Demi Morgana's hobby log

Probably the only reason to like winter

2012-01-21T08:51:00.001-08:00

Hello again

Once again there's not much going on in the hobby area - because of exactly the same reasons as recently.
Buuuut "not much" doesn't mean "nothing" so it turned out I finally managed to make a tiny bit of progress on the buggy while waiting for the driver's proper torso. And stuggling against life challenges that is...
The progress means preparing main structure of the base for the vehicle. It's supposed to be simple and sunny - the weather is just fucked up here: snow, rain, dog shits and fucking idiots just everywhere.
So at this moment there's piece of desert, fence and test "wanted poster". I will use these for buildings on gaming table and for the test I used my very own ugly head hehehe.

I am also taking step - by - step piccies so sooner or later (later - let's be frank about it) another tut will join the Plinth Country spam box. Also according to the mole in the Hobbyworld the stuff might be printed in Gameforces zine - we'll see.

What else? It turned out my kid is solid material for black metal fan.
Yup - there's no shit about it. Last Saturday I was trying to make him sleep and his reaction for Burzum was far beyond my expentations. True - it was "only" Hildskjalf album so nothing loudy and screamy but Varg definitely used to creatue music wich character - damn dark character.
Hope the next band I will introduce to the kid will be something Call of Cthulhu related - he's still bit too small for Troll or Anaal Nathrakh.

And the last thing for this log - the game!
I barely lost any hope for an underhive (or better: ash wastes) sparring in January but it happened last Saturday night.
We played the first game of the campaign planned for whole year - this time Deco chose scavengers scenario so Scavvies and Orlocks (gang built purely on old Warzone minis) were fighting for a loot counter.
After the game we both agreed the table works: there's so many places to hide the game finally looks like proper Necromunda match should.

I didn't plan taking any pics but I took one from above the table in the very end of the evening. Tge table is ready for painting - just waiting for spare evening to do it. Right now the Ramshackle spider got the color as well as some other metal elements.
The plan is to paint silver whole steel on the table yet before applying sand. It's much better idea than repainting silver sand into sand - color again...

And the last thing - probably the only reason to like winter is field fridge =D
Leaving the gaming bunker in the middle of brutal combat just to bring fresh beer is so annoying but thank to plastic basin and some clear snow rom the garden (the tip for this week: do NOT use lemon snow for it... Do not use lemon snow for anything actually) we get this =D

Cheers!

2012 bitching...

2012-01-09T00:24:00.000-08:00

Hey again, in the year of apocalypse.

This year hasn't started they way I wanted, in fact is started pretty crappy (mostly in hobby matter) so the log starts with bitching.

I am mostly pissed because we already had an extended weekend here (3 days long) and we had not a single game played!
For fuck sake! Preparing table last year took pretty lot of time and effort, the campaign has been planned and my Necromunda sparring-partner decided to leave for heavy-drinking trip.
Oh well - let's just hope he was having good fun, because I fuckin' wasn't.

What else? More bitching!
Last evening I sent the payment for the real estate appraiser exam in March - papers will be send today or tomorrow. Exam is pretty expensive, fucking hard and the statistics ain't promossing...
But like I wrote: the ministry got the money so the Rubicon has been crossed. There's no other way but trying to learn as hard as possible trying to pass the shit asap.H ere's what is to be sent: whole the shit alltogether is over 2,5 kg brick of paper:

...containing a year of typing shit.
I am really happy this stuff has finally left my place.

But there's also funny piece in the whole bitching - cake:
some time ago I found the very first Warhammer model I painted ever for my buddy from high school (yeah, is was so long time ago - about 1997 iirc).
The guy was throwing away all old minis he got so I decided to adopt some of them and found this little dude. It's so damn ugly yet I am really happy I found it so not it stands proudly in the very middle of my display case :D

And the last hobby thing - I started assembling the buggy!
Sadly I don't think I will see it painted anytime shortly but I want to see it painted really nice and even got the idea for the color scheme and of course - nicey base. I think after the exam I will take a week off, hide in the deepest basement with paints and finish the toy.

Hope the next time there'll be less bitching and more miniatures.
Take care!

2011: summary

2011-12-29T08:31:00.000-08:00

Hey again - and for the last time this year.

Today it's the very last day of 2011 so it's time for short summary of the hobby activities. But first some goodies:

Few days back I got ork buggy from Kromlech - I must say the casting quality is just fucking sweet. Really - I can recommend the model to anyone!
It's so full of character it brings back old time od Gorkamorka :D
I decided not to rush with it because the model deserves quality paintjob. I also decided to make short review + painting progress article so it should appear in Gameforces magazine sooner or later...

Guys have just posted the official paintjob yet I will do my best to beat it :p ;)

Speaking of GF - yesterday mailman delivered several issues and looks like Mario decided to use the bile thralls speedpainting text I wrote almost exactly a year back. Once again my ego got boosted big time =]

What else?
Today we had the very last Necromunda game this year and it was 34th game we played in 2011. The game was played at 7 AM so my opponent can go to New Year's Eve party tonight.
Once again scavvies provided me ton of fun - even without terrifying presence of Karloth Valois.
Today we tested Ramshackle Games big spider as terrain feature - the casting quality is pretty poor yet the model is definitely full of character and turned out to be extremly useful: models were small enough to walk and fight under it's limbs. Pinning it was just one big pain in the ass but pinning it ALWAYS worthy effort.
I didn't manage to assemble it for the game (there were only main body + 4 legs) but the already finished model looks like this:

I am sure we'll be using it in most of coming games - it will look very effective painted steel and rusted like hell.

After the game we decided to quit the current campaign (4th we played this year) and made a plan for the gaming in 2012. We decided to play only one big campaign but we will both choose 3 gangs to lead.
Every game we will be randomly choosing which gangs will fight. Deco chose Goliaths, Van Saars and Orlocks and I decided tu use Scavvies, Eschers and my EM4 proxied Goliaths.
And the dice rolls decided the very first game will be match between Scavvies and Orlocks. Really can't wait!

Also can't wait to to finally see the table sanded and painted so we can write a battle report. Hope to convince Deco to stay longer aftr the next game and help me in sanding the modules.

And as for the proper summary here is is:
Last year I saw Nameless counting all of minis painted in passing year and was really got hooked but such an idea. But because we also play a bit I decided to add played games to the chart.
So it looks like below: in passing year I managed to paint 36 models and play nearly the same amount of games. It was close to cross the line and play more games than painted models but maybe next year we manage to beat the score.

All in all it was very busy time. Not sure was it "good" but surely busy: there was lots of dice rolling, beer drinking and having fun but also managed to replicte and finish the appraisal practice - exams start in March 2012 and I am shitfuckingscared of it - hope I will pass it next year so I can concentrate on conquering the Underhive ;)

Cheers!

Home found

2011-12-13T05:54:00.000-08:00

Hey again!

Good news!
My bane thralls have finally found new home!
I am very happy they will travel to reliable hobbyist, yet I am kinda sad they won't be staring at me from behing the glass anymore.
Oh well - that's just life. Besides I don't think I will play Warmachine anytime soon so I guess I can stand that loss. Photos were taken by mahon (despotic and ruthless ruler of Chest of Colors site) and surprisingly - good friend of mine =]
If you want some close ups - here you go and here you go again
One day I will have to try count how big (or actually how small now) my Cryx force really is. I am guite sure I should be able to field enough troops for a standard size game but until I do the summary - I won't put bet on it.

As for finding new home for old stuff looks like the custom made Land Raider will also leave my place finally.
I was pretty proud of the model when I made it but all in all I don't play WH40K at all so there is no use of it.
The next time I will build something for Necromunda so there won't be any usefulness dilemma ^^
Here's the beast - more of my WH40K stuff is stored at Chest of Colors gallery.

I had to cut the pic so the model can be presented at withing the screen but if you want to see some more of it - clicky!

And here's the big box the client will recieve shortly - I am quite sure banes will have safe trip but I am very scared about land raider:
I used properly big box, put lots of bubblewrap and sponge inside but on the other hand base construction of the vehicle is cardboard. Sure it's thick but it's just paper.
Let's keep the fingers crossed hard until the recipient confirms the models are safe and sound.

What else?
Since I am devoted blood donor once per 2 months I can take a day off and spend a morning with steel needle in my vein.
And since I am constantly sufering from lack of hobby time I decided to use the bloody day to prepare and assemble bunker for the 6th gaming module.
At this stage it looks kinda like piece of crap but I am sure after painting it will turn out way better.
Besides no matter how ugly / nice it is it's main function is being useful during the game. My opponent needs some decent spot to place heavy stubber operator to defend his pathetic life against hordes of plague zombies after all hehehe...
Here's what I got so far:

Last night we managed to play a mid-week game to test new module and see what upgrades could ba yet added before ton of sand hits the table.
The game was kinda fun: usually there are more scavvies than ordinary gangers (advantage of ~4-5 models) but this time I managed to field Karloth Valois (thanks again Skritster!!!) and also bought him extra zombie pack therefore there was 10 plague ridden corpses + 15 gangers vs 10 Goliaths!!!
I felt almost like running Imperial Guard army ^^
The mass was strong enough to make Deco decide to voluntarily run for the hills but after the game is was the time to pay for the fun: hiring Karloth costed me a lot especially compared to lousy cost of ordinary scavvy so coudn't afford getting it in the next game. And that meant I spent ~100 credits for a single game!!! >< I surely won't make the mistake again until scavvies discover a gold mine or something in the sump. There was no camera during the game but there was a cellphone. Really can't wait to see the table painted.

That's it for now.
Xmas weekend passed and I haven't painted a single model nor played a single game so the annual hobby statistic won't be peoperly boosted in December.
See ya next week!

Scavvies strike again

2011-12-09T08:12:00.000-08:00

Olla!

I am pretty amazed there is so much going on in my "hobby sphere":
despite much more home duties + lots of feckin' boring learning miniatures are getting painted (slowly) games are played.
This kinda reminds me year 2010: for many stupid reasons we were barely playing anything and at the very end of December we were playing a lot to boost pathetic statistics.
Fortunately this year games are played much more ofter - you will see the chart in the annual summary post ^^

So last week I was continuing works on the scaly model. Because there was a match set for Friday night I was hoping to finish it by that date.
But all in all there were too many glazes to be painted so Goliaths gang faced scaly at this stage:

Despite it was late wip stage scaly managed to take out of action one of the juves and get a bit closer to getting an advance. Looks like even partly painted models fight better than unpainted ^^

The day after the match I solved my problem and scaly was finished - and became my second entry for FUUK painitng contest.
I regret I suck bit time when it comes to painting freehands (a tattoo would look so nice here) but I am pretty satisfied anyway.
Looks like it's time to find a candidate for the second scaly - any ideas?

As for the game one thing is definitely sure:
gaming modules are just brilliant. Setting the table takes just 3 minutes as well as putting it back.
And as for the match itself: it was the first game of new campaign: this time Goliaths vs Scavvies. Scavvies are such a shit fighters but watching 20 models on the table is just priceless!
This skinky mass managed to drive off Deco's gangers but didn't manage to conquest any of his terrains and transform it into scolfurous wastes ;(
Oh well - maybe next time: I spent lots of credits for Karloth Valois so the number of my models might reach 25 - 30 minis!!!
And almost half ot it might be plague zombies!!!
Can't wait to start rolling hehehehe...

And the last thing:
after posting the comment about new Kromlech's toy (this uber cool buggy) Artur from Kromlech mailed me and told I can get some of the toys for providing photos of painted thing in exchange.
Sure I agreed: most of their products is simply not my cup of tea but this one is fucking sweet! I think it will end up in the glass case rather than on gaming table - such a cool thingy deserves some extra attention:

Laters!

Double-pimped! ^^

2011-12-01T22:59:00.000-08:00

Hey again!

So Gameforces magazine did it again:
once again my ass got pimped this time in issue #25, where my tutorial about painting bile thralls suicide squad for Cryx was printed. I remember I wrote this article at the very beginning of 2011 and it's really hard to believe the time is running so fast.

But 2011 was (and actually still is) very busy.
There was pretty lot of work with the appraisal practice. I remember last year the professor running it told us brutal statistic: only about 10% of participants finish it more less on time (that is in about 12 - 18 months).
About 3 weeks ago I delivered my last project and it turned out I was the only one who did whole thing on time (there were 25 members of the group).
Should it be reason to cheer? Maybe.
But I'd be more happy if the state exam statistic wasn't that horrifying: on average ~15% of people taking the exam passes is.
Sure you can try many times - as long as you can afford the fucking fees.

Nevermind - let's go back to the hobby matter.

After whole week of gathering materials for the exam I was hoping for some painting time so I can finish the second entry for the FUUKing contest before the deadline.
On Saturday I was pretty busy so I was sure there will be me-time the next day.
Bullshit!
After I sat down about 10 a.m. and started working on real estates law regulations it turned out I spent whole fucking day behind the papers.
I feel sick thinking coming 3,5 months will look pretty the same...
But I decided not to give up easily so in the evening I took primed scaly and airbrush set to spare room and put some basic colors on the model.
Another lesson learnt: DO NOT paint minis without proper light.
The next morning I examined the mini under fine light and it was just pale - smooth transitions between colors are barely seen so I will have to paint it ordinary way.
Here's what I got so far - base color and some glazes. Thank Cthulhu this model is practically only flesh and some rust.

There are also some good news this time:
because the kiddo was born it turned out he will be getting some sweets and shit from my workplace every year for Xmas. This year the parcel wasn't prepared because the money were spent about the time he was born so I was told I can buy him some toys and sweets - I will get refund after bringing the invoices.
The baby is way too small to play anything or eat anything else than my wifey's titties so daddy decided to add some Dark Age minis to the collection hehehehe...

