Take Cover: Almost Complete!

Nearly done! Almost every part of the mini got some work tonight, with only the boltgun and chapter symbol as big "to do" items before Friday night. I'm going to complete this one!

The armor was highlighted with VGC Blood Red, glazed on rather than hard edge highlighted. The shading for the armor was VGC Night Blue / VGC Red Gore. Using a blue in the shading layer is something Jeremie Bonamant Teboul discussed in his painting seminar in Chicago in 2007. I took some notes on it, and he posted them on his site.

The damage to the armor is Reaper Honed Steel (roughly GW Chainmail, but a bit more blue) tapped on, then black edges along the top of the damage. I then used red gore again to touch up the black to more controlled areas, then selectively glazed with GW Terracotta to soften the area and give the subtle impression of rust. The face is washed with Ogryn Flesh, then re-highlighted with P3 Midlund flesh and shaded with VGC dark fleshtone. The stones were based with Foundation Charadon Granite, then washed with several different washes to give a non-homogenous look. The glowing damage is skull white at the center and layered through yellow to orange to dark red.

Okay! I'll post final pics when I get this fellow completed!

My Photography Setup

As my CoolMiniOrNot gallery amply demonstrates, I've struggled with how to photograph minis for some time. I've read so many articles on the subject that I can't even remember if I'm doing what they say to do or what they say to avoid.

Whether it works well or not, here's what I'm currently using. It's a cheap and easy method if you have never tried mini photography before.

The white box thingy is a 12" photo light tent I purchased from Amvona on eBay. It's collapsible, but I never collapse it. It came with a few colored inserts, but I like just picking pieces of felt or using a printed paper with a color gradient as the background. The lights are an Ott light (on the right) and a cheap desk lamp with a compact fluorescent bulb from the dollar store on the left. The price difference is extreme, but the light quality difference is negligible. Seriously. The thing in front of the tent is a piece of foam from a Sabol army transport with a notch cut in it for my camera. Yes, I use a piece of foam as my tripod. My camera is a Casio Exilim 7.2Mp. It's a nice little camera and it wasn't terribly expensive.

So to take the actual pics, I set the camera to "macro" focus mode (for close up things) and set the self timer to 2 seconds. I shine the lights into the tent (at an angle, shown in the photo) and position the mini, then put the camera on the foam support. I elevate the camera if needed (seen in the photo is a small box under the foam to raise it up a bit.) Press the shutter button and get your hand out of there. Two seconds is enough time for the shaking from the button press to be absorbed by the foam, so the pics come out fairly clear.

After the pic is taken, I use Gimp (free image processing software) to clip and sometimes alter the image for color levels.

Take Cover! Step 1: Basecoating

Tonight was priming and the most basic basecoating. Getting a consistent color as your base makes everything else so much easier. Even with Citadel Foundation paints you should use more than one coat. Do not be tempted to put the paint on thicker to get better coverage. Thicker paint dries unevenly, and the acrylic binder creates a rough texture. You really want to be painting as close to the original surface as possible. Paint should not be used as gap filler!

So, colors.... VGC = Vallejo Game Colors (a brand of paint)

Primer: Rust-o-leum gray automotive primer. This stuff behaves better than any primer from a miniature company I've ever used, and it's only $4 a spray can.

Foundation "Mechrite Red" for the armor. The initial coat had a purplish twinge that I see a lot with thinned out reds. Just keep laying on thin coats and the real color will develop.

Reaper Master Series "Bone Shadow" for the shoulder pads, purity seals and chest icon. It's a bit less yellow then GW's Graveyard Earth, and I really like the bone color combo of Bone Shadow, VGC Khaki, VGC Bonewhite, Reaper Linen White.

VGC Black.... chaos black? I don't know. The label rubbed off the bottle.

GW Foundation "Calthan Brown" for the ground on the base.

GW Foundation "Tallarn Flesh" for the skin. Again, multiple layers were very important here.

Now that I have a good base to work from I'll try and get some highlight/shade done tomorrow. This thing has to be done by Friday night at 11:59 PM or no possibility of Blood Ravens swag for me!

Modeling Complete... Painting Next!

My entry for the "take cover" contest is coming along quite nicely, if I do say so. It looks almost exactly like I envisioned it looking before painting began.

And now it's time to paint.


Couple more things.... my friend with the legal problems mentioned in a previous post got an adjournment of his sentencing. Basically, he hired a new attorney and there were so many things not quite normal about his trial that the judge is delaying sentencing by a month to give his new attorney time to act on all the issues.

Last thing: children + keyboard = broken keyboard. My space bar only works from the left hand side now. The right hand side is stuck in such a way that it won't depress correctly. No fewer than nine different children have used this computer at some point since it's purchase, so I'm not terribly surprised that something like this would eventually happen.

Switching Gears and Taking Cover

I've put my own army on hold for the rest of the week so I can power through an entry for the "Take Cover!" painting competition over at The Painting Corps. Since the subject of the competition is Blood Ravens, I don't see how I can pass this up. The theme is cover, and I found myself repositioning a marine to get the most dramatic pose possible. I'm hoping I can take this from vision to product in less than a week. The contest time frame was a month, but I just found out about it. I suppose I should have some sense of hush-hush about what I'm doing, but it someone out there can see what I'm doing and do it better than me in less than a week then they deserve to win.

I worked on the Librarian some more too. He's coming along nicely but I see more and more and more areas I need to fix on him. He's really going to take a long time tweaking the little details. I'll probably get him to the 95% mark and call it good for now, which actually means call it good forever.

Terminator Librarian WIP and thoughts on salt masking

I've been a big fan of this mini since GW first released it, and now I'm finally painting it! Like everything else I've done lately he's Blood Ravens. I will get to 1500!

I'm not sure I really like the face yet. I was going for a strange glow effect with completely white eyes, but I can't tell if it looks other-wordly or just unnatural. Thoughts?

I tried something new for the bone coloration, which is on the chest emblem and head crest. Instead of Bleached Bone (or VGC Bonewhite) I went with a mix of VGC Khaki mixes with a little Reaper linen white. Final highlights are entirely linen white. The highlights on the red sash is a mix of red gore and reaper leather white. Reaper has such an interesting line of white variants, and I love the way they interact with other colors.

I've been following giganticdark's WIP thread on the CoolMiniOrNot forum, and it's been amazing. One of the techniques that I'd like to try is the salt masking, but I think I'm going to develop a variant using Vallejo masking medium. Maybe if I toothbrush spray the masking onto the mini then glaze over the dried mask it will have roughly the same effect as the salt mask. Since I don't like to haul out the airbrush a lot (and especially because Ann Marie is probably going to want her airbrush back one of these days) I'd like to come up with a similar effect that can be brushed on.

Dreadnought w/ TL Autocannons

I've had a thing lately for converting vehicle weapons from the new Space Marine codex that don't have any official bitz available locally. Sorry for the pic. I should have taken it mid-conversion with better light.

In any case, the new Dreadnought can replace the Multi-Melta arm with a twin-linked Autocannon, and another option to to replace the Dreadnought close combat weapon arm with a twin-linked Autocannon. Of course I thought, "what if I replace both arms with TL AC's!" The Black Reach Dread is inexpensive enough to chop up without the twinge of "I just chopped a $40 model up" regret that comes with modding the regular Dread.

