Sunday Night Check-in

So it's been about five weeks since I took up the brush again , and things are going well. I'm still wanting to paint, and that's a good thing. I think part of it is having a dedicated time to paint at night, it makes me want to go and paint... Also having a multitude of things ready for painting at once is a pretty good idea. I've got my Blood Angels which is an ongoing project, also my re-imagined Mordheim witch-hunter warband, plus my Firestorm Armada fleet going at the same time. I've also got a chaos thing... Not quite sure what it is, I've thrown out the box... Whoops... Rather than feel over-whelmed at the scope of everything it's nice to have different array of miniatures with different feels to them going at the same time. 

In other good news category I've found my recipe book with the colours I use for certain things. I thought I had the right recipe for my firestone gems, but I had it all wrong. Might have to put some of them up here to help me remember... Also in the good news category I found a some of the miniature prizes I'd won in painting competitions. I have a lot more vehicles than I thought... Hehehe...

Critical Feedback - The best way to lose friends?

This post is going to sound a little stuck-up on my part. Why? Because I’m going to talk about people that paint who aren't very good. I am not talking about any one in particular, this is a generalization brought about through forum reading and interaction with other people… Now that I've done the disclaimer, let’s head to the heart of the matter. What do you do when someone posts a miniature and asks for feedback when said miniature is terrible to behold? Do you rip it apart? Do you focus on what they've done well? Do you lie and say it looks pretty good? Do you just not comment?

Yes... It looks great... 

I’m someone who likes feedback when I post stuff, critical feedback is even better. Especially when it highlights exactly what I've shanked, and possible new ideas or a different approach I should have tried or can try next time. Now, I don’t count my work as great, I count it as table-top, maybe highish table-top, but far removed from lots and lots and lots of painters who I really look up to, and have been nice enough to help me out with advice and really good critical feedback from time to time… However it has become clear to me that some people who state they want feedback don’t want an honest appraisal of their work, they want to be told they haven’t wasted their time painting, they also want to be told that their work is great.

My first miniature... Drybrush away!

So knowing this what to do? Lie, tell the truth and earn scorn or ignore the post? I've done all three; I've told the bitter truth in an attempt to provide critical feedback which earned me contempt and even got me banned from a forum, I've lied through my teeth and told the person they’re work was really good, but maybe they wanted to focus on “small issues”, while this didn't earn me contempt (except from myself), it did leave someone with an over-inflated sense of their own ability, and right now all I do is ignore the question. It’s too much hassle and has very little chance of ending well (Both for them and me).

I look at this and cringe... But I painted it, so that's OK...

So what do you when you’re asked?

Trade Marine - Weathered up. And Floating Head Syndrome PART DEUX!

After talking with the guy who is getting the miniature, and some helpful hints about the eyes I've gone back and made some changes. I've used weathering powder in various places, part of it looks dirty and other parts look rusty... Still, the overall effect is quite nice ^_^

The eyes have been fully redone. The finished result is much better and much more in line with how it should look. Kudos to everyone who pointed out the subtle look of the eyes before. It's much better now.

Now with Dirt!

I've also started something else I've been putting off now for awhile...

Some of you may remember I my house got burgled awhile ago, while I was working on my own army of Blood Angels and some of my stuff was trashed when it happened. I've never restarted the army, as I haven't really felt like it. But I decided as part of my 'get back to painting' thing I should go back and keep going. This meant finishing off the last guy for one of the squads of assault marines. So I spent 90 minutes last night working on his helmet. Yup 90 minutes... This is why I don't speed paint stuff... Because I CAN'T speed paint. It escapes me... Ah well... I like the look of the helmet though... That must count for something right?!

Floating heads! They're all around me!

Late night brief ramblings...

I have Three things to say, then I'm going to bed...

---

1) I just spent 90 minutes painting a head. Not a big bust head or a head for anything amazingly cool like a diorama, just s regular Space Marine helmeted head... 90 minutes! ARGH! This is why I cannot speed paint... Because I cannot speed paint... I might take some shots of the head tomorrow... Must charge camera batteries...

2) The competition entries for Slave to Painting's July painting competition are going live. They're not on the Face Book Page yet, but they will be soon... You should all go and have a look! So many stunning entries... So many stunning entries brought low by bad photography... I'm not actually entered in this competition. I haven't painted in so long, and StP is so big these days that there are TONNE of better painters out there entering... What I am doing this time around is judging... And I wonder if bad photography is something to mark people down for? Am I that much of an ass? ^_^

3) Got a reply from Spartan Games about the bad mould on the ship and they're sending me new ones. That's some awesome service right there. Top marks. Am happy ^_^

That is all... I sleep now...

