Wednesday 9 March 2016

'nids part 191 - Tyranid Void Shield Generator part 7.

I know what you're thinking, this is not a Dark Angel Tactical Squad... ahh, the best laid plans of Gaunts and Rippers... so I write my confession, plan ahead for what I'm going to do next and then immediately go for the thing I wasn't going to do. But when the muse is upon you it's always best to go with the flow. So I just decided to do this because even if I pause halfway through the sculpting there's stuff done when I was compelled to do it.


That said I may have rushed some bits and the focus spine isn't too pretty but I think the painting will hide a multitude of sins.


The ectra chitin plates came out really well though. I'm sure I'm missing something in the technique from the Capillary Towers and the Bastion as it feels too easy. Maybe that's just the familiarity of the process I don't know but it was so easy it felt like I'd missed off part of the process or the previous sculpts were harder.


I also cut and gouged the foamboard battlement 'rooftop' and in so doing sliced through the bottome board. So I applied a thin coat of clay, to stabilise it and create a more rigid platform to apply whatever sculpt the Hive Mind sends me. This process was actually the first thing I did and potentially killed the nights efforts altogether, that said it was about 45 minutes to an hours work to do this.


The following night I ummed and ahhed about continuing down this path but it means I can work indoors and I do my bit, pack up and go to bed earlier - I managed pre-midnight both nights and perhaps with a bit of effort I can manage 11 o'clock!


So the two smaller plates were completed,


and the second spinal plate. I'm trying to bulk it out, because I thought the spine looked a little anaemic and hopefully the more clay I use the more durable it'll be.


I'm taking it slowly, so I don't smoosh up what I've already achieved, another 45-60 minutes and it's left to dry overnight. With four plates left to do I will probably continue on this for most of the week and get as much done as I can. Then hopefully I can start back in earnest on the Tactical Squad, like I promised. I can foresee getting this to basing/undercoating stage and then putting it on hold as painting it will take a fair amount to do and I'm far more interested in my other tasks being completed, even if this has just jumped the queue spectacularly.


Tyranid Void Shield Generator Chapter 1. part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. | part 9. |

Tyranid Void Shield Generator Chapter 2. part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. part 9. | part 10. | part 11. | part 12. | part 13. | part 14. | part 15. | 

Monday 7 March 2016

What's on my palette?

Bless me readers for I have sinned, it's been over a couple of months since my last confession. Throne of Skulls is round the corner so what's next?



Historically any kind of big hobby weekend leads to a drop off in activity, sated like Mr Creososte I don't do much afterwards and with the Termagants reaching completion it doesn't help to have finished a project. Luckily I've a number in progress that can be picked up:
  • Imperial Knight
  • Ravenwing Bikes
  • Deathwing Knights
  • Jetfighter
  • Genestealers
  • Tyranid VSG
  • Bastions
  • Dark Angel Tactical squad
Funnily enough the Tactical Squad is coming out as a fore-runner formy attention. I'm actually playing with them and I don't like that they're incomplete. They shouldn;t take too long to finish off - I'm at second highlight stage which could be done in 3-4 days at the most and then it's the fun bits - picking out the details, chapter marking and symbols and all the litany scripts.


They're also easier than the Ravenwing which are mired in doubts about the colours. Well they're not really, everyone's been super supportive so I just need to bite the bullet and get on with them but the pause has let doubt seep in. So:
  1. Dark Angel Tactical squad
  2. Ravenwing Bikes
  3. Imperial Knight
Are my priorities with the Genestealers plodding along beside them just because it helps reduce the tedium of that task. As for the VSG... well we'll have to see. The sculpting process is a bit daunting, not for reasons of difficulty it's just getting everything together and I have a mental picture of the last time I did the sculpting - in the kitchen, and I kind of feel the need to replicate those conditions. Anyway, if I manage to crack on with those three tasks I may build up the motivaiton to attempt the VSG because it's going to be 5 or 6 sessions of work and I have to juggle how that's going to pan out.

Saturday 5 March 2016

'nids part 190 - Termagants - baker's dozen - getting it done

For some reason as I think about what I'm going to say in this post all that comes to mind is Baldrick's War Poem:

Boom, boom, boom, boom


Boom, boom, boom


 Boom, boom, boom, boom


 Boom, boom, boom


Goodness know why? I mean if they were Imperial Guard artillery that'd make sense but it's just I cracked on with the gaunts over a few nights and they sit now with just varnish and any details, like gloss varnish and yellow flock to add. They are looking pretty sweet though :)


And while I was edging their bases I decided to refresh 12 of my earliest Genestealer bases too. The Mechrite Red had become a bit faded and worn in places so this made them look a little tidier. I may consider adding some brighter red fleshy bits further down the line but this was just maintenance.


The only other thing to consider is tidying up the edges on quite a few other models, my first brood of 30 plain gaunts but part of me thinks I need to get back to other jobs following this detour.

Friday 4 March 2016

Throne of Skull Army List - A matter of 170 points

You know when I asked for help with my ToS army lists? Well it always annoys me when someone asks for advice and the promptly ignores what was said. Now I'm not sure if that's what I've done here, so, bad Dave! But I think in all of my appeals across forums and such there seemed to be response that if didn't fit with what I normally take the underpinning theories of choices were equivalent. That said it help and I've got three army lists to choose from, that I'll reveal for opinions after I;ve resolved a 170 point hole in one of those lists. Now these are the options I want folk to think about for those 170pts but given the way I've laid it out Option 1 is really looking strongest [that Hive Guard 'con' for the 2 hits is the average so they can be ineffective, hence why the 3 hit average when I take 3 of them is more a 'pro'].
Anyway, if I could have your opinions but a sneak peak into the other lists... well it'd be rude not to
Free Radical Collective Genestealer Cultists



Given the rules I can take these as 1st and 2nd gen hybrids, 85pts for 12, take a Magus for the Telepathy shenanigans and 2 Purestarin Genestealers just to sneak around and just be annoying.