The conversion is a few Woodland Scenics styrene tubes (3/32" and 5/32") nested to make the barrels. The Multi-Melta arms had an obvious place to attach the autocannon. For the CCW arm, cut off the CCW and glue a bit of the cut off Multi-Melta barrel to the front of the arm at the same location as the other arm. Use some epoxy putty to build up the arm to the same general shape as the other arm. Privateer Press' P3 modeling putty cures harder than green stuff, and can be filed to the crisp lines that look good in applications like this. I can't remember where the ammo boxes on the outside came from... just regular rhino/razorback accessory sprue I think. I filed off the hinges to try and make it look more like a magazine and less like "box glued to the side of an arm." By the way, I use these same tubes to make Ork Big Shootas by drilling holes in the larger tubes as cooling, and putting the smaller diameter tubes inside as the barrel. It looks pretty good, and will give some of my deffcoptas a different weapon option.

So back to the Dread... other than looking a little too much like a Macross Defender Destroid, what good is this thing? It gets four shots, twin linked, with 48" range. With BS4 and twin linked you aren't going to miss much. With a Venerable's BS5 you are pretty much never going to miss (okay, well, you'll miss 1 in 36 shots statistically.) So what are four S7 AP4 shots good for? The only thing that comes to mind is Ork Nobs in heavy armor. Wounding on a 2+ with no armor save... but they'd still get a "feel no pain" roll if they had a Dok in the unit. A Predator might take a glancing hit or two. A Dread will probably take at least a glancing hit. Against heavy infantry I don't think autocannons would be as effective as an assault cannon. Both wound on 2+ against T4 and assault cannons get rending.

So... now that I have the thing converted, what should I use it against?

Devastator Squad in Rhino - worth it?

I've been contemplating this for a few days... would it be worth parking a Devastator squad in a Rhino for protection?

Pros:

• Rhino's armor of 11 makes them impervious to bolter fire.
• Possibility of 12" emergency move if needed
• Repair possible if Rhino immobilized
  
• Vehicle and squad can target independently
• Not significantly expensive (cheaper than extra marine + heavy bolter)
• Potential for two Storm Bolters
• Likely that entire squad would survive vehicle exploding

Cons:

• Only two models can shoot from fire points
• Points could be spent on additional long range weapons
• High strength fire magnet

So for a mere 175 points you get 5 Devastators with 2 missile launchers in a Rhino armed with two Storm Bolters and a Hunter Killer missile. For that same cost you could get a 5 Devastator squad with 2 Lascannons and a missile launcher.

Have you done this? How did it work for you?

Golden Demon Completion Meters!

They're back! I decided to improve them a little this year with a bit of JavaScript. For your technological edification I present it here. It could be easily inserted into Blogger or probably any other. Feel free to use/steal as you see fit. Just remember your old pal Mike when you're rich and famous!

Next up: more Blood Ravens!

Games Day: No Atlanta? No L.A.?!

Maybe I'm the last person to realize this.... on GW's Community and Events page for Games Day, only Chicago, Baltimore and Toronto are listed for Games Day 2009. At first I was thinking, "They'll probably add the other two later" until I saw this sentence:

There will be three Games Days in North America this year, one in Baltimore, Toronto, and Chicago.

That's it. Only three. No more Atlanta. No more Baltimore. Plus, the tickets are now $25 with the option to buy the exclusive miniature for another $15. Between lower ticket costs and fewer venues I can only come to the conclusion that Games Day attendance has been weak. Chicago seemed lighter in 2008 than it did in 2007, but that may be because I wasn't quite so overwhelmed by newbishness in 2008. I also wonder about the geography of the Games Day locations. Sure I'm glad Chicago is still hosting, but what are people in CA going to do? Or FL? Or WA?

What I'm really hoping is that this is not evidence of deep financial problems at GW. I like GW's miniatures and I like their games. I'm not fond of everything they do as a company, but I don't want them to go bankrupt that's for sure.

DIY Sternguard Veterans

I have a unit of Sternguard Veterans in my April challenge list. I own the new Sternguard models from the Space Marine Spearhead, but I decided to convert/paint some from existing plastics rather than paint the metal models. The primary reason was that I didn't want a power fist in the unit and wanted both a combi-melta and a combi-plasma. The combi weapons from the Space Marine Commander box work very well for this. Just clip a left hand from a standard tactical marine arm (you should have tons of these) and glue it to the hole where the Black Reach marine bolter/hand bit pegs in. The commander's combi weapons have the right hand included, and it works well on the Black Reach models. I'll post pics of that as I continue.

In the photo I have a standard tactical marine (speed painted for a "Black Reach in Four Weeks" contest) and the same model as a Sternguard Vet. In addition to the white helmet, the right shoulderpad has a Rosarius icon from the Terminator sprue to indicate his veteran status and a gold plate on his bolter. The lighting washed out the gold more than I would have liked.

Modeling a Mark 1 "Stronos" Razorback

Ever since I read the new Razorback options in the new Codex: Space Marines I've been wanting to model one of these. Since this is supposedly the oldest Razorback variant I wanted to make it look a bit different than the box kit looks. I had modified a Razorback to be lascannon / heavy bolter interchangeable, so making the Mark 1 turret was just a matter of building a small "cap" of styrene to fit on the turret mount. Since I had already removed the elevation pins from the mount, this was fairly easy.

The lascannon is a Predator sponson lascannon, and the plasmaguns are just Marine hand held guns with the stocks removed and enough of the bottoms cut flush so I could easily glue them together. The optics on top are from a Land Raider Crusader hurricane bolter. The conduits in the front are from the original twin-linked lascannon that comes with the Razorback. I had trimmed mine down as part of the interchangeable conversion.

I can't wait to try this out in battle against some foul traitors!

Hooray for AB40k.org !

If you've never tried ArmyBuilder, I recommend you do. It eases the creation of army lists for GW products immensely. It's primary strength/weakness is that it relies heavily upon a user community committed to creating the data files that allow legal lists to be created. The initial purchase of ArmyBuilder comes with a finite timeframe license in which the softwrae will automatically detect that updates are available for the games data files you have installed. After that you either renew or download them manually. I have chosen to let me license expire and install manually.

Enter the good folks at ab40k.org, who faithfully produce a data file for 40k each time a new codex/rules edition is released. Yesterday they released version 1.01a of their 40k 5th edition data file. I just want to thank them publicly for all the work they put into the product.

Dangerously Close to 1500 pts Painted

The current challenge recently written about is actually closer than I had previously thought. After making a 1500 point list, I compared what I had painted to what I planned to field, and they aren't that different. I had forgotten how much I painted of the Assault on Black Reach box.

1500 Pts - Space Marines Roster - Blood Ravens

Painted:
HQ: Space Marine Chaplain (jump pack, plasma pistol)
HQ: Space Marine Captain (terminator armor, power weapon, storm bolter, hellfire rounds)
Elite: Dreadnought (heavy flamer, multimelta)
Elite: Terminator Squad (3 x power fist/storm bolter b, sergeant w/ power weapon/storm bolter)
Troops: Tactical Squad (7 x bolter, 1 x missile launcher)
Troops: Tactical Squad (7 x bolter)
Troops: Tactical Squad (sergeant w/ bolt pistol, chainsword)
Fast Attack: Assault Squad (4 x bolt pistol, chainsword)

Need to paint:
Elite: Terminator Squad (1 x power fist /storm bolter + cyclone missile launcher)
Troops: Tactical Squad (1 x meltagun, 1 x plasmagun, 1 x heavy bolter)
Troops: Tactical Squad (finish sergeant w/ pf/bpistol in previous post)
Fast Attack: Assault Squad (Sergeant w/ Melta Bombs; Storm Shield; Power Fist)

2 x Rhino w/ Storm Bolter
Land Raider Redeemer w/ multimelta, storm bolter

Army Total: 32 infantry, 4 vehicles

Painted: 26 infantry, 1 vehicle
To Paint: 6 infantry, 3 vehicles

That's it? 6 infantry and 3 vehicles? Could this possibly mean I'm going to get 1500 points on the table painted for the first time ever? ... don't hold your breath.

Flash Kraken - Complete!

Okay, goal #1 for Open Source Flash development is complete.
Behold a single SWF file that shows a picture and plays a song when you click the play button. It will take a minute to load, since it's 6MB or so.

I used swfmill to capture the assets in a swf file, then compiled onto that using the FAME combo. Big thanks go to Kevin of http://open-actionscript.blogspot.com/ for providing the resources for the button logic. Flash can be a little esoteric for the traditional C programmer sometimes.

Source, including assets and xml file for swfmill here.

Blood Ravens veteran WIP... I painted!

After a four month hiatus, I have painted! He's not done, and I think he looks better in person than in the unforgiving context of macro photography. All in all, not bad for an evening of painting.

The important thing is... I painted. And I enjoyed it.

My friend Mark and I have a 1500 point game lined up for sometime in the future. Basically as soon as we each get 1500 painted we're going to roll dice. I've never had 1500 points of my own models painted in my life, so we'll see what happens.

Today is the Day I Paint

I've been away from painting for a while. During my little mental hiatus I just had no desire to pick up a brush. In fact I remember picking up the 40k rulebook at one point during the whole ordeal and asking myself, "Why do people consider this fun again?" The last time I painted something was October 23, 2008.

Even though I am feeling a lot better I still have not started painting again. I really want to, but I can't seem to decide on how to actually start. Last night I dug through a bunch of miniatures just to figure out what to paint. I didn't actually decide, since the hunt turned into an exhaustive search for a box containing particular Space Marine sprues which I may have taken to work. The end result is that I've gone through just about every miniature I own and today I am going to paint something. I need to get a brush in my hand again. It's been too long.

I will post results here. Please verbally abuse me if I do not. The internet is my accountability group.

Micheal != Michael

What kind of idiot misspells his own name, you ask? This one. I just corrected my name in the (c) footer of this page. I am Michael, not Micheal.

In other news, I was at work until 2:30 AM last night trying to dig myself out of the volume of work I had committed to. I think I might be over-promising lately, but I've always struggled with that.

Next up: fully painted armies and fantastic games programmed in Flash! Plus advanced degrees and career upgrades, martial arts ranks, self-employment and ... well, you get the idea.

That Crucial Moment

There are few experiences in life that can rival awaiting the reading of a jury verdict. I got that experience Wednesday as I sat in a courtroom with a friend whose fate lay in the hands of a jury of his peers. For days we had heard testimony and arguments. Sure, I was biased by friendship and the experiences of knowing this person for the last four or so years, but even imagining myself as an impartial listener the evidence seemed so strong for the defense and the prosecution witnesses contradicted each other repeatedly.

The court officer called us back into the courtroom.
heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat
The jury oozed into the courtroom in slow motion.
heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat
The foreman of the jury stood.
heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat heartbeat
Guilty.

It's like getting punched in the gut with a pillow. Guilty.
The feeling is utterly helpless. My mind was frantically racing for some way to change what was happening, all the time knowing I couldn't. Wake up. Go back. That didn't happen. Guilty.

I sat there not sure what to do. It's over, but as long as I sit here it's not really over, is it? The sentencing date was set and the next case on the docket began and I was still sitting there.

Even now I still have that sudden urge to change things somehow, knowing I can't. I feel helpless. I couldn't stop it. I can't stop it. It's going to happen. I can feel my stomach clench at the thought. I know it wasn't me in the defendant's chair, but it feels like I was.

It feels like I still am.

Flash Kraken

Behold my first app written in open source Flash development tools.

Okay, it's not much but it demonstrates a few things I wanted to do, namely a progress bar that fills up as the image loads. The image is located remotely, and I need to figure out how to make libraries of resources that can be embedded in the flash app.

Project source: CTD.zip

The name of the zip and the swf file indicate my intended first game in flash, Coin Toss Dungeon. Coin Toss Dungeon references a "What's New with Phil and Dixie" cartoon from the early 80's that I originally read in Dragon magazine in my greasier teenage years. Through the magic of the interwebs (and Mr. Foglio's generosity) I present it for you here.

Farewell to Corinthian Leather

As a child, I remember hearing of famous people dying and wondering, "Who is this person, and why is everyone acting like it's a huge tragedy?" Today, I experienced this. Upon hearing of the death of Ricardo Montalban, I made an audible "awwwww." My younger coworkers on the other hand said, "Who is this person, and why are you acting like it's a huge tragedy?"

For the edification of the public, I present my first memory of Ricardo Montalban.



Wait... I thought it was rich Corinthian leather. Huh?

Slowly Reconnecting With My Life

Hmmm.... how to start. The past 90 days or so are among the strangest times I've ever experienced. I was prescribed some medication that had the effect of making me lose all interest in my own life. By that I mean I completely lost interest in both the things I previously enjoyed and lost interest in the consequences of actions in my life. As a result my online business has officially failed and is closed, I haven't picked up a paintbrush in months (missing promised deadlines without so much as a twinge of guilt) and my work at EMU has suffered. I spent money frivolously that I did not have.

I've always been a solitary sort, but this was a new extreme. I was trying very hard to disconnect with everything in my life except my family. Every time the phone rang I would say, "I'm not here." The only way people could contact me was to show up somewhere that they knew I would be (home or work) and confront me there, which annoyed me greatly. I found myself avoiding email, knowing that people would be trying to contact me. My mobile phone was commonly set to vibrate and left (accidentally, of course) in my coat pocket in the closet.

I think the word we're looking for here is depression.

Somewhere in this time frame also came some medical tests. My liver enzymes had been wonky for a while and my spleen, already 30% longer than normal range, was getting larger according to an ultrasound I had. I was bouncing between my primary care physician, a gastroenterologist and trying to schedule with a hemotologist. Oh, and lots of blood draws. An abdominal CT scan showed no abnormal growths in my liver despite is being lit up on the ultrasound consistent with fatty liver infiltration. Hooray, I just won a liver biopsy.