If you need some of this stuff visit Guild of Mecenaries online store - there's still lots of DA mnis for very decent money.
So here's what daddy... eee... junior got ^^
Lilith (limited model sculpted by Tom Meier), Skarrd Father, Skarrd Bone Doc and Grist from Brood range.
Really like these minis and despite nobody plays Dark Age here I hope to see a complete warband in the display case. I want to see them painted "a'la Brom" that is muted colors, lots or browns and reds - we'll see how will it turn out eventually.

And the last thing - the second pimping that is ^^
Few days ago I learnt my Cernunnos has been added to the Brigade Models gallery section. Really hope to paint another model from their line sometimes:
fantasy is such a breath of fresh air after all those Warmachine and Necromunda minis

OK then, 'till the next time!

Back to painting

2011-11-24T23:52:00.000-08:00

Finally!

Mezoghoul has been sent to the client over 2 weeks ago so I can finally paint something for myself and surely - something smaller this time.
Lesson learnt: next time before accepting any painting commission for model I don't know I will ask for scale photo.
I haven't got info the model arrived to Sweden safe and sound so I hope whatever is going on my panzer-box provides totally damage proof enviroment for Mezoghoul (the model has been actually sent inside 2 boxes and lots of sponge).

What else?
Last weekend we managed to add some more plaster on the modular Necromunda game table. Some gaps were filled so whole thing is closer to sand+pva maelstrom stage.
I would really love to take some days off to finish whole projects and I think it is a plan after passing the exam next year (hopefully...).
I still have to make a big multi-level bunker for the last module so I think the best I can get yet in 2011 is the thing ready for sand.

As for painting there are 3 minis on the desk now:
The first one was painted for Chest of Colors miniature exchange #5 (once again thanks for it Phil! ).
The model is cool superhero (or supervillain) sculpt I got from Przemas some time ago but until now I had no motivation to paint it. A shame to admit...
I like the model but just don't collect superheroes.
So 3 evenings of painting, some pva and one of COFCers for another model:

Another one is something which made me pretty happy and proud actually - not because of painting quality but because it's the first mini from fantasy range I painted for a looong time.
Cernunnos is cool thing from Celtos range which I got from Navarro some time ago. Another reasom which makes is special is the reason it was painted: the first FUUK online painting contest.
Contests always do miracle when it comes to boosting motivation.

And the last one - which will hopefully become my second entry for the mentioned event: scaly.
Because the Scavvy gang is complete (thank you Evilbay!!!) all I need is painting (and re-painting...) the rotten gangers.
As wrote before - imo original scaly models are shit compared to the rest of the gangers so I decided to hire replacements.
Besides thank to this I could choose the best weapons possible for these steroid fuckers: club and sword, which gives scaly: 3 attacks, 6 strength and parry. Add to this 4 weapons skill, fear and armour save and the opponent can start looking for spare underwear ^^
Anyway for model is based on LotR Moria Troll which I got (again) from Ebay. All I did so far is replacing weapons with scratch built sword (pcv sheet + some greenstuff) and
club (heavy stubber + some nails). I think I will add some armout we well but at this moment - the wip:

The next post will surely include it painted - hopefully before the friday night game.
Cheers!

Busy again

2011-11-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

Hey again - time for another dose of zombie spam =P

Recently there was pretty much going on in the miniatures hobby area.
Sadly the time I have for doing own stuff was severly limited because of finishing the appraisal practice - fortunately yesterday I got project #14 signed and the very last one should be accepted next week so I should officially finish the pracice: as the first person in the group!
So it looks like the overseer didn't lie about statistic: ~10% of people finish it within 1 - 1,5 year...

So the biggest thing which happened is finishing Mezoghoul:
I am not flattering myself but I like the final effect and really like to know the client also likes it enough to accept the job (so the CofC guys).
This it probably the heaviest model I painted ever, more heavy than armorcast chaos cannon I painted few years back.
And also most probably the ugliest sculpt I've ever had under my roof - but then again it's classic model and painting minis oop for many years (or which never were mass produced) is kinda honor! =]

So without more babbling I am introducing Mezoghoul:

What else?
Another good news: last week I managed to get missing scavvy models!!!
Yup, that means apart from boss variant I have complete gang based on the oldschool models!
The only exception is I replaced scaly models with trolls conversions - didn't like original models weapon choice and the scalies compared to rest of scavvies just suck like hell :?
I sold minie long time ago and can't remember I ever regreted the decision (the only problem now to be solved is converting scatter cannon - just in case).
That means I will be playing next campaign game using my beloved rotten-heads and thank to Karloth Valois since the second game - I am hoping for lots of plague zombies he,he,he,he,he,he,heeeee... :>

Another plan for the campaign is playing it on new modular table - last weekend we cut and attached pcv borders - 2 hrs of work and modules are ready for further works.
Next time we will fill the gaps and prepare it for sanding.

And the last one - I started painting cool Celtos model I got from my buddy Navarro - so far only the base is done but it's so nice to paint just something for the display case.
Hope this fucker will turn out one mean, evil bastard.
But for now - the nearly done base:

That's if for now - laters!

Flooded battlefield!

2011-11-05T03:16:00.000-07:00

Hey again!

It's been a while since the last update but sadly not much was going on around Necromunda matter - practice duties and such are to blame...
But thank to last night game there is something to write about:
last night we were having the last game using Eschers vs Van Saars played on modular gaming table!
As you can see it's still wip stage but it's done enough so we could test some solutions, obstacles settings etc. There are 2 more modules being made so we have more terrain variety to choose.

Before models were placed we got serious adrenaline boost: just after we came to the gaming pit and opened beers water pipe broke and water was rushing into the place - no shit!
I had to shut down water supply in the whole building (Friday evening) and we started looking for plumber. Thank Cthulhu one of the neighbours knew what to do and after 30 mins gaming place was ready for the battle.
On Monday I have to find the fuck who was installing the water counter and burst his ass - the job was screwed up and it was the reason of the whole mess.

Anyway since it was the last game my opponent chose gang fight scenario. It turned out my Eschers were storming buildings occupied by damn Van Saars.
Fortunately for me after 2 juves and one ganger went down Deco fucked up bottle test before his gang was able to deal some serious damages upon my band of frenzied tits.

Hope to play next game on slightly improved battlefield but we cannot start painting it until all gaps are filled. I pray to see it prepared for pj yet this year.
But in the meantime - some shots:

What else?
Last week I managed to get one of 4 missing Scavies to get my gang complete:
really would like to see the gang in action again but these bastards are so cheap that dozen of minis just ain't enough for standard game...
There is another auction on Ebay right now running so with a bit of luck I might get the gang completed - that would be pretty nice Xmas gift ^^

And last but not least:
last week I signed up for 2 painting events - wa really looking for these, because I hope they will provide hobby rush I've been looking for a long time:
5th edition of Chest of Colors Miniature Exchange and the very first FUUK painting contest.
About 13.11.2011 I will know my recipient for ME and but 31.12.2011 I must have entries painted for FUUK event - can't wait to dig some old and ugly minis and see them painted :D

That's it for now - I am off to plan the gang for the netx game (Delaque, Cawdor or Goliath) and work on Mezoghoul - my client is pretty pissed because of the delay I suppose... =/

Cheers!

Underhive is shaking again!

2011-10-14T05:01:00.000-07:00

So Eschers managed to shew off Van Saar patrol trying to rescue their leader and his juve boyfriend last Saturday night and despite I had to roll on serious injury table none or my gangers left battlefield dead. Sadly my opponent still has much better terrains so I suppose tonight I will see his full gang again but you cannot have everything, right?

Speaking of Necromunda last night I finally managed to prepare for painitng based on Valhallan models team: several layers of sprayed paint and I already like these fuckers. I really hope to see these guys done yet this year - true, there are still 2,5 months left but because of the real estate appraisal practice I might not have enough time to job the done.
We'll see.

As for now the gang has dedicated base done + armoured carrier (progress for now below). I am tempted to use some fast and cheaty way to get models done (they are for gaming after all) but I think I like the base too much to put tabletop quality stuff on it.

Anyway the plan for tonight is to kick Van Saars hopefully once again (girl power ftw!) and attach 4 sets of old ruins we use to one of modules. So far 2 are read for sand and paint.
Again - I deeply hope to play games on new table starting next year, so we can finally make battle report.

That's it for now.

5 hours later edit:
I've just came back from another engagement in the Underhive (or more probably - ash wastes) and the mean bitches managed to force Van Saars to run for the hills.
Moveover I got 4 loot counters out of 5 yet I managed to sell them for lousy money...
Also Deco's gangers got BIG experience bonus because of difference in gang ratings. I'll get him another time.

The only thing that worries me is one of my bitches beated leader's Ld stat so there will be the duel in a few days - I rolled shoot out. I deeply hope boss is gonna give goddamn usurper sludge sea swimming lesson and that's it - I hope...

After the game we made serious improvement on building the table: floors of buildings I made long time ago were ripped off and we attached these ruins to the module.
It's still early wip but the next battle will be played on modular battlefield and there's no other way. The last piece will be improvised but we hope to get the idea for it during coming week.
Time for me to prepare my Crackwhores for the next game - cheers!

Big stuff comin'

2011-10-08T04:58:00.000-07:00

One week and two posts? Woo-hoo!

So first of all today I finally managed to pin probably the heaviest model I had at my place ever: Dark Legion's mezoghoul.
It's out of production for a long time model from Target Games. From what I managed to establish it was made in plastic at the beginning of 90's for Siege of Citadel board game in Mutant Chronicles universe. No idea why was it casted in metal later but it doesn't matter:
I really enjoy painting old, ugly models and I am quite sure this one is probably the ugliest of all:

Another hobby progress was applying fresh mud on display base for new Necromunda gang - based on Valhallan models this time. I think they will use Delaque rules.
Once again I used mix of shiny resin, washes and powdered chalk. Apparently this stuff makes flat surface look like chocolate cake but I think it will be turn out fine when painted models are placed where they belong.
Also I could sprinkle the same mud on the vehicle so it fits whole piece bit better. I am sure some more mud will be applied on whole painted squad.

And the last thing for this post: photo of more-less finished gang transporter.
I am still trying to find proper background for taking photos in the tent other than t-shirt but so far there's nothing better.
More pics will be posted on my tutorials' site soon.

Now I am off for Necromunda game to kick asses of Van Saar nerds!

Embalmed yet I breathe!!!

2011-10-06T23:16:00.000-07:00

Heya after long break!

I actually didn't think corpse of this site would be ever reanimated but here it is: embalmed yet it breathes hehehe...

But seriously: combination of not much to do during long hours in the office + bunch of stuff which doesn't fit boards I hang on caused the necromancy decision.

So for starters there's a hope soon I will get some more hobby time - the practice started last year is going really fine and I should finish it this year (with small Cthulhu's help).

Also the articles section of my other site is slowly growing and I am hoping to add at least one more walkthrough shortly.
So looks like that's all for the reanimation post - see you sometimes later.
And below - teaser of the coming article.

Cheers!

No more posting

2010-11-30T09:15:00.000-08:00

Hello all - after a long break.

Hello and actually good bye...
After several months of trying blogging it turned out I don't have enough time to prepare any decent blog material and sometimes just don't have enough time to write at all:

Real estate valuation practice takes most of my hobby time =(

So what does it mean?
Basically it mean I don't think I will write anything more here.
But there's also a good news:
I still have some materials nearly done and these will be posted (sooner or later) in the tutorials section of Plinth Country site.
Also there will be added a gallery so I hope to upload some of my stuff there.

Looks like there's not much left to add...
Thank you all supporters - short adventure with blogging wouldn't happen without you :)
If you ever need to contact me - you can find the email address on Plinth Country.

Take care!

Busy, busy, busy...

2010-09-06T00:28:00.000-07:00

(I will post pic here)

Hello all - with the delay!

This post is kinda pathetic but it's still better as it is than posting nothing - again...
I definitey owe you explanation wht no shit hasn't been posted for recent weekends. The reason is pretty lame and obvious: I was busy.
In fact I was damn busy...
First of all since a few weeks there's more and more work with 2 more sites I administrate: the store and recently added tutorials section.
Which is another news material - Plinth Country has finally got articles panel!
I moved there basing tutorials already posted on the blog but also added new text about building sci-fi base.

(I will post pic here)

And that takes us to another update:
Because operating html code on blogger is slightly different than on Plinth Country I decided to post articles only on PC site and put links here. The reason is only my laziness - you have to forgive me (or not ;-) )

But apart from being busy by operating sites there was much more going on - which distracted me from spamming here.
The most important thing was my brother visiting home - he couldn't come last spring because of eruption of the fuckin' volcano buuut he managed to come now. In fact he's been here for a month and is leaving today. I'll be seeing him on Xmas but already miss the guy - there's never enough of party-time ;)

What else?
I've been painting and assembling models - at least a bit.
The most important thing I have (almost) finished is science - fiction socle from the tutorial:
which means soon part 2 of the article will be ready for revealing. I don't mind painting stuff for article purposes not writing text but uploading it and posting is such is pretty time consuming for me - which is why I prepere tuts so rarely...

