Da Green Skins

Blood Bowl Update

2012-01-26T15:22:00.000-08:00

I was able to get some work done on my Blood Bowl Board (BBB). If you know how to play this game then you know what all the boxes are on the board. Everything is outlined with 1/4 inch square stock. It took a lot of time just cutting all the pieces to fit the board. I also pulled out my router to round the frame of the board. It is looking rather cool.

Next step is to finish sanding all the wood and blending the 1/4 inch stock. Then I will start getting some paint on the board. I figured I would stain the frame and paint the playing surface. I still have note made any decision on using flocking material on the field. When it comes to numbering all the boxes, I might have my wife do that. She recently purchase a Cricut crafting machine. She has become very skilled at cutting out stuff with it. So I was going to bribe her to cut my numbers out and I will glue them on the board. Then I will take some clear finish and poor it over the numbers. This will create a water effect and protect the numbers from peeling.

Now I have some bad news. I will not be working on this project the next month. I need to prepare for a local tournament, Gathering in the Desert, Lord of the Rings. I still need to make a display board and might want to make some changes to my list which means I need to paint some more models.

Blood Bowl

2012-01-12T15:42:00.000-08:00

This will be my first post of 2012 and I couldn't have picked a better subject, Blood Bowl. This is one of those games I only play a few times a year however when I play it I really like the game. Ever time I play the game I always comment about making a custom board.

Well, on Jan 1st the guys got together and we played Blood Bowl and had some great BBQ. While playing I made the comment again about making a custom board. The following day I decided to stop talking about it and stated working on a board. I was going to take pictures of the project from start to finish but I didn't. So you will now see the project half finished. The next step is to trim out the board and get some paint on it. I am happy with my progress so far and want to get some game time in once it is done.

Let me give you a fast run down on what I did so far.

1. I purchased a piece of 1/4 inch MDF which was 4 feet by 2 feet. I then outlined the board onto the MDF. This gave me the overall look of the board and I then trimmed the MDF to the desired sized.

2. I then purchased some wood squares from the craft store and glued them in place. The squares are 1 and 1/8 inches.

3. Then I built a frame for the board out of 3/4 by 3 inch pine. I normally would not use pine for a project like this, it is a soft wood and dents easily. Since I don't play that much I was comfortable using it for this project.

Like I stated earlier, I will be trimming out the board itself. I am planning on using 1/4 inch poplar square stock for this. My plan it to use this wood to outline the board and turn numbers and other things.

After that is done it will be time to get some paint on the project. Once it is painted I will need to decide if I am going to use grass on the field or just paint. I will cross that road when I get their.

I will keep you posted on my progress.

2011 in Review

2011-12-31T23:18:00.000-08:00

I was busily painting my EPIC Necrons when I heard the explosions from fireworks in the sky. I knew it was the end of the year and time to put my paint brush down. I have been working hard on this army the past few days trying to get it done. I still have some painting on the models to complete it but for the most part it is done.

So lets take a look at 2011:

My goal for the year was to simply focus my time on painting. I wanted to spend a hour a day painting. Being the realist that I am, I could not spend just a hour a day painting nor could I paint every day of the week. Either way, it balanced out nicely for me throughout the year. I was able to paint two armies in 2011 and made a great gaming board for Command and Colors. I also worked on other painting projects along the way.

I played in my first tournament (Gathering in the Desert) and had a great time.

I started playing historical games and will be exploring more of them in the future.

That is about it for 2011. I played a lot of great games with my friends and painted some models. I am very happy with my success with gaming, painting and blogging.

Now whats on the calendar for 2012. I am going to keep the same goal that I made in 2011. I just want to keep up with my painting and budgeting my time so I can paint. The only twist I am going to throw in the mix in 2012 is I want to focus on WW2. I have a collection of 28MM, 15MM and 6MM models. So be prepared to see some WW2 stuff in the near future.

I will be playing in another tournament (Gathering in the Desert).

I heard rumors of another painting competition however not many details at the moment. All I know at this point is we will have a group of guys all painting 40K Orks and playing some games. It will be fun and interesting.

So happy News Years to everybody and thank you for reading my blog and keeping your blogs up to date. I enjoy reading what other gamers are doing and sharing their tips and tricks.

EPIC Nightbringer

2011-11-30T14:34:00.001-08:00

I would like to introduce you to my little friend; my Nightbringer. I was going to build a Nightbringer however this model works so much better. It is a Cairn Wraith from the Vampire Counts. What sold me on the model were the three different faces it came with and the one I used really looks like a Necron Face. Maybe GW meant for this model to be used as a Nightbringer. One more model done and just a few more to do and this army will be done.

Wraiths are Done

2011-11-27T17:56:00.000-08:00

I finished my Wraiths yesterday and took some pictures today.

When I started painting this army I thought I would have it done by the end of the year. It is looking highly unlikely this will happen. I am thinking by the end of January if I don't get too distracted by my other hobbies. Enjoy the pictures.

EPIC Wraiths "How To"

2011-11-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

Thursday was a very productive day for me. I had nothing going on so I got to spend the day making my Wraiths for my army. My goal was to make 12 stands however I only had enough models to make 10. For today, however, I am going to show you how I made these models. They are not painted yet and once I get them finished I will show off the completed models.

So lets get started:

When I made my first stand of Wraiths I used pieces of scrap metal from older models. The problem was I didn't have much of it to use. I then decided to use some Styrene. I actually found that I could work with the Styrene faster.

What I did next was just started cutting along the side of the Styrene. I made small cuts with the angle side of the clippers facing side of the Styrene being cut off. You might need to try it a few times until you get the hang of it.

Then I cleaned up the Styrene. As you can see, the cuts I made created a nice detail to the Wraiths body. I also filed a small recess towards the front. This is where the model will be glued in place.

Now I had to cut up the model that I am using. I am using the Sergeant model from Exodus Wars. It came in the Edenite pack. I had a lot of extras and felt it was the best model for the Wraiths. I started by cutting its legs off. They I had to flatten the back of the model so it would fit into the recess I made in the Styrene. I just used a file to make this happen.

Then I trimmed the sides of the torso so that it was the same width at the Styrene. If you look closely at the model you will notice some flashing and that is all I removed.

Then I glued them on the Styrene that I cut up. You might notice that I did some shaping of the Styrene where I glued the model on. I feel it just looks better this way.

I then took the unused part of the models and glued them onto the base. The main reason I did this was to file the recess on the base. Once the glued dried I cut off the rest of the model and filed flat.

Then I cut them off the Styrene and glued them to the base. This is an important step. You might have to cut the Styrene at an angle so that the model is not looking straight down. It is up to you on how you want your models to look. I wanted mine to be at a slight angel that way they are looking down on their victims.

If you have any questions or need clarification please feel free to leave a comment and I will answer it for you.

EPIC Necrons

2011-11-13T16:12:00.000-08:00

It seems that Necrons are all a buzz these days, might have something to do with the release of a new codex and models. I have seen the new line of models and I must say they are really nice. With all this excitement towards Necrons I thought I would share some pictures of my EPIC Necron army. I recently just finished painting the core troops.

This is a group shoot and you can't really see anything.

This close up shows my 4 stands of Pariahs

This is a close up of some Warriors, I run 4 units of them

These are the Immortals, I have a total of 9 stands

Just of few of my Lord stands. I have 4 Lords with Immortals and 2 Lords with Pariahs

Next up for this project is to scratch build all my Wraiths. I can put 3 stands in each unit so I have to scratch build 12 stands. I have built two stands already using different techniques. I now just need to decided which style I want to go with. I will do a "How To" when I post pictures of them completed.

What happened to September

2011-09-25T18:13:00.000-07:00

The month of September seems to have slipped by in the blink of an eye. I was in my hobby room just looking at everything I did this month and realized I got a lot done this month. I worked on a lot of different projects that were sitting on my bench. So let me take you on a tour of what I got done this month.

Earlier this month I talked about some new basing material I started to use. I decided to base up my 28mm WW2 figures. These are Warlords, USA Screaming Eagles. I wanted to get them based up so I could get a few test games in with some friends. I did test paint one of the models that I had to repair. I was not happy with the repair however I like the way the paint turned out.

I figured since I was working on WW2 stuff I would pull out my Flames of War army. I picked this army up in a trade and knew it would need to be stripped and repainted. I spent a lot of time stripping the tanks and half tracks.

Three of the tanks were missing the barrels and they are all missing their 50cals. I decided to purchase the new Plastic Soldiers Sherman tanks for replacement barrels. I like their products and they give you multiple configurations so you will have extra parts. I feel that I found the perfect replacement barrels.

I then decided to paint one of the Plastic Soldiers tanks. It is just a basic paint job however I like the way the decals turned out. They looked painted on. What I did was painted the spot for the decal with a clear coat, then applied the decal and painted over it again with some clear coat. Once I was finished the decal looked painted on.

I also painted some Warmaster models that have been sitting around for some time. These are hero models and I just wanted to practice on some smaller scale stuff before I start painting my Ancients and EPIC stuff.

A while ago my buddy Anthony suggested I should paint a Harad army for Lord of the Rings. I had one of the models on my bench and decided to paint it. After working on this I might just have to paint an army next. It turned out good and if I did a whole army it would look nice on a gaming table.

And last night I finished my first stand of Necrons for EPIC army. I will be spending next month working on this project.

I had a busy month in my hobby room this month. Now its back to working on my next project and playing more World of Tanks.

Ancients Gaming

2011-09-11T18:23:00.001-07:00

My buddy, Anthony, and I have been gaming for some time now. We really enjoy playing EPIC however we decided to put that game on pause while we both paint our armies. When we made this decision we talked about what games to play during our EPIC absence. Anthony foolishly mentioned playing Ancients and probably regrets ever mentioning that to me. I have always wanted to play Ancients and have collected a few armies and different rule systems. So I eagerly jumped on board with his request and all we had to do was figure out all the particulars. Ancient gaming is a lot different from other gaming periods or systems. Locally, you just can’t walk into a game store and pick up an army and start playing. So we had to do our research and answer the following questions:

What scale models do we want to play?

What manufacture models did we want to use?

Who do we purchase the models from?

What rule system did we want to play?

Scale: We both enjoy playing games that represent mass battle, that is why we play EPIC. We already knew that anything above 15-mm was not what we wanted. I then showed him my 15-mm models and we still didn’t feel that it represented mass battle. So we looked at 6-mm and 10-mm. Looking at pictures of both scales we were not impressed with 6-mm and decided to go with 10-mm.

Manufacture: After researching all the different manufactures and reading reviews on them we decided to go with Magister Militum. They have a wide verity of models at an affordable price. I ordered a pack of Hannibal’s Veterans so we could see them in person. We were both impressed with the quality of the casting and the price.

Purchasing: I always want to purchase models from local shops before ordering off the Internet. We spoke to the shop owner and he told us he could not order what we were looking for. So it was off to the Internet. We found Great Hall Games out of Texas that carry Magister Militum products and an order was placed.

Rule System: Now we just needed to decide on a rule system. Since we were playing 10-mm we decided to look at Warmaster Ancients and Field of Glory. Both systems have their pluses and minus however we liked Warmaster Ancients and decided to go with it. The selling point for Warmaster Ancients is we could also play Warmaster, Battle of Five Armies, Blitzkrieg Commander, Future War Commander and Cold War Commander. The game mechanics are all based off Warmaster written by Rick Priestley and I have all the rules and armies for all these games except Cold War Commander.

It took us a few weeks to answer these questions however it was time well spent. We have played a some games so far working through the rules. We are still learning the rules and as time goes on I am sure we will get them all down. I am playing the Carthaginians and Anthony is playing a Roman army. As this adventure continues I will keep my blog up to date on our progress.

Basing Material

2011-09-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

For me, basing my models is just as important as painting them. I am always trying new things to make my bases stand out. A few months ago I had to make some repairs to my stucco house. I went to the big home repair store, Home Depot, and looked around for someone to help me. When I finally found someone he showed me what I needed, Quikrete Stucco Repair. I went home and read the instructions and made the needed repairs. I was impressed with my handyman work and this product.

I went to put the remaining product away and wondered how this stuff would work for basing material. I decided to give it a try and spread the product on a piece of scrap wood. It took right to the wood and provided some great texture. Once the product dried I wondered how well it bounded to the wood. So I took the wood and skipped it across the street. The product did chip however it held up better then I expected. So I took the same piece of wood and decided to paint it.

I really liked the texture and strength of the product. Now this is a concrete material so it does have some weight to it. Since I am going to be using for basing material the added weight will not be an issue. I then decided to do a sample model. I picked up a Flames of War base and a GHQ Jeep. Below is the finished product.

