We'll call this a "teaser" picture. I hope you like it, and by all means feel free to comment/critique.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
First Picture of AoTC Defiler
We'll call this a "teaser" picture. I hope you like it, and by all means feel free to comment/critique.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Army of The Crowing Defiler Completed!
With the application of the model glue and the placing of the final armor plate over the scratch-build/converted defiler CCW, I'm finally finished with the defiler for The Army of The Crowing.
Pictures, of course, are to follow, as the wife has said she will be happy to let me borrow her super-camera for mini-picture-taking-duties (she's awesome, that wife of mine!).
All I can say is that the defiler turned out to be a much longer and harder project than I've ever done. It being the first chaos vehicle I've ever attempted, I tried to keep it very stock (even though, I know, there are those that feel chaos vehicles need tentacles and slime to make them look "chaos-y"...I'm not one of those people). The first lesson I learned actually came at the suggestion of the wife. She took one look at the first leg armor plate that I completed, all nice and smooth...and said, "It's too clean." She was right, it was, so I had to re-think how I was going to paint the model, and I came up with a base coat of Reaper Master Series Coldstone Grey followed by a wash of Badab Black, then a drybrush of Coldstone Grey again. This process actually evolved towards the end as I realized I could do a basecoat of Reaper Master Series Stormcover Grey and then a drybrush of Coldstone Grey with much the same effect.
The trick is going to be getting the same "look" with the other vehicles in the army (several rhinos, a vindicator, and a land raider). We'll see how that goes, it'll definitely be a very different process than what I do for my Ultras, which involves a nice smooth application of Ultramarines Blue with the airbrush. :)
Anyway, I'm very pleased with how it came out and I'm excited to get some pictures up of it soon so you can critique my work.
What's the most challenging project you've ever completed? What did you learn completing it? How satisfied did you feel showing off your new centerpiece?
tell me did the bones collide? why did the bones collide? little lover's so polite, so polite, so polite.
Pictures, of course, are to follow, as the wife has said she will be happy to let me borrow her super-camera for mini-picture-taking-duties (she's awesome, that wife of mine!).
All I can say is that the defiler turned out to be a much longer and harder project than I've ever done. It being the first chaos vehicle I've ever attempted, I tried to keep it very stock (even though, I know, there are those that feel chaos vehicles need tentacles and slime to make them look "chaos-y"...I'm not one of those people). The first lesson I learned actually came at the suggestion of the wife. She took one look at the first leg armor plate that I completed, all nice and smooth...and said, "It's too clean." She was right, it was, so I had to re-think how I was going to paint the model, and I came up with a base coat of Reaper Master Series Coldstone Grey followed by a wash of Badab Black, then a drybrush of Coldstone Grey again. This process actually evolved towards the end as I realized I could do a basecoat of Reaper Master Series Stormcover Grey and then a drybrush of Coldstone Grey with much the same effect.
The trick is going to be getting the same "look" with the other vehicles in the army (several rhinos, a vindicator, and a land raider). We'll see how that goes, it'll definitely be a very different process than what I do for my Ultras, which involves a nice smooth application of Ultramarines Blue with the airbrush. :)
Anyway, I'm very pleased with how it came out and I'm excited to get some pictures up of it soon so you can critique my work.
What's the most challenging project you've ever completed? What did you learn completing it? How satisfied did you feel showing off your new centerpiece?
tell me did the bones collide? why did the bones collide? little lover's so polite, so polite, so polite.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Painting Background Music
If you're like me, you put on the headphones and crank something up to a suitable volume level (my preferred volume level is Asteroid Impact) and get to work on with the water and the pigments.
Lately, I've been listening almost exclusively to Silversun Pickups' Carnavas as I find the mix of smooth layered guitars and often-cryptic lyrics a good mental stimulant to keep my fingers moving in the right ways. Little Lover's So Polite and Dream at Tempo 119 are current favorites, though of course the all-time champion on this album is Lazy Eye.
What do you listen to when you're painting? Do you like something that stimulates your mind? Or do you like something that hovers in the background, never intruding? Or do you prefer to enjoy the silence?
it's the room, the sun and the sky
Lately, I've been listening almost exclusively to Silversun Pickups' Carnavas as I find the mix of smooth layered guitars and often-cryptic lyrics a good mental stimulant to keep my fingers moving in the right ways. Little Lover's So Polite and Dream at Tempo 119 are current favorites, though of course the all-time champion on this album is Lazy Eye.
