Well, my last post was somewhat of a gripe over a busy schedule and lack of painting time. Since then, I was working on an entry for the Rainbow Brush painting competition organized by Marike Reimer - I didn't mention it or post pictures because it was a competition entry. ("I'm working on a figure but I can't show anybody pictures of it" seemed kinda a non-starter so far as painting blog material goes.)
Well, the bad news is that I was in a car accident in the middle of July and broke 2 bones in the wrist of my painting/primary hand - nobody else injured, but the car's still under repair. The other bad news is that I've not been able to paint since.
GenCon was a good time, it was nice catching up with a lot of people I've only chatted with on Facebook. I took some pictures, bought some games, saw a lot of cool painted figures. I also want to give a big "thank you"to Marike, who when I told her about my accident and my half-finished entry, she gave me one of the custom "Rainbow Brush" dice that all the other entrants received - I'm glad the competition went well, there were a lot of entries, and a lot of money was raised for a good cause.
The good news is that I'm out of my cast/splint/bandage (it took a while and a lot of wrapping changes before they realized I had broken bones) and have been working on prepping some stuff in the background here. I plan on getting back to work painting now that I can use my hand easily again!
Showing posts with label editorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label editorial. Show all posts
8/24/2015
6/24/2015
An Unexpected Speed Bump
So for the past little while there, I'd like to think I had been trucking along pretty good. I'd been posting works-in-progress, managed to post a few articles that have literally been years in the making, and generally been feeling good and mentally motivated about models and painting in general.
And then at the end of last month, just after the holiday weekend, I started a new job where I've been working the past few years. Technically a "promotion," everything went fine for the first week or so - until we had one full-time staff member resign and the lead social worker go out on medical in the space of a few weeks. For the past two weeks and change, I've been asked to "cover" for missing staff. If this had meant simply "helping out," that would be one thing - instead, I'm essentially trying to juggle filling in for two different full time staff as well as trying to do the new position I had actually accepted.
I'm not going to gripe too much, because it is what it is, but the bottom line is that by the time I get home from work I have only about 4 hours of family (not so much "free") time to take care of things at home before I have to go to bed and repeat playing catch-up the next day again. I'm so mentally exhausted by the time I get home most days that even if I had the time, energy, or motivation to do anything hobby-wise, I'm forced to pack it in and go to bed early just to try and stay afloat the next day.
While I have/had plans for several models for Gen Con coming up, or even just finishing one of my two Malifaux crews on the workbench, it's all indefinitely delayed, I think. *sigh*
And then at the end of last month, just after the holiday weekend, I started a new job where I've been working the past few years. Technically a "promotion," everything went fine for the first week or so - until we had one full-time staff member resign and the lead social worker go out on medical in the space of a few weeks. For the past two weeks and change, I've been asked to "cover" for missing staff. If this had meant simply "helping out," that would be one thing - instead, I'm essentially trying to juggle filling in for two different full time staff as well as trying to do the new position I had actually accepted.
I'm not going to gripe too much, because it is what it is, but the bottom line is that by the time I get home from work I have only about 4 hours of family (not so much "free") time to take care of things at home before I have to go to bed and repeat playing catch-up the next day again. I'm so mentally exhausted by the time I get home most days that even if I had the time, energy, or motivation to do anything hobby-wise, I'm forced to pack it in and go to bed early just to try and stay afloat the next day.
While I have/had plans for several models for Gen Con coming up, or even just finishing one of my two Malifaux crews on the workbench, it's all indefinitely delayed, I think. *sigh*
10/30/2010
Return of the Son of Odds 'n' Ends, Mk. VIII
You may have noticed the lack of regular updates in the past several months - this is due to a number of things that I really don't need to get into in detail (my health, family life, unemployment, starting a new contract job, etc.) - sufficent to say, though, I've not had nearly as much time and motivation to post regular updates on painting and such... because there hasn't been much going on in the way of painting and such!
1) I'm wondering if slightly tweaking things in terms of site layout or blog formatting or what-have-you might be the way to go? It was suggested (thanks, IntereoVivo!) that maybe I could/should take suggestions as to the topics and content I put up. Dunno why I hadn't thought of this before, but I think that might be an excellent way of keeping things alive and fresh. I've got a ton of projects (or potential projects) that I could use for "demonstration" purposes here - on-sprue minis, drawers full of 20+-year-old lead fantasy and sci-fi figures, stuck-together-but-not-glued gaming figures, many figures that would easily make for good display-quality pieces, and even scenery or "display base" odds 'n' ends that I could be posting about. Assuming the trend of limited time continues, short posting on my part of stuff like "This is how I'm pinning the 54mm resin soldier" or "Here's a few approaches in painting black I'm taking that could give you different 'finishes' as an end result" would probably be much easier (and less demoralizing) than having a whole blog to fill and very few finished things of late to post.
