Vallejo Metallic Liquid.

Vallejo Metallic Liquid.

Find these. Find these and buy them. They are beyond stunning. They are mind-blowingly good... I hope to have a few photos up tomorrow, but these paints make me want to play Necrons so I can paint with them...

If you're in New Zealand: Slave to Painting has the full range. They cannot ship them overseas though, because of hazardous shipping stuff. But Find Them!

Seriously?

Mark the day folks. Today is the day that GW lost me as a Space Marine collector... I mean ... Look at them?!

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...

Straight to the throat...

You know, normally I put a little more thought into my blog posts but today, as it's Monday (In  New Zealand anyway), I'm gonna be a little more direct.

If Games Workshop thinks I'm going to spend $145 NZD for four "Finecast" non-mounted Miniatures they are frakking insane. The prices attached to the new Hobbit line are beyond ridiculous, they are an insult to every table-top gamer and fan.

If you are planning on buying this stuff then you're supporting a company who are directly engaged in price-gouging in its worst possible form. Here's a price comparison for around the world...

The Hobbit Ultimate Bundle Set is:

$1,460 in New Zealand Dollars.
$745 in United States Dollars.
£447 in Great British Pounds.

Using XE.COM:

$1460 NZD = £750.216 GBP
$745 USD = £484.85 GBP
£447 GBP = $870.01 NZD

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

Finecast Status Check: Part Two

A few weeks ago (Scratch weeks, insert months) I posted about GW releasing a new batch of Finecast Miniatures; I haven't purchased a Finecast Miniature for a very long time now due to my dislike of the abysmal quality, but figured since my favourite metal miniature is being released as a Finecast I would give it a go, and here we are; Has Finecast improved? Let's find out...

The Miniature that started all this was the 'Blood Angels Vanguard Veteran'. I love this miniature. I think it was the best metal miniature ever released by GW. It has a dynamic pose, and all the little Blood Angel Iconography is great.

Awesome as metal...

OK, I need to get the kicker out at the very front. The first Finecast Miniature of the Veteran I received was shocking. I'm not talking a little shocking, I'm talking outrageous. The sword was broken, the leg was warped and the jump pack was so misaligned that it wouldn't have fitted the miniature. I have no photos, as I honestly feel that the miniature was a Quality control problem rather than an accurate representation of GW Finecast. I took him back to the local GW straight away and was then subjected to a month long wait for a replacement. That by itself almost killed the review, but here I am... And here are the side by side shots.

Performance anxiety?

The first thing you'll notice is the lack of heads. The metal head was given away a long time ago, as all my marines go into combat with helmets on (Helmets are important people!), so to make this as "fair as possible" I'm not including the FC head as part of the review. Secondly, the photos are huge when clicked on, detail is important here so I have not yet shrunk them down. You have been advised. Both miniatures were assembled today. Aside from clipping excess flash or joins no work has been done on either to remove moulding lines.

The Front:
Performance anxiety aside, the sword is the feature of this miniature and it being bent is not a good thing. To correct it it'll need a little bit of heat and resetting. There is also small bubbles in the fingers and the wing / guard of the sword. I'm very concerned with the thinness of the sword. It will break very easily. Totally not viable for actually playing games with the miniature.

There is also a very large connector of flash in the central part of the jump pack between the two vents at the front. This is obscuring the detail there, and cannot be cleaned, It is physically attached. it would need to be completely removed & the detail put back in there with green stuff. No small job. Especially for those people whose GS'ing skills are limited (Which mine are). Some of the details on the legs are obscured on the FC mini. The Band / Ring on the minis upper right thigh is meant to have a BA Icon in it. The FC's one is misshaped.

So far I'm not impressed...

Zombicide Review: Part One

As a fan of the horde of the living dead, I naturally got into the Zombicide Kickstarter pretty early on... I believe my exact words were "shut up and take my money", but I digress. The international orders shipped a little while ago, and I was lucky enough to get my last week. It has sat in the corner of my room calling to me for a few days, but I withstood the temptation until I had more time to open it up and breath in the goodness. Zombicide is released to everyone pretty soon so I figured I'd chuck out a review over a couple of parts so people can see what they'd be getting when they purchase it.

