Annoying in Life...

It's rough, I know, but they're getting better.  I'm thinking a tablet would make life so much easier.

Skaven FAQ is here

Now that GW has had their say on the Skaven mysteries, let's see how I did from my stated stances.

1. Warpstone Tokens and the Storm Banner are "one use only" - spot on!
2. The Doomwheel may not start in the front arc of a unit, then use its movement to maneuver around to hit that unit in the flank or rear. - spot on!
3. Shooting will scatter into Rat Ogres on a 1-4, into other models on a 5-6. - spot on!
4. Only one Night Runner, Jezzail team, Rat Ogre, etc. can be upgraded in a unit, not any and all of them. - not addressed, but I think there was enough consensus on this beforehand.
5. Banner of Verminous Scurrying can only be used to augment a unit's normal march, in the movement phase. - not addressed.  Too bad too, because this is still very vague to me.
6. Template weapons hitting an enemy unit engaged with slaves will be randomized between slaves/enemies. - I was wrong.  Models hit by the template are hit, with no randomization.
7. Plague Priests may not take warpstone tokens. - not addressed, so I stick with my stance.
8. I will never take more than one tail weapon or rat hound bodyguard. A brace of warplock pistols is possible until ruled otherwise, but only because it's a cool conversion option. - Only one of anything is allowed per model, including pistols, so mostly correct for me.
9. The plague censer would benefit from poisoned attacks. In the same way a great weapon keeps its rules (+2 strength, strikes last) with poison, the plague censer is a weapon with its own rules, not a magic weapon. - not addressed. 
10. Slaves breaking from cc will get additional hits under the "Cornered Rats!" rule only for each full rank of 5 beyond the first, not just for each rank beyond the first. - spot on!

So, mostly vindicated.... mostly.

Converting Deffkoptas : Big Shootas

Does it seem strange to anyone else that we need to convert this model to get it back to the basic codex stats?  Oh, well.  If they came with big shootas we'd be seeing hundreds of conversions to rokkits.

The conversion is simple enough.  Get out the ol' bone saw and chop off the ends of the rokkits on the front of the kopta.  Leave some of the rokkit body intact since we'll be using that for the big shoota's body.  You can cut right through the bottom part, and we'll be putting in a little Orky decoration to cover up the cut.

Next you take two diameters of styrene tube, one of which fits inside the other.  I wish I could give you diameters, but I can't find the packaging.  The only really important parts are that one fits inside the other, and that the larger of the two fits on the inside part where the four rokkits used to be.  Take a section of the larger tube about 3/4" long and use a pin vise to drill some holes in it like a machine gun's cooling jacket.  They don't have to be perfect..... if you are converting Orky stuff you already know that.  Place a piece of the smaller diameter tube inside the larger one to make a barrel, and glue this sandwiched between the remaining parts of the rokkit bodies.  After that, glue a short piece of the smaller tube to each of the four rokkit bodies.

Here's a pretty good illustration of what we're aiming for.  Yeah, it's pretty rough, I know.  What we end up with looks like five barrels, easily WYSIWYG for a twin linked big shoota.

Now to fix that ugly flat spot in the bottom.  Take a length of trapezoidal sprue about as wide as the bottom two barrels.  Glue it in place with the smaller edge facing down.  Now cut some rough triangles from plasticard with your plasctic cutters and glue them in the old "dog tooth" Ork pattern.

There!  Wasn't that easy?

The Truth about "Simple Green"

Since I first started reading miniature painting tips online, the cleaning product "Simple Green" has been mentioned as an effective paint stripper.  Having recently found some at my local hardware store, I tried it out today.

First off, we have a very old Eldar Dark Reaper.  This fellow was veritably caked in paint.  Thick, chunky paint.  With no advance cleaning I dropped him in a small container of Simple Green.  What you see here is the same figure after soaking for about three hours.

A light brushing with a toothbrush had paint sloughing off in great chunks.  This is better than I remember metal figs that had been left in brake fluid.  Remember, this is only about three hours!

A rinse under the sink and a little more brushing, and check this out.  I was absolutely amazed.  I've tried other cleaning solutions (ammonia window cleaners, Sol-U-Mel, etc.) and nothing has performed like this.  It's as if acrylic paint killed Simple Green's family, and it is time for revenge.


Go to a hardware store and buy this stuff.  I paid $4.29 for a 24 oz. bottle, and it is worth every penny.

Farseer (from Bonesinger) primed

My Farseer, whom I really wanted to be an original model, is primed and ready for paint.  I really like the way he looks.

Not that I'll get to him anytime soon....

This is the danger of commission work.  You see and paint so many of the models that you eventually want to start that army.  Between the thousands of points of Eldar I've painted and Fritz's entertaining tactica, I'm going to do my best to deliver doom to the Mon-Keigh.

Someday...

Matt, you are one sick puppy

This is the example model given to me to demonstrate how a friend wants some gaunts painted.

Um, Matt?  What inspired you to make this thing giving birth to a bunch of rippers?  Seriously, either you have way fewer hang-ups than I do or you have a view of procreation that just makes me feel icky.

That said, this is one cool conversion.  I'll be starting a project blog to cover the progress.  I just wanted to share this freaky nid to you all for now.

Trying a Few Things - Buying a Few Things

I'm trying out Tinweasel's rust effect.  I bought some 0000 steel wool from my local ACO hardware store, filled a Reaper eyedropper bottle with it (loosely packed) and then filled the bottle about 75% full with the bleach / vinegar solution he describes.  The steel almost immediately started to rust, and this oxidation is caused by the bleach I've discovered.  To my surprise, vinegar (an acid) does more to polish metal by removing oxidation than cause the metal to break down.  The bleach, although very alkaline, provides the oxidation reaction.  Go figure.  I'll let you know in a few days how it looks.