To that end, I think a "Contact Me" box or a "Make Suggestions Here" blurb highly visible on the site would be good. Any ideas on how best to approach the layout of the site? Maybe email me! This ties in with...
2) I've been using a newly-bought-and-self-assembled computer for several months now after some technical difficulties in operation and finally have things reinstalled again to the point where I can make worthwhile updates - for a good month there, the computer was in the shop and/or empty for all my web editing software, and with all my site images and templates and such backed up on a spare HD. That being said, I also moved to a format here not so long ago with the main Painting by Tinweasel site serving as sort of a stripped-down framework with all kinds of added content, and the Painting by Tinweasel Blog serving as sort of a central hub and news/update feed. The blog is self-sufficient, but the full website needs a lot of layout changes and behind-the-scenes tweaking now. Since I have to do that anyways to get everything looking neat and tidy and non-redundant (double header bars, etc. Yuck!), is there anything that people would like up on there?
What, if anything, might people like to see? Or, better yet, how could I get the most use out of a supporting website that statistically gets only about 1/3rd of the views of my Blog despite having a Gallery of painted figures, a section on painting Tips and Techniques, and even some (slightly older) Tutorials?
3) I've joined the local Michigan Historical Miniatures & Model Club at a store not too far from me here - The Michigan Toy Soldier Co. Essentially, the store encourages all sorts of figure painting (like my Games Workshop Chaos Space Marine army and my Golden Demon Competition pieces, some of my stuff being in their display case currently!) and even stocks a fair amount of tabletop gaming stuff at a great discount - their main focus, though, is historical miniatures and models, painting and modeling supplies, and toy soldiers and collectible figures. I'd highly recommend the store to any miniature painters, and the staff are all great! The Club I signed up for is kinda an informal thing meeting one night a month, and we've all decided to go in on a "club figure" that we can all paint, pose, convert, or whatever, with the end result being a group display at a show (or two).
The club figure is a 54mm Private of the 1st New Hampshire Regiment, 1870, put out by Michael Roberts, Ltd. - an excellent resin piece with very few mold problems (some bubbles on the base, a little bit of flash, and minor mold lines here and there) and a high level of accurate and realistic detailing. (Not that I know squat about post-Revolutionary War regimental troops, but still!) I haven't started prepping it and have virtually no experience painting historically accurate miniatures at all - but I'm really looking forwards to this, especially the opportunity to learn from some veteran painters in a "new" field. I'll be posting my progress... I'm also open to any and all suggestions at this point, as this is "a brave new world" I'm venturing into, so to speak.
1) I'm wondering if slightly tweaking things in terms of site layout or blog formatting or what-have-you might be the way to go? It was suggested (thanks, IntereoVivo!) that maybe I could/should take suggestions as to the topics and content I put up. Dunno why I hadn't thought of this before, but I think that might be an excellent way of keeping things alive and fresh. I've got a ton of projects (or potential projects) that I could use for "demonstration" purposes here - on-sprue minis, drawers full of 20+-year-old lead fantasy and sci-fi figures, stuck-together-but-not-glued gaming figures, many figures that would easily make for good display-quality pieces, and even scenery or "display base" odds 'n' ends that I could be posting about. Assuming the trend of limited time continues, short posting on my part of stuff like "This is how I'm pinning the 54mm resin soldier" or "Here's a few approaches in painting black I'm taking that could give you different 'finishes' as an end result" would probably be much easier (and less demoralizing) than having a whole blog to fill and very few finished things of late to post.
To that end, I think a "Contact Me" box or a "Make Suggestions Here" blurb highly visible on the site would be good. Any ideas on how best to approach the layout of the site? Maybe email me! This ties in with...
2) I've been using a newly-bought-and-self-assembled computer for several months now after some technical difficulties in operation and finally have things reinstalled again to the point where I can make worthwhile updates - for a good month there, the computer was in the shop and/or empty for all my web editing software, and with all my site images and templates and such backed up on a spare HD. That being said, I also moved to a format here not so long ago with the main Painting by Tinweasel site serving as sort of a stripped-down framework with all kinds of added content, and the Painting by Tinweasel Blog serving as sort of a central hub and news/update feed. The blog is self-sufficient, but the full website needs a lot of layout changes and behind-the-scenes tweaking now. Since I have to do that anyways to get everything looking neat and tidy and non-redundant (double header bars, etc. Yuck!), is there anything that people would like up on there?
What, if anything, might people like to see? Or, better yet, how could I get the most use out of a supporting website that statistically gets only about 1/3rd of the views of my Blog despite having a Gallery of painted figures, a section on painting Tips and Techniques, and even some (slightly older) Tutorials?
