Hive Fleet Erebus

Reply FTW: GW scenery bad for the hobby?

2010-03-03T06:15:00.001-08:00

I want you to first read ColCorbane article on From the Warp. In this article titled GW scenery bad for the hobby is something I had not considered before.

After reading the article I though a lot about the topic. Questions that came to mind were some of the following.
Is it good there is a familiar standard of terrain? no matter where you play in world? Are the terrain making skills of those new to the hobby not being developed or just postponed till they are truly motivated to create something unique?
Does GW continue expand its Scenery products to more race specific and/or unique?
Will competitors of similar scale games make scenery products to rival the popularity of GW's?

As I though about these questions and those posed in the original article I came to a couple personal opinoins. To answer ColCorbane
question "it all going to to be "Ultramarine" flavored in the end?" I would yes with and asterisk. That asterisk is if competitors decide to make quality kits such as GW's. I do not see the tables commonly found in game store or more home gaming tables being custom in the future. I already see this as the "norm" in my opinion. Their kits are generic enough to use for many gaming systems and detailed enough to display their quality. They are also an extremely easy to use kit(s). The pro's for using these scenery kits tend to outweigh doing custom work yourself or purchasing some competitor's product. It also doesn't help the case for competitors that GW has the largest market share for tabletop games of its type.

To the over arching question of "Are hobby skills being not being developed/lost for doing custom scenery work?" My opinion is this is somewhat true. I feel a great many will never develop the skills to make great custom scenery. The first reason is scenery is secondary to building the armies for so many. I am not one of those people (I feel I'm in the minority) as I have more scenery than models. When I see pictures of games I check out the scenery first to get ideas. On the other side I think because the hobby has grown so much over the past 10 years there are more individuals that have those scenery skills. As the hobby continues to grow standards have risen on scenery. Those determined will always create fantastic custom scenery. I can not remember 10, 5, or even 2 years ago seeing the level of custom work that I have seen recently in person or the internet now. Can you?

I do think that GW scenery has elevated the quality of our gaming tables and will continue to do so. My hope is that GW scenery and their competitors products become the "norm". This will in turn I hope inspire/give incentive for more custom work for any number of reasons.

Top Ten

2009-07-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

This column is about the top ten things that I viewed hobby related in the past week on the web that I want to pass along as a "must see" type of thing. Check out the video for my comments and the links to them are next to the article.

10 BTP- Death Korps
9 800 point Warhammer Intro Game P1
8 Total War 100 Shiznaft Made the Semi-Finals Part 1
7 vlog #20 - 'ard boys 2009 battle report
6 Imperial Apocalypse Warhammer 40k Gaming Board
5 Inside Gaming Exclusive: Warhammer 40K Interview
4 GAME TABLE AND IRON SNAKES WARHAMMER 40K
3 Incoming! Space Wolves and Bastions
2 double-Bastion bash!
1 Power Tool Dip

Blastscape for Planetstrike...WHY GW??!!!???

2009-07-16T18:24:00.001-07:00

So I advanced ordered the Blastscape from GW simply because it was while supplies last. So I received my order today and damn if I wasnt about to ship the whole damm thing back to them. The quality is terrible! I repeat TERRIBLE!!! The details are ok looking but not great like in the advertised picture. That is why I bought it. It is a thin piece of plastic. If I put my old metal dread or any heavy model on it... it is going to crack and/or dent the shape. It is the same stuff in terms of terrain for italeri and zvezda WW2 models they have. ITS CHEAP QUALITY. So now I have to fill in the bottom with some heavy strong plaster or even green stuff to give it some rigidity and durability as terrain before actually basing it. For the price I would have thought better. Damn was I duped! below is my video and I am still upset. I even end up messing it up just applying some weak pressure in the video. Well I am done. Take from this what you will. I just needed to vent. So I feel duped and I over paid.

link to my video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ZWUMzc2BM

Top ten hobby stuff to check out: 7/12/09

2009-07-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

This column is about the top ten things that I viewed hobby related in the past week on the web that I want to pass along as a "must see" type of thing. Check out the video for my comments and the links to them are next to the article.

10 BTP- City of Death Completed
9 Warhammer 40K - Apocalypse 8K - Eldar, Tau VS Chaos, Necrons, Orks
8 40K Intro- Warhammer 5th edition Tutorial Series 3 Part 1
7 Making a liquid storage facility, scenery & terrain for 40k
6 Vindicator Space Marine Tactics Warhammer 40,000
5 Necrons Vs. Eldar Battle Report Warhammer 40,000
4 planetstrike-hands-on-review
3 BaCon 2009: 2 Months, 20 Tables! (Warhammer 40k)
2 Started building my new table ...
1 Iron Lords Space Marines. 2nd Company.

Top ten hobby stuff to check out: 6/28/09

2009-06-28T16:31:00.001-07:00

This column is about the top ten things that I viewed hobby related in the past week on the web that I want to pass along as a "must see" type of thing. Check out the video for my comments and the links to them are next to the article.

