GenCon! NOVA! Hobby updates! Well, only two of those three things...

Rumors of my demise are highly exaggerated! Though with the galloping Con Crud that I contracted following GenCon, it wasn't too far off target... Apologies for the radio silence of late, but between a massive work project eating up virtually all of my brain then haring off to Indianapolis for a week for the 50th anniversary of GenCon I haven't made any hobby progress of note - there's been some desultory build time on some NuMarines but bare plastic doesn't make for thrilling photography.

GenCon 2017 was a hoot - It's all pen'n'paper rpg gaming for me though, so no fun pictures of miniatures. It being the 50th anniversary of the con, it had sold out and meant there were nearly 70,000 people in attendance (the picture above was fairly indicative of the crowds). That did really strain the capacity of the city, and in certain cases meant some frustrations and absurdly long wait times, but the group I was with took it all in stride and we had an absolute blast.

Hot on the heels of last week's vacation is another week's vacation (and believe me, I'm getting some stick from my co-workers about skiving off again next week), with the NOVA Open 2017 kicking off next Thursday. Heading out there with the Thousand Sons in tow to participate in the always-awesome 30k narrative campaign weekend - Really looking forward to that! It's only a half joke that part of my excitement for NOVA is just to be able to come back and auction off the Thousand Sons. They've been done for a month and a half now, and I'm getting antsy to start the next project which I can't justify financially until I sell the current army!

Speaking of, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the fine folks at NOVA are hosting a number of miniature auctions to benefit several worthy causes and time is ticking down to get in on them!

I was honored to be asked to participate in the charity auction army painting again, and my contribution this time around was a pair of Thallax units for the Heresy Mechanicum force. A small in number but high in damage output force, it is definitely a fearsome army!

The other side of the Heresy force on offer is a brilliant Sons of Horus Orbital Assault force, led by the big man himself. Another terrifying army that's designed to get up in their opponents faces and hammer them into pulp!

These are just two of a whole slew of armies and models up for auction, including not only Heresy and 40k stuff, but also Blood Bowl, Flames of War, X-Wing, Guild Ball and more! Tickets range in cost from 2-5 bucks and winners not only don't need to be present to win, but don't even need to be remotely nearby - The winners will have their prizes mailed to them anywhere in the world, and in fact over the past few years there have been prizes sent out to all points of the globe!

I highly recommend checking out the various auctions and pitching in a few bucks on anything that catches your fancy! Check 'em out here!

If you're heading to NOVA this year, stop by and say hi! I'll be the guy watching his Thousand Sons get murdered, even though they actually have real legion rules, finally! Hah!

Heresy Era Mechanicum - Knight Warden painting continues!

Got a fair bit