I've made some progress in downsizing my Marine gear. I sold a few items at the FLGS for store credit, and am hammering out a deal for a couple items over at Bartertown. It does feel nice to shed some of this stuff, and I've not even gotten into the valuable stuff. So far I've just moved random items and castoffs from dead projects.
As I sit and think about how many of each item I need, I'm discovering that most of my collection can be summed up with "The Rule of Four."
This is an idea I started working under back when I was first amassing my initial compliment of infantry. I was unsure how many models of each type I needed for maximum list flexibility. Did I build all the missile launchers I owned, or only a few? How many flamers did I need? I decided that four was the magic number for special and heavy weapons. The maximum number of heavy weapons in a Devastator squad is four, as is the maximum number of special weapons available to a Command squad. So, I worked on special and heavy weapons in sets of four. I've got four plasmagunners, four missile launchers, four heavy bolters, etc, etc. Thus far, I've never really wanted for more than that.
I think part of this is due to how I play. I don't tend to build forces that feature the same weapon over and over. You won't see me playing an all-melta army, or a list that exclusively uses missiles. I like to mix and match my weaponry.
Now that Sixth has rolled around, the Rule of Four is even easier to enforce, due to the points levels we play at the FLGS. Some folks clamor for 2000+ point games, but so far we've hovered in the 1500-1850 range due to the time investment involved in tourneys. Sixth simply takes longer to play, so lower points levels help ensure complete (or near-complete) games. My Marines simply don't have the ability to cram in more than four of a given unit in those points ranges, while still being an interesting and balanced force.
So, I counted out the parts I need to get all of my heavies and specials up to four of each type, and bagged up the spares. The spare heavies are already gone, snapped up in a flash after I'd posted them. I only have two meltagunners to build and paint, so I'll have to inventory my special weapons next.
This rule even extends to vehicles. I had set my NIB Dreadnought aside in the Keep Pile, until this morning. I have four Dreads built and painted in my collection already. One plastic Venerable, two metal standard Dreads, and an Ironclad. I always fooled with the idea of running six, and had collected stock to do so. But, Dreads took a big hit in 6th Edition, and I decided that four was plenty for games of the previously mentioned points range.
The only exception to the Rule of Four right now are Rhinos. I have four built (though one is an old-school variant that I've grown out of love with). All of these are magnetized, have removable hatches and opening doors, and painted interiors. I could stop at four, if Rhinos were only used for transports. But, they also form the basis of Predators, Razorbacks, and Whirlwinds. I like running all of those models, and they're almost necessary when running a force that needs Rhinos as transports. So, I've decided to break the Rule of Four for Rhinos and go with a full six. I might even sell my old Rhino/Razor when I'm done, and pick up a new chassis to replace it. We'll see. If so, it would be the first painted model I'll have ever sold. Not sure how I feel about that.
I finished off another Sternguard model last night, except for his static grass and repainting of the base ring. I was pleasantly surprised while assembling him that his head fit neatly in the collar without the issues of the previous model. This second model uses a different helmet, the one with two pipes on one side, vents on the other, and a skull on the brow. The lack of vents on both sides makes it possible to fit his head in the neck socket without contacting the collar! Huzzah! I have decided to stop using Mk8 torsos after the third model, though. This is because I'm keeping three Tyrannic War Vets models from my metal veteran collection, and adding them to the Sternguard pile. Since that breaks the cohesion (as does the one model I've had built and painted for ages now), there's no point in keeping to Mk8 for the rest.
4.12.2013
4.08.2013
Moving Along Nicely
I'm on my way to cataloging the excess items in my Marine collection. I pulled out a first batch of stuff, and have decided to give the local players at my FLGS first crack at each batch as I make it available, then progress to Bartertown, then eBay. This is mostly due to ease of transactions. An in person sale is easiest (though I have to take the price in store credit), followed by lump and flat price sales/trades on Bartertown, then the crapshoot and fee-murder of eBay.
It was interesting to sit down on the living room floor and open every box and bag I have, write down what was in each one, and then close it all back up and start making "keep" and "go" piles. There was a little less in the "go" pile than I wanted there to be, though. Try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to put the brand new Land Raider with all of the sponson options in the pile. However, I think I'll be performing the sort again after I've cleared out all of the stuff currently in the "go" pile. I figure with some time and effort, I'll be more willing to part with some things.
I did some painting this weekend as well. I finished off the painting for the body of my second Sternguard model. I need to seal him this evening, then paint the base while the sealer dries.
I also started working on my Hive Tyrant! Here is a quick shot of what the first two coats look like:
This is white primer (Rust-O-Leum sandable primer), then two coats of Reaper MSP Olive Green, and a heavy wash of MSP Muddy Green. The wash was straight flow improver and paint, no water. It pooled in some areas, but I'm going to do a 50/50 mix of Muddy to Olive to bring the surfaces back up, then progress upward in 25% ratio increments. The third color in this triad is Pale Olive. I'm thinking at the extreme ends of each carapace section, I'm going to go all the way up to an off-white, so I can then blend the very edges of the carapace sections to a reddish pink, like I've seen on some of the crab shells I was trying to emulate.
I'm not sure what I want to use for the armor plates, though. I have some alternative green colors, or I can try purple or red. I'm thinking a dark color will work best.
What do you think?
I also got my fifth Genestealer assembled, so I have to figure out a way to pin their feet in order to hold them while painting. I'm thinking I can just cut off the slotta tab, insert some thin wire in the feet (like I do for Marines), and then form that wire into a hook shape. I took a handful of picture framing eyelets and screwed them into a wooden paint stirrer. I laid that across the speakers for my computer, and have been hanging the Tyrant's talons and head from the eyelets. It keeps me from touching the wet paint to my desk. I was originally planning on making little vice blocks with scrap wood and butterfly nuts, but I don't feel like spending money on butterfly nuts, bolts, and washers. Although, those are pennies apiece...
