Afghanistan should be fine once we leave

Dont mess with me before I have my coffee

I didnt know how to paint beer in a mug, so I went with Starbucks!  Another biker from Copplestone Castings....got two more nearly complete, but I wanted to go ahead and put this guy up this morning.

Happy Birthday Heresy!

Heresy Miniatures celebrated their 10th birthday with a special edition 'Big Boris'.  I picked him up as an impulse buy when I bought my Blood Bowl Ogres.  I kinda boogered up his skin, going for a more tanned look, and he didnt turn out as the best fig Ive ever done, but hey, more experience right?  He still turned out pretty good.  Also a really cool figure if you are into the 'big barbarian' types

(EDIT!  Actually, after looking at the pics here on the blog, this is a rare occasion where the photos have really enhanced this figure!  I dont think he looks this good in person!)

And a little something for the ladies (:) hahaha im cracking myself up with this one)

In other miniature news, Kevin Dallimore has asked me to pass along that he and Foundry have parted ways after many, many years.  Those of you that follow my blog know Im a huge Dallimore fanboy...Im pretty much a big Foundry fanboy too, so this is sad news indeed.  I dont really understand the business logic here, but times are tough everywhere I suppose.  Good luck to Kevin in whatever he chooses to do next!  Im sure he will have no problems finding more minis to paint!

With a rebel yell

Another of the 'Bikers' from Copplestone Castings.  I was a little afraid that she would come out looking like a tranny....I think I avoided that though!

Bradleys, Abrams, and Ogrelando Predators...oh my?

FINALLY finished up 10 GHQ pieces of armor.  These have been sitting on my desk taking up space for well over a month.  Frankly, I just got bored of 'Iraqi Sand' and moved on to something else....

But what Im really excited about is something that is turned into more of a 'long term' project than I would like.

One of the few games I have actually played is 'Blood Bowl'.  I started playing as a kid when me and a buddy of mine would play with the plastic blue and green men - I think Version 2.  We had a huge 'league', and we would take turns playing teams against each other.  I think I was 10.  What a great summer that was!

Ive followed Blood Bowl all through the years, and although Ive never played a true game of it (im pretty sure my buddy and I had the rules wrong, because I lost a lot :) )  Ive played through email on a java client occasionally, and I bought the PC game from Cyanide long before it came out here in the States.

Im now finally gonna paint up my own team!  Ladies and Gentleworms - I introduce the Ogrelando Predators!  (6 Ogres from Heresy Miniatures)

Slightly converted ogre from Games Workshop

The cool part about the ogres from Heresy is also the curse.  Each ogre is made up of a head, a torso, two arms, two hands, and two legs - 8 pieces!  Great for just enough variation between 6 ogres.  They are pretty heavy (obviously) and I had already planned on pinning - however, as cool as the figures are (great poses, very much 'alive' sculpts) they dont fit together for shit!

Check out the spaces in between arms and the torso

Each joint is pinned, some of the joints are DOUBLE pinned!  They were also pretty messy as far as flash and mold lines.  It took a good part of last week to clean them up and put them together - I think nearly 7 hours or so so far.  (In fact, I think I see some I missed a couple pics up!)

So, next, there needs to be a lot of putty filling.  I also have some really cool ideas about the 'uniform' to fit the Predator motif.  Im also waiting on some 'numbers' that ill be able to glue on to shoulder pads, the snotlings that will round out the team, and the famous Orc coach, Bo Shemborcler, straight out of retirement!

My first foray into 10mm

Confederate soldiers.  These are from Pendraken (although I think the dead guy is from Magister Militum?)

I really, really like 10mm - these are big enough where you can really get some nice detail, but small enough that you can have a lot of em!  This was sort of a 'test' unit - I forgot to get a command pack (which I am currently rectifying :) ) but once I do, Ill get them in there too.

And, this last picture is for my friend Donna, who is all about sizes and scales

Unleash Hell!

