Monday, June 29, 2015

Terrain: Fences Complete

I said I was going to dig into the pile of unfinished projects over the weekend, and I have. These fences were featured in my fifth blog post, and seem to be the oldest unfinished project I have that isn't in deep freeze. The pieces needed sand added to them before they'll be ready for paint. They've been waiting for some time for this last step to be done... about time then.

Since there are eight of these segments to get painted, I decided that I wanted to paint the bases one step at a time. The above photos depict the each stage of the operation. They were based with black craft paint, then given a layer of Blue Slate Grey. Drybrush layers of Graveyard Earth and Seal Grey followed, then a wash of Devlan Mud. Drybrush layers followed again, Seal Grey then Bleached Bone. Finally, the edge was given a layer of Seal Grey.

I learned after painting the bases and taking on the metallics of the fence itself that I had done my work backward. Trying to keep black wash from flowing down and ruin the base was a pain in the ass, and one I don't want to repeat.

The good commissar was there at the beginning so I thought it fitting he be here for the scale shot at the end.

There is no good reason for pieces to go unfinished for over two years, especially considering all the free time I find myself burning doing nothing productive (it seems). This sort of thing still happens, though. I remember once I cleaned off my hobby area and found a whole box of Space Marines... Shit gets away from you sometimes. Therefore I pledge to have fewer unfinished projects just laying about for no reason... I'm looking at you, Mek Workshop.

Cheers!

CJ

Friday, June 26, 2015

Terrain: Medium Objective

Cleaning up the desk and I found a small bit of hardboard I had cut for something or other so I decided to whip something up. A ruined corner was quickly assembled. I added a pile of jerry cans from the Tamiya kit I get my oil drums from, and a Mad Robot grenade launcher. I think it needs some graffiti as well...

I painted the piece to match the base style I'm using on the Abhumans and my Inq28 models. Over the weekend I plan to complete some other pieces I've had languishing in the land of half finished projects. Stay tuned to see what comes of this new motivation.

And now for something completely different...

Ronnie Gamble, the gentleman who runs the excellent Eye of Error, is running a Kickstarter for custom decals. I'm instantly hooked just on the bitchin' posters that come of a 35$ pledge. That's a no-brainer for this hobbyist; two sheets of custom decals for my guard army and the aforementioned posters. Two sheets is enough for two platoons of unit markings, maybe three, and a sheet for vehicle patterns or whatever else I decide on.

bitchin' Kickstarter rewards
And finally, when I posted lamenting my many distractions (poor me, right? pfft) I forgot the most distracting of them all...

My girlfriend got a cat to call her own, Harry Potter Dresden Houdini... you can guess which of those I added. He's a fuzzy little shit, and I'm constantly surprised the other cats haven't ended him yet. Snow is infinitely patient with the playful kitten, and Deacon keeps him at bay with carefully applied swats. And hisses.

That's it for tonight. I'll have more terrain finished over the weekend.

Cheers,

CJ

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Breaking! MRM Caipari Urban Shocktroops

Coming soon from Mad Robot Miniatures. I've gotten a sneak peek of these models and man oh man I can not wait to get my hands on a squad... or platoon... :D

Cheers,

CJ

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Too Many Distractions...

Not a lot of work getting done around here since the heat is sapping the energy right outta me. Hopefully it will break soon (yeah, right!) but in the mean time, I've been falling victim to digital distraction.

Sense8
If you subscribe to Netflix and haven't watched this yet, do it. Especially if you're a fan of acifi and/or anime. The Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski deliver in a huge way with this new show. Ignore the critics bullshit for now, since they all seem pretty polarized in love it or leave it mode.

Terraria 1.3
What can I say that I haven't yet about Terraria? Not much. The big (final?) update is due out in the next few days, which adds a new game mode, and more of everything else: biomes, items, NPCs, and mounts.

Payday 2: Golden Grin Casino
Day two goes live in 2:25:00 or so, so pay attention! The Dentist is sending the crew to Vegas to recover something valuable of his... so I've been practicing the stealthy arts with my big stupid techforcer. Shadow Raid so many failures.... UGG!

The heat coupled with the fact that I screwed up painting on the Stygies VIII Skitarii means my I haven't really been feeling paint. Combined with the goal I've set to not outpace my painting with assembly just because it's fun... I'm working on getting back to it.

Cheers,

CJ

Friday, June 19, 2015

Inq28: The Huntsman's Sweeps and Keepers 001

I decided with Island of Blood being pulled from shelves in anticipation of Age of Sigmar and 9th Edition Warhammer Fantasy, I ought to get my hands on these two Skaven scum (VALTEN LIVES or did we retcon that, too?) for conversion purposes.

I clipped the Warplock Engineer's blade and replaced it with a Sicarian blade. The head is from the same source. The area behind the hood has been extended with greenstuff, and the gap between the pack and ratman likewise filled. The feet have been chopped and clipped and will be meant to be bionic.

The Moulder got a Skitarii head and a screen from an Ironstrider. Again, the gaps were filled with GS. This guy had some fur to carve off, and I'm working on covering the spots with more robe.

These guys will henceforth be called 'The Jawas'. Here are the monstrosities they herd...

I got the Wraiths in trade and they were converted to a nice go, but I couldn't leave well enough alone... so I pried out the skulls and tore out the arms and mixed em up a bit. They will be getting Ruststalker heads, and I'm trying to decide if they need bolters as well. These guys might just be Scyllax Guardian-Automata that survived on a forge world, locked in a vault until the right heretical secrets might have opened it.

I like that idea...

Cheers,

CJ

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Inq28 Update

Just a quick update here, I realized I'd not posted since last week. I've been working on the Inq28 stuff pretty steadily. Above are a set of servo skulls for Inquisitor Magos Heiloran or his agents to deploy.

Stay tuned for a look at the forces of the other side. It's coming soon, I promise.

Cheers,

CJ

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Inq28: The Catachan Hunter 001

As I worked on the first batch of Skitarii/Scion bashed henchmen for Inquisitor Magos Heiloran to lead around the galaxy, I started thinking of uses for the rest of the kits. One piece that kept coming to the fore of my brainstorming was the Transuranic Arquebus. After looking through my bits box I decided I wanted a hunter to carry the sniper weapon.

A stormtrooper hunter would be perfect to carry the sniper rifle. I got to work on the model and he came together quite quickly.

Looking good so far... but he'll need a support for that weapon.

What is this, WFB?
The supplied support wasn't going to cut it. The feel I'm looking for overall is a bit more dynamic that that thing suggests... so I had to modify it a bit.

See what I mean? The hunter is moving as he stalks his prey, or herds the Inquisitor Magos's quarry to its end. To affect that sense of motion I embedded the end of the gun support in a servo skull. The skull helps keep the rifle locked in for the hunter. Powerful targeting optics in the skull and scope combine to make for a extremely stable platform for the hunter to offer support fire from.

Now that basic assembly is done, he is ready for details and greenstuff; then paint and basing. I also think he needs a hound. More on that later.

Cheers,

CJ