3) I've joined the local Michigan Historical Miniatures & Model Club at a store not too far from me here - The Michigan Toy Soldier Co. Essentially, the store encourages all sorts of figure painting (like my Games Workshop Chaos Space Marine army and my Golden Demon Competition pieces, some of my stuff being in their display case currently!) and even stocks a fair amount of tabletop gaming stuff at a great discount - their main focus, though, is historical miniatures and models, painting and modeling supplies, and toy soldiers and collectible figures. I'd highly recommend the store to any miniature painters, and the staff are all great! The Club I signed up for is kinda an informal thing meeting one night a month, and we've all decided to go in on a "club figure" that we can all paint, pose, convert, or whatever, with the end result being a group display at a show (or two).
The club figure is a 54mm Private of the 1st New Hampshire Regiment, 1870, put out by Michael Roberts, Ltd. - an excellent resin piece with very few mold problems (some bubbles on the base, a little bit of flash, and minor mold lines here and there) and a high level of accurate and realistic detailing. (Not that I know squat about post-Revolutionary War regimental troops, but still!) I haven't started prepping it and have virtually no experience painting historically accurate miniatures at all - but I'm really looking forwards to this, especially the opportunity to learn from some veteran painters in a "new" field. I'll be posting my progress... I'm also open to any and all suggestions at this point, as this is "a brave new world" I'm venturing into, so to speak.
7/29/2010
De Profundis Clamavi!
Some of you may have noticed the silence from this end of the universe (and there's apparently more Followers than when I took an unofficial "leave," which is pleasant and boggling both at the same time) - safe to say I've not been doing much in the way of working on miniatures.
There's been a lot of stress and distraction going on since about May, what with allergies this year being so bad that my vision was blurry most days right on through June. There's also been my daughter's first year of schooling ending and the subsequent change in available time, especially since I'm still unemployed and looking for work, so we've needed to cut back on the amount of paid child care for both our kids. The worst part of all this would be that with all the changes and unexpected stress, I've been rather depressed, and having to deal with a lack of energy and motivation to do much of anything on top of everything else. I think things are starting to turn around, though.
I thoroughly apologize to those few whose commissions I took on - I don't think I have the time or means to work on any commissions for the foreseeable future. I hope I've made amends for missed expectations, and the thing that upsets me most is that with everything going on, I just wasn't able to follow through on work I promised - there were some great projects and I hope they see their way to completion elsewhere, since I'd definitely like to see them done justice.
As to the name of the post, I figgered it was appropriate - a phrase in Latin which more or less means (with some slack for my minimal familiarity with the language), "From the Depths I Cry Out." I used it as the engraving on the display plaque for an Old School™ GW Genestealer Patriarch that I entered in the 2007 Chicago Golden Demon Competition. I thought it was appropriate in relation to the Patriarchs' old role as the leaders of Genestealer infestations that themselves served as harbingers and living signals for a full-on Hive Fleet invasion. The beastie in question with an updated picture:
There's been a lot of stress and distraction going on since about May, what with allergies this year being so bad that my vision was blurry most days right on through June. There's also been my daughter's first year of schooling ending and the subsequent change in available time, especially since I'm still unemployed and looking for work, so we've needed to cut back on the amount of paid child care for both our kids. The worst part of all this would be that with all the changes and unexpected stress, I've been rather depressed, and having to deal with a lack of energy and motivation to do much of anything on top of everything else. I think things are starting to turn around, though.
I thoroughly apologize to those few whose commissions I took on - I don't think I have the time or means to work on any commissions for the foreseeable future. I hope I've made amends for missed expectations, and the thing that upsets me most is that with everything going on, I just wasn't able to follow through on work I promised - there were some great projects and I hope they see their way to completion elsewhere, since I'd definitely like to see them done justice.
As to the name of the post, I figgered it was appropriate - a phrase in Latin which more or less means (with some slack for my minimal familiarity with the language), "From the Depths I Cry Out." I used it as the engraving on the display plaque for an Old School™ GW Genestealer Patriarch that I entered in the 2007 Chicago Golden Demon Competition. I thought it was appropriate in relation to the Patriarchs' old role as the leaders of Genestealer infestations that themselves served as harbingers and living signals for a full-on Hive Fleet invasion. The beastie in question with an updated picture:
12/25/2009
A Moment of Reflection
I'd like to wish everyone a festive Yule, a merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah, a nice time with family, friends, warm food and cold drink, or even just a pleasant time at the end of a long, busy year (whatever your inclination might be).
For my own part, I'd like to thank those of you who have been following along with my ramblings and leaving comments on my updates! I hope this site has been helpful (ideally even informative, if I can swing that now and again) and I'm looking forwards here to a less eventful new year here and the opportunity to keep up with a hobby I love/loathe with ideally the opportunity to share more in the way of painting, modeling, sculpting and, time permitting, possibly even a tutorial or three.
I know I'd asked before what sorts of things people would like to see on here (sculpting/Green Stuff conversion, blending, and more to do with painting duly noted and not forgotten), but I figger I'll ask again: if there's anything at all related to working with fine scale miniatures or models that anyone would like to see posted in whatever amount of detail, by all means let me know! I'm keeping up with this because I enjoy sharing my work and in the hope that other folks are getting something out of it, too.