(I will post pic here - promise)

Another thing (almost) finished is Sd. Kfz. 222 model - it's only nearly done because I want to wait with weathering and final painting touches untin it stands on the base. I want to use the same colors and tchniques on the vehicle and base so whole piece is as much unified as possible.
As for the model itself - it's from ICM and I must say there's huge difference between ICM products and Italieri - which I painted before.
After assembling the piece I am sure it is worth to pay a bit higher price to get much better quality model: Italieri's stuff has much better details quality and the plasic models are made of is kinda "hard", not "rubbery" as ICM or UM.
As for base - I will use the same shape and size as for AB 41 but this time it will be very dirty and muddy winter base. And of course I'll try to take some work-in-progress shots so I get material for another article! :)

(I will post pic here, I will post pic here, I will post pic here...)

The last thing - yesterday while painting ork's display base I also started painting Nurgle dreadnought - as you can imagine it will be green'n'olive (so that's not realy a surprise) but it will be painted only for Ebay purposes so I cannot prepare enything extravagant - players, collectors and bidders have own, specified demands when it comes to getting painted model ;)

(I will post pic here)

Take care!!!

PS. PP hasn't sent me my No Quarters issues yet so I don't like these guys anymore

Storming Ebay...

2010-08-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

Hello!

It's Sunday evening, it's raining like hell here, I am dead-tired after gym so there's nothing better to do than speading zombie spam around the webspace!

So once again there was something going on in the hobby area - maybe not as much as I'd like to but it's still better than nothing.

The cherry on the top of the cake was grill-party Friday night over 100 km from my place!
It was just great - although I had to come back the next day (with naaasty hangover) I definitely don't regret the event: I finally had opportunity to meet some friends with who I lost contact long time ago and of course I could finally relax for capital R =]
To bad I lost the Saturday for recovery but that's the price every partyboy has to pay once in a while...

The next hobby-thing: Heroes of Might and Magic IV arrived a few days ago - I bought it to prevent commiting suicide during long and deadly hours of doing nothing in the office: yup, sometimes such thing happens...
Unfortunately the game game doesn't like Windows Vista Business (who does actually?) so I cannot use it at work. Oh well - I can still play at home reminding time wasted at Univ campus doing beers, pot and Heroes IV...

As for miniatures - there was also something going on! After all life cannot be just party time!
So first of all I pinned, based and undercoated Chaos champ got 2 weeks ago. I hoped to convert it much more but all in all I only replaced model's head with mutated one - it will be Ebay piece and snice I am not WH40k gamer I wasn't sure is there better weapon choice than power fist + melta gun. And once again model will be sold together with the socle so the lord has own place to rest after a battle :)

Another piece dedicated to auction is dreadnought: I got it damn cheap and converted into Chaos vehicle (Chaos = Nurgle of course!). The model dame already assembled so I couldn't modify it as much as I hoped for but I think it will look decent anyway: lascannon + power weapon should be good set against all those nasty SM / IG armor. Adding the "driver" was fun so I think one day I will get dreadnought and paint it for myself - I don't play so it will be really big converting project, not limited by game's rules. And I could finally use all those bits from the boxes around...

The last pic this weekend is finished AB 41 model. I added details + the base last Tuesday and even though it was rather fast paintjob - I really like it. I like it so much I ordered 2 more vehicles in 1:48 scale: german fuel truck and another wheeled scout car. I will paint at least one o them in winter camo and I already got the idea for the base: the only problem is I don't have different shape/size display base so the projects will have to wait until I add such bases to the store :(
I like the one already used but these will be models for MY glass case so I want each of them to be special. Hope you like the pic:

What else?
I still haven't got replies from CMON authorities, NQ magazine (these guys still owe me 2 NQ issues...) and Chaosium. Apparenly I've become to big pain in the ass to be contacted with or these guys suddenly started to dislike me. No idea which of these would be worse...

But there is also good news: articles panel has been finished - my bro is checkin it again searching for any flaws but it's there waiting to be added to Plinth Country site and uploaded with tutorials.
Thats it for now - see ya next week!

Autoblinda nearly done!

2010-08-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

Hello!

The week is ending so there's a time to sum up hobby activity from last few days.
The biggest achievement was finishing (well... let's say in 90%) the first military model I painted for ages - Autoblinda AB 41.
It took me one day to paint the thing - I think all I need to add is some shading and of course desert style base! I am quite surprised I was able to paint at all - I was being haunted by horrible hangover for most of Saturday but all in all such thing seems to work like a decent motivator ;)
I tested some new colors purchased last week on the AB 41 and I like them so much I am sure I will paint another vehicle sooner or later*.

On wip shots you can see one of new bases added to the store today afternoon - these are made of oak and I like them so much I can't wait to base another large model :)
I also added another painted model to Plinth Country gallery - the palaquin unfortunately pics turned out REALLY screwed up so I'll try to take new ones withing coming week.

Last week I also won 2 internet auctions which means:
- I will have something to paint \o/
- I will have something to use plinths for
- I will have something to kick out on Ebay ;)
Stuff I got is dreadnought from AOBR box (which will be converted into Chaos vessel*) and Chaos lord - which has already been washed off, cut, pinned and slightly converted.

What else? Works on tutorials module for Plinth Country are going fine and with a bit of luck the thing will be finished next week. So I will be able to finally add the articles from the blog.
That also means I will have proper place to put new article about building sci-fi display base!
Building part is finished as well as texts for it - all I have to do is paint it and reveal to the hobby world!

Looks like that's all for now - see ya next weekend!

*definitely sooner ;)
** if Chaos it must be Nurgle =)

Viva Espania!

2010-08-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

So I came back - flew a plane and even managed not to fall out! ^^
The short vacation is over so it's time to coma back to work (ouch...) and to the hobby (yay!).
During my absence there was something going so it's time to restart spamming!

First of all today afternoon I managed to find new home for the Chaos Lord - tomorrow the model is going to start it's big trip over the ocean :)

Another thing is the Autoblinda was undercoated today morning and hope to start painting it this week just after I get proper base: I was told base will be ready about tuesday so I am keeping my fingers crossed. And since we're next to bases matter - 4 new bases were added to the store - this time hand made of high quality ash. Square ones will be added in the middle of the week. Can't wait to finally base the palaquin on one of these!

And there's another spoiler - yesterday I finished taking pics for another basing article so all I have to do is edit the text and it's ready to be posted!
Unfortunately Plinth Country text module isn't ready so the article's publication will probably be delayed... :(

But what's the biggest news?
Of course I was in Spain (mostly in Barcelona) for the last week, I took lots of pics and here are few of them.
All in all I really like Barcelona - although almost none of people I met were speaking english people are friendly, beers are tasty and police doesn't make any troubles. There are lots of nice narrow streets full of interesting places and locations and it's just a pure pleasure penetrating this labyrinth. Barcelona seems to be very safe place.

Many buildings are covered by graffiti - I took pics of some of them:

This building is some sort of squat - it's occopants did great work painting it!

This is example of international, interlanguage and intercultural signing toilet ^^

Another nice paintjob:

And more...

Here whole building's side was covered by paintjob: it was so big I couldn't catch whole thing on a single picture. Impressive isn't it?

And here's example of less impressive graffiti: apparently local idiot has problem with counting to 6 and more:

There are many cool sculptures in Barcelona - some of them give you opportunity to have some fun during break between finishing one beer and opening another:

And the last thing which will always reming me Spain: roaches - there are lots of them so if you're roach-allergic - don't go to Spain ;)

Seeya next Sunday - this time there'll be ordinary, pure-hobby spam! :)

Heil Nurgle!

2010-07-25T06:30:00.000-07:00

Hello again - for the last time in July!

As almost always there was something goint on in the hobby area so let's start!
First of all I finished assembling the very first military model in 1:48 scale: Autoblinda AB 41
It was actually one of a few military models I ever built yet is was lots of fun: model can be used in post-apo skirmish games, all parts were nicely casted so therere's only painting left:
I want to use desert painting scheme and test some new weathering tricks yet definitely don't want it to turn out as most of things I start weathering...
Bad news is painting will have to wait beucase I need to get some more paints for this model and because of short vacation next week - all painting plans are delayed.
But after coming back there will be some wooden bases waiting for me and one of them should fit the model really fine!

Another achievement was bringing the palaquin almost to the end: it's nearly done but I cannot finish it until I get some new bases: I want to see it in kinda swamp scenery and cannot do it now and somehow move on new base later :(
As for model - I am more-less satisfied: I wanted to paint it for a long time, too bad the trone sculpt is pretty poor. Yet it was one of my big painting plans for 2010 so yay for me :)
Besides thank to the fact palaquin is (nearly) done I can paint some side project: necrons warriors from Sławol or something for my mysterious miniatures provider...
After I put model on base I'll surely add some more blood and probably some glossy coat on the goo coming out from trone's back. What do you thing about it?

What else? The tattoo is healed in 95% but there are still pieces of damaged tissue on it so the photo report about getting inked has to wait once again. But no worries - you will see it for sure!
Apparently that's it for now - see ya in 2 weeks!

Cthulhu is complete!

2010-07-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

Hello,

The week is coming to the end so it's time to update the site.
There was prerry much going on: the most important thing is I finally got tattoo finished!
I've been waiting for this for a while and I'm so glad the picture is complete now.

The pic above ain't spectacular but the tissue has to heal so green tones blend in nicely. After that I can take proper photo of the whole thing.
While the tattoo was being finished I've been talking with tattooist about expanding it even more so I think sooner or later I will visit the studio again... The only problem to solve is what do I want want to get inked first: chest, back or low arm. Well see :)

As for miniatures matter I decided to wash off Rackham troll. Assembling it took me lots of time and painting is ~1/3 done but I don't like the direction it's going. Apparently the more I try to paint something not in my standard way - the more zombish figure I get. But during painting I got some ideas for converting troll into sci-fi model so it should turn out unique.
So troll is to go and instead working on this model I FINALLY started painting palaquin of Nurgle!
Painting the champion was fun as I supposed it would be but the trone itself is just silly: I know the sculpt is old but parts of it are just ridiculous. Hope whole piece will turn out nice after banners and nurglings are painted. I will base it on wooden socle - they should be added to the store next weekend.

The last thing for today is another another plinth from the offer got model.
It's oldschool night goblin which I painted pretty long time ago for Forces of Darkness project on Chest of Colors forum - project I never managed to bring to the end. There are more minis painted for the same purpose so sooner or later they will appear on new bases.

And there's one more technical update of the Plinth Country site: on the left panel you can find Tutorials section - it's just temporarly version but I hope to see there whole module with articles
and not just links to the blog. That will probably mean the tutorials will appear only on PC site and not on the blog but it's nothing sure until I see the module finished and installed.

That's it for now - see ya next Sunday!

So damn hot...

2010-07-11T04:36:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

First of all - I deeply hope wherever you live you have better weather whan it's here. Better = less leathal.
Apparently some stupid Polish camel stepped on Gork's (or Mork's) foot and now we're all punished for that by Evil Sun's death rays!
I hope this armageddon won't last much longer because I want to have decent weather during vacation not some fecking holocaust pouring from sky.

Anyway hot or not there was something going on in the hobby last week so it's time to write about it so without further introduction - 'ere we go!

Once again "hobby part" the week was dominated by working on the Plinth Country site - I've found some mionor typing errors, 2 unused sections were removed (thanks Butch!) and also I added links section - bottom left panel. There's even then first link added to one of friendly sides - I'm quite sure you know Voodoo - Monkeys - Team ;)
I'll try to add more links during coming week.

Another site update I'd like to see soon is adding section with articles: in fact I'd like to move them from the blog to the Plinth Country. Unfortunately site's engine isn't as user friendly as I'd like it to be so it might be a serious problem. Yet I'd really like to see another tutorial posted in new place *fingers crossed*

Since we're next to plinths - another one was used for rebasing one of minis from my glass case. I thought about it and I realised I didn't like previous raw wood group base for Hydra Warrior so another one was rebased. You can vote for the model on CMON site and also you can see in in small plinths section of the store ;)

The last thing to write about is Chaos Lord I got on auction some time ago has been finally finished (voters -> here ;) ). That means another large plinth got decent model. About 25 more to paint and the store should look decent. I like the model but it's not the mini I'd like to keep in the glass case so I decided to put it on Ebay - model will get 2 bases (showcase and gaming) so I hope it will find new home within 10 days of auction lasting.

That's it for now - the plan for the rest of a day is getting a cold beer from a fridge and start painitng Rackham troll - making it's base will be described in a tutorial but I can't start it until I can see whole model done.

Take care!

July brings many changes

2010-07-04T03:08:00.001-07:00

Hey again!

Last week was busy. And I mean it - there were LOTS of things to do (not many of them were related to the hobby though) but somehow I managed to make it more-less safely to the Sunday.
So let's start!

Probably the biggest event was the fact I finished studies: final exam was on the previous Saturday but it was last Friday then I was defending my thesis. All I have to do now is waiting for the diplima. And of course start real estate valuation practice in October.
As I suspected it was strange feeling to go to univ for the last time. As I told to examiner professor I didn't think I might even think about missing that - but it's happening.
During last year I learnt lots of interested things and lecturers did all they could to make whole that law-shit as interesing as possible.
To thank them for everything I brought one of minis rebased on decorative plinth to exam - prof was pretty surprised when she discovered zombie model in a box ^^
But I suppose it was one of the most original gifts she ever recieved.
Text on plaque says: "For the first successful year of studies"

But there was also something going on in painting field.
I finally started painting lord of chaos. It will be similar to champions painted before - apparently these colors lure Ebay biders to my auction.
And as bonus model will be provided with 2 bases: square 50 mm for gaming and scenic plinth for glass case. Here's the wip:

Another success for assembling and posting basing tutorial #2: it was intended for Miniature Madness Magazine but since the zine wasn't eventually born I was left with some pics so I added new text and voila. Hope you like it and find it useful.