While at ACO I also picked up 600 grit sandpaper (impulse buy) and a bottle of (drum roll please) Simple Green!  People have been raving about this stuff for stripping minis for years, but I'd never actually seen it in a store until yesterday.  Then again, I'd never looked in a hardware store.

Catnip is a Gateway Drug

I tip my hat to the good people at Avrett Free Ginsberg for making a cat food commercial that actually makes me want to eat the cat food.

Now if that isn't messed up enough, there was a fairly hilarious parody of this commercial on youtube that was viewable as of yesterday (3.2.10) but that now shows the following message when you attempt to watch it:

So clearly either someone at youtube or someone at the International Olympic Committee has actually been eating the cat food.  Or smoking it.  Or something.  Wait... can cat food be smoked?

Breaking News!

Apparently after a wild night of claiming copyright over everything they saw on youtube, the International Olympic Committee has woken up with a splitting headache and admitted that, yeah, maybe a parody of a cat food commercial wouldn't really be infringing anything they control.  Although you have to admit that "carp ship racing" as a proposed event in the summer games was supposed to be secret for now.  "Dude, remember we talked about that fish boat racing thing the other night?  Those guys at Friskies totally stole that."

What this means for you, gentle reader, is that the link to the potty-mouthed parody works now.

Check out Tinweasel ... NOW

Behold the fantastic painting of Tinweasel!  This guy beat me down in fantasy single fig at Chicago 08, even thought we painted exactly the same figure.  He's good.  Really good.

And he's looking for commission work.

And he's running a contest to give away a commission job.


Go to his blog, follow it and check out how to enter the contest.  Also check out his commission rates.  They are a real bargain for the work he does, and I expect that these rates will go up as more people realize what a great painter he is (and demand increases against a limited supply.... you know the economics people!  Don't make me go all Adam Smith on you!)

Go now!  I command you!

Chain of Events

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

Will Rogers

So, are you experienced?
Have you ever been experienced?
Well, I have

Jimi Hendrix

Cause of death:
Inhalation of vomit
barbiturate intoxication

Death certificate of James Marshall Hendrix, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

----

My boss has the first quote posted next to his office (attributed to Rita Mae Brown) and this little slice of history occurred to me.

Blood Ravens painting tips

Ugolino sent the following:

I'm trying to get into the Warhammer 40k tabletop hobby, and more specifically the Space Marines. I've been trying to paint a Blood Ravens army, but keep on making mistakes. I found your site when looking for a Blood Ravens guide, and I've been using your models as a guide in my attempts. 

How much do you water down each of the layers of red? What exactly constitutes a "thin" coat?

Also, can you tell me what method you used to paint this Raven, if it differs from the one listed on the wiki? (http://coolminiornot.com/109090) He's a bit closer to the specific look I was hoping for with my Ravens than the "take cover" entry.

Thank you.

----

Hi Ugolino,

   Welcome to the hobby!  Thinning paints can differ based on personal style as long as the goal is kept in mind: put color on the mini without the dry paint having a rough or chunky texture.  I've read and number of guides that said "the consistency of milk" but I never really figured that one out.  Start with 50/50 paint water and get a controlled brush load to avoid the thinned paint wicking everywhere on the mini.  Touching the edge of the paint brush (about halfway between the tip and the ferrule) to a coffee filter will draw extra moisture away from the bristles so you can control application better.  If you are getting smooth results with 50/50 stick with that or try even thinner.

Red is tough to get solid in few coats.  I recommend GW's mechrite for a base coat, and then red gore built up to your desired shade (for Blood Ravens anyway.)  You can do a highlight with blood red, but be cautious because it's very orange compared red gore.  A little bleach bone / red gore makes a nice edge highlight and isn't too pink or orange.

One thing that helps me is a wet palette.  They are really cheap to make, and I posted a how-to here:
http://underempire.net/index.php?showtopic=25553

That fellow (my Blood Ravens test model from '05) was painted before the current wash range or foundation paints came out, so I most likely painted him all red gore (over black primer... it would have taken a few coats to get the color solid) and then gave him a wash in "Future" floor polish wash (50/50 water and Future + some GW brown ink.)  Nowadays a 50/50 diluted GW Devlan Mud wash might do the same thing.  The mechrite red gives a very good base red too... way easier to deal with than black.

Maybe this combo might work... just off the top of my head.  If I was going to try and recreate that model with the current range, this is what I would do.
1. basecoat mechrite red.  Total model coverage.
2. wash Badab Black.  Again total model coverage.
3. paint armor areas red gore.  Multiple coats until color is consistent.
4. Paint shoulder pads bleached bone (coat until consistent color)
5. wash enture model with 50/50 water/Devlan Mud wash.
6. Paint details like eyes

One of the important things about red gore is that it looks purple
when the coverage isn't good enough.  Just keep applying thin coats
and the color will even out to a nice, rich red over time.

Hope that helps,

   Mike

Fixing Micro-Cracks in Pewter

Casting errors are an unpleasant fact of life in this hobby.  The ones that can be fixed subtractively (by removing material) are considerable easier to correct than the ones that need to be removed additively.  In the case of the micro cracks seen below in the highlighted area, you will need to fill them or they will show up in your final product.

In terms of additive material, we'll need something that will flow (or be pressed) into the cracks, but not change the surface of the sculpt.  Two part putty is difficult to limit to just the cracks.