Again, I was impressed with this product as a basing material and decided to add this to my collection of basing material. Now you might notice the black trim around the base. This is nothing outside the norm in the gaming community. Many gamers paint the trim of their bases a verity of different colors. It is how I painted the base that is interesting. A while back I was at the craft store with my wife. I was over by the Sharpies and saw an oil based paint marker made by Sharpie. I have always liked Sharpies product line and decided to give it a try. It worked out great and now I have one sitting on my work bench. It has helped me speed up this part of my painting process and gives a nice even coat once I am done. It does have a glossy finish however I use a dull coat so the gloss finish is not an issue.

I hope you get a chance to try these items to help improve your modeling experience.

Tale of Four Gamers (August)

2011-08-27T16:56:00.000-07:00

Well I finally finished my painting for August. This part of the challenge is over and now we just need to get a few games in and crown the winner. I am excited to have this army finished because now I have two armies painted.

So here is my army list:
Lurtz
Uruk-hai Captain with heavy armour and shield
Uruk-hai with banner
20 Uruk-hai Warriors with weapon and shield
19 Uruk-hai Warrior with pikes
11 Uruk-hai Scouts with bows
3 Berserkers

All the pikes were converted using brass rods and the bases were hand made. I am happy with the way this army turned out and I can't wait to get it on the table.

So what is next for my painting table, well that will be EPIC. I have been playing my Necrons for some time and I really like them. Since my buddy Anthony are taking a break from EPIC I figured it would be the perfect time to get them painted. My goal is to have them done by the end of the year, another four months.

Tale of Four Gamers (July)

2011-07-30T18:51:00.001-07:00

I just finished my July painting for our painting competition. I added some bow fire and additional warriors. I also have a banner in this army, I haven't painted any symbols on the banner yet because I am not sure what I want to do. Now we enter the last month of this journey and I have a lot of painting to get done. I have already painted all my heroes and big point models and have nothing but warriors to finish this army. This means I have 17 models paint by the end of August.

The Month of Gaming Tables

2011-07-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

Hey guys I have been real busy this month helping build gaming tables for friends and my local game shop. At the moment I have taken an active role in building 5 tables and this Thursday I will be building one more. That is a total of 6 tables in the first two weeks in July. The first table was built by Tim (Cursed Treasures) and I for our buddy Jerry and you can see it on his blog page, Jerry's Big Picture. Then last night Tim and I built 4 new gaming tables for our local game shop. Tim is the one that introduced local gamers to the Simpson Strong-Ties that make one of the best gaming tables I have ever played on. This product is sold to build a workbench however they make a better gaming table.

Now the tables we built for the shop were just simple tables and not as labor intensive as the table we built for Jerry. We were able to build a table in an hour, so it took us four hours to build all the tables. Now this Thursday I will be helping another friend build his table.

So, since July has become "The Month Of Gaming Tables" I decided to pull my gaming table out of the garage and put it into my gaming room. I had to rearrange everything to make this happen and I still have some work to do in my gaming room however I should have it done soon.

I want to install some shelves on the bottom of my table so I don't have stuff sitting on the floor. Then I just need to finish putting everything away. Now my reason for having a table in my gaming room is not necessarily to play games on, it is more so I can start building terrain. I am getting more serious about painting armies I want to have terrain to complaints my armies. I am no longer happy just throwing a few random pieces of terrain on the table to play a game. So my table is going to used to assist me with building terrain for the games I play. My first terrain project is going to be some kind of industrial plant for 40K Combat Patrol. Its all about the experience of gaming and terrain helps improve the game on so many levels. I will keep you posted on my terrain projects as I get them done.

Tale of Four Gamers (June)

2011-06-18T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today I finished my June painting for the Tale of Four Games (LotR). You will notice Lurtz leading this small bad of Uruk-hai. I decided to pull him from Isengard Raiders list and next month I will be focusing my painting on Uruk-hai Scouts with bows. Using the bows will save me some points and help absorb the extra points I used for Lurtz. The Uruk-hai Scouts with bows are more effective then crossbow and cheaper. I did paint one too many Uruk-hai worriers and my total is 185 for this month. I will pull one of the worriers out and set it aside for next month. Now I need to get my game in for the month.

EPIC Buildings

2011-06-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy playing EPIC and my buddy and I want to build some tables just for EPIC. I want to build a city board and have been challenged finding buildings. At one time GW made some great ruined buildings however they have become very expensive over the years. I have been buying some from other companies and started a small collection. The goal is to make a city table that looks like the picture my friend posted on his blog, Cursed Treasures.

Last week I was on Table Top Gaming News and saw a new release from Game Craft Miniatures for ruined buildings. I clicked on over to their web site and liked what I saw. I was concerned when I read the product description that the buildings were made from a picture matting material. I was not sure if it would hold up on the gaming table being made out of a paper product. I took my chances and ordered some and figured I would give them a try.

Yesterday my buildings showed up in the mail and I couldn't wait to see what they looked like. I opened the box to find candy. I was surprised and laughed a little about it. I always like it when a company gives me something I did not expect.

After I ate a piece of candy I removed my new buildings from the box. I like they way this company packaged the buildings. They could have just put all the pieces in the box and sent it out. No, they put each of the 9 buildings in a zip lock bag. I didn't have to spend my time sorting out the pieces and could just pick out a building to build.

I opened one of them to check the quality of the product. I was very happy with how durable the material is. It is very strong and didn't feel like paper at all, more like wood. At that point I knew that for the $20 price tag I got a great deal. Now don't get me wrong they can break but it takes some effort. So I then decided it was time to build a few. Real simple to build, a little glue on the corners and let them set up to dry. Each building piece has some cut out that fit together like a puzzle piece. I had no problems putting them together and I used Super Glue.

After the main part of the building was done I then added some interior floors that came with my purchase.

I had these two building done in less then 10 minutes. Now came the fun part. One of the challenges building a city board is that I don't want all my buildings looking the same. What is cool about these buildings is the amount of space provided on between the windows and doors. It gave me some creative freedom to add some different pieces of plastic card stock to make each one unique.

Now when I get to work on my table I can make it look like a real city with each building having its own flavor. Now I have not painted them yet however I am not concerned. I will give them a good coat of primer and then then a quick dry brush. I might even give them some graffiti and posters just to add more character to them.

So here is my product review, they rock. The scale is great as you can see in one of the previous pictures. You get 9 buildings for $20 you can't find a better deal. I don't know how this company is cutting this product, I think they are using a leaser cutting because the product looks burnt on the edges, but they are cut perfectly. I was just very impressed by this company from ordering, delivery and the product itself. I will be ordering some more and hope that they will be adding to this product line in the future.

AND THEY GIVE YOU CANDY

Epic Obelisk Is Done

2011-05-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

I finished my Obelisk for EPIC this week and I feel it turned out good. I got some feedback on my test models and took that feedback and came up with what you see. Now I just need to cast about 10 of them so I can build my Necron Army.

Tale of Four Gamers (May)

2011-05-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

May was the start of the Tale of Four Gamers, Lord of the Rings. I jumped right in and got to work painting my Uruk-hai army. I found this army easy to paint and I just finished my May painting. I am going for a dark and dirty army. Some of the custom work include replacing the pikes and custom bases. Now since I finished early I could start work on next months painting however I feel that takes away from the spirit of this challenge. So next month I will paint another 175 points and I will spend the rest of this month working on EPIC stuff.

I thought I would share a short tutorial on how I made my pikes. What I did was took a piece of brass rod and hammered one end flat on my anvil.

Then I took a pair of wire cutters and trimmed it to the shape I wanted.

Then I cut the brass rod slightly over the length that I wanted. I want it longer because I take the cut end and sand it down reducing the size of the brass rod.

I do this so when I cut off the plastic pike I can drill a hole in the model for the new pike. This increases the glue surface and holds the pike in place better. I wanted to drill a small hole in the model so that I didn't cause any visible damage to the model. It worked out really good and I am pleased with the results.

Tale of Four Gamers

2011-04-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

Do you remember when WD did some articles called "Tale of Four Gamers"?

The articles documented the progress of four gamers as they built, painted and played their armies. They spent the time and energy doing this for WFB and 40K, however they neglected doing anything for Lord of the Rings. A friend of mine thought it would be fun to do the same thing for Lord of the Rings. I was invited to participate in this blog version of "Tale of Four Gamers".

So the rules are simple. Starting May first we begin building and painting. Each month we have to paint 175 points towards our goal of 700. We will receive points if we meet our painting goals. During the four month time frame we will also be playing our new armies. We will get additional points based on the outcome of the games that we play. The winner of this challenge will receive dinner paid for by the three other players. Its is going to be a fun event and bring out some competition between us.

I have decided to do a White Hand list and my first 175 points will include the following:
Uruk-hai Captain with heavy armour 55 points
Uruk-hai Warriors with shields X6 60 points
Uruk-hai Warriors with pikes X6 60 points

So for the next few months expect to see more Lord of the Rings stuff being posted on my blog page. Since we don't receive any bounces for painting over 175 points I will be working on some other things if time permits. If you are interested in following the other players I added their blog links below.

Cursed Treasures
Drunken Samurai
Jerry's Big Picture

The Passing Of Sam

2011-04-14T07:48:00.000-07:00

With the passing of Sam (Samuel) a part of me goes with him. He was the first pet that my wife and I brought into our lives together. He had an amazing personality and brought us so much joy for the past 16 years. He and I bounded so much over the years and we shared many hours together just hanging out. He was my buddy and a friend.

Samuel your life will be celebrated and remembered by those lives you touched with your charm. You brought us so much and asked for so little in return, a scratch on the head and some food you in your bowl. Our home is not the same without you and your family misses you so much. We will always remember the time we had together. Only time will heal the wound that your passing caused however your memory will live with us forever.

EPIC Obelisk

2011-04-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

My buddy and I have been playing EPIC for some time now. We both enjoy the game very much however it is not very popular in our community. We promote the game at our local game store and have had some limited success getting other interested. So what were are doing is trying to build as many armies as we can so when other gamers show an interest we can have an army for them to play. This is going to take some time however we both feel that it will help get others interested in the game.

So last week I picked up a Necron army. If you know anything about EPIC you know that GW never produced a Necron army. The good thing is other companies have produced models that can be used for Necrons and with some simple conversions you can create an army. One of the models I could not find a good match for was the Obelisk. I decided to make my own and once I am happy with what I made I will then cast it. What I am looking for is some feedback on the three that I made. I made two on 20mm bases and one is smaller. Let me know what you think.

Lord of the Rings Elf

2011-03-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

Who hacked my blog page and put this Elf on it. This is an outrage and must be corrected.

OK, it was me and I must apologize to my followers for doing this however a friend of mine asked me to help him with painting his Elf army. I was giving him a lot of advice however it was easier for me to paint a model for him so he could see what I was telling him. I like the way it turned out and I got to use some colors that I don't normally use, like gold. The best part of this paint job was the hair. He wanted a blond color and that is really hard to do. I didn't want to give the model a bleach blond hair color and I went with a dirty blond. I think it turned out rather nice.

While I was painting this model for my friend I decided to test paint one of my models for my next army. This was a simple paint job and I based it on one of my custom bases. The other thing I did was replaced his pike with one that I made. I think it really turned out great.

Command and Colors Board

2011-03-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

It is finally done and I must say it looks great. My goal was to have this done at the end of February however life got in the way. So let me take you for a tour of this board. This is for the River Coa scenario.

It is a good size board and was made with the intentions of using 28mm models. Each hexagon is 5 inches from the flat sides and 6 inches from the corners. The brown hexagons represent the cities in the scenario. I am going to make some other attempts to make the towns look more realistic just not sure how I am going to do it yet.

I really like the way the bunkers turned out. I made them out of some wood sticks.

The rivers were more labor intensive. My buddy Anthony suggested I use a router and make the rivers level with the board. I ran with his suggestion and made some great looking rivers. I made the bridge removable and it is just a piece of plastic card with wood strips on it. As time goes on I will make a hexagon with an attached bridge.

Now the trees I have to make a decision on. When I was at the Lord of the Rings tournament one of the players brought some terrain and I really liked the trees he made. He told me he made them using moss for plants. He told me all the pros and cons of using moss however I really liked the way his trees looked on the table. The negatives of using moss is that it drys out and breaks off. If I am careful with the trees I shouldn't have any problems. The other trees I made I used flocking and it does not look nearly and nice as the moss. I am not sure which way to go yet and I will wait and see how the trees hold up.

Overall the board came out really nice and I can't wait to play a game on it. When I do I will get some pictures to share. My goal from this point is to just pick different scenario and build the different terrain pieces.

One of the concerns I had building this board was the fact that I can't cut perfect hexagons multiple times. I thought that the board would drift and create gaps and would look like crap. Well as you can see I do have some gaps however it helps show the lines and my concerns are gone. I am also cutting better hexagons with more experiencing. I will keep you posted with updates on this project and will share pictures along the way.

