Painting with Coffee

Goodbye...

2011-08-25T20:11:00.002-04:00

but say hello on my new blog. Yes, I know its been AGES since I've updated with anything, but a lot has 'appened in my life as of recent.

1) I've gone back to school. I'm currently enrolled full time taking IT classes.

2) Moved from North Carolina back to good ol' sunny CA.

3) Immersed myself in my photography. (See my portfolio here if interested.)

So what does that mean? Well, this blog is going away. I've recently (like today) started a new Wordpress blog for my photography, and I"m going to start a piggy back blog updataing my Orge Horde...Ogres on the Run.

Content is limited, but I will soon have things all squared away once school steadies, and life is finally back in working order.

Alice is H-O-T!

2011-02-05T01:25:00.002-05:00

Tis a shame spent a total of two days painting her and right when I'm about to take her pretty picture, her hand puppet's "arm" falls off. Bugger!

Well drop me a line tell me what you think.

Malifaux makes me a MaliFAN!

2011-02-04T01:47:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to preface this with: This is my official first game! (And I loved it. )

ME:
Zoraida + Voodoo Doll
Collodi + Marionette
Primordial Magic
Marionette
Marionette
Doppleganger

HIM (from memory):
Hamelin
Student of Conflict
2x Stolen
2x Rats
Nix
Terror Tot

I got Turf War for a Strategy, and he got Escape and Survive. My Scheme was just Kidnap on his two Stolen. He took (and announced) Plague on Malifaux.

Key Points:
With diagonal set up, I knew that I had the speed to get to his side of the board, and help me with my Strat right away.

Between Zoraida with Raven, Doppleganger's Mimic, and Collodi/Marionette's very quick Pull Strings, I was almost on his side of the board come turn one. Now all I had to do was attack. Easier said than done.

Pick the nastiest thing in your oppenents army and aim Voodoo Doll's Conduit. Nix was repulsing Rats/Stolen and then being Obeyed to Charge things. Fun times.

Doppleganger found herself out of position a couple of times during the game. Was nice being able to get a second cast for a Wicked Doll though...

Unfortunatly, game was called for time at the end of turn 3. I had all but Primordial Magic and Doppleganger in his half of the board, but no models in his Deployment. On top of this, he sacrificed his two Stolen so I got my Kidnap Scheme. 4VP to his 4VP.

So all in all, I think I did pretty well for my first game. No real big rules questions, I only forgot a (+) twist once on Z's conduit, and I tied. Good day indeed!

Oh and here's a teaser to some painting I'm doing.

O&G March 2011

2010-12-07T01:38:00.001-05:00

So where does that put Grey Knights Tasty?!

Or does the great GW put out double month codex/army books now?

A Long Time Coming...

2010-12-02T12:19:00.001-05:00

I returned home late last night after a very long 12 1/2 hour flight from the West Coast. Good thing is, today has shaped up to be perfect priming weather, so my models are currently drying in my window sill.

I'm actually pretty excited to get back into my hobby after this two month long sabbatical. Its funny what a forum painting challenge can do to your motivation.

Ripley's!

2010-10-19T10:31:00.003-04:00

Believe it or not I've got a 2500 point match tonight against Ben and his Beastmen. Hopefully I won't forget my camera so I can take some pictures of this momentus occasion.

Expect more tonight or tomorrow...

Some Nid notes...

2010-10-07T21:54:00.002-04:00

Been reading s'more, and here's what I've been thinking about Nids...

Tyranid Prime (Whip/Sword, Toxin, Regen) 80+15+10+10=115

Hive Guard x2 50+50=100

Hive Guard x2 50+50=100

Deathleaper 140

Termagants x10 5*10=50

Tervigon (Catalyst, Toxin, Adrenal, Cluster Spines) 200+15+10+10+0=235

Tyranid Warrior x3 (Deathspitter x2, Venom Cannon) 90+10+15=115

2x3 Raveners (Rending Claws, Deathspitters) 90+15+30=135*2=270

Tyrannofex (Rupture Cannon, Dessicator Larvae, Cluster Spines) 250+15+0+0=265*2=530

