tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76420753499469292562024-03-13T19:57:28.845-04:00Revenant AutumnA log of Tau, terrain, and other random wargaming projects.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-86880143120193578922014-05-30T17:20:00.000-04:002014-05-30T17:20:26.747-04:00LED Riptide - Part 2<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2725.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2725.jpg" hspace="5" style="width: 160px;" /></a>Welcome back. If you haven't already, feel free <a href="http://www.revenantautumn.blogspot.com/2014/05/led-tau-riptide-part-1.html" target="_blank">check out the first half of this build which detailed the goals, design, and cockpit work</a>. This second half will focus on the electronics and the rest of the overall building steps. Before we continue on with the assembly steps, I am going to take some time to explain my electronics setup and execution. I figure it will be better to get an understanding of what I am doing now, rather than piecemeal as I go through the rest of the build.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Electronics</span></b></h3>
LED's are generally 3V, with 20mA current draw. When using a 9V source, LED's in parallel waste a lot of this current, and greatly increase the amount of wires hanging around. Ideally I wanted my schematic to be parallel series of 3 with a minimal resistor whenever possible. I was lazy in this build and kept the same resistor value for the series as the original parallel, but it works well enough with a healthy battery. Here is a rough schematic of what I went with. It is recreated from memory, so it may not be 100% what I used, but it gets most of it right. In particular I think I might have actually run a few of the Always On section in parallel rather than a series.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-serG2fvNZ5I/U4dyraRdM1I/AAAAAAAAAaY/DwHpxbn1XAM/s1600/Untitled5.png" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-serG2fvNZ5I/U4dyraRdM1I/AAAAAAAAAaY/DwHpxbn1XAM/s1600/Untitled5.png" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
Take a look at this <a href="http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz" target="_blank">LED calculator</a> that helped me start out the schematic.<br />
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It may not be obvious from above why certain paths are split up, so this should clear up the reasoning. It was because of space, specifically around the cockpit. Since that space was now used up, I needed to route a bunch of wiring around it to get to where it all needs to go. I decided to split the main wire right below the cockpit into 4, and route them into the right and left shoulders.<br />
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From there one line(green) serviced the Always On LED's, and (red) to the quick disconnect for the weapon. The other line(grey) heads out to the shield, and blue went to the first jetpack, and behind the cockpit seat to the other jetpack.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A-fcQDgCXGs/U4dyjC7iHiI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/olcjjIOFgTs/s1600/wires.png" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A-fcQDgCXGs/U4dyjC7iHiI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/olcjjIOFgTs/s1600/wires.png" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
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Here is a basic look at my workstation for soldering and assembling. The extra hand clips really help when trying to solder LED's in particular angles. My process was to strip off the insulation of my pre-wired and resistor for 9V LED's, desolder wires as needed. I would solder up my LED's one at a time in the series needed, and both insulate and put everything in place with hot glue. As nothing runs hot on this, I didn't fear any glue melting after the build was done. Hot glue also makes a nice light diffusing material. But it must be used only when you are sure you are done, as trying to get all the glue off to fix mistakes later is a serious pain. Order of operation really matters, as I cant close up sections until their required wires are through where they need to go and the electronics tested up to this point. This is why you will see the cockpit halfway assembled for half of this build.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2614.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2614.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Building the Bottom Half</span></h3>
The battery holder would be a part of the terrain that the Riptide would be standing on. I continued to test out dry-fitting the model and how it would be interacting with the base. I used a poster tack to keep the model relatively put together in this stage. It is tacky enough for basic holding, but won't stick when you start pulling it off.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2460.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2460.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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When I was ready to add in the battery holder, I made a simple outline and cut out the hole in the base with a sharp exacto. Extra spacing was filled in with a ring of plasticard to make the holder fit snug, and it was solidified with super glue.</div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2457pg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2457.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2464.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2464.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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From there I began populating the base with bits to mask the battery holder. I also decided to flip which direction the Riptide would be leaning, so the tank turret helped accomplish this and gave the piece a much higher vantage point. I don't normally like elevating my models too much from the base height, but this helped draw more attention to just how big this model is and kept focus away from the battery holder.</div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2471.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2471.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2480.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2480.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a></div>
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The left leg and feet was the first thing glued into place. Like all good Tau battlesuits, I mucked up positioning and broke the ankle. I'm used to this, so pinning wasn't a problem. It was probably for the best, as this would now be a solid stability point. </div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2485.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2485.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2477.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2477.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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With the left leg ready, I began routing the main wires through the right side piece by piece. Through the tank, into the foot, calf, thigh, and then abdomen. I didn't need to glue segments as I went, as the wiring acted as a skeleton. I would solidify them later. I cut some corners with some wires showing, but they aren't noticeable in the final build.</div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2487.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2487.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2488.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2488.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2490.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2490.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Torso First Half</span></b></h3>
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With the bottom of the Riptide complete, The left half of the cockpit was next. The wire would split left and right in the abdomen, as you can see below. It just squeaks by under the pilot's arms in the cockpit and into the shoulder area. </div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2539.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2539.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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This is where I soldered in the leads that would go to the 4 LED locations. Between all the wires and the hot glue, this whole space was very cramped. Because of the wiring and to keep things open in case of troubleshooting, I left the cockpit incomplete until I finished both jetpacks.</div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2582.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2582.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Left Shoulder</span></b></h3>
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The front shoulder thrusters were fairly easy to do. I had already drilled out the front grill plate, and all I needed to do was drill a hole for the LED to fit through. I also painted the inside area around the LED with the turqouise that I wanted to show with the white lights. I think I actually snuck this one into a parallel wiring with the jet pack LED wire. All of the other continuous on LED's would draw from a right side shoulder wire.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2581.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2581.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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This side shows a lot more of what is going on in this shoulder. It's very busy. One of the main wires will go in on the switch and power the left jetpack. The wires going off screen will route behind the cockpit to the right jetpack so it is in parallel connection with the left (and shares the same switch). The hole in the middle is for the shield wire which will route straight on through the shoulder into the left arm. Excuse the fingernails, but it does help to have longer nails when pushing things into place with hot glue everywhere..<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2583.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2583.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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It was nice of them to build the shoulder with connections that fit the wires I need to route. It is a bit of tight fit on the jetpack side of this connection though, so I needed to shave out as much of the spot as possible to get the wires through.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2584.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2584.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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Here the shoulder is coming together. All the wiring is in, everything clears and is glued down, so it is a matter of slowly closing it up without breaking anything. Sometimes you need to push around a wire or cut out some dried glue to force it closed. Having wires cut down to not have too much slack is also key at this stage.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2587.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2587.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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Closed and glowing! The turquoise paint fudges the glow into looking like it is tinted just like I want! Here is where I try not to think about how I'm really not even half-way through the build..<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2590.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2590.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Left Jetpack</span></b></h3>
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I'm not going to label this out in halves, but that is technically how I do every component here. The outer shell gets coverings over the spots with a light diffusing plastic. I got it from Inventables. It works, but other thin plastic or even paper would do in a pinch. The point was to not make it a big ole' LED showing when you look at it. These pieces were custom trimmed down and tested so that it would connect with the other half no problem. I also painted around the edges with the turquoise.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2599.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2599.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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The other half has all of the real work though. It may not be easy to see, but the two central solder points are the posts from inside the shoulder that are linked with the switch. From these there are three sets of two LED's. One set goes from the black wire to the top back-facing LED, to the Top-front facing LED. Another set is the two bottom back LED's, and the last set is the two bottom front LED's. I left the bottom spot and the side grills on the other half to glow from ambient light rather than their own individual LED, mostly due to room constraints.</div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2593.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2593.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2592.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2592.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2595.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2595.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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Success!<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2600.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2600.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Right Jetpack (also cockpit and right shoulder)</span></b></h3>
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Unfortunately I don't have any shots of the head, cockpit, or right should build. They were relatively simple to do, and just a matter of routing the wires where they needed to go. The back neck got some bulking out to cover some of the trailing wire from that particular LED. After that I repeated my left jetpack work on the right side.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2631.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2631.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2628.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2628.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2627.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2627.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2626.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2626.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Weapon Arm and Interchangeable Weapon</span></b></h3>
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The difficulty of the weapon was going to be a reliable disconnect method that wouldn't break down over time. I got these quick disconnects, and made a hole that matched up with where the weapon connector would be. After it was soldered up, I filled it in with glue to make sure it wouldn't budge. The connection is secure enough that it did not require any extra hold like magnets or pins. You can't quite see it, but the switch for this arm is behind the shoulder bit sticking out.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2632.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2632.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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The weapon was a trial of space and brightness. I played around with a few styles before settling on the one below. You can see I poorly routed my wires, and ended up adding in an extra LED last minute which is why it is such a mess. It took a lot of forcing to get it to close up. I have yet to do the chaingun weapon option, but with this disconnect I can wire it up similarly and hot swap the weapon as needed.</div>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2646.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2646.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Shield and Front Vent casts</span></b></h3>
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I had originally wanted the shield to be very glowy to show off the force field it issued. As I worked on the design, I toned it down to just the Tau symbol glowing. I felt any more would really pull the attention away from the other parts of the build. To start, I carefully cut out the central symbold circle, leaving the spokes intact on the outer ring.<br />
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I took the symbol and cleaned up its sides, and then glued it into a container along with my custom vent grills.</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2527.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2527.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
I used silicone RTV as my mold making material. After mixing it in and resisting the urge to see if it tasted like strawberry yogurt, it was left to set for a day. <a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2528.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2528.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Mold came out good, so I mixed up some clear resin and cast out a set of them. After another few days to be sure they were fully set They came out looking good! Only a few air bubbles inside, but no surface flaws.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2556.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2556.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
I worked my wiring down into the left hand, and drilled out the hole for the LED. It is coincidentally the perfect size if you flip the shield-connector bit. I backed the clear symbol with diffusion film, and did a test run.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2638.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2638.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Looks good!<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2642.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2642.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
The wiring on this side was much easier than the rest of the build.</div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2643.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2643.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Here it is being assembled. Flipping the shield-connector also makes for a larger amount of light to hit the clear areas.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2644.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2644.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: start;">
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Painting and Conclusion</span></b></h3>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So it finally all came together. At the end I had about a day and a half for painting before the competition deadline. I used tape and sticky tack to block out LED locations, and airbrushed much of the model. I can't say it is my best job, but it was never my intention to go into much more detail. The focus was supposed to stay on the glowing sections, so I feel this was adequate for a final part. I phoned it in on the white locations, and did some half-hearted freehand. Weathering was also pretty simple use of smokey ink and a sponge. I actually think I did a better job with my base painting. I am actually most disappointed in how I did not fix sloppy shoulder joint and ramp hinge glue texturing, and not clearing out a few joining mold lines. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In the end I had just enough time to spend getting good photos before submitting the pics and story requirements for the competition. I placed 5th among many awesome Riptides, and was pleased to have managed to finish this behemoth of a project. I did not procrastinate at all, used 2-3 months of my hobby time entirely on this, and still came right to the wire. I am very glad I stuck with it, but I never want to do something this long again. Heck, even these articles were long to make! Anyways, thanks for reading through, and if you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments. </div>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2725.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2725.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2777.jpg" style="text-align: start;" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2777.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: start;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Epilogue</span></b></h3>
<br />
<br />
... remember when I said I didn't want to do something like this ever again?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N5zouRxfsK4/U4jzJCRlx_I/AAAAAAAAAao/Avhxr2woDrk/s1600/cryx-colossal-kraken.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N5zouRxfsK4/U4jzJCRlx_I/AAAAAAAAAao/Avhxr2woDrk/s1600/cryx-colossal-kraken.png" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I may have misspoken.</div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-43466065803514666232014-05-21T22:26:00.000-04:002014-05-30T17:20:50.787-04:00LED Tau Riptide - Part 1<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2775.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/th_IMG_2775.jpg" hspace="5" style="width: 160px;" /></a><br />
When I started brainstorming on my entry to last year's <a href="http://www.advancedtautactica.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=20809" target="_blank">ATT Converted Riptide contest</a>, I quickly realized that I liked the look of the model too much to really go conversion-crazy with it. It would be the first kit I had of it, and possibly the only one. I decided to tweak the design in spots that I disliked, and add to the overall character, rather than drastically change the look of the model. With this in mind, I made my design goals.