What do you listen to when you're painting? Do you like something that stimulates your mind? Or do you like something that hovers in the background, never intruding? Or do you prefer to enjoy the silence?
it's the room, the sun and the sky
Sunday, February 15, 2009
"Run it Up the Flagpole..."
Call it a social experiment. Call it "Joe got bored with the whole Nob Biker thing and thought he would put this up as his final outlet for it", call it what you will, but here it is:
A petition.
...no, I'm not taking it seriously. No, I don't expect anything to come of it. Yes, it is (hopefully) the last bit of complaining/bitching/whining/etc. I'll do about Nob Bikers.
Sign if you want. Don't if you don't. I'm curious to see just what happens...
Spread the word! :)
A petition.
...no, I'm not taking it seriously. No, I don't expect anything to come of it. Yes, it is (hopefully) the last bit of complaining/bitching/whining/etc. I'll do about Nob Bikers.
Sign if you want. Don't if you don't. I'm curious to see just what happens...
Spread the word! :)
BattleFleet Gothic
I've been itching to try BattleFleet Gothic. Capital ship combat? Yes, please!
I recently made the Ebay rounds, casting my net far and wide, and managed to score for a few pennies on the dollar a few ships, hopefully, enough to at least get to know the game (with some proxies definitely needed). I landed 8 Chaos cruisers, 4 Imperial cruisers, a blister of Shark assault boats, and an Emperor class battleship.
Now all I have to do is wait for them to arrive...
I recently made the Ebay rounds, casting my net far and wide, and managed to score for a few pennies on the dollar a few ships, hopefully, enough to at least get to know the game (with some proxies definitely needed). I landed 8 Chaos cruisers, 4 Imperial cruisers, a blister of Shark assault boats, and an Emperor class battleship.
Now all I have to do is wait for them to arrive...
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Gesso FAIL!
Just a word of warning, based on experience...
Gesso does NOT work for vehicles, such as tanks, at least for me. I applied it as usual, and it dried unevenly, leaving brush marks and ripples.
Still works great for minis, though. :)
Gesso does NOT work for vehicles, such as tanks, at least for me. I applied it as usual, and it dried unevenly, leaving brush marks and ripples.
Still works great for minis, though. :)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Dremel Wizards, Anyone?
Recently my dad gave me a Dremel with a box of accessories, and I'm all a-twitchin' to put it to use.
I have a couple of questions I thought I'd put out there for any Dremel wizards that might be lurking to hopefully answer.
I normally use chopped up paperclips for pinning purposes. I have a tiny pin vise drill bit that I use to make the holes, which is the exact right size. Can -- or should -- I use a Dremel for this? I have some metal models that are going to require pinning and I would much rather use the Dremel for this if possible.
I have Lysander and I need to remove some Imperial Fists iconography (odd for an Ultramarines player to have to grind off icons, I know, and the irony of it hasn't escaped me). I'm assuming I should use one of the "grinding wheels" for this -- either one of the pink or one of the green -- but I'd rather not "practice" with a "production model" if you know what I mean. :) So...what should I use?
Is there an accessory that I can use to polish/smooth some things made of green, brown, and grey stuff? What about regular plastic? I'm thinking with some practice and a steady hand the Dremel could possibly be used for mold line removal chores. Any thoughts on this?
What other uses have you found for this amazing tool? Any hints/techniques you'd like to share?
I have a couple of questions I thought I'd put out there for any Dremel wizards that might be lurking to hopefully answer.
I normally use chopped up paperclips for pinning purposes. I have a tiny pin vise drill bit that I use to make the holes, which is the exact right size. Can -- or should -- I use a Dremel for this? I have some metal models that are going to require pinning and I would much rather use the Dremel for this if possible.
I have Lysander and I need to remove some Imperial Fists iconography (odd for an Ultramarines player to have to grind off icons, I know, and the irony of it hasn't escaped me). I'm assuming I should use one of the "grinding wheels" for this -- either one of the pink or one of the green -- but I'd rather not "practice" with a "production model" if you know what I mean. :) So...what should I use?
Is there an accessory that I can use to polish/smooth some things made of green, brown, and grey stuff? What about regular plastic? I'm thinking with some practice and a steady hand the Dremel could possibly be used for mold line removal chores. Any thoughts on this?