10 painting yellow #1
9 Cellar Dwellers Tournament @ Dark Tower 6/6/09 1 of 2
8 BTP- Cities of Death Update
7 95,000 Point Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Game at Origins 2009
6 BTP- Hordes Overview part 01 of 30
5 Imperial Guard VS Tau Battle Report P1
4 TerranScapes Martian Waterfall
3 Imperial Guard Light Tank Tactica P1
2 Warhammer 40k Imperium Vs. Xenos (14,000 apocalypse game)
1 Warhammer 40k Magnetizing the Stormlord Part 1

Top ten hobby stuff to check out: 6/21/09

2009-06-18T18:44:00.000-07:00

This column is about the top ten things that I viewed hobby related in the past week on the web that I want to pass along as a "must see" type of thing. Check out the video for my comments and the links to them are next to the article.

10 Warhammer Battle Report One: Dark Elves vs Empire 1500pts (Part 1 of 2)
9 Warhammer 40k Space marine tatica The Land Speeder Storm
8 copper roof tutorial
7 How do you deal with Independent Characters 40k.
6 HOW TO: Build your own Realm of Battle board for 20% of the price!
5 How To Build A Lava Field Gaming Board
4 Sportsmanship scores
3 Table design - wetlands
2 CITIES OF DEATH ( work in progress )
1 Successfull operation

Top ten hobby stuff to check out: 6/14/09

2009-06-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

This column is about the top ten things that I viewed hobby related in the past week on the web that I want to pass along as a "must see" type of thing. Check out the video for my comments and the links to them are next to the article.

10 TerranScapes BB Pitch with Skull
9 Wargaming board making video log: Channel opening, test video.
8 Warhammer 40K Apocalypse Event
7 All comers, fluff or win at all costs?
6 Vash1313's Bretonnian Themed Vampire Counts
5 WHFB: High Elf Unveiling [p1/2]
4 Whatwhat's greenstuff tips and tricks
3 scratch built necron pylon completed
2 Heat Tools Tutorial #1
1 Warhammer 40k Battle Report Necrons vs Orks (PINK ORKS?!?!)

Finished Hive Tryant

2009-06-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

A couple updates ago I got the WIP from Micro Art Studio on the Flyrant I commissioned. They have finished and here is the final result.

Top ten hobby stuff to check out: 6/7/09

2009-06-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

This column is about the top ten things that I viewed hobby related in the past week on the web that I want to pass along as a "must see" type of thing. Check out the video for my comments and the links to them are next to the article.

10. Hairy's Terrain Log
9. Gareth's Challenge
8. Space Wolves Dreadnought conversion
7. Terrainaholic
6. Shiznaft1
5. Blue Table Painting
4. Skavenblight Gazette
3. Bell of Lost Souls
2. Doremicon 30k Battle report
1. Bootleg's Trip

Goals: Time to hold myself accountable

2009-05-31T23:24:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year I made a list of Hobby Goals for the year As five months have passed I know I did not complete any of my goals. So lets see how little I did get accomplished.

1) Finish my Arctic Game Board: I keep looking for a magical solution to the resin and water effects. I just can't "half a$$" it. So I am stuck on the fence doing nothing.

2)Finish the Bunker: Another half finished project.

3)Strip all my old Tyranid Models: Mostly done. I just have not gotten out a point like a toothpick to get the crevices.

4)Finish my Carnifex: I have him all cleaned and ready to for when I get him painted by MAS.

5)Build some Tyranid objectives: That would be a no

6)Design a campaign: I have put down some ideas but nothing even close to a real campaign. Maybe planetstrike will help boost my confidence to make one.

7)Get about 1000 points of Hive Fleet Erebus painted: To date I have gotten 1 broodlord, two tyrant guard, and dual scything talon Hive Tyrant. My Flyrant is being finished so that counted I have about 460 points with minimal biomorphs. Its not a bad start and I hope to finish strong.

With a little more than half a year left there is time. I accomplish things in a year that some people can pump out in a month. I am still holding myself accountable and hope to finish the year strong.

Testing some products and Flyrant

2009-05-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

I bought a couple of products to test them out a little. The first was Pledge with Future. Path of the Exodite had a post on using this product as water effects. After working with the product a little bit I found that you can color it. I recommend an ink, dye, or food coloring. I had a problem mixing it with paint. I could not get a uniform color. It was harder to mix and it made the pledge clump a little. This which when trying to spread it....made it a tad more difficult. This may have been due to the paint as it was general acrylic paint from Micheal's. After playing with colors I put it a couple more tests.

I originally bought the product as I wanted to know if it could be used in larger volumes for my board. After testing I found that it is not possible. This product seems to only dry when in small small amounts. In larger amounts it just stays in liquid form. After a month my test is still sitting there laughing at my optimism.
It does make a great water effects in small amounts as Path of the Exodite use it.

The next product I bought was polycrylic. I have not tested this product yet. I wanted to see if once dry over paint it is safe to use epoxy resin over top. Lets hope for the best. I bought a cutting board with a grid unlay from my local hobby shop. That is about all on the purchase front. I finished reading Decent of Angels and started reading Legion. The HH series is coming along nicely. I hope to catch up on the series by the end of the year.

I got some updates from MAS on my flyrant so here they are.

Personal rant

2009-04-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

So I want to rant a little about some people, not all, just some select few that just bugs me on the internet forums.