<a br="" href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7642075349946929256"> </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2723.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2723.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Goals</span></b></h3>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><span style="color: cyan;">Glowing parts</span> -</b> I wanted this thing to be glowing like crazy, and show how much my skills have improved since my LED'ed Hammerhead I did many years ago. Glows should not be obviously LEDs. This meant avoiding the common LED colors, and diffusing the glows to hide the telltale LED bulbs. I decided on orange, purple, and a white/cyan to be my main glow choices.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><span style="color: cyan;">Novaboost Indicator</span></b> - I also wanted to be able to show which system was being overboosted on a particular turn, but to also have the whole model on at once. To do this, I had to work out my wiring schematic to incorporate separate parallel sets of series layouts with their own switches. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><span style="color: cyan;">Weapon Hot Swap </span>- </b>I wanted a connector set up on the weapon arm to switch between guns and still light them up. Fairly straight forward once the electronics schematic was worked out.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><span style="color: cyan;">Vent adjustments</span> - </b>The mold lines on the top vents are horrendous. I imagine they came about after the mold was produced, because there is no other excuse for splitting them down the middle like that. I also knew I would have to edit them anyway if I wanted any glow to come through the vents. I also disliked the skew to the front vents, so they would be tilted to align with the chest connections. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><span style="color: cyan;">Pilot and Cockpit </span>- </b>The Riptide is the first Tau model that I could see an internal cockpit in scale with the infantry. I've seen some attempts with normal Crisis suits, but they're just so out of scale that it just doesn't work out to something I would be satisfied with. I had conflicting ideas on whether to put the pilot inside, or have him leaning on the hatch as it is opened. I decided on the pilot inside so that I could put the Riptide in a ready pose that could be perceived in combat, or at rest with the hatch opened up. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><span style="color: cyan;">Secondary Weapon Locations </span>- </b>I could not stand the options for the secondary weapon locations. They look tacked on whether on the hand-mount, or sticking up on the tall jet pack. I liked the idea of submarine style vertical rocket firing that would arc back towards it's target. I tried some various styles on the shoulders between the head, but they just didn't look impressive. I went instead for a angled connection between the jets and shoulders that felt a bit more plausible. I also made these permanent rather than interchangeable with plasma, mostly due to time constraints. I could always go back and hack in a magnet system if I ever needed to.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><strike><span style="color: cyan;">Visual Wound Markers</span></strike> - </b>This was another idea to merge in-game use with appearance. I had figured to have X magnets cut into the hull in spots, which could get a magnet with cotton glued along some wire to show a smoke trail. Each smoke would be a wound. I ran out of time to try this out and cut it from the project.</li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Design</span></b></h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
One of the major difficulties of this project was how important order of operations was. I needed to be completely ready before I could do any real building, and I had to do each part in a very particular order to achieve all of my goals. This was a final iteration of photoshop colorization to work out what colors would work. I also had many sketches and notes on LED requirements which have been discarded or misplaced by this point... <br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/931405_10102658353525109_425575197_n.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/931405_10102658353525109_425575197_n.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Purchases</span></b></h3>
I bought my LED's already packaged with resistors for 9V, insulated and wired.<br />
Ultimately I would rip a lot of these apart and use them without resistors due to my wiring, but having them ready to test with was helpful in the beginning. I also purchased some switches and a 9V battery housing.<br />
I had previously been pretty poor with soldering, so I spent some more time and money upgrading my setup and learning some better practices in anticipation of all the work I would be doing on this.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Dryfitting/Posing</span></b></h3>
The first month was brainstorming, finalizing my internal wiring flow, and buying all the extra parts and tools to complete it. The most I could do was clean up the bits and do some sticky tack dry-fitting. This would all get fine tuned as little problems arose, but helped to keep the overall project moving along as much as possible.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2491.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2491.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Ventwork</span></b></h3>
After removing the old crappy vents, I found a suitable textured plastic sheet from somewhere in my bits box, and cut out some new ones. These would be molded later on to be clear resin, so that I could paint the top parts and leave the bottoms to glow.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2494.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2494.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
I also had plenty of time to work on opening up all of the vents that would not be getting the clearcast treatment. They were drilled into with my pin-vice at the appropriate size. Once I had both ends of a particular grill drilled out, I could use a <b>sharp </b>Exacto to carefully cut through the middle parts. This was one of the many times that having the models in two halves made for a much easier time with modifications. Things like the Cryx Warjacks would never work like this since they are mostly solid resin casts.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2451.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2451.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2450.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2450.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Once LED's arrived I could start testing out some of the simpler setups.<br />
The helmet light was just a matter of gutting enough of the head and drilling through the face lens.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2511.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2511.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
I planned to have the thrusters look cyan with a white pure source. I tried painting layers on the white LED, but didn't really get the effects I wanted. Instead I chose to paint the surrounding areas and the diffusion screens the blue coloring to kind of cheat the idea that the light was putting off a colored glow. The result below is pretty close to what I envisioned.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2509.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2509.jpg" hspace="0" style="cursor: move; width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
</div>
<h3>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Cockpit, Hatch, and Pilot</span></b></h3>
Cockpit:
basic design and dry fit
cuts, shaving, gluing, contorting
ramp work
LED work
casting:
grills
shield<br />
I knew that one of the first real assembly steps would have to be the cockpit. I was carving out a believable space filled with controls, a posed pilot inside, and a useable hatch and embark ramp. In addition I needed to effectively light up the space, still cast enough glow out of the cockpit when open, and get a glow on the hatch window when closed. Even more, I needed to route wires from below to the shoulders and around the back. Space inside got cramped very quickly, and I had to rework a few parts to make everything fit.<br />
<br />
The front was a conveniently separate piece, so it was quickly requisitioned as the hatch. I wanted it to hinge down so it would be the ramp to get in and out of the vehicle.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2424.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2424.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
After cutting it out, I did some fine tuning to get the widest looking hole without overstepping the hatch. I threw in my pilot standin to verify the general look.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2425.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2425.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
I added some tubing to be the hinge, which would have some brass rod through it and glued to the hull to be the other half.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2429.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2429.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
With that done, I began playing around with shapes, made a general seat that looked ok, and began shaving it down until it would fit with both halves of the hull together. Not shown are the millions of times I broke the seat while trying to do this. It would have been much easier if I had a more accurate starting width.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2431.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2431.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Initial checks with the periscope looked dumb. I chose to switch him out with a Forgeworld Tetra pilot, modified for his serious incline. I also had to cheat and cut a bunch of the back of his helmet to fit him in by the end..<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2432.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2432.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
The wires would run around under the left of the pilot, and also behind the seat. The opening in the strip was necessary to fit the pilots arms. I had to have all the initial wiring ready to go, as there wasn't much space to route them once they started multiplying into parallel sets of LED's.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2540.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2540.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
With the basics figured out, I fished around for bits to make the interior more interesting. I think mostly piranha bits reworked, and a space marine heavy pack to be an upper console that would hide the cockpit LED. I cut out the two bullet clip areas of the backpack and put in light diffusing sheets, and eventually did the same to the front part that gaps between the two wall consoles at the top. This would be the area that connects up when the hatch is closed so a bright light would go through the hatch window.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2449.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2449.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
As with any conversion I do, there is no set plan. I start to make things up on the fly and dryfit it. Repeat until it looks good.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2441.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2441.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
I had to make the hatch interesting, so I took some plasticard strips and winged it. I wanted the bottom half to be more grippy, while the part closer to the hatch window would have to be double-duty of ramp and protection. Part of putting the consoles to the side walls was that the pilot couldn't really have any instruments in front of them if they were going to go stepping on it when its in ramp mode..<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2445.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2445.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Test test test. One of the few times I get to see things actually coming together and working like I imagined.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2547.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2547.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2542.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2542.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Once it tested to my satisfaction, it was time to paint it up. I went heavy on highlights, as I believed it would help accentuate details in the purple light. While most of the internal wires were routed to the left of the pilot (using his facing), they would also loop around his back to access the interior lights you see below, the right jetpack, and weapon. Did I mention space was tight?<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2560.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2560.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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Jumping ahead in the build just to show the completion of the cockpit. I added greenstuff to the front console area to fill in where I overcut, and also to help the hatch stay closed. While it was still curing, I closed the hatch to make the imprints that you can see below, which add a bit of resistance to the hatch opening up on its own. This wouldn't get done at this stage though, because I couldn't actually close the model together yet. I had to wait until the build was halfway complete. You can see what the indents will look like when its finished below. The hinge brass rod was also greenstuffed over. These were not my best works, but I was rushed when it came time to complete them.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2771.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2771.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">______________________</span></b></h3>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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This has made a sizable post, so it is as good as any place to stop for now. The second post will show the steps I took building the finished Riptide, literally from the ground up.<br />
