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Looking forward to seeing those terminators painted!

Looking good - waiting for your take on them.

Might be sooner, rather then later. Day was a tad on the humid side, but within acceptable parameters. Looks like I got a clean prime on them. So they are now in the painting queue.

Nice, it's always lovely when the weather complies. All my army is a prime deal from GW and Army painter. Without it, I have days of work just painting red and white, so I know that feeling.

I figure I should do something during the commercials while watching the World Series, so I'm going to inventory my primed pile.

5 BoP terminators
Apothecary
Master of signal consul
Tech marine on bike
Rt captain
Grv cannon gunner
Multi melta gunner
4 deathwatch
3 sternguard
5 scouts
3 lotd counts as
Tml speeder
Stalker/hunter/command tank
12 rtb01 beekies

6 jetbikes
8 guardians
Weapon platform

Homagaunt

Pile of random bits

Old junk

Hold on to your hats true believers, I’m scratchbuilding with card!

OK, just a little bit, but it should count for something. So when I was dragging out the rattle can to prime the other day, I thought I’d grab some of the old lead in the pile of stuff I had stripped. While not as tidy as I’d like, they are probably as good as they are going to get. Unfortunately, most of them lacked age appropriate back packs, and I just shrugged and punted on them. But it did make me realize that the techmarine needed a new arm. As they come stock with power axes these days, that made it a bit rough. I think I only have one kicking around the bits box, and want to save that for a project more likely to see the table. So out comes the plasticard. And a question for all you:

Top or centered?


I took a thunder hammer from the BoP box and cut a groove down the center with a hacksaw. Little trimming and cutting for a cog shaped axe. Not bad, although I’m sure I might be able to make a better version if I tried. Also not 100% on the shape of the axe. And it might need a skull, not sure.

I almost fell out of my chair!
Top pic for sure! In the bottom picture, the flat edge above the TH bit looks unnatural and clunky and pain odd. When the flat part of the axe head is running straight down the shaft of the axe (pic 1), it looks a lot better.

Something on the axe blade would look cool. Skull would work.

Gunna vote for the more symmetrical centred axe-head placement. Great job cutting that though, it looks real good.

OK, that’s one vote for each. I’m not opposed to doing more cutting, or just starting over again. If the blade needs something extra (like a spike at the top/back, or a cut away from the inside) I can re-do the whole thing. Well, the blade that is. I’ve only got a few spare hammers to work with, and would rather not dice up more of them. Left handed thunder hammers are not exactly common.

Put some more paint down on the champion. I’ll try to grab a pic in a bit. Most of the basecoats are finished. Still need to do the red, and figure out how I’m going to do the beard. Probably white/silver, with a black wash. Aiming for a nice steel grey of a seasoned warrior.


Another question for you guys: Anyone get their GW/hobby stuff from Amazon? My folks got me a $100 gift card, with strict instructions to buy something fun, and not just things I need to live. There look to be a few sellers who have 40k stuff up for sale, but it’s far from a complete line. Some of the sellers have pretty good ratings, so I’m not concerned with scams/junk, but thought I’d check. I think the last time I bought something from Amazon they still just sold books. There are also some bits/sprues listed, which struck me as odd. And some of the pricing for things like paint is crazy. Right now I’m leaning towards the start collecting Eldar box I’ve had my eye on, or a deathwatch land raider (which has all the parts to build the major variants)

Another year older, and theoretically wiser. This year should bring the answers to life, the universe, and everything. 42, and feeling it. Been a dumpster fire of a year.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends. Don’t forget to turn your clocks back.

Edit: added pic

First things first, nice blog. Just found it and have enjoyed looking through it.

To answer your question on Amazon, most of the listings are good, but definitely not the cheapest you can find online. I prefer to buy stuff labeled with the "prime" label, that way you know it's legit and you will get it in a reasonable time. That being said, I have bought from other sellers on there and never had a problem.

Didn't the clocks go back last weekend?

pretty much what squall said about amazon. In my experiance, pretty reliable across the board. I have amazon prime, so normally only buy prime stuff (free next day delivery 90% of the time). Admittedly, I haven't bought GW stuff from Amazon, but I dont see why there would be any issues.
And a point on prices, last Xmas I wanted to buy the game Codenames. It was sold out everywhere, and amazon had it for £90. It's a £15 game.

