How to make a Case for your Miniatures

Orcs! orcs! Orcs! orcs!...

The news is in, extry extry! read all about it!  Open up my email this morning, and official news fo the new 8th edition OnG in march!  WAAAGH!!!  time to put my Angels in high gear to be ready to go Green in March and get my Waaaaaagh updated and ready.





Here is the link to the article, -you will need to log into GW first:

https://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=14300090a&_requestid=337384

For me, these guys will definitely see some more use in the 8th Army Book!

And here is my current composition of the SkarToof Waaaagh!  (click for a better view)

I am a fan of the use of Unit fillers, plus I am looking forward to the rumored new box of Boys...and the mega Spider Goblin Monstrous Creature!

For the Horde!!....Erm..I mean....WAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!

-Mike

Turkey Day and Progress!

Howdy folks!  I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving, and for those of you who could, I hope you enjoyed your time off and time with family (if you like that kind of thing-Family that is).  With my last posts of progress working with my plastic and super glue, I am now going back to the paint.  I was able to play a few games with my buddies AmateurDorn and TauChi in Maryland and NY, respectively, via VASSAL. I hope you all had a happy holiday, and enjoyed some time off.  Here are the updates!

The STC is closed for business!

Arg....Finally.  12 Space marine Rhino chassis tanks completely assembled...And on top of that, a 1k game played!  Not bad for a busy week and a half eh?

STC Progress and Mike will actually PLAY 40k!

Yes, that is a scary picture.

JINKIES Scoob, is it possible!  I may actually play a game of 40k?  Yeap, it looks like it.  Since moving back to Orlando and playing Fantasy for almost a year before that, I make a shaky return to 40K next week at Paladin Tech & Game in Orlando.  There is a new 40K night there on Tuesdays, which is perfect for me, so I will be attending weekly (hopefully) to actually put my Angels to the test.  And if fate comes my way, Sundays too for RTTs and the like.  WOOT!

Imperial Fisticuffs

I've not posted in some time (going back to school is serious business) but I wanted to show off some painting I've done in the last few months just to prove I've still been at it. This isn't my whole force but just a few things that I'm rather proud of.

MikeyD's STC

Howdy folks!  This week I have been updating my Army Charts, and running around with the fam for halloween.  I hope you all enjoyed your Hallows Eve.  As the title mentiones, I have a big project ahead, my Angels vehicles. Over time I have been buying and storing my Rhino Chassis and now I will finally begin to get them together.  Total of 15 Rhino chassis, like a mini Forgeworld...time to dig into the plastic.

Updates!

No, I'm not dead, just keeping busy.  I got a new present for my birthday and I've been busy learning the ropes.  More posts to come.  I also have been able to finish My last Assault Squad, Forcas.  Here is the update!

Painting Progress: Ground Assault 2/3 Done

Progress, painting and no end in sight.  The second Squad of the Angels Sanguine, Squad Bune is ready for the Tabletop.  Next up, Squad Forcas!

Using the yellow ink method, I' am digging my yellow helmets, and I feel I got my rhythm for red down pat.

Pics below.

The astute of you may notice that I am using the Photo Stand Scenery I whipped up and explained in my last post.  I am pretty happy with it, and it works well to keep my marines in the setting and on good frame within the pic for the blog.

Up next, Squad Forcas already primed and on the table:

Photography: Put em on a pedestal!

So I made up a Lightbox, I fixed up my Lights, and I can't help but notice I'm missing something.  every time I try to take a pic of my completed units I find myself fighting with boxes, piles of paper, and various background printouts just to line them up nice for a clean photo.

Well, not anymore.  After a flash of inspiration at my local Home  Center while shopping for kitchen paint with the Fiancé, I had a flash of inspiration.

Put it on a pedestal!  If it works for horse, it should work for the Emperor's finest right?

Light, Camera, Awesome

In completing my units I am slowly learning that photographing my minis and working with better lighting is a must.  Like some of us in the hobby, I search for the super bright and "natural" bright and clear natural light for painting and photography.  After digging around and trying different types of lights, I believe I found my favorite setup for lighting, and it won't break the bank.

Work Work...

I have continued with full steam on my Army, and I have successfully completed my first painted Assault Squad, Forcas, and am beginning my second, Bune.  Not much time for love Dr. Jones, so here are the pics and update.

