Reviews?

Should I do 'em? 

Some folks have approached me about reviewing their products. As you know, I tend not to pull any punches, being from the Honesty School of Opinion Writing, so it could be a fun exercise for all concerned. 

This isn't an attempt at filler, either. I have a backlog of photos for posts right now, and an even larger one of pending hobby projects (I hear you, ZOE Vic Viper). 

So what do you think?

Tutorial: the Weathered Penny

So many people have asked about the weathered penny, that I thought I'd share how I do it, this time with pictures. (No Tachikomas in this one, unfortunately,they're still sleeping off the effects of their victory party).  Above are the materials you'll need, including the flat brush (available at any art/hobby store) and mini/tray grey foam. I realize that Citadel may have changed some of their metals since this photo was taken, but from the color spread, you get the idea. In additional you're also going to need, of course, model:

This bit was primed in black, then dry brushed with Tin Bitz. The tin Bitz was applied very hastily and sketchily,with more attention paid to raised areas and places where the primer was allowed to pool and bubble a bit. 

At this point we're going to start infusing th foam with color, by way of simply dipping the brush tip  in the pot and wiping most of it away onto the foam. From this point on, the foam's going to be your source of pigment for dry brushing and blending. Every so often we'll need to re-infuse it, as the paint drys quickly through use. (This technique, though kinder to brushes, is still dry brushing, so I recommend having backup brush and switching off between the two, cleansing the first one and starting with the dry, fresh second one. After you can give them a bath in Simple Green and water and they'll be like new.)

With only the barest paint left on the brush, you're going to begin running the flat side of the brush along the raised edge of the model, like so. You'll be leaving a thin line of paint on that raised edge, and periodically flicking inwards over the flat areas. Not broad, covering strokes, a light touch in important here to achieve that weathered, worn effect: 

You're going to want to hit all the major edges, then com back and hit those minor ones. Not that we never actually do any large applications over the major areas, but keep flicking in just barely from the edges. 

After each complete edging, you're going to be blending successively brighter colors into your foam palette. The advantage of the foam come in here; the paint's pooling and mixing here with each wipe, and getting progressively lighter while still maintaining bits of the last color. This multi-toned brightening effect gets passed on, of course, when you start anew with the new color: 

As you can see, this technique can be applied over even complex areas. Just make sure you don't go hog-wild; leave broad areas untouched or barely-touched by pigment, and concentrate on the edges, continually building up tone. It's important that you let your off-duty brush dry out completely, because wet-brushing will ruin the rough finish of this technique. 

in the end, you end up with a nice weathered surface very much like this one. I nearly drove myself crazy using this on my Ghost Arks (you'll see why next post). Hope this helps, folks!


Happy Saturday. 


PS, it looks like the insectoid Scythes won out, so there will be no flying croissants here folks. Just more bugs with better parts from the new range. 

Memorial Day....

It is the Soldier, not the minister

Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer

Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer

Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician

Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,

Who serves beneath the flag,

And whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

©Copyright 1970, 2005 by Charles M. Province

To all of those who are serving, have served,  and have sacrificed, thank you and God bless.

Flyer Leak! or GW's Art Dept has Schizophrenia like you wouldn't believe...

What is this, a 1985 GI Joe cartoon?

(images from the leaked scans over at The Shell Case blog.)

Oh GW, words fail me. 


Wait, no they don't , otherwise I wouldn't have a blog. Words do not fail me on how shit this aircraft is. One had hoped that the "concept art" from a while back was someone's idea of a joke, but sadly, it's not. When at rest, the thing sits on its turret. Considering the weight of the rest of the aircraft, this is a MAJOR ENGINEERING NO-NO. They couldn't be bothered to stylize the turret at all, and left it as an irritating little box with an assault cannon sticking out of it (ammo, GW?) And what is that thing sticking out the back of the canopy? A cloaking shield for the rest of the thing? The artist that drew it and the manager that green lit it should be shot. For crying out loud, it looks like something from a Japanese bullet hell shooter (except that the Japanese would have employed decent artists). This thing should have been a burly, muscular aircraft, not the front 1/8 of one. Why do the GW artists stop at the front of the plane and call it a day? Why?


Oh wait, they don't:

Hooray! It's a plane! Boo it's wasted on the Orks.

Look! It's a proper aircraft! That's right, the thing that makes sense as an actual working plane is built by the howling  space monkeys who look like they should have built that flying blue guppy up there. Once again, the orks seem to get all the good art talent for their shitty codex. Bravo, boys, and fuck you. 


You know, in a colossal middle finger to whomever designed the StormFish, I might have to ram these two kits together and make some kind of Cobra Rattler for the Ultramarines to fly around. Except, of course, that the game stats for the StormFly are utter shit. 


Moving on:

I understand the working name was "Moon Over My Hammy"

We knew it'd look like this, didn't we? A nasty flying crescent with an inexplicably exposed pilot. The new robot bug designs are phenomenal, and the plane is.... well, it's not bad, is it? I don't know what that shit around the rim is, but the rest of the thing is serviceable... sort of? The same way you wouldn't mind being given a shitty sports car because, though it may not be a great sports car,  at least it's got a turbocharged V12 and it's free? Anyway, let's look at the competitor for this slot in my army: 

Ooooh right. A horrifying mechanical nightmare with actual scythes that is, itself, vaguely scythe-shaped:

Scythes, GW, are long and curved, not shaped like fluffy french pastry.