Eldar get started would make a nice addition to your eldar stuff.
Why would you get a Death Watch landraider over a normal one?

@Squall, Welcome aboard!

 Zambro wrote:
Didn't the clocks go back last weekend?

Why would you get a Death Watch landraider over a normal one?

I don’t know how you guys do your clocks across the pond, but it’s today here in the states for the time change. But if it was last week for you, you should defiantly do it today!

The basic Land Raider is $74.25. As is the LRC/LRR. The Deathwatch LR is $80. For the extra $5.75 you get the parts to make both a phobos pattern with the TL’d Godhammers, and the LRC/LRR with the hurricanes and flamestorms. Plus a deathwatch sprue with shoulderpads, etc. Now that I’m better with magnetizing, that’s a whole lot of options for one kit. Sort of like buying the razorback for a few extra bucks over the rhino. Even if you use it as a rhino 90% of the time, it’s only a little extra for a lot of options.

Sounds like a solid investment then. Is there any DW iconography on the LR itself?

And turns out that our clocks go back a week before yours, for what ever reason.

I’m pretty sure the only DW iconography is on the extra sprue, but that’s just my educated guess.

But I went the other way. In theory, a Start Collecting: Eldar box is now winging it’s way though the postal/delivery system to my door. Some change over $70, plus free shipping. Company had a 95% rating, with tons of reviews, so I have faith it should work out.

Also while I was out running errands this morning I stopped by my favorite local art’s supply store and picked up a pair of new brushes. 0 and 00 sable. I’ll post pictures next time I hook up my camera and hoover pics off it. I think the store always has that brand on 40% off. Was $16 for two brushes, not bad.

Got some more paint down on the marine on the bench. I’ll try to get some more picks next time I hit the bench.

Hey there. Little too wound up to trust myself with a brush or clippers, but I need to do something to break out of my depression, so here’s an update.

Went down to the FLGS Monday night, chatted with the guys who showed up. I had forgotten that most of them were at a tournament this last weekend, which means poor attendance on the following game day. Oh well. Good to get out of the house and chat at the very least.

Some new brushes I mentioned last post:

Richeson 7777, size 0, and 00. The size 1 I picked up a while ago has been my go-to brush for the last couple years. Jan ’14 doesn’t seem that long. Time flies and all that. As long as I can pick them up at 40% off I think they are going to be my main brush. If I needed to pay full price, I might just bite the bullet and go for the W&N 7s, on reputation alone.

Got some work done earlier this week on the champion.



(didn’t bother getting a legs pic, not much to look at)

Still need to work up some more details and get the blues done. But I started washing the browns/golds. Also need to work up the cape. I’ve added the whole blending cloth thing to my toolbox, should use it.

But right now I’ve got all the motivation of a dead jellyfish. It’s a grey and miserable day out. I got my flu shot yesterday, and am generally achy and tired. And my country is up for some interesting times. This on top of the whole Wife leaving me, need to get a new place, another year older pile of junk in my life right now. I should just delete the personal junk. I really don’t want to burden you guys and harsh your buzz, but I need to vent it out a little. So sorry about that. I’ll try to return to my normal chipper self as soon as I can. Hopefully.

Or at least get to the point where I trust myself to hold a brush.

Hey Nev I'm really sorry things aren't going too well for you at the moment. I know you'll pull through, it's all about finding the things that make you happy and investing energy there.

I hear you about some of the troubles though, as a Canadian, I can't comprehend what happened last night and I passed all of today in bouts of seething anger followed by paralyzed shock. If you're looking for a new place though might I suggest north of the border? We're making plans of building a wall of our very own up here

In brighter news the champion is looking great, his head is awesome and the tabard bit with purity seals is a real standout feature to me. I like the smooth depth you got in it.

Nev, you gotta remember this is your plog. You can share whatever you need. Just take it slow and be careful. You are just chipping away with this plog these days.

I hope things go better for you, love the pouches on the model. Glad to see when you are just basecoating there is some paint overlap - how do you go about touching that up in the final stretch of a miniature? I have the hardest time not getting reds on my whites and then doing a million coats to fix a minute mistake, etc.

Oh, and for the TM, center placement for sure on that axe.

