And The Winner Is…

Pedro Kantor by Joshua H.

Congratulations Joshua that is one fine model you have there. Thanks to everyone who participated you all did a fantastic job. :)

Motivational Post #1 - Imagination

Currently the From the Warp blogger group is taking part in a collaborative post on motivation. My contribution to this got me thinking more in depth as to how I become motivated to paint, assemble, trim mould lines or any other aspect of the hobby that can sometimes become tedious or burdensome.

In my bit for the collaborative post I mentioned “eye candy”.  Specifically all of the wonderful pictures GW puts in their literature, web site and complimentary publications such as White Dwarf.  Looking at the beautifully crafted dioramas and fantastic art work really inspires and motivates me more than anything else, but why?  What is it about the “eye candy” that really drives me to pick up my paint brush… Imagination.

It’s what draws us to the Games Workshop hobby from the very start.  A world unlike anything else that we can submerse ourselves in.  We’re almost like moths to the flame, but when that flame dies down and we loose motivation it’s as though our minds have gone dark and we can no longer see the way.  We need to send up a signal flare, we need to spark the imagination again and in doing this we can find motivation.

Starting today I’m going to do my best to put up a weekly motivational post accompanied by an image to spark that imagination that will hopefully give all of us inspiration and ultimately motivation.

Warhammer by Jesse Jeremy

Thanks for stopping and if you feel so inclined please leave a comment about what motivated you on your most recent hobby project.

Imperial Bastion Stage-by-Stage

Great looking Imperial Bastions in just four easy steps…

I picked up the Imperial Strongpoint the other day and was so excited I jumped right into it. I have to say that this set is amazing, both the bastions and the defense lines. You get tons of stuff and the detail on all of the pieces is incredible.

Step 1: After assembly and priming the bastion Chaos Black I used the Citadel spray gun to spray the entire bastion Catachan Green.

Step 2: Once dry I used the Large Flat Drybrush and went over the entire bastion with Camo Green. TIP: In this step when drybrushing the bastion make sure to get almost all of the paint off the bristles and use a circular motion to drybrush. Using a circular motion will eliminate streaks and really brings out the detail.

Step 3: Again, using my Large Flat Drybrush I picked out only the most prominent features of the bastion with Rotting Flesh.

Step 4: This last stage is two parts. I used my Large Drybrush (not the Large Flat Drybrush) to bring out the detail on the Heavy Bolter’s, as well as some of the other metal bits, with Boltgun Metal. Lastly I stippled some Chaos Black into the battle scars and called it finished.

I hope this little tutorial helps you get those bastions painted up and ready for games of Planetstrike. Comments and constructive criticism welcome as always. Thanks for stopping by and reading. Cheers!

Final Photos Are In, Time To Vote - Painting Contest

All of these models are flat out amazing. Seriously, my hat is off to all of you. Thank you so much for participating and good luck. Voting is right above this post, entrants name and character labeled below each picture or group of pictures. With no further rambling I present to you the entrants final photos…

1. Gunnery Sergeant Harker | John G. from The Realms of Equinox

2. Colour Sergeant Jarran Kell | Alex B. from Terran Forge

3. Dark Angels Grand Master Azreal | Eric M. from The Manufactorum

4. Pedro Kantor | Joshua H.

5. Mad Dok Grotsnik | Andreas N. from Tower of Heroes

6. Eldrad Ulthran | Bill L. from Maunderings of a 40K Gamer

Voting is directly above all of this post. Feel free to leave comments for the participants and as always, thanks for stopping.

Sanctum Imperialis

Despite my busy life I still manage to get things done every once in awhile.  This is the third building to be assembled from the Imperial Sector box set.  There’s even a fourth and enough bitz left over to do a small fifth, but I saved them to be combined with my 2nd Imperial Sector box.  Enough rambling, on to the pictures…

I thought about doing the colour on this one a little differently than the others, but in the end decided to keep it the same.  This decision was mostly influenced by the release of the new Shrine of the Aquila.  I wanted to have at least one building in my set that stood out amongst all the others, so it could be easy identified as an objective.  The Sanctum Imperialis was going to be that building, but no longer.  The new Shrine of the Aquila will be better suited for the job.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pits Birthday Bash Giveaway - Progress Photo’s

Alright… Below are the progress photo’s for the painting contest. I must say that all of these models are coming along very nicely and seeing these photo’s has gotten me very excited to see the final versions. The prize could easily be won by any of these entrants.

Gunnery Sergeant Harker | John G. from The Realms of Equinox

Colour Sergeant Jarran Kell | Alex B. from Terran Forge

Dark Angels Grand Master Azreal | Eric M. from The Manufactorum

Pedro Kantor | Joshua H.

Mad Dok Grotsnik | Andreas N. from Tower of Heroes

Eldrad Ulthran | Bill L. from Maunderings of a 40K Gamer

There you have it. Tell all of your friends and spread the word because it’s only one more week until final submissions and voting. Thanks for stopping by, and make sure to come back in a week. Cheers!

Battle Foam PACK 432 – Product Review

After waiting exactly one month for my PACK 432 to show up… it showed up.  Fridays really are the best day of the week.

My initial impressions were very good and remained good after looking the bag over thoroughly.  The fabric is a durable nylon that should withstand a fair bit of use.  There’s a hard shell on all sides of the bag in between the fabric, this gives it a very rugged feel and gives me a sense of comfort that my models are well protected.  This bag has plenty of pockets to hold my gamming aids and dice too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The large pocket on the front is big enough to hold a codex and the mini rule book and also your army lists.

One of the many great designs of this bag is how snugly it holds the foam, there’s very little room for movement.  Again, this gives me a sense of comfort that my models are going to stay in place and not end up in a pool in the bottom of the bag.

My final thoughts on this bag is that it’s a great product.  It’s a little pricy weighing in at $150.00 before shipping with the custom foam load out, but quality usually is expensive.  I’m giving Battle Foam’s PACK 432, 4.5 golden Aquila's out of 5.  The only reason I didn’t give a perfect 5 is because of the lengthy wait despite my foam selection being standard offerings.

Pits Birthday Bash Giveaway - Contest Participants

First, I’d like to thank all of the participants, I really do appreciate you taking part in this contest. I’m sure we’re all going to see some spectacular models.

The participants and their entries are:

1. Gunnery Sergeant Harker | John G. from Realms of Equinox
2. Colour Sergeant Jarran Kell | Alex B. from Terran Forge
3. Dark Angel Grand Master Azrael | Eric M. from The Manufactorum
4. Pedro Kantor | Joshua H.
5. Mad Dok Grotsnik | Andreas N. from Tower of Heroes
6. Eldrad Ulthran | Bill L. from Maunderings of a 40K Gamer

This is a really good mix of special characters. I’m very excited to see who will win in the end. Progress photos are to be in by and posted on Monday, July 13th.