Mo' Dreads

So, yes, I am still painting my squads, but real life work has kicked into high gear for me so I apologize for the late post.  In between the few rare sittings I have had to paint, I have been working on my dreadnoughts.  Some of you can remember my last set of dreads, my Heavy Support TLAC dreads.  This week I worked on Two Furioso Dreads and one Librarian Dread.  Here are the results, with still some work to be done.

Steady as she goes. My hold'a-ma-jiggers

Tactical Squad Eremiel,
ready for the battlefield.

Ok, 1/4 of my troops done!  My third tactical squad, Eremiel, is now done.  So that makes all my legal and good to go Tac squads painted, based, and sealed  I will begin working on my first (non-JP) assault squad, Uriel this week.

So, as far as my painting progress, steady as she goes...But what about all the new little thingies to start painting, arms, Jet Packs, heads?

My next set of marines are about to begin, but I need to work out a few magnetizing and painting station solutions.  

Organizing and Documenting the Army

 Woah! That's a lot of nuts!  Thats how I felt looking at my pile of Marines, as I attempted to work on organizing, cleaning, and figure out what I got, and what I want.  Here are my findings and my work on mastering my mess.

So, I've missed a few posts last week and this Monday, but In my defense I've been quite busy.  I am halfway done with the Last Tactical Squad, Squad Erimiel.  I should hopefully finish that by this weekend, and begin on my Assault Squads.  So, on with this post!

Drunk with power? Angel Sanguine Icons and Greenstuff Plans.

It's funny how just a little success makes you go "Ok cool, I can walk, now let's run a marathon."  I've been busy.  I finished Tac Squad Saleos early last week, and begin working on getting my third and Final Tac ready for paint.  I have also been able to scrounge together enough bits for a 10 Man Vanguard Vet Squad and a 5 Man Stearnguard squad. I've began focusing on "Blinging" out my boys.  I am using some of the new BA DC shoulderpads, and realized Greenstuff is going to be handy...

Angels Sanguine Cannon Fluff

I stumbled across a few items of Angels Sanguine specific Fluff and background items, mainly from BnC and from C.S. Gotto.  Working on a Sucessor Chapter Army allows lots of creative leway, but I still find myself looking for ideas and guidance in the GW and Black Library Cannon.  Here are some resources I found, and hopfully they can help you too.

Weapon Loadouts: Honor Guard, Vanguards, Sergeants, and Death Company

When it comes down to it, there are wayyy too many opinions for weapons and gear for the Blood Angels and their successors.  In my mind, the battlefield role of these units are the key to equiping them.  So what do we want?  Jump Pack Death Company?  Razorback foot sloggers with Thunder Hammers and Plasma Weapons?  Or just Honor Guard with Maxxed Melta Death to rain down as a nut cracking unit with attached Priesty love?

There is always more then one way to skin a cat, lets count the ways.

Tutorial: How to Install Magnets into a Miniature

Progress Report: Squad Saleos

I have my second squad up and ready to paint.  I have based with my airbrush and I am aiming to get this unit done much quicker then the first one.  Again, a squad built on AoBr marines.  You will notice Sgt. Saleos is missing an arm.  Thats the magnetized arm slot allowing me to equip him differently.

The only issue left is to figure out a good way to add shades to the red armor without needing to repaint the entire armor back Blood Red.  If I use a dark wash, to shade the recesses it tends to need a reaaply of Blood Red before I can highlight.  Any suggestions?  I am also trying the red inks and washes.  I want to avoid lining it by hand, but might have to.  A dark brown mixed with Blood Red might work.

I am hoping that the first red highlight I applyed with the base coats can still be seen through.

The marine on the left has the first base coat of 2:1 Scab Red/Blood Red. The right marine has had it's full Blood Red first Highlight applied.

Anyone else out there have any suggestions about shading with red on power armor?

-Mike

Youtube Channel

Our youtube channel is up, running and fully functional!