Looking good Nev, if you're still taking votes on the tech marine axe, I vote for the centre placement!

EDC

Thanks for the support guys.

@Stormwall: The sloppy basecoats and touchup thing depends a lot on the mini. For the most part, I go blue -> details -> second blue -> blue wash -> touchups. Between the second clean up pass and the wash most of the slop for the detail stage is covered up. At least so you wouldn’t notice at table-top distance. For things like cleaning up whites (like the trim on the vets) I do end up doing a number of thin coats to cover any mistakes. I also try to take extra care when I know I’m going to run into problems. For example, on the Fire Dragons, I could be sloppy with the orange, knowing I was going to be painting black on the hard armor. But I was a lot more careful with that black, knowing it would be a dog to clean up with the poorly covering orange. Plus the fact that the Eldar don’t generally get a wash, which hides many sins.

Another thing that helps a lot is a zen-like acceptance that I’m not perfect. I’ll cover a mistake with one or two thin coats. I still might be able to tell it’s there in pictures or examining the figure. But on the table? It’s fine. No need to break myself for perfection; I’m not there anyway.

Got some more paint down this afternoon. Need to get back to cooking dinner now.

Ready to crush some skulls for Macragge. As always, not 100% happy with him, but he’s not bad and ready for battle.

Which is good, as the month is zipping by rather quickly. Next week is going to be on the busy side, with The Boy having some half days and a number of other events. Need to schedule a meeting with my lawyer, as I got a letter from The Wife’s yesterday. She continues to set an unrealistic time table, even when we’ve got basically everything agreed upon. I know she wants me out, but if she keeps this up she’s going to risk tossing away everything we’ve worked out. Very frustrating. Hopefully me being out of town for Thanksgiving will give her space to cool off. But I doubt it. Sigh.

I should pick out something else to paint. But right now I’m binge watching Arrow (a few episodes into S2) and playing Fallout 4. So plenty of distractions abound.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

--Nev

(Odd, I posted this a few hours ago and it didn’t show up on the normal view, but was OK in the “blog view”. reposting to see if it helps.)
Edit: Doing some trimming to fix some reposts from technical snafu.

I like the highlighting on the cloak, makes it pop a bit.

He looks great Nev, a true burly brawler for the slave pits... errr I mean in the Emperors name!

You're never a true artist until you find imperfections with every. single. model. you. paint. That's called motivation to always improve, love it, use it, harness it!

Sorry to hear about things not running perfectly smooth with the wife. Teaching life lessons to super-mutants sounds like a good getaway when you can, hopefully things improve for ya buddy.

Also what's this about thanksgiving? Thanksgiving was last month. Just kidding of course I know that you guys down south celebrate Thanksgiving on the wrong day, don't worry, we still love you.

"You want your head knocked in? Come 'ere!"

Be safe over the holidays and try to relax, don't let it keep you down.

Mega hammer dude is looking great.

EDC

@Gits - I feel I could have dome some more blending and mixing to make things a little smoother, but it turned out OK.

@I_F - My high school art teacher once told me “The difference between an professional artist and a student is he knows when to stop” I’m badly paraphrasing there, it’s been a while. At the time I was fusing with getting the final polish on a large self-portate done in pastels. Kept tweaking shades, smoothing/rebuilding colors, etc. Basically lateral fixes, not improvements. “You’ve been done for weeks, you just didn’t realize it” All the fixes seemed relevant to do at the time, but in hindsight, he was correct.

Other little saying that are appropriate “Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good” “We are our own worst critics” “Pillage before you burn”

Err, maybe not that last one.

Is Canadian Thanksgiving the same as we celebrate here in the US? Turkey/stuffing/mashed potatoes/pie? Or is it like Canadian bacon, where the name is very similar to something awesome, but instead of yummy actual bacon, you end up with ham with delusions of grander? Because I’m all about celebrating other countries holidays if the food is good.

@Stormwall, EDC - While I generally hate painting faces, I have to admit they add a lot of character to the model. I don’t think this guy would have quite aggressive brutality without the angry head. Although I do recall thinking of the personality of helmets when working on my AM sarge and VV marine. Overall pretty pleased with him.

So yesterday was Monday, and I made it down to the FLGS for a game. It was fun, if brutal. Paired up against a tournament-class list. Which was educational. Guy was fun to play against, so I didn’t mind getting my teeth kicked in.

