Jake on a base

Not quite Jack in a Box, but some fun with glowing RJ-1027!

Here's a second member of the Wayward Eight on the new Burn in Designs bases...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!

We three queens

Not exactly the Three Kings, but still fun!!

It's now officially 2015. and it's already an insane pace... there is so much to do, on so many fronts.

I was introduced to podcasting in 2014, starting with the good folks of Screaming Heretic.  That expanded to Garagehammer and The Good, The Bad, and the Enlightened. 

Look for many more podcasts in the year ahead, and other online video activities.

If at all possible, I would like to be able to conduct online classes via Google Hangouts.  These would be reinforced by interaction between the students, and the painting videos.

I'm not quite sure how all that will work out, since I will need to do a lot of small scale testing.  While I probably won't need a new camera, it's very possible that I might need a new rig to make things work in a group/class environment.

While it didn't work out last year (in spite of multiple attempts), I want to have the ability to play some sections of the pertinent videos in a classroom setting.  In effect, it could act as an extension of myself, in case two or more people have serious questions that need to be answered right away!

Another set of considerations involve starting up ebay and/or Amazon store fronts for the painting videos.  Also, I am thinking about having a few standard sizes of special USB drives that will carry copies of the painting videos.  These would be 'bundled' in various price ranges according to what will fit on a given drive.

Anyway, these are all things that I will have to blend in with the bazillion other tasks which all must be done at the same time!  I will try to keep you up to date on all that as things move along.

Thanks again for all your support!!

A busy year concludes... two and a quarter miiiiiillllliiiion times.

As 2014 draws to a close, it is hard to believe the degree of changes that have occurred in the painting realm for me!

It's not just how I paint... it's what I paint.  I never expected to be painting Wild West figures, nor did I think I would be building tiny hexagons of terrain for a historical WWII simulation game!

Painting historical themed miniatures is something that I had never done, for a variety of reasons.  That was probably the single biggest change.

My introduction to MDF terrain (specifically Burn in Designs) was also quite unexpected.  I am used to building my own terrain from scratch, using foam, cardboard, and whatever other junk is on hand.  Painting and building kits was certainly something out of the ordinary!!

I certainly did not expect to be playing the new games.  Quite by accident, I ended up playing Memoir '44, and you all know it became a favorite of mine.  After my rather unpleasant experiences with the standard GW games in recent years, I was a tad bit frustrated.

Putting in the massive amounts of time and effort into the armies seemed to be misplaced, as the games were no longer enjoyable to play, and the amount of change and chaos within those systems was just too much to deal with.

Memoir was the ideal game.  No list building, everyone knows what everyone has and does... and then you switch sides!

There's a lot more new stuff coming up for next year.  As 2015 is just hours away, there is even more change in store, both in miniature painting and game playing.

I will be adding Flames of War and Bolt Action to both categories.  This should be very interesting.

It leaves me with lots of optimism looking ahead, as there will be no stagnation in my painting life!  Painting model ships, and the new techniques that will have to be developed to do so, will be very fun.

Even with all the new miniature lines I have been painting of late, there are even more on the horizon.  I am also looking forward to a very new Adepticon, and my second Reapercon.  Gencon 2.0 should also be far more interesting for me!

And, once again, a huge thank you to all who come to this site on a regular basis to listen to my rantings!

That is always appreciated.  I hope that it does provide just a little boost to your day, and to your own hobby exploits.  You have done so 2.25 MILLION times!

Rudolf the red eyed Thrall...

Yes... another day, another Thrall.

I never really envisioned a day of assembly-lining things like these :-)

There will be quite the mob of these little buggers soon!

The legend of Zarelda

Here's a new version of Wild West Exodus Zarelda... a member of the Wayward Eight.

Aside from the Irradiate (and who doesn't love that!), she can also be a boon to a nearby Mercenary, giving them extra actions.

That's quite a nasty surprise! Curse your inevitable betrayal!

Iron age

Here are some shots of those Burn In Designs bases painted.

They certainly look different with a bit of color!

I have almost twenty more of them to paint!

Some have gears, others have deck plating and tubes...

Stay tuned!

These bases are destined for more Wayward Eight minis...

Heading out to sea...

So, you have been waiting to see what this secret project is all about.

Well, this was a Christmas gift from my Brother-in-Law, who knew that I wanted to attempt some waterline model ship dioramas.  I had also discussed with him my dilemmas over the various scale possibilities. 

Since I have not had a chance to see the models in person, I could not get the best sense of what 1/1500, or 1/700, 1/200, etc. would mean in a practical sense.

I had a feeling that 1/700 would eventually be the way to go for my own 'before and after' USS West Virginia project, but this is an interesting test piece!

These next few images show some of the parts.  There are actually fewer than I expected.

These pieces will be difficult to prep in terms of mould lines without breaking them!  I will also have to apply glue with needles, in all likelihood.

Mike was also kind enough to snag some extra aircraft for the hangar deck!  Lots of variety in these booster packs!

They are very tiny, as you can imagine!

This will be an interesting color scheme.  I did not expect a green camoflague scheme at all. This was done to mimic merchant ships, and to disguise its true scale.

Ironically, this was meant to fool submarines.  It was a submarine which sank her in late 1944.

There is also no red dot on the flight deck, as the Battle of Midway showed that such a marking is little more than a "Hit it Here!" bull's eye.

Another illustration of the color scheme.

This ship was originally going to be completed as a Yamato style super battleship.  Needs dictated otherwise, and the Shinano was converted into a large carrier.

This image shows how I want to display this waterline vessel.  I am really looking forward to the challenge!