Last Day before Chicago!

(As opposed to being "upon us"... there are only so many ways to say that the time is approaching.)

I've officially dropped Warmaster Skaven and Moria Goblin Shaman as entries. Instead, I am going to do a touch up or two on my little Grot Orderly and enter him (her?) in the open category. It's a unique little conversion. Maybe the judges will look favorably upon it.

The Skaven Warlord still needs a backpack and static grass, but other than that he's done. It's a couple hours, tops.

The gyrocopter needs foliage, and I have some lichen I'm going to use. Other than that, it's done.

If I get those done, then maybe I'll consider cranking out the orderly or .... I dunno... something. Last year, a friend of mine from The UnderEmpire entered one of the staff categories just for the heck of it and won gold. These weren't models he had painted for the competition, they were just nice looking models that he had brought for a gaming tournament. Granted he's a great painter, but it's pretty cool to walk in with no intended entries and walk out with a trophy. Maybe I'll bring a model or two for categories I don't have real entries prepared, just to see what happens. The worst case is that they don't win.

Chicago Games Day 2008 is Upon Us!

Let the freaking out.... begin!

No, I'm actually better off than I am letting on. The duel only needs snow. The gyrocopter has one good night left and the Skaven warlord will be done tonight, Wednesday. I think I'm going to go ahead and just drop the idea of the Warmaster Skaven, unless I suddenly explode with inspiration tonight and paint up three bases of them. The Moria Goblin Shaman is also going by the wayside. Too bad. I like the figure, but I just could never get it started with that one.

Is anyone going to be there? Any of you folks from Chicago Terrain Factory? Leave a comment and let me know!

My Inner Mason has +49 Holy Studded Diamond Mail

I love Progress Quest. It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something, even though I cannot affect my characters advancement in any way. You just let the process run and your character merrily advances up the ranks, killing monsters, finishing quests and upgrading kit. It's like WoW without the $15/month, and you get to keep your life.

If you are a fan of the old single player PC dungeon crawl type game, then make sure you read carefully when the game first starts, as the first few progress bars fill. It made me laugh as they set up a (flimsy) premise like just about every game of that genre ever has.

My character, an Inner Mason named "MelFarrSuperstar" (seriously local Detroit reference) is level 79 on the Oobag server. If you really want to join up, join my guild "106".

Oh, and I guess I owe you some Chicago news... the Duel entry progressed considerably over the weekend. I have five days to wrap all this up, and it makes my stomach hurt to think about it.

One Down, Five To Go

As you can see in the completion meter in the above right, I finished the Commissar last night. Sorry for the lack of photos. That leaves five more entries to finish by next Saturday, three of which are coming about quite nicely. The other two (which should be pretty obvious on the meter) are in danger of not happening, which is okay. I'd rather walk in with four competitive entries than six mediocre ones.

Okay, from the dubious accomplishment department, I have now successfully watched the entire first and second seasons of the new Doctor Who series in preparation for the big season finale last night. Between Stef and Susan I had plenty of encouragement. I have made some assumptions about what is going to happen in this upcoming episode and I can't say I'm looking forward to it even a little. Okay, maybe a little. Okay, maybe I'm really curious. Yeah, maybe that.

Math is Funny

If you have never read xkcd then please do. It's not all kiddie-friendly, but it's intelligent in ways that math geeks (even not particularly knowledgeable math geeks like myself) will enjoy.

The internet argument one is amazing.

The Chicago Games Day To-Do List

With hotel paid for, tickets in-hand and entries taking shape, it's time to start the list of things to do before Chicago Games Day.

Duel:

• finish base colors on marine
• battle damage on marine
• finish banshee
• OSL
• snow
  

Commissar:

• riding crop
• touch up freehand
• shell casing

LotR Shaman:

• redo eyes
• armor improvements
• weapon OSL

Gyrocopter:

• finish pilot
• improve wood grain
• basing shrubs / figure

Skaven Warlord:

• trophy rack
• long grass on base
• fungus on base
• improve skulls on back

Warmaster Skaven (not looking quite so likely)

• Finish Eshin base
• Entire Moulder base
• Entire Skryre base
• Entire Warlord base
• Entire Pestilens base

Even with six categories I realize that I am likely to walk away with a couple honorable mentions at best, which is a little depressing. I find myself intimidated by things like this. I just don't feel like I can match that level of quality, and it's hard to say I'm seriously contending for trophies when I keep seeing minis that are out of my league, so to speak. I don't want to win a trophy because some category was poorly represented on a given year. I want to win because I painted a world class mini. I'm just not sure I'm there yet.

Getting Closer & Black Templar Captain

Well, we discovered too late that the hotel would charge us immediately for the hotel room for Saturday night after Games Day. Now we're broke. Whoops.

The Gyrocopter is the GD entry that I'm finding intriguing. I've only ever worked on it on my lunch hour at work, but it's starting to really take shape. It needs some basing work (shrubs) and the pilot, but the canvas is turning out pretty good. It will certainly be an answer to anyone who says they don't have time to paint if I can pull off a decent entry in a year of sporadic lunch hours.

Other entries are slow going. The beginning of painting on the duel entry is encouraging. The Moria Shaman is practically untouched in the past two months. I still plan on submitting him. Skaven Warmaster characters may get the boot if time is too tight.

In an attempt to fund the trip, Black Templar Captain is on the auction block: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290244631316

Irresponsibly Doing What I'd Planned

I'm back on for Chicago. Sure, I have no idea where the money is coming from for the other big expenses this Summer, but doing something I've greatly anticipated and planned to do for the past year is just too hard to give up.

Between nervousness of competition and trying to pay for all these thing we must do, I'm going to give myself an ulcer.

That said, the Commissar is coming along again. He's really getting close now.

A Tale of Two Summers

Last summer, after taking the family to see Ratatouille, I went to Rider's Hobby in Ypsi and bought a Warhammer Giant kit. I was determined that in the four weeks remaining until Games Day '07 I was going to produce something that could make first cut. I worked my tail off and got an honorable mention. Immediately after returning I started plotting my entries for the next year.

Friday saw the release of another Pixar movie, Wall-E. My family went to see it, and it was very good. Like last year's release, this one heralds four weeks until Games Day. Unlike last year, I am well on the way to having competition qulaity minis ready to go. My skills have improved.

Except.... this year I don't think I'm going.

Looking over the priorities for the summer, it has become clear to me that day trips to Chicago are a luxury I can not currently afford. Yes, after an entire year of anticipation I am disappointed, but I have to put family priorities ahead of my hobby, and even ahead of my second job if you consider mini painting my second job. (Or is my third job.... I forget.)

Anyway, thanks to everyone who kept track of my progress here. I plan to keep working on my entries as I have time, but problaby just for eBay sale and not competition. See you next year in Chicago, I hope.

EDIT: and clearly to make myself feel better about the whole thing, I was watching some video coverage of last year's Chicago Games Day. Lo and behold, I ran across video of my giant! It's only a fraction of a second (at 1:17) but it's there!

TMBG Sighting

You neglected to mention the sleeper sofa.
I forgot all about the air hockey table.
Reluctantly helping my friend move.