Total: 115+100+100+140+50+235+115+270+265=1390+265=1655-1750=<95>

(for 1500 I'd go 1390+95+15=1500) 95 See below 15=3x Termigants

Tyranid Prime (Regen, Deathspitter) 80+10+5=95

Synapse, Shadow in the Warp, Independent Character
18" S5 AP5 Assault 3
Scything Talons: Re-roll all 1's in CC
Regen: Start of Turn, roll D6 (for each wound suffered) on a 6, recover lost wound.
Shadow In The Warp: Enemy Psyker taking a Psychic test w/in 12" must take the test on 3D6 and will suffer a Perils of the Warp attack on a roll of ANY double 1 or double 6.

=======

Going up to 1850, I'd bring another unit of 2 Hive Guard.

Going up to 2000 I'd bring a Harpy with TL HVC (160+10=170). I would then need to loose 20 points... 6x Rending Claws=30pts. Now I'm short 10 points...2x Termigants.

Of course the idea is to actually NOT field Tyras (haha, cuz she's scary), but do a "Count-as" army.

More on that idea later...

Goooo Gijants!!!

2010-10-03T20:43:00.003-04:00

Lets see if Jacobs can get his head out his ass, and Eli can throw something other than a pick...

I hate you ABC/ESPN!!!

2010-10-02T22:26:00.003-04:00

Making me watch stupid "rivalry" game of Boston College vs. Norte Dame AND the GAY game of Washington vs. USC...why oh why can't you put on a good night game (like the Standford/Oregon game)?!

Oh and what's with not aring the Yankee game?! Division winners are hanging in the balance and I have to watch the fucking game on my laptop? BOOOO!

Is Warhammer (40K) your life?

2010-09-29T20:32:00.003-04:00

I love our hobby. I look forward to the many blogs, the personalities that go into the writings, the beautiful paint jobs, and all the other things that go into this.

But what else? I can only stare at my screen willing somebody to post on their blog for so long. I tried when I first started to have an weekly post entitled "Macro Mondays" thing was, all I had was Grey unpainted miniatures. I started posting about Coffee, but as I'm unemployed right now, I've been living on Folgers for the last couple of months.

I'm glad that I have something other than just 40k. Besides my rather rambunctious 2 year old, I have my Baking. Yeah you read that right, Baking. Breads, cupcakes, traditional cake, pocket pies, Bagels...

I'm a firm believer that it's important to not only have a hobby, but many hobbies. And I'm not saying MTG, 40k, Fantasy, Confrontation...you need to do something else. I have Baking and Photography. I'm not the best at either, but I love doing them, and they relax not only my mind, but draw my attention away from my models long enough so that I don't get "burned out" and ignore them completely.

What else takes your focus (even for the briefest of times) away from our hobby? Do you not have that "other thing"?

On the road again

2010-09-28T16:33:00.002-04:00

Hear ye' hear ye! I've been painting. More specifically, I've been learning to paint better. And the even better thing than that? I'm going to share with you my progress, and let you know any tips along the way. Boring? Nay I say, as I've seen many questions, and advice given that sounds more regurgitated and less trial and error.

For instance, I don't know how many times I've heard "thin your paints to the consistency of milk." First off, I'm Lactose Intolerant. I don't like milk (but I LOVE Cheese...go figure), plus that statement never really made sense to me. Milk? Really? How about this?

Or this?

Better? Now you know exactly what your paint should look like when you start to blend. Doesn't seem logical right? But by painting many (and I mean MANY like 20-30) coats you go from not being able to cover even a white primer to this...

Now first off let me say, I thin my base coat paint with a mixture of 2:1 Future to Water mixture. The reason for this is to protection. Future Floor Polish is an acrylic floor polish and acts as a hardener for paints essentially building in a extra layer of protection, the only downside to this is that it makes for a SUPER shiny coat even after drying.

So in that last picture we have each armor painted with about 20 90% Transparent layers. Now I can hear some saying "Holy Shnikes! 20 layers!!1! I don't have that kind of time..." And I say to you since you're painting super thing layers remember to wipe off some of your paint onto a tea-towel each layer dries in about 5 seconds, and if that's too long, you can always blow on them to dry faster.