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In the meantime, here are a few more shots of the completed project.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2714.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2714.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2719.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2719.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2704.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/IMG_2704.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-1052038559903657382014-05-13T10:00:00.000-04:002014-05-13T11:34:36.254-04:00Merchants and Marauders ready to SailAvast! So many little ships to paint!<br />
Merchants and Marauders is great fun, and what better than to play it with painted up ships and gold doubloons! I've had the doubloons for a few years now, and they have become universal gold for many other games.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/SAM_5191.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/SAM_5191.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
At some point I finally got the gumption to start going through all the ships and painting them up. Using brown primer did not speed up the paint jobs as I originally hoped. I ended up using foundation paints (super opaque vallejo versions) to get the main color on the sails, and even then it took a few coats. I think it would have been easier to have started from white, and wash or ink in the brown for the wooden parts.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/SAM_5188.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/SAM_5188.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
Each player has 4 ships available to them, so I went for the most detail on these. I tried to layer and shadow them to keep them interesting without adding emblems or texturing. They came out well, but I think some are higher quality than others. Green in particular could use some highlighting..<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/SAM_5181.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/SAM_5181.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
The NPC ships saw considerably less time. I decided to keep them all white sailed for easy differentiation, and use the main sail as a flag identifier. They could definitely use another coat on the sails, and I haven't yet made any tiny fleur-de-lise for the French ships, but I don't anticipate that being much of a problem to complete when I have a night free. These flaws are not really noticeable during the game so I am not too concerned.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/SAM_5183.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/SAM_5183.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
The Pirates were comparably easier, thanks to quick coverage of black sails. The skull and crossbones was nothing special to recreate, as freehand on a black surface is very easy compared to over a gradient color.<br />
Here are some shots of the game in action!<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/IMG_3933.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/IMG_3933.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/IMG_3929.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/IMG_3929.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-74783730814351781442014-05-07T00:02:00.001-04:002014-05-13T00:08:23.096-04:00Dreadball Season 1 Teams<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0003.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0003.jpg" hspace="5" style="width: 160px;" /></a>
Dreadball was one of those Kickstarters that I wasn't sure about, but pulled the trigger and backed it anyway. Once I got it I opened it up, assembled most of the main team, and promptly put it away..<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0020.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0020.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
It wasn't until I watched the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiqW3i2L-21WdLMqduyjBRhbPVaGkeVkI">BeastofWar videos</a> for it that I actually got the desire to play it. I knew I would want to have my teams ready to go for anyone who wanted to play without buying another "army". Because some of the teams have very similar looking models for each position, I wanted to make some semi-unified method of identifying them, without resorting to color coding. I chose shoulder pad symbols with cross hairs for Strikers, checkers for Jacks, and triangular shields for Guards.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0019.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0019.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
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After a few games I also decided to identify the front arcs a bit more with a fully painted blue sides. This helps some of the poses with more ambiguous front arcs.<br />
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The Humans were my first team to get through. I took a slightly different color scheme from the default, and decided to give them Mass Effect style omni-tool ball gloves.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0006.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0006.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0004.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0004.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0002.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0002.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
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The rats were my favorite team to paint. I think they are great models and I really like their cobbled gear and dynamic poses. I would probably use them for a league game.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0013.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0013.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0011.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0011.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
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For the Dwarves I tried to keep the stock blue color, but instead of whites I chose more golds and browns. They are nicely detailed in their armor, though their cloth is rather boring after awhile.<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0015.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0015.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0014.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0014.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
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Orcs were the last to do, and I definitely rushed them towards the end. Plenty of quick drybrush and washing got the job finished. That being said, there isn't much I could do that would improve them that much.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0008.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0008.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0007.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0007.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0010.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0010.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br /><br />
I plan to eventually work on another set of the models, as I still have a few extras for each team, some ref's, and MVP's. I also have some number decals to add should we ever start up a league play. With quite a few of the other JBL players having bought their own teams, I expect a league might not be too far off! I also backed the second kickstarter, so I will have another infusion of minis in the near future.
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0018.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0018.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0017.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Dreadball/2014-02-11_0017.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
Mosh pit!
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-86427137038493563262014-02-03T21:22:00.000-05:002014-05-13T11:36:41.172-04:00Mansions of Madness Core set Complete<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3630.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/th_IMG_3630.jpg" hspace="5" style="width: 160px;" /></a>
Mansions of Madness was one of those boardgames that sat around mostly completely painted for years before I finally sat down and finished it.
The monsters were not as interesting to paint as I originally hoped. I varied the colors on the second wave of the better monsters, which I don't think will interfere with the gameplay that much.
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3587.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3587.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3586.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3586.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
I did enjoy the investigators however, and found I was able to set a nice mood with lights and shadows on their bases. I worked this up with an almost watercolor consistency of painting, and it came out better then expected.
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3590.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3590.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3588.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3588.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3584.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3584.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
The bigger monsters weren't too tough to paint, so much as time consuming. I got bored of painting these guys, but kept at it to finish the set out.
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3635.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3635.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3634.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3634.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3633.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3633.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3632.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Mansions%20of%20Madness/IMG_3632.jpg" hspace="0" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
So now I just need to get it to the table.. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-84945290110994944672013-11-07T22:53:00.001-05:002013-11-07T22:53:13.370-05:00Blindwater Congregation Complete Army<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/media/Blindwater/IMG_3499.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/th_IMG_3499.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a>
My Blindwater Congregation stands 99% completed! I have a few wreck markers and proxy feralgeists to clean up (and there are always new models on the horizon), but the main force is complete. I have a few empty base spots left over for expansions, so I might make some coverings to make the display look fully filled up. In the meantime, I can move on to other projects!
<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/media/Blindwater/IMG_3524.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img alt=" photo IMG_3524.jpg" border="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_3524.jpg"style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/media/Blindwater/IMG_3523.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_3523.jpg" style="width: 420px;"border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3523.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/media/Blindwater/IMG_3513.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_3513.jpg" style="width: 420px;"border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3513.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/media/Blindwater/IMG_3512.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_3512.jpg" style="width: 420px;"border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3512.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/media/Blindwater/IMG_3511.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_3511.jpg" style="width: 420px;"border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3511.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/media/Blindwater/IMG_3508.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_3508.jpg" style="width: 420px;"border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3508.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/media/Blindwater/IMG_3506.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_3506.jpg" style="width: 420px;"border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3506.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/media/Blindwater/IMG_3505.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_3505.jpg" style="width: 420px;"border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3505.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/media/Blindwater/IMG_3502.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_3502.jpg" style="width: 420px;"border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3502.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/media/Blindwater/IMG_3499.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_3499.jpg" style="width: 420px;"border="0" alt=" photo IMG_3499.jpg"/></a>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-58526118020216911282013-07-17T23:17:00.000-04:002013-07-17T23:17:24.763-04:00A Third Gator Wave<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_2786.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/th_IMG_2786.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a>
I have been busy with my Tau project for the last month and a half, but I found the enegry to follow it up with completing quite a bit of my Gators on my paint queue in only 2 or 3 weeks. Here is the state of my display base, things are getting a bit crowded now. Any future purchases will have to be planned out or added in new tile cuts.
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_2805.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/IMG_2805.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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My Blackhide Wrastler has seen some of the most conversion in my army. I decided early on to head-swap with another company's model to give it a bit of a different feel. I covered up the sawed neckline with a hood, as well as to give him a look similar to Barnabus. Some things still irked me about the model, so I kept hacking. With a fortutious set of bits I was able to make another set of ropes similar to his stock, and formed a shoulder pad for his other arm. I also decided to change the pose with a quick arm move, so that he was now in preparation of charging. The extra shoulder pad meant I did not have to resculpt the shoulder, so win-win. I also added in some bits on his belt, cause a gators gotta have a beer now and then. For paint, I followed the colors used on the second snapper, deciding to add in some color variation from my normal green gators.