Trash or Treasure? WiP

So my family and I moved into our house about three months ago, and my fiance had a pile of old crap she wanted to trash.  I salvaged a nifty little cabinet thing with a drawer.  It had a loose fitting wire window, removed in the pic, and needed a little bit of tweaking and tightening.  otherwise, it was a great little cabinet. It has a shelf inside, with two little metal rails to keep things on the shelf and the bottom, two doors and a small area on the bottom that fits a little drawer.  Perfect for little nick nacks, thimbles, porcelain figures, or in my case, Superhuman Angelic Warriors of the 41st millennium.

Angels Sanguine Test Squad

Tactical Squad Bathin.  Done.  That's right, I don't do test Minis. I do test SQUADS.  I am that hard core... And since I have some tactical squads that will probably not be fielded waaay to often, I decided to start with my third string tactical squad, Bathin.  This squad consists of AoBr marines, including a backpack from the Death Company sprue.

Second Bananas?

Today I got the pleasant little surprise that the Imperial Fists will show up in the upcoming movie Ultramarines. You can read about it here. At first, I was ecstatic. Fists! Rendered in cinematic-quality CG! Boltguns blazing, power swords swording! Fighting alongside their brother Ultras against the hordes of...of whatever they're gonna put in the movie! I grabbed my phone to call up people I know to tell them.

I got halfway through dialing my grandmother when a thought occurred to me. This is an Ultramarines movie. The Imperial Fists are going to be sidekicks to the Ultras. Once again, the boys in blue are going to get the spotlight while other more tastefully-decorated chapters get to ride in the backseat. My excitement waned; Grandma would have to wait.

Now I'm sure you're reading this and saying, "No shit, AmateurDork, look at the title of the movie!" And you're right, if a bit rude. But if you play non-Ultramarine SM armies you may understand how I feel. We want a little more time in the spotlight.

Now this is an old, dead horse that I'm not going to start beating nor do I encourage any of you to. We know why Ultras are the posterboys of 40k, and it makes sense that the movie would focus on them. I have NO Ultrahate, and I'm sure that Ultramarines will be a delight for all Space Marine fans and hopefully for the rest of you too. I'm just a little worried about how the Fists will be portrayed.

There's a bit of Imperial Fist fluff that takes place during the Heresy. It's the big showdown between the Fists and their evil counterparts, the Iron Warriors and its called The Iron Cage. Long story short, Rogal Dorn leads the Fists in a massive siege against an Iron Warrior fortress. It's an amazing battle between two forces, equally matched in siege warfare, each unyielding to the other. I love this story. Except for the ending.

Apparently, while the Fists were slogging through trenches of blood, the battleground littered with the bodies of friend and foe alike, the pristine blue ships of the Ultramarines swooped down, bombed the fortress and SAVED the Imperial Fists. No one called in the Ultras, they just show up because they're worried about Dorn and his ability to knock down a castle. Dorn is grateful, and vows to adhere to Guilliman's new book, "Galactic Conquest for Dummies".

I just don't want the movie to be like that. I just want the Fists to be able to stand on their own. I'll be pissed if they're portrayed as rock-headed, unimaginative warriors who bite off more than they can chew, only to be rescued and tut-tutted for not studying the Codex enough.

The truth is, I’m not really sure what to expect, but I am optimistic. Everything I have read so far seems like they are really try to make this movie for the fans, and 40k fans have high expectations. I am happy that my beloved Imperial Fists will be in the movie and portrayed by awesome actors like John Hurt and Johnny Harris. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, and who knows; maybe this will be the start of some exciting new fluff for all of us.

More stuff for the Toolbag: Kuler

Instead of working on your primary project, what do you usually do?  Think about other projects, of course...  So I've been working on color schemes and pretty-pretty fluffy stuff for my Eldar to break up my Angels Sanguine painting.  I find that keeping something in mind to intersplice a painting effort helps to keep painting burnout just out of arms reach, in theory, at least.  As my Eldar are on my back burner as third tier, (after my primary 40K and Fantasy armies, The Angels and My Skartoof OnG Waagh) I am thinking making them all kinds of pretty pretty Eldar style.

Angels Sanguine Decals

Decals Rock!  Here I am worrying about how to get my Angels Sanguine logo onto my marines, thinking I can draw it on, paint it freehand, I can try to make a press mold and make greenstuff icons, or I can cut itty bitty stencils and airbrush it on..Ha fat chance any of those ideas wouldn't make me go insane.