My first complaint are people that do not use the simple search function to see if their has been a post on an answer to your question or the topic itself. It takes almost no time to do. For those who help the people that do this, I appreciate the ones that encourage them to search and then kindly respond to their answer. It is possible they do not know how or not familiar with forums. Its ok to make mistakes but try to learn from them. For those who just say in their post they are to lazy to search and just want and answer....I know your not going to learn cause you do not want to. I just wish people had better common courtesy.

The next is in regards to something that people just get need to quote sources where they came from. I just think linking to something that links to real source is a waste. Just go straight to the source. Save everyone time.

So who do I think are these people that just upset me so much? I am going to be bias and blanket them into two groups. One, I would say are minors who dont know better or could care less. The other are people that I feel just lack some common sense. You can not teach common sense. I am just frustrated and glad that there are forums where you can have a real discussions without the problems above.

I am done and I should probably calm down, repent, change my ways, etc... and I really would like to give some people a good "something" to.

Site Overhaul

2009-04-05T15:03:00.000-07:00

After being frustrated trying to actually navigate my own site, I decided to give it a much needed overhaul. One of a couple reasons for this site was as a personal homepage with all the quick links and interesting stuff all in one location. After some searching I found this template you see now. I lost all the information I had before and will take a while to get everything up as I see fit again. I feel for Ron at FtW and his entire rebuilding work.

On a hobby note I got my table outside and sanded for a good couple hours this week and am very very happy. Over the winter the plaster dried and hardened very nicely for sanding. This allowed for less "weak plaster pockets" that seem to just fall out and/or crumble during sanding. I just need to do some minor touch-ups and I am ready for the water effects part all over again. I have learned a lot from my first mistakes (mistake part 1 and part 2)

Commisioning painting plan

2009-04-03T08:52:00.000-07:00

I set about today to help organize and decide what order I should have things painted up. I remember when this use to be a lot easier as a teenager. I only had money to buy and then paint one unit at a time. I have over now the course of time amassed a lot of unassembled and/or unpainted models. Up until this point I had painted up what models I liked with a rough idea of using them in Apocalypse formations and/or games. Here is the list of what I had painted by MAS or is in process.

Painted
1 Broodlord
12 Genestealers with Scything Talons
1 Hive Tyrant with Bone Sword, Barbed Strangler, Toxin Sacs
1 Hive Tyrant with Wings, Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs (in process)
1 Hive Tyrant with two Scything Talons, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands
1 Trygon
5 Zoanthropes

Sadly after looking at the list it is dominated by HQ choices. So I decided to force myself to start rounding out the army with my new plan. Here is what I came up with.

Group 1
20 Termaguants
20 Spineguants
1 Lictor

Group 2
24 Hormaguants
5 Raveners
1 Carnifex

Group 3
20 Devilguants
1 Carnifex
5 Warriors

That is the plan as it stands. Once I get this all done I will move to planning the next group.

So close

2009-03-28T00:47:00.000-07:00

I started the other day to clean up my game room to drag out my table and get the much needed sanding done on the plaster. That will allow me to move on to less time consuming aspects of the table. After cleaning everything off and ready to drag the table outside on the my lower deck I notice a pile of old lumber that I had not taken to the dump. So, I took it to the dump like I should have done in the fall. Upon my return the rain came was unable to get my board outside. I was so close.....

I was still in the hobby mood upon my return. I put on a podcast and finished cleaning the mold lines(I think I'm OCD when it comes to those damm mold lines they can't exist!) on my screamer killer fex. I debated on what to do next but decided to cut out the pieces to make 8 guants with devourers(devilguants) with toxin sacs. After putting the extra bits in my bits box it was full. Time to get a larger box.

Forgewold: its addictive and Codex Tyranid Playtest version

2009-03-19T10:51:00.000-07:00

So after some unpleasant current events I have done nothing hobby related other than listen to hobby podcasts on airplanes and read some horus heresy books while on the road or in hotels. The weather is starting to get nice and I am itching for day off to get WIP table outside and finish up some messy grunt work.

I did order a while back some forgeworld models above and beyond what I needed. Forgeworld is just so addictive. Real drug addicts could probably last months on what I payed for forgeworld models. I only needed the wings from the forgeworld hive tyrant with venom cannon I bought. I sent the wings off with a couple other bits to have a converted winged hive tyrant done for Hive Fleet Erebus. Instead of only getting the hive tyrant, I justified getting a malanthrope (one of the best looking tyranids imho) a stonecrusher carnifex, a scythed hierodule, Imperial Armour: Apocalypse, and two sets=6pair of warrior wings. That just adds to number of unpainted tyranids and/or unassembled tyranids I now own. It must be around 6,000-7,000 points of unpainted and 1,000 points of that is assembled. That is just sad. Must work more!

There has been a tyranid codex playtest version floating around the webs. Most say its fake and most hate the direction it takes tyranids. I dont think its entirely fake based on I trust some of people that have spoken about it. So that aside, I think some of the changes are great while others are lackluster attempts. I am very happy about making our guants and hormaguants more worthwile. Well go find it and see for yourself. At least you could see what codex: tyranids streamlined might look like.

EDIT: Now to bite my tongue as Brimstone who once believed it to be real confirmed it as a fake so no need to discuss at all

The latest progress or lack thereof

2009-02-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

I started the year just as many do with some goals/resolutions for the new year. (seen here) After two attempts to make the bunker templates work, I got discouraged, upset, and quit. I am not giving up on the bunker. I am taking the easy way out. I bought the sanctum imperialis to form the front and sides of the bunker. That makes my original 6 sided bunker into a much easier project. I hope to put up pics of the constructed bunker soon.