The trick is something you probably already have in your kit: Citadel 'ard Coat.  Unlike regular acrylic paint, the varnish is nicely self leveling and isn't as prone to drying with a texture.  Brush a thin coat of varish over the cracks and let dry.  The shiny results are shown here.

After a little Reaper brush-on white primer, the cracks are gone and the surface of the cloth appears unchanged.

Now to go fix the rest of the flaws that show up in the photo....

Eldar! Purge the Witches!

Check out the Farseer from my upcoming Biel Tan Eldar army, converted from the limited edition Bonesinger model that was given away with White Dwarf subscriptions a few years ago.  He's mostly stock, with a helmet conversion to move one of the two antlers he had to a rear mounted crest (more in line with the current Farseer models, although I'm still torn on whether he looked better before) and the side "pipes" on the helmet made from Wraithlord fingers (a favorite Kroot snack I hear.)  The singing spear is the Dire Avenger power weapon with a spearhead made from a couple Skaven spear blades from the prior clanrat model glued together, filed, drilled, carved, and now pretty much unrecognizable.

I haven't posted pics on the blogs in a while, mostly because our newer camera is missing again.  I managed to get the eight year old camera and find a huge 16 MB card for it and get this pic.  Why I chose a new conversion over other models I've been dying to photograph is beyond me.  I have painted Bonesingers and warlocks in progress for a conversion job.  I have desperately wanted to photograph and post Matt's huge Tyranid thing that is giving birth to a swarm of rippers.  But, no.  I take one pic and then life get back in the way.... well, enjoy this one anyway.

On a separate note, here are some minis I converted up a while ago but have never painted yet.  You should be able to identify the components, but I'm fairly happy with how they came together.  I was on a bit of a magnet kick, so excuse the minis with different magnetized options shown as different pics.

Eldar Help: Mystery Gun

Okay, you old and wizened 40k players.  Please, please tell me what this gun is.  I'm fairly confident the other gun is a shuriken pistol from the similarity to the current miniature range, but what is the highlighted gun?  A fusion pistol?  Something I've never heard of?  I got this fellow (and another old Harly) in a trade and I'm just curious.

Thanks!

Realistic Winter Basing

Materials required: geographic location in SE Michigan.

Yeah, it snows here.  Sometimes a lot.  Then it melts.  Then it snows again.  Yesterday the lawn was almost devoid of snow.

Sorry for the misdirection.  This isn't really about miniature basing... I just wanted an excuse to post a picture of today's fun.  The kids got the day off elementary school but the University is still open, so I'm at work.

Quote of the Day

From Wednesday 2/17/10...

Stef: So the girl finished drying my hair and put the hairdryer on the counter, but the weight of the cord pulled it off and it smashed on the floor.  She was bummed because it was a $75 hairdryer.
Me: Does it make me a huge nerd that I immediately thought of the principle of a space elevator when you described that?
Stef: (reassuringly) No....
Me: (whew)
Stef: Sitting there painting a little space alien while I told you made you a huge nerd.

I tell ya, Eldar get no respect.  :-/

Supporting the Narrative

15 years ago, a friend and I were discussing the video game X-COM: UFO Defense (or UFO: Enemy Unknown as it was known in Europe.)  In this game, one controls a squad of operatives as they combat UFO invasion by cleansing crash sites, reverse engineering alien technology and repelling alien terror missions.  This friend of mine told me of another friend of his who played X-COM as though the operatives all had personalities and relationships.  What resulted was as much a one person role-playing game as a strategy game, where she would decide each squad member's actions on the battlefield in a character appropriate way.  If one fellow's girlfriend was in trouble he would take risky action to help protect her.  If a squad member is killed the others would get scared and duck for cover, etc.

I have discovered that this is the most entertaining way for me to play tabletop war games.  Play to win, but do it in such a way that you are telling a story.  When my Harbinger of Menoth was killed, her nearby choir charged the Man-o-war Drakhun that did her in to avenge their beloved leader, blocking the charge of the knights nearby.  Was it the most effective choice?  Probably not.  Did it make for good story?  Definitely.  Was it all the more satisfying when the choir took down the Drakhun on the charge?  Heck, yeah!

So before you drop that unit of Eldar Fire Dragons into the middle of the battlefield with the intent to pop a tank and then get creamed in assault, remember that these are members of a dying race who have lived hundreds of years and tread many paths of expertise.  Would they or their commander throw their lives away in so cavalier a fashion?  Would your Ork warboss hang back from assaulting a unit of Space Marine Veterans because it would leave him in a vulnerable position or would he be barely containing himself to get stuck in?

Give your little toys an identity and you will be rewarded with a compelling story, win or lose.

Quote of the Day

Persons A and B are walking on campus....

A: Hydrogen is the most abundant thing on the planet.  Next highest is stupidity.
B: I thought stupidity would be #2.

Neither Scenario Bodes Well

There are only two scenarios I can imagine for how this notice came into being.  Either the public was confused by both "Please Prepay" and "Please Pay in Advance" or someone at the oil company with enough authority to decide the wording on the gas pump signs thought this was a perfectly cromulent use of the language.

Generous Chicken

"Generous Chicken"

Expo Marker on White Board

January, 2010

Got My Game On

I went to the second half of the "Strategic Redeployment" from Paint Creek Crossing to "Get Your Game On" in Ann Arbor.  The folks there really went out of their way to make the Paint Creek refugees right at home, including setting up additional gaming tables and a paint bar.  The only thing I would have liked is more light at the paint bar, since it's in the back of the store and has worse lighting than the front of the store.  Just the addition of a $25 overhead light in the area would fix that problem.

