And, a comparison to the 'old' sculpts. The old ones are quite a bit bigger - probably dont want them in the same unit as the new ones, but I get you cant tell the difference on the battlefield!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Adding to my 10mm Confederate army
These are the 'new' sculpts from Pendraken
And, a comparison to the 'old' sculpts. The old ones are quite a bit bigger - probably dont want them in the same unit as the new ones, but I get you cant tell the difference on the battlefield!
And, a comparison to the 'old' sculpts. The old ones are quite a bit bigger - probably dont want them in the same unit as the new ones, but I get you cant tell the difference on the battlefield!
Friday, December 27, 2013
Work movie #4, and my last of the holiday work season!
Anchorman 2
Sucked.
I love Will Ferrell in almost all of his SNL skits and Deangelo Vickers in the Office. I loved Talladega Nights and Elf and Blades of Glory. But for some reason, neither Anchorman flick did it for me. I fell asleep before the first Anchorman ended, and this one wasnt great either. However, it was better than sitting at work :)
There were some funny parts, including a scene where Ron's girlfriend (played by Meagan Good, a black lady) brings him over to her family's house for dinner where all of the typical black/white stereotypes get shattered. Steve Carrol has few parts, but he really steals the show when he gets a chance.
Also, there are lots of pretty funny cameos which I wont spoil for you if you see it.
You know what? I was gonna say 'if you liked Anchorman, you will like Anchorman 2', but actually, I dont think that is true. AM2 is more of the EXACT same thing. Been there, done that.
I give it 2 out of 5 Raptors Claws!
Sucked.
I love Will Ferrell in almost all of his SNL skits and Deangelo Vickers in the Office. I loved Talladega Nights and Elf and Blades of Glory. But for some reason, neither Anchorman flick did it for me. I fell asleep before the first Anchorman ended, and this one wasnt great either. However, it was better than sitting at work :)
There were some funny parts, including a scene where Ron's girlfriend (played by Meagan Good, a black lady) brings him over to her family's house for dinner where all of the typical black/white stereotypes get shattered. Steve Carrol has few parts, but he really steals the show when he gets a chance.
Also, there are lots of pretty funny cameos which I wont spoil for you if you see it.
You know what? I was gonna say 'if you liked Anchorman, you will like Anchorman 2', but actually, I dont think that is true. AM2 is more of the EXACT same thing. Been there, done that.
I give it 2 out of 5 Raptors Claws!
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Work movie #3
Well, my work Christmas 'fuck you' continues! I just finished watching Stalingrad today at work.
First of all, I have to thank my buddy Corey for hooking me up on this one. The master of pirated movies, music, and other things Torrent hooked me up with this as a 'Christmas present'.
I was really REALLY looking forward to this one. However, Corey had warned me that it wasnt quite what either of us were hoping for.
First of all - a caveat:
My review could be totally wrong, because the copy that we had was a terrible translation from Russian and German, first to Polish, and then to English! Im not really sure what was going on - there were some Russians, and some Germans, and a couple naked chicks, and some battles. Maybe a singer too.
Without going crazy with a long ass review, the short version is that this movie is loosely based on the events surrounding 'Pavlov's House' during the battle of Stalingrad in WW2. In 'real life', an understrength platoon of Russian soldiers occupy an apartment building for nearly 2 months against wave after wave of Nazi attackers.
First of all - the good. The scenery in this one was absolutely outstanding. The ruins of Stalingrad are portrayed perfectly, and you feel like the world has long ago ended there. Also, there are lots of accurate weapons and armor, which made me really happy.
Also, two characters stuck out to me (in a good way!) - one, the German captain Kahn tasked with overtaking the apartment building is played by Thomas Kretschmann and the other is the lone civilian in the Russian building, Katia, played by Mariya Smolnikova.
I wont really get into the 'bad' other than I thought a few of the scenes felt contrived to me. There are a couple of 'love stories' that really seem out of place, and I draw a comparison to the 'prostitute' scene from another Russian war movie '9th Company'. There is an attempt to show the human spirit, how love overcomes the situation, blah blah blah, but it just didnt really fit to me here.
