Ah that sucks Ramos. You'll find your feet again soon buddy. Your Marines Errant are looking tip top once again. Loving the method you used on the Contemptor too!
Great to see you have not lost your touch. Beautiful work, love seeing your work.
Shame about life, but it will work out. You got serious talent and the modelling world is going through a renaissance, heck I am even going pro this year. You will be fine, I am sure.
Thanks, everyone, for the well-wishes and positive feedback. Do really appreciate all the kind words.
I know things will get better, just sucks to get the boot :/. Though all told, Im not in a terrible place right now- Roof over my head, place to sleep, something to keep me busy in the interim... Seeing as I have more free time now, I've even been contemplating something of a roadtrip. Visit out of state friends, see new sights... Something fun before tying down with another job, hah...
As far as a job goes, I'll keep on looking and hoping, and something has to come up, right? (who knows, maybe even on my trip?)
At the moment though, Ive a ton of minis to take care of and Adepticon in the spring!
=================
First bit of the Fists are done- three Heavy Bolter Tarantula turrets. Neat little models, and these are build to be movable and the turrets themselves can be removed.
I also completed the majority of the three Quad Mortar Rapiers, but they arent "done" until the marines that go with them are finished! In the meantime, here is a quick shot of the batteries themselves.
Lastly, I want to share something I got for Christmas from my little brothers- Came late, as it was ordered last minute, but damn what a cool gift. They got me a Broken Token insert for Kingdom Death. So much room now, and I dont have to worry about the board falling in on the cards and destroying them!
@Cam: Thanks!! They're really neat, and do paint up pretty quick. I dunno how they are in game, but a few extra shots cant be a bad thing, eh? As to the organizer... friiiig its so nice!!! I can actually fit everything I have for the game in it
@Theo: They do indeed! In fact, they pack the base separate from everything else. The "turret" itself is literally just the legion HB turret!
@BadOrk: The yellows are identical, its just the difference between a quick shot and one that I have under studio lighting and a bit of photochop cleanup!
Rapiers complete, so its on to the Contemptors now
Work continues on the Fists- Almost done with this chunk of the army!
I just finished a pair of Contemptors. All weapons are magnetized and completely swappable with each other. I really must hand it to the FW crew on the design. So easy to find spots to hide magnets.
Next in line are a pair of Razorbacks (the guns of which I actually painted up alongside the Contemptors), and finally a massive Sicaran Venator.
@Graven: Thanks!! The green I wasnt sure on at first, but what other color would you paint all of the laurels on these guys? I suppose gold, but that might blend in too much with the yellow. Glad it worked out as it did!
@Theo: G I Jooooooooooooe!!!!~
@Gits: Thanks!! Hey you better be ready for some 40k next month! We gotta get a few matches in
@Valhalla: I think you'll do em justice- Should look really sharp in your bright yellows!!
@Cam: The client in question was very particular on that point. He wanted Imperial Fists, but not the lemon yellow type. "Earthy" is what he requested, and I think I got it. Key is basing it in VMC Flat Earth, a warm brownish-tan, then using VMC Ochre Brown- a VERY strong mustard yellow. Adding an off-white to the highlight color helps to desaturate it and give it a "realistic" look.
Thanks
============
Razorbacks are getting blacked out. You know, the normal process...
And last, I finally built the last element to this commission after waiting FAR too long for a replacement part. Sicaran Venator! Lovely big Tank.
Ramos Asura wrote:Its some indie game that a few guys I know used to play. You might not have heard of it. Kinda obscure
Would be down for learning Bushido as well, provided I steal some minis
I can make that happen. I actually would like to play 40k, I'm just not sure how. Haven't looked at it in nearly a year and I know the rules have changed considerably in that time.
It’s the actual cost to get into the game with figs, codex, dice, paint etc.
I laughed.
Then I cried...
D:
@Gits: Always down for games Looking forward to the con and hanging with you guys!!
=========================
Busy Busy!
Razorbacks/Rhinos are done!
Heavy bolter fits a bit tight with how I magnetized things, but it should be sufficient for normal display/play. Weapons are magnetized and swappable with each other.
I also completed a couple stray minis that had fallen off my project shelf... Sometimes these things happen, but man.... How embarassing
Pair of infinity minis, including "The Unknown Soldier" or something of that sort that the client wanted painted like Captain America!
=====================
Next up is a Venator for the Fists, and that chunk of the army will be complete!
Venator yellows are pretty much done. Contemplating whether or not I should do another brighter edge highlight at the very top... Leaning towards yes...
This is one heavy model... Not much free space inside it at all. Already I've been having problems with paint rubbing off at the sharp corners, so I think a coat or two of gloss is on the menu.
Unusual for me to do mid-stage varnishing, but I really dont want this thing chipping!
That sure looks like it will Vent a few opponents, even without its gun. I actually never thought about mid stage sealing a model , it might be what I need to do on this stupid Monsterpocalypse gundam that keeps flaking.
@Theo: Mid-sealing models isn't something I do too often, but its great for "saving" your progress on a model. Should be just the ticket on keeping your mini from chipping too. This Venator actually had a few soft spots where the paint didnt quite key in, but after a coat of gloss, everything really started setting in. And then at the end hit the model with varnish as normal and its even better protected!
@Gits: It really is. I actually used yours as a bit of reference as far as the two-tone colors went. Not as pretty as the bright purples you did, but worked great for the army
@BadOrk: Thanks!!
==========================
Venator Complete!
Closing out the post, heres the Venator next to the twin Rhino/Razorbacks.
Going to do a bit of cleaning before the next project, but I'll be back with the next update soon!
dude they are so good looking! that pale almost lemon yellow gives them a different look but works so nicely, it's nearly a military tan colour? but I love the look and you've nailed the paint job, just enough of everything from shading to colour, well done!
Great looking tank, lovely distortion on the metals. Have been enjoying this take on the Fists, that's a really great yellow (which I do not say lightly, not being a fan of the color at all )
@Lorek: The black is absolutely airbrushed!! I rely on the thing more and more these days. I love getting those smooth blends.
Incidentally, 1000 Shades of Gray is a new book Im working on
=======================
One of the newer projects on the bench is a Creature Caster Lady of Arcana. Decided to use some unusual paints on the wings including pearlescent paints on the tips of the blue wings and fluorescent pink on the wings. Looks neat under a blacklight!
