Wargaming Tradecraft: 2011




Donate

Foodmachine 2011 Charity Auction and WIP painting

A little while back, Papa JJ of DiceRolla posted about a charity project going on called Foodmachine, raising money for Feeding America. [ http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=5271 ]

Basically, the idea was to get a bunch of people together to paint up a pirate army for Warmachine that would have an orange (hunger awareness) colour theme. Next, that army would get raffled off. For every dollar you give, ($10 minimum) you've got a chance to win the whole thing.

If you'd like to donate a little something or see photos of the figures, visit the following link:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Foodmachine2011/
(Photos are from the artists - they're in the process of being uniformly based and professionally photographed)

Here's a list of the artists involved:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0At_zruzbwbYWdHE2T2wwSURxX0JUOUg1ekQ4WGFIblE&hl=en_US#gid=0

If you've got a blog, Twitter, Facebook, why not share a link to the donation page as well?
(Feel free to copy and paste my above description, and/or the below release if you want to save some time.)

Release:
"While official Foodmachine tournaments end this Sunday (1/1/12), there is a way you can still help out the cause.  Expert painters from around the world have been painting up models for a Tier 4 Shae army using orange in the paint scheme.  (Orange is the color of hunger awareness).  We have a few early photos up on our donation site in this "soft opening" phase to whet your appetites.  Soon we will have all the models based and well-photographed so you can see what you will ultimately win.

Here's the website with all the details of the raffle:  www.razoo.com/Foodmachine2011/

Read more details about it at the Lost Hemisphere blog:  http://losthemisphere.com/blog/?p=18027

Listen to some information about it at the Elite Cadre podcast:  http://elitecadre.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/bonus-episode-1-a-visitor-from-afar/

Thanks in advance for your donation and good luck winning the army!"



Papa JJ sent out minis to people who wanted to get involved in the project, so here are my WIP photos for the Sea Dog Crew Leader. Nothing detailed, as I was focusing on the work, but here you are:

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More work on the Impalers, and an article on the Beginners Guide to Creating an Army List.

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Merry Chaotic Christmas!

via
Happy Holidays and Merry New Year to all from Wargaming Tradecraft!

A brief Weekly Update on Monday, no posts this next week, and the new year will return things to its regularly scheduled programming!



Video by the folks over at Miniwargaming.com

Beginners Guide to Creating an Army List

via
Last week, I outlined some of the reasons that people choose armies. This week I'll talk about some tips to help you design a list.

My suggestion for getting started is take a look at some of the styles in the following article, read your rule book and do something that interests you. Play the game, learn how things work, and tweak your list. This could mean buying models you later decide you won't use... ever... but sometimes that happens.

Impaler [10] More green stuff mohawk hair

 Just about finishing off my other Impaler, is also the hair aspect.. another mohawk, but this time more of a trihawk.

To start off, a slight mod to the base. By default he ends up being way too far forward since he's holding the other model. So, I cut a new slot and used some green stuff to give his base a level surface.

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Slight update to my citing references article. Work on the Impalers continues, as does my gaming series with Beginners Guide to Choosing an Army.

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[UPDATE] Citing Your References

I've added the following to my article on Citing Your References. If you have any comments, please leave them on the original article.





Asking Permission / Paying for References

Just adding this to give another perspective to people on the topic of going a step beyond just citing references. A journalist and photographer recently got some media coverage over some views they shared regarding citations without permission. Long story short, so you don't have to click the link:

The wife of the creator of Angry Birds wore a dress styled like the red Angry Bird.
Photographer takes pictures at a formal event.
Many prestigious media outlets then use his pictures, without permission, to write their own stories. Only one offered to pay, but backed out when they found the cost. Others asked permission after being caught, but still no offered of compensation. (Until lawyers got involved)
"From aggregates such as Huff Post / Mashable  etc. you sort of expect nothing...
...But for crying our loud: LA Times? Pulizer Prizes and all…"
"Matti has three kids and his images bring the bread and butter to the table. "
It's true... the big button topic these days being the downloading of music and movies... whether you dis/agree on them at a personal level, you have to at least realize that artists deserve something for their work. Why not treat photographers the same? Their equipment costs money, as does their travel, food, credentials, time, etc.

Now, I'm not actually this zealous about citing, and I'm not going to pay someone $200 to use a photo of a woman in an Angry Birds dress on my blog. But I'm not making a business on reporting up to the minute breaking news. I'm not even a business, nor am I profiting from this site. Images I grab have typically been around for a while, aren't in high demand and have been made available online. I cite my references and I don't edit out signatures and watermarks. Again, I just wanted to tag this on to this article to give another perspective on the whole using other peoples works thing.