I also sat down last night and did some more sculpting. I had found a Genestealer conversion over at Warp Shadow that replaced the stealer claws with Daemonette claws. it looked neat, and fit the crab theme of the army (Hive Fleet Karkinos, remember?). A local Daemons player gave me a bag of spare Daemonette claws, and I started working on trying to copy the conversion. I realized too late that the original conversion was done using the scything talon arms mated to the Daemon claws. I was trying to remove the humanoid claws and replace them with the Daemon pincers. The effect was not as nice as I wanted, so I had to do some sculpting to fix the arms up. Of course, I don't have pictures of this, so I'll talk about it more in a later post.
One thing I do have pics of is the sculpted Spore Mine I made. Every time I have Green Stuff left over after a joint patch or other use, I have been rolling it into little balls to cure. I keep adding to these, like a tinfoil or rubber band ball, each time. I stop when they're about the size of a Space Marine helmet. Once they're that big, I start adding details with the small GS leftovers. Here's one of the things I ended up with:
This little bugger started out as a ball of Brown Stuff that I had left over from something. I drilled a hole in one end, and put a length of steel paperclip in to hold it. Then I started taking little balls of GS and sticking them to the surface. I pressed into the center of a ball with the back of a paintbrush, and then again all around the donut this created. The result looks like some sort of fleshy plate over the gas bladder of the mine. I kept adding to the main ball of Brown Stuff until it was almost covered, leaving area around the wire for tentacles. Those I rolled out by hand using the side of my finger. I found that using the touching portion of my finger would leave fingerprints. The side does not. Hold the resulting tentacle next to the mine and wire to gauge length, and cut to proper size. The offcut goes back into the wad of spare GS. Pick up the tentacle with a wet XActo blade, press into place under the mine, and then use a sculpting tool to press the connection flat for stability. I used the tool to pose/twist the tentacles around the wire. Repeat that process until you've covered the wire as best you can, and filled the blank area under the mine head. I then rolled out one shorter tube of GS, and wrapped it around the tentacle root points. Snip the tube to size, and begin using the sculpting tool to press a furrow in the entire tube. Smooth the area that meets the mine head flat, and then fiddle with the lower edge to make it look like some sort of fleshy skirt. Done!
Does it look pretty good?
The plan now is to either snip the wire just below the tentacles, and drill through the base to allow the wire to fit, or simply bend the wire at a 90 degree angle and a switchback to make it so I can glue the wire directly to the base. Cover with some GS made to look like a rock flow, add sand, paint, and flock. One free spore mine!
I've also started working on the second one:
Not super happy with the tube vents on this one, but they're good enough for a first try. In the future i think I'll attach little lengths of plastic rod or tubing, and sculpt the GS around those instead of trying to press GS into vent shape.
It was interesting to sit down on the living room floor and open every box and bag I have, write down what was in each one, and then close it all back up and start making "keep" and "go" piles. There was a little less in the "go" pile than I wanted there to be, though. Try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to put the brand new Land Raider with all of the sponson options in the pile. However, I think I'll be performing the sort again after I've cleared out all of the stuff currently in the "go" pile. I figure with some time and effort, I'll be more willing to part with some things.
I did some painting this weekend as well. I finished off the painting for the body of my second Sternguard model. I need to seal him this evening, then paint the base while the sealer dries.
I also started working on my Hive Tyrant! Here is a quick shot of what the first two coats look like:
This is white primer (Rust-O-Leum sandable primer), then two coats of Reaper MSP Olive Green, and a heavy wash of MSP Muddy Green. The wash was straight flow improver and paint, no water. It pooled in some areas, but I'm going to do a 50/50 mix of Muddy to Olive to bring the surfaces back up, then progress upward in 25% ratio increments. The third color in this triad is Pale Olive. I'm thinking at the extreme ends of each carapace section, I'm going to go all the way up to an off-white, so I can then blend the very edges of the carapace sections to a reddish pink, like I've seen on some of the crab shells I was trying to emulate.
I'm not sure what I want to use for the armor plates, though. I have some alternative green colors, or I can try purple or red. I'm thinking a dark color will work best.
What do you think?
I also got my fifth Genestealer assembled, so I have to figure out a way to pin their feet in order to hold them while painting. I'm thinking I can just cut off the slotta tab, insert some thin wire in the feet (like I do for Marines), and then form that wire into a hook shape. I took a handful of picture framing eyelets and screwed them into a wooden paint stirrer. I laid that across the speakers for my computer, and have been hanging the Tyrant's talons and head from the eyelets. It keeps me from touching the wet paint to my desk. I was originally planning on making little vice blocks with scrap wood and butterfly nuts, but I don't feel like spending money on butterfly nuts, bolts, and washers. Although, those are pennies apiece...
I also sat down last night and did some more sculpting. I had found a Genestealer conversion over at Warp Shadow that replaced the stealer claws with Daemonette claws. it looked neat, and fit the crab theme of the army (Hive Fleet Karkinos, remember?). A local Daemons player gave me a bag of spare Daemonette claws, and I started working on trying to copy the conversion. I realized too late that the original conversion was done using the scything talon arms mated to the Daemon claws. I was trying to remove the humanoid claws and replace them with the Daemon pincers. The effect was not as nice as I wanted, so I had to do some sculpting to fix the arms up. Of course, I don't have pictures of this, so I'll talk about it more in a later post.
