Custom Kingdom Death: Monster Box

KD:M, if you're uncomfortable, mission accomplished

I backed the Kingdom Death: Monster kickstarter thirty seven years ago like the rest of you. I was elated when the game arrived, I dove in face first.

Then the expansions arrived - EVEN MORE ELATION! Spidicules, Dung Beetle Knight, The Dragon King, you name it. I picked up every game expansion in the kickstarter except the Lonely Tree. (I have a thing against paying money for tiny plastic trees. 40k did it. Malifaux did it. Both terrible, overpriced, and crap. I assumed I would feel the same about the Lonely Tree)

So I had a giant game box, and an even more giant (three times the volume) box full of expansions to cram inside. Grab your foamcore and cue the music!

Tablescapes Project (pt. 4) Primer & Paint

Been a while, time for an update!

Time to start painting this beast. As with most models, the initial coat of primer helps you find weak spots. Whether it's a gap that needs filling or a mold line you missed, a dusting of color helps make those flaws noticeable. My sunken temple table is no exception. The entire table got a coat of black primer, and a light drybrush of a light grey-blue...

Flaws sir! Faasands of em!

Tablescapes Project (pt. 3) Putty & Paste

So I have a bunch of mdf tiles, with awesome plastic temple details, and large expanses of... nothing.

This post needs paste. Let's add some texture, shall we?

les ingrédients

I wanted to add the look of muddy swamp land, something with enough depth and texture to take paint, and still smooth enough to function as a gaming surface. I grabbed some key ingredients, and set about mixing them together. Fun Fact: That "Florera" was purchased at IKEA. I believe it was sold to be used in flower arrangements or decorative vases. All I know is, I bought about 20 bags of the stuff from the clearance area for 30 cents a piece. Win.

Tablescapes Project (pt. 2) Cut & Glue

Finish grad school? Check.
Get new job? Check.
Move to a new State? Check.

With all that boring grown-up stuff out of the way, it's time to get back to the hobby goodness. Let's start with my Tablescapes conversion project:

When I left off, I had just begun cutting the tiles into lots of tiny jagged parts. This might sound like blasphemy to some, but I can't assemble anything stock, truly. I'm at home cutting stuff up and putting it back together in ridiculous new ways, you should know this by now. So after meticulous planning and several sessions with a dremel and a face mask, I was left with bundles of color coded parts destined for their own 2'x2' reincarnation.

Sunken Rubble in need of depth

Tablescapes Project (pt. 1) Product & Plan

A year or so ago I backed Mister Justin's Tablescapes kickstarter campaign. Mr. McCoy definitely delivered an excellent product. If you're looking for a product review, there are plenty already out there to choose from. The tiles are clean, details are crisp, and the interlocking nature makes them a perfect solution for a portable, modular tabletop.

But I can't do anything stock, every project is an opportunity for conversion! Cue the music...

I backed the kickstarter for two 16 tile sets, in 'Rolling Fields' and 'Forgotten Temple' flavors. Each box is enough to fully cover a 4' x 4' table, with tiles interlocking with the included plastic clips. However, I figured they could stretch further. Rolling fields hit the shelf for another day, my focus is on the Forgotten Temple tile set.

The plan:

- Make six  2' x 2' base boards
- Chop up the Tablescapes tiles (stay with me)
- ...
- Mash the pieces back together with glue and sculpting putty
- Add rocks and talus for seasoning
- Seal, paint, and add water effects

Kickstart My Heart

I told myself I was done with gaming Kickstarter campaigns, that I would bide my time until my last 2 projects (KD:M and Creature Caster) finally shipped.

Then nostalgia walked right up and punched me in the wallet.

Maybe it was my childhood collection of the action figures. Maybe it was my love of board gaming. Maybe it was coming from the recent fun being had playing Imperial Assault with the guys. Maybe all of the above.

Ghostbusters, the Board Game by Cryptozoic has less than 24 hours left on kickstarter. It has been ridiculously successful, and a slew of stretch goal unlocks means the base pledge includes a ton of fun minis. Trust me. Go check out their campaign and be sure to scroll down and check out all you get.

The minis look great, they hit a strong nostalgia vibe, and if the gameplay lives up to the pre-production efforts, it might just replace Flash Point as my co-op board game of choice.

We'll see!

Project Monolith: Let there be Light!

Long past overdue for an update on this behemoth of a project!

The Good news: I've made a ton of progress, and the monolith is now fully populated with tools, paints, and all manner of hobby goodness.

The Bad news: a cell phone upgrade means I lost half of my WIP shots, including the light housing, wiring, and power layout. Sadface. You'll have to be satisfied with the pictures I've taken since. Let's dive right in!

Ancient Jade Armor, an experiment in lacquer

So I know the 2.0 rules for the Chinese Federation have not yet been released, and I know that Derek and the gang have worked to pare down the MAR list, so I'm sure Ancient Jade Armor is no longer it's own standalone MAR. Still, I've decided to paint the hulls in a magic jade tone. I say magic, as the paints I'm using are just that: magic. What follows is my intro to spraying Alclad lacquers on a very small scale...

