's Law wrote: I'm actually doing this piece at 30/35mm truescale because it fits a lot of game systems and GW heroic scale doesn't look ridiculously out of place beside it. I think that is my best bet in terms of the competition rules. I'm using an Infinity miniature to check scale but I have an IG on standby as well to make sure it's not too small.
Yeah that's the way to do it, I'm keeping the scaling of mine as ambivalent as possible to fit as many games as possible, it actually looks quite big with a tactical marine inside...
Dr H wrote:I was tempted to build my hut using proper woodworking joins, but decided against it due to time.
I'm still not sure about that myself! I have to decide today but I'm not sure it's worth it as 90% of it will be covered up.
I don't mind building (and even painting) things that can't be seen, but it was just with all the wood in the hut, it would have been really difficult and time consuming to be doing tiny dove-tails etc... everywhere...
Haha, I know what you mean. If I write anything longer than note taking I revert to standard hand writing and it's just a lot of squiggles, in school I'm pretty sure some of my teachers used to just guess my grade rather than try and read it.
Oh yeah, I'm very sure I lost many a grade or point to my handwriting throughout my school life. At least at university, most of the work could be word-processed (except the exams).
I think you'd be surprised, I think, given enough time, it can get it's claws in to anyone. I played a little second row myself, nice position because you form the core of the forwards whatever they are doing. Spent most of my time as a loose head though despite being too tall and actually pretty damn fast.
I dunno, maybe with enough time I could. But my body just doesn't seem to be built for stamina; I can walk for miles at quite a high pace (and have done many hikes, even won some trophies for it at a local scale), but my body just can't keep up when I start running.
Ah, yes I've played prop on a few occasions although being too tall for it. Yep, second row was all about pushing and that, I could do. But I preferred flanker as you could just slip off the side of the scrum and nail the opposition's scrum-half or one of the centres. I did play a couple of games as an outside centre, but it didn't really fit me well.
Well! How about another little preview? Nothing too exciting but this is my first real WIP:
Nice. You could use this build as an example of landscape architecture for the garden...
dsteingass wrote:Well, remember it's a model, only what's on the outside will matter in the end. Unless it needs stability under serious stress, there's realy no need for "real" construction techniques. Making it look like real construction is usually enough. However, the laws of physics still work on a model level too.
Dr H wrote:I don't mind building (and even painting) things that can't be seen, but it was just with all the wood in the hut, it would have been really difficult and time consuming to be doing tiny dove-tails etc... everywhere...
Thanks guys, yeh I think I'll just make it look 'real enough'. I'm trying to keep the construction techniques simple anyway so that this fits fantasy and historical so 'nailed together' is as technical as the wood construction needs to be.
Dr H wrote:You could use this build as an example of landscape architecture for the garden...
Haha, yeh and my garden needs some serious work! So have my sketches given a good idea of what I'm doing then?
Casey's Law wrote: So have my sketches given a good idea of what I'm doing then?
If it's not going to be a landscape garden with a nice patio, teak decking and brick and mortar bbq, then you can consider me sufficiently teased and still in the dark...
The curvy staircase thing/shape/wossname is cool though.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh and maybe a water feature...?
Thanks, graven! It sounds like I need to turn the lights on for you Dr H... But not just yet!
All these lovely comments from you guys and all I've shown you is some sketches and cut up pieces of card. Well you've pulled another WIP out of me:
I'm still not giving much away but we are getting close to some more interesting pictures I think. Maybe I'll give in and post something nice. Any other ideas on what I'm doing? The main terrain feature, apart from the building, is meant to be something you'll find on pretty much any battleground...
Ahh. Looking cool. Just had an extreme close up of your sketch. I see where you're going. I didn't realise that it was a building at the back and blinded myself with the thoughts of the garden...
Thank you, sir! Another picture tomorrow methinks. It might make things clearer, or maybe muddier... After that the pictures will be more abstract because I don't want to give too much away.
this is really thrill! man...I love your concepts and seeing how you are able tu cut the cardboard so neatly is an amazing skill all in itself... I think this competition will see the most talented entries yet of all the former ones!
You are a liar and a cad! Aha! Thanks bud , what do you think it is? First person to get the three main elements gets... eh, something?
Viktor von Domm wrote:this is really thrill! man...I love your concepts and seeing how you are able tu cut the cardboard so neatly is an amazing skill all in itself... I think this competition will see the most talented entries yet of all the former ones!
Thank you very much! A ruler and a sharp blade is all it takes, oh and loads of patience. Honestly, I would really like to have been neater and more precise but I'm learning as I go. This project is making plasticard a whole lot less scary for me since all of the skills are transferable.
Knightley wrote:Jesus all that with... cardboard!!
You flatterer! What if I told you... Duhn, duhn, duhn! The cardboard is gone!
I'm actually working on the other side now so I've been holding out on you all. That's the last full image until the comp is over though. We got a deadline increase to the 18th which I think I'll use for comfort but I won't use it all, I have C&R competition to enter too.
Casey's Law wrote: First person to get the three main elements gets... eh, something?
Spoiler:
What, you mean the Statue (which I look forward to seeing what you do), the bunker and the building that may be some kind of over- or under-ground shelter like thing...?
Casey's Law wrote: First person to get the three main elements gets... eh, something?
Spoiler:
What, you mean the Statue (which I look forward to seeing what you do), the bunker and the building that may be some kind of over- or under-ground shelter like thing...?
That's all in your sketch.
What's the goo you're using there?
Not quite but not a million miles away. Only one guess each btw!
That's just toilet roll and watered down PVA glue, easy to lay your hands on and easy to work with, perfect for this competition.
Haha, yeh it's more of a repurposing than recycling! That'd be so very wrong!
I'm not sure what to give the person who gets my question right, any thoughts? Maybe some control over what my next picture update will be or what project I'll update next? Meh, not sure...
Haha, I love the chaos and confusion! Doesn't look like anyone's going to get it so I'll reveal that the 3 main terrain elements are... A house/building, a blast crater annnd a barricade!
The idea is that this stuff is all pretty standard and won't look out of place in any setting. I'm designing it around the idea that a civilian resistance are 'making do' with what they have available to them to set up a defensive position outside an important building. The building might be a HQ or they might just be using it for covered passage to another area. This means that this is also a perfect objective if you want to use it like that.
So the story reflects the purpose of building the piece as well which I really like. I'm calling it 'Make Do and Mend' which was a British WWII propaganda slogan. I admit that this is a very WWII inspired piece, I'm taking leads from Band of Brothers and Enemy on the Gate, but my main focus is that this should fit into absolutely any universe.
I'm quite busy right now but I'll try and get together some kind of image update for you before the day is out. Any requests?
Casey's Law wrote: Haha, I love the chaos and confusion! Doesn't look like anyone's going to get it so I'll reveal that the 3 main terrain elements are... A house/building, a blast crater annnd a barricade!
The idea is that this stuff is all pretty standard and won't look out of place in any setting. I'm designing it around the idea that a civilian resistance are 'making do' with what they have available to them to set up a defensive position outside an important building. The building might be a HQ or they might just be using it for covered passage to another area. This means that this is also a perfect objective if you want to use it like that.
So the story reflects the purpose of building the piece as well which I really like. I'm calling it 'Make Do and Mend' which was a British WWII propaganda slogan. I admit that this is a very WWII inspired piece, I'm taking leads from Band of Brothers and Enemy on the Gate, but my main focus is that this should fit into absolutely any universe.
I'm quite busy right now but I'll try and get together some kind of image update for you before the day is out. Any requests?
I will take a ruined flag on a pole to represent da resistance!
It's definitely something I'm considering if I have time. The place I want to put a flag isn't in the current design but I might try and add it in if I can get the rest finished in the next day or two. Did someone say sniper nest in the belfry?
Sorry about my absence, just having one of those weeks, well, months. Couldn't even get into my competition entry so i'm a bit behind but determined to finish it now. At least when I'm carving planks of wood I can induldge in a little bit of that hobby zen and relax.
inmygravenimage wrote:Casey, really excited to see what you pull off!
That's none of your business!
Dr H wrote:So is it getting a statue, or have plans changed?
Also, are you going to build a belfry?
I too am excited by the antisi ...pation.
Haha, I'm glad! Well the 'statue' might be a bit of a red herring, ''plinth' is more accurate. I may be behind but who am I to deny a man a belfry? ...Well, how about a clocktower?
Ha ha. Yeah, there's nothing like the feeling you get when building things that will never see the light of day, but you know that they are there. Keep at it.
Thanks guys! It's no sprue wood but if you'd like to see a tutorial I'd be happy to knock one together.
Got another little droplet of water for the desert that is my blog!
It's a few of the cut outs for the building. There are boards to cover the building frame and sheets to simulate plaster and roughcast. There are also some floorboards which are thinner versions of the planks I made for the frame.
weetyskemian44 wrote:I see what you mean about the cardboard now casey. Nice work.
Thanks weets! It's a material I had overlooked until now but it's actually perfect for so many jobs and can stand in for plasticard really well. This thing fell almost 2 foot and just two loosely attached planks came off from the outer edge, it's solid stuff.
Viktor von Domm wrote:i lurk.... i lurk continuisly for i hope... i hope of not being continuisly teased....ach.... such malady!!!!
Not much longer!
Dr H wrote:A tutorial "wood" be cool when you have a chance.
Remember, time is a-ticking. You still have to get paint on this Look forward to seeing it complete.
Hah! I'll put together a full tutorial when I'm done, I've being taking pictures for it as I go. I'll make sure I cover the wood technique.
Your "time is a-ticking" comment will be funnier when I show the finished piece. It's also very true though, I'm really behind my original target but I'm certain I'll be finished in time. It's possibly another lesson for me in time management, something I'll remember in time for the next competition I enter. I strongly doubt I'll manage Panda and Ruglud's comp now but if I finish early I might slap something together at the last minute.
Things are moving at a brilliant pace today! Could be painting tomorrow! But what's this?
Dr H wrote:Cool. Good to see you progressing well.
Assuming that's the right way up, that's a nice wooden floor you have there.
Thanks, matey! And some carpet on the other side of the wall!
Viktor von Domm wrote:so... time... time seems a central item in that piece?.... have you made a ruined clocktower then?...
Indeed I have, sir! But more than that... I'll reveal that secret tomorrow!
Right the cheap superglue fumes are effing me up now, time for bed gents! I've also discovered that the pva/water/tissue combo has contracted up with enough strength to bend the base. It's actually quite a big change but It's something I'm confident I can fix during the last phase anyway so it's all good.
The clock took a lot of work actually, much more than expected. Gluing down the last of the stuff and priming will have to wait until tomorrow now. That gives me 2+ days to paint which is enough as I have no plans, I can throw all of my time at it.
it is not an actual working clock, now is it? but if you had kept the dial to be turnable it would have made a great looking device to tell which turn it is...
and good looking clock it is, by the way
I hope you can cope with the warping...that is always a very bad thing to happen...
Thanks for commenting guys! I'm beavering away and almost ready to paint.
Dr H wrote:Awesome. Have many internets good sir.
Ruglud wrote:Presuming I'm looking ast the sneak peek pics, I'm liking the cut away / ruined effect very much... And a working clock tower, that's a great idea...
Viktor von Domm wrote:it is not an actual working clock, now is it? but if you had kept the dial to be turnable it would have made a great looking device to tell which turn it is...
and good looking clock it is, by the way I hope you can cope with the warping...that is always a very bad thing to happen...
It is indeed a working clock. In the theme of the competition I recycled the innards of a watch that was destined for the bin. I'd take a video for proof but the second hand has been removed, since most clock towers don't have them, which obviously makes it difficult to tell it's working in a short space of time.
Now I'm off to tidy up the cut off side so it's all smooth for display.
Arakasi wrote:Clever idea (working clock), and the execution is looking good. Good luck with the paint and comp!
Thanks mate, details on how things played out below.
inmygravenimage wrote:No probs, mate glad you got it. I used a papercraft fleur punch I got from Hobbycraft at The Fort. If only they did a smaller size too!
Creative thinking, I like that! That big Hobbycraft is chock full of win, luckily for my wallet the sheer quantity of stuff means it's hard to find all the little things that I'd want to buy instantly. Well I think I'm going to give one of them some embellishments and put it on the back of one of my tanks. Because the brothers and sisters of the Ecclesiarchy stick together!