Good grief, it's like a haiku or something. I continue to be astounded by this band, even 20 years after I bought Lincoln. Apparently they did a whole series of commercials for Dunkin' Donuts, many of which can be found on YouTube.

Anthem
Auto Pilot
Alarm Clock Catastrophe
All Night Blowout
Early Fishin'
Fritalian
Human Interest
Job Interview
Power Walk
Unstick
One Million Degrees (poor quality)
Pee Wee Hockey
Plenty of Room
Time has taken my boat away (poor quality)
Tree

...and in an interesting "YouTube has everything" moment...
Anthem (internal for ad agency)

Smoothing Out the Color

Miniature painting is a game of patience. Look at the light brown areas of the coat lining from the left picture compared to the right. The "after" picture on the right received another 10-15 coats of Vallejo "plague brown" last night, and the color is more consistent and smooth as a result. My plague brown was exceedingly thin, so I mixed in a little glaze medium just to get a smoother coating. It took a while to dry, which forced me to paint the coat for about three hours on and off last night. Thankfully I had the wet palette to keep the paint from drying up in the meantime. I rushed into shading in that area when I should have striven for a clean base coat first, but I'm on the way to correcting that. The gun also received a few very thinned out washes of Baal Red to richen the tone.

I don't like the brown on the hat brim. I don't really know what I was thinking when I did that.

Wood Grain... hmmm

I had considered doing his bolt pistol in nmm gold, but the more I looked it the more I liked the idea of it being wood grain. I need to clean up the grain a little in places, based on the photo.

I have the gun a wash of the new "Ogryn flesh" to try and make it a little more red, but the effect wasn't quite what I was hoping for. I'll probably mix a little good old fashioned chestnut ink into some Reaper matte varnish and see how that affects it.

A New Level of Persnickety

The funny thing about competition minis is that you need to give up any semblance of knowing when you'll be done. I spent 1.5 hours last night working on this fellers left eye. I thought about doing a freehand on the interior of the jacket, but nothing I tried really hooked me.

I still have confidence that this feller is going to look good, but he hasn't reached that point where he goes from looking like a WIP to approaching the final product. He still looks like a half painted miniature to me.

Tonight I begin giving private painting lessons. The student is actually a fairly good painter coming into this, so I will have to endeavor to identify and break his bad habits and hopefully bring him up to a new level.

Impractical Foundation Garments

Yeah, I know. It lifts, but does it separate?

After painting a bazillion Space Marines, sometimes you just want to paint something.... curvy. She's on eBay now.

EDIT: w00t for best eBay sale price for a single mini yet! I'm going to assume that it's because I'm improving as a painter. Don't burst my bubble.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290236142207

40k single wip #1

If last year was any indication, 40k single figure is going to be very competitive this year. I wanted to go with something a little understated, so this Commissar (I love the pose) and a simple base, to which I will add a small detail later, as my entry. I'll probably get some sort of plinth, just to add impact.

The Joy of Losing

In terms of sheer narrative, I really enjoy Warmachine/Hordes. Yesterday I played a game (the first in about a year) out at Planeswalker's Magic Bag. Sure, it costs like $15 in gas for the round trip, but how often do I get to actually play Warmachine.

So I fielded a Kreoss list of just 'jacks and solos. My opponent (Jake) had stinking Irusk and mostly infantry and solos. He had only one 'jack... a Spriggan.

Most units started to bunch up on the left side of the board (my left, anyway) while a few solos squared off on the right. I ran a Seseschal into base contact with Lady Aiyana & Master Holt, who had just dispatched my Eiryss, hoping to survive the combat and kill them in my next turn. My opponent was kind enough to warn me of how crazy Holt is in combat, so I decided to alter my strategy. I pushed Gorman DiWulfe up close enough to chuck an acid grenade at my own Seneschal, hoping to kill both Aiyana and Holt with the AOE hit. The grenade missed and deviated as far as it could, missing both my targets entirely (but taking out a couple unsuspecting Iron Fang Pikemen.) In his turn Aiyana and Holt effortlessly dispatched my Seneschal, which left them unengaged. Gorman stepped up to within 3" of them and chucked another acid grenade, a strategy I'm going to have to remember. The template can only deviate by half the total shot distance, so by getting in so close I ensured that the template could not scatter off them. They both dissolved horribly. Go Gorman.

On the left side, My troops had just slaughtered most of his army by utilizing Kreoss' feat to knock everyone down, then rushing in to smash anyone in range into paste. It was looking bad for Khador, until Jake remembered that he had cast Superiority on the Spriggan, which meant that it hadn't been knocked down. On his turn, Jake beefed up the Spriggan with three focus and charged Kreoss, skewering him on that enormous lance. Game over.

I love losing at that game. I'm guessing winning is fun too.

T-59 Days until Games Day Chicago

Oh, man. I need to work. A lot.

Last year it took me 28 days exactly to produce an entry worthy of an honorable mention, from shrink wrap to delivery. This year I am trying for six categories with about twice that time left to paint. The scary part is that I actually want to do a seventh category, if I have time. Where am I going to get time?!

Actually, it's not as bad as I'm making it sound. Last year was a huge conversion project, and I spent a lot of the time trying out different versions of the conversion, as well as playing with different paint additives for the first time. This year it's mostly just single model, so precision is the goal.

Nevertheless, I gotta get working.

Goodbye 30-39

That's it. It's done. I made it to my fortieth birthday. According to Bowflex commercials, I'm the perfect age to join a rock band or something.

The multitude gathered to see Prince Caspian on Friday, my one request for my birthday celebration. It was priceless to hear my girls squeal "Reepicheep!" when he first appeared on screen. Reepicheep, the noble mouse who appears in both Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader, was their single favorite character from those books. I think he was given good treatment in the movie.

Later, we all went and had pizza at Tower Inn. The kids had a "make your own pizza" thing, where the waitstaff would bring them raw materials from which to manufacture a mini pizza, which was then cooked and returned for them to eat. Okay, people? If you want to eat anytime within this age, do not choose a meal option that lets six children both choose from a long list of options and then perform some action that must be completed before the mere cooking of the meal can commence. Simplify.

My personal approach to giving children choices is that each option of roughly equivalent value beyond two will double the amount of time the decision takes. I say roughly equivalent because some options will artificially weigh the decision. "Do you want a spanking or a bowl of ice cream?" for example. "Do you want a popsicle or a bowl of ice cream?" would be more valid, assuming the child being asked actually likes both popsicles and ice cream. Adding a third option to the decision, "Do you want a popsicle, a bowl of ice cream, or a king-size candy bar?" doubles the decision time, as each option is weighed against every other option. Adding a fourth option will multiply the decision time to 4x the time it would take to choose between two options. Now, for just a moment, imagine a box containing twenty shiny rocks. Imagine handing that box to a child and say, "Pick one." To the child this really means "Choose one of these to keep. The rest you will never see again, so consider this decision as if your very life depended upon it. Alternately you may choose in a brief, cavalier fashion then cry later when you see another child with a rock you want more than your own." This brings us to our correlary: the level of dissatisfaction a child will have with any given choice, once made, is directly proportional to the number of children in the immediate area who chose differently from the same initial choice set.

For the past two nights there have only been five people in my house. For such a small place it almost feels big.