Zombicide is co-op game for 1 - 6 players, for ages 13 & up. It's designed by Guillotine Games in association with Cool Mini or Not. I'll break the review down into a couple of sections. Game play will be up in a few days. I'm gonna solo play a mission tonight and hopefully get a quick game in tomorrow night with a few friends.

Right away Zombicide captures your attention. I gotta say the box itself looks mighty impressive.

Box Cover

Box Bottom

The box is a big chunky affair, and has a pretty good weight to it, which always makes people happy. The cover art is enough to capture most peoples attention from the get go; and with its animation style art you get a feel for the feel of game from the very start. But let's take a look inside...

Contents

The first thing you notice is the way all of the contents are neatly packed into their own compartments. As someone who gets quite a few board games, I gotta say this is a pretty important  thing for me. There is NOTHING worse than getting a game with miniatures and they're all just stuck in a plastic bag to bend around and get damaged during transit. I imagine that the good folks at CMoN had a hand in making sure the miniatures were well packaged. The tile holder is a nice touch as well. I'll be keeping all the inner boxes, as well as the plastic trays... The tiles and tokens are thick card stock and are pretty tough. Everything is double sided, including the game board tiles; locked doors on one side, busted down doors on the other. I like the Pimpmobile car (look for it in later photos) a little to much... Which is disturbing... ^_^

Survivors... Except that Big Grey guy.  I suggest running...

"You're gonna need a bigger Gun..."

The mini count for the game is 71 in the box (Let's not bring up the Kickstarter pledge rewards just yet...). 6 Survivors, 40 Walkers, 16 Runners, 8 Fatties & 1 Abomination. I can handle those numbers... I might have to engage in some batch painting *shudder*, but I can handle those numbers... Yes good reader, I am trying to convince myself... Big thanks to Regan for offering to paint ONE miniature, you're all heart... Let's see what else is in the box...

Character Tiles

Blank sheet on the back of every tile.
Very groovy.

If you know nothing about Zombicide then the character tile shows an important point. Your characters get better with the more zombies you kill. I like this, I like this a lot. One of the bigger problems with other zombie games is that everything is pretty static character wise, also you've got an inventory too... Quite important when deciding to ditch that baseball bat for a chainsaw... Chainsaws make noise people! Zombies are attracted to noise! the blank sheet on the back is cool, means you get to make your own characters down the line... I think I'll be laminating mine. Each sheet comes with a XP tracker to stick on, but I still think dry-board marker might work better...

Zee rules...

Rule Layout. Clear and easy.

The rule book is 28 pages long. Everything is laid out in an easy to understand format and flows nicely. Game play will be discussed next time in case you're wondering... The back page has a turn summary. A couple of those for people to hold onto and pass around might be needed in addition to the rule book. Small issue, but easily rectified. There are ten missions in the rule book, there is also a map Map Editor for creating your own missions. I'm not sure if that is available for everyone just yet, or only the Kickstarter crew? I'll put up a link to it when I find out...

The cards. Zombie Spawn pile and player items.

The cards are pretty standard, although a touch smaller than I'd like, means they're quite fiddly. But since it's co-op you can lay your cards out in front of you. So what does it look like all laid out? Well, here's a small sneak-peak:

PIMPmobile... Oh god, I have a problem...

"Quickly! To the pimpmobile!"

Next time, I'm gonna talk about the game play. So  if you've come this far, maybe you're willing to go a little further... Ten points for the movie quote...

Finecast status check...