Okay so some of you probably saw my post last week in Briancj's blog. Basically I got some rubbish news which had a knock on effect to a load of other stuff I was balancing. I took it really bad and the last thing I wanted to do was paint. I had persevered to a point which only served to build an association between my mood and the entry. Eventually I couldn't take it any more and 'ragequit' my entry as the least important thing I had going on.
Fast forward 6 days and I'm back on my feet but the piece I was working on for the competition hasn't moved. I have an irrational dislike of it now which will have to pass before I touch it again. When I feel like finishing it off I'll do it at my leisure, if there is any interest I might even give it away.
Sorry but that's all pretty depressing isn't it? You guys deserve a proper update. Well, last night I took a notion to just straight up build a plastic kit, a refreshing little palette cleanser. A Predator and two Razorbacks later and I'm feeling rather pleased with myself. That constitutes the mechanized element of my Ministorum Patriarchus, the Ecclesiarchal Marines I'm building to game with. The marines themselves have had a fair bit of attention since you last saw them but I had been keeping that up my sleeve. I need to roll out the press moulding details next and then finish them off with little plastic details I've hoarded from a range of kits. They'll get there own blog when I finally buy an airbrush and decide to paint them. Without further ado, here they are:
What do you think? Am I pushing the right buttons for you? It's a nice big zoomable image btw.
Thanks for the support and encouragement, lads! I'll try and get my press moulding on today so all those torsos are finished.
@Theo - The group is of my own design but based loosely on the foundations that the lore lays out. As always it's my attempt to be original while working within the canon. I call them the Ministorum Patriarchus, a small force of marines created by the Ecclesiarchy from Schola Progenium students. They run at 500pts and use the Blood Angels codex to represent the Reclusiarch whipping them into a zealous frenzy. I've been sketchy on where their gene seed is from so far but it's likely BA in some part with a mix of other stuff.
hey mate... good to see you on your feet again... but... essential news flash... don´t think that you OWE us anything... you work at your leisure... always... hobby should never result to anything but pleasure in doing what you like... hopefully you get around one day and finish the clocky thingy whatever it will be...!
but for the time being... nice looking bunch of raw unpainted marines
Thanks guys! You make a good point Vik and thanks for saying it. I'm a very erratic and slow worker when it comes to my own hobby stuff and I sometimes feel I need to update something even if I'm not in the mood to work on it. Then it becomes a chore which is silly. It's good to remember it's for my own pleasure first and if I have something to show then that's a bonus. To be clear that wasn't a factor on this burn out I just had, it was personal stuff, but it's good to be reminded none the less. Thanks, dude!
Well I might not be up to working on the diorama but that doesn't mean I can't take pictures if it. Actually it's been quite cathartic taking these quick snaps, it's allowed me to see it in a fresh light and taken some of the taint from it. I'll start with a few older pictures I took while I was working and then we'll get to some newer ones. As you'll see it's partly disassembled for painting and there are a few bits left unfinished. The images are linked to the gallery where you should be able to zoom in if you'd like.
Here you can see I started adding the details in and around the muddy crater, a necessary step before layering on more mud.
Since I had to build the foundation wall on the edge of the crater I did some work on the other side. Here the foundations have been added and the wooden frame begins to take shape.
Next I added a roof section to the building frame and added that all important extra layer of mud to the crater and the spray areas.
Now you can see the building take shape as I layer up sections of wood panels, plaster and floor boards. All cardboard of course.
The front got a sandpaper layer of roughcast instead of plaster. I didn't take many pictures after this as progress was scattered and it was hard to point to any particular new additions. Everything really slid together from here and I figured I could easily recreate any of the stages if I was going to make a tutorial.
Now we jump forward to the new images. You can see the clocktower spring up and the barricade is built up around the crater. Lots of little details are added now but I had planned much more had I finished early. I'll probably add more detail now I have no time constraints and I'm thinking of upgrading some of the stuff with better versions.
Another angle shows more of the barricade and some other hidden elements. You can see that before I gave up I had resorted to slapping on the white basecoat extremely haphazardly, a clear sign that I was in a bad way and starting to resent the task. I hadn't even finished the build but I just wanted it out of the way. I'm glad now that I didn't rush through it, it deserves more of my time and will get it eventually this way.
You can also see the diorama style base I added which luckily allowed me to disguise the warping that had occurred. I glued the warped CD to a second one with some card to prop up the crater side which had received the brunt of the contraction. The strap around the outside covered it all up nicely anyway and I just have to extend the mud out to fill the gap. An easy task that I'll get around to before long, I'll just have to be careful it doesn't contact again. I may fill the gap with something first to limit the possibility of contraction which seemed to happen because of the quantity of tissue and amount of water I used.
Moving on, a shot of it from behind where you can see the building interior. It still needs trimmed to make it all flat and smoothly finished at the cut off. The clock is obviously dismantled here which means you get a nice view of the damage I added to the 'glass' panel that sits in front of it.
From here you can see into the building frame work which I'm happy with although one of the final additions will be dyed cotton ball 'insulation'. As with a few other details, insulation isn't necessarily something that would fit in a historical setting but I decided these were open to interpretation and therefore forgivable.
Last picture, I wanted a better shot of the living space interior, particularly the small section. I cut the sections of wallpaper and the painting from a pattern and large painting in a brochure I got through the door. The carpet is a piece of fabric, in this case a sock, clean, that had a huge hole in it so I was throwing it out anyway. There is a lot of shards of glass on the carpet too, I did all my glass with a sheet of clear plastic from a clamshell package. I plan on using a lot of washes in that room to stain these pieces. The bigger room is much simpler, a large hallway or reception area with wooden floor. In both you can see the damage to the outer wall carried through.
And that's it for now. As I say, it's on the subs bench until I can get back in the mood to work on it. I hope you enjoy what I have to show anyway. I got close to finishing but fell short by a day because of the bad news I had. Moving on though, I'm still quite proud of whatbi achieved.
Thanks for looking! You get +many internets if you actually read all that rambling. Take care!
I would like the internet. And dear god sir your plans, and your execution are astounding! This is by far a superb and lovely piece. Even unpainted. Many props to you sir. I suggest a sephia wash for the window stain, about 3 coats should do.
that is a most architectural approach if I ever saw one...
carefull planning and execution... and lots of details... in fact I can say this is probably the highest density of details per inch compared to the other entries...
the front might be a slight bit too cluttered if you ask me...but that might be just my personal view...
the interior shots speak a whole other language tho... that is very good looking (this doesn´t mean the outside is not good looking... just to clarify any upcoming misunderstandings...)
at first I had thought before this baby never sees paint I would have loved to offer you assistance... but that build is definitely out of my league... so I recline from that even before truly offering it... I couldn't do this piece any justice...
and...
Thanks, dude!
all is well that ends well... it´s just sometimes the timescale that makes it look as if it doesn´t end well...as at the current vantage point one thinks it is an endless struggle... later on we see more clear...I was at some pretty ugly (nice figure of speech eh?) spots in my time too...
Yeah, awesome build. Loving all the little details. Good work.
Chin up, do what you enjoy for now and come back to it when you feel in the mood. We'll still be here so see whatever you have to show, whenever you show it.
Thank you all for your kind comments! Far too kind I reckon!
cormadepanda wrote:I would like the internet. And dear god sir your plans, and your execution are astounding! This is by far a superb and lovely piece. Even unpainted. Many props to you sir. I suggest a sephia wash for the window stain, about 3 coats should do.
Well done for reading all of that, I tend to ramble on a bit! Thanks for all you said, it's very motivational to hear, especially since I rarely get this close to completing any of my projects. Haha!
inmygravenimage wrote:Agreed, very cool. The cracking of the windows is really nicely executed. How stable is the whole thing?
Thanks mate, I was pleasantly surprised with how the glass pieces came out. It's very stable as all the weight as at the bottom, you'd never knock it over or anything. Also it's structurally like a brick, I used a lot of super glue and pva and made sure each item was set tight before moving on to the next. It took a tumble midway through the build, about 2 foot onto a laminate floor, and there was two tiny pieces of 'wood' that snapped clean off at the edges. Took me three seconds to glue them back on and they eventually had more added to them so they are much stronger now.
Viktor von Domm wrote:that is a most architectural approach if I ever saw one...
carefull planning and execution... and lots of details... in fact I can say this is probably the highest density of details per inch compared to the other entries...
the front might be a slight bit too cluttered if you ask me...but that might be just my personal view...
You flatter me, sir! And I completely agree with you about the barricade being a bit too cluttered. When I get back to working on it I'll likely strip it back slightly and rework it, it's the part I'm least happy with.
Viktor von Domm wrote:the interior shots speak a whole other language tho... that is very good looking (this doesn´t mean the outside is not good looking... just to clarify any upcoming misunderstandings...)
at first I had thought before this baby never sees paint I would have loved to offer you assistance... but that build is definitely out of my league... so I recline from that even before truly offering it... I couldn't do this piece any justice...
Praise indeed thank you! And this really is outwith no ones league, especially not yours, I've seen some of your awesome work! Anyone could pull this off really, it's a huge quantity of simple efforts rather than a small amount of high skill techniques. When I come back to working on it I'll do some short tutorials to show how simple it is.
Viktor von Domm wrote:and...
Thanks, dude!
all is well that ends well... it´s just sometimes the timescale that makes it look as if it doesn´t end well...as at the current vantage point one thinks it is an endless struggle... later on we see more clear...I was at some pretty ugly (nice figure of speech eh?) spots in my time too...
Very well put, mate, very well put. Splash in the pond sort of thinking, I like that. I think I'll take some time to ponder how this fits into the bigger picture.
dsteingass wrote:The planning you did was too much awesome work for you to quit now. It's a simply amazing piece Casey! So well done!
That's the icing on the cake for me. If I have Mr Dave 'MyMagicHandsMakeAwesomeTerrainAppearFromNowhere' Steingass's approval then I'm doing something right. I've got a way to go before I can put out terrain like you do but I'm working towards it. Thanks for commenting.
Dr H wrote: Yeah, awesome build. Loving all the little details. Good work. Chin up, do what you enjoy for now and come back to it when you feel in the mood. We'll still be here so see whatever you have to show, whenever you show it.
Thanks, buddy! Chin is up and moving forward.
Today I'm half musing on my Ministorum Patriarchus and half on Graven's Competition. I will likely post about the competition next. Maybe tonight. Take care and be happy, Dakkanauts!
Wow Casey, that's amazing work so far. Really hope you get the urge to finish it at some stage.
In all it's white glory it kind of reminds me of those little Christmas village decorations that you can get, only way better as it's in a state of disrepair BTW, the cracked clock window glass is superb.
It really is a marvelous build you have going , nicely executed, I'd hire Casey's construction over Dr. hinternet construction just cause of the subfloor
As for your marines, with the new dex coming out in a couple weeks I don't know what to tell you. I'd say go with it her imperial fist heritage, or dark angel heritage if your looking for the crazed religious nuts. Until I see the new dex though I'm at a loss. You could just sa that heir heritage is a mystery and hey just have strong ties to the religious cast, but its h high lords of terra that commissions Marin chapters to be built.
Ruglud wrote:Wow Casey, that's amazing work so far. Really hope you get the urge to finish it at some stage.
In all it's white glory it kind of reminds me of those little Christmas village decorations that you can get, only way better as it's in a state of disrepair BTW, the cracked clock window glass is superb.
Thank you kindly! I'll definitely get back to it at some point in the not too distant future but I'll keep busy until then with other things.
Theophony wrote:It really is a marvelous build you have going , nicely executed, I'd hire Casey's construction over Dr. hinternet construction just cause of the subfloor As for your marines, with the new dex coming out in a couple weeks I don't know what to tell you. I'd say go with it her imperial fist heritage, or dark angel heritage if your looking for the crazed religious nuts. Until I see the new dex though I'm at a loss. You could just sa that heir heritage is a mystery and hey just have strong ties to the religious cast, but its h high lords of terra that commissions Marin chapters to be built.