I have been invited to the beta test of Kongregate's online card game "Kongai." It is fun, but it is clearly not complete.

Venting and Gas

First off, how long do you think it will be before photos like this stop being alarming and start making us nostalgic?

Now on to the real subject: venting. I hear many people say "I just needed to vent" after complaining about something. The concept of venting is not foreign to me, but I have discovered its application to be an unhealthy thing, for me anyway. Allow me to explain.

The concept of "venting" is that by talking about something you can feel less annoyed or frustrated by it. In essence you have built up too high a pressure in the holding tank and are venting steam (which I would assume the etymology of this term, although I am too lazy to find out for sure) to lower the pressure. This seems fine if you are a steam boiler. For me, venting has a very different result. It conditions me to be unhappy.

Allow me to psych101 you for a moment. We all have neuron pathways in our brain that become more easily accessed as we practice something. If you practice guitar, your brain gets better at moving your hands around in the correct manner. If you type your computer password every day for several years you begin to type it without even thinking about it. I think venting works the same way. My theory is that if you learn to repeatedly vocalize your complaints you train your mind to run down those same pathways; you condition yourself to dwell on what makes you unhappy. I suppose if you could condition yourself to actually stop being unhappy after venting then you could make it work. My experience is that most people who vent continue to be unhappy about it afterwards, and are really just looking for someone to agree with the fact that they have a reason to be upset.

I approach this very differently as I approach 40 than I did when I was approaching 30. I'm not exactly the poster child for unflappable. In fact, Stef and I joke that only two things I don't like are "doing something" or "going somewhere" which pretty much sums up anything that can ever happen. There are plenty of things that cause me anxiety or unhappiness. What I have found does not help is talking over and over about what is bothering me. The much quoted Ephesians 4:26 says "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath" (ASV translation.) Okay, the first part is pretty simple. If you are angry, don't sin. (Keep it together, man!) I've heard the second part used over and over to encourage people to resolve their issues, to talk through things or what not. I think there's a false assumption there. Some issues can't just be talked through. Some have to be let go. Personally, I try to examine the things that are making me upset and decide whether these are things that can really be fixed by talking. Often, they aren't. If that's the case, you can still not let the sun go down upon your wrath. All you have to do is decide not to have wrath. Poof. Let it go. And it's not like I'm some super inner-peace guy either. pfft. Not even close. I'm just some slob with an opinion, and blogger is kind enough to save it in their database for your reading pleasure.

The Adventures of Scotty the Penguin

First off, let me apologize for embedded quotes. I have no talent for it.

At Greenfield Village last week (see a few posts earlier) I chatted with a volunteer employee there. He saw that my Lily had a small bag crammed with six Webkinz. He decided that I would like to hear a story.
"My wife has a stuffed penguin named 'Scotty' that she takes everywhere!" he began. I immediately wondered if his wife had special needs. "She takes pictures of Scotty every time we go someplace like the museum. Scotty driving the car, Scotty operating the drill press, Scotty riding the atomic bomb..." Okay, this now has more of a "Garden Gnome tours the country" feel to it than an "I need my blanky" feel. He concludes the story thusly. "One time we were out someplace and a little girl tugged at her mother's sleeve and pointed to my wife. 'See? She got to bring her toy in with her!'"

That part actually made me laugh.

Be Careful What You Ask For

I swung by the GW store last night to shop for a model. I can't tell you what... that's a secret. Anyway, a friend was there and he had brought a model with him. It had apparently placed third or so in another GW store's painting competition, and his demeanor clearly showed that he thought it should have placed better. He told me that he was considering entering it into Golden Demon, and asked for my input. I was... how do I put this... diplomatically blunt. I told him what I liked about the model and I told him what I didn't like. His expression indicated that he didn't like being told what I didn't like about his model. I advised him to take a month and clean it up. He repeated the "take a month" part to himself with a sour face.

Now don't get me wrong... it wasn't a bad model. It looked good, but not competition good. I had never seen competitions models before Chicago last year, but I had seen enough photos on Cool Mini Or Not to know that my average model was not that level. I think he was expecting me to say that he had a chance for a trophy with that model. It was a good looking gaming model, but really had no chance in competition. I tried to offer helpful suggestions, mostly my rules of competitive painting. Here they are:

1. It has to look intentional - Every part of the model has to look like you intended it to look exactly as it looks. No part should look like you arrived there by accident, even if the end result looks cool.
   
2. It's not good enough - No matter what you are working on, look it over again and again to see what can be improved. Never be satisfied, but instead keep improving everything a little at a time.
   
3. If you can't do it well, don't do it - it may be a cool idea, but if you can't satisfy rule #1, then you shouldn't be doing it. This is sort of (very sort of) a Jeet Kun Do approach to painting... play to your strengths. If you're a speed skater, don't compete in the pole vault. If there's a super cool technique that you are dying to try, use it on some other models until you are good at it and then use it on a competition model.

The model I was asked to critique violated rules 1 and 2. A lot. There were numerous examples of places on the model where surfaces met indistinctly or where paint from one area seemed to be bleeding into another. I pointed out some places where tide marks from washes had formed, and I was told that boiled leather looks exactly like that. Maybe it does, who knows? To me, a painter and not an expert on boiled leather, it looked like tide marks from a wash. Maybe the judges will have more leather savvy than me. The model may have gotten first cut, but it wouldn't have won a trophy. Not even close.

I had a few models on me, so I showed my friend what I had been working on. What I got was what I gave, and that's only fair. I know the models I'm working on aren't competition models. Okay, one is a competition model but it's really only just started. I got a detailed list of what he didn't like about the model. At least one of the problems he pointed out had escaped my attention, so I'm glad he showed me. If we both walk away from yesterday better painters, then it was a good day.

I took the time to win a LotR painting competition while I was there. The only other guy to compete had to use store brushes, so it wasn't exactly an even race. Gotta give him credit for competing without his tools. Chutzpah!

So here's the dilemma for me. I'm a "pretty good" painter. Not a great painter. Most of the people who frequent the local shop are mediocre painters. A few of them just enjoy painting, but some of them want to be really good at it. They seem to turn to me for feedback on their minis, but they only want to hear how great they are. Most of the time I oblige and just tell them what I like about a particular model. Sometimes, like yesterday, I give real critique. It's seldom well received. When I met Tim Lison he not only told me what he liked about my model but what he didn't like about it. The didn't like parts were far more helpful. I didn't feel like Tim's comments were attacks or insults. Either I need to learn how to deliver critique as well as Tim or just forgo giving constructive comments altogether. "Yeah, looks great! You should so enter that into Golden Demon!" I don't know... I have a hard time saying it if I don't mean it.

GD Category Update

Current category intentions for Chicago Games Day Golden Demon:

40k single: Commissar (0% complete)
40k squad: Plague Marines or something Eldar.... not sure
40k vehicle: maybe an Ork Deffdread...
40k large:

WHFB single: Skaven Warlord (60% complete)
WHFB regiment:
WHFB large/monster: Dwarf Gyrocopter (20% complete)

LotR: Moria Goblin Shaman (10% complete)
Duel: (secret project!) (0% complete)
Youngbloods: (missed it by 25 years! shucks!)
Open: Warmaster Skaven (1% complete)

So that's SIX categories I'm planning on competing in! Six! I could easily enter something I've already painted for one of the other categories, and I'm really struggling with whether to enter 40k and whfb units. Maybe I'll hold off on those for now. Considering what I went through to enter the one model last year, even six might be a little much. Duel is going to take a lot of my energy, that's for sure!

