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Computers are built and running A-OK, and mine is cruising along with a brand new SSD!

@deadmeat: Always a good time of year to get a new computer! These two were built pretty much identical to each other, save for the cases.

Total cost for these guys was just short of a grand, but thats mostly a result of needing to buy a monitor, mouse, and keyboard with them.

CPU: Intel Core i5 4690K
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97X-SLI
RAM: x2 4GB Crucial Ballistix
GPU: EVGA Nvidia Geforce GTX 750Ti
HDD: WD Black 1TB drive
Basic old CD/DVD Burner

Fun system, and it should be pretty well futureproofed for their needs.
This all means that we can start doing more LAN games- up to this point, their laptops just couldnt cut it!


@Ice: Yeah his case is amazing xD And we just stumbled across it when we were in the store, too!

I really dont think ANYTHING could go with my wallpaper... Fire, maybe... ick.
But yes it will go well in his room... which is painted bright green





I'm still setting up my computer (did a full system reset after instaling the SSD), so I might be busy for a few hours yet... Then, its back to work!!

Thanks Ramos, I'll check out the parts and prices. Hope I can get what I want.

I received the Shaltari army from Ramos this week and finally got to take it all out of the box . Only one thing broke in shipment, a scenic piece of mech debris on the display board (a leg) which was really easy to glue back in place.

Here are some pics!






And a group shot, although it got a bit washed out:



I'm absolutely thrilled with the outcome and the experience of working with Rollin' All Ones. I highly recommend working with him! Looking forward to doing a demo game with these at AdeptiCon

Those are amazing. Really cool figures with phenomenal paint jobs!

A demo game did you say??

Wow do those pictures look great! This, kids, is what happens when you have a camera that isn't complete crap!
The colors look spectacular. I do notice that the gradient takes a rather pleasant turquoise color the way you shot it....

Very much looking forward to our demo game. And Im sure we could find room at the table for another, if you're interested, Gits



So today I was surprised with another crate of computer supplies, this time from another of my little brothers. Turns out he was really jealous of the ones I built up for my dad and youngest brother, and went and grabbed all the components to build a rig for himself- Same specs as the others, except double the RAM. Still figuring out a wireless card, but its turning out to be an unusually large pain in the neck!

Meaning, I mostly lost another day of painting xD

This is the last possible distraction of this nature, so NOW its back to work. I had a few hours of actual painting time yesterday, though, and here's where we are now:


Golds are at their pure basecoats, so they are very stark. Really shows the nature of the Vallejo alcohol paints, though. Love em!
Silvers are painted, and I've started the power weapons with a new technique. going to paint them with a "just turned on" look, so the base of them is pure metal. This is most noticeable on the axes. Going to add some edge highlights in white then a few "bubbles" onto the gradient.

Still to go are: Golds, PW effects, Bases, cloth, whites, and leathers. mostly small bits of Detail work, so I should get a good deal of it taken care of tomorrow.




Last part for todays update is a bit of a trip down memory lane.
I painted this Ethereal something like 5 or 6 years ago, I think, for my little brother who was considering starting Tau at the time. Really really rough-looking work!





Till next time!

Nice commission, Ramos. Hope RiTides hooked you up for that kind of work.

Re: Ultramarines- I am timing you on this. Mush! *crack* Mush!

Re: Ethereal- Fun looking at progress shots, but enough navel gazing. Mush!

So that was a big ball of bother for no gain...
No joke, I started this post at 10 this morning.

Long story made short (then much longer soon after), everyone's computer may be built, but still I find myself pulled away to work on them anyways. Chief issue for the day was hooking up the latest build to the internet wirelessly. Easy, right? Apparently not so. For whatever reason, the card I installed in his computer refuses to connect to the internet for more than a few brief moments. Has excellent signal, all drivers are installed.... Even cracked the tower open a few times to swap around the card in the PCI ports... Still no joy.
Starting to think its the router that's having issues, not the card, but have no real way to test that theory. is it p[ossible for a wireless router to not be able to communicate effectively with newer hardware??
Damned technology! Why cant it just work when i tell it to?





Bah... Well, anyways... in the words of moonpie, "enough navel gazing, get on to the painting!"

The Ultramarines were finished last night, and needed only to be varnished to be called complete. Insert tech problems, and that brings us to now.
Unfortunately, I neglected to install Photoshop on this computer (completely blanked on that when I started taking and importing photos today), so I dont have my usual batch of nice photos. Instead, here's one of the nicer group shots:



As per the client's request, I painted the power weapons in a different style than my normal gradients. I sprayed a light glow over a metallic basecoat, then edged in white and gave it all a nice light blue wash. The end result is a rather pleasing energy glow-effect, that I think works nicely enough. Still prefer the gradients, but the boss is boss, as they say ^^

Tomorrow will be more tech, including finding where I hid my Photoshop discs... Then I'll pop up more photos of the marines! Then its onto the Flash Gits, whose timeline will hopefully be less filled with tech-support and more filled with paint!

Till next time, gents!~

Those look really nice Ramos, your client should be pleased.

The pic makes them look more on the purple side of blue.

So hows the ME coming.. you have just over a month!!

Nice work, Ramos!

Still hunting for the software. Argh!!

As far as the actual color of the minis, they are definitely true blue, not the purple-y color the picture gives them. They're almost pure Enchanted Blue at their brightest levels, to give you guys an idea. Again, that's what happens with no color correction xD

Marines Errant actually havent moved too terribly much other than a few minor cosmetic updates. Soon as the Orks are done, I'll be switching focus to them (and of course the Giant )
That said, Ive no idea what kind of list to even bring!! Certainly could use a little bit of assistance in this regard.

I've a fair bit of minis to run troops-wise, But then I have a couple vehicles... Rhino/Razorback, Land Raider (unpainted), two Storm Dragons (either Helldrakes or Talons), DA Nephalim Fighter... Possibly one or two other Rhinos that are currently unpainted.... I'd prefer to not buy anything, seeing as I rarely play anymore outside events like this, but can convert considerably.

Might actually run things along the Chaos angle again... the Helldrakes arent as good, sure, but I really do like my Juggernaut Lord
Thoughts?

Those Ultramarines look great! I showed the DzC you painted for me on the local gaming group email list, and people were very impressed! Going to bring in the models to show in-person tonight. Can't wait to get a game with them! (although likely I will have to, been quite busy)

Those MOD duties really getting to ya?

Nah, it's my super secret project (not to be secret for much longer, and that's what's making things a bit intense at the moment!)

That time crunch is also partly why I decided to commission this project. And of course the fact that Ramos is a wizard with gradients even on small scale vehicles, and making a million tiny orange dots . I could never have done these justice! I've already told him if/when the accompanying fleet game hits, he needs to do a matching space fleet for me.

Awesome to hear the word going out, Ritides! ^^
Hopefully they stand up to in-person visual scrutiny with your group. And I do hope you get to have a game or two with these guys soon. Id love to see them on the tabletop!

So ok! today was a tech day (personal tech, this time ). Upgraded my optical drive to one that was manufactured sometime this century, cleaned up the fans and junk, and finally moved all my documents and photos to the new storage drive. Still a number of games to install, but there's work to do before that!

Plus, I finally found my Photoshop stuff!
Now the photos are looking better, but it'll still be a bit before I re-apply all of my preferences. Ah well, always somethin, isnt it?


Updated Honor Squad group photo:


And the obligatory closeups!
Calgar:


Banner:


Champion:


Axe Guys:



Oh! One last bit of exciting news... I'm working on setting up a website! Launch should be just before Adepticon, so I'll keep ya posted!

The freehand just makes my day. Nicely done!

Looking good. Now on to the next one. You have more commissions waiting, huh?

You've got me in manager mode, Ramos. Dump a batch, then make a new one. What are you working on now? Keep up the pace. Go Go Go.

They are looking very nice Ramos, looks like a nice blue you have going on.

So when do we get to see the Relic Knights rider Malya?

Man, now I want a Calgar to go with my Honorguard.

@Gits: Thanks! Its no Dazzle tank, but I think it'll work for now

@Mr.Moonpie: Yes, sir! Lots of work to go, sir! Orks are next on the chopping block and will be getting more work on them today!
Yesterday I took a day off to do some administrative work, like moving my files around to the new harddrive, reorganizing the photos (I still have several gigs worth to sort through later), and lots of work on my future website!

So no worries, Mr.Moonpie, sir! I'm hard at work on the next project!
Now I've been meaning to ask you about a raise....

@Gir: I'm kind of dragging my heels on the rider until after Adepticon. The massive areas of skintone worry me, and I dont want to end up with a botched color! So far my skin painting is best suited for orks or male faces (worn and weathered, that is). Female skin like what would be needed for Malya is much more subtly shaded, and I could never find a color that I liked for it.
I am actually taking a class at AC regarding painting skin, so hopefully after that Ill be a little more confident in tackling it!

@WM: Can always whip one up in RS colors, just lemme know!

I have to find one first

Metals are done on the Gitz. This took me a little longer than anticipated just because of all the little edge highlights I did. Bear in mind, many of the metal areas will end up being painted over- doing it all at once now is actually far easier than immediately choosing what areas to leave bare metal. I like that bit of flexibility

The end result is that it looks almost like a chromed surface, depending how you look at it. After matte varnish, this turns into less of a chrome and more of a worn metal, especially with the greenish brown undertone I managed on these. Then Ill throw on some rust powder when they're all done to give them that true gritty Ork flavor.

The ork skin and the metals both look excellent!

This sir looks pretty good. Can't wait to see more pics of the Orks.

Thank you very much, you guys.

I think Im about 2/3 done with these guys now. Put on the first of the bright colors, and even got to paint my beloved color red




Browns are based right now, then I need to paint bone, beige cloth, bronze, and touches of dirty white.

Goal for these- fully complete by Tuesday night/Wednesday!

Very nice Ramos. Interesting figure.

Yes, very crisp and clean.

Nice! Love that ork skin color Reminds me of my wow character

Coming along nicely.

A bit later than planned (again xD) but we have some shiny new Flash Gitz! Also, they're a bit dirtier now (I couldn't have them looking so "clean", as SL was pointing out )
I should be getting a new camera very soon (been shopping around), so hopefully these are the last photos that have color issues and the like!



Kaptin:


And the rest!








Really fun kit overall, if I haven't said it enough before... Lots of character, plenty of different options. A blast to work with
Now these guys are destined for a trip half way across the world. Hopefully they do well on the battlefields of Germany!


Next up: cleaning the workbench off. Then the Giant and FINALLY some lovely white and teal Marines Errant goodness!