Haha, thanks man. Yeh I had a moment of distress when I realised they were stuffing a load of different Chapters into the new 'dex but I had a look around and I think the BA Codex will continue to operate separately so it doesn't really affect me. Although correct me if I'm wrong folks! The mystery heritage will probably be my go to answer until I decide otherwise but it's probably a big ole mix of DA, BA, BT and whatever else was available. It's not a big part of their story anyway, they weren't commissioned like normal marines and they aren't actually a Chapter. What I have built would be entirely half of their number. The way I see it the Ministorum would have thrown their weight around and got them pushed through. It's a missionary force really, just a rather aggressive one.
Anyway, I'm not put off from this competition fun and they say 3rd time's a charm...
Check it out! This deadline is the 26th September and the theme is repurposing.
I've been looking forward to this and I have a couple of ideas in my shortlist. Depending on the answers to some questions I asked I'll either be doing no system to Infinity or Infinity to Necromunda. If I go with Infinity to Necromunda and I have time I might add some WHFB and LOTR to Necromunda. We shall see!
This is the shortlisted bit and bobs that I'll be working from.
Wow. Not to rain on the parade of your previous work, but I think your diorama is in another class entirely (of course, that class could just be "closer to finished" )
Casey's Law wrote: Anyone could pull this off really, it's a huge quantity of simple efforts rather than a small amount of high skill techniques. When I come back to working on it I'll do some short tutorials to show how simple it is.
I think you underestimate (like most people) the impressiveness a huge quantity of simple efforts make. Sometimes, in trying/idolising "high skill" techniques, we simply fail, or go overboard, and miss the forest for the trees. I'll be waiting on those tutorials just to be impressed by how simple they are!
I hope you manage to separate your personal life from your diorama sometime soon - I would love to see it finished (painted). It would have made a great entry.
Interested to see where your next project takes you - what plans are there for the Nurgle Ork Warboss - any soon-ish?
Hey folks! Sorry I haven't dropped in but I haven't done much to report on. Played about with my entry to Graven's competition but nothing worth pictures yet.
I have put some stuff up in the Swap Shop though, if anyone is interested please check it out and make me an offer. Ideally would like to sell the Nids this weekend if possible, will go cheaper tonight. Check them out here.
Viktor von Domm wrote:now this is a big mix... that will be most interesting!
and...I am a simple man... I speak as I find also... a proposed tutorial... I love these... so fire away!
also... I totally forgot about the window in the tower!... that was brilliant too!!!
Looks like I'm going to be working on two or maybe three Necromunda characters for the competition. I want to be able to use them as Hired Guns or maybe even as permanent Gangers if the notion takes me. There will be a Squat Miner and Escher Ganger and if I have time an Ash Nomad on Beast.
Tutorials on the diorama before long!
Arakasi wrote:Wow. Not to rain on the parade of your previous work, but I think your diorama is in another class entirely (of course, that class could just be "closer to finished" )
Haha, I think you hit the nail on the head there mate, maybe if I finished things I'd actually be able to show the quality of my work. Thank you for your compliment!
Arakasi wrote:
Casey's Law wrote: Anyone could pull this off really, it's a huge quantity of simple efforts rather than a small amount of high skill techniques. When I come back to working on it I'll do some short tutorials to show how simple it is.
I think you underestimate (like most people) the impressiveness a huge quantity of simple efforts make. Sometimes, in trying/idolising "high skill" techniques, we simply fail, or go overboard, and miss the forest for the trees. I'll be waiting on those tutorials just to be impressed by how simple they are!
I hope you manage to separate your personal life from your diorama sometime soon - I would love to see it finished (painted). It would have made a great entry.
Good point! I'll get back to it soon and maybe encourage others to try out that level of detail with the simplicity of the tutorials.
Arakasi wrote:Interested to see where your next project takes you - what plans are there for the Nurgle Ork Warboss - any soon-ish?
He's definitely something I want to get back to right away, probably before the diorama. Hmm, leave it with me and I'll see what I can do...
dsteingass wrote:Dood!..If you don't make that Dwarf Slayer (With Sunglasses!) into a Necromunda ganger, mail him to me
Apologies but Mr Gortrek has been on my save for later pile for too long, he's going to be entering the Hive now as a Miner. You'll definitely find him on eBay though, he's an amazing miniature. Even better than sunglasses, that's an eyepatch and the bushiest eyebrow you've ever seen!
weetyskemian44 wrote:The slayer is a desirable piece of lead...
Hey this cardboard building looks like a lot of fun. And you have an impressive eye for detail. If you do the tutorial I will read it and have a go!
Again sorry but there are a few on eBay and I recommend you get one, he is definitely a favourite of mine. The cardboard diorama really was a lot of fun, I'll do some tutorials soon. Thanks!
I may have been quiet but I have not been lazy. It doesn't look like much but it's taken a fair amount of work to get them to this stage:
Pictures aren't great but they serve a purpose. So my entry to Graven's competition is well underway and the next pass will include all the green stuff work. C&C welcome as always.
In other news I'm clearing some space by selling off some stuff I'm not using, it's going well so far. A load of Tyranids shipped to Cam earlier this week and I'm looking at parting with my very first army which will be sad. Considering some other stuff as well but I'll see how it goes. The one problem is I'm still massively attached to the army so it's probably more valuable to me than anyone else, I'm trying to convince myself that if it pays for an airbrush set up then it's worth the heartbreak.
Also! I should receive my Infinity Artbook One tomorrow so it feels like Christmas eve. Only Infinity can make you this happy. I might post pictures if I feel like sharing my toys with the other children.
Your work here is more than a little inspiring. I am simply stunned by the subtlety of you green stuff work on your Ecclesiarchy Marines. Your clocktower is marvelous, it has a really nice atmosphere to it that is highly reminiscent of the second world war but which remains setting agnostic. Lastly I am very excited by the necromunda conversions you have posted most recently, already at this early stage they tell a story.
Thanks H, I'll be blocking the base sides in with green stuff but the pipes will remain open. Once they are painted I'll be adding some sludgy liquid to them too.
Thanks for subscribing Guern, that's probably the nicest comment I've had to date. It means a lot to me that my work might inspire someone else, it's the greatest compliment. I hope you stick around, I'm always looking for C&C so I can improve. Also, I see you have a blog, I'm looking forward to checking it out asap.
My Artbook One arrived today and it's amazing! Totally exceeded my already high expectations and I've only looked at the pretty pictures so far, I can't wait to read about the design processes and stuff. I was going to post my favourite image but it quickly became apparent that my favourite image was always the one on the next page. I decided that I'd allow myself to post 5 pictures as a preview to those who have yet to receive their book and as an advert to those that haven't bought it yet, so obviously you're getting 6. Whether you play Infinity or not you need this book!
The book also comes with 9 beautiful poster prints which are going to get framed for my wall. This one is called The Big Brother:
The Alien Menace:
Searchers of Knowledge:
The Future Asia:
This is a page from the book itself, I'm posting it because it made me chuckle. These early designs for the Tohaa are miles away from the final design choice and are surprisingly cute little anime guys instead of the sinister double crossing humanoids we all know and love.
And another early Tohaa design for the Chaska. Mewtwo anyone?!
Enjoy folks, I'm off to pour over this tome of brilliance.
cool, looks good. Can you preview the gecko action pose page as well? There is a pic from weeks ago floating around by its at an angle and cuts off parts which makes it less conducive to a wallpaper or avatar.
Camkierhi wrote: Got an "attempted delivery" note. So guess that's it, will let you know tomorrow. (Can't wait)
Hopefully you've had time to have a good root through by now.
No updates right now folks. Just started this new job and although I have time for hobbying I just want to settle in to the new schedule first. It's backshift so I don't want to get caught up in sculpting and make myself late. I'm off tomorrow though so I'll make progress on Graven's competition entry and maybe figure out what to enter, if anything, to Damo's.
Glad you're enjoying them, Cam! No need to thank me quite so much though, you paid for them after all. I hope they bring you many wins, looks like they supplement what you already had rather well.
So where has Casey been? Well I started that job which took up a little time but not that much. More importantly a friend of mine came home for a visit and another friend had a birthday. That meant drinking, lots of lovely drinking. To top it off I then bought a new copy of Deus Ex because mine had got ruined right before I got to do the last boss. Well it had been a long time coming so I spent the last three days playing the heck out of it. Such an amazing game, it really is one of the best I've ever played. And no other game will ever have you contemplating life's big issues quite so often or so well.
I just completed it about half an hour ago so we can now return to your scheduled program. Well... I also bought a preowned copy of Skyrim which I had been putting off. I think I'll get on with some hobby fun before I tackle that though, I know I'll get obsessed which is why I've put it off for so long.
I made a tiny bit of progress to Graven's comp entry so I'll see about posting that tomorrow. I also cued up the Nork again for some more work so we'll see how that goes before the week is out. Lastly, the ole Nids are on my mind a lot, what with Medium_of_Death mentioning them, someone commenting on the thread and the rumours of new releases. I think I might 'prepare' them for whatever GW are going to vomit up. Hopefully I can find some useful and not to expensive stuff in the releases.
I'm not sure what I've been doing with my time. Wasting it I think. In an effort to spark alight all of this hobby kindling I have around me I'll post pictures of my entry to Graven's comp. Pictures aren't great but the purpose is really to shame me into action.
As you can see, all I really managed to do was to get the bases filled in and put down some early greenstuff on the Squat's legs.
I'm considering calling them Romy and Jules but I'm not sold yet. Suggestions are welcome!
In other news I decided to post up my first army in the swap shop to fund and air brush. It was a hard decision to make but I'd rather someone got some use from them and I really do need an airbrush. Someone is interested already but he needs some extra time so he's told me to look into other offers while I wait.
Well posting those picture didn't really light a fire under me. I had a think about what is wrong and I managed to put my finger on it. Here is a little explanation if you're interested.
This burnout is a direct effect from an unwanted delay in a huge project of mine. Only a select few will be at all aware of this project. I have been working towards setting up my own business within the miniature wargames industry. I'm really excited about it but I don't have access or the money to even put together the necessary prototypes to seek further funding. This is resulted in an extremely undesirable delay and just put me in a bad place for hobbying.
I'm trying to secure some more hours at work or find a second job to get over this hurdle but if I can't get things ready by early November I'm going to have to seriously reconsider some things. If only I had a catalogue of finished work, I might be able to pull in some commission work!
All that said, I feel like working on Romy and Jules right now so we'll see how that goes.
@graven - Haha, I haven't seen that and by the looks of it that's no bad thing. @vic - Thanks for the honest critique. It might be becuase I plan to paint on a lot of the details or it might be that I still have the GS work to do. Could that be it? If you have any other suggestions then I'm all ears.
With addition of GS , especially on Jules I think I will seefar bbetter where this is heading. I have to add that I have very biased views on bald girls,bthis probably ha influenced my criticism...
You starting your own business...that certainly sparks a lot of interest as I think you have great potential ! Best wishes!
Thanks guys! Fingers crossed I can make it happen!
@H - Pictures soon! @Vik - I'll see if I can convert you to bald chicks with Chelsea hawk bangs. And the business concerns something you complimented ne on not so long ago in another thread. @weets - Thank you! Oh and look what I saw on flipboard:
Spoiler:
Les says we don't need to capture and train tiny spiders!
I must say I enjoyed my little hibernation but I miss Dakka so I'm back already. Time to get cracking on my projects again, starting with graven's competition. Which I have just rediscovered to be ending tomorrow, unless anything has changed? That might be a bit tough but I really just have to paint so maybe I can manage...
That's all really just a little update to say I'm back. The company I hinted at is stagnant at the moment but I just had a small development in terms of possible funding. Fingers crossed!
Haha! Thanks for the warm welcome lads! Lovely to be back but it'll take me a few days to catch up and ramp back up to full Dakka. Sadly I had to work today so I won't manage your competition Graven, I'll finish it up anyway to show my support, albeit a little late.