A Day Out with Thomas

Lily, Jay and I went to Greenfield Village yesterday to attend "Day Out with Thomas." My mom and dad brought my brother's kids Daniel and Rebekah as well.

I was impressed that Thomas was an actual coal burning steam engine. Off to the left you can see my dad and Jay.

The Application of Division

My house is 950 sq. feet.

Last night my house contained:
3 x adults
2 x girls, age 9
2 x girls, age 6
1 x boy, age 5
1 x boy, age 3
1 x boy, age 18 months
1 x boy, age 2 weeks

Total: 11 humans of varying sizes
950 sq. feet / 11 people = 86.3 sq. feet per person.
I haven't decided how I'm going to use my 9.3 ft. square allocation of area. I hope mine contains the toilet. Or maybe the door.

What Finishing Last Looks Like

I participated in my local GW store's painting competition. We had 25 hours to paint the 25th anniversary model. The size of the prize was dependent on how many entries they received, ranging from a $5 gift card for 1-5 entires all the way up to a battalion box for 10 or 15 entries.

There were all of 4 entries. Last time I entered a contest there, there were 3 entries. The time before that, I was the only entry. I think I've lost interest in competing there. What they should do is have an open painting competition where you have to buy your model at the store ($20 minimum purchase on a gift card or something) and they award a prize for the winner and another prize for a random entrant. I think they'd get more participation that way.

So back to the competition that just finished... out of 4 entries I finished ... drum roll please... 4th. Hmmm. #1 was well painted, but was gloss coated (and I hates gloss coating forever.) #2 was mediocre painted, but had the whole base assembled and painted, which was a feat to behold. It really is a huge base. #3 was a clever conversion from fantasy to 40k. Then came me. I can't question the judging, but I still think mine was pretty good.

The unpainted figures, being so limited edition, are going for $40-$50 on eBay. I've listed him on eBay, so I'm curious to see if my paint job added or subtracted value from him.

Iron Man L.A. Times Review

I haven't seen Iron Man yet. I don't know when I would. I did, however, read Kenneth Turan's review on the L.A. Times web site.

Here is an excerpt. Emphasis is mine.

Traveling to Afghanistan (actually, it's nearby Lone Pine, Calif.) to demonstrate a new weapon system, Tony gets kidnapped by noticeably cranky jihadists who consider him "the most famous mass-murderer in the history of America" and want him to build them one of his "masterpieces of death" in the dank cave they've imprisoned him in.

Though his heart has been damaged by (how ironic!) shrapnel from one of the bombs his company created, Tony, it turns out, is not a man to mess with. Turning dour and serious, he fools the jihadists, who show themselves to be bears of very little brain, and constructs his first Iron Man suit, which makes him look like an especially fierce refrigerator-freezer.

Considering the number of people with whom I spoke who positively gushed about how great Transformers was, I do not intend to take any of the normal geek-squad recommendations for Iron Man. Sorry guys, but you've used up your credibility with me. Kenneth Turan, on the other hand, has gotten my attention. I will be reading his reviews in the future whether I have any interest in the film in question or not. I think it was the "(how ironic!)" part that won me over. You can almost hear the fake gasp. Nicely done, Kenneth.

Childhood Tunes

When I was a youngster I used to listen to music by means of plastic disks with little bumps that encoded the music in analog. We called them records because sounds had been recorded on them. One of these records contained a series of American folk songs, and I committed many of them to memory over time. The result of one such memorization is that I was trotted up in front of the Miller elementary school play finale to sing the verse to Irving Berlin's "Grand Old Flag" since I was the only person in that school to apparently know it. (In the parlance of songs of that era, the "verse" is a unique portion at the beginning of the song, treated more as an optional introduction nowadays.) I remember my teacher being a bit puzzled when I asked her, "Why aren't we singing the whole song?" She asserted that we were singing the whole song. I remember her astonishment when I proceeded to recite the verse for her. She immediately dragged me in to do it for the music teacher, and next thing I know I am leading the finale at the ripe old age of 7.

Anyway, I digress...

One of the songs I have had bouncing through my head for the past, oh, 30+ years or so was a story about a man walking past a dilapidated cabin wherein an old man was playing a fiddle. When the traveler advised the old man to fix the roof the old man replies, "I couldn't fix it now, on a rainy day." Maybe you already know this song. I didn't know the name until this weekend when I heard someone playing it on "Prairie Home Companion" and the song was referred to by name. It's called "The Arkansas Traveler." I've heard the tune so many times over the years, but never the name. This weekend I actually sought the lyrics and found them.

Oh once upon a time in Arkansas
An old man sat in his little cabin door,
And fiddled at a tune that he liked to hear,
A jolly old tune that he played by ear.

It was raining hard but the fiddler didn't care
He sawed away at the popular air,
Though his roof tree leaked like a water fall
That didn't seem to bother that man at all

A traveler was riding by that day,
And stopped to hear him a-practicing away
The cabin was afloat and his feet were wet,
But still the old man didn't seem to fret.

So the stranger said: "Now the way it seems to me,
You'd better mend your roof," said he.
But the old man said, as he played away:
"I couldn't mend it now, it's a rainy day."

The traveler replied: "That's all quite true,
But this, I think, is the thing for you to do;
Get busy on a day that is fair and bright,
Then pitch the old roof till it's good and tight."

But the old man kept on a-playing at his reel,
And tapped the ground with his leathery heel:
"Get along," said he, "for you give me a pain;
My cabin never leaks when it doesn't rain."

(Copied from here.) I have yet to find a vocal version with these lyrics in my intertube searchings. I'm a little shocked that the song is pretty much as I remember it. Granted, I couldn't recite all the lyrics, but I remembered the concepts and some snippets.

Teeny Little Rat

I took a little break from Rectificators late this evening to paint my first Warmaster model. Of course it's a Skaven.

Wow. Just.... wow. So much fun. I absolutely love this scale.

The fact that nobody actually plays Warmaster in my immediate area (or potentially anywhere) leaves me free to paint for fun rather than feel pressured to build an army.

Some Chicago Decisions

Okay, I've been mulling it over and I have some decisions for my Golden Demon entries:

Warhammer single figure: Skaven Lustrian Warlord
Warhammer 40k single figure: Imperial Commissar
Lord of the Rings single figure: Moria Goblin Shaman
Open Category: Warmaster Skaven characters

and if I have time....

Warhammer 40k unit: Deathguard Plague Marines
Warhammer large model: Dwarf Gyrocopter

I have some Eldar that are still catching my eye and begging to be painted for competition, so maybe things will change later.... who knows?

Heading Back to the Temperate Zone

Kevin and I are sitting in the airport waiting for our 12:30 flight from LAX to DTW. Unfortunately it's only 10:00 AM local time, and we've been here since 9:00. The laptop only has another half hour or so of power, so after that I'm reduced to reading books. Like a savage.