Hehehe! Thought you guys might enjoy that. I was given carte blanche on this project, so have a couple other little tricks I want to play with on it as well.
And are we playing games in the dark, Theo?
More work on the Lady- The colors ended up super intense. Almost an 80's aesthetic to the scheme now, especially with those blacklight wings.
You almost make me want to give creature caster some money again . Even though Jeremy Glenn isn’t the owner supposedly I just can’t get passed the age we went through with the Kickstarter and fulfillment, even though I got a refund as soon as I saw it going south I took a hit from lost fees on it.
Still your paint job ALMOST makes me forget all that.
@Theo: Ahhh, I remember that debacle... I followed it on and off as it unfolded back in the day. Real tragedy, as at least in concept I really did like a lot of the minis. The dragons were amazing.
From what ive seen, the new crew are doing a lot to recover reputation and doing ok. Not having any horse in that race, I couldnt really say one way or the other, heh! Arcana was a fun model all the same.
@Ice: Thanks!! Blacklight stuff was admittedly a coincidence at first- just so happened that some paints I used were reactive. Went ahead and did a few more experiments with it using a clear calligraphy ink. Sorta worked... but needs some more testing.
@Cam: Thank you! Sorry there hasnt been that much new stuff lately- working on getting a decent update system going, hah!
@Lorek: Thank you kindly!
=============================
Arcana is complete!!
And blacklight! This was rather difficult to photograph... The camera just doesnt quite capture the effect... its actually even higher contrast than this.
Its on to Adepticon Prep now- Busy busy!!! Thanks for checking in, guys.
That demon turned out amazing! I really need to pick up one or two of Creature Caster's models; they are amazing. Are they pretty easy to clean and prepare too, or are they kind of a pain in the ass?
@WM: Heyas thanks! Yeah, she definitely slides more towards the Screamer/Flamer camp than the birds. Should look awesome on a tabletop
@Zerg: Thank you. I cant speak for everything they make, but this example was pretty easy to clean up. Not too much mold release, gates were logically placed and easy to sand/file off... Had a little bit of gap filling to do, but in the end not too bad at all!
Gitsplitta wrote: I'm dissappointed that her breasts and buttox don't glow with the lights out the way they do with the lights on.
Fix that.
QFT
(Chick looks amazing Ramos, beautiful work, especially when the lights go out Very excited to see the results of that painting comp, so much demonic T&A descending upon Chicago )
Gitsplitta wrote: I'm dissappointed that her breasts and buttox don't glow with the lights out the way they do with the lights on.
Fix that.
You know I really was gonna do something about that. Like glowing tattoos and stuff... unfortunately the clear glow ink I was using really started to fight me and liked to run into every crack and corner. I really couldnt control it as I'd of liked to :/ Would have hated to screw it up at that late stage- its invisible ink, sure, but -I'D- always be able to see it, heh!
Things have been remarkably busy over the past month. Adepticon was a blast, and I think was one of the finest conventions yet. This year I assisted Secret Weapon Miniatures in getting their truck from Sacramento to Chicago.
CUE ROADTRIP!
2000+ miles in 3 days in a big van with no cruise control, seeing some of the most beautiful stretches of highway I've ever seen. Wyoming has some really pretty mountains and Northern Nevada is a whole lot of hilly nothingness... Fun drive, though!
On the way back to Sacramento, we stopped by Riverside, Iowa, the "Future Birthplace" of Captain Kirk! Has a neat little fan museum with collections of memorabilia and a couple statues. Worth stopping by if you find yourself in the area.
In Chicago, I met up with good friends and made some new ones, got some games in, including Solar Lion's Knight Fight. He's really put a lot of work into the event and it shows. Rules are a lot tighter, gameplay is a lot faster... Looking forward to next year already! Just need to make sure that I can get my own knight painted up.
The Creature Caster mini I recently painted was entered into their "Resin Beast" competition. It seemed to be received well, even making first cut! Alas, it fell just a little short and didnt get into the final 10. I did get to speak with their lead painter and get feedback, though, so that alone was amazing. Next year I hope to do much better!
Thanks to the influences of Gitsplitta, I decided to get a couple Bushido miniatures. After playing the demo game, I got a small Silvermoon Syndicate army. Geishas and Sumos and weird gambling abilities that can help you out or completely torpedo your chances at winning. Its almost like playing my orks again...
Anyways, I got those guys built up and based on some SWM Asian Garden bases. Who knows if Ill get any playtime in on these, but hey... At the very least these should be fun to paint.
I also purchased a large Kenku army that Im thinking of basing with a swampy sort of theme with stepping stones and planks. Currently waiting on parts to come in for those.
I also got more minis for DnD, as I always seem to lack suitable miniatures for my characters and NPCs. Like the Bushido stuff, Im not sure when Ill get paint on them, but it'll be a nice break when I do.
And the last bit of this update is the Blood Bowl team- Everyone is done and Im just waiting on lava bases to come in before calling these complete. I do really dig the big minotaur, though!
Alrighty, till next time, guys. Thanks for stopping by!
Git sucks in another player . I may never get a game in either, but my Ninja and Minimoto Clans are ready should that ever become a reality.
You made the Minotaur actually look good. FW painter is so terrible and does not do that thing justice.
Has Secret Weapons Miniatures gotten the plastics back from WGF? I mean the last I heard they couldn’t pay for the molds to keep the tablescapes and bases (like Dreamforge Games).
@Theo: Next year at Adepticon! Bushido! You and me! lets make it happen
Appreciate it on the Minotaur-
Regarding WGF, and I say this as an outsider not privy to the specifics, to my knowledge the factory essentially held/is holding the tools hostage unless they get an extra chunk of money (outside of what was contracted). As litigation across an ocean and between countries is expensive and is likely to be VERY drawn out, I think SWM is calling it a lost cause. May have future plans of making them again stateside, but who can say. Like I said, though, I'm just an outsider in these kinda things!
Plenty of stock left, though, and hes put them on clearance. I actually got one of the rolling field ones for bushido purposes.
@Brian: Thank ya much! Always a pleasure to be around here.
And as far as Cruise... Well lesson learned for next year!!!
