Frozen Forge....

The Squat work crews have finally restored power to the M3 (or "M-cubed", if you will) Forge and its environs, and even the mighty Fidelis Jago is out for a walk in the frozen wastes today. The problem, of course, wasn't the minimal amounts of snow at all, (the site-clearing servitors pushed it aside in ten minutes) but all the weak-ass pine trees that chose the night of the storm to fall on our power lines. As a result, the forge's Skitarii are attacking every pine tree on the property with their chainsaws, grenade launchers,  and other implements of destruction. Our chimneys billow with the smoke of the hated pine. Enviro-nazis will note that the hard wood trees have been spared. For now. 


As the production lines have once again thundered to life, here's a list of things to come:


• Commissions: A Land Raider (and finally, a side-by-side comparison with mine) some bikes, and another Landspeeder for the Angels of Flame. 


• A Knight Warden Titan for a contest on the Adeptus Mechanicus Forums. 


• A Motoko Kusanagi miniature from Statuesque Miniatures that's actually in scale with my Tau Fuchikomas. Maybe it's time for a Ghost in the Shell-based Tau  Section 9 Killzone team? Ooooh imagine the Fuchis scurrying around on B. Smoov's sexy Adepticon tables. 


• My second Tyracron Hive Tyrant, based on the mechanized Berserker. On a side note, Final Fantasy 13 had no Ultima Weapon per se. Does Berserker count? If so, would calling him "General Ultima" (or Altima, or Omega, or something like that) be unforgivably gay? 


• A sexy mecha girl scratchbuild. Maybe it's time to spin off a mecha modelling blog? Isn't this sort of already a mecha modelling blog? 


• I am also looking into a way to mass-produce airship hulls and oddments on a limited basis. If anyone out there has any advice on resin casting, please do send me an email/longass comment. 


Yes, I chose the name Fidelis Jago for my Warhound. All of the other dog- and raptor-associated names I came up with were forehead-slappingly stupid. 


LAST BUT NOT LEAST: I am rapidly closing in on my 100th post (since the January rebirth), and my followers have rocketed slightly past 200. Therefore, there will be a contest of some kind. Stay tuned. 


Happy Friday, People. 

Something Good, Something Bad.

In light of GW's recent raft of eyeball rape, I thought I'd give you something to wash your orbs out with. 

First off, I haven't posted for a while because I've been in the midst of a family medical crisis. My Dad's health took a turn for the worse recently and things have been pretty stressful. He's home now, and back on his feet, but man, it's been a rough patch. 

Anyhow the above picture and below pictures are from leechambers' Black Library blog where he's been posting all manner of Dawn of War models, as well as his own miniatures. As a light V/STOL aircraft, it hits all the design buckets for me:

As you can see, the thing's absolutely covered with thrusters, boasting enough verniers (a Gundam term for little vectoring rockets) to do... well, just about anything in midair, as well as enough hull to carry both 12 marines and a Dread comfortably. Sure, it looks more like a C-130 than an AH-64, but hey, it's a believable, well-designed transatmospheric craft. More pics and a sexy little video turntable at the link. Go ahead and click through. 

Okay, now steel yourself. 

Ready?

Now, look at the Airbus AssMaster:

(image is copyright, Games Workshop, used without permission)

You can just hear the sad trombone in your brain, can't you? 

>WAH-wah-wah-wahhhhh<

Now scroll back up to the top and look at that burly hunk of aircraft. That's a solid design you can charge people for. I'd pony up $66 for that easy. But the GW one? Ehhhhh...

I will give GW this: the sprues, as always, are a wealth of nice bits.

(image is copyright, Games Workshop, used without permission)

Like I said before, there's a lot you can do with this kit. Just looking at the sprues make my fingers itch.The finished model is absolute shit, but the kit itself has a lot of nice conversion potential in it. You could even build, oh, say, a better looking Storm Raven. 

But $66? Yeah, I'll..... stick with plasticard and a well-stocked bits box, thanks. 

New Year's Model: Hilda Garde III

The first model of the new year is another commission: the steam-driven Hilda Garde III from Final Fantasy 9. No photo-documenting of the construction on this one, as the servitors and Squat mechanics in the construction hangar eschew photography as a matter of principle. Also, I was halfway done before I thought of doing so. 

Like the newer Highwind produced  previously, this version of an ancient model is an improvement over the original in so many ways. 

Aw, I still love you, old Hilda Garde model. Even if you're not as accurate as the new one. Man, I was such a slacker in the old days. 


I used the same parts where possible, and different parts to improve both the look and structural integrity. Like the Highwind rebuild, this one also left me wanting to tear down and rebuild the original (not to mention keep the rebuild; oh well, I'll always have the picture). Unlike the Highwind rebuild, I was able to go out and find most of what I needed from local hobby/game stores, which allowed me to bolt her together rather rapidly. Sharp eyes will note the more design-accurate puller prop in the front, some Warmachine parts for the sexy paddle-wheel nacelles, and a more accurate fish-tail rudder. (I don't know what I had against rudders back then, since my Highwind is way off, too.) Also, this one incorporates a record number of pins, since she has to survive the rigors of the modern postal system. 


Ahhh airships. I do love building them, even though they have absolutely no game use whatsover. Now, if the Square-Enix production designers would cooperate and design some more conducive to scratchbuilding, I'd be happy. Did you see those things in FF13? They're as needlessly complex as the ones from FF12. Come on, guys, I can't make that without a bigger workshop and a blowtorch....


On a closing note, I want to thank Brent of Strictly Average for his interview on BoLS, which has driven a ton of traffic to this site over the past few days. It's a good read (consisting of me spouting off about modelling, plus lots of pretty pictures! ) so head on over and check it out. To those people perusing the blog for the first time, welcome!