Apocalypse and how...

So Apocalypse has struck... I must admit my interest went as far as looking at some of the miniatures then wishing they were made of plastic or metal and then moving on...

Games Workshop's desire to build bigger and bigger confuses me... To me miniature war-gaming is in part getting emotionally invested in your miniatures. Sure there's a time to sacrifice something for the greater win, but these sacrifices should always be hard to make. Games like Mordheim and Necromunda work for me because with the small warbands / gangs you give a damn about your troops, especially when you instigate the campaign setting and games and results matter from one game to the next. Hell, even Space Hulk was made more awesome by each Marine having a name and back-story. You actually gave a damn when one of these marines went down (and if I'm playing marines that was often). I'm currently agonizing over what to name each of my mighty warships in my Rense Navy fleet I'm getting ready to paint... And let's face it naming a warship is an important thing...

Apocalypse, however, strips gaming of this feel, it's reduced to a tidal flood of plastic smashing into each other with massive amounts of dice rolling and squads / vehicles being removed from the table without much care... "Oh your obnoxiously large plastic miniature has destroyed my obnoxiously large miniature? Right oh... That clears some space for this EVEN BIGGER miniature!"

Well that's enough ranting for now...

To bitch, or not to bitch... That is the question...

I have a major (Some would say obsessive) thing for Space Ships. In all their multitude of form and function they appeal to my inner child and remind me of watching awesome cartoons when I was younger. I have no problem admitting this, I've always loved the concepts people have come up with, and doodled most math classes to the destruction of my final grade. As part of my decision not to burn out on humanoid type figures again I've taken up other games and decided now is obviously the time to indulge in my Space Ship fetish. Towards that end I'm putting together my Zenian League: Rense System Navy fleet for Firestorm Armada. This brings me to the heart of today's post; when is it appropriate to bitch about the state of a miniature when it arrives on your doorstep? What is that tipping point where you're actually justified in sending off that email, or going back to that store and being that guy. You know the one I mean...

Anyway, I need to start by stating that 95% of the miniatures I opened up from Spartan Games were stunning, some of the best in both detail and fitting that I have ever played with. The flash was little, the mould lines were excellent (Except for the exception), and overall I was amazed at how they looked when assembled (My inner geek was making spaceship noises as I pitted the fleet against imagined armadas... But I digress). 

The one problem I had in this batch belonged to one of the smallest ships. One of my Phoenix Class Destroyers had come out of the shipyard with problems... Right from the start it I could tell there was something wrong, it just... looked different than the other one (The destroyers come two to a box). At first I thought it was just the one line, and I figured I could make it some battle damage, but as I looked a little closer I realised there were more problems. But were they enough for me to raise my voice in protest? I figured now was the perfect time to show the beauty of macro photography... ^_^

At the end of the day I decided to put an email through to Spartan Games and see what happens from there. My reasoning? Without substantial work the miniature will not fit together correctly (See the lean when sitting on top of the engines; that's from the mould line around the back). Now in the interests of full disclosure its probably important to note that I got these through a secondary supplier as part of winnings for a painting competition, plus I'm in New Zealand...

I'll let you know what they say ^_^

Tyberos

I'm not fully happy with the end product. I was actually half tempted to start again last night, but I restrained myself... In the end I went with a plain and worn metal for the claws. So much of this mini screams utilitarian rather than flare like other figures. As such he almost looks a little plain... the gold helps, but I could see people going the other end of the spectrum and making him very pretty as well... Oh well...

I'm happy the eyes came out half-way decent, it's been awhile since I've tried fine control. The last touch I'm unsure of is weathering, I was going to dirty him up quite a bit, and I still might, but I wanted to check with the guy who will end up with him if this is something his army has or not...

As always I appreciated you taking the time to have a look. Any and all offers of constructive criticism is accepted and muchly appreciated ^_^

WiP Work

Woah, an actual photo update. Shocking stuff. Banged this out this afternoon. It was meant to be painted over 6 months ago, skills have been getting rusty and everything was a little more difficult than it should have been... I'm still wondering what colour to make the claws... Silver seems logical, but boring... The helm will be red to match the grinder housing... Maybe red for the claws as well? If anyone has an opinion... Hell if anyone is still reading this blog... let me know ^_^