Of course, y'know what I don't see? Anybody citing who made that dress. As long as we're going to nit-pick about giving credit where it's due, lets not leave anybody out.

Beginners Guide to Choosing an Army

Confusion by psychicLexa
I've spoken about this a few times already. One of my first posts on this blog was actually about Picking Your Army. I've also recently talked about Planning Your Artistic Army and The Creative Process.

The difference is that this post will be directed at people who are completely new to wargaming and I'm going to be generic enough to try and help you pick an army for any system. Lets start with a clean slate. You've been researching game systems, watching people play it, maybe even gotten a few trial games in. You've found a system that seems pretty fun, your friends are interested and / or there's plenty of people in the area to get to know and play at your local shop.

Impaler [9] - Mohawk and Skeleton

Some more progress done tonight on my Impalers.

First, I changed the spine support for the one's head. Then, I added a first layer of green stuff around his neck to support the head.

I'm liking this layering Green Stuff thing. It sticks together well, it's sturdy, and it gives you a strong surface to sculpt on that won't fully cave in as you apply pressure.

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Back to work on the Impalers this week.. and my gaming articles continue with Choosing a Game System.

On a personal note, we broke 100,000 hits (in 1.5 yrs) this week! Woo!

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Great round up of links this week... about time for me to get crackin too.

Choosing a Game System

Creating an Artistic Army - the Creative Process
(This image isn't entirely fair in this context... for a new
player, GW has some great sculpts)
So, last week we looked at a brief overview of what wargaming is. Today we're going to try to come up with some ways to figure out what game system works for you. There are some different methods... the best is seeing what others are playing and what interests the friends / family you'll be playing with. Most companies have starter boxes though, so it's not a huge investment to try a new game out.

For the full details, keep reading...


Impaler [8] - Some Green Stuffing

Work continues, next on my Impalers. The first is ready for his mohawk, but I ran in to some problems... it likes to flop around. So the first step I'm trying is to make a rough "outline" of a mohawk. Boy it sure looks aweful. The plan is that it will support his hair while I layer more greenstuff on the outside to create the actual mohawk. (So it can't be too thick at this stage)

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On the hobby front, I look back at my first conversion. Then, I talk about two other different topics.. first, using stat gathering to protect yourself online, then the beginning of a gaming series.

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Pre-Vyper Jetbike (My first conversion)

Zoids Neptune, 1987 catalog
Game Workshop's he-love of Space Marines has existed far longer than you may realize. When I first started playing Warhammer 40k, you could get vehicles like Bikes, Speeders, Rhinos and Land Raiders... but what about us Xenos? I had a codex with rules for Shining Spears, Vyper Jetbikes and I think Falcons and Wave Serpents too...  But no models.

This isn't a tale of conversion for the sake of conversion, this is conversion for necessity!

So you want to be a (war)Gamer?

Pandora, by IgorSan
The other day you wandered by a strange looking store on the street / were taking a look at some comics / poked your head into a geeky looking shop / noticed some advanced looking boardgames / had a friend show you / your significant other reached under their bed looking guilty, and pulled out a tackle box...

However you were introduced to wargaming, the completion of the above sentences goes something like "...and saw these tiny figures that looked interesting, and you wanted to know more." Some of you reading this blog may very well be at that beginning stage, allowing your curiosity to investigate the various options out there.

Let me try to help you...

Stat-Counting for Safety

"Remember honey, there are bad
people on the internet."
a.k.a. Use what you learn here for the power of good.

This is a post about recognizing that the side effect of having a presence online will no doubt face you with it's shadier parts at some point. Even though everything that goes on in the web is basically tracked, if you have a concern, do you want to wait for delays emailing The Powers That Be and chasing down information you feel you may need right away? If a site is also a store, or doing similar business, this also helps in case of fraud.

In this post, I explore using a visitor counter for safety reasons, instead of statistics.

a.k.a. Please don't stop reading my blog after you read this.

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The big post this week was Madrak's completion - if you haven't looked, GO NOW. I also did some significant updates to my varnishing post, and it's also worth taking a look at if you'd like to protect your minis without ruining them.

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Happy Thanksgiving - 25% off GW and PP Minis



Saints 4 Life
TheWife is awesome and I couldn't ask for a better partner to share a lifetime of geekitude with... that's what I'm thankful for, even if the Americans celebrate it a month later than us Canuks. On that note, an early Christmas present has been ordered - my Hordes army, to compliment the deal we got last weekend on a used one for her.

