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To be honest, I chime in less because work has picked up a lot recently, i hardly see the wife (some would say that is a good thing ) let alone Dakka.

The other reason for me is because I do not want to repeat all the superlatives you get.

You are also halfway through the Scottish summer hols and the start of the English/ rest of UK summer hols (which last 7 weeks give or take).

You're not losing your snap and this is still a great blog.

Although, I haven't really noticed it (not that it's my blog), I think Arakasi could be on to something, simply with the time of year. It's still Summer and a lot of the dakkanauts aren't on their regular schedules. If they're off playing or partying they'd be less inclined to stop in and check on dakka. Especially, if they're on Summer vacations. I also think you had a big following of people watching and commenting along as you prepped for Adepticon. I don't necessarily think they stopped reading, but they may have stopped posting comments. You're also improving fairly rapidly and I think that a lot of users reserve their comments, since they don't have any critiques to give. I see a lot of people who dish out generic comments like "you should use washes to bring out depth" yet say nothing on some of the amazing minis you or others do. If they don't have any tips to give they don't compliment good work. I certainly don't think you're doing anything wrong or odd to lose followers.

Gits, keep up the pace, there is nothing wrong with it. We all know that there plenty of reasons why a blog slows down, and honestly the only one I see is just like a lack of time. Your minis are top notch, and the following you have gathered is testament.

Also stop fishing for sympathy
jk

Wow...201 pages. I have to say I am loving that army shot

Miss Dee wrote:Gitz, have you thought of getting some of the smaller thunderhawks and sit them of in the distance inbound?

I could, but that would only work for photographs... I'd want a scale Thunderhawk that I could put on the table (as a terrain piece if nothing else).

@Arakasi: Didn't think about the timing but you could be correct.

samwellfrm wrote:I feel like I've been very engaged in your blog, however less inclined to post. I feel that you have a good amount of devout followers who have kept up with your blog for a while now. Perhaps the drop in traffic comes from the newcomers to your blog that are too intimidated by its size to start reading it.

As far as the life of it, I see it accelerating. It wasn't that long ago when you were talking about starting another blog as you reached 100 pages.

Hmmm, interesting comments. Especially the last one. I'll take that into consideration.

dantay_xv wrote:You are also halfway through the Scottish summer hols and the start of the English/ rest of UK summer hols (which last 7 weeks give or take).

You're not losing your snap and this is still a great blog.

I do that too dante (don't repeat other's comments), so I get you. What's a "hol"? Holiday?

Moltar wrote:Although, I haven't really noticed it (not that it's my blog), I think Arakasi could be on to something, simply with the time of year. It's still Summer and a lot of the dakkanauts aren't on their regular schedules. If they're off playing or partying they'd be less inclined to stop in and check on dakka. Especially, if they're on Summer vacations. I also think you had a big following of people watching and commenting along as you prepped for Adepticon. I don't necessarily think they stopped reading, but they may have stopped posting comments. You're also improving fairly rapidly and I think that a lot of users reserve their comments, since they don't have any critiques to give. I see a lot of people who dish out generic comments like "you should use washes to bring out depth" yet say nothing on some of the amazing minis you or others do. If they don't have any tips to give they don't compliment good work. I certainly don't think you're doing anything wrong or odd to lose followers.

Another interesting point. I often start to post on other's blogs and then catch myself thinking "Well, that's obvious." or "That's my opinion but I'm not an expert." and don't post in the end. Because of the kind of blog this is, I never thing about anyone employing their self-edit function before posting.

Alfndrate wrote:Gits, keep up the pace, there is nothing wrong with it. We all know that there plenty of reasons why a blog slows down, and honestly the only one I see is just like a lack of time. Your minis are top notch, and the following you have gathered is testament.

Also stop fishing for sympathy
jk

Thank you, you $#%&*! @#^&$!

Ralin Givens wrote:Wow...201 pages. I have to say I am loving that army shot

Glad it suits you Ralen, more to come.


OK, so no big changes needed so far, I can live with that. Still open to suggestion though.

Yes, hol - holidays. Also the past few months has seen many dakkanauts going through their exams too.