Blood Bowl Team complete!
Was really just waiting on the bases, but once they came in they finished quick. I do like the color combo.
This is gonna mark a minor pause in my workflow as I'm going on a bit of a roadtrip! Visit some national parks, go bother some friends across the country... Looking at being back in June, so watch this space!
I'll have my electronics with me, of course, so I expect that I'll still shoot you guys a few updates here and there Till next time, guys!
Dude, looking great as usual! I do like the colour combo on the cows it really works nicely! also loving the way you did the horns and colour fades, really well done man!
Roadtrip plan is a big ring around the US- Insanely long, but I figured when the heck am I going to get another chance like this to travel!
Unfortunately no St. Louis- Just didnt line up on the ring D: (sorry Theo! Next time for sure)
So far I've been to Nashville (had some great bbq), Pensacola, FL, where there is an amazing Naval Aviation Museum (I highly recommend seeing it, should you ever have the chance), and yesterday we walked the French Quarter in New Orleans. That was way bigger than I thought it would be... Also had Char-grilled Oysters which were awesome.
Last night we got into Houston, where Im meeting an old college friend, then its off to the southwest to explore!
@Theo: Oh on you
I've gotten to go through St. Louis in the past (been like 10-15 years though!) and I do really like the city. Like I said. Next time we'll getcha!!
@brian: Sorry, Nothing quite that far east! I figured that it would be easier to get out to New England and the East Coast later- I live in Cleveland, after all! We'll have to plan something another time
@Gits: I think that name is my new favorite thing. Little Skookum!
Travel Update: Still in Houston getting spoiled with amazing food from my friend's family. Went to the requisite BBQ joint and Mexican restaurants. Aiming to camp out here a few more days, then its off through the wild west of West Texas.
That’s why people drive around there with the bull horns on their cars, make other drivers think they are cows, and hitting a cow will really up your car unlike hitting another car.
See that's what you get for driving on the wrong side of the road!!, Have a great trip bud, like you said, got to do it, not very often you will get a chance.
Camkierhi wrote: See that's what you get for driving on the wrong side of the road!!, Have a great trip bud, like you said, got to do it, not very often you will get a chance.
At least driving on the RIGHT side of the road doesn’t cause us to take the wrong Br-exit .
Keeping busy around here with job hunting and miscellaneous reorganizing. Cleaned house for the first time in a long time and have a surprising amount of space now... Found a lot of things that I had thought were lost/thrown out ages ago- Pokemon cards, a spare computer, even a trio of Playstations that may or may not work.
One of my local friends has been bitten by the painting bug, so we've been doing paint nights every so often. These are a pair of Reaper minis that I worked on last time. Both were really spur of the moment color-wise, and I'm still pretty undecided on if I like the combos.
Since returning from my trip last month, I've also been putting in some time on the MG Psycho Zaku I bought last year. Its a huge Gunpla kit and I wanted to do something special with it, so hit it with color-shift paints. Its a neat effect that doesnt seem to come through in pictures. It shifts from bright blue to a purple, while the gold shifts through oranges and a little green.
Commissions are picking up as well, and I find myself working on a pair of them at the moment.
The first is a bunch of Space Wolf bits and a group of Thousand Sons in a pre-heresy scheme:
The second project is a group of Primaris Marines. Its my first time working with them and I do really like the kit. Plenty of options and everything fits without trouble.
The client wanted to use some boarding shields from Shapeways and asked if this was possible, so I said "suuuuuuure!".
Ooooh boy. What my cursory research neglected to show was that the arms are really mostly meant to be used in pairs, so shaving of the shoulders and gap filling was necessary. On top of that, nearly every single bolt rifle has the left hand cast into it, so it was a good couple hours of trimming and patching to get these to fit.
Love the look, though!!
Ill try to pick things up and post more here in the coming weeks. Thanks for sticking around through the radio silence, guys!
Colour shifts are snazzy. I like martian green, which always looks purple... Love the old school reaper aesthetic too, colours are great - weirdly, been thinking about that scheme for Kalyshi (deldar) so that's handy.
@Brian- Yeah, I getcha exactly. Ill have to see about doing a video once its all together and painted. Thats all a fair bit away, though. There are just so many parts to this kit!
@graven: Ahh yeah! Think I have one in that sort of family, but nothing nearly as striking as green/red. Mine ends up as a brown to teal or as a purple to mint green. You know, I wonder how some Eldar tanks would look in this paint...
@Theo: Hah, thanks man. Hopefully I can pick up a decent pace so I can show you guys some more stuff! Lots of neat minis on deck!!
Thousand Sons are complete. Interesting little models!
Loving the TSons man! they look really good, obviously not BA and a very nice overall tone you've got on them. are they a commission or your own? I forget what your own stuff is now Lol :-)
@Theo: Hah! Yeah I tried keeping them a little on the darker side compared to BAs (hard for me cause I am all about the vivid colors). Thanks!!
@Gits: Thanks Gits
@nerd: Thank you!! These guys are a commission, definitely. The only stuff I get to paint for myself are DnD minis and the occasional Marines Errant. Now more than ever, I just dont have too much time to paint for myself. I promised Solar that Id get a Knight done for the next Knight Fight at Adepticon, so thats probably the next major personal project.
I just need to come up with an interesting scheme....
=====================
Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. For my part, it was uneventful. Visited a few friends, had a cookout, saw a lot of fireworks on my drives homeward...
I have been working on the Imperial Fists Primaris and have them to the pre-wash stage of the yellow. Even with the airbrush, these took me something like 5 or 6 hours to get to this stage. There are just so many models in this group! I'll be breaking them down into a number of batches once the yellows are done.
Joining these marines is an Apothecary. Woo white... My favorite color.
The red was my first time playing with the Creature Caster paints, specifically this guy here:
MAN do I love that saturation! Definitely one of the brightest reds that I own.
Hey, anybody who can paint that much yellow or white and have it look good deserves plenty of respect in my book. The Apothecary is coming along nicely!
Great job all around. soon that Lancer will e in your hands. I think there will be an abundance of lancers next year. I have made some changes to the Lancer rules as well as the overall turn sequence.
Looking forward to some creative modeling and painting.
So. It's awful dusty in here.