I won the painting competition (and won a battleforce!) for the Dwarf Engineer we all received on the last Saturday of Paint Creek and got to take home the Warpstone trophy.  I'll defend it next month in their painting contest.  So far the category seems to be "open" so I'll have to put something really over the top together.

Thanks, GYGO!

3D-TV: 1999 Technology

All the news reports about 3D-TV at CES this year got me wondering what the technology would be like.  After a little digging, I am sorry to say that it's nothing new.  I was experiencing this 11 years ago on my PC playing "Giants: Citizen Kabuto" and "Tomb Raider 2" using an Elsa 3D Revelator video card.

The 3d effect is achieved by using glasses that have LCD "shutters" that block one eye at a time from seeing the screen, switching back and forth many times a second.  Synchronized with an image on-screen that switches at the same same rate between two slightly different images give the illusion of 3D.  The more similar the two images are, the further the object looks away from you.  It's a very effective method, if a bit flickery.  The video card required special drivers to render essentially two versions of each screen, with the z distance controlling the difference in images.  A small IR-LED emitter on top of the computer monitor told the glasses when to switch eyes.

While the effect was cool, I eventually gave up on the technology.  The glasses were irritating to wear (and 3D-TV uses these same sorts of glasses) in light of the fact that I already wear glasses.  They just didn't give me that "kick back and have fun" feeling.  We'll see if future Budweiser commercials will feature a roomful of people watching sports wearing big 3D glasses.

A Universe Of Foreheads

Ah, the authentic Star Trek experience...

A friend of mine just got in the Star Trek Online beta.  The company that made STO also made City of Heroes, so we were expecting a great character creation process and it did not disappoint.  You can pick from a few stock races or just make your own.  Imagine the thousands of freakish forehead possibilities!  My friend made the most grotesque dude he could imagine, with a huge, corpulent torso on long spindly legs, thicks arms that didn't even reach his waist ending in a child's hand.  Add huge feet and a head designed to look like it's wearing a thong and you have Ensign Beefcake!

You start the game in the lounge/bar area.  He immediately started dancing, then jumped up on the bar and started to dance, interposing himself between two NPC conversing over the bar.  They continued as if nothing strange was happening.

I really wonder what the final audience for this game will be.  The signal to noise will be low enough that serious trek fans probably won't be able to stomach it, and I don't know how much material the Star Trek universe would provide to an adolescent sense of humor before it turns entirely to griefing.

For now, he will cruise around the galaxy on the U.S.S. Sausagefest.  Another friend of mine started yesterday aboard the U.S.S. Enterherprize.

Yeah, I hang with a sophisticated crowd.

EDIT:  It's nice to see that PvP chronicled this experience as well. 

Adeptus Sororitas Flororitas

Instead of painting on my lunch hour yesterday, this is what I did.

Three little words:  time well spent.

Not The Answer I Was Looking For

I saw a news story about Avatar's box office take, and the fact that it's #2 for all time.  I mentioned this to my wife in passing.

Me: "Avatar is #2 for all time box office.  You know which is #1 right?"
Stef: "No.  Tell me."
Me: "Titanic."  (said like it should have some meaning)
Stef: "Yeah?  So?" (not seeing the connection)
Me: "What do those movies have in common?"
Stef: ".... blue people."

I had to leave it at that.  I was laughing too hard to answer the question for real.  She is wickedly clever sometimes.  She asked me later what the real connection was and I told her about James Cameron's involvement.  "Oh, yeah yeah....that's right."

The Final Hours of GW Paint Creek Crossing

Yesterday was the final day for my local GW store.  Most of the people I had met and befriended there since itsApril 12, 2007 opening showed up for the last day or two to play/paint/goof off one final time.  It was bittersweet to be sure.  Manager (and only employee for this store) Brett gave away some left over promotionals and non-GW terrain pieces the store had accumulated over the years.  Tables were moved to see what goodies could be found under them.  Lots of people lingered until the final moments of the store closing.  I did.

I don't curse the name of GW for closing the store.  Michigan has a terrible economic slump right now.  Several of the stores in the same complex have closed in the past year alone, including the pet store right next door.  There are other game stores around here, but I don't know of any as nicely accoutremented as a GW store.  Most stick gamers in the back of the store (or worse) on folding tables with crumbling terrain, poor lighting, and no place to paint.  FLGS be aware, after Paint Creek Crossing the ante has been raised.  Give me a decent place to play and I will buy things at your store.

Another thing that occurred to me is that I entered my first painting competition at this store, and displayed my Golden Demon winning model there as well.  If I compete now I don't really feel like I have a home store with whom to share my triumph.  (Side note, I'm really hoping that one year from now Ang will be able to have a fantastic store running.)

So farewell Paint Creek store.  You were great fun at times, and you were craptastic at times, but you will be the metric upon which I measure all other game stores.

(above: moving terrain boards and tables around to look for anything that might have gotten lost.  You have to admit, that's a cool environment with all the wall art and flags.)

2010 Tyranids Commentary

Sometimes the simplest commentaries hold the most wisdom.


Yes, he speaks truth.

EDIT: I showed Jay this video.  He asked why I used music from Dawn of War when there are no Tyranids in Dawn of War.  I told him about Dawn of War II, and showed him a clip of gameplay that included some 'nids.  Instead of being delighted, he shrieked in horror when he saw what was going on.  "They're killing the Tyranids!"

Disappointment: Warpstone Painting League

From this.

Purchase a Tyranid Trygon/Mawloc kit, assemble it, and paint it this weekend and enter it in a competition to win the Warpstone Painting Trophy pictured here.