And finally: 3 days ago I finally managed to get Plinth Country operational!
Thanks to priceless help of my bro site is working (more-less fine) so maybe this will be good way to fund my hobby bills. At the moment there are only resin plinths available but I want to add wooden to the offer as well. If you visit the site and spot any bugs - just let me know :)
The tutorial was even posted on the main site of Heresy Forums :]

As you noticed I want use only models I painted so I decided to re-base some minis from my collection. I started with Hydra warriors - these deminiacs look much better on new bases and I think they are a bit more happy ;)

Till the next time!!! :)

Tutorial #2: Desert base

2010-07-03T03:58:00.000-07:00

As I wrote in the previous tutorial - there will be the second part.
It took me much longer to assemble the text (post graduate studies were pretty time-consuming) but as some people say: it's better late than never, right? ;)

This time I'd like to show you my way to create desert. Please note - it's only one of MANY ways to create such base but I really like it: it's fast, easy to execute and result is decent so without more useless introduction - let's start the show!

Preparations:

Once again we have to start by choosing the proper base to work on. Ideas for choosing base were mentioned in the previous tutorial (Preparations section) so I won't repeat it here.
This time instead of block of wood I decided to use nice wooden plinth which is test Plinth Country base - it should look really nice under painting contest miniature. At the moment store offers only resin plinths but according to what I managed to learnt - it will soon change. Of course you can use resin base as well - these work equally well, the only true difference is you have to paint them.

If you decide to use nice, wooden plinth you should seriously consider securing it with some kind or masking tape: it should protect plinth's original color against any accidental painting, glue or whatever.
Next step was adding piece of tree bark on the plinth (the base will be rocky desert) and cut off the top of the bark so the model can be placed with no problems. Remember - if superglue isn't enough to place the bark you can always use greenstuff and after that apply superglue.

Adding details

After glue and greenstuff dried it was time to add a bit texture.
I didn't want just plain rock + sand this time (at least not under the contest model) so I added piece of skeleton and skull of some poor bastard next to rock. Apparently he didn't manage to find way to oasis on time ;)

After superglue gets totally dry (and I mean it: TOTALLY - you don't want to get the brush destroyed too fast) you can add sand and gravel. Wood glue ("white glue") is just perfect for this. Applying sand around skeleton should make it look half-buried.

When it's done and when glue is totally dry (again) it is a good idea to paint whole thing with diluted wood glue: is will slightly reinforce the bark but most important - should prevent sand from falling off during drybrushing.

Painting

So the time has come for painting. Desert can be painted in NUMEROUS way - practically only your imagination is the limit: it can be realistic, toxic wasteland, alien planet - just whatever comes to your mind!
This time I decided to give my base a reddish tone therefore I started by covering whole surface with diluted terracotta color. As you probably noticed in the meantime I added some leaves . I don't like boring bases, that's all ;)

Next I mixed base tone with drop of dwarf flesh and started drybrushing. I've been adding bleached bone to the mixture between layers of drybrush to highlight the desert and the final drybrush layer was almost pure white.
Important thing: remember the more intermediate colors between base and final colors you use the smoother transitions you will get. And it really doesn't take much more time.

Bones were painted during drybrushing so all I did was adding some washes and final highlights to make them a bit more visible.

The last thing was adding some dried foliage and pigments onto the base. Pigments are just an option but I like them because you can easily get dusty feeling.

The base is ready and is waiting to carry the contest model.
Hope you found the text useful. The next article will be about turning decorative resin plinth into forest base so stay tuned!

School's out!!!

2010-06-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

Hello gals 'n' guys!

I hope you were having great week. If no - we'll there're still 2 hours left to do something about it ;)
As for me - it was busy time, unfortunately not because of hobby shit :(

So let's start!
As the title of the post says my Univ is practicaly over: yesterday morning there was the final exam (I passed it on 4 or B - in US) and next Friday afternoon I only have to defend thesis of my final work. I think it will be just a formality.
So part of the week was spend on some minor preparations to the exam and the other part on struggling with online store software. Yup - last night we started testing 3rd version of software and I DEEPLY hope this one till be the final...
Speakling of it - tomorrow I hope to send official letter to the provider of the software I got: English module is totally fucked up and the cocksucker didn't even bother replying on any of emails I sent to him!
I'm gonna write him I want my money back since he turned out to be such a fucking ass and he can take this goddamn software with him.

But let's not forget it's a hobby blog and talking with cocksuckers ain't part of it so just to come back on tracks here's the mini of the week - wolfen zombie.
Because I had not much time for painting all I did was rebasing the piece - long time ago I got 3 zombies and hoped to paint them and sell on Ebay fast but somehow painitng process turned out to be some neverending nightmare. Anyway I sold one of them, another is just undercoated and this one (painted long ago) - well next Friday this one will be gift for authorities of faculty I finished. Of course it will get decorative plaque so they know who was the author and who can assemble model if any accident ever happens ;)

I'm saying it once again - during last year of studies I was having great time, learnt a lot of useful stuff and I thing it was mostly because of teachers who were able to turn such mysterious thing like real estates valuation regulations and procedures into something understandable.
Congrats guys - you made Demi a happy and smart zombie!

The next mini presented tonight is my old conversion - ork "buggy".
I remember a few years ago I purchased some painted Gorkamorka minis - I wanted to save some cash so I thought it was a good deal. One of minis was plastic GM trukk.
It turned out liguid I prepared to wash paint off was far too caustic and most of the vehicle simply melted... I saved as many parts as I could, built simple frame and started adding saved parts. On pics below you can see results of this compulsory experiment.

Last thing related to hobby is sad news: because the tattooist became a father we had to delay finishing Great Cthulhu from 5.07 to 16.07 so the Ancient One will be not complete for 2 weeks more! Oh well - he waited so long that 2 weeks shouldn't make a difference.

What next?
Well I want to finally start the site and finally paint models which have been waiting on the desk for so long: palaquin, troll and chaos lord. Next Sunday I hope to see something painted and this time for MY glass case ;)

Later all!

Giving away miniatures continues...

2010-06-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

It's another Sunday so it's once again time to spread some demi-spam into the webspace!
Unfortunately this time it won't be much of it but hey - it's still better a bit of cake than just nothing ;)

So passing week was definitrely dominated by Fallout 3... I can't say it's a reason to be proud of but these are the facts and I'm not gonna lie on my personal site.
When I purchased the upgraded game (Game of the year edition) and read there are 5 expansion sets included I had NO IDEA this will distract me from anything else for whole week...
One of modifications is your character can reach 30th level instead of just 20th but after I grabbed shotgun, drugs, some grenades, drugs and trusty assault rifle* and went to Point Lookout... well I knew I should get much more experience before going there.
New missions are lots of fun so if you have no idea for Xmas gift (or any other gift actually ^^ ) Fallout 3 is good investment :)

Enough video games for now - the blog should be concentrated on miniatures so let's go back on tracks.
So the first info is I got new toys: there are two of them, they are plastic and they are necron warrions from my friend Sławol from Chest of Colors painting community. I wanted to paint these metalheads for a long time but somehow saw no reason for getting whole box just to paint a single model. But When I learnt Sławon was painting whole necron army for a commission (and asked politely) he agreed to share some unused figures with good'ole Demi.
Thank you mate!

These will be painted as security bots from abandoned ship wreck or some king atomic-holocaust shelter (as you can see F3 themes are dominating my hobby now...).
And as for proper enviroment for the necrons last week I checked Hirst Arts site - these guys are selling molds for making sci-fi labyrinth in Space Hulk fashion. With these molds plus some creativity I could easily make enclosed modular gaming space with all those cameras, turrets, patrolling bots etc etc!
The idea is so crazy I WANT to do the thing! Especially I have whole room to keep such game table! The only problem is the thing would be damn expensive: ~$150 for molds + probably ~$200 for resin for a start is sad perspective for my wallet :(
We'll see: it will be long-term project and there's a chance after summer I will get another source of finance for the hobby so who knows - maybe the first game will be during Xmas time?

As for painting itself - I was a fucking slacker and I admit it.
I had a plan to paint base colors on Chaos lord and finally put the model on Ebay and also to start painting Nurgle palaquin (one ot the most characterful Chaos models) but all I did was
assembling them... Because of the stupid F3 I didn't even make bases for any on these!
But as "punishment" I decided to make 2 bases for auction model: one for gaming and other for display case. The happy client will get both of them. I hope this will motivate me to sit tight and paint instead of setting traps for deathclaws and yao guais.

But the fact I wasted most of the feek didn't mean I haven't painted anything at all!
Yup - I painted and sent away gift model #3: bile thrall and with that my Cryx force has no biles to command.
The model was sent last Wednesday morning and I thing there's a chance the recipient will get it tomorrow. Let's hope he's not reading it because I really didn't want to spoil the surprise.
Sure I could not mention about it at all but there's one tough rule here: I want to have one model finished per week (average) and I can only blame myself for playing F3 instead of painting sth else to write about :)

Today was election day in Poland - soon we'll see who has been selected for the top idiot of the nation.

Take care!

*plus some more drugs in spare pocket

Gift model #2 found new home today!

2010-06-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hey,

the time has come: it's Sunday so the blog has to grow*!

So first of all - evil robots were sold and sent to new owner. That wasn't any spectacular business but I couldn't expect more for tabletop paintjob on such uncommon miniatures ilke EM4 droids. I think one day I'll get box set of necron warriors from WH40k and give them a try: according to the rule of Ebay GW shit is always good idea for auction.

I also received mounted lord I won on auction 2 weeks ago - it was washed off and prepared for priming. I only have to decide if I want it to be Nurgle character or maybe Chaos Undivided for a change: the second option seems to be tempting but Nurgle stuff always sells well. In fact if I ever decide to start collecting Warhammer faction it will be warhost of Lord of Decay for sure. Which reminds me there's still oldschool palaquin of Nurgle waiting for paintjob...

The last thing related to internet auction is Fallout I put for sale got the bid. Great news especially after I for upgraded version of the game =)

Rrright - now it's high time to write about something interesting: painted metal solider :D
Today the friend of mine (heya Beetle ;) ) got model I painted last week - it's captain of Bauhaus, old model from Warzone range. When we were starting wargaming Beetle was commanding Bauhaus force so I thought this model should be great souvenir - and it actually was :)
The sign on plinth says something like "Old buddy for old buddy" - short and clear.

I was also trying to take some close-ups - hit the photo below to take a closer look on the model.
The sculpt is pretty poor (play-doh cloak...) yet I was having lots of fun playing Warzone and I'm quite sure I will paint something from this range after I paint 2 gift minis left (I think one of them will be sent next Friday so please be patient "T" ). I even think I could try to arrange small diorama using these old minis...
Anyway - here's the photo :)

There are also 2 more hobby news:
You've probably noticed there's new button on the left panel of the blog: it's link to the source of plinths I use for minis. The site is down at the moment because of some technical problems but according to informations I have it should work fine in about a week.

And last but not least: I probably will be involved in painting minis for new post-apo game 8)
It's just a teaser so I'm not gonna say anything more until I see models on my desk ;)

Take care and see ya!

*just like my muscles after starting using new whey ^^

Thesis written - time to give away some minis!

2010-06-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

Hello again on warm summer Sunday!

The biggest news of the week is I've finished writing my thesis!
It is 100% done (I think) but I'm not sure I like results of the researches - according to this during last 6 months prices of real estates in my region rised by ~1,6%.
Do you think it's acceptable? Are there any real estate valuers reading this? ;)
The only problem is the professor said he won't check thesis during research but only the final version so let's keep fingers crossed for that...

Anyway I finished boring stuff about Thursday and to get relaxed I decided to paint something:
I chose one of 2 bile thralls left of the squad I painted for Gone Muddin' NQ challenge.
In fact I decided to paint this puking dude as gift for my old friend with who we started miniatures hobby adventure and who is the only one left here still playing wargames. During several years of playing Warmachine I remained faithful to the beloved Cryx while my friend was changing armies trying to find the best defence against Dragonfather's iron fist. The sign on the plinth will remind him there's only one THE best army to play with ;)
Thanks mate for everything!

I also took some pics of the model before adding the writing> I actually had to because the photo will be used in store so anything hiding plinth would be more than unwelcome. For more views of the model - justr hit the photo below:

That's it for pic in this post but it's not the end of the news!
In the middle of the week I won mounted Chaos Lord on auction (pretty cheap I must say) so I hope recieve it tomorrow or on Tuesday. I've always liked it but somehow found all GW stuff orevpriced to get it from stores. In fact I can only admire people who pay full price for these minis...
Cheap or not - the model is on the way and I will paint it - for Ebay. My previous mounted lord
had no problems in finding new home so I think this one will also be good investment.

And speaking of auctions - I also put PS3 Fallout on auction - I finished the game 4 times so far so it's time to find something new to put into the console. Who knows - maybe Borderlands...? ;)

That's it for this week - see ya!!!

Fast paintjob, shitty pics...

2010-05-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

So apparently history repeated itself: another week is just passing and once again I was forced to paint another ghoul from Mantic games FAST to have anything hobby-related to blog about...
What makes the story even more sad is the fact I've been at home almost whole week (not mentioning Friday and Saturday at univ) but until today wasn't painting at all because of writing my thesis. The plan is to finish studies on July the 3rd...

So speaking about the weekly paintjob - as you can clearly see it's another ghoul for Tale of Gamers. I liked previous sculpt much more but decided to pain it anyway because the mini is practicaly just flesh + some rags. Painting it took me about 4 hours once again so it can't be spectacular but should fit well the Cult of Plague...

