coming soon

Holidaze...

Not much time to post lately. I got a bunch of stuff done, but have been working several painting commissions for the past month solid.

Still trying to figure out the best way to get the Thunderhead back to ready before 2012 leaves. But I am drug away by other ideas.

The Trollblood Bomber I just got is calling my name for conversion. I thought it would be funny if the pyg with the torch was a little more involved than merely hanging on.

My original Mulg sits in pieces, still. However, I found another one at a swap meet for $15, so I have a Mulg operational for the table top finally.

To add to the insanity, I'm picking up my new Pyre Troll and a Stormwall this week... oi!

I'm also looking at the holiday bundles from Privateer Press. The Legion and Gator bundles are both up my alley for what they give. The Legion one is only $130 and is half the Absylonia and eLylyth armies I was looking to build.

With the Archangel coming out in February, I'm interested in getting the army going by then.

I fear that I need to slow down more, keep the gamer ADD suppressed and all.

Last but not least, I need to pour a 40 on the curb for my Grey Knight army. I had to let it go, but it it will one day return (in plastic), just like my tyranids. We had some fun times in 4th ed and few games in 5th before the powergamers got their new codex, you will be missed.

The End 2 - The Revengination

So while taking some photos of my Blitzer conversion...

I had to take some photos of how everything ended up...

Stock pose with Trollbloods 3 in 1 plastic kit

Domination Artwork (courtesy of Beasts of War)

Finished Conversion

He took along time, but everything about this conversion was worth it. Now to get him painted... eventually.

The End - Part 1

So I finally finished Rök. He is done... yup.

What? You want more? Fine.

Instant Mold is amazing stuff for that little piece of the quills.

Filled in the quills and blended them into the hair.

And conversion done...

Give me two steps more...

Left arm is done. The metal quills are glued on. Waiting for the green stuff on the arm to cure before I pin more quills.

Vicky, Veni, Vici

Vicky....

Vicky...

Vicky...

Vicky...

Arm Wrestling

Now he's got a little muscle to hold up that giant axe. It'll probably take one more pass to completely fill out and then its nothing more than attaching and gap filling the quills. And the 5 month journey will end...

There'll be a few pics of other things I'm working on:  Blitzer, Thunderhead, Avatar of Menoth (comission), and of course Mulg. A long time coming conversion of one of my favorite warcasters will also be shown. :)

I hope to have Mulg done in order to possibly run him in a tournament in late October... (I am not holding my breath on this.)

On to pictures!

Break neck speed

I've been back at almost full speed when it comes to conversions lately. Rök has been progressing rapidly to completion. He will be done by the end of the weekend, honestly. I've been taking photos, just not posting them. :(

The Blitzer is almost done as well. I'm looking at a few bits from the Mule/Nomad jack kit to complete the conversion. (More Dakka, less plumber crack.)

The Right arm took 2 passes to green stuff. The gap was small enough that I could get right to work once it filled in.

That was pass #1. A few of the muscles got blended and allowed me to get a grasp of where the everything had to be. 

And he's ready for the next go. Unfortunately I forgot to take pics after filling the left arm's gap. Next post is once I go on pass #2. 

He's back...

So its been awhile, but I've been busy. Been working with a couple of my first clients for Imperial P&C and also the basics of doing what is needed to buy gas, food, and car insurance. But I digress...

Its been a good bit since I sat down and worked on Rök. I had a pile up of models needing green stuff (including a special conversion project) The problem became must paint vs. looking after some display stuff for my FLGS and my own gaming models. So I put down the paint brush and unwrapped the blue and yellow tape.

After 3 hours, most everything was done. I actually ran out of prepared green stuff; a rarity. But Rök has been tended to and his arm is now ready for the next batch of green stuff set for today.

I'll post the other thing up once its done, sadly its not Mulg. I've unglued him four times now and have been trying to figure the best way to build his lower torso. I think I am just going to try and mimic the stock pose now. 

Until next time.

You're Glue!

Recently, my FLGS hosted a swap meet so that club members could gather, trade, "sell", and otherwise have a fun time getting hard to get models or a starting army for a new game.

