2010 Recap

The year is almost over. It's time to reflect as 2011 draws near. 2010 for me started late. I was on a bit of a 'hobby hibernation' for a good 6+ months. The break actually did me some good as I noticed I've been painting differently. Whether if it's for the better or not is for you to decide. :)

Definitely not legal

It was around May when I began painting again. It started off fairly good, fininshing a unit of 23 plague monks. Then throughout the rest of the year I worked on a bunch of single minis. Many were small insignificant minis like the dwarf slayer, Mordheim Eshin sorcerer, and even a Reaper CAV mech. But a couple were fairly large single Skaven minis. The doomwheel was the first 'big project' that involved some conversion. I wanted to update the old model by using some of the current bitz. I thought it was a good idea at the time and didn't think it would take too long to put it together. I was so wrong. I wasn't entirely happy with the way I executed it. As a result, I got very indecisive and hesitant. But in the end I think it still came out pretty good. The other big project- the Verminlord- however had no conversion and plenty of planning. It took a long time to finish it, mostly because of the 13 rats on the base, but I think it's my best model to date. I'm pretty happy with it. I did have 2 color schemes in mind at the time though. And I do have an extra VL (well 2 extra to be exact). I didn't glue the VL to it's base just in case something stupid like this happens. So maybe in the future I can paint up that other color scheme.
Later that same month I unexpectedly won a logo contest that I almost didn't enter. I submitted my logo literally 2 hours before the deadline. Now I got an IG battleforce on my shelf collecting dust... just waiting to be made. Waiting....

The IoB High Elf mage weekend project was a surprise. It was definitely an impulse moment. It was a good excuse to try out the new IoB minis for the first time. Plus, I didn't think I was even going to go through with it. But, I really wanted to enter the contest so the motivation alone helped me finish in the nick of time. Surprisingly it was a fun, learning experience and I think I did quite well- toot toot! Too bad I didn't win. Not even a single vote. Haha!

I ended the year finishing up a unit of Globadiers. A last minute thing. I thought I was done with the unit when I came across an old edition Globadier tucked away in a bitz box. The Gutter Runners should have been the last unit of the year but with the holidays and work I just couldn't get around to it. These will have to be first on the list for 2011.

All in all, I think 2010 was pretty productive. Despite starting late in the year I learned and accomplished a lot. I didn't paint a whole lot like last year (2009 Adepticon) but I think there was more quality this time around. Next year I hope to maybe work on more rank and file units instead of the single minis... or maybe an abomination conversion!!! Until next year!

Ho-hum

Sorry, I haven't been doing much on the hobby front. Been too busy with other things. Mainly work and holiday stuff, but mostly work.

I have been working on a new avatar for my forum accounts though. Just doodling right now. I've been wanting to change it for a long time (hakomike might remember). I've been dragging my feet to work on something and all of sudden an entire year passes by! So from now until the end of the month I vow to make a new sprite for the new year so look for it soon!

Happy Holidays!

Skaven Update #27

Finished my Globadier mini champion.

And here he is with the group.

I haven't made much progress with my gutter runners. I've been distracted with other things like playing some Fallout Tactics on the pc and finally catching up on The Walking Dead show. Man this show rocks! Hopefully I can do better this weekend.

I got an unexpected number of views on my photobucket account from an Italian Warhammer forum called forumgwtilea. Over the weekend it got some 1300 views and then another 1300 just yesterday alone. I normally get some 15 views a day- more if I actually post something. WTF is going on here?! Are they trashing my stuff or what? Anybody know Italian?

Weekend Project: IoB High Elf Mage DONE!!!

Well I wasn't able to finish on Sunday like I planned. A bit ambitious I guess. But it's 99% done and I think I'm fine with that.

I had the hardest time figuring out how to paint the globe on the staff. I redid the freaking thing like 4 times and just settled with what I have now. I was so frustrated that I didn't even do the back side. Ugh, I know that'll gnaw at me for a while. The next hardest were the gems although they came out surprisingly well, better than I anticipated. I was really dreading them. Overall it was a pretty fun experience. I learned a lot: skin tones, painting new colors like blues and whites, and gems. I even tried glazing- fancy! Damn these elves. I can definitely use this when I start my Empire army... whenever that'll be.

Anyway, hope you like and now back to my rats!