I am a Finecast critic. I want to get that out at the very start. I think 'Finecast' miniatures were a failure from before they were released. I have gotten a selection of them since release and have been massively disappointed every time. The details are good, yes. But the flaws when present, which is often, are horrible, and releasing liquid green stuff for release at the same time shows a marketing plan where Quality Assurance was second to profit As a friend put it; Finecast & liquid green stuff is kind of like a cruise ship charging for life jackets after running aground. Suffice to say I have not been happy with Finecast and my purchases from GW have been lacking because of this...

Fast forward to today, GW announces new Finecast miniatures are available for pre-order and one of those miniatures is the 'Blood Angels Vanguard Veteran'. 

This miniature was the pinnacle of GW Metal miniatures. When I got mine it was flawless, an absolute gem of lines and details. It went together flawlessly and looked amazing. So much so, that I put it away, to paint when I happier with my ability to do it justice. Seeing that it will soon be available as a 'Finecast' fills me with dread. I can only imagine the number of bent swords (cough cough), bubbled torsos and chipped details that will come out. But I am willing to give Games Workshop the benefit of the doubt that they may have improved. Indeed, this release offers me the perfect chance for an evaluation of current Games Workshop Citadel Finecast products. Have they improved? Are they still willing to push faulty products?

I'm looking forward to the release in a couple of weeks, so I can photo both the metal miniature and the Finecast one straight from the box and compare them... This is basically the last chance I'll be giving Finecast miniatures... It should be interesting...

Painting motivation...

I'm having some massive problems with motivation to paint these days. It's not just a case of not wanting to, because I do want to, but when I sit down to actually paint some stuff I can't seem to keep going. I'll do a tiny little bit and then descend to read... I thought I was bored with GW stuff so I tried a few different things, but the result is the same. I start, I get bored, I leave. If you're bored when you're painting what should you do!? If I'm bored when I paint a mini I can only imagine that the mini will be boring to look at when I finish...

Part of me wonders if the 'critical recpetion' I got when my mini-diorama was posted on the GW Facebook page is part of the problem here. Not all of it was negative, but having it ripped to shreds by the few who did so was a real good kick to my painting gonads. It's at times like these I'm glad I'm not good enough to take commissions, because then I'd be up a certain creek without the paddle... Or even the boat!

So what are the options I've got?

a) Pack everything away until I feel the desire to paint? Dunno if this will work. Like I said, I do want to paint. Or at least I think I do. But ensuring I stay painting when I start is the goal. Besides what would I do with the room... (Yes, good one, that's what we should be concerned with...)

b) Paint anyway! Force it until I get 'Over the Hump'. A possibility, I've done it before when I wanted to get a few things finished, but the overall-outcome wasn't the best. I'm a trainee perfectionist at heart. Failure to get things right just pisses me off, but forcing things will leave me in a state of 'Close Enoughs' which isn't fun when you look back on stuff...

c) A new option! Feel free to chime in here. If you've got advice for me; good, bad or mean, let me have it!

Using the internet for gain. Or: HELP ME WIN LOOT!!

We need you! Haqqislam Soldiers are trapped in tiny cells awaiting liberation and redeployment to a battle field of my choosing! Your actions are all that stand between their freedom!

Now I hear you saying: 'But I'm just one stunningly amazing modest person! What can I do to help?'

The answer is simple! Are you on the Facebook? If so go to this page and click 'Like'.

The Ork knows what to do! Be strong! Be Vigilant! AND HELP ME WIN LOOT!

Winner! :D

Big thanks to Front Line Gamer and Sarissa Precision for the gift voucher!

I never win things! :D

Self-Congratulatory Ramblings!

TOOT TOOT!

I got a look in on the GW Today page for my Witch-Hunter / Imperial Captain and Warrior-Priest. Yay me :)

We interrupt scheduled programming...

To say I've been burgled... :(

Mother Frakkers people... Mother frakkers suck... Big time... Got home on Wednesday night and found a window open. They'd pried it open and gotten inside. The good news is that the alarm did its job and went off pretty quick meaning they got out without too much stuff.

