Progress Report 5/28/17 - 52 Minis week 19 through 21.

Those who lurk on this blog may have noticed my absence the past three weeks. It's been an eventful time but the majority of the past month was taken up with my best friend Udo who was in post cancer-surgery recovery. After coming through fine from the surgery we got the bad news... the cancer had moved to his lungs. He had just days to live. I spent as much time as I could with him before having to say goodbye. I miss him terribly.

RIP my hairy buddy

We're getting through each day but it has been tough. We knew Udo was getting old (he would have turned 11 this year) but we weren't expecting to go from healthy to dead in just a few short days. If  you have a hairy loved on of your own be sure and give them some pets and love. You won't regret it. 

I began collecting and painting miniatures (and blogging here) just shortly after we got Udo as a puppy. It's the end of an era! And while I will be happy to not have his long hair stuck in each and every mini I paint or assemble I would gladly trade that it for some more time laying around the house together. 

Spent time after Udo's passing rearranging the house. Flip flopped our bedroom and studio space and moved all of the miniature and gaming things into the studio. It's not a massive space but it now has all of my art supplies, PC, and minis in one place. I'm hoping it will lead to massive bouts of creativity! So far it hasn't but I think that is to be expected. 

Here are a couple minis for this update. I didn't finish 3 and one of these was already mostly done (and not totally painted by me) but I wanted to get them posted here. 

First up we have another Chaos Warrior of Malal. Not in love with this paint job though it gets the job done. 

And then there is this thing. I'm not going to give away too much yet... but let's just say I have my work cut out for me in the coming months for a new Blood Bowl event coming up in September:

Boxes, boxes, boxes...

Hello neglected blog! Life has been extremely busy as of late.. did I mention I bought a new house and moved into it? It's true! As all this has been occurring my hobby time has been reduced to zero. It has been 1 week since I began living in my new home full time and things are slowly progressing towards that "moved in" look. After some electrical work is done this week I hope to have my painting/hobby zone put together and complete. As of now it looks like this...

One view of the new painting sun room!

My S.O. was nice enough to let me, my minis, plants, and paints have this gorgeous sun room in our new home. Looking forward to getting some painting done in this damn near idyllic situation sometime soon! Until next time (hopefully later this week)...

Progress Report 3/11/13 - Necrowhat?

Busy! Still busy. Did I mention I am buying a house? Things are looking 99% likely at this time and we are hoping to hear something concrete this week. If everything goes as planned I will be moving at the end of this month!? What?! Gotta keep packing...

In the meantime I have decided to not paint anything too outlandish while I work on gathering my meager belongings and moving them all to a new space. The regular KUBBL lads are still interested in playing some Necromunda so things are moving (again) on that front. Been bit by the "terrain bug" a bit and having fun slapping some stuff together out of what I have laying around. The results so far..

A bunker of sorts.

The back side (and access ladder) of the bunker.

Slapped together bandit tower.

The other side of the tower with sludge pool.

A crater with debris and a crumbled wall section of sorts.

Pardon the dust on the top of my cabinet. Just moved some clutter off in an attempt to begin the "move" and didn't clean it off before photo time. The horror!!

Also spent some time getting together my Goliath gang. It's strictly out of the box type stuff so far. Thinking about adding a bit of detail stuff still. Gotta break out the green stuff. In the meantime...

Behold! The Skullkrushas!!

Gangers - Arak Jawcrusher, Nazagut Limbripper, and Ragreth Boneshaker

Gang Leader Sergat Leadbelly and Gang Heavy Bozutt Ironjaw

Juves - Yuzong the Baited and some guy we don't know yet...

Still have a handful of weapons I need to magnetize for options and some details to do on most of the bases, but I think they are coming along nicely. Looking forward to painting them! I think this will be the first "40k like" thing I have ever painted??

That's all for now. Dropped out of the running for the KUBBL 3 playoffs after losing to the league leader due to a dismal showing of dice disaster. Playing a consolation match against Elves again today. Is there a better consolation prize than the the opportunity to kill some Elves!? I think not.

In case you were wondering, moving isn't that fun.

Back in Kalamazoo in my new home but still in the process of unpacking. I haven't managed to do anything hobby related in a couple weeks with the exception of the WoC games I played right before I left Austin.

My time right now is mostly devoted to unpacking, moving boxes, finding a job, and setting up my new house. Which looks like this (in case you were wondering):

Yup. Still plenty of snow on the ground here, although the past three days have been really sunny and "warm" (around 35 to 40 degrees with lows in the 20's). Perhaps the sun followed me here from Austin?