Weekend Project: IoB High Elf Mage

Thought I'd show you what I've been able to do so far.

First impressions of the mini are pretty good. The model is very detailed but very delicate. I accidentally broke off one of the swirly things underneath the mage while I was painting. Had a hard time deciding what color scheme I should go with so I went with the standard blue and white look. Also had problems with a couple of the GW paints. My Sunburst Yellow and Shining Gold weren't coating evenly. I shook the bottles pretty well and my brush is clean and neat(not worn out). I'm guessing it might be the paint so I'll pick up new pots tomorrow. Until next time!

Skaven Update #26

I wasn't entirely focused these past few days so as a result, I worked a little on a few things but got nothing done.

Progress continues with the gutter runners. I got most of them covered in chaos black and tallarn flesh. I just started painting them with calthan brown. Their skin will be slightly lighter compared to my other units because their Eshin-wear will be black and I want a bit of contrast to make them stand out a bit.

Almost done with my proxy globadier champion. It's coming along. Small ain't he?

This Thanksgiving weekend I'm going to try and tackle this High Elf. The odds are stacked against me. I've got until the end of the month (next Tuesday, so 5 days!) and I've never painted an elf before let alone an elf with this much detail. I'm gonna try my best or...

... die trying!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Me Want

GW just revealed their next Gamesday mini for 2011 and it's Skaven. Damn you GW.


I guess I'll be heading to Gamesday to pick one up.

From the BIts Box...

The LGS I go to hosts a couple auctions every year. It's a great place to pick up some minis and bits and maybe even one or two boardgames. Last time I went I picked up a bag of miscellaneous GW bits for a few bucks. Awesome deal considering I got a couple of complete metal single minis along with some bits on sprues. Anyway I was rummaging through the bag and found this dude:

Can unmounted characters still use their lances? Is this mini usable? I wonder what the previous owner was thinking when he/she was putting this together. If it is afterall a legal mini I may paint it up as a painting exercise. Otherwise it may end up being a nice casualty.

Prepare to be dismembered elf! :)

Skaven Update #25

First up is this guy.

He was pretty quick to paint up although I'm not sure what I'd use him as in my army. Possible Mordheim mini. Too bad I'm not playing any Mordheim campaigns at the moment.

I found this old mini in my box 'o minis.

I think he'll be a nice champion for my globadier unit. At least for the time being.

I thought I'd better start working on larger things like characters, war machines, and actual units besides working on these single minis that aren't even special characters. So, I began building up 20 gutter runners from old skaven minis that I bought secondhand a couple nights ago. They are all armed with claws and have dagger tails. A few are armed with either slings or stars. The champion has 2 claws.

This way I can make a single unit of 15 or make 2 units of 10. One oversight is that I only made 1 champion. I need to make another champion and maybe another 2 gutter runners just in case I choose not to have champions in the unit. I'm on the fence whether or not I should actually try to build the champions with weeping blades. Well, that's what I have going on right now. Until next time!

Skaven Update #24

Done with the globadiers...

...well the main unit anyway. I added a gloss finish to the globes and I think they came out pretty good. Someday I want to add a champion, maybe converting one up. I have a couple of ideas, I just need to figure out how to execute it.

Mini Hunt: Wolves

I can't seem to find a good wolf mini for my Koborlas faction, a lupine race (not werewolves) from Reaper's Warlord skirmish game. I am looking for a fairly accurate looking wolf that I can get multiples of at a reasonable price. Not much to ask for right?

Reaper does supply a couple but I'm not crazy about them. The sculpts are satisfactory but not dynamic enough.

GW's wolves were an obvious choice being cheap and plastic but the sculpts are worse than Reaper's. They look like rabid corgis. Maybe GW will update them soon like they did with their boars just recently? Here's hoping!

Avatars of War has one but it's way too bulky, expensive, and only one sculpt.

Privateer Press' Tharn Wolf Riders are actually quite decent and they are the closest to what I want. They look lean and the poses are dynamic unlike the others. Unfortunately, the bottom half of the riders are cast onto the wolf itself. Being metal, converting these would be a real pain, not to mention expensive.

I'm a little surprised how difficult it is to find a generic wolf sculpt. Maybe I'm too critical. Nah.

Skaven Update #23

Time for another update! It's been a couple weeks since my last (sorry!). Worked on a few things these past few nights.