I would like more batreps, but that only comes with playing games with the MW's, your nid on nid stuff is best kept to your (son's) nid thread.

Also, have you noticed how many "new" people chime in saying they have read your whole thread 1-130/70/90/99. They wouldnt have stuck with it if it had bored them.
Or the MW armies that you have inspired?

This thread is cool, and the fact that it opened the door to seeing other modellers such as grey_death, majortom111, and many others is a bonus.... your thread is a veritable melting pot my friend.

i switch in from time to time and always fully well knowing that what i see and what i will be reading will be cool, interresting and not in any way forcing me to yawn....so don´t fear your mojo has left you!
what makes this blog a bit of a tough nut to follow tho is the amount of sheer text to read....that is a bit of an obstacle to read atm for me... thus i tend to look in when you do a summary.... this helps me a lot. but that is just me...honest.... there is absolutly no need for any change! your work is brilliant and i guess as many others have stated the summer takes it´s toll on every blog...holidays and poisoned rumor machine for or against GW and all the other dissatraction the recent weeks...and come to that the following weeks will draw attention a tad away from the hobby and thus also form your cool blog....come fall you will see the views and comments on your blog rise as hoped for...!

i hope we don´t loose such a dedicated hobbyist to burnout due to low responses!!!

hope i could cheer you up a bit!

vik

I've been following ur blog before i had an account, now i have one an i just wanna say:

NIFTY!

(first post ever!)

I think that must answer a few questions Gits, I agree with some of the comments about not wanting to add another " awesome!" post to the pile... I mean your head is big enough already!

Also you may want to record the number of views before a post with pics and then after one, or maybe day by day, and I am sure you will see that while the blog may not get as many posts, its still getting plenty of hits.

Oh, and I know I have never said it but I love the way you are giving the entire Dakkasphere the finger in the picture with you eating corn

I'm not sure about other people, but every time I log on to the site it's to do a flying visit thanks to my workload. I always see the extra 5 pages or so that have appeared on your blog and put it to one side to read properly some time later... later never seems to come :(

I don't think you need to worry overly about changing the format of anything. I'm just behind on my reading and don't feel like just adding another "awesome!" post would be beneficial to you.

Gitsplitta wrote:

Commander Cain wrote:That picture of you eating the corn, I always imagined you would look more... Orkish, you don't even have green skin!

What you don't see is that I've just poured the last of my beer behind my left shoulder (notice precarious disposition of cup in my hand)... that orkish enough for you?

Ah Gits, you do make me laugh when you say stuff like that!


Not getting enough comments eh? I think it is up to people coming onto the blog (and this is all blogs I am talking about) and not leaving a comment behind even if they like what they see. I know that my own blog is notorious for this. Only last week I painted up an sexy new Officer of the fleet (new profile pic ) 78 views later and not a single comment
Whenever I visit another persons blog I always leave a comment, small words of encouragement, suggestions or praise you get the idea.

Blame the people Gits, they grow lazy, while us veterans are often very sociable, we can not be everywhere at once!

Wise words from Dr. Cain

(Heed young scallywags, heed...)

I cant say ive seen a slowing of the blog either Gits to tell you the truth, it may just be the change in regular posters again (happens every now and again, seriously, check who is regularly posting every 50 pages or so and you will se what i mean). That combined with the 'summer' (grumble rain grumble) and exams and whatnot and that should account for the feeling my friend, trust me, you have nothing to worry about

I also try to hold back on my 'awesome' posts, but sometimes its just too much and i have to let loose. I dont really know what im talking about most of the time (P&M-wise at least) hence why i leave it till i have something expansive to say. Im sure im not the only one.

dantay_xv wrote:Yes, hol - holidays. Also the past few months has seen many dakkanauts going through their exams too. I would like more batreps, but that only comes with playing games with the MW's, your nid on nid stuff is best kept to your (son's) nid thread. Also, have you noticed how many "new" people chime in saying they have read your whole thread 1-130/70/90/99. They wouldnt have stuck with it if it had bored them.
Or the MW armies that you have inspired? This thread is cool, and the fact that it opened the door to seeing other modellers such as grey_death, majortom111, and many others is a bonus.... your thread is a veritable melting pot my friend.