The story of the defense of Stalingrad is a heroic, yet brutal one. Not to sound crass, but I was hoping for some more battle scenes. The few that occur are done relatively well (save the final one which is total BS including an artillery strike that had the Russians been able to do in real life, the defense of Stalingrad would have never have even had the opportunity to happen)
Im glad I watched it, because Ive been following the trailers for nearly a year now, and to be able to get a English translated version only 2 months after it was released in Russian theaters was totally awesome. However, aside from a couple actors, this one is kind of a bomb in my opinion. Im going to have to give it 2 out of 5 Raptors Claws!
Tomorrow, my 'fuck you work' continues at the movie theater. Im going to see Anchorman 2 on my lunch break! 3 hour lunches are ok right????
First of all, I have to thank my buddy Corey for hooking me up on this one. The master of pirated movies, music, and other things Torrent hooked me up with this as a 'Christmas present'.
I was really REALLY looking forward to this one. However, Corey had warned me that it wasnt quite what either of us were hoping for.
First of all - a caveat:
My review could be totally wrong, because the copy that we had was a terrible translation from Russian and German, first to Polish, and then to English! Im not really sure what was going on - there were some Russians, and some Germans, and a couple naked chicks, and some battles. Maybe a singer too.
Without going crazy with a long ass review, the short version is that this movie is loosely based on the events surrounding 'Pavlov's House' during the battle of Stalingrad in WW2. In 'real life', an understrength platoon of Russian soldiers occupy an apartment building for nearly 2 months against wave after wave of Nazi attackers.
First of all - the good. The scenery in this one was absolutely outstanding. The ruins of Stalingrad are portrayed perfectly, and you feel like the world has long ago ended there. Also, there are lots of accurate weapons and armor, which made me really happy.
Also, two characters stuck out to me (in a good way!) - one, the German captain Kahn tasked with overtaking the apartment building is played by Thomas Kretschmann and the other is the lone civilian in the Russian building, Katia, played by Mariya Smolnikova.
I wont really get into the 'bad' other than I thought a few of the scenes felt contrived to me. There are a couple of 'love stories' that really seem out of place, and I draw a comparison to the 'prostitute' scene from another Russian war movie '9th Company'. There is an attempt to show the human spirit, how love overcomes the situation, blah blah blah, but it just didnt really fit to me here.
The story of the defense of Stalingrad is a heroic, yet brutal one. Not to sound crass, but I was hoping for some more battle scenes. The few that occur are done relatively well (save the final one which is total BS including an artillery strike that had the Russians been able to do in real life, the defense of Stalingrad would have never have even had the opportunity to happen)
Im glad I watched it, because Ive been following the trailers for nearly a year now, and to be able to get a English translated version only 2 months after it was released in Russian theaters was totally awesome. However, aside from a couple actors, this one is kind of a bomb in my opinion. Im going to have to give it 2 out of 5 Raptors Claws!
Tomorrow, my 'fuck you work' continues at the movie theater. Im going to see Anchorman 2 on my lunch break! 3 hour lunches are ok right????
Now that the cat is out of the bag...
...I painted these two figures as gifts for my mom (A Santa collector) and my uncle (a Harley fan). I finished them both back in early December, but didnt want to post until the gifts had been given!
This was gonna be in a 'Versus' competition, but backed out at the last minute.
Completed:
This was gonna be in a 'Versus' competition, but backed out at the last minute.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Christmas Eve Work Movie #2
New 'True Grit'. Another Matt Damon movie!!! Who knew?
Im not even gonna bother with a review. This one is easily 5 out of 5 Raptor's Claws!
Im not even gonna bother with a review. This one is easily 5 out of 5 Raptor's Claws!
Elysium
I just finished watching Elysium at work. (Fuck having to 'work' on Christmas Eve!)
This was a pretty good sci fi flick. In the 22nd century, there is an orbiting space station 'Elysium' that is a utopia. Everyone is rich and healthy and lives long lives. Earth, however, is a shit hole.
Matt Damon plays 'Max'. Orphaned as a child, he befriends Frey (Alice Braga - the chick in Predators) and promises to one day take them to Elysium. As an adult, Max is a reformed felon who is trying to get his life together. Working in a factory, Max has an accident (200 days without an accident goes to Hell!) and is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. He has 5 days to live. The rest of the movie is spent building Max into a robot and trying to get him to Elysium to get cured.