As I'm in the process of selling my Slaanesh Chaos Space Marines and I currently have nothing new to show I think I'll share a few posts on them. I've been taking some more pictures at the request of one interested party so I have lots of blog fodder to get through! I shall start with a pretty poor photograph of the full army(Poor photographs is a bit of a theme, my apologies in advance!):
So a little general info is in order to get the ball rolling. This, Pandora's Lost Souls, was my first army and I learnt a lot from building them although I think I have improved a lot since then. The painting standard is particularly low which doesn't show off the conversions in the best light yet I still have a certain pride in this, my first born. The army was developed around the 3rd Edition('Greatest Codex Ever') with a couple of tweaks in the form of a Megasaur from White Dwarf's Creature Features and two squads of Traitor Guard/Cultists from the Witch Hunter Adversaries section. But let's start with the Raptor squad:
This is my Raptor Aspiring Champion. I still remember how much of a challenge it was to do something as simple as reposition those legs, how times have changed. Here on throughout the army you'll see I plundered many different miniatures for conversion components, goodness knows what I spent on them via the good old mail order service. The flame freehand is an icon copied through the army but the key only appears on this model, it's all part of what was quite a detailed back story.
My Meltagunner is one of the simpler models in the army, I used the icon on his jump pack to be able to quickly pick him from the crowd. You'll see the scarred eye motif recurring within the army.
I have two Raptor's with Flamers, the first is taken from an Imperial Guard Conscript sprue.
The second Flamer sports some pretty common Chaos Mutation Sprue components.
This lad holds the Aspiring Champion's Teleport Homer upgrade and was my first, rather poor, attempt at OSL.
The second installment, as promised, is the Chaos Space Marine Squad.
And this is a small Traitor Guard squad that I built to accompany them as a meatshield.
Despite being the Aspiring Champion, this old boy hasn't got much in the way of conversion. I do remember thinking that the hollowed out helmet strapped to him was far more exciting than it actually is.
This Plasma Gunner holds the squads Teleport Homer, the OSL really isn't one of my best moments in the hobby but I was young.
I got quite caught up in this leg repositioning malarkey, it's actually a pretty good way to get some variation in a squad. I don't think they are terrible attempts although I could obviously do a much better job in a fraction of the time these days.
And finally the rest of the gang, sporting there own little bits of conversion work here and there.
Thanks Cam but I'm sorry to say I haven't done a single thing for quite a while. This is a very old army of mine that have been sitting in a box for so long that I'm selling them. I'm just doing a little documentation before I wave them goodbye.
I won't be doing any work on them before they go. Because I've improved a lot, I think, since I built the army I couldn't just do touch ups. I'd have to strip them and take them apart so that I could redo the greenstuff and repaint. Even after all that it'd still not feel up to standard. I'd be better just buying new kits and rebuilding them if I wanted to keep the army going.
Actually. I have long considered reimagining this army but the recent codex kiboshed my plans. I'll bring them back when Mark of Slaanesh allows access to Sonic weaponry again! I would love to be able to run an all TDA army with Sonic Blasters again. I live in hope.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Woops, you ninja'd me Vic!
Yeh it was a terrible execution and terrible paint scheme really. Barely a highlight in sight and I gloss varnished the black armour because I thought it'd look like polished onyx or something.
...I started this hobby without an ounce of talent. And I still don't have any!
Thanks H! I certainly hope I've improved. The army is pretty much sold at this stage. There is a guy in Canada who wants to buy but he needs a couple of weeks to save the money. He said to keep it on ebay though in case someone is ready to buy sooner. It's still up there and someone else is watching the lot so they might snap it up soon I guess. I may... may plug the money into a Badger Khrome and Compressor. That would allow me to really bash out some models finally which would be nice.
Okay so onto the Havoc squad.
This squad was all about mid range pain. A Kai Gun, 4 Heavy Bolters and 5 Sonic Blasters... death rain. Ridiculous points cost per man but the whole army was built like that just because I could.
Like the Tactical Squad I did up a companion squad of Traitor Guard.
The Aspiring Champion with his Kai Gun and Power Fist.
The four Havocs with Heavy Bolters. The first guy has the Kai Gun holster on his backpack.
And the Sonic Blasters.
While I'm at it, here is my Chaos Drednaught.
The idea was to have it charging forward, partially restrained by chains.
Thanks guys! These old boys are getting a much better response than I expected!
@Pacific - The boys in the spiky shoulder pads were my first and greatest love but I suppress those daemons these days. I don't know how long it'll last though, I see Guita and Damo's work with the Slaan and those voices start chittering away in my ear again...
Anywho, on with the show! This is my Chaos Lieutenant and his Chaos Hound followers, they were a late addition to the force and I never really finished painting them. Interestingly this is the first time tried sculpting a miniature, the main body of the Lieutenant is, quite obviously, greenstuff. The unit itself is rather unusual but I won't go into the long fluff reasons for the chosen aesthetics, just know that I had good reasons.
And this model went along with the same fluff. The rules were from a White Dwarf article called Creature Feature which gave rules for a few interesting 40k species for use in your army or as NPCs. This particular one was called a Megasaur and you could take it as a stand alone, like I did, or as a steed.
I remember bleeding a lot doing this conversion which partly inspired the dripping blood from the icon. It was a metal Carnisaur and I had a pretty terrible file which I used to shave back the scales on it's side. I then resculpted them in GS, leaving the shape of the Slaanesh icon. Probably one of the better models in the army I think.
Next up is the final, biggest and most important unit!
Oh and it turns out I have a few days off work in a row. Got a lot of decorating to do but I'm sure I can fit in some hobbying. Also, I may, may, have bought myself an airbrush...
Aw thanks guys! Yep I'm selling these guys off, preferably as one lot and with their own Citadel Army Case. I have an offer at £300 + P&P but the buyer needs time to save up the money so they said to take any sale that can make a quicker payment. If anyone is interested feel free to drop me a pm.
Here is the final installment of this showcase. My Chaos Lord and his escort of 10 Chosen Terminator Champions.
This is the Chaos Lord, Pandora. The familiars served no purpose in terms of rules but I thought they were fun additions to his retinue. The face tentacles and speaker were heavily influenced by the artwork next to the Chaos Lord entry which some of you may remember. It was a really striking image, very understated and chilling Chaos. This was an early attempt for me at doing quite small scale sculpting, I can't stress enough how much I learned doing this army even if the quality is lower than I am now capable of. The organ type backpack grafted to his armour really added to his imposing height on the battleground. Lastly the little collection of pouches and the belt were added to show that I ran him with combat drugs. This whole squad ran at ridiculous points with tonnes off buffs, I think Pandora could hit with 7 or 8, no armour save, re-rollable(hits and some of the wounds) attacks on the charge. Devastating if he ever got to combat, the Deep Striking really helped secure that.
This lad, Titan, was like an unofficial Lieutenant, not quite on the same scale as Pandora but he is still a devastating character on his own. Again he sports double lighting claws but I went for a much more fluid look. The cloak both helped to achieve that and secured his rather fragile jumping pose. The raven/crow was a little familiar I added to show that he was more important than the other Chosen Terminator Champions.
For this model I really wanted to retain the Space Wolf look to show that these renegades had picked up recruits along the way. Looking back I could have done more but I like the chaotic nature of the whip and tentacle. It just imbued him with a sense of mania, how do you defend yourself against a blurry mass of whipping fury like that?
I'm proud of this chap, he's one of a few models in this group that got a lot of fluff attention. The story was that he had rescued the remnants of that banner as the last man standing against an onslaught of Nids. He is adorned with trophies from the killing spree he went on. The story goes that he lifted the last gaunt and tore it apart with his hands, the acidic blood poured over him destroying his face. He kept the claws and modified them into power weapons as well as grafting some of the creature's chitin plates to his shoulder pad.
This miniature is pretty standard, meant to be a later addition to the forces, he sports a few interesting bits from various kits.
With this guy I wanted to capture a less active, more menacing look. He's like the unofficial Sorcerer of the squad, I think Ahriman's staff and the horned helm really helps with that. Some of you ole grizzled vets may recognize that other arm, it's, I believe, an old Space Crusade Drednaught's arm cannon. I thought it was a really funky looking piece of kit to stand in for this guys sonic blaster.
The following Termy was just a miniature I had fallen in love with, such a stunning figure and I was dying to turn him to the dark side. I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out. The elongated, underslung flamer and pointing finger are such a definite challenge to the enemy. The sheild adorned with spikes was an idea I had to do something a little different with the chainfist concept. I liked the idea that it would be crackling with warp energies and he'd use it to barge into infantry and vehicles alike. Not so much functional but I felt the rule of cool applied. I think that top knot really changed this guys look from Chaplain to Chaos Champion. You'll notice some other simple changes, like the flamer hooked up to a canister which is protected by the shield come chainfist. I removed one of the wings from the chest plate to give an Emperor's Children vibe and greenstuffed a Slaan icon over his pendant.
This is another squadie with a bit of a story. I was working on a Chaos Tau army at the time, which I abandoned, and I wanted the stories to intermingle. The idea was that he had led the renegade Tau in a battle, things turned sour and they began to be overrun. Taking things into his own, very capable, hands he ran through the trenches dispatching everything in his path, friend and foe. A bit of a Mary Sue, he cleared the lines and secured a victory against all odds. You can see he kept many trophies from leading the Tau. To represent that character I really wanted something different and very close combat orientated. I think that leaping stomp pose tells you everything about this guy in a glance.
Another Mary Sue, this lad overcame tides of Orks to get back his beloved flamer. After losing his eyes to a rather aggressive grot the Prince of Excess granted him the vision he needed to tear his way through the horde and finally to take down the giant Warboss. The Warboss' Power Claw trophy stands in as a Chainfist and his face is grafted to the shoulder pad. I liked the idea that he had gained a certain respect for the Orks and that he carries that Big Shoota as an admirable backup weapon.
Nothing fancy here but a nice little compact pose showcasing that tusked helm and the Despoiler's blade.
Lastly it's the third of the Flamer/Chainfist combos. This is probably this simplest model in the squad.
And that is the entire army showcased! Take care folks!
I am really glad you posted these pictures, they are full of ideas and character, it's always a shame when we are parted from our creations, but I guess needs must.
Wish I could afford to buy them from you, such a great collection.
Great to see you back with us, and looking forward to seeing you around.
Thank you very much Cam, I almost didn't post them as I thought the reception would be justifiably rough. It's lovely to be proven wrong though and it serves as an even greater compliment to my current efforts which even I can see have moved on a lot.
You know, I was very protective of this army until very recently. It stayed packed away in it's foam case, never dusty, never damaged and never seen. Then I realised that I would rather someone else had them, enjoyed them and used them. They are doing nobody any good all packed away. When I realised that it became a lot easier to sell them on and I'm very positive about it now. I'm actually quite looking forward to seeing who ends up with them.
Plus it makes way for new things, I'll use the cash to get myself a compressor for my new airbrush and finally get some stuff painted up!
It's been pretty rough. I thought it was the flu for a while, I had all the symptoms but it never got that bad. Worst cold I've ever had though! And I'm only just getting a day off today, they couldn't arrange cover so I had to work through it. Feeling a little better and I'm back in tomorrow afternoon.
I'll get back to some hobbying soon but I won't be doing any painting til I've finalised the sale off this army so I can buy a compressor for my new brush.
Ooft! Where to start? I need to do a massive catch up, News, Blogs, Releases... That's going to take a while!
So yeh, I'm dragging my sorry backside out of this hobbyless abyss. Finally getting life back in order which includes having my workbench set up and ready for business. Almost more importantly I now have a laptop and I've tethered it to my mobile network so I'm easily able to plug my self back into Dakka and let the hobby flow directly through my veins. So pumped!
So yeh: I'm alive; I have lots of reading to do; I can't wait to catch up with old friends; I have an airbrush; And I have so many projects that are fighting for my attention!
Oh yeh and no one ever wanted that army. If any friends would like it just fire me a message, I'll go low.
Dr H wrote:Welcome back Casey. Good to see you are still kicking. Look forward to more from you.
Camkierhi wrote:Welcome back nice to hear from you,.
Thanks, fellas! I'm throwing myself into Dakka catch up right now but everything is getting set up and the creative juices are flowing so furiously that I need a bib for a shirt and a splash guard for my laptop. Lovely image? Good! I'm really looking forward to working my way around to both of your blogs and finding out what exciting triumphs you've conjured in my absence.
As i have now revealed. I have done nothing since last we spoke. I am a bad hobbyist, a very bad hobbyist.