I'm almost done with my small unit of Globadiers. I need to add a couple more details before I can call this done. I'm still on the fence whether I should redo the globes. It's fine I guess. Maybe if I add a gloss it might look better. Overall, I am pretty happy with the way the unit turned out so far. I don't know why it's taken me this long... better finish it soon... like tonight.

I'm almost done with this little dude too. I'm not sure what else to do to him besides adding the eyes and grass. Other than that I think I'll be done with him shortly.

I started painting this old warpfire thrower team over the weekend. Should finish it fairly quickly. I was also looking at my ratling gun team and was thinking of repainting it or at the very least updating it a little. It might be me but I think my painting changed a bit(for better or worse) when I went on that 6 month hobby hiatus. Weird.

Anyway I hope to finish the Globadiers and the single vermin warrior tonight.

Underempire finished their September/October painting contest this week. I didn't enter unfortunately. I wanted to do a converted weapon team but I just didn't have the bits and the motivation to tackle it. This next and final one of the year is open so any GW product is fair game. I'd like to do something for this and I have a couple of ideas but we'll see.

Pinball Expo 2010

Went to Pinball Expo over the weekend. Yes, pinball machines. Yes, with the silver ball and yes they still make them. :) It was held at the Westin in Wheeling again. Had a great time. Got to meet old friends and even made new ones. Of all the times I went to Pinball Expo this was by far the most entertaining.

Thursday, for the first time I actually went to most of the seminars. Overall they were pretty informative. Later that day I invited a couple of old gaming friends that I haven't seen in awhile, met at my first Superdawg for dinner, and played 'til about midnight. Oh and completely out of the blue, someone gave me a bottled present.

Friday, was more of the same minus the seminars. Not as much gaming but whole lotta people were there- a nice young crowd even. Always nice to see that. Stayed around until 1AM. I would've stayed a little longer but my feet were killing me.

I went back Saturday night for the banquet where Python Anghelo- famous artist in the pinball community- was speaker. Heavy on the accent, maybe had a few to drink, and possibly the longest speech in expo history. Started clean and got really 'colorful' towards the end. He was definitley the highlight of the night.

Like previous expos Thursday and Friday were the best times. Thursday is great because there aren't that many people so you can play the games. Friday is great because that's when the crowds, young and old, come in. By Saturday a chunk of the machines were sold and packed away. Same goes with the merchandise. I waited too long to pick up a couple of souvenirs.

I wish I had taken more pics. Always next year I guess...

Skaven Update #22

Worked on the globadiers past couple of nights and got most of the basecoating and washing done. Details and highligts are next.

Althought the paint scheme is rather basic and unoriginal I hope to convert up a champion for the unit. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a suitable body to start with. The obvious choice I thought would be to use either a plague monk or a packmaster as a base. But, when I put one next to the unit I saw a size difference. The plague monk is significantly smaller than the metal globadiers. Maybe add basing material like rocks to stand on to compensate for its smaller stature? Hmm, I'll have to think about that.

I started this little guy too.

Oh and look what I got in the mail yesterday!

As you probably have guessed from my previous posts I ended up choosing Imperial Guard as my prize. To be honest I'm not terribly excited to assemble and paint all these dudes but what I am excited about is that my long time dream project of making a Cobra-themed army is finally coming true! Well, it's one step closer.

The shirt is way cool. I was actually expecting the traditional white tee with the logo silk-screened. It's a collared gray shirt with the logo embroidered. I'm impressed. Very professional looking. I even got the title 'Logo Master'! Hmm, I wonder if there is a 'Logo Keeper' too...

Thanks again to Battleroad Games and Hobbies for choosing my logo!

Priming for Winter... or Not

Haven't been painting much. Life stuff. Work stuff. Anyway I'm thinking I might need to start priming any miniatures I plan to paint before winter comes along. Fortunately I paint slow so I don't really need to prime much. :P Then again I already have plenty of stuff ready to paint. :P :P

Possible priming contenders if I choose to prime:
20 Empire Spearmen
16 Empire Handgunners
an old WE Treeman
30 Clanrats with spears.

I've started basecoating my 6 Globadiers. I'll post pics when I've basecoated the whole unit. Like I said I just started.

I had this idea of a simple conversion for a weapon team in the back burners for awhile now. I think I have all the bitz to put it together. With another UE painting competition coming up I should aim to finish it.

