Final Preparations for the Black Sheep Brawl IV and Display Board Fail

Hey everyone,

So Black Sheep Brawl is tomorrow and as a true wargamer I'm up late the night before putting the finishing touches on my army.

I started this week by making movement trays that were ...too big (sigh).
Here are the WIP's:

Once they were flocked I moved on to the display board:
Before:

After:

So after that FAIL, we go to old faithful!
Now to decide which staging to use?

1.

2.

3.

So with this decision pending, I will go to bed!

Tomorrow we engage in THE BLACK SHEEP BRAWL IV!

I will be drinking from my Black Sheep Brawl I mug all day.

Let's see if I can't get a matching 2015 one!

So many games, so little time.

Hey folks,

I've been terrible about blogging these past few months.  Mainly because I haven't made any real attempts to start any projects.  I've made half-assed attempts to build a unit here, paint a unit there, but nothing really substantial as far as a project.  Well that will be changing soon as I have decided to re-engage my hobby engine and start and finish the following projects:

1. 10 Glade Guard - paint/base (5 for one unit, 5 for another)
2. 8 Glade Riders - assemble/paint/base
3. Glade Lord on elven steed  - assemble/paint/base
4. 50 pts of Retribution of Scyrah - paint
5. 50 pts of Circle Orboros - paint
6. Conceptualize a 2,000 point Eldar or Eldar/Dark Eldar list
7. Buy/build/paint/base no.6
8. Build new movement trays and display board

So with that said we'll have some pics up soon of WIP.
Nothing spectacular but soon!

December to Remember Update!

I know, I know.  I have been utterly abhorrent about updating this blog lately.  The reason being is that I haven't had any hobby time with all the activities that a pair of 2 year old little girls keep you busy with.  My wood elves are currently "done" at least in this incarnation until I shift to a 2400-2500 span and figure out what units I need then.

I have however been busy spending money on the hobby.  In the next few months I will assemble and paint the following new models I spent hundreds of dollars on because I am an idiot.

The first three are of the now out of production - Forge World Great Fire Dragon:

If you are unfamiliar with the model here it is:

The next model I have purchased is one I have sought for about 6 years now.  It is the Pegaso Werewolf model.  This 200mm model is just about 8" in height.  I put a wood elf to show you the scale.  Note the size of it's torso vs. the 20mm model.

Lastly I have a third out of production model which is the Inquisitor line from Games Workshop, Eldar Ranger and Ranger Upgrade Kit.

So these should be assembled at some point and displayed on this blog.  I also have a light room finally as I mentioned in another post.  I will be taking full army shots of the Wood Elves when I replace their movement trays with something more ... something!

Thanks!

Mierce Miniatures - Minotaurs WIP

As I mentioned before, I had purchased and converted several of the Mierce Minatures minotaurs for my Beastmen/Warriors of Chaos army.  Now that I am gung-ho on ensuring that my collection of models gets painted to a high standard, I am embarking on Operation Mino-balls.

I have just done the first six or seven layers of flesh using the following P3 recipes:

Base: Beast Hide
Shade: Umbral Umber/Water/Mixing Medium - 1:1:1 ratio (this served as a wash)
Shade: Umbral Umber/Beast Hide - 1:1 ratio
Highlight - Beast Hide/Hammerfell Khaki 2:1 ratio
Highlight - Beast Hide/Hammerfell Khaki 1:1 ratio
Hightlight - Hammerfell Khaki
Highlight - Hammerfell Khaki/Jack Bone - 1:1 ratio
Highlight - Jack Bone

I may add a Jackbone/Menoth White Highlight layer as well for higher accentuation but we'll see.  I'm going to come back to the model after a day and see how I feel.

The issue I run into with P3 paints is that they emphasize blending rather than the traditional layering technique you use with GW paints (and subsequently what I am used to).  I will begin feathering the highlights like I did with the Wood Elves soon but for a baseline this works.

The next challenge is the armor, I want a black/blue shade to it but one that doesn't wash out the model completely.

The most notable feature however, is not the several levels of highlights or the shading.  It is the fact that a pair of Minotaur testicles have seven layers of highlights and shades....

Hobby Projects for Autumn and Winter.

So this fall and winter will be quite busy for me as I have lined myself up with 3-4 projects to complete in a short time.  I have embarked on this "hobby sojourn" in order to finish up various started projects and begin to organize my hobby storage area at home a bit more.