I stripped most of Tryanids I had with superclean. I still have quite a few to go. In total I have to strip 2 battleforces, the battle for macragge nids, and a couple others.

I have done about 80% of prep on the carnifex with regaurd to mold lines. I still need to see how to pose and repose the legs to get the effect I want. I hope to finish the mold lines this week.

Overall a very lackluster month and half. I need to master more of the do a little bit more often than looking for a large chunk to do hobby stuff. More to come, hopefully sooner than later.

finished another Hive Tyrant

2009-02-10T07:19:00.001-08:00

Micro Art Studio finished another Hive Tyrant for me. I enjoy the running pose that has. Its similar to the broodlord that I converted with it looking to run over the rubble to reach its enemy. I am just wishing my shipment from forgeworld comes in. I then can send them some forgeworld wings to make my winged hive tyrant. Well enjoy the wonderful pictures they have provided me. I have also included the video of what I have in the color scheme so you can see everything in real lighting.

Terrain Set

2009-01-24T16:14:00.001-08:00

So I purchased this off of eBay and I am very happy about it. I know some dont like that I post my youtube video but in reality I am just to lazy to make both youtube video and blog about the same subject.

Pics...

2009-01-10T19:40:00.000-08:00

MAS finished another three models for me. Here they are.

Paint Stripping: Forget Simplegreen on Plastic minis. Superclean outperforms

2009-01-05T12:53:00.001-08:00

After about a year testing paint stripping I have come to a realize that nothing is perfect on plastics but Superclean is the BEST!

Hobby Goals

2009-01-03T09:35:00.000-08:00

With a fresh new year upon us I wanted to lay down my goals on what I hope to accomplish. I am going to be very realistic as I go from one project to another to break up the tediousness and allure of something different. I am also a very slow at the hobby. With football season coming to an end I will shift more time to hobby time. So here are the goals in no particular order...

1) Finish my Arctic game board. I hope spring comes early so I get outside sand the plaster and pour some clear liquid. The next step is finishing touches on the plaster with some contact paper. Paint the sides the same La Fonda Fiesta Blue as the water on the board. Last step is flocking the whole thing and all the extra pieces. Goal is to get it done before the summer heat!

2) Finish the bunker. I have already cut the foam pieces and need to pick up either foam core or plasticard for the sides of the bunker. A long way to go on this one but Im pushing to have it done in January.

3) Strip all my old tyranid models. I have little over two battleforces of tyranid models that have been sitting in simple green for almost 5 months now. I bought a very cheap electric tooth brush for around 8 dollars at a Rite Aid. I tested it compared to my old stiff brush and it really does a lot more with less effort. I am going to give all those models a scrub with the new electric brush and then try Superclean. The simple green is not stripping the primer well at all. I have read that Superclean is just as safe and does a better job. This is also something I want done in January.

4) Finish my Carnifex. I have just begun to clean the pieces and decided I was going to do him as the classic screamer killer. I hope to get him done as I know some conversion is going to be involved to pose that lumbering model as agile as I want him to look. Before March is my goal on this one.

5) Build some tyranid objectives. I want to build some possible terrain/objectives that are themed toward Hive Fleet Erebus. This is one of those hope to get around to goals for the year.

6) Design a campaign. This is something I have wanted to do forever!!! I love campaigns cause they are story driven. I enjoy what the guys from Bell of Lost Souls. Maybe the From the Warp blogger group could pull our ideas and make one.

7) Get about 1000 Points of Hive Fleet Erebus painted. This all depends on my cash flow

Those are my thoughts as this stage of my hobby progress. Now I need to stay focused and not add to the list until I get this list trimmed down. I hope everyone had a great New Year.

Beginnings of a bunker

2008-12-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

The voting is over. The winner was a bunker built into a hill of sorts. I started sketching the templates for the bunker. They are done and now I can cut them out and put them on Styrofoam to begin construction. It a very simple layout and is built for the infantry size model. I thought about making it large enough for tyranid warriors. That proved to be a much larger scale than I wanted to start out. Once I build the bunker I will create a hill around and on top of it. When it is all said and done I will post the templates and a tutorial on how to create it.

MAS finished more

2008-12-12T23:45:00.000-08:00

MAS (Micro Art Studio) finished some more models. A job well done. At this rate I will have a very large force in my dream scheme in no time. They are working on two tyrant guard and a broodlord I converted seen here It also shows the hormagaunts I assembled to have more an "action" pose. This type of "action pose is what I want for the carnifex I am in the midst of building. I am thinking having a scything talon slammed into the building and the carnifex jumping off the wall and over a wall. How well I pull this off is yet to be seen but Im not the one to deny my vision because I do not have the experience. I have never done terrain before really and my board is shaping up nicely, I believe. Its how you learn!

Well, the voting is almost over and the winner looks clear. I will have to think up the design, sketch it out, and make a template for the bunker that will be built into the hill.

I hope everyone enjoys the upcoming holidays and picks up a couple hobby related presents to show off! I will post next time on the bunker build. Till then!

