I'm back baby!

I know, I wasn't posting for a while, but it all was due to my stupid exams that I have to take once in a blue moon... Anywho, I'm through all of them now (the last one-History Of Polish Cinematography-was today...) and I'm preparing for a serious Warmachine butt kicking in New York! Yup, in 5 hours a nice cab will appear at the frontyard of my house in Krakow and will take me to the airport. Darn exciting perspective, but a 5h wait in Munich and nearly 10h flight to JFK is a bit daunting... I'll take it like a men!

With the USA adventure there's also one more thing corelated - a trip to Indianapolis in August! You know what I'm talking about baby? Yes! You were right - the one and only GenCon Indy! I've already prereg for 'Game On' and 'Tour Of Duty' (both twice!) and all Speed Painting Contests I could (meaning one for each company, of course...). I'm also a little sad, because I won't have the 750pts needed to throw some Hardcore games there. I'm not mourning too much about it though for there's no reason to do so. I'm really glad that I've found the 'GenCon UN' group where I'll hang out with a bunch of Aussies, Canadians, a few guys from Japan and a Norwegian (but I'm sure our group will grow and grow!). It's a really good to know now how much of a social event a GenCon is! I'll do my best to update the site with reports from this event each day, but giving the amout of things you can do there I'm not quite sure I'll be able to...

Now let's get back to painting shall we?

In the past three weeks I did a lot! Besides learning I've painted a Kodiak, Kell Bailoch, Juggernaut and did flats on Karchev and Manhunter. Not too bad I say! I've made some nice photos for you paiting looneys, so there you go, my painted part of the Khadoran 500pts:

• Kodiak


• Juggernaut


• Berserker


• Kell Bailoch


• Gorman Di Wulfe

Please keep in mind that all models, but Kodiak and Zerker, were painted in a pattern roughly called 'speed over quality'. Kell took me 3 hours - my personal record!

I've been lately extensively watching MST3K and I've advise for all the uptight gamers all round the world:

"just remind yourself it's just a game/I should really just relax"

Peace Out, I'm going to throw some CS:S with my friend from Lancashire, so keep your eyes open for a headshotting estro_pajo...

PS on the photo on the upper left it's me. I know it may be a little out of place, but I hate to post on a blog without a picture and it's all I have on my hand at the moment. Enjoy it or not...

Being Late Again

Is not like being in love. Well, you still get the itchy feeling around your stomach, but it is not that exiting in any way. Recently I was late with many things including this very post. I bear the good news - a progress has been made and now I can move the muscle that goes right besides the nose line. A small step, but it helps me belive in the purpose of the whole rehabilitation process.

On monday, as expected, I've recived my package with P3 metallics and I finally got a hold on Karchev, Manhunter and Kell. Men, those three models rock or what!

I've assembled Karchev (it's over 3576 parts to assemble!) and fit him with lots of chains, hooks, chains, trophy racks, skulls and chains. He's wicked sick! I've also made him a nice base of skulls, so he looks really Terrible!

At this point I must also say how much I like the sculpts of those three models - Manhunter maybe old, but when assembled he is truly impressive. Not in the same way as Karchev, but he's a sculpt that is interesting from 360 degrees, he's not boring and looks really solid. Thumbs up! Kell has a lot of fine details, for a diference, and even has a nice scar on his left chin - something you won't see on those photos! A fine model he is. And finally Karchev - oh men, he's so sick! And that crazy, huge axe - he rocks all!

I menaged to have a few games with my Karchev list, including two games against the Trollbloods and two against Legion Of Everblight, but all were very interesting and I've learned a lot. I've even started a Karchev Sunday School on PP forum - HERE is the link to my thread. There's no single spell or ability on K that is useless - he is one fine caster, but still spells like Kreoss's Lamentation or effects that cause knockdowns like Strykers Eartquake or Impalers critical slam can ruin your day.

Till know I've painted flats on Manhunter and I'm halfway through base coating metallics on Kodiak. The Jugger has beed put a side for a while, but I have to finish him eventually, so I'll get back to him sometime this week.

PS sorry for the poor pic quality, I'll try to post something proper in high res some time soon...

Progress

And here I am, just a few steps into my insane 30 days run. How am I doing? Could have been better...

Good news are that Gorman is finally done, You can see a rough photo of him on the left. I've painted him using only my right eye, as my left one doesn't see too well. Because of it I was forced to take a lot of shortcuts with this model so I incorporated overbrush and washes as my main techniques. I think that for an amount of attention I've put into him, Gorman worked out pretty well.

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The Brass Balls Kodiak is finally assembled, primed and waiting for P3 metallics to arrive on tuesday(-ish). Untill then I need to fully paint my Juggernaut to finally get him out of my head. I'm not moving fast enough with him even though I have to... It's all because of my exams - History Of Polish Cinematography and Theory Of Television on, respectively, thursday and friday. I find it hard to divide my attention at this time of year...

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My order for Karchev, Manhunter and Kell came through and I expect them soon - before saturday sun rises up I shall be gently touching His bold head and licking his rusted metal. Your boiler is so hot!