Biopsies are fun-on-a-bun. Doctors numb your side, jam a needle the size of a ball point pen in between your ribs, and grab a chunk of your giblets to gawk at under a microscope. In truth, it wasn't as bad as it sounds. After the burning zap of the local anesthesia I didn't feel anything. I was surprised to hear the snap of the sample being taken, not realizing they had actually pierced my abdominal cavity I expected to go back to work the next day, but was ordered to take the next 48 hours off. Whee. Here's a little glimpse of my happy-fun-time.

After looking over my innards, the verdict is apparently good. I suffer from "nonalcoholic steatohepatitis," a fibrosis or mild scarring of the liver. It can lead to cirrhosis if it gets a lot worse, and the treatment is to lose weight, eat a more balanced diet and exercise more. Imagine my joy.

Okay, so back to the reconnecting/depression thing. I talked to my doctor about what was going on and she altered some dosages. About a month later I can feel the fog lifting, and I actually returned a couple calls to people. I'm thinking about painting soon too, but we'll see on that. I'm not used to conditions that are not either on or off. This mental state is a continuum and it's hard to say where I am at any given moment. I like data. I like to be able to measure things. This is not really measurable. Even during the darkest time of it I wasn't entirely sure if something was wrong with me. I was fairly certain that I "wasn't myself lately" but I couldn't define what "myself" actually was, and was obsessed by the fact that if "myself" wasn't how I was acting at the time then how is "myself" even defined? Yeah, I know. It sounds pretty stupid in retrospect. My thought process was tainted. I wasn't suicidal, but my thoughts would be... I guess dark is the best word I could use. The idea of bad things happening was no concern to me. The idea of bad things happening to me actually held some appeal. The fact that the liver biopsy had a fatality risk gave me a sick sense of satisfaction.

Anyway, I'm feeling better. I managed to not alienate my kids or Stef. My friends are either oblivious to what happened or are somewhere between concerned and irked. My customers are enraged, and with good reason. The mere fact that I'm blogging about it is a major step toward normalcy for me, and I actually want normalcy now. That's a big change.

Maybe I'll even post some painting news here eventually! ...but not quite yet.

Untitled Poem

I dreamed of a girl
with dark skin and bright eyes
long hair and long neck
and warm copper lips
willing with chaste kisses
their taste the promise
of youth fulfilled
Out of place among us
in the midst of our filth
her royalty was unmarred
She gave me a gift
of gems and precious metals
but when I looked at it later
it was a simple thing
a child's thing
of bright colored clay

This poem is the direct result of a very vivid dream I had. The setting is an idealized evocation of warm summer nights in my teenage years. I loved the ambiguity of the symbolic gift.

Dreaming in Poetry

Okay, bear with me. This came to me fully formed in a dream while I was feeling quite poorly, and most likely feverish.

my attendants array before me each morning
in uniforms chosen through assessment
and reassessment
and as they diminish in service to me
throughout the month
until they are nearly spent
REBIRTH!
like the invincible moon
made full again

It wasn't quite as vivid as the hallucinations I had when I had meningitis, but it's still pretty cool for something that I didn't consciously write. When I woke the memory was vivid enough for me to quickly jump to the computer and write it down. Apparently I had gone to bed early (no recollection) because the time stamp is about 10:00 PM.

Staying on your Talking Points

This made me laugh.

My Contribution to Democracy

I stood in line for about an hour and a half to vote this morning. I'm glad the eather was nice. The people behind me passed the time by blathering on about anything and everything. The fellow who asserted (multiple times) that election day should be a national holiday almost made me laugh out loud.

Guy: Election day should be a national holiday. Everyone should just get it off work to vote.
Girl: I'm surprised the line is this long.
Guy: Yeah! And it's going to be like this all day!

So, I'm curious. If the line is going to be long all day, how would getting the day off work help? I guess I can see it if there were huge lines/waits early in the day and late in the evening, but if the line is long all day it doesn't make any sense. Also, I don't know if this guy works for a bank or something, but how many of us get national holidays off work? I don't know about you all, but I am here at my desk on Presidents' Day just like every other weekday. I honestly can't see Cracker Barrel or Kroger closing up shop on election day either.

So who did I vote for? The ballot was confusing... I think I may have voted for Buchanan. I'll just claim I voted for whoever lost. That gives me license to complain for the next four years about everything I don't like about the new administration no matter who wins.

Open Source Flash Development

Who says this blog isn't multi-interest?

I have decided to do some Macromedia Flash development, and in my usual frugal vein I am using open source tools. Here is what I am using:

• Eclipse IDE v3.3.2 (Europa)
• Motion-Twin ActionScript 2 compiler (v1.14)
• ActionScript Development Kit (ASDT)
• Flashout (Eclipse Plugin) (v0.2.1.6)
  

Making this all work together is all nicely written up on the communitymx website here.

I encountered some problems, mostly version based, with getting the HelloWorld example to work.

• The "New Folder" right-click command is apparently not enabled by default for the ActionScript perspective in Eclipse 3.3.2. To fix this, customize the perspective, choose the "General" shortcut category and check "folder" (and probably also "file".)
• The "core" linked directory in the example will not be created. A newer version of Motion Twin uses "std8" instead. No biggie, but a difference.
• And speaking of std8, the Eclipse preferences for Flashout want to know the "Directory of Macromedia's core classes." Give it the sdt8 subdir of the Motion Twin installation dir.
  
• The Flashout.as file required for compilation contains code that is not compatible with the newer version of Motion Twin. The "TRACE" function is now "trace", and no I don't know why. Open Flashout.as with a text editor and replace every instance of TRACE with trace. I recommend Wordpad if you use windows, since it has a replace function and treats the carriage returns in the file with respect, unlike notepad. For future covenience (read: laziness) I put it in the std8 directory in the Motion Twin install dir.

One issue I have not gotten to work is the suggestion menus for the Flashout class while editing the ActionScript class files. I'm afraid that when I move to multiple class files that one won't recognize the classes in another. It seems to compile and work okay, but it would be nice if the compiler gave some indication that it knows what I'm talking about. Yes, I've tried putting it in the source directories for the project.

Land Raider Redeemer Re-assembly

Last night I broke out the airbrush to start the Land Raider Redeemer base color. I've never built a Land Raider before, and apparently I fell into a classic assembly error. My error: I didn't sandwich the doors/control panel in between the body halves. I don't feel too bad, since I didn't have instructions. A few bonesaw swipes, some superglue and a wasted evening later, the pieces were back together and waiting for paint.

I'm excited to paint this, even though it's only for eBay. The priming has gone fairly well, with no discernible texture resulting from the spray can. The Iandan Darksun basecoat will make a nice undercoat for the golden yellow I'm making it.

One interesting Land Raider observation... if I put a pilot on top in the hatch and stick a pintle mounted Storm Bolter in front of him, it can still be fired by the Machine Spirit, right? It's odd to think of being there in the hatch and having the vehicle just wrest control of the gun right out from under you so it can shoot at something the rest of the tank was ignoring.

Codex: Space Marines... am I missing something?

Codex: Orks was filled with "huh?" moments. Are dakka-guns on bikes twin linked? What is the actual profile of a dakka gun? Can Stormboyz Waaagh? Can a mob of boyz with shootas have a Nobs with a power klaw, etc.

