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Welcome back nice to hear from you,.

Dr H wrote:Welcome back Casey. Good to see you are still kicking. Look forward to more from you.

Camkierhi wrote:Welcome back nice to hear from you,.

Thanks, fellas! I'm throwing myself into Dakka catch up right now but everything is getting set up and the creative juices are flowing so furiously that I need a bib for a shirt and a splash guard for my laptop. Lovely image? Good! I'm really looking forward to working my way around to both of your blogs and finding out what exciting triumphs you've conjured in my absence.



As i have now revealed. I have done nothing since last we spoke. I am a bad hobbyist, a very bad hobbyist.

Love,
Casey!

That's so weird, I was just thinking about you earlier this week, great to see you back on Dakka! Don't worry I haven't posted that much for you to catch up on

Good to see you're not dead squire

inmygravenimage wrote:Good to see you're not dead squire

Knightley wrote:That's so weird, I was just thinking about you earlier this week, great to see you back on Dakka! Don't worry I haven't posted that much for you to catch up on

Thanks very much, gents. And good to know I'm not forgotten! What got you thinking of me, something good I hope?

So what you mean is that you haven't posted much more than the regular 100 perfectly crisp, grey miniatures a week for the last year? Oh well that's not so bad.

Further progress has been made: I have located my airbrush!

I hate being late to a party when the party is THIS good! Great stuff Case, keep it coming!

Good to see you back again Casey, interested to see what you have/will be working on!

Gitsplitta wrote:I hate being late to a party when the party is THIS good! Great stuff Case, keep it coming!

Pacific wrote:Good to see you back again Casey, interested to see what you have/will be working on!

Feeling that Dakkanaut love in abundance, feels like I've barely been away. Great to have you on board Gits, I'll be looking for lots of input from all you very talented people as I reanimate these projects of mine. I was just saying today, there is nothing like the feeling of having someone you respect creatively compliment your work.

I want to get my current, and many, projects finished before I start anything else but I'm wary of constraining my creative vent. To make that feasible I'm just putting all of my projects on the block and whatever takes my fancy at any given moment will be what I'm producing. Currently underway, and in no particular order, I have:
Tyranids - Hive Fleet Blackbird
Infinity - Heralds of the Knife
Necromunda - La'Rua 005
Space Marines - Ministorum Patriarchus
and 3 competition entries I began but never completed;
Graven - Necromunda
Brian - Make Do and Mend
Comrade and Ruglud - Nork Warboss

A lot to do but all exciting stuff for me and it really helps to have it sitting in front of you for inspiration. I've even loaded all of my gallery images into a screen saver background on my new laptop so I'm constantly being inspired. Now I need to make enough room to have them all out on display together. If I'm posting on another blog I'll link up here to spread the word.

Maybe pictures next time, maybe not.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Aah, that's better.

Looks like you have a wealth of options to choose from... and very interesting too. I'm ready to pull up a chair and set a spell.

Hahah that has me think of this

Hah! Well I'm psyched about playing with my airbrush kit so I think La'Rua 005 and the Heralds of the Knife will be getting attention tomorrow.

I better go brush up on airbrushing before I take the plunge.

Hello and welcome back!

Thanks, Weety!

I played with the airbrush a bit this afternoon which was pretty scary! Here is a model I was testing on:


And now I'm trying out my ultrasonic cleaner on some older minis before I give her and her pal a dunk so I can start fresh.


In the mean time I'll make dinner and see if I can still use green stuff and a colour shaper.

What does an ultrasonic cleaner do? Or rather, what do you use it for? Does it strip minis?

Ooo, a sonicator... snazzy.
Wonder how it compares to what we had in the lab.

Soulcow, it uses ultrasound to, in essence, pummel the surface of anything immersed in the water effectively scrubbing the mini's surface like a tiny brush. But it should work far more effectively than a brush and will get into the tiniest of crevices. The paint will likely be reduced to a powder.

I've not used one in this context, in the lab we used them to help dissolve stubborn compounds by breaking down the solid into a very fine powder. It also creates a localised heating effect that also helped with dissolution without leading to thermal degradation of the chemicals.

I soak my mini's in Dettol, and I have a freind ( I know it is hard to believe) who uses dettol in his sonic bath, works amazingly, he strips whole armies for people for a fee.

Yep, that's all the information you need really. This grade isn't exactly lab quality it's more for cleaning jewellery and such but it's the same tech at the heart of it. Dettol appears to be the go to, off the shelf product for hobbyists in the UK, although it has to be the brown one as far as I have been told. In the US they seem to be big fans of Simple Green so it's worth searching Dakka and Google to find out what people are using near you. That said, I read that someone was using a cheap, off brand version of Dettol with solid effects so when I was buying it I grabbed a supermarket version too for almost an 8th of the price.

As I still haven't sold that Chaos army, and so many people suggest I'd sell it quickly if I'd strip it first, I decided to throw the 30 Conscripts/Traitor Guard/Cultists into the cleaner submerged in a pint of fluid. I tested the supermarket one out first(45p for a litre!) and after a lot of cycles and very little effect I decided to pour it back into the bottle and see what the Dettol would do. The Dettol(Expensive at £3.50 for 750ml!) worked a dream and started turning the paint into gloop after a couple of 8min cycles. That's more like it! I'm still figuring things out so I decided to whip them out at this stage and give them a scrub with a big old brush. Already I'd taken off about 70% of the paint so I put them back in for another couple of cycles, agitating them after the first one. At this point any paint left was running off them like snot so they went under the brush again which removed almost everything. They remain a little dirty looking so I plan another quick bath tomorrow and I'll use an old toothbrush instead of a paintbrush to get a bit of a deeper clean. Very promising though! I'm wondering how expensive this is going to be though. This army has quite a lot of paint on it so the Dettol is almost black and full of gunk after this batch. I'm not sure how much longer I can use it for before it's going to be an issue or for how long I can leave it sitting in the cleaner, I might put it back in the bottle but I don't really want to ruin the rest of it. Any advice on these issues will be very welcomely received!! An interesting note is that, although I avoided skin contact with the Dettol, I was handling these miniatures for an extended period without gloves and all that happened was I wrinkly fingertips and my hands smell of Dettol. Not something I want to make a habit of though as it is, after all, an irritant.

I don't have pictures from that sadly but I can take some on the next batch if there is interest. Actually I don't seem to have any pictures to share at all, sorry about that.

Cam, what does your friend charge, if you don't mind me asking? So far this seems like quite a big job and Dettol isn't cheap if he replaces it often. Plus I've already ruined a tea towel, i could see the costs and time racking up quite a fee!

Ultrasonic cleaners work great for airbrushes too. Especially for people who don't properly maintain them.

In the US something called Dawn Power Dissolver also works nicely.

Dettol, mostly pine oil, isopropanol, castor oil, soap and water with an antiseptic, Chloroxylenol. I suspect the first two ingredients do most of the stripping.

I know people who have used Pine-sol to strip metal minis, but don't use it on plastics or resins.

Practice makes perfect with the airbrush. A Badger I see. I like their renegade series. Got the Velocity myself.

And, by posting in the thread, subbed.

I believe he charges something like 30p a model, or maybe a bit more, not sure. I know I was looking at £60 to strip a sizable IG army. The Dettol is good for a few cycles, you can sieve it to get the worst of the gunk out, store it in a "used" tub. Try to keep the "new" stuff clean. And yup it is a blooming messy business, so I do recommend gloves and an apron, and not doing it in the kitchen sink ( the wife goes mental!) and I use old toothbrushes. Never had any problems with it affecting the models, but if you let it go long enough ( remember I just leave it to soak.) it breaks down greenstuff, superglue and and even some plastic cements. So like a Ork Mega armour figure I had, I put it in, 3 days later I got a pile of bits of white metal out., just to bear in mind.

So good to see you on the go again bud, shame you couldn't sell the chaos army, I seriously thought about it, but just not got that kinda money kicking about.

Great point, Red! I don't know how I forgot to mention it's use for cleaning airbrushes because that's the real reason I purchased it! Glad to have another face on board my personal Titanic come Groundhog Day.

@Cam - That sounds pretty reasonable but enough of an incentive for him to put the time in. By the time I finish stripping the Chaos then I'll have sped up and I might consider offering a similar service. It's something I could slip in before a backshift at work and not worry about having to leave suddenly and abandoning it. Oh I strained off the gunk as you suggested and after topping it up I'm putting it back into service. Could keep this going for quite a while I think. Messy business though.
And I'm so happy to be back, mate! I proper miss Dakka whenever I've taken time off. I've actually got a feeling the Chaos will go pretty quickly once it's stripped. I wouldn't buy it if I had to strip it first either so I can't blame people that have shown interest and then bailed.

