I swear I'm still alive!

Well it's been damn near 4 months with no updates. Sad, sad panda.

I've been so busy with work (kinda), Jiu-Jitsu, hobbying, reading, and life in general that I've been overwhelmed with stuff I need to upload. It's been a bit of a snowball effect. First a few days worth of uploads go by, then a few weeks, than BLAM: it's been 4 months.

In the past few months I've played through the new Tomb Raider video game, Borderlands 2, Defiance, Dead Island: Riptide, Fable 3 (again), and done 2 entire campaigns of Descent: Journeys in the Dark board game. I highly recommend all of them! But if there's only one video game you play soon, BIOSHOCK INFINITE IS WHAT IT SHOULD BE. The ending... was mind blowing. A very, very well done job of storytelling. Bravo.

Hobby-wise I've mostly finished my Dwarf artillery, a Tau Crisis Suit, 10 Tau Pathfinders, mostly finished Dwarf Lord on shield-bearers, a Tau Riptide, 3 Ravenwing bikers, 15 Kroot and 10 Kroot hounds for a commission, basecoated a whole bunch of other Tau models and... I think that's it. Whew!

I read the entirety of the Gaunt's Ghosts series for the second or third time, read Titanicus for the first time (awesome!), and am currently reading Know No Fear all of which are written by the illustrious Dan Abnett. Dan's writing continues to enthrall me even after multiple readings. Thank you for such wonderfully written novels sir!

I've also received my third stripe on my white belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and I feel confident that I'll have my blue belt within another month or two. It's been exciting discovering all the nuances of the art and watching my game grow and figuring out what I like and what I don't. What I'm good at, and what needs improvment (everything, I'm only a white belt after all!). I took a 3 month hiatus due to financial reason, but man it feels great to be back.

Tomorrow I'm going to upload photos of all the stuff I've been working on. It's probably going to be 2 separate posts so as not to overwhelm the senses (well, just the sense of sight really). I'm looking forward to it, and I hope you are too!

Well, this is embarassing.

Oh my, look at the time. I promised updates about 3 weeks ago but instead... You get them now. Yay?

I've cancelled my ticket to WarGames Con in June for the Warhammer Fantasy tournament. I'll still be making the trip to the event, but after over 2 months of no updates for the tournament I decided they didn't deserve my 85 dollars. I'll be taking a lot of pictures and posting them here and all around just enjoying the spectacle of my first national gaming event. I'd rather walk the grounds and check everything out than worry about trying to cram in 5 games of Fantasy in 2 days.

Enough lamenting, here's some progress updates you dirty freaks!

Chaos Lord from the Dark Vengeance box set.

I started this Chaos Lord a couple of nights ago. I sold my Iron Warriors army along with all my Chaos but there was a few things I had to keep and this guy was near the top of the list.

I painted him in Alpha Legion colors, trying to go for an iridescent scheme. Thoughts?

I still have another few days worth of painting to finish him, but I needed a break from Dwarfs for a small bit.  

Another shot. Plasma shot that is! Zing!

The only thing I'm having trouble with is deciding the color of his cloak... Normally I'd go with red for a menacing look, but with the blue/green of his armor I'm not sure if it'd clash too much. Hmm...

About as sweet of a ride a magical Anvil is going to get I suppose.

I had decided to run an Anvil of Doom for the WarGames tournament for the 'most competitive' build possible for me stunted warriors. The base for the Anvil just sits there flat on the table however, and that just seemed dull. Here's my solution!

 I took 3 sheets of insulation foam and stacked nd glued them together. Then with some utility knife magic I carved the shape into a rough, rocky formation to serve as a platform for the Anvil.

Better shot. Same rock.

After getting the shape of everything I added some extra gravel here and there to help break up the surface. I also glued some of the same rocks that I used on the base of my models to help tie everything together. Next came the painting side of things. Add a few tufts of static grass and presto, it's done.

Pissed off dwarf next to a pissed off rock.

Here's a picture for size comparison. I wanted the anvil to really stand out from the rest of the army.

Although it's probably a tall order for the dwarfs to lift that damn Anvil on top of the rock every time!

See... See what I did there? "Tall order"... Dwarfs... Cause dwarfs are short but I said it's a...

Yeah, moving on.

Army shot so far.

Here's a shot of the three units I've finished so far.

I was able to snag a free 6.5 ft tall display case from a game store that was rearranging their decor. Score! Thanks to my friend Jon for helping me transport the beast and my mentor Jamey for giving me the heads up on the case.







That about wraps things up for now. On my plate for the next few weeks will be a squad of the new Tau Pathfinders, finishing the Chaos Lord, and the continual march of my Dwarf army progress.
So much hobby, so little time.

A looong hiatus

Well damn I've been dormant for way longer than I intended! I don't have any pics to post at the moment, but I have been quite busy painting and building.

I didn't realize it'd been 25 days since my last post cause time has been FLYING by. In the last 3 weeks I've built movement trays for all my dwarfs, painted 20 quarellers, halfway finished painting 2 characters ( a Thane and a Demon Slayer), and primed the rest of the army.

I've also discovered the brilliance of the TV show Castle, but that in no way whatsoever has impeded my blogging. Probably. I think...

I'll be updating again tomorrow or Friday with all the pics I've taken of my progress, along with an army wide shot of what's been done, and what's left.

I'm going to try my damndest to update at least twice a week from here on out just so the blog doesn't get lost in the shuffle of the internet. If you're still following me from time to time, apologies for the respite!