Part of the reason for my absence is starting a new job! I was hired around the end of July by a Carpentry shop. They do a lot of work for retail companies, building new stores, fixtures etc. But a large party of my initial job was refinishing stools and tables for a certain tech company. It was a simple job, if a bit mindless, but I ended up soon stumbling into a niche of my own.
As it turns out, the boss was looking to expand into CNC and CAD work. Some of you might not know, but I started college as an Aerospace Engineer. I really loved the design aspect of it and did pretty well on the drafting classes, however never could handle the high level calculus. I ended up switching to a different major to graduate.
The past 6 weeks have been insane as I've been teaching myself Solidworks, cabinet programs, CNC cutting speeds.... Its incredibly exciting, but terrifying at the same time.
But anyways, enough about that... You guys cane for knight pictures!
Im going with something a fair bit more over the top than my normal fare. I figure that if Im going to bring a Lancer to the Wardens, I need it to be something truly special!
I envision this capturing the knight in full charge, shells and enemy fire bouncing off of his shield.
Now the shield... I want something suitably flashy.
Every Lancer in the wardens has a different shield, for example Gits' Clockwork Knight. For mine, Im going crazy... Energy shield! Im planning to bend some clear acrylic sheets and airbrush them with faint energy effects, too.
This Knight looks like hes been dabbling in a little bit of Tech-Heresy....
As I said, Im going over the top with this project, and this means the paint as well!
I got new Turbo Dork paints in, and one of the colors really caught my eye and I fell in love with it. It's called "Miami Sunset", and shifts from deep orange to a bright magenta! Add silver trim and heavy gloss to the armor and its like an exotic sportscar!
Heres a couple of the new paints, with Miami in the middle:
I've been working on some IG commanders for another client whenever I got tired of yellow... Its a nice change. Almost got them set!
I have a bunch of finished stuff to show off, but want to get better shots of it. A new camera might be on the horizon!
Thanks for the well-wishes, guys. Its an intense learning experience, but I relish the challenge. For the first time in a long time, I'm actually enjoying work! Solving problems in the workshop, negotiating with suppliers... Its something new every day. One of our clients is having a meeting soon to determine whether or not we proceed with a massive project we've been demonstrating in their stores... Could be incredibly exciting!!
@Solar: Soon, my friend, soon... I still got a few months!
@Zerg: As far as I'm aware, these are to be scattered through his army to lead his squads.
@Archer: That would be AWESOME! I'm still stumbling my way through the program (cant get into proper training until December!) and Im always running into questions. You can bet that I'll give you a shout next time I'm stumped.
=========================
As mentioned before, I got a new camera. (Smartphone, really, but shhh....) Still figuring it out, but Im liking the clarity of the shots so far.
Finished the Guard last night and they're on their way back home.
I also had finished some of the Primaris Marines from earlier, including last year's event mini from GW and an Apothecary.
Lastly, I finished up a mini for myself. My DnD group finished a campaign of 4 years, and this was my character- the Tiefling Paladin, Lady Aeryn Pronyavich!
This really started as a quicky color scheme, really just grabbing paints from the box and going wherever it sent me. Parts I like, parts I dont... but it was a learning experience...
Anyways, thats it for the moment. Talk to you guys later!
It was eirely quiet. The mechannius forge was silent with the exception of a occasional click from one of the servitors. Some ghost in the machine code checking to see if the Forge's master has returned. He has not. The only change has been the level of dust now accumulating on all the surfaces. The Machine spirit still slumbers while war looms.
Without warning, a small light flickers. It's pale blue glow struggles to stay luminous. A small opening in the floor plate spews forth a small lump of flesh. It's beady eyes scanning the area as it's stump like legs propel it forward from cover to cover. Seeing nothing of interest is scurries back into the depths from which it came, leaving only trails of disturbed dust on the floor resembling the scribbles of a madman.
In more of a growl than words the weathered Astarti spoke ' Any contact or communication? The officer manning the comms whole body stiffened as if afraid of phrasing the words would elisit some physical or mental punishment. 'No contact.
Damn, those supplies and reinforcements were vital to our battle plan'. His scared face tightened as his armored fingers curled tightly into a fist. The Marines Errant will have their tithe honored. The forge Master has much to answer for.
Thank you for your continued interest in the Forge World of Asura Prime- Home of the Marines Errant and the RAO Project. Due to unusually high Xenos activities in adjacent sectors, response time to inquiries are experiencing higher than normal lag-time. We apologize for the inconvenience.
If you have an order number, please submit it to be connected to the next available Comm-servitor.
For the next available human representative, please maintain this frequency and your communication will be answered in the order it has been received.
Estimated wait time is..
ONE-HUNDRED FORTY-EIGHT DAYS, TWENTY-THREE HOURS
Thank you once again for choosing Asura Prime~
*BBEEEEEEP*
============================
So Im still working on stuff (slowly!)
Work is a bit on the crazy side, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying it. Can't share any photos of the projects here (yet), but there are a lot of irons in the fires here for our clients. Im still busily learning how to use Solidworks and bring the CNC into line, so I've been unfortunately lax in my painting!
I have been doing a little bit of painting here and there, so I can share a couple things.
Still working on the Fists- This is group 2 of 4- All of the heads and extra arms are complete, leaving these subassemblies to be detailed up. Hoping that these shouldnt take me too much longer. We'll have to see how work goes!
I got color on the Knight as well... I think the color shift is gonna be something really special!
Love the little video. I should try that. Glad to see your still painting and still gainfully employed. While one interferes with the other... it does pay the bills a little more regularly!
The video was surprisingly easy to do- iphones apparently can take "live photos", which are small video clips every time you take a photo. Neat little feature that let me export it as a GIF.
And no worries, SL- I've a lot of work to do, and could definitely use someone keeping me on track!!
Oh, and a final little teaser here- I have a new addition to my mini-making arsenal coming this week... Things are gonna get a little..... 3 Dimensional
I recently purchased an Anycubic Photon S and Ive been playing with it the past couple weeks... Really happy with it so far. Printing off a couple things from online and seeing what it can do. The detail is INCREDIBLE!
The printer itself:
During printing... Step by step
And the final model- Makes me want to roll a Tabaxi Barbarian for my next dnd game.