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The Spitter is stock, but was enjoyable to paint! The shell almost directed itself with highlights and shadows, and came out just as I saw in my mind.
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The second snapper in my force is likely to go to Wrong Eye, so I decided he needed a bit more flair. The model is the same one used for the head of the wrastler. I greenstuffed in a hat and gave him a bit of a snack.
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Totem Hunter got no real conversion, but a whole lot of reposing. I cracked just about every joint on him to get him to line up with the rock in the stance I wanted. This was one of those builds where I just kept breaking joints and resetting them until it came together. When it did, it was perfectly how I wanted him. I felt much better with the new pose, and he painted up really well too! I may change the skin up with a bit of texture at some point.
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Bog Trogs got some armor upgrades and reposing to have them actually in the pose of ambushing. I especially like the one just holding his head and shoulders above water. I'm not very happy with the orange fins, I may change their skin colors to differentiate them a bit more from my Rask colored bog trog unit. I am also going to go back and experiment with water splash effects.
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I plan for Maelok and the second posse to follor the newer gator colors, and maybe fill out a solo or two to close out the army for now.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-90859663632239287472013-05-14T10:10:00.000-04:002013-05-14T10:18:40.493-04:00Completed Desert Table Sees Some Action<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-6.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/th_null-6.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a>
So I never completed my <a href="http://revenantautumn.blogspot.com/2012/11/2012-project-challenge-1-terrain-board.html">2012 challenge goals</a>. As I am moving towards a new challenge to be unveiled on Sunday, I should really finish the previous ones off!
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The desert table has been complete for awhile, but it has been a matter of getting some pictures together to log the completion here. Well that day has come, here are the completed board pictures, along with a few days of gaming on them. They are holding up well, though they don't always line up perfectly.
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I still have some terrain pieces to finish for them, but they will be done more as a group project. Overall I am pretty happy with the boards. They were not difficult, nor that time consuming to make. I may make some additions in the future, like some pits or river features.
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I've already posted my Cryx, Gators, and Dystopian wars, so I am almost done with the challenge.
This leaves posting pics of my Shadow Crows, and the completion of my Descent miniatures as the last goals from the previous challenge. Only a few models to go!
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-30290453463815728282013-05-12T17:06:00.000-04:002013-05-12T17:06:36.703-04:00Gators Wave 2<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/2013-05-11_0022.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Blindwater/th_2013-05-11_0022.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a>
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My second wave of gators represented filling out choices that I did not have with my initial set. Adding in Rask as my likely caster to have with Barnabus, I wanted to get some of the non-gator elements ready. They all follow the theme of having lost their left eye's during some sort of Blindwater Congregation ritual. I did not want to overstate this though, so the modeling doesn't always call attention to it. Caliban and one of the goblins simply have masks with the left eye pieces closed up, while rask and another goblin have patches. The Swamp horror apparently doesn't care, or was a recent convert due to its open bloody eye socket.
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Rask was a lot of fun to make. I really wanted a different pose, and this one ended up being very natural to convert to. It was relatively easy to remove his gun and replace it with a wire frame of the tree. I made a wire frame of the gun handle connected to the removed gun, and used pliers to close his pointing hand grip around it. I then greenstuffed a passable tree and pistolgrip, and an eye patch. You can see more of the WIP from the previous post. Painting-wise, I struggled for a while on what colors to make him. I had been moving towards the greygreen as seen on the base-lip as my standard basecoat, and decided to work with that. I washed his fins towards a much darker blue-green, but eventually built up the layers to be much brighter. I remembered my experiments with glaze medium, and it worked very well to get brighter highlights. His armors were done in a new purchase of blackmetal, which I am liking a lot. I may be using it on my newer Tau reinforcements.
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The Swamp Horror was definitely a horror to convert. I had the misfortune of getting two of the same halves of the tentacles, and being too impatient to get replacements I modified the set to work on the other side. This meant a million hours of filing to make the mouth fit. I've talked about this in the previous post, but the painting is new! I started with some purple and pink basecoats, and got a little worried that it would be way off the feel of the rest of the army. I decided to try for an oily black latex kind of look for the skin, and something more earthy/bone for the chitin. It worked much better than I could have hoped for, and halfway through it was no longer a chore but a great paint sessions to work on all the little folds and tentacles. I painted the Ryan with a few muted Cygnar colors, and gloss coated the whole thing a few times. I also experimented with my new blood source of Tamiya clear red, and it works very well. All I can say is bring on a minions Gargantuan version for me to paint!
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In addition to these models, my second wave efforts were also to finish up my accessories for the army. One thing in particular at the back of my mind was to make a movement tray that would both transport my stuff, and look good in my display case. I will go into the build on a seperate post, but here it is in it's completed glory!
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I also finished off 3 more 5" swamps for Barnabus to sling around. More gameplay with them have definitely required 3-4 to operate without picking old ones up that still have models on them. I experimented with how much wash, and adding water-effects. I will probably resin over the water ripples, they didnt come out very well.
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Thats that! On to a break for some Tau, and then Wave 3 and Wave 4 of my Gators! You can see some of them already have some greenstuff work on them in the display board picture, but I still have a long way to go before they are ready for paint. Below are some more shots of the completed wave 2 stuff!
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<br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-28764341317132245032013-03-27T12:28:00.000-04:002013-05-12T16:27:23.935-04:00A start to Blindwater Gators<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-24.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/th_null-24.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a>
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With the coming escalation over at JBL, I have decided to complete my existing gator force, and flesh it out into a full army. This has been a fun army to work on, especially getting them down into some custom bases from Secret Weapon. The swamp bases are great, but I will probably be making my own to keep costs down on the rest of the army. I knew I wanted the grimy swamp theme to carry over into the gators, keeping them muddy and green also means they won't really stand out much.<br />
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I decided to go for some conversions to make them a bit more interesting in places, and also to use blood as a way to make things more interesting. I took the idea from another gator player to make all of my units missing an eye, as some sort of initiation ritual into the Blindwater Congregation. I will continue this theme to newer models as well, even other warcasters.<br />
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I also made use of some bits to armor up the gator posse. The posse is very bare bones for cool heavy infantry models. I took some Ogre Kingdom gauntlets and dremelled them into chest plates. These were added with some Chaos warrior shoulder pads, and connected together with some belt straps out of greenstuff. To top it off, I made the Bokur a bit more intimidating by modding his staff into a banner, and giving him some orky metal icon as a modified helmet. I think the helmet works pretty well, though it borders on silly.<br />
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Wrongeye and Snapjaw were my first paintjobs, and they were a lot of fun. I turned WE's hat patch into a playing card, and used an in joke for his bottle (Duck 31 being a fake vodka we have joked about from the Duck card in the game Hex Hex.) Snapjaw was fun to paint, if a little more plain. He is doing double duty as my wrastler at the moment.<br />
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My initial blood attempts haven't been too great, and I am planning on redoing some of them with a new technique. At worst they look like tomato juice, and at best like blueberries... Having read a few more tutorials I should be able to get a much more convincing effect.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-31.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-31.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
Between Barnabus and the Blindwater effects, gators can put out a lot of swampy water templates. Rather than just have little cutouts, I decided to get some real swamps to drop down. I was able to cut the circles from 3mm wood with my CNC Shapeoko, and then sculpted in detail on top of it. The end result is some great swamps that could be used as terrain in their own right. The only problem with this is that the larger templates dissapear on my next turn, so I need enough to be able to cast new ones and move off of the older ones to take them out of play. I think it is a mild inconvenience for the sake of cooler looking battles.<br />
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Next up on the list is a swamp horror that I bought on the cheap. I was very disappointed with how small he was for a heavy warbeast, so I've been working to convert him into a more threatening pose. I could not think of a good way to give him height, so I dropped him into the swamp a bit more. I also made use of my last Black 13th member (who are coincidentally also very small compared to normal Warmachine scale. This works to my advantage as it makes the horror appear a bit larger in comparison.. I hope.) I am in the process of greenstuffing, but it is going faster than I expected.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-43.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-43.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
Another posse and feralgeist are also on deck, and plenty more to come as well. Rask and Maelok will be joining in, along with a few more friends.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
______________________________________________</div>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-41.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-41.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-40.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-40.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-39.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-39.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-38.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/null-38.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-43216921664742402192013-03-21T16:28:00.000-04:002013-03-21T16:46:46.609-04:00Cryx Complete<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/8906bacd-e016-4710-95d8-55c3c5769622.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/th_8906bacd-e016-4710-95d8-55c3c5769622.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a>
<br />
I have had this army done for a while now, but never got around to posting it here. My original goal for this army was to have a lot of LED effects on it, almost every model to be glowing. As I progressed through the initial stages, I decided to scale back to a more attainable goal of glowing for just Warcasters and Warjacks. They are the primary focus of the game, after all. I was very happy with how a lot of the army came out, especially the basing. I wanted to capture a feel for a windswept ocean, with waves crashing on rocks.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG102.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG102.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG104.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG104.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
I have learned a few things from this army construction, that I will hopefully avoid on future projects:<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/8906bacd-e016-4710-95d8-55c3c5769622.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/8906bacd-e016-4710-95d8-55c3c5769622.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Working with plaster for bases is a real pain. While it is great for breaking into chunks of realistic rock, glueing or pinning through it is almost always temporary. I have yet to find a solid way to bind plaster to anything else. I would have been much better off molding them and recasting in resin. </li>
</ul>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG100-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG100-1.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Pinning is essential on many of the warmachine pieces. I've normally been OK with not pinning things this small, but my Satyxis are constantly breaking (also thanks to the plaster bases not really bonding with anything.) Magnetized bases also puts stress on them when I pop them off the metal, so this is a case of a few things exacerbating it. </li>
</ul>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG_1013.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG_1013.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<br />
<ul>
<li>Having a solid army completion goal really helps to drive me to complete a project. There were plenty of things I would like to add to the army, but focusing on the 2 casters and 3 tablewar trays worth of models kept me focused. I may add on at some other point, but these can feel more like expansions instead of the never ending flow of new unpainted models. </li>
</ul>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG101.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG101.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<br />
<ul>
<li>A few flat out failures to learn from were the mold fail of the crabjack hull, the fiber optics fail on the skarlock, and my lack of protection for my Deathjack. Ever since he hit the ground, hes never been the same, and really needs some shoring up and fixes. In addition, I am unhappy with Deneghra's paintjob and lack of glowing base. I will be revisiting them at some point to fix these things as best I can, but for now the army is complete enough to play and display.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/9d1e6a71.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/9d1e6a71.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
Here are individual shots of some of the top units. These photos and some of the others above courtesy of the awesome <a href="http://masterofordinance.blogspot.com/">Master of Ordinance.</a>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG1016.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG1016.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG_1018.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG_1018.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG_1020.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG_1020.jpg" style="height: 107px; width: 160px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG_1019.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG_1019.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG_1017.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG_1017.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG_1022.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Cryx/IMG_1022.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-73216134558112315622013-02-10T20:40:00.000-05:002013-02-10T20:40:35.587-05:00Prussian Fleet Completed<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/th_zep.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/zep.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a>
Well, it took a bit longer to get around to it, but once I set myself to finishing these guys, they were done in two days. I love how they look as a whole, and can't wait to see them in action. Thanks to <a href="http://masterofordinance.blogspot.com/">Master of Ordinance</a> for some of the pictures, and the beautiful islands! They really inspired me to keep working on the navy.