Terrain block

2008-12-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend I wanted nothing more than to work on my board. I wanted to try and get it fully ready for pouring the realistic water in the one area with the small floating icebergs. I was unable to do so because of the weather (I cant sand inside my game room, that plaster makes a nice fine dusty mess!) So I have a feeling I am stuck till the spring to finish the main game board.

I finished cleaning the mold lines up on my 9 Tyranid warriors. I plan to outfit them with deathspitters and scything talons. I also started cleaning the mold lines on a carnifex. I am think I am going to make it the classic screamer killer with a leaping pose through rubble similar to what I did with my hormagaunts. You can never have enough carnifexes as a tyranid player you want to make all the different combination's.

I finished all the hills for my table except for putting the snow flock on top. I will wait for that until I am going to do the main game board as well. There is only one more thing to make and that is some sort of ice bridge for to be placed in an alternate setup over the large low levels with small floating icebergs. That leads into what should I do next?

I thought of doing some hills that are have a door or a bunker built into it. possibly an igloo? Maybe I should just start on the next phase which was straight ruined buildings like cities of death in the winter theme for my board. I could also make some extra hills of different sizes for alternate setups. Maybe some tyranid terrain for objectives. I am open for suggestions as well. Vote on the side and/or leave comments. Thank you for helping with my Terrain block(normally I have writers block and that is why I do videos :-)

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T15:58:00.000-08:00

The video below explains a little about the original design of my table and hopefully clarifies some. I show the old Chapel Sanctuary from GW I recently purchased among other rambling. Go ahead, watch and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Organizing the game room

2008-11-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

I changed the template for my blog to to allow the width of the youtube videos (They were overlapping the links on the side). Most of my free time this week was spent organizing my new found game room in the basement. I added a book shelf and started putting all hobby books on it. I love having it all the rules,white dwarfs, and hobby books in one place to access. In the midst of organizing, I found some old posters. I am going to laminate them and put up in the room with the others I already have up. Looking down the road, I want to get a display case for the room and keep my models in it. I about done cleaning the mold lines of the 9 warriors. I will then move to preparing some of the metal models I bought of eBay that I stripped of paint and glue. The final update is Micro Art Studio finished the Trygon I had them paint up in my colorscheme. They do a great job as always!

Random Video on whats current

2008-11-15T12:21:00.001-08:00

Table Update: Trouble with Resin Part 2

2008-11-03T20:06:00.001-08:00

This is part 2 of what happened with what I had started to doing and some after pics of the cleanup to prepare for the future.

Table Update: Trouble with Resin

2008-11-03T20:05:00.001-08:00

This is the first part of my ramble and talked about the problems I encountered and possible solutions to what I can.....Watch and I still cant believe that in just a 30 min it had eating everything it touched which was not very high....Well enjoy and dont do what I did

Lesson learned: Resin

2008-10-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

So after putting a thick layer of plaster on the sides I have a strong buffer to the foam. I then proceeded to buy the resin to pour for the lakes/ocean/water areas. After talking to a company explaining what I wanted to use it for they told be to use a polyester resin. (the company was Tap Plastics) Well I did so and then saw the polyester resin EAT THE FOAM. So after doing my best to repair the damage I did my due diligence in research. I found that Polyester resin does eat the foam and that I should use an epoxy resin instead. I found that expoxy resin is used on surfboards with a foam core to seal it. Then they use a polyester resin on top. So after a long search I have to grab some epoxy casting resin. Its good to have finished a long cleanup of damage control on my board and get back to finishing before it gets to cold for a good resin pour.

Plaster and sanding

2008-08-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

I have added and sanded 2 layers of the plaster and its starting to shape up the sides nicely. Its taken longer than thought simply because I am no mason with the putty/plaster. Every time I sand the plaster there are weak spots than crack and crumble chunks. It is making the table have a very nice finished look. I also bought at a local hardware store some spraypaint (it is the H2O latex krylon has discontinued due to lack of sales) It is a fantastic product as it does not eat foam!!! So I bought a couple cans of white for future ice terrain. I also had a professional company paint my dream color scheme. Its not complex but for some reason I love it and thats what matters. The White and blue color scheme is what I love. Micro Art Studio did a fantastic job as you can see below.

Table Update: Slow and Steady

2008-08-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

Well my table is coming along. I am about ready to take it apart layer by layer paint the extreme highlights on the parts that will be ice and gluing it down. After that is the final part of pouring the transparent resin for the water effects. The video below is pretty much the majority of the board and a fairly good look and what the final product will look like without some paint and water effects. Till later!

Cop Out

2008-07-10T18:09:00.000-07:00

Ok basically I just bought an army and I feel a little shame but I felt like self indulging and well I think it will be a great splinter fleet of Erebus. So here is what I got of eBay. Below is the eBay listing....

Warhammer 40K Tyranid Army. This army was introduced at the 2006 Chicago GamesDay GT where it scored top 5 for paint (it was chosen as one of the top 5 armies to be judged by all the players), and top 10 overall. Here are some other accomplishments:

Adepticon Gladiator event, scored top 15 in 2007 and 2008. (overall record in Gladiator was 7-0-1 the draw coming against another Godzilla list)

Winner of 2006-2007 Tournament Trackers

Won over 10 RTTs both locally (Chicago) and Nationwide

Scored in top 3 in EVERY tournament entered with the exception of the GTs and Adepticon tournaments listed above.