Work has been keeping me busy, so no real updates on painting. Soon, though!
@Gits: I also have it in clear red! The stuff this prints out almost looks like candy....
@WM: I was concerned about the smell, myself, as I had this thing shipped to work in order to play with it more...
Personally I dont think it smells all that bad (coworkers are in a similar boat). It smells like resin (funnily enough). Just a light industrial smell, maybe a slight bit sweet. When the printer is not running you hardly notice it, unless you open the door or bottle of goo, and even then its just a small scent.
You definitely smell it more when its running, and it fills the room with the resin smell. other rooms in the area are mostly unaffected. if anything its just the barest whiff of resin. Again, not terrible. Spraypaint and glues smell worse.
One planned project for this is to build a cabinet around it with a couple computer fans pulling the exhaust through a charcoal filter. I'll probably do a mini build log on here once that gets going. Integrate the curing lamp in the same cabinet structure and all that... Ive got ideas.
Anycubic also sells a plant-based resin that apparently has zero smell, if that was something that you might want to look into. The only problem is that its about 50% more in price than the normal stuff. Ive heard that it gets good results.
As far as messiness, well I figure its just like paint. It has great potential for mess, but if you're sensible with handling it you shouldnt have issues.
Wow, that is some crisp detail (for 3d printing anyways)! I've got a buddy who has a 3d printer, and he's been like a kid in a candy store designing and printing models with his. It really is a cool technology. I'd get one myself, but I really don't have a pressing need or extra money to throw at one right now.
I continue to be ultra busy at work, which means limited time to paint :/
I do have progress to show, though, so not all is lost!
First off, I had finished another group of Marines and have made progress on the next.
Then I got the trim done on the Lancer- This WILL BE DONE BY ADEPTICON!!! Color is P3's "Radiant PLatinum"- Sort of a white gold. Has just a touch of a warm tone to it that I think goes nicely with the colorshift purple/red.
I also did a quick paint job on a Gunpla model for a secret Santa- Simple candy coat and a little freehand.
And last, but certainly not least, I can introduce a new member of the family! You might remember the Photon I picked up a couple months ago- I got him a big brother!
Currently printing a number of upgrades for it and getting it running smoothly, but results so far are promising... Hopefully much more to show in future!
Till next time guys~ ill try not to vanish for another month
The ender is the printer I use. Good call starting with self upgrades on it. It’s great for stuff like terrain and things that don’t need the ultra high detail.
Work has been kicking my ass all year and then Monday night my state got a shelter-in-place order, so Ive been busily working on new stuff this week. Hopefully Ill have a couple more updates here in the next week or two. Lots of time now that my work is closed :/ We'll see how long this all lasts...
But this is not the time nor the place for such things- Its on to brighter and more cheerful things!
The past couple months I have been working on learning my 3D printers, and so far have been getting pretty decent results.
On the Lamb Games recently released an updated digital model of one of their first minis (Yes, SL- more farm animals! ) and they asked me to see how the files worked and I ended up with these guys- The first version (printed in green) worked more or less alright. Version two (Blue) fixed a lot of these and was a much nicer print. Though if you notice, I had some issues with the cape- purely on my end as I tried getting a liiiittle too ambitious with the supports and ended up making them way too thin. They ended up breaking during the print and the cape failed to print.
I've also been working on a new project for my Marines Errant (lots of time with the lockdown going!)
On the filament printing front, my little brother asked if I could print a dinosaur skull- He found a good file online and with a bit of assembly, now hes the proud owner of a raptor skull! Pretty neat end result.
On the painting front, I had gotten a considerable amount done with the Knight before Adepticon cancelled... Much bummer :/ Almost done with it- probably put some more hours into it in the coming days.
For commissions, I've at last finished the Primaris marines with those awesome boarding shields!
After the Fists, I moved on to the next major project for a client: Old school Terminators. These are destined to be Crimson Fists. (Sometimes I wonder if I'm being typecast.... ) Lots of old paint on these, but as they're metal its a cinch to get rid of that!
And after an acetone bath and cleaning, I assembled them.
So yeah. Thats the current state of things. I hope everyone else is doing ok in these weird times. Bummed that I cant hang out with people this weekend, but hey- the future holds many things!
Sorry for vanishing for a while. Work continues to be sapping my time and energy, so with that plus everything else going on... well painting just kinda fell by the wayside. Everyone around here is still hale and hearty, so no worries on that, guys. Just been tired.
At a certain point, it just seemed easier to continue not updating, rather than gather everything together and post...
In an effort to get back into some semblance of normalcy, and hopefully convince myself to crack down and do a little paintwork, I think that instead of my big bulk "Here's everything youve missed" post, I should break it up. Maybe that'll encourage me to post more often than once every 3 months!
So first update is on the Terminators- Mostly old metal, needed stripped.
I threw them in a jar of acetone and put that in the ultrasonic cleaner for several minutes. Some were easy to clear up and the paint just sloughed off, but others had some kinda weird enamel on them that really didnt want to go anywhere. It even stained the pewter blue! I filtered the big chunks of paint out of the acetone before swapping it to another jar for a longer soak.
Once a majority of the paint was off, I did the last bit of cleaning with a toothbrush and a dental pick. Quick rinse in soapy water and they were ready to paint!
These are all destined to be Crimson Fists, so I hit them all with dark blue using my standard zenithal technique and a mix of a few purple and blue washes.
Then it was a little edge highlighting- I think theyre going to need a little more, but Im going to wait until more color is on them before deciding.
Hope you guys are all doing well.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks Ice- hope you and the fam are continuing to do well
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Update the Second- 3D printing adventures
One thing that I wanted to do on these termis to dress them up was 3D print some Iconography for them. Its just that extra little touch to have 3D details like that, ya know?
Ive always loved the pads from Pop Goes The Monkey- they fit perfectly every time and really arent too expensive... like 20 of them for 14 bucks. But I figured that since I have a really nice 3D resin printer I should really just look at printing them myself! The catch, though, is that I couldnt find any models to use as a base, and the curve on shoulderpads is surprisingly complex. So I took to Solidworks, iterating my design based on a couple quick measurements.
You can see this one is a bit big yet and the detail just isnt all there.