Codex: Space Marines is starting to cause me some head scratching. First up is the ubiquitous Signum, a sensor previously used by Techmarines to improve shooting of the squad to which they are attached. The rules for the Signum have been changed to prevent it from being used as "Gets Hot! Insurance." Instead of rolling misses (and 1's are misses!) it improves the ballistic skill of a squad member. Great! The only problem is that nobody can take one. The Techmarine doesn't have a signum in his wargear anymore and he can't buy one. In fact, no model that I can find has an option to take a signum now. Did I just miss it?
EDIT: Devastator squad sergeant gets a Signum by default now.

Next, the Razorback! First off, I love the option to have different weapon options than the heavy bolter/lascannon of the last edition. The one that I wonder about is the lascannon/plasma gun combo. In the roster entry, the upgrade specifies a single lascannon and a twin linked plasma gun. On the main page describing the Razorback a variant is described that includes a single lascannon and two twin linked plasma guns. Based on the Ork FAQ using the description page over the roster page I'm guessing it will end up as two twin linked plasma guns, so I'm going to delay modeling one of these until I know for sure. The twin linked assault cannon would use the same turret mount as a Land Raider twin linked assault cannon, but I don't know if the regular Land Raider box includes that particular bit or just the twin linked heavy bolter. The new plastic Crusader / Redeemer box has a twin linked assault cannon bit, but both variants use it. Any Land Raider owners out there want to help me out with this info?
EDIT: I completely misread this. It's "single lascannon and twin-linked plasma guns." One twin linked gun, just like it says in the army composition page.

Honor guard / Command Squad / Servitors: Both the Honor Guard and Command Squad have text that indicate that their inclusion does not take up an additional HQ slot. The servitor squad entry does not have similar text. Does that imply that servitors will take up an elite slot? I hope not. Also, am I missing something or do the independent characters no longer have to be attached to the squads they allow? Text seems to imply that the servitor squad can exist without the techmarine; there are even rules specifically based on the techmarine not being in the squad, and I'm guessing that's not just a "techmarine dies" rule.

Donut Cake Redux

Today is my department's staff picnic thing, and I (was) volunteered to bring a dessert. The coffee/donut cake a couple posts ago was a trial run for what I wanted to bring to the picnic. I made a few changes to the process, as follows:

Make the cake as per the directions on the box, substituting strong coffee (or espresso) for the water in the recipe. It's only 1 1/4 C, so it won't overpower the cake with coffee taste.

Use all large, round donuts (torus, not sphere shaped, would be more accurate I suppose.) Donut holes just didn't work out well. I might try using a chocolate covered cake donut in a future iteration. Try stuff out and tell me how it worked.

Glaze Topping:
1/4 C melted butter / margarine
2 C powdered sugar
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
mix well, then add 2 Tbsp milk

And remember, it's better to be fat and happy than just fat.

Perverse and Often Baffling

Okay, I've repeatedly referenced this story by Malcolm Gladwell.
Here's a link. Finally.

Go here: http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=348
Click the "Full Episode" icon on the left.
Fast forward to 45:30 or so. If you don't want to listen to the rest of the episode you'll either have to leave it paused for a while or drag the timeline arrow icon to the right as it loads to get to the desired time.

The piece in question ("Tough News Room") is about 12 minutes long. It's worth it.

Doubt journalism.

EDIT: I am saddened and begrudgingly relieved to learn that his story is fictitious.

Donut/Coffee Cake

Okay, I've been wanting to do this for a while. In a world of deep fried Twinkies I doubt this has never been tried before, but I'd never heard of it and it sounded good. I shall consider it original.

1 18.25 oz package Better Crocker SuperMoist Cake Mix (Butter Recipe Yellow)
6 cake donuts
9-12 chocolate "donut holes" (frosted or unfrosted)

Prepare a 13"x9" cake pan as normal, and space the donuts evenly along the bottom of the pan.
Prepare the cake mix as normal, substituting strong coffee for the 1 1/4 Cups water called for on the box. Let the coffee cool down before mixing into other ingredients to prevent the eggs from cooking.
Pour the prepared cake mix carefully over the donuts, trying to keep the spacing intact. Try to space the cake mix evenly in the pan, but even if the coverage is a little uneven the rising cake will cover everything up.

Cook at 350 about 30 minutes.
Let cool. Frost or glaze as desired.
Serves 1. Seriously, you won't want to share.

EDIT: The chocolate donut holes weren't as good as first reported. A night in the fridge left them a little tougher than the rest of the cake. Next time I'm going totally cake donut.

Space Marines: They Shall Know No Nerf ?

Well, I got the new Space Marines codex. There is a whole lot more fluff than I care to wade through right now. The rules...well.... I'm not sure how I feel about some of them yet. This is the first new edition of C:SM released since I started the game (I know, what a noob) so I'm not really sure what whether these rules hearken back to a previous edition or blaze new trails.

Let me highlight a few interesting points. For my 40k-impaired friends who actually bother to read this, "ccw" = "close combat weapon" (a knife, sword, etc.)

1. No more terminator honours. The one upgrade that all of my characters got is now just gone. Sergeants in squads now have 2 attacks on their profile (and an extra 15 points in the cost) but the option to have that 4 attack HQ is gone.
   
2. No more "ablative armor for a lascannon" squads. Only tactical squads of 10 Marines can add a special or heavy weapon, and flamer, heavy bolter, missile launcher or multimelta are free.
3. Characters are not chapter specific! Special characters that can only be fielded in a particular chapter or other always galled me. If I want to field Tigurius I have to play Ultramarines? If I want to play Shrike I need to play Ravenguard? In this edition it clearly states that you can paint the models up for any chapter you want, change the proper name and use the special character stat line. Good choice, guys.
   
4. (Reclusiarch + Master of Sanctity)/2 = New Chaplain. Only two wounds, only three attacks and he costs as much as a Master of Sanctity from the last edition. The worst part? Only initiative 4 now. Jumpy-killy-solo chaplain is a thing of the past. Even character chaplain Ortan Cassius is about this same stat line. EDIT: Except Cassius is T6 with Feel No Pain. I missed that the first time around. I'd take 2 wounds and that over an extra wound any day.
   
5. No CCW?!? One of the pre-release rumours I remember hearing is that all marines would have pistol/ccw/bolter combos, giving them that extra attack in the assault phase. While they have the bolt pistol (good for pre-assault shooty, I assume) they have no close combat weapon in their wargear, and no option to buy one. I had heard someone mention that all models in the game count as having a ccw, but I can't find that in the rules anywhere. It that were true, would a model with only a ccw in its wargear count as having 2 ccw's? I doubt it. EDIT: I see my preconceptions were unfounded. BA's and DA's don't have ccw's. Space Wolves do by default, but they don't have bolters by default. CSM's have the pistol/ccw combo by default, but they don't have the heavy weapon options. I see this as a good trade off now.
   
6. Techmarine! I like the changes here. I feel like the servo arm / harness is better defined in terms of attacks. The fact that he has to start the shooting phase in contact with the vehicle he wants to repair and not the turn makes him useful. This certainly would have prevented my three turn "run away, now come back" Techmarine event at 'ard Boyz.
   
