I have to say that I am in full on envy mode this week looking at all the pictures that are coming out of Adepticon. With more from google showing me what we got up to last year. From the time in Chicago before the event and what has now become a tradition of visiting Giordano’s for a deep pan pizza to watching Al get the hottest sauce he can on his chicken wings, whilst the rest of us think ranch is hot. Which is normal when you come from a damp grey cotton town. Then there is the event itself which for anyone how has never been I have to recommend trying to get to just once to experience. From drooling at the fantastic Crystal Brush entries and being amazed that work of that standard actually exists to the vendor hall with its wealth of plastic crack. I’ve still got models from last time that I picked up with the best of intentions and still haven’t done anything with. I don’t miss the chaos that is the queuing to get your ticket and event pack and that coming form an English man where our national pass time is queueing. We’ve made it an art form but there are rules to a good queue that Adepticon just haven’t grasped yet. Having said that the goody bag, for those that order one, is a joy to behold with some weird and wonderful goodies. Amongst the many items last year was a Guild Ball starter set, and now I haven’t painted it yet. Although to be fair I already have a painted Masons and Brewers team. From a gaming point of view there is something for everyone and the 40K team event with all of the display pieces that the teams bring is fantastic. Now before I break down crying I’m going to go and hide in a dark corner and calm myself down and look forward to next year, possibly. But in the mean time I am looking forward to any updates that come along form today which is probably the busiest day of the event.
On the hobby front I’ve mainly been working on some Titans this week and to be even more specific some Warhound Titans. As is the case for me now with anything like this I’ve added a few magnets so that I can swap our a few bits if needed. Mainly the weapons but the bodies can also be separated from the legs, although this was done mainly to allow me to pose them as opposed to looking to swap them out. It might also make them a little easier to transport but when you factor in the Warlord that may become something of a moot point. As a kit they are really nice to build with nice clear instructions and lots of detail on all the parts. Even without any conversion the pose gives that feel of a jackal or something like that hunting its prey. All very evocative.
For the paint scheme I’ve primed them in black and then for the legs I’ve given them a heavy dry brush with a dark metal and then a regular dry brush with silver before giving everything a Nuln Oil wash. For the armour plates and upper body, I’ve used the same dark metal but this time applied with the airbrush before doing some zenith highlights in silver, again with the airbrush. This stage is just preparing things for the colour.
The next stage is where I have tried to be a bit creative and you can decide for yourselves if you think it has worked. Because I needed to use the airbrush for the to get the blending I needed I needed a way to try and effectively mask the bits I didn’t want to have colour. This was because I don’t have the skill not to simply cover them with paint. But I also wanted to get the main parts for the colour on the model whilst everything was in place so that it looks right. I didn’t want each individual piece to have the same blend instead I wanted to try and get the blend to run from head to toe. So what I’ve done is wrap the legs, tightly, in cling film (plastic wrap) and then used a drop of superglue to fix the armour in place. For the body I’ve just accepted that I will need to go back and paint over the overspray by hand. Not necessarily the best way to do things but one that I think I can get to work.
The barbarian has taken a back seat to the god machines this week so is still sitting on the workbench glaring at them. No doubt working out how to hack them to pieces given half a chance. I’m not going to let it slide so far back that he gets forgotten as there isn’t a massive amount to do. Although having said that I haven’t even started on a base for him yet. Anyway no progress on him this week.
That’s it for this week which I’m going to put down as a good hobby week, mainly because I have actually managed to make a start on the titans and I haven’t ruined them yet. I’m hoping for more of the same next week with the aim of starting on some details for the titans and trying to bring them to live a little. I still need to work out the basing for them but I’m not going to rush it and just take things one step at a time. For those of you at Adepticon I hope you really enjoy the last for few days and for the rest of us mortals I hope you al l have a good time and I hope to catch you all at the same time next week.
