Long time no Post

Holy Balls its been a while since ive posted an update. Well 1st off here is my pledge for this week. As you can see this is my 1st Assault Squad and I love how they came out. They are now currently my new fav figs and I just cant get over how nicely they turned out despite all the problems. From not wanting to stay on their poles, to them being horribly unbalanced, to finding a way to cover the weights.. bah.. anyways. Here we go.










Oh yea.. as for the weights, they are combinations of washers, and nuts holding them down, alot of them were front heavy so they wouldnt stay, and i used to dry wall putty to glue them and add a dynamic style base. Plus it allowed me to make some fake rocks that looked like they were sticking out from snow covered terrain.


Captian











Some of the more dynamically posed ones












BONUS


Intermittently while working on the assault squad and because they were my pledge from last week I also finished up my AoBR tactical squads. So here they are.






Command











HQ











Mini-Dev squad












And the reason why i was looking for bits. This is the beginning of what will probably be another assault squad. Plus if i mix them in with the current and do the same things i did with the first ones, the 2 squads will have nice mix and look to them.

I'VE GOT NO LEGS!!!

Still Alive

So just wanted to make a post to say that Im still here. Ive been working and kinda off point, doing a little at a time. In fact right now im letting some paint dry before I finish up the last of my "original" troops. The ones that were originally plastic ultramarines, are now going ot be my Dark Knights. The reason these are taking so long is because I have to be really careful that none of the paint shows through. Tommorow morn I ll have some pics up.

Oh, and i got some suprises instore for the army as well.

From a sinner to a saint (Rise of a Chapter Master)

So the goal was to create a unique figure to have in my space marine army, not only to serve as an hq, but as a chapter master. What I needed was a starting point. I wanted to use a Space Wolf Logan Grimnar, but to remove what I wanted to do, i found it would be too much work. So I looked at my fall back. My favorite figure has, and probably always will be (now more so than ever) the emperors champion. So i descided to use him as a starting point. I had some bits left over from termies from my AoBR set, so i did some cutting and plopped them on the shoulder pads... It was a start, but no where near enough. Then I dug around and found an iron halo and cape from a Celestine the Living Saint figure that i picked up for a buck. ( the bits not the fig ). A bit of cutting and positioning, and bam. I think we had a winner. But something was missing. I couldnt place my fingers on it, but he was lacking something. This chapter master was supposed to be a godsend, an an... That was it. He needed wings, but where would i get wings from.
Then it struck me...Dark Angels Grand Master Azrael's helm had nice wings that i could steal. The only problem is his little buddy had them and wasnt int he mood to bargain. So, i did what any other reasonable man would do.





I bartered.








So now I had my wings, and with somethinking, and some positioning, so did my chapter master.







Whats sad is im gonna have to take him apart to paint him, and im also going to have to pin the halo and cape on, because hes very abck heavey, but on the upside. He looks pretty bad ass.

Infiltration, (Building an Army pt 6)

Ive been really depressed lately. Probably not something you wanna read on a crappy little 40k painting blog, for those that actually do read this. But you have to get it out of the system sometime. I think thats one of the reason that ive been so involved with painting. Used to could I would raid alot in WoW, but im kinda taking a break till the expac, so i need something else to occupy my mind. Problem is, is that everthing is so worry some. I need to take my copentency tests so I can start looking for a job for a teacher, but im so paranoid that I might fail the test that Im actually afraid to sign up for one. Add on top of that the lack of hrs at bestbuy and the lack of jobs for subbing, money is running low. And then lately ive just been really lonely. Truth is there is someone that I am totally in love with, I cannot be with her. And, well it drives me insane, because as far as im concerned, its kinda not fair. But im ranting... and I just needed to get that out, and to get it off my mind.

So today I decided to prime all the rest of my old figs and get them ready to be painted. I also decided to undertake probably the reason why I didnt even want a certain unit in my army. My scouts.

So naturally they had to be primed, but the question was what direction did I want to take with them. I wanted them to have some depth and not just be 2 colors. Well in the end they were only 2 colors, but damn did they take forever.





Ive been taking a layering technique out for a spin to see if i could get figs done faster, and so far it seems to be working. The first step was the pants, this i did in 2 steps. I started off with a unique color I made by mixing some other colors, then putting down a alayer of commando khaki.

Then came down for the leather accents, I think this took the most time. Then after wards I went with the faces and my first real attempts at eyes. Some of my troops as a result do look like they came in on the short bus, as does my cmdr. But not bad for my first attempt.



After the leather accents and faces came the layers of gunmetal and black to touch up the mistakes. In the end they came out pretty nice. Up close not perfection, but from the standard distance they look pretty nice. I gotta look at the brightside, this is one of the few things that bring me joy. Things are hectic in my life, and I really just want them all to calm down.

By Fire Be Purged (BoA pt 5)

So, one of the reasons these are always posted at like 3 am, is because i tend to post them after i get done with whatever I decided to do. In this case I wanted to work on project Ragnaros.


That is a small 5 man devestator squad, or a purge team. The squad itself consists of 2 multi-melta's and 2 flamers, with a commander that is armed with a power swd and a plasma pistol. Basically a bunch of guys playing with fire.




While i was working on this squad, I thought of a little lore behind it. Basically a squad each of whom has been close to the fire and seen the light of god in that flame. If they had no helms, they would more than likely be burn victims if you will.




I was glad that I had enough beakies to work with. I actually really like the beakies, they bring a nice level of variety to the table.






