Pictures Pictures Pictures

I recently picked up a light tent from Amazon to use when taking pictures. Its the one on the side here, and I have to say that it is great. The very simple addition of the diffuse lighting and the backdrop has improved my pictures overall. Well, to be fair I am also using a new camera (my wifes point and shoot vs our SLR), but I have used that before and these pictures are better.

So, toward that end I have snapped some new pictures in the light tent. Some of these are the new models I have painted up which have not been seen widely. Others are new pictures to replace the old ones I took previously. At the end of the post I will also have a peek at one of my new models thats in progress (mostly complete).

So here we go. First we have the Masters collection. We will start with Lilith, who is newly painted. She is part of one of the Demo crews I am painting up, as well as the goal for my October Malifools Painting challenge.

Following her we have my favorite, Lady Justice with her totems. My picture of Lady J did not come out as nice as I liked (a little blurring from an unstable camera) so I will be retaking her picture with a tripod.

Next we come to Rasputina and Lilith. Lilith is from my wifes crew, although I am starting to consider playing her as I also have a Dreamer/LCB crew to paint up. This would give me a nice Neverborn faction (Dreamer/LCB, Pandora, Lilith) to play for tournaments.

Then we have a group shot of the Ortega Family. This is the Ortega box set, which is my other "Demo Crew" that's painted up. This was my painting challenge for the September Malifools painting challenge, which I did not complete on time. The crew does make a nice addition to my Guild set, which is the primary faction I plan to use for tournaments. My goal is that post-January I will have Perdita, Lady J, and Lucius as my masters, with a full contingent of Guild to back them up. Here are the Ortega's.

Overall I am very happy with the light tent. The simple change to diffuse lighting and the backdrop makes a big difference to the pictures, as I mentioned in the opening. With that in mind, and after the 3 month break I mentioned previously, I have my first pictures of a 40K model in a while. These are still work in progress, but the Phoenix is mostly complete. My plans are to do one more layer of white on the panels, clean up the green edging, highlight up the gems, and put transfers on the model. Its really only an afternoon of painting to be complete. Here are some peeks at the WIP.

 

Thats all for now. I have a Mature Nephalim to paint up, then its on to completion for the Phoenix and starting my Titan.

40K, Malifaux, and Hobby in general

Its been three months. I was doing a quick update tonight on my painting status, adding in the points for the Malifaux Lilith model I just completed and I realized it. Its been 3 months since I painted any Eldar or 40K models. Now, thats not entirely true. I worked on my Eldar Forgeworld Phoenix a little ways back/ Its still not done, although I did take a couple pictures of the progress tonight. I switched over to some P3 paints and one of the whites is now being used on the white panels of the Phoenix.

Now I realize I have spoken about burnout in the hobby. I spent a great deal of time discussing it on Gamers Lounge Ep. 16. I have also spent a great deal of time playing and doing things related to Malifaux. I am now a Wyrd henchman, which means I get cool little sneak peaks, access to the back-end Henchman community, and get incentives to run tournaments and events for Malifaux. Thats been very cool, its been a very long time since I took part in a program such as that. On top of that I have been just ENJOYING Malifaux more than 40K. It comes together for me in a weird way that 40K just doesn't. I also find that I am preferring the skirmish size games more than I did 40K games in general.

The Dead Tau project is not dead however, have no fear. It felt nice to pull out my Phoenix last night and touch it up some. It was nice to take pictures, which I hope come out. I also have a Thanksgiving event coming up that I am kind of looking forward to. Its a Tanksgiving event at the local hobby shop (Huzzah Hobbies if your in the area) and I have committed to bringing out my Titan and my Phoenix for the event. I am fairly certain my Titan will not be "completed" within the next 3 weeks, but I will have it at a place where I am comfortable putting it on the table. I plan to take my airbrush to it this week or weekend and get things started. As for my Phoenix, I expect it will only be a bit more work to get that complete. The trouble will be creating a nice flying base for it after I complete the plane.

Overall, I will have some new pictures up in the next couple days. I am also starting to look at a 1500 point, travel friendly, Eldar list to pack up and take out to California in a couple weeks. I am headed out there for work and will be meeting up (if things go well) with the Independent Characters (Geoff and Carl) along with Big Jim! I am looking forward to getting a couple games in!

Adepticon 2011

That's right folks, Adepticon has opened the web-store and registration is available for Adepticon 2011. I really enjoyed my trip last year and am booked to return this year for a full weekend of fun. Are you wondering what I am booked for? Let me share.....

Thursday
Thursday will be my travel day. I have made absolutely no plans but will figure things out as I get closer to the event. I figure I have lots of time to work this one out. Driving was not bad last year, and by the same token I am expecting a larger group to head out to Chicago this year for Adepticon.

Friday
Friday I will be playing a little 8th edition WHFB. I have not decided if I will be bringing my Dwarves or building some High Elves for this, but the event was pretty interesting to me. I will be playing in the "It's How You Use It" tournament.

Just getting started or looking for a new challenge? This 1000-point tournament is perfect for new players to the hobby and veterans alike looking to play as many games as possible in one day. Just remember, its not the size that counts.

I am booked for the morning event (11am - 4pm), so will be sleeping in a bit before the tourney, and then taking some free time to hang with friends after. Lots to do on Friday night, and Giodarno's is calling.

Saturday
Saturday is 40K day for me. I will be bringing along a solid Combat Patrol list constructed from my Eldar. I had a lot of fun with Combat patrol last year and the Dead Tau Project will be returning. For those who are not familiar:

The popular Warhammer 40K Combat Patrol tournament returns to AdeptiCon 2011. Combat Patrol is a fast and fun 400-point Warhammer 40K event for all skill levels.
Play four games of Warhammer 40K using the Combat Patrol rule set. Participants will need to supply their own Warhammer 40K army and gaming supplies.

 I am booked for the morning session again, 9am until 2pm. I may need a nap mid-day, but we will see how things go. I expect Jay and I will be recording at some point Saturday afternoon.

Sunday
Sunday is the day for my new love, Malifaux. I will be taking part in the 35SS scrap on Sunday morning. For those who are unfamiliar:

Come join us for the first annual Malifaux Last Scrap tournament at AdeptiCon. AdepitCon wraps up on Sunday so let’s send it off with a bang (or stab, cut, gouge, mangle, bite…you get the idea).
The Tournament will be a 35 Soul Stone Scrap. Factions must be declared at the start of the Tournament. Crews (along with Masters) will be drafted each round after learning your opponents faction and master. Strategies will be predetermined and announced ahead of time - two schemes may be selected each round.

I am unsure who I will be bringing at this point. It is very likely that I will run with my Guild, especially considering Lucius being released prior to then. I have the widest variety with the Guild, and I love Lady J. On the other hand, I am expecting to start playing with Kirai soon and expect to enjoy her play style. Time will tell.

Sunday Night
Last year on Sunday night, after the bulk of Adepticon had wrapped up, there was the post-convention poker tournament and mixer. This was a fantastic event that I would not miss! This year anyone who comes to Adepticon via Geek Nation Tours will also have an open pass into the poker event, which should increase the overall turn-out. I will admit that while I can hope for opponents who look like the picture to the right, I expect that as this is a Gamer convention the room will look more like this: