Terrain Tuesday +1: Last chance to vote for me!

 There are only 5 days left of voting over at the first ever Terrain From Junk Contest! I entered a rusty old fuel depot turned bastion.  I figured any tall structure in a besieged city would be fortified in some way, so I thought, "why not make it serve as a bastion as well?" TfJ had a few rules (you can read here) that I followed and I managed to pull the whole thing together from start to finish in about two weeks.  Must have not been working very hard.

Unfortunately, in the midst of making this terrain piece, my original computer crashed and I lost the majority of my WIP pics. I've now learned not to delete pics from the camera until I've made my back ups, but for this round of Terrain Tuesday+1, there are no WIP shots.

 

This is the only picture of the bits used that I have.  In the back, I used cereal box cardboard for the detailing on the Coffee Can.  I also used it to make the sidewalk tiles and the rivets for extra detailing.  Cereal box cardboard rules!  I've used it before on my DIY Drop Pods way back in the day and I'll probably use it again. It's cheap, abundant and doesn't look half-bad painted!

 

Also included in the picture is foam core...which every terrain maker knows about, so I won't get into it here. This was used for basing. The original plans for the oil drum was to have stairs going up to a second floor, but I scrapped the landing in the interest of time.  For bits, I used various pieces from various sets (you can see an ammo box in a pic or two and the ladder came from a hobby train accessory set), along with a generator/pipe line from the IMEX Chemical Plant terrain set. The set I bought had extra pipes/drums but no platform pieces, so I can't recommend them based on quality control...but the pieces themselves make for great pipework detailing.  I wish I had found a way to use more of the set in this piece!

Not pictured is the styrofoam tiles used to create the rubbled wall and the sculpting clay used to create the sandbags on top of the structure.  Various materials assembled to form a piece of terrain worth fighting for!

On my long list of Terrain Tuesday projects, I plan to make a second Fuel Drum Bastion to compliment my first one and also to slowly convert my City-table into an Industrial Warzone table. I've kept the template I used to create all the details, so assembly should be fast enough that I can take pictures again!

Thanks for looking!  Now please head over to the contest site and vote for my piece or if you like flamekebob's piece better, by all means...vote that way! Participation is the key to enjoying this hobby after all.

Super Blog Chain Giveaway!

Just a quick administratum post letting my readers know about the two new SBCG contests going on. 
What?  Two contests, you say?  Your eyes do not deceive you!  Dark Future Games decided to double down on the prize and choose two winners.  Which is going to create 2 more winners.  And eventually the 2 blog chains will cross streams and the universe will end, but until then, let's enjoy the ride!
In case you haven’t been following, here are the prizes and winners so far in this esteemed contest developed by Santa Cruz Warhammer:
So far prizes given/to be given away:
Santa Cruz Warhammer - 2 Winsor Newton Brushes, Brush Cleaner, Bin of Best Damn Basing Sand Ever (tm)
Adepticus Prime - 3 New Eldar War Walkers
Dark Future Games - A Custom-Dreadnaughts, winner's choice conversion/weapons/chapter!
Team Snake Eyes- A NEW Transport Vehicle of Winner’s Choice
Tales From the Warzone – A NEW Troop Box of Winner’s Choice

Now if the prizes aren’t enough for you to consider entering, consider for a moment the folks that will now visit your blog!  Before this contest, I had never even heard of Team Snake Eyes or Tales from the Warzone…but just linking off Dark Future, I visited, followed and will now watch for updates.   That’s community building and getting more folks connected.  The prize is now officially icing on the cake!
Check out the links and enter!  And follow these blogs!  Both look great!

Administratum: Contests! Contests! Flesh Tearers!

Just in case you missed the comments in my last post, Old School Terminator over at Dark Future Games is continuing the Super Blog Chain Giveaway contest.  The direct link is right here.  Head over there and enter!  Deadline for submissions is May 10th.  I'd enter myself if I could...his prize of a Winner's Choice converted Dreadnaught is not only cool, it's exactly the sort of prize no one could say no to! 

So far prizes given away:
Santa Cruz Warhammer - 2 Winsor Newton Brushs, Brush Cleaner, Bin of Best Damn Basing Sand Ever (tm)
Adepticus Prime - 3 Eldar War Walkers
Dark Future Games - 1 Dreadnaught, winner's choice conversion/weapons!

Please enter!  It's a great way to drive folks to see your blog and a great way to showcase your talent for creative prizes/ideas!  Plus...who doesn't like a good contest?  I know I love 'em.