Here's a HUGE sale....

[UPDATE] Varnishing Your Models

I've updated my post on Varnishing Your Models.

Some of the changes include talking about airbrushing, pigments, before and after pictures. Also, cleared up text / organized it a little better to remove the wall of text it was previously.

Basically, it's tons better than it was before, and you should click the above link and go read it.


This post is unlabelled and just an update notice.

Madrak [7] Thrall Completed!

After much work, I've finally completed Madrak / Thrall. In his final days, I got pretty into the work and didn't get nearly as many WIP shots as I would have liked.

Because of this, I'll cover what I can before showing off the final photos.

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Sorry, didn't get around to writing up the article on Madrak's completion, but it's started, and should be posted in the next few days.

In the mean time, enjoy the following...

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Again, painting continues on Madrak. In a few days, I'll write up the final post detailing the last steps I took to finish him up.

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Madrak [6] - Painting Nears Completion

Sorry about the lack of updates, but I've only been getting little bits done here and there lately.

The shoulder highlighting went great, and has a little glow effect, though you can't really tell from the pic.

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Not much to report, other than more painting continues on Madrak.

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Madrak [5] - Painting continues


Yes indeed, painting continues, and first things first I've completed his head. The three photos above show off a new supply called "Pigments" - which is essentially using powders to highlight and shade. (More on pigments in a later post though, for now you can see the transition in the gold.)

I've even used some neon paints to try and brighten the intensity. (Like Raffa's Visions of Hatred) I'm going to continue experimenting with them in his runes as well.

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Big news this week - painting has begun on Madrak!

And to keep all that straight, I talk about the importance of having a notebook.

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Madrak [4] WIP - painting begins

Painting has begun!!!

Yes, three exclamation points of excitement.

I've got this fun one-day tourney coming up, and while the armies don't have to be painted, there's a single figure (from the army) painting competition - and I want to be ready.

With that said, here's the beginning of Thrall, leader of the Hordebloods, coming to life!

Adeptus Mechanicus Fan Codex v3

I don't go off-topic too often, but this is an interesting project that an active member of our community, aka Lantz, has been working on for quite some time now. When the internet was in it's infancy, there were a LOT of junk codexes out there created by people who basically were only interested in convincing their friends they should be allowed to play some overpowered list... to be fair, I even tried creating [totally broken] rules for a Revenant Scout Titan once. (But I recognized after 1, maybe 2 games that it was too OP and put that sucker down.)

However, here's a codex that's had a lot of time and effort put into it. It's now in it's third version and continuing to be worked on. I love the style - almost a "steam punk 40k". There are also some neat rules... like being able to blow up your wrecked tanks so the technology doesn't fall into enemy hands. He's even put together a list / photos of miniatures from various manufacturers that can be used to create your army.

Click over to AdMechFanDex.com to download a copy.

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Dethtron called out the geeks, and here's my rebuttal. I've also updated my photographing minis post.

Not much to say at the moment, but I've just about finished my pirate for Foodmachine. No, sorry, no pics until there's a link to the auction.

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Mine's Bigger than Brent's

Dethtron's returned to the Blogosphere... and already he's shaking things up.

It started with Brent showing off his rather large hobby collection, and Deth not only prepared a rebuttal that shows off his own massing of toy soldiers but called out the community to do the same. So far, Loq's also responded to the challenge, but I call shenanigans 'cause she owns a game store.

So I'm taking this opportunity to show off my own collection, but asking you to show yours off too - when you do, please post a link in the comments here.

Free X-Acto blade samples!

Noticed this over at Dark Future Games, apparently you can get yourself a free sample of a new type of blade from X-Acto. It's supposed to be extra special cause it's coated in stuff... I'm curious to see if that means sharper, stronger or both... (they say it does, but trial will tell) tips that last and can hold up to pressure would be nice for carving in tight spaces.

http://www.xacto.com/z-series#tab2

[UPDATE] Taking and Editing Pics

I've been meaning to shrink the photo I had up on Deviant Art for my Terminator because it was wayyy too big. This totally destroys how your minis look when you blow them up that size.

Since I finally did that, I've also updated my post that talks all about Photographing your Minis. (and editing those photos)

I've made a few other changes beyond just that, added some tips and expanded on a few things here and there - so why not go and check out the post again.

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My new digital microscope came in, and it's allowed me to show some detail on my fine saw.