So tonight I was sort of doing some hobbying...
I've got a bit of a habit of throwing a tonne of site improvement suggestions at Lego and a surprisingly large percentage have stuck over time. The latest brainwave was to update the Friend List feature and to add functionality to it but then Lego asks if he could see a graphic representation of my idea. Well I want to learn Dreamweaver anyway so I boot it up for a bit of fun ...and quickly fall down the rabbit hole.

I can't code, I'm staring at a glut of pre-existing html, I can't code, I don't know what I'm looking at and, oh yeah... I can't code.

Somehow I staggered out of the ring many hours later with a small token to show for it and I'm quite proud of myself really! It needs a lot of work still but today I can say I took the first step towards writing my own website one day. Here is my battle trophy, earned with blood, sweat and tears:

I like the idea, looks nice, and would be convenient.

 Camkierhi wrote:
I like the idea, looks nice, and would be convenient.

Well you're in luck, my bet is it'll be there in the next update unless something urgent comes up.

 legoburner wrote:
ok looks pretty cool, I'll add it to the to-do list.

Got some small bits and bobs to post plus an important question down at the bottom!

First up I got those Traitor Guard lads as clean as possible, I think this army will be much more attractive to a buyer when it's stripped like this. They look a little dirty but they are as smooth and ready to prime as I could see them ever being. Before and after pictures to show just how effective the Ultrasonic Cleaner is.




Now that they are out of their bath I've got another couple of models dunked. As you can see the Dettol is seriously dirty! Any guesses as to what's steeping?


Since removing paint from miniatures feels a bit like anti-hobby I decided to combat this directly by organising my paints and getting them set up at my workbench. Spot those ancient Citadels at the back! I think I'll slowly start moving to Vallejo over 2015 but this will do the job for now. Those odd looking paints in the back left are something very special I bought many moons ago for my Heralds, I can't wait to play with them!


While going through them I obviously found a few of the screw top and flip top, clear plastic Citadel pots that couldn't be salvaged. Rather than throw them out I figured I'd channel Angel Giraldez and use them as holds for painting. I threw them in the ultrasonic for a quick run and it did a great job, shame they'll soon be covered in paint again!



So I also have a big question that I'd like as many opinions on as possible. I know a lot of people with multiple blogs eventually get to this place so advice from the experienced would be very appreciated. The question is, do I combine all of my plogs into this one? And I guess as a follow up, would that mean reposting everything here?

Thanks for visiting!

As you probably know... I have mine separated by army. I think that helps as not everyone is interesting in every army. Then again some of them go quite a long time between updates and I'm sure lose readership in the process. You might get more comments if you combine them, but better quality comments if you split them up by topic a bit.

This is one of those things where there's no right answer... just go with your gut, play to your strengths.

Yet for me I have everything posted in one central place, I guess it works for me as if I had multiple blogs I would have to maintain each one. With only one means it gets all the love

It amuses me that there's this clawed hand reaching out of the murky depths of the sonicator.

As for blogs, I've split mine into one for my personal army and one for my commission/selling things. As they are both separate projects, with radically different output, I keep them separate to keep things clear.

I don't think it's much of a problem either way. I like to see a variety of modelling (armies, projects, even games) and if that's in one blog, that's fine. But it's equally no bother to follow many, specialised, blogs.

As Gits' said, specialised blogs will capture those that only follow certain armies etc. and get specific comments about that army.

A single, more general, blog will get all your (and your follower's) attention in one place. Easy to follow, but you may find people only pop in every now and then to comment on specific things and other projects may appear to be ignored/missed.

I find with my main blog, that I tend to get more general comments (about the modelling, etc.) and less interest in the specific factions. Someone that is only interested in Tyranids is going to go quiet when I start work on a Space Marine and will only return after I've gone back to Tyranids.

Whereas an entire blog about Tyranids will keep that person coming back more often and specific, Tyranid, conversations will run for longer and get more comments without being cut short by a change of project.

I don't see that either way is better than the other. It's a personal thing.

As for the reposting, I wouldn't do any more than an army shot or something to show where things are up to. People can always pop back to an older thread to see what has come before.

I have been debating this myself, although mine works out fairly well at the moment. I would like a bit more traffic, but enjoy what I have. I have 2 blogs, one for my main interest, (just like the doc) Mine being my orks, and I have a second blog that does everything else. This was itself an emulgamation of several different threads. I dont think you need to repost, but could give a link when you touch on something pertinent.