Speaking of contests, as I mentioned previously, I had planned to enter the Terrain From Junk contest...and unlike previous attempts to finish on time, in this case, I finished my Coffee Can masterpiece:

Head on over there and vote for me!  Or the other entry if you like it better.  It's a great entry and I'm honored to be part of the competition. Most importantly, it got me working on terrain and finishing a project! A word to folks out there mulling over various projects...contests help inspire and get things done!  Don't be afraid to to participate!

Lastly, as I hinted at over on SCWH, I have started a Flesh Tearers Marine force.  I don't know why, but something diminished-strength Marine chapters struggling to survive really makes me want the army.  My Crimson Fists are somewhere around 4000 points painted, so I think I can afford a small FT strike-force, right?

I bought a Battleforce, a Death Company box and 2 San-Guard boxes.  I figure I can make everything I need for a 1100 point force from those boxes.  So look for posts soon on the Flesh Tearers!  Anyone else start up a BA force?

Super Blog Chain Give Away! Winner: Old School Terminator!

As all good things must come to an end, and new things must begin, I pass on the prize and the SBCG burden on to Old School Terminator at Dark Future Games!  It was a tough choice for me and I wish I could have split the prize and given something to everyone.  But there must always be one and the idea of lusty Slannesh walkers was one I couldn't pass up and his prize of a painted converted Dreadnaught is something I'd love to see made and shipped.

It's the prizes made with love for the hobby that I love the most!

Congrats to the winner!  And congrats to SCWH for putting together such an awesome contest!  The entries I got below were just awesome. 

And the prizes aren't bad either.  Guess what I got in the mail today?  2 gorgeous brushes, brush cleaner and some fantastic basing material.  I can't say enough good things about the guys over at Santa Cruz Warhammer. 

I hope the other entrants will head on over to Dark Future games and post their prizes on to this contest!  Keep it alive!

Super Blog Chain Give Away! Deadline approaches!

My computer has crashed and I'm working hard to restore it, but in the meantime, I wanted to remind my readers of the Super Blog Chain Give Away deadline approaching on Friday! 

The Prize is Three (3) Eldar War Walkers still on the sprue!


Already I see some awesome entries, so the competition is fierce (and difficult for me!)...but that doesn't mean you can't top someone on here for this great prize.  And remember, if you win, you'll be running the Super Blog Chain Give Away next and Santa Cruz Warhammer and I will work hard to send people to your blog!

"The "Pay It Forward" Super Blog Chain Give Away" (part 2)

The give-away feeling at Santa Cruz Warhammer is fairly infectious.  The excitment of the prize, the daydreaming as you post...and then that email that says "You've won.  Pay it Forward!"

It's a small thrill, but a wonderful one nonetheless and one I'd like to share with my own readers (and new visitors to my blog!).  So I'm having a contest!  Just like SCWH's Pay it Forward contest!

The prize?  Three Eldar War Walkers still on the sprue.  I'll never do anything with them and it'd be nice to send them to a great Eldar home.  This means, the winner will receive, by mail, the sprues to make 3 walkers (minus 1 decorative piece), 3 large bases and 3 glass canopies.  Oh!  And 3 sheets of transfers!  It's as if you time traveled back to when the Eldar were released and purchased a War Walker Squadron cause you thought you'd like to make an Eldar army!

 The rules for the contest are simple...and copied verbatim from SCWH:

Rules.

1. you must have a blog.

2. you must have something worthwhile to offer up to give away for free.

3. if you win, you must hold your own blogsite give away using the same rules to pay it forward.

4. you must contact us with a link to your give away so we can send bloggers to your site.

5. you may only enter once per give away.

To enter.

leave a comment to this post as follows.

1st sentence, why you need the prize.

2nd sentence what you will give away on your blog to pay it forward.

I will choose the winner based on how convincing they are and what they offer to the next winner.

The winner will be announced this coming Friday night 9pm EST!

Be clever!  Be witty!  Be greedy!  Be crazy!  Be awesome!

40 Days of Painting: Failure and a new contest!

I owe a few pictures for the 40 Days of Painting contest, but I thought I'd let folks know that I lost.  Mainly cause I didn't paint a single Tactical model on Friday night before the deadline.  The winner, Viper (on nerdnyc) had won in the first few days and received the gift certificate and our grudging admiration.  If I could paint half as fast as him, I'd have 6 incomplete armies instead of a measly 3!  There was a second place prize that I also did not win...but I could have scored if I had completed my tacticals.  Curse my laziness!

No big deal though!  Worst result out of this contest is that I'm out $10 and I've added another 1000 points of painted Crimson Fists to my collection.  In fact...that's not a bad deal at all!  I had a great time trash talking folks online and getting models painted under a deadline is great motivator.  I mean...even if you don't win the grand prize...you still win those painted models, right?  Right???

