Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Idea Ninja

Ok.... So I "ninjaed" this idea from another blog that I read but right now can not remember who it was or I would give them proper linkage.

I have added a Workshop reminder over there....

No...

Over there ===== >

Yea.

It is more for me than anyone else. Perhaps seeing what I have left to do will motivate me to get back to painting.

PokeDistraction

As I look around my painting / gaming room / garage I notice that over the last two weeks I have made very little progress.... I realize why that is. I have had a pokedistraction.

My son and I are having a race with the new pokemon game, Platinum. We are racing to see who can get all 8 badges and beat the elite 4 first. Right now I am a little in the lead, but I keep slowing down so he can catch up. I do not want to make it obvious, but want it to be close. Not to say I am better than him at it, just more "dedicated". He gets side tract quite often while playing.

For those of you who do not know, it is a really good rpg under all that cute pokemon. I have suffered through the scorn and ridicule of my peers for a long time as I have played all the little pokegames.

I was able to teach my son how to drybrush this weekend. He has two spawn he is using for his chaos army but was not sure how to paint them up. We talked about it as he was concerned that he would mess it up. He has had a hard time lately with not painting "as good as me" as he calls it.

I took him on a tour of many of the blogs that I frequent to let him see plenty of people that are far more talented than me. I wanted to show him that as long as you do a good job and are happy with your work, then that is all that counts. As we get better we can always go back and redo or replace some of our original work.

My son got pretty good at drybrushing and enjoys it. It is a simple but effective technique. I just wish now that there was a "drybrush" army for 40k (skaven) that he could be happy with.

I will post some pics of his progress as soon as I get finished with my pokedistraction.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Dragging the feet

My paint table has been crowded for quite some time. I am not making much progress. This past week was a tough one. I had a good friend lose his 5 year old son. I had to be the one to break it to his teenager. That is a tough thing to do. I am his Youth Minister at Church and they figured he would take it best from me. I am glad that I was there for him, but not something I look forward to ever having to do again.

I think where I stand right now is that mass painting burn out. I have painted a lot of orks since Christmas. A lot of orks. No... you did not hear me... A lot of orks. While I am still all about the orks, I think I need to paint up something special to "revive" me. take an orc break and do something different.

My plan is this...

I think I am going to work on some Cadians. What? Crazy? Yea I know. Take a break from one "horde" army for a "legion" of Cadians. Yea yea... I hear you.

This is my thought...

I can paint some Cadians up to about 1k or so. Just troops and heavy weapons. Save the tanks and setinels and stuff for the re-release. When I come back to the orks after some Cadians, I need to force myself to paint in smaller chunks. I think the mass blocks of orks that I paint at a time is what hurts...

Wish me luck....

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Weekend Update with Wildhermit...

Well there was some painting going on in my garage this weekend. There was also a little basing. These are some update spots and with any luck tomorrow this little project will be complete. I will consider my Stompa finished once the base is done and all 10 of those little grots are painted up on there. I bought a box of gretchin and decided to use those to decorate as opposed to actually fielding them.

I do have this odd notion to one day show up to an apoc game and field 180 boys and 180 gretchin but that is quite a few psychotic break downs away...





Friday, March 20, 2009

Orkspiration!

Orkspiration of course being Orky inspiration...

I have yet to include any mad docs in my army. When I build my forces, not just orks, if I do not like the models or what the "fluff" is like then I just ignore them. In the past I have done this with Commisars, Ratlings, Ogryn, and more recently the Mad Doc. I just do not care for the model. I understand the fluff, but just do not like them.

M.O.S.H.

It came to me as an epiphany...

Mobil Ork Surgikal Hutt

Now this is something I can get behind. I have a purpose for it. I could even create an objective for it. I could conver a Trukk with some plasticard on the back and body parts sticking out. Paint some Red Crosses on it and... well... you get the picture.

I think I can even come up with a simple Nob Conversion that will make me happy and be obvious as to what it is supposed to be. I will use the Burna cloth mask, from the loota sprue I think, and create my own back pole. I will put a red cross on the pole and of course M.O.S.H. Add some "doktor" what-nots... and presto... One Ork Field Surgeon.

My biggest problem is time. I can come up with the cash to buy what I need. I have the ideas to create what I need. I have not enough time to complete a 1/4 of what I come up with.... /sigh

I need one of those life pause buttons... I could click it complete all current projects... Then move on...

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

A Brief History...

If you are reading this here, then you are probably already aware that I have this odd "sickness" or compulsion, wherein I must paint any model prior to its fielding. I am not sure why this is, but it is.

I can remember my first fully painted 40k Army. When the current Catachan plastics were released along with the plastic Sentinel I went crazy. I refused to play with any of them until I made myself paint them. Up until this point I really had no probelm.