I have so many blogs I try to follow that I know that I have not followed what some people are up to, and have often thought someone has dropped clean off the planet when it is just that they are on a different blog that I don't know about.

What ever it is just let us know so we can follow what your up to bud.

Nice blog

I would say having it all in one is good since you've kept it pretty organised. I prefer seeing it all in one from a reader's perspective too. But for me from a blogger's standpoint I'd find it easier to keep track of my stuff in different threads for different projects. I guess there's no right or wrong way to do it though.

Dr H wrote:It amuses me that there's this clawed hand reaching out of the murky depths of the sonicator.

Rawr!

ckig wrote:Nice blog

Thanks, feel free to have a look at the other 'in hibernation' ones! Had a spy at what you're up to and it has definitely been added to my 'to read' pile. Expect a visit soon!


Five very good and thought provoking replies and I have churned each one over in turn. It's also really interesting to hear it from the perspectives of people with such large and successful blogs, I am not worthy.

Gitsplitta wrote:You might get more comments if you combine them, but better quality comments if you split them up by topic a bit.

Gits, the key element I took from you is whether the aim is quality or quantity. Well my aim is to produce a high quality of work, having that work seen by others is secondary to me. That sounds like a tick in the 'split' column.

Gitsplitta wrote:just go with your gut, play to your strengths.

Another little piece of wisdom right there. I'm not sure what my strengths are but I know my weaknesses are a lack of work to post and never finishing anything I start. That makes me think I should combine everything so at least I can produce a steadier output. So we're all tied up at 1 to 1 but much closer to a decision.

Knightley wrote:if I had multiple blogs I would have to maintain each one

That's a great point, maintaining 5 ongoing blogs is much more time consuming and challenging than having everything in one feed. That said, maybe I have enough free time to keep on top of at least a few threads but I'm not sure. I hadn't considered this implication at all so thanks for bringing me your point of view. I'll the simplicity of this solution so I can see myself combining everything now.

Dr H wrote:I find with my main blog, that I tend to get more general comments (about the modelling, etc.) and less interest in the specific factions. Someone that is only interested in Tyranids is going to go quiet when I start work on a Space Marine and will only return after I've gone back to Tyranids.

That's some great insight. I'm definitely pro keeping a thread of conversation open while I go off elsewhere to work on something those people might not be interested in. And as you say, if some of those people are interested then it isn't hard to follow me across. Definite swing towards multiple blogs here.

Camkierhi wrote:I have so many blogs I try to follow that I know that I have not followed what some people are up to, and have often thought someone has dropped clean off the planet when it is just that they are on a different blog that I don't know about.

That's the worry really. If someone is following at least one of my projects then they might like other things I'm doing but never find it on another blog.

Camkierhi wrote:What ever it is just let us know so we can follow what your up to bud.

And maybe that's simply the solution. Just a quick, 'I'm over here working on something else' whenever I change project log.

ckig wrote:I prefer seeing it all in one from a reader's perspective too. But for me from a blogger's standpoint I'd find it easier to keep track of my stuff in different threads for different projects.

There are certainly two sides to this story and that's them laid bare. What does the reader want, what does the blogger want and who matters more? As I mentioned before, I guess, selfishly, my work is my primary focus. Then again, how many big bloggers say that their readers are the blog? And how many more say that comments drive them to do more? So maybe I need to be a little less selfish for selfish reasons?

So where do we conclude? With a compromise I think.
This blog shall serve as a hub to all it's counterparts and it shall henceforth wholly encompass all current and future projects of diminutive size.
If a project outgrows the size of this enclosure then I will transplant it to a new and solitary home.
Currently all projects that have their own blogspaces(Blackbird, La'Rua, Heralds) will remain separated whether they reach a large enough size to earn it or not.
As hub this blog will be used to guide traffic when I move to work on another project.
Moving forward I plan to work on small and varied projects so I will spend more and more time posting to this blog.

Thanks for you input everyone, it was extremely helpful!

I was going to throw down some pictures of those stripped miniatures but green stuff doesn't agree with a prolonged exposure to Dettol and I've lost probably 3 of my top 5 best conversions because I got cocky. I'm going to crawl into a corner and cry now.

Really sorry to hear that CL. Sad news for all of us.

One way to help manage (and direct people to) multiple blogs... go check out my signature. Descriptive links to everything that I want people to easily get to. Not sure how many people see/use it, but it's there every time I post!

Oh man, sorry to hear about the models.