Thursday 3 March 2016

40k Terrain Competition Update - The competition begins!


As you can see from the totaliser we have nearly reached our target. This last month you added £14.10, in particular February 22nd was a good day as I had six clicks on an advert worth 46p a click! So with roughly £57 in the account and it's set to pay out at £60 I'm pretty confident that March will see me go over that threshold. Of course everything beyond the £60 that's generated will go into the pot and I'll be adding my own money to ensure the cost of the Imperial Knight is met and hopefully add a £10 voucher for a second place winner, should we have more than one entry that is.

So that leads us to the competition, I really need your support on this moving forward and to confirm everyone is happy with the rules I've sketched out. Firstly:
Competition judging will begin at the end of March and take place over April with the final decision being made then.
Is this enough time? Is one month sufficient for you to start and finish a project and photograph it ready for April 1st, if not speak now or forever hold your peace. Bearing in mind I have a weeks holiday booked in May so if it rolls over a month to allow more time to enter I may not be able to oversee any unforeseen issues during that period.

Secondly:
I'll be setting up a poll, similar to this test , I know it was possible to break it and you could artificially inflate scores but I'm hoping there will have to be a level of honesty involved.
 Is this OK, or do you think it's open to abuse? In which case there are alternative options:
  1. Poll for first and second prize
  2. I choose first and second prize
  3. Randomly choose first prize, second prize is decided by me
  4. I choose first prize, second prize is random
Or any combination, suggestion you can think of. Lastly, I need to know how folk would like to have their entry recorded? I think emailing me with your picture will be the best bet, potentially adding any other supporting pics if you felt necessary.

Wednesday 2 March 2016

Old Stuff Day 2016


It's old stuff day 2016. A few years ago now warhammer39999 wanted to join a movement to rediscover lost gems from the world of hobby blogs. To choose one of your own blogposts that your most proud of, or may not have got the attention it deserved or any thing that may warrant some necromantic blogpost bothering. On top of that you were to share blogposts from other bloggers which you thought deserved the same spotlight of attention before they were returned to their dark nightmare infested slumbers.

Over the last few years I’ve formalised this a little more by picking a buried gem of a post from each successive year but this year I’m going to do something slightly different that harkens back to the original premise – 1 post and a few more that  reaffirms my own interpretation, but with a twist.

So the one post I want to showcase is my FREE STC page. I only do this because it forms part of the AdSense competition and reminding folk where the templates are that need to be used, abused or confused to form your entry into winning an Imperial Knight [or equivalent] as and when the AdSense monies mature. Anyway, you knew all this and the page explains all about the templates so go look at it: http://40kaddict.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/terrain-is-everything-standard-template.html

Now to my annual look backs and the twist is simple, here are all my Old Stuff Day posts for the last four years [2013 was the year my Dad died so I never got round to taking part]. This wealth of Old Stuff gives you all a massive amount of my own ‘greatest hits’ and some of the hobby-verse’s best hobby goodness. That should keep you SOOOOO busy catching up it’s just not funny.

2015 - http://40kaddict.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/old-stuff-day-2015.html
2014 - http://40kaddict.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/old-stuff-day-2014.html
2012 - http://40kaddict.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/old-stuff-day-2012.html
2011 - http://40kaddict.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/joining-blogging-movement-old-stuff-day.html

 
Now if somehow all that wasn't enough I've been keeping a record of any exciting web-page I've stumbled upon over the last year and these deifinitely deserve your attention. So I give you these awesome old blogposts from other bloggers you should check out, I won't explain why, it should become evident when you get there:
And from the man who started it all:
And the gone but not forgotten and always awesome:

Tuesday 1 March 2016

'nids part 189 - Termagants - baker's dozen - bonewhite

Steady progress once again, there's not much to show really but the Bonewhite is a biggy and it's quite time consuming. These six were the stragglers, the remainder that just had some quick elements, like the tail and and arm here and there highlighted.


These are the seven I painted through to completion of this stage. I also did the wraithbone chips, I'd say to speed thing up down the line but doing it now or later will take the same amount of time. But it's all about the mind games and getting them done now feels like I have one less thing do making the process near completion


So the remaining six to do and then it's second highlights. I'm pretty confident these will be completed in time for Throne of Skulls even if their purpose is no longer relevant. I still can't decide what to take, I am however mulling over the inclusion of my Genestealer Cultists for a number of reasons - the first and second gen rules gives me 12 relatively cheap obsec units and I get to field them and they're cool - all the big kids are talking about Genecult.

I can run my Spawn of Cryptus as a Patriarch, he's quite expensive but could be really interesting in play. Additionally I can throw in a couple of broods of purestrains as those twins might be handy just knocking about to counter attack, hold the line, or score objectives - although as they're Elites that's not as effective as they could be. I'd have taken the Broodkin Formation just for giggles but as I don't have the third and fourth gen models [though the plain cultists might have sufficed, though I don't have enough], abberants or familiars it wasn't possible.

Either way it;s quite stressful not having this list done...