Space Marine [the computer game] musical score

I may have mentioned in the past my favourite band - Pitchshifter you may or may not have heard of them but I've been a fan since the early 90's and have grown to love their industrial breakbeat electronica, so much so both my kids have middle names of Clayden after the two brothers who formed the band. No need to call social services the wife was fine with it too. Anyway back in 2002 a friend of the band, Sam Hayles took over designing their album covers [a job I'd love to have but he does it better ;) ] his first one Psi
is here:

But he also did their best album a live CD and remix compilation called Bootlegged Distorted Remixed and Uploaded

You can find more of his work, including the awesome playing card designs and other band album covers on his website www.doseprod.com Anyway, what's this got to do with the price of Termagants I hear you ask. Well I've been friends with him on Facebook for a while and my interest was piqued when I saw this status update:

Finishing editing up a video to be put on Youtube with several images of upcoming game Space Marine with musical score by Sonic Mayhem ! Awesome music.

And so I give you the 14 min compilation of the musical score:

I also found out that ex Pitchshifter guitarist and all round good-guy Matt Grundy also designed some tie-in components for the game. I guess I'm the only designer out there not asked to contribute :(

More weekend progress - 'nids part 24 - DiY Mycetic Spore pt2.

It's been quite a while since I made any effort on my son's Mycetic Spore. I've still got two Plasma Hatchers which I think are awesome and all those haters off them need to get a grip. A few quid for a perfectly acceptable model of the correct scale for a unit type not currently made by GW. Seriously, everyone should be using them. But I'd already started with my idea below and I made a bit of progress over the weekend on the base.

The base was just a piece of hardboard cut to the same shape as the Trygon base. I used layers of the black styrene foam used in Pizza trays [FYI: that stuff is cool for carving and doesn't melt as much under spraying]. I carved it to the desired shape as per my sketch. I then got some DAS air drying clay and sculpted the crater. It struggles to 'stick' to the underlying structure [which I'd read about on http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/] but a bit of pressure and some water to smooth everything over helps. I used a tiny pine cone to roll some texture into the clay, but will probably add sand to it as well. I sculpted some gouges with a coffee stirrer. It could be better but as it's another job that's been long in procrastination the limited progress is greater than the actual sum of it's parts.

Here's a reminder the pot-pourri 'thing' I'm using. I've cut some bits of card to use as the Chitinous parts. I may not go the tiny plates route and go with four or five large plates. Card base with either DAS clay or Milliput to sculpt the correct shape - that's the next sticking point. The base needs a hole drilled into it and the Spore will be screwed onto it to stay solid.

A weekend of progress [with a 'Terrain is everything' thrown in for free]

Following on from my feeling of lethargy on Wednesday I feel like I've started to break free from that 'swamp'. Admittedly the progress isn't massive, under close scrutiny, but somehow I feel like I'm getting somewhere. As I commented in that thread I actually went on to listen to Helion Rain and did the 50:50 Bonewhite/white highlight on the Terminators. Drilled out the storm bolters and added Mechrite red to all the bits that needed it. I haven't yet taken pictures, not sure if the level of highlights will even show up, which doesn't sound like progress but I assure you it is.

Anyway, on Friday night the wife had another night shift so I decided to crack on with a number of other things. I'd prepped a new 'man-made hill' and decided you all needed to share in it's inception. This hill is obviously a lot simpler than the previous Vulcan Plateau - a simple square, but the final STC will in fact have extra bits that will allow you to construct your hill in a number of patterns. Sharp eyed amongst you will notice that the cladding pieces on the side don't go as close to the corners as usual. This is so you can add corner bulkheads similar to those used on the 40k Outpost that got bigger. Alternatively you can leave them off.

A third option will involve steps. As it is, these are hills and unless you run the rules that hills are difficult terrain there shouldn't be any reason to sculpt steps onto them, to allow figures to get topside. I don't make them in my foam hills so there's really no need, but with these they sometimes make sense. This particular version will just have one set for reasons that will become clear but equally you could do a set of steps on each side which I think would look quite cool. Of course you could mix and match any of these options for a multitude of hill types but the three options described seems like a nice starting point.