Guess who's back?

It's been almost two years, and that's just shameful. I suppose I should dust off this blog and post some hobby goodness, no? Let's skip the pleasantries and get right into it then:

Dystopian Wars: Initial thoughts on the Russian Coalition

I know that's an FSA BB, but I needed a flashy title snapshot!

So I've jumped head first into the Russian fleet for Dystopian Wars, and I'm a few games into learning how they fit in and function. Spoiler alert: I love them. They're different enough to feel unique, and the strength/weakness balancing issues are a fun challenge.

First things first: I love the aesthetic. The models are beautiful, and definitely show a progression in Spartan's digital sculpting talents from the original 4 fleets. As you've come to expect, the models are bristling with details. I continue to find little details I hadn't noticed before, especially after getting a coat of primer on them. Speaking of primer...

Summer Spell, and Ron's Wisdom

I want to share some wisdom from Ron over at From the Warp. He recently posted about his Summer, and how he's had a bit of a hobby hiatus. We all juggle our hobby time, real life, and work. At one point or another, we all take a break from hardcore hobbying, be it painting, gaming, or what have you.

In his post, "Forty days and forty nights with no hobby", Ron talks about the circumstances surrounding the hobby, taking a break, and the after effects such as new-found enthusiasm. It centers primarily on 40k, but I feel it applies to any hobby really, and certainly any aspect of the miniatures and gaming hobby in particular.

DIY: Paint Shaker

 Tired of shaking your paint? Lazy? Either way, here's a solution.

The Russians are Here!

Quick update today, I got some presents in the mail and I had to share. The beginning of my Russian fleet came in today, and I'm dying to slap some paint on them. I loved the aesthetic from day one, and ordered them as soon as they were available.

Project Monolith: Desktop and Slide-Out done!

Still making progress with Project Monolith, this time on the desktop and slide out work surface. Let's jump right in.

My new hero, Tokkutai

Hi all! I wanted to take a minute to plug a blog I've just discovered. It's really blown me away, I still haven't picked my jaw up from the floor.

His handle is Tokkutai. So far he's focused on scratch-built and heavily converted ork models. His pcard skills are absolutely top notch, and his eye for unique bits use is simply brilliant. Take a look, you'll see what I mean.

http://tokkutai.blogspot.de/

It's amazing stuff, really. I plan to loot a great many ideas from his work thus far!

Project Monolith: Paint Rack Done!

After a handful of minor speed bumps, the paint rack is finished and mounted inside The Monolith.

After realizing the cabinet doors were mounted backwards, I swapped them (phew!), leaving myself with an interesting challenge: The rack was now mounted on the opposite side, upside down, and now interfered with the top internal shelf.

Project Monolith: Doors and Paint

The theme for this post would have to be "sometimes the best ideas get completely turned on their heads and you have to do a boatload more work to iron things out".

Okay, so it's not the most concise theme, but the statement stands.

Project Monolith is underway!

One expects to see Hominids learning to use bones as weapons...

After seeing a couple of different hobby desks based on old armoires or television cabinets (like this one, source unknown), I decided to make one for myself. With no real plan other than "Take the junk from the desk and stuff it into a custom, organized armoire", I set about making my own personal hobby nest.

Of course, the first step was finding the right piece of furniture to start with. I wanted something sturdy enough to handle day to day use, but handsome enough to function as a piece of home furnishing for years to come. So nothing cheap, and nothing ugly.
Then I got picky. I didn't want anything too beat up. I can salvage/re-surface/re-finish, but I wanted to minimize the amount of elbow grease needed before I would even start converting it into my hobby mecca. I wanted doors that swing open, not the more common type that fold back into the unit on rails. I also wanted something somewhat large, as a lot of smaller TV cabinets couldn't possibly contain the massive amount of materials I needed to store. Aside from all that, I'm partial to dark wood, as it fits into a more man-cave, den environment.

Someone call for a doctor?

 
Hi all. I had planned to post WiP updates throughout the HoA project, but illness intervened. Suffice to say the models were all finished in time, and I'm back on my feet, alive and well. Unfortunately, I had to drop the superheavy plans,  but I had no choice given the deadline constraints and time spent in the hospital instead of at the workbench. Alas...

Goatboy Lovin!

A shameless filler post while I get photos taken for my first HoA update. (Spoiler: first HoA unit involves gyro-stabilization...)

I had a blast at Adepticon this year! Life issues got in the way of painting, and I wasn't able to finish my orks in time to compete in any tournaments. I pseudo-willingly got roped into some Malifaux action, which lit a fire under me for some steam-gothic-cowboy-horror action. I'm four crew boxes in now, and ready to start some painting. I also spent a great deal of time with Bill and the gang of Gamer's Lounge fame. Great crew, and I definitely had a blast playing, painting, and generally dorking around with the guys. Go check out The Gamer's Lounge podcast, they put out a great show about all things tabletop. They cover everything from GW to Privateer, with a strong lean in recent episodes towards Malifaux.