I'll leave off with this quote I was reminded of when watching Castle. It comes from Jacob Marley from A Christmas Carol and made me reflect a little about life and the legacy a man (or woman) leaves behind.

"I wear the chain I forged in life! I made it link by link and yard by yard!"

Basing for my Dwarfs (A week later...)

I've been quite busy for the past week. I really wanted to post this on Monday, but MAN I've had too much to do! Oh well, let's jump right into things.

Wasteland Tufts from Games-Workshop

Blister packaging makes a nice tray

 I had already done some standard basing on my Dwarfs but I wanted to add a little more color and create a bit a interest on them. They're a boring grey so I chose the Games-Workshop wasteland tufts to add a little extra pop.
The tufts are basically a small clump of flock glued together made to look like a tuft of weeds growing together. They're easy to use, just peel and glue.

Small drop or two

I try and keep the plastic from blister packs because they're great for things like this. Put a little bit of white glue (Elmers if you're cheap. Hint: I am), and grab an old spare brush with a decent tip to it. I've been using the same brush for putting on basing for about 3 years.
Next scoop up a small blob and apply in a spot or
two of your choosing on your model.







And it'll look something like this. Really look at the position of the model and any basing you may already have in place. Don't just slap it on wherever, think about the end result you want to achieve.  I think most of the time, less is more when you're basing.

Tufts in place

 Try not to overwhelm the base with extras and add-ons. You're trying to enhance your model, not drown it out. I want my Dwarfs to look like they're marching through a wasteland mountain pass, not tromping through a wheat field!

Here's the end result for the model. Just two tufts in place to add more color to the dull grey of the mountain-theme I'm working with.

Basing before tufts...

... and after tufts!

Here's an above angle shot of the unit with the regular basing. Dull, grey and BORING. Lame.

I should note,dull and boring CAN serve as a tool for enhancing your paint scheme. The Dwarfs have green trim and lots of gold and silver on them so using a grey stone look for the basing helps make those colors stand out a little more. This unit is a bad example however, cause they all have Grey beards. In the unit of Hammerers, there's an assortment of blonde, brown, and red beards to break up the monotony.  



Here's the unit with all the basing tufts added. Still a little dull theme-wise, but now with added color and texture to draw your eyes down the model to the base. Dwarven mountains are not exactly the sexiest theme to choose for basing, but I wanted to stay true to fluff. An army of Dwarfs marching to war over luscious green pastures would just look silly. Also, dumb. 


I did all the tufts for this unit in about 20 minutes. Easy!

I highly advise a little extra attention to detail for your basing if you want to add some pizzazz to your models. Taking another 10 minutes can make your troops look 10 times more interesting on the battlefield. Go forth!

Every now and then

I realized I have not posted a pic of my hobby area, which as I understand it, is a necessity for a hobby blog. Shame on me. When this popped in my head I knew I needed to tidy it up a bit, as it was becoming quite cluttered. You should TOTALLY de-clutter your hobby area and give it a good wipe down every now and then.
I don't have a before picture unfortunately... But here's the after!

Yes those dwarfs are in a pink box top. Don't judge them.

I can almost smell the Pine-Sol freshness

If you're feeling a little overwhelmed with projects maybe it's time to clear your area and hit the reset button, so to speak. I know it sucks, but it'll help you clear your head and maybe get you in the mood to create something. Go hobby damnit!

Progress Updates, yay!

So I finally took the time to take some pictures of the Dwarf hammerers unit I've been working on. I had every intention of doing updates with a basic tutorial of how I painted them but... I didn't. Whoops.

However! I do have plenty more squads to paint for my Dwarf army and I WILL be doing a tutorial for those. It should be noted that the tutorials will not be vastly detailed. I'm painting my army to what I consider an above average table-top standard and this is what they will reflect. Hopefully SOMEONE out there will get something useful out of all this and maybe, just maybe, inspire some hobbying of your own!
Enough chatter. Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of painting!

Dwarf Hammerers

Close-up of the basing

 A unit of 24 Hammerers. They will be my Dwarf Lords' bodyguard unit. They're old sculpts for sure, but I love them for some reason. Not the most dynamic posing, but they have a timeless quality to them I think. The unit champion and standard bearer are not pictured, I'm painting them separately.

More Basing

Dwarf backsides, sexy!

Profile shot

Close up shot of the basing. I'm doing a mountain wasteland basing theme. Seeing as how Dwarven Holds are all from the mountains, kind of a no brainer. I'm debating if I should add some snow flock to make it pop a little more but I'm afraid the green trim I'm doing on their armor will make it look too Christmas-e. Hmm...







More basing shots, hurray!














Here's a detail on the shields. I'll be doing a tutorial on how I paint gold in the near future. I get asked about gold and bone colors a lot, so I guess I paint it well. Don't judge based on these pics, I'm still new to this blogging damnit!









Here you can actually see the details of the Hammerer models. It's really a shame to have them ranked up in formation cause you miss out on how well these models have held up (seeing as how they're about 20 years old).









Now I still have a few minor details to complete like gems and such, but you get the idea how they'll turn out!
Ta-ta for now! Peace.

Curses!

So I had every intention of posting some Dwarf updates for my army I'm currently working on but I just spent the last 10 minutes chasing my dog (Lexi) through a field behind our property. She decided a trespassing stray cat needed to be taught a lesson and tracked it down like it owed her money.
Now my motivation to take pictures and upload them is... lacking.
Tomorrow? Perhaps... Perhaps later tonight when I stop seething!