All the planes got done way quicker than I anticipated. They were a good lesson in chipping away at a long project into manageable sections to keep from getting too disheartened.
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/cove.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/cove.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/zep.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/zep.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
The Eagle was done freehand with a micron pen to draw some initial boundaries, and then reworked with paint until I was satisfied. It becomes a push and pull between the main colors and the background colors to clean up lines, so it helps to have a fairly consistent background to be working on top of. Gradients and textures become much harder to touch up. I had a slight shadow gradient on the upper ripple of each section of canvas, but it was easy enough to replicate the shading at the end.
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/fleet2.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/fleet2.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
On the other side I settled with an Iron Cross, partially because I liked the look of it on other Imperium sky fortresses, but also because I just didn't want to deal with an identical eagle..
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/fleet.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/fleet.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/null-21.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/null-21.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/null-22.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/null-22.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
-Dan
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-77657692974816639882012-11-28T13:31:00.004-05:002012-11-28T13:31:58.136-05:002012 Project Challenge #1 - Terrain Board<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-3.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/th_null-3.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a>Hello everyone! Projects for next year are already piling high, and looking on the few posts that I have made this year I see much to be desired. I have done a lot of work on projects this year, but I have quite a few projects that are in the "almost done" limbo stage. I have also been negligent in posting any of my progress.<br />
<br />
So I still have many projects that are near completion, and others that should be documented. As the end of the year is a few weeks away, I have decided to try to finish up these mostly done projects and beef up my posts for this year at the same time! <br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Challenge Goals: </span></b><br />
<ul>
<li>Cryx - Done, just take photos and post!</li>
<li>Shadow Crows - Done, just take photos and post! </li>
<li>15 point Blindwater Gators - just need to find my damn paint log... </li>
<li>Dystopian wars Prussian Fleet - Through a lot of it already, the zepplin and flagship will require some longer detail sessions. </li>
<li>Descent 2nd Edition - 2 Dragons and a fishy left! </li>
<li>Desert board 2.0 - 2'x2' modular canyon tiles to improve on my old wallpaper terrain mat. </li>
</ul>
Have any mostly completed projects? Post them up and challenge yourself to have them done by January!<br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Desert Board 2.0</b></span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">My first project up is the Desert terrain board. My old desert setup involved a wallpaper mat that had been airbrushed. This ended up getting torn up when I had to put it all in storage. I always wanted to try a modular tile system like the Realm of Battle boards, and already have plenty of terrain and armies modeled from my old board, so I decided to give it a try! I brainstormed out some tiles and even made some small square paper versions to make sure I had a good idea of what to make.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">I'm already pretty far along in it, but I did not take any pictures during particular steps. I will post my process and the current pictures of the table, and please let me know if anything needs to be clarified.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">I decided on each tile to be roughly 2'x2', made out of 1" insulation foam. I have also used 2" foam to form canyon plateaus that can be assembled in many different combinations. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Supplies:</span></b></span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">1" and 2" Pink Insulation Foam - board terrain, light and cheap. Easily cut and dented.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Sand paper - sanding down the foam and Spackle.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Spackle - gap filler, I use a pink sand-able kind that turns white when dried. </span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Wood Glue/white glue - gluing the foam, and adding the sand.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">sand - to make some texture to the boards.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Craft Acrylic paints - nice and cheap, easy to clean up, and can be used on bases to match.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hot wire foam cutter - Michael's has one which is a straight rod, rather than the one that is attached at both ends. The straight one is needed for this, as the other can only cut so far into foam, and cant cut a central piece out, or easily make ditches.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-2.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<span style="text-align: center;">I bought the foam at a home depot, and had it cut there. As the foam is 2'x8', you can get it cut down into 2x2 tiles right there, which is a good quick start to the build. You will not always get perfect measurements, so be prepared to sand down some edges. Mine were within 1/4 inch, which has not been a problem when putting the tiles together. </span>I chose to go with no MDF bottom to keep things light and cheap. Some of the tiles are slightly bowed, but it is not that big of a problem. I made sure to pick my foam sheets that were wedged in the back and had less curve and wear. Insulation foam has a notched side so that sheets can interlock side to side. I wanted this flat, so I cut the insulation foam side notch clean with an exacto, and glued it to the indent on the other side. With a sharp blade this can be pretty seamless. I sanded my tiles to get them closer to a uniform dimension and clean the burrs from being cut at the store.<br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-17.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-17.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><span style="text-align: center;">From there I took one of the 2" tiles and marked out my corners. I made some rough drawings to follow for the canyon edge, and cut it out with the hot wire cutter. You need to go slow, stay at a steady amount of resistance or you may break the cutter. I made it jitter a bit to make the edge more natural. When the piece was out, I ran a fine grit sandpaper vertically on the edge to clean up all of the foam stringy edges. I then took the cutter and slapped it against the canyon edge to make little indents, and sanded the indents again. I also sanded the upper edge of the canyon to weather it. I used the cutter to knick broken areas, cracks, canyon caves, blasts, whatever I felt like (sanding them clean too). When I had all 4 corners, I dry fitted them to make sure they looked good, and then glued them down to their respective tiles.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-12.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-12.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<span style="text-align: center;">The tiles break down into: </span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="text-align: center;">4 x Corner tiles, reaching to around 11"x11" of one corner. Some have ramps or the odd lower section.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-align: center;">2 x long canyon tiles, taking up 11"x2' of a tile. </span></li>
<li><span style="text-align: center;">2 x flat ground tiles</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As all of the plateaus are a uniform length at the edges, they can be placed in any order and always line up, even if the hill expands out for the rest of the hill. I originally had two corners at 18" on one side, and two with 8" on one side, but the variety really was not worth the loss of modular choices. I tweaked these sides to match the 11" and ended up being able to keep most of the original intended variety. The two which were originally longer now just have a slight chasm between them, but still have a larger landmass than the smaller ones.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-14.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-14.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
After applying the hills to their boards, I spackled the seams where needed. This is easily sanded down so there is no unwanted gaps at the canyon base. It also helps even out the crudely cut ramps and some of the sides of warped boards. I made the long canyon tiles just like the corners, and began testing out table arrangements to double check everything again. Happy with it, I moved onto painting.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I am in the process of basecoating everything now. I am using a craft acrylic to keep things cheap, although I considered samples of house paint as well. $3 for a 4x6 covering paint sample is a good deal, but I prefer acrylics for the easier cleanup.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
My process will be:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ol>
<li>Base coat</li>
<li>Glue and sand</li>
<li>Base coat</li>
<li>Second color drybrush</li>
<li>Lightest color drybrush edging</li>
<li>Wash</li>
<li>Seal</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Left to do:</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I may add wooden dowels or magnets to the edges to keep the table from slipping out of alignment, but I will add these in later if necessary.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-9.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-9.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
I will be adding some 2" extender blocks to be able to raise a tile to the plateau height. As you can see in the picture, this makes an added level of height with the right tile setup. These were demoed with some scrap foam, but the real ones will need to be sturdy. They will probably be 4 blocks with dowels to space them to the edge of the tile. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-18.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Terrain/null-18.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
I wanted to be able to store this under a table, and take it with me to other houses. To keep the foam safe I will be making a posterboard case. Originally I wanted to cube it up, so they can stack into a cube for storage of about 2'x2'x14". However, this will not fit in my car, so I will be making two short posterboard carry cases instead of one tall one.<br />
<br />
See more pictures of different combinations <a href="http://s606.beta.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/library/Terrain" target="_blank">on my Terrain album.</a> Expect more progress soon!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-16149379365518594902012-11-05T16:04:00.000-05:002012-11-05T16:04:22.356-05:00Tau Take to the Field<a href="http://s606.beta.photobucket.com/user/RevenantAutumn/library/" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/av.png" /></a>
With <a href="http://paulsbasementleague.blogspot.com/">PBL</a> switching over to learning 40k 6th Edition rules, I've taken the Tau out of the display case to get some action in. Having two games under my belt so far, I am still a bit overwhelmed with the rules changes. I am sure I have plenty more to learn, but I am on the fence so far on how this edition is.