Ok so this wasn't exactly a "Tutorial" in the sense of the word, but I did lay some verbiage on you.

Last few slides I'm going to show you are my workstation and what this looks like with just one layer on his shoulder pad.

One last tip and this can be the biggest one of the day besides making sure you paint is uncomfortably thin. Be mindful of your brushstrokes. Always end your stroke where you want the MOST color. So for instance, on the shoulder pad above, I would start the stroke at the top and end near the bottom of the pad. If I was working on the Leg, I would start 3/4 up the shin and move down, and then start 1/4 and work up towards the knee (thus creating two "shadows").

And you thought Heroic scale was small...

2010-09-25T23:55:00.005-04:00

Looking around blogs and searching the interwebz for painting tutorials and Google decided to spit this out...

Dot is a 9mm 3d "doll". They had to make multiple copies of her in her various forms (using a 3d printer), but the kicker is they painted her using a Microscope. Oh and anyone want to buy me a "Cellscope"? ;)

Sanguinor sees all.

2010-09-24T22:51:00.009-04:00

So I've been very lazy lately. Well, lazy with my models. I've been fervently trying to finish up Fallout 3, bad thing about that is, I have Fallout: New Vegas on pre-order... oi'vey.

Earlier this week we had a 95 degree day with practically zero humidity so I primed everything. Well everything that is Power Armored (with the exception of my two Rhinos). So what does that mean? That means that when I sat down today, I had a blank slate to work from. And did I ever. Three solid hours in fact! This is the result, my Count-As Sanguinor:

So there you have it. After writing a rough draft, and outline, I've decided to shelve my idea of fusing Taoist philosophies, and 40k. On a brighter note, I've "picked" my second army that I want to field. It fits into my criteria of shootiness, BUT it has mucho chompiness too. What can do this? Tyranids of course.

So, I spent the better part of last week reading blogs, YTTH, 3++, and a host of other blogs and sites about viability, army builds, good and bad units, and tactics, and I like this much MUCH more than Tau. Plus, they're new(er). Now I know the rumors of Tau and/or Necrons being the next in line (next year), and I could care less. I want an army now, so that leaves me with expensive Tau (both in money and points) or cheap convertible crappy Necrons (though I said I didn't want another "PA" army), or shiny eaty, choppy, shooty, Nids. I'll take it thank you very much. Now I just have to find some models that I like...

Music:
Cornelius "Count Five or Six"

Life, things, and um a broken promise.

2010-09-10T23:48:00.004-04:00

So, I'll come out and say it. I had it outlined on paper and failed to put it into a coherent thought. I'm wrestling with the thought of writing a synopsis now, but I don't want to ruin it. I can't honestly say that life got in the way, it was my sudden re-obsession with Fallout 3. Plain and simple.

Two. Video games have robbed me of my painting time. Again, something that I wish I didn't do, but do at the same time. Hmmm, peculiar.
And now the meat of this post. Tau.

Tau you say? First let me say this. I have a penchant for picking "undervalued" armies. Ogre Kingdoms. Blood Angels (PDF). Necrons (though never built). And now Tau.

I know I had just made a post about Demons. They seem like a great army. If I had a choice to drop my BA off, these would be the next two armies that I'd play. But I can't do that, soooo, Tau. Shooty to off balance my Asaulty.

So, what does that all entail? I need money.

I've got a framework list taken from much research reading the likes of Kirby, OSH, and Stelly-Stellz.

HQ: Shas'el: TL Missile Pod, Multi-Tracker.
Tr: Firewarriors: Pulse Rifles
Devilfish

Tr: Kroot

Hvy: 2x Broadsides

This is my 500 point army. As additions, I'll look for more Kroot, more Crisis suits, and Piranhas! I'm looking for the net standard, but to add my own flavor. I'm not going to deviate too far from the "proven norm" but far enough that I can call this list "my own."

Oh and this list does play into my eventual blog post about Tao and being able to accept and adapt to challenges...blah blah blah. It's in my brain, and not...Go figure.

Obligitory Picture:

Killzone anyone?

