Get Your Hobby On.

I picked up a rush commission last night and, while prepping the models I had a flash of inspired genius. I was thinking of how I might prime and paint the meltaguns separately so I could more easily paint the chests of the marines. I looked to my right at my trash can (hey, divine inspiration shouldn't be questioned, so don't judge me for randomly checking my trashcan for ideas). There atop the empty food containers and other various basement-centric detritus, was a recently discarded sprue frame. The squared shapes and occasional cylinders of spare plastic merged with some paper clips in my brain and, like John Belushi standing in a Chicagoland church, I saw the light!

Some quick snips with the clippers gave me a small workable bit of frame that would sit flat on a surface and resist being scooted by spraying paint. Some easy work with my pin vice and super glue and the Gun Rack was ready for service.

I placed a tiny drop of glue on the end of each peg so the guns wouldn't fall off. Then I cut a bit of cardboard, secured some tape to hold the backpacks and the gun rack, loaded the whole squad out to the garage and gave it a blast of primer.

The accessories are ready for priming.

The whole operation took less than 30 minutes and it can (and will) be reused again and again. This frame is rigged with 5 pegs so it will hold a whole combat squad compliment of weapons. I imagine it will also work well for heads or any other small bits that might need personal attention.

Let me know if you like this idea, or if you have a better system feel free to share. We're all in this together, right?

Ignis Rex

I have written and deleted a half dozen witty blog posts about this Land Raider but, in retrospect, none of the them have been sufficient.  I'll stop stumbling through my futile attempts at prose, and let the pictures speak for themselves.  Before I go, however, there are three things you need to know about it:

1) This tank was built & converted by CVinton (look here and here) at Dark Future Games.
2) This tank was painted by Team Snake Eyes' very own Chaplain Aerion.
3) This tank is ridiculously awesome.  I am in awe of the artistic ability on display by the two individuals above. Enjoy.

Photoshop compilation of "before" photos.  This is how we received the tank from CVinton.

Photshop was used to make "color tests" before putting paint to model.

Photoshop "color test" of right side.

Crewman photo:  Forgeworld Salamander shoulder  pad and close up of CVinton's sculpting work.

Front Grill.  Yes, the eyes ARE  following you...Heretic!

Front Profile

Left Profile.  All hatches are fully magnetized.  Not pictured are the Flamestorm Cannons
that can turn this Crusader into the Redeemer variant. 

Left Side Sculpting

Right Profile.  If you don't love the dragon mouths on the Hurricane Bolters, you're
either not alive or not human.  True story.

Right Side Sculpting.  "Ignis Rex" is likely horrible latin for "King of Fire" or "Fire King".
We were also pleasantly surprised that CVinton sculpted a fire imp or some such
into the flames at the bottom of the tank behind the Smith figure.

As you might have deduced, there is more to come.  While we did manage to acquire CVinton's beautifully converted Ironcland Dreadnought (Seriously?  It's crushing a traitor guardsman in it's claw, how cool is that?) alas, we are not taking that to Adepticon this year, so it's not a priority right now.  I did manage to get my scaly claws on Bray'arth Ashmantle (that wasn't a shipping mistake CVinton, the Emperor was trying to tell you something...) and he will be serving as my personal HQ choice at Adepticon's 2012 Team Tournament.  Stop by our table this year in Chicago for a closer look.

How to do a Headstand.

So, you've got a head you need to paint, and you want to do an extra good job (say for a competition model or and independant character). You can either glue it to the body, prime it, and paint it along with everything else, OR.... You can use this little contraption. For lack of a better term I'm dubbing it the Headstand. It's super easy to make, and the price is either cheap or free (depending on whether you're a wine drinker or have access to one). All you need is the cork from a wine bottle (sorry, screw-cap drinkers. This one's for the snooty types), and a paper clip. Simply pry the clip apart in a fashion that has half crooked (roughly in an L shape) and the other half sticking out straight at an angle. Insert the crooked end into the cork and bend the rest around it until it holds. It doesn't have to be tight. The cork will hold the wire fairly well.

Once that's done you're ready to prep the head. Grab your handy pin vice and drill a hole in the bottom of the neck. Make sure you drill it deep enough that the head will sit securely atop the paper clip.

Now we're ready for the glue. Dab a little atop the paper clip and seat the head. Turn the head until it's facing in the direction that will be most comfortable for you to hold the stand while you paint. Let the glue set and you're ready to go! Don't worry about the head being attached to the clip forever. With some gentle but persistant twisting the head should separate easily from the stand and be ready for attaching to the model. In the unlikely event that it doesn't you can always snip the wire with your cutters. I've found this little tool to be extremely helpful and I hope you do as well. Please leave comments if you try it, or if you have other ideas that work please share them. Happy modelling!

Mr. Angry Face says, "Paint me NOW heretic, or I shall purge thee with righteous flame!"

Salamander terrain (Adepticon sneak peak!)

As mentioned in previous entries I have been distracted by "other projects". Aside from my algebra class (which is also featured in this pic) I have been converting the Astartes statue that comes with the latest 40K Terrain kit "Honoured Imperium" to be used (possibly) in the Salamander display board for Adepticon 2011.

As you can see I swapped out the sword for a more "fluffy" hammer (Brass rod, green stuff, and bits from the Drop Pod missile launcher) and added some Salamander iconography to the piece (Chapter logo on the left shoulder, partially concealed by the cloak, Salamander hide loin cloth, flames on the right shoulder, left knee, and the chest shield, as well as a Salamander symbol on the shield above a field of flames).

This is my first real attempt to do any major green stuff work, especially on this scale (mistakes are easier to hide when they're smaller). I'm fairly happy with the results and I'm looking forward to seeing it on the awesome display board we have planned.

Any feedback is welcome. Enjoy the pics and I'll be back for the third and final Drop Pod tutorial in a few days.

P.S. Chosen1, you owe me a replacement so I'll have one to flank the doors of my cathedral ;)