I had a half painted Black Templar Army. This was before they even had a rule set. I played them as Vanilla Marines with Black and White Armor. At this time I thought that was going to be an easy color scheme to pull off. Much "globbed" white later I changed colors. I think I have the ability, meager as it is, to do a much better job now if I ever go back to them.

I had a partail painted Tyranid Army. Super easy paint scheme. I was following an Aliens movie concept and going bluish black with bleached bone and scorpion green highlights. Despite the ease of colors all those guants just wore me down. I now have more or less the same scheme on my sons complete Nids, imagine that.

I saw these new "soldiers." I was in the Army... They were in the "Army." I was around cool armor... They had cool armor. I really could not resist. I thought they were the coolest looking plastics ever. I fell in love with the Sentinel and still love that model today.

I bought a few boxes and started painting. I learned how to paint eyes and faces in general while doing those Catachans. I really had no choice. I am no expert, but I can paint a mean "table top worthy" face now. I went typical Army colors. Camo. I developed my own Camo Scheme and applied it over a light brown shirt and dark green pants. I wanted to mimic my uniform as close as possible. At the time the Army used the BDU and I picked colors and a pattern that I thought looked close.

I even painted my 12 Sentinels and 4 Tanks to match. I loved them. I still do. To this day they are the only Army I regret selling. I was a poor married SPC in the Army with a young son and we needed the money. I did what I had to do and do not regret the choice, just the fact that I gave them up. I miss those fellas.

That being said...

The pending re-release of the guard has me all worked up. I do not think I will do Catachans this time. I want to do Cadians. I will do a similar paint scheme but do not think I will be repeating the intricate camo scheme. Just a nice clean look.

The only chore...

I am still painting my horde of Orks, and do not think I will ever call them complete....

I have a feeling that the Cadians may fall into the same boat.

I guess the positive side here is that when I grow weary of painting hordes of orks and red vehicles with crazy mad max styling, I can take a break and paint ordered legions of soldiers and "Dress right Dress" vehicles. HOOOOAAAAAH!?

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Motor Pool

The Stompa is done... For now. I am debating making a base for him as he is a little "wobbly." The only thing that has changed are his horns. While I was waiting for the undercoat to dry I took these pics. His horns are not that weird brown color :)

This is what he looks like with his fleet around him...





Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Color Red

I get home today a little earlier than normal. Things are looking good... I can foresee some decent progress being done on the Stompa. I am excited.

I prep my garage by turning on the ceiling fan, then the door light, then my "painting" light.

My Painting light is one of those industrial shop type lights. I bounce it off the ceiling and it does a pretty good job. I am no professional here...

I gather some paints and move to the table and my stool.

Taking brush in hand I dip into my Mechrite Red and begin painting my Stompa. I get down to just the back panel and what do I discover... The bottom of the paint pot.

The bottom of the paint pot is the most insidious thing I can imagine that can happen to a painter with time on his hands...

No worries...

I always keep extras for tragedies such as this.

I rise from my stool and make my way to my shelves to search for my backup paint pot...

Nope... Nope... Nope...

Not there...

/sigh

An entire evening set aside, approved by my lovely wife to devote to painting the Stompa... and no paint...

Can you feel my pain lol

Monday, March 9, 2009

Here is the Clutter






Some Images just to show how bad it really is in there...

Chaos

No... Not as in the demons or daemons from the warp... I mean as in lack of order, or disarray. That is what can best describe my gaming area / painting area / playroom / garage. My 4 x 8 table is covered with "stuff." Half finished projects that need to be completed.

I have a Stompa now. He is built. He has been primed black. The red undercoat has begun... Yes. He is a he. All orks are "hes", so therefore, the walking stomping idol of gork/mork must be as well :)

In no particular order here is a list of "incompletes"

Stompa
5 Lootas
Warboss
10 Nobz with Various weapons
Wartrukk
10 Shoota Boyz
10 Slugga Boyz
60 Boyz (not assembled yet... just arrived today from E-Bay)
2 Big Shoota Boyz
2 Rokkit Launcha Boyz
2 Random Ammo Grots
A Games Workshop Wood
Some "Fish" Terrain...
Carnifex

A note on the "Fish" terrain. I picked up some random sale junk from my local pet shop this weekend. I was in there buying my girls hamsters some things and did a "sale check." I plan on putting this together... eventually.

Must finish some stuff... Need more hours in the day... Or at least one of those cool life pause buttons.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Nothing much to say...

Well I am back from my "World Travels" now but really do not have much of an informative update from the 40k side of my life.

The Stompa comes out this week...

I have already bought mine and I am just counting down the days until pick up. Just like with the Battlewagon I will get that sucker painted and displayed up here ASAP.

I really need to sit down and put some quality pics up on here. I started this blog as a place to "show off" my meager skills and proclaim to the gaming world of my existence... only fitting that I do it well.