Week 40 - Elven Progress Report #6

I have spent the last two weeks working hard on my Elves, trying to get them done as efficiently as possible. The weather has been a limiting factor in getting spray painting done but I am now down to just 2 Drakons to spray paint. In that time I also managed to paint 60 more elves, leaving me with just the cavalry and bolt throwers to get done. Pictures are below.

No group shot this time as I am part way through the multi-basing process. Unfortunately my original plan of making the bases and removing the circular tabs from the elves feet fell through. It takes far to much time and effort to remove so many, so I am attempting to use builders putty to fill in the spaces. This is also proving challenging. Even painting them will be difficult, I may have to do them in stages. This is why it was so important to have a month or so to get them done!

I've also made a start on my Scourge for DZC. My initial test model has been re-done as I am a little tired of having so many models in dark colour schemes. I am trying for something lighter for a change. They are just a distraction while I wait for spray paint to dry on my elf cavalry though, so will take a while to finish. Basing the infantry will be a challenge, I not used to the much smaller scale when basing. I also picked up some Dust stuff recently, I will add them in to the Wall soon, but that is another 40 models between Allies and Axis. And my Infinity starter arrived this week too...

I caved and picked up the Galaxy Lootcrate. My Nerdblock arrived the following day so I can do a comparison of the two. First up is Lootcrate:

This month came with: A Firefly Mal figure and money, Tribble, Retro Alien figure, Star wars magnet and poster, 3 digital Halo comics, pop rocks and a lootcrate badge. I was quite lucky with the alien figure, the other 4 figure options weren't that great. The tribble is pretty cool and I enjoyed the Halo comics. Next up, the Arcade block:

The arcade block contained: A Legend of Zelda shirt, Tomb Raider Statuette, Pacman pen, Luigi keychain, Gears of war dog tags and a Tetris ice tray. The shirt print is good, I really like the ice tray and the statue is high quality.

So for the comparison, the Lootcrate cost me $51.80 and the Arcade block cost $39.75. I felt that the Galaxy theme of the Lootcrate was good, but expected Star Wars to be represented by more than just a poster and magnet... That being said, the tribble is neat, as is the Mal figure. The wife has already claimed the firefly money too. I would be much less happy with this box if the Alien figure was one of the other options.

The Arcade block was good, even if I just kept the shirt and the tetris tray I got my moneys worth out of it. The biggest issue with Lootcrate in general is having to go through Youshop to get it and the fluctuation in shipping as a result. I think Arcade block wins this time, so I am glad that I am going that way in the future!

Day 278
264/278 Painted/Days passed
264/334 Painted/Bought
Goals:
Build a permanent gaming table.
Build a Kings of War army for playing with.
Complete my entry for the terrain competition.
Build and paint a set of Deadzone battle groups.
Build and paint a full Malifaux crew.
Finish all of the Dreadball teams and MVPs.
Finish painting an Infinity group.
Make some headway on my Warpath fluff.

Week 38 - Elven Progress Report #5

Posting a day late, but better than never! A few developments in the last couple weeks, the first being that the KOW tournament has been postponed to November, meaning that Knightwolf and I can go again, yay! This also means that I have to get the Elves finished but with a bit more time... So with this revelation I made a point of working on some more, finishing up another 6 spearmen this week. I've also got down to the last half dozen elves to assemble for the tournament and started to work on the multi-bases.

I also spent a bit of time working on my Dreadball models, finishing up my Human team. This was very quick as the scheme is the same as my Corporation (being the team sponsor) and all they need now is hex bases and player numbers. Next I need to figure out a scheme for my Robots team, sponsored by the R&D part of the same Corporation sponsor.

This brings my total for the week to 20 models, which isn't too shabby. I've restocked my spray paint supply, which will let me get the rest of the elves ready for painting and let me work on some of my other models. Deadzone wave 2 arrived this week, adding a large number of models to my 'to do' pile. This kind of sinks the 'paint more than you buy' counter but never mind...

The next development of the last couple weeks was that I now have a DSLR camera for taking photos! Not only that but it has a macro lens, which will let me get some better close shots. When time permits I will be able to re-shoot some finished models for the gallery page, probably over the Xmas period.

The last thing to happen was I got asked to paint some models for somebody else! Admittedly it is because I sold them some models and they have since added to the units, so want the models to match. Works for me anyway! So they are high priority on my painting table, they still need some trimming before I can start on them.

Day 265
204/265 Painted/Days passed
204/279 Painted/Bought
Goals:
Build a permanent gaming table.
Build a Kings of War army for playing with.
Complete my entry for the terrain competition.
Build and paint a set of Deadzone battle groups.
Build and paint a full Malifaux crew.
Finish all of the Dreadball teams and MVPs.
Finish painting an Infinity group.
Make some headway on my Warpath fluff.

Week 36 - Elven Progress Report #4

So there was no progress this week. I have trimmed up the two drakons and the three bolt throwers but have not assembled them yet. As it turns out Knightwolf isn't able to make it to the tournament any more and neither am I. We both have other inescapable commitments that have arisen, leaving the last months efforts unfulfilled. The positive here is that I got a lot of things done in that month and am quite close to having all the elves assembled, which is nice. This lets me go back to my main goals at any rate.

So as for the goals, here is where I am up to:
Build and paint a full Malifaux crew - I have two crews to choose from for ease of completion, Ramos or Kirai. Kirai's crew needs a few models assembled and based before they can be painted. Ramos's crew needs the same (but more fiddly) and they all need painting. I'm split on which crew to do, I'm not fond of Ramos playstyle but don't have the 2E cards for Kirai...

Finish all of the Dreadball teams and MVPs - I am ready to brush off the paint from the four stripped MVPs, who will need a good rinse and then get a quick paint job before dipping. Then I have a set of humans and robots teams to paint more thoroughly.

Finish painting an Infinity group - I still have to finish off the last test model to decide which colour scheme to use for my Combined Army. From there I have one more model to assemble before I apply the scheme to the remaining models. Alternatively there are the Nomads in Operation: Icestorm, which I plan on doing in the stock red.

Make some headway on my Warpath fluff - The least specific of my goals, I have a document with bullet points on what I would like to cover. The next step is to expand on those points and form a bit of a narrative (in a bureaucratic tone) before drawing up a background to make the story look and feel suitably sci-fi rather than just a Wikipedia entry.

I recently sold my Blindwater, which gives me some funds to make more progress on my business prototypes. I also intend to make another terrain table with the proceeds, once I narrow down what system and concept I want to build.

Day 250
184/250 Painted/Days passed
184/136 Painted/Bought
Goals:
Build a permanent gaming table.
Build a Kings of War army for playing with.
Complete my entry for the terrain competition.
Build and paint a set of Deadzone battle groups.
Build and paint a full Malifaux crew.
Finish all of the Dreadball teams and MVPs.
Finish painting an Infinity group.
Make some headway on my Warpath fluff.