So, a year in to the project, and I haven't quite accomplished as much as I would have liked. I've got plenty of excuses though... painting a model for last years Orange Crush fundraiser... and painting 6 models for Headshots from the Heart where we raised over $2000 for Childs Play. To make things more troublesome, you can also toss in a loss in the family, extended illness and a promotion / move.
The good news is, there HAS been progress, and rather than a bunch of posts spread out, here's the wrap up of where the Hordebloods stand. This version of the army has been good to me, and aside from a few more additions, is basically all I plan on rolling with for now. (Fennblades, Mountain King, Whelps and the new Shield-wall unit when they release are still on my wishlist, with possible Scattergunners as well...)
There's a competition running from now until December 14th 2012 for a random draw to win a BenchVent BV555-R. (Even though it says 240V, they assure me that they also ship 120V models around the world.) Click for full competition details, but basically they're asking for a picture of your workspace.
What's the big deal? Basically, this is a fan / filter system that sucks all that excess mist, smoke, dust, etc when airbrushing, spraying, soldering, grinding and so on - a great way to help keep your hobby area clean.
When I was younger, my dad actually built me something like this, but it was rather large.. and I'm not sure where it ended up. What I know, is it was actually handy, so I've got my fingers crossed.
So the photo below is my entry showing off my current hobby area:
The mounted warriors of the trolls ride Bison. Bison. Not... so... exciting. Sure, they're large and sturdy enough to carry our weight, but in Hordes the Orcs ride on angry war wolves.
Now, I didn't want to sculpt wolf heads, when there are already some good options out there in the Circle of Orboros army. I placed an order for some heads on eBay, and a short couple of weeks later, they arrived!
Like any of us, you've probably looked at plenty of photos of miniatures on the internet. What are some of the things that make bad photos? Poor lighting, blurry, out of focus... these jump to mind immediately. There's something else that professionals have picked up on which sets them apart from others - backgrounds.
The right (or wrong) background changes how we perceive ours and others' figures. If the miniature is infront of a background that's too strong or too busy, then the viewer's eyes will be drawn away from what's important - your miniature.
I've scoured old (and newer) photos of my own miniatures and have taken a critical stand on things I've done wrong when taking pictures... and we'll look at some advanced ways to make your own backgrounds.
Soo, long story short, after pushing hard for a large work project, I've had to fight a broncial infection the last couple weeks. Laid me out, I was off work, zero energy, etc... Hence, the lack of posts. I'm going to try to get back at it, though reserves are used up pretty quick these days.
I've started adding some more photo tips, such as strength of lighting. I'll add more this week, leading up to building a light box next week.
I wanted to share some more Photography Tips to help people take pictures of their miniatures. Now, I've talked about Lighting Your Hobby Area before and if you haven't read it, then you should. It'll give you a lot of useful information about different types of lights and how best to use them.
You can do what you want while painting. Sometimes stronger light is better. This article will discuss lighting while taking photos. I'm not above criticizing myself, so I have some examples of poor photos I've taken and good ones, that I'll dissect for you.
Back-grounds back, alright! I know the background on my weekly updates has been missing lately. (to some) It looks like Google Blogger and Reader no longer support the basic HTML element for the background image, and now you have to use the "style" element... I guess it's the way things are going, just took me a bit to figure out the reason my titles were messed up.
It would seem that Google may be in the process of shutting down their Feedburner service. This is affecting TONS of bloggers out there who want a quality RSS statistic and feature adding tool. I say may, because, well... there hasn't been any information given by Google except that their Feedburner API will be shutting down Oct 20. Now, that doesn't specifically mean Feedburner is going away... BUT the stat gathering for ALL Feedburner accounts seems to have stopped working a few days ago and they closed their blog and twitter accounts, which is kinda an indication that it's going the way of the dodo.
Think they "can't" just shut down a service? Well, for one, it's free - you're not paying for it, they owe you nothing. Also, there are plenty of horror stories out there of Google shutting down services people have paid for - I've lived through one that the company I worked for paid big money on... it gets messy.
This is a model my wife won at a Hordes tournament. It's from the Iron Kingdoms line of Privateer Press. I've added some greenstuffed shoulders and a book by her side.. Seeing the horns curving up from her hood, I just had to paint her up as an undead female wearing the Felheart Rainment.