Cheers,
Bryan "Tinweasel" Wride
For my own part, I'd like to thank those of you who have been following along with my ramblings and leaving comments on my updates! I hope this site has been helpful (ideally even informative, if I can swing that now and again) and I'm looking forwards here to a less eventful new year here and the opportunity to keep up with a hobby I love/loathe with ideally the opportunity to share more in the way of painting, modeling, sculpting and, time permitting, possibly even a tutorial or three.
I know I'd asked before what sorts of things people would like to see on here (sculpting/Green Stuff conversion, blending, and more to do with painting duly noted and not forgotten), but I figger I'll ask again: if there's anything at all related to working with fine scale miniatures or models that anyone would like to see posted in whatever amount of detail, by all means let me know! I'm keeping up with this because I enjoy sharing my work and in the hope that other folks are getting something out of it, too.
Cheers,
Bryan "Tinweasel" Wride
10/08/2009
An update... literally and figuratively!
It's been a little while since my last legitimate update here, and I don't want anyone to think I've forgotten the place. I started a new job Monday of last week, and even though it's "just" a contract behavioral health intake/assessment position where I'm there through a placement agency, it's the first time I've worked since early February of '09. It's kinda nice being able to say I'm gainfully employed again, even though I still need to ideally finalize some things: like the timing of an expected paycheck in the (hopefully) near future versus much-needed income from my (thankfully) extended unemployment benefits; what my actual official duties are at this placement position, as they seem to change to greater or lesser extents from day to day; even niggling "little" details like how long this position is expected to last - I was told at least a month, but don't have a definite schedule yet past the end of this work week. The job itself seems decent enough, and at a respectable agency despite things being very hectic and there being a fairly big adjustment to working a schedule again instead of being a stay-at-home dad. My wife also had surgery today to repair an internal tear in her abdominal muscle apparently dating back to some difficulties with the birth of our son in February. Um, I've had a busy past few weeks!
All that being said, there is somewhat of a definite update to the site - I've gone through and revised all my previously posted Hobby Tips with the main focus of the tip appended to the title so as to make it a little easier to search for a specific topic, if anyone were so inclined. Maybe more significantly, I've dropped the "Tuesday" part from the whole Hobby Tip thing. I had originally intended to post them as a regularly scheduled feature, but the "Tuesday" thing was completely arbitrary; I didn't want to "steal any thunder" from the guys over at The Painting Corps (not that I think I would, but still...) They've got a great site and their regular Friday hobby feature is a much-looked-forward-to part of my blog reading - they never fail to be informative and a lot better written than my own. As a result, I picked any other day besides Friday and Tuesday drew the short straw; the problem with writing up content specifically for Tuesday being that I either had something to post but then had to postpone it to Tuesday, or, as has been the case of late, I'd be so busy throughout the week that a regular Hobby Tip entry either got put up past my self-imposed "deadline" or, worse yet, not at all. With that in mind, and with a lot of things going on in my life right now outside of miniature painting and modeling, ideally I'll be able to post things worth reading or looking at (I can think of four or five finished figures for which I haven't posted any static pages linked to my website Gallery, for example) as well as fairly frequent Hobby Tips, small and large, that ought to hopefully keep people other than myself entertained by seeing.
Is there any specific content that someone might want to see me cover, out of curiosity?
All that being said, there is somewhat of a definite update to the site - I've gone through and revised all my previously posted Hobby Tips with the main focus of the tip appended to the title so as to make it a little easier to search for a specific topic, if anyone were so inclined. Maybe more significantly, I've dropped the "Tuesday" part from the whole Hobby Tip thing. I had originally intended to post them as a regularly scheduled feature, but the "Tuesday" thing was completely arbitrary; I didn't want to "steal any thunder" from the guys over at The Painting Corps (not that I think I would, but still...) They've got a great site and their regular Friday hobby feature is a much-looked-forward-to part of my blog reading - they never fail to be informative and a lot better written than my own. As a result, I picked any other day besides Friday and Tuesday drew the short straw; the problem with writing up content specifically for Tuesday being that I either had something to post but then had to postpone it to Tuesday, or, as has been the case of late, I'd be so busy throughout the week that a regular Hobby Tip entry either got put up past my self-imposed "deadline" or, worse yet, not at all. With that in mind, and with a lot of things going on in my life right now outside of miniature painting and modeling, ideally I'll be able to post things worth reading or looking at (I can think of four or five finished figures for which I haven't posted any static pages linked to my website Gallery, for example) as well as fairly frequent Hobby Tips, small and large, that ought to hopefully keep people other than myself entertained by seeing.
Is there any specific content that someone might want to see me cover, out of curiosity?
9/02/2009
Venting a Bit...