7. Combat tactics. The ability to decide during deployment if a squad of 10 will split into two squads of five. Very cool idea that gives flexibility to the marine troops based on the mission type.
8. Sternguard veterans. This is a departure from veteran squads of the last edition, which tended to be tricked out in assault wargear (power fist or two, lightning claws, power weapon, etc.) The sergeant of this unit can get a killy ccw, but the real strength lies in the special ammunition they field. Given the different types of ammo they have I'd rather step back and rapid fire than charge in and assault (most of the time... especially since they'd only get two attacks in assault.)
9. Vanguard veterans. Okay, maybe I spoke too soon. These guys are the assault monsters that the regular veterans used to be. The difference is that the old veteran squad couldn't take jump packs and these guys can! And they can all have power fists and melta bombs. These guys really exemplify the elite army idea; you can have the killiest troops in the game, but it's going to cost you dearly. Imagine an assassin unit of 5 of these guys with jump packs, lightning claws and a relic blade or fist. Ouch. Killy, but >300 points.
   
10. Relic Blades. Something about a S6 power weapon that swings at initiative makes me happy.
11. No more anti-vehicle assault squads. Only the sergeant of an assault squad can take melta bombs now, and you can only take one plasma pistol per 5 models in the squad. EDIT: Vanguard Veterans take this role now, but they are soooo expensive. A Vanguard Veteran with jump pack and melta bomb is 35 pts, compared to 24 pts for the old assault squad member with jump pack and melta bomb. Sure the VanVet has 2 attacks, but that won't give you an extra melta bomb attack.
    
12. Terminator squads can only take one assault cannon / heavy flamer / cyclone launcher per 5 models in the unit. Very good choice.

There's more, but I have to run. Feel free to leave your opinion of best/worst in the new book. I'm a real 40k noob, so any insight as to how this edition compares to 2nd or 3rd would be helpful.

P3 Hobby Stuff

I have a box of miscellaneous P3 hobby supplies at home. I've used a few pieces, and I'll comment on others as I get impressions.

The Wet Palette - I just can't bring myself to open this thing. The one I use is nearly free, and I can't imagine the P3 version adding value for the price.

Work Hobby Brush - ugh. I figured this brush would be good for basecoating or something. It developed a wicked hook after just one day of normal use (not even harsh use, like glue or drybrushing.) I guess I don't know what to expect from a "hobby" brush. In it's defense it hasn't gotten worse since the first day, and I've been using it.

Work Studio Brush - that's more like it. This brush has kept it's shape for several sessions. It gives me hope for the Detail Studio Brush, which I will use when my W&Ns7 goes to pasture.

Mixing Medium - nice! I figured this would be a typical glaze medium, and it pretty much is, but it's nice and smooth and delivers a much better "low effort" value. I used this on about half of my quick-painted Black Reach Orks (on the skin) and they look better as a result.

Things I may try soon....

• Pin vise expansion kits (very clever idea!)
• modeling putty (brown/gray... I'd like to see how it measures up to green stuff)
• clippers, but only because I lost my normal pair somewhere

Want a review of a hobby item? Let me know!

A Few Thoughts on Magnets

I've been magnetizing my bases for 40k, Whfb and Warmachine for a while now. I've found fantasy units so much easier to transport when already ranked up than if each model is in its own little cell in a Sabol ATC, so I've typically used a steel cookie sheet (dollar store variety) to transport them, neatly arranged on a movement tray that, itself, has magnetic sheeting on it (ink jet printable refridgerator magnet type.) I should probably come up with some way to transport 5 or 6 cookie sheets at once... but I digress.

So far I've been using 1/4" Dia x 3/32" Thick NdFeB Disc Magnet, Ni-Cu-Ni plated from AmazingMagnets.com. They are strong enough that two of them will keep a heavy warjack stuck to the side of a filing cabinet. The problem is that with light plastic figures, the magnetized models tend to "jump" into each other if they get too close. I think I might try to find something a little smaller for the plastic figs in light of this. I would still use the stronger magnets for the metal models though.

I've also never used magnets for weapon/arm swapping, but I am probably going to do so after reading this entry over at "All Things 40k." The idea of being able to swap terminator arms out is too tempting with the new Black Reach terminators so easy to get. A single box of assault terminators + a Black Reach box = 10 assault termies or 5 regular/5 assault if you magnetize arms.

I am Painter 1450!!

Back when I got a bronze in Chicago this year, I mentioned (maybe not here) that one things I was excited about is that I would be shown on "Demon Winner", an unofficial Golden Demon collection site. Apparently they have updated, and there I am! I am officially designated as Peintre 1450!

Shown here is my official "Painter 1450" image. I'm not sure if I should submit personal photo to them or not. Yeah, I'm a big geek about this, but I'm really thrilled to be in such great company there.

Useless Pharmacology

I took a bottle of these to the tournament. They didn't help. They really didn't help. You wouldn't believe how many 1's and 2's I rolled when I needed 3+. Someone mentioned a house rule for bad rollers where all 1's become 6's and all 6's become 1's. Hmmm....

(Apologies to and inspiration from Jonathan Coulton.)

Bunny Slippers = #1

Remember that Night Goblin I painted wearing bunny slippers? For some reason he's the #1 google image if you search on "night goblin."

Go ahead. Try it:
http://images.google.com/images?q=night goblin

I eBay'ed that guy ages ago and he sold for like $10. I hope the new owner is getting a lot of mileage out of him!

EDIT: He's #2 now. Jakob Nielsen's night goblin army is #1, as it should be.

I Am Not "'ard"

I played Saturday in the local 'ard Boyz tournament, out at Planeswalker's Magic Bag in Munith. The good news is I got a t-shirt. The bad news is that I got second to last place. A friend of mine got last place, but if we had played scenario 2 correctly I think he would have smoked me, thereby cementing my position as the worst 40k player in southeast Michigan.

Round one was intense. My goal went from winning, to killing at least one of my opponent's models, to have at least one model remaining at the end of the game. I did kill off a few enemies and managed to get a weapon destroyed on a Land Raider (one of four in his list) and at the end all I had was a Drop Pod left, dutifully missing with its storm bolter each turn. The funny part was Tigurius doing "Fear of the Darkness" every turn, which would make my Techmarine run, every time. After rallying, he would run back to immobilized Vindicator he was so desperately trying to fix, only to have Tigurius make him run again. Three turns in a row this happened, until finally a lascannon pen-6'd the Vindicator and the explosion took out the Techmarine as well. I got massacred, and he got all extra points as well.

Round two was vs. Orks. It was a "dawn of war" scenario, so the Orks got a turn to run their heads off at me before I could realistically shoot at them. If he had brought his lootas on during turn 2 (as opposed to rolling for deep strike like we were doing, causing them to come in on turn 4) I would have gotten pummeled. The bad part for the Orks was when the Vindicator rolled onto the board and dropped a pie plate on his Warboss/Nob bike unit that had just finished assaulting a Razorback. Boom. Result was a tie.

Round three was vs. Iron Hands. A fellow I'd met a few times there was my opponent. He had fared about as well as me so far in the tournament, and we ended up tying. It was a good fight, but I was getting a little tired by the end and was making dumb choices.

In order to make myself feel better after my humiliating performance I went home and painted a Blood Ravens Dreadnought. At least I can still paint moderately well!