That's so weird, I was just thinking about you earlier this week, great to see you back on Dakka! Don't worry I haven't posted that much for you to catch up on
inmygravenimage wrote:Good to see you're not dead squire
Knightley wrote:That's so weird, I was just thinking about you earlier this week, great to see you back on Dakka! Don't worry I haven't posted that much for you to catch up on
Thanks very much, gents. And good to know I'm not forgotten! What got you thinking of me, something good I hope?
So what you mean is that you haven't posted much more than the regular 100 perfectly crisp, grey miniatures a week for the last year? Oh well that's not so bad.
Further progress has been made: I have located my airbrush!
Gitsplitta wrote:I hate being late to a party when the party is THIS good! Great stuff Case, keep it coming!
Pacific wrote:Good to see you back again Casey, interested to see what you have/will be working on!
Feeling that Dakkanaut love in abundance, feels like I've barely been away. Great to have you on board Gits, I'll be looking for lots of input from all you very talented people as I reanimate these projects of mine. I was just saying today, there is nothing like the feeling of having someone you respect creatively compliment your work.
I want to get my current, and many, projects finished before I start anything else but I'm wary of constraining my creative vent. To make that feasible I'm just putting all of my projects on the block and whatever takes my fancy at any given moment will be what I'm producing. Currently underway, and in no particular order, I have:
Tyranids - Hive Fleet Blackbird
Infinity - Heralds of the Knife
Necromunda - La'Rua 005
Space Marines - Ministorum Patriarchus
and 3 competition entries I began but never completed;
Graven - Necromunda
Brian - Make Do and Mend
Comrade and Ruglud - Nork Warboss
A lot to do but all exciting stuff for me and it really helps to have it sitting in front of you for inspiration. I've even loaded all of my gallery images into a screen saver background on my new laptop so I'm constantly being inspired. Now I need to make enough room to have them all out on display together. If I'm posting on another blog I'll link up here to spread the word.
Maybe pictures next time, maybe not.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Aah, that's better.
Ooo, a sonicator... snazzy. Wonder how it compares to what we had in the lab.
Soulcow, it uses ultrasound to, in essence, pummel the surface of anything immersed in the water effectively scrubbing the mini's surface like a tiny brush. But it should work far more effectively than a brush and will get into the tiniest of crevices. The paint will likely be reduced to a powder.
I've not used one in this context, in the lab we used them to help dissolve stubborn compounds by breaking down the solid into a very fine powder. It also creates a localised heating effect that also helped with dissolution without leading to thermal degradation of the chemicals.
I soak my mini's in Dettol, and I have a freind ( I know it is hard to believe) who uses dettol in his sonic bath, works amazingly, he strips whole armies for people for a fee.
Yep, that's all the information you need really. This grade isn't exactly lab quality it's more for cleaning jewellery and such but it's the same tech at the heart of it. Dettol appears to be the go to, off the shelf product for hobbyists in the UK, although it has to be the brown one as far as I have been told. In the US they seem to be big fans of Simple Green so it's worth searching Dakka and Google to find out what people are using near you. That said, I read that someone was using a cheap, off brand version of Dettol with solid effects so when I was buying it I grabbed a supermarket version too for almost an 8th of the price.
As I still haven't sold that Chaos army, and so many people suggest I'd sell it quickly if I'd strip it first, I decided to throw the 30 Conscripts/Traitor Guard/Cultists into the cleaner submerged in a pint of fluid. I tested the supermarket one out first(45p for a litre!) and after a lot of cycles and very little effect I decided to pour it back into the bottle and see what the Dettol would do. The Dettol(Expensive at £3.50 for 750ml!) worked a dream and started turning the paint into gloop after a couple of 8min cycles. That's more like it! I'm still figuring things out so I decided to whip them out at this stage and give them a scrub with a big old brush. Already I'd taken off about 70% of the paint so I put them back in for another couple of cycles, agitating them after the first one. At this point any paint left was running off them like snot so they went under the brush again which removed almost everything. They remain a little dirty looking so I plan another quick bath tomorrow and I'll use an old toothbrush instead of a paintbrush to get a bit of a deeper clean. Very promising though! I'm wondering how expensive this is going to be though. This army has quite a lot of paint on it so the Dettol is almost black and full of gunk after this batch. I'm not sure how much longer I can use it for before it's going to be an issue or for how long I can leave it sitting in the cleaner, I might put it back in the bottle but I don't really want to ruin the rest of it. Any advice on these issues will be very welcomely received!! An interesting note is that, although I avoided skin contact with the Dettol, I was handling these miniatures for an extended period without gloves and all that happened was I wrinkly fingertips and my hands smell of Dettol. Not something I want to make a habit of though as it is, after all, an irritant.
I don't have pictures from that sadly but I can take some on the next batch if there is interest. Actually I don't seem to have any pictures to share at all, sorry about that.
Cam, what does your friend charge, if you don't mind me asking? So far this seems like quite a big job and Dettol isn't cheap if he replaces it often. Plus I've already ruined a tea towel, i could see the costs and time racking up quite a fee!
Ultrasonic cleaners work great for airbrushes too. Especially for people who don't properly maintain them.
In the US something called Dawn Power Dissolver also works nicely.
Dettol, mostly pine oil, isopropanol, castor oil, soap and water with an antiseptic, Chloroxylenol. I suspect the first two ingredients do most of the stripping.
I know people who have used Pine-sol to strip metal minis, but don't use it on plastics or resins.
Practice makes perfect with the airbrush. A Badger I see. I like their renegade series. Got the Velocity myself.
I believe he charges something like 30p a model, or maybe a bit more, not sure. I know I was looking at £60 to strip a sizable IG army. The Dettol is good for a few cycles, you can sieve it to get the worst of the gunk out, store it in a "used" tub. Try to keep the "new" stuff clean. And yup it is a blooming messy business, so I do recommend gloves and an apron, and not doing it in the kitchen sink ( the wife goes mental!) and I use old toothbrushes. Never had any problems with it affecting the models, but if you let it go long enough ( remember I just leave it to soak.) it breaks down greenstuff, superglue and and even some plastic cements. So like a Ork Mega armour figure I had, I put it in, 3 days later I got a pile of bits of white metal out., just to bear in mind.
So good to see you on the go again bud, shame you couldn't sell the chaos army, I seriously thought about it, but just not got that kinda money kicking about.
Great point, Red! I don't know how I forgot to mention it's use for cleaning airbrushes because that's the real reason I purchased it! Glad to have another face on board my personal Titanic come Groundhog Day.
@Cam - That sounds pretty reasonable but enough of an incentive for him to put the time in. By the time I finish stripping the Chaos then I'll have sped up and I might consider offering a similar service. It's something I could slip in before a backshift at work and not worry about having to leave suddenly and abandoning it. Oh I strained off the gunk as you suggested and after topping it up I'm putting it back into service. Could keep this going for quite a while I think. Messy business though.
And I'm so happy to be back, mate! I proper miss Dakka whenever I've taken time off. I've actually got a feeling the Chaos will go pretty quickly once it's stripped. I wouldn't buy it if I had to strip it first either so I can't blame people that have shown interest and then bailed.
So tonight I was sort of doing some hobbying... I've got a bit of a habit of throwing a tonne of site improvement suggestions at Lego and a surprisingly large percentage have stuck over time. The latest brainwave was to update the Friend List feature and to add functionality to it but then Lego asks if he could see a graphic representation of my idea. Well I want to learn Dreamweaver anyway so I boot it up for a bit of fun ...and quickly fall down the rabbit hole.
I can't code, I'm staring at a glut of pre-existing html, I can't code, I don't know what I'm looking at and, oh yeah... I can't code.
Somehow I staggered out of the ring many hours later with a small token to show for it and I'm quite proud of myself really! It needs a lot of work still but today I can say I took the first step towards writing my own website one day. Here is my battle trophy, earned with blood, sweat and tears:
Camkierhi wrote: I like the idea, looks nice, and would be convenient.
Well you're in luck, my bet is it'll be there in the next update unless something urgent comes up.
legoburner wrote: ok looks pretty cool, I'll add it to the to-do list.
Got some small bits and bobs to post plus an important question down at the bottom!
First up I got those Traitor Guard lads as clean as possible, I think this army will be much more attractive to a buyer when it's stripped like this. They look a little dirty but they are as smooth and ready to prime as I could see them ever being. Before and after pictures to show just how effective the Ultrasonic Cleaner is.
Now that they are out of their bath I've got another couple of models dunked. As you can see the Dettol is seriously dirty! Any guesses as to what's steeping?
Since removing paint from miniatures feels a bit like anti-hobby I decided to combat this directly by organising my paints and getting them set up at my workbench. Spot those ancient Citadels at the back! I think I'll slowly start moving to Vallejo over 2015 but this will do the job for now. Those odd looking paints in the back left are something very special I bought many moons ago for my Heralds, I can't wait to play with them!
While going through them I obviously found a few of the screw top and flip top, clear plastic Citadel pots that couldn't be salvaged. Rather than throw them out I figured I'd channel Angel Giraldez and use them as holds for painting. I threw them in the ultrasonic for a quick run and it did a great job, shame they'll soon be covered in paint again!
So I also have a big question that I'd like as many opinions on as possible. I know a lot of people with multiple blogs eventually get to this place so advice from the experienced would be very appreciated. The question is, do I combine all of my plogs into this one? And I guess as a follow up, would that mean reposting everything here?
As you probably know... I have mine separated by army. I think that helps as not everyone is interesting in every army. Then again some of them go quite a long time between updates and I'm sure lose readership in the process. You might get more comments if you combine them, but better quality comments if you split them up by topic a bit.
This is one of those things where there's no right answer... just go with your gut, play to your strengths.
Yet for me I have everything posted in one central place, I guess it works for me as if I had multiple blogs I would have to maintain each one. With only one means it gets all the love
It amuses me that there's this clawed hand reaching out of the murky depths of the sonicator.
As for blogs, I've split mine into one for my personal army and one for my commission/selling things. As they are both separate projects, with radically different output, I keep them separate to keep things clear.
I don't think it's much of a problem either way. I like to see a variety of modelling (armies, projects, even games) and if that's in one blog, that's fine. But it's equally no bother to follow many, specialised, blogs.
As Gits' said, specialised blogs will capture those that only follow certain armies etc. and get specific comments about that army.
A single, more general, blog will get all your (and your follower's) attention in one place. Easy to follow, but you may find people only pop in every now and then to comment on specific things and other projects may appear to be ignored/missed.
I find with my main blog, that I tend to get more general comments (about the modelling, etc.) and less interest in the specific factions. Someone that is only interested in Tyranids is going to go quiet when I start work on a Space Marine and will only return after I've gone back to Tyranids.
Whereas an entire blog about Tyranids will keep that person coming back more often and specific, Tyranid, conversations will run for longer and get more comments without being cut short by a change of project.
I don't see that either way is better than the other. It's a personal thing.
As for the reposting, I wouldn't do any more than an army shot or something to show where things are up to. People can always pop back to an older thread to see what has come before.
I have been debating this myself, although mine works out fairly well at the moment. I would like a bit more traffic, but enjoy what I have. I have 2 blogs, one for my main interest, (just like the doc) Mine being my orks, and I have a second blog that does everything else. This was itself an emulgamation of several different threads. I dont think you need to repost, but could give a link when you touch on something pertinent.
I have so many blogs I try to follow that I know that I have not followed what some people are up to, and have often thought someone has dropped clean off the planet when it is just that they are on a different blog that I don't know about.
What ever it is just let us know so we can follow what your up to bud.
I would say having it all in one is good since you've kept it pretty organised. I prefer seeing it all in one from a reader's perspective too. But for me from a blogger's standpoint I'd find it easier to keep track of my stuff in different threads for different projects. I guess there's no right or wrong way to do it though.
Dr H wrote:It amuses me that there's this clawed hand reaching out of the murky depths of the sonicator.
Rawr!
ckig wrote:Nice blog
Thanks, feel free to have a look at the other 'in hibernation' ones! Had a spy at what you're up to and it has definitely been added to my 'to read' pile. Expect a visit soon!
Five very good and thought provoking replies and I have churned each one over in turn. It's also really interesting to hear it from the perspectives of people with such large and successful blogs, I am not worthy.