I still haven't figured out as to what Battleforce/Battalion set I should pick up. Here's what I've come up with so far...

1) Space Marines- Solid choice if I've got nothing else to choose. Probably go Black Templars if I pick them. Then eventually get a Crusader Land Raider (drools).
2) Orks & Tyranids- Although there are some great minis in their line, I don't think I can handle another horde army. However, I wouldn't mind picking up those Black Reach Orks sometime in the future.
3) Imperial Guard- I guess this could be categorized as a horde army as well but I've been really wanting to make a Cobra (yes G.I. Joe) themed army for the longest time. It would be a good excuse to finally start one.
4) Tau- Not enough minis I like to jump into. I only like the Piranhas actually.
5) Dark Eldar- I never had an interest in the army to be honest. Not even an inkling. But after seeing some of the new sculpts that have started to trickle in on the internet I am quite intrigued. Eh, I think I'll end up liking some and hating the rest much like the Tau.
6) Empire- I have units already from the previous starter set as well as the current army book. It would seem like the obvious choice but I really hate GW dropping the Pistoliers from the set. It would have been a no-brainer I think. Now I'm not too crazy about the set.

The rest of the armies either has little to no interest from me or there just aren't enough minis I like in the army to justify getting a Battleforce/Battalion set. After writing this it sounds like I may be leaning toward IG after all...


Nope, still not sure.

OMG!

Holy crap I can't believe I won!

Battleroad Games and Hobbies recently had a logo contest on Dakka Dakka and posted the winner yesterday- me. Yay me!

Hmm, now I got to figure out which Battleforce/Battalion set I should get. I've been a Skaven player (ok hobbyist) for most of my life so I think this would be the perfect time to test new waters, maybe even try 40k... but I doubt I'd play it. So overwhelming, I can't believe I'm stressing over this. Any suggestions? I'm totally clueless right now.

EDIT: If you want to see my entry check it here at their blog site.

Skaven Update #21

Ok done with my littlest rat ogres Riff and Raff.

I think they came out alright. Seeing them up close on the monitor, I may do some touch ups but I think I can call this one done.

An added bonus... well sort of...

I thought you might want to see some size comparisons of the different metal figs from previous editions.

Noticed Something Funny...

So today on the GW site they have an article on box cover art. It was pretty cool to see all of the editions on one page. Anyway they have the IoB cover art as a wallpaper and proceeded to download it. When I took a gander of the art in all its glory I noticed something rather amusing in the background...

Little winged rats carrying censers! Ha! Anybody else notice this? I so want to model this now!

Skaven Update #20

Well another great Underempire Painting Competition has come and gone. Lots of awesome entries again too. Still haven't seen it at full capacity though. One of these days...

Anyway here was my entry:

The Vermin Lord!!! I'm pretty happy with the way it came out. Managing all the rats (all 13 even!!!) was a pain, literally gluing and painting one rat at a time. I was smart (hey, I have my moments) enough to wait on gluing the Vermin Lord onto his base last so I can work on the little rats. More pics and a mini slideshow here. Anyway hope you like and now I got to think about the next project for the next painting competition!

Skaven Update #19 and a half

Didn't have much time over the weekend but it's getting there.

 

I'm pretty much done with the first rat ogre- maybe a couple details. The second rat ogre is about halfway through and I've just started to basecoat the base.

Next time I post I should be done. I might even show a sneak peek of what's next! Until then, thanks for looking!

Skaven Update #19

Even though there is a large amount of Island of Blood talk now more than ever I've been recently inspired from threads on Underempire that featured old skaven minis. So from the stuff I listed on things to do I've decided to work on a couple of vintage rat ogres (which would have been part of #2 on the list).

 

et me introduce you to Riff and Raff. I'll be using them as either one rat ogre unit or a unit filler for my vintage clanrats.

 

And here's my progress from last night. It's not much but I think it's coming along.

Looking at these minis makes me want to take size comparison pictures of all the rat ogres I have. My, have the ogres grown!

Skaven Update #18

Whew!!! I didn't think I was going to finish this weekend but in the wee hours of Sunday night/ Monday morning I finally finished my entry for this month's painting competition. What is my entry you say? Well you'll have to check out the competition to see what I did. But, will you be able to guess which one is mine?