I brought an assorted CAD, mostly because it had been a while since I got to field a number of things. Re-jigged it last second to include the champ I just finished.

I forgot to get a pack pick, but it was 2 tacs in rhinos, LSS of scouts, pred, vindi, TML speeder, talon, 2 dreads. HG lead by Cassius in the LR. Vs. a wulfen deathstar (with Ulric) Lib conclave (W/ Tigs) Cortez, quad mortars, fellblade, VSG.

The wulfen were tough as nails. Yea for layered saves. 4+, 3++, Some level of FNP. Plus spending some time under the VSG umbrella. Also got some buff to let them re-roll saves.
Fellblade was a nasty piece of work. Part of that was the fact that it spent the whole game with a ignores cover buff.

The turning point of the game was when I had moved up my LR to get into range next turn to charge the wulfen. The fellblade blew it up and I was left with two choices: get out on the side closest to the wulfen and be charged by them, or get out on the other side and try to charge on my turn. I chose the later. But when it came time to get stuck in, I failed the charge though cover. Wasn't a long one (I needed 7”), but yea random! Next turn the fellblade opened them up, and the wulfen multicharged the remnants and a tac squad who were nearby. Called the game at that point.

Fresh paint report:
The TH champ ate fire from the superheavy and perished before doing anything. Could have used the DP I had a dread in (but cut for points) more then another body in the HG.
This might have been the first 40k outing for the contemptor. He did pretty good, all things considered.
Vindi is still pretty new. Copped a weapon destroyed result first turn. Should have bought that stormbolter. Acted a a funnel to help reduce the number of wulfen who could reach the contemptor in CC. Did fine for that.

Those are all really good quotes Nev. Knowing when to stop is very important. I know some days I still want to go back to my Succubus and do more work on her and I have to tell myself to leave her be. I figured pillaging before you burn was common sense but then again I suppose it's never a bad reminder, sometimes you just get swept up in the moment.

Yup Nev Canadian thanksgiving is very much like yours, turkey, stuffing, perderders, cranberry jelly and pie. In fact I can't think of any difference... oh Black Friday is a thing right? That shopping day after thanksgiving? We don't have that. And trust me when I say that even Canadians are disappointed that Canadian bacon is not real bacon. We love our true bacon up here, Canadian bacon only finds it's way on pizza and only as an assistant to real bacon.

It's sad your new champ didn't get much done in his first outing. If it makes you feel any better the first match I used my Succubus in she was killed by a scattered manticore missile that wasn't even aimed at her before she was even able to move. It's quite disappointing when your fancy new hero doesn't get to do anything.

The curse of fresh paint is a very real thing. I never expect much from a model’s first outing. Sometimes with a new unit, it’s just getting the best way to field it right. But many times it’s the fickle gods of fate toying with us.

I give Canadian Bacon a hard time, but am willing to cut it a lot of slack. It is a key part in one of my favorite breakfasts (Eggs Benedict). It might be hard to justify celebrating two holidays close together with the same food for Thanksgiving. But then, that might just generate more leftovers, which IMHO are one of the best parts of turkey day.

So I’m a little irritated with Battlescribe. They put out a new version, and the format is a little irritating for some units. Will take some getting used to, hopefully they will add some decent output options. I can understand units like sternguard having each model listed individually, as everyone can take separate stuff. But I don’t need every tactical marine singled out. Just adds a lot of bloat to the list and output. One of the downsides/perks to the change is that my old rosters were invalidated, so I went back to the YTD shelf and re-entered everything.

If Battlescribe is to be believed, this is 659 points of Eldar, and 1648 of Ultras. HIWPI, so things like ML2 on the Lib, and AA armor on the captains. Not counted are the Zoat and marauder in the back there, or the 2 minis sent off to new homes (Ork boy, Chammady). So 64 actual minis (73 with my cheating math) and 2307 points, plus the odds/ends. And we still have a month and a half left in the year.

Edit: Forgot the mention. While I was at the FLGS, I picked up another pack of snow tufts for basing. So another $6 for my end of year math for how much I spent on the hobby. And a reminder to myself to take them out of my KR bag and put them on the workbench

That's a really good looking collection you got there Nev

I'll definitely have to go and check the new battlescribe stuff, see how it's changed.

Over in the general section there is the “what’s on your Christmas wishlist” thread that tends to pop up at this time of year. As I collected my thoughts over there, I should probably post them here as well.

The odds of me getting any hobby stuff is basically zero. The odds of me getting some random cash with a strict “buy something fun for yourself” is a bit higher. The odds of me actually spending money on fun stuff is a bit lower though.

But a guy can dream.

My Eldar army is actually getting pretty close to being done. Barring new releases. Things I could use/covet

Another Wave Serpent. (I only have one. This is the closest thing to “need” on the list)
Wraithguard (and another WS to put them in)
Wraithlord. (I like the model, even if he is a little sub-par)
Maybe another 5 DAs.

My Marine army, while being significantly larger then my Eldar, could always use a lot more stuff. Probably because there are a lot of formations I’m just a mini away from.

1-3 whirlwinds (don’t own any, they work well in a number of formations)
Cents (They’ve grown on my, and are quite strong on the table)
Kill team Cassisus (mostly as a painting project)
Deathwatch LR (I only own a classic Phobos LR, this kit has the parts to make any of the core variants)
LSS, Pred, Vindi, Stormtalon (or hawk). (I only own one of each, could use at least one more of all of them. LSS especially)
Modern terminators (both tactical and assault)

If we want to go pure pie-in-the-sky wish-listing, there are a number of FW things I’d love to have. One of those smexy Eldar superheavy grav tanks, or frankly any of the 30k Ultras stuff.

In non-GW, but still hobby stuff:
I’m still looking into shields for turning some of the Mk III BoP guys into breachers. Also some jump packs to make some destroyer squads (the rad grenade guys). Might place a order with Anvil for parts, even though I’m not 100% on their shields.

I could use another KR case. I like my Kaiser 3, but often find myself just bringing 2 KRU worth of army to the FLGS. I’d love one of their backpacks, although a Kaiser 2 would also work. The odds of me needing to bring 5 KRU to the store is quite low, but being able to bring a smaller case would be nice on my shoulders. Last time I bought foam, I did leave a decent amount of space for expansion, but that’s mostly full at this point. Pretty much anything new I pick up would need a new custom tray, and I already have a few items being slotted into non-optimal spaces.

Oh, and another non-happening option would be an airbrush setup.

Looking back to my end of year/looking ahead post from last year, this is what I had in mind:

Things on my to-buy list. Which is still very fuzzy, and unlikely to happen. I’d be more likely to spring for an unknown new release then pick up old stuff.
1-3 Whirlwinds
Stalker/hunter
LRC/R
Scout bikes (Would be nice to have a larger squad a/o field 2 squads.)
Cents (I know, they are kinda ugly, but the rules....)
Eldar Fire Prism

Looks like I forgot to list the scout bikes this year. Still could use another box of them. And I did actually get some of the things on my list! The AA tank is sitting primed on the bench, and a Fire Prism should be showing up on my doorstep any day now.

I did sift through last year’s posts here in this thread to see what else I picked up, and where my hobby dollar ended up:
Stalker/hunter $45
Sold Sniper scouts (-$20)
(150 grit sandpaper)
4 pots paint $16
Flock/tufts/sale paint $35
Deathwatch killteam $35
Flowers/bases $11
Meadow Tufts $6
Burning of Prospero $120
SC: Eldar $70
Brushes $16
Snow Tufts $6

So that’s roughly $360 worth of stuff. If I credit the snipers I sold, and discount the SC: Eldar box (as that was an amazon gift card purchase, which I still have $30 on) my net spending on the hobby YTD is $270. It is a little surprising how quick the hobby supplies add up. A paint pot here, pack of tufts there, and we are pushing $90. Microtransactions: Not just for MMOs and Apps!

On the bright side, unless I go on a shopping spree in the next month, I should be sitting pretty on my "paint more then I buy" vow for the year. 52 infantry, 2 tanks, and 4 bikes were purchased.

I know it’s a little early for the year-end stuff, but I was thinking about it, so decided to do the write up.

Yeah the little things add up quick, I'm always amazed/embarrassed when I tally how much I've spent on paint pots. It's good that it's looking like you were able to paint more than you bought this year. That's always a good feeling