One thing I do have pics of is the sculpted Spore Mine I made. Every time I have Green Stuff left over after a joint patch or other use, I have been rolling it into little balls to cure. I keep adding to these, like a tinfoil or rubber band ball, each time. I stop when they're about the size of a Space Marine helmet. Once they're that big, I start adding details with the small GS leftovers. Here's one of the things I ended up with:
This little bugger started out as a ball of Brown Stuff that I had left over from something. I drilled a hole in one end, and put a length of steel paperclip in to hold it. Then I started taking little balls of GS and sticking them to the surface. I pressed into the center of a ball with the back of a paintbrush, and then again all around the donut this created. The result looks like some sort of fleshy plate over the gas bladder of the mine. I kept adding to the main ball of Brown Stuff until it was almost covered, leaving area around the wire for tentacles. Those I rolled out by hand using the side of my finger. I found that using the touching portion of my finger would leave fingerprints. The side does not. Hold the resulting tentacle next to the mine and wire to gauge length, and cut to proper size. The offcut goes back into the wad of spare GS. Pick up the tentacle with a wet XActo blade, press into place under the mine, and then use a sculpting tool to press the connection flat for stability. I used the tool to pose/twist the tentacles around the wire. Repeat that process until you've covered the wire as best you can, and filled the blank area under the mine head. I then rolled out one shorter tube of GS, and wrapped it around the tentacle root points. Snip the tube to size, and begin using the sculpting tool to press a furrow in the entire tube. Smooth the area that meets the mine head flat, and then fiddle with the lower edge to make it look like some sort of fleshy skirt. Done!
Does it look pretty good?
The plan now is to either snip the wire just below the tentacles, and drill through the base to allow the wire to fit, or simply bend the wire at a 90 degree angle and a switchback to make it so I can glue the wire directly to the base. Cover with some GS made to look like a rock flow, add sand, paint, and flock. One free spore mine!
I've also started working on the second one:
4.04.2013
Full Stop!
Brace yourselves, dear readers, wall of text incoming...
I'm in another one of those 40K funks, and it sucks.
You see, I tend to get into a "who the hell cares about 40K?" frame of mind every once and a while. it typically coincides with massive levels of stress in my life. I know what causes it, and that it will pass, but just can't seem to fix it before it runs its course.
Symptoms are a general apathy about the game, and the hobby in general. I get into this "I don't play more than three games a month, so why bother playing at all?" mindset. I try to jump start my enthusiasm by starting up a new painting project or playing a completely radical army list, which sometimes works and sometimes does not. I have trouble summoning the energy to paint, or even scrape mold lines.
This current funk is pretty deep. I'm considering liquidating all of my Space Marine back stock. I sat down in the living room one day early last week and went through everything I have sitting unbuilt in boxes. Off the top of my head I ran up three Rhinos, a FW Vindicator kit (sans Rhino), a Whirlwind turret, half a squad of AoBR Tac Marines, a metal Techmarine and Servitors box, a Land Raider with ALL armament options, a metal Legion of the Damned box plus a couple blisters, three or four Scout Bikes, a Landspeeder Storm, a Landspeeder, a Dreadnought, an early multipart Tac Squad, and a metal Chaplain. That's just one plastic storage tote! Stashed in an armoire I have two or three Terminator boxes, a box of Scouts, half a Command Squad box, and two Drop Pods. If I jump into my bitz storage organizer, we're talking another 10-15 AoBR Terminators, 10 or so Scouts, 10+ Tac Marines, 15 or so jump packs, Marneus Calgar in metal, 10 or so metal Veteran models, parts of Antaro Chronus, a pair of old metal Techmarines with servoarms, a metal Dreadnought, 4-6 old style Scout Bikes, several old metal Attack Bike sidecars, the limited edition Web Store veteran, the limited edition Army Box Veteran, and a plethora of Marine bitz.
I've amassed all that over the years by making impulse buys at the FLGS, buying people out of their collections via Bartertown or eBay, or just deal-watching for rock bottom eBay auctions. Counting all of that stuff out and inventorying it doesn't make me feel better because I have everything a Marine player could ever want, it makes me feel worse because I know it will take years to assemble and paint it all.
The weight of my amassed Space Marines is crushing the life out of my motivation. Add in my new interest in Tyranids, and it's overwhelming.
I think it might be high time to put a full stop on Space Marines. I tinker with the idea of inventorying and liquidating all of the Marine stuff in one go, just to be free of it. Every time I've thought about it, that little voice in my head says "But you might use that someday!" or "But the next codex might mean you need those kits!". I need to send in a Deathwatch Kill team or some Genestealers to kill that voice.
Is anyone else out there in the same situation? So much stuff backed up, not enough time or motivation to use it all, but a nagging voice that refuses to let you free yourself of it all?
What I need is a plan, and it looks like this: count up all my main Marine body and armament bitz. Keep X parts to build about 20 Marines total. Count up my Scout parts and armaments, and keep 10 total Scouts with a variety of armaments and a heavy bolter (as much as I think it'd be cool to run an all-Scout army, it won't ever actually happen!). Count up my Terminator parts, and keep enough to build two heavy flamer and two Cyclone bearers. I won't ever actually build my Ultrawing force, especially now that they have changed the makeup of Deathwing forces. Keep the drop pods (one was a gift). Bundle up all the Land Raider stuff into the one box and find it a new home. Keep the plastic Dread, get rid of the metal one. Keep the Rhinos and the Vindicator kit, think hard about the Whirlwind sprue.Keep the Techmarine box and one servo-arm Techmarine, plus a full compliment of Servitors. Liquidate the extras. Shed the Legion of the Damned stuff (I love them, but they're pointless for now), and the Storm. Keep the regular Landspeeder kit, and anything bike related. Liquidate EVERYTHING else.