Also, if anyone's a fan of horror-type-movies, follow my Twitter or check out the tag #Halloweek so you can follow along with the films I'll be watching over the next few weeks - at least one per day!

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Digital Microscope (Good quality, low price)

For a little while now, I've tooled around with the idea of picking up a digital microscope... unfortunately the cost of one is prohibitive to that sort of endeavour - until now!

A digital microscope will allow you to take HIGHLY detailed close up photos of just about anything. Anyone posting photos of their work online will find this incredibly useful - bloggers can show details [like on my saw post] of their tools and techniques while artists can include close up shots of their painting. The quality definitely goes beyond your average camera's close up, zoom and macro abilities.

TheWife points out that they can also double as a magnifying glass - watching your work blown up on a monitor while you paint and improve your technique.

Finely Serrated Hand-Saw

I've had this post sitting for a bit because I wanted to get a good shot of the fine little serrated edges on this saw. (More on the microscope later this week) There are two things that make this saw great for hobbying - not only are the teeth fine, but it's also very thin.

You can find fine saws at hobby shops and some hardware stores, but might need to special order for something this fine. (Though I didn't need to) Readers Reid and War Frog mention using Jewelers Saws as another excellent source for finding fine saws. I've also talked about hobby knife sets in the past, though those saws are flimsier than this.

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Chaos Pumpkin - Me, 2010
Just working away on my Hordebloods. However, also got a display cabinet! and did some lighting for it!

Oh, and since it's Hallowmonth, take a look at some of last years movie suggestions.

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Tons of great work going on... looks like people are leaving their summer slumps and getting back into some hard work. Take a look at the gallery section below.

Display Cabinet plus Lighting

Recently I (finally) purchased a display cabinet. I'd been looking for one for a while, seeing them around $80. (Which is roughly what this went for) The IKEA options were a little small and cheap-looking, but had built in lights. I found this one at JYSK. (Not that I can find it on the website)

After it sat unassembled for a few days while I was under the weather, I came home from work to find my awesome wife had put it together for me. It looked great, all glass with aluminium posts and a wooden base/top.

What it didn't have, was a light.

I knew this ahead of time, but now it was time for doing a little modification.

Impaler [7] - Elf Impaled WIP

Fish gotta swim, computers gotta crash... Impalers gotta impale. In that vein, my second Impaler will actually be impaling someone.

This Circle of Orboros druid chick makes a great target, for a few reasons.

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The Hordebloods project continues with some stone work. Just picked up a mask, and things can continue!

Also, another charity project is ramping up! Take a look.

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Foodmachine 2011

So here's something I read over at diceRolla.... Papa JJ has a post about a food drive that Privateer Press is pushing for the holiday season.

It's a combination of collecting cans at your local hobby shop that are to be donated to your local food bank as well as painting up a model (un-based) to send to Privateer Press, who'll auction off a complete army for charity.

Madrak [3] and Impaler [6] Stones WIP

Today, I begin making Thrull's hammer into stone... because the stone looks awesomely similar. (Scroll down)

I've also got a few more steps done for the Impalers.

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Got a little done on my Troll Impaler this week. Having some problems with the next step.. apparently my stones are too hard... Also bought a cheap tool chest! Incase you didn't notice, CoolMiniOrNot also got hacked.

I've updated my Supplies page's layout - Would love some feedback, you can leave it here :)

Because I forgot to post the pic last week...
Now that was a fun company event!
BTW, if you got into the Geeklist beta, here I am: http://geekli.st/InDavesLife

Service doesn't seem entirely useful yet (you can't even search by interest) but we'll see...

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CoolMiniOrNot.com Hacked


Saw the news on Massive Voodoo's Facebook update, and looks like it's back to normal now. (Grabbed the pic here) Chern Ann, an admin, posted that it was their webhost, www.inmotionhosting.com that got hacked, which I just confirmed it since I know some others using them. (No notice from In Motion either, apparently)

Chern says all passwords are encrypted, but that's just a question of time. Even though they've fixed the site, there hasn't been an email to warn us about the hack and there isn't a news post on the site. Personally, that's just bad business.

If you had a CMON account, you should do two things, right now:

  1. Change your password.
    1. Login
    2. Click "My Profile" (top right)
    3. Click "Edit Profile" (left)
    4. Click "Edit Email & Password" (middle)
  2. Change your password on any websites you used the same PASSWORD and EMAIL to sign up, especially if you used the SAME password for your EMAIL.
I know it's a pain, but odds are that the hackers will have all that data sooner or later.