I had waited literally 2 years to find this figure, and I finally got it at Salute.  From Warlord Games:

New Super Villain

This is a REALLY cool model from Crooked Dice miniatures - The Guru.  He needs a good super villain name though....any ideas?

New Superhero!

Ladies and Gentlemen of the World!  I present 'THE AMERICAN'!

Cool figure from Pulp City.

BTW, saw the Avengers this weekend - great super hero movie.  In my opinion, only second to the Dark Knight.

Egil Skalagrimsson

Viking warrior poet from Gripping Beast and the new Saga series.

The Raptor's Book Review - Retribution Falls

Ok, so I dont typically put up book reviews on my site (I think this is the first one!).  Hell, I think it has been questioned whether I can actually read!  Well I can!!!

I hated book reviews in school, so this isnt so much of a book review as it is a 'go out and get these books' kind of thing!

One of the blogs I follow - sorry, whoever you are - I dont remember where - (EDIT!  Ah, here it is - Leutenant Brittan http://leutenantbrittan.blogspot.com/2012/02/tales-of-ketty-jay.html ) recommended Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding.  At the time, I was looking for something new, and I thought 'what the hell?'

I LOVED this book.  Its set in a Victorian Sci Fi era with 'airships' as the main mode of transportation.  It follows the crew of the Ketty Jay through many adventures.  Its a cross between Star Wars, Firefly, Indiana Jones, and Old Western short stories - and in fact, Im sure the author takes influences from all of them.  Ive never been much on the whole 'Victorian Sci Fi' scene, but this book has totally changed my mind.  And, as it turns out, this book was a 2010 Arthur C Clarke Award Nominee (dont know if it won or not...it should have!)

Im also currently reading (nearly finished) with the next book in the series, The Black Lung Captain.  More of the same!  I cant imagine you could pick up Retributon Falls and not get The Black Lung Captain.

There is currently one more book in the series, The Iron Jackal I believe, but it is not yet available on Kindle here in the US (although, it does appear to be available in the UK).

Check em out if you get a chance!

Biker and April 2012 Totals

First up - my first completed purchase from Salute!  A biker from Copplestone Castings.  I really love Copplestone's stuff - always very alive.  I got a few packs - bikers and some scavengers - but I forgot that if I was to paint bikers, I needed to paint tats right???  Ugh - I wasnt brave enough to try to pull it off on this figure.

April was another relatively slim month for painting.  I was in the UK for 10 days, prep for the UK was at least a couple days, working late after the return is another 4 or 5 days, and a visit from the mum was a couple days.  Hopefully, I can turn my painting around in May.

Completed, for April, 2012:

28mm infantry completed: 4
3 (Michonne and 2 Zombies) (Victory Force Miniatures and Hasslefree Miniatures
1 Biker (Copplestone Casting)

15mm Infantry completed: 18
18 ACW (Old Glory and Blue Moon Manufacturing)

In progress, April/May, 2012:
1/285 armor in progress: 10
5 M1A1 Abrams (GHQ)
5 M2 Bradley (GHQ)

10mm Infantry in progress: 20
20 ACW (Pendraken)

28mm Infantry in progress: 1
1 Egil Something-o-rather (Gripping Beast)


Im really on the 10mm figure kick right now.  Ive got a stack of 10mm ACW to paint, as well as some other stuff.  I should finish up the viking from Gripping Beast tonight or tomorrow (barring any surprises).  The armor has been on my plate since last month - they are sitting on my desk half started...I need to finish them up!

2012 Completed Totals:

25-28mm infantry completed: 27
15mm infantry completed: 33
15mm cavalry completed: 10
20mm infantry completed: 8
1/285 Infantry completed:  8
1/285 Armor completed:  10

Purchases in April, 2012:

Salute!  I think I bought stuff from every single vendor.  I spent around 600 pounds - roughly $900 dollars.

Total Purchases, 2012

$977