Another Unintended "Hiatus"

It's been a while since anything of substance was shown on this blog with regards to painting, modelling, etc. and while I don't have any good pics at hand, I wanted to say that progress has been made with a couple of projects.

I've spent a bit of time with my Merc crew and the first couple of minis are looking like they'll work pretty nicely.  I'm not entirely sure how I plan to arm all of them or how much individuality I will imbue the squad with, but I've got a couple of ideas about I want to explore.  Most importantly I've been really encouraged by the success of the first two builds, and I'll give a quick parts breakdown to give you all an idea of what I've been working towards.

Heads: Cadian helmeted heads with most detail shaved down (may change).
Bodies: Cadian torsos with Aquilas shaved down.
Arms: Cadian arms with lasgun removed.
Legs: SM Scouts (LOVE the tactical gear).
Weapons: SM Scout shotguns with bracing hand intact.
Other Weapons: Sniper (Vindicare Assassin's Exitus Rifle), Melee Riot (Baton and Shield), SMG (modified lasgun-to-auto-carbine conversion),  Bolters (SM Scout boltguns).

I've put in some work on the Chimera, replacing its turret multi-laser with a heavy bolter, and looking at sorting out a Sentinel for use in the Merc crew (using old, chaotic 2nd ed rules!!!).  I also want to remove the gimbal-mount lasguns on the Chimera, there's no plans for lasguns in the Mercs, so I'd sooner just have open firing ports.

I've also started in on a Guilder and his crew, starting with either a top-level mook or the Guilder himself, a kitbash of Empire Militia, Cadian, and SM Scout bits.  I've long waited an opportunity to start a more eccentric and perhaps anachronistic gang or crew, and this should be just the opportunity I've been looking for.  I plan on creating ornate las-locks for the enforcer-mook types, and all sorts of cool melee-bruisers and other scumbags-for-hire to add to this motley band.  It's gonna be fun.

Cheers to all of you, I'll be back soonish with some more updates.

Still Reading? Good.

First, my apologies for the lack of posts, I've been dealing with a bit of personal stuff and it's been a bit of a drain on my time and my efforts in the hobby.  Among these things is a rearranging of my work spaces, and to my immense frustration, yet more modification of furniture is required.  Grrrrr.

However, it's not all bad.  I'm set up much more favorably in this new arrangment - the painting desk is set up between two windowfuls of gorgeous natural light, and even with the inevitable battles for desk space I will be having with the cat, I am looking forward to getting some work done.

With regards to the gaming group, we've lost Matt - just a sort of "not my thing" situation for him.  It's too bad that the game's not for him but I can't fault him for giving it a good couple of tries.  Our next meetup is looking to be the 4th of October, and I'm going to try to get a game in with one or two of the members between now and then.  We've decided to go with once a month for a big meetup and we all try to get in a game or two in between with a random opponent.  It's hopefully easier for everyone to fit this into their schedules and plan around it, rather than try to fit the meetup in between other stuff.

Quick Note

Look! a splash picture at the top of the blog!

I've been meaning to do that for a while, and although it's not exactly how I want it to look, there's at least a placeholder up there adding a bit of color to the darkness of Sector N-UH-855.

I took a bunch of pics tonight but I rushed them and the light in this room is bad for minis and terrain so I am vetoing them all until I can get some better shots.  Thankfully someone decided that celebrating workers in the US should happen this weekend so there will be plenty of nice light to shoot in.


That's all, cheers!

Changing gears

Hey again.

The transition has passed a big milestone - the old apartment is now back in the hands of the rental company. We dropped off the keys last night, and now its just a matter of getting the new place all unpacked and ready for the big meetup this coming Sunday.

Last weekend (August 8-9) my dad brought a saw and other tools over and we shortened the shelving so it would fit in the new house, and they look pretty damn good all laden with terrain, miniatures, and hobby supplies. It show me that I clearly have more work to do, as there's many empty shelves still waiting for something to be stored.

That said, there are still a couple of big items needing to be set up - my printer and its accoutrements, my record player, and a few other things that just need to figure out what little bit of floor space they will live in (for now anyway).

I also recently learned that a friend of mine is in pretty dire straits, in ICU for at least the last four days, and that's been a big distraction lingering about in my head. As callous as it may or may not sound, I am looking forward to the distraction of unpacking and arranging the house, this bad news is a bit much to bear. I hope it turns out better than I keep imagining it could.

Anyway, things continue and I hope to be back at my desk putting together new stuff and finishing WIP pieces by the end of the month. Thanks for reading, and I'll be sure to post up some pics of our meet after this weekend!

Cheers!