Now I can hear some of you asking, why is he putting this on his blog, while sad it's not exactly what you'd call painting news. Well the room they broke into was my painting room, and while the miniatures might be heroes and villains of various shapes, sizes, genders and universes; alas they fared poorly against the aggression of trespassers... I've now got minis in various stages of development, some finished, broken, some are snap jobs, but others have been... Attacked... Almost look they've been stomped on... One of the biggest kickers are my brushes. I get attached to brushes and take a lot of care with them, they've been scattered across the room, some snapped, all damaged in some way...

Now to anyone who has read my previous post regarding why we paint you'll know how I feel in regards to seeing a miniature destroyed. It is a mind numbing pain... More so than having my camera, compressor and airbrush stolen. To say this hurts your motivation to paint is an understatement... That is all. I hope to paint something, but truth be told I really don't feel like it...

This is just frakked up and I am unhappy... :(

That 'Crazy' thing you do...

So recently I was talking to a long term friend who came over for a coffee. She’d interrupted me from painting but I’m always happy to stop for coffee (All Hail Coffee!). Anyway, it was during our chat that she asked me, quite out of the blue, “Why do you paint those crazy things?”  It was an innocently asked question, there was no malice behind it, she was an outsider looking in without understanding, but as a good friend she was interested in why I do what I do...

It also got me thinking: why do I paint miniatures for a game I don’t play? For that matter why does anyone paint them, even if they do play the game? I considered giving the standard answer to a question which requires thought “Don’t know, just do”, but I realised this was an opportunity for me, a relative beginner to the hobby, to look a little deeper into the reasons and told her I’d get back to her. Which probably just bugged her, but that’s another story all-together. So bear with me as I get a touch philosophical.

a) For the Love of the Game.
I figured I’d start with the most basic reason, please note I said basic; not simple, because doing what we love encompasses a lot, and while basic in theory is quite hard to explain.

The 40k universe encompasses so very much...

“For the love of the game” is the concept that we do something, often difficult and potentially unrewarding for reasons outside of gain. What this means when we talk about painting is that we paint because we must, we paint because we love the hobby. The value of painting is intrinsic to the hobby. But does this answer the question of why we paint? Well yes and no. Mostly no. Dammit! So much for an easy answer.

From a personal standpoint I fell in love with the universe in which Warhammer 40k exists. There was a sense of darkness and brutality, coupled with strength of will which appealed to me at the time. The painting started as a secondary concern of this love, and the desire to be a part of the universe. This love persists, although changed somewhat, and is probably the reason I collect miniatures to paint despite never actually playing a game of 40k in over five years of being in the hobby, and the monetary shock of engaging in the hobby.

Simply put engaging in the hobby means painting something, whether you do as little as possible or you aspire to make a master-class army if you’re part of the hobby you paint, but is this enough? Beyond the intrinsic value of painting for its own sake there are a whole host of other reasons, some sound in mind, others not so sound (See Downright crazy), but at the end of the day they’re all valid reasons, so let’s have a look.

b) Dice Gods
Let’s jump right into a crazy one, but a crazy one which I do believe in. (What? I never said I was sane! Don’t look at me like that…)

You know its true...

         Play the game for any length of time, or hang out with those who do, and inevitably you’ll hear the phrase ‘Dice-Gods’. The oft-annoying, seldom loved beings of fickle fate who control the fortune and, and continued existence of your army. The concept of the ‘Dice-Gods’ is usually an amusing one to those who don’t play, usually spouses, partners, friends or flatmates, but any gamer will tell you they exist and it’s even money they’ll have a story when the ’Dice-Gods’ either cursed or blessed them.

I am no different. I won’t bore you with the details, but the thing about the ‘Dice-Gods’ is that they love a fully painted army. This isn’t to say you gain their favour without end, but during battles between the painted and unpainted the dice will often love the painted force more than the unpainted… Coincidence? I think not…

c) An Army to call your Own
When you paint a miniature you make it yours. The finished miniature reflects your skill, your time spent, and your investment. It’s yours. This is magnified in scope when you paint a unit or an army. When you’re done they belong together, and it shows. An unpainted miniature, unit or army shows the lack of concern you have for your force; No life, no finish. This doesn’t mean you have to be able to paint like a super-star. Just to your abilities.

Mud Dog's Imperial Guard

We all paint things differently. This is based on the level of our skill, the paints used, the techniques known, our experience, what we’re painting and even our desire to improve all go into blend. This means if we sat down four of us to paint a Blood Angel Terminator Captain we’d all end up with a different look and feel. Indeed at the end the only thing similar might be the colour red and don’t even get me started on the different types of red a blood angel can be!

For a lot of people, painting is the most horrible part of the hobby. It’s time consuming, usually done solo, so there’s no social interaction, often results in frustration yet it’s the time when you connect with what you’re painting. It’s only when we mix our labour with a miniature, when we put brush to figure that a connection happens, and this connection is important.

If you think I’m wrong go get one of your painted miniatures. Put it on your desk, look at it for a few seconds, and think about the time you invested in it. Ok, now smash it… I imagine even reading that was hard. Let alone actually doing it. (Anyone who actually just smashed one of their painted miniatures needs to stop breathing now)

d) Personal Improvement
The desire to improve is a valid reason to paint something. We’re touching back on intrinsic value here, but the concept of self-improvement is important to address. Some days a desire to improve is the only reason I can think of to pick up a brush. Whether you’re like me and paint a single miniature at a time or you’re a batch painting dip-master the desire to improve upon the paintjobs that came before is something we should all have.

My First Ever Mini (2008)

Last Year (2011)

Getting better at something you like is never a waste of time, regardless of the type of painter you are. A batch painter might aim to improve the speed at which they work while maintaining a level throughout their army. A single miniature painter might have a goal regarding specific techniques they want to perfect.

When I first started I wanted to get some squads together quickly and tried a few techniques towards that end. I was not happy with the outcome and after a few online discussions I got some advice which I still use today: “Be fast at painting or be good at painting”. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the two are exclusive to each other, I’ve seen amazing stuff in hours what would take me days. But for me, I can’t have it both ways and I usually fail when I try. But that’s what personal improvement is for; to get better.

e) But is it Art?
Part of the desire to improve and be one of those amazing painters is the question of whether what we paint could ever be considered art. As I primarily paint rather than play I took a look at Art as a reason to paint.

Art? Hell yes!
(Courtesy Picster, CMoN)

Art? Ummm...

Some people, usually artists, argue that as for the most part all we do is paint things other people have designed and sculpted, in mass no less, then all we can ever hope to achieve is an atheistically pleasing miniature, but it is something devoid of actual ‘art’ or even artistic intent.

Personally I don’t buy the argument. I understand it, but I do not buy it. Also I don’t believe all painted miniatures can be called art. But I believe the possibility for it to be art is within all miniatures it depends on the painter. Bottom line; if a crushed can made from marble is art then a golden daemon winning entry is also art.

So at the end of the day art is a reason to paint. If you can paint well enough to enter into Golden Daemon and not be laughed at then you’re an artist whose medium of choice are miniatures. If I ever get good to enter a Golden Daemon competition I’ll have accomplished one of my goals in life. If I don’t well I’m going to try my damned best, and at the end of the day that’s all you can do.

f) Being paid to paint?
This is tricky one. If you are good enough to get continual work painting miniatures for money then I guess it’s a valid reason to paint them. However no-one starts out good enough to accept commissions to paint. Most commission team members are long time hobbyists who have put in a lot of time and effort to perfect their skills, both in time management and their abilities. It’s a kind of catch 22. It is a valid reason to paint, but only if you’re good enough, and if you’re good enough to accept commissions then you know the reasons to paint and have likely explored them all yourself at one time or another…