As we age and spend money on crap, we begin to accumulate piles of things "to do".  I know in my closet I have an half painted Dark Eldar force, a Warriors of Chaos army partially assembled, 100 points of Retribution and Circle Orboros to paint and not to mention 2 more Fantasy armies and 1 40k army to repaint to match my Wood Elves.

With the End Times looming and the Legion of Chaos being an option for a unified Chaos force, the desire to redo my Beastmen and get the unpainted Warriors finished is pressing.  Plus, my wife's cousin is interested in playing Warhammer so now I have a padawan to teach.

So moving forward here is the current list of projects that should be displayed on the blog:

1. Wood Elf army pictures displayed with alternate/better backdrop. (the previous pics made everything rosey and pink)

2.  Retribution of Scyrah army painted.

3.  Warriors of Chaos - Eye Aeternum, the Hellfire Legion completed.


Hopefully we'll have some pictures up soon (and maybe a few lists!)

Back from Break! Retribution of Scyrah ho!

Hey everyone,

I took a few week break from blogging in order to recoup after the annual OFCC event and to refocus on the hobby.  After a few weeks I'm happy to start in on my next project.  I have decided that it is time to paint up my warmachine army and get it ready for playing.

I first began this trek by taking out all of my painted retribution of scyrah and putting it into an acetone bath.  After all the paint had been removed, I went about laying all of my newly stripped models on a cookie sheet to dry next to the sink.  My wife had said "Move  your toys I'm going to start the disposal."  as she flipped the switch to allow the sink to drain and the disposal to work.  I quickly reached out to grab the tray when I hit it instead and sent all 50 pts of freshly stripped models into the disposal....

I am glad that the disposal I invested in 4 years ago is strong enough to handle all that metal....

So...

New Retribution models!

Also because I am insane I also decided to order custom bases from http://www.tabletop-art.de/

I then went about pinning and assembling the new battle force including cutting off the tabs that are inserted into bases as the new resin bases require me to pin them.

So in a few weeks I shall begin the painting process and have 50 pts of Retribution of Scyrah ready to go!
Then who knows, may start the Circle!

Hobbytime hooo!

What has been going on in the hobby this summer.

This summer has been a rather exciting and busy time for the hobby and gaming in general for me.  It all began with the release of the new Wood Elves army book in May and the subsequent release of several new kits for the army.  That release began the new army project I have been working on all summer which is the creation of a massive Wood Elf army that can be used in various incarnations and point values.  Soon after the release of the Wood Elves army book, Games Workshop released the 7th edition of Warhammer 40k.

The new edition release for 40k renewed my interest in the game and resulted in the shelving of all my old previous 40k models and the foundations started to create my new Eldar army soon as the Wood Elves are completed.  Just as my focus had realigned itself on my Wood Elves (which I had spent pretty much every night for months painting) then Dungeons and Dragons released their newest edition, 5th.  That resulted in the subsequent decision to DM a campaign with a few friends on Tuesday nights.  Prior to that we had the releases of the Space Wolves, Orks, and Grey Knights for 40k and then Guardians of the Galaxy came out in the theater.

Guardians of the Galaxy prompted me to finally just give in and subscribe to Marvel Unlimited in order to read the hundreds of comics I used to collect.  This followed by the Disney explosion of Princess Sofia and other Disney Princess paraphernalia in my house has prompted me to also collect Hirst Arts molds to create a Disney Princess castle for my girls.

So that said let us review my army projects, hobby projects and items to collect over the summer and moving forward.

Army Projects:

1. The Great Hunt, War Host of Athel Loren

To collect and paint:
- Waywatcher Lord model
- Spellsinger model 
- Great weapon character
- Spellsinger on Unicorn
- 15 Glade Guard
- 15 Glade Guard
- 12 Dryads
- 20 Eternal Guard
- 20 Wildwood Rangers
- 6 Wild Riders
- 6 Wild Riders
- 8 Sisters of Thorn
- Treeman
- Treeman Ancient

To touch up and update:
Waywatcher Lord
Battle Standard Bearer
10 Waywatchers

2. Limited Edition Wood Elves Army Book
3. Limited Edition Dark Elves Army Book
4. Limited Edition High Elves Book
5. 7th Edition Rules Compendium

Marvel Comics: (Story arcs)
6. Infinity Gauntlet Compendium
7. Infinity Gauntlet Companion
8. Civil War