After playing more Fallout and killing several raiders more I decided to paint model in that fashion - I still have lots of EM4 figures from "future wars" line which will be just perfect for that. I can use new plinths for them so hopefuly whese will turn out nice. I also hope these will be nice change from GW minis - I think I painted enough of them recently so now I want to have some real fun. Maybe small delay in ToG will be good idea?

Speaking of GW stuff - last Wednesday plague marine I put on auction found new home and was sent to make Italian Corps of Rot even stronger. I still have 2 oldschool marines which were supposed to be part of my Cult but if I decide to change list of gang members I think my trusty client will rather be happy: both marines are pretty cool conversions.

What else? Last week I also put Sid Meier's Civilization on auction and the next bidded contacted with me asking could I end the auction sooner - apparently the game is pretty rare here.
I'm pretty happy I got rid of it. It was nice thing to play but definitely prefer Fallout3 :)

And since we're next to F3 - last week brought me beautiful book with artworks from the game so I think the mysterious donor will get nicely painted model from me soon.. ;)

Take care and hope to have more to wrire about next Sunday!

Edit:
I've totally forgotten! :D
In the middle of last week I put set of evil cyborgs on auction! There are 2 reasons for this:
1. I am still working on cleaning the glass case of minis I don't use anymore
2. More important - I wanted something to write about related to miniatures :D
At the moment several bidders are watching these terminators so fingers crossed...

Desperate situations reqiure desperate actions...

2010-05-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

Heya again!

It's almost midnight but it still counts - we have Sunday so I've just finished assembling pics for tonight update and I'm ready to provide regular dose of hobby spam!
This time once again I barely managed to prepare whole stuff on time: during last week I was having big problems with formating new pc and the fact I couldn't get on-line whenever I want or need distracted me SO MUCH I couldn't focus on painting...
It's damn embarrassing but apparently it's big sign: WATCH OUT - ADDICTION AHEAD.
Because of that damn thing the only painting I was able to do was:
- undercoating the troll one evening (which took ~20 mins)
- painting it's eye - another evening + ~10 mins of work

Of course I also assembled the thing which was quite an achievement - this badass is the worst casted Rackham model I painted so far!
After cleaning all parts it turned out there are some over 1mm gaps between parts! O_o
I managed to fill them with gs and hope to take pics properly so none ot these flaws will be visible. Hope I had just badluck although I'd like to know if anyone else met similar problems with this model...
As you can see I started with blue-ish tone because it will be placed in winter scenery. I 've already prepared properly big plinth so it will present itself nicely in the store *fingers crossed*

Next news is the postman delivered Warmaster Ogres I won on Ebay last week!
These minis are just sweet - I actually didn't expect such a nice casting and details quality so the painitng will be just fun!

Now I really regret someone outbided me on Troll auction but I think I'll try hunt them down again after I cope with Ogres. Who knows maybe I'll even play Warmaster game? I was told it's much better fun than just WFB.
Otoh I think even playing fucking tic-tac-toe is bigger fun than WFB...

Anyway today after dinner I realised it's Sunday, I have to go to gym in a few hours and I haven't painted ANYTING fot weekly spamming except for troll's eye!!!
So I grabbed ghoul which got post-apo base yesterday and started painitng this poor scavenger
about 4 hours later model was ready so I can prodly say I painted a miniature this week!
I wish I had such painting speed more often though...

There are some parts to be corrected but I really like the model - once again I must say Mantic Games did great job here. I like the model so much it will definitely become part of plague-cult gang for Tale of Gamers COFC project. I might even add another one!

Is there anything else? Actually yes!
Plague marine is doing fine on Ebay so I think I can start chosing another nurgle Model for auction ;)

That's it for now - take care!!!

Another week - another 2 minis less on The Unpainted Pile

2010-05-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

Heya all!

The time for every-Sunday hobby spaming has come so I lets do it fast - there's Twin Peaks on TV in 40 mins ;)

So first good news is Mr Archaon, called by some Lord of End Times, has found new home! That's great news because I was pretty worried about Ebay-powers of these large models but apparently I was wrong. That also means I can paint another mounted model - lord of Khorne or Slaanesh maybe - we'll see!

And since we're speaking about Nurgle - my Tale of Gamers project slowed down seriously but I managed to convert cultist based on ork from Assault on Black Reach (?) box - it has flamer implant and nasty terminator axe so I think you'll like it. After all everybody like flamers!
For this one I used oil drum from Tamiya - quality of the details is stunning as well as low (compared to GW) price. That makes me wonder what makes people to buy GW stuff in stores - I've realised long time ago than except for second handed stuff and auctions there's no reasonable way to get these minis.

Another achevement was choosing another gang member for the cult - it will be ghoul from Mantic Games - I got the free sample on Monday. I wasn't sure about these minis but when I opened the envelope I was shocked: quality of sculpt is just a dream!!! I actually still have to choose 2 more gangers so I might even use both ghouls recieved - they are brilliant! Can't remember when was the last time I got mini with so much character.

The last GW thing in this update is Plague Marine champion finished today - unfortunately pics are pretty weak and somehow I couldn't force myself to re-take them...
Anyway the figure is finished and because I already have this version of Plague Marine it was put on Ebay 15 mins ago - let's hope another mini will find new home and possibility of ripping Space Marines apart on battlefield!

But there was more than just GW on my painting station last week!
I managed to paint model for NQ painting challenge - I turned vassal of Menoth into mechanithrall hehehe... It was a bit tricky but I can assure you there's no better fun than chopping off arms and head of ugly model ;)
Let's just hope the paintjob, conversion + crossed fingers will make this piece a winner. When I look at the photo I think model could be executed better (smoother paining on the skull for example) but I was informed guys from NQ like it anyway so think I can consider the thrall finished. Hope you like it!

Last week the mailman brought me NQ#29 - this was really cool but apparently someone responsible for shipping put wrong issue to the envelope so I got #29 instead of #30 in which my entry for Salty Dog was printed :(
Oh well - let's hope sooner of later I'll get the proper magazine.

Anything else? Actually yes!
Today I started assembling Rackham troll I got from the Mysterious Miniature Supplier ;) I only started because I realised it won't be easy - there's LOTS of gaps so I'm gonna remember this piece for a looong time...

I was also forced to change painting station and I am still getting used to it. It's less comfortable than previous one but I can close it so there's no chance any of my cats steals my brushes ever again ;)

Ok, Twin Peaks has started so I'm off - see ya next week!

Blood for the Blood God!!!

2010-05-09T12:17:00.000-07:00

Hey again!

This time I managed to place my ass in front of PC yet on Sunday even though it wasn't easy task. This week I had to go to Univ for the weekend but even though lots was going on. So let's start the summary!

First of all - today I launched PC after 2 days of absence and what a surprise: apparently Archaon I put on Ebay last week will find new home!
I am pretty happy because of it: I purchased the model to paint it and sell but now when I look at it I think I really wouldn't mind keeping it for myself... Oh well c'est la vie. Besides I can always try to get another model and convert it into Warhammer 40000 character which was my plan at very beginning.

There was another BIG news last week: the postman has delivered Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness I ordered some time ago!!! Until I got this grimoire I just couldn't believe I won such precious tome on Ebay but it's finally here!
And there was everything I hoped for: lots of oldschool (some call them damn ugly but I don't care ;) ) miniatures, texts about wargames but also about Warhammer rpg!
The best is the book is in such a great shape, that in not yellow hue of paper (it's 22 yars old!) I'd say it was printed a few weeks ago. Marvellous!!! Once again thank you Mr Seller - Santa came much earlier this year! So now I only need The Lost and Damned tome to make my collection more complete.

But let's go back on Earth for a while.
I hope you still remember I mentioned about Tale of Gamers project running on Chest of Colors forum. Well this time my painting results were not as fast as I hoped for but I still managed to finish the first member of my plague cult: still unnamed juve - hit the pic to see more views of the model. I know not all parts fit together but I really don't fucking care: it's fun project and I am still having great time doing the stuff.

But that's not all!
I also managed to finish converting another members of the cult: zombified juve #2 and probably leader based on OOP plague marine. You can actually see sneaky pic of the team in early wip stage by clicking the mysterious link.
As you can see there's one more plague marine (plasma pistol + power fist). This one will be painted for auction and I deeply hope to see it on ebay next Friday morning. I really like these oldie minis but I want to practice painting Nurgle models before I dare to paint the palaquin: yup, I also have this sweetie but it deserves only the best painjob I can provide.

Last Sunday after updating the blog I also added one more thing: the very first tutorial here - there will be more, no worries!
I want to thank all people whoe provided such a positive and creative feedback - not only here but also on other forums. Next time I'll try to make the text even more clear and surely will take better pictures! In fact the guys from Heresy forum liked it so much that it was put on the first page of the forum! Hope the next one will appear there as well ;)

And the last thing: although I haven't got the No Quarter magazine yet I managed to establish theme of next paining challenge with my secret and dirty ways so the conversion for the contest is nearly done. I will post a wip shot after painting basic colors - atm it's nothing worthy photographing.

Ok, take care and hope to see you next Sunday!

Tutorial #1: Swamp base

2010-05-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I was asked to write a few words about making base used for my chaos knight of Nurgle. That was no problem because there are some minis (lots of minis to be honest…) waiting for bases on my desk. One of them is Leviathan from Privateer Press range waiting for the swampy base so without more useless babbling – here we go!

What will you need?

First of all some tools for modeling your base: wallpaper knife and sandpaper, if you have access to grinding machine (hope it's the proper name of that power tool) if will save you lot's of time. As for chemicals: milliput and greenstuff, superglue, white glue, artifical water, some paints (natural colors preferably). And most important the proper „ingredients” of the whole project: block of wood, some twigs, static grass, gravel, sand, small rocks, some skulls and whatever else you want to see on your swamp.

Preparations:

We have to start by choosing proper material for the base. There are many possiblities: you can use nice wooden / resin plinth, a piece of thick branch, block of wood or whatever else you feel comfortable with decided to choose piece of wood because even after painting it you can see wood structure through the paint.

Using power tools I cut the wood to desired size and shape (Leviathan is pretty large model) and sandpapered sides and bottom of the base.
The idea for the whole project is warjack patroling the swamp. I wanted to show it’s „all terrain” abilities so I added rocks on both sides of the base. Tree bark is perfect for this. Don’t worry if it sticks out the base’s outlin, if really doesn't matter at this stage.

Filling the gaps:

Becasue the base is supposed to be swamp I decided to sunk it under artifical water. To prevent resin leaking under bark it’s necessary to fill all gaps you can find. You can use greenstuff but I found Milliput perfect for this because you can sandpaper it after it dries. After modelling mass was 100% cured I cut off all bark remaining out of base’s outline with wallpaper knife. The next step was smoothing sides of the base so the base and bark are one smooth surface. Once again power tools were more than handy.

Adding details:

The basic shape of the diorama is ready so I could mark places where Leviathan will be standing (orange spots). I usually don’t do it but Leviathan isn’t the easiest model to assemble especially if the legs stand on different levels. At this stage I also added some „eyecatching” elements: some twigs as vegetation, toad and skulls:

Sand and grass:

Now sand and a bit of fine gravel were glued on the bottom. I didn’t want to add much elements here (except for the toad of course) because this area will be sunken after Leviathan is painted and based. The tip: when you are using white glue it’s good idea to dilute it and paint bark with the mixture – bark is fragile and the glue should prevent any damages caused by drybrushing for example. The last thing to add before painting is static grass and some small leaves. I add it before painting becasue I don’t like original color of static grass and want to redo it a bit.

Painting time!

Painitng bases turned out easier than I expected. I started by covering whole base with watered down mixture of olive, a bit of blue and brown. That will make good basecoat, provide shadows in cavities but most important unify all elements. It’s good idea to use the same (or at least similar) colors on the model which will be placed on base so whole piece will be optically coherent. Next step was glazing sand on the base with very diluted yellow – that makes the bottom brighter and more visible under layer of artificial water. I also drybrushed grass with bright green and yellow to make it look more „fresh”. The last thing was painting details – skulls and toad. You can paint skulls probably whatever color you like – in Diablo PC game one of skeletons type was black/gray so I decided to paint it similar way.

The end?

The base is done – the last thing to do is painting sides of the base black and adding some more foliage (photo). I didn’t want to add these plants earlier because whey are very fragile and could be easily damaged while painting . You can now place the model on the base ooooor…

Add water effect!

To do that you have to secure edges of base with masking tape (make sure you do it really well because artificial water leaks out vey easy) and pour water onto the base. After it completly dries you have to remove the tape, polish the edges and voila!

And below you can see my Leviathan hunting for everyone who dares to distrupt Toruk's rest... At least everyone in my glass case :)

Lord of the End Times ready for battle!!!

2010-05-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

Hey again!

We have another (really sunny and warm) Sunday so what can be better way to spend such day that sitting home, painting minis and updating blog? ;)
During last week there was a progress in my hobby industry to without useless introduction - let's start!

Last week I finished building the first model for my Necromunda fun-gang. I know power armours don't fit Underhive well but it's fun project (probably only...) and moreover - plastic is much easier to convert than bare metal.
So the guy you can see is either degenerated marine who managed to keep only arm and head armour OR (more fluff-wise) some cultist/ganger who found still working parts of power armour and thought he will make better use of them.

The whole "plague-gang thing" also became part of Tale of Gamers project. Once again Chest of Colors provides fun :)

Last week postman delivered 2 more members of the gang - oop metal plague marines. I really like these metal parts so they will be only slightly converted. As I wrote - I have a heart for these sculpts. Another idea for gang member is cultist turned into plaguebearer - I wanted to put rusted and severly damaged parts of power armour on the demon but the metal sculpt really doesn't want to cooperate with me - yet...
I also got another oldie plague marine but this one will become Chaos Champion and will be put on Ebay - hopefully soon.