What other uses have you found for this amazing tool? Any hints/techniques you'd like to share?
Friday, February 6, 2009
Subtle Differences
So while I've been building The Army of The Crowing, I've also been playing around with a new Ultramarines list.
After a lot of thinking about it (and fiddling around in Army Builder) I came up with the following list:
HQ: Captain Cato Sicarius
Elite: Terminator Assault Squad
4 Assault Terminators, 1 Sergeant, all with TH & SS
Heavy Support: Land Raider
Elite: Terminator Assault Squad
7 Assault Terminators, 1 Sergeant, all with TH & SS
Transport: Land Raider Crusader with Multi-Melta
Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Squad with Meltagun & Multi-Melta; 1 Sergeant with BP & Chainsword
Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Squad with Meltagun & Multi-Melta; 1 Sergeant with BP & Chainsword
Transport: Razorback with TLHB
Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad
4 Sternguard Veterans, 1 Sergeant
Transport: Rhino with EA
Heavy Support: Predator Destructor
Heavy Support: Thunderfire Cannon with Techmarine Gunner
Total Roster Cost: 2000
Not too bad I don't think, granted I've shoved as many TH/SS assault terminators into Land Raiders as I can, tossed in Sicarius, and filled in the rest. The results from some limited playtesting resulted in a little list tweaking and I set out to get in another game to see how it went.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to complete the second game as we'd left our Transylvanian Hound (named Ringo...just leave me alone about the name, ok? He came with it and we didn't think it was right to change it) at home with an upset digestive tract so time was very limited. I will say that the few turns I managed to get in, the list was performing quite well indeed...TH/SS assault terminators are amazing if you haven't figured that out!
While I was at the FLGS gettin' my game on, though, I ran into Goatboy (whom you may be familiar with from his articles on BoLS). I handed him my list and said, "Fix it!" You have to understand, Goatboy has a gift for building good lists...it's what he does. If he gives you advice on putting together a good list, you really should listen to what he has to say. So we chatted about this and that for a bit and he made a couple of suggestions.
The result of that discussion is this list:
HQ: Captain Darnath Lysander
Elite: Terminator Squad
4 Terminators with 1 Cyclone Missile Launcher, 1 Sergeant
Transport: Land Raider with EA
Elite: Terminator Assault Squad
7 Assault Terminators & 1 Sergeant, all with TH/SS
Transport: Land Raider Crusader with MM & EA
Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Marines with Meltagun and Las Cannon, 1 Sergeant with BP & CS
Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Marines with Meltagun and Multi-Melta, 1 Sergeant with BP & PF
Transport: Razorback with TLHB & EA
Heavy Support: Predator Destructor (AC/HBx2)
Heavy Support: Predator Destructor (AC/HBx2)
Heavy Support: Thunderfire Cannon with Techmarine Gunner
Total Roster Cost: 2000
Basically what it comes down to is focus. My first list was pretty good with the LR/LRC packed with assault termies, but after that, I lost focus (for example, tossing in the Sternguard simply because I want to use them, not because they served a real purpose in my list). So out go Sicarius, the Sternguard and one unit of assault termies to make room for the "shooty" termies and Lysander because they make a good combo with Lysander's Bolter Drill special rule. I added a Cyclone Missile Launcher for a little extra punch while keeping the storm bolter (because Bolter Drill doesn't work with assault cannons). I was also able to add another Predator Destructor (which are an absolute bargain and deliver one of, if not the, best fire volume/points cost ratios in C:SM).
So now the list is shooty as all hell and keeps a big squad of Thunder Hammer swingin' maniacs to deal with anything really big and nasty (or slaughter their way through lesser targets if nothing else is available). I was thinking this list was pretty good, but I was thinking it lacked a good squad eraser.
(BTW, in Joe's 40K Dictionary, a Squad Eraser is defined as a weapon/unit/ability that simply makes enemy models disappear, usually and preferrably in large numbers.)
Now you can argue the merits and risks involved with fielding a Vindicator. Yes, it has a huge neon sign that flashes "SHOOT ME!!!!" on it...but you'll have to admit, in C:SM there really is no better squad eraser. Goatboy and I had discussed including a Vindi in my list last night, and his advice was, "They're really only good if you take two."
