Archive for November, 2009

A Productive Holiday Weekend

We had decent weather this weekend – probably the last such weekend of the year – so I jumped on the opportunity and finished up getting my 1500-point Khorne army ready for painting. I finished “Chaos-ing” a Land Raider through judicious application of various spiky bits, and got it and my second Rhino primed. This should keep me busy with painting throughout the winter, and probably beyond – I still have another 600 points or so of Tau to paint before I have 1500 points of them completed, and another 500 points beyond assembled and primed.

My 1500-point Khorne list is basically just an extension of my 1000-point list, with 5 Terminators and a Land Raider added to fill out the extra 500 points.

HQ: Chaos Terminator Lord (1#, 160 pts)
(Mark of Khorne; Combi-melta; Blood Feeder)

Elite: Terminators (4#, 185 pts)
3 Terminators (Icon of Khorne; Power Weapon x3; Combi-flamer x2; Heavy Flamer x1)
1 Terminator Champion (Lightning Claws (pair) x1)

Troops: Khorne Berzerkers (9#, 253 pts)
7 Khorne Berzerkers
1 Skull Champion (Bolt Pistol; Power Fist)
1 Rhino (Combi-flamer)

Troops: Khorne Berzerkers (9#, 268 pts)
7 Khorne Berzerkers
1 Skull Champion (Power Fist; Plasma Pistol)
1 Rhino (Combi-flamer)

Fast Attack: Raptors (8#, 255 pts)
7 Raptors (Icon of Khorne; Meltagun x2)
1 Aspiring Champion (Lightning Claws (pair))

Heavy Support: Defiler (1#, 150 pts)
(Dreadnought CCW x4)

Heavy Support: Land Raider (1#, 220 pts)

Total Roster Cost: 1491

I suppose I should look at swapping the Terminators for a unit of Berzerkers as an alternate list, but I at least want to see what kind of havoc the Termies can cause on the field. Worst case scenario is that I can always save them for a 1750-point list.

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My Workspace

workspace_1

This week, I finally got back on the painting horse and made a fair amount of progress on my first Hammerhead. I figured that this would be a great opportunity to show where I do my mini work. There’s about a 16″ square of space on my desk that I devote to my miniatures projects. That’s where I keep my brushes, a couple of plastic cups for water, and whatever paints I’m using at the time. I also keep my bottle of super glue at my desk; I tend to squeeze in assembly and repair time whenever I can, so it’s always ready to go. Here’s a closer view of the work area itself.

workspace_2

Besides everything I keep at my desk, I also have a set of rolling shelves just to the side, topped with a tacklebox full of paints. Each shelf has a certain purpose, which just helps keep me organized and functional. The top shelf holds minis that are assembled, but not yet based or primed. Next, a shelf of bases and basing material, including grit, flock, stone, and even a resin base for my Chaos Dreadnought (whenever I put it together). Next down is the tool shelf – my clippers, files, hobby knives, spare palettes, etc. Finally, there’s the shelf just for unassembled minis, mostly occupied by old pewter Chaos minis in pieces (including the aforementioned Dreadnought). Below that, three more shelves of miscellaney, including everything from spare paint bottles (mostly old Apple Barrel craft paints) to spare bits (such as a cup full of CSM backpacks).

workspace_shelves

Finally, a picture of my current project. Work on the Hammerhead has been progressing very well. I have all the flats and inking done, so this next week will see doing minor cleanup, edge highlighting, and detail work. I’m using the same colors as my Devilfish, but there’s more Knarloc Green panels amongst the Goblin Green ones; I wanted my tanks to have a different look from my transports.

workspace_hammerhead

One thing this week has taught me (or at least, reminded me) is that when it comes to getting something done, there’s no substitute for getting intentional and doing it. Sometimes, just blocking out an hour or so of time is enough to get the ball rolling. I’d planned on only working around one hour on one night last week; instead, I ended up working two nights and one morning to get to where I am. It’s nice to be making progress again.

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Where the Heck Have I Been?

Well, my computer is back in working condition (after a major mistake by Dell almost sunk the whole process) and despite some business around the house, I was able to make some progress in the interim. I have my 1000 point Khorne army assembled, based, and primed – save for one Rhino, which for some reason was missing a side door. A new door bit has been ordered, and I should have it completed and primed by the weekend. I solved my Raptor pistol conundrum with some good old-fashioned conversions (cut off one gun, replace with a spare bit), and I figured out a solution for my icon bearer problem. A little brass rod, a pin vise, and a bit of drilling, and I had a Khorne icon added to a pole on his jump pack. It looks a little unwieldy, but not too much more than GW’s Chaos Lord with Jump Pack does. I also managed to squeeze in a unit of Terminators into my priming window (which continues to shrink as the winds pick up and the days get shorter and colder). A Khorne Terminator Lord, one Heavy Flamer, two Combi-flamers, and an Aspiring Champion with Lightning Claws are ready to be painted. Now I just need to get my Land Raider assembled to cart them all around, and I should be able to bump my army up to 1500 points, or close to it. I’d probably need to get a third unit of Berzerkers ready, though, along with a Rhino for transport.

Meanwhile, I still have many Tau vehicles to paint. I love painting, but it’s the hardest part of the hobby (possibly besides playtime itself) to fit into a schedule with an 8-to-5 job and a two-year-old. Assembly, I can mostly do in spare time – it doesn’t take long to snip parts, file off flash/sprue nubs, and glue them together. Painting, though, has more set-up and clean-up time involved, and requires some concentration. I need to set aside some stretches of time as “Daddy’s Official Painting Time”, but that will have to wait until we can get the last few home projects finished. In the meantime, my Hammerheads are still basecoated and ready for the next step. If anyone has some tips or secrets to getting painting done in a tight time schedule, I’d love to hear them!

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