Quick switch

OK, so everything looks the same, and really is the same.

But I had to fix one thing with this blog.

When I started it, I apparently typed "ghettorkore" as my URL. I can't believe I did that! But since Blogger makes it so easy to export and import the XML (which is still all magic to me), I exported from the old and imported here.

Day 9, really done

OK, they are based and have 2 coats of Armory Matte on them. The Sword Knights will get their Dullcote tomorrow, weather permitting. 

Tonight, I'll work on the Deathstalker for about an hour and then get ready to focus on Storm Guard. Not sure how long I'll be about to paint tomorrow night since there's a good chance I'll have to open on Thursday. So, tomorrow afternoon needs to be productive.

Graham's Cygnar will be living here. I have this army spread out between imageshack.us, the PP forums here and flickr. No, I most certainly do not have my shit together.

Day 8, SK completion!

Yes, they are done, except for bases and some glaring touch ups the camera discovered. Stupid 10 megapixels!

Anyway, to avoid duplication of photos and such, the update is here.

So, we're down to 42 models in 22 days. Or are we?

I'm seriously contemplating adding Trever's Kriel Warriors to the mix. For one, I'm jonesing to paint my Trolls after all of this discussion about the PG Invitational. Sure, it's in May, but I'm committed to bringing fully painted to PP headquarters. I'm a little torn about how much to post about the Trolls. It's no secret they're bright pink, but there's a part of me that wants to not post pics of em, just for shock value. Then again, you can't really behold the brightness unless you're in person. I think my boxed set looked really good, but most folks passed it off as just another gimmicky pink army. Whatever. I paint what I like, I like what I paint.

But Trever's Kriels are yellow, like his Champs. And then there's Wade's Troll army, which is going to be green (not as bad as it sounds, will have to paint something and post it to prove my point. :P) And let's not forget the ever-present Legion case o doom that requires painting. I'm glad Wade is patient.

Ah, what the hell. Here's my Troll list:

• Madrak Ironhide, World Ender
• Troll Impaler (Smiley, the painted one)
• Dire Troll Mauler
• Fell Caller
• Fell Caller
• Feralgeist
• Stone Scribe Chronicler
• Kriel Warriors [10]
• Standard & Piper
  
• Caber Thrower
  
• Kriel Warriors [10]
• Caber Thrower
  
• Krielstone Bearer & Stone Scribes [6]
• Stone Scribe Elder
  
• Trollkin Champions
  
• 43 models, 746 points, 25 VPs

Very attainable by May. I just need to find away to speed up the painting of bright pink. I've got some things I want to try that involve a magenta guide coat, but I will end up waiting until I get through the December Challenge models. Although eMadrak is calling to me... we'll decide when I'm more awake.

The addition of Trever's Kriel Warriors depends on if I get SG finished tomorrow (OK, later to)night. Hopefully, the weather will hold and I can at least get them primed to I have the option. The weatherliars are calling for snow.

Day 4

It's late again, so much for getting to sleep at a decent hour. I finished painting around 2, but had to edit and post pics and post to the PP boards. Which is why I'm not going to post pics here tonight.

The update can be found here.

I have a feeling I will be adding another 12 models to the vow. The SKs are under control and the SG is getting there as well. I need to get Trever's Kriel Warrior painted and would like to get Haley's Warpy 2 done since I've got a mod I want to finish. And since I'm waffling on my contest entry, I might as well add the Stalker since I'm painting her anyway.

Aside from that, it's killing me to have the Allegiant and Squire unassembled. Scott has painted both kung-fu fighters and the Squire is done as well (I think). Plus, I have all the models I need for my "alt" Black 13th. I will probably work on all of those together. I just need to find one of my Caine arms; need a magelock pistol.

Anywho, wicked headache has started, I think it demands sleep.

Day 3, Part II

Brush, the might Windsor & Newton Series 7. Size 3, used for everything, yes, even eyes. It sheds awfully. It's fairly dirty, but dislikes being run through brush soap. It freakin rocks.

Sword Knights.

I forgot about the damn Sword Knights. So that brings the December model count from 42 to 52. As if that wasn't enough, the Squire and Allegiant came out today. And AAG got the shipment of Uncharted Seas starters. 

Graham's Cygnar has moved to the front of the line with authority. And let me take this moment to say the Brush and I are really, really fucking tired of painting Cold Steel. Love the color. Thought about going with something GW for a moment, then said no, I want Cold Steel. So I bought a cheap brush and a pot of paint and threw the shiny on two Sword Knights while waiting for 4ok to finish.

Craig Ferguson was a rerun (regrettably) so it was iTunes time and paint. Roughly 2 hours later, I have shiny dudes on my desk. Again, the Canon makes it too easy to take really nice pics, which I'll get to in a moment. But first, about Brush.