Now as far as the sgt, I did the same thing with him that I will more than likely wind up doing for a lot of my bits, and that really just some minor modifications. He was made from, what I think was a blood angels mephisto (a bit of irony there). I clipped down the collar and mutilated his head for the skull helm. If i had better tools i might have been able to so it quicker. But in the end, im happy with it and that all that matters.

I also took a few lil terrain pics also. One day Ill have to work on a display board so I can take some nice pics. Oh and I managed to get some WS snow the other day, 8 bucks for the large shaker. So, I will be rebasing my dreads, bikes, land speeders, and termies soon.

R2P (Building an Army Pt 4)

So yea, todays goal was actually met.
Get all my infantry ready to paint. And i did it.
I also played a little game called how many times can I glue my fingers together.

I won.

Heres a vid recap of everything, sorry about the quality, ill post some decent pics as the units get done.



I know i said the quality is bad in the vid, but its more like piss poor.



And here is a better quality vid, it had no sound so i put some weezer into it.

Im melting!!!!

THE SNOW

Its flaking off something feirce.
Well it looked good for like 12 hours. Hahaha
Gonna pick up a can of compressed air and clean them off.

Looks like i might have to hunt down some WS snow after all.

nutbunnies

Flocking Bases

See what I did there, it like the f-word but its...
bah



Anyways, so the termies are all done, as is my sample bike as well as one of the 2 landspeeders. All based and flocked with snow. One of the things I decided on doing was putting some snow on the dreads like it piled on there naturaly. And im happy with they way they look. And really in the end isnt that all that matters. That you are the one happy with they way they look.


Been trying to get more done, I was working at a really good pace, but lately Ive just been really depressed and havent really had the heart to do anything. And its a combination work and some personal stuff. I dont know how any of this is going to turn out.




I found some terrain peices that im gonna prime and use on the display board for my army. I think they were from the old 3rd ed starter set, because god knows I never bought any. I think im gonna buy some, or snag at least a handful and buy some of the GW and woodland scenics snow for comparison over what im using. I like what im using, but i would also like something that doesnt brush off when touched even after matting.

Christmas in September

Nothing really long here..
Finished all 21 termies.
Ill post pics once I base them.
Figured out how to do snow.
Looks nice imho.





Need to matte it into place though.
Ill edit this and update it later tonight, if my pc is working.










And here is the iconography im going with.
I did finally decide on the white shoulders.

Building an Army (part 3)

You know if i was patient and actually waited to do this all at the same time, these 5 terminators could have been tracked and progressed all in one post as opposed to 3 seperate ones. But Im not very smart, or patient for that matter.

So on the last post I told you that for some reason the paint was looking gritty, well i figured out what I had done wrong. Turns out I was washing my brushes in the same water as my metallics, and that had to be what did it, because as I was working on the arms, I added a 3rd set of water exclusively for my metallics and changed nothing else and bam problem solved.


So basically this set consists of 3 of the older termies I had stripped and repainted, and 2 from the Black Reach set. When you look at them all together You really cant tell which is which.





The commander though I did spend a little more time on the detailing, and generally on the non cookie cutter figs i tend to do that. I think he came out ok. I can really tell that my skill from seven years ago have improved immensely. As in the time it took me to do these 5, i could have knocked out about 30 spacemarines, but this patience gave me a much better product.

Tips and Tricks

Here is the link to the video I was talking about in the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZGtkd-2FzA

One of these things is not like the other (BoA 2.75)

So while watching Dallas rip up on Green Bay I decided to do a squad of termies, basically 5 out of the 20 I have.






The thing though is I wanted to take some of the ones I had striped down. You really cant tell which ones are which, lest you know the actual design changes.



I still need to do the arms, but Im a little worried. Ive been getting this really gritty finish on them and I have no idea whats causing it. Any ideas?

Everybody get to the Choppa! (BoA pt 2.5)

So as much as I would like to do some more work today I actually have to go into work. Its not until 5. But I like to leave about an hr and a half to shower and actually make the journey. What sucks is it took about 4 months, but I finally hate my job. Well not my job persay, but the management. One in particular, oh and my new supervisor. I dont know him, but from Ive heard hes a very "work first fun second" which kinda the opposite to my style which is "create a fun working environment, and your employees will naturally work harder and take more pride". But im ranting, I would love to get out of there, but I havent been getting many subbing calls and i need the money to pay for my TeXeS and ExCet exams so I can start applying to be a teacher. Oh yea, and I still want a second job for the extra cash. BUUUUT... abck to where we are supposed to be.

Who ever said thinking outside the box would make work easier was a liar. Its not about thinking outside the box, its about thinking with the box. I was trying to figure out how i was going to prime all my temies (and this will probably be the technique i use for my squads also) and I though, if only i could paint them on their bases... and then it hit me... SHOEBOX. I poked little holes to stick the ones with nubs on, slots for those that had then, and a lil duct tape for the flatfoots. It worked perfectly.

The problem i thought I would face would be all the ones that were previously painted. I did a decent job of getting most of the paint off... But there was still some there. I was afraid that the primer wouldnt cover most of it up. But as ive learned form my research and the company which I shall steal most of my technique from ^_^ patience is the key. So I went to work, quick passes, and constant movment. And Ill have to admit they primed pretty nicely.

Sadly though, thats probably all Ill get to do today. As I wont have time to do more, and while i would love to stay up till 3 am after i get home from work, Ive got school in the morn. But as boring as it is, I enjoy it. I feel like im learning something, because its something that I can better myself and the lives of others doing it. And as much as I hate that manager, 10 years from now, hes going to be working at **********, and Im going to be enriching lives.