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!

Inspiring Motivation, or Motivationally Inspired?

So, like I mentioned in my intro post I hope to dabble in a little bit of everything modeling, gaming, and GW related.  So I want to get to a main focus of this blog.  Motivation.  Motivation for you, your buddy, your painting, your modelling, your gaming, and of course motivation for Me.  I could have just started a painting blog somewhere on a forum, but I want to expand this more to just my minis and current army.  I want to help those like me, and get myself motivated to finish it all in the process.

Before I begin waxing on my soapbox and preaching, (some of you may be thinking it's too late) let me explain what I mentioned in the first post.  I have been a major troll and I have sucked up plenty of gaming and painting knowledge, articles, blogs and forums.  But I never post.  So I finally read a few things in the Internet gaming circles, a couple of buddies have asked me for advice and complimented my own stuff, so I figured, I can't give any worse then I get right?  So here it is.

First on the agenda:  We be 'PLOGGIN.
This blog will probably start off as my personal Paint Blog and we can go from there.  I am currently working on my Angels Sanguine Army for 40K.  I have another 40k army, my Eldar, but I have them benched until I can see the end of the Seer Council/Mech Eldar swing.

The Bolters

In my adventures throughout ciberspace, I run across a few specific boards and painting blogs, one in particular which has sold me completely on my new Angels Sanguine, is the work of OMG, on The Bolter and Chainsword Forum.  His Sanguine Army has tipped me over the edge of painting my blood angels as Angels Sanguine.  And I am not looking back.  I played BA as proxy lightly before the .PDF era, and have picked them back up with a vengance.  Originally painted as as my beginner smurf power armor army when I was 14, I have decided to made it a real deal, full-on army as an opposite to my shooty "Perfidious" Eldar and stripped the smurfs to make em my BA.  Besides... with 5th I need to buy a whole lot of Wave Serpents, and that's not really in the cards right now.

Here is the Pile to be painted:  (Remember, I've been collecting power armor since I was 14...I was shocked at how much plastic and pewter I have aquired, sadly, pretty much all un-painted)

Staring at this pile makes me a sad panda....

3 Full Tactical Squads
3 Full JP Assault squads
3 Full Non-JP Assault squads
2 Dev Squads
2 Vindies
A pair of Baals
6 Razor/Rhino backs
20 Some Death Company
5 Assorted Dreadnoughts
6 Bikes
LandSpeeder
Attack bike
Sang Guard Squad
Honor Guard
Assorted Chaplins, Sang Priests, BA Characters etc etc...

And here is the Rub, I love assembling and modding, but the painting-OY.  That's the hard part.  On to part duex:

The Bashers

Warhammer Fantasy.  I only got into Warhammer Fantasy a few years ago as a dive into the Seventh edition.  Of course, as lots of people start, we did the Fantasy beginner set, Battle for Skull Pass.  In my little gaming group I ended up with greenskins as most of my friends never played Tabletop min games, or especially Fantasy, so was their first trip. Although I now have a decent sized Waaagh, with a few units painted and like I mentioned earlier, that is on the temporary back burner until 8th is out.. More on that later, and possibly on a sister blog..Who knows.

The Brushes

Like I mentioned before plenty of times, I am a huge internet whore/loser/troll.  In my travels I have made a decent collection of sites that I frequent, and certain people whom I follow, and their work Inspires and Motivates me (see, see full circle...like a donut).  Here is a quick list of relevant stuff.  Currently lots of BA/AS and power Armor related:.

The Bolter and Chainsword Forum
The Painting Corps blog
Massive Voodoo
Awesome Paint Job

Just to name a few.  I'll keep a good pile in my blogroll, (to the right) and hopefully I can help point you to other work I use for my own my inspirations and have them inspire you too.

I want to leave each painting post with other work that Inspires and Motivates me (sense a theme here?).  check it:

BA (and not Blood Angels) inspirational pics I found for Blood Angels and Angels Sanguine.  Enjoy, and be sure to use those links and check out their work and read their blogs.  I do.

"Space Marines", by Radojavor

Owl and Moon Guy's Blog

Raffaele Picca's Site







-Mike

The obligatory Intro Post

Hi, My name is Mike, or MikeD for the unfamiliar.  This blog was created to help share my thoughts and efforts in the world of Miniature Wargaming.  I have been playing miniature wargames off and on for almost fourteen years.  Now, of course that doesn't make me a veteran, just a guy who knows his way around some super glue, plastic sprues and a bit of dice throwing.  I have played mainly 40K back in fourth, and now in Fifth, some 7th Fantasy, I have played a bit of Mordheim too.  In the past few years I began to expand my horizons and focus on this as a serious hobby, and finally decided to throw off my troll suit and begin contributing.  I frequent many a blog and forum, and now I want to try and finally contribute too! This blog will contain posts about Moddeling, Modding, Painting, some List Building and tactics, and all with a dash of things I may come to think about when I work on my "Little Men" or probably should be thinking about even at work.  Thanks for taking the time to check out this blog, and I hope that I can bring you some intesting and entertaining posts.

-Mike