(Edit: The picture is one of the battles I got to watch at the tournament, having been stomped flat in record time. It was Orks vs. Dark Eldar, and a fine match it was!)

What happened to GW Paint Creek Crossing?

How does something that starts so strong end up so weak? In April 2007 Games Workshop opened a store at Paint Creek Crossing in Ypsilanti, MI. I was pretty excited when I found out, since it's only about 6 or 7 minutes from my house.

I had trepidation the first time I walked in the door there, since I had a prior bad experience at a Games Workshop store (the West Oaks one in Novi, MI.) I had been assaulted by their corporate-approved interaction methodology, which is basically "badger the person incessantly to either play a demo game, increase their current army or start a new army." I think there also must be some clause in the handbook about talking up every event coming up at the store, and shoving a photocopied calendar into your hands to use as a visual aid while describing each of the 5o or so events each month. I was immediately put off by how intense an interaction was required to be in the presence of that employee. That was my first time at the West Oaks store, and my first time in a GW store in probably 15 years. I wanted to look at the painted miniatures. I wanted to watch people playing at the tables. I wanted to look over the assortment of minis for sale. I did not want to have a Jack Russel Terrier of a salesperson following me around trying to draw me into a sale. I have not been back to West Oaks since that first day.

So back to Paint Creek Crossing.... like I said, I was a little wary walking in because I wasn't sure if I'd get the same treatment. I was thrilled to meet Mark and Reynolds, who were much more casual about their treatment of customers. They talked to me but without the intensity of the West Oaks gang. I felt at ease there. I knew I'd found a new hangout.

Over the course of the next year I spent a fair bit of time there. I made friends there. I often impulse bought minis, despite the fact that I could get them elsewhere at significant discount. The idea of contributing to the Paint Creek Crossing store staying open appealed to me, and I tried to make the hobby scene there better by helping people as they sought my painting advice. Unfortunately this idyllic situation ends. Mark went off to college. A new manager was transferred in. Reynolds transfered to a different store. With the changing of the employees came a change in the ambiance of the place. The sales staff started to become intense, like the experience I had at West Oaks. The beginning of Lance's managerial reign really pushed this to it's final stage. As manager, Lance had definitely drunk the "high intensity experience" kool-aid, and he expected his subordinates to show an annoying amount of energy, and to ask everyone if they were going to preorder whatever the new items was every time they came into the store. Seriously. It went from midly irritating to really annoying pretty quick. No, Lance, I don't collect Dark Elves and I'm not going to preorder the $250 box coming out next month. Yes, Lance, I know how cool they are because we've talked about it every time I've been in the store in the last month. As annoying as this was, I could still sort of deal with it because a) hanging out there was still somewhat entertaining due to the friends I had made, and b) some of the employees (Mark and Caleb) would actually interact with me on something deeper than a used-car-salesman level. It wasn't too long before Caleb quit, having found a job in his chosen field of teaching. Good for him!

...and here's where the breaking point came, but first a disclaimer. Mark was a friend of mine before the GW store opened. I encouraged him to apply there. I really thought he'd be happy there. For quite a while, he seemed happy there.

On September 8, 2008 Games Workshop released a fancy new starter set for their best selling game, Warhammer 40,000. This was a great deal for gamers, and it was going to sell big. Still under the impression that I wanted to support the Paint Creek Crossing store, I preordered and planned to attend their midnight launch event. I showed up at 11:30 PM roughly Friday night to await the midnight release. Lance and Mark (as the only two employees left at that store) were there running the events and getting everyone whipped up for the release. It was silly fun. Lance was especially silly. Less like enthusiasm silly and more like severe sleep deprivation silly. Multiple times I saw Mark step up and take over for a faltering Lance. Mark really went above and beyond that night.

Apparently my observation was not shared, because Lance fired him the next day.

No, that's too easy an explanation. After the release event that went late into the night and the cleanup afterward Lance asked Mark to come in early the next day. Only then, before normal shift the next day after the event Mark carried, did Lance fire him. Seriously, are there any GW regional managers reading this? So why was he fired, you ask? Personally, I think it had a lot to do with Mark's personality. Like Reynolds and the first Mark, this Mark was pleasant. I think they have a corporate policy against being pleasant.

Okay, so here's your google search phrase:
I will not shop at Games Workshop Paint Creek Crossing again.

The recent management has consumed all the good will built up with me in the first year of that store being open. I considered Paint Creek my "home store." I don't know whom they are tailoring their store experience to but it's sure not me anymore. It's sure not people who walk in cold either, because I've seen a whole lot of people who just pop in to see what the store was all about go running scared after being assaulted by an over-intense salesperson.

Oh, well.

EDIT: This store is my gaming/shopping home again, thanks to manager Brett and his pro-hobbyist approach.
--More--

We're Back Online!

Stef just called me at work to tell me (almost tearfully) that DSL is working at home again! We're back online after an excruciating week!

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. A week without net? That's not terribly long, and there are plenty of places to get internet other than your house, presumably. That's true, except:

1. We don't have a laptop, so we can't be portable.
2. We have an online business to run and shipping labels to print, which is nearly impossible to do outside your own setup.
3. We do most of our business late at night, which isn't exactly conducive to going over to someone else's house to borrow their connection.

I think Stef was about to have a mental breakdown last night over it. Life as a Luddite did not suit her, and even the kids were getting bored of the computer without Maple Story or other connected games. Now, to catch up on the backlog! I know I've lost customers over the turnaround time from August/September, and this outage hasn't helped a bit.

School Day #1 ... for everyone

Yesterday was the first day of school. Ever.

Up until this year, Stef and I had home schooled our kids. It went well enough, but it became more and more of a struggle to get them to focus on actually working and not on all the distractions home provides. After much consternation, we decided to check out schools for them. The first thought was the Christian Academy relatively close to our house. While that was considerably cheaper than the Christian Academy many of our friends send their kids to, it ended up being out of our realistic price range. We reluctantly enrolled our kids in the nearby elementary school. I took half a day off work to attend a tour, and was pleasantly surprised by how nice the facility was and how well spoken the staff and administration were about the way the school operates. I had no reservations sending them there after that tour.

Sarah and Lily both tested into their respective grades, and both absolutely love it so far. Granted, it's only been one day, but for them to love it after one day makes the transition for us (especially Stef) easier. We went out to eat at the local Coney Island to celebrate the first day of school last night, which thrilled the kids all the more. We don't do that often.

Jay is the only child home during the day now, and we're still not sure about whether to put him in pre-school or not. He's four, but he's a very young four, and all boy. Maybe we'll try preschool this year. Maybe we'll wait a year before he goes to preschool, then send him to Kindergarten when he's six. It's a tough call.

im in ur culture, satirizing ur memes

One of my daily interweb comic stops is PvP. Supposedly it's about a group of people who work at a video game related magazine, but that's just a sly cover for some character driven humor and strange diversions.

One of those diversions is the adventures of the lolbat. He made his entrance in this strip. I thought it would be a one-shot, but he has had an entire story arc now, starting here. It's been going on for four days and I don't know when it will end. How do you even end something like that?

Scott Kurtz is an interesting guy. He certainly has a knack for the homage, including drawing in the style of other comic artists. I thought this was absolutely inspired.

Handout from Painting Seminar ... 28 Weeks Later

4 Days Later: In case anyone lost theirs and wants another copy it is available HERE in handy pdf format.

28 Weeks Later: Stef and I watched zombie sequel "28 Weeks Later" last night. Meh. I thought 28 Days Later was an inspired take on the while zombie flick thing, but 28 Weeks Later just seemed poorly conceived in comparison. It just never felt particularly focused. When the movie was over I didn't even care enough to watch the deleted scenes. The ones they left in were tedious enough.

The Wonder of Horrible

Have I mentioned I like the work of Joss Whedon? No? I'm pretty sure I have. Well, if I haven't then I'll say it now: I like the work of Joss Whedon. I won't list it here. You have an internet for that.

His latest work is called "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog." Go watch episode one and come back. It's only about 10 or 15 minutes, and I know you don't have anything else to do right now or you wouldn't be reading this. Go now. I'll wait here.

[LATER THAT SAME DAY]

Great. You're back. Okay, if you didn't like it then just go away and I'll see you next post.

Stef and I were able to watch the first three or four episodes for free before they went all iTunes give me money give me money on us. I'm pretty sure I'll end up paying for future episodes. I'm not sure I've watched a serial about a lovesick wannabe super villian before, but it really works for me. And the singing? Yeah, I like that part too. In fact, I'm pretty much just a Joss Whedon fanboy at this point. He could film a guy in a mascot costume kicking a telephone pole for a half hour and I'd probably download it and watch it from start to finish.

LATE BREAKING NEWS! I was immediately notified by an alert reader of The Guild, which stars Felicia Day as well. I am going to have to watch this... it looks like it's been going on for a while.

Thanks, guys!

I want to take a minute to say thanks to everyone who attended my first painting seminar, and thanks to Planeswalker's Magic Bag for setting everything up and hosting. You guys were great! Congrats to Corwin on winning the Winsor & Newton Series 7 brush, too. That was a mighty cool Chaos Sorcerer.

It was very encouraging to see you all actively applying the techniques I was explaining was very encouraging, and I got some great advice from you guys too. From what I saw in the class I'm really looking forward to what you have to show me next time I'm there!

The web site for the tutorials I was talking about is http://miniature-mentor.com.
Also check out the free tutorials here: http://www.coolminiornot.com/article
The OSL (object sourced lighting) examples I was talking about are here and here. The painter of the Neo Soviet scene in the first example is the sculptor of the Armorcast gun-blast add-ons that Dave was talking about seeing at GenCon.

Buck's Final Meal

Today Buck, Ann Marie, Subbu and I went to Tower Inn to celebrate Buck's second to last day of employment at EMU. After two years, he decided to bite the hand that feeds him and take a job somewhere sunny. What greater insult can you deliver to your Michigan coworkers, I ask. Sunny. Florida.

While there we had the waiter take a group shot of the four of us. Paul would have been there, but he's busy testing grade submission through WebCT Vista. It's just as well.... his switch to the AAS team from the PSS team makes him part of them, not us. You lose. You get nothing. Good day, sir.

Tower Inn is an interesting place to have a last lunch, since one of Buck's first meals here was at Tower Inn, and the waitress dumped a glass of diet soda in his lap. Today there were no such mishaps. On the way back, Ann Marie stated, "Awwwww, somebody lost their lunch!" Against all bounds of common sense I turned to look at the spot in question and saw this, thankfully.
Colloquialisms were forgiving this time.

The plan now is to watch Buck tweet his way to Florida with his iPhone that he is far too pleased to have. (Rise before Jobs. Now kneel before Jobs.)

Returned, immersed in RegEx ... and lost keys

I'm back from vacation! Portage Lake Covenant Bible Camp was big fun, great worship and deep teaching; it was refreshment for body, mind and spirit.

I'm writing Perl scripts at work right now, and am bogged down in the language of regular expressions. Years ago I had some cursory exposure to Relay Ladder Logic, the language of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC's) and decided that anyone who could fully grasp RLL was a little unhinged. I'm starting to feel that way about regexp's.

Returning from vacation I realize that I have lost my keys. My house key, my truck key, my work keys, my P.O. box key...... gone. I'm sure they are in the bags somewhere, but until we have emptied out every reservoir of stuff that came back from camp with us I don't think I will find them. Losing keys is a funny thing. They really are tangible connections to things that happen in my life, and losing them makes me feel disconnected from my everyday activities.

Saturday is my painting seminar at Planeswalker's Magic Bag. I think 10 or 12 people are coming specifically to hear me talk about miniature painting. Hopefully none of them will be better than me, so I don't have to rough anyone up.

Animal Sertivude and Cosmic Ark

For no good reason, the subject of the Atari 2600 game Cosmic Ark came up today at work.

The concept of the game is that you fly from planet to planet rescuing little animals before their planet gets destroyed. In the screen shot at left you can see the large ark, the flying rescue craft just to the left of it, and two squiggly animals on the ground in need of rescue.

The part that always confused me was that the amount of fuel you received to travel to the next planet was directly proportional to the number of animals you captured on the previous planet. The only rational conclusion I could make was that the animals were being used as fuel. Ann Marie had a different take on it. "Maybe they're being forced to run on little treadmills."

hmmm. I hadn't considered that.

Still Basking

Thursday at about 11:00 AM the photos of the Golden Demon winners from Chicago were posted on the Games Workshop website. The Ork looks pretty darn good! I'm a little surprised at the level of local celebrity I've received because of this minor accomplishment. The guys here at work are geeked, people at the Paint Creek GW store are geeked, and people at Planeswalker's Magic Bag (where I hang out on the very occasional Saturday) are geeked. I'm even doing a painting clinic at Planeswalker's on 8/23. I'm still awaiting the posting of the honorable mention pics, because I'm really hoping the duel looks good in the photo.

Last year my goal was first cut, and I got honorable mention. This year my goal was a trophy, and I got a bronze and an honorable mention. Next year's goal: a silver! I suppose now I should start thinking about my '09 entries...

Mysterious Victory!

I'm back, and I have a trophy! I won a bronze in the 40k Large Monster category for... my Ork Warboss!

Yeah, go ahead and scan the completion meter. You won't find it. It was a piece I painted earlier in the year when the Ork army was released. It was meant to be high quality, but not competition quality. All of the models that I put 50 or so hours in on didn't even make first cut, with the exception of the Duel, which got an honorable mention. I also got more feedback from Tim Lison on the judging, which will help me a great deal in the year to come.

I also got to meet a number of people whom I have known about for some time, which was quite a thrill. Anja Wettergren of Games Workshop, James and Cathy Wappel, Chris Borer, Mathieu Fontaine, Dirty Steve, etc. It was a great thrill to meet all of you, and I hope to see you again at future competitions. I missed meeting Vincent Hudon and jeff Wilhelm, but I got to see some of their great pieces there.

See you all next year!

'Ere We Go! Chicago Games Day!

This is it! After a marathon completion session I have six entries ready to go for Golden Demon! Not all were the ones originally planned and some are stronger than others, but six shall be submitted.

Okay! It's off to Chicago!

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!