Well, I have to say I'm a little... not exactly sure what word to use: discouraged? disappointed? jealous? Unlike a lot of folks in the blogging community and on the Forum I generally frequent, apparently, I won't be opening my copy of Space Hulk that I ordered and paid for, despite it having been shipped and received yesterday.
I placed my order at the Games Workshop Hobby Center that I usually frequent, as I like the staff and the store and figgered I'd let my wallet do the talking in terms of doing my part to keep a place I like in business. Ordering through the Games Workshop website and then paying by credit card at the register, the staff asked if I wanted it shipped to my home address or to pick it up at the store.
Well, given my thinking about spending money on this "surprise release" after I'd already expected to receive/ordered several hundred dollars' worth of miniature-related stuff for my birthday, and not quite being sure how to broach that with my wife, etc. - I just said to have my Space Hulk box shipped to the GW store. I've been following the order online since I placed it, and like a lot folks, saw it was dispatched already - shipped via FedEx, as a matter of fact - and according to tracking it was shipped the 28th of August and set to be delivered yesterday. Well, I'm thinking, "Great! We're going away on vacation to visit my parents-in-law for the Labor Day holiday weekend here and I'll get to relax and check out the game and maybe even play it with my daughter if it's not incredibly complicated."
I got an email confirmation from FedEx that it had been delivered. Well, I got off the phone with the store after reading all the posts in a Space Hulk thread in the Tabletop General Discussion section of my usually-visited Forum, verifying that it had arrived. The GW store staff confirmed that it had arrived and was in the store, but basically said that I couldn't pick it up until the 5th. I mentioned the FedEx tracking notification and that we were going out of town and that I knew of quite a few persons that had ordered the box elsewhere and had apparently received the set - the staffer said he would call the manager to see if I could come in to pick it up. Well, calling back to follow up, I was told that essentially he confirmed that they aren't allowed to release any of the Space Hulk sets until the 5th, that they were sorry I had been notified of the shipment, and commiserated that if I had ordered it someplace else I, too, would probably be opening a Space Hulk box myself - and that all these other companies that have actually let paid-for merchandise shipped ahead of time to the customers that bought it aren't supposed to be releasing their Space Hulk sets until the 5th either. (I'm also wondering if things would be different if I'd set a home delivery location?)
To compound the sudden discouragement:
When I was last in the GW Hobby Center about a week ago, the new White Dwarf issue (yeah, the Space Hulk one) had arrived for subscribers and staff were calling everyone letting them know their issues were in. I've had an at-home 2-year subscription with about 7 issues left and there was no joy in the mailbox yesterday yet again.
I pre-ordered the 3-book Siege of Vraks set early as a birthday present to myself, of sorts - the last book in the series was released the day after my birthday - and the set came via UPS yesterday. I didn't even have to go through the effort of opening up the box - it was already opened for me, well, probably unintentionally and by a large, angry machine... but still! And the special Siege of Vraks slip case included for all 3 volumes has one corner mangled, all pit-bull chewed-on like. And not that it's an amazingly big thing but it was one of the hopeful aspects of me pre-ordering it early... no signature by the author, either. The Model Masterclass book I ordered from Forge World arrived with one corner similarly crushed, folded, and spindled, and while the staff in the UK was nice about shipping a replacement after I eventually was able to contact them, in the process I found that I apparently can't make international calls on our home phone or my cell phone without buying a pre-paid calling card or paying by the minute with a credit card - when the heck did that sort of thing change? Most of my extended family lives in the UK and we used to call back and forth all the time growing up. I'll have to go buy a calling card again to get in touch with Forge World customer service.
I guess I'm just venting a bit with all my recent "highly anticipated" items from Games Workshop/Forge World getting "shot down" in some way or other.
I get the concept of a September 5th release date and all, it just feels like I'm being "penalized" (in a manner of speaking) for ordering it through my local GW store, especially since I was notified my copy of the game was delivered already via FedEx and we're going to be away visiting relatives through Monday - a vacation it seemed like I'd be able to bring the new game along for and get family involved in playing during 4 days of relaxation.
I also understand the problems with shipping large packages overseas re: my Forge World stuff. I guess I had hoped this time the rilly expensive book set would arrive unscathed - it was disappointing to see the UPS guy walking up the driveway to drop a large box off behind the house and I'd been looking forwards to the books and when I bring the cardboard box inside, the end is hanging open and the contents were damaged. Thankfully not the books, though! (And a small box of bits I ordered when calling back about the Model Masterclass book arrived safe and sound, too.)
I placed my order at the Games Workshop Hobby Center that I usually frequent, as I like the staff and the store and figgered I'd let my wallet do the talking in terms of doing my part to keep a place I like in business. Ordering through the Games Workshop website and then paying by credit card at the register, the staff asked if I wanted it shipped to my home address or to pick it up at the store.