Gitsplitta wrote:You might get more comments if you combine them, but better quality comments if you split them up by topic a bit.
Gits, the key element I took from you is whether the aim is quality or quantity. Well my aim is to produce a high quality of work, having that work seen by others is secondary to me. That sounds like a tick in the 'split' column.
Gitsplitta wrote:just go with your gut, play to your strengths.
Another little piece of wisdom right there. I'm not sure what my strengths are but I know my weaknesses are a lack of work to post and never finishing anything I start. That makes me think I should combine everything so at least I can produce a steadier output. So we're all tied up at 1 to 1 but much closer to a decision.
Knightley wrote:if I had multiple blogs I would have to maintain each one
That's a great point, maintaining 5 ongoing blogs is much more time consuming and challenging than having everything in one feed. That said, maybe I have enough free time to keep on top of at least a few threads but I'm not sure. I hadn't considered this implication at all so thanks for bringing me your point of view. I'll the simplicity of this solution so I can see myself combining everything now.
Dr H wrote:I find with my main blog, that I tend to get more general comments (about the modelling, etc.) and less interest in the specific factions. Someone that is only interested in Tyranids is going to go quiet when I start work on a Space Marine and will only return after I've gone back to Tyranids.
That's some great insight. I'm definitely pro keeping a thread of conversation open while I go off elsewhere to work on something those people might not be interested in. And as you say, if some of those people are interested then it isn't hard to follow me across. Definite swing towards multiple blogs here.
Camkierhi wrote:I have so many blogs I try to follow that I know that I have not followed what some people are up to, and have often thought someone has dropped clean off the planet when it is just that they are on a different blog that I don't know about.
That's the worry really. If someone is following at least one of my projects then they might like other things I'm doing but never find it on another blog.
Camkierhi wrote:What ever it is just let us know so we can follow what your up to bud.
And maybe that's simply the solution. Just a quick, 'I'm over here working on something else' whenever I change project log.
ckig wrote:I prefer seeing it all in one from a reader's perspective too. But for me from a blogger's standpoint I'd find it easier to keep track of my stuff in different threads for different projects.
There are certainly two sides to this story and that's them laid bare. What does the reader want, what does the blogger want and who matters more? As I mentioned before, I guess, selfishly, my work is my primary focus. Then again, how many big bloggers say that their readers are the blog? And how many more say that comments drive them to do more? So maybe I need to be a little less selfish for selfish reasons?
So where do we conclude? With a compromise I think. This blog shall serve as a hub to all it's counterparts and it shall henceforth wholly encompass all current and future projects of diminutive size. If a project outgrows the size of this enclosure then I will transplant it to a new and solitary home. Currently all projects that have their own blogspaces(Blackbird, La'Rua, Heralds) will remain separated whether they reach a large enough size to earn it or not. As hub this blog will be used to guide traffic when I move to work on another project. Moving forward I plan to work on small and varied projects so I will spend more and more time posting to this blog.
Thanks for you input everyone, it was extremely helpful!
I was going to throw down some pictures of those stripped miniatures but green stuff doesn't agree with a prolonged exposure to Dettol and I've lost probably 3 of my top 5 best conversions because I got cocky. I'm going to crawl into a corner and cry now.
Really sorry to hear that CL. Sad news for all of us.
One way to help manage (and direct people to) multiple blogs... go check out my signature. Descriptive links to everything that I want people to easily get to. Not sure how many people see/use it, but it's there every time I post!
Gitsplitta wrote:Really sorry to hear that CL. Sad news for all of us.
Camkierhi wrote:Oh man, sorry to hear about the models.
Dr H wrote:Sad to hear the conversions fell apart.
What happened to the GS, did it just fall off, or has it broken up (and therefore not re-glue-able)?
Thanks for the support, fellas, it's still a bit of a sore spot. It's a bad state of affairs really as with my limited output it's a huge loss. I actually haven't touched them or even looked in the direction of my desk since it happened. I'll pluck up the courage in the morning and I'm going to bite the bullet soon and start fresh on them using the pictures to replicate my work.
Basically the GS softened, warped and detached to different degrees in different locales. One miniature looked like it might have survived because the sculpting was so small and tight that it couldn't really do anything but stay where it was, I'll find out in the morning if it's recoverable. The rest is ruined, gluing back in place might have been an option but Infinity miniatures are helluva small and fingers, holster straps and ribbons are way to small to glue on at this scale.
Silver linings, maybe this will kick start my sculpting again and give me some practice before I tackle something new. I've also picked up a couple of 'items' which I can have some 'sculpting' fun with to lighten my mood a little. If all goes well then I'll get pictures of that tomorrow, I'm looking forward to it.
Gitsplitta wrote:One way to help manage (and direct people to) multiple blogs... go check out my signature. Descriptive links to everything that I want people to easily get to. Not sure how many people see/use it, but it's there every time I post!
Good shout man, I was looking at all of your signatures for that exact reason actually. I have links in mine already but it would be nice to improve it, I often wonder if people just breeze past them on the forums.
For sure, Doc. Well I had a good study of the Infinity ones and I can repair some small parts now they have dried out. Most of it will need resculpted but I can get on board with that.
I also pulled out those 'items' for 'sculpting' this afternoon. Used one to practice and get a feel for the medium, it shall now become soup, possibly with blue cheese, and maybe a smoothie with bananas. The other one awaits me getting home from work.
I've been getting a bit obsessed with Ray Villafane so I might try and push myself on this and incorporate his style into something more traditional. Wish I had a dremel right now! I've got too many and yet not enough ideas so while I'm away feel free to throw me some suggestions. Papa Nurgle is foremost in my thoughts.
Almost forgot to mention that I revisited this pumpkin solely to practise some stuff and get more of a feel of he medium. I have some proper ideas for bigger pumpkins now but here is where I got to while messing around.
This is a really fun material to work in and it's interesting to be carving in rather than sculpting out. You have to reverse how you think and start at the extremities plus if you go too far it's game over. Just like working in wood or stone I guess but I've never tried that kind of sculpture before.
Well your still ahead of most gamers "Try less, suck harder"
Ruglud wrote:Creepy crazy pumpkin...
Haha, thanks folks. I'm really looking forward to doing a big one before the season ends. I'll plan it out and draw the design on first though, probably should pick up some made to fit tools too, the flathead screwdriver on my leatherman wasn't ideal.
ckig wrote:The picture is actually a picture of Casey. You can see his name on the side. He has been blessed by nurgle!
Caught!
Dr H wrote:Nice carving.
Now reproduce that in scale...
Alpharius wrote:MOAR PUMPKINS!
The one mini I'm always on the hunt for is a cool figure with a pumpkin for a head...
HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!
If there really is interest in such a miniature I would genuinely be interested in canvassing opinion to come up with an idea for me to try and sculpt/cast. Anyone else interested?
Well I did but even if you are the only one, Alph, I think I might be hooked. If you are interested in such a miniature then start throwing ideas at me and lets see what we can come up with, that goes for anyone who would be interested in obtaining such a miniature. I don't want to turn this into a giant project with a load of different variations for different units but I could entertain a couple or more pieces as one project.
Casey's Law wrote: I want to get my current, and many, projects finished before I start anything else
So I'm a liar among other things.
So I've been hobby focussed tonight. The Second Annual Mantis Maker Challenge has stirred an idea I had entertained around the time of the original MMC... and it's matured somewhat. Which means more work. Which means a pain in my backside. I don't really know if I want to bite this delicious looking hook but I need to let the creative juices flow so I've put together a mock up of what I would enter if I was going to take part. Nah, seriously I'll never finish it but at least I'm doing some hands on sketching. If you haven't heard of this before then click that link, show the guys some support and, even better, submit an entry. Anyway, here he is:
This little Mantis has already caused quite a bit of trouble. I had to go through quite a few boxes to pool the majority of my bits in order to access this or that component. I did bump into these lads along the way though:
It's been a long time since I picked these up and they are one of those projects that I no longer have any intention of completing. If anyone would like them then raise your hand. The conversions aren't finished but I can do that for you if you just want them to paint, or you can have them as is.
In other news I read someone's blog today and will comment soon, another amazing addition to my exalts. Then I read my own Heralds of the Knife blog and got really, really into reading my own fluff. How vain is that?!
Those stealth suits do give me an idea. Not just painted to look like they are actively camouflaged, but modelled to represent how they will look. Almost like they are melting into or out of the terrain. Adding that to my list.
Well I did but even if you are the only one, Alph, I think I might be hooked. If you are interested in such a miniature then start throwing ideas at me and lets see what we can come up with, that goes for anyone who would be interested in obtaining such a miniature. I don't want to turn this into a giant project with a load of different variations for different units but I could entertain a couple or more pieces as one project.
Well, I am a fan of Jack O'Lantern, even though he's a C-Lister Marvel villain.
He's had a few people take the name, as well as a few different looks over the years:
I prefer the Hi-Tech Version:
Malifaux is allegedly releasing the Carver in plastic soon:
And someone does this one too:
I guess I'm looking for a more Hi-Tech SF version?
Knightley wrote:loving the mantis marine, very cool concept!
inmygravenimage wrote:Looking good on the mantis there bud
Dr H wrote:Good thoughts on the Mantis.
Camkierhi wrote:Love the Mantis Warrior concept, you must do it!
Theophony wrote:Cool mantis concept, it made me think of Schwarzenegger in predator as he climbs out from under the branches covered in mud.
I guess I'm entering the competition then? No promises.
Say what you see!
Alpharius wrote:Well, I am a fan of Jack O'Lantern, even though he's a C-Lister Marvel villain. I guess I'm looking for a more Hi-Tech SF version?
Theophony wrote:And yes to pumpkins
Camkierhi wrote:Like the idea of your take on Jacko too.
I really like the idea of a sci-fi pumkin miniature, I haven't seen that before. I don't really want to work on an established character but there's some good inspiration from those images. I particularly like the first sci-fi styled one that looks Green Goblin-esque. Think I prefer on foot though. What scale should I be looking at working in? I'll keep the cogs turning on this, keep throwing stuff at me too.
Dr H wrote:Those stealth suits do give me an idea. Not just painted to look like they are actively camouflaged, but modelled to represent how they will look. Almost like they are melting into or out of the terrain. Adding that to my list.
That was pretty much the plan. I additionally planned to give each one individual nose art style markings. Whatever you do with them I'm sure it'll be awesome and I look forward to it.
Camkierhi wrote:Yup your back dude, good to see you.
Was having a bit of a sucky day and that cheered me right up, chief. You're a gem.
That's better positioning of the head, the first mock-up you posted made it look like he's had a heavy night on the town and was being violently sick in the woods... Now he's ready to pounce on his unsuspecting victim... Nice work
Alpharius wrote:SF Pumpkin Man should be in that classic 28mm - 32/35mm range?
Always a good choice! I'm churning away on this and won't drop the ball. RIght now I'm really trying to come up with something better than sci-fi armour with a pumpkin head because if it's that simple I could just sculpt the head and stick it on whatever I want. Playing with a few more involved concepts. The trouble seems to be that all this subject matter comes from a fantasy theme. Does it have to be an actual pumpkin because I was musing on Dark Knight Scarecrow?
ckig wrote:So those chainswords pop out like mantis claws? Awesome!
Yep the claws are meant to pop like a Mantis, it's not exactly my original concept but I'll leave that for another day.
Ruglud wrote:That's better positioning of the head, the first mock-up you posted made it look like he's had a heavy night on the town and was being violently sick in the woods... Now he's ready to pounce on his unsuspecting victim... Nice work
Ruglud, you have good eyes, the head at this angle is throwing me so many problems. Still not settled on something for it.
Camkierhi wrote:Yup that looks awesome. If you where walking through some jungle and glanced at that you would definately deficate your power armour. Great job.
If you saw it! Thanks guys.
I've been playing around with it but I somehow managed to run out of all types of glue without realising it. More on it's way. The legs are pretty much in final positions but the toes need to come down flatter and glued properly before I do the greenstuff work on them. Arms and body pretty much completed but the head is winding me up, got a few concepts on the go but I'll probably end up using a bare head of some kind. Started working the base from the bottom but again I have no glue, pva this time. Anyway, here is a progress shot, not a lot to show but I haven't posted for a while.