Basing Models

2011-03-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

I have noticed more and more companies producing custom bases. I see this as an advancement in gaming and improving the games that we play. Now we can simply purchase a creative base to make our armies really stand out.

Seeing all these great bases being produce I wonder how they effect judging armies for painting scores in tournaments. One of the things about hour hobby is creating a good looking army and the bases are part of that. So would a player that puts the time and energy into making their own bases be judged the same as a player that just purchases custom bases.

So why do I wonder about this, I am getting ready to start work on a new army for Lord of the Rings. I put together some different bases made out of different materials. Making these bases take time and I am just trying to decide if I should just purchase some bases or continue to make my own. Below are some examples of bases that I make, they still need some flock to add color. Long story short, I am looking for some feedback from other players and their experience with custom bases being used in tournaments.

Ringwraith

2011-03-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

I finished this model last week and just haven't taken the time to post any pictures of it. I really like the way I painted the cloak. I tried and tried to get a picture that really showed the colors with no success. The cloak is painted a real dark purple and on the table it looks black however when the light hits it you can really see the purple color. I also like the way I based it. I took advantage of the models pose and decided to steal a scene from the movie. The base was not overly complicated however it works great with the model.

Later this week I will complete the Commands and Colors board. I am real excited about this and can't wait to show everyone.

The Results (Gathering in the Desert)

2011-02-21T21:03:00.000-08:00

The Gathering in the Desert is over and I must say it was a great weekend. I had a lot of fun and met some great players. The event organizer just posted the results and I must say I am happy with my results. Keeping in mind this was the first tournament I have participated in and I placed tenth. More importantly my army tied for fourth place for best appearance. Let me break down my games for you.

Game #1: Artifact, was a Draw
Game #2: Domination, was a Minor Loss
Game #3: Emissary, was a Draw
Game #4: Meeting Engagement, was a Draw
Game #5: Head of the Snake, was a Draw

Now let me talk about the event. Since I have nothing to compare it to I can't really say much. It was very well organized and everything was kept on track. One thing I really liked about the event were the awards given for each game. Each one of the awards were different based on the game that was being played. I received one of the awards for game #5 because my General died first, not a good thing, and the objective for this game was to kill the opponents General. The reason I pulled a draw on the game was because I also killed my opponents General. These awards made the tournament fun because each game gave the players a chance to win something during the weekend. This was such a great event I will be participating in next years event.

Outside of participating in such a great event I need to learn more about the rules. I made some mistakes that had to be corrected by my opponents. I am still new to this gaming system and need to really get these rules down. By next year I will be better prepared with the rules of the game and I will have a new army for my opponents.

The event organizer has not posted all the photos from the event however if you want to check it out head over to Gathering in the Desert. If you check back towards the end of the week you will see all the great tables we played on and the action shots.

Gathering In The Desert 2011

2011-02-18T08:36:00.000-08:00

Well the big weekend is upon me. When I set out with this challenge my goal was to learn a new gaming system, paint an army and play in a tournament. The last part of my challenge will be this weekend at The Gathering in the Desert tournament. I am looking forward to meeting all the players and just having a great weekend playing games.

Hanging out with the local players I have developed a new appreciation for some of the finer details in gaming. The event organizer creates some of the best terrain for gaming. I had a chance to help him creating some of this terrain and playing on some of his gaming tables. It really changed the game for me. If you are interested in seeing some of the tables we will be playing on take a look at his blog page, Cursed Treasures. It is this new appreciation that has moved me to make the Commands and Colors board. I now understand the importance of having a painted army and terrain that compliments the armies that are being played.

I also witnessed something else during this challenge. The shop that this tournament is being held happens to be my local gaming shop. The shop I hang out at is a one man show. The shop owner, Darren, is a great guy and he does all he can to ensure that his customers have a place to play games. One of the problems with this is that some of the customers don't help with keeping the shop clean and he is busy running the shop and he doesn't always have the time to clean the shop. He knew he had this tournament coming up this weekend and put the word out to his customers to help get the shop ready for this weekend. I was shocked and surprised to see how many people showed up to help. We all spent the day cleaning the place up and getting things ready. I was impressed with what we all got done and feel that this will just ensure that everyone has a great time this weekend. This lead me to ask what type of a customer I am to my local shop. I know personally I do everything I can to make sure the shop is kept up. Its the little things I do to help, I police the shop for trash and if I see produce out of place I put it back ware it belongs. Ultimately it is the shop owners job to make sure his shop is kept clean and presentable to the public. I just know how much work goes into running a business and cleaning is not always the top priority. He offers his customers a place to play and if customers would just pick up after themselves he wouldn't have had to ask for help. Cleaning up after yourself is your way of saying thanks for letting me play at your shop. I want to personally say thanks to everyone that came out yesterday and help clean the shop, your efforts will be enjoyed by all this weekend.

THANK YOU

Commands and Colors: Napoleonics

2011-02-12T17:51:00.000-08:00

I was introduced to a new game and found it real enjoyable, Commands and Colors: Napoleonics. I was familiar with the games mechanics playing Memoir 44. A short outline of the game goes like this, movement is card driven, combat is dice driven, it is played on a board and the units are wooden blocks with unit stickers on both sides. The game comes with a booklet of scenarios that you can play with a friend. If you want to learn more about the game I am sure you can find thousands of reviews on-line.

I have had an interest playing a Napoleonics game for some time now. The challenge has always been finding a game that was fun to play. Most of the games I have played in the past were not much fun to play. The game mechanics were too detailed and chart heavy. I wanted something that was fast paced and this game fits the bill.

Me being me, I can't be happy just playing this game the way it is designed. After playing the game with a friend we talked about converting this game so we can use miniatures. We talked about what types of hexagons were on the market that we could use and we were not happy with our options. I then decided to just cut the hexagons myself. I made a jig for my table saw and got to work cutting out hexagons. You can see in the pictures I made the trees removable so I can transport board easier. I still have a lot of work to get the board completed and I am shooting to have most of the work done by the end of the month. I am going to work on one scenario at a time. Once I get the board all done then I can get to work on painting my British Troops.

Painting Competition

2011-01-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

It is a new year and my life continues to move forward preparing for the 2011 Gathering in the Desert Independent Grand Tournament. I finished my entry for the single model painting competition. I posted a picture of the this model after I did all the conversions now it has some paint on it. I am happy with the way it turned out however I am not sure how it will do in a competition. I am a table top painter and still need to work on some of my painting skills. Next I am going to work on a way to display the model, just not sure how I am going to do it at the moment.

As far as my goals go for this year I am going to keep them real simple. I am going to just continue painting my models. I am not going to restrict myself from purchasing models or getting rid of models I have already purchased. My goal this year is going to focus more on scheduling my time so I can get more painting done. Painting my LotR models has really inspired me to get more done and I have developed some great habits during this project. I have been painting 4 nights a week for a few hours. For me this has created a good balance between spending time with my wife, playing games, work and getting things done around the house. Its all about balance in life and I really just want to reinforce my new habits throughout the year. After I finish my display board for my LotR army the first painting project will be working on my Old West stuff. Any other project beyond that will depend on what I am playing at that time. I hope you all have a great 2011 and I really appreciate all the feed back everyone has be giving me and thank you for visiting my blog page.

My Army Is Done

2010-12-31T17:31:00.000-08:00

What a great way to finish off the year, I completed my army. I started this army back in August, just over four months and now I can say they are done. I have been posting pictures along the way so today I wanted to take a group shot. My new photo box came in handy however trying to take a picture of the army still created some challenges. I must have taken 50 pictures and I have posted a few different shots for you to enjoy.

Now I can start work on the model that I want to enter in the painting competition and then create a display board.

2010 was a great year for me regarding painting. I finished my 400 point Combat Patrol Army and this army. My excitement for painting has started to grow and I can only say stay tune for a more painted models to be shown in 2011.

Have a Happy and Safe New Year.

A Present from Santa

2010-12-25T15:23:00.000-08:00

Under the Christmas tree this year was a gift not only for me but for everyone that reads my blog. I received a photo box so I can take better pictures. It came from Think Geek and included the photo box, two lights with bulbs, tripod and carry case. It is a really nice set up and was not too costly. I will let you be the judge with some sample pictures I took. What I like the most about this gift is the fact that when I am not using it I can pack it away in the carry case and store it away.

Twas The Night of the Battle

2010-12-20T19:38:00.000-08:00

Twas the night of the big battle, when all through the fort
All the Orks were stirring, even Mad Dok.
The Dakka was all loaded in the outpost with care,
In hopes that the Blood Angles soon would be there.

The Gretchin were nestled all snug in their spot,
While visions of Blood Angles pounded in their heads.
And Da Boss in his gear, and I in by his side,
Had just settled our brains for a the long night.

When out in the distance there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the post to see what was the matter.
Away to the watch tower I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the banner.

The moon on the breast of the war torn field,
Gave the lustre of mid-day from wars past scatter.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But drop pods falling, filling me with chear.

"Now, Terminators! Now, Scouts! Now, Assault Squad and Veterans!
On, Dreadnoughts! On, Rhinos! On, Razorbaks and Predators!
To the top of the hill! get over the wall!
Kill them! Kill them! Kill them all tonight!"

And then, as a bolter blast went pass my head, I felt the ground shaking.
The prancing and pawing the Killa Kans were a chatter.
As I settled my footing, and was turning around,
On the North wall I saw the Blood Angles coming in.

They were all Red, from top their head to their feet,
There steal armour all tarnished with ashes and soot.
Bundles of weapons hung to their backs,
And they all looked like peddlers of death, just opening our heads.

Their eyes show no mercy! their faces no fear!
Their guns roared as we ducked under cover.
Da Bosses mind filled with anger like never seen,
As his eyes bulged from his head, filled me with dread.

The butt of his gun he held tight so his side,
And the smoke from it encircled his head like a wreath.
He just took down five Blood Angles, faster then I ever seen.
He laughed aloud, then shouted out “WAAAGH!”

Da Boss was all chubby and plump, feasting on his enemies blood.
And I laughed when I saw him, spit in the face of his foe,
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
Covering the field with dead, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his middle finger towards the sky,
And giving a nod, he started yell!

He sprang to the middle of the battle, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew just like a missile.
But I heard him exclaim, as they drove them out of sight,
“It was a great battle, we will all have a good night!”

Getting Closer to Completion

2010-12-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

I finished 8 of my archers, I only have 11 more models to finish and this army will be done. This is a big deal for me. I am not known for painting complete armies. "I'm that guy", I will start painting and never really finish an army, just a few models. I have boxes and blisters of models just sitting around collecting dust and not many with paint. Completing this army has really got me excited to finish other armies in my collection.

Just a little on these models. I did some basic conversion work with some of the arms. I simply cut the bow arm off and repositioned it. Then I added a bow strings. I am very happy with the way they turned out. Now I come to a cross road with my army. I am running the archers as Orc Trackers. I have purchased the actual models however I don't like them. They are metal models and don't leave much room for conversion. There are only three poses and they just don't get me excited. I also don't feel that they fit with the overall look of my army. So I think I am going to purchase some more Mordor Orcs and finish out this army with them and take Orc Tracker models out. I am more concerned with the overall look of the army since it is going to be a tournament army.

My Heroes

2010-12-03T18:12:00.000-08:00

I just finished the heroes for my army. Let me give you the run down.

From left to right,

Mordor Uruk-hai Captain with sheild
Ringwraith (Bob the Budget Ringwraith)
Shagrat, Captain of Cirith Ungol (Shaggy)
Orc Drummer

You will also notice an Orc with a banner. I was told I needed a separate model from my army to use in one of the scenarios. So I decided to make a banner that celebrates the event that will be held next year. The event is called "Gathering in the Desert", so I used decals and put "GD 2011" on it. The banner I used was from one of my Black Orcs, WFB. I chopped off the skulls and some other items and then reshaped some of the banner. I will be able to display the banner when my army is scored for painting however I will only be using the model for the one scenario.

I am now almost done with painting the army, I only have my 19 archers to finish. I am going to be adding bow strings and making some modifications to the models. The archers they offer don't have my different poses and having so many of them I want to make them look different. I will keep you posted.

My First Tournament

2010-11-21T19:52:00.000-08:00

Today was my first tournament and I must say I had a lot of fun. If you take a trip over to CursedTreasures to see some pictures and results. I had a Major Defeat, Minor Lose and a Draw. Not bad for my first tournament and I did walk away with the Best Sportsmen award. This was a practice event to get ready for the big event in February. A few things I learned today are, first you need to remember the objectives and second keep track of the time restrictions. So I am going to need some more practice and finish painting my army. I should have my heroes finished by the end of this month then I have 19 archers to get painted. With the holidays and will be busy.