--
I’m sure there are other reasons to paint out there, ones I’ve completely over-looked, but for me personally all my motivations to paint are basically wrapped up in what I’ve written about here. Except being paid to paint. I don’t know if I could ever accept commissions for painting, just seems wrong. I hope this answers the questions for my friend…

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy

I'm the first one to admit that I'm still pretty much a total newb when it comes to Games Workshop and the love / hate relationship that lots of people around the world have with them. My knowledge of the rules for Warhammer and 40k are lacking and I don't have the ability to know what people mean by early editions of the game (Although I do own Rogue Trader) & in all fairness my involvement with the hobby is focused around just that, the hobby aspect of the game and the painting side of that. My lack of long-term experience with GW just makes the miniatures I want to buy all the more Ironic...

Even with my relatively short term of engagement with GW, and my narrow focus, I know there are things I don't like about them, the Finecast Fiasco being forefront of my grievance, but also the cost of the Hobby to those of us who live in New Zealand (Or Hobbit-land if your Geography is lacking). This all being said I still have to admit that Games Workshop are very clued in with knowing what to do in order to part me with my money. First off this week was the Games Day Miniature. The Games Day Miniature is from an edition I have never seen before. I think it was on a box? Anyway, to me the miniature is just plain cool, and has left me with a large amount of desire...

This was the tipping point for me to go to the Oz Gamesday in October this year. I'd been debating about whether to go for awhile now, and lets face it I'm a sucker for a good looking miniature...

Then was the coup-de-grace upon me. I didnt even know about this one, I was just mucking around on the GW website when I stumbled across it, and managed to shell myself out of another $64. I mean come on a 25th anniversary miniature... and it comes in a collectors box?! "Wow" I'm thinking to myself "Maybe I should get two?!" At this point I know I'm lost...

Both miniatures look disturbingly similiar in pose... and they are finecast. Yet I possess an almost unnatural need to purchase them... As Barney Gumble said; "Don't cry for me... I'm already dead..." :D

Merry Christmas everyone!! As the end of the year rolls around most of us are lucky enough to get that miniature we've wanted for awhile, and even better some time to actually paint!

My new years resolution is to paint more often and work on a bunch of techniques and stuff I've been putting off. This is not helped by my boss buying me a PS3 for Christmas... But I'll try to survive somehow ^_^

Wishing you all a safe and happy holidays!
Mike

40k Poines... A sign of the coming apocalypse? I think so...

Oh the humanity... So Bronies have invaded the 40k universe... Nothing is sacred... What does this have to do with my painting blog? Nothing... Just thought I'd share ^_^

A single cry in the darkness?

The pre-order cost for Dreadfleet in the United Kingdom is $70 GBP. This converts to 133.34 NZD.

The pre-order cost for Dreadfleet in the USA is $115 USD. This converts to $138.75 NZD.

The pre-order cost for Dreadfleet in New Zealand is $220 NZD. This converts to $155.45 GBP.

I live in New Zealand.

Will I be playing this game? No... No I will not...

Slacking off...

Slacking off is far to easy... I've been playing a lot of poker recently... I know I should be painting, and yet I can't find the motivation to do anything right now... Meh... I'll start again soon I know... I did make money playing poker, which has been enough to buy more miniatures, so it's not a total loss... Right? Anyone? Anyone? Buller?

Beginnings...

I first walked into a Games Workshop little over sixteen months ago which is, I guess, where I began the hobby. Being someone who enjoys a well thought out science fiction background I was immediately lost to the enveloping world that is Warhammer 40k, and left the store with a horde of Space Marines under my arm and a wallet considerably lighter than when I entered.

After assembling and painting my first marines a small part of my brain already knew that I was in trouble, but I paid it no heed because the larger part was basking in the after-glow of how much fun it was to paint something and see it come to life before your very eyes. Which is what has brought me to write this blog.

I am in no way a professional painter, nor am I a Golden Demon winner. What I am is someone who enjoys painting and hopes that anyone reading my blog will enjoy looking at my miniatures, commenting on them so I can learn, and maybe even learn something themselves...