The first hour of this movie would have gotten 5 out of 5 Raptor's Claws! The sci fi and special effects are top notch, and the scenes on Earth and Elysium are great. Earth is a run down POS (as you imagine it will be in a couple hundred years), while Elysium is a perfect society. I think Matt Damon does a pretty good job in a genre that he isnt really used to. I also think Alice Braga (although not a bad ass in this movie like she is in Predators) will be setting herself up for more starring roles in the future.
However, the movie takes a bit of a dive. Jodie Foster (who, I have to admit Ive never really liked much as an actress anyway) sucks donkey as the nasty security twat on Elysium. Some other guy (other, as in, Jodie Foster is a guy too!!) plays some sort of special forces (?) operative that lives on Earth...wtf, I dont even know how to explain it....but he has a terrible accent (South African?) and is pretty much a douchebag as an actor and a bad guy. I also feel like the story takes kind of a crappy turn - runs out of gas - and the end of the movie turns into "Real Steel".
I think this is pretty much my review of District 9 too (another Neill Blomkamp film)!
I give it 3 out of 5 Raptor's Claws! Worth a rental for sure, especially if you like sci fi flicks, but I hope you didnt waste your money in the theater to see it!!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Wolverines!
I watched Red Dawn (2012) last night.
First of all, I should preface this review by saying that Red Dawn (1984) was a really good movie, and one of my personal favorites (maybe top 25 ever for me???). That one (if you dont know, but who in the Hell hasnt seen the original Red Dawn?????) is about the Soviet Union and Cuba invading the US. A cast that included Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, C Thomas Howell, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thompson, and Powers Boothe carried a movie that was a scary point in the world's history. At the time, I was 11, and the Cold War was on the verge of turning into WW3 (and thank God that I didnt realize how close we were to a nuclear war breaking out!!!).
On to the review, RD2012 is very similar in a lot of ways to its predecessor. North Korea has invaded the US (and possibly Russia and China?????), and a group of mostly high school students band together to fight back against the invaders. There are great nods to the original, most notably, the "ambush", the deer hunting scene, the 'traitor' storyline, and obviously, 'WOLVERINES!'
Chris 'Papa Kirk' Hemsworth I thought did a good job of reprising Swayze's roll as Jed Eckert, the mid 20 something 'leader' of the group. Ive liked him ever since his role as James T Kirk's father, and he has done a great job as Thor over several movies.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan shows up at the end to reprise the role of Powers Boothe's 'Tanner'. Boothe played a downed fighter pilot. JD Morgan shows up with a couple extra guys as 'marines', looking for the Wolverines. I like Morgan, but he really isnt in this one much (and he doesnt die a dramatic death like Powers Boothe does!!!!)
But that is where the fun stops.
With the exception of Hemsworth (and even him sometimes too), the acting is just atrocious. The kid that plays 'Matty', Jed's brother is a whiney little bitch (as opposed to Charlie Sheen's Matty, who was a tough kid, learning to grow up in the middle of a war). Over the course of the movie, the fact that Matty isnt a team player is jammed down our throats about 10 times, up until when he ends up getting someone killed. Then, duh, it dawns (see what I did there?) on Matty that maybe he isnt a team player and should do something about it.
The rest of the supporting cast, including Josh Hutcherson (how this kid made it in acting I will never know), Adrianne Palicki, Tom Cruise's son, and some other peeps I have never heard of before, are just terrible. In the original movie, you really feel for the supporting cast, and it hurts as the war takes its toll on each member. In this version, I just didnt care, and frankly, they all could have been killed off within the first 10 minutes, and that would have been fine with me.
The storyline is totally unrealistic, and is currently logistically impossible. The North Koreans dont have any way to get troops to the United States. Even if the Russians were to help out (which its hinted out throughout the movie), they couldnt do it either!!!! The man who plays the North Korean (and, hey, his name is 'Cho' - how many damn movies and TV shows where there are Asians have you seen characters named Cho??????) I dont think he says one word throughout the entire movie, and you do not feel any sympathy for him. Remember the Cuban general in the first one???? You almost felt sorry for the guy, and you are made to feel that he is just doing his duty. Not so with Mr 'Cho' - live, die, win, lose, who cares?
