Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Update on Crafting

elow is the update on the recent project work I have gotten done. I assembled some bases and bodies, and also started to look at assembling my Exarch.

Here are the bases. Dead Tau parts bits everywhere. I will be base coating and painting these up, then coating the entire base with sand. The aim is to have the Sand cover the Green Stuff and make it look like the bits are partially buried in the sand. I am worried about the base in the bottom left corner. This base uses one of the resin pieces from the 40K basing kit and the resin did not seem to sink as far into the green stuff as I had thought when I set it to dry.

Ok, onto the bodies. This gives a good picture of how I am constructing the spider bodies. I pin Guardian bodies with no backpack onto the Spider carapace (Warp Jump Generators). I then Super Glue them together and will pin the bodies to the legs before using some plastic glue at the waist. I just realized when I was taking the pictures that I am 1 spider short. It's back to the bits bucket to find the missing spider carapace!

And last we have a picture of the partially assembled Exarch. I have been looking at several ideas for the power blades, and finally decided to go a bit different from others. I am using the Mirror Blades from the new Banshee Exarch, which I think will look pretty good. The arms will pin into the sockets, while the dual Death Spinners will pin below, just above the waist. I have some green stuff to clean up with my hobby knife. For this model I used the Autarch Backpack, which leaves some large gaps between the backpack and the guardian body. These gaps need to be filled with green stuff after the pieces are pinned to help with stability.

The Exarch will be on a slightly larger base with a Tau Stealth Suit he has just sliced in half. I usually end up hunting stealth suits with my spiders (similar movement) against my regular opponent, so I thought this was somewhat fitting! I did not get a good picture of the base, so this will have to wait until after the painting process.

Well, there things are. I am headed back out on travel this week so will not be updating again until after I return. On a side note, I will be in Atlanta for my next couple trips and looking to try and get some WHFB games in with my Dwarfs. I am bringing 1000 points of Dwarfs, so if your in Atlanta send me an email if your interested in playing!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

New crafting – Bases and More Spiders

So I got some crafting done tonight, but when I went to take the pictures I found the battery was dead. Going to get some pictures tomorrow and post them. I completed assembling 8 bases for the additional 8 spiders for the unit, using normal sized bases (25mm), green stuff, and Tau parts. I also used some of the medium sized Slate from the 40K basing kit. I think they look pretty cool, and will look much better after paint and sand has been applied. I also used a slightly larger base (40mm) for the Warp Spider Exarch. That base also has some slate on it, and a Tau Stealth Suit that has been cut in half by the Exarch. It's a bit of an "Epic Base" as the hosts of the Drop Pod Cast would say.

I will post more tomorrow with the pictures.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Holy Crap its February!

Holy crap it's been a hell of a month. I just realized it's been a damn month since I posted on the blog, which also (sadly) means it's been a month since I crafted! Life sure has a way of screwing up a good plan!

So, this is a modeling blog, which means you're probably not overly interested in my personal life. More importantly, those of you who are already have called or emailed to check in! Regardless, for those who are reading here, I have not given up on the blog or on modeling and assembly of the mighty Eldar force. I have essentially been swamped with work, wife, kids, and more work and kids. It is my intention to get back on track this month (holy crap its February), but there will be some things slowing me down.

Biggest delay will be my trips to Atlanta over the next two weeks. These trips are for work and put a crimp in my crafting time. Once they are over (and possibly on the weekend in between) I should be back to crafting and posting some pictures.

Next up on the project list is 8 bases with various Tau bits on them. I listened to an interesting discussion on "Epic Bases" on the Drop Pod Cast podcast and their comments mirrored my thoughts. While I am happy with the modeling (needs a better paint job) of the existing Spider, it has a whole lot going on with the base. I will be scaling the bases back on the next 8 to something a bit simpler. Then, I have some good ideas for the Exarch, which will be in an epic style similar to the current Spider.

Anyway, keep your eyes on the blog, as I expect to be back in action soon.