Then We Will Fight In The Shade (Dark Eldar Army Blog - Part I)

Hey folks,

I've been working (slowly, as usual) on something really interesting - a Dark Eldar army. Yay! Isn't everyone, though? Well, let's show you something a little different then:

An Archon with talons, perhaps?



And with a bit of paint on him:



I don't know where I came up with the idea of using Necron Flayed One talons for hands, but I credit my failed attempts to bend an Agonizer into a more reasonable shape (resulting in it snapping) with the decision to use it as a sort of Predator-like scorpion-tail-ish gun-appendage. I'm counting him as having an Agonizer and a Splinter Pistol - having those blade-hands give you a tickle has got to be unpleasant.

I had to drill holes into the arms and the Flayed One talons in order to pin them into place - there's no way you're going to just get a mere surface-hold to stay put.

You'll also have to clip and flatten the bulb wrist part of the Flayed One talons in order to have a good surface to drill into. They come like that because they're meant to be slotted into the hollow ends of the Flayed One model's arms.

Anyway, feel free to leave comments. I'll try to get some better pictures as I continue along with the painting process.

Me out.

Secret Weapon: Painting for Tournaments With an Airbrush

So my current project is to paint a 1500 point Tau force by a tournament on October 24. Many of my repeat visitors might remember my unsuccessful "Live to Win" campaign that I had put on in the past, and how I never quite got it all done.

Well, I've started to use an airbrush (finally) to get my base colour onto my Tau, and it's striking how something that used to take me several hours with a brush now takes maybe about thirty to sixty minutes.

I've been using the Citadel Spray Gun to get an even coat of Catachan Green onto my four Devilfish, one Hammerhead and twenty-four Fire Warriors. A few details, a healthy dose of Thraka Green Citadel Wash and then some touch-up with my main colour and I'll be just about table-ready.

No pictures yet, but here are a few things I've learned:

1. When your can of propellant gets cold, it's game-over. Either make sure you've got a whole day worth of sunny, warm weather so you can wait for your can to heat back up, or keep a couple of cans around so you can spray with a warm can while you give your most-recently-used can a chance to catch its breath. I've found out also that you're not going to lose all of your "air" if you remove the pressure regulator (the part of the airbrush hose that screws onto the can of propellant) - this is a lot safer than it seems. Apparently the screw part on your pressure regulator pushes down on a plate in the can itself that lets the air out when you turn the screw clockwise, and keeps it in when you turn the screw counterclockwise.

2. You'll run out of paint very quickly. If you want to spray a basecoat on your whole army in one sitting, make sure you've got three or four pots of the paint you need.

3. Be patient. At first, it may look like you're only getting a few drops onto your models, but keep passing over the areas you want covered, and things will solidify soon enough.

4. Pay attention to the needle where the paint comes out. Make sure that you keep that opening as clear as possible at all times. If you have to, clean the paint out regularly. With the Citadel Spray Gun, there's this screw-threaded piece that you can turn clockwise to close that hole, and counter-clockwise to open it further. My habit is to close it so that the needle pokes through the opening and also through the dried paint, and then open it again. I'd also spray some water and/or Simple Green through the airbrush after I'm done painting (if I have any propellant left) just to avoid/clear out any dry paint built up during my painting session.

More hints to come as I learn more about this newfangled tool.

Catching Up

Hey all. It's been a long, long time. I've been a combination of lazy and busy (yes, for several months), and I totally dropped the ball on this whole blogging thing. I'm afraid I just suck at keeping a blog regularly updated.

For what it's worth, I'll show you something related to my previous post - the finished pictures of that contest entry.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5 - Finished

And there we are. I didn't win, not anywhere close, but at least I tried and learned a bunch of new things. Like object source lighting, non-metal metal, a new technique for painting red (that I've since forgotten, unfortunately). And that's awesome.

Finally, A Challenge Worthy of My Skill!

So I'm going to get in on a Blood Angels-only painting contest featured on Bell of Lost Souls and sponsored by BattleForgeGames. It's certainly worth doing, since I stand to potentially win a new Baal Predator, a box of Sanguinary Guard and a box of Death Company! You know, if I'm good enough.

I've got to assemble and paint either a new plastic Baal Predator, a squad of Sanguinary Guard OR a squad of Death Company by May 21. And because I have got to post SOMETHING on this blog once in a while, I'm posting progress shots here as I go!

Wish me luck!

Details: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2010/05/painting-challenge-bfg-blood-angels.html

PS: I'm not actually cocky - the post title is a quote from the Imperial Guard Enginseer from Dawn of War: Winter Assault.

Game Summit

I just wanted to let you all know about an awesome event that's going on here in Ottawa called Game Summit. I just happen to be working on some web stuff for it. While the event plays host to both a Warhammer 40k tournament AND a Warhammer 40k Kill Team tournament, it caters to a wide variety of other "analog" games, like board games, RPGs and collectible card games. Looks like Game Summit has something for the whole family.

Click the huge promotional image here for more information!

I hope I see some fellow FTWers and just lots of gamers of all sorts there!

Apologies

Sorry to have been on hiatus for a while. I've been lazy, to be quite honest. I'm excited now, though, because I've discovered that it's much easier for me to customize my blog template than I had previously believed. With a spiffy-looking blog (work in progress right now), I'll hopefully be more motivated to post more often.

See you next time!

Live to Win, Epilogue

So, on the 17th of May I went to Cangames. One win, one tie, one loss, but plenty of fun had by all!

Live to Win, chapter 2

Here it is, another update on my insane quest to revamp my army by the time the Warhammer 40,000 tournament at Cangames 2009 right here in Ottawa, the capital of Canada.

Live to Win

This is it. Crunch time. Two weeks, one deadline, one tournament. It's time for me to paint my army.

Upcoming Tourney - 1500 point list

There's a 1500 point 40k tournament coming up next month here in Ottawa, at a yearly board, card, and miniature gaming convention known as CanGames. So I've got until May 17 to buy, build and paint two more Rhinos, two Land Speeders, and two Attack Bikes for the following list. After I finish my Baal and my Assault Squads, anyway.

Derailed!

Those stalwart few of you who have followed this blog from the beginning may have been wondering what precisely I've been doing, and why, pray tell, have I not been posting? Either that or you've never been here before, or perhaps even you're not terribly interested. Well, I'm going to tell y'all anyway.

Progress: Baal Predator (Blood Angels)

Here comes a progress report on my shiny new Baal Predator!

A Fatal Case of Tactical Schizophrenia

In my most recent games, I have found myself at a loss when it comes to a strategy to effectively deal with armour or heavily-armoured troops.