A model in my Hordeblood army has the ability to raise a protective wall of stone from the ground. As such, I've created one.
Since this isn't terrain, it's associated with a specific Privateer Press wall size, they make a template available in the back of the rulebook. Rather than just photocopy this and use a paper template, 3D would look much more awesome.
Privateer Press has taken a step that we probably all would love to have for any of the various games we play - Developed by TinkerHouse Games, they've released an app that provides the rules for each army you purchase, provides a rules reference for the game system itself, allows you to generate and email army lists and acts as a helper during games by displaying quick stats, letting you mark your health, time your games / turns and interestingly lets you read your opponents cards when you connect your game with someone else.
War Room is available on Android and iOS (iPhone / iPad) phones and tablets. I'm running Android on a Samsung Galaxy S Captivate phone. It's been out for a little while now, there have been some bug fixes, and I'm comfortable posting the review now. There's a whole 'lotta good but some serious bad, so read on...
*DISCLAIMER - My phone loses the red spectrum when taking screenshots... I assure you, all images within the app are beautiful, high-quality, and look just like you were holding the cards yourself.
When we base our models or create terrain, one of the important details is what kind of flock you use. One method of getting low-cost, recycled and very realistic stuff is to make it yourself - from tea.
I like the look of used tea over unused, just remember to dry used tea first. This doesn't have to be as extreme a method as Drying Flock; leave your used bags in a small box somewhere inside until they completely dry out. (just give it a few days) If you jar moisture with your tea, it will MOULD. Not only will the flock be unusable, it'll be a health risk to anyone who opens it.
Welp, back to work. There was an update on my Hordeblood Warlocks, followed by a post with the complete photos. For some meat, I posted an article on pigments that I'm quite happy about.
Well, I discussed them in my last post about the Krielstone Warlocks, and now they're done! You can also find these on my Deviant Art gallery.
Krielstone Warlock, armour inspired by Warcraft's Voidheart Raiment
Krielstone Warlock, armour inspired by Warcraft's Plagueheart Garb
Take a look at my Step by Step page for the entire Hordebloods project. Here you will find each model broken down into links showing each step: Concept, Works in Progress, (for both modelling and painting) and Final Shots
Here's a little musical interlude for some of you, with a rather specific taste in music. The reason is that our community friend, Dethtron of Dick Move and House of Paincakes is in a band - an 'eavy metal band to be precise. Some of the lyrics are even inspired by the gaming hobby. (Scroll down for an example.) Right now they're trying to launch their first self-produced album through Kickstarter.
Even if you don't offer them some money, or groupies, you can help by spreading some awareness... here's their info so you can check them out further and maybe offer a Like, Retweet or Share.
Pigments, also known as "weathering powders" by some, provide fantastic effects that we can add to our miniatures, more so than just weathering. Pigments can be used for shading, blending, creating a "weathered" or "worn" look, adding build up like dirt / grime / patina, even colouring an entire model or making your own paint. The reason I prefer to simply call them "pigments" (other than it being their true name) is because of all of those uses - well beyond just "weathering."
I haven't seen too many places that sell them. I got mine from Secret Weapon Miniatures and the sets will give you the most bang for your buck. Personally, I find that the browns, reds, yellows, black and white are the ones I use most often vs the blues and greens.
You'll also notice a thin vial in that photo too. This is actually a pigment from MAC Cosmetics. These are crazy overpriced though, and TheWife picked up this one cheap (surplus) for us to try. (I'll cover how it turns out in a later post) Yup, that's right... pigments work a lot like make-up.
So it's been a little while since I've posted, but I have been painting.. and here's what I've been working on.
Voidheart (Tier 4)
I left off on this Warlock, wearing Voidheart armour. One area I wasn't sure of how I wanted to handle things, was his head piece. I didn't want to give the face a full blue glow, but did want to incorporate the effect. I created it using a mix of blue pigment followed with some blue wash.
In case you haven't been around, there was a delay as I had to move for a work promotion, but I'm finally back to work!
In the next week, posting will get better and I have a few already planned to hit in the next few days. In the mean time, enjoy a couple small updates and this weekly update!
Out of curiosity, anybody know what happened to Ninjabread?