 Yup.  It's another "opportunity" to buy a model and speed paint it.  I was really hoping for something other than another "Iron Buyer" promotion.  The Trygon/Mawloc is pretty big, is it not?  I have a hard time seeing someone buying it on Saturday, painting it for 4pm Sunday judging and doing any reasonable work.  Maybe I just paint too slow, but I really struggled to get Harry the Hammer painted in 25 hours (elapsed time, not painting time) and he was good-not-great.  I really look forward to seeing the winning pieces for this competition.

Or maybe it's just sour grapes because this painting competition isn't playing to my strengths...

EDIT: Go figure. I won one of these for a painting competition held when my local GW store closed. It's actually a neat little trophy.

Starting a New Army: Dip the Toe or Just Jump In?

I'm a relative newcomer to this hobby.  At the age of 41 years I've only been wargaming for just over 5 years.  In that time I've probably played two dozen games tops, all systems combined.  The armies I have started are as follows:

• 1 Warhammer Fantasy army (Skaven)
  
• 1 Warmachine army (Protectorate of Menoth)
  
• 4 Warhammer 40k armies (Blood Raven marines, Orks, Witch Hunters, and Eldar)

Notice the discrepancy there? I found myself compelled to start other 40k armies in addition to my (and everyone else's) original marine army because I loved the models.  After buying small portions of each of the above 40k armies, it has become clear to me that I will probably never paint enough of them to make a 1500 point list.  As such I am liberated to paint them for fun... the main impetus behind purchasing them.

Now, for the first time, I am considering jumping in fully with a wolf/spider mounted goblin list for WHFB.  No Night Goblins allowed.  Since I already have a few units for the army lying around, the complete 2k list would only cost about $200 more at this point.  I am dangerously close to just jumping in and buying everything needed.  This offends my sense of frugality, since I have unpainted Skaven, Menites, Marines, Orks, Ordo Hereticus, and Eldar patiently waiting in the basement.

So the question to you, wargamers, is do you buy a model or two and ease slowly into a new army or do you go nuts and drop $400 in a week to get a playable force?  Do you sell your old army to do so or just whup out the credit card?

What? 2010?

My wife's first words of 2010 to me: "Put down that knife."

And now, in the words of someone else...

You run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
and racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same (in a relative way) but you're older,
shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

Normally I save that for birthdays, but it felt appropriate for the entry of 2010.
2010, and no flying cars.
Where is the justice?

Painting Commission Rates

***NOTICE *** 

I no longer accept painting commissions.  This page is archived for reference only.

==================================================================

I accept commission painting requests from single piece to full army.  Price will vary based on quality desired and possibly number of models.  If you really want me to paint your entire army at top quality I'm willing to do that as long as you are willing to pay.  If you compare the price for each level of work against the time I spend on each model you'll see that I don't exactly pay myself minimum wage here.  I take great pleasure in knowing models I have painted are seeing battle throughout the world.  By the way, whoever has the Night Goblin with Bunny Slippers, I'd love to know how he is doing.  For many examples of my work over the last few years, visit my CMON Gallery or my Photobucket account.

The following quality/price points are for more typical models.  The price may be modified somewhat by complex color schemes or other time consuming requests.

Basic / Troops Quality - this is your basic infantry model, such as an Empire Spearman, Space Marine, Eldar Guardian, etc.  This level of quality is more than "two colors and dip" and includes detail such as eyes, if applicable, and possibly some freehand work (chapter symbol, Ork dags, etc.)  Horde armies inquire about large unit discounts.  This pricing level does not include any Warhammer/40k models on >25mm bases or warjacks/warbeasts.  No conversion work is offered at this quality level.
Typical work time is 2-4 hours / model.

• Painting: $8/model
• Cavalry / Bike mounted: +$4/model
• Assembly: +$1/model
• Basing: +$1/model

High Quality - this level is for elite model that you want to give a bit more love to, such as Howling Banshees, Terminators, Sisters Repentia, etc.  Extra attention will be given to highlighting, shading and details on these models.  Minor conversion work is available at a premium at this quality level.
Typical work time is 4-6 hours / model.

• Painting: $20/model
• Medium Model (WH Ogre, Light Warjack/Warbeast, Troll, etc.): +$10/model
• Large Model (Heavy Warjack/Warbeast, artillery piece & crew, Eldar Vyper, etc.): +$15/model
• Cavalry / Bike mounted (single rider on horse/bike/Krootox, etc): +$10/model
• Vehicle (medium tanks, Rhino to Land Raider sized): +$20/model
• Large Mount:  varies by mount (a Warhawk would be less than a High Elf Dragon)
• Assembly: +$1/ infantry model
• Assembly: +$3/large model
• Assembly: +$5/vehicle
• Basing: +$1/model

Top Quality - this level is for display models or the Lords/HQ of your army to make them really shine on the battlefield.  The price includes custom basing and a very high quality paint job and minor conversion work, if desired.  Major conversion work is available for a premium at this quality level.
Typical work time is 12-24 hours / model.

• Painting: $45/model
• Medium Model (WH Ogre, Light Warjack/Warbeast, Troll, etc.): +$20/model
• Large Model (Heavy Warjack/Warbeast, artillery piece incl. crew): +$35/model
• Cavalry / Bike mounted: +$20/model
• Large Mount: varies by mount/size 
• Assembly: included
• Basing: included

Terms:  Once scope of job, painting scheme and price is agreed upon, a 20% down payment is required.  You may send models to me or have me purchase them for you at 10% off retail price (plus sales tax.)  After receiving the models I will start a custom project blog, your choice of public or private, and begin painting.  Updates will be posted as often as is possible.  Once painting is complete and approved, full payment is expected.  Once full payment is received, the painted miniatures will be shipped insured and with signature confirmation.  Shipping of the completed product (in the U.S.) is included in the price.