 All I'd have to do is mount it on a flight base and bob's-your-uncle. Oh, did I mention they break down into smaller parts for easy storage? And, since I'd inevitably want to spam them I already have a pair built. 


It seems you lose again, GW. But don't worry, those Carnifex bits don't come too cheap (wait, yes they do) and I will need some other gribblies from the parts resellers. 


Happy Wednesday, people. Note the poll in the top right.

Raise the Owlbear of Victory!

At the same time my Stormraven went over the top.... I was at work, I think. But later, I painted this owl bear. Thanks to everybody out there who put me over the top, I really appreciate it, guys. 

Anyhow, these furry, feathery (furthery?) monstrosities plague my D&D group every time we camp out in a forest, so I thought it as time to add one to the minis case. They seem to attack in teams of two or three, so this is probably the first of a few, but the LGS only had one, so. 

Bears are pretty monochrome, but owls have some fantastic patterns and tons of variation in there plumage. I was sorely tempted  to mottle his feathers and make a spotted owl, but wanted to get him done in time for D&D. This two-toned fellow will suffice for now, but the next time, definitely something a little more complex?


 Or, maybe just a snowy white one eating Harry Potter. 


Happy Sunday, people, and thanks again. 

Stormtalon Leaked!

Beasts of War apparently gets their hands on early copies of White Dwarf, and is revealing all sorts of things, most notably, this horrible thing. 


It flies. That's the best thing I can say about it. Why didn't they just take an Assault Marine and add on a bunch of weapons until he looked like a GP03? Modern Marines get things like the AV-8B Harrier II's, F/A-18's,  and the new F-35 Lightning. Future marines get the flying fish. Oh, and it still has the Stormraven's ridiculous tail assembly. Bravo. Obviously they wanted those little gunboats from Transformers 3, but went to the same git that gave us the previous raft of crap marine fliers, who then bent over and shat out this boxy turd. 


Speaking of turds, here are the stats: 
130pts
BS:4 AV11/11/11
Fast Skimmer, Aerial Assault, Supersonic
Ceramite Plating
Escort Craft: Place unit on table within 6" of another unit that arrived from Deepstrike, or Reserve.
Hoverstrike: Stay stationary to gain +1BS
TL Assault Cannon
TL Heavy Bolter - upgradable to either:
TL Typhoon Missile Launchers
TL Lascannon
TL Skyhammer Launchers - S:7 AP:4 Heavy3 R:60"


To sum up, it costs as much as a Vendetta and is not nearly as good. It has the same amount of gun mounts as a Landspeeder with marginally better weapons, but is won't survive long enough to put them to good use. Oh, and it can hold hands with something that deep strikes, so your DS'ing speeder won't feel alone as it gets shot up. This thing has a paltry AV11, so yes, it's going to be missiled out of the sky as soon as it shows its face, which is constantly, and since it's a flyer, it's going to be on a flight base, so, unlike our friend the speeder, no cover for you. It doesn't even carry a melta weapon to take advantage of its speed. 


If you can't figure out a better way to spend 130 points in the Big Blue SM Codex, not to mention your hard earned money, then I wash my hands of you. 


EDIT!


I see where your jealousy lies, GW. Shame on you!

And now for something completely different....

By now you all know my love for robots and mechanical things. Get a load of what DARPA's been doing lately. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather my tax dollars go to something like this than lavish parties for GSA members or hookers for the Secret Service. It seems they haven't really solved the portable power issue yet, but they'll get there. Is anyone else unnerved by the sneakers on the thing?


Thanks for the tremendous outpouring of support for the Stormraven in competition over at MWC. If you haven't voted yet, we've got some stiff competition from a certain Dreadnaught, apparently, so please help propel our plane to victory. 

Contest Day!

Well folks, the MWC conversion contest featuring my Stormraven (below) is upon us. Please head on over to Miniatures Wargame Conversions and help propel my birdie to victory.

Thanks in advance!

Stormraven Conversion Finished!

In the spirit of doing what I say I'm gonna do this year,  I fixed a Stormraven model so it's the proper length to carry just about everything. I also did so in record time (for me), because the original deadline for the Miniature Wargames Conversions contest (again, thanks in advance for your vote) was set two weeks short. Now, two weeks is a hell of a lot of time. I could put in some LED lighting, hinged a proper dreadnaught ramp-- hell, I could've properly jointed a dreadnaught to fit in there. But, alas, I had to settle for a finished bird. Oh well. 