All of a sudden, about midway through, once JD Morgan shows up, the Wolverines go on a mission to get some briefcase that is some kind of EMP weapon???? I dont know what the Hell that is all about, but the last 30 minutes or so is basically a battle over a brief case.
Finally, for a military movie, they couldnt be bothered to get gear and equipment correct! Most people reading this far on this blog will be military buffs anyway, and I wont bore you with details, but the one thing that really got my goat was that the producers had the nerve NAY, THE AUDACITY(!) to try to push off a God damned Abrams tank as a North Korean tank!!!! WTF!!!! The scene with the tank is done in such a way with smoke and clever techniques to try to hide it, but it just isnt right. The original Red Dawn, even during the Cold War, somehow managed to come up with some Soviet AFVs, some T72 tanks, and even a Shilka. I guess the producers knew this was going to be a steaming pile of a movie, and they didnt want to make costs any higher than they needed to be. Oh yeah, the North Korean army somehow manages to drive around the entire movie in three green hummers...but I wont go into that any deeper!!!!
I wanted to give this one just one Raptor's Claw, but I think im going for two out of four Raptor's Claws, based on Chris Hemsworth's acting, and the nice 'reboot' of several iconic Red Dawn scenes.
First of all, I should preface this review by saying that Red Dawn (1984) was a really good movie, and one of my personal favorites (maybe top 25 ever for me???). That one (if you dont know, but who in the Hell hasnt seen the original Red Dawn?????) is about the Soviet Union and Cuba invading the US. A cast that included Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, C Thomas Howell, Jennifer Grey, Lea Thompson, and Powers Boothe carried a movie that was a scary point in the world's history. At the time, I was 11, and the Cold War was on the verge of turning into WW3 (and thank God that I didnt realize how close we were to a nuclear war breaking out!!!).
On to the review, RD2012 is very similar in a lot of ways to its predecessor. North Korea has invaded the US (and possibly Russia and China?????), and a group of mostly high school students band together to fight back against the invaders. There are great nods to the original, most notably, the "ambush", the deer hunting scene, the 'traitor' storyline, and obviously, 'WOLVERINES!'
Chris 'Papa Kirk' Hemsworth I thought did a good job of reprising Swayze's roll as Jed Eckert, the mid 20 something 'leader' of the group. Ive liked him ever since his role as James T Kirk's father, and he has done a great job as Thor over several movies.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan shows up at the end to reprise the role of Powers Boothe's 'Tanner'. Boothe played a downed fighter pilot. JD Morgan shows up with a couple extra guys as 'marines', looking for the Wolverines. I like Morgan, but he really isnt in this one much (and he doesnt die a dramatic death like Powers Boothe does!!!!)
But that is where the fun stops.
With the exception of Hemsworth (and even him sometimes too), the acting is just atrocious. The kid that plays 'Matty', Jed's brother is a whiney little bitch (as opposed to Charlie Sheen's Matty, who was a tough kid, learning to grow up in the middle of a war). Over the course of the movie, the fact that Matty isnt a team player is jammed down our throats about 10 times, up until when he ends up getting someone killed. Then, duh, it dawns (see what I did there?) on Matty that maybe he isnt a team player and should do something about it.
The rest of the supporting cast, including Josh Hutcherson (how this kid made it in acting I will never know), Adrianne Palicki, Tom Cruise's son, and some other peeps I have never heard of before, are just terrible. In the original movie, you really feel for the supporting cast, and it hurts as the war takes its toll on each member. In this version, I just didnt care, and frankly, they all could have been killed off within the first 10 minutes, and that would have been fine with me.
The storyline is totally unrealistic, and is currently logistically impossible. The North Koreans dont have any way to get troops to the United States. Even if the Russians were to help out (which its hinted out throughout the movie), they couldnt do it either!!!! The man who plays the North Korean (and, hey, his name is 'Cho' - how many damn movies and TV shows where there are Asians have you seen characters named Cho??????) I dont think he says one word throughout the entire movie, and you do not feel any sympathy for him. Remember the Cuban general in the first one???? You almost felt sorry for the guy, and you are made to feel that he is just doing his duty. Not so with Mr 'Cho' - live, die, win, lose, who cares?