Not finalised a position yet but he's bloody hard to photograph in this one I know that much.
It's a very 3-dimensional pose... I've made those myself on occasion. Damn near impossible to photograph properly. You really need to have them in-hand so you can turn them around and study them from all angles to fully appreciate them.
Conversion and posing are coming along really good.
I would not want to face thing that required a double power-fisted, double chain-sworded Space Marine (purposefully capitalized) lurch like that, though...
Looking forward to seeing how it developed, hope glue arrives soon.
Alpharius wrote:SF Pumpkin Man should be in that classic 28mm - 32/35mm range?
Always a good choice! I'm churning away on this and won't drop the ball. RIght now I'm really trying to come up with something better than sci-fi armour with a pumpkin head because if it's that simple I could just sculpt the head and stick it on whatever I want. Playing with a few more involved concepts. The trouble seems to be that all this subject matter comes from a fantasy theme. Does it have to be an actual pumpkin because I was musing on Dark Knight Scarecrow?
It doesn't have to be, but I'd certainly prefer it to be!
Littletower wrote:Conversion and posing are coming along really good.
I would not want to face thing that required a double power-fisted, double chain-sworded Space Marine (purposefully capitalized) lurch like that, though...
Ruglud wrote:I REALLY like the pose... No more vomit marine, pounce marine instead
Thanks everyone for the positive comments! You can give me criticism too you know, it's how I learn!
Dr H wrote:It's a shame those fists don't come in a open palm as that would work well for this pose.
If they made open palms many people would have beaten me to it I'm sure and I like working on something kind of different. Although I momentarily entertained the idea of resculpting the fingers my original idea was to remove them completely so they were like two big stumps. It comes from my real concept for these weapons that I'd need to sculpt from scratch I think. I'm trying to move towards something quite animalistic so I'm seeing him using his fists like a big silver back walking on his knuckles. Hopefully I can deliver that on a final pose but if not I'll look to changing things up in this regard.
Gitsplitta wrote:It's a very 3-dimensional pose... I've made those myself on occasion. Damn near impossible to photograph properly. You really need to have them in-hand so you can turn them around and study them from all angles to fully appreciate them.
Yeh that's going to be a big challenge! I'm hoping that I'm going to be able to shift the final pose and position enough to make the photographs a little less painful. If it comes to it and on the million to one chance I complete him on time I could always try a video instead.
Alpharius wrote:It doesn't have to be, but I'd certainly prefer it to be!
I can definitely get on board with that. This will be as much an experiment on my abilities in sculpting as it will be on working on something not necessarily for my own amusement. I think I'm nearing pen and paper time to get something together.
Well, it's completely unheard of from me but I have a second although equally small update tonight! I can't quite believe it...
The great man Graven ran a competition many moons ago which I wholeheartedly intended to enter but proceeded to fail miserably at getting anything finished on time. Anyone seeing a theme? Well since I couldn't work on a competition that's happening as we speak, and I had fidgeting hands, I cut myself some greenstuff and called Jules up to the plate. He's going to have a kind of power armoured lower half when I'm done but it's going to take a few sessions to build up. Not only do I remember how to sculpt(in my own cavemanish way) but I've gotten a little quicker. Less worried about errors, more confident in my strokes and I'm solving problems more creatively. So I'm quite a happy Casey tonight. So here is where he is at now:
And as if to laugh in the face of my usual procrastinating self I saw some things and slapped them into vague sketches of things which may or may not ever become more complete things. I want to do a lot more to my six legged horsey friend but alas LOTR is just too small to use other GW parts with so that won't happen unless someone has some plastic GW animals that need re-homed. Even then it might not work.
Haha, I don't half go on do I? +5 Internets to anyone who reads all this drivel that I spew onto Dakka.
Sleipnir's lesser endowed cousin is a great idea - what were you planning to have as a rider? The additional bulk added by the extra legs might mean it's still viable for something guardsman sized or smaller....a suitable mount for an ungor based xenos for instance....
Mantis looks great, pose is great, and scene will be great. Just a quick thought, in his closed grip why not put a hint of a remote control for the scyth/blades. Gives a reason for knuckle walker. Not that it needs it, looks fab as is.
Dwarfy guy is cool, remember him from many moons ago.
Horsey is awesome, and not sure it works for you, but I could see a Tau on that.
monkeytroll wrote:Posing on the mantis guy is looking good
Sleipnir's lesser endowed cousin is a great idea - what were you planning to have as a rider? The additional bulk added by the extra legs might mean it's still viable for something guardsman sized or smaller....a suitable mount for an ungor based xenos for instance....
Thanks very much, no idea where the six legs came from, sometimes I just see something at a funny angle or in the corner of my eye and out pops a miniature concept. No rider is intended and I don't plan on it being a horse for ever. Scale is a conundrum right now because I did my Necromunda gang in 30mm truescale then added a hiver in the same scale and also my little Squatish friend who could be any scale I desire due to his being staturally challenged. Now I'm tempted to continue in this vein for all of my Necromunda although it limits the pace and feasibility of future projects.
Camkierhi wrote:Great things, we expect great things.
Mantis looks great, pose is great, and scene will be great. Just a quick thought, in his closed grip why not put a hint of a remote control for the scyth/blades. Gives a reason for knuckle walker. Not that it needs it, looks fab as is.
Dwarfy guy is cool, remember him from many moons ago.
Horsey is awesome, and not sure it works for you, but I could see a Tau on that.
All great stuff dude.
Thanks dude, you guys are pushing me to greater feats all the time. Through your comments and your blogs. The remote idea is a good one and I had considered it in part, I landed on the idea that there would be controls for such a tool built right into the armour. That said, it's not over until the fat lady sings so I'll keep that one stored up in case things move in another direction, thank you. I'm hearing that the knuckle walking isn't sitting too comfortably as an image right now but I think I may make an allowance for it and then address that when I attempt to sculpt the weapon in my head by itself.
ckig wrote:Hah random but I like it! Who is the guy with the 6-legged horse going to be?
Marine is lookin' very sneaky!
I literally have no idea what he is supposed to be right now. As I said above, something will pop into my head based on nothing other than my over-active imagination bashing things together until something works. I used to just let these concepts slide by or I filed them away in my head for use on a future project. Now I'm thinking that I should just grab some blu-tac and knock up a sketch to throw onto Dakka. What that does mean is I'll occasionally have these unusual little vignettes to spit your way but I may never return to them again. Fun talking points though I hope.
Dr H wrote:Yay, internets... I shall bathe in them...
Liking the 6-legged horse idea. That needs doing for no other reason than it being a 6-legged horse.
Good progress on the man of restricted stature.
I advise against bathing in internets because you'd probably catch a nasty virus but it's good to know I'm not putting everyone off with my droning on.
Well I have an update of sorts... I haven't really done much but I have had an amazing supply drop. To start with some of my glues arrived in record speed although none of the really important ones yet.
Then my Infinity order which I had placed with Shae-Konnit Games came in. He's the best seller I've come across so far, internationally affordable and has an awesome split box service. In fact, while talking to Shae about delivery he pointed out that since we are pretty local to each other he could even drop off the order personally the very next morning, how is that for service? Six hours after deiivery and we were still chatting away about the hobby. So that was a fun day and hopefully we are going to get some games in at some point in the future. Here's my haul(part two in 4 weeks):
And still more came in! My buddy somehow read my mind from the other side of Scotland and bought me two gifts for my birthday(today! ) which I've been thinking about a lot recently. One of which Medium of Death had only days before told me I should read based on a conversation we were having with Bruticus. Oh and totally by coincidence both of these things have the same name.
Anyway, thanks for reading everyone! Goodness knows what I'll be working on next!
inmygravenimage wrote:Nice infinite haul! I have that edition of Lovecraft, it is proper lush
Theophony wrote:Happy birthday Casey. Nice looking haul of infinity goodness. Also can never go wrong with Giger....unless buying something for your preteen child .
Medium of Death wrote:Hope the rest of your birthday is top notch, squire!
That is quite the haul. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
Very jealous of those two books.
ckig wrote:All those TAGs!
And Happy Birthday! Enjoy those books! It was no coincidence...
Thanks everyone. I've soaked up all of the art in Giger's Necronomicon which was very inspirational and is something I'll be revisiting a lot. Definitely NSFW though, I hope you didn't actually gift that to a child Theo. Haven't got a chance to read any Lovecraft yet but I'm really looking forward to it. Had a very relaxed Birthday, which mainly consisted of a trip to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery with my mother. We used to go all the time when I was very little so I've always felt a strong connection to the building. We had returned shortly after the big renovation and just felt that it was overcrowded and had been stripped of character. Now it's quietened down a bit we actually found it very enjoyable and can see that they have paired the old and new very successfully. We're going to revisit soon and spend a little more time soaking everything up and I recommend you do so too. If you can't make the trip then there is a virtual tour for anyone who is interested.
So my supply drop is ongoing but has been a complete non starter. Life is a little bit completely terrible right now and it's just sucking the creativity and motivation out of me. Starting to feel like a punch bag but I've got good people around me for support. I now desperately need a new job though so that's first and foremost on my agenda for the time being. Maybe this is the push I need to move into Glasgow. Anyway, I'm trying to spend time on Dakka or at least fiddling with miniatures to keep my mind occupied so on with the blog!
Still waiting on my plastic and PVA glues plus another couple of bits but my new snips and pin vices arrived. I also picked up some big sheets of card as backdrops for photographs, I've used the white sheet in the following images but my phone can't handle the black one.
In an attempt to get things moving I went through my Morats and put together some sketches. I'll be playing about with these a little more before I finalise them but this is the layout of the 150pt unit.
And I was really having trouble with the Geckos so I've tacked them up too which has started to get me thinking about posing. Geckos are so cool they can't help but pose the question, 'Why aren't you playing Infinity?'
And if the good Mr. Alpharius happens to be watching then I have made an important leap on designing the pumpkin miniature.
Take care folks, sorry about venting a bit but it's made me feel a lot better!
Camkierhi wrote:Here to help, wish we could do more.
Time with family is a true blessing matey make the most of it.
Dr H wrote:Hope life improves soon. Have some positive waves in your direction.
ckig wrote:Things will pick up I'm sure
Thanks lads, means a lot. If I can just manage to swing a new job I'll be able to get everything in line. Fingers crossed!
Camkierhi wrote:Models looking good, and those pin vices look quite nice.
Now get on with it mister!!
Annoyingly I'm not sure about the pin vices. I've got so used to using one with a rotating end that these are just cutting into my hand so I've reverted back to my old one for now. And I've already managed to snap one of the larger bits, not their fault, I'm very heavy handed when I'm drilling. I wish someone sold these bits in huge bundles like they do with jewellery saw blades. And yes, I'll get right on it!
Dr H wrote:Oh, I also failed to think loud enough here also.
Happy (belated) Birthday dude.
Yay, Giger! I've been scouring the web for all his past work lately. It's interesting to see the phases he's gone through at times.
Thanks, pal. Yeah I love me some Giger, he's so interesting and I could study his work for hours.
Alpharius wrote:
Casey's Law wrote: And if the good Mr. Alpharius happens to be watching then I have made an important leap on designing the pumpkin miniature.
...I'm always watching.
I am Alpharius. Seriously though. I'm thinking a sci-fi squad made up of seasonal characters. Thinking of a really aggressive futuristic military kit out.
ckig wrote:And geckoos! The different posing looks really cool
Gecko! Thanks man. More progress on my other blog.
Just waiting on plastic glue now. One of them should be here already.
Casey's Law wrote: And if the good Mr. Alpharius happens to be watching then I have made an important leap on designing the pumpkin miniature.
...I'm always watching.
I am Alpharius. Seriously though. I'm thinking a sci-fi squad made up of seasonal characters. Thinking of a really aggressive futuristic military kit out.
Camkierhi wrote:My current pin vice, was double ended which sounded good, but the thing kept cutting my hand, soooo....