That should bring in some good money no matter what channel I use to sell it (eBay, Bartertown, or local). It'll pare my backlog of Marines to a manageable level. The biggest thing I have to deal with is the doubt. The feeling that all this stuff might be useful "some day." A new Marine codex WILL be released, and it likely will make some of the stuff I'm shedding awesome or fun. I'll have to deal with that as it comes. Hell, with the money I'll have made from liquidating my backlog, i can afford to buy a new box of Marines if I want something new, obviously. It's the hoarding, the mass buying that will murder me. I'm already seeing it with my Tyranids. I've bought several things already, and only one set of scything talons have paint on them, and even that is a work in progress. I have to stop amassing a backlog, ASAP!
I'm getting motivated just planning this out, so maybe I'll spend tonight watching the Bruins game (debut of Jagr in black and gold...), inventorying, and pricing things out...
I'm in another one of those 40K funks, and it sucks.
You see, I tend to get into a "who the hell cares about 40K?" frame of mind every once and a while. it typically coincides with massive levels of stress in my life. I know what causes it, and that it will pass, but just can't seem to fix it before it runs its course.
Symptoms are a general apathy about the game, and the hobby in general. I get into this "I don't play more than three games a month, so why bother playing at all?" mindset. I try to jump start my enthusiasm by starting up a new painting project or playing a completely radical army list, which sometimes works and sometimes does not. I have trouble summoning the energy to paint, or even scrape mold lines.
This current funk is pretty deep. I'm considering liquidating all of my Space Marine back stock. I sat down in the living room one day early last week and went through everything I have sitting unbuilt in boxes. Off the top of my head I ran up three Rhinos, a FW Vindicator kit (sans Rhino), a Whirlwind turret, half a squad of AoBR Tac Marines, a metal Techmarine and Servitors box, a Land Raider with ALL armament options, a metal Legion of the Damned box plus a couple blisters, three or four Scout Bikes, a Landspeeder Storm, a Landspeeder, a Dreadnought, an early multipart Tac Squad, and a metal Chaplain. That's just one plastic storage tote! Stashed in an armoire I have two or three Terminator boxes, a box of Scouts, half a Command Squad box, and two Drop Pods. If I jump into my bitz storage organizer, we're talking another 10-15 AoBR Terminators, 10 or so Scouts, 10+ Tac Marines, 15 or so jump packs, Marneus Calgar in metal, 10 or so metal Veteran models, parts of Antaro Chronus, a pair of old metal Techmarines with servoarms, a metal Dreadnought, 4-6 old style Scout Bikes, several old metal Attack Bike sidecars, the limited edition Web Store veteran, the limited edition Army Box Veteran, and a plethora of Marine bitz.
I've amassed all that over the years by making impulse buys at the FLGS, buying people out of their collections via Bartertown or eBay, or just deal-watching for rock bottom eBay auctions. Counting all of that stuff out and inventorying it doesn't make me feel better because I have everything a Marine player could ever want, it makes me feel worse because I know it will take years to assemble and paint it all.
The weight of my amassed Space Marines is crushing the life out of my motivation. Add in my new interest in Tyranids, and it's overwhelming.
I think it might be high time to put a full stop on Space Marines. I tinker with the idea of inventorying and liquidating all of the Marine stuff in one go, just to be free of it. Every time I've thought about it, that little voice in my head says "But you might use that someday!" or "But the next codex might mean you need those kits!". I need to send in a Deathwatch Kill team or some Genestealers to kill that voice.
Is anyone else out there in the same situation? So much stuff backed up, not enough time or motivation to use it all, but a nagging voice that refuses to let you free yourself of it all?
What I need is a plan, and it looks like this: count up all my main Marine body and armament bitz. Keep X parts to build about 20 Marines total. Count up my Scout parts and armaments, and keep 10 total Scouts with a variety of armaments and a heavy bolter (as much as I think it'd be cool to run an all-Scout army, it won't ever actually happen!). Count up my Terminator parts, and keep enough to build two heavy flamer and two Cyclone bearers. I won't ever actually build my Ultrawing force, especially now that they have changed the makeup of Deathwing forces. Keep the drop pods (one was a gift). Bundle up all the Land Raider stuff into the one box and find it a new home. Keep the plastic Dread, get rid of the metal one. Keep the Rhinos and the Vindicator kit, think hard about the Whirlwind sprue.Keep the Techmarine box and one servo-arm Techmarine, plus a full compliment of Servitors. Liquidate the extras. Shed the Legion of the Damned stuff (I love them, but they're pointless for now), and the Storm. Keep the regular Landspeeder kit, and anything bike related. Liquidate EVERYTHING else.
That should bring in some good money no matter what channel I use to sell it (eBay, Bartertown, or local). It'll pare my backlog of Marines to a manageable level. The biggest thing I have to deal with is the doubt. The feeling that all this stuff might be useful "some day." A new Marine codex WILL be released, and it likely will make some of the stuff I'm shedding awesome or fun. I'll have to deal with that as it comes. Hell, with the money I'll have made from liquidating my backlog, i can afford to buy a new box of Marines if I want something new, obviously. It's the hoarding, the mass buying that will murder me. I'm already seeing it with my Tyranids. I've bought several things already, and only one set of scything talons have paint on them, and even that is a work in progress. I have to stop amassing a backlog, ASAP!
I'm getting motivated just planning this out, so maybe I'll spend tonight watching the Bruins game (debut of Jagr in black and gold...), inventorying, and pricing things out...
3.23.2013
Product Review: IronBow Paint Rack
Last week or the week before, I was cruising 40K blogs. I like to hop from blogroll to blogroll based on folks' post titles. If they interest me, I read them. After several hops, I found a post talking about 40K and wargaming items on Etsy. One example of a good item was a paint rack, laser cut from MDF, and made by TheIronBow. You can find it here.
I'd never ordered from Etsy, but as it's a well-established site now, I figured I'd give it a shot. The price was very reasonable, as was shipping. I was in for $27, which is still only about half of what some other companies charge for comparable racks.