The big achievement of the week was finishing the Nurgle Chaos Lord based on Archaon model. It took ~week to paint whole thing but it's ready. Initially the plan was to convert it into WH40K character but then I thought character for Warhammer Fantasy will be:
- easier to convert
- easier to sell (let's hope for it)
That's correct: model has been hanging on Ebay since last Friday and lets hope new owner will find the piece until next Sunday. If by any chance you'd like to see my Archaon in your collection - just click the link ;)

As for minis news from PP range - I learnt NQ pays for publishing articles so I hope to edit mine as much as I can to see it printed :) Too bad I didn't know about these requirements when I was starting writing so I wouldn't have to browse thru whole this thing again. Oh well - it's valuable lesson for the future.

I also got the theme of the next painting challenge: this time it's sth reallt in my taste although very challenging:
the task is turning non-cryxian model into thrall. It might seem easy but when it came to choosing models - shit got pretty thick although I already have one or two ideas for this project...

That's it for now - take care and seeya next weekend!!!

Delayed update

2010-04-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

So hello again - this time I hope to finish posting before my PC collapses...

Anyway the passing week was full of big hopes and plans confronted against brutal realiy. As we here say: "I wanted to do it well, it turned out just like always" (or sth similar).

So lets start with the big plan: we were told some time ago the will be some nasty test on Univ (last Friday evening). So as a good student I was taking Univ stuff to my workplace and was trying to master this arcane knowledge - learning at home is hretty hard with all this nice Rackham minis waiting for the paintjob (damn you Alek... ;) ).
I thought I can take week off to prepare for the test - which I did...
At least the first part: taking week off ain't the problem, the problem is using it for sth anything else than hobby stuff!

I spent 3 days in a row playing this damn Civilization on PS3 - the game is much "easier" than it's PC version but it's still lots of fun! At first I didn't like the idea the game universe is MUCH smaller than it was on PC but then again you can finish the game before it starts getting boring.
The game fistracted my attention so much than on Wednesday afternood I decided I MUST do anything else but once again - it definitely wasn't learning!

The Archaon model has been prepared for painting last weekend so I started paitning the guy.
All in all I confirmed that painitng a single man-sized ~28m model takes me about 3 afternoons/evenings: by the Saturday the rider was finished.
As you can see the model was slightly convereted - there are manyArchaon painted so far and I wanted mine to be rather Lord of Nurgle (Ia, Ia, Ia Papa Nurgle!!!) than just Archaon.
Besides I think General of Nurgle has batter chances for finding new owner on Ebay than Archaon - I hope to check it soon!
Picture below is of course wip and as I promised last week - it's clickable!

At the beginning of passing week I presented my entry for "Gone Muddin'" painitng challenge to COFC guys and as always I wasn't disappointed: I got constructive feedback so fast that a day after base of my entry was repainted and even more water effect added. I really wasn't 100% sure of making that but after the paint was dry and pics takes - I must say The Forum was right: I like new look much better. I just hope the judges will also appreciate my efforts and bile thralls will be printed in NQ#31 ;)

What else?
As you saw lasy evening because of technical problems I couldn't post on time - I hope to get new stuff today so there will be no delays in future. Besides I have some important stuff on the disk and would be veeery pissed in case of loosing it.

Speaking of loosing - it turned out there will be no article about making Red Hook's base: I had full photo documentation of making it but why for the fuck's sake should anyone check if all important pics were downloaded from digicam on PC before formating memory card?
At least I learnt something - maybe hard way but apparently there's no better way of learing for me...

Take care - hope to see you next Sunday!

Technical break

2010-04-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

Heya,

because of technical problems with my damn PC the blog will be updated tomorrow - time to change the hardware...

Sunday, muddy Sunday

2010-04-18T03:16:00.000-07:00

Heya again from the mud pit!

Once again there was no need to go to Univ for the weekend so once again I had a chance to paint some stuff and this time I managed to paint 5 minis - which is quite an achievement if you ask me!

But let's start with technical updates:
As you can see Labels are back - I decided to mark only post informing about new auctions, contest/commission pieces and tutorials: 2 are almost ready, all I have to do is choose proper pics and FINALLY add the to the blog
Another tech-update is clicking pic will make the open in new window - I was informed that will make blog more reader-friendly.

As for miniatures matter:
Passing week was very lucky for my Champion of Nurgle - he found new home and in fact it's the same buyer who purchased Chaos Sorcerer! Minis were packed and sent to pleasant and sunny land where main meals are pizza and spaghetti :)
And since we're next to shippinng stuff - the mysterious minis provider informed me he likes Mid Nor display base so it also has been shipped - I think he got it last Friday, otherwise minis will surely arrive tomorrow (I hope nothing will be damaged). As for payment I got even more Rackham models and can't wait to paint them!
These sculpts just beg for being placed on some diorama and I'm not gonna fail them!

Speaking of new minis - last week mailam delivered Archaon model - it has already been washed off, pinned and assembled. I did some minor conversions to make it bit original and ibecause t will be painted as Lord of Nurgle. I assume there's a very small chance to see it on Ebay next week but you never know... The base is already done so it's a good start!

I also managed to get some old Death Guard minis - all will be turned into Chaos characters so I think there should be no problem in selling them. Everyone likes Nurgle minis after all!

The last purchase is just cherry on the top of cake:
yesterday I managed to get Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness book!

That means there's only Lost and Damned left to make collection of my grimoires complete! Really can't wait to get it delivered - it's like Xmas in spring!!!

This time won't be new auction because whole week was dominated by making contest piece for NQ painitng challenge: I started it last Friday.Saturday and yesterday the thing was assembled, varnished and ready to be photographed!
I'm still not sure about final look of the mud but let;s just hope judges will like it. Picture is clickable :)

Hope to see you next week!

One another busy week

2010-04-11T02:05:00.000-07:00

Heya all!

Another Sunday arrived to it's time to sum up passing 7 days.
And I must say - once again lots was going on in my miniatures hobby!

So we start with technical update once again - and I must assure you there will be more sooner or later.
I've been testing some ideas for new blog's banner (current one is not "clear" enough in my opinion) but none of them was good enough to be used. Any ideas maybe? If so - there's post comment button below the post you know ;)
Another change was my logo: I've been trying to make it myself last weekend but finally gave up - I'm definitely not good at using GIMP or Photoshop...
So I was advised to ask professionals for help and I did it: thanks to Ewa and Kacper from Projektovnia Studio I have nice and shiny new logo! I think sooner or later I'm gonna ask these guys for help in making up new banner and who knows - maybe new layout of the site...

Another good news is I put Dante's Inferno on auction and despite there's still one day for bidding left there are already 2 bidders! The game was just not my taste - I finished it and don't wanna see it again. So I decided to replace it for something more playable: Sid Meier's Civilization. I downloaded demo of the game and like it so far - time to make Elbląg capital city of the world hehehe!

Speaking of auctions I think I managed to solve the problem of lack of Ebay-friendly models on my work station: on Friday I got mounted Archaon for about 50% of retail price: it's chaos, it's heavy armoured and iirc has nice gaming rules so I think it will be good shot. I am also watching some oldschool Death Guard models - I've always wanted to paint them so I think I now may have the occasion. Besides it's also Chaos models they should meen to problems in finding new home.

There's more news related to Ebay: last week I managed to sell Sorcerer of Nurgle but also Champion of Nurgle got the bid! So looks like I finally managed to find perfect models for my painting skills: easy and enjoyable to paint, looking effective and selling well!
I regret there'll be no auction this time but passing week was dominated but something else than auction stuff:

Mid Nors once again!
I am happy because I managed to paint small diorama for my mysterious miniatures provider within a week. The client asked me to base colors on official paintjob. I used these tones on scourge bearer but painted it in the way I like the most - worn and dirty. Unfortunately client hoped to see minis more colorful so the sentinel is clean and shiny almost like Xmas tree.
All you have to do to see close up is clicking the picture below - hope you like it!

The last hobby news (moreover: very good news!) is I learnt my entry sent for Salty Dog painitng contest organized by No Quarter Magazine qualified and will be pronted in May issue!
I also learnt Eric, who was my contact at NQ, doesn't work there anymore so that was the reason of no replies for materials I've been sending. Fortunately new guy seems to be competent so I hope out cooperation will be going smoothly.
And because I know what is theme of next painting challenge on friday night I started gathering materials and washing off minis so I can prepare something really dirty and muddy. The deadline is May 1st so I think I'll take some days off so I can make it on time...

Take care!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

Yup - that's corrected: Jesus was crucified once again and once again he ressurected!
He's been doing the same trick every year for almost 2000 years now and somehow people aren't bored yet - that's what I call the miracle!

Fortunately there are also more interesting things to write about that Easter so let's go back to the weekly hobby summary.
First of all - technical changes: as you can notice the blog is constantly changing. Every week I spend some time learning basics of html and this site is good place to test new skills and magical abilities of mine. I have no idea how long will it take to get the final look of the blog but no worries - I'll write about it for sure. What do you think about new avatar by the way?

As for miniatures there was also going on a bit during passing week - no as much as I'd wish but it's still much better that nothing.
So first of all I prepared another display plinth for one of my miniatures - another one with forest theme. I must say some time ago I discovered building bases is for me equally cool as painting minis and now painting figure on plain, flat, boring base is just no fun.
The mini which will be standing on this base is Mid Nor standard bearer - I got the model at the beginning of the year together with rest of zombified dwars goodies. It's already pinned and undercoated so I hope to paint first layer of paint on it soon.

Another scenic base I started creating last week is designed for 2 Mid Nor minis I will be painting for my mysterious figures supplier (hi again Alek ;) ) . The plan was to add some water effect on it but because I have no Andrea artificial water anymore but Vallejo crap only I'm not sure I want to risk using it. As for minis for this project - these are sentinel and scourge bearer from Mid Nor. Painting these minis is just 101% of fun.
When the paintjob is done my collection of models will be supported by Cadwe Agitator, fire support goblin (hope to practise painting osl on this piece), Bacbunzen, Kobalt the Caustic (which will probably be opponent of my Aberration on the diorama) and two cherries on top of the cake: Xherys the Visionary and Akaranseth - the last one will make my collection of Mid Nors nearly complete - nearly...

And to finish theme of Rackham for this week I undercoated Nemesis clone and Dasyatis clone and almost assembled black troll and behemoth troll - the last one will surely be placed in winter scenery - if I find another nice model I also might try to make a bigger diorama. We'll see.
And the absolutely last thing about Rackham was gathering wood for Mid Nor war staff. If there's any painting contest I want these guys be my entry in unit category.

As for other brands od models - last friday I finally started painting the biggest warcaster in Cryx arsenal: Lich Lord Terminus. I was aware of the fact painting it won't be easy but I didn't realize how much until I painted first layer of paint. Hope I can finish it before Xmas...

Now after load of boring stuff the time has come the the big news of the week:
definitely the biggest hobby success was painting Chaos Champion of Nurgle. Paitning it took me about 3 evenings so looks like I am geting faster with every rotting style model painted. Once again the the critical moment Raphael fine detail brush save the paintjob - it's just perfect for painting all tiny things like pupils and sparks of light (thanks Ana and Mahon!).
I like the final effect so much that I'm sure similar colors will be used for Palaquin of Nurgle waiting patiently (and pretty long) for paintjob. It was supposed to be centerpiece of my old "Forces of Evil" project but I think I'll rather make decent base for it only - I was never good at painitng large, time consuming projects because sadly I tend to get bored just after painting a few models. Anyway the champion is done and I think I'll take a few days off work soon to paint the Palaquin - the model is way too cool just to lay in string bag.
So the Champion is finished but I now greedy person so I decided to share it with the world - it's already available on Ebay. Too bad I don't have any more Chaos Marines to paint - such models are always very "Ebay-friendly". Oh well - I think I'll be watching internet auctions more diligently searching for another victim to paint.

That's all for the first post of April - take care and see ya next Sunday!

Spring fucking clean

2010-03-28T05:41:00.000-07:00

Hey all!

So the time has finally come: spring arrived with full force (24*C last Friday!!!) and with all consequences - spring clean...
Yup - I hate it but such things just happen and any resistance is useless. So today best time for painting was brutaly consumed by cleaning, vacuuming and repositioning furnitures. Spring clean was also applied to the blog - as you can see I am still changing layout elements and improving my HTML/CSS skills.

Fortunately only one day was ruined by cleaning and rest of the week was pretty successful for me - and of course the hobby!
Without more unnecessary introductions - the biggest hit was finishing Rackham aberration!!! Taking pics was a bit tricky but all in all I am satisfied - pics ain't that bad (could be much worse) and the model inself presents just sweet in my glasscase. Ladies and gentlemen - here's my baby:

I want to thank to Chest of Colors users for all constructive feedback I got for the model. I know which parts could be done better and I hope to use all the advices while painting the second aberration - this one will be much brighter and probably based in more natural scenery although it's just at idea.

Speaking of Rackham stuff - once again this company dominated my hobby activities:

yesterday I managed to assemble another sweet model from Dirz' Alchemists: dasyatis clone. I even started building base for it but it turned out to be too small - this close in one big badass! But no worries - the base will not be useless for a long time.