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
______________________________________________</div>
<br />
These first pictures come courtesy of <a href="http://masterofordinance.blogspot.com/">Josh</a>. Check his site for more! We decided to do some lineup pictures before the game, since we were fielding fully painted armies on a complete board (boasting a large portion of my old Mordheim buildings)
<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/suits.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/suits.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/suits2.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/suits2.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/taulineup.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/taulineup.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/pathfinders.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Tau%20Cadre%20Revenant%20Autumn/pathfinders.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
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The first game was against Carl's Eldar in an objectives mission. We omitted a good deal of 6th edition things, such as warlord traits and terrain placement, so it was more of a mix with 5th. We still learned some valuable lessons of the changes to charging and cover saves.
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In the end my long range firepower was able to whittle down Carl's main assault forces before they did serious damage. At that point he had little that could turn the tide or contest objectives in time.
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The second game was against Josh and his awesome Imperial Guard. He had been in a <a href="http://masterofordinance.blogspot.com/2012/10/painting-guardsmen.html">painting frenzy since the last PBL</a> , and came into battle with a crisp and professional looking army. We were playing straight victory points and corner deployment, so we took the time to set up the terrain the way we were shown for 6th. This proved to be quite a bit more crucial than I anticipated.
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/40K/null-24.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/40K/null-24.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
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Despite seizing the initiative, I was just out of reach of catching some infiltrators, and whiffed on all my shots. Instead I moved much more defensively, and lost any momentum in the early game.
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My Broadsides proved to be my most resilient unit of the game. Not only did they absorb a Rough rider assault and sweeping advance them, but they weathered fire from storm troopers and plasma gunners for a few rounds where movement was not an option. I will probably run with stabilizers next time, while the multitrackers did come in handy for pummeling nearby troops, not being able to move a few inches and fire railguns kept them in harms way too long. <a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/40K/null-13-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/40K/null-13-1.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>
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When the Imperial Guard tankline was broken, it came down to attrition with both of us trying to mop up or run off the other's weakened infantry squads. SMS worked wonders here, though the autocannons and remaining plasma very nearly won the day against my last Devilfish. We tied 8 to 8, having exhausted the turns (and our brains). Quite the game!
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-75435147026251125832012-08-10T11:20:00.001-04:002012-08-10T11:46:46.825-04:00Prussian Escalation<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/88df106f.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/th_88df106f.jpg" style="width: 1px;" /></a><br /><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/88df106f.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/88df106f.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />I have had quite a few projects steaming along towards completion over the last few months. One of them has been my Dystopian Wars Prussian fleet. While I was able to paint the smaller destroyers up relatively quickly, there was a lot of fiddling to do with all the other pieces. I drilled out all of the turrets and magnetized them, as well as the stands for the heavy fliers. <br /><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/47f92602.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/47f92602.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />The biggest modification was to turn the fighter counters into actual airborne planes. It was not too difficult, but did involve a few stages that I spread out over the months.<br />The first step is to use an exacto to slice off all of the rivets on the token. Without doing this, you will not get a flush cut on the plane. You tech ically only need to do it for the back side rivets, but I cut them all anway. <br />Then take a hobby saw and start at the tail end of the back planes. Start slow and make sure you are sawing flush to the token. You will get the hang of it quickly, and they will be be cut off in no time. Have a bin or something to put the planes in seperate from the token and dust. I did all 15 of my tokens in one go within an hour or two once I got the method down.<br /><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/d9c8e1d2.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/d9c8e1d2.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />Clean up the flash and dust. Soak the planes and then use an old toothbrush to get most of it off. Anything tougher can be removed with a knife. <br />You can get clear bases that allow for a mini die to be put on them from <a target="_blank" href="http://corseceng.com/">Here</a> and some clear rod to match the other flier stands. Drill the bases and cut the rods to whatever size you want.<br /><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/9e9a84af.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/9e9a84af.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />I am happy that it is all coming out in such a uniform fashion. I feel the flier tokens were just too out of place in a miniatures game. One thing that is a little irksome about this is that the fliers on the aircraft carrier are about 20% larger than the token fliers. There is no easy way to correct this short of cutting the aircraft fliers off the base, so I just let it go. Now that all the hrd stuff is complete, I hope to have this army done soon!<br /><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/8bab201c.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/8bab201c.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-89439902611606994362012-06-14T13:17:00.001-04:002012-06-14T13:18:56.284-04:00Normandy SR-2 Completed Pictures<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/th_fddaa949.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/th_fddaa949.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><br />
I am finally putting up some pictures of the completed SR-2 model. It is now residing at its new home alongside the SR-1, both owned by the awesome DaBigDragon! I will let the pictures do the talking.
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/c76e476d.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/c76e476d.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/a2f9ec0c.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/a2f9ec0c.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/c47a78b7.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/c47a78b7.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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To see more completed pictures as well as WIP check out my SR-2 photbucket album.
<a href>http://photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy SR2</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-1817646443898204372011-11-26T15:46:00.000-05:002011-11-26T15:46:19.323-05:00Normandy SR2 auction soon!<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/th_DSCF0615.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/th_DSCF0615.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><br />
It is up for auction very VERY soon! It will be auctioned 8PM Saturday November 26th on the live stream of the <a href="http://masseffect.g33kwatch.com/">Mass Effect Marathon</a> for the <a href="http://www.childsplaycharity.org/">Childs Play</a> charity! Check out <a href="http://masseffect.g33kwatch.com/raffle-prizes/auctions/">here</a> for auction details.<br />
You will have to be in the video stream chat to bid on it.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DSCF0608.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DSCF0608.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini334.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini334.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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Note that it is not quite done yet, but I will be working to get it done as soon as possible! I dont anticipate much more time to finish it, but fieldwork will be getting in the way a bit in December.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DSCF0601.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DSCF0601.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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This auction is not the only thing we have in store for the rest of the weekend.<br />
Please tune in and donate or spread the <a href="http://masseffect.g33kwatch.com/raffle-prizes/auctions/">word</a> if you can!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-20329065051754898862011-11-23T12:01:00.001-05:002011-11-23T12:04:19.247-05:00Normandy SR2 Model Constructed<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/source/DanMini335.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/source/th_DanMini335.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><br />
Want this model when it is completed? It is up for auction very soon! It will be auctioned 8PM Saturday November 26th on the live stream of the <a href="http://masseffect.g33kwatch.com/">Mass Effect Marathon</a> for the <a href="http://www.childsplaycharity.org/">Childs Play</a> charity! Check out <a href="http://masseffect.g33kwatch.com/raffle-prizes/auctions/">here</a> for auction details.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini335.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini335.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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I first started planning the Normandy model around August. It was nothing but a couple screenshots and 3D model files. With small models and minis I can see progress on very quickly, but this build required so much more planning and preparation than I was used to. But I stuck to my guns regardless, chipping away at each little piece at a time. <br />
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Now here it is near the end of November, and I have the thing sitting in my apartment! I am equal parts happy to see it come out so well, and relieved to be mostly done with it.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini334.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini334.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini330.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini330.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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Now there are just a few more steps remain before it is fully complete. I need to fix the stand which has begun to buckle. I didn't pick the center of balance correctly, so it is breaking the PVC. I will fix this with a secondary stand. I ended up magnetizing the front two fins after an unfortunate ship face plant. This makes me much more at ease about moving it. There are also a few last details that I want to score into the ship, and the little mini antenna thing in the front before it is ready. <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini329.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini329.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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Oh, and I have to paint it. I will be following the Cerberus colors used in ME2, and this time I will be trying my hand at custom printing decals. I've done decal work before on my Tau and other projects, and I am confident in my ability to get a seamless look. If I need to however, I can fall back on cutting out stencil again. I will be hand painting the other details that didn't actually make it into 3D on the model, mostly windows and vents/important panel lines.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini333.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini333.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini332.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini332.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-65988380721774213152011-11-08T23:18:00.000-05:002011-11-08T23:18:40.109-05:00Normandy SR2 WIP<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini324.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/th_DanMini324.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><br />
I've been steadily getting through the build over the last few weeks, despite quite a bit of work getting in the way. The progress I have made recently has me pretty confident that I will be finishing the build in time. <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini323.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini323.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
Here is a shot from the last thruster getting put together. I try to build it in sections to give the joins time to strengthen. <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini324.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini324.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
After the thrusters were finished, they were assembled and glued onto the wings with wires going through the inside wings to connect to the base when ready. I then took cross-sections of the hull at five points, and created my top hull skeleton from it. The slight curve to the bottom of the hull made things a little difficult, but with enough sanding I was able to achieve it well enough. I made a skeleton set for the bottom section as well, and included the piping as a brace for the stand. Holes were drilled into it for wiring from the wings. I spent half a day working on window lighting which just came out horribly, so it all got entombed by the resin. Maybe next year.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini326.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini326.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini327.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini327.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
The hull resin work is halfway done. The first layer has been set and sanded. The next layer of patches is applied and setting. It is apply, sand, repeat, until I have the perfect hull. The bottom will get done the same way after.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini328.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini328.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