[Update, 11am]

Looks like an index.php was dropped into the first few levels of all websites hosted with In Motion at around 4am last night. Was data compromised? It could have been. It all depends how long the hackers had access before putting up their splash page... in theory they could have had access for days or more and downloaded whatever they wanted.

Point still remains - change your CMON password and change your password anywhere you use that password / email combination to be safe. Need a password? Look around you and choose 4 things - that's your new password, relying on length for security.

[Update, 5pm]

Their website's totally down now... possibly a failed restore? Two people I know who had their sites compromised were up and running by mid-day after taking all sorts of post-hack security precautions. I can confirm that no data was deleted... databases are still intact, but CMON hasn't sent out an email to users yet... tsk tsk.

Toolbox / Tool Chest / Tool Cabinet (A decent one)

Finally! The toolbox of my dreams! Well, sorta.

I've been wanting one for a while, but these will usually run you $400-$1000 for both a cabinet and a toolbox. That doesn't make it frugal for a hobbyist who just wants a way to store his hardier tools. HOWEVER, if you wait, you'll see versions at the $150-250 range... and these will sometimes go on sale. (Like, $84, sale)

No, cheaper versions aren't as strong as the high end ones. But for people like us, they do the job. I won't be slinging and bumping it around a garage, I'm just storing it away and organizing my tools.


Troll Impaler WIP 5


 I'm in the process of working on two Impalers, and I'll just show their progress together.

The first one finally got glued and green stuffed together. The filling was needed because I've turned the body quite a bit.

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Was hoping to get another WIP done, but was a little under the weather. Instead, you get a long post all about glue. If you've already read it, give it another read... I realized I missed a few things and a reader pointed out I missed something as well.

There's been a bunch of referral traffic on a missing point in my post about Vehicle Damage Order. Basically that if a model can't see ANY of the facing it's in, but can still see SOME part of the vehicle, the cover save increases to 4+ from 3+. I've updated the post and the downloadable PDF. (Just, next time, why not let me know instead of lording your genius over others, kthx? However, thanks for the traffic.)

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Just Glue It

"Neglect" by Carlyle Micklus
"Just" is a word that's often overused - especially in a hobby like ours with a largely diverse group of people... age, experience, specialties and even geography end up having an affect on how we hobby. Because I'll never assume any knowledge is too simple, I create tutorials like these to try an cover even the basic aspects of hobbying.

Glue is very important to our hobby. The VERY LAST thing we want is to create a masterpiece and have an arm snap off. (Which is sometimes unavoidable when Lictors plunge from precarious perches, defenestrating down to dangerous depths.) But what glue should you use when? What dangers should we look out for and what things should we test before assuming everything will work out?

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Not much recently, but I did get some more work done on my Troll Impaler.

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Troll Impaler WIP 4

 Next up, a little creativity to make some realistic looking stone weapons. I picked up a small box of tumbled stones from a hippy store.
(Green Earth - careful, they don't keep their pricing up to date, nor do their make good on false labelling, even after store staff is made aware of the mistake.)

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In addition to creating a tutorial on Pinning models for support, I continued my Hordebloods project with a Troll Impaler in part One and Three. (The pinning post is part Two for the Impaler and Four for the Axer)

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Troll Impaler WIP 3


Previously, I discussed pinning, and have repositioned this Impalers arm in a guiding way, pointing at the intended victim as his spear lines up, menacingly perpendicular with his arm.

Because of this, there's a big 'ol gap at his elbow in need of some fixing.

Pinning your Models and Impaler WIP 2 / Axer WIP 4

As I touched on briefly in my post about manual drills (or pin vices), pinning is the act of using wire to add support to a joint rather than just gluing things together. Usually, plastic models don't need to be pinned - plastic glue creates a strong bond by chemically melting the two pieces together. Metal parts are trickier than that - you can just glue them together, but they can break apart.

While creating an army that I'm putting a lot of effort into, the last thing I want are ugly cracks where I've glued broken parts back on.

Troll Impaler WIP 1

There are a few key things that make a troll stand out.

The tattoos and warpaint on his face will come once I start painting him.

What I'm looking at at this stage are the tusks and the awesome mohawk. Today I start creating the horns.

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Started out the week talking about organizational holders, and moved on to posting progress on my Troll Axer in part one, two and three.

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Troll Axer WIP 3

Now that the Axer has some long chains hanging from his axe, a little decoration is in order. Totems!

The following is an instructional post on how I made the totems out of green stuff.

Troll Axer WIP 2

Just a small update as I discuss some of the modifications that I made to the axe.