My hobby area is still a major work in progress but I have staked out a space for it in the corner of my "man cave" (where my computer, comics, and music equipment also live). The natural light in this room is quite good and there is a ceiling fan and overheard light to brighten it even more. A major step up from the dingy back room I was working in before. 

So far I have yet to find any broken models while unpacking so I guess my shredded paper method of packing them worked alright. Now it is a matter of getting everything back in "order" so I can begin working on touchups for my Adepticon list. 

That's about all that has happened lately for me. Life = moving. If you are looking for hobby related content you could take a gander at a new blog I was reading today. It's called Dick Move, and the reason for the name should be pretty clear once you have read a few of the posts there. 

What do I think about the focus of that blog you ask? Well... I think it is important for anyone writing and "publishing" their thoughts on the internet to be aware of what they are saying and presenting, but it is also important for each blog to have it's own individual goals and focus. 

For example, I don't consider myself to be the "authority" on much of anything when it comes to WHFB. I created this blog to chronicle my progress in the hobby and to motivate myself when it comes to painting and modeling. I post the occasional "tactics" article and army list but I would never expect someone to take my ideas and win with them outright, nor do I profess my ways to being the "only" or "right" way to do things.

I do this blog 90% for myself, and 10% for anyone else who might be reading it. If you can take something from my work or writing and apply it to your games or hobby... great! I find inspiration on a variety of blogs and forums, and I am glad to be of any help I can for those who wish to receive it. 

Anyway... rambling now. I guess the point of all that is I am split 50/50 on the content and ideals of the Dick Move blog. If the focus doesn't rely on slamming other people and talking shit about their work I can see it being an interesting read. If the point is just being a dick and bullying other bloggers ... well I guess you could call that a "dick move".

Hey! I'm the "Trader of the Week"!

Well will you look at that? The Trading Post made me their "Trader of the Week"! Pretty cool. Thanks Kuffeh!

If you are a first time vistor to the site thanks for stopping by! Sadly I am in the process of moving and I haven't had much time for blogging or hobby-centric posts - I hope to get back to that very soon!

As a special treat I leave you with this cruddy picture of my WIP Scraplauncher! It still needs final highlights and details, and I might add a few bits to the base too (some junk perhaps). 

Ready to drop a load of junk on your expensive Lord choice! Watch out!!

The countdown begins.

You have no idea how hard it is for me not to make the name of this entry "the Final Countdown". I will spare you from that, although it may be too late for the song that is now stuck in your head.

Just about one week until the moving commences. Packing continues, working on my models and hobby stuff now. This leaves me with no time to paint or work on models. I would be more concerned about this but I dropped a unit of 20 Gnoblar Fighters from my Adepticon Team Tournament list so the painting pressure is lessened. I also recently got these objective markers/display board accessories "done" as well.

Argh! There are Gnoblars all over our Beer!!

I had fun assembling and posing these little dioramas, my favorite is the one levering a keg from the massive stack beneath himself. I need to finish the highlights and small details on the Gnoblars before I add some static grass - then they will be truly "done".

In other life related news, I still haven't managed to find someone to rent my house here in Austin, and I just applied for a Game Store Manager position back in Kalamazoo where I am moving. I would love to work in a game related retail environment, and hopefully build up a WHFB and tabletop scene in the area in the process. Here's hoping they like what they see from my resume and cover letter!

Until next time ... where ever I may be.

Life is boxes.

Just a little under three weeks left before I move and the boxes are already piling up everywhere. I was planning on leaving out my models to attend one last Fantasy tournament here in town but it takes place the week after I leave. Crud.

The current stack of packed boxes waiting for moving day to arrive.

So I started packing up my models, first with my Vampire Counts army. I wasn't able to purchase foam carrying trays for the infantry like I would have liked, but I did find a system that seems to work. First I placed all of the plastic ranked infantry in the bottom of a box, on their magnetic movement trays, leaving plenty of space on the edges of the box. Then I put a whole bunch of shredded paper down on top and around the models. After a couple layers of this I gave it a shake and nothing moved!

A thin piece of cardboard on top of the shredded paper and I began with the second layer of models. So far it seems to be working well. It will be a big mess, and a pain to clean up once I unpack them, but I think the mess is worth it. I would hate for all my models to end up broken or busted on the trip.

The only thing I have yet to pack is my Ogre army as I plan on moving them in my metal toolbox/transport case instead of in a box. I am also working on finishing up another unit of Gnoblar Fighters, some objective markers, and touching up my recently finished Gorger (who fell and broke). I need to get as much of this done as possible before the move - not sure how much time I will have in March to paint before Adepticon (which I plan to attend).