One of my deals was picking up a full unit of Warmachine Nyss Hunters. I was excited, but after a couple of days soaking in Purple Power... I was confused. The owner had told me he had gotten the models in a trade a year earlier and just never got around to putting together the 2 blisters that had come with the assembled and painted minimum unit.

My discovery was a shock, the models' arms had not been attached with super glue or any type of actual adhesive; they had been held together by a small spot of Green Stuff. In fact, the green stuff wasn't even mixed well... it had large swirls of blue in it.

More over large sections of the model still were covered in black paint even after vigorous scrubbing. With the slightly weaker formula of Purple Power (Purple Power used to have the same recipe as Castrol Superclean, hence the name. However, Castrol sold its license of the generic and the formula shifted slightly as a result. With about $3 difference in the pricing for a gallon, its a tough call  in the strength vs. save money area.), the only thing paint remaining on the model means is that there is a high amount of superglue the paint has bonded to OR that spray paint and not an actual primer was used.

I tossed the Nyss into a small tub of acetone nail polish remover along with my other score of the swap meet,  a Warhammer 40K Bjorn the Fell Handed, cast in GW's original lead. Bjorn came out beautifully as I peeled away small clumps of glue. The Nyss... went back in with a sneer of utter disgust on my face.

The black areas were indeed glue. Whoever the original owner was, he did not but into the concept of "less is more". About 75% of the model is covered in glue. Apparently, the quiver, scabbard and heads were liberally glued to the body. Which makes me question as to why Green Stuff was used to palace the arms. My guess is he simply ran out of glue.

While I am completely anal about pinning my models, there are some times when it is impossible. Other times, especially with polystyrene plastic, a plastic cement/glue is all you need. (As an FYI plastic cements are the next step over basic plastic glue, causing a greater thermo-reaction so the plastic melts together on the spot creating one solid piece.)

I typically never grumble about a cheap deal on traded models, but this honestly baffled me. I lost the six plastic bases they were on which gripes me about getting replacements, but I think I have a pack somewhere.

On a happier note, I am launching a new blog dealing with the conversion and painting commissions I will be doing in the future. The new page is called Imperial Painting and Conversions (http://imperialpc.blogspot.com/). The page will list out the basics, options, rates, and other aspects of having some models worked on by me.

Until next time guys. I should have more Rök soon.

Injuries among other things...

And then the carving blade slipped and went right into my thumb...

Been waiting for that to heal and found myself bouncing along other projects and apparently being to busy to post.

Cygnar Long Gunners (after 2 strips due to humidity) are 95% painted.

Doing a commission assembly, cleaning, and paint for a Menoth Army.

Joined a 40K 6E Escalation League... 2 - 5 man Grey Hunter squads, 1- 5 man Long Fang unit, 1 - Razorback, and 1 - Drop Pod. 500 points to be painted by August 1st.


Looking to get back to work on Rök. I've also got a Victoria Haley conversion in the pipes along with Sons of Bragg.


I've entered the world of commissions, so hopefully I will have some pics of all the things I am working on.

One step closer

The torso is done! You can't see it, but I'm doing a happy dance. I'm entering the home stretch on this conversion.

I'm going back today to fill in some gaps around the beard and to begin bulking up the right wrist. Then it will be time to get those arms on and blended in.

Look at that body... BooBaDooBoop

I work out!

Couple of pics of the beer belly. The main difficulty is to provides sufficient droop to fat rather than a pregnant-like bulge.

Love Me Some Handles

Well, it has to be said. Rök is fat. There, I said it!

So the main issue of the love handles here is to transition in the new stomach and chest he's going to have. Rök enjoys that ale a little too much, so he has more of a belly than your average dire troll. The art as compared to the new plastic kit even shows he's heavier. Also, having the belly button half way across the body was kind of annoying. 

I will admit, the thought of giving him "Plumber's Syndrome" has occurred more than once. While I does illicit a chuckle, I think I'm better off letting it go. 

Once I get the beer belly on, I've got to double check what I plan to do to the chest as well as work some more on the left side love handles. Then a touch up on the beard to smooth it in. Then its time for arms, which means I need to bulk up that right wrist at some point soon.

Sigh.... I promise, there will be bare metal showing when I get done. Not everything will be under a layer of greenstuff. And remember this is just a lead up to the insanely ambitious Mulg conversion...