Honored Imperium Part 1

Holy mother of crap!  You guys forgot I existed, right?  I guess there's a certain amount of irony that my third post of 2013 is almost at the end of 2013...  Now that life has opened up some more time, it's time to paint!

So last night, I based an Honored Imperium I had sitting around gathering dust.  Tonight, I painted the Broken Aquila.  I figured it gave me time to decide how I want to do the statue.  I've thought about good old fashioned gray stone, but I've also had another idea.  We know that most statues in antiquity weren't bare gray stone, but rather painted in bright colors to be eye catching.  I'm thinking about doing something similar: gray stone, but paint parts in bright colors to make it look as if it had been painted.  Maybe the shoulder pads and the shield and the blade?  The chest should definitely be gold.  I'll think about it.  I don't think I can get to it for a couple of days so I have time.

I do have one bit of awesome to report, though.  So I ended up in contact with a guy who plays Eldar, but somehow ended up with a MKI Land Raider.  So I'm trading him some Eldar stuff I've picked up (I'm working on an ally force, you know) that I don't want, namely some Dire Avengers (which I would like, but are worth trading) and a wraithlord (which I totally won't use!) and I'm going to throw in some Guardians, too.  What a bargain for me!  He's already posted it and I'll have his stuff off in a couple of days.  Doubleplus good!  I don't really field Land Raiders, but I can't not have one of those old beauties!

Get back to you in a couple of days...

Devastators and Black Lancers!

 Well, folks, I've been doing something!  Despite the lost computer (and by "lost", I mean down and usless)!

I started assembling heavy weapons earlier this week.  Finally used the crouching legs I'd been holding on to and learned that many heavy weapons really don't work well on Marines in crouching positions. I still managed to produce a heavy bolter, multimelta, and two lascannons, all on the crouching position.  Add to that some more standing heavy bolters, plasma cannons, lascannons, and pretty much every outstanding missile launcher I have and I managed to get 19 heavy weapons built!  Good for me!


So a window in our really crappy weather opened up a couple of days ago.  So I thought it was now or never (at least for a month or so).  So I got out there and whipped out the spray paint.  I ended up missing a couple of heavy bolters, so that brings me up to 17 heavy weapons primed.  And while it was on my mind, I whipped out a few old school tac squad jobbers and primed them, too.  I still need a couple more and a couple Sarges, but ultimately, it means this: my Seventh reserve company will soon have two full Devastator squads to help fill it out.  That means I'm two Tac Squads (which I have) and an Assault Squad (which I have the parts to assemble) away from a third full Company.  And the extra heavy weapons for other new Tac squads don't hurt either.  Maybe I'll just hold back four of them for the first Dev squad of my fourth Company.  Woot!

Lastly, I got around to painting my four Black Lancers.  I look at them and think that I could do a bit more here or there, but I'm pretty happy with them the way they are.  I still have to paint the Lancer Sarge, but at least he's already primed.  I may start on him once I'm done with those Dev squads.  Either way, these buys are pretty close to being a blip in my decade looking rear view mirror. 

I'm feeling pretty good.  Several things are getting done, slowly but surely.  Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed by how much I have to accomplish.  Sometimes I get a little down because I have no earthly idea when I'm ever going to get a chance to put them on a field.  But, in the end, I'm creating.  And that's what matters the most.

The Hopes of a New Year!

After all these years, I am still naive.  I actually seem to think that I can get anything done during the holidays.  I was woefully mistaken.  Well, that's not entirely true.  I did get some painting done on the bikes, but other wise, I got nothing accomplished.  Poopy.

BUT

It's a new year!  Hope springs eternal with the thought of 360+ days to get some painting done.  So, let's choose not to look at what didn't get done.  Let's instead look at what could be accomplished!

Happy 2013 to you all and here's to painting and building!

So Many Things!!!

And so little time, it seems!

So, I have a five man bike squad with lances, an attack bike, a Librarian, two Predators and a Rhinoback all base coated and ready to paint.  They have been sitting in that condition for varying amounts of time from three weeks to four months.  So the real question is this: how many of them can I get painted before the end of the year?  So this is the challenge that I'm setting for myself.  I will assemble and paint nothing else until I get all these guys done and off my plate.  Further, I will have them done before the end of December.  I will have none of these guys lingering on into 2013.  Heck, some of them have been lingering since last century...

Ever since I arranged my bits, I've had some more ideas and can actually find things to try them.  I highly recommend this to everyone: organize the bits box!

Some of my paints are getting a little long in the tooth, especially the ones I don't use all that often.  I think I may find a way to treat myself to some fresh paints.  I'm a little worried about this new line, but eventually I'll have to start using it anyway so I might as well jump in with both feet.

I also think my first project of 2013 will be to finish my Fortress of Redemption.  Just looking at it in its half finished condition makes me sad.  Just having it done enough to put on a table will be good enough for me.

I may also look into getting one of those Imperial Defense Networks.  Not only do I like the idea of having trench works, but I also want a couple of those Imperial Bunkers.  I acquired Aegis walls and I'm liking them quite a bit, too.  I may have to actually buy another set.  I gripe about GW from time to time, but their terrain is pretty freaking excellent.