Shipping was prompt, so I had the rack in hand in nine days, including the day I ordered it. Perfectly acceptable. I was pleasantly surprised that it arrived in a cardboard box, instead of the padded flat mailer I was expecting.
I cracked open the box and found all of the parts neatly stacked, with a styrofoam spacer to keep them from rattling around. Nice! Also in the box was a bag containing the hardware (screws and nuts, and some rubber pad feet) and the invoice. The seller added a handwritten note with tips for proper assembly.
One of the neat things about the rack is that when it's filled, you can pick it up and shake it around and the bottles don't move at all. I found that the only way to get bottles to pop out was to give it a little wrist flip, like you were flipping pancakes. Not a motion you'll replicate often.
I sat down and started painting to see how the rack interacted with my workspace. I found that the rack works quite nicely, but that the necks of the bottles kept sticking on the way out. But after about 45 minutes of painting and color switching, I had figured out how to remove the bottles without snagging the necks.
Some folks may not like the fact that you cannot see all of the labels on the bottles when they're stored, and that's a valid concern for many painters. However, I tend to paint using a limited palette of main colors, and a few peripheral colors. You can see in the shot above that I have my Ultramarine armor colors in the upper right, golds under those, then greens, browns, and white/grey/black. I just pull paints from top to bottom as I progress through my routine. If you use the same colors over and over, say for painting an entire army, this rack works just fine. If you're a constant color-switcher or experimenter, you might find the storage orientation frustrating.
Overall, I'd give the rack a solid A, and plan to pick up another one in a few weeks to hold the rest of my paints that didn't fit (I own a ton of paint).
I'd never ordered from Etsy, but as it's a well-established site now, I figured I'd give it a shot. The price was very reasonable, as was shipping. I was in for $27, which is still only about half of what some other companies charge for comparable racks.
Shipping was prompt, so I had the rack in hand in nine days, including the day I ordered it. Perfectly acceptable. I was pleasantly surprised that it arrived in a cardboard box, instead of the padded flat mailer I was expecting.
I cracked open the box and found all of the parts neatly stacked, with a styrofoam spacer to keep them from rattling around. Nice! Also in the box was a bag containing the hardware (screws and nuts, and some rubber pad feet) and the invoice. The seller added a handwritten note with tips for proper assembly.
The pieces are all made nice, sturdy hardboard. None of that plywood or chipboard.
Everything slots together using the tabs. It's pretty idiot-proof, but I do recommend you slot both of the bottle holder sections into one side, then do the other side, then top, then bottom. I tried assembling it all around the back panel, then putting the front in, but it was hard to keep all the tabs in the slots that way.
Once you get it slotted together, you put the bolts through the little holes, and thread them into the provided nuts that sit in a little cross slot. I'd never seen a system like that before, but it works quite well. I would get all the bolts in to finger tight, then use a screwdriver to snug them up.
However, I got a little overzealous with the first bolt, and started cranking down on it with the screwdriver. Metal versus wood means metal wins, and I started pulling the nut straight through the wood. Oops!
I just backed the bolt out a tad, squeezed the wood back flat and all was well. Lesson learned, and the rack was assembled.
I grabbed a bottle of Reaper Master Series and slotted it in. Perfect fit. The bottles sit at a slight upward angle, leading the paint to flow down toward the nozzle. I've read online that this helps keeps dropper bottles from clogging up. We'll see if that's true.
You can see the slight angle here (as well as the proper fit of the bolts):
I filled the rest of the rack with paint bottles. I went from this storage solution (a craft box crammed with paint):
To this one:
One of the neat things about the rack is that when it's filled, you can pick it up and shake it around and the bottles don't move at all. I found that the only way to get bottles to pop out was to give it a little wrist flip, like you were flipping pancakes. Not a motion you'll replicate often.
I sat down and started painting to see how the rack interacted with my workspace. I found that the rack works quite nicely, but that the necks of the bottles kept sticking on the way out. But after about 45 minutes of painting and color switching, I had figured out how to remove the bottles without snagging the necks.
Some folks may not like the fact that you cannot see all of the labels on the bottles when they're stored, and that's a valid concern for many painters. However, I tend to paint using a limited palette of main colors, and a few peripheral colors. You can see in the shot above that I have my Ultramarine armor colors in the upper right, golds under those, then greens, browns, and white/grey/black. I just pull paints from top to bottom as I progress through my routine. If you use the same colors over and over, say for painting an entire army, this rack works just fine. If you're a constant color-switcher or experimenter, you might find the storage orientation frustrating.
Overall, I'd give the rack a solid A, and plan to pick up another one in a few weeks to hold the rest of my paints that didn't fit (I own a ton of paint).
3.18.2013
Post Tourney Report
So Saturday was the FLGS's monthly 40K tourney. 1500 points, and I brought the list I mentioned two posts ago. I elected to go with Typhoon Speeders.
My first game was against a Mechanized Guard/Space Wolves consortium. Lots of melta/plasma Guard vets in Rhinos, two Vendettas, a couple Grey Hunter units in Rhinos with double special weapons, a Rune Priest, Missile Fangs, Primaris Psyker (It's "pry-MARE-us" folks, not "Primus". He doesn't have a big brown beaver, nor is he goin' on down to South Park), and a Psyker Battle squad.
We played Special Ops on the Mars board I'd built last year. Several large sections of area terrain (pipes and pumps), and some LOS-blocking fuel towers. Then a railroad track down the middle with the cars scattered along the center line. Very little cover once you left your deployment zone.
I was pushing for four units in the enemy deployment zone as my primary objective, and I forget what I elected for my secondary and tertiary. I think one was table quarters with a scoring unit, and the other was...kill points?
I placed my Hyperii one in each corner of my deployment zone. The fields of fire were huge, and I made sure I could cover good sections of the board with each. The rest of my units were ranged across my zone, with the attack bikes dead center. The enemy deployed pretty much the same, everything buttoned up in a transport except the Missile Fangs.