2010-09-07T14:41:00.002-04:00

I'm much more of a "hobbyist" than a "gamer". I don't know if its just my personality, or what, but I can't bring myself to get down to the FLGS to get a game in (Fantasy or 40k). With that said, looks like Big Jim over at Galaxy In Flames (along with some others) have updated, and refreshed a system that I never had the joy of experiencing, Kill Teams. So what is a person, that is short on time (and a bit afraid) going to do? Learn the rules for this short and sweet version of 40K.

Go here for the download and check it out yourself. Looks like fun, and you get to use models you have stored in the back of the proverbial closet.

Oh and if you're wondering, I've got a few more chapters to read up on, and finish my outline, but I will get done what I promised. And it ties into my supposed Kill Team that I have in the works. God I love synchronicity.

Obligatory Picture:

BOOMSDAY

2010-09-06T19:50:00.004-04:00

So I just got back from Boomsday! If you dont know what thats all about, its the biggest flippin fireworks show in the country (for Labor Day). When I say the biggest lets just say that if you have a bad heart, you'll die.

Other than that, I've got a special something in the pipeline as a kind of rebuttal to balanced lists and what I'm going to call the "moar competative" group. Hopefully I can get that to the community by mid-week.

Ok gonna go get some late night cold stone...

(Sorry for the funny spellings and grammatcal errors. I'm posting this from my iPad.)

Sharks!

2010-09-02T10:32:00.003-04:00

Antti Niemi is goin' to the Sharks...Eat that Chicago!

The Bible says the Devil is bad...

2010-08-28T23:25:00.006-04:00

...or why I've spent the better part of today learning about De(a)mons.

So the interwebz are ablaze with talk of De(a)mons. Ok maybe not ablaze, but there is talk nonetheless. It doesn't help that Brent has been covering in depth his army and how he likes to play them, and I likey that. So that has lead me to this:

Tzeralds are great at what they do. As a matter of fact, so are Sleralds. I'm thinking I want two of each.

I love Nurgle. My Blood Angels are in fact Nurglefied. Plaugebearers, and Nurglings (I know they don't score, but the bootlickers are just so....cute!)

Fiends. These are (after reading, and being in a deep meditative trance ie: driving home from the mall) an auto-include. Plus, I can think of a couple of pretty nifty conversions (that's what this army really is about right?)

At least one of the new De(a)mon Princes.

Other than that, I'm also considering some Dingos.

OK, so my observations are pretty much on par with everybody else but you know what they say "If it 'ain't broke don't fix it" then again, Brent* has us trying to think of new and exciting...thinking?

Finally I'll ask this: What bases do I mount these things go on? Looks like the Heralds get WFB Chariot bases (square?), but can(do) I mount the and Dingos and Fiends on calvary bases too? Or do they need a round bike base? (I only ask because I'm planing on "borrowing" some models from other lines, so I need to know what I'm buying as far as bases go.)

Wow wow WOW!

2010-08-26T18:20:00.003-04:00

My Dad, after a 10 year absence, is coming back to the hobby. He's been buying peicemeal stuff from Ebay for the last couple of weeks. Its funny really, when we started, I had Blood Angels, and he Space Wolves, flash forward to now, and we're still playing the same armies. Thing is, he's deadset on doing a Logan Grimnar Terminator army. So, I looked on Kirby's and Chumby's blogs, and compiled this for him.

HQ:
Logan Grimnar [275]
Rune Priest: Living Lightning, Tempest's Wrath, Terminator Armor, Chooser of the Slain, Wolf Tail Talisman [135]
Rune Priest: Living Lightning, Murderous Hurricane, Terminator Armor, Chooser of the Slain, Meltabombs [135]

Troops:
Wolf Guard x5: Terminator Armor, Power Fists x4, Frost Blade [215]

Wolf Guard x5: Terminator Armor, Power Fists x4, Frost Blade, Cyclone Missile Launcher [245]

Wolf Guard x10: Terminator Armor, Power Fists x8, Frost Blade x2, Cyclone Missile Launcher x2 [490]

Elite:
Lone Wolf: Terminator Armor, Chainfist, Storm Shield [85]
Lone Wolf: Terminator Armor, Chainfist, Storm Shield [85]
Lone Wolf: Terminator Armor, Chainfist, Storm Shield [85]

On another note, since my Dad already has a 1500 point list possible, and he's slowly painting his stuff, I'm going to put my Ogres on the shelf (primes and built), so that I can focus wholeheartedly on my BA. Good thing is, if I focus, I should be able to band out the army in no time. Wonderful thing those washes are...

