Even "Free" Has its Limits

I would like to officially announce that I am done with the Coke bottle cap crates. Don't get me wrong, they are cheap and addictive to make but painting them is tedious and I am out of inspiration. With this batch, I am done for the foreseeable future.

March In Like a Lamb, out Like a, er Platypus or Something

First out the door this month is my Stalker/Hunter:



And some nifty scenery from Antenocity's Workshop:


And a Servitor of questionable loyalty (I designed it to be traitor guard but could also be mechanicus or an inquisitorial ally):

Back To Ultramar

To finish February I finally got my Stormraven done:



I also equipped a command squad with some shields from Anvil Industries. They can also double as breachers should the opportunity arise:



Next up is my AAA Rhino and some terrain pieces.

Here Are Some Damned Miniatures

My February Freebootaz Challenge: Legion of the Damned





Also some Tac Squad Specialist tradeouts:


This episode was brought to you by Anvil Industries who did the great skull heads for the LoTD. I liked the green flames vice the usual color because it makes them more spectral.

Next up are my Command Squad Sheild bubbas and then maybe I'll finally start the Stormraven.
Incidentally, not quite two full months into the year and 99 figs done. Not a bad start.

First Projects of the Year

After spending a month in lovely Las Cruces, NM for work I have accomplished the following:

Finished off my Dark Angels:







(24 GW figs)

Did up some RPG figures for a friend of mine:



(40 random figs-One figure is missing from the picture because I had to re-do his base)

And snuck in some other figs for him that had been given to me (that I was never going to use-great way to pass it forward).





(24 more figs)

Lessons learned:

I hate the Bones figs. They are inexpensive and I recognize the attraction of that. They are great if just having figs on the table is what is important to you. Painting them is a pain in the neck and a lot of detail on them was lost. In essence, you are getting what you paid for. If they are what you want to use, more power to you but I did not like how they came out. There is a universal "mushiness" (I can't describe it better than that) and they are extremely soft. Again, not trying to talk anyone else out of buying them but just not for me.

What is 25mm has shifted but so has the quality of the figures. Some of the guys dated back to the 80's and early 90's and it was fun seeing the cultural influences on them.

I have no real conception of skin tone. My friend gave me a painting guide but I had to look up many of his descriptions on the internet. Don't get me wrong-I'm not complaining at all. It was great to research what he was looking for and try to recreate it. I hope my work was close to what he was looking for.

Next up in the hopper is a couple of Ultramarine special weapons guys and my Legion of the Damned.

2013's Grand Figure Tally

Adding things up, this year's total came to:

204 Figures
13 Vehicles
16 Terrain Pieces (or sets)
1 Marker

Compared to last year's

145 Figures
25 Vehicles
18 Terrain Pieces
12 Markers

Analysis
My overall theme for this year was paring down my list of anchient projects I have been wanting to do. I think I made great strides in this.

Obviously in figures this year blew last year away by a long shot. This year's focus was primarily on Dark angles but my Black Legion was a close second with finishing off my Ultramarines a close third. My goal for next year will be to finish off the Dark Angels (what I have purchased currently) and maybe add a Terminator squad to the mix, using Deathwing parts to sex it up. I would not mind a couple small figures for my Black Legion (scorcerer's and the like) and maybe a couple monsterous creatures but I think they are done for the most part. We'll see after I pick up the Black Legion supplement.

Vehicles not as much in quantity but cerainly in quality. I am really happy how well my two ork scratchbuilds turned out this year and will look forward to doing more in the future. Da Hind especially-I have had the base model for that build sitting around for at least five years to knocking that out finally and it turning out as well at it did was pleasing. I still want to build a rectangular base for it as a counts-as battlewagon and I still need a flight base for the T-hawk as the old one is missing, but again, really happy to get those done.

Terrain pieces were the real winners of getting stuff done. Some of those bits and unpainted parts dated back to 2000. I had give large boxes of bits for conversions and it has been pared down to two. Of course in the process it created six boxes of terrain but that is a small price to pay for progress right?

Next year I am going to be going through some massive life changes with a lot of uncertainty. I plan on using the hobby to keep me sane during this time but my purchasing time and power may be severely limited. Like any good hobbyist, I have plenty of projects on backlog and materials purchased to see me through so the theme of completing unfinished work will continue.

I wish you all the best in the new year and thanks for visiting!

End of the Year Closeout 2013

My last three models of the year are first, this repurposed original Terminator Librarian which I painted up for my Dark Angels. This figure is probably older than some of you-you can tell because it is made out of actual lead (I can hear the overprotective mothers of the world gasping). Sorry for the blurry photo-still getting used to a new light and closeup pics on my iPhone:



This land speeder was an Ebay purchase that I thought was for a classic metal land speeder that I had intended to use for 30k. I had to strip it down and buy weapons for it as they were not included. However I am please with how it came out and it deserved to get a quick paint job.



Finally, to end the year on a bang, here is the repaint of my scratchbuilt Thunderhawk. With Escalation out and the proliferation of Apocalypse in the local area, maybe I will get it back to the table this year.