Well, given my thinking about spending money on this "surprise release" after I'd already expected to receive/ordered several hundred dollars' worth of miniature-related stuff for my birthday, and not quite being sure how to broach that with my wife, etc. - I just said to have my Space Hulk box shipped to the GW store. I've been following the order online since I placed it, and like a lot folks, saw it was dispatched already - shipped via FedEx, as a matter of fact - and according to tracking it was shipped the 28th of August and set to be delivered yesterday. Well, I'm thinking, "Great! We're going away on vacation to visit my parents-in-law for the Labor Day holiday weekend here and I'll get to relax and check out the game and maybe even play it with my daughter if it's not incredibly complicated."
I got an email confirmation from FedEx that it had been delivered. Well, I got off the phone with the store after reading all the posts in a Space Hulk thread in the Tabletop General Discussion section of my usually-visited Forum, verifying that it had arrived. The GW store staff confirmed that it had arrived and was in the store, but basically said that I couldn't pick it up until the 5th. I mentioned the FedEx tracking notification and that we were going out of town and that I knew of quite a few persons that had ordered the box elsewhere and had apparently received the set - the staffer said he would call the manager to see if I could come in to pick it up. Well, calling back to follow up, I was told that essentially he confirmed that they aren't allowed to release any of the Space Hulk sets until the 5th, that they were sorry I had been notified of the shipment, and commiserated that if I had ordered it someplace else I, too, would probably be opening a Space Hulk box myself - and that all these other companies that have actually let paid-for merchandise shipped ahead of time to the customers that bought it aren't supposed to be releasing their Space Hulk sets until the 5th either. (I'm also wondering if things would be different if I'd set a home delivery location?)
To compound the sudden discouragement:
When I was last in the GW Hobby Center about a week ago, the new White Dwarf issue (yeah, the Space Hulk one) had arrived for subscribers and staff were calling everyone letting them know their issues were in. I've had an at-home 2-year subscription with about 7 issues left and there was no joy in the mailbox yesterday yet again.
I pre-ordered the 3-book Siege of Vraks set early as a birthday present to myself, of sorts - the last book in the series was released the day after my birthday - and the set came via UPS yesterday. I didn't even have to go through the effort of opening up the box - it was already opened for me, well, probably unintentionally and by a large, angry machine... but still! And the special Siege of Vraks slip case included for all 3 volumes has one corner mangled, all pit-bull chewed-on like. And not that it's an amazingly big thing but it was one of the hopeful aspects of me pre-ordering it early... no signature by the author, either. The Model Masterclass book I ordered from Forge World arrived with one corner similarly crushed, folded, and spindled, and while the staff in the UK was nice about shipping a replacement after I eventually was able to contact them, in the process I found that I apparently can't make international calls on our home phone or my cell phone without buying a pre-paid calling card or paying by the minute with a credit card - when the heck did that sort of thing change? Most of my extended family lives in the UK and we used to call back and forth all the time growing up. I'll have to go buy a calling card again to get in touch with Forge World customer service.
I guess I'm just venting a bit with all my recent "highly anticipated" items from Games Workshop/Forge World getting "shot down" in some way or other.
I get the concept of a September 5th release date and all, it just feels like I'm being "penalized" (in a manner of speaking) for ordering it through my local GW store, especially since I was notified my copy of the game was delivered already via FedEx and we're going to be away visiting relatives through Monday - a vacation it seemed like I'd be able to bring the new game along for and get family involved in playing during 4 days of relaxation.
I also understand the problems with shipping large packages overseas re: my Forge World stuff. I guess I had hoped this time the rilly expensive book set would arrive unscathed - it was disappointing to see the UPS guy walking up the driveway to drop a large box off behind the house and I'd been looking forwards to the books and when I bring the cardboard box inside, the end is hanging open and the contents were damaged. Thankfully not the books, though! (And a small box of bits I ordered when calling back about the Model Masterclass book arrived safe and sound, too.)
9/01/2009
Hobby Tip - Balanced Tools
Are your tools balanced? (This concerns using Dremel High Speed Rotary Tools, specifically, but I think the underlying idea is important enough to warrant making a Hobby Tip out of it.)
I went back the other day and just for the heck of it, reread the manual for my Dremel Rotary Tool - I'm fairly sure I read it when I first started using the thing years ago, but the significance probably escaped me. Now, thankfully, I haven't been severely injured by any of the workshop or hobby tools I've used (*knocks on wood*), well, barring the occasional stab from a hobby knife when I should've known better - and the only problematic thing that's happened with the Dremel has been a few cut-off wheel "explosions" when I've obviously bit off more than I could chew in one go.
It hit me all of a sudden, though, in one particular section I read that there's a lot of things I just sort of take for granted in using my hobby tools and working with miniatures, and that if I actually stopped and thought about what I was doing - the actual process of what I was doing, mind, and whether I was actually working in the most efficient manner possible - there's probably a lot of things I could change to make my hobby more, um... expedient? Smoother? Easier? Quieter?