Speaking of Luddite pursuits, I have a big nerd confession to make. Ready? Here goes.

I'm reading an "in universe" novel series based on a game.

Shocked? Yeah, me too. I swore I would never spelunk this dark cavern. It can only lead to reading Star Wars novels, writing ST:TOS fan fiction and eventually going to cons dressed at Drizzt. I swore I'd never do it, and yet here I am. How did it happen? Angelos thrust a book into my hands and said, "Read this until about page 50, or whenever they get to all the shacks." I did. I was compelled. I read on. I'm on the second "omnibus" now, each of which collects three or four novels in one volume, so I'm officially on book five of the "Gaunt's Ghosts" saga. Nerdy? Oh, yes. It takes place in the Warhammer 40k universe. Juvenile? A little.... it has some smack of adolescent war fantasy to it. Fun? Embarrassingly so. The sad part is that I am considering reading some of the other "in universe" fiction that Games Workshop has licensed now. Yeah, the cavern is deep, but I'll only go in a little ways and I've got this canary. It's a female canary, so it should die of disgust if things get too nerdy. Unless it's into cosplay or something. I guess I never found out if the canary likes anime. Hmm.

8000 Educators Drink a Lot of Starbucks

Greetings from Anaheim, CA! I'm here for Sungard Higher Education's "Summit" conference, basically a gathering of their clients to talk about the gigantic enterprise software we are all using. There are 7500 clients and 500 Sungard employees here, and about 12 of us came from EMU. It's..... loud. There was an outing to Knott's Berry Farm amusement park last night, and I rode a few rides. I neglected riding Ghostrider, the granddaddy of wooden coasters, and I regret it now. Oh, well. You hear that Scott Short?! I was at the queue entrance to Ghostrider and I didn't ride. Ha ha!

So far I have made quite a few peer contacts, but it's hard to know who will be helpful and who will be in need of help. I'm hoping for that magical 50% mark, but who knows?

Okay, see you all on Friday.

People To Avoid Having Conversations With

Gee, I can't wait until I'm old enough to feel ways about things.

Spend Hundreds, Save $1 !!! (RETRACTED!)

So GW is having this 25th Anniversary of Warhammer army "deal." I say "deal" because it doesn't seem like much of a deal. Let's take my beloved Skaven, for example:

25th Anniversary Skaven Army Deal $260
Grey Seer
40 Clan Rats
1 Ratling Gun
40 Plague Monks
10 Plague Censer Bearers
10 Poison Wind Globadiers
2 Rat Ogres
6 Giant Rats
3 Packmasters

Now let's compare that to walking into the GW store and buying all those models right off the shelf at full retail price:

Skaven Battalion $90 (includes 40 clanrats, 20 plague monks, 2 rat orgres, 6 giant rats and 3 packmasters)
Grey Seer $12
Ratling gun $12
20 Plague Monks $35
10 Poison Wind Globadiers $60
10 Plague Censer Bearers $50
Total: $259

Wow, guys. Thanks for the dollar. On top of that, the army isn't legal! You can't field a Grey Seer in fewer than 2000 points. If you add every single option to increase the points of what comes in the box, it comes out to 1480 points maximum even including 100 points of magic items for the Grey Seer.

Also for discussion: Why would they eliminate 40k Megaforces? No, seriously. I want to know. If Sam Walton's idea had been to sell smaller quantities of items for more money, do you think he would have been successful?

RETRACTION: Captain Math here, letting all you boys and girls know that $259 is less than $260. When I posted that you save $1 on the big new box I was wrong. You spend $1 more. Now that's economics.

EDIT: Apparently I was a little slow on the draw on this one. My favoritest Skaven site had noticed more than a month earlier. ...link link...

I <3 Google Docs

No, seriously. I really do.

I keep copies of many of my important documents there. I am working on a slideshow for my upcoming painting seminar there. I'm tracking things I sell there.

I'm still not quite ready to store, oh, password or pins there. I'm not really sure how secure it all is, but anything that I wouldn't mind exposed to the public at some point is going straight to google docs.

Countdown to July 26 Games Day

I'm getting a little excited about entering Golden Demon again this year. I plan on entering at least three categories, but I still need to decide which three. Here are the models I am either actively painting or considering:

1. Warhammer Single Model: Skaven warlord (in progress)
   
2. Warhammer 40k Single Model: Commissar (purchased)
   
3. Lord of the Rings Single Model: Moria Goblin Shaman
   
4. Warhammer 40k Unit: Eldar Swooping Hawks
5. Warhammer 40k Unit: Deathguard Plague Marines
6. Warhammer 40k Unit: something Orks....
   
7. Warhammer Unit: Skaven Night Runners
8. Warhammer Unit: Snotling Swarm
   
9. Warhammer Large Model: Dwarf Gyrocopter
10. Open: Warmaster Skaven Heroes

So many choices.... and rapidly closing time.

A Guilty Verdict

Yesterday Orange Taylor III was found guilty of the murder of Laura Dickinson. It's been an ongoing saga here at EMU, and I now find myself sympathizing with Tina and Orange Taylor II, the parents of the convicted man. Their lives are as transformed as the Dickinsons' must be. Their son is going to spend life in prison. One can argue that at least their son is alive, but I'm not sure that's going to be much of a consolation to them. As far as I know they didn't do anything wrong, but they will pay for his actions for the rest of their lives. Every Christmas. Every birthday. Every wedding. Every time someone talks about grandchildren. I don't remember where I heard this, but I'm pretty sure they have practically bankrupted themselves defending their son in this trial. Regardless of whether they say they believe he is innocent or not, there has to be the nagging doubt. The evidence was just too strong. In their hearts, they have to have imagined their son killing her. I can't imagine what that is like.

One of Those Days

I couldn't find my prescription drugs this morning, so I'm wheezing right now.
I couldn't find my tennis shoes this morning so I'm wearing dress-casual shoes, which are not so comfy.
I couldn't seem to get an hour to myself to work this weekend, so the Rectificators suffered.
The radio station reported the wrong date for the charity poker tournament, so only 30 people showed up to compete.
I didn't know Seth didn't have school this week, so I had to drive him back home after trying to drop him off, and was consequently quite late for work.
I didn't realize that I had listed something on eBay at a loss, and I've already sold one and have another potential customer a little peeved at me.

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Habakkuk 3:17-18

Ah. Perspective.

Sit Deep

Alright, people. Sit back and groove for a minute.



There now. Isn't that better.

Gary Gygax

Gary Gygax, one of the creators of Dungeons and Dragons, has died. I'm saddened, as D&D shaped me a great deal as an adolescent and I have always inexorably connected him with the game. Say what you will about the pros and cons of role playing, and of this game specifically, but I loved it.

I was at the forums over at Troll Lord Games to read some tribute posts when I came across >>this<<.

One day, I'm gonna give that guy a big hug.

My New Favorite Brush: W&N S7 size 1

I bought my first size 1 Winsor and Newton Series 7 Miniature brush last week. I am amazed at how much I like using it.

The impetus for the purchase was the amazing tutorial over at MiniatureMentor.com in which Laurent Esposito uses a much larger brush than I expected for much of his work. (By the way, I cannot recommend this tutorial enough. The camera work is absolutely amazing.) I decided to give a larger brush a go to try and mimic some of his techniques. Wow! It holds so much paint, but still has that razor tip! I love it!

