Slowfuse gaming Bomb Wick brushes - a non-pro painter's review

  So, a few months back I ordered a set of these brushes from Slowfuse gaming.  I did it mostly because CK Studios recommends them for brush work.  After using them a while, I can see why.  They are really nice brushes, at a decent price and they have a lot of the things I like in a brush.

  Please, keep in mind, I am not a pro-painter, I'm just a tabletop ready kind of guy.  But I do like my tools to be good, and I do hope to improve my paint game as I go.  With the likes of Warhammer Community, Vince Venturella and others, I think my paint game is improving.  But you'll be the judge of that!  I say this so that you know not too place more stock in my review as opposed to a real pro painter.  But if Caleb recommends them, I'm certain I can't be too far off the mark.

The Shipping and Presentation

  The brushes shipped in a very nice, big tube, all had nice brush sleeves to protect the bristles.  No complaints on how they shipped.

  As you can see, I got 7 in total.  A #3, #2, #1, #0, #00, #000 and an x10.  I also picked up a tin of their brush soap.  Glad I did too, it's very good.  More on that later

  The brushes feel very solid, no loose crimps or manufacturing defects I could see.  They are light and have a good thickness to the handle that fits my hand well.

First clean

  Interestingly, there is a warning on the side of the tube that tells you to wash the brushes in a good brush soap before the first use.  This is because they ship them with a brush saver coating on them.  Brush saver is just a thick liquid that dries on the bristles and holds them in their pointed shape nicely and also helps keep the bristles free of moisture and contamination.  It's like putting conditioner in your hair.

  A lot of brushes ship this way, at least high end ones (Raphael, Winsor Newton etc.) but this is the first time I have seen the warning on the packaging.  Normally it's on a website or something.  Experienced painters know about this, but those new to the hobby might not, so I thought this was a very good touch.  Kudos to them for thinking of us 'little people'

Using the brushes

  As you can see in the picture, each of the brushes is long, and 'fat' and they come to a nice point.  The long and fat part means they can hold a fair amount of paint giving you more time 'on the mini' and less scooping up more paint.  The nice point means you can be accurate and, if you have a steady hand, get decent results with you brush strokes.

Snappiness

  One thing I look for in a brush is how 'snappy' it is.  I have no idea what the professionals call this, or if they even care about it.  To me, the snappiness is how the brush reacts as you finish your stroke and come off the mini.  Some brushes will snap really hard, sometimes even flinging paint at places you don't want.  Others will hang there limply in the same shape it was at the end of your stroke.  Then you find yourself having to 're-shape' the fine point before another stroke.   I'm not sure if that was a great description, but it makes sense to me.

  One of my issues with the GW brushes over time has been that they snap really hard when you end your stroke.  While this is ok sometimes, when I am blending or doing detail work, it's not great.  The Winsor-Newtons have a lot of snap also, less on the Raphael's. 

  These brushes seem to be a very nice middle ground between snapping back and retaining their shape.  The do return back to a nice straight shape quickly, but they also hold their point really well also.  It just seems to me to make them more enjoyable to use than other brushes in my stable.  Again, I'm not sure if this is really a thing, but with brushes, it's usually just a little thing that separates one brand from another.

  Using them also seems to be a very nice experience as well.  The paint flows well off of them (if it is thinned properly, of course).  The have a good feel in the hand and the hairs/bristles are fine enough that they do a great job without a lot of brush stroke marks (again, if you're properly thinned.)  I guess the best thing to say about them is that I keep going back to them to use rather than some of my others.

Brush Soap

  As you can see in the pictures, I also grabbed a tin of Jentastic's Drunken Brush Goop.  This is just a tin of brush soap, and if you know about caring for your brushes, you know brush soap is a must.  I have always used Masters Brush soap, it comes in a beige/brown plastic tub and is the almost universal go to for artists of all types.   Well, I tried the brush goop, and I have to say, it is different from masters (not just repackaged) and I kind of like it.

  It has a different look, and when you swirl a wet brush in it, it does not immediately lather up like the Master's does.  Instead it gets very soapy and slick.  Then when you whirl it around your palm, it lathers up nicely and seems to me, anyhow, to clean the paint out quicker.  Sometimes I have to soap, swirl, rinse and repeat with the Masters multiple times.  With the Jentastic goop, I was usually cleaned up in one pass.  It also 'seems' to me that the hairs are a little softer when they dry?  This is not a scientific comparison, it's all just observation and gut feeling, so you mileage may vary.  I would say if you don't already have Master's soap, then look into this.  If you have some already, you will never need more, so...

Reflections

  So, overall impressions.  I really like these brushes a lot.  They do everything you expect a brush to do.  They have great feel to them and they feel really good to use.  As a non Pro painter, I definitely give them a serious thumbs up.  And since Caleb Wisenback also does, and he is a pro, I can safely recommend them to anyone looking to step up their game.

  One thing I should add, I bought these and did not receive them to review.

Tamiya Hobby Drill - Great tool for Pinning!

  Hey folks,  I like to share whenever I see a great item for us hobby crazed folks, and I have found one!

  This is the Tamiya Electric Handy Drill.  I bought it at a hobby store on a lark, thinking it might be a good tool for pinning.  Boy is it ever!!  It uses a regular hobby motor, but has a gearing arrangement that gives it a decent amount of torque.  I tested it on plastic, wood and white metal (Privateer Press minis) and it was great to very good on all of them.  It has a collet lock, trigger lock and even a spare collet for larger drill bits.

  It blasted through the wood and plastic easily.  Even with the small drill bit for pinning, it was very sure and precise.  On the metal minis, it was perfection in a plastic case!  This was the function I had most wanted to use it for, so I was very pleased with that!!

  Drilling metal is a pain in the arse.    Yes, I know, a pin vise works, as does the dremel.  But the pin vise is manual, and I hate work.  The dremel, meanwhile spins very quickly, but with almost no torque at all.  So you usually end up with either a broken bit (the really small ones) or a stalled dremel tool that you then have to work out of the hole it dug.  That and the fact that using the dremel can really heat up a mini.  This drill has a nice gear reduction set that gives it just enough torque to drill the metal, but not heat it up or stall.  Perfection!

  The downsides of this thing?  Well, it is a kit, you have to build it.  Luckily you don't have to drill anything, or you would end up in a Möbius loop forever.  Also, the gearing and everything except the motor and battery parts are plastic.  It is tough and durable, but it will not stand up to too much punishment.  (Take care of your tools, kids, and they'll take care of you!)

  Do be careful, if you run to get one... Amazon sells them for anything from ~$18 to ~$58.  Don't get caught with the expensive one.  Here is a shameless link to one from my Amazon store...




  So, if you need one, you really need one.  It's quite handy and I can give it an unqualified thumbs up!

Who knew, a kit to build kits...  LOL

Side view showing the tool, the trigger lock and the collet stop (Brass button near the shaft)

2 AA batteries required!

   So, if you do a bunch of pinning or anything that needs drilling, this may just be your tool of choice for the future!

Magnet Installation helper / tool

  Did a quick tutorial / how to for a magnet installation tool that takes the guesswork out of magnet polarity and makes installing them easier.  Someone may find it useful??

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!!!!

GW Project Box and more...

  Okay, okay so I'm weak.  I am also a sucker.  Sue me :)

  I did it, I ordered one of these project boxes and the cutting mat that goes into it.  I just had to it.  Mostly because of Sundays.  Sundays means Football or NASCAR in my house, and that means sitting in the living room, not the hobby room.  I reasoned that if I had a handy-dandy project box, I could do stuff in the living room while I watched... yeah, that was it.  So I took the plunge.  While I know it's not for everyone, and it is a pretty 'useless' extravagance, it is kinda cool... kinda.  And because I ordered other stuff too, it came in this awesome GW-40k awesome re-giftable box of 40k goodness!