We proceeded to shoot the hell out of one another, with my bikes hurtling forward, and the enemy holding a mechanized gun line.
When the smoke cleared, we drew on every objective, I scored one bonus point, and my opponent scored two.
Game Two was against Chaos Marines in a kill point mission with objectives as secondary and table quarters as tertiary. I think. I'm always fuzzy on that stuff after the fact.
The Chaos list was a Lord in TDA, a fistful of Traitor Terminators in a Land Raider, a Helldrake, two CSM squads in Rhinos with double plasma, and a 5 or 6 strong bike squad.
I started out with a pretty good advantage, taking out his Rhinos early and the bike squad shortly after. I shot his Helldrake out of the sky with a Hyperios as soon as it arrived (though it did Vector Strike some attack bikes). Things bogged down as we circled each other for the center of the board, and his Terminators wiped out my melta squad. I'd lost all the attack bikes early from lascannon and vector strike damage. The Land Raider was free to rampage around, but it never did. My opponent backed up with hit, instead of pressing the advantage.
In the end we split the points almost down the middle, 16-15. I had the 15.
We finished the game in an hour and 15 minutes, so I had an hour to wait. I roped Lukas into playing a game of Death Angel with me, which was awesome. I've owned the game since it was released, but have only ever gotten to play solitaire mode. It is infinitely more entertaining with other people. I'm thinking with 6 it would be a total blast. We ended up winning over the Genestealers with a hail mary roll. Success!
Game Three was against Ultramarines in an objective tagging mission. Instead of parking on objectives, you can move around and "tag" them. If the tagged unit dies, all the objectives revert to neutral. If the enemy gets to your tagged objectives and you don't have a claiming or contesting unit around, the enemy steals the tag.
The Ultramarines brought a Librarian, jump Chaplain, one 10-man Tac squad in a Rhino, one 5-man in a Lasback, five or six Hammernators in a Crusader, 5 Sternguard with combis in a pod, and a 10-man Assault Squad.
We beat the crap out of one another in this game, and I came up short. I think I landed three points in the end.
All in all, it was a good day. I had fun in all three games, and don't have a single gripe or bitch to air. I really enjoyed having 4 troops squads in my biker list, and I think I may keep it that way for a while. I'm sad that Typhoons are still the best and only-est Landspeeder option that makes sense. I really want Tornado pattern assault cannons to work, but I think I'd have lost every game without the fire from the Typhoons.
The Hyperii really didn't do much. In game one, I got a shot off on each Vendetta as it arrived, but they just bounced off. The S8 vs AV12 is a total crapshoot. Of course, I lucked out in Game Two when one failed to bother the Helldrake, but the other took it out of the sky. They spent the rest of the game potshotting at Rhinos, same as they did in Game One. With no flyers in Game Three, I used them to splatter a Sternguard model when they podded in, and then potshot at Rhinos.
I think they'd be far more useful against lower-AV flyers, but only Orks really have those. They'll likely also be good against flying or deepstriking monsters like Hive Tyrants. Twin-linking was nice on the missiles, and i didn't miss a single shot all game, IIRC.
I'm not sure what I'd replace the Hyperii with though. I've been wanting to try out some Scout Bikes for a while, so maybe I'll try that out once I'm done with the slow-as-molasses Sternguard squad. Of course, they need a drop pod, so the Scout Bikes might end up pushed even further out.
No progress on Tyranids this weekend.
My first game was against a Mechanized Guard/Space Wolves consortium. Lots of melta/plasma Guard vets in Rhinos, two Vendettas, a couple Grey Hunter units in Rhinos with double special weapons, a Rune Priest, Missile Fangs, Primaris Psyker (It's "pry-MARE-us" folks, not "Primus". He doesn't have a big brown beaver, nor is he goin' on down to South Park), and a Psyker Battle squad.
We played Special Ops on the Mars board I'd built last year. Several large sections of area terrain (pipes and pumps), and some LOS-blocking fuel towers. Then a railroad track down the middle with the cars scattered along the center line. Very little cover once you left your deployment zone.
I was pushing for four units in the enemy deployment zone as my primary objective, and I forget what I elected for my secondary and tertiary. I think one was table quarters with a scoring unit, and the other was...kill points?
I placed my Hyperii one in each corner of my deployment zone. The fields of fire were huge, and I made sure I could cover good sections of the board with each. The rest of my units were ranged across my zone, with the attack bikes dead center. The enemy deployed pretty much the same, everything buttoned up in a transport except the Missile Fangs.
We proceeded to shoot the hell out of one another, with my bikes hurtling forward, and the enemy holding a mechanized gun line.
When the smoke cleared, we drew on every objective, I scored one bonus point, and my opponent scored two.
Game Two was against Chaos Marines in a kill point mission with objectives as secondary and table quarters as tertiary. I think. I'm always fuzzy on that stuff after the fact.
The Chaos list was a Lord in TDA, a fistful of Traitor Terminators in a Land Raider, a Helldrake, two CSM squads in Rhinos with double plasma, and a 5 or 6 strong bike squad.
I started out with a pretty good advantage, taking out his Rhinos early and the bike squad shortly after. I shot his Helldrake out of the sky with a Hyperios as soon as it arrived (though it did Vector Strike some attack bikes). Things bogged down as we circled each other for the center of the board, and his Terminators wiped out my melta squad. I'd lost all the attack bikes early from lascannon and vector strike damage. The Land Raider was free to rampage around, but it never did. My opponent backed up with hit, instead of pressing the advantage.
In the end we split the points almost down the middle, 16-15. I had the 15.