ARG!! Listbuilding!

As some of you may have noticed, my posts have all been kind of skirting the issue of ACTUALLY PLAYING THE GAME.  I blame my family and work schedule AHEM...  I am still stuck in the make/paint/convert mindset, and the more I look at blogs and lists the more scratch my head.

As I noted, I am lucky to have a bevy of models at my disposal but I just don't know where to go with it...  I am very happy to have a army that I feel sticks with my gameplay style.  The Angels are manaueverable, fast, and can be very synergistic.  One of my major gameply favs, hence my Eldar army, and my planned Fantasy DE or WE armies (damn elfy types).  I always like the Glass cannon approach (hence Mr. McStabbyStab from WoW as well...) and am kinda reluctant to jump full into Mech, but it feels like a necessary evil.

So in list building, can you can see my dilemma?  I want to build fun lists for me, and I want them to be competitive, but the Blood Angels (Angels Sanguine) have so many damn choices.  WHAT TO DO!?!

Tutorial: How to Paint Scorched Weapon Muzzles

All right. It’s been a busy couple of weeks, but I’ve finally been able to spend some time in the Dorn Studio. I’ve been trying to finish up a Land Speeder so I can move on to a tasty Dread, and she’s almost complete, the weapons being the last item on the list. Since I’m doing a Heavy Flamer/Multimelta combo, I thought that this would be a perfect time for a tutorial on how I paint burn effects on the muzzles on all my heat-based weaponry. I’m not the best painter in the world but, I’ve learned some cool tricks here and there to add a bit of realism to my models (and to draw attention away from other mistakes). So without further ado: How To Paint Scorched Weapon Muzzles or something to that effect……

TauChi Episode 3

Finished painting and sealing my first Tau Fire Warrior Unit!

Tutorial: Rifleman Dreadnought Arms

RIFLEMEN!!

So, I decided to add some Twin Linked Auto Cannon (TLAC) -Rifleman arms to my dreadnoughts, as I don't own any Predators, and I want some long range anti-transport capability.  Seeing that these Dreadnought configs are all the rage these days, I started to look for economical and cool (read:. cheap and easy) ways to add some.  My search fu was weak, I saw plenty of "Here is my Dread!" threads and posts, but no How-to. So, without further ado, here is my take on it.

TauChi Episode 2

Painting Tau Fire Warriors

Bases Finished? Tac Squad one, Base Coated.

Update.

I threw more paint on the bases, to give them an Orangey ruddy rust color with the metal. Feels kinda Orky... Here is a pic.

 I am not sure how they will look with an Angel Sanguine on them, so I am working on my first squad and leaving these for the time being to tweak later.  Still have to flock them too.

Secondly, following the Les Bursley Tutorial I mentioned in my last post, I went forth and mixed up a gallon of my red basecoat, thinned for the airbrush and proceeded to basecoat the squad.  here are th results:

Next step is to line the black, and cleanup the black side.  Overall, it was pretty easy once I got the hang of it. It is a great idea.  More this weekend.

Thanks for looking!

-Mike

Basecoats and Lightboxes.

Quick update!

I began working on my bases and did the first basecoats for the set made in the previous tutorial.  Here is a pic:

I started working on it from a "rusty metal" idea...  I am using the Painting corps tutorial as a guide for how I want my rust to look.  Check it out here.

For my city basecoats I used a mix of 2:1:1 Codex grey, Vermin Brown, and Knarloc Green for the metal and two drybrushes of Codex grey and Fortress grey, respectively.

My next step is to get some pigment experiements going, and to weather and highlight.  Lastly I do want to add a bit of snowy dirty slush too.

And ready to be worked on, a full ten man Tac Squad all primed and ready to go.

I will be using the Les Bursley tutorial as a starting point.  Find it here.  So hopefully by next week I'll finish my bases and get my Tac Squad base coats airbrushed and cleaned up.

On a second note, My Fiance and I made a lightbox!  Now that I want to continue adding pics of my minis onto this blog, I took a trip to the hardware store followed by the fabric store.  After about ten bucks and some planning, I created a quick frame, and my fantastic Seamstress Fiance sewed up the "tent" of cloth to put on it (check out her own nerd blog  http://gingergoddess.blogspot.com/).

Here is a pic of it completed:

And a sample pic of some orcs to test out the lighting:

I find it gives a good clear ambient light, but I belove I need to get some more direct lighting from above and from the camera direction.  Backgrounds and a plinth, or stand, are also a must.

Here are some resources I used to inspire me with my lightbox:

LightBoxes
Massive Voodoo 1
Massive Voodoo 2
The Painting Corps

White balance
The Painting Corps Blog

Macro Photography
Tin Paint Bucket Blog

And guess what gang?  I found all that love and INSPIRATION by digging through the From The Warp group. Cheeky eh?

So how is your project going?  Post your links in the comments section!

-Mike

TauChi Episode 1

Enjoy the first episode of my video series about my plunge into the 40k universe!

Time to Reset: The Local Scene, Local Game Stores and Forums

Let's get a little introspective for a minute.  I'm pretty Joe average, some would say I'm living the everyday American dream:  fat, dumb, and happy.  Back in October of last year, I made a huge change and moved back to my hometown, Orlando Florida.  I wanted to be close to family, my now fiance and her kids, and more importantly, I felt my career was heading for an abrupt layoff...I had already dodged the layoff bullet twice.  The 'third time is a charm' thing was looming.  I hit the big Super Nintendo Slidey Reset button of life.  Time to blow out the cartridge and try again.

I jumped out of my comfort zone in a hard core way.  I was a videogaming nerd, and I played way to much WoW, played Fantasy almost weekly, and I lived in the blue dot in the red state, Austin, TX.  Austin has a pretty hip and happening gaming communinty some may say, but I never really got into the "Scene".  I only played at the local store once or twice, and only with my immediate coworkers who jumped into fantasy with me in the first place -We primarily played at work after hours or in people's homes.  I never hung out in the Gaming stores..I always felt a bit..."uneasy'

So what kept me away from the FLGS and schmoozing with the strangers who for all intents and purposes, live in and run with this hobby of mine?

The way I figure it, now that I sit down and think about it, I was afraid of sucking "out loud".  Some may say I might be stuck up and afraid of the social stigma of gaming miniatures.  Was it that I can't embrace my identiy and just go with the flow?  We all know the steriotypes.  The unwashed WAAC players, the ultra cheezy, the cheaters and grifters, and of course those who feel you need their opinion, no matter what.   This blog can hopefully change that.

Back in Austin there were two main stores: Battleforge Games and Dragon's Lair Comics.  We had a great spread of players, (Hell, the now internet (in?)famous BoLs crew play out of BFG) plenty of 40K, Fantasy, and even some LoTR.

In playing fantasy games with my pals I felt comfy, I already knew them and had no ice to break.  I knew their take on fantasy, hell I play OnG and the general concensus on that is "Play OnG for fun, don't plan to win".  So did I set myself up for losing and frustration?  Probably. I feel like I avoided the Unknown and didn't want to stray out of my comfort zone of fluffy bunny happy happy fun gaming.  I told myself that the guys playing in a store are all about Competive gaming, and would eat me for breakfast.  I was Afeared.

I also blame WoW.  Yeap, I think right about now I can blame WoW for anything if I thought about it enough.  I HATE PuGs.  I hate the idea of sitting in a store bugging guys to a pick up game because of the same reason.  In WoW it was easy, I don't know you, I can't trust you, and no I am not going to sit here with your "many whelps" and expect me to just "Handle it!"  In real life, not so easy...They are right in front of you.

Secondarily, I feel I avoided the stores because I was a cheapskate.  I felt guilty that I never "Payed where I played"  I pretty much have my armies built off of eBay or eBay stores.  I get a guilty feeling if I would go into a store, use their boards, terain, and space but never turn around and spend money in there.

So I was content justifying it to myself.

No more.  As Alfred once said, "Why do we fall down sir? So we might learn to pick ourselves up."  I frequent one of my close by friendly local gaming stores and try to spend at least 10 to 15 bucks (usually ends up as 20-30 tho...) when I go, and I have been looking to get into an escalation campaign to ramp up my Angels.

Baby Steps.

