Progress Report 12/31/11 - End of vacation, end of the year.

That's a wrap 2011! It's been quite a hectic year for me all things considered. After working in my position at the co-operative grocery store I manage for just over a year I had to completely change the way I did everything in preparation for the move to a new store. This was a massive undertaking and it ate up large chunks of my life (and time). That said... the results are truly amazing! I am really proud of what I helped accomplish. 

In the new year I will be changing my position at the store, moving from managing all the purchasing/stocking/etc to running our deli. It is a long term move and something I am quite excited by. It means giving up a lot of responsibility of the store overall but it is an area I am far more passionate about (making kick ass food for kick ass people). 

Blah, blah, blah ... how about some pictures of what I managed to get painted on the Lizardmen team yesterday? 

Yup. That's it! Just working on the basecoats before I move into adding more details, highlights, etc. I doubt I will get any more painting today as I have plans to cook some dinner, play some LoTR Risk, and have a few drinks before the year ends. Wishing you and yours a fantastic end of 2011 and all the best as we kick off the new year.

New Year (Hobby) Resolutions 2012.

It's that time again! Time to sit down and look at the year in review before planning some resolutions for the next year. So first let's see how I did this year on the resolutions I made in January 2011. 

• Finish all the Blood Bowl teams I have started - FAIL?
  I did manage to "finish" several teams - my Ogres, Vampires (which weren't even started when I made this pledge), Undead, Chaos Dwarfs, and the Amazons. I didn't finish two of the teams I had sitting around at the start of this pledge (Orcs and  Lizardmen) but I am working on them now.

• Play on the tabletop more - FAIL
  Gotta I don't think I managed to get down to the FLGS once for a game of WHFB. Crazy!! Such a failure!

• Stop buying and start painting more models - FAIL?
  While I didn't buy as much as previous years, and I did immediately start assembling and painting most of what I did buy, I still bought new stuff and didn't paint as much as I would have liked.

• Don't start any new tabletop games - FAIL?
  Bought a Necromunda gang and started assembling them to play with the local Blood Bowl folks. Never actually got any games in though...

• Be an even better sportsman - WIN
  Small incremental improvements, and I still have ways to improve, but I definitely felt like more of a "good sport" while losing all of those Blood Bowl tournaments I attended. I even got a few "best game" votes!  

• Get another four issues of the Bellower released - FAIL?
  
  This It's really hard to do a good webzine with some regularity. Hats off to all of those out there still organizing and releasing them... I was not as good at it. Managed to get a few issues released and the Bellower has migrated to a blog which I count as a success on some level.

 

So 1 out of 6 resolutions isn't too bad right? Right!?

Ok thanks cats... 

Here is a (hopefully) more attainable list for this year:

• Update the Bellower blog with "real" content at least once a week all year: I advocated for the switch, and I see a lot of potential, now I need to help build a strong web community in a secondary medium for the Stronghold. I will need help though! If you are reading this and wish to contribute in any way please let me know!

• Finish painting all of the Blood Bowl teams I have started: That means the Chaos, Lizardmen, and Orc teams all need attention. I am not counting the in limbo Khemri team I sort of started earlier this year.

• Play some WHFB somewhere, somehow: I know there are still folks playing at the FLGS and I haven't even touched the new Ogre Kingdoms book since it was released. With Vampire Counts on the way in January I have zero reason to not show up and play. 

• Attend as many Blood Bowl tournaments as possible: I went to about a half dozen events this year and I hope to match or surpass that number this year. I am just starting to get "in" with the community so perhaps I won't have to be seen as a "noob" this time around.

• Paint more models then you buy: I know I won't go a whole year without buying any new models but I will strive to paint way more and buy a lot less! I do have my eyes on the new Vampire Counts Black Knights though...

Well I can't do much worse than I did last year, but that is still a pretty intense list. The focus is really on painting and playing games so it shouldn't be too hard to get done. We'll see how I fare when we review this again next year! What do you hope to achieve in your new year of hobby?

Progress Report 12/28/11 - Vacation day four.

Haven't managed to get much hobby work done today. I finished up some touchups and basing on the vampires and that's about all (so far). Instead I spent a lot of the day reading (finished two books), cataloging new metal collection additions (so much new music to listen to), and trying hard not to answer work emails.

Here is where the bloodsuckers stand as of this moment:

 

I didn't mean to pose them so they all lined up neatly together... but they do! Next up for these guys is a varnish and some "fresh blood" before I call them "done". Then it is on to another project... perhaps the Lizards? Orcs? Chaos? Which should I finish next!?

Progress Report 12/27/11 - Vacation day three.