Visiting the Scrapyard

2010-08-24T11:14:00.002-04:00

Before I start any project, I like to educate myself with source material as such:

First you need to start with a base for the Scrappy. Here you can see I've glued together 4 Calvary/Bike bases together. For the top so there wasn't any gaps between the four bases I glued a very thin piece of plasticard (read: a "For Sale" sign).

Here, I've made the "cart" or bottom box that the frame will eventually be made on top of. To the left of the bear, is the harness. I've tried to copy the GW Scraplauncher as close as possible, because it's actually a pretty good design.

Now, in the GW version, they have it on sleds. I'm not 100% sure why this is, so I decided to keep one sled, and then "borrow" one of my Son's toy wheels. Seemed more "Gnoblish" to me that way.

Next up is the frame. Two 'H' frames for each side of the cart. This is what is going to support the Gnoblars on top, so take extra care to make sure they are straight. (I did an "approximation" cut, and if you look straight on at my Scrappy, it's well...wonky.)

Here you can see a better picture of the 'H' frames attached, and the harness for my (eventual Panda) bear. (My Ogre's are on good terms with the State of Cathay, and I've instilled a very strong Taoist/Chinese theme to them)

In this photo, you can see my two diagonal cross beams. These are there purely for stability, and completeness.

Each individual 'H' beam got a balsa wood topper. Then after that, I pressed two sheets together (doubled to resemble wood planks) then I cut them in pinky sized slats (sorry, I don't really know how to describe them). A technique that I've seen in a couple of other places is that whenever you're doing wood flooring with "matchsticks" you cut off all corners pretty much taking a square and making it an octagon.

Finally I've put it all together. I added a mechanism that is supposed to be pulled by the Gnoblars to launch the Rock/Sharp Stuff (I haven't added the bag yet. That's on today's work-list).

And finally we come to the (mostly) completed Scraplauncher. All the Gnoblars have been glued on, and the few rocks and such were glued down to the base also.

=====================================================================

I've learned a lot with this being my first official scratch builing attempt. All I can say is go slow, dry fit, measure, cut carefully, measure, and in the end, it's your model, it doesn't have to be exact so have fun!

I made my Scraplauncher to look like a Chinese Pagoda, and I think it works out nearly exactly as I invisioned it.

If anybody needs help explaining something, or a better picture, I'll be more than happy to offer any help I can.

Band Wagoning, and an Army List

2010-08-21T00:33:00.004-04:00

(Travlin' in Style)

So I've been admitted to the House of Pain(cakes). Looks like I won't have to grovel to Ron over at FTW now to get back on the blog-roll. Don't get me wrong, what he's done (and continues to do [and put in]) to his site and our hobby is an amazing thing. BUT, don't delude yourself into thinking that Disney and family time exist. Well outside of the Duggars that is.

So, I've said all that to say that "Colin" replied to my application email with this..."In spite of your complete and utter failure to write an essay, we have decided to accept your application to the House of Paincakes. So, you're in or urine or something." Sweet. I've already failed, and been pissed on...and now I'm thinking of Urine Uranus...

Keeping on...keeping on...

This time though, I feel more at home (gay as that sounds) next to the likes of Mr. Dick Dethtron (Tron 2.0, really?), The Laubymeister (If I see one more half-naked Asian...), Kirby the all knowing (Pink. Need I say more?), brent (...), and the throngs soon to get on this hayride of a band-wagoneer.