For both our security, I prefer to use Paypal for payment.  Other arrangements can be made is that does not work for you.  Please be aware that there may be additional fees for international orders to ship the completed product.  I will do everything in my power to ensure international orders arrive at your door quickly and intact, but once the package leaves my possession I can take no responsibility for it.  Sorry.  In addition, I will not falsify customs documents by under-valuing the contents of any package.

Hints: For extra safety in shipping you could send me assembled models in a Sabol Army Transport or equivalent.  If models arrive at my door without damage in one chances are they will return to you just as undamaged.

What To Do Now:  If you would like to get a quote on a painting job, send me an email saying what you would like, including the type and number of models, the desired quality level and a rough description of the paint scheme you would like.  From there we can work out price point and timing/delivery.

Thanks!
Updated 3/19/2010

RIP: GW Paint Creek Crossing

I am sad.  Today I found out that my favorite local gaming hangout is closing.  On January 11, 2010, the Games Workshop store at Paint Creek Crossing (as well as the one at West Oaks II in Novi) is closing.

I will miss the events, the painting competitions, and the constant availability of six well build gaming tables at all times.  I will miss the fact that there was always someone there with whom to paint or play.  Always.  As much as I like the other FLGS in the area, matching with an actual opponent was nearly impossible.  At the GW store there was always a game going on and always someone asking "Did you bring an army?" when I walked in.

I'm glad to hear that Brett is moving to Chicago to manage a store there.  I'm sorry to hear that the Novi staff are getting laid off.  I understand that Michigan probably can't generate the kind of demand that a GW store would require to stay in business, but the fact that they are leaving the Great Lakes Crossing store open is puzzling.  First off it's a mall store, and their corporate piorities have been to move the mall stores to venues like West Oaks or Paint Creek.  Second, the store is tiny and has no real place to play.  Unless you are basically are there to just buy and leave I can't imagine the appeal of the Great Lakes Crossing store.

Avatar: The Last Rainforest

I enjoy sci-fi more than most, but I am surely in the minority in that I was not sweatily anticipating Avatar.  I didn't find the design of the blue cat-monkey people all that appealing in the teaser clip, and the robot gorilla suits were downright stupid.  I also was perplexed by the idea of this fellow running around in an avatar fighting the big bad company when his body was in a tube on the big bad company's own base.  Oops, I just accidentally tripped over the cord to your avatar-tube-projecting thingy.  Guess the battle's over.

So, with hopes low, the fam and I went to see it on prompting from my mother in law.  The same mother in law who once bought me a Winsor & Newton Series 7 brush.  She has some serious cred.

Let me sum up the plot in bullet point form:

• Man goes to paradise to exploit resources
• Man falls in with natives, specifically female native
• Man's allegiance is turned away from exploitation to preservation
• Man and natives fight exploiters against long odds

The first time I saw this it was called "Fern Gully."  Avatar was incalculably more expensive to make I'm guessing.  Well, calculable to some but not me.  I can't think in numbers that big.   Also, Crysta from Fern Gully was arguably hotter for being more human looking.  Okay... pause for a second.  Did you have an agree/disagree opinion about that "hotter" statement?  Yeah, get help.

Anyway, I guess Cameron wanted to throw a new post-911 twist to the Fern Gully traditional tale by making the natives bigger instead of smaller.  Wow!

Any fans of Hayao Miyazaki will vividly imagine Cameron scribbling notes during every Miyazaki film muttering, "Using that and that .... ooo!  and that!  And that and that..." etc.

Okay, but now to the serious discussion.... Na'vi vs. Ewoks.  Both were kind of in the same boat, except the Ewoks never seemed to give a rip about the Empire until a fruity gold robot showed up on their wooden doorstep.  So let's contrast, shall we?

Ewoks:

• tiny, furry things that could be used to sell fabric softener
• could rig elaborate traps involving logs 7000 times their weight
• killed stormtroopers by chucking rocks at them
• fought an evil intergalactic Empire run by a dude who can shoot lightning out of his hands. 
• suffered one apparent casualty during the entire battle
  

Na'vi:

• huge humanoids who can jump off cliffs and survive by bouncing from leaf to leaf
• ride dragons, and occasionally are led by a messianic figure riding a huge freaking dragon.
• shoot arrows dipped in neuro-toxin (not that the toxin matters much, since the huge Na'vi arrows are more like spears and tend to impale people when they are hit.  Oh, no.  You are now pinned to a tree through the chest and the poison on this "arrow" will kill you in less than a minute.)
• fought against a mining company run by a manager who is concerned about quarterly statements
• suffered a bazillion causalities against the mercenaries working for the mining company
• live above a huge deposit of a mineral with a really stupid name.

Okay, I don't know about you but I'd have to say Ewoks win here.   Granted, if I had to pick the cooler looking of the two I'd go with Na'vi but in terms of pure against-all-odds combat I've got to give it to the Ewoks.  Except for that song at the end of the movie.  Seriously, that made me wish the Empire had won.

Okay, so the final review result:  The movie was good.  The time zipped by and I never had the urge to look at my watch.  I cringed at the profanity, but I have a pretty low threshold for that now that I have young kids.  The violence and sexual content was pretty much Lord of the Rings level.  The 3D effects were immersive without using the "oooo! look at my 3D!" tricks.  If anyone here is on the fence about seeing it, I'd say go ahead if you can stomach all the mother nature worship malarkey.  It's funny... even the testimonial of other nerdy sci-fi types doesn't hold much water with me now.  They all loved Transformers, and that was the worst dog pile of a movie I have seen in ages.

