Doomsday Ark - Hawtness

So, I had some time tonight after my toothache turned into an extraction because the tooth broke below the gum-line.  Wonderful USAF dentistry the culprit here, it rotted from the inside out...  Anyhow, I got to finish the assembly of my Necron Doomsday Ark that I started on Sunday.  This is the first model that I actually built in small stages and painted the sub-assemblies as I went.  Very hand y way to do it.  I'm kinda bummed that I didn't clean up the model more, there are mold lines that stick out like sore digital-metallic appendages.

Here are some shots... enjoy...


Still some edge highlighting and touch-ups to do, but mostly done...

These are also on my Flickr Page if you like that better...

BattleMarkers - Great stuff!!

So, every now and then you come across a great product that fills a great need.  Battlemarkers is just that deal.  Imagine all the markers you would ever need for your 40k game, without hassles and without breaking the bank.

Imagine, if you will, That these markers are just like buttons without the pin in the back.  They are metal, excellently printed and clear coated to that they will last a long time.  That's what these markers are, and they ROCK.  They are great looking, and durable as hell.  These are not going to wipe off or fade out on you.

I needed these for my Necron army, but they also have a ton more.  In fact, I got a great deal on a Necron Package that had just about every marker you could think of for a necron force to use.  They also have a ton of markers for other armies and for the game system as well.  For $6 for a single set of markers, you cannot go wrong.  My Necron Package was $20, and it had 4 sets, so that saves you $4 over and above.  The guys shipped them out so fast I had them before I knew it.

Definitely use the link above to check out all they have to offer.  They sell through ETSY, so you know you're not getting hosed and they have to maintain a standard there.

Seriously, Run, don't walk, to this store and grab these markers, you're game will be improved.

Back 2 Base-ix Tool Rack system - freakin' great

  Very rarely do i see something online that I just have to have.  I am impulse driven, I admit, but most of those are "wants", not gotta haves.  When I saw this item from Back 2 Base-ix online, I knew I had to have it.  I wanted to rebuild my old Citadel paint station (I had the wood one, not the new plastic PoS) anyhow.  I had some 1/4" MDF here anyhow, so I ordered 2 of the Racks and a corner paint holder from them.  They are in Australia, so there is a currency conversion and the shipping is kinda high... but...

WOW!  They are totally cool. They hold every-freaking-thing and they are a joy.  I'm not sure which was more fun, building them or magnetizing them.  They have great videos to who you how they are built, and unless you are 8 or a moron, you can figure it out pretty quick.  Once together they are very strong and solid.  They are laser cut, so there is the typical burny-scorchy marks on the, they say you can sand them off in seconds, but I love that look.  Then you get to magnetize them, a job which, if done in accordance with the video, is easy and makes it so you have a perfectly mated system, where any part joins with every other part in any configuration.  Brilliant!

The racks come with jars and bottles to hold all manner of bits and bobs, and the drawer is very useful also. The paint holder is great too, but all it does is hold paint and brushes.  While it does it, and does it well, it doesn't get the fame that the Rack does.

Cons: Some of the holes for brushes could be a tad bigger.  A lot of brush makers are going to larger widths for their handles.  I have handled this small problem with a drill...

Pros: Amazing system, and the pieces they have on the site are just the beginning.  There is more to come!  Yay!

Here is a couple of shots of my new paint station with the Racks from Back 2 Base-ix...

And that's all he wrote....

"Hot Lead" DVD Review

  Ok, so I last reviewed the MiniWargaming.com set of Painting Academy video's and I liked them.  The DVD production was terrible and the music was worse.  Now, alas, I have the "Hot Lead" 3 DVD set and it is AMAZING. The guy in the video, I will call him Lazlo, is amazing.  The things he does with paint on a fig is crazy cool.  And the video has great production value.  The menu system is easy to use to drill down to what you want, or you can play through an entire subject area, or the whole DVD.

  Lazlo is not a WH40K painter, or at least he doesn't paint army style.  He paints individual figs amazingly well, and the techniques he shows are phenomenal.  So while the approach isn't stylized for 40k, it suits anyone who wants to learn all the techniques and learn them well.  he shows it all, by brushstroke in great light and with great explanations.  You won't find a lot of "Missing Info" here.  What you need to put great paint on mini's is here.  He has a whole section on blending that, while a bit long and overdone, is great to learn how to soften and highlight different colors as well how to achieve the very subtle blending that makes a model POP.  The section on Non-Metallic metallic is great, as is the gems chapter.

The good and the bad

The bad = not much, there is a section on advanced basing that seems weak, but all in all, this is great stuff presented very well with very high production quality.  You can even tell where voice-overs were done after the video sessions to make it better.  That means some effort went into the editing and mastering of the DVD.

If you need/want help with your mini painting, I don't think you have to look farther than this set of 3 DVDs.

Overall = A+.  Well done!