Speaking of contests, Terrain from Junk is holding a terrain building contest and I've decided to join.  Which means I have 15 short days to pull together a 6x6 piece of terrain, take pictures (normally my undoing) and send them along to that fantastic (and fledgling) blog.  Go over there and comment!  DIY Terrain is a dying art!  Revitalize it!  With the power of junk!!!

I'll post updates as I go.

Step 1: Gather the materials!

More to come.  This will eventually be a Fuel Storage silo turned bastion.  It's going to be awesome.  I make terrain way better than I convert/paint models. It's like a secret skill I have.  Maybe it's why I enjoy basing models so much. 

40 Days of Painting: Random Thoughts

So without realizing it, the minis I pulled off the shelf for this contest could totally amount to a modest 1030 point army!

HQ (300 Points)
Captain with Jump Pack, Power Sword, Meltabomb
Captain with Terminator Armor and ChainFist

Elite (155 points)
6 Sternguard, 1 Combi-Melta

Troops (465 points)
10 Tacticals, Powerfist, Meltagun, Missile Launcher, Rhino
10 Tacticals, Plasma Pistol, Plasma Gun, Heavy Bolter, Rhino

Fast Attack (110 Points)
5 Assault Marines with Jump Pack, Flamer

It isn't the worst list in the world for a 1000 point game.  A solid Troop core with an ability to tackle various unit types (Plasma on the MEQs, HB on swarms...Power Fist for Dreads) loaded in Rhinos and supported by 2 ICs and a Jump squad.  I guess I'd march that Terminator Captain around the board as he'll be the slowest model out there...or use him as a counter-assaulter to support a HB or ML combat squad.

The Jump Pack Captain will support the Jump Pack marines and break up small enemy units or last-turn objective contest.  I feel like the list is a bit naked without some sort of tank, like the cheap predator...but I wouldn't be adverse to playing with this list.

Might even be fun in a Planetstrike game as the defenders!

How do you decide what you're going to paint?  Is it what tickles your fancy?  Is it that neat conversion that you just have to paint?  Or do you paint in blocks of required units?  I usually paint in blocks of units I want to try out.  This time around I just grabbed what I had assembled just to finally get them done.  We'll see how that works out for me.  I have a lot of other minis I should "just get done..." many of which you've seen right here on this blog (Dark Angels, Tau, etc!).

What do you have on your shelf that you just need to get done but you haven't been inspired to pull down and paint?

40 Days of Painting Status Update:   
39 days left...all models are now primed and ready for base work.

I'm back and 40 days of Painting ahead!

So after a too long hiatus, I'm back. I could post a litany of excuses...work, life, laziness, etc...but suffice it to say, I've missed posting and been aching to get back to it.

Over at NerdNYC, I've entered into a "contest" of sorts.  We're all putting some money in a pot and the challenge is simple:  40 points worth of minis in 40 days.  I have lots of minis just sitting on the shelf, assembled and unpainted, so I pulled a bunch down and I've decided to get these done!

 Thirteen points:  2 Rhinos (5 each) and 6 Sternguard at 1/2 point each (since I've already started them).

 

Twenty-seven points. 5 Assault marines...one of which is a very old assault marine equipped with a very old hand flamer (which is simply a flamer in play).  Terminator with Chainfist and 20 Tactical Marines.  A lot of these guys are older Metal models with newer arms and bolters (though some have old bolters too!).  I really emptied my "old bits" box to assemble these guys and I'm happy with how they turned out. Lastly, I made a Jump-Pack equipped Captain using various bits from various sets.  He's been put on a resin (I think!) base I received in a trade not long ago.  I wanted this Captain to stand out a bit and also be about the same height as my Vanguard and the resin base was perfect for it.

I made some minor conversions here and there and I'll try to highlight them in the future as I paint up the models. I'm excited to be back painting and modeling again!  Stay tuned (for more regular posting!).

Old School Mini Time!

GWPertinent is having a friendly contest asking that we take a picture of our oldest model and post it for posterity. As I post this picture I realize I didn't include the slip of paper with his blog name, so I'll need to retake, but in the meantime, here's a blast from the past...a Mentors Legion Terminator Librarian with Force Sword and Storm Bolter:

Click for Larger Version

I think I painted this guy when I was like 10 or 11 (I might be dating myself here). I remember him coming with a few Punk Rock scouts and lots of Tyranid Warriors and Genestealer Hybrids. Maybe an old Space Crusade booster set?

I painted him in the Mentors Legion scheme (I hope!) and it looks to me like I converted the Force Axe into a Force Sword...which might make this my first conversion too! Shamefully, back then, I actually painted my minis but left them unbased! Now it's the opposite!