We finished the game in an hour and 15 minutes, so I had an hour to wait. I roped Lukas into playing a game of Death Angel with me, which was awesome. I've owned the game since it was released, but have only ever gotten to play solitaire mode. It is infinitely more entertaining with other people. I'm thinking with 6 it would be a total blast. We ended up winning over the Genestealers with a hail mary roll. Success!
Game Three was against Ultramarines in an objective tagging mission. Instead of parking on objectives, you can move around and "tag" them. If the tagged unit dies, all the objectives revert to neutral. If the enemy gets to your tagged objectives and you don't have a claiming or contesting unit around, the enemy steals the tag.
The Ultramarines brought a Librarian, jump Chaplain, one 10-man Tac squad in a Rhino, one 5-man in a Lasback, five or six Hammernators in a Crusader, 5 Sternguard with combis in a pod, and a 10-man Assault Squad.
We beat the crap out of one another in this game, and I came up short. I think I landed three points in the end.
All in all, it was a good day. I had fun in all three games, and don't have a single gripe or bitch to air. I really enjoyed having 4 troops squads in my biker list, and I think I may keep it that way for a while. I'm sad that Typhoons are still the best and only-est Landspeeder option that makes sense. I really want Tornado pattern assault cannons to work, but I think I'd have lost every game without the fire from the Typhoons.
The Hyperii really didn't do much. In game one, I got a shot off on each Vendetta as it arrived, but they just bounced off. The S8 vs AV12 is a total crapshoot. Of course, I lucked out in Game Two when one failed to bother the Helldrake, but the other took it out of the sky. They spent the rest of the game potshotting at Rhinos, same as they did in Game One. With no flyers in Game Three, I used them to splatter a Sternguard model when they podded in, and then potshot at Rhinos.
I think they'd be far more useful against lower-AV flyers, but only Orks really have those. They'll likely also be good against flying or deepstriking monsters like Hive Tyrants. Twin-linking was nice on the missiles, and i didn't miss a single shot all game, IIRC.
I'm not sure what I'd replace the Hyperii with though. I've been wanting to try out some Scout Bikes for a while, so maybe I'll try that out once I'm done with the slow-as-molasses Sternguard squad. Of course, they need a drop pod, so the Scout Bikes might end up pushed even further out.
No progress on Tyranids this weekend.
3.14.2013
In, or out?
I got some more time in with the Hive Tyrant last night. I went back and applied Liquid Greenstuff to some of the gaps in his torso and toes. They probably would have been ok, but I was more and more annoyed by them the more I looked at them. It was only a partial success, as the gaps I was looking at were really hard to reach with sand paper or a file (which is why I left them alone initially). So, I thinned down the Liquid GS a bit and hoped it would fill enough for the primer to cover the gap. It didn't really work, but the nice thing about thinning Liquid GS is that it clings closely to the model, meaning you don't need a ton of sanding to make it blend in, which is good because I couldn't reach it anyways!
No photo updates today, as I had everything clamped and propped to let the glue cure. I'm hoping to get some tonight.
After that, I got his legs glued to the tail, and the tail to the torso. I'm leaving his head and arms as separate pieces for painting. If I assembled them, I'd have a bitch of a time painting the back of the head, neck, and arm sockets. I have a plan to create a gradient look on the joints, so it shouldn't look too abrupt when the arms and neck join the body.
I tried putting those little spike plates over the arm joints, but wasn't a huge fan of how they looked. Very "tacked on" looking. I also considered sculpting some sort of connective tissue from torso to arm/neck, but am not sure how to go about that while still allowing myself to paint the pieces separately.
Any ideas?
My big "what if" for today is in regards to the arms. I have the two scything talons that come with the Tyrant kit as his upper arms, and two of the smaller ones from the Mawloc kit as his lower arms. I did a test fit of the massive Carnifex talons as his upper arms, but they were too large. Talons that large would be impossible for him to swing with any sort of dexterity.
I really like the smaller Mawloc talons as his lower set. They are wider, with more of an armored look. The plan is to pose those close in to his chest, like a bit of armor covering his abdomen as he leaps forward. Once he's on the ground again and the enemy is in close, he'd start stabbing and cutting with those.
The thing I'm agonizing over is the posing of his upper talons. If he's leaping forward to attack, should his talons be extended like claws, or coiled like a snake and waiting to snap down on impact?
There is only one set of Nid talons in the entire range that are extended, and they're the ones from the old "Monstrous Creature" sprue. Those were designed for third edition Tyranids, and they're ugly as hell. They even lack the same sharp details from the current kits. I'm trying to avoid using them.
My only other alternative, if I want talons extended, is to take two separate sets of the same current talons, and chop the hell out of them. Cut the bicep area from one set and resculpt the elbow joint. Cut the forearm section from another set, again resculpting the elbow joint. Cut the talon from either set, resculpt the wrist joint. Then pin all of those in succession in the proper pose, fill the joints with the correct ribbed tissue, and done! It's an ambitious project for an amateur sculptor like myself. Thankfully, I already own enough sets of the talons to try it out without major additional cash outlay.
Do you think it's needed though? You'd have to picture it in your head as I don't have the pictures up yet, but would the Tyrant look better with top talons extended like spears, or tucked in like scythes?
No photo updates today, as I had everything clamped and propped to let the glue cure. I'm hoping to get some tonight.
After that, I got his legs glued to the tail, and the tail to the torso. I'm leaving his head and arms as separate pieces for painting. If I assembled them, I'd have a bitch of a time painting the back of the head, neck, and arm sockets. I have a plan to create a gradient look on the joints, so it shouldn't look too abrupt when the arms and neck join the body.
I tried putting those little spike plates over the arm joints, but wasn't a huge fan of how they looked. Very "tacked on" looking. I also considered sculpting some sort of connective tissue from torso to arm/neck, but am not sure how to go about that while still allowing myself to paint the pieces separately.
Any ideas?