An now for the models included:

HQ

Forge World Flying Tyrant (highly comverted)

Tyrant with 3 Tyrant Guard

Broodlord

Elites

Elite Carnifex

Elite Carnifex

Elite Carnifex

5 Warriors

2 Lictors

Troops

24 Genestealers

11 Hormagaunts

22 Ripper bases (highly converted)

Fast Attack

Red Terror

9 Forge World Meiotic Spores

30+ Spore Mines

Heavy Support

3 Zoanthropes

Heavy Carnifex

Heavy Carnifex

Heavy Carnifex

Also included are 2 objective markers to match the rest of the army.

What you see is what you get. The display board is NOT included in this auction. Flat $25 shipping within continental 48 states. All models will be shipped in Army Transport foam trays. Please contact me for international shipping. Buyer must pay or contact me within 48 hours of auction's end. Checks/MOs accepted (must clear before I ship), PayPal preferred. Please check out all my auctions.

Moving the Models

2008-06-04T18:27:00.001-07:00

Ok this weekend I will be moving to my new place and moving the table and models is something that I am worried about being crushed in the move. Soon after move My table will be complete as I will be able to glue it all together and get the blending/painting done to match everything. Well thats all the my progress. I should note that my camera has been in FL for about a month now since the wedding cause I left it there. The newlyweds said they would send it to me soon so I hope to continue my videos when I get the chance again?

Another reason to buy from the warstore/others

2008-05-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

Well my girlfriend ordered some tyranid models online from a cipher games cause the had an online checkout still despite gw's policy. Well when I recieved her package it was well not what she ordered. She had ordered two biovores (4th edition) and one ravenger. What they sent was just one biovore (3rd editon)and then only credited her account for the one model. Next time she's just gonna have go the extra mile and call in her order for models at a more reputable store. Well enough venting and good day.

Table update: Dri-fit video

2008-05-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

Table update

2008-05-01T20:27:00.001-07:00

Well I was able to buy the supplies needed to finish my ice table. That is a big relief as I will be able to finish and not have to deal with it taking up all the room in my apartment. I get to lay it off on my parents when I see them for storage. Well time to get to work. I am getting a couple models soon. I am receiving two biovores and a ravenger. That will help round out my overall list to three biovores. I also up to 4 ravengers. Getting ravengers is now on my list to make that subterranean swarm. Till next time

Updating

2008-03-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

So recently I have been working on my broodlord. I finally bent and bended into a jumping position. I filled in the gaps with green stuff. I just have to do some minor basing and he will be done. I bought the GW 40k basing kit and well I am disappointed. It has great things for urban bases and mostly space marine/imperium related. So, for my winter and tyranid theme it does....well....nothing. I don't want to show so many urban/imperium stuff to take away from my army. I will have to use some spare stuff just to get my hormaguants themed the right way.

Paint Stripping

2008-03-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

I just started paint stripping a lot of my tyranid models. It has been a learning process. I am using brake fluid. I left the models overnight and then scrubbed them. I would say 90% of the paint come off and some primer. After doing that I had to dispose the break fluid by regulation cause it was smelling bad and my apartment complex was getting to stink. I should have a video up when its all done on youtube. I also finished cleaning up all the hormaguants I had. I am so behind on everything. I need to find someway to base all them like the test figures. I dont know what I am going to do next. I can either spend time cleaning the models I am in the process of stripping or assemble the tyranid warrior models I have in plastic. I have some thinking to do.

AI4

2008-03-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

I bought Imperial Armour 4 the other day along with some superglue and the bench vice by GW. IA4 is a really great read. Its a shame that the rules dont apply anymore. I guess the next buy on my forgeworld list is Imperial armour: Apocalypse.

No progress

2008-03-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Well I have made no progress on the modeling side of Hive Fleet Erebus except I drilled holes in the fleshborers of my termaguants. I just didnt get the time to sit down and get to work on the Hive Fleet. I did quite a few videos and you can check them out at http://www.youtube.com/user/grims40blazer or just check out my vids on the side bar. Next week I promise to get some things done!

Tyranid Inventory

2008-03-02T08:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I did an Inventory of the models I have assembled and unassembled. I felt this was necessary as I have broken down so many models that were poorly cleaned and assembled from off eBay. I also have the models done from Blue table painting that I am going to strip and redo. They failed to clean many mold lines and the paint job was too low a quality for me to live with for long. So After the breakdown I am left with the following.

Assembled: 20 spineguants, 20 termaguants, 12 Genestealers (ST+RC)

Left to strip/assemble/clean: 48 Hormaguants (24 regular 24 hyper), 18 ripper bases (17 regular 1 spinefist), 25 Genestealers (I need more 3 claw bits to do them all as planned), 4 lictors, 3 carnifexes, 3 hive tyrants, 3 ravengers, 1 broodlord, 1 biovore, 5 zoanthropes, 4 tyrant guard, 1 trygon, 16 spineguants, 18 termaguants, 27 Warriors (15 3rd ed 12 2nd ed), 10 Spore mines (4 frag, 3 toxin, 3 bioacid)

OK Wow! I feel somewhat depressed at all I have to still do. I have so many things do and the slow pace things are coming around sure don't help. I change my mind about what to equip my models that everything just gets postponed. I just have to get it all done slowly. Slow and steady wins the race right? When it is all finished I will be quite proud!!!! I hope to have rounded out and bought more by then also!