I must warn you that I could become vastly attracted to a man who will convert his own hobby tools. Good idea though, all these fellows need are end caps that will turn in my hand which shouldn't be too difficult to construct or I might even find something in B&Q that'll slot in. I'll stick to the old GW one until I sort something, I've gotten very used to putting the my weight on the end and using my thumb and middle finger to turn the bit. And that brings me back to bits. I've broken 3 now, the three most desirable ones for the pin material I'm using. I need a vendor that will sell me like 50 of a certain size in good quality material, does such a place exist out side of my imagination?
inmygravenimage wrote:Hey buddy sorry to hear about all the rubbishness :( Yay Tamiya tape! Been using that like crazy lately
Thanks bud. Is it good then? I kind of added it to my cart as an impulse buy because I've been wondering about masking for my airbrush. Tamiya can be harder to get a hold of but I find their stuff to be of high calibre, I tend to use their thin cement ever since Dark_Gear put me onto it. Actually I have some on it's way from Hong Kong(which can be quite slow sometimes) so I've also picked up some Army Painter stuff to tide me over, not tested it out yet. Picture below.
JoeRugby wrote:Hope things improve for you soon dude.
How big are the Morat compared to the a normal dude?
Thanks, man. I don't have much in the way of males for a scale shot. My Nomads are all female but I have a few older miniatures that I converted for Necromunda which will have to do for now. Sorry no banana but I've included a Space Marine for those not fluent in Infinity and also my Feuerbach Soga because he's a massive TAGlight that makes the marine look like a little girl. Pictures below.
Alpharius wrote:That sounds seriously awesome...
Sweet, I just need to push some projects further down the conveyor belt and then I'll see to actually putting tool to kneadatite.
So firstly this scale shot, glue included not so much for scale rather that it seemed silly to give it it's own photograph.
Goodness me I need three daylight bulbs, not one energy saving anglepoise lamp.
I also took these when I was kitbashing my squad together. They were intended to show that the Vanguards have been beefed up between the sectorial box and the special weapon box. I actually don't think I got that across at all because it's subtle, which is a good thing. You can maybe see it in the thighs but it's lots of little adjustments all over. If anything it gives my squad members some diversity which leads me on to why I was a little annoyed at the special box...
Corvus are pumping out more and more new sculpts which is amazing for those of us who know how long you could wait on things in the past. This pretty much rests on their 3D modelling as far as I know but it isn't all good news, well not for me. 3D modelling has allowed them to take a miniature, repose it and call it new. In theory this is amazing but in practise it means I opened a box of four miniatures and got two unique bodies. The arms, while all different load outs, have similarities, most notably the two outstretched arms which have the same fingers and pose although the details and angle of attachment are different. Likewise, my Geckos all have the same components apart from their arms.
Okay so it's probably more an issue for me than other people and I don't want to rant away about it for ever but it's plain to see. I've heard other people mention it and I'm sure they will continue to, a lot of people were drawn to Infinity over the dynamic, individual miniatures and will fight to keep them around. CB have a good history with fan complaints and requests so hopefully they are taking notes.
Anyway since I'm over in my other blog working on the Geckos I'll ask a question that crossed my mind today: What is the most important tool for your hobby? I went through a few possibilities before I realised that it was the thing I had in my hand. Blu Tac. Simple stuff with more uses than I can list.
While the discussion in on pin-vices, this is what I have:
Spoiler:
The top spins freely as you have talked about, but it also has a slider and spring so that as you move it up and down it rotates the end (a very familiar hand motion is required ) so I can go for speed of drilling over pressure, or vice versa (see what I did there )
I also have this exact drill from before and is used for the larger drill bits that don't fit the pin vice.
Spoiler:
I hold it down in the palm of my hand and rotate the black bit with my middle finger.
The innuendo possibilities are endless there.
Tamiya masking tape works well. I have that one also.
As for the most important tool I use... I could say scalpel due to the amount of cutting/carving/scraping/poking I use them for. But I'm going to say tweezers; As an extension of my hands into the scale world, that lets me manipulate, place, move and hold the tiny pieces that I cut up, I'm using them all the time for almost every stage of modelling. I could not assemble the detailed models I work on without them.
And I follow what everyone else has said about the tamiya masking tape it is great unlike normal masking tape I've had very little bleed through with it.
The mentioned supplier (US based, I'm afraid), was DrillBitsUnlimited.com (Both new and gently[b] - cut and pasted from their home page - used drill bits, and quantity discounts). Did not bou myself, though, so it's only hearsay, but maybe worth a look.
Most important tool? I have to agree with Red H there: lightning. Two long-armed articulating desk lamps, one on each side of the work space. And a chair to match. I'm not getting any younger, and I liketo be able to walk straight and see without squinting after spending some time at the workbench.
Dr H wrote:While the discussion in on pin-vices, this is what I have:
Spoiler:
The top spins freely as you have talked about, but it also has a slider and spring so that as you move it up and down it rotates the end (a very familiar hand motion is required ) so I can go for speed of drilling over pressure, or vice versa (see what I did there )
I also have this exact drill from before and is used for the larger drill bits that don't fit the pin vice.
Spoiler:
I hold it down in the palm of my hand and rotate the black bit with my middle finger.
The mentioned supplier (US based, I'm afraid), was DrillBitsUnlimited.com (Both new and gently[b] - cut and pasted from their home page - used drill bits, and quantity discounts). Did not bou myself, though, so it's only hearsay, but maybe worth a look.
Good info from everyone, thank you! I almost purchased an Archimedes but it seemed risky since I'd never used one, I'll try it out one day. My old GW one is pretty much identical to yours Red, it's a solid piece of generic kit, I actually only picked up this new set because it was cheap and I quite like the idea of having a few different sizes always ready to go. I think LT is the winner though, that website is outstanding and they aren't charging the earth either. I made up a shopping basket to get a feel for the prices and I can get 50 1mm resharpened bits including shipping for £50. More than I need so I can spend a lot less and still get a tonne of bits. Amazing, thank so much for the heads up!
Dr H wrote:Tamiya masking tape works well. I have that one also.
JoeRugby wrote:And I follow what everyone else has said about the tamiya masking tape it is great unlike normal masking tape I've had very little bleed through with it.
Lot's of love for the Tamiya tape then, I look forward to using it!
Dr H wrote:As for the most important tool I use... I could say scalpel due to the amount of cutting/carving/scraping/poking I use them for. But I'm going to say tweezers; As an extension of my hands into the scale world, that lets me manipulate, place, move and hold the tiny pieces that I cut up, I'm using them all the time for almost every stage of modelling. I could not assemble the detailed models I work on without them.
Red Harvest wrote:Most important tool is good lighting. Then a good utility knife.
Littletower wrote:Most important tool? I have to agree with Red H there: lightning. Two long-armed articulating desk lamps, one on each side of the work space. And a chair to match. I'm not getting any younger, and I liketo be able to walk straight and see without squinting after spending some time at the workbench.
Awesome answers all round! Lighting and tweezers are two things I've had before but am severely lacking in now. Lighting is top of my list for replacement. I'm working in terrible light conditions plus my photographs are under lit.
Red Harvest wrote:A review of the gorilla super glue would be welcomed.
I'm sure I can muster something up for you, if there is anything else you want to know then give me a heads up. For starters I feel like all of the big name Cyanoacrylates are going to do a good job without much disparity between them. I've used a few things over the years, mostly variations on Loctite but I decided to see what other gamers are using this time. I came across advocates of all the big names(Gorilla, Loctite, Crazy) but barely any negative endorsements. Since it was all even Stevens I figured I'd try some thing new. Gorilla came up more than anything else which is probably more due to availability than quality so I went with that.
The variations you do get seem to be consistency and the bottle. Gorilla seems to be pretty much the same consistency as Loctite, maybe a little runnier. The hole in the nozzle seems to be substantially wider on the Gorilla bottle which, although less accurate, means I've yet to have a cap of dried super glue seal it up. I have a bad habit of forgetting to put the lid back on and I'm often too lazy to clean the nozzle after I use it so this has been a big bonus for me so far. I'm going to save a lot of glue, I can't count how many times I've left a bottle open or the lid has had a bad seal which has led to it self sealing the nozzle. Then you try and use it without realising and it creates some sort of vacuum which results in a very messy super glue volcano. I can't be the only one right? Well the point is Gorilla nozzle seems to be stopping this from happening, the slightly runnier glue probably helps too. Also, when it comes to containers I would never buy a tube, they don't seal properly, they burst and they are generally a damn nuisance.
You'll have noticed that I also bought a bottle of Loctite Gel. This brings me to the fact that these companies have variations on their standard super glue for specific purposes. The gel is much thicker, won't drip and most importantly for me won't cloud up/dries clear. I've picked it up specifically because I intend to purchase some clear acrylic bases that I don't want to mess up when I attach some very fiddly miniatures to them. I could have got Gorilla's version but at the time I knew Loctite was amazing stuff and it comes in that cool precision bottle.
In summary it's pretty much the same thing you getting from all of the big names but the nozzle on the Gorilla bottle isn't as prone to drying although it's less precise. More of a ramble than a review but hopefully it's of some use to you.
JoeRugby wrote:Ta for the scale shot
Wow the sogat is a chunky monkey isn't he
No bother. And he's not half! I'm not much of a fan of his pose but I'm working on it. Considering giving that Feuerbach a regular grip and trigger but I'm trying to avoid hacking it off just to check which way looks better.
Sorry nothing of actual interest to report today I just wanted to get these replies out. Trying to get some fluff for my characters in my other blog so I can write and trying to figure out a paint scheme for my Morats.
Thanks for that. I use loctite supergel exclusively these days for the hobby, but am always open to new stuff. I've used Gorilla Glue in woodworking and zounds! good stuff. A bit foamy at times though.
Red Harvest wrote: Thanks for that. I use loctite supergel exclusively these days for the hobby, but am always open to new stuff. I've used Gorilla Glue in woodworking and zounds! good stuff. A bit foamy at times though.
Gorilla does a wood glue too, among other things which might be what you are thinking of?
Well I've actually been working on Geckos recently but inspiration took me in a different direction for the Soga so I slapped some modifications together. I have two head options I can't decide between but either way I think he looks a bit meaner like this. Opinions are welcome, nothing is set in stone.
Casey, where did you get the clear bases from that you mentioned earlier?
Having seem them used on the BattleSystems Kickstarter last year, I'm seriously considering basing my AvP models on clear bases (if they ever get delivered)
Camkierhi wrote:Prefer the first one myself, looking nice though.
Gitsplitta wrote:Ditto, looks a little more buff for some reason.
Yeh in retrospect I totally agree, I got carried away with the second option because the first one is the stock head and we know what Casey's like when it comes to being a bit different. Funnily the second option is just the first one turned upside down which is something I've done before with an Infinity miniature.
Ruglud wrote:Casey, where did you get the clear bases from that you mentioned earlier?
Having seem them used on the BattleSystems Kickstarter last year, I'm seriously considering basing my AvP models on clear bases (if they ever get delivered)
I actually don't have my bases yet, I'm going to be having them laser etched/cut so I need to sort out my designs before I get them done. I had a prototype done ages ago which there might be a picture of somewhere with my Szally on it. I'll be using the very brilliant Warmill who even knocked together the design for the prototype I asked them to rush through for me. Then they sent me 4 versions of the base to choose between and refused to take any form of payment for them. They used to post on Dakka a lot but not any more, great guys, highly recommended. Plus custom clear resin bases, who doesn't want custom clear resin bases, with Geckos on them, Geckos, Geckos on custom clear resin bases. But that's for another blog. They also do a version with a mirrored layer underneath which is cool and various colours of clear resin, check the website out to see what you can get.
Just a wee update to say Merry Christmas and, more importantly, Happy Hogmanay! I'm off to go so wild I forget my own name, see you on the other side... maybe.
I hope those DCMs who benefited enjoyed their Secret Santa prezzies and Dakka Santa Avatars! Here is a little wargaming gift to myself that I'd like to share with you all:
As an added bonus, this blog won't dry up because I'm not working on a specific project, I'll always have something new to add. 
- looking forward to seeing where you end up with him!
Man, it really gets it's claws in, you know something is wrong when you wake up early to check your mail and spend a couple of hours doing business at the bank... in Azeroth.
That's none of your business! 
kidding, but not much.
Nah, seriously I'll never finish it but at least I'm doing some hands on sketching. If you haven't heard of this before then click that link, show the guys some support and, even better, submit an entry. Anyway, here he is:
