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Showing posts from February, 2009

Punk snot dead!

Well so I have broken two of my initial ideals, I'd hoped to keep this blog daily, but thinking about it that isn't really feasible, especially not for me. My other broken ideal is to keep this about painting, so prepare for a rant... Punk is a word bandied around far too often, by far too diverse a group of people. Chav's wearing Punky Fish, Avril Lavigne, Prince Albert down at Camden Lock. What is Punk? A fashion statement, a political statement, an attitude, a link to Neo-nazism? Ironically I think in many ways, the last statement comes closest to the truth. In it's hey-day it is fair to say that the majority of punks were less than favorable to non-whites, sharing the opinions of many of the more extreme socialists of the time... keep England/America/other western country white. So why do I, a half-breed (and therefore lowest of the low in the eyes of many of its founders) talk about punk with such passion? An idea is independant of the merits of the founders, the N

Cleaning Miniatures

Another, less than popular aspect of the hobby is clipping, cleaning and gluing the minis prior to any kind of painting. Logically this topic should have come before even touching upon priming but I'm nothing if not ass-backwards. Clipping is only usually an issue with plastic miniatures, removing the parts from the sprue (the access plastic that they come on). Clipping may also be needed for some metals where there is either a sprue (often the case with Heresy miniatures and some Hasslefree minis) or if the casts have flash (excess bits of metal that stick out from the surface like pins - flash is actually the residue from risers in the mould, necessary to get a high level of detail in the model). The best method of clipping, I have found is with side clippers, you can oftn get these for only a few quid and they work perfectly. If you can, get two - one for plastics and another for metals... the ones used for metals will get notched and worn a lot quicker, when they are unusable,

Priming Minis

Priming miniatures is a necessary evil. If you don't, or think you'll be able to get away without bothering, you will find that the layers of paint you apply will rub off very easily. From experience I have found that spray priming is the most efficient and best way of doing things. Trying to hand paint on an undercoat is time consuming and less effective. The primer actually corrodes the surface of the miniature very slightly to give the paint grip so that it will adhere to the surface. I tend to prime using black for the most part as it provides an automatic shading and stands out less if you leave a part unpainted, grey or white if I feel that the miniature would benefit from a lighter colour. An example is my Uncharted Seas Imperial Navy - the hulls were primed black to add to the depth of the colour, however the sails were primed in white so that they had a vibrancy to help set them apart from the dirtier sails of the orcs. The Zombies I am painting are all being primed wi

Painting Station with some current projects

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Today's post is a little one just to show off my painting area in the living room. (The Missus is very laid back!) I hope to get a few shots up later today: The Uncharted Seas Ships are what my current focus really ought to be and is why they have been shoved to the back! Instead I have been focusing on zombies for the ruleset All Things Zombie . The Skaven minis are the last few players for my Blood Bowl Team, hopefully the first of my totally completed teams, it will have all player options, apothecary and Head Coach. Thrud the Barbarian is from Heresy Miniatures that I have had lying around for about a year, I hope to have him done soon as well, it will be a real test of my flesh tone skills as there is little else to him! The Hammerhead minis are from a convention that I started going to last year in Newark, a lot of these conventions have a special mini that attenders get as part of the entrance fee- in Hammerhead's case, you get one of 2 with the other being in ot

Some notes on my Hobby (read: Addiction)

Miniature Wish List This list is roughly prioritized Elven Starter Fleet ( Spartan Games ) Blood Bowl (as and when) Zombies (See below) Full Thrust (See below) SuperFigs (especially Henchmen) Battle Royale ( Hasslefree ) Worms ( Shield Wall Games ) Games Workshop - According to wishlist on GW Website Shattered Isles ( Black Hat Miniatures ) Discworld Minis ( Micro Art Studio ) Coat D'Arms Paints ( Complete Set ) Vallejio Paints (As needed) Quality Brushes (Kolinsky or similar) Carry cases Painting Priority (Theoretically!) Uncharted Seas Minis Uncharted Seas Scenery Full Thrust Nuln Minis SuperFigs Zombies Space Marines Dwarf Thane Confrontation Minis Talisman Minis Zombies: Studio Miniatures : Zombie Mob 001 (White Metal) £18.69 Hasslefree : (HFW701a, HFABON02, HFABON03, HFA021, HFA022, HFA023, HFA025, HFA026, HFA027, HFA031, HFA032, HFA033, HFA034, HFA036, HFA045, HFA047, HFL004, HFL005, HFN001, HFN008, HFN009, ) £95.00 + UpComing Crocodile Games : Z-01, Z-02 $24.00 Zombiesmit

A Brief Introduction

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I'm a 22 year old gamer studying Electronic Engineering at Durham University. My gaming life started with the discovery of Games Workshop at age 7... after a few years I dropped it in favour of having money... a couple of years ago the addiction returned and spread to a wide range of other systems and boardgames. My Miniature Gaming addiction currently encompasses: Warhammer - Nuln Army (Empire) with Karak Norn Allies (Dwarves from BfSP) Warhammer 40k - Iron Hands Army (Space Marines) Necromunda - Ty Fighters (Spyrer) & Dog Tag Yons (Orlock) Blood Bowl - It is my ambition to get a complete set of every team. This means enough miniatures for every possible team combination, apothecary, wizard and coach (maybe even cheerleaders & assistant coaches) Uncharted Seas - All Fleets Confrontation - Wolfen & Kelt Worminator - All Teams Full Thrust - Islamic Federation All Things Zombies Nuthin' But Net SuperSystem This blog will chart my progress in