I hope the Dremel company forgives me for quoting from their product manual directly (that, or floats me some advertising bonuses as it's a helluva tool and I use it in hundreds of ways in working with and prepping miniatures and terrain):
There - fairly simple. It sounds fairly common-sense, doesn't it? Well, yeah, in theory - but how many people have actually took a few moments before charging in with hot wire cutters, Dremels, paintbrushes, or unthinned glues to think whether how they were going about things and whether they about to work, process-wise, in the most efficient manner?
Any of you have any suggestions or comments along this line in terms of things to think about prior to "setting to work" in this fine-scale miniature and -model hobby?
I went back the other day and just for the heck of it, reread the manual for my Dremel Rotary Tool - I'm fairly sure I read it when I first started using the thing years ago, but the significance probably escaped me. Now, thankfully, I haven't been severely injured by any of the workshop or hobby tools I've used (*knocks on wood*), well, barring the occasional stab from a hobby knife when I should've known better - and the only problematic thing that's happened with the Dremel has been a few cut-off wheel "explosions" when I've obviously bit off more than I could chew in one go.
It hit me all of a sudden, though, in one particular section I read that there's a lot of things I just sort of take for granted in using my hobby tools and working with miniatures, and that if I actually stopped and thought about what I was doing - the actual process of what I was doing, mind, and whether I was actually working in the most efficient manner possible - there's probably a lot of things I could change to make my hobby more, um... expedient? Smoother? Easier? Quieter?
I hope the Dremel company forgives me for quoting from their product manual directly (that, or floats me some advertising bonuses as it's a helluva tool and I use it in hundreds of ways in working with and prepping miniatures and terrain):
BALANCING ACCESSORIES - For precision work, it is important that all accessories be in good balance (much the same as the tires on your automobile). To true up or balance an accessory, slightly loosen [the] collet nut and give the accessory or collet a 1/4 turn. Re-tighten [the] collet nut and run the Rotary Tool. You should be able to tell by the sound and feel if your accessory is running in balance. Continue adjusting in this fashion until best balance is achieved.
There - fairly simple. It sounds fairly common-sense, doesn't it? Well, yeah, in theory - but how many people have actually took a few moments before charging in with hot wire cutters, Dremels, paintbrushes, or unthinned glues to think whether how they were going about things and whether they about to work, process-wise, in the most efficient manner?
Any of you have any suggestions or comments along this line in terms of things to think about prior to "setting to work" in this fine-scale miniature and -model hobby?
8/23/2009
Selfish? Maybe, but I've never had a blog before...
This might be totally selfish, but I'm the only one doing the writing around here and I feel like asserting my self-promotional authority: Happy Birthday to me! Here's hoping this year will be better overall than last year.
In other news, conversion and prep work continues on the Thousand Sons Chaos Lord. I'll post pictures and discuss the overall "plan" a bit more after I've had a chance to kick some ideas around with the customer.
In other news, conversion and prep work continues on the Thousand Sons Chaos Lord. I'll post pictures and discuss the overall "plan" a bit more after I've had a chance to kick some ideas around with the customer.
8/11/2009
Best Laid Plans o' Mice an' Men Gang Aft A'gley
I was planning on doing a simple basing demonstration using very cheap and easy-to-get-ahold-of materials today, but about 1pm yesterday we had a power outage in our entire neighborhood due to a "blown fuse" (the actual phrasing was much more technical) on the part of the power company.
Needless to say, my plans have kinda changed. My wife was nice enough to let me borrow her laptop for five minutes - yay for her!
We will return you to your regular broadcasting as soon as you (we) are groovy...
Needless to say, my plans have kinda changed. My wife was nice enough to let me borrow her laptop for five minutes - yay for her!
We will return you to your regular broadcasting as soon as you (we) are groovy...
8/03/2009
My Love/Hate Relationship With Army Painting
Ron over at ++From the Warp++ put up a post on how to "stay motivated" when trying to paint up and finish your 40K army. He had made a request for input several weeks ago from everyone in the From the Warp Bloggers Group, for the purpose of making this particular collaborative post.
There's a reason I didn't contribute on this one - I have great difficulty in maintaining motivation myself to finish even a 500 point force, and forever seem to get sidetracked. I've "officially" gone through 3 different races/armies (well, I'll hedge and say "at least two") in my efforts to field an army of my own on the tabletop since I got back into painting. I blame this on a number of things: limited time, easily distracted by my environment and new ideas, finding myself doing other things during time I've set aside for painting, and so forth.