I picked up a series 7 size 0 and a series 7 miniature size 0 to list on my ebay store, but neither has sold despite the fact that they are the only w&n s7 size 0 brushes on all of ebay.

Oh, did I mention how disillusioned I am with ebay? A $138 sale incurs $15.44 in fees (between ebay fees and paypal fees.) A direct credit card sale with a merchant account would be around $2.76. Argh. They do get their pound of flesh, don't they?

Technology Double-take

Seldom do I get on the hype bandwagon, but if Nokia is even close to delivering on this in the next five years or so then we are going to see some pretty amazing changes.



Morph Demo Film from Nokia site
Wow.

In the Name of Economic Recovery

Dear U.S. Government,

Please send me a large check. I promise I will not save one penny of it, for the sake of economic recovery.

Your fan,
Mike

Flashback

On a bus or a taxi going through Kyoto, Japan in August 1990 I saw a club called "Pignose Jazz." The name was burned in my memory for some reason, probably because I was just starting to fall in love with jazz at that point in my life.

A quick google search yields a "talk about Kyoto" page (in Japanses) listing "Pignose" along with a couple other jazz clubs. I am oddly gratified that the place still exists, despite never having set foot in the place.

Looted Codex

GW should not have hired Orks to write their own codex.

Discrepancies in the codex so far:

1. Dakka guns are AP5 Assault 3 on the main description page and AP4 Assault 2 on the summary page.
2. Warbikez are said to have twin-linked Dakka guns on the main description page, but are listed as having Dakka guns (without the "twin-linked" indicator) on the army list.
3. Stormboyz are shown to have the "Waaagh!" special rule in their main description but do not have it in the army list section.
   

I will edit this post as more are discovered.

Skullhamma Finished... somewhat

Don't laugh. It was a two night job, and that's a lot of tank.

Skullhamma

A friend who works at the local GW store has asked me to paint the store's Ork "Skullhamma" tank. It's an interesting model insomuch as there is no official model for it. It is a conversion of an Imperial Guard Baneblade tank. It dwarfs my mostly assembled Ork Trukk! Someone else did the converting, so I'm biting my lip and ignoring all the mold lines and things that I would not have left. This is for the store, it's for fun, and I have other commission work that I need to be doing.

Coming soon! More Eldar! I finally get to paint Swooping Hawks!

Humor, Melancholy and Exasperation

Humor: Yesterday we tried to clean the dishwasher out by putting a quarter cup or so of Melaleuca's Tough and Tender into it and running it for a cycle. Problem: Tough and Tender foams. We had a mess on our hands of Bradybunchian proportion. The nice part is that everyone was cheerful and the whole family chipped in to help clean up the suds. Good times.

Melancholy: My daughter Sarah turns 9 in a couple weeks. It has occurred to me that half of her time living with us (give or take) has gone. It was too quick. I won't be ready when she's 18. I don't even want to think about it right now.

Exasperation: I don't know who keeps challenging this, but Planeswalker's Magic Bag is a real store! Angelos has worked his tail off to build that place from the ground up, and to have people continue to call his suppliers challenging the fact that it's a real store is beyond reproach. I've been to the store a couple times, and it's got a nicer games section than a lot of hobby stores I've seen, plus gaming space and a paint bar! It's in downtown Munith, a small town on its own but on a heavily traveled route, so he gets tons of visual hits from the people driving by. Angelos seems to take the whole thing in good humor, but I'm sure he's irked by these little acts of sabotage. He's growing a successful business, and somebody isn't happy about it.

A Little Down Time Painting

Over the last year I have won a few things at the Games Workshop store, mostly through random drawings and some through painting contests. The end result is that I had a few blister packs that I wouldn't normally buy or paint, so I decided to give them a go for eBay over my break. Here they are, and the pictured link to ebay.


I don't tend to paint demony things for the most part, but it was free and I figured maybe I could fleece some chaos players of a few bucks. It was a one night paint job, and the wings are scratch built. (Yes, I will use my new scratch building expertise to make a plain, blue police box!) Chaos armies, especially those of "Khorne, the Blood God" just seem like an adolescent power fantasy to me. (Yes, I realize that the whole hobby is an adolescent power fantasy. Khornate armies just take that to its embarrassing extreme.)
The Empire Warrior Priest, on the other hand, was big fun. The original figure is "Valten on warhorse" which I don't think has a lot of potential for sale, since Valten is a character from GW's summer campaign 2004. In the end of campaign write-up he was murdered by Skaven assassins (hooray for rats!) so I decided to brand him as a regular, fieldable hero and not "dead guy from three years ago." The Skaven skull that I put on the base is an homage to the original figure. The gold was done using the technique I learned from Tim Lison. I'm not much of a horse person, so I struggled a little with the coloring. Mark helped me bring the tone down to something less distracting than I had originally used.

For some reason I decided both of minis needed shields. Neither came with one. I think the shields complement them well.

Apparently I'm still alive!

First off, before I go and talk about myself, I'd like to say Welcome Home, Eric Volz. I can't imagine what the past year has been like for you, but you've had a lot of people praying for you. Your safe return is a huge relief, even for those who have never met you.

I just looked at my last post and realized that my "haven't posted in a while" post was more than a month ago!

Here, look at the pretty picture:


I think it shows a bit of improvement over the same model done in a different scheme about 8 months ago.



For some reason I feel like my pictures are looking better. Don't ask why... I don't know.

Video Interlude

I know I haven't updated in (quite) a while. I've been painting like mad, working like a dog and running around like, umm... a mad dog, I suppose.

Here is something to calm you down. It's from a few years ago, so the animation is rather dated. The story in the video is good if you have the patience to watch the whole thing.



The Wall-E trailer reminded me of this.

Hooray for Tim Lison

I met Tim Lison for the first time yesterday. If you don't know who he is, check out his award winning painting here. It's pretty phenomenal. Anyway, Tim was one of the judges in Chicago so I got a chance to get feedback from him on what went right/wrong with my giant. It's currently in the display case at the store, so Tim was able to talk very specifically about the model. Some parts of it the judges really liked but it was the little bits that were a little messy that cost me the bronze. The arm bands were one of the things he pointed out. (I struggled for ages with the gaps in the model right at the arm bands. It's no surprise that they were a limiting factor.) Tim was very encouraging and told me that if I could apply that microscopic attention to detail to fix the little things that weren't quite right then I would be bringing trophies home without question. I'm going back over to the store about 6:30 tonight and Tim said he would show me some techniques for metallic gold, a color with which I struggle. I've got a Harlequin with me to try his technique on, so hopefully I'll be able to raise the bar on these guys. I've been using a lot of gold on the shoulder pads, backpacks and weapons so I can't wait to see his techniques.

Not Surprised

Apparently Mythic Entertainment is shutting down the beta test of Warhammer Online. This post from developer Mark Jacobs explains a little of what is/isn't at the root cause.