And that's it for now.  Watch this space in the next two weeks for pics and painting!  There's work to do!

Lancer Sarge and New Acquisitions

So, I survived Thanksgiving.  Now that everything has been shaken out and is back on an even keel, I'm hoping to return to normal about the painting and modelling (well, as normal as I have ever been about it).

Well, well!  Look at you, you handsome devil!  The picture to the immediate left is my Black Lancer Sarge, complete and glued together.  I went with a High Elf Standard bearer spear because I just plain like the look of it.  I decided to put this spear overhand to make it more action oriented and flavorful.  If I had to do it all again, I think I would have chopped up the entire arm to make it look more like it's immediately about to be used.  But I got this done right before leaving for the holiday and, well, that kind of energy and time were not in the cards for me.  But at least I have more "flair" thanks to the other bits that came with the spear.  And another spear, too.

And then there are these handsome devils.  Remember my friend who gave me all his 40K stuff a couple months ago?  Well, he found some more.  I gave the Chaos stuff to my best friend and I kept the Loyalist stuff for myself.  Not only did I get the missing Vindicator here, but also another old school one!  The Lascannon Dred is a fun little addition, as are the Imperial Fist Assault squad and the Chaplain.  I believe they will join my Templars as part of my Eternal Allies.  I'll probably repaint the Dred.  With the Venerable I haven't assembled yet, that'll make 10 Dreds.  That's a good round number.

A while back, someone on the BOLS forums offered to send me a Dark Vengeance Librarian arm.  Well, not only did it arrive in the mail yesterday, but it also came with some Nemesis weapons and a couple other things.  Woot!  Since I have a (slightly chopped up) DV Librarian from my friend, I think I'll make some minor repairs and get him assembled, too.  No reason I can't have a spare Librarian, I think...

I'd decided a while ago that DA iconography will have other meanings in my Chapter.  Swords show membership in the White Swords, the squad led by the Chapter Champion devoted to protecting standards. I think DA wings will apply to bikers and their bikes and what not.  I think BA iconography will denote honors from boarding Space Hulks.  Since I have the Space Hulk Termies and they're covered in it, I think it will work out well.  I think I have a few other models with BA drops on them, too.

That's it for the moment.  Now I just have to wait until it's warm enough to prime my Sarge and a few other things.  Patience.  It'll happen and I won't have to wait until winter is over, either (more than likely)...

One Lone Devastator

This is a bit of a cheat, but it's still something I got done, so it gets a mention.

Over the last couple of nights, I've been rearranging my bits.  Noticing that I seemed to be running out of things, I thought it might be a good idea to organize what I have so I could actually, you know, find things.  Turns out that I have a little more than I thought I had and I certainly would have used some of them on my Librarian if I had known.  I also dropped $20 on some new bits and a special spear/lance for the Sergeant of my Black Lancers.  I'm glad I made the purchase and, truth be told, it was needed anyway.  It's not like I'm buying new sets and keeping the extra bits or anything these days.

Anyway, while I was doing my sorting, I found this heavy bolter dude.  His body and weapon were painted.  His other arm was not.  So I took 5 minutes to paint the little stub arm, mixed up a little JB Weld, and put him together.  There are a few places where the paint could be touched up, but he's not bad.  Definitely fine for the table on the day I get around to playing again...

Under him is the sorted case of bits.  Marines everywhere...  And a couple of Ork heads.  Don't know where they came from but I'm sure I can find a use for them.  Behind him are fourteen (count them FOURTEEN) Terminators in various states of paintedness.  They're  from last year's Terminator Saturday.  I've got a few more bikes to assemble and basecoat and Devastators I promised to work on, but I can't look at these guys (especially the Space Hulk Termies) and not feel the urge to finish them.  Heck, another Terminator Saturday could do it.  Not that I see that happening anytime soon because of my current schedule and situation now, but a man can dream, can't he?  Maybe I can do a few per night until I have them all done.  The other thing is that I also found the objective markers I started forever ago and kinda want to do them, too.

The real takeaway from all this is that, well, I'm totally schizophrenic about what I do.  I've still got Rhinobacks undone, bikes needing assembly and painting, Devs needing assembly, and now I want to add on this new project.  No wonder I have so much undone.  I guess, though, I'm doing something.  Slogging forward in a haphazard way is better than being completely stalled.  That, and if I'm doing what I feel like doing, I may have more of a chance to keep going and not burn out or anything like that.

But when that spear gets here, I'm totally making that Sarge ASAP.

Bike Librarian

 Well, here he is.  I started this for a painting challenge.  I have little hope of winning.  One of the first entries was head and shoulders above this guy.  I only had today to get it done after my daughters were asleep and my wife was gone.  But, more importantly  he's done.  Now all I have to do is actually do my jump Librarian and I will have an HQ of each and every type (foot, jump, bike, and termie).  I'll get around to it one of these days.  But, for the moment, I will bask in the joy of completion.  Not bad for two and a half hours, if I do say so myself.