In the meantime I've been trying to decide on what to do next:

1a) Convert a Warp Grinder weapon team. I have a pretty solid idea on what to do. But, that would mean I'll need to whip up a unit of Night Runners to accompany them.

1b) Whip up Night Runner unit. Not really in the mood to do these dudes but they should paint quite easy considering they will be mostly black.

2) Convert unit fillers(x2). I have a couple of older models that I can use to make 2 unit fillers: one specifically for my night runner unit (ugh, them again) and the other is more generic maybe for a unit of clanrats.

3) War-litter or Bonebreaker? I sort of have an idea for a war-litter conversion but would a Bonebreaker be a better direction?

4) I could also try for the next painting competition which will be warmachines. No plans for conversions though just a straight up paint job.

5) Update my 6th edition Screaming Bell. Maybe touch up the paint and base it on the larger 60x100.

There are ton more I can do but these are on top of the list at the moment. Any suggestions?

All FAQ'ed Up!

Man, first it was the much needed Jeremy Vetock FAQ for his wonderful job on the Skaven rulebook (being sarcastic here). Then there was the FAQ to update all the armies for 8th edition. Now, there's FAQ for the 8th edition rulebook!!! Talk about FAQ overload. FAQ! FAQ! FAQ!

I had other titles...
"Oh, FAQ me another FAQ?!"
"FAQ you and your Erratas!"
"Un-FAQ'in believable!"

ok I got one more...

"Meet the FAQ'ers"

Hmmm...

I guess I caved. I'll have to set aside some time over the weekend and peruse this impulse buy and see if it was worth it. First quick impressions: although nice and shiny, my college text books were also nice and shiny and just as expensive. Will I need to take a lecture class along with this? Should a hobby ever need a book this big?!

Skaven Update #17

Well things are going pretty smoothly with my Single Character entry. I'm done with the base somewhat and most of the mini has paint on it- certain areas more finished than others. I don't want to jinx myself but I think it's coming along rather nicely!

Onto other things...

These guys have been pretty much done for awhile, I just didn't have the time to take pics and post them. So here they are! The newer PCB mini kind of stands out from the unit as I only have 1 (side note: came from a bits bag I bought from a local auction). I guess I can count him as a champion for now. In the future I plan to pick up more of the newer PCBs and eventually convert a champion out of the plague monk box. Well that's the plan anyway. In any case, I hope you like them!

Change of Plans

Well I was planning on making a Skaven War litter conversion for Underempire's upcoming Single Character Painting Competition but as I started the project I was not liking how it was coming together. Plus I started getting other ideas in my head and began to second guess the entire project. I guess I didn't think it through well enough. Oh well, I'll have to wait on this until I'm happy with one good idea.

Good news is I've replaced it with another project. Fortunately, this time around there weren't any converting involved. Thanks to no converting I've started painting it already. Yay! Now let's hope I don't procrastinate and end up not finishing on time!

How Very Excruciatingly Tempting

I was planning on passing the 8th edition big red book and just wait a couple months for the mini rulebook that's included in the starter set. Granted it's a gorgeous book with lots of pictures but it's freaking $75!!! So then I get this newsletter from an internet store that I subscribed to offering the book 25% off retail plus $3 shipping. Dangit! So tempting! Argh! Do I or Don't I? Stay tune to see if I break...

Skaven Update #16

It was close but I finally finished my entry to Underempire's monthly painting contest: Rare Unit. Although there are some really great entries I actually had expected more people participating this time around. Bit of a bummer considering the amount of conversions I've been seeing on the forums. Tough to beat those abomination conversions. Surprised to see there were a couple of classic doomwheels and no new ones. Overall really great stuff. Anyway I'm still unsure if I'm happy with the end result so I ended up not gluing certain pieces. Also the banner pole is a little too bare for my liking. I'll have to add an actual banner sometime.

Currently, I'm finishing a small group of 7 metal plague censer bearers. I'm also about to start on my next project which will be for next month's contest: Single Character. Work however has started to pick up again so who knows how much time I'll get these next few weeks.

Hobby Tip: bottle caps

Although not a new idea, bottle caps are a great inexpensive way to make counters/tokens for your miniature games.

Normally the caps I've seen are fairly thick or tall as pictured on the left above. Recently however Ice Mountain water bottles started to come out with a shorter cap. I figure instead of wasting $$$ using actual miniature bases for gaming aids this would be a nice alternative.