A couple tries later and I got something that I think is suitable- Still needs tweaks, but this should work for now.
So with this, plus a little more refinement, I have the base for any designs I could want! Just a case of changing out the files.
I also found a file that someone sculpted of an Imperial Knight, so every so often I would print off one of its components. So far I have the torso and carapace- some fitment issues just because of my inexperience with resin printing large parts, but its really something that this kinda thing is possible.
A pause to social gatherings also meant a pause to playing games, including Kingdom Death, so I took to upgrading my collection with some 3D terrain sculpted by one of the community.
These files were all printed hollowed out using SirayaTech Blu- a resin that is quickly becoming my favorite. Strong, durable, and a lovely electric blue color. Compared to the normal Red stuff that came with my printer, its far nicer- dropping a figure doesn't mean an instant break- this stuff has a little bit of give to it.
It does have a catch to using it, though, and that is the fact that it is super viscous stuff at room temperature- like a thick honey. Naturally this negatively impacts details as the resin doesnt flow away as the platform raises and lowers. It wants to be printed at 30 C or higher so to do this I went with an incubator heater. It was a quick drop in and go solution. I printed a small expansion box on my FDM printer that I could screw onto the top of the Photon, as well as some clips for the included digital thermometer, and with a couple small bolts I was up and running!
Pillars:
and Giant stone Faces:
From here I'm going to apply some grasses and the like to make them look natural and give them some life, but more on that later.
@SL: Thanks! The printer I have gets some killer resolution. If I really spent time with it and refined my settings, I could even get better results!
@aku: Storage, I've thought of that! Yeah.... yeeeeeeah..... >_>
Narrator: "He didn't."
@Gits: Thanks, man. Actually have come across a bunch of Japanese-style terrain (couple little lanterns in particular I thought were really cool)- I know you need more terrain like a hole in the head, but let me know if you are looking for anything in particular!
@Theo: No vaginas, but dongs abound on the pillars! The face is just a general creepy weirdness-
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Bit of a mix of old and new in today's update.
For the Kingdom Death terrain, I knew I wanted another element to it like grass or bushes. Just to dress it up and make it look pretty. All I usually have on hand is green and autumnal colors, so I needed to go shopping. Theres a company out of Portugal that I fell in love with a few years ago after impulse buying a few packs of grass tufts from a sale (might have been the Warstore)...
Its called "Gamers Grass", and I think they do some of the nicest tufts out there, especially with Army Painter changing over to the boring circular tufts... Gamers Grass has plenty of options and colors, including some really wild alien colors... Only trouble is finding a place in the states to order them from!
Failing to find somewhere with all the colors I wanted, in particular a reddish brown long grass, I ended up ordering from them directly. Only meant that to get my money's worth I had to get a bunch (oh no, the horror).
So with these in hand, I gave the larger terrain pieces a coat of gloss, 2 of matte, and started to put some grass on them. Still want to find some dead-looking vines, but that hunt is another tale.
Hope everyone had a good 4th. All quiet around here- Ribs on the smoker, good pasta salad, bonfire.... Nice and relaxing.
Today I'd like to share a project that I'd been working on during my 9-5 job.
As you may or may not be aware, I work as a project engineer for a custom cabinetry/furniture/job shop. I design stuff on the computer, translate it to the CNC, then hit "go" and hope it works!
As things have been significantly slower with everything going on, Ive been taking it on myself to get more experience on the machine. So I set to designing a better gear grid for Kingdom Death. A lot of people print them off out of plastic, but I wanted something a little classier, so carved it out of wood.
It was a simple task to design- just a 3x3 grid with a slightly larger area for extra cards and tokens. Tool paths were simple as well, the most complex among them was getting recesses carved in for your fingers to grab the cards.
Now I was prepared to do them out of something simple like maple or walnut, but my boss got weirdly into this project, so opened his sizable collection for my perusal.
I ended up picking out one of the most incredible pieces Ive ever seen.... This is called "Waterfall Bubinga", a tropical hardwood from Africa. Fantastic figure and I am floored that I was allowed to use it.
I have two of these bad boys, with hopefully another pair on the way soon- though I doubt Ill find another piece of this Waterfall stuff... simply stunning!
This week was busy at work, so little time for updates- Making an art piece out of Buckeye Burls that is simply incredible. A lot of CNC work on it, too, so I was put on the spot to make it happen...
So today I'm gonna share a couple projects Ive completed recently- both, incidentally, 3D prints that I ended up painting!
The first was a commission from a friend of mine who planned to give it to his better 3/4 for part of an anniversary present- As this was smack in the middle of lockdown, I was more than happy to make it happen!
A heroforge sculpt, but relatively easy to cast. With the Photon S it was a cinch to print out and get looking nice (.02mm layer height on this guy)
Bauble, the Kenku!
Bauble was modeled after a Common Grackle, a bird quite common around these parts. The patchwork vest was a fun little venture, and let me use some of my favorite bright colors.
I also painted a demo model for On the Lamb, who recently started doing 3D models of their works. I believe that this one was in celebration of 10 years of Brushfire. (Yes, Solar, more farm animals! <3 )
Again, this was done on the Photon S, .02mm layer heigh, and this was using the Blu resin that Im quite fond of. Nice and durable, good detail...
Still slowly chipping at the Fists- Hopefully get some work done on them over the weekend!
Work still hasnt slowed down, but its kind of cool lately. Learning a lot about how to program raspberry pi's and set up bits of Linux... And this is on top of my normal CNC and CAD duties.
As I had mentioned last time, I do have a little Marines Errant stuff- Just a few mini projects and details.
When I first started building up an ME army, one of the many thoughts was to introduce Tau bits here and there to touch on some lore at the time that they are known for dabbling in a little Xenotech. Could even build up a list to run them as Tau counts-as. You know. Something kind of neat looking and unique.
During quarantine, I found a few files for Tau-themed marine packs, so I printed out a batch of jump packs that I think look pretty neat. Definitely really chunky though.
Here they are on a random test marine I recently found as I was cleaning, hah.
I also built up a kit that I've had sitting around for years... a Storm Eagle or something (yeah Im behind the times on the game) Needed a lot of bending and gap filling, and probably needs more on top of that. Might paint it for Marines Errant, might just say the heck with it and paint it up to sell off. I dunno. Anyone interested lemme know
Very cool model, but point wise and as GW is going to a smaller model count play format, it'll rairly ever get used. Probably sell it to someone whom wants one in their collection.