LotR Practice Event

2010-11-18T07:15:00.000-08:00

Sunday was a practice day for LotR and I got two games in. The first game was a tie and the second was a major victory for my army. I learned a lot from everyone that was there and had a really good time. This Sunday there is going to be a tournament taking place at a local game shop. I decided to share my list for this event.

Shagrat with shield 60 pts
Mordor Uruk-hai Captain with shield 55 pts
Orc Drummer 40 pts
Ringwraith 55 pts

Orc Warriors with spears X20 120 pts
Maroannon Orcs with shields X14 112 pts
Mordor Uruk-hia with shields X 7 63 pts
Orc Trackers X 19 95 pts

600 points

I am looking forward to this Sunday, it will be my first tournament. I work on the weekends and tournaments take place on the weekends and that means I can't take part. I really enjoy LotR so I am taking some days off and some sick days so I can play in these tournaments. All this is leading up to the big Grand Tournament in February, 2011.

Whats all the fuss about

2010-11-13T18:14:00.000-08:00

GW leaked this photo out for the Storm Raven and I have heard mixed reviews. I don't know what all the fuss is about. I think it is going to make a great new addition to my Ork army. The cool thing is the model will not take much effort for me to convert. I personally think this is going to be one of GW's best selling models and there will be a lot of happy Ork players. I am going to mark this one as a WIN for all Ork players. When it comes out I will get one and start planing all the things I can do to it.

The Dirty Seven

2010-11-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

My army is getting closer to completion. I just finished my seven Mordor Uruk-hai and I really like the way my army is shaping up. If you have been following my progress you might have noticed I am keeping them with the same paint scheme. I am making them an elite fighting force for the Black Gate. I might steal the name "Black Company" from Glen Cook. I am currently reading his book, Chronicles of the Black Company.

I must also admit that my painting has slowed down. I am only painting a few nights a week. With the holidays right around the corner I don't see me having more time to paint. I decided to start working on my heroes for the rest of 2010. After the heroes are done all I will have to paint are my 19 archers. I will be pushing myself to get everything done by the February game date.

This Sunday, tomorrow, we will be having a group of players getting together to test play our armies. I am looking forward to spending the day playing and getting some feedback on my army list. Well I have to go, have a good day everybody.

Morannon Orcs Are Done

2010-10-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

They took longer to get done then I anticipated however they are done. I am going to start the Uruk-hai next. I only have 7 of them in my army so I might have them done in a few weeks. We are going to be having a local LotR tournament on November 21st and I want to have a majority of my army painted prior to this event. This tournament is important to me because I need to get as many games in as possible and prior to the Grand Tournament next year. Back to painting.

Morannon Orcs

2010-10-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

Still going strong on the Morannon Orcs. I took some pictures today to show my progress. I am having a lot of fun painting these models. They have detail however it is not overwhelming and it makes them easy to paint. I not painting fingernails and each tooth. Don't get me wrong, I like the detail of the 40k and WFB models but the amount of detail can be daunting when painting an army. Well back to painting.

Look What I Have Gandalf

2010-10-07T17:39:00.000-07:00

While I have been working on getting my army painted I have also been working on my painting entry. I wanted to do something fun that included some conversion work. I really like the pose of this model however it needed some work. I cut the sword off and added a metal rod and and spear head. It is a spear head from my vampire army and filed it down to scale. Then I cut off the army holding the shield and replaced it with an arm from an Orc archer. I was happy with the results however it was still missing something. Looking through my bits box I found it, Gandalf. So I cut his head off (it felt so good however I knew it was so wrong to enjoy it) and removed his hat. Then it was added to the model and now it looked complete. Now that I have the conversion work done and will put it on the back burner for painting. I have to get my army painted before working on this project.

Just Finished My Mordor Orcs

2010-10-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

I just finished my last Mordor Orc and wanted to get some pictures up to share. I have a total of 19 Mordor Orcs with spears. The pictures only show 18 of them, the last one is drying. They all look dirty and grimy which I feel fits the army and how people see Orcs. Lets face it, they are not clean and pretty. My goal for October is to get 13 Morannon Orcs. The over all goal is to have all of the army painted by the end of the year. That gives me January to build my display board and work on any last minute things before "The Gathering in the Desert". Well back to painting.

First Eight Are Done

2010-09-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

I just finished my first eight Orcs for Lord of the Rings. Now I have about sixty more to go. I would like to thank everyone for their feedback on my last post. Very helpful information and I decided to stay with the Testros Dull Coat and just use a very light coat.

This Friday I should be getting all my models to build the rest of my army. I am looking forward to getting the army built so I can start playing them.

Should I Clear Coat My Models

2010-08-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

I have been painting miniatures for many years and I always spray my models with a clear coat after painting them. For some time now I have been having issues with the clear coats on the market. The main issue I am having is the clear coat fogging once sprayed on the model. I started using Testors Dull Coat and it works great. The only issue with Testors is that the model still has a shine to it, just look at the model from my previous post. I also lose some of my highlights once I spay on the clear coat. Now I am at a cross road and need to make the decision if I should continue using the clear coat or just skip this step.

On the positive side clear coat adds an extra layer of protection on the paint to protect it from chipping. This is a major benefit and makes me want to continue using it. On the negative side, well I have already outlined the problems I have been having. I would like to hear from some others on this subject before I move forward on the models I just finished.

Do you use a clear coat on your models?

What brand are you using?

Mordor Orcs

2010-08-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

I finished a Mordor Orc and wanted to share the results. When I first finished it my biggest critic, my wife, told me it did not look right. She said it was to bright and clean. My wife is a big fan of Lord of the Rings so I took her observation too heart. So I gave the model a black wash to tone down the colors. I am happy with the results and it was an easy model to paint. It took me a total of 3 hours from start to finish. So let me know what you think about this paint job.

Lord of the Rings and Infinity

2010-08-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

I was on vacation last week and had a blast. Durning my time off from work I had a opportunity to play a few new games, Lord of the Rings and Infinity. Both of these games are not new in the gaming community however I never took the time to learn how to play them. I was impressed by how both of these games played and will play them more in the future.

Now I wrote about Lord of the Rings previously and mentioned that I wanted to play in a local Grand Tournament. I have not played in any tournaments for any gaming system. Most of the tournaments are played on the weekend and I have to work on the weekends. I decided that I would commit to this tournament and face the challenge of building, painting and playing a new game.

I decided to play an Orc army from the Mordor supplement. I picked up a few models and have started working on my basing theme. I will have a sample model done in a week or two. Once I decide how I want to paint them I should be able to get moving on the army.

As for Infinity I did pick up the Combined Army force. What I like about this game is that it only required four models to make a 150 point army. The game has a lot of great mechanics that make it enjoyable to play. It was very fast paced and did not take very long to play a game. I do have some bad news to report about the game, the army that I picked up I will not be painting. I decided to let one of the guys at the shop paint my army. I want to focus my attention on my Lord of the Rings army.

I will keep you all posted on my progress and share more of my experiences along the way.

A Shift in Gaming

2010-07-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months I have noticed a shift taking place at my local game store. Many of the regular gamers have started playing more skirmish games and are drifting away from the GW games. Talking to the guys at the shop they all seem to have a different reason for making this shift. A few of the reoccurring reasons are as follows:

Cost: With yet another price increase from GW it is getting harder to get into the game or another army. I just purchased an army for Malifaux, the rules, playing cards and custom bases and spent less the $180. With all the models that I purchased I have what is considered a large army. You can’t beat that price tag when you think about how much your 40k army cost you.

Play Time: Many of the skirmish games take about an hour to play. This give a player the opportunity to get a few games in while at the shop and play more people. This is good for the gamer that goes to the shop after work and wants to play a game however does not have the time for 40k or WFB. A quick game of Infinity and then go home to the wife and kids.

Transportation: Lets face it, transporting armies has been a issue for many gamers. Packing up your army of 100 plus models can be a task. Yes there are all types of transportation option on the market however it can still be a task. Most skirmish games only require 10 models and can be transported in a cigar box. That is small enough to take with you ever time you go to the shop.

Painting: Only having 10 models in my army, I can get that painted in a week. You see a lot more painted armies on the table and we all enjoy the game more when the models are painted.

Change of Pace: I think this came up more then anything else. We put some much time and energy into our large armies and get board playing them. You can change your list and play different people however the rules are still the same. Games are a lot like a girl friends. Fun and first and then they start to loose their excitement. I feel that many of the regulars are just wanting something new and are just taking a break from the bigger games.

I am enjoying this shift taking place at the shop. I can walk into the shop and see different games being played and the shop owner is supporting these games with product on the walls. So if one of these games catches my eye I can pick up an army at an affordable price. I am not sure if this is just something happen at my local game store or is taking place at shops across the nation. I just found this to be an interesting shift taking place locally.

I'm Back

2010-07-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody, I'm back. I dropped off the blog-a-sphere for over a month. I just needed to take a break from painting, building and all things gaming. I also have been having some issues this year with the heat. I have lived in Arizona for over 35 years however this summer has been hard on me. I come home from work just exhausted and have no motivation to do anything. I think my age is catching up to me or I am just getting lazier in my old age.

A lot of things have been happening in the gaming world with the release of 8th edition WFB. I am excited about the new rules and picked up the collectors edition of the rules. Not a very practical purchase however I really liked the leather cover and the fancy paper. Now I will have to dust off my fantasy army and get a few games in.

I am going to start working on a new army and learning a new game. We are lucky in Arizona to have an Independent Grand Tournament for Lords of the Rings. In 2011 it is going to be hosted at my local game shop. This is exciting for me and I really want to play in the tournament. I have been talking to my EPIC buddy who plays the game and he has nothing but good things to say about it. I am looking at playing Mordor Orcs, big shock on my army selection. This is going to be a big challenge for me, I have just over 6 months to purchase and paint a new army and then learn how to play the game good enough to be competitive in a tournament.

Well that is enough rambling from me. I feel refreshed and ready to continue moving forward with my gaming adventures.

Aeronautica Imperialis

2010-05-28T15:52:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday I turned 40. I am now that old guy at the game shop still playing with plastic toys. I still enjoy the games as much today and I did when I first started playing them. I have seen games come and go and the games that are still around have only gotten better. The quality of the models have improved and the resources seem to be endless. So I celebrated my birthday by buying some new toys. One of the guys at the game shop was putting together a Forgeworld order and I got my Ork AI army. Now my collection is one step closer to what I am calling my Master Army.

My Master Army will consist of BFG, AI, EPIC and 40K. My goal is to learn how to play all the games and convince others to do the same. Then we can play a series of games starting with BFG, then AI, then EPIC, then Combat Patrol and finish with 40K. I feel this would be a great way to spend a weekend playing games and what a great way to showcase my love for the Orks.

I did not get any painting done this week. I was busy with birthday stuff. I am going to spend June finishing off some projects that have been sitting on my bench.

More EPIC Stuff

2010-05-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

Nothing to say today, just showing off some more tanks I just finished today.

More EPIC Orks

2010-05-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

I finished some more models for my EPIC army. I am running into some issues priming my models right now. I live in Arizona and the temperature is starting to rise. If your not familiar with what happens when priming your models in the heat let me be the first to tell you it is not good. What happens is the primer drys before hitting the model and makes it fuzzy. I had to strip the Deff Dreads because the primer was that bad. So now I have a few options on what I am going to do until summer is over. Firstly, I could just stop painting and just build models for the next few months. Secondly, I could start using a brush on primer. Lastly, I could build a small spray booth and prime inside my house. I thinking I might do a combination of the first two. The last option is out of the question. My wife would kill me if she knew I was priming models in the house. All I can say for sure is that my painting will be slowing down for the next few months.

EPIC Necrons

2010-05-12T19:33:00.000-07:00

What's this? Necrons on my blog page! That's right I painted a Necron model and it was a good change a pace. If you have been following my blog page, you might have noticed I have been playing a lot of EPIC lately. One of the challenges playing a game that has a faint pulse in the gaming community is that you need to put more effort getting other players excited about the game. One of the guys at the shop has shown a interest in playing EPIC and wants to play Necrons. I told him that I ordered some models from Dark Realm that can be used as Necrons. I also told him how to make Heavy Destroyers. He was not sure if he could do the conversion so I told him I would do it for him. It was simple. I took a Scarab and cut the front of it off. Then I took one of the models, cut it off at the waist and glued it in place. I then based it and was done. I can also use the Scarabs to make Tomb Spyders and regular Destroyers. I am hoping this model will get him excited about the game and maybe we can add another player in our EPIC community. Tell me what you think.