However, before enjoying that glorious moment, I need to DO the Juggernaut. I can't leave unfinished work ...well...unfinished... - I must be methodical in this particular case. With Jugger out of my head I'll have only two contest models to take care of, which should be in within my reach.

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During the past few days, besides watching Deadwood (never seen a better drama about 'how the states were build'!), I got back to my old love - The Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3k for those unfamiliar with the series). Oh how I loved this when I was 16! And it still amuses me a lot, it didn't lose it's unique charm in any respect. MST3k is like a delusional dream or a future film critic's ultimate amusement (ie ME!). It's a shame that this show cannot be run on any non-english TV station, and only a small group of people has the opportunity to appreciate this truly outstanding show...

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The music of the past few days was mainly Van Der Graaf Generator with the sparkling of The Legendary Pink Dots. And now I'm going nuts!

My puppy!

And there it is - my Destroyer on every corner in whole Poland. Not literally, but still...

I've made my decision now and for the Warjack/Warbeast category I'll enter my Juggernaut and for Warcaster/lock/solo I'll put Karchev (for his own wicked indulgence). The Kodiak goes for the Brass Balls Challange for dessert.

I've a rethorical question at this point - should people be allowed to enter to a contest a mini they've painted a year earlier? I know it's all so hard to verify, but what if one arranges a painting contest and 1/3 of the contestants enter their old minis? It doesn't look right. I think everyone should paint a new model for each new contest. That's what I think.

The pin vice is on the move!

You bet it is!
My vision is blurry as hell, and sometimes I even see double, but I at least menaged to pin my bloody Kodiak! He's done on 2,26mm copper rods and 2,5mm brass rods (the latter-right foot and arms) with GS securing the joints.

My end-year exams are nigh and I need to learn. I really do. But there's so much to paint! The Brass Balls Challenge, the Polish National P3 Painting Contest and I also need to prepare a 500pts army for my summer vacation in New York! That's a lot of work!

Today I've made a schedule for the upcoming 5 weeks:

• Kodiak - for the Brass Balls Challenge


• Karchev The Terrible - for the P.N.PP.P.C.
  
• Mechanic with 4 assistants - gaming models
  
• Manhunter - gaming model
  
• Kell Bailoch - gaming model
  
• Juggernaut - just the reds and details left, shouldn't take me long.

I hope I'll make it... Probably not... Oh, well...

Today I also came up with my 'NY 500pts Khador List' that will pwn all other armies in Abstract Games in south Brooklyn (especially yours Kurt! Beware!):

• Karchev The Terrible

1. Kodiak
2. Juggernaut
3. Berserker

• Mechanics (1+3)
• Manhunter
• Gorman Di Wulfe
• Kell Bailoch

...and that makes for the precise 500 points.

Normally I'd prefer to go with the Marauder (nasty synergies I've forseen!) instead of the Berserker and Kell, but my limited chrono-resources made me change my plans. I like the way how you can put together a complete denial army with Karchev - K's Fissure, Juggers critical, Marauders Slam, Berserkers chain attack and Tow away, Gormans Black Oil and Kodiak taking advantage of kd's. Embrace Karchev's DEF 17 against range attacks and there you go. I really looking forward to plying this list - just need to buy K, Kell and Manhunter.

Recently I've started to listen to the Fell Calls podcast. It appears like a bunch of guys are doing a radio beer'n'pretzel version of Battle College. Most of the time they read stats from the book and state the obvious ('he's ARM 12, which is low','yeah,it is low','it could be higher','yeah, it could' and blablablabla...). Sometimes when they pick some interesting gameplay issues they get caught in a cobweb of words like 'cool', 'awesome' and 'incredible'. I'm tired of listening opinions build upon sentences like: 'he's cool, but no without drawbacks, but yeah, he's awesome, yeah, I'd say he' pretty cool, definately cool' and so forth. I can't understand the popularity of this podcast. I mean, if I wouldn't have any friends to talk with I could pretend that those hollow debates interest me, but belive me, if I want to hear a casual and meaningless conversation about Warmachine I can arrange one myself. I even know people that are not talking rubbish when it comes to wargaming - I think it must be rare if so many people are devoting their time (90-120min!) to listen to a pointless conversation.

Yeah.. That's all for today. I'll keep watching the horizon for my P3 metallics are due to arrive and I'll keep You posted!

Let's get back to buisiness

I went to hospital today where I spent nearly 3 hours getting known what should I do with my current condition. What I learned is that my nerve will continue to degenerate in the next 3-4 weeks after which a slow process of regeneration will start, approximately 2-3 months, without any guarantee of the full reconvalescencion. Crap. But I hope to get a hold on a brush soon!

The bombshell of the day is that my Destroyer has been selected for the promo poster of the first polish national PP painting contest! The PP itself is sponsoring the prizes and the jury will include artists like Cyril and Manumilitari! That certainly are the best news in the past few days - it is always nice to hear someone asking for permision to use your model for advertisment purposes, it makes you feel darn good. My spirit has been lift up a bit, now let's someone fix my eye and I'll get back to painting.

PS I'll be attending rehabilitation starting tomorrow. Let's just hope it'll bring some results... Fingers crossed people, fingers crossed...