Here's a Kickstarter that's piqued my interest. I don't actually know anything of the system, but the minis have some crazy designs. (No models yet, unfortunately.) Being someone who focuses on painting, I gotta say that these figures look like nothing else I've seen before and I'm pretty curious to see how they end up when they're finally modelled.
Dreamforge is also finally on the Kickstarter bandwagon. I've seen these creations slowly come together and they are mighty. Definitely worth your time to take a look at.
Since I created the Mauler, I've had a number of people comment on his bracers. They're right - these are great examples of using nail jewels on minis, so I've updated the post as such. Take a look!
As the title of the post says, I'm getting back in to the swing of things. Work is busy - lots of long days... but TheWife and I are settling in and have finished up the things we need for which I was delaying updating this site.
Painting has been coming along strongly and the Warlocks are looking fantastic. I've got a few tutorials photographed and to be whipped together.
I know I keep saying it, but plans are coming together for the future... lets just hope for no more interruptions.
But now, because I said I would, here are the photos I took while setting up my new hobby room.
Having cleared out a space to work with, I start with the desk my Opa built, aka, my workspace. It's facing a window, which is great... even though this is the basement, a window that size is fantastic. Lots of natural light gets in, without having the sun directly face it is even better. That means no sun in my eyes while I work.
Just a quick update here to say that we've settled in to our new apartment, unpacked most of our stuff and I've got the hobby area setup again. I HAVE been painting, yay! Makes for a great way to relax at the end of the very long days at the moment. Plenty of pictures taken with a bunch of posts that need to be put together. I've even just about finished another Hordeblood Warlock.
BUT, things are still very busy right now and there is some real-world stuff that I have to take care of before I can focus on the blog again.
I'd rather not post sporadically, which is why I'm saving everything up until I can commit to regular quality postings like you're used to. It IS coming, just be patient. The last few months have been absolutely crazy... eta to getting back to regularly scheduled programming? At least a week... dare I say more?
I am around though, so if you're looking for some help or a tip in particular, post a question on Facebook and I'll probably get back to you the same day. http://www.facebook.com/WargamingTradecraft
Sooo, this happened (via BoK) and it looks like it could be fantastic. GW's probably trying to get the taste of Ultramarines out of their mouth and are pleased to have a fan-movie come around that looks like it's so full of potential that they gave it the green light. It's called The Lord Inquisitor.
Well, not quite... but tomorrow! Morning! After being up late to finish off packing! /sigh
And internet is being horrible today... maybe just cause they've provisioning our services elsewhere? We're still slated for connection tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be communicado this weekend as to how the move goes... If not... I guess less things to distract me a more time to settle in?
Unfortunately, I'll probably setup the studio last. Why? So I have the most time to set it up of course. We've got a nice little 3 story (2 + basement) quadplex... Living room will involve some shoving of furniture and wiring of stereos/tvs/gamestations.... All I'm concerned about in the kitchen is my booze... (which isn't a horrible statement about how I view women - my wife's just particular about where things will go, and I work from that when I cook.) The computer room / office is a pretty standard setup, nothing unusual, just time consuming to wire cleanly. Bedroom is also pretty straight forward as is the basement / laundry room.
But the guest / hobby room will take some doing to setup exactly how we like.. especially since I'll have to figure out how to handle shelves on the thin wood walls. Either way, I'm hoping to clock some serious hours in there coming up and everything's gotta be just right... I'll also aim to get a terrain post up at the beginning of next week, hobby room sorted or not... so stay tuned!
In the meantime, here are the photos that I've been taking over the last week:
Seriously, it's been quite the summer for delays to my plans for getting some new real content up on this blog, and it looks like there's going to be another one. My work's had one of those shake-ups that nobody enjoys going through, and luckily not only do I still have a job, but I've actually gotten a promotion and been given rule over a site of my own! (broadcast radio + computer/IT engineering)
Like Lauby, I'm having to move. (though not nearly as far as him!) It still means tearing down my studio though, then setting up a new one. I've stolen his idea and taken some photos of the teardown... but what's really exciting me is the prospect of bunkering in to a new hobby-hole and seeing what I can do with the new space.
Because I had some content saved up, and I've had to keep this move secret until the announcement at work, we already found a place and I'm actually moving this weekend and we're about packed up. This means that there shouldn't be too much of a delay. (hopefully) Also, we were able to arrange internet to get transferred the day me move in - yay!