I like computer games. No, really. I loved WoW. Like all Blizzard games, it hit the sweet spot with its intuitive interface and dramatic presentation. I played a lot of WoW. Not as much as my friends did, but a lot. I also like Warhammer, not only the tactical game or the miniatures but the overall setting and fluff. Therefore, a well done computer game set in the world of Warhammer would be a good thing for me.

That said, the demo of the massively multiplayer game "Warhammer: Age of Reckoning" (aka WAR) at Games Day was less than exciting for me. I saw people queuing up for it, and watched a bit of it on the big screen they had, but was for the most part uninspired. It looked like a WoW clone. Yippee. All intention I had of buying it evaporated that day. Now that the beta has been suspended, I am pleased to see that one of the things they are going to be doing is making WAR less like WoW. With more than 8 million subscribers WoW is a huge money maker, and I'm sure the temptation (or even pressure) to copy the interface and gameplay as exactly as possible would be intense. It makes me very happy to hear that they are giving WAR its own identity. Cautious optimism is back. Don't disappoint me, Mythic.

Oh, and there better be some pretty fantastic looking Skaven.

Grrr, I want to paint, not photograph!

I am sick of this. Are the photos good enough at this point? Will they ever be? I just want them to have the same general level as everyone else... if my models look mediocre because they are painted that way, then so be it. Trying to show people minis with poor photographs is like running the 100m dash wearing flip-flops. Hopefully I'm at "Wal-Mart brand tennis shoes" at this point.

/grr

Good + 2.1Mpixel = Mediocre

I finally decided to post the Skaven Giant on CMON. Is the photo great? Not so much. Is he doing well in the voting? Meh.

A Better Photo

I like this photo better, so I added it to the auction. Hopefully bidders will like it better too.

Horrifically busy at work and home lately. I've barely touched a brush since finishing Alastriel here. I'm eager to get back to Eldar, especially since I found my scan of the Saim Hann autrarch from the new codex, so now I can reproduce that freehand work.

CMON repost link

Before You Say "Good Enough"

I'm frustrated with photography. I can't seem to take a picture that looks like my subject, which inevitably is something I've painted. The photos just don't look like the mini. Smooth transitions in daylight become stripes in photographs. I find seeming imperfections in the photograph, then can't find them on the model.

Anyway, last night I'm taking pictures of Alastriel and finally just give up and say "good enough." I submit the ebay auction and get ready to clean up for the night. That's when I realized that one of my lamps wasn't on. Take a look at the photos. They are all lit from the right. My powers of observation just weren't on last night. I'll probably retake photos tonight, and eat the $.95 auction fee to repost the auction with the new pictures if they look better.

Another option... get one of my mini painting associates to take a picture of one of my models to see if they look just as poor. My giant from Chicago games day looks really good in the pictures on the GW site, and to my eyes it isn't remarkably better than a lot of these minis that I'm getting low-6's on.

WTS elf mage PST

Ah, good old Alastriel.

I'll paint her again in a year or two to see how much better she looks.

For now, this one's on the auction block.

CMON Link
eBay Link


Paint, paint, paint. This gave me my fantasy fix. Now, on to more 40k!

Double Goodness

My new computer arrived at work today! Two 19" LCD monitors! Once I got both monitors up and running (with my old system) I was quite pleased. A coworker asked me how they were working out. "Fine ham abounds," I answered. Wow. That's a "Kids in the Hall" drop from years ago. It surprised even me.

I am featured in "Focus EMU" this week, the online newsletter for faculty and staff, for my miniature painting. Other than a bit of exaggeration about my competition performance it is quite good. (For the record, I placed fourth in my category, not fourth overall. )
Link link! http://www.emich.edu/focus_emu/100207/miniatures.html

Coming Right Along

I painted quite a bit this weekend. It feels good to be on a roll.

From the WIP photos last post, it should be fairly clear that I spent a little more time on Alastriel than on the Autrarch. He's pretty much done, and I've started his back banner, so I'm feeling pretty good about it. The turquoise and pink harlequin is almost done, but she was up on a shelf when I took pictures and didn't feel like going to get her.

I'm not really sure what to do with Alastriel's base. I wanted a simple platform with a step leading up to it, but I'm not really sure what to do beyond that. Some vines/moss on the platform? The platform is a little rough, so I'd like to obscure it a little. Hmmm.

Water effect tests have all been pretty resounding failures. The only thing I really got out of it was "Fabri-tac", which cures with such a huge number of bubbles (they form during curing!) that it would make a wonderful boiling cauldron effect.

Still thinking about Orks. I passed up an eBay lot that was going for about 1/3 retail cost for a pretty good sized Ork mob, so I'm not completely gone. I did order the Mad Dok figure from GW direct, since it's one of the models that is going away when their direct order changes significantly on November 1.

Edit: Wow, Alastriel looks chunky and lacking contrast in that photo. Maybe the Ott light isn't so hot for snapshots.

Two Nights in a Row?!?

Well this is an unlikely post. I not only took some WIP shots, but I worked on three separate miniatures tonight. The Autrarch is nearly complete, with the freehand on his back and the gemification of the gems as the only notable things left. The next Harlequin is... well... I haven't decided yet. Between pink, blue, black and bone I'm not sure even who she thinks she's supposed to be. Rounding out the group is the ever popular Alastriel, for a direct to eBay mini. I just wanted some fantasy stuff to paint after focusing on 40k so much.

Quick WIP Shot!

I'm trying to get into the habit of taking more WIP shots, so here's one from tonight's fun.

I'm not sure if the turquoise shirt and the blue jacket are too close. I was trying for a color scheme based on blues and greens, but it might end up with just too little contrast. Maybe if I make the jacket liner black. Hmm.....

Water Effect Test

I'm testing a two part water effect that Stef bought for me to see if it will be good for the Samurai Rhino's base. I've decided to track the test for the good of the CMON community, but I figure I'll mention it here too.

The product is "Quick Water" made by "Garden Splendor."
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=22740

I suppose more WIP shots of minis while I had the camera out would have been nice. I wish I would have thought of that earlier. Whoops.

Where Did That Camera Go Again?

Anyone who comes here to see my painting will surely be frustrated by the lack of WIP photos nowadays. I seemed able to post them quite regularly in the past. One of the main barriers is the digital camera itself. I have to 1) find it, then 2) take a reasonable picture, and finally 3) take the memory card over to my computer and upload the photo. The first one can be challenging, the second one infuriating, and the third one merely tedious. It often leads to me packing up and going to bed without taking any photos whatsoever.

The Harlequins continue. It's interesting that these tiny little models are mostly done in patterns, since it is less space to freehand than most of the larger models that have solid colors. I'm getting to like them quite a bit. I'd like to make the real showpiece of the unit the Shadowseer, so he'll be getting a bit of extra attention. The Death Jesters are cool, but tend to get monochromatic paint jobs of black and white. I'll have to do some creative freehanding on the back of their long coats to match the level of the others.

I've also been working on the second Autrarch from that Eldar army box. My friend (and painting mentor) Mark showed me a technique that involves priming white, then painting straight ink onto the model before the base coat. It works really well for Ultramarines, the blue ink undercoat giving them a very vivid blue when you're done painting the ultramarines blue over it. The Autrarch has a coat of red ink now, and I'm hoping that will make the blood red that will go over it much more even and vivid.