Blah blah ... boring life stuff. Who reads this blog for that anyway? How about a beer review?

Flying Dog Brewery - Tire Bite Golden Ale

Beer Type: Kölsch

Appearance: 12 oz. brown bottle with sketched cartoony dog thing on the green label. Beer poured a light golden color with a thick off-white fizzy head that quickly faded.

Smell: Not a lot of aroma, just a hint of sweetness and some floral hoppy notes.

First Drink: Pretty standard stuff, almost like Miller High Life but with a bit of hoppy bite.

Mouthfeel: A bit flat and crisp, maybe a little watery?

Last Drink: More sweetness and a nice end note of hops but there isn't a lot going on here.

Drinkability: Very basic and easy to drink but not mind blowing.

Notes: If I am honest I would rather be drinking a Lone Star. It would cost a lot less too.

Verdict: 3 out of 5. Take your classic "crappy" beer like PBR, High Life, etc and add some more sweetness and hops and this is what you get.

Links: Beer Advocate and Flying Dog Brewery.

Progress Report - mass delays due to mass effect.

Painting progress has slowed down due to the timely arrival of Mass Effect 2 and moving preparations. I signed a lease for a massive 2 story, 3 bedroom house (with attic and basement) - located directly between a huge old cemetery and an abandoned asylum. At least I have somewhere to live/store my models when I move!

I wanted to post something that would be appropriate for my new life as a " victim soon to be killed by the axe murdering pyschopath" so here are some pictures of my first Gorgerspawn!

I added the third arm, tail, and hook blade/tentacles. My Gorgerspawn (and Skrag) models come directly from the Great Maw which is close to/inside of the Chaos Wastes. Spending time there has given them a few ... additional features.

I didn't take any photos from the back of the Gorgerspawn but he has some growths sprouting from his shoulders. They look quite gross the way I have painted them. I love it! The victim on his base is the running man from the Giant sprue - slightly repositioned and repurposed (as lunch).

I also finished my first (of two) unit of Gnoblar Fighters. I had some help painting these from my missus. We went for the red shirts as an homage to the classic cannon fodder of Star Trek. I like the look of these guys all ranked up and painted and I might go back and give them some more detail and extra finish (right after I finish another unit of 20).

Aside from these two units I also completed a Paymaster Maneater model which I use as a Bruiser, and my one Ogre standard bearer. I will try to get pictures of those added as soon as the sun comes back out. I'm now working on my Skrag model, 20 more Gnoblar Fighters, touch ups for all my Ogres (especially the bases), and my Corpse Cart for the VC. Lots to do!

Progress Report - Good news / Bad news.

First up, a bit of good news. I am going to have a lot more time to work on models in the next few weeks. I'm hoping to complete the assembly, basing, and priming of my VC force so I can get into the painting and hopefully complete the army before the new year.

The reason I have all this time to spend on models is because of the bad news. I was laid off from my job on Friday. I should be able to collect unemployment until I find a new job but it will still leave me a bit light on cash for any hobby spending for the forseeable future.

Also planning a move back home (Michigan) to be closer to my friends and family - this takes me far from the established WHFB scene here in Texas. Hopefully I will be able to scrounge up some games or get my friends back home addicted to collecting models of their own. I know I will miss the outstanding tabletop scene here in Austin. I didn't know how good I had it...

But enough about me and my (as of lately) crappy life. How about some more WIP pictures of my recent VC model work?

A finished Wraith with green stuff'd hood from the front.

I struggled a bit with the hood at first as it was covering too much of the skull below. I opted for a sort of "half cowl" look with tattered rags and I am pretty happy with the results.

This one was a bit tricky as I had to blend the green stuff hood with the original sculpt.

It looks a bit jaunty but I don't mind. Perhaps this particular Wraith is quite happy about his lot in unlife.

Also finished this little Skeleton unit filler. I bet this guy will be the life of the party.

Last but not least we have a fully assembled and primed Vampire Lord (being played by the mounted Mannfred von Carstein model).

This guy was a pain in the ass to get together as there were a ton of gaps that needed filling and I used one of the Iron Halo resin bases which required pinning and lots of glue to keep him standing upright. He is a bit tipsy and doesn't quite rank up with other cavalry models too well but I really like this model so I guess I will make it work.

That's all for now! Comments, suggestions, and critiques are welcome and encouraged as always.