In the middle of the week I also managed to assemble and prime Mid Nor war staff. I'm quite sure I'll be having great time with painitng these deaders. I hope to give them fancy wooden display base but I'm still gathering materials - finding proper wood ain't as easy as it might seem.
Some time ago I thought if this squad turns out fine I'll take recently painted Rackham stuff to some painting contest - I haven't won anything for ages and I thing these minis are examples of my better paintjobs. Once again it's just a thought.

The last thing related to Rackham is the fact last night I managed to contact with the mysterious provider of my Rackham stuff (heya Alek ;) ). There's a chance I will get some more sweet stuff in exchange for some painting services. We'll see...

Unfortunately not whole world spins around Confrontation minis so sometimes I paint other stuff as well. Enchanced by success of Chaos Lord put on Ebay 2 Thursdays ago I painted another yet another CSM character which was just getting dust at my place. The Chaos Sorcerer will be searching for new owner on Ebay for the next 10 days.

It was supposed to be Nurgle Sorcerer (that's why I put the maw on the right shoulder pad) but I believe he would fit any other legion of Chaos. Besides some time ago I painted whole squad of Chaos Terminators so who knows, maybe the client will decide to add another character to the detachment.

Since we're at Nurgle models - last Thursday I ordered champion of God of Decay and I hope to recieve t just after the weekend. I must say it's one of the best imo Nurgle minis GW "recently" released so I hope to paint it fast, have some fun and put on Ebay before current auction ends. I'm curious if fantasy models are equally popular as science fiction. There's no better way to check it that start painting!

What else? Last evening I started building display base with forest theme on it. Initially I wanted it to become base for fantasy Nurgle model but then I thought potential buyer might want to play with it so such base will be used for another project. I have to paint a miniature for a friend and despite the fact the model hasn't bee chosen yet I can build and paint the base anyway.

And last evening we finally managed to play Arkham Horror game!!! If I remember corectly about 1,5 year passed since we were trying to keep Ancient One it the slumber not mentioning about saving the world (well at least Arkham city). But last evening stars were placed in right constellation so 3 adventurers were hunting down Mythos Creatures on streets of Arkham in order not to let Yog Sothoth wake up. Too bad there's not much negotiations with this Ancient One and very shortly after he opened one of his eyes (or whatever else Yog Sothoth sees the universe thru) we were all dead. We were still lucky though: we managed to survive 2 rounds of combat!

See ya next week!

Hello Spring!

2010-03-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

Hey again!

Last week was pretty busy but because of weekend at Univ it wasn't as productive as I hoped for. Which is a bit sad because I really enjoyed working on one of my Rackham aberrations. So let's start summing up:

As you can probably see there were some technical blog changes. I decided to experiment with colors to make it more comfortable for an eye. Black layout was fine for me but I think it made readers tired much faster than kinda beige tone used now. We'll see - I think it's still not the final version of blog layout.
And speaking of layout - I think it's time to start thinking about the banner on top of the site. Choosing proper font is much more challenging than miniatures from my collection for the picture but I hope I can handle with this problem one way or another.

Speaking of miniatures - (surprisingly) as I planned I managed to finish Chaos Lord and also put this piece on Ebay. Yup, it's there waiting for new owner. Painting is definitely nothing special but I deeply hope to see the theory that selling Space Marines ain't problematic working.
Especially the model is heavily converted using some resin parts and also head from old Chaos Raptor miniature (by god these raptors were ugly!)
The auction ends next Sunday - fingers crossed for it!!!

Another fact related to minis is I got new backgrounds for taking pics. Last week I found very good quality inkjet at my workplace - one of my mates designs buildings or does sth very similar. He was also kind enough to print 4 ink-heavy pages which now are ready to use in my micro photo-lab.
I must say both Mahon and Radovan were correct - pics taken on such backgrounds require much less digital enchancing and they also turn out much more natural and realistic. Thanks guys once again!

But the true cherry on the top of this cake is the aberration.

It's of course still work in progress stage except for the base which is done (no idea why colors on pic differ from colors in the flesh but when the model is finished I will do my best to get as decent pics as I can).
While painting Space Marine head used for base I had to use my emergenct Raphael brush to paint eyes details - it worked SO great that I think I'll save it especially hard or tricky situations - don't wanna waste such a great tool on something that any other brush can do equally well.
I want to finish the beast this week but don't want to rush with painting aberration. The plan is to paint lots on nuances on the flesh to make model much interesting - we'll see if Mr Illusionrip was right ;)

What else? Not much really...
Dante's inferno is ok, much better that World at war but cannot say it's something jawdropping - apparently I am getting to old to play video games =(

That's all this time - next week I hope to show you finished Dirz beast and at least one new base prepared for another Rackham model!

Take care!

PS. @Tucznik: it's especially for you - this time I am writing that new whey proteins work really fine and therefore my progress at gym is easy to spot ;)

It was a good week for hobby

2010-03-13T22:40:00.000-08:00

Hey again!

I am glad to announce that passing week in contrast to the previous one was very successful for my hobby!
Of course it could always be better (much better) if I only could remove such silly obstacles like wasting 8h of life every day in the office but don't think it will happen this life...

So let's start:
I began the week with preparing molds for casting. Thanks to the fact yesterday I had to go to Univ for the one day (the boss didn't need to know it was only one day instead of whole weekend this time hehehe) I got 3 day off work so I was able to pour the rubber into molds to see what happens.
I am pretty satisfied with containters I constructed for molding - no leaking, proper size etc but unfortunately everything couldn't be so perfect:
during molding I realised a single big bucket of silicone isn't enough - I still need at least half of bucket more.
Second thing - it turned out the rubber wasn't mixed enough so 2,5 of 7 molds are ruined. All in all I will have to get more silicone anyway but I really hate wasting money and that stuff ain't cheap. On the other hand - learning hard way is the best way to learn anything so now I know fucking well what should I avoid and what can I do better.

Last Monday I also went to photographers meeting: I took lots of pics on pendrive to share and get some useful tips / constructive advices but it turned out some fuckhead screwed up and laptop wasn't at place so all we could do was some theory.
Yet is was still ok because I learnt some stuff I wouldn't make up myself. Let's hope next time all gear will be delivered so I can learn much more.
Another achievement at this matter was getting more photo-tips from Mahon and Radovan (Dark Tower) - I printed some backgrounds I got from DT (too bad it was lasterjet instead of inkjet though) so minis I present this time were photographed under new conditions.

So the model on the top of this post is scavvy boss from my beloved Necromunda gang. It was painted a few years ago so it's nothing jawdropping but I really love this sculpt, I had tons of fun playing campaingns in the Underhive and it's good example of using one of new backgrounds.

You can compare it with artifical background used for the last hydra warrior I have: it's nice bit you can clearly see it's not natural. Speaking of Mid Nors - I am so glad I finished the last one.!!! Models are really nice and lot of fun to paint but apparently 3 zombie-goat-dwarfs in a row were too much for me. There now based and happy necro-family standing in my glasscase. I like the way models turned out on pic but don't like yellowish hue on the background - it's fault ot the damn laserjet.

And since we're next to Rackham range - last Wednesday I took 2 aberrations to the office and pinned these sweet models. One of them (aberration prime if I remember it's name correctly) was even undercoated. Today I wanna cast some bases so I also hope to build one for this Dirz nightmare.

As for the rest of the week - I started painitng Chaos Lord for Ebay (as I wrote - rubber ain't cheap) - it's heavy converted model so I hope some Nurle collector will adopt this piece - auction will start on Thursday.

I also got some old Mishima models from Warzone range - I always wanted to paint some of them and now when Dark Legion can use corrupted samurais - I want to paint them even more!!! The only problem is converting them into Dark Legionaires but I already have some ideas.

And the last thng this time - I sold CoD: Modern Warfare and got Dante's inferno for almost same price! Hope to start oblitering hellish minions tomorrow!

That's it for now - take care and see ya next Sunday!!!

2010-03-07T06:19:00.000-08:00

Hey again,

So we already have March but I really hoped to start new month with some sort of a blast instead of solid dose of boredom...

There are many reasons why my hobby-kung-fu was so weak last week:
First of all the Univ - I have to go there 4 weekends in a row so it takes pretty lot of time which I could spend in much more hobby-productive way (and speaking of it - yesterday I passed civil law test ^^).
Another reason is I started some tests with silicon and resin. Last Monday I built some boxes for molds and hopefully soon I will solve the problem of lacking display plinths. I deeply hope to achieve some success because materials I had to purchase costed lots of money so screwing is not an option... Can't wait to see any results - all preparations take so long...

And speaking of money - there are still severaly days until my auction for CoD:World at war ends and if I manage to sell it (3 watchers so far) - I think I will get Dante's inferno PS3 game - I've been playing it's facebook version at work (I must say it's one of a few reasons I'm still alive - recent days in the office are deadly boring) so now it's time to kill some demons in HD 42" screen hehehe.

Despite passing week was all in all hobby failure I managed to use a few drops of paint: I started painitng the last Hydra warrior (also hoped to finish it last week...). The model is very early wip so I didn't bother taking pics but I took wip shot of group display base for my Mid nors.
As you can see all bases are ready and only one of them misses the model.

Pics are crappy therefore tomorrow evening I'm taking some sample photos and hope to get some useful advices on photographers' meeting (fingers crossed).

Last week arrived I ordered some time ago - I bought it to help pass time while waiting for the classes. It's Elephants on acid by Alex Boese. That's right: dosing LSD to elephant is just one tiny example reader will find for human stupidity.

Looks like it's the end of summary. In a few minutes I'll prepare my airbrush and paint base colors on chaos lord and sorcerer (from a few posts ago), highlight Lich Lord Terminus and hopefully work on hydra warrior so wish me luck!

demi

2010-02-28T08:04:00.000-08:00

Hello - for the last time in the shortest month of a year!

Last week there was not much going on in my hobby area. The reason of it was the fact I had to go to Univ for the weekend (Friday - Sunday) so the best time for painting was used for sth else...
Worseluck I'll have to go to Univ for the next 3 weekends in a row so March will be sad month for all my unpainted minis (especially Rackham beauties...).
On the other hand I think I should put worseluck in quotes because I must say I enjoy these studies. I've never thought I will say that after 5 ghastly years of studying law but things I learn now (valuation) are damn interesting!

I know not everyone has to be fan of estimating value of properties so let's go back to the main topic:

Definitely the greatest achievement of last days was finishing the second Hydra Warrior - pics were taken today and as always are nothing special (if I don't screw the mini with my painting I will do it with the pic taken...) but I think they are still better that average pics I manage to tak:.
This time I changed my stupid habit of using ton of varnish on each model and changed the color of background.
There's still one Hydra Warrior left to paint (it's base and group base are already prepared) so I hope to see the final effect pleasant to the eye - if someone likes zombies and overdone bases.

And speaking about taking pictures - last Monday I went to meeting of local professional photographers. I hope to get some help and useful tips how to take really fine pics of miniatures.
Who knows - maybe I can even convice them to take pics for me? :p
I don't even dare to expect Mahon's quality of photographs but it really pissess me off when I spend lots of time painting piece of lead and cannot properly show whole the effort to the public.

I said it before and I still claim the hobby isn't limited to miniatures only. Last week I got Call of Duty: World at war PS3 game. I was expecting a lot from this but after 15 mins in front of the screen I realised it was missed investment:
compared to Medal of Honor: Airborne the game is just fucking boring. Graphic is much better and there's no doubt about it but gameplay is just plane and no fun. I prefer shooting italian blackshirts than japanese regular army. I will try to finish it this week but I'm quite sure it will be put on internet auction within few days.

About the auctions - in about 12h auction for my Zombie Wolfen ends - so far no bids but 5 watchers. If I can't manage to get rid of it this time I think the model will become a gift or sth like that. Selling it cheap is no business but selling it cheaper is just stupid.

The last thing related to hobby happened today afternoon. When I came back and checked my mailbox I found email from one of guys from Wargamer's forum (polish forum about wargaming especialy about such not enough promoted in Poland, SADLY, games like Warzone- my hobby adventure started with Warzone btw, Chronopia, FoW and many others).
I was asked to be a judge in the coming Warzone painting contest. I agreed almost immediately (despite the fact I won't be ale to participate) - I've never been judging anything and it might be good fun! We'll see.

That's it for now - take care!

Mid Nor adventure continues

2010-02-21T05:52:00.000-08:00

Hey again!

Another week is passing so it's high time for some summarizing.
So first and probably the most important thing this week - I finished the first of 3 hydra warriors I have. I also finished display base for these wicked zombie-dwarfs and I hope to start painting warrior #2 today evening.
I said is before but have to say this again - can't remember when was the last time I was having so much fun painting minis before I got my Rackham delivery!

Speaking of Rackham stuff - yesterday I took some minis and washed them off. Some of them were half-assembled so I had to remove all superglue, modelling putty etc. There was some work with that but now models are waiting in string bags until I finish hydra warriors so I can start something much bigger like one of aberrations or one of trolls I have :)

But the world doesn't spin around french miniatures only. Last week FINALLY models ordered from goddamn Cytadela arrived. So yesterday I drilled, pinned, assembled and undercoated Rhulic Highshields. They will stay like this until I learn what is the theme of next NQ painting challenge - I'd like to use these dudes and one of plinths I got recently.
Tomorrow I'll try to contact with NQ team to check if they approved articles I wrote some time ago. I'd also like to know if photos of Red Hook are fine enough or do they want me to take new ones - the deadline is 01.03.2010.

In the parcel from Cytadela there was also plastic Chaos Lord from Warhammer 40000. I used this set + bits I have in the mysterious box to build lord and sorcerer. Both models have been assembled and undercoated today so I hope to start works on new servants of Nurgle as soon as possible - such minis are rather Ebay-friendly.