EPIC Friday

2010-05-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got to play EPIC, two games. My friend Anthony wanted to test play his Sons of Sek army list. If your not familiar with this army they are an IG army that has crossed over to Chaos. They are sometimes referred to as Traitor Guard. We talked about doing a battle report so I took my camera to the shop and snapped a few pictures. Unfortunately the pictures don't help tell the story of the battle because I only took them from one side of the table. I should have moved the camera around and could have gotten better pictures. So for today I am only going to share the pictures and no battle report. Our next game I will get better pictures and take some notes as we play. I will report one thing, Orks 1 Son of Seks 1. We tied with our victories.

Ork Set up with all the Stompies. I run all my Orks in vehicles with Oddboy upgrades.

Son of Sek set up on the other side and I get depressed because his army is almost all painted. I will get mine done soon.

A close up shot to show off some of Anthony's toys.

Turn one Anthony rushes across the table. His army is better in close combat so we get right to fighting.

Hay this is the same picture as above, what is going on here.

Anthony puts his troops in buildings. They don't have a good save so he takes advantage of the cover save from the building.

More fighting an lots of blast markers. We continue to fight.

My war boss is taking a beating and things are not going so well for the Orks.

The table turns and the Orks start putting a beating on the Sons of Sek.

A close up picture of some walker things, not sure what they are called I just need to get rid of them fast. Plans work good for this so they fly over and start dropping bombs, sorry no pictures.

My Stompies are all alone because the Sons of Sek ran away. I guess they don't like to be shot at.

Just another picture of my Stompies. Anthony just does not like these guys.

In the end of this game the Orks win however the story was not the same in game two. The Sons of Sek list was good and very balanced.

EPIC Painting

2010-05-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

The Boyz and I have been busily painting buggies this week. We finished late last night and have some pictures to show you. The one thing we didn't want to have happen was to paint them all the same. So if you notice in the pictures we painted different details different colors. When doing assembly line painting it is real easy to get caught up in the repetition of painting. With 28mm models you can paint everything with the same colors and have the great looking army. With EPIC I don't feel you can do that. EPIC is so small and lacks a lot of the details that you see on 28mm models. I want my army to have personality and to stand out on the table. I also wanted to ensure that they looked like they belonged together. So what I did was picked a primary color for the unit, I went with RED. Then I painted one buggy the way I wanted it. This gave me my color pallet. Then when I painted the other buggies I chose colors from my color pallet to paint the different details. This is just something to think about when painting your models. You want your unit to stand out on the table and not just one or two of your models. Now my unit of buggies each have their own individual look and when placed together they look even better.

May Has Been Declared EPIC Month

2010-04-29T21:56:00.000-07:00

Da Boss inspected his troops and erupted in anger yesterday. He saw that everything look blaaah and not worthy of a true WAAAGH. In his fit of anger he yelled out that his troops better be looking proper by the end on the month. This give us 31 days to get our vehicles painted the proper colours and ready for battle. We started last night and got one of the buggies painted up for his approval and he didn't rip my head off, he was pleased. Our goal for the month of May is to paint one vehicle a night. That will be the majority of our army. If we don't reach this goal our green hides will be placed on the front line with a stick.

The Humvee Is Done

2010-04-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

It was 8 months ago when I first posted pictures of my Humvee project. I am happy to say, Its Done. I now have my Combat Patrol army painted. This is actually my first painted army that I play. Now I need to add about 1100 more points to this army and I can play a regular game of 40K. Enjoy the pictures and I am going to get to work on my next project.

WHFB Rumors

2010-04-11T20:33:00.000-07:00

I just spent 30 minutes reading comments about WHFB 8th edition rules coming out this summer on Bell Of Lost Souls. There were three rumors shared on the site about rule changes in the new edition. Now these are just rumors and I am not getting too excited at this point I just have some concerns about 1 of them.

The first rumor that I read about on a few different sites is about Close Combat. The rumor is that Close Combat will continue until one unit breaks or is destroyed. If this rumor is true it is going to change that game from start to finish, it will be a different game. Players will have to build their armies differently and their tactics will have to be modified. One of the tactics in WHFB is to use your core units as a speed bump to slow down your opponent till you can move in for the kill. It is one of the basic tactics in the game and taking it out of the equation will create new challenges. I wonder why this rule would be added into the game. I know this is a rule in a lot of Historical games and it works well, I'm just not sure how it will work in WHFB. I might just have to create a big block of Black Orcs with my Lord in it to just walk around the table killing stuff. It is this thought process I don't want to see in the game. Right now it is just a rumor and we will have to wait and see all the rule changes before making a decision on the game.

The second rumor was limiting your Lord/Hero choices to only 25% of your armies point total. This will create some balance with the different armies. It should also be added to the Rare and Special choices as well. The problem I have with WHFB is the fact that I can spend half my points on just Lord/Hero choices. I can also add all kinds of magic items to make them even better. I would venture to guess that I will not see that many named characters on the table any more.

The third rumor has to do with models being 10 wide to get a rank bonus. I find this one to be a little far fetched and have nothing to say about the rumor. I feel that this rumor is just being leaked to cause some excitement in the gaming community.

This stuff is just rumors and nothing is set in concrete. When I first read these rumors I was taken back and felt like I would give up on the game. Now that I have time to think about these rumors and mesh them all together they seem to make sense. We have a limit on how many points can be used for Lords/Hero's so this creates balance and limits HeroHammer. We change the way Close Combat works so we all have to learn a new tactics to play the game. Lastly, our models have to be 10 wide which means we have to buy more models and that keeps GW in business so we can continue to have a game to play.

Have a great day

Humvee Pianting Update

2010-04-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

I spent some time this week painting my Humvee. I was going to use oil paint however I gave up on that process. I just could not get the look I wanted. So I went with a classic approach. I painted the damaged areas with Dark Flesh, then hit them with Gun Bold Metal. After the paint dried I washed it with Brown. I am happy with the outcome, what do you think?

Weathering Black

2010-03-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

The first quarter of 2010 is coming to a close. In January I read a lot of blog postings about their New Year Resolutions and I myself made a few. As the months pass I wonder how everyone is doing with their resolutions. I have been doing my best to stay on track and I will not lie, it has been hard. There are new armies I want to buy and new games that I want to play. I will say it has been hard however staying focused on just a few projects has produced some great results. I am getting my 40k Orks painted and I am very happy with my work to date. The month of April brings me to a project that I am worried about starting. If you have followed my blog you might remember my Humvee project. Well it is time to paint it and I am scared that I might mess it up. I put a lot of hours into this model and would hate to mess it up with a bad paint job. My plan is to paint it black and add some Gun Bolt Metal chips and scrapes. On the surface it sounds simple however I want to weather it.

Weathering black is not as simple as it might sound. I read as many tutorials I could find on the subject with mixed results. Using acrylic paints and inks did not work on a black surface. So I moved to oil paints and achieved a better look. The sample in the pictures are from a model tank I had on my desk that I was planning on converting one day. What I did was primed it gray and then painted it black. The black paint was watered down to provided an even paint job and a slight gray highlight. Then the model was dry brushed with gun bolt metal. Then I took the oil paint (Burnt Sienna) and put a few dabs on the model. I dipped my paint brush in mineral spirits and moved the paint around. I repeated this process a few times. This created a wash on the model. Once the paint dried I was able to dust off some of the paint. I figure that the pigment pooled and dried out which allowed me to remove some of it. Then I washed the model with brown, dull coated it and call it finished. What this created random rust spot and the gun bolt metal shows through in certain areas. I am kinda happy with the results however I am not sure on the combination of paints. I am going to try this again using a water base oil paint. This might work better with the acrylic paints I use. If you have and suggestions or feedback let me know.

Comments On My Posts

2010-03-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

This morning when I viewed my blog page I noticed I had a new comment on my Loota post. I viewed the comment and found that it was written in a different language that I can not read. I clicked on the sender of the comment to view their blog page and as I expected, I could not read anything written by this individual. There were no pictures on this persons page, just text and links. I then went back to the comment on my blog and discovered that what was entered for a comment were just links. The links lead me to pron sites. Great, now I have people leaving me links to porn sites for comments. I quickly trashed the comment however it is not gone for good. It is still in the comment section as being removed. I am not sure what I should do now. I could set up a comment gate keeper so that I have to approve all comments prior to them being posted, I have noticed that some blogger do this or I could just continue to monitor my comments and trash them if they are just links to porn sites. I have concern about just trashing the comments. I don't want viewers to feel if they leave a comment that I am going to trash it. I want my blog page to be a place that viewers can feel free to leave a comment even if it is not positive so I can become a better gamer. I thought about reporting the individual however I am not sure if this violates any policy with Blogger. For right now I am going to leave my blog page set up the way it is. This is the first time this has happened to me and if it continues to happen then I will have to move forward with the comments being reviewed prior to being posted. I just find it upsetting that some scum bag had nothing better to do today then leave links to porn sites as a comment. I am sure I am not alone on this matter and would like to know how others have handled this if it has happened to you.

Da Boss

Lootas Are Done

2010-03-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

I just finished my Lootas and this puts me ahead of schedule for this month. I have one more model to paint and I will have my 400 point Ork army done. Next to be painted is my Humvee however I will not start it till April. I want to get the building bug out of my system. I prefer to building models over painting them. I have an EPIC project I want to get done and will spend the rest of the month finishing it. Until then enjoy the pictures.

Game Bashing Revisited

2010-03-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

I have come to the conclusion not to move forward with combining EPIC and Flames of War. The reason for this is simple. Thanks to some comments provided by few readers and friends I have decided to try a few new games.

Blitzkrieg Commander was suggested by a few readers so I purchased the rules. I just recently finished reading the rules and found them rather interesting. The rules are simple and it is not chart heavy, really there are only a few charts. I am going to test play the game in a few weeks to get a better understanding of the game. Like most games, reading the rules and playing the game are too different things. I want to thank everyone that provided me with their comments and suggested this game.

Mein Panzer is another game that was suggested to me by one of the guys at my local game shop. I just finished downloading the Core Rules and will start reading them. I was informed that this game can be played with basic rules to more advanced rules. I am looking forwarded to reading them over the next few weeks.

I will not be able to base my miniatures until I decided which game system I am going to use. Each game system has a different basing configuration and base size. I am sure I could base my miniatures for one gaming system and use them for either gaming system. I am not a fan of doing this. Rules are designed with basing in mind and I would prefer to base my miniatures correctly for the game system that I am using. I will be able to start painting my tanks once I get my other painting projects done. Since I am playing with 6mm miniatures it will not take long to get an army painted.

Have a great week, right now I have some models on my desk that need to get painted.

Hobby Tip: March

2010-03-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

We are 7 days into March and I have been making great progress on my Loota Boyz. I have two of them done and a third should be finished tonight. I will get pictures posted once all five done.

Since I have no models to show I am going to post another hobby tip. When I first started painting miniatures I was wasting a lot of time waiting for paint to dry. If I did not let the paint dry I would end up smudging the paint while holding it. One of the guys at the game shop suggested using nails. My problem was solved and it has really helped improve my painting. I then took this process one step further.

First: I found a small piece of scrap wood (2X4) and drilled a lot of holes in it. I did not drill the holes all the way through the 2X4, just about 3/4 the way through. I use this piece of wood for holding the models when priming and painting.

Second: I purchased some nails from the hardware store and took about 10 of them and glued a rare earth magnet to the flat end. This is helpful for me because I use magnetized bases or metal bases. So when I get ready to paint a model all I have to do is take the nail with the magnet and snap them together. The one thing you have to keep in mind when you do this is to make sure the magnets polarization is correct. If it is not, then just free the magnet from the the nail and turn it around. If the model I am working on does not have a magnetized base or is not made out of metal, then I just glue the flat part of the nail to the bottom of the model. I will use white glue for plastic models and super glue for metal ones.

Why has this helped me? It provides me something other then the model to hold onto while I paint it. I have complete control of it and can hold the model in any position I need to get the job done. Then once the models is painted I can keep it on the nail and turn right around and dip it, clear coat it and I am done. I keep my models on the nails from priming to completion.

February Is Already Gone

2010-02-28T16:38:00.000-08:00

I have always thought that we get short changed during the month of February, we only get 28 days. With that said, we are two months into the new year and I am staying on target with my goals for 2010. I just finished another unit of Boyz for my 40K army. Now I only have to paint a few more models to get my 400 points finished. I am going to paint my Lootas done during the month of March.

Since I finished a few days early for the month of February I started work on an EPIC terrain piece. I am making an Ork air base. I am going to use it as my blitz objective. Anthony, just so that you know, the bunker can hold up to 12 Fighter-Bommerz.

I also wanted to share a a hobby tip. I few weeks back I purchased a 12 inch piece of granite tile. I use it on my work bench to help save my table top from getting cut up when I am building stuff. It is just a nice hard and flat surface to work on. After I purchased the granite I then added some felt tabs on the bottom so that the granite does not scratch my table top.