And obviously the modular plug aspect allows you to add in the Vent Tower components. Don't worry I have realised I will have to expand the number of models featuring the modular socket. I have one immediate plan to 'fill that slot'. It's a new addition to my 'to do list' that will remain a secret for the time being but I will be prepping some CD bases with modular sockets so the items can be used on the current man made hills or just as normal terrain.

Here's why I needed the stairs, the Vent Tower just wouldn't have sat right with no immediate access to lead you in to those big old doors. So I've managed to add even more height to the tower which is fun, G.O.D. help anyone with a 12" range, you can shoot anyone assaulting the base, that's it. It's a total real-estate thief but it's looking awesome.

More progress to follow...

Epic Adeptus Titanicus part 10. - War Griffons Insignia part 2

Way back in December of last year I brought this scan from Codex Titanicus of the War Griffons Insignia

Well in rooting around I've managed to source two more from the set.

Now I'm pretty sure there would have been a Warlord as well but the photobucket collection had two missing links, presumably the Warhound and the Warlord pages. As I'm currently hitting the top-spots in Google image searches I thought I'd collect them here but you can see the originals here:

• http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3774/wargriffons1az9.jpg
• http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/9154/wargriffon2bv9.jpg
• http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/988/wargriffon3xa7.jpg
• http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/2936/wargriffon4dq7.jpg

'nids part 23. Tyranid Prime Tutorial, part4

The Prime's nearly complete now, just some more to do on his 'liver' coloured bits. I did a thinned down Mechrite Red wash just to stop it being too brown, and make it more fleshy. I'll be trying to add some highlights to it all. The turquoise chitinous bits came out well. I suppose it helps when you're using new paint prushes that actually draw to a point and don't resemble an old broomstick!

The base also needs to be done and all the boney bits picked out as well.

Here's the original prime so you can compare and contrast the paint styles. This one being at the very begiining of my Tyranid painting endeavours and the lashwhip sybling at the very end.

Tyranid Prime V2.0 | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4.

Sitting doing nothing

So, the wife is on a night shift and I've had to fore go kendo. Last night I had a thoroughly dissatisfying brawl with some space elves on Dark Crusade so I feel I should not get back on that horse tonight but I have zero enthusiasm for painting. This is all procrastination mind... I've even got some Milliput so I could finally crack on with the Mycetic Spore and Helion Rain to listen to whilst sculpting/painting.

I've experienced this lethargy many times before. In the creative world this sensation often crops up like a willpower sucking swamp and the only thing to do is wade through it. Even if its only a tiny bit of progress its a little bit further on. And experience tells me that often the other side of it is all downhill. Or I could sit on my ass and do nothing like the guy above ;)

Deathwing progress

You may have spotted these guys in the recent battle report. Blink though and you'd miss them as they were torn asunder by a hungry Trygon. Pretty much all the bonewhite elements have been done and they're ready for the next set, 50:50 bonewhite and white.

Also some thin chaos black has been added where appropriate.

First bit of extra colour, the Crux Terminatus has been made Mechrite Red as per my idea on fluff. This ties the Deathwing into Ferron Proxima as a recruitment world. Obviously the knightly aspect of Caliban doesn't sit too well with the old Red Indian theme of the Deathwing but this is where I can say it's specifically a place where those Native American Indian types came from because the landscape is very Monument Valley - red, flat with sudden up-cropping hills and mounds. It's all coming together, I just wish I had more time and enthusiasm to paint. The wife hasn't done any night shifts for a while and my late nights of TV watching and gaming are not conducive to another night of painting, which is why I've been painting a bit here and there when I have 5 or 10 minutes. The desire is there, it's just the willingness to do it is reduced because there's significantly more to do on 5 Terminators than a dozen Termagants