  The cutting mat is... well, a cuting mat.  It is neither exciting nor ground-breaking in any way, but it certainly has that cutting mat property and is self healing.  It does, indeed, fit into the little niche provided for it in the lid of the project box. 

  The "palette pad" is just glossy paper that paint won't seem to let the paint soak in.  For that matter, it will not function as a wet palette either, so I would advise avoiding those.

  The gift box is, well, it's kind of awesome.  It has great art and great symbology on the outside and the inside!  It has a sealing strip and easy opening zip-top, so you can use it as a great gift box for that someone special in your 40k world.  After the jump, there are a bunch of pictures with captions so you can see what I mean.

  The project box is also pretty cool.  When you open the locking sides, the top comes off to reveal... the inside.  The top flips to be a work station and has some great designs cast into it.  It has little feet to protect your desk or table, but I may have to swap them out for some rubber feet to keep the 'slide' factor down.

  Just inside is the paint tray that holds a crap-ton of paints (49) and is removable, so if your current project doesn’t include paints, you can leave that behind.  Inside is open wells for glues, tools and other stuff, including your project that you're working on in the project box... hence the name.

  I thought, at first, that the tool holder design, with the raised 'ramps' was a bit of space waster, but I actually found it was handy to see the tools and brushes pretty easily and grab the 'safe' parts rather than the cutty-stabby bits.  (When you have 50 year old eyes, that's handy...)

  There is a lot of room in the box for stuff, and the locking lid makes it kind of handy.  I can see tossing this in the car for the weekend getaways so I can some work done when wifey goes to sleep.

  Is it for everyone?... no.  Is it pretty decently designed and useful?... yes.  Is it a 'must have ground-breaking 40k improving thing'?... nope.  Would it make a decent gift?... yes.  Will your 40k circle of friends laugh at you for having one... probably :)  But screw them, it's your life.

  If you have to take your toys on the road, or need to switch rooms now and then, get one, it's just cool enough to work for that.  (oh, and make a wet palette according to my instructional video and use that...)

  After the jump, tons of pictures and captions...

Quick Tip - Airbrush cleaning with interdental brushes

  Good morning all.  Just a quick tip for those with, or considering airbrushes.  Rule #1 for good airbrush use is to keep it clean.  That means a good scrub now and then.  Well, I went and bought the set of 5 airbrush cleaning brushes from a well known source and was mightily disappointed.

  First, they tend to loose bristles, and that makes cleaning even harder.  After a few of the bristles come out, I get nervous about using them, because they are rolled wire and I think it may scratch the soft brass of the airbrush innards.  Also, there are three sized of brushes on the ring that you will hardly ever use.  So you pay that extra bit for nada.

  Enter the interdental brushes.  I got my package at a CVS pharmacy, but I'm certain any decent druggist or pharmacy will have something like these.

  The great things about these;

• Cheap - I bought a pack of 36 for about $6
• Graduated size of bristles.  You can use 'just the tip' (sorry Screaming Heretics :) for detail cleaning or stuff it all in for deep cleaning
• Tough - The bristles do not fall out, nor does the wire bend leaving you with a crooked, useless piece of scrap.
• Disposable - use it and trash it.  very simple.

  So, just a quick tip for you to enjoy.  Give them a look, they may save you some headaches.

Tools: The $2 Paint roller/mixer for Valejo pots

  Howdy all,  been a crazy week so far, and shows no sign of improving.  I was watching some YouTube videos, and Les Bursley has a good one on rolling Vallejo paint pots instead of shaking them like I would normally do, using my paint shaker.  Well, that method always led to bubbles in the paint and paint that just shot out of the bottle when I opened it.  I hated that.  So Les was chucking the pots into a drill and spinning them.  I switched to that method and it works, but it is not very handy.  So, I came up with this...

  Yes, the $2 paint roller that is semi-guaranteed to not spin the top off or send your paint flying across the room.  All you do is put the paint pot into it, and spin the pot for a little bit.  you'll see how long it takes to mix the paint. 

  Here is my YouTube video of the creation of that bad boy, and then the picture tutorial will follow after the "read more" jump break...

And now, on to the tutorial (picture based)

The $20, 286 pot paint rack (wall mounted)

  Yep, you heard me.  $20 will get you this 4ft x 2.5ft wall hanging paint rack.  It is bottle agnostic, so you can store GW, Valejo, P3 and any old kinda paint bottle you want. No way, you say.  Yes, way, I say. The key here is laziness and letting someone else do all the hard work for you.  And here is how it's done...

You will need;

• 1 - 2x4 sheet of pegboard (~$9.00 at Lowes or Home Depot)
  
• 33 - 36" 5/16 Dowel rods (The job is way easier if you get 3/16" dowels rods, but they seemed a little too flimsy for me) ($0.59 at Michaels Hobby Supply or $0.79 at Ace Hardware)

Tools you will need;

• Drill (easy) or Drill Press (easier) with 5/16" (or 3/16") drill bit
• Table Saw (easy), band saw (easy), jig saw (harder), hand saw (damn! buy a band saw!)
• Sweat
• spray paint (optional)

Now, follow along with the pictures...

Tool time - Glass Rocks - Multitaskers!

  Just a quickie here, wanted to share a very cool tool I use a lot around here.  They have these bags of glass 'rocks' at hobby lobby, probably at Michael's too.  I would imagine something like them appears at any store that has crafting supplies.  These were found in the wedding area, of all places.

  In the bag is a bunch of very small to medium sized glass rocks.  They are not sharp at all and there is a multitude of sizes and shapes in the bag.  At around $5 (US) they are pretty cheap and you get a lot.

  What do they do?  Lots.

1.  They are great for scenery, terrain and other things like that.  By themselves they look pretty cool, but if you take just a small dot of paint on the 'bottom' of the rocks before you glue them down, you can get some nice colored reflections.  Good for Necron and/or Eldar crystals and such.  Experiment with metallics and colors to get some cool effects. 

2.  Paint mixers.  Yep.  I have a small container of these at my paint station and whenever I open a new GW paint pot, I toss a couple of the larger rocks in there.  (I also use a sharpie to mark the top of the pot so I know that pot already has a mixer in it.)  Now, when I use my patented, super amazing paint mixer, I get a better paint mix.  The glass is nice because, unlike metal, it does not corrode or leech into the paint pot, ruining the color.  I used to use BBs for mixing, but they ruined several pots and I learned not to use metal of any kind.

3.  Floating things...  after all, they are very small rocks... (if you don't know Monty Python, that makes no sense...)

That's all for now, just thought I would share that.

Ciao for now.

Tools of the Trade: Toe Nail Clippers... yeah!

   Just a really quick note here, wanted to pass on some old model railroad stuff.  When you are out looking to replace those old, worn out sprue cutters, do NOT go to the hobby store, or worse, GW.  They charge $15-20 for a sharpened pot-metal set of nippers that have an overall suck factor of %100.

  Instead, follow your wife/gf/so or whoever you know that has decent hygeine into walgreens, or CVS or where ever and buy toe nail clippers.  You may be amazed, depending on the store you go to, how many different kinds there are.  Here are some reasons to love them;

• They are made of hardened steel, they last a crap-load longer than hobby sprue nippers
• They come in a gazillion shapes, and since a lot of the GW sprues have gates VERY close to the part, hobby sprue cutters are usually too big to get in there.
• They are cheaper.
• People will think you actually have decent personal hygiene and who knows... might be date night soon???

  Here is a link to just a set on Amazon.  $12.00 as opposed to $15 for GW or similar and these will last a good deal longer.

  So there it is, just a quick bit of advice from an ol' modeler.

  In the next few days should have the 1,000pt BatRep up and some shots of the Night Scythe all finished and the Canoptek Wraiths in work...  So much to do, so little time...

Tools of the Trade 2: Organizer

  So, I admit it, I'm a bit OCD when it comes to organizing my tools and workbench.  Ok, Alot OCD.  So I saw this organizer from a firm called HobbyZone in Poland.  It looked SWEET, so I looked into ordering one.  Nice price, only $47, but he shipping was another $46.  Yeeegads.  Somehow, I just couldn't justify that.  But it does look sweet...