The base is well along in construction as well. I got the stand set up, and drilled a hole through for the power supply to connect to. The wire will run up to a quick disconnect at the connection on the ship.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini325.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini325.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
I knew my SR2 was going to be roughly twice as large as the SR1, but it wasn't until I took out one of last year' prototype pieces that I was struck by just how much larger of a build it is.<br />
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Left to do:<br />
-Finish top hull sculpting<br />
-Create back, side, and front fins<br />
-Wire and integrate wings to hull<br />
-Finish bottom hull sculpting<br />
-Integrate fins to hull<br />
-Prime and Paint<br />
-Decal/detailing<br />
-Finish base. Plaque, and either wood stain or nebula airbrushing<br />
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The model will be fully assembled and painted up for auction during the <a href="http://masseffect.g33kwatch.com/">G33kwatch Mass Effect Marathon</a>, November 26th at 8PM EST. The auction takes place in the marathon chat feed, and I will be in chat and on the video when it is auctioned. All proceeds go directly to the <a href="http://www.childsplaycharity.org/">Childsplay Charity</a>, which helps children in hospitals to have toys and games. <br />
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If you are interested in the model, feel free to ask me any questions! If you can spread the word about the marathon and auction where you can, I would be very grateful.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-55946808654130199442011-10-09T20:34:00.000-04:002011-10-09T20:34:47.419-04:00Normandy SR2 Model Build<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/SSV_Normandy_SR2.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/th_SSV_Normandy_SR2.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a>It's been a year since my first real attempt at building a model from scratch. Not only was I inexperienced in many of the methods required, but it was also a much bigger scale than I was used to dealing with. My build of the <a href="http://revenantautumn.blogspot.com/2011/01/mass-effect-model-normandy-sr1-complete.html">Normandy SR1</a> from Mass Effect ended up being a great learning experience, although it was not without its problems and mistakes.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini206.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini206.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
It was created for the <a href="http://masseffect.g33kwatch.com/">G33kwatch Mass Effect Marathon</a>, where it was auctioned off for a good sum! All proceeds went to the <a href="http://www.childsplaycharity.org/">Childsplay Charity</a>, which helps children in hospitals to have toys and games. <br />
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This will be the second year of the MEM, and so I am back in action making the Normandy SR2! Just as in game, this build will be bigger and better than its predecessor. I've already spent a good amount of time working on this, but the results have been pretty lackluster until recently. <br />
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I've decided to write down my experience so far to both give you a preview of whats to come, and also to provide any tips and lessons learned along the way. If you just want to skip to the good stuff, pictures of the current build state are at the bottom. :)<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">______________________________________________</div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Planning</b></span><br />
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I began by looking at my build from the previous year and identifying the major mistakes that I wanted to avoid this year.<br />
<br />
<blockquote><b>Major failings of last year's build</b><br />
<ul><li>Incorrect source material - The 3d model I obtained for the SR1 was very convenient at the time of planning, but I learned too late of quite a few incorrect portions of it. They were nothing too major, but the discovery when the project was already too far along was demoralizing all the same. </li>
</ul><br />
<ul><li>Haphazard materials and planning - I was able to make schematics from my 3D model as planned, but my methods of transferring to plasticard and choice of materials really came back to hurt me during the assembly phase. I was not confident in making perfect cuts, so I tried having balsa wood cores with plasticard encasing. Not taking plasticard thicknesses into account made measurements off. Also, use of Google Sketchup to get proper measurements gave poor results and kept me constantly adjusting on the fly.</li>
</ul><br />
<ul><li>Making molds and resin a priority - This was an interesting learning experience and half worked. I was hoping to be able to make a few clones of pieces and extras in case I broke parts. The molds worked out, but the resin gave me many troubles. I was forced to resort to dental plaster instead of the resin. This was not an optimal medium for a large ship, and added much more time to the build on top of the time already spent on making my first set of molds. </li>
</ul></blockquote><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/SSV_Normandy_SR2.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/SSV_Normandy_SR2.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
So I decided to try to plan out much more of my build beforehand, and stick with methods that I was confident in. I dropped any notion of mold-making, but I felt comfortable enough to add LED's into it. <br />
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With this in mind, I scoured the net for source materials. Pictures, models, in game screenshots.. In the end I settled on an amazing 3D model made by <a href="http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/showthread.php?75165-SSV-Normandy-SR2">Thorreign</a> (Matt/Mathias). The quality and detail are top notch, and I knew I would be in a good state working off this model.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini313.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini313.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
I picked up an Autocad program and determined my scale of choice. This was done partially just through experimentation, and I finally chose a size which would make the model a bit under 2 feet long. This was almost twice as large as the SR1, but I felt the build deserved it. <br />
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I spent a few weeks isolating individual parts and generating views from different angles. After that, it was a matter of manually measuring every piece I would need. You can see this in all of my chicken scratch on some of the sheets. <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini316.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini316.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
At this point I needed to focus on amassing the proper materials. After looking at my current supply of plasticard, I decided on a 1/32 thickness for the majority of the build, and a 1/16 for certain parts that might need a more sturdy join, like the hull frame. I also picked up some 1/64 clear plastic for the light emitting sections, and tubing for joints and the stand. I threw in some strips of common sizes that would save me some cutting time. <br />
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For LED's, I went through <a href="http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html">Evan Designs</a>, my regular source for ready-made LED's. For single builds, having everything assembled really helps cut out some time on lighting. <br />
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Not shown is my resin clay, which I used last year for the hull and will be using again. More on that at a later date.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini312.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini312.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
I decided to upgrade my tools for this build as well. In particular, the repeat cutter has proven invaluable. It allows me to measure out a particular dimension, lock it in, and then cut as many pieces to that dimension as needed. The original stopper was a bit askew on the sides, so I refitted it with a right angle ruler to ensure I was always getting 90 degree cuts. <br />
<br />
The smaller hobby ruler has been very helpful due to the quick sizing sections, and the larger clear ruler has a steel side for actual cutting. <br />
<br />
I've switched to plastic cement over super glue for my plasticard joins, as it actually melts the plastic for a more cohesive bond. <br />
<br />
Also shown painters tape, sandpaper, and many sharp blades are a must for plasticard work.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini315.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini315.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
With the plans and materials available, I took the time-consuming step of categorizing everything into like widths, and cutting strips of each. This looks boring, and it pretty much is. But it was also something I could do while away from my home workspace, so I took advantage of what I could do and got it done. <br />
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I then cut all of the pieces for each individual part and bagged them up so that I could assemble them when I had the time.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini314.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini314.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
This weekend allowed me to follow through on my goal of a high-planning approach. I took my prepared materials and plans for the lower thrusters and wing assemblies, and put everything together. Not everything was exactly correct and I had to make quite a few new pieces that I missed, but on the whole it worked out spectacularly.<br />
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I am very pleased with the speed at which these got completed. You can see the completed thrusters next to their schematics, and the pile of the next set of thrusters awaiting construction.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini317.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini317.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
And now what you were actually looking for in this post, the pics! Here they are all test lighted up. I wasn't originally going to do the LED's just yet, but the way the assembly came together they needed to go in. <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini322.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="middle" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini322.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini317.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/th_DanMini317.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini318.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/th_DanMini318.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini319.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/th_DanMini319.jpg" style="height: 107px; width: 160px;" /></a> <a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini320.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/th_DanMini320.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini321.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/th_DanMini321.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/DanMini322.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Normandy%20SR2/th_DanMini322.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-53839769867983324422011-08-28T21:03:00.000-04:002011-08-28T21:03:25.263-04:00Black Reach Complete!<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini309.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/th_DanMini309.jpg" " /></a> Work complete! While taking much (100-200 hours?) longer than I originally expected, I really enjoyed the project. I've learned a bit more about my vallejo paint. I struggled with first coat coverage, but I also ended up painting from black and brown basecoats. I will probably go back to some citadel foundations to round out my earlier paint coverage stages on darker models from now on. <br />
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I also learned to make a paint chart of all my mixes and washes used. This helped greatly when coming back to work on it after a week, to maintain a uniformity in style. These will get passed on to Rebornflames, to help act as a template towards any new units that might get painted up in the army. I will be doing this with every project from now on. <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini304.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini304.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini305.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini305.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini306.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini306.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini307.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini307.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini308.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini308.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini309.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini309.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini310.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini310.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini311.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini311.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-14829579617586909992011-07-24T17:01:00.000-04:002011-07-24T17:01:29.791-04:00Blackreach Raven Guard<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini300.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/th_DanMini300.jpg" " /></a>I have eaten much humble pie while working on this Black Reach set that was supposed to be finished in 24 hours. The Orks continue to stare me down as I work on them, but the Raven Guard may now stand tall (and painted!)<br />
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The winner and friend to G33kwatch, Rebornflames, was nice enough to let me take my time on them instead. Having more time meant that I could put a good deal more effort into them, so I have done my best to bring them up a notch in quality. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini302.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini302.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini303.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini303.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini301.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini301.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini294.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini294.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini295.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini295.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini296.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini296.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini297.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini297.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini298.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini298.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini299.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini299.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini300.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini300.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-56991492024390624072011-06-15T10:48:00.000-04:002011-06-15T10:48:53.167-04:00I actually got to play a game?After a month or two of not being able to get any games in, I was finally able to make it down to our PBL a few weeks ago. I got in an 800 point game with my Shadow Crows, which marks the first "real" sized game I've managed to play with them. The pictures are pretty blurry thanks to my poor phone camera, but they are better than nothing for a battle report.<br />