Yesterday I managed to get plenty of GS sculpting done on the Chaos BB team. I decided to add some small touches to each of the beastmen/bloodletters to help break up their skin tone a bit. Things like bracers, gloves, punching knuckles, shoulder pads, etc... each one got something. No pictures at the moment as they are currently drying after priming. 

Today I have managed get highlights on all of the Vampire BB team and I am working on the bases for the unfinished vampires. After that it will be a bit of blood, then static grass, then a coat of sealer, before I gore them up one last time to keep the blood looking "fresh". 

In other news... Chest of Colors posted their "Worst Miniature"  winners and losers. I know the suspense is killing you so I am posting the finalists here:

The winners are….

1. Nagash with 14,80% of all votes
2. Sunbathing orc with 12,85% of all votes
3. Minotaurs with 7,10% of all votes.

 Check out the rest of the informative post for the community response, and the "losers" of the poll. Great content! 

Progress Report 12/16/11 - Vacation day two.

Well I finally have a week off from work! Yah! Time to get cracking on some miniature building and painting (mostly painting). My goals this week are to finish painting my Vampire Blood Bowl team in time for the new KUBBL season and to finish building/converting/basing my Chaos team, then at least prime them. Extra points to me if I can get them all painted up too.

Maybe I can knock out three teams and get my Lizardmen painted up too!? Who knows! Full of inspiration at the moment (quiet down over there Skyrim..) Here's where we stand at the moment this morning:

 

 

Perhaps a little clean up is in order first...

Merry Gutmass!

Still a bit of work left to do this week... then I am taking a full seven days off! In a row! I expect to be cranking out minis and finishing up some desk projects before the year ends. Pictures to come of course...

In the meantime... happy holidaze and a merry gutmass to all!

The Bellower - "top secret" project complete.

So... the Bellower is dead. Long live the Bellower!   http://bellower.blogspot.com/

I'd go into more details here but my first post on the new blog details things pretty well. Go on! Check it out!

Painting and modeling motiviation - I listen to metal.

I listen to metal. But what does that mean? What is "metal" to you? It is a word that evokes a lot of different things for different people. When folks ask what sort of "metal" I listen to I find it hard to explain what I mean when using the term. There is a large subculture of "underground" metal bands, each with their own distinct style, and often falling into their own musical sub-genre. 

Personally I like my metal in many different styles - heavy, fast, slow, evil, psychedelic, oppressive, hard, gross, etc....

Since I have decided to post the occasional metal video or music link here on the blog (as it is typically what I listen to while painting and modeling) I thought it would be good to get some education material posted as well. As a sort of metal refresher here is a video which covers some of the early UK/US Grindcore and Death Metal pioneers such as Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Bolt Thrower, Entombed, and Carcass. Most of the coverage is of Earache and Peaceville bands but it is good representation of what the metal scene was like at the time this was filmed.  

Enjoy!

Only 5 days left to support the APES OF WRATH!

Did you know that Three Die Block and Zlurpcast have teamed up (in a way) to get a team of APES together for Blood Bowl (or other miniature action)!? It's true! There is a Kickstarter right here!





It's not too late to get involved! I haven't made a pledge (yet) but you can't go wrong with a couple of monkeys... I mean apes... like these!!! Get the word out there!

Krampus!!

Happy Krampus everyone!!

How are you celebrating your Krampus today? Need inspiration? How about a list of a few possible Krampus related activities you can do with your friends and loved ones:

• Make yourself a Krampus mask
• Cut and or burn some bundles of birch
• Ring bells!
• Join in a parade or throw a party
• Drink, feast, and be merry (and drunk)
• Run through the streets screaming "Krampus is coming!"
• Tell a story
• Ringing more bells, and beat on a drum
• Give gifts and take gifts too
• Beatings and/or whippings!

Whatever you do, have a good time and don't forget to celebrate! It's another 364 days until the next Krampus day after all...

Off to the Underworld Cup!

Why I am awake so damn early? Because I am headed to beautiful Wisconsin for the 2011 Underworld Cup! I had intended to go to last year's event but the winter elements conspired against me and I chickened out. Not so this year! 

While I had hoped to have my additional vampires painted in time to take the Strigoi Slash, I didn't manage to get them done enough to bring along. Thus I have fallen back on my trusty friends of the Nurgland Germs making this their 4th (or 5th?) tournamnent showing in 2011. What did I choose to bring you ask? Well since you asked...

Click on the image for a more detailed look. The gist of it is this: 14 player roster, 5 normal skills and 1 doubles skill, 1 reroll. We'll see how it goes!!