I’ve been struggling to try and think of what to do for this week’s waffle because of the New Year bank holiday my schedule is all messed up and I’ve completely lost track of the days this week. However I have managed to get some solid hobby time in and will have an update on the Delaque a bit later but before that I thought I would do a bit of look ahead. I’m not going to lay out any New Year resolutions because I think that just adds pressure onto what is supposed to be fun hobby. But there are some things I want to have a go at this year.
First up I want to learn to do more with my airbrush. I had a big push when I first got it a few years ago and really started to get some acceptable results with it. But since then it’s been relegated to priming and then blocking out some basic colours. So that I want to do is learn to get more control over it, really understand how different paints react to different pressures and to generally make it an even more useful tool than it already is. One of the things I’ve seen as a way to help with this is to pick up a kids colouring book and use that for practice. It sounds like a silly thing but it gives you something nice and easy to work with, you’re not wrecking a potentially expensive model and you can see straight away whether you within the lines or not. They don’t don’s use a great deal of paint so I think this could be a good way of getting some practice in without having to do a lot of messing about. It’s also something I can keep up throughout the year.
Next on my list is probably the one that is going to sound most like a resolution but I’m going to be very vague with it. What I want to do is to start to work my way through my unfinished projects. Now I’m not saying in any way, shape or form that I’m going to do these before starting anything new, in fact I’m not actually saying that I’m going to finish them. Just that I’m going to make a start. My thinking is that I will take single models and have them on my work bench so that I can keep nibbling away at them until I get a few finished. That way it gives me a way to change between different types of work, to keep the mojo flowing, without over facing myself. Some examples of this are a few Knight Models Batman minis that are bout about ninety percent finished and shouldn’t take a lot to get them complete. It’s a way of getting a few easy wins as the year progresses.
Now next is up is one that I’m sure will come back to haunt me as the year goes on but I’m really, hand on hart promise, going to try and finish my Grot Stompa. As a project this has been ongoing since GW released the Gorkanaut so that gives you some idea how long it has been lying around. I had completed the legs, body and head just leaving the arms to be completed but that was when I was planning on using it as a Gorkanaut. With the plan now being that I use it as a Stompa I will probably have to revisit some of the work I have already done on the body and look at how I add in the additional weapons that Stompa can have. It also means I need to put some effort in to actually building some arms. The plan will be to add as many of the weapons as I can to the arms to avoid as much rework of the body as possible but I will just have to see how that goes. I’ve been looking at the bits I’ve already built and comparing them to some of my later builds and whilst I do like what I’ve done so fare I think it will need some updating. Mainly adding a bit more damage along with some extra armour plates and some patches to cover up the damaged sections. It will also need a lot more bolts so I’m going to have to get busy with the miliput to build up a nice stock pile of the things.
The final thing that I want to carry through the year is a bit of combination piece. I’m really enjoying my D&D at the moment but as I mentioned in a previous update my character has strayed a bit at the moment and may have incurred the wrath of our DM. If that turns out to be the case then Perigrin may not have long left to live. Now I’m going everything I can to get back in favour and save him but at the same time I’ve been thinking up new characters that I could use if the need arises. To that end I’ve been trying to come up with character ideas that will fit in to the world that our DM has created and why they would want or need to join the existing party. What could they bring to the group but also what secrets do they hold that can add to the story. I’ve come up with a few so fare that don’t mirror other characters in the party and that also are aimed at being super wizards or unbeatable fighters. Rather I’ve gone for characters that I think can fill in some of the gaps in the party but that at the same time have their own weaknesses. On the hobby side once I get an idea for character I have also been looking for a model that I can use to represent it which I think is a nice way of trying to bring it to life. So I’ve got a couple of models on order already for one character and whether or not I end up using it I’ll share the model and the details of the character here with you once he’s fleshed out and painted up.
Now with those musing over what have I been up to since last week. The answer to that is really rather simple, I’ve been killing myself by going back to the Gym for the first time in a couple of week. Then whilst aching and trying to recover I’ve been working getting the Delaque crew finished off. As I mentioned last week the aim of this build was to get something that I think looks good on the table top without going over the top and trying to get everything looking perfect, which I just can’t do. Now I have to say that there are lots of little bits on these guys and girls that I’m not a hundred percent happy with and each time I pick them up and look closely I see something else that isn’t quite right. But, and this is the big thing for me, once I put them down on the table and take a step back to look at them as gaming pieces I’m really quite happy with them. So I’ve decided that I’m not going to mess around with them and they are going to stay as they are.
To get them this far I’ve essentially followed the guide was in White Dwarf but have use an equivalent paint where I don’t have the relevant GW one. I’ve been too strict with myself about how close the match is, rather going with the view that as long as it’s in the same ball park that will do. The only bit’s where I’ve made a real conscious change have been painting the ‘straps’ on the coats in red as opposed to painting red patches on them as they have in the box art. Then when it came to the weapons I don’t know why but I had been thinking about the Alpha Legion and got it into my head that the Delaque could have some sort of connection to them. Despite all the knowledge they have they could be completely oblivious to the fact they are themselves being manipulated. Now once this idea had taken shape I couldn’t shake it so I decided to try and do a bit of that turquoise / blue of the Alpha Legion armour in instead of the red on the box art. It’s a small change but I think it gives them just a little bit of extra character.
Some of the eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that there are only nine models in the crew and the ten that come in the box. This is because I haven’t finished the last one yet, but there is a good excuse for it. I haven’t done a painting guide in a long time so I’ve decided to do one for these guys, however stopping after every stage to take the pictures adds a lot of time to the process so once I’d got the main colours on and I was in flow doing the small details I decided to crack on with the bulk of the unit and then revisit this last guy later. My thinking being that it will be easier to get all the pictures and finish off one model than breaking up the bulk of the work. Now the first part has worked as I have the rest of the squad finished, I just need to get the last one done and the write up the painting guide. So, watch this space.
And that’s if for this week. I hope that gives you some idea of what to expect this year although I reserve the right to change my mind at any if I see something nice and shiny that catches my eye, Adeptus Titanicus because let’s face it who doesn’t like big stompy robots. See I’m being led astray already. Back on track, that’s it for this week, I’ve no idea yet what I’ll be working on this week other than the painting guide but I’ll find something to keep me entertained. So until next week have a great week and hope catch you all again next week.