[SPOILER ALERT]
Tragic character note:  there was one character in the movie that my wife and I agree was the most tragic of all.  There are these dragon type thingies that the Na'vi bond with, and apparently they bond for life (cough*Pern*cough.)  Well  when jakesully goes to bond with uber-dragon turok-dinosaur-hunter-thingy what happened to his original dragon?  You never see it again.  Yup, old and busted gets dumped for the new hotness.  Poor little dragon.

If I Played Imperial Guard....

I would definitely model my Valkyrie based on historical military aircraft.  Like "Crock O' Crap" here. Now there's a crew who loved their plane enough to be really truthful to it.  I'm talking "Yes, that dress makes you look fat" truthful.

So hats off to you, brave crew of "Crock O' Crap."  You served your duty with a sense of humor.  I admire that.

The New Paradigm in Higher Education CIO Selection Criteria

My employer is in the process of selecting a new CIO.  The selection process has been long and detailed, even to the point of restarting at one point and resuming again after more than a year.  A recommendation will be made to the president by the end of this year.

What you see here is a white board tucked away to the side of the conference room in which the selection committee and each of the four candidates ate lunch on their interview days.  After a bit of interrogation I discovered that the demented rabbit had been drawn there prior to the first candidate's arrival.  Therefore I must assume that each candidate, having spent a fair bit of time in that conference room, saw the white board and the rabbit.

I wonder if they thought it was some sort of psychological test.  Should I say something?  Should I say nothing?

My Worst: FTW Supplemental

The "From The Warp" bloggers list did a collaborative post on some of the members' worst models, so I thought I'd pile on.

I thought this guy, supposedly a plague priest with plague censer, was so dang cool when I finished him back in '05.  He had a green stuff hood, a converted tail and that super double awesome plague censer!  Plus, check out the "kitty litter" style basing!  Medium railroad ballast over black plastic at its best!

I hope (and fear) that in five more years I will look back at what I'm doing now with that same sense of "what the heck was I thinking?"

Warpstone National Painting League?

I swung by the Paint Creek GW store today, and Brett showed me something interesting.  It was a glass-like trophy looking thing that had an etched picture of a servitor and the title "WARPSTONE National Painting League."  Apparently early next year GW is doing nationwide painting competitions or something similar.  I think there might be rumblings about it in the WD coming out Saturday.

I, for one, am quite pleased.  With Golden Demon down to one American event next year, high class painting competitions would be difficult to come by.  Not that I'm a shoo-in for any awards, but I love competing at a high level and I really don't feel like hauling it all the way to Indianapolis for GenCon.  Hey, maybe I'll even get to meet up with Tim Lison again. 

Poor Little Truck Can't Get a Brake

Stef called me on the the way home from a friend's house to tell me the truck was driving really squirrely and shaking badly in back.  Immediately I figured that something in the rear suspension that had been damaged in the collision had given out, and that she'd arrive home with the back end nearly dragging the ground.

I was please to see that the only problem was that she had driven home on a flat tire.  The spare on the truck is full sized, so it's not even a financial burden at this time.  I'll just buy a retread after the first of the year.

I just wonder what's next for my poor truck.

Never Doubt The Wife

"Again?" Stef asked me.
"Yes, again," I said, holding up my fingers glued into a permanent "OK" sign.
"Go stick them in acetone," she said, and went back to reading.
"Pfft.  Acetone won't dissolve superglue," I scoffed.  I had tried it last time this happened to no avail.
"I use it to get fake nails off.  Give it a minute and it will work," she replied this time without looking up.

It worked after about 30 seconds.  I had no idea.

Wrongeye & Snapjaw

Seldom do I just spam a product here, but I ran across these guys by accident on the Privateer Press website, and just fell in love with the level of character and humor they have.

I must paint them.

The Long, Cold Drive; The Long, Cold Walk

For no discernible reason, the truck has no heat.  I'd like to say it has something to do with my little fender bender, but it seems unlikely.  Either way, it's really cold here so it's really cold in the truck.  Lovely.

Having a truck with a horribly smashed in rear end has been an interesting effect on my driving.  When I turn on my turn signal people make room.  It's both humorous and depressing.  Get out of my way!  I don't care if I mess my truck up or not!

Now that the weather is really getting cold here, it makes my walk from the parking lot to my office seem a bit longer.  The building outlined in orange is Pray-Harrold, the building in which I work.  The arrow indicates where the door is, roughly.  It takes about 400 good sized strides to go from my normal parking lot to that door, and as the temperature drops that seems longer and longer.  My "it's cold" gage is whether or not my forehead hurts from the wind/cold.  We have been there for a couple days now.  Starting out from a warm car made the walk a bit easier, I think.  Now that I'm cold upon parking, the walk is just that much colder.

About two weeks ago now, Ann Marie brought in maple syrup from Vermont and a waffle iron.  I brought in buttermilk waffle batter (made from scratch, of course) and the Portal Support Services team had waffles in the office for breakfast.  Good times.

Space Hulk Victory!

But not for me, I'm afraid.  Last night my eight year old daughter and I played scenario 1 "Suicide Mission."  The result?  As you can see from the board, I didn't make it terribly far as the Marines.  Her strategy was to just pile up the 'nids along the path I needed to take rather than try and surround me.  The Marines only get so many shots per turn, and I just couldn't take them down fast enough to prevent an overwhelm.

Kudos to the Brother Sergeant Whats-His-Face for taking down four 'nids in close combat.