Game Bashing

2010-02-23T17:43:00.000-08:00

You might have heard of something called Kit Bashing, if not let me share with you what this term means. It is when you take different model kits and make one model out of all the parts. It is a lot of fun to Kit Bash especially when you play Orks. I have seen many great Kit Bashing projects and have created a few myself.

Now let me share something new, I am going to call it Game Bashing. Same concept as Kit Bashing however I want to take a few games and create a new game.

Let me give you some basic background with my gaming history. I started playing table top war games years ago. My first table top war game was Flames Of War. I really liked the historical aspect of the game along with the models. Like most kids growing up I played with GI Joe toys and little green soldiers. So Flames Of War was the perfect fit for me. I stopped playing the game around second edition. There were a few things that pulled me away from the game however the main reason was the game died at my local friendly game shop. Now Flames Of War is making a come back with new models coming out and early war rules being released soon. So my interest in this game has sparked back up however I am not totally sold on the main rules and army stats.

About 6 months ago I started playing EPIC 40K. Now this is a fun game to play and has a great rule set to support it. When I play EPIC I feel that I am playing a real table top war game. I have lots of troops to command on the table and it requires more tactics rather then special charters with cool weapons. I know I can play regular 40K with more points however it is the rules that make EPIC so much better.

Trust me, if I could find a gaming system that already exists using 6mm models that is fun to play I would just play that particular game. I have not found a gaming system that I like so let me explain what I want to do. I want to take the army lists and point structure from Flames Of War to create your army. Then using the basic rules from EPIC to play the game using GHQ models, 6mm. I know that many of the rules will need to be modified and stats will need to be changed to make this work. So I am looking for some feedback from the gaming community with thoughts on this project. I want simple rules that are fast and fun to play with more balance in the armies. This would not be a historically accurate gaming system, we would just be pushing around WWII tanks instead of tanks from the future. So before I put a lot of time and energy into re-writing rules what do you think?

Da Boyz

2010-02-20T16:48:00.000-08:00

My vacation ended and I just wanted to share my last painting project for the week. My goal for this vacation was to paint a Kill Kan (done) and a unit of 10 Boyz with Shootas. I fell short on the Boyz and only finished 5 of them. I did not really enjoy painting them because they were already put together. Boyz with Shootas have a very closed pose and the Shootas are close to their chest. This made it very difficult to paint them and I kept having to touch up my painting. If you are asking yourself, "So why did you put them together". Well I would tell you these models were salvaged models. I picked these guys up in a trade and they were already painted. I was going to drop them in the trash and decided to attempted something new. I stripped the paint with Simple Green. After they were stripped of their previous paint job I repainted them. So the little frustration I experienced painting them is all forgiven because I didn't have to purchase new models, that saved me a few bucks in the long run.

I also had some time to hang out at my local game shop and play some games. What kind of a vacation would it be if I didn't bring my EPIC army out and stomp on so IG guys. My buddy Anthony and I played a very fun game of EPIC and I brought a special weapon, Fighta-Boomers. He was not expecting them and had no way to counter their attacks, Sorry Anthony but war is not meant to be fair.

I would have to say my vacation was very relaxing and I did get most of what I wanted painted. I will continue to work on the second half of my Boyz and should have them done soon.

Killa Kan

2010-02-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

Well my painting vacation has been very relaxing. I finished my Killa Kan today and must say, I am very happy with my results. Now I will continue work on my unit of 10 Boyz with Shootas. I have a lot of their base coating down, I just need to start work on the details.

Now I am pleased to say I had an opportunity to build one of the new Killa Kans and Deff Dread. I was at my local hang out on Friday and the shop received the BLACK BOX. If you don't know what the BLACK BOX is let me tell you. When GW has a new release of models, rules or codex they send a preview copy to local stores. On Friday we got all the new goodies in at once, Killa Kans, Deff Dread, SM Dread and Battle Mission book. Boy oh Boy it was a great day. I asked the shop owner, Darren, if I could build one of the Killa Kans and he said go for it. Once I had one done he asked me to do the Deff Dread. I had a lot of fun building these kits. They go together very nicely with a few different upgrades and changes you can make. I did the Deff Dread with 4 CCWs and it looked awesome. Now I have to wait till March 6 to purchase mine. I am going to get two boxes of the Killa Kans (that is six Killa Kans) and a Dreff Dread.

EPIC Basing

2010-02-10T21:30:00.000-08:00

At 3:00 P.M. today I punched out from work and my vacation officially started. This is a much deserved break from work. It has been almost 1 year since my last vacation. So I have no plans to leave town or get anything done around the house. I am simply taking a mental break from work.

Now let me get to the purpose of this post. I started playing EPIC a few months ago. I really enjoy the game and have already collected a good size army. I purchased my models from e-bay and have seen many armies up for bid. I have seen some great models on e-bay however they were lost in the base material. The basing material used was out of scale. The grass was too tall or clumpy. The sand was just too rocky and chunky. I have played around with different basing materials and have found that most of the materials is just too big. My experimenting has lead me to something called "Decor Sand". I purchase it from a craft store and it comes in a verity of colors. I just pick out some of the flat surfaces on the base, I use a very small amount of Zap-A-Gap and then put some sand over the glue. Then I apply some paint and I am done. When I find a grass material that I like I will apply it, until then I am just going to keep them the way they are.

Killa Kan

2010-02-08T19:06:00.000-08:00

Starting Thursday I will be on vacation from work. I have plans to get a units of Boyz painted and my Killa Kan. I built this Killa Kan a few months ago and equipped it with a Grotzooka. Since the model did not come with one I had to scratch build it. I like the way it turned out and will keep everyone posted on my painting vacation.

On a side note, if you haven't seen the new Killa Kanz and Deff Dread you should visit the GW web site. The new models are all plastic and the Killa Kanz come in a box containing three. I am looking forward to their release this March.

And this next picture is for my friend Anthony, a picture of the EPIC Orks that I painted. I hope you like them and next time we play EPIC I will bring my Orks and not Smurfs.

Reveiwing My New Year Resolutions

2010-02-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

As many of us already know, after the start of a New Year we quickly forget about our resolutions. We simply fall back into old habits and then regret not sticking to our plan. I for one am doing my best to keep my resolutions alive throughout the year. I spent a few minutes to review my 2010 resolutions I made and make some adjustments to my original plans.

1. Thinning out my collections of models. This is one of my resolutions that I am going to change. At first I really wanted to cut my collection down however I have changed my mind. I purchased my models for a reason, I either like the army or the models. So what I decided to not purchase new models unless they are for my current armies. So this mean no new games, which is hard for me, and no new armies. I must admit January has been a hard month because my local game shop has brought in some new game lines that I like.

2. I will be dumping all my RPG's. Still working on this one. I have asked around to see if anyone wants the games that I have with no takers. I might just have to take them down to the ebay store and leave them there.

3. Painting is going to be my main focus this year. Still my focus, I just finished painting 35 Ork models for EPIC. That gives me a total of 9 painted stands for my army. The month of February I will be painting another unit for my 40k army.

4. Finish works on a few of my projects that I have already started. So far so good on this resolution. I have finished my Humvee project and made some terrain. I still have two more partial projects to finish.

5. Play more games. Believe it or not I need to work on this one. I have not played a game of EPIC or 40K this year. I have played Magic the Gathering however that is not what I mean by playing more games. I am scheduled to play EPIC this Friday and I am looking forward to it.

Well that is how my 2010 resolutions are going. How have you been doing on your resolution for this New Year?

Rain Day

2010-01-24T18:15:00.000-08:00

Thursday, my day off from work, was a rain day. We received a lot of rain and my plans for yard work and other chores could not get done. So I took this free time to learn something new, making terrain. My friend and I play EPIC and we have been talking about making terrain specifically for our games. We wanted to have terrain that was scaled more closely to the EPIC models. So I purchased some Styrofoam and started cutting out some hills. I kept them really basic, just rolling hills with some rock formation. I covered them with fine sand then paint and flock. I think they turned out good and should serve their purpose just fine. I still will need to develop my skills with my Hot Wire Cutters and painting earth tones. Maybe we will get more rain next Thursday so I can practice some more.

The Humvee is DONE!!!!!!

2010-01-15T17:41:00.000-08:00

Looking Foward To 2010

2010-01-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

We are on day two of 2010 and it has promise to be a great year. Many bloggers have been posting about their goals for 2010 and I figured why not do the same. I am going to start by having a slogan to get me threw the year. My slogan for 2010 is going to be "Getting Back To Basics". The reason I am "Getting Back To Basics" is simple, I have too many models, gaming systems and projects and not enough time to get everything done. So let me get to my list of goals for this year.

GETTING BACK TO BASICS

1. Thinning out my collections of models. I have collected many models over the years and many of them are not built, sitting in the boxes with the price tags still on them. To me this seems silly to have all these models if I have no chance of ever getting them built and painted. So it is time to clear some shelve space in my hobby room. I have not decided what will stay and what will go, all I know is that stuff will be going in 2010.

2. I will be dumping all my RPG's. I have no time to play them and no interest in playing them any more.

3. Painting is going to be my main focus this year. I still have not painted a whole army yet. I have completed a few small painting projects however I still jump from one project to another. So this year I am only going to focus my painting on two army projects. I am going to continue painting my 40K Combat Patrol Orks and my Epic Orks. All other painting projects are going to be put on hold, I should say packed up and put away till another day.

4. Finish works on a few of my projects that I have already started. This includes my Humvee, Double Wide Land Raider and my Looted Wagon. I will be starting one new project this year I am just not sure when so I will talk about this in a latter post.

5. Play more games. With my work schedule and not having a game shop close to my home makes it hard to play games. I will be making more of an effort to get to the shop and play more games.

That is all I am going to work on this year for my gaming life. To start the new year I spent New Years Day playing games and working on my Humvee project. I will have this project completed my the end of January and I will keep my blog up to date with my progress. I am looking forward to 2010.

Mike

My EPIC Army

2009-12-29T16:30:00.000-08:00

EPIC

Some time ago I posted a picture of an Epic Ork that I had painted. I was in motion building this army however I stopped working on it for a more pressing project. Last night I just finished assembling my last Battle Wagon. What you see in the picture are the models that are on magnetic bases. I still have many models that I have not based yet so I have more work ahead of me.

I have played the game twice so far and really enjoy the rules set we are using, Epic Armageddon Handbook 2008. The game is fast paced with more thought on strategies rather then powerful character models. I still have a lot to learn about the game and will keep my progress posted.

Paint Removal on Plastic

2009-12-19T17:20:00.000-08:00

When I was painting my Orks for the combat patrol I messed up one of my models. When I primed the model it was too cold outside and the paint got fuzzy. This meant one of two things. I could have discarded the model or strip the paint off of it. I did not want to discard the model so I decided to strip the paint. I have never had to strip paint off a plastic model before so it was a new experience. I have read many different article one this process and different product that could be used. I decided to go with brake fluid. I was apprehensive at first, brake fluid and plastic models. I thought this was going to end in disaster. So I went to the store and picked up some STP Brake Fluid and submerged the model in it. I let it soak for a few hours then took an old tooth brush and scrubbed the primer away. It worked like a charm, I was sold on this process. After the primer was removed I scrubbed the models with some dish soap to remove the brake fluid. My model was saved so I could paint it for my army.

I then want to see what it would do with some other models I have sitting in a box. Many months ago I picked up an old 40K Ork army that has some models painted. The paint job on the models was not very good and I have about 30 of them. So I dropped one in the brake fluid and let it soak. This one took a lot longer to get the paint off however it worked. I soaked it for a day and then scrubbed it down. Then I let it soak for a few more days and scrubbed it down again. This went on for over a week and the result was worth it. As you can see in the picture I have one of the models that I received painted and the one I stripped. Now I can save even more models from just sitting in a box. So if you have some old plastic models that you want to bring back to the gaming table with fresh paint on them you can. I strongly recommend starting with only one model to ensure that you get the result you want.

Combat Patrol Final Post

2009-12-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

Well, combat patrol is coming to a close, we have one week remaining for the league. I had three goals playing in this league. First, learn how to play 40K. Yes, I must admit this was the first time I really played 40K. I did learn the rules and now feel that I can move forward and play larger games. Second, get my 400 point army painted. I did not accomplish this goal. I only painted one unit of Orks, 11 models total. I am a slow painter and I did not keep with my schedule. So one unit painted is a start in the right direction. Third and lastly, Have Fun. I had a blast playing in this league. I got to meet some of the other players and it was just a lot of fun. I want to thank Darren, owner of IOG (Imperial Outpost Games). He went above and beyond to ensure that everyone played and provided the prize support. Darren you ROCK. I also want to thank Anthony, one of my friends who put up with me while learning to play 40K. He was very patient while I learned the rules and helped me along the way. Thank You Anthony. With all this said, take a look at some pictures of what I completed.