I recently had the opportunity to finish up the Crimson Fists- big group of old school terminators, and it was a fun scheme to paint. i may have gotten them a bit more "blue" than I anticipated, but thats something to keep in mind next time. A little darker I think would be nice.
Also trying out a new camera app, so do forgive me if they arent up to my normal haphazard standards
Close up of the missile launcher guy- shows off the 3d printed icon as well. I think they turned out pretty alright.
Still digging through my backlogs here for stuff to share, so hopefully should have a bit more to share. All random assorted stuff...
As far as commissions go, I think im mostly caught up on the bigger stuff- I think its time to work on something for myself as a palette cleanser. Lets see what I have hanging around here.....
Not quite a year since I last appeared here... Damn sorry for the absence, guys.
Life is work these days- Long hours, but the money is nice. Still healthy here, so keeping lucky on that. Really other than that, nothing to report. What can I say. Im boring.
On the hobby front, things are slow. Havent had much time to paint. I know I need to do a lot of work on the Marines... I have to beat up some lamenters next Adepticon, after all! Ive been paging through the new rules and codex, so hopefully can come up with something fun.
Picked up a couple longer-term commissions to suit the slower painting schedule... This is a batch of Dark Age minis- interesting post apocalypse scavenger group...
And the final product:
I have a couple other projects in the works... Sorting through some other stuff to share.... I'll be back for a weekend update!
Lovely work, Ramos!! I wouldn't have expected so many different style models to work as a group, but they really really do. And the big guy steals the show, as he should
Client says he'll probably be doing some more, so expect another batch of Dark Age stuff soon. Before that, though, I actually have a huge Forgeworld tank to paint for my Imperial Fist client!
Next project to share is something that I painted for myself. The story goes that I wanted a quick palette cleanser- something easy to paint to relax... Yeah that didnt happen. I made the mistake of going with an overly intricate camo scheme on tanks that are absolutely tiny. I mean the tanks are roughly the size of a 25mm base.
So several months later and I got them finished, and of course its for a game that Ive never played and probably wont touch Ah well.
And now for something completely unrelated to camo (no, really, those minis were pure pain- glad you guys like them, though!)
As you guys are probably aware, 3D printing has been something of a growing hobby of mine- playing with all the different filaments, tinkering... Its a match made in heaven! I even managed to carry it over into my regular 9-5 job, which was a cool bonus.
Anyways. I have a friend who is big into costuming/cosplay/etc, so working with her I ended up with a full-size scan of my head. A little messing around with mixing meshes and we ended up with Roman emperor Ramos! Had to print this 1:4 scale in a "marble" filament
Pretty soon I set to printing it on the resin printer as well.
The small ones are VERY small, in case the above pic doesn't show it off... Its scaled to a sort of DnD-scale... Something of a dare from one of my gaming friends.
Commission projects-wise, Ive been building a Space Marine Falchion... Man these things are BIG! I'll have some wip pics of it up for you guys soon. Til then, thanks for sticking around!
Can you prime and wash one of the tiny ones so we can see how much detail you managed to fit in there? Hard to tell with the clear, but it does look very detailed for its size!
Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote: Can you prime and wash one of the tiny ones so we can see how much detail you managed to fit in there? Hard to tell with the clear, but it does look very detailed for its size!
I can definitely do that- Expect something here soon!
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This weekend was mostly building the Falchion- Big damn tank.
Typical sort of FW kit- fit together mostly without issue. There were only two parts I needed to heat up to bend back into shape and only the front-left main wheel giving me any sort of appreciable issues in assembly.
Always interesting to see how they engineer these kits with the existing plastic models. In this case, a baneblade formed the bottom and internal walls of the hull as well as the main wheels for the tracks. Easily more than 75% resin on this, but must have been more cost effective with the plastic bits. Real interesting.
Actually, of you! I take such joy out of the knights and flyers you painted for me, would love to have a mini-Ramos to place by them in the display case. Good to see you at the modeling thing again, though I'm glad your RL job is working out well too of course.
@Archer: You should just do a full body scan one day as you're scanning boring old boat hulls.... You know, for "calibration"
@Riddle of Steel: These superheavies are some of my favorite things to build, possibly second only to Titans... Thanks for checking in!!
@WM: It definitely surprised me when I unpacked the kit and found most of a baneblade... Bottom hull (2pcs), inside hull left and right (2pcs each), and the outer wheels for the tracks (4 total pcs). Almost nothing visible, funnily enough.
@Gits: consider it done. I'll give it to you next Adepticon! (fingers crossed! )
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First thing's first- mini-me bust!
Turns out, theres a lot more to it than I had thought....
I continue to be amazed by this little printer.
I also printed myself a model to paint- this time something for myself!
This is the Vile Bloom, from DragonTrappers- one of the patreons I support. They do a bunch of minis every month, but this is the first one that I saw and immediately knew I wanted to paint. It took the better part of 3 days to print, but man..... what a mini
Plan on her is to go with ashen tones and an almost deathly white color on most of the skin and wings. Then the flower on top in a deep wine red. I think Ill build a really nice scenic base as well... gotta see what I can rig up.
On the Falchion front- I ran out of yellow paint! So... frig...
Thats all on order, but here we are at 2/5 colors on the yellow:
You must have a pretty darn good printer... the quality of that model is amazing! Very excited to see what happens when the paint starts to flow.
The Falchion looks pretty cool, I think it'll be awesome when you finish painting it. That's a very interesting cutting mat you have... not the standard green grid at all.
@Gits: Its a fiskars mat, I think. Cheapie thing I got at walmart- might be near time for a new one. This thing has seen its fair share of fire, lacquer thinner, paint, and knives... Better it than my desk though!
Progress on the Falchion continues.
I love painting these gradients. It all comes together so nice.
Next steps are blocking out all of the different colors. Lots of details on this guy.
Ive also been working on the flower dragon thingy...
Found some T Rex files on thingiverse and sent those to the printer as well.
Years ago when I started painting minis, this stuff was unthinkable! Amazing how tech has come along and how 3D printing has become a really approachable hobby!