My big "what if" for today is in regards to the arms. I have the two scything talons that come with the Tyrant kit as his upper arms, and two of the smaller ones from the Mawloc kit as his lower arms. I did a test fit of the massive Carnifex talons as his upper arms, but they were too large. Talons that large would be impossible for him to swing with any sort of dexterity.
I really like the smaller Mawloc talons as his lower set. They are wider, with more of an armored look. The plan is to pose those close in to his chest, like a bit of armor covering his abdomen as he leaps forward. Once he's on the ground again and the enemy is in close, he'd start stabbing and cutting with those.
The thing I'm agonizing over is the posing of his upper talons. If he's leaping forward to attack, should his talons be extended like claws, or coiled like a snake and waiting to snap down on impact?
There is only one set of Nid talons in the entire range that are extended, and they're the ones from the old "Monstrous Creature" sprue. Those were designed for third edition Tyranids, and they're ugly as hell. They even lack the same sharp details from the current kits. I'm trying to avoid using them.
My only other alternative, if I want talons extended, is to take two separate sets of the same current talons, and chop the hell out of them. Cut the bicep area from one set and resculpt the elbow joint. Cut the forearm section from another set, again resculpting the elbow joint. Cut the talon from either set, resculpt the wrist joint. Then pin all of those in succession in the proper pose, fill the joints with the correct ribbed tissue, and done! It's an ambitious project for an amateur sculptor like myself. Thankfully, I already own enough sets of the talons to try it out without major additional cash outlay.
Do you think it's needed though? You'd have to picture it in your head as I don't have the pictures up yet, but would the Tyrant look better with top talons extended like spears, or tucked in like scythes?
3.11.2013
Hoofin' It
My Hive Tyrant is slowly progressing. I put in an hour working on his feet this weekend, but forgot to take anything more than very preliminary shots. Here's some photos of the underside of his hooves:
Yes, they look pretty rough in these shots. I took them right after I got the Brown Stuff in place. Yesterday afternoon, after it has cured, I took a file to the surfaces and smoothed them out. The hooves are now flush with the outsides, and the interior has been cleaned up and smoothed out.
Tonight I plan to add the fleshy 'sole' area, as well as the 'frog'. That's the hard little bony area that will extend from the back to the interior. (It pays to have a wife who used to own a horse.)
I also fiddled with army lists for the FLGS tournament this weekend. I struggled a bit with deciding what type of a list I wanted to run. I thought about a Dreadnought list, led by a Master of the Forge, but I haven't figured out a good way to run that yet. I own four Dreads (one an Ironclad) with a mess of arm options, but just haven't ever had any success with running that many. I think I need to either run a full six (after I build and paint the two I have waiting), or get some drop pods into the mix. Dreads simply cannot walk across the board, and don't have the volume of shots needed to be reliable fire bases. I've tried in the past to do a mini phalanx formation with two Dreads with assault cannons and heavy flamers marching forward led by the Ironclad, and a Venerable standing overwatch behind them with a lascannon and missile launcher. It works ok, but not well enough to be a threat that takes heat off my Troops lots.
I then thought about taking a very vanilla list with a Librarian, a couple Tactical Squads, a Thunderfire, and two five-man units of Devestators: one with heavy bolters, one with missiles. This was the "let's kill the new Daemons" list, but I found it boring. Plus, there are only two reliable Daemons players at our shop, and tailoring a build to give those two players a run when the field is typically 12-16 is stupid.
I decided to go back to my area of expertise, and run bikes. I was inspired by a post over at Apostates Anonymous regarding bikes. At the end of the post, the author talks about how he's underwhelmed by his Bike Command Squad that is tooled for melee. Too many points for limited return, essentially. I thought about my own Command Squad, and realized that it lands in about the same place. Too many points for what it does, and I run an even gimpier version (Champion, Apothecary, Banner Bearer, Powerfist, Power Axe). So, I decided that I'm going to run bikes this month (at 1500 points, btw), and do so without my Command Squad.
Here's a general outline of what I came up with:
Captain in artificer armor, relic blade, storm shield, bike
Bikes One, 5x, combimelta, 2 meltaguns
Bikes Two, 5x, combiflamer, 2 flamers
Bikes Three, 5x, plasma pistol, 2 plasmaguns
Bikes Four, 5x, powerfist
2x Attack Bikes, multimeltas
3x Attack Bikes, multimeltas
Hyperios Whirlwind
Hyperios Whirlwind
2x Landspeeders (see blow)
It's a fast list with some semi-mobile anti-air fire. I largely put the Hyperii in because I just got the book for them and want to see how they work. Couple hundred points for a gamble.
This is the first time I'll have ever run four small bike Troops. Normally I run three six-man squads. I wanted to see how having one wild-card unit would work out, where I can just let them sit out of LOS or something. That's what the fourth squad is for, with its powerfist and no other upgrades.
The only decision I have left is how to arm the land speeders. I typically run them as Typhoons for four missiles per turn. It's reliable, flexible, and has range. But I'm also thinking about alternative loadouts. First is assault cannons and heavy bolters for some serious small arms fire. Half the range of a Typhoon, but double the main gun shots. Assault cannons are a funny creature in that they're very generalist. Not high enough strength to be brutal, but with enough shots to get the job done against light AV and small units of troopers. Same points cost as Typhoons as well.
I also thought about a cheaper version that replaces the heavy bolters with multimeltas. With the change to AP1 in 6th Edition, melta is spectacular against anything with an AV. Of course, they have half the range of a Typhoon, and a quarter when going for melta range. They do match assault cannons though.
The range bands of assault cannons and multimeltas aren't as much of a problem for speeders, though, as they can move rapidly, or even deep strike. With the changes to the mishap table, deep striking a couple land speeders isn't a huge risk. The real risk comes from enemy interceptor units.
So, with the above list, which would you run?
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