It's actually a shame that I haven't done batreps for some of my recent games as they kind of validate my current army concept (at least to some degree). They're just a tremendous amount of work to do and I'm not sure how much appeal there is on a P&M blog as I know a lot of folks who are really into building and painting don't play. I'll make a point of getting back to doing them again as it's often very educational for me to lay out my strategy in writing and be "confronted" with the results... good or bad.

I'm always astounded when someone has taken the time to read through the entire blog and I do love it when new people chime in. Not so long ago that was me... and you never know where the next awesome blog is going to come from. Today's newbie could be tomorrow's grey_death, Eggroll, MajorTom, etc.

Viktor von Domm wrote:i switch in from time to time and always fully well knowing that what i see and what i will be reading will be cool, interresting and not in any way forcing me to yawn....so don´t fear your mojo has left you!
what makes this blog a bit of a tough nut to follow tho is the amount of sheer text to read....that is a bit of an obstacle to read atm for me... thus i tend to look in when you do a summary.... this helps me a lot. but that is just me...honest.... there is absolutly no need for any change! your work is brilliant and i guess as many others have stated the summer takes it´s toll on every blog...holidays and poisoned rumor machine for or against GW and all the other dissatraction the recent weeks...and come to that the following weeks will draw attention a tad away from the hobby and thus also form your cool blog....come fall you will see the views and comments on your blog rise as hoped for...!

i hope we don´t loose such a dedicated hobbyist to burnout due to low responses!!!

hope i could cheer you up a bit!

vik

Yeah vik, this blog started as a wall of text and has pretty much stayed that way. Sorry 'bout that, kind of the nature of the beast I'm afraid. While I'm very happy with the progress I've made as a painter and modeler, I'm not good enough to be able to just throw up shots of my work and have people fawn all over it. I've always thought that the interaction was part of what made this blog attractive... we all learn together as I go through my stuff. For good or ill that seems to require a lot of discussion.

Interestingly enough, I'm not really burnt out or bummed about the blog. Quite the contrary... it's gotten to 200 pages for a reason, probably a good one. But a wise friend taught me that even when things seem to be on an even keel it is good to ask what you're missing, what can be done better or what "inconvenient" issues have you been avoiding that you really need to address. While the drop in (posting) traffic is what spurred me to ask my question, the underlying motivation is really a desire to keep the blog healthy and vital .

Vezorek wrote:I've been following ur blog before i had an account, now i have one an i just wanna say:

NIFTY!

(first post ever!)

Ah, see? This is what I was talking about! Welcome Vezorek, glad you took the time to stop by and post! I'm very honored you picked this blog to start your dakka career.

BLACKHAND wrote:I think that must answer a few questions Gits, I agree with some of the comments about not wanting to add another " awesome!" post to the pile... I mean your head is big enough already! Also you may want to record the number of views before a post with pics and then after one, or maybe day by day, and I am sure you will see that while the blog may not get as many posts, its still getting plenty of hits. Oh, and I know I have never said it but I love the way you are giving the entire Dakkasphere the finger in the picture with you eating corn

LOL! I was waiting for someone to comment on that. I'll be honest, I haven't been keeping track of hits at all as I've always assumed that posts are the best indicator of weather people are really finding value in the blog or not. Given the responses I'm getting... it appears that is an erroneous assumption. I understand entirely about the "awesome!" posts. I do plenty of those myself and it always irks me. Not that I don't like complimenting people on great work... it just seems so vacuous. Especially with folks who's work is so far above mine, I always struggle to make intelligent commentary. Though, I really do try, at least once in a while. So rather than just saying "I love this piece." I ask myself... "What do I love about this piece?" and then write that in hopes of giving more useful feedback to the artist.

endtransmission wrote:I'm not sure about other people, but every time I log on to the site it's to do a flying visit thanks to my workload. I always see the extra 5 pages or so that have appeared on your blog and put it to one side to read properly some time later... later never seems to come :( I don't think you need to worry overly about changing the format of anything. I'm just behind on my reading and don't feel like just adding another "awesome!" post would be beneficial to you.

Understood completely endtrans... and while "awesome!" posts are nice (ego stroking)... I'd much rather have you, on rare occasion, when you have the time... consider what you see objectively and give me specific feedback on what you do or don't like or understand about a piece or technique (see above). So no problems my friend... just trying to keep you engaged.

Commander Cain wrote:Not getting enough comments eh? I think it is up to people coming onto the blog (and this is all blogs I am talking about) and not leaving a comment behind even if they like what they see. I know that my own blog is notorious for this. Only last week I painted up an sexy new Officer of the fleet (new profile pic ) 78 views later and not a single comment
Whenever I visit another persons blog I always leave a comment, small words of encouragement, suggestions or praise you get the idea.

Blame the people Gits, they grow lazy, while us veterans are often very sociable, we can not be everywhere at once!

Wise words from Dr. Cain

(Heed young scallywags, heed...)

Wise words indeed. Am guilty of being lazy myself.

Revenent Reiko wrote:I cant say ive seen a slowing of the blog either Gits to tell you the truth, it may just be the change in regular posters again (happens every now and again, seriously, check who is regularly posting every 50 pages or so and you will se what i mean). That combined with the 'summer' (grumble rain grumble) and exams and whatnot and that should account for the feeling my friend, trust me, you have nothing to worry about

I also try to hold back on my 'awesome' posts, but sometimes its just too much and i have to let loose. I dont really know what im talking about most of the time (P&M-wise at least) hence why i leave it till i have something expansive to say. Im sure im not the only one.

I like that approach Reiko.


Well... thank you all. I do appreciate all the words of support and more importantly a reaffirmation that I'm still producing an interesting product. It's sometimes difficult from my end to judge how things are going. With the good natured ribbing I get about the size of the blog as well as the sometimes joke (in a nice way), sometimes serious compliments... sorting out what's of real value in the blog can be challenging. Obviously you need a certain amount of hubris to attempt something like this in the first place, but the internet is both a conduit and a barrier, at the same time facilitating and complicating communication. So occasionally... I need a bit of direct feedback from you guys as to the utility and direction of the blog to reassure myself that things are still on track. Much as I try to be deferential in my approach, I actually have a pretty strong personality and with some prodding (by way of compliments, etc) are just as likely to plow ahead like I know what I'm doing as anything. Thus here we are... with me trying to take a step back from my headlong rush to ask around and see if I'm rushing towards the right goal.

Next up... finish the bikes. More GMS. Maybe a battle report if I can sneak a game in.

Thanks for hangin' with me all this time. Lord only knows what the next 200 pages will bring. - Gits

Agreed with pretty much everyone else had to say, I certainly think the last 100 pages have gone much faster than the first 100, and generally there seems to be less commenting across the range of threads I keep an eye on atm. Just keep doing what you're doing as you do it. It works

Nice re-cap by the way, that seems a decent amount of work since the last.

So, last night I was going through old back isues of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Models, looking for a bit of inspiration when I came across what seemed to be some life size marines (This was in the Jan '96 issue). Nothing so unusual there, the previous issue had an article on the 'stealer skull, bolters and what nots done for a GW Inquisitorial display thing. Then I noticed the shoulder pads and had to take a pic to post here..



All I can tell you is that they were built by Steve Howarth and Rob Malos, and were finished with candy apple laquers over metallic paint.

I'm always reading what's going on, its one of the things I do everyday when I get back from work.

I don't post much as I don't feel the need to while others keep the blog moving, I usually only contribute on the finished models unless I have something to say that hasn't been mentioned on your WIP stuff.

As others have said a lot of people are on their hols at the moment or out doing summer things. I'm sure it will pick up when the nights draw in.

AWESOME!

monkeytroll wrote:Agreed with pretty much everyone else had to say, I certainly think the last 100 pages have gone much faster than the first 100, and generally there seems to be less commenting across the range of threads I keep an eye on atm. Just keep doing what you're doing as you do it. It works

Nice re-cap by the way, that seems a decent amount of work since the last.