I'll try to take a last minute hop online to post the pics I've taken before tearing down my computers Friday... then next week I should have some time to post at least about the studio setup, and maybe even to put a post on terrain flock together and just needs some pics edited.
Yup, this is the next Warlock that I'm working on for my Hordeblooded army. (You'll recall the first one I completed, wearing Nemesis armour.) I coulda sworn I'd posted some WIP photos of him already, but maybe not.
I haven't quiiiiite figured out how I'm going to handle the big blue glow yet. Tears in his clothing and probably some seams, absolutely. I know I'll do the eyes all glowy like they are, but the face I'm undecided on. I think going all blue would look horrible... but maybe bringing out some blue shadows or highlights would work. Thoughts?
You'll see here that I chopped up a normal troll's hand and gave this guy a sword... mageblades were what I rocked on my 'lock in WoW, so why not? I'm picturing something white and crystalline.
The unifying colours for this squad (aside from the terrain and tabbard) will be the runes across their shoulders and wrists, so those will get done up green like on the Nemesis armour.
Also notice I've coloured his skin a little differently too... little more yellow in the green. I don't want to paint everyone's skin uniform - because I think some diversity adds to the image and is kinda needed in our hobby.
Here's another Kickstarter that threatens to take me to the bank... after Wasteland 2, Shadowrun, Carmageddon, and of course Sedition Wars, now Reaper Minis has to get on board and ask for more of my money. Dang.
I'll be holding out on this one for now as it's not super shiny yet... like Sedition Wars, the $100 level is where it's at, and where the milestone bonuses are being added... but it's not crazy enticing quite yet....
Don't get me wrong, the minis are beautiful as always from Reaper.. but these new plastic minis sell pretty cheap apparently, which means if I couldn't live without some of them, I'd just pick them up individually.
But there's almost a month left, *sigh*, so we'll see how much sweeter the pot gets.
When last I spoke of this guy, disaster had struck. And it sucked. Bad. Now my Voidwalker is all finished up and doing a good job of protecting my droogs from danger.
I filled the area between his feet with rock chips and they've done a fantastic job of reinforcing his legs.
So there's recently been a little craziness on the internet... well, I suppose there's nothing unusual about that. Perhaps I should clarify - in our little corner of the blogosphere there's been some controversy over appropriate content and sexism, which while following on the heels of the psychoticness of the recent treatment of a certain girl who just wanted to raise some money to do a geek-girl documentary, could explain why tensions are already a little high.
Now, I'm not going to link or point fingers, and I hold no ill-will against those involved. It does no good, I follow the site it occurred on, and I enjoy most of the author's work. Because of some of the comments though, it shows that there are people concerned about kids exploring the hobby while online. As such, I wanted to re-iterate a principle that I've held since launching this site a few years ago:
Wargaming Tradecraft is appropriate for all ages.
and now,
Visitors of the Find a Blog network list can now view (and sort by) content ratings.
(as chosen by blog authors - NOT reviewed by me, unless I get complaints)
Since TheWife got me my new camera, I've been discovering all sorts of fantastic photo opportunities. So, now that I've got something that can take pictures of freaking moon-craters, I figured it's time to revisit some of the pictures from my Casio that just didn't make the cut. (By the end, most of the pictures I was posting to my blog were being taken with my camera phone...)
As a reminder, I've already got posts on Photographing Your Minis and Lighting Your Hobby Area which are well worth a read for anyone interested in taking better photos for their blogs or galleries.
This is where the magic happens! Designed, built and programmed by my dad.
So here's the second part of my custom Hordebloods template project. [see the first here] Another successful bunch of work complete and it's created some fantastic looking templates.
I've gone in to more detail here leading up to the current version of the templates.
The spray template was the hardest to reproduce. Why? It's not to spec. The sides and middle are actually longer than 10". Looks like that first half inch designator is a little too big.
My dad and I had a great weekend of working on these. It made for a great project as he showed me more about the workings of his machine and he worked out a few kinks in my design, and we resolved some bugs in the code and brainwashed for new features for it. This alone made for a successful project, the templates working out being bonus :)
Due to a family emergency, I'll be away for a bit. This will also delay the approval of new sites to the Network, which I'll take care of when I have a moment. Normal programming will resume in a few weeks.