Combat Patrol Update Week Three

2009-11-25T19:37:00.000-08:00

Last night was the start of week three for our combat patrol. The rules allowed players to make changes to their lists. So I made a lot of changes to my list. I was losing most of my games because I could not get across the table fast enough. So here is my new list.

Unit of 11 Orcs Boys with a Nob upgrade holding a Power Klaw and Big Shoota upgrade
One Truck
Unit of 5 Lootas
Unit of 8 Storm Boys with a Nob upgrade holding a Power Klaw
Killa Kan with Grotzooka

This has added the needed speed to my list and I still have the shooting power of the Lootas. It is a better list now I just need to get my games in. I will be at the game shop all day on Friday and I am hoping to get a few games in. I did get some more boys painted.

Combat Patrol Update

2009-11-18T18:14:00.000-08:00

The first week of Combat Patrol ended and we started week two on Tuesday night. I had to make some changes to my list, Killa Kans can't take two weapons. This was pointed out by a friend who follows my blog. I asked him why he didn't post a comment on my blog correcting my mistake. He informed me that my blog page did not allow him to post comments. After playing my games and only winning a moral victory, I killed stuff however did not win the game, I checked my blog page and my friend was correct. So toady at work I figured out what was wrong and corrected it. Now you can leave me comments and I would appreciate any feed back from the gaming community at large.

Now that my list is legal, I dropped the two weapons and just went with a Grootzooka, I can move forward with painting. I have completed 3 Ork models using the Army Painter Dipping (Shading) product. I have been dipping models for some time now and have improved on my methods over the years. The Army Painter product appears to me to just be wood stain repackaged with their own label. I do like the different shads that they offer and their product is not as thick as regular wood stain, i.e. Midwax Wood Stain. It worked out well and I am happy with the results. Let me know what you think.

The Ork on the left is shinny because I just sprayed it with dull coat and I took the picture before it dried.

Combat Patrol

2009-11-09T19:27:00.000-08:00

My local friendly game shop is starting a five week combat patrol league this Tuesday. I put together a 400 point list and had a chance to play it a few times. It might not be the strongest list however it will be a fun list to play. One of the scoring features is for painting. We are allowed to start the league with our armies un-painted however we will be scored at the end of the league for painting. So I will be busy painting for the next five weeks. I decided to post my list and will keep it updated with my progress.

Unit of 15 Ork Boys with a Nob upgrade holding a Power Claw.

Unit of 15 Ork Boyz with a Nob upgrade holding a Power Claw.

Unit of 5 Lootas

One Killa Kan

This does mean I will be pushing back my Humvee project and have boxed up my Epic Orks for a later date. Once I get this army painted I will jump back onto my other projects.

Basing my Orks

2009-10-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

I must admit, I have been procrastinating building my 40K Orks. I was struggling with how I would store my army once I had it built. I normally use rare earth magnets on my bases and keep them stored in a bankers box. I can't do this with my 40K army because the rare earth magnets are too strong and will cause problems on the table when I play. After trolling around on forums and reading other blogs I came up with a solution.

My solution is to use metal washers. Just a quick 1,2,3 of what I did. I used 1 inch washers which measure out to be 25.4 millimeters. The advantage of using the washers over the GW bases is that you are getting the full size of the base. The GW bases are angled on the sides and you are not really using a 25 millimeter base. The washer are great for my Orks so that their feet are not hanging over the sides. I then glued the washers on a piece of plastic card, 0.5 millimeters thick. I did this to cover the hole in the washer. I used a thin plastic card so that I could removed the excess material in a timely fashion. After the glue dried I cut off the excess and filed down the edges. I then lined my banker box with magnets strips and I was done.

I pulled the picture below off an older post so that you have a better understanding of how I store my armies. I take banker boxes and cut the height down. Then I have a great storage box.

Humvee Update

2009-10-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

Lots of work has been done to the Humvee since my last update. I am sharing three different pictures of the model to show you how I put rivets on. The first picture shows the model with plastic rods sticking out from the side. What I do is simple and fast. I cut the plastic rod that I am using for rivets into 1/2 inch sections. I sand the contact side to ensure that it is flat. Then I put a small amount of glue on the contact side and glue it into place. Then once I have a few dozen in place I cut the excess off. When I cut the excess off I make sure that the flat end of my cutters line up with the model. This leaves a nice flat surface. Then once the excess is cut off, I then file the rivets to the height I want them. I have found this method to be a lot more productive then cutting the rivets to size first and then trying to glue them in place. The excess that I cut off is saved to make more rivets. The second two pictures show a more completed look. I still need to file the rivets down however you can see how they look. I still have a lot of work to do on this model and it has slowed me down on my other projects. I am shooting to have the majority of this project done by the end of the month.

Michaels

2009-09-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

If you follow blogs and read forums you have might have heard of a place called Michaels. It is a large franchise craft store. I had some free time today and spent about an hour just wondering around looking at random items. I must say that it is more then a craft store, it is a gamers paradise.

Just a short list of things I purchase from Michaels.

Paint: they have a large selection of different paints from 99 cents to 15 dollars. It just depends on what you are looking for. I purchase the 99 cent acrylic paints for terrain and bases. I have also purchased some of their higher end acrylic paints and they work just as good as GW paints.

Paint Brushes: Since I am on the subject of painting, I buy almost all my paint brushes from Michaels. They cost a lot less and work just as well.

Basing Materials: Now they don't sell flocking material however they do have different types of sand, stones and other items to use on my bases. Take a walk through the flower section and just look around and what they have to offer.

Wire: I picked up some small gauge wire I use for a verity of different things. I spent two dollars for a spool of this wire and it will last me a long time.

Magnets: They have a small selection of magnets to use for you bases. They sell sheets of magnets with adhesive on one side. Very nice for magnetizing your bases. They do sell rare earth magnets however I can get them cheaper on line in bulk.

Models: Yes they have a section of regular models and supplies. They get different models in and I have found a few for bits.

Tools: You can find all sorts of tools to aid in your modeling. I found some of the better tools in the beading section.

Wood: If you need some basal or regular wood Michaels has a great selection to choose from. They also have some decorative pieces that work great for displays.

These are just a few of the things I find at Michaels. If you have not been to one of their stores make the trip. Look around for awhile and see what you can find.

Humvee Update

2009-09-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy week for me and very little time to get anything done on my workbench. I did make some progress on the Humvee. My main goal was to get it far enough along so it could be used on the game table. My Ork army is in various stages of construction so it fits right in. This week I will start work on some of the details making it look proper for an Ork army.

Epic Orks

2009-09-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

I have been re-introduced to the game of EPIC 40K. I have always been interested in this gaming system however very few people played, so I never invested any money. Over the past few months more and more gamers at IOG (Imperial Outpost Games) have been playing Epic. I downloaded the free rules (Epic Armageddon Handbook 2008) and then bought a small army from Ebay. My army showed on in the mail box on Saturday and I was just amazed how small the Orks are.

This morning I took a stab at painting one of the Ork Boyz. Keep in mind when you look at this picture it is much larger then the actual model. This is a 6mm gaming system and the models are really small. Now looking at my army list I have about 500 more models to paint. Good thing it only takes about 5 minutes to paint one of these Boyz.

Humvee Update

2009-09-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

This week I spent some time working on the Humvee project. I covered the wheel wells for the front and back. Next step will be to install the suspension and the wheels. I am also going to be making the doors. I want to use the same style that are on the Battle Wagon, I just don't want to loot them from my Battle Wagon. That is all for now.

Humvee

2009-08-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

August has proven to be a busy month for me. The sad part is that I have little to show for it. I only painted a few models and they are not finished. I also started work on my 40K Ork army. The past few weeks I have been going through all my Ork models and started the assembly line. While gathering advise from the WAAAGH forum I noticed a post from Artsoldier35. He scratch built a Humvee to use in his army. In his post he stated that another member, Swampy, was the original designer of the model. He provided a link to the original post that had the templetes for others to make their own Humvee. So, the past few nights I have been cutting away and gluing together my own Humvee. This Humvee will add some charcter to my army along with a different version of the truck. I am only at the strating phase of this build and will keep you posted.

The Art Of War

2009-08-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

The other day I was listening to a Radio Talk Show and the voice on the radio was talking about a book called, "The Art Of Way". This book was written over two and half thousand years ago by Sun Tzu. I was thinking how the concepts in the book could be adapted to table top war games. That evening when I got home I pulled out my copy and started to scan through it. The first chapter I feel fits perfectly for table top war gaming. It is titled, "Laying Plans" and has five factors one should know and understand to be successful in battle.

The art of war is governed by five factors, all of which need to be taken into account. They are: the Moral Law; Haven; Earth; the Commander; Methods and Discipline.

The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.

With table top war gaming we have Moral Law over our troops.

Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

In the book the Heavens are discussed as how the conditions effect a mans ability in battle. The conditions can fatigue a man making victory impossible. The Heavens in table top war gaming are represented by the dice Gods. We are playing a game in which luck can make or break a game. Having a bad dice roll can start taking it toll on a player. The fatigue of bad dice rolls can cause you to get frustrated and make costly mistakes. You need to be able to recover from bad dice rolls or mistakes made during your game.

Earth comprises distance, great and small, danger and security, open ground and narrow passes, the chances of life and death.

This is important to all table top war gamers. Knowing how terrain effects movement and using terrain to your advantage. If you are playing a game in which you set up some of the terrain then set it up for your advantage. Create a narrow passage causing your opponent to go around or funnel his troops through he passage.

The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness.

You are the Commander and it is your responsibility to know the rules of the game. Having a clear understanding of the rules and being able to execute them flawlessly is critical to your success.

By Method and Discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduation of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies my reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.

Its important to understand moral testing in table top gaming. In many games a failed moral test can cause the majority of your army to run off the table. Understand how to strength your units moral and force your opponent to take moral tests. The position of your General is important for that additional moral support.

These five factors should be familiar to every general; he who knows them will be victorious, he who knows them not will fail.

SPORKS

2009-08-02T18:10:00.000-07:00

Just finished my Tactical Squad for my SPORK army. It was going to be a 10 man squad however one of the models did not make it. When I add an additional Tactical Squad I will make an extra model. This gives me about 585 points for the army. It is enough to play small games and learn the rules. I will be adding additional squads as time goes on.

Wound Counters

2009-07-30T21:24:00.000-07:00

It has been over a month since my last post. I placed myself on computer restriction. I was spending more time on the computer rather then working on my models. So I spent the last month finishing some projects and starting some new ones. So I will be getting back on track with posting on a regular basis.

To start I want to share some thoughts about adding style to your gaming table. A friend and I were talking while playing a game. We were using dice to keep track of the wounds for our hero models. We both found this distracting and made the game table look cluttered. I mentioned a post I read on The Waaagh forum. Someone made bases with items on them to keep track of the wounds. So I decided to make some wound counters to keep the game table look better while playing. These were easy to make using extra bits I had laying on my work bench. Each base has a verity of items on it and each item counts as a wound.

This is one of those projects you could get carried away with. I have plans to make other wound counters in the future however for now these will work just fine.

New Gamer Supplies

2009-06-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

This week I had the pleasure of introducing 5 new individuals into the hobby of Table Top War Gaming. I was working at the shop and it was a busy day. I had two different groups come in looking for armies to purchase and supplies. Both groups had the same question, "What do I need to get started?" That lead me to write this blog post about basic supplies all gamers need to paint their armies.

1: You will need some plastic cutters. You can use a pair of toe nail clippers, small wire cutters or plastic cutters for modeling.

2: You will want to have a pair for needle noose pliers. You can use the cutting part of the pliers for removing models form the spur and cutting pinning material. You can also use the pliers for holding models when you prime them.

3: X-acto Knives are the most important tool in your collection. I keep a few on hand however you will only need one and replacement blades. You can actually use an X-acto Knife for remove the model pieces form the spur and clean the casting lines.

4: You will want a good collection of files. I have a small set of metal files, a collection of modeling files and some larger metal files. I use the modeling files on plastic models and the metal files on metal models. The larger files are used to beat models into submission.

5: You will need glue, I use Zap-A-Gap. It is like Super Glue however it is thicker and does not run as bad as Super Glue. You will have to try different glues and find the one that works best for your needs.

6: Paint brushes are a must if you are painting models. I have a good collection I keep in a cigar box. I purchase mine from a local craft store. They don't last long so I don't like spending a lot of money on them.

7: You will need to purchase paints. I use the GW brand paints. They work great for me however you can explore different brands. For someone just starting out just purchase a few colors to get you started. Then you will grow your collection as time goes on.

8: A tooth brush is a very handy tool to have. It will come in handy to dust off your models after cleaning the casting lines. Just in general, it is a good tool to have.