Just Another Day...

...and certainly not in paradise. It's getting worse and worse with my face - I need to visit more specialists to tell what in god's name is wrong with me. Blogwise the worst offset of this situation is my inability to paint minis. I just can't see them with one eye drying and the other one constantly blinking - it's a real hell for me.
I keep amusing myself with Deadwood, playing G-Mod with my best, lancashirean friend Matt and (again!) listening to Lovin' Spoonful. Maybe all I need right now is a bit of jug band music, to make me feel just fine. If you know what I mean...

Today I uploaded a few more photos to CMON, but still I'm not satisfied with how the colours went out. I'm afraid that's the best I can do right now...

I' telling ya, neurons are a tricky stuff and a complex matter, let it be a lesson for all of you (still not sure about the morale though). As soon as I'll be able to stare at a model for longer than 5sec I'll get back on schedule right away, so keep checkin'!

Cheers!

Ugh...

Still nothing. My face is still dead. I'm like Two-Face from Batman - one half of my face is laughing while the other is... uhmm... well, the other is not.

I hope it all will be honky-dory in two weeks, but there's a 5% that I'll have it for the rest of my life... Ugh...

The good news is I got my CMON gallery updated and the first wave of my minis is up on it now (pending, but they should approve it any minute now). Not much, but I'll try to push it a little step a day and I'll get there. I think I pretty much nailed the shooting-minis issue, even despite my problems with getting the colours right (the highlighting/shading is not as deep as in real). Anyways, expect more photos very soon.

Recently I've started watching a new TV series: 'Deadwood'. I remembered seeing a 'Deadwood' billboard up in Manchaster one time. It was the one with Ian McShane on it and I got the feeling it's something with the atmosphere of the RPG 'Deadlands', but it occured I wasn't even close. I love it though. The one thing I can't really understand is why HBO gave up one of the biggest artisctic TV achievments of all times - the 'Carnivale' under the excuse it didn't produce enough profit and then jump upon 'Deadwood' which goes even further in minimalising action and rising the age certificate thus getting small and loyal fanbase along with relatively small, generic audience. I like 'Deadwood' a lot, but I want 'Carnivale' back! And I want it NOW!

Oh, Crap...

What I did today?
I got myself white primer, few meters of various brass and copper rods, 2mm and 2,3mm drills and paralysed facial nerve.
Today I've spent over 3h in a hospital talking to neuroligist - it doesn't look too good, but happily not catastrphic either. Hopefully it won't affect my modelling and painting skills... Fingers crossed!

Todays update is not too jolly, but tomorrow I should have few surprises for You!

Todays number one albums were: Lynyrd Skynyrds' 'the best of' and Metal Gear 3 soundtrack.
This post was sponsored by the letters B and G.

Hoity-Toity

That doesn't make for a good start, does it? A two day delay after the first day, eh...
Right now I've put my recent painting ad acta and focused on my model for PP Brass Balls Challange - a Khadoran Kodiak.

The contest mini has to be painted all in P3 metallics, so I had to choose a warjack that will still fit to my existing force. I think that a warjack of reknown will do just fine, as it is forgiving to a different paint scheme.

I hate to say it, but despite good sculpt this model has a dreadful pose. I've heard an inner voice telling me to cut it to pieces, what I gladly did without any hesitation. On a photo you can admire early results.

A few days ago I've asked my brother-in-law to look for P3 paints in New York, because they're not aviable in Europe yet. He finally got them in one store in the city, but unfortunately they haven't got the Morvahna model, which I madly desire. I can't understand why, the street relase was a week ago and she's nowhere to be found in the whole New York. Not in Manhattan nor in Brooklyn. Strange.

Oh, and my CMON gallery is not up and running yet, 'cause I'm still experimenting with the best ways to photograh a mini, but hopefully it shouldn't take me long.

Day 101

So here it is, the first day of my ultimate blogging expirience, but let's catch up on things first.

Till now I have painted 2 warcasters/warlocks for each of my factions except the Legion, 8-ish warjacks, a bunch of solos and many other minis that are sitting on flats.

Right now I'm in the middle of my Juggernaut (on the photo) after which I'll be done with the Khador box - it is vital for me to finally finish all the boxes as by now I've been painting only what I had a mood for instead of what I should.

Next on my list is the Cygnar box, I've done Stryker and Lancer already so it's only Ironclad and Charger really, and both have flat colours on them so it should be easy.

Today I was GreenStuffing the Lord Of The Feast (oh, what a graceful model he is!) and there is really one thing I can't understand - why PP is making some minis so impossible to paint? I mean, the sculpt is great and all, but during assembly one has to put all the parts together if he wants the model to look spotless and smooth, but as a trade off he gets a really difficult model to paint. See Lord Of The Feast on PP site and you'll know what I mean. How the hell am I supposed to paint the facial areas? It's not hard, it's nigh impossible.

Today was the day of The Lovin' Spoonful and John Sebastian sounds. I guess the Feast Lord has enough of them for now, no more 'good times music', it's time to rip some chests open! Your scream is a music to his ears. Big time! Yeah!