Brush and I came together about 3 years ago now. When I first got into this whole painting thing, I wanted to do everything cheap. "I don't need no fancy paints. I don't need no fancy brushes." Well, that changed in a hurry. After a few months of craft paint, I started buying Vallejo; I still use Vallejo Magic Blue for my Cygnar. It's quite a bit brighter than the studio scheme, and I like it.

A little bit after I upgraded paints, I realized it was time to upgrade brushes. After flitting around the forums, I was introduced to Windsor & Newton Series 7. I placed an order with dickblick.com and have been using my size 3 brush happily ever after. I own 6 size 3 brushes. I have tried to use newer brushes, but they always misbehave. I've got one that forks as soon as it touches a model, so it's extremely annoying to even ink or base coat with. I've got one I used because I didn't have Brush, but I keep coming back to Brush. It's creepy.

Brush should have been retired at least a year ago. And it really hasn't been the same since the speed painting contest I entered 2 years ago. I don't go out of my way to abuse Brush, it just kinda happens. Like tonight.

I timed myself for the final Storm Guard. It took me about 5 minutes to get the right parts coated in Cold Steel. I never paint that fast. Then again, I don't usually have as many models to push through. Brush was angry, and there was always cat or dog hair getting in the way. Weather changes definitely affect the sable; splitting, errant hairs, it just happens more when the humidity goes up. But the worse I treated Brush, the better the paint went on. Anyway, to the pictures. Sue me for liking my Brush. :P

Thankfully, I had an assembled and primed unit of Sword Knights. It's not like I was going to paint them for me anytime soon.

About an hour later, they had Cold Steel in the right places, and in some of the wrong places. At this stage, it's more important for me to get through base coating as fast as I can so that I have more time to spend on detailing. It makes sense in my world, and has worked in the past.

In the interest of my sanity, I *had* to paint another color. While Cold Steel is very nice, the Sword Knights looked funky with just one color all over. Since I've been breaking out the Citadel paints Joel gave me, I thought Polished Blue would be nice. I think a dose of my magical armor wash will work well on all of it.

And here are the 20 Who Were Painted. Leaving the halberds off the Storm Guard is full of win. There is no way I could've painted each mini in 5 minutes. It will make painting their suits and leather straps much easier. I can't wait to see how they look with the armor wash concoction. I added about 30 drops of Future Floor Wax to a full pot of Citadel Amour Wash. It's pretty similar to the P3 stuff and it was easier to add the FFW to. Keep finkers crossed.

Day 3

OK, a quick post while I'm between coats of primer.

Late last night, I realized I need to get Graham's Cygnar done before he gets here on leave on the 19th. So in addition to the 29 Menoth models to paint, I have 12 Cygnar minis -- full Storm Guard, Lancer and Haley (the nice variant sculpt). That brings the total models to 42 for the month.

That would be true except I got a dwarf done for Lance yesterday in about 45 minutes. And, I've got a Warpwolf on the table as well. I am fairly confident I can get them all done; the strategy is to make sure every single model gets paint on it every single day.

The exemplars are all close to the same spot. The dipped unit of KE needs to get shoulder pads and tabards painted, and the good news is, I've decided on an armor color -- Reaper Shadowed Steel. A little less "plain" than Pig Iron and a different hue than Cold Steel, which will be used to trim all of my knights. The relic blades will be Radiant Platinum and maybe VMC White Gold. We'll see. Still trying to reduce the amount of gold used on my PoM models, saving it for solos, unit leaders, jacks and casters. My TFG have no gold on them and I like the look.

Anyway, pics.Graham's Cygnar "starter." Halberds are pinned and will be painted separate from the models. I will be able to paint the troops much faster this way. Not sure if I'll paint Haley and the Lancer before or after troops. He wants the "purtee" paint job on Haley.

The Seneschal with the KE leader's arm. I have 4 of these. They should not all look the same. I have had great fun playing with the macro setting on the Canon. This also means I must paint much cleaner.

My Errants leader. He helped kill Gudrun (both times) last week vs. Scott. This unit has deserved a paint job for about a year.

December challenge

So for some strange reason, I've decided to participate in the December painting challenge on the PP forums. This will be in addition to any commission work I do... just looking for motivation to get some of my stuff done. And there will need to be commission since tis the season to need $$$.

But here's what I'm planning on painting:

Faction: Protectorate
Points: 560
Model Count: 29
High Exemplar Kreoss
Blessing of Vengeance
Exemplar Seneschal
Exemplar Seneschal
Exemplars Errant [10]
Knights Exemplar [6]
Knights Exemplar [6]
Visgoth Juviah Rhoven & Honor Guard [3]

My head isn't necessarily right at this point, but I've got the motivation to paint -- mostly because Scott has been painting like a fiend. That, and because I'm tired of not having painting Exemplars. So we'll see.

In other news, I'm officially a Press Ganger (ph34r!) and I got a new camera so closeups will be much nicer! I've had my Canon PowerShot SD 770IS for about 2 weeks and I've taken a ton of pics. It's small enough to fit in my pocket, it's 10 megapixels and it's tiny. Be afeared.