For over a year now, I've had a Network page that's allowed hobbyists to find blogs that cover the content they're interested in and for blogs to advertise themselves and what they're about. In this time, the network page grew to a whopping 72 blogs! Now, I'm proud to announce version 2 of the Wargaming Tradecraft Find a Blog service, with plenty of new features! Most prominently, is that this is a single page that lists all the blogs signed up, is easy and fast to search for content you're interested in, contains contact information for all the authors in one place, and directs readers to YOUR website.
Blogs listed with the Topics they're about and (NEW!) the miniature Genres they cover.
ex Topics: Gallery, painting instructions, modding, strategy, theory, fluff, etc
ex Genres: Warmachine, 40k, Fantasy, Medievil, Steampunk, Black Powder, etc
ALL the Topics and Genres are fully searchable.
Click on as many as you like to only display blogs covering those topics.
Social Media links
Sites and authors can enter links to their Email, Facebook, Twitter, etc
Allows the Find a Blog page to be a 1-stop site for connecting with your favorite authors!
RSS Feeds
Allows readers to quickly follow your blog!
Sites that enter their RSS links will be part of future features to further our hobby's interests.
I won't use your RSS feeds to post full articles.
Update-able
Authors can update their site's information themselves as the focus of their blog shifts or they change emails, create a Facebook account for their site, etc.
Not mandatory, but I still ask that you put a link to the Find a Blog network on your own site, so that we can connect as many people as we can to the blogs that interest them. I've updated the old Widget to point to the new Network page, but don't fret! Anybody currently being sent to the old Network page will automatically be redirected to the new one.
Also, thanks to Thor over at Creative Twilight for answering some questions I had... and to him and Curis from Ninjabread for signing up in the early stages so I had some real test data to work with.
(Don't forget to follow my Twitter and Facebook to get peeks in to what I'm up to.)
Because authors now get a username and password used to update their information whenever they wish, YOU WILL HAVE TO SIGN UP AGAIN. This is the only speed bump to getting the network back off the ground, hopefully surpassing the old 72 and compiling a list of all the miniature hobby sites out there in one location.
Not much going on yet, was kinda sick last week and visiting family this past weekend BUT I have started working again.. on some Hordeblood painting and terrain, as well as finishing my detailed water tutorial. Expect some updates this week. If you've been following my Facebook or Twitter, then you also know about some of the awesomeness that I created this weekend.
Also, I'm nearly caught up reading all my blogs since the Headshots charity devoured my time... so for your viewing pleasure, here's a bunch of great links... Next week I'm hoping to be fully caught up, and maybe even have a chance to go through all the art updates on DeviantArt.
The amount of bang for your buck is incredible here thanks to all the milestones they've reached, not to mention all the tasty add-ons for those of you who've ever wanted to paint up some of your favorite movie heroes and heroines!
Seriously, scroll through all the rewards that have been unlocked and all the extras you can include. Not only does the game look fun, but the models are FANTASTIC. I know I've got a lot to paint already, but I'm looking forward to adding these to my queue.
(Yeah, I'm hoping to hit the milestone and get River and Jayne Phoenix and Delta included for free ;)
Incase you've been wondering what I've been working on, you can now see the product of my recent time and efforts. There will be a bigger announcement later, but for now, please try out my new Network page and report any bugs you find. This new system is much more powerful and has more plans for the future.
Also, I've been catching up on my reading, so enjoy the following:
Not much of an update yet... but there is progress. Yesterday the Hordebloods were victorious as I finally got back to my FLGS for some WarmaHordes action... which helps to renew the bug to get painting again. As such, I cleaned my hobby area last night and it's about ready for some painting action again... so stay tuned.
Also, I've got something new in the works... give it a week or so tops... should prove to be a great step for the community.
Last Week in the Community
If you haven't seen it yet, The Black Crusade is this years charity project using the same formula as the guys who've raised tens of thousands of dollars for charity over the last few years by auctioning off armies. Santa Cruz et al are taking a well earned break, but no worries because this is your way to help out today.
This year proves again to be a great project, so head on over!
Also, if you haven't seen it yet, Mike McVey has a Kickstarter going on for his Sedition Wars boardgame. The game itself looks pretty easy to learn, and has FANTASTIC miniatures that he's sculpted to go along with it. Definitely worth checking out.