And she's a big one, too. All kitted out, she's as long  as an IG Valkyrie from its nose to its twin booms, and sits higher on her landing gear. Maybe a little too high, but it was important that the chin turret had clearance. Plus, half the time she'll be carrying jump infantry anyway, and the front storm hatch is actually at just the right height to walk right out of. You'll notice I dispensed with that huge ugly fishtail rudder in favor of delta wings set waaaaay back and rudders sticking out of the engine cowlings. I wrestled with setting th swings amidships in the original mounts, but she looks much, much sleeker this way.  Also, where most people felt obliged to stick on canard wings (which are really so an aircraft doesn't stall out when it climbs) I dispensed with them in terms of crew doors under the big, manly Hurricane Bolter mounts, which, visually read as canards anyway. 

What I really needed time for was to suss out the rear hatch, which would've yawned open like the jaw of an angler fish to allow a dread to just stomp on out. I'm also mightily disappointed with the hinge on the smaller inset crew hatch. Unlike the Rhino one, it's just sort of clamped in those teeth and will not fucking stay in. 

She is, of course, magnetized to hell and back for easy storage. naked like this you get a better look at the big friendly side door. Since all GW-designed Imperial troop craft are designed after Republic Gunships anyway, I though it a good idea to include these instead of just leaving the weeny little crew doors in the front. There is, after all, nothing in the SR rules that says the side exits are invalidated by H-bolters, it's just (badly) modeled that way on the original kit. Those weeny little h-bolter housings make better landing gear wells anyway. 

The only thing I didn't magnetized were the little nose-mounted missile racks and heavy bolters, because the multi-melta is so much more useful anyway. The SR isn't a missile boat at all, it's meant to fly up into people's faces and pour anger down their throats. However, it's a flyer (no cover) and a sad AV12, and under gunned (you can't sit back and shoot all day with TL lascannons like you can with a Vendetta) but I plan to give the Run/Gun/Drop/Die strategy the old college try nonetheless in future Blood Angels list. 

Being a completionist, I detailed the inside and its crew, including the Techmarine (who looks stuffed in there, the poor guy) and Edbart XIV, the gun servitor. You're going to see something of the inside when you open the ramps anyway, so why not? 

I had fun making the little servitor model. He had no arms, so I fitted his right with a spare auspex bit and ran cabling from his left shoulder.  I wanted to light the inside with LED's for the contest, but at the time, time was running short (remember, the original deadline was the 15th). The side hatches had plenty of area for hinging, and would've gotten reinforced with magnet locks inside the fuselage so they could hold up the weight of the h-bolter sponsons, but now... oh well. If Storm Eagles make it into the next Ultramarines codex, maybe I'll do it in there, especially after seeing all the great effects on Jon T Law's photo series on Flickr. Thank you for that extraordinary find, Tears of Envy. Another interior detail shot: 

FW made detail packs for the insides of Valkyries with a full squad of Elysian Drop Infantry sitting on benches, and I still hold out hope they'll make some of Space Marines doing the same for Astartes vehicles. Of course, to do that they'll have to upsize the Rhinos and Land Raiders...

The underside is boringly under-detailed due to time constraints. One of my thoughts was to model a set of belly doors so the Dreadnought (or any riders) could just drop out. Of course, that thought came after the thing was nearly finished, and the zep gear (a pit of them) would had to sit in new ugly housings to the side, fattening the already blocky profile, or in the originals at the rear. Oh well. The flight base mount sits into the crosspiece under the forward section a bit loosely, but otherwise snugly. As a result, she sits nose-up instead of nose-down like a Valk. She sports a chin turret because it's a better configuration for ground-attack missions. The thing would have to bank something awful to fire a dorsal turret at anything on the ground, be it tank or infantry.  Sorry GW designers, you should've put more thought into this. Way to fail. 

Perhaps to make up for the plain belly (also, let' s be honest, you see it more) the top is quite well detailed. For Storm Eagle duty, I could make some missile pods and stick a little metal plat on them so they adhere to the magnets holding the wing/turbines in place. But then, there's plenty of time for that in the future, and other projects to do. For those of you puzzled about the orientation of the wing decals in other shots, I hope this sheds some light on matters for you; they're for other pilots to see and identify the plane when flying above it. I mounted the grapple on the roof for boarding missions; she's meant to fly up under something, reel herself in, and then the Marines open the top hatch and cut their way aboard the enemy ship. 

Fitted out for anti-troop duty with those assault cannons the thing would have to carry mountains of ammo, so the lascannon turret makes a lot more sense. The h-bolters throw out more than enough shots to deter enemy infantry, and you're really going to be more concerned about Hydras and things with lascannons and lances anyway. I want my flying tank to take down other tanks and transports, and assault cannons just don't do that, unlike in the real world where a shell-spitting 30mm vulcan is a tanker's worst nightmare. You can get larger vulcans from Japanese companies (Kotobukiya makes an excellent, cheap, motorized one, and yes, I have one)

The hope is, of course, that our sweat pays off  and we win the aforementioned contest, but if we don't, there's still a great aircraft to help fill out the ranks of the Ultramarines. so it's win-win, right fellas? Fellas?

I swear their expressions just changed. 

New FW Stormeagle.....

No sooner do I finish my own extended StormRaven for the Miniatures Wargame Conversions contest, (painted pictures to come soon):then I saw this, on Tabletop Fix:

The official FW Storm Eagle model.

Hmmmmmmm.......

Happy Friday, People.