All of a sudden, about midway through, once JD Morgan shows up, the Wolverines go on a mission to get some briefcase that is some kind of EMP weapon???? I dont know what the Hell that is all about, but the last 30 minutes or so is basically a battle over a brief case.
Finally, for a military movie, they couldnt be bothered to get gear and equipment correct! Most people reading this far on this blog will be military buffs anyway, and I wont bore you with details, but the one thing that really got my goat was that the producers had the nerve NAY, THE AUDACITY(!) to try to push off a God damned Abrams tank as a North Korean tank!!!! WTF!!!! The scene with the tank is done in such a way with smoke and clever techniques to try to hide it, but it just isnt right. The original Red Dawn, even during the Cold War, somehow managed to come up with some Soviet AFVs, some T72 tanks, and even a Shilka. I guess the producers knew this was going to be a steaming pile of a movie, and they didnt want to make costs any higher than they needed to be. Oh yeah, the North Korean army somehow manages to drive around the entire movie in three green hummers...but I wont go into that any deeper!!!!
I wanted to give this one just one Raptor's Claw, but I think im going for two out of four Raptor's Claws, based on Chris Hemsworth's acting, and the nice 'reboot' of several iconic Red Dawn scenes.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
From the Halls of Montezuma and a couple movie reviews
I just finished a group of about 20 modern marines in desert MARPAT. These are 20mm from Elhiem
And, with that, I now have a platoon of Devil Dogs
Unrelated, I watched a couple decent movies yesterday finally.
First up, Battlestar Galactica Blood and Chrome
This is a series of 10 SciFi channel webisodes, and it details a young (just out of the academy) Bill Adama. Pretty good stuff, and it reminds me of the original (new series) BSG movie. A couple cheesy, campy parts, but I think that is ok for BSG.
The dude that plays Adama does a really good job I think. Learn where he gets his callsign 'Husker'! A really nice space battle scene happens about midway through. The negative, without giving it away - there are several really obvious plot points (that are supposed to be surprises), mainly because the original BSG 'has been there before'. Also, several copied (almost EXACTLY) scenes from Star Wars.
I give it 3 out of 5 Raptors Claws!
Next up is Dredd.
Ive been wanting to see this one for a while now, and just now got around to it. Admittedly, I was concerned about this one being like Sly Stallone's version (with Rob Schnieder as the sidekick. Really????)
No worries! This one is hard core and gritty, and really captures the feel of Mega City 1. Not for the feint of heart, this one is extremely violent (which I loved!!!), and must have at least a couple hundred kills in it. Skinning, incineration, and being tossed out of a 200 story building are just a few of the ways to go!
I thought Karl Urban made an awesome Dredd. I probably would have liked to see a few more snappy one liners, but in a way, I guess Dredd is supposed to be serious.
I give this one 4 out of 5 Raptors Claws....but dont watch if you are the squeamish type!!!
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Soviet General
Im not sure if this guy is a dictator, a Soviet general, or a modern Russian. Whatever.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
US MP on a motor bike
Ive completed painting on this guy - he will be given as a present for xmas. Waiting on some basing material (some model train cobblestone) before it can truly be done. Hopefully, some better pictures when Im done.
And a picture I took from my back door this weekend. It looks like I live in the mountains.
I do not.
And a picture I took from my back door this weekend. It looks like I live in the mountains.
I do not.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Elfquest - Pike, and a final group shot!
Pike, and his wolf Hotburr
And the group shot of them all together! This has been quite a 'quest' for me too!
And the group shot of them all together! This has been quite a 'quest' for me too!
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Elfquest - Dewshine, and trip to the lake
More work on Elfquest stuff this weekend. Only 3 more figs to go! They should all get done by the end of the week at latest!
This is Dewshine:
Weird - in my searching, I found a real person dressed as Dewshine, and what looks to be a fan movie. Oh dear.
Also this weekend, went out on a guided tour of Jordan Lake here in the Raleigh/Durham area looking for bald eagles with some friends of ours. We saw three bald eagles and an osprey, and lots of other birds too. good times
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Elfquest - Strongbow
The grumpy elf, and his wolf, Briersting
Oh yeah. I HATE CALL OF DUTY! Im getting too old to run with the young bucks.....
Oh yeah. I HATE CALL OF DUTY! Im getting too old to run with the young bucks.....
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