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OK....


So, Hello....


I never did one of these when I started this gig because, honestly, I didn't think it was something that would continue too long. I am hooked now, however and thought I would introduce myself....


My name is James and my net handle is Mxwllmdr. It is short for Maxwell Murder, my favorite Rancid song. I have been in the US Army for 20+ years and will retire soon. I am 40 and I think I started scratch building as a midlife crisis. I had played Warhammer, over a decade ago, with a friend who owned like 12 armies, as well as Mordheim and Necro Bands. I wasn't very good at it at all. It was fun but seemed way to in depth to be something that my ADD could tolerate.

A friend of mine had a set of templates for a thunderhawk and knowing he had no time to match his desire I decided that I needed to just give it a try. It started as a "do it a cheap as possible" endeavor. I used cardboard cereal boxes and $.50 sheets of 1/4" foamcore bought at the dollar store. It took three and a half days and and the scale and proportions were disastrously off. Not really ttoo unbelieveable an outcome considering I had never even built an out-of-the-box model before and certainly had never tried something of this magnitude. He is painting it and says he loves it but I was always unhappy with it.

I moved from that to several different types and models of titan. Same thing, scale and proportions sucked but they weren't too over sized to use on the table so I kept making them and giving them to friends of mine. I had no army, remember, what did I need titans for? The titans and the thunderhawks can all be seen on my face book photos page.

I was doing a second thunderhawk for a friend of mine that I play MtG with and was using the same materials but halfway through it just stopped working. I hated it, how it looked, the lines sucked and I was embarrassed that this was the level of craftsmanship I was producing. I had seen the work of Tebrey Jones and The_Blackadder and couldn't believe the detail they were putting in with just plasti-card so I skipped out on buying the latest set of MtG and ordered $200.00 worth of Polystyrene sheet instead. I made the first plasticard Thunderhawk for my card buddy for $20.00. Not because that is what it cost but because that is what I told him I needed for materials and then just did the better version I knew by then that I could do. It will be displayed at the Nova Open this year in Arlington, VA, and is the first Plasticard model I ever built. At least I hope it gets displayed. The owner has to get it painted first.The Thunderhawk that started it all

I borrowed a FW Lucius Warhound from Kalspriggs took hundreds of pictures of it and set out to build an incredibly real looking warhound. The result is titans that are fantastic, IMHO. Not as good as some I have seen but, honestly, better than most. Better than I could have ever imagined me capable of.

I intend to set down and write an article one day on everything I have learned about scratch building but, well you know, real life intervenes. Of course it will be mostly a compilation of the useful tidbits of information extracted diligently from inbetween the witty banter and repartee that occurs on the -=][_,=- threads. If you don't know what a league thread is check out anyone of these guys. But don't go expecting OT or even semi-normal. We like our banter, we feel it helps the creative process........

Viktor VonDomm
Dsteingass
HyenaJoe
Scarper
Lone Dirty Dog
Skalk Bloodaxe
Galorn
BrianCJ
Rogue Wolves
RSJake
Klaus, Not Santa
Hazzer
Rawson
Shasolenzabi
MonkeyTroll
Montrano
SilverHayabusa
Vitruvian XVII
BebopDrums2424
MrMerlin
MauS



I am currently building five sets of twin Mars pattern Warhounds and somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 Reavers so me and my buddies can have a massive APOC game. I am planning some Eldar terrain, some ork terrain and maybe even a warlord or two. I wanna build a Necro Band, A steampunk Army (all scratch, of Course) and I want to learn to sculpt like Klaus, Not Santa (dakka name). I have also consolidated all my builds into the one thread. I am too ADD to keep up with more than one thread. I keep losing my mind and forgetting where stuff is in real life, forget about the virtual world.....

I never would have thought that I could take this whim and actually learn to do all this stuff. I surprise myself everday. I learn how to do something every ten or fifteen minutes when I am at my work desk. I absolutely love and appreciate it that so many people have dropped in to see my stuff and I am grateful for it. I have met some of the most talented and pleaseurable to speak to artists on this site. People I hope to be aquainted with for the rest of my life.

Check it out if you want. I would love to see ya drop by.....

MOAR RIVETS FOR THE -=][_,=-!!!!

Forgemaster Murder, signing off......

Better late than never I guess.

Hope you're enjoying your time on Dakka

YOUR WORK IS AMAZING!

Thanks everyone. I do so appreciate it. I will as is just make time to drop in on your threads soon.

Your work is mindblowing! As Knightey said, better late than never.

Thank you IW.

Welcome, very belatedly.

soooooo..... james aha.... and i always told my son there is a friend online that is called like him....*poutes*

Welcome to Dakka!

Have fun!

Iranna.

Hmmm Soo now there is an actual name... James... Fitting somehow. (makes me think of Treasure Island...)