9: The last thing you will need is a can of Primer and a can of Matte Finish. For the Primer you can use black or white, however for someone just getting started I recommend black.

These are just some of the basic things you will need to get started into the hobby of table top war games. It is real easy to get carried away with purchasing stuff to assist your modeling and painting. Just keep it simple and once you have all your supplies put them in a shoe box, tool box, or any type of storage devise. Make your supplies portable so you can take your stuff with you.

Small Conversions Make A Difference

2009-06-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

This week I took some time to paint a Warhammer Fantasy model. This Black Orc Boss was part of a collection that I recently purchased. It is a great model and was a lot of fun to paint. I did some small conversions to the model and they made a big difference.

Before I tell you about my conversions I wanted to share some thoughts about converting models. I have talked to many gamers over the years and some of them are intimidated by converting models. Not all conversions have to be difficult. Adding different weapons or adding some texture to a model can make a big difference to the end result, a great looking model. If you were thinking about attempting some conversions start with some simple projects and develop your skills. Then you can start doing more advanced conversions.

This model only has two small conversions. First, I re-positioned the arm holding the shield. I did not like the way it was originally positioned. The shield was close to the body and I wanted it to be more open. If your not familiar with this model, the shield and hand are molded together as one piece and you glue it to the arm. I made some cuts to the contact area of the hand and arm and then pinned it into position. After gluing it in place I just added some green stuff to fill the gap. Second, I rapped the great axe with a small gauge wire. This gave the handle some texture and not just a flat surface. These two conversions did not completely change the original model, just gave it a different look.

SPORK Update

2009-06-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a few weeks since I posted an update on my SPORKS. I finished the Terminators last night. I had some challenges with my new dipping techniques however they turned out fine. I am going to add some additional details after I finish the Tactical Squad. I just want to get the army painted and start playing the game. I was also able to fix the comment section on my blog page so feel free to leave feedback.

White Dwarf

2009-06-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Lately I have notice that I am losing interest with White Dwarf. I continue to purchase the magazine to support my local friendly game shop however I feel that I am throwing my money away. The magazine has become more of an advertisement for new products and armies. The pages are filled with a lot of pictures and a small amount of content. I understand that magazines in general are drifting away like newspapers. Most the information that is published in WD has already been posted on forums and blog pages. So by the time WD is available to purchase I have already seen what is printed. The most disappointing issue I have with WD is that noting is fan based. There is no sections for letters to the editor providing tips on modeling or gaming. This is just my opinion and below is my solution.

So why do I purchase magazines anyways. I purchase magazines to find out what is new and ways I can improve. WD lacks the technical information I am hungry for. So I have found myself purchasing military modeling magazines, like Fine Scale Modeler. I am in no way comparing the two magazines, they both provide information to their target audience. I just want more information on the hobby side and feel I have found it with military modeling magazines. Fine Scale Modeler and other magazines like it are full of technical information on painting, modeling and tools of the trade. They are not limited to only one product line so you can really see whats on the market. The best part of military modeling magazines is that they are fan based. You can write a letter and if the content is usable it will be published.

This picture is a "Special Edition" of Fine Scale Modeler which is filled with helpful information. This issue will be on sale until August for $7.95. As gamers and consumers we all have different needs and expectations. This post is just me expressing my needs as a consumer and that is finding a product, like a magazine, that gives me ways to become a better gamer and modeler. WD does not fit the bill any longer and this is disappointing. So if you have the same issues I have with WD and you are looking for ways to improve you modeling skills, take a look at Fine Scale Modeler.

Paint Care

2009-06-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy week however I was not busy painting models. I had a paint crisis, my paints were drying out causing me great concern. So I spent the week hydrating my paints and putting them in proper storage. If I only had a few different colors I would not have been that worried. I have all the different colors that GW offers along with the Foundation Paints, Washes and Inks. This is a lot of paint and I did not want them all to get ruined.

So why did my paints start drying out. It is simple, the GW paints don't have an air tight seal and the paints start to evaporate. I would assume it is the water that is added to the paint that evaporates however I am no expert in this area. I was storing my paints in a draw and this allowed for the continues evaporation. Also, when I use my paints I would leave the paint open while using it. All these factors played a role with my situation.

I posted on the Waaagh forum for suggestions. I was provided some great feed back that helped me correct this matter. Firstly, I was advised to add a small amount of water and Pledge Future Floor Polish. This would help rehydrate the paint. Secondly, I was advised to store my paints upside down. This will help keep a better seal stopping the evaporation. Thirdly, I added a glass bead to my paint to agitate the paint before I use it. Lastly, I was advised to make sure to keep the paint caps clean. Excess paint around the lip of the paint top can cause the paint cap from closing securely. I took all this advise and was able to save my paints. I also took one more additional step. In stead of storing my paints just in a draw I am now storing my paints in a cigar humidor. If you are not familiar with what a cigar humidor is, it is an air tight wooden box that keeps cigar fresh because it traps in moisture. I can regulate the humidity in the box by adding water to the box. I am now optimistic that my paints should stay hydrated and last a long time. I would also like to thank everyone that provided me with suggestions from the Waaagh forum.

SPORK UPDATE

2009-05-29T19:29:00.001-07:00

A few weeks back I wrote about Time Management. Setting a goal, keeping with a schedule and staying focused. I was able to complete my 6 Ork Terminator unit and actually finishing two days early. As you can see in the picture they have been given a basic paint job. There are no highlights or shading. I am not one for putting that much effort into my painting. I going to dip this army and that will provide the shading and some highlights. It is going to me a new experience for me dipping these guys. I want to keep them clean and only have the dip run into the low spots on the model. I have a few techniques that I am going to try and if one of them works then these Orks will look great. If not, well they are Orks, they don't have to look that clean.

Since I finished the painting early I am going to take the next few days to get some another projects done. I just received a shipment of Rare Earth Magnets, 750 of the bad boys. I purchased them for the addition to my Orc/Goblin Fantasy army. One of my friends sold my his army however they are not magnetized. So this is going to eat up some time and I will need to make an additional storage box. I just want to get them taken care of before something happens to them, like getting lost in the sea of crap in my hobby room. With this small interruption with my schedule I would say I should have the Ork Terminators dipped and ready for the table in about another week or so.

Local Game Shop

2009-05-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

Imperial Outpost Games
4920 West Thunderbird Rd Suite 121
Glendale AZ 85306
602-978-0467

So I took some pictures of my Local Friendly Game Shop. It is a fun shop to hang out at and play games. We have eight gaming tables, 8X4. We also have 4 card tables for a variety of different uses. As you can tell from the pictures we have a large selection of GW products. We also carry a good selection of board games and RPG's. It is a fun shop with a great group of loyal customers that help keep the shop up and running.

Time Management

2009-05-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

Its Sunday evening and I just finished painting the arms for my Spork Terminators. Painting is a lot of fun for me and I find it very relaxing. My challenge with painting is finding the time. After working all day I come home and have my daily chores that need to be done. I spend time with my wife and pets, when I look at the clock the day is done and I start my life all over again the next day. So I really have to find time to paint. I remember a friend of mine wrote on his blog (Running From The Law) about time management. I took some time to re-read his post and put his words into action.

So this is what I did. I set a small goal for the week, paint the arms for the Terminator unit. I then looked at my schedule and figured out that I could spend 30 minutes a day painting with the exception of two days. This gives me 2.5 hours a week to paint. Then I took the time that I scheduled and went to work. While painting I did not work on other models, just my goal. I knew my time was limited and I didn't want to waste that time. So I stayed focused on my goal. I found this part hard to do. I have a lot of models on my work bench and they all need to be painted. So to eliminate my distractions I put my other models away so I could not see them. All I had on my bench were the models I wanted to paint. This actually helped me stay focused on my goal. Now the arms are done and my next goal is to paint 3 of the Terminators by next Sunday.

Preparing Models

2009-05-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

Well today I cleaned and primed my Terminators. Over the next few weeks I will get them painted and ready for dip. While working on these models I noticed, like I notice on a lot of models, the casting lines were real bad. So that led me to bring up a very important modeling tip. No matter how good you can paint, if you don't prepare your models correctly they will look off. The casting lines will stand out and distract from your paint job.

So how do I prepare my models for paint. I start by using cutter to remove the pieces from the casting frame. Then before assembling the model I will clean each piece. I start by removing the excess material from the casting frame. I use different grit modeling files finishing with a very fine grit file. Then I remove the casting lines with a X-acto blade. I do this by running the blade along the casting line. This works great for flat surfaces and must be done with care. You want to make sure not to get carried away and remove too much material. For the other casting lines it depends on how textured the area is that needs to be cleaned. I might use the X-acto blade, a modeling file or a small metal file.

Once I have cleaned the casting lines I start assembling of the model. I make sure that all the pieces line up correctly and glue them together. If the pieces don't line up then I figure why they are not lining up and correct it. If you have every put together a Games Workshop model you know that some of their models have issues. During the assembly process I will be inspecting the model making sure I have removed all the casting lines and remove as needed. When I put two pieces together I run a modeling file over the seams to help hide them. If the seam is too noticeable I will file it with either additional glue, ZAP A GAP, or green stuff. It is a judgment call on how bad the seam is.

Then I will glue the model to the head of a nail. I do this to aid in the painting process. I can hold onto the nail while painting. I can also place the nail in my custom made drying stand. It is a piece of 2X4 with holes drilled in it. I place the nail in one of the holes while the paint dries. This works great for small models, not so much for large models. If you are not going to completely build the model then make sure to glue the nail in a joint that you would not be painting if the model was built. Also, don't use a lot of glue. You need to be able to remove the nail once the model is painted.

After the model is assembled I will put on some basing material and prime the models. You will notice in the picture below I did not glue the arms on the Terminators. I will be able to paint the model completely without the arms getting in the way. After priming the model I will inspect it again looking for anything that I might have missed like casting lines or seams. This is an important step, I would rather catch problems now before I start painting. I find taking the models outside in the sun light provides the best light to find problems. My desk light is too bright and I sometimes miss things.

I will post my Terminators once I get them painted.

SPORKS

2009-04-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I started working on my Space Marine Ork Army. Just recently I finished the 10 man tactical squad. This gives me enough models to play a small game. I still need to work on the models and then get paint on them. This is NOT going to be a WYSIWYG army. This is just going to be a fun army to play with my friends. Every model in the army will be converted and made to look like Space Marines. One day I will have to write a background on how these Orks became Space marines. Until then, enjoy the pictures.

Painted Smoke Project

2009-04-18T19:12:00.001-07:00

Nothing to say, just posting pictures.

"How To" make Smoke

2009-04-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

STEP:1

Start by building the model leaving the rocket off. Then drill a hole in the center of the rocket and insert a brass rod. I use GF9 heavy rods. These rods provide the best support for this type project.

STEP:2

Now it is time to build the base. I start by cutting the stock base off the model and save it. Use caution when cutting the base off not to cut the foot. Then I take a good old fashion quarter and glue it to the bottom of the base. Then I take the stock base from the model and glue it onto the black base. I am using the stock base to provide additional support to the brass rod when I glue it into place.

STEP:3

At this point it is time to start looking at how you want to position the model. Keep in mind that if you place the model at an angle it will cause it to tip. Even with the weight from the quarter, too much of an angle will cause it to tip. Once you have decided on how you want to position the model drill a hole in the base and see how it looks. If you are happy with everything then glue the Ork on the rocket. The one I am showing has too much of an angle. So I went outside and picked up some rocks and added them to the base.

STEP:4

Now it is time to start making smoke. I use the bush flock material. I start by gluing it to the brass rod. I use Zap-A-Gap to secure the flock to the brass rod. Then I add some additional flock. Once I have the smoke the way I want it, then I add more glue to the smoke. Make sure the flock is secured. I got a little carried away on this sample. You can make the smoke as heavy or light as you want it.

STEP:5

Next I want to fill in the gaps and holes. I use white glue and water. I poor the glue on the smoke then dip a paint brush in water. The I spread the glue around filling the gaps and holes. I keep adding water to the glue and spreading it around. This will thin the glue and fill in the holes and gaps. This second coat of glue will also add additional strength to the flock. Then I wait for it to dry.

STEP:6

Now prime the model. I use White primer for this project.

STEP:7

CAUTION STEP: Now I take a lighter and to burn the smoke. This will burn the small stray flock pieces. Be very careful, this stuff will start to burn fast and the smoke can be toxic to your health. Please, ask your parents to assist you with this step and if your an adult don't be careless. USE CAUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now you have smoke. If you want you can use a tooth brush or similar tool lightly brush away some of the burnt material. The lighter you use the flame the more white will show through. If you go heavy with it the more black you will see. If you compare my to samples you can see the difference.