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The mission was standard deployment, with 3 objectives in a triangle and two troops choice counting as killpoints. I took<br />
Librarian with JP, blood lance, shield<br />
2x 10man Assault squads, JP, 2 meltguns, Serg with powerfist, one of them combat squadded (the one with the sergeant and the other full squad were my two troop killpoints). <br />
1x Honor Guard, JP, 2 with single Lightning Claw, 2 with meltabombs<br />
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I came up against Scott's Ultramarines fielding<br />
1 Terminator Librarian with Smite, something else<br />
Sicarius<br />
2x 10 man Tactical squads with Flamers, 1 w/ missile launcher, 1 w/ heavy bolter<br />
Dreadnought with assault cannon and missile<br />
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<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Raven%20Guard/36fdca42.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Raven%20Guard/36fdca42.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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I gave the first deployment to Scott, who deployed with the dread in the middle flanked by the tac squads. I Reserved everything, and he took his free 2 turns to move up onto the closest two objectives. At the bottom of turn 2 all of my units managed to come in thanks to Descent of Angels. I landed my main force in the middle behind the poor dreadnought with meltaguns primed. The honor guard dropped in closer to Scott's table edge, as I wanted to do my best to keep the main squad in their FNP bubble, without endangering the HG to much fire. the two squads dropped in to put pressure on sicarius' squad, and ran to get in cover for next turn. I ended the turn with another good roll when the librarian's squad managed to explode the dreadnought with melta.<br />
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Scott responded with firing on my librarian squad with his librarian tac squad, killing about 3-4. The Sicarius tac squad manoeuvred and rapid fired at the 5man team with the powerfist. A lucky shot killed the sergeant, and another marine ate a plasma pistol shot. <br />
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<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Raven%20Guard/f4452aac.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Raven%20Guard/f4452aac.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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Rather than split my forces, I decided to overwhelm Sicarius, judging that I could most likely hit the other tac squad quickly enough afterwards, or control most of the objectives if need be. My four squads converged on Sicarius, sending a lethal hail of fire and reducing their number by a few marines. <br />
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<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Raven%20Guard/f8c1e62e.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Raven%20Guard/f8c1e62e.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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This ended up leaving the librarian squad out of charge range, but the other three pressed on. The end result would see Sicarius standing alone surrounded by enemies. <br />
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<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Raven%20Guard/f6bba22d.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Raven%20Guard/f6bba22d.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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Scott opened fire on the librarian squad again, though I don't believe it caused any casualties, and the combat was resolved. Sicarius made a valiant effort to buy more time for his comrades, and very nearly remained standing. But in the end, he lost his last wound to the last of the armor saves and fell. <br />
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<a href="http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Raven%20Guard/863c784b.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Raven%20Guard/863c784b.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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My squads formed up with some generous consolidation moves, forming a forward line of assault squads, with the honor guard behind and the depleted combat squad hugging cover on an objective as insurance. <br />
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My attack force swept forward, with the two assault squads managing their assault through cover distances, and the honor guard keeping the bubble up in the shooting phase. The Ultramarines lose quite a few, and failed their morale check. Instead of getting cut down by a sweeping advance, they reformed and turned fearless for the next round. <br />
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The assault during Scott's half of turn 5 whittled down the remaining Ultramarine Tactical squad members, leaving the Terminator Librarian locked in combat. On my turn the Honor Guard boosted over the melee and charged into the lone Librarian, felling him with lightning claws.<br />
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Overall it was a good game that gave us both some more experience with deepstriking and assault. My deployment worked flawlessly, and I had some lucky rolls early on that I can not always count on happening. Even with just 1D6 scatter, I've learned to respect my drop zone choices. Also, I need that FNP and furious charge on my side. Even fighting Tac squads, I felt my Assault Marines whiffing after the initial charges.<br />
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Furthermore, by going second and reserving all, I was able to capitalize on Scott's deployment choices. Had he deployed more defensively, it would probably have been a much closer game. Being able to get behind the dreadnought and split his forces in two was much easier than dropping out of melta range and dealing with the two units close enough to support each other. I have the feeling I won't get the same drop on him next time, however. :] <br />
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The decision to go with Honor Guard was a last minute one, but I think they did the job perfectly at this point level. They kept my priest safe in combat, and still provided a bit of punch that I would have looked for with my Vanguard veterans, at half the price. The lack of the VV heroic intervention is something I can do without at such a low point level. I will definitely consider them in larger lists as well, sacrificing some bling on my VV. Their equipment options really open things up, either turning them into tank hunter and FNP support, or going for close combat punch.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-13311045339228554632011-06-03T11:59:00.000-04:002011-06-03T11:59:59.316-04:00Black Reach Auction Sat June 4th!<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini292.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" hspace="5" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/th_DanMini292.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><br />
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One day to go before the <a href="http://slumberparty.g33kwatch.com/">G33kwatch Slumberparty</a>! I bought the Blackreach set from our local store, <a href="http://www.timewarpcomics.com">Timewarp Comics</a>, and I have spent the last two weeks prepping the miniatures. Everything is now ready to go for tomorrow's painting challenge. All of the models have been deflashed, assembled, based, gun barrels drilled, and primed. <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini289.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini289.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
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It will be auctioned off Saturday June 4th at about 2pm. You will have to be in the live Ustream chat to be able to bid on it. Please be capable of donating the amount relatively quickly after winning so I can begin working as soon as possible! I will be around to answer questions before hand, and will be able to work out details with the winner on design and color choices.<br />
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I'll have my airbrush with me for any basecoating once I know the winner's color choices, and then its the long road of painting them all up in the ~22ish hours of the rest of the marathon. (Note that should I not succeed the challenge then I will still make sure to finish the models later to a quality level, its more of timed event for the fun of it)<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini290.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini290.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
Extras that are making it in are:<br />
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2x custom made objectives, one an Ork kannon of mass destruction, and another is some Imperial supply crates.<br />
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Some low rubble and building terrain courtesy of <a href="http://paulsbasementleague.blogspot.com/">Paul's Basement League</a>. I haven't yet seen it, but we will have pics when Paul arrives at the marathon.<br />
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2x 36" tape measure. because nobody should have to use those weird red stick rulers.<br />
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Extra Dice! Dakkadakkadakka<br />
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I am still working on making some foam inserts tonight, we shall see how it works out.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini291.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini291.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a> <br />
I hope I have some people's interest, please tune into the Slumberparty and donate if you can. There is a metric ton of <a href="http://slumberparty.g33kwatch.com/?page_id=38">prizes</a> being raffled off to donaters, in addition to some other cool auctions besides this Black Reach set. All money goes to the <a href="http://www.childsplaycharity.org/">Childs Play charity</a>, helping children in hospitals have fun and be kids!<br />
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Even if you are not interested in this auction, I would greatly appreciate anyone spreading the word! Thanks all, see you tomorrow. <br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini293.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini293.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7642075349946929256.post-59506889717531522011-05-11T14:05:00.002-04:002011-05-11T16:27:04.504-04:00GDMNW, Charity, Battlestar<div style="text-align: center;">A few weeks ago, I received the banner marine from the folks at <a href="http://gdmnw.com/">GDMNW</a> that I had won in a raffle, and I have been meaning to post my thanks. It is a wonderfully done miniature that has found its place among my best painted models in the display shelf. I may even make a Sternguard killteam to match him when I get the chance. Thanks for the raffle and the help to the gaming community that you provide! <br />
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I took some pictures of him with my new photobooth, which I am still getting used to. The lighting is much nicer, but I definitely need to work on setup and perhaps get some better backgrounds than the fabric it came with. Once my game room is returned to normal state I hope to set up a permanent booth to streamline the process.<br />
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<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini288.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/th_DanMini288.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini287.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini287.jpg" style="width: 160px;" /></a><br />
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My main focus this month is around the rapidly approaching <a href="http://slumberparty.g33kwatch.com/">G33kwatch 24hour slumber party marathon</a> which I will be participating in. At the same time, I will be painting a custom Black Reach set (with extras!) that we will be auctioning off near the beginning! It would be a great starter set for someone new, or as a gift for friends who haven't yet been able to get into the game. And it all goes to the <a href="http://www.childsplaycharity.org/">Childsplay charity</a> so you will be giving games while getting one! See <a href="http://revenantautumn.blogspot.com/2011/04/charity-auction-custom-black-reach.html">this previous post</a> on the details, and I will be updating the contents closer to the event as well. I am a bit nervous that nobody will actually want it, so I would appreciate any exposure people could provide!<br />
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I also found a diversion from my Cryx in the form of some pieces from the Battlestar Galactica boardgame. My friend Ryan introduced some of us to the game, and it is a blast! Very suspenseful trying to find the cylon traitor amongst the group while making tough choices on things to sacrifice for the good of the fleet. The mini's are really nice too, but having them fully painted up would bring it up a notch, so I offered to paint some and see if he likes em. Theres plenty more to paint than just these, but this is one of each ship type. I tried to stay faithful to the real colorschemes, but I did take the Mk7 viper blue scheme from a larger scale painted model that I saw online. I'm also working on a secret side project of similar subject..<br />
<a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini285.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini285.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><a href="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini284.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="center" hspace="0" src="http://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt150/RevenantAutumn/Other%20Miniatures/DanMini284.jpg" style="width: 420px;" /></a><br />
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Aside from that, my Cryx are scratching at their box to get more work done on them. Soon guys(gals? wraiths?), soon.<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084407266251625954noreply@blogger.com2