Update: Not much

2008-02-26T17:09:00.000-08:00

Well I have very little to report. I have bought two special edition lictors off eBay to make my total three. Yes that is correct 3 special edition lictors that only came in the tyranid army box. I have plans to get three of the new lictors (just two more) and three of the deathleaper lictors. I just love each of the models. I did some minor clean up on the one biovore model I have. I want to really vary my bases with the ice and snow theme to give a wide range of themes all on the same theme. I have checking out some bases like these
or these

Valentines Day Vermin!?!?

2008-02-15T23:36:00.000-08:00

Today my girlfriend and I celebrated a part of valentine's day with some gifts. Well she got me tyranid models despite her constant raves on me being a "dork" We created a little game where if its a holiday she or I can get gift we have to sorta name the gifts. So if I wanted tyranid models for my birthday I would call them birthday bugs. For Xmas I called them Christmas critters...valentines day vermin! Well anyway she got me some out of production tyranid warriors. Quite a bundle of them too!!! She got me 7 with devourers, 3 with barbed stranglers, one with venom cannon, and one with boneswords. She really does love me to forget all the typical gifts for Vday to get me models!!! I dont think I will ever get around to them in the near future. I have soooooooooo many models I don't know how to get them all done before I want more nids. My ultimate goal is to have the codex maxed out in formations and have all the apocalypse formations and legendary units. Ohh to see that horde!!! Thats the goal and one step at a time I will get there!!!

Working on Hormaguants

2008-02-12T17:50:00.000-08:00

Been working on my hormaguants and still have not figured out how to get the adrenal glands correct. I guess I will just have to do my best. I decided to change up the poses by doing some simple conversions that will, I think really enhance the brood. The fewer the models I have to deal with the greater I can convert them. Still plenty to think about and work on and I hope to have some progress pics later

5th edition rumors and my Carnifex

2008-02-07T20:15:00.000-08:00

Well I have a carnifex that was partly assembled off the same ebay deal that provided the hive tyrant mess and all. So the new rumors have said that blast weapons dont miss just scatter and the fex I have is modeled with enhanced senses so I think its a waste of points to muy that upgrade only to have it scatter on inch less. So Im gonna have to convert the fex even more now. (poor guy has just been through a lot) That also makes my Hive tyrant with planned Barbed strangler that much cooler. I know your saying Im wasting my BS on on something I could give to a fex for cheaper???? Well I wanted that hive tyrant to be guant support and that strangler is good for it. At least it wont scatter too much (I hope) So all in all things are lookin good and Im making progress on my hormaguants too! Here are pics of them unassembled and ready to get going for modeling month again at the tyranid hive forum. pics of my fex can also be found here and here

for a video stating the same thing I said here check out it here

Hormaguants started

2008-02-05T10:36:00.000-08:00

I started assembly of the hormaguants and I ran into a little problem. Im making some hyperguants and the adrenal glands dont fit correctly on the hormaguants. I dont know exactly what to do so Im gonna inquire on the forums and find something. I dont know what I am going to add to total points as I need 300 for the next competition. I guess I will add some warriors or possibly assemble a hive tyrant.

Spineguants Finished

2008-02-03T22:33:00.001-08:00

I finished my spineguants and Im am happy to be done. It took alot of time to get all those 40 guants done! This month I am going to continue to assemble guants but this time around its going to be hormaguants. I am going to make them hyperguants with the adrenal glands upgrade and weapon skill upgrade. That will make them different than the 24 of regular hormaguants i already have. I also removed the venom cannon on the hive tyrant that came partly assembled. I plan on switching it for a barbed strangler and keeping the hive tyrants bonesword and lashwhip. This role will make it "swarm support" firing upon the infantry to soften it up for the guants to attack and provide assualt support when the walking tyrant gets there. I also want to change up the pose of the gun as it was far to "out of the box"

Progress: Tyranid

2008-01-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

Today I was able to finish assembly of 4 more spineguants. That leaves only 8 more! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Still have some Tyrant guard to assembly and conversion work to do also. I also spent a good amount of time cutting all the excess biomorphs and bioweapons from the various sprues I had left over and organized them into my bitz box. I was really happy about that and to see all that I had for future conversions! I also plan on entering a video contest on youtube and hopefully I will win and then I can get tons and I MEAN TONS OF TYRANIDS! Thats it for now!

Tyranid Terrain

2008-01-18T23:56:00.000-08:00

I just found this and though it was something to remember. I wouldnt use this same color scheme but it was something that I enjoyed as there is not many new terrain ideas for Tyranids. You can see it here

Hive Tyrant conversion idea

2008-01-18T23:22:00.001-08:00

I have been thinking of converting another of my hive tyrants to have a scything talon at the end of the venom cannon. An example that inspired me is here and here (this one was the most inspiring and I believe the other guy got his idea from this one as well) What I want to do is have the gun and its "cord arm" on the same side with the scything talon coming down. I also am considering one like the second photo just cause it looks like the tyrant is ready to swing the venom cannon as a scyth to cut a marines head off!