Dungeons and Dragons
9. Players Handbook
10. Starter Set

Dark Heresy
11. 2nd edition Dark Heresy

Hirst Arts:
12.  Castle Mold #40
13.  Castle Mold #50
14.  Castle Mold #60
15.  Castle Mold #52
16.  Castle Mold #86
17.  Castle Mold #200
18.  Castle Mold #203

19.  Retribution of Scyrah 50 pt army (collected but not painted)
20.  Circle Orboros 50 pt army (collected but not painted)

21.  Ipad

22. Display Board for OFCC 2014
23. Disney Princess Castle
24.  Design and purchase new Eldar army to replace old models/paint job.

So as you can see its been a very busy summer for me and I'm not yet even close to being done with some of my newer projects (read: Disney Princess Castle, Eldar Army, Retribution of Scyrah and Circle Orboros armies)

Guess everyone can look forward to some more updates in the up and coming months!

Growing Pains Part 2: Making it all fit inside the Table War Case

So, I have painstakingly painted an entire legion of models.  I have enough to field 3 variant 2800 point lists and 2 variant 3000 point lists with my Wood Elves.  The issue I am running into now is space.  I had originally purchased my Table War case because it was a fantastic method of displaying the army and also protecting it at the same time.  As I have used this wonderful transport, I have had a desire to turn it into even more of a display case by basing and sanding the trays.

So I started my night by priming and painting my movement trays (for all the incarnations of this army).

Afterwards I took stock of what I had.

Having decided that it would be awesome to have a "display tray", I had primed, sanded and based 3 of the Table War trays.

So after various attempts to make it all not only fit on the trays but also inside the case I managed to come up with this configuration.

I had to unfortunately remove the drawer in order to make this all fit (stupid tall banners).  But 4k points worth of elves fit within the case after a while.

I still find Table War a great case but I may need to either a. slim down my inventory or b. suck it up and keep it as such and just create and carry a display board for OFCC.

I have not yet decided but I have just under 30 days to decide. So, I'm out for now but I'll post again soon!

I love it when a plan comes together...Wood Elves WIP

It's been a while since I have had time to post on my blog with my summer being slammed and all my spare time being spent painting at night.
Here is a portion of the units I have been working on in the past few months not to mention some of the models I have yet to finish painting before OFCC in September.

I'm setting up a nice light box to display them so better pics will come as I take them!

Here is one of the models in the next unit I'm working on:

Here are a few other models I have to finish painting as well!

I will begin posting more and more as the weeks progress.

Dornatha, the Verdant Rage - Completed Treeman

Hello everyone,

Finally finished painting my treeman for my Wood Elf list.  This model was entirely painted using P3 paints and for those who are unfamiliar with how they work, they are a wonderful paint line.  I had to do a lot of mixing and color match ups to ensure I was getting the right look I wanted but afterwards I was pleased with the results.  As you can see he was primed white, base coated then the real painting began!  I will be going to Fred Meyers and/or Walmart to obtain a frosted clear trashcan and some sort of nice forestry background to finally build a damn photo box for my models.  I swear it!

Mierce Miniatures - Minotaurs/Chaos Ogres WIP part 2

Since the last blog post I've been able to actually work more on building my new minotaur/chaos ogre unit for my Beastmen/Warriors of Chaos armies.  I was having tons of luck building until literally the very last model where I broke the axe reaching for another piece.

As you can see the Mierce Miniatures axe broke off right at the handle and again at the head of the axe when I started to pin it.

Now you can see in the upper left corner the thin rod of Strip Styrene I tried to use as a handle replacement but sadly it was too thick.  So I took the Games Workshop Minotaur hand axe used for the Bloodkine and lopped off some of the handle and affixed it to the "new" Doombull's hands.  It fit almost flush and I'm pleased with the minor conversion.

The Assembled unit.  I will be casting bases for them after I am done painting them.  I have not yet decided if I will be replacing all their weapons with the Games Workshop axes or not.  While I like the variety of weapons the unit is wielding, I for some reason also have this desire for uniformity and the axes provide that.

Not to mention the weapons on these models are a little spindly.  The Mierce Miniatures do an excellent job of casting, I just wish the resin was a tad bit harder and the weapon shafts a bit thicker.  That would have resolved much of the issue I ran into when the axe broke.

Anyway here are some images of the unit (Pre-weapon swap).  Enjoy!