So, last night I was going through old back isues of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Models, looking for a bit of inspiration when I came across what seemed to be some life size marines (This was in the Jan '96 issue). Nothing so unusual there, the previous issue had an article on the 'stealer skull, bolters and what nots done for a GW Inquisitorial display thing. Then I noticed the shoulder pads and had to take a pic to post here..



All I can tell you is that they were built by Steve Howarth and Rob Malos, and were finished with candy apple laquers over metallic paint.

Pretty cool...

Here's what I found on Steve Horwath's company site "Model Miniatures" (models made for TV, film, etc)

These full size suits were to be worn by actors and were made for P.P.L in Wandsworth. Very much a team effort, but with Rob Malos and myself sacrificing a Christmas to finish the job. Vac formed 4mm thick ABS with 'Candy Apple' spray paint finish.

and on PPL

PPL IS THE MUSIC LICENSING COMPANY WHICH, ON BEHALF OF 45,000 PERFORMERS AND 5,750 RECORD COMPANIES, LICENSES THE USE OF RECORDED MUSIC IN THE UK.
This enables TV and radio stations, online streaming services and hundreds of thousands of shops, pubs and others to use recorded music in their business.

Wandsworth is apparently a part of, or suburb of London, where the company says it is based... so I'll assume it's the right PPL (as I can find no other).

How two life-sized Mantis Warriors relates to either of these companies is beyond me. (other than the first obviously built them... but it's not what they do typically)

@GiraffeX: You may be right... thanks!

Yeah the pic came from an article on Steve Howarth's career in TV and film effects, but didn't mention the marines. I was wondering if they were the ones used in the Space Crusade TV ad, but that bit about PPL kind of throws that.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Actually, after watching the advert several times on youtube I'm confident that's a shot of the set. Theres no clear view of the chapter badge in the advert, but all the other details match, including the doorway. So Mantis Warriors were on the telly back in the early 90's

Now that we are being reminiscent I can remember when this blog started. I believe I am one of the first posts on this one. I have declined in my feedback over time, preferring to read and I think its amazing how far you have come. Longest blog I have been a part of. Congrats.

@GKL: Post #8 plus two others on the first page... see what you helped to start?? Now everyone knows it's YOUR FAULT!


Tonight's progress. Had to do some cleaning up on the base, added purity seals, painted jets in back and power sword.

Ok, well first off, grats on having the biggest PM blog (at least currently alive), by more than double.

As for the fishing trip to lake sympathy (lolz), I would like to point out that I have a full page of unread threads in my subscribed thread list, if that gives you an idea of the time I'm currently spending on Dakka. I will from time to time, actually skip reading yours due to the speed in which it does grow. Opening dakka in the morning, or worse, after being away for a few days, makes this a crazy read. Finally, I ran out of synonyms for "cool", long, long ago

As someone who just read through your entire blog, I would have to agree with what everyone has said previously. That your blog does not need to change, but it would be nice to see some battle reports and see how you are doing with your army in terms of gaming. I also like your bike sergeant.

If you're worried about filling the blog itself with the battle reports, there's nothing stopping you putting the reports in the right part of the forum, with a link through from here for those that are interested?

someone should tell that poor scout that there is a meltabomb attached to the back...(actually I believe it's a mulit-melta power pack but that's not as funny)

It's supposed to be a melta bomb (his)... never realized it was anything else.

Unfortunately my wife just killed my home PC dead. So while work continues, it might be rather inconsistent times when I can show it to you.

Bike is nearly done, just finishing up the insignia on the pad.

Wow nice bikekeep up the awsomeness

Thanks mate, I'll see if I can get a pic of the finished piece up early next week. I'm really happy with the way it's coming along.




Automatically Appended Next Post:


Update: first bike done. On to number two!

Good stuff. 2 things worthy of further praise: grats on making that combat blade arm not look like it's at some hideously distorted angle, and, skin tone looks really excellent.

Thanks mate, I'm really happy with the way that blade turned out. Think it'll be a model for what I do from now on. The skin tone is good but it's clumsily executed, so hopefully with four more scouts to do I'll get better.

Lacking time to read through the whole 201pg blog (ekh Gads what a long blog you have) i am curiouse how many points you have total and what your end goal is. A full Chapter?