Wargaming Tradecraft: September 2011




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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.

Weekly Update

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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.

Weekly Update

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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?

Weekly Update

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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.)