Wednesday 29 May 2013

Dipping!

Just a quick one today to put up a picture of the amazing cosmetic altering powers of Dip (no not crisp enhancing sauces, Army Painter miniature shading solution). I know most people are probably already converts but just in case I thought this photo might help convince others to give it a go:

Yes I've put them the wrong way round for a before and after shot!
As you can see the models were only base coated in simple block colours apart from the blue lens/gems and they look seriously bad. Then one quick trip to dip town and they look pretty boss for the amount of time it took to paint them. It does take a little experimentation and care to fully remove the excess and it takes about 24 hrs to fully dry (and man does it smell), but I'd still be painting the guard army without it as it 's also a varnish meaning all these lovely metal models don't chip anywhere nearly as much as normal.

It can also be painted over afterwards to achieve more dramatic highlighting effects (see Lee's daemons for a great use of this technique) and the Army builder stuff alone comes in three tones so with some experimentation you can get a variety of outcomes on the same base colours.

Now just need to base them and my Guard will finally be WYSIWYG for 6th Ed!

Sunday 26 May 2013

Exploring the world of one player gaming.

So I found my self with a few hours to kill this afternoon and as the sun was shining and I'd opened a bottle of cider I thought I'd enjoy the benefits of having a conservatory and play a game in the sun*. Unfortunately I found myself sans any other willing participants so I decided to try out Mice and Mystics as a one player game.

In all it's glory (see I told you it was sunny!)

 But was it a satisfying gaming experience or is there good reason for people pooring scorn upon the single player options?

*Yes I know I have a lot to paint but I also have a rule that says I can't paint after I've started drinking (I don't discuss how this rule came into be being).

Wednesday 22 May 2013

Painting gold!

Do you find that when you start a project/job/chore you'll do almost any other project/job/chore to avoid dealing with a big decision or mental block? I definitely do and I have used this personality flaw to my advantage by avoiding making a decision on how to paint my Plaguebearers by painting my Blood Angel Captain. 

I'd like to pretend this is the first stage but it's actually the third! Thank god it's only one model.
I've leant quite a few things from just painting this much so far, lets find out what they are.

Saturday 18 May 2013

Writing a review for Who!

Just watched the final episode of the current series of Dr Who and decided to do a quick write up. 

Straight off the bat tonights episode, The Name of the Doctor, was by far the best of the series, though as we will quickly establish this wasn't hard.

So if you haven't watched it and want to avoid spoilers do not keep reading.

making sticky sticks!

Well, sticky paint sticks but that didn't have the same ring to it!


This is the stickiest stick I've ever seen, four sides of carpet tape!

Just a quick post to point out how much I am enjoying putting together my Nurgle army and  how much easier it is to use a stick when priming models.

Monday 13 May 2013

trying to motivate

Got twentyish emperors children marines on my paint station queue at the moment, not having too much bother getting the base coating done, really struggling to get motivated to do the finicky gold bits however.
Anyone got any motivational tips for when theyre struggling with some detail work?

Sunday 12 May 2013

Scraping and gluing Daemons

Thanks to a very generous present the previous weekend I found myself in possession of all the new plastic Plaguebearers I need to get my Daemon army up and running.


I say running, some of them look like they are half way through falling over!

So how long does it take to make 40 Daemons?

Friday 10 May 2013

winging it

Having picked up a couple of TIE interceptors at salute, i was in the market for some TIE fighters and the x-wing dice. as the combined price for 2 fighters and dice blister was pushing £30 (if you can even find them!), i figured i might as well pick up the starter for £24 and get all that and more.

Toddled along to tabletop Tuesday just gone, got the starter (i was hoping to get more expansions but theyre literally 100% sold out of everything except the starters and big ships)

cracked my starter and borrowed a 3rd interceptor to get a 100 point game in (forgot to photo it, sorry). Lost an interceptor early to a Wedge cluster missile volley, tre nasty. Managed to down a Y-wing but couldnt finish off the other a-wing or x-wing before they did for me. They both lost their shields and took a hit though.

Thoughts and musings so far:
props:
I like that, despite only having played roughly 3 games (2 games and 2 kinda half games), i feel like i know how to play the game. id be quite happy sitting down teaching someone else the ropes already. and ive not even read the rulebook yet. I cant think of many games you can say that about.

Slops:
Being a staunch Imperialist, i tend to have more ships in the air than the rebels do. As such, im currently really struggling to stop my ships humping each other in conga lines, mucking up my plans and preventing them using their actions. purely a case of the learning curve being slightly higher for Imperials i think.

Looking forward to playing it again soon though.