Oh, and I changed my list around. Couldn't get past the fact that DC are not scoring, and just aren't what they always were...almost frothing mad lunatic. Rage, siriously?! They are Sangy imagined. A modified Rage rule would have been great. Like 5+ No Rage. Else...GO EAT SORORITAS ASS!!! ;)

1850 Dark Hearts

Sanguinator
Dante
Honor Guard: Blood Champion, Power Weapon, Flamer, Chapter Banner, Infernus Pistol, Sanguinary Novitiate, Jump Packs

Chaplain: Jump Pack, Infernus Pistol
Sanguinary Priest: Power Weapon
Sanguinary Priest: Jump Pack, Power Weapon, Infernus Pistol
Furioso Dread: Extra Armor, Heavy Flamer

Assault Squad x8: Power Fist, Melta, Rhino, HK Missle, Search Light
Assault Squad x8: Power Fist, Melta, Rhino, HK Missle, Search Light
Sanguinary Guard x5: Infernus Pistol

I emailed Kirby about my list, and he gave me some sound advice, and on top of that, I checked out Black Blow Fly's list, and WC Kenny's lists, and in the end, kind of took bits from all three, and made my own. Its not optimized, but I currently own everything so I don't have to spend a dime making it. :D

To guard you till the end

2010-08-19T16:34:00.001-04:00

Click any for full size

Here we have my Chaplain's Honor Guard.
In the group we have a Blood Champion (3rd from left), Brother with Power Weapon and Melta Bomb, Chapter Banner Bearer (Banner hasn't been primed yet), and my Sanguinary Novitiate. Missing from the picture is the Flamer Marine.

Here's a close-up of the Chapter Banner Bearer.

I'm pretty proud of this. Don't know why, but the colors turned out exactly how I wanted them too.

Finally my red. Thank you TinWeasel for your color recipes.

Next on the painting table is the 5th Marine of the squad, and my count-as Mephiston.

And I've been on a huge Opera kick lately. Can't get enough. Enjoy George London singing as Wotan in Wagner's Das Rheingold.

The Tao of Ogre

2010-08-11T16:09:00.005-04:00

Here is Little Brother Liu Chiangqing in all his wip-splendant glory.

So, what do you think? His pants need a final white highlight, along with that sides boot. His skin either needs a highlight and a wash, or just a highlight.

Does his gutplate look funny? I was trying to make it look like this but in the end, I think I used too much green and brass. Any tips?

"Testing testing- Is this thing on?!"

2010-08-10T19:57:00.000-04:00

So today, I've got a present in the form of a test model. My Sanguinary Novitiate for my Honor Guard. Ok now onto the pictures!

First off is the full frontal. I'm still having trouble getting my camera configured just right for models. Colors are ok, but not true.

Next up is left profile, complete with hand painted chapter insignia. I think that blotch on the bottom is a mistake with some drybrushing. Good thing this is a test model eh?

And finally a right side quarter turn photo. You can see my basing scheme pretty well in this photo. What it's supposed to be is a dark earth, covered in a yellow dusty sand (ala sulfur).

Finally, here are some mock-ups of what the perfect finished product would look like.

Gold: HQ & Elites
Black: Death Company & Chaplains
Red: Troops

-Not pictured-
Blue: Heavy
White with Red Cloaks and Tabbards: Sanguinary Priests
Sergeants: White, Black, or Red laurels (contrasting helmet color)

Viewership?

2010-08-01T21:16:00.004-04:00

Google Analytics is an amazing product. If you're not using it for your blog, I highly recommend it. Besides being able to see how many views you're generating, and how long your viewers are staying on the site, you get to see WHO is viewing your site. Well kind of.

Here's the 25 top traffic sources of my blog.
Now you'll see that most of my referrals are coming from other 40k blogs. That's great. The bad thing? Nothing is coming from my relationships with the three "Blog Networks" that I support. Will I stop? No not really, but I'm getting more traffic from Ben at Quiet Limit and Not (not) Brent over at Strictly Average with Mr. Taurus and Mr. Darksol rounding out the list. What I'm saying is whoring myself out to bigger blogs has done me better than traffic pushers...

Now I'm not saying that FTW and Heresy aren't great for their content, but honestly, I've always felt that super-blog/blog networks can't really push other readers to "get interested" in the small blogs. Plus, with some many damn blogs to read and look at, I am often tired after clicking on a dozen or so blogs.

Oh and here's another stolen picture from Strictly Average during his WARgames Con explosion. At least they gave credit this time...