When I first started in my Patternmaking trade 3D printing had just started to become a thing that was much more a novelty than anything actually practical.
Now, the sky is almost the limit with "printing" so many different materials at excellent tolerances. Eventually there will be no miniatures (or cups, plates or other household items) we will just download files and print what we want when we want.
No more "mum we have run out of credit on our phones" it will be "Mum the 3D printer has run out of plastic/resin/metal and I can't print my skateboard!"
Reality is coming back to normality, the weather is getting warmer, and I'm looking for a new job.
*sad trombone noises*
In a twist that Im still reeling from, I've been forced from my previous position. Boss all of a sudden seemed to have taken a dim view to my efforts at work and ended up being really nasty and making my life hell. So Im looking for a new gig!
Good news, at least as far as this project log is concerned, is that I now have more time for painting.
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Got the big tank finished.
Hopefully I have more frequent updates now that my mental health can recover.
Onward to the future!
Good luck with finding a new job. From my experience, it usually winds up that those type of bosses were not getting their tasks done and all of a sudden their bosses start holding them accountable, which they don’t know how to handle it so the rolls down hill. I had one boss do that to me right after getting a merit raise for exceedingly good work, I left and less than a month later he was fired and his boss was trying to lure me back.
Tank looks great , is that a Forgeworld kit? I haven’t paid attention to the 30k super heavies, so I’m not sure.
@Gits: I have many choice words to describe my boss, but they arent for polite company. To put it professionally, we had incompatible personalities.
As far as commissions... eh. Its not like the old days- Right now I'm trying to spool up production. Only have 2 projects at the moment. Thankful for every single one of them, but always looking for more, haha. I guess a slow start like this is a bit beneficial, though... Im still spinning from the abrupt end of my career and getting things sorted back out.
@Theo: Appreciate it. It was an owner/operator small business type deal, so no "boss of the boss" drama, unfortunately. Really sad, too, as Id thought Id been doing great.... ah well.
Tank is indeed a forge world kit- Legion Falchion. Almost all resin except for like 5 plastic parts from the baneblade kit, hah.
Bummer about the job. Hopefully you got some skills you can parlay in to the next opportunity. Don't think of it as the end, just a push to the next step. I know taking the leap by my own choice is something I dread as much as being pushed, but it's worked out for me in the long run every time.
I'm sure I can come up with something off the pile of grey if you are looking to pick up some paint work, just lmk.
Well, that royally sucks, but sounds like you are better off out of there. Great treadhead activity there, lovely weathering on the gun barrels and stowage, contrasts so well with the big banana.
Sorry about your job, friend. That really sucks. However, I have also known the joys of suddenly having way more time on my hands to get creative and you seemed to have wasted no time yourself. That Falchion looks fabulous and I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the bust(s), especially those teensy weensy ones.
As is tradition, I fall off the face of the earth after making a post saying "No really Im gonna post more!"
Oh well.
Things continue to be all over the place here. Still hunting for a job, but I guess if thats the worst of my problems, im in a better boat than many. Cant complain.
Anyways, I -am- doing something with my time, albeit a wee bit slowly. Lots of irons in the fire (because i apparently have the attention span of a snotling on coke), but the first thing I'll share with you is some painting progress!
Painted up a group of Dark Age minis to join the last batch.
And a bit of Kingdom Death terrain (yes I still love that game!)
Next up: Controllers, Clearcoat, and Learning bodywork!
@Graven: Its got some really neat models. There was that one faction that was all Maya-Inca-whatever that I painted the big stone golem for a few years back... think thats still one of my favorites. I dont have all that much experience with the system, so this is something of an adventure for me as well. Client is going through his collection and having me do up some of his favorite factions.
@SL: Thanks man! Planning to get some marines and the like going soon... I know that I owe you a few games for sure!
@Gits: Definitely a few bare butts in the past few groups... Damn shame these days that we cant afford to fully equip our gladiators! Donate to your local colosseum/fight pit today, folks!
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Custom controllers!
I tried this years ago, but the clearcoat I used (just some rattlecan enamel I had on hand) really didn't hold up. It ended up getting really soft and melty as you held it and thats just no good at all! Clearly there was something I was missing, and it turns out that the secret ingredient is Automotive Clearcoat!
It's a 2-part urethane- stinky, noxious, and goopy, but I can run it through the airbrush (OUTSIDE) with little issue. And man.... its a world of difference from rattlecan stuff! It feels significantly thicker and is a lot shinier. Does take a fair bit to figure out how to get a good glass finish- I keep getting bits of orange peel and flecks that need wet sanding... But its a LOT tougher than regular enamel.
(Let me know if you have issues viewing these photos- using google photos as I dont want to throw non-wargame-y stuff onto the dakka gallery )
The first controller I painted (mostly seeing if the celarcoat worked) was an xbox controller. Nothing special other than a colorshift paint, but the second one I painted was my personal Wavebird. Love this controller and still use it for playing a bit of Super Smash Brothers with friends...
Around the same time, I finished a controller for a friend of mine so that he can test how the finish holds up under use.
Wow, a Wavebird! I see I'm not the only one who loved that controller! I used to play a lot of games with that thing. My brother has it now, along with the Gamecube and everything else that went with it. I love the paint job on yours, really turned out great!
Meh, I fall off the face of the Earth all the time. As long as you come back and post, we're always happy you've returned. Love the custom controller. Really like the grey faces and red crystal terrain/display panel. Beautiful work.
The first blog I read after far too long and it's a right mixed bag!
Sorry to hear about the job front. Best wishes for the future.
Beautiful work all round, love the tank, so brilliant. 3D printing is a new toy for me, and really getting scared about how and what should be printed. But lots of stuff out there and definite possibilities for my own work to find an outlet. Just started playing with ZBrush and Fusion 360, again though got to be careful as licences are non-profit. I will work it out in the end.
, it might be what I need to do on this stupid Monsterpocalypse gundam that keeps flaking.
, not that I play too many games under a black light......or any light, but that is absolutely cool 
. Even though Jeremy Glenn isn’t the owner supposedly I just can’t get passed the 
age we went through with the Kickstarter and fulfillment, even though I got a refund as soon as I saw it going south I took a hit from lost fees on it.
)