My kids also had fun naming the Genestealers.  Since we tended to grab recent casualties for the revealed Genestealers, the one that looks like he's popping out of the floor was named "We meet again!" since we always said that when he appeared.  The one with each of two feet standing on a little pile of skulls was named "Boots" and my son named the one holding a Marine helmet "Thunder" (more out of a desire to be in on the action than for any descriptive reason.)

Their prize for winning?  Ice cream!

Poky Little Plague Monk WIP 2

To quote 'therat' from the Skaven UnderEmpire forum:

And thus the diseased rat-monk spoke,

Woe to any who dig holes beneath this fence, for they shall suffer without desert!

The men of the empire shrunk in fear of these words of power.

 I put a coat of Minwax Polycrylic on him to protect the edges, then some matte varnish to cut the glossiness, but it looks like I didn't get rid of the shine completely.  So this guy's either WIP or Path-Of-Least-Resistance complete.  I haven't quite decided.  There are 19 more of them in the unit, and it would be nice to have another fieldable unit completely painted.

My Personal Stances on Skaven Rule Questions

I am definitely a "type B" wargamer.  It's all about the fun and narrative of the experience, and winning is a distant third.  Not that I won't compete, mind you.  I just won't be a jerk about it.  Something tells me "rat girl" on the left would cheese it up.  I dunno.

That said, I have decided to put my foot down about certain vague points in the new Skaven book.  As a Skaven player I am voluntarily taking the following stances.  Theses are my personal decisions and not any official rulings.

1. Warpstone Tokens and the Storm Banner are "one use only"
2. The Doomwheel may not start in the front arc of a unit, then use its movement to maneuver around to hit that unit in the flank or rear.
3. Shooting will scatter into Rat Ogres on a 1-4, into other models on a 5-6.
4. Only one Night Runner, Jezzail team, Rat Ogre, etc. can be upgraded in a unit, not any and all of them.
5. Banner of Verminous Scurrying can only be used to augment a unit's normal march, in the movement phase.
6. Template weapons hitting an enemy unit engaged with slaves will be randomized between slaves/enemies.
7. Plague Priests may not take warpstone tokens.
8. I will never take more than one tail weapon or rat hound bodyguard.  A brace of warplock pistols is possible until ruled otherwise, but only because it's a cool conversion option.
9. The plague censer would benefit from poisoned attacks.  In the same way a great weapon keeps its rules (+2 strength, strikes last) with poison, the plague censer is a weapon with its own rules, not a magic weapon.
10. Slaves breaking from cc will get additional hits under the "Cornered Rats!" rule only for each full rank of 5 beyond the first, not just for each rank beyond the first.
    

I'm sure I'll update these as more situations come up.  Most of these are ruling against the cheese option (#9 would be the arguable exception) and designed to minimize arguments.  Nearly all of them are behavioral choices, either in list creation or in game actions.

Until an official FAQ / Errata is released, my position will be "If it's not clear to me, rule in favor of your opponent."

As a bonus, here's an old "Gary the Gor" comic (by Craig Russell) re: Skaven.

The Poky Little Plague Monk

He gets no strawberry shortcake!  Yeah, I've been having some fun with the freehand work.  The rest of the model just has one spotty basecoat, so I dimmed it out.  The puppy page is done (except for the Skaven runes that will go where the title normally goes) and the other page needs a couple of puppies and a tree.  They're both copied from the original book.  Barnes and Noble's web site has viewable pages if you want to see the original work.

Between this guy, the Warlord on Rat Ogre and the Plague Priests I've been on quite a Skaven kick lately.  They are the first wargaming army I collected, and getting a new book is kind of a big deal (to me anyway.) 

Case of the British Firefox... Solved!

Since switching to Ubuntu I've had a strange problem.  For some reason the spell-checker was using the British spelling of words, rather than the American one, even though all the OS settings were US English.  This got to be increasingly annoying as I typed emails for work, posted things on this blog, etc.  Eventually I realized that the spell-check was limited to Firefox.  A little searching and I found how to change Firefox to use the US English dictionary.

1. Browse to "about:config" in Firefox
2. Click the "I'll be careful, I promise!" button if it appears
3. In the filter box type "spellchecker".  The only entry you should see on screen at this point is "spellchecker.dictionary."  The value of that entry should read "en-US" for US spellings or "en-GB" for British spellings (or other things for other languages.)
   
4. Double-click "en-GB" and change it to "en-US", then hit enter

Done!  You now have a Firefox that spells words like an American (only correctly.)

Rat Ogre Bonebreaker WIP ... painting part 2

He's coming along nicely, with lots and lots of matte varnish on that standard pole to make a logical lift point for the model.  I'm still a little freaked out by his deformed feet, but a well placed giant rat, rock or static grass tuft will mitigate the crapitude of the sculpt.  Or maybe I can just say that his deformed left foot is a touching homage to the 6th edition clanrat's left foot. 

I've been challenged to a siege game, 3k of my Skaven vs. 2k of Empire.  Yeah.  Between Rat Ogres, the Screaming Bell(s), Warlock Engineers (Crack's Call!) and Warp Lightning Cannons I don't think a castle has a chance.  Maybe the guys in the mambo shirts will bring enough guns to take my rats down, but I highly doubt it.  I'm hoping to turn one of his units into clanrats and cause a great deal of havoc inside the walls.  Hope you brought some dispel scrolls, Karl Kastle!

Skaven Plague Priest

A weekend leisure-time project, this fellow was converted yesteday and painted yesterday and today.  I wanted something different than the usual "plastic plague monk with censer arm" that everyone seems to use.  That Horned Rat standard topper was the perfect size for a mask, so an old metal plague monk gets new life as a Plague Priest.

I should probably put some static grass or something on the base, but he needs a couple coats of Minwax polyurethane first to protect the paint job.