As I do for most weapons my models wield, I start by sharpening the edge to make it more realistic.

Troll Axer WIP 1

Now here's where I start getting to be creative!

Click on through as I begin to bring this mighty axer into reality. This is another model where abilities line up - both have attacks that hit everyone around them.

I've been able to really let loose with this guy and I've taken a lot of step by step shots.

Organizational Holders (and hanging tips)

 I found some magnetic holders at a dollar store not to long ago, so I documented the steps I took to put them up. Whatever type of hangers you want to put up to organize your hobby area, this article will give you some helpful tips. Mostly, it's straight forward, but you'll find one step here quite useful when working with thin wood that will prevent you from destroying shelves.

I talked about some other magnetic holders in a post about my work area. The ones I cover in this article are a little bigger though.

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TheWife's con-geek earrings,
made by my mom for TheWife
inspired by Lizglizz, via GaS
To start things off last week was a guest post on colour-blind modelers - a big thanks to my good buddy Jim for that. (To delve deeper in to his mind, visit Concept Crucible) You can also read a lengthy post on Facebook, advertising and some thoughts on social media.

Blog-fu aside, some first shots of Madrak Ironhide WIP, while the second also included using nail salon jewels.

Vacation! (awesome photos below...)



Double rainbow in Ottawa - can you think of a better way
to start your vacation?
Well, no updates from the community, because I've been on a well needed vacation this week and haven't had time to keep up with things. TheWife was part of a dance group that won first place for Otakuthon's dance contest and got to perform for the opening ceremonies. So, we swung up through Ottawa, then spent the weekend in Montreal.

Nail Jewels / Madrak WIP 2


Sometimes I surprise myself when I consider the places I go and things I use for this hobby... I mean, nail salon supplies? Really?

But you really do need to be willing to go anywhere and try anything if you want to excel and add some real uniqueness to the things you create.

I picked these things up cheap a while back and was waiting for a project to use them with. Basically, they're mirrored backs and coloured plastic. Due to the scale however, they can add a really nice natural look to your minis.

Facebook and Advertisements

via Bill Hall
So, we're all somewhat aware that there's this thing out there called MySpace Facebook that allows us to play a game called "Who's got the most friends?" while redefining what we used to refer to as "acquaintance" as "friend" and probably devaluing the term when referring to those most important to us....

No matter the stereotypes that exist around Facebook, the fact is that it's quickly changing many internet, communication, social, personal and business landscapes. Any sarcasm aside, it's a prominent social medium in today's world and it's time you got involved.

This post is directed at both blogs and hobby stores as I've used / seen used both aspects and have a few observations to share and hopefully improve your communication, followers and social awareness. I'll start out by explaining some of the benefits to Facebook, briefly talk about pages and some features, show how to setup ads and finally how to interpret the information afterward.

Madrak Ironhide WIP 1

So here in the first WIP (Work In Progress) post for the Hordebloods army. As it's early on in my process, I didn't get too into the habit of taking pictures, especially as I was playing around with his hair - I really wasn't sure how the hair was going to turn out. It was one of my first time really green stuffing and hadn't fully decided if I was going bald like Trolls, green stuff hair or fake hair.

Anyways, rambling aside, here's the beginning of the Horde!

Colourblind Modellers

artist: Mordachai71
A short time ago, I asked a good friend of mine if he'd be willing to share what it was like being colourblind and painting minis. He accepted, and the following article is the first guest post on Wargaming Tradecraft. It shares a perspective I'm glad to be able to provide a voice for. Jim Tigwell is a philosophy graduate and dungeon master and has taken the time away from his own blog, Concept Crucible, to put together an excellent article that not only gives us insight into some of the challenges facing those who are colourblind, but also suggestions on compensating and how to turn it into an advantage.

Weekly Update

Last Week at Wargaming Tradecraft


The Hordebloods begin with an introduction and a post about planning artistic armies. I also cover how I used guitar strings.

Hockey riots - you wouldn't understand.
(Canadians are hockey hipsters.)
Next week, little to no Weekly Update - I've got content scheduled for you folks, including a great guest post tomorrow, but it's vacation time for me! Ah, finally! Not a long one, but I'll be in Montreal for Otakuthon - enjoying poutine, crepes, Mexican, a hole in the wall that serves some grrreat ribs and fitting in some anime geekery at some point. Last time I was there, the city erupted into riots 2 blocks from my hotel and cops locked down the downtown the following night - lets hope for a little less excitement this time.



Last Week in the Community