With that in mind, I present the third and final list for the day:
HQ: Captain Darnath Lysander
Elite: Terminator Squad
4 Terminators with 1 Cyclone Missile Launcher, 1 Sergeant
Transport: Land Raider
Elite: Terminator Assault Squad
7 Assault Terminators & 1 Sergeant, all with TH/SS
Transport: Land Raider Crusader with MM
Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Marine with Meltagun and Las Cannon, 1 Sergeant with BP & CS
Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Marines with Meltagun and Multi-Melta, 1 Sergeant with BP & CS
Transport: Razorback with TLHB & EA
Heavy Support: Predator Destructor (AC/HBx2)
Heavy Support: Vindicator with Siege Shield
Heavy Support: Vindicator with Siege Shield
Total Roster Cost: 2000
Now we have a list that your opponent will look over when you're deploying and wonder how he's going to deal with all the dangerous, deadly and immediate threats to his army...and have to react accordingly. Oh, sure, chances are very good that at least one or both of those Vindis will be gone by the end of turn 2, but that's OK, because they should have managed to drop 1 or 2 turns of some S10 AP1 pie plate lovin' down, and/or managed to attract enough fire that my LR and LRC have been relatively unmolested...and have survived to deliver their precious, deadly cargoes...
Of the three, the 2xVindi one is my favorite. I'm picking up Lysander from my FLGS this afternoon and then I'll need to pick up that pair of Vindis and I'll have all the models I need to make this list a reality.
Hopefully it'll perform as well on the tabletop as it does in my head. :)
So...what do you think? What do you think about when you're building a list, especially a more "competitive" one for tournament play? Do you have model/units that you love, but simply can't find a place for them in your battle plan? When you do...do you keep them anyway, or do you give 'em the flush and stay focused?
After a lot of thinking about it (and fiddling around in Army Builder) I came up with the following list:
HQ: Captain Cato Sicarius
Elite: Terminator Assault Squad
4 Assault Terminators, 1 Sergeant, all with TH & SS
Heavy Support: Land Raider
Elite: Terminator Assault Squad
7 Assault Terminators, 1 Sergeant, all with TH & SS
Transport: Land Raider Crusader with Multi-Melta
Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Squad with Meltagun & Multi-Melta; 1 Sergeant with BP & Chainsword
Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Squad with Meltagun & Multi-Melta; 1 Sergeant with BP & Chainsword
Transport: Razorback with TLHB
Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad
4 Sternguard Veterans, 1 Sergeant
Transport: Rhino with EA
Heavy Support: Predator Destructor
Heavy Support: Thunderfire Cannon with Techmarine Gunner
Total Roster Cost: 2000
Not too bad I don't think, granted I've shoved as many TH/SS assault terminators into Land Raiders as I can, tossed in Sicarius, and filled in the rest. The results from some limited playtesting resulted in a little list tweaking and I set out to get in another game to see how it went.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to complete the second game as we'd left our Transylvanian Hound (named Ringo...just leave me alone about the name, ok? He came with it and we didn't think it was right to change it) at home with an upset digestive tract so time was very limited. I will say that the few turns I managed to get in, the list was performing quite well indeed...TH/SS assault terminators are amazing if you haven't figured that out!
While I was at the FLGS gettin' my game on, though, I ran into Goatboy (whom you may be familiar with from his articles on BoLS). I handed him my list and said, "Fix it!" You have to understand, Goatboy has a gift for building good lists...it's what he does. If he gives you advice on putting together a good list, you really should listen to what he has to say. So we chatted about this and that for a bit and he made a couple of suggestions.
The result of that discussion is this list:
HQ: Captain Darnath Lysander
Elite: Terminator Squad
4 Terminators with 1 Cyclone Missile Launcher, 1 Sergeant
Transport: Land Raider with EA
Elite: Terminator Assault Squad
7 Assault Terminators & 1 Sergeant, all with TH/SS
Transport: Land Raider Crusader with MM & EA
Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Marines with Meltagun and Las Cannon, 1 Sergeant with BP & CS
Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Marines with Meltagun and Multi-Melta, 1 Sergeant with BP & PF
Transport: Razorback with TLHB & EA
Heavy Support: Predator Destructor (AC/HBx2)
Heavy Support: Predator Destructor (AC/HBx2)
Heavy Support: Thunderfire Cannon with Techmarine Gunner
Total Roster Cost: 2000
Basically what it comes down to is focus. My first list was pretty good with the LR/LRC packed with assault termies, but after that, I lost focus (for example, tossing in the Sternguard simply because I want to use them, not because they served a real purpose in my list). So out go Sicarius, the Sternguard and one unit of assault termies to make room for the "shooty" termies and Lysander because they make a good combo with Lysander's Bolter Drill special rule. I added a Cyclone Missile Launcher for a little extra punch while keeping the storm bolter (because Bolter Drill doesn't work with assault cannons). I was also able to add another Predator Destructor (which are an absolute bargain and deliver one of, if not the, best fire volume/points cost ratios in C:SM).