As for flying tyrants I really like Molochs here (you have to go to molochs gallery then headquarter and second one down) and this one that is similiar with the scything talons

Stills "the before" Hive tyrant

2008-01-18T11:47:00.000-08:00

here are the still of the before on my hive tyrant

Pic 1 and Pic 2

Greenstuff scuplting

2008-01-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

I picked up a sculpting knife from a local GW store cause I never owned one. I cut off the finger of the hive tyrant that connected to the lash whip. I wanted to have a more agressive pose with the whip like many converted bloodthirsters have. So I am going to have to re attach the finger with green stuff to make a seamless finger and its too small to pin. I was also thinking about adding more lash whip tentacles to make the whip seem really aggressive and intimidating. Well thats all just thoughts for now cause I still have plenty of spineguants to assemble!

Vblog #4 My termaguant brood

2008-01-14T22:03:00.001-08:00

title and video says it all

Vblog #3 My genestealers with sycthing talons

2008-01-14T19:34:00.001-08:00

Here is a video of the genestealers I finished before xmas

4 more guants

2008-01-13T22:12:00.000-08:00

I finished 4 more guants today so that brings my total assembly to 16 termaguants, 4 spineguants, and partly finished tryant guard. Its almost halfway through the month I got to get going. Im already sick of mold lines. Now I understand why people dont do horde armies cause its alot of work and you dont feel like getting around to the conversions cause you want to see progress! Ok im done venting. More to come

not much progress

2008-01-10T17:47:00.000-08:00

I was only able to accomplish a couple termaguants. I have slowed down and well I need to get back on schedule. Its a love hate relationship entering in the contest. I know its worth it to motivate me to get my assembly done. I had an idea I brought up to the forum (remember I am VoidLord) that was shot down here

Since I was completely not thinking about wysiwyg and the leaping biomorph I am not going though with it. Maybe one day I will cut the models up a little to change the poses and whatnot. Not this time as I am going to get them done. I also had the idea of putting some blades on top of the tyrant guard or even some toxic miasma who knows?

2008-01-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

hey guys well this is a video of my current workstation and what I am working on. Its all those guants. I have been working non-stop on the assembly and am ahead of schedule. I cant get lazy though cause I do want to do some conversions. I want to spice up those tyrant guard cause they are fairly simple and boring. the video can also be seen on my youtube stuff here

2008-01-07T09:41:00.001-08:00

These are all the models I have to assemble for the competition. I gots to get started

Modeling converting contest

2008-01-06T19:09:00.001-08:00

I have entered the modeling converting contest for the month of January on the the tyranid hive. rules are here I am doing 20 spineguants and 20 termaguants and 2 tyrant guard. I have my work cut out for me cause 40 guants really suck to assemble (boring and all those mold lines) Well that should motivate me to get some assembly done.

My girlfriend also proposed a deal. I have to workout and get back to my "great looking body" at under 200lbs (I weight now 225) and that extra weight has really helped in the rugby season at college but now that I am done with that she will buy me $400 worth of bugs as she calls it. I have till the summer to get down and all "hot" as she says. Well I have so much to choose from and the options are amazing. Well that's something to think about but I have a ton to assemble and get done for the competition though I don't think i will win but I entered and cant let them or myself down.

Tyranid Guant progress

2008-01-04T20:49:00.000-08:00

I finished assembly A-Z on 4 spineguants today. I was inspired by having purchased some hobby files and a hobby k,nife. Both of which are produced by games-workshop. I have to say they are good and my only complaint is I think the hobby knife blades should be sturdier and not as weak. I have not decieded on my exact army composition. I am content with guant assembly as there are so many to do. I cant decide what to make my hive tyrants but I am hoping to make a decision soon on that.

Return to the apartment

2008-01-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

I have returned to my apartment after the holiday season. I was only able to clean a few of the guant pieces as I am watching the bowl games. I am going to try to continue the goal I previously set (see earlier post for the goal details) I surfed the net today on warpshadow, the tyranid hive, and other forums for anything niddy and I have to say I want to complete my huge swarm and see it all on the table. Well back to the rose bowl game

Gift certificate

2007-12-26T23:22:00.000-08:00

I received a gift certificate for a local game shop and when I went today they were closed. I was tricked they had the lights on doing inventory and some rearranging but closed. I going to pick up some hobby supplies like new files and such. I spent some time in the morning digging up the chapter approved with TDR (tyranid design rules) and read up on them just for fun. I love getting inspired.

Goals

2007-12-25T20:56:00.000-08:00

Well after some minor touch-ups to the blog to get things kick started I couldn't stop thinking about my goals. Its that time of the year everyone thinks about new years resolutions. This blog is one of mine. I also have a goal of assembly for each week. At a bare min, I am going to assemble 4 gaunts or 1 larger model. I pray I can do more. I have so much to assemble its daunting to get it all done. I will list all that I have unpainted and left to assemble in future post. Till then, May the hive mind consume you.

Xmas night

2007-12-25T20:25:00.000-08:00

Merry Xmas to all!!! Its xmas night and I had a great xmas with the family. I did not recieve too many 40k products. I got for xmas two zoanthropes and a broodlord. I am excited about both of them. They will help round out my army to give me the broodlord which I had not previously owned. The extra zoanthropes will come in handy for the hive mind brood formation! I should return to my apartment soon and continue growing the hive fleet as I have much to do.