I guess I'm kinda lucky, here in Orlando there is apparently a big gaming community.  We have two or three main stores I go to. With at least three more in the area.  (forgive me If I forgot one or three)

My local FLGS shout out:
Rhubarb Games 
Paladin Tech and Game
Sci-Fi City
Coliseum of Comics (Kissimmee location)

And local Forums:
Rhubarb Forum
Adeptus Orlandicus
Orange County Choppas

So I say, to hell with it.  Thats the only way I can play and grow right?  I hope to help support my FLGS and play when I get the chance...just got to get time between the kids, work, and the soon-to-be-wife?  Easy a piece of cake.

So I ask you, have any of you ever had the fear of joining the gaming masses, pick up games, tourneys, or just meeting people in the community and supporting your Local Stores?  Any stories or experiences you want to share?  Have you ever experienced a bit of anxiety or worry about going to a gming store and diving right in, not sure of the local flavor?  is it competitive, what kind of points are played, whats beardy or cheezy?

Also, any of you got here from the Orlando Area?  I'm digging into seeing what kind of local climate we have, and how I can contribute.  Thats what it's all about right?

Funnily enough, it's OK to dive in.  we all have seen that these pics from GW are really not too close to the real scene.

 

Happy go lucky gaming pics from GW that help calm the noobs:
Just like your group right?




 I love these pics..just like the ones of the business people or computer guys pointing at a screen like its real life...

Ahh...so politically correct, and soo real!

-Mike

Tutorial: Angels Sanguine bases. Start from the Bottom, and work your way up.

So I began to work on my Angels. I have an assembly line process in my head and have finished constructing my squads. As I want to work on improving my paint job per squad, I will start with my Tac Squads and work to my Assault squads, getting better each time. So here I begin with the bases. I used to leave them for last, and do them in a hurry. To alleviate that I will start from the bottom, base first.

To your Glory and the Glory of Him on Earth...

Hey folks. AmateurDorn here.

MikeD has put together this blog, and as he has said, this is a place for motivation. For the past year that I have been painting minis, I've often felt that I'd like to write about my experiences, post pics of my Fists, and share what I've learned with others. This seemed like the perfect place to do this, and I'm happy to be able to contribute. A bit about how I got into this hobby...

Around this time last year, I picked up the Battle for Skull Pass, having an unnatural obsession with dwarfs.

No....dwarfs.

I had never played a tabletop game before, or painted a miniature, but I had seen the work that a few of my friends had done years earlier. Over the next few weeks, I would occasionally paint some of the models, frustrated at my lack of skill. Who liked this stuff, anyway? These tiny dudes were way too detailed. The brush that this thing came with was terrible and the paints expensive. The gray, dismembered corpses of Skull Pass gathered dust on my coffee table, and the battle had never even begun.

A few months later...

I went on a little trip out of town to visit a friend of mine. It was Saturday night, we were drunk, and the conversation eventually became a heated discussion about who could kick who's ass. You know what I'm talking about. Schwarzenegger versus Worf... A Jedi versus Lo Pan... A pack of koalas on PCP versus Dog the bounty hunter...

"The Space Marines...", my friend mentioned. "Space marines", I said. "Sure, I guess..."

"No, I mean the freaking Space Marines..."

He then began to tell me about the Space Marines. About the Primarchs and the Emperor. The Horus Heresy and the Chapters and the Imperium of Man, and like a wide-eyed little child full of rum and Coke, I devoured every bit of it. This is what I needed. This awesome world of bolters and battle barges and lightning claws was the motivation I needed to try this hobby again.

When I got home a few days later, I stopped back at the hobby store and picked up some books: Codex: Space Marines, and Horus Rising. A month and three more novels later, I bought a Tactical squad and some new brushes and I've been painting the Imperial Fists ever since. I'm a complete lore whore and every time I read a story or see a pic of these awesome giants in yellow (or any color) power armor, punching face in the Name of the Emperor, I urgently need to complete my army. And there you have it.

Over the course of this blog, I'll share with you some of my favorite tabletop gaming things, stuff about the Fists, my personal recipe for yellow, pics of my army, and pics of other people's armies that inspire me to keep working and improve my painting. I hope that my enthusiasm will help you with your current army, start a new one, or inspire you to try something new and any feedback I get will certainly help me with the same.

I hope you all enjoy yourselves here and keeping checking back with us for new stuff!