Samurai Rhino Gen is almost done. I'm almost done with model itself, leaving only some of the basing elements to paint and the water effect to apply. I tried a little of the 2-part water effect I have at home, and I wasn't too thrilled with the result. After two days it still felt tacky, which I'm not particularly fond of. Maybe I didn't mix the two ingredients in the right proportion. I've also considered just using 2-part epoxy adhesive, but I'm afraid it might change color while curing. I currently have test setups of "Tacky Glue Quick Dry" and Beacon Adhesives "Fabri-Tac" adhesive drying on a shelf. Fabri-Tac is an acetone based adhesive that is clear, so I'm curious to see how it dries. I've used it to glue basing material, and it tends to leave long strings while you work with it, much like hot glue does.

At Least They're Consistent

One fact about little girls that you may not know... if there are dolls about, especially Barbies, the dolls are probably naked. We have bin after bin of Barbies in various states of undress.

Today I logged into World of Warcraft for no real reason. The kids play it (with the chat disabled) and I know that at one point Sarah had sold all her characters clothing and was running around in her underwear. I was chiding her about it. When I looked at the server that the girls play on I was a bit surprised to find that all of the character they have created were stripped down to their undies. They dutifully carried sword, shield and staff but apparently pants were too cumbersome.

White Dwarf.... probably not

White Dwarf 333 is out, and it has great coverage of Baltimore 2007 Games Day. All the trophy winners were pictured, but none of the honorable mentions. Next month will probably have Chicago coverage, and although I was desperately hoping that my giant would appear in White Dwarf, I have come to accept that it won't.

Next year I fully intend to come home with a trophy, so I'm sure to get a photo in White Dwarf at that point. Ambitions? Definitely. Overconfident? Perhaps. I've barely broken 7 on my best CMON entries, but that 8 is coming.... one day.

Evidence of Progress

I continue to paint! I present to you the evidence!

"The Shakes"

I have endeavored to resume lunch-time painting.

The plan is to paint things for local people (coworkers and friends) during the 30-45 minutes or so that I have to paint, or maybe for myself if I'm feeling selfish. The samurai rhino I mentioned is one of these. The Dwarfs for Bill and Skorne for Brian are also in this category.

Problem: for the last two days I've been shaking so bad at lunch that I can't paint with any level of accuracy. I don't have this problem at night, so I'm thinking it might be a lack of sugar. The doctor had warned me of the symptoms of low sugar (which my recent blood work and diet indicated might be an issue) and shaking was one of them. Maybe I need to have a little pre-lunch snack, some raisins or something, an hour before lunch. It's frustrating to sit down to paint and then not be able to.

Encroaching Weakness

For the first time ever, I am finding myself seriously drawn to starting a new army, in this case 40k Orks. I have toyed with the idea of starting a Hordes army or another Warmachine army. I have even considered starting another Warhammer Fantasy army. By far, this new pull toward 40k Orks is the strongest. The problems? #1: no money. at all. #2: I've never even played 40k! How can I be jonesing to switch 40k armies when I've never even played?!

So what about Orks attracts me? The craziness. It's what attracted me to Skaven originally. I just love the self-destructive mish-mash of Orks. The frustrating part is that it's another horde army, so creating a reasonable Ork force would require a ton of models. I should take a look and see how few models a 1500 point army could be... maybe an Orky Dreadnought or models with tricked out gear. I have to admit, I really want to paint them too.

Grrr. This hobby is harsh. Since my commission painting has become "second job" more than "hobby funding" it's been frustrating to be back at zero budget (nearly... painting expenses still have to come from commission fees.) On the plus side, I don't have a lot of time to paint my own stuff and I still own a lot of unpainted models, so I could theoretically go for an awfully long time without buying a new model for myself.

Side note: today is supposedly the 25th birthday of the smilie emoticon. :-)

WIP Photos... for once

Hey, I found the digital camera! My photography still stinks out loud, but enjoy! Both miniatures are perched majestically on a jar of P3 "Heartfire" paint. The tasteful background is a Kroger brand coffee filter that I use to wick my brushes (another TAB Stuido tip.)

First up is an Eldar Harlequin, in all his deadly space clown glory. He looks pretty cool (in person anyway... roll eyes) but I just don't think he's tacky enough for a Harlequin. The next one will have to be over the top.





Next up we have the very beginning of a Skaven Lustrian Warlord, which will be one of my competition entries for next year. I really wanted the base to go up and forward, leaving room for detail in front of and below the warlord. This seems to work well.

Space Clowns and Rhinos and Rats! (oh my!)

I've been painting lately. Painting like mad. I'd love to show you a picture, but I can never seem to find the digital camera when I'm done at night.

Space Clowns: I've been working on Eldar Harlequins for a commission job. I tried the ubiquitous diamond pattern for the first time last night, and it seemed to turn out pretty good. My challenge will be to paint them garish enough.

Rhino: I tried the primer/Future mixture that Tracy from TAB Studio (aka Tab Stuido) recommended in her very cool video tutorial, and I love the finish it gave him. Now I need to paint him, paint the base and add the water effect. This is going to be so cool.

Rats: "Build unto me a base of ridiculous proportion!" commanded the Skaven Lustrian warlord. And so I did. This fellow will be my entry into the "Warhammer Single Figure" category at Games Day next year.

Speaking of Games Day, I think I'm going to try entering four categories. Warhammer single figure (the aforementioned rat), Warhammer large model (Ogre Tyrant), 40k unit (either an Ork Big Mek and Mekboy bodyguard or a Techmarine and servitors), and .... I'm still undecided on the fourth category. 40k single figure is tempting (maybe an Ork warboss or a converted Space Marine sergeant) but Warhammer unit interests me too (Skaven Night Runners or Goblin Squig Hoppers.) Even Lord of the Rings single figure is tempting. Given the number of figures I'll already have to paint for the models I've already decided on, Warhammer unit might be too many to realistically paint to competition quality. Then again, I did the giant in four weeks, and he included two extra figures perched on him. First things first: warhammer single, warhammer large model, 40k unit. Once those are done I'll see where the mood takes me.

Soft Metal and Nightmare

Two things. I'll only need a sec.

#1: Lead is soft. I realized just how soft when I accidentally drilled through the foot of aforementioned Samurai Rhino. I have a certain ritualistic number of turns that I give the pin-vise when drilling holes for pinning, and far before reaching that number I had completely impaled his foot. Oops.

#2: Remember those nightmares of showing up for a final exam and not knowing anything about the class? I had the opposite of that one last night. When my alarm went off I hit snooze and went back to sleep, without really realizing it. I then dreamed that I dragged myself out of bed and struggled through getting ready for work. When the alarm went off again I had to deal with the realization that I still needed to get up, even though I felt like I had just gone through the whole ordeal. I hit snooze again, and the whole scene repeated itself! When snooze woke me again, I finally roused myself enough to turn off the alarm and get myself going. It wasn't quite as difficult dragging my carcass around the house as it had been in my two dreams, but it still felt like a drag. So that's a first for me... waking up from an unpleasant dream to a less pleasant reality.

Okay, I lied. One more thing. Maybe I didn't make the Journeyman Warcaster's picture small enough to be a good test, but she's getting savaged on CMON right now.