Primarily, though, I think it's my tendency to get thoroughly immersed in whatever project I happen to be working on - I put so much thinking into what I could do that I tend not to get a whole lot done. When I first got back into the hobby and figgered I wanted to play in earnest, I settled on Tau as my "army of choice" and started right in with a Battleforce set. I decided that they would be Fire Warriors from the Vior'la Sept - a group more "fiery-tempered" than most Tau and inclined towards greater numbers of warriors than other Septs. I picked a paint scheme that I thought would be "cool"... and everything went downhil from there. Not being so familiar with the hobby yet, I didn't realize that red acrylic paint generally has poor coverage; I painted with a great many color steps and to a high level of detail; I painted them in a tricky and striking "magma" scheme; and I painted each one individually, not being so familiar with "batch painting."
Well, the squad I finished looked nice and in taking them in 2007 to my first time at the Golden Demons ever, received an Honorable Mention for them - they didn't work out quite so well as an army, though. I then moved on to Necrons with specific plans on how to speed things up - spraypainted basecoat, use of washes, etc. Silly me, I caught the conversion bug with Necrons! They're still a work in progress... Right now, I've got a collection of Orks from the Assault on Black Reach in progress and being painted up as part of the Bad Moons Clan in an "Old School" style- just 500 points' worth, and they are primarily painted with washes. I'm also working on a Chaos Warband (by way of an initial start with a converted "Shriven" renegade Guard force, now to be allies when I get back around to them with some new ideas). In trying to join in with the "500 Club" at the local GW Hobby Center, where the goal was to assemble & paint up 500 points of troops and accessories in a month, the Chaos Warband I had on the back burner while getting into the Black Reach Bad Moons sort of took preference as it seemed (logically) easier to paint up 500 points of CSM's than to paint up a slew of Boyz to total 500 points.
*raises fist and curses at the sky*
"I'll finish 500 points' worth of a fieldable army that I painted myself, eventually!!!1!1!!"
I specifically didn't contribute to the collaborative post because I am by no means a role model or a source of advice on this one - more a poster boy for "what not to do." If prepping figures wasn't such a slog for me, maybe I'd get things done quicker, but nobody's ever seemed like they'd be inclined to file and scrape plastic on my behalf. (I'm still holding out hope, though!)
No, there's a very good reason I seem to focus more on painting single display-quality miniatures and would preferentially accept those as commissions. I just seem to have better luck with 'em, if nothing else!
There's a reason I didn't contribute on this one - I have great difficulty in maintaining motivation myself to finish even a 500 point force, and forever seem to get sidetracked. I've "officially" gone through 3 different races/armies (well, I'll hedge and say "at least two") in my efforts to field an army of my own on the tabletop since I got back into painting. I blame this on a number of things: limited time, easily distracted by my environment and new ideas, finding myself doing other things during time I've set aside for painting, and so forth.
Primarily, though, I think it's my tendency to get thoroughly immersed in whatever project I happen to be working on - I put so much thinking into what I could do that I tend not to get a whole lot done. When I first got back into the hobby and figgered I wanted to play in earnest, I settled on Tau as my "army of choice" and started right in with a Battleforce set. I decided that they would be Fire Warriors from the Vior'la Sept - a group more "fiery-tempered" than most Tau and inclined towards greater numbers of warriors than other Septs. I picked a paint scheme that I thought would be "cool"... and everything went downhil from there. Not being so familiar with the hobby yet, I didn't realize that red acrylic paint generally has poor coverage; I painted with a great many color steps and to a high level of detail; I painted them in a tricky and striking "magma" scheme; and I painted each one individually, not being so familiar with "batch painting."
Well, the squad I finished looked nice and in taking them in 2007 to my first time at the Golden Demons ever, received an Honorable Mention for them - they didn't work out quite so well as an army, though. I then moved on to Necrons with specific plans on how to speed things up - spraypainted basecoat, use of washes, etc. Silly me, I caught the conversion bug with Necrons! They're still a work in progress... Right now, I've got a collection of Orks from the Assault on Black Reach in progress and being painted up as part of the Bad Moons Clan in an "Old School" style- just 500 points' worth, and they are primarily painted with washes. I'm also working on a Chaos Warband (by way of an initial start with a converted "Shriven" renegade Guard force, now to be allies when I get back around to them with some new ideas). In trying to join in with the "500 Club" at the local GW Hobby Center, where the goal was to assemble & paint up 500 points of troops and accessories in a month, the Chaos Warband I had on the back burner while getting into the Black Reach Bad Moons sort of took preference as it seemed (logically) easier to paint up 500 points of CSM's than to paint up a slew of Boyz to total 500 points.
*raises fist and curses at the sky*
"I'll finish 500 points' worth of a fieldable army that I painted myself, eventually!!!1!1!!"
I specifically didn't contribute to the collaborative post because I am by no means a role model or a source of advice on this one - more a poster boy for "what not to do." If prepping figures wasn't such a slog for me, maybe I'd get things done quicker, but nobody's ever seemed like they'd be inclined to file and scrape plastic on my behalf. (I'm still holding out hope, though!)
No, there's a very good reason I seem to focus more on painting single display-quality miniatures and would preferentially accept those as commissions. I just seem to have better luck with 'em, if nothing else!
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