So now the list is shooty as all hell and keeps a big squad of Thunder Hammer swingin' maniacs to deal with anything really big and nasty (or slaughter their way through lesser targets if nothing else is available). I was thinking this list was pretty good, but I was thinking it lacked a good squad eraser.
(BTW, in Joe's 40K Dictionary, a Squad Eraser is defined as a weapon/unit/ability that simply makes enemy models disappear, usually and preferrably in large numbers.)
Now you can argue the merits and risks involved with fielding a Vindicator. Yes, it has a huge neon sign that flashes "SHOOT ME!!!!" on it...but you'll have to admit, in C:SM there really is no better squad eraser. Goatboy and I had discussed including a Vindi in my list last night, and his advice was, "They're really only good if you take two."
With that in mind, I present the third and final list for the day:
HQ: Captain Darnath Lysander
Elite: Terminator Squad
4 Terminators with 1 Cyclone Missile Launcher, 1 Sergeant
Transport: Land Raider
Elite: Terminator Assault Squad
7 Assault Terminators & 1 Sergeant, all with TH/SS
Transport: Land Raider Crusader with MM
Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Marine with Meltagun and Las Cannon, 1 Sergeant with BP & CS
Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Marines with Meltagun and Multi-Melta, 1 Sergeant with BP & CS
Transport: Razorback with TLHB & EA
Heavy Support: Predator Destructor (AC/HBx2)
Heavy Support: Vindicator with Siege Shield
Heavy Support: Vindicator with Siege Shield
Total Roster Cost: 2000
Now we have a list that your opponent will look over when you're deploying and wonder how he's going to deal with all the dangerous, deadly and immediate threats to his army...and have to react accordingly. Oh, sure, chances are very good that at least one or both of those Vindis will be gone by the end of turn 2, but that's OK, because they should have managed to drop 1 or 2 turns of some S10 AP1 pie plate lovin' down, and/or managed to attract enough fire that my LR and LRC have been relatively unmolested...and have survived to deliver their precious, deadly cargoes...
Of the three, the 2xVindi one is my favorite. I'm picking up Lysander from my FLGS this afternoon and then I'll need to pick up that pair of Vindis and I'll have all the models I need to make this list a reality.
Hopefully it'll perform as well on the tabletop as it does in my head. :)
So...what do you think? What do you think about when you're building a list, especially a more "competitive" one for tournament play? Do you have model/units that you love, but simply can't find a place for them in your battle plan? When you do...do you keep them anyway, or do you give 'em the flush and stay focused?
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Latest Mission Report
I'm happy to report that my latest major mission has been accomplished and deemed a complete success.
Yesterday (Jan. 31, 2009) Bethany and I were married. Chapel Dulcinea (in the "Wizard Academy", no I'm not making that up) was wonderful in its open-air, hill country vistas glory, the weather was amazingly perfect (clear skies, 72F, little wind) and the bride was radiant, loving and heart-achingly beautiful.
Her finger is now adorned in a white gold and diamonds engagement ring and matching band, and mine sports the coolest wedding band I've ever seen for a man: a tungsten ring encircled with an embedded band of carbon fiber.
The rest of the day was spent celebrating and basking in the love of our family and friends.
I have to admit, it was -- as days go -- about as perfect as one could be. :)
Yesterday (Jan. 31, 2009) Bethany and I were married. Chapel Dulcinea (in the "Wizard Academy", no I'm not making that up) was wonderful in its open-air, hill country vistas glory, the weather was amazingly perfect (clear skies, 72F, little wind) and the bride was radiant, loving and heart-achingly beautiful.
Her finger is now adorned in a white gold and diamonds engagement ring and matching band, and mine sports the coolest wedding band I've ever seen for a man: a tungsten ring encircled with an embedded band of carbon fiber.
The rest of the day was spent celebrating and basking in the love of our family and friends.
I have to admit, it was -- as days go -- about as perfect as one could be. :)
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