University and hobby time, not the best of friends

I have seen several blog posts about the lack of hobby time people find themselves facing, and how life is preventing them from painting, gaming and blogging. Sorry for posting another one, but I felt that doing so was a better alternative to just leaving my blog quiet without explanation.

What part of life is keeping me busy? I have started law school! I'm not even sure if I want to be a lawyer, but I do know what I would like to do in life career wise. How I will get into the position to do it is not obvious, but law school seems like a sensible step. Even if this step turns out to be one that doesn't take me towards the path I would like to travel later in life, it will still leave me with plenty of other options (and should be a pretty fun path all on its own).

From what I have heard from second and third year students, first year law will be a lot like the first year of undergrad. There is a staggering amount of reading assigned, and even though a lot of it doesn't need to be done, it's only after you've done it all that you will have learned what you didn't need to do, how to glance at something and get everything you need to know, etc.

There is a way to succeed in school and have free time and hobby time. I did it in undergrad (minus the hobby time, since I wasn't into the hobby yet. But if half of the free time I had was turned into hobby time, there would have been enough of both), and I will do it in law school. First, though, I have to learn how. For a while that means my hobby time will be too restricted to game, and paint, and blog about it.

Eventually, I hope to have the time to do all of those things. Right now, I think only the very infrequent blog post will make it up. (especially considering that I'm behind on all my readings. Thanks Bungie.)

When I do manage to put up a blog post, it will likely be on one of the following:

-painting for my Imperial Fists (managed to get quite a bit done before school started. Just need to find time to photograph everything).

-painting and modelling for Dark Eldar (I've wanted them since first getting into the hobby. No way am I  being reasonable and not getting them as soon as they come out).

-painting and modelling for Vampire Counts (hint: my favourite background story in the army book is about a certain fiend from Krudenwald).

-gaming with Space Marines in Battlefleet Gothic (the fleet is ready to go, minus a protective coat of varnish. I'm currently trying to decide how to do it. Two friends very recently had spray varnish frost their models).

To those who have read my posts, and especially those who have taken the time to reply, thank you! I will be checking the FTW blog rolls frequently to check out the awesome stuff everyone is working on. 

Battle Fleet Gothic painting update

The fleet is nearly finished! Drybrushing is done, and the bases have been re painted. All of the engines and turrents still need attention, and the Imperial Fist symbol needs to painted onto each ship.

I'm mostly happy with how the models turned out. Sometime down the road I may repaint them. If I do, I'll bring the colour of the hull and highlight closer together.

The photos below were taken after I finished drybrushing, but before I repainted the bases. The base colour is Iyanden Darksun. This is followed by a wash of Ogryn flesh, which is followed by a dry brush of Iyanden/Bleach Bone mix, and then followed by a dry brush of Sunburst Yellow.

Battle Fleet Gothic, first model nearly finished

This first ship was a bit of a test model. It didn't turn out quite how I wanted. Too much of Ogryn flesh wash darkened the model more than I wanted, and dry brushing could only lighten the edges, due to how many of them and how close together they are.

The phote makes the model appear a bit lighter than it actually is. After a basecoat and wash, the model was dry brushed with an Iyanden mix, followed by a dry brush of Sunburst yellow. I will probably dry brush the model again with more Sunburst. The picture below is closer to the actual colour of the model.

The photo below is for anyone who was unsure of the scale between BFG and 40k.

The rest of fleet is basecoated and drying. I started to do the basecoat using an airbrush, but the spray was having trouble getting into all the recesses and I switched to a regular brush.

My plan was to finish the fleet by tonight. I'll now be going to my girlfriend's parents' place for dinner, so the dry brushing might have to wait for tomorrow. It's always nice to see them though, and they're making lamb! Easy to put the painting on hold for that (especially considering how awesome her mom can cook). Mmm lamb.

Some work in progress photos

Well, it's about darn time that I put up some pictures of models that actually have paint on them.

Around 1850 points of Imperial Fists are painted to a table top standard (3 colour minimum and based). The standard I'm aiming for is a little higher than this. The Razorback bellow is about 80% done.

This was my practice tank sized model. I applied the same scheme that I planned to use on my infantry models. At the suggestion of a friend, a highlight of sunburst yellow was added. As soon as I saw the look it gave, I knew everything would be getting that highlight. The hull is finished, with a basecoat, wash, and repaint that is slightly different from the basecoat. The highlighting is also finished, while everything else still has a little ways to go.

You might notice that the paint appears somewhat bumpy. This is due to the primer, which went on like that. I'm not sure what happened, but it only happened to this tank.

I don't have any pictures of fully painted marines, but here is one with the basecoat and wash layers finished.

And...BattleFleet Gothic! I plan on finishing the whole fleet by the end of tomorrow. One battle barge, three strike cruisers, and nine frigates. Actually, that's a lie. My Grey Knights strike cruiser will have to wait. I would like to paint it in a Non-metallic metal silver. NMM is something I have never attempted, so that will require a lot of practice.

Having issues with GW foundation paints and my airbrush. Also, what colour should a Grey Knights Strike Cruiser be?

I have been using an airbrush to basecoat the tanks for my Imperial Fists. The foundation paint I'm using is Iyanden Darksun. After around 15-30 minutes of use, the flow of paint starts to lessen, and will eventually stop. To fix this, I have to run a paint thinner and water through the airbrush, before going back to my paint mixture.

I am adding enough water to the paint. As a test, I upped the ratio of water so much that the paint was running off test surfaces. The airbrush still ended up having trouble though. The helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly hobby guru at the hobby store suspects the foundation paint is the problem, as it likely isn't designed to flow through an airbrush.  He is familiar with GW paints, but hasn't tried the foundation paints with an airbrush yet. As a potential solution to the problem, he suggested trying a non foundation paint that was close in colour to Iyanden Darksun. Luckily, GW does make a regular paint that is close in colour: Vomit Brown. I plan on trying it on a test model to see if it will result in a finished model that matches the ones I've already done.

The Painting Corps blog had an airbrushing week just a little while ago. I plan on checking out their series of articles to see if they have anything to say on the matter. Has anyone else encountered similar issues?


Also, my BattleFleet Gothic ships are in the process of being basecoated! The Battle Barge and  two Strike Cruisers have been done so far. I'm not sure what to do with my third Strike Cruiser, since it's the Forge World Grey Knights cruiser. Obviously, it shouldn't be the same colour as the Imperial Fists' ships! Forge World has their model painted grey, like the Grey Knights armour and Thunderhawk. As chamber militant to an ordo of the Inquisition, however, it would also make sense to paint their ship black. I don't know of any background which states how the Grey Knights' ships are painted. Anyone know?

Exciting tidbit from Forge World

From today's Forge World News letter:


"Exclusive Sneak Peek
As you may have heard from our Studio design team at the Forge World Open Day back in March, or read in the Games Day UK Preview, our designers, graphic illustrators and writer Alan Bligh have spent much of the past few months feverishly working on an incredibly exciting Imperial Armour project that is, as yet, still Top Secret.
Our agents have managed to obtain this exclusive work-in-progress sneak peek of one of a veritable cornucopia of forthcoming Space Marine releases. Forge World is once again turning its attention to the noble warriors of the Adeptus Astartes, the Emperors' Finest. Many boffins died to bring us this information, so keep an eye on the Forge World Newsletter over the coming weeks for more details of this thrilling project..."

The picture is labeled "mkVnl." I'm guessing that means Mark V Armour. I am very excited about what could be coming.


UPDATE: I just noticed that on the Blogroll at FTW, the image does not appear, and instead has text saying "Mk V Heresy Armour." I really hope they're making old style Terminator armour.

Battlefleet Gothic!

Other names I like to call it by include Battlefleet Galactica, and Battlestar Gothic. Damn I miss that show...ANYWAY...

Once upon a time, last year in December, I played a game of Games Workshop's specialist game Battlefleet Gothic. It's set in the 40k universe. Upon taking a look at it, the following immediately becomes obvious: it's about freaking spaceships battling in freaking space!! After playing it, it's clear that the game system is solid.

Cool game setting + good game system = FUN!

(I'm told by several people that the game is extremely balanced. As long as each side has a fleet of equal points value, the game will be fair, and the winner will be the person who played the best, or who had the best dice rolling that day. The only exception to this is the Necron fleet, which is apparently over powered).
A campaign will soon be starting at the Local GW store. This adds up nicely with my recent Forge World order, which included the Space Marine ship models they produce. (three resin ships for around the same cost as four metal ships from GW. I went with the Forge World models because of the better look and extra detail they have).

My friend and I played a game of three cruisers each this past weekend. I think we both felt like playing something other than 40k for a nice change of pace. It was a fun game, and I can see the potential Battlefleet Gothic has when played as a campaign and with larger fleets.

Aside from having good rules, and a very balanced system, there are other reasons to get into BFG. The rules are available for FREE! The Games Workshop website has a number of Battlefleet Gothic PDFs available for free download, including the two main books. These can be found here.

Also, you do not need to spend a large amount of money to acquire a space fleet of your own. A Space Marine fleet of one Battle Barge, three Strike Cruisers, and 12 escorts will cost $168 Canadian.

An Imperial Fleet of one Battleship, four cruisers, and nine escorts will cost $156 Canadian.
(There is a decent variety in the types of battleships, heavy cruisers, cruisers, light cruisers, and escorts you can field.)

And, as already mentioned, Battlefleet Gothic provides a nice change from your usual 40k games.

One other thing; you'll be able to paint your whole fleet in a day. Dry brushing 14 models won't take long. Plus, you don't even have to base them. Paint the stands black and you're set. If you want, you can take a few seconds to flick some white paint on the base to represent stars. As for terrain, cut a circle out of cardboard. Paint it grey. You now have a lifeless planet. Or, you can pick up a Styrofoam ball from a craft store and paint it like Jupiter like I plan on doing.