We all know the hobby is not only painting miniatures.
Last tuesday I finally visited Tat Studio to finish Great Cthulhu on my arm! After 4 painful hours the picture was nearly done... Nearly because the tissue didn't heal enough since previous needleplay so tattooist didn't want to risk screwing it by adding colors.
I will go there in month or two to finish whole thing but now my favorite Great Ancient One looks like this, this or this. At the moment it looks better (it's been 5 days since I got it) but the skin is still healing up.
On Friday the picture was presented in my workplace - I accidently forgot to wear long sleeve in the office. Funny thing - nobody told me absolutely anything about that. Actually all co-workers were pretty silent that day hehehe... ^^

So what else?
My zombie wolfen didn't find new home on Ebay and because I'm not going to use it for anything and because it totally doesn't fit my glass case I recided to put it on Ebay again. I dropped the price so I hope this time someone will take the miniature to new home.

The last thing for this post - because I finished Call of Duty: Airborne I ordered CoD: World at War and hope to see it in my PS3 tomorrow. We'll see if my rifle is enough to stop horrible banzai-charge of Japanese soliders.

That's all for now - see you next Sunday!

February belongs to Mid Nor!

2010-02-14T00:31:00.001-08:00

Heya again!

Once again lots was going on in my hobby so without useless babbling - here's the weekly summary!

Last monday I contected with friend of mine about making some nice plinths for miniatures. The guy works with wood (bloody professional) so it wasn't anything difficult for him.
So after I brought him 150cm long piece of wood he turned it into several dozens of plinths - different shapes and sizes! Really can't wait to start mounting painted minis on these!

What else? At the beginning of passing week the mailman delivered yet another box of Rackham goodies for me!!!
This time there were models from orcs, goblins, undead and alchemists armies plus some extra goodies (like chaos creatures from Ilyad Games and really old zombie model (which manufacturer's I didn't manage to establish yet). Thanks Cthulhu I got another glass case for minis recently to keep these masterpieces!

Another surprising news for me was the fact I saw Death Guard squad painted at the beginning of this blog in CMON Top Last 7 Days! It was on the 10th place but who cares ^^ That only confirms my theory: if you want to make a career and big money on minis - paint Space Marines and Chaos Marines! Don't need anything more.
And speaking of earning money I'm still waiting for Chaos Lord ordered almost 2 weeks ago - it's probably the last time I am placing order in Cytadela.

Last week I also finished 2 minis: the first one is Red Hook painted for NQ. Taking quality photos was a pain in the ass - especially close ups. I'm afraid I like it much more in the flesh than on the screen or my pc. Pictures were sent to the magazine and I'm still waiting for the reply if these are fine enough for printing or not. I'm also waiting for email from Eric (Privateer Press team) about preparing another article for No Quarter.

The second mini painted a few days ago is Scourge Bearer from Nid Nor. Fuck me if that wasn't one of the most enjoyable models I had a pleasure to paint in my whole life!!!
The sculpt was nicely detailed and easy to work with but when I was basing the piece and suddenly realised whole "story" enclosed in this piece of metal - that just made my day!!!
It took me 2 evenings to spot the ragdoll ain't just some kind of rabbid doll but wears rabbit mask with breathing holes just like in Hannibal Lecter's mask!
Moreover models aren't just having a nice walk but the doll is conducting the zombie dwarf and is catting his halberd because dwarf has chained arms! So much details in such a tiny miniatures!

Yesterday I started preparing 4 Rackham minis for painting. I managed to assemble and prime 3 Hydra Warriors and moreover I made wooden base for these minis. It was also test of new drill I got for making ~25mm round sockets - perfect for display and contest miniatures.
The 4th model is Janos the Banished from Acheron deaders. It's arm was probably the smallest surface I had to pin during my long adventure with the hobby. Let's just hope I can give this model painting it deserves...

That's it for now - till the next Sunday!

Hello February

2010-02-07T03:56:00.001-08:00

Last week started really well - the postman delivred pretty heavy parcel with Rackham stuff! I really felt like a kid during Xmas Eve :D
Unfortunately I have no idea when will I start painting these beauties. I'm quite sure each and every mini will get display base so I only have to wait for plinths delivery.
I'd also love see Mid Nor war staff standing in cave diorama but the time will show if I manage to turn sketches into the display piece.

There are still some Rackham models I'd like to have so I contacted with my supplier once again and next week I hope for yet another delivery.

Speaking of Rackham models - some time ago (about 1,5 year ago?) I purchased 3 Acheron wolfen zombies which unfortunately don't fit my glasscase enough so there's only one way to solve this situation: Ebay!
Last week I finished painting one of wolfens and yesterday the auction started (2 watchers so far). I don't hope for many bidders but I'd be really glad if I could find new home for the mini.

As for the today post's photo - you can see more-less finished base for model I am preparing for No Quarter Magazine painting challenge (the theme is "Salty dog"). I've been taking pictures during building this base so sooner or later the article will appear somewhere - hopefulli in the May NQ ;)
The model is being painted at the moment and I deeply hope to finish it today or at the beginning of next week. There's still some time until the deadline but because this month I have to leave to Univ I don't wanna miss any opportunity to work on the piece (and hopefully finally win the damn challenge...)
By the way the model I am using is Cygnar gun mage hero (forgot the proper name). I had some serious plans about converting it into the pirate but all in all I decided not tu mutilate it too much (the mini is very nise so didn't want to ruin it) so all I did was replacing sword with hatchet and gun with a hook. No wooden legs, not eye-patch, no parrot on the shoulder.

Last evening I've also placed the order for hammerfall high shields gun corpse blister and chaos terminator lord.
I want to check if these PP dwarfs are as cool in reality as presented on pictures (if not they will be used for the next painting challenge) and chaos lord - it will be painted for Ebay again. I have some parts left in my bits box so I hope to build 2 characters using the set - lord and sorcerer.

Thanks for reading!

Hard week

2010-01-31T10:31:00.000-08:00

So I'm typing once again - this time for the last time on January and I must say passing week was definitely hard even though I didn't paint anything, yup - you read it correct: anything.
Which of course doesn't mean nothing was going on in the miniatures hobby!

So first of all - I got the tattoo :]
After 3 months of waiting for the appointment with the artist I finally got inked so Great Cthulhu shall never leave me!
The picture was made in Tat Studio in Gdansk (northern Poland) which it one of the best studios in the country. I decided to hit the 101% professionalists because tattoo is made for life abd I didn't want to risk screwing it by unexperienced artist.
After 4,5 of work the piece is over half done. According to Jarek (the tattooist) there're still ~4h of work. Great Ancient One will get some colors, maybe some more details and there'll be added the island Cthulhu is rising from.
The idea is based on this picture - I've seen it a long time ago but after I purchased album with graphics based on H.P.Lovecraft's novels last year and was it once again the decision was made - it was only the matter of time...
When whole project is done I'll try to write a report about it - I asked guys in the studio to take some pics while working so it might turn out nice :)

As for proper hobby - last week postman delivered Realm of Chaos book. It's rulebook for Chaos army from 5th edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle but because Chaos was the first army I fell love into (about 10 years ago? yeah, probably...) I decided to add it to my collection of hobby stuff. After all $5,5 ain't serious expense.

What else? The client accepted Death Guard termies I painted so they've been sent away and thanks to my friend Mahon they got sweet professional photos. Hell, they look now better than I remembered!
Here are some pics if you're interested: termie armed with flamer, slightly converted squad leader (the client wanted to get combi plasmas and combi meltas and there were only 2 in the box), another slightly converted terminator and the picture of the whole rotting family.

And speaking of servants of Nurgle - the Ebay auction I started last week and Chaos Lorf has just been sold - still cannot believe people pay for such toys. But because I like painting chaotic minis and there're still some parts left in my bits box I think sooner or later another evil commander will be painted just for Ebay purposes - money makes the world go around...

And that's still not everything from the hobby area! I contacted a guy from who I purchased some OOP Rackham stuff and even more french goodies in coming to papa right now! Can't wait to see the postman (hopefully tomorrow) because in the parcel I should find some damn cool Mid Nor, Alchemists of Dirz (one or two Aberration clones) and Acheron minis. Santa will come VERY early this year!!!

Not everything spins arount minis so there's another news from the hobby - not related to miniatures: last week I also got Medal of Honor: Airborne PS3 game - I really like games based on WWII events so once again I got the opportunity to kill some nazis.

And the last news for the January: yesterday my cooperation with Scibor at Scibor Monstrous Miniatures has ended.
Definitely.

Seeya in February!

Not much done

2010-01-24T10:18:00.000-08:00

So another week is just passing by.
Unfortunately not much was done in the hobby area during this time.

I am still waiting for client's opinion about Nurgle Terminators squad I painted so there're no official photos. If I wait a week longer I will take some shots anyway - minis forced to waiting for photo-session are unhappy minis.

Good news is my Ebay account works fine aaaaand I managed to sell Darkson Designs' Zee Germanz!*
Speaking of Ebay - encouraged by last week half-success I decided to try selling another model from my collection. This time it's hopefully something much more bidder-friendly - converted Nurgle lord of Chaos from Warhammer 40k. If you'd like to see how's the auction going - just click here ;)

Last week I had to go to Univ for 3 days (worseluck - weekend days) so I had much less time to paint something than I'd wish but I still managed to create something - not mentioning chaos lord which was painted in 2-3 evenings. I managed to push forward works on small diorama for NQ contest. With a bit of luck I will finish the base next week. I also recieved PP model which will be turned into the pirate. I regret I didn't spend enough time working with greenstuff - I'm afraid the converting will be pretty hard task if I want to do it well and, hopefully - win anything.

There was also one more nice "hobby thing" which happened to me: yesterday mailman delivered model painted for me by Elvers for Chest of Colors Mini Exchange #3 - you can see the model here but I will surely take new pics of it.

That's it for now - see ya next Sunday!

-demi-

*still waiting for the payment though...

Busy busy week!!!

2010-01-17T04:27:00.000-08:00

Yet another weekly hobby summary:

Past 7 days were pretty successful for me if speaking about hobby matter.
First of all I managed to contact with one of my painting Grand Masters - Jakob Rune Nielsen himself (!!!) and after exchanging some emails I'm quite sure he will be the one who paints the last of my Redemptionists - after I screw all but one gangers the painting commission shall be placed.

I also found a pretty successful source of OOP Rackham models. So far I painted only 1,5 minis from that company but there are still models I'd love to have in my collection - even if I won't paint them for a long time. Therefore box of Mid Nor Incubi and Hydra Warrios should be delivered on Monday.

Lasy weekend I also put the first auction on my  (rather unused...) Ebay account. It's definitely no special paintjob (German Geneticists from Darkson Designs) but I have MUCH more minis to get rid of so I hope this will be good way to make some room in the glasscases.

I was also pleasentry surprised when I learnt my Dire Troll Mauler was published in No Quarter #28 magazine - it was my entry for Ghostly Visage Painting Challenge (it's the badass on a top of the page). Unfortunately if didn't win (was just put as honorable mention) but I have an idea for the next NQ contest and hope to finally win it. The basic construction of the base for my entry was built yesterday. I am taking pics at every step so if the final effect is nice - I will try to write an article about it.
And speaking about articles in No Quarter - I was also informed my text about creating display bases will be published in May/June so another small step was made into direction of the land of fame and huge money! :p

The last weekly achievement was finishing Death Guard Chaos Terminators for the client. The varnish is drying at the moment and I hope to send pics to review this evening. Official pics will be take after client accepts the paintjob.

That's it for this Sunday. See ya next week.

2010 log #2

2010-01-10T05:42:00.000-08:00

Hello again,

I'm writing again so the blog hasn't died yet.
Last week was pretty successful at hobby matters:
First of all I chose colors for my Redemptionists gang (Necromunda). Moreover I even tested it on 2 gangers!

The plan is to make display base for the whole gang - that's why models are still unbased. I want to make sth like large mosaic base (jerusalem cross for example) which can be part of temple of Redemption in the Underhive.

What else?
My recipient recieved model I painted for Chest of Colors Miniature Exhange #3 (attached photo). The model is Boyar champion from Sciborminiatures. If you want to get mini painted all you have to do is registed to CofC site and wait for Mini Exchange #4 :)

I also managed to paint basic colors on 3 Chaos Terminators of Nurgle (commissioned models) and converted lord chaos - also from Warhammer 40000 which probably will be kicked out on Ebay.

Last week I've also been working on the artile which might appear in one of coming No Quarter magazines (Privateer Press)> I'm still waiting for the contact from guy responsible for NQ submissions.

And last but not least - on Thursday I recieved old Chaos armybook (1994)!!!
I purchased this thing for almost nothing in MINT condition - the box was still sealed!!!
One more evil grimoire to my collection!!!

That's it for now, hope to update the thread next Sunday.

demi

So here I am...

2010-01-06T07:37:00.000-08:00

Hello,

My name is Piotr (aka demi_morgana). I've been in the miniatures hobby for many years (since the beginning of 1997 I think).
Since that time I painted lots of minis and played many different games. Unfortunately nowdays I cannot spend on hobby as much time as I'd like because of home duties, 2 jobs and postgraduate studies...
But last weekend I realised I don't have my own private space in the internet so I decided to give this blog a try.
I'll try to post here some of my new painitng creations and some other hobby stuff I do (articles, tutuorials, ideas for tasty drinks...) and I'll also try to post stuff unavailable on other sites/forums to which I am registered.

During my time spent on hobby I painted many minis as comissions so if by any chance you're interested in placing such commission - just let me know.

demi