  Further searching took me to Micro-Mark, my all around go-to guys for cool tools and such.  They have an organizer there that looks remarkably similar the Hobby Zone model.  So I ordered one.

Tools of the Trade: Paint Mixer

(Originally posted in the Screaming Heretic Forums!)

  So, there I was, tons of paint pots and sore arms. (Don't ask...)

  I needed a paint shaker, i was really tired of shaking by hand.  It also looks really gay.. i mean, silly.  I have a Badger whirly mixer that goes in the pot and stirs it, but it always seems to me to waste paint. I needed something else.

  Enter the electric carving knife...

  Yep, you heard me right, the same device used to decimate countless thanksgiving turkeys could save me.

  So, here are the steps.

iPad Software: Quartermaster

  I just recently purchased Quartermaster for the iPad.  I had tried it a few times in the past, but never really considered it.  This time I tried to actually use it to build a list and went through all it's features.  I have to say, it's pretty darn good.

  First off - It is not Army Builder or even Battlescribe.  It will not prompt you through to make a completely legal and certified tournament list.  If you are not sure if certain combinations of weapons/effects can be used, you will need the codex by your side. 

  That said, if you know what you are doing, and do not want/need your hand held during the list building process, this is a GREAT portable list builder.  You get all the options and none of the overhead.

  To start, you have to get the program, here are the links;

Quartermaster Web Site Link

iTunes direct link

  Then you will need Templates.  Templates are the files used by the program to generate the lists and all the assorted options that come with those lists.  You can either download the Template files or make them yourself.  I'm a lazy bugger, so I downloaded them.  There is a great site for them here;

QM Templates website for Quartermaster Template Files

  Keep in mind, the template files are separate from the program for the same reasons that they are separate for Army Builder and such, Intellectual property/copyright/oh bugger off rules.  It's not a problem with the program or the software, it's just the silly rules we live by.
 
  Now that you have everything installed, build lists to your hearts content.  It really is as simple as tapping to add the unit, then tap the unit's name to add options to it (like Force Swords and Heavy Bolters and Lascannons, oh my!)  From the main screen, you will see a listing of all your lists built so far (or the two demo lists that come pre-made).  AT the top right is all the menu items.  YOu can edit the templates (or add your own) from here.  The Star button is nice, it allows you to designate favorite lists which are then moved up the screen to be at the top for easy access.  The blue + button makes a new list.  It does not ask for point limits or what rulesets you will be using.  That is up to you.  It does keep a running total of your list points though.

Mini holder for painting

So, I have been painting a lot lately, and it gets me annoyed sometimes to have to figure out a decent way to hold the mini. I know almost everyone uses some of the tacky stuff for posters and what-have-you, but I cannot seem to get that stuff to hold the mini well enough. Then I recalled a holder I had seen years ago and figured I would try my hand at it. What resulted was a quick afternoon project that didn't cost much and is working really well.  The beauty of these is that they are totally adjustable, hold the fig like an iron vice and then pop the fig off with no hassle at all, and no cleaning up tacky residue or anything like that.

The fig holders are adjustable to hold any mini from 25mm base to 70mm base, square, oval or round. Very handy. Here is what you need to make a set of 10.  The total cost for me was about $25.

- 40" long 3/4" dowel rod, cut into 4" lengths - I find the 4" gives a good handle on the fig without being too big.
- Some Matte paper, heavy card-stock or even sheet styrene, cut into 2.5" squares. Need a total of 11 of these, 1 template and the rest for the mini holders
- 40 #8 Machine screws - 3/4 Long
- 80 #8 Washers
- 40 #8 Nuts
- 40 Rubber faucet washers (My ACE hardware had these for $0.20 each, most expensive part)
- 10 Flush head nails (Make sure these have a very low profile but wide head (keep the jokes to yourself)).
- Wood glue - use your fave, I used Elmer's carpenter glue
- Compass to draw lines on the template

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....