tidying up a bit

A week or two late to the party with the workspace cleanup post, but I found I just wasn't getting anything done, and a big part of that was my cluttered workspace. Having a nice clear spot to start fresh from always feels good at the beginning of a project.

before

Also a severe lack of natural light, it was time for a change.

after : )

Same room, different wall, like a weekend's worth of work but I couldn't be happier. Feels so much nicer, really excited to start getting some more work done!

Dad, I think we need to have a talk...

My dog, Oni (for whom this blog is named), looking a little intimidated by the mountain of plastic that awaits.

Wraithguard! Paint on a model!!

Some WIP shots of the test wraithguard.

 All the paints are GW so far. When I go to do one of his other arm sets I'm going to see if I can't match the GW colors with some of the Minitaire airbrush paints I have.

I was super heavy handed with the Casandra Yellow shade in places (you can see it on the left forearm) but once it is covered up it shouldn't be too bad, just a little shiny. The ghost swords are Runefang Steel washed with Druchii Violet, I think it is following the painting guide that was in White Dwarf when the Iyanden supplement came out. I have to go in and give them another wash but it will probably look decent once its been darkened up and highlighted. Still not sold on it though.

Here are a few shots from earlier in the process...

Basing material was good ol' elmers glue, sand, and coarse kitty litter. Mix a little bit of the sand into the glue to make it more of a paste and a couple drops of water. I read somewhere that the water helps break the surface tension between the glue and the sand. Or its just for luck. Either way, it seems to work better for me with a few drops of water. Mix it up and apply with the sacrificial basing brush.

 After a thick layer of the glue/sand mixture is on the base, I take some of the bigger pieces of kitty litter to use for rocks and sprinkle some more sand on top to give it a little more texture.

He is pinned but not glued so I could base around his feet and then take him off and rinse his toes before anything dried and prime the base and wraithguard separately.

That's it for now. Have to finish off his yellow layer, swords, highlights...so a bit. And some freehand on his head if I'm feeling super ambitious (which I AM!).

Magnetizing wraithguard and first joker used

Been a busy couple weeks (says everyone with a blog, ever) so let's get right down to it.

Haven't finished the Dead Zone terrain yet but needed to move on to something else for a minute and with NOVA coming up I thought I would get working on the 1850 Iyanden Eldar list I've been sitting on since the supplement came out two years ago. I've never really participated in an organized tournament (closest thing being going to Gamesday 2000 with a few friends in Baltimore and getting owned at one of the demo tables) but if I can get an army done and some games in before the end of July, I was thinking of giving it a go. Still haven't decided between my Eldar or my Orks, both need a lot of painting love.

3 squads of 5

Fully magnetized that's 14 magnets per model so 70 magnets per squad of 5. 210 total.

drilling pilots

the smaller magnets work fine and don't blow out the shoulder

Got everyone fully magnetized, all the arms are interchangeable thanks to a trick I found suggesting you make something to keep your poles in order. If you think of the connections as interior or exterior magnet (interior in the body, exterior in the shoulder, interior wrist and exterior hand etc) you can keep them uniform.

Mixed up ONE guard's right shoulder so he has his own flipped poles arms and is my test model for paint scheme. He's been based, primed and is half way through painting which I will do a separate post for.

Lastly, I couldn't help but use up one of my jokers already when I saw some Forge World (recasts?) Pyroclasts up on Ebay. I'm planning on starting a 30k Salamanders army as a way of congratulating myself for getting through all the 40k, Warmahordes and Deadzone I have waiting for me.

Having never bought any FW models before I have no idea what the resin is supposed to look like, these are pretty white and brittle. Don't see a FW stamp on them anywhere but also didn't pick them up from anyone who was obviously a recaster so who knows. If you happen to come across this and have some insight, I'd love to hear what you have to say. Either way I got them for a good 20 dollars cheaper than from FW themselves which is always nice, so at the very least I can use them as tests for paint schemes and armor weathering.

Terrain!! 6mmrpc begins for me with cubes

First week of the mountain reduction and I'm already a little behind! I was trying to get this terrain from the first deadzone ks finished BEFORE the challenge started so I could start with more fun things, like models.

Here are a couple quick WIP shots. it's my first time airbrushing or trying to weather using salt and hairspray, figured terrain was a good place to mess around with some new techniques and shake the cobwebs off the old ones.

And a few of the buildings waiting in the wings...

After I get this bit of terrain out of the way I can work on my Marauder strikeforce which has been based and primed and collecting dust on the shelf for about two months now. Trying to get the terrain done this week in pieces after work but we shall see.

let's see if i did this right

cool, so, this is for the #6mmrpc. Dunno much about it really, but I saw it pop up on some of the hobby blogs I frequently lurk and thought it would be a fun way to tackle the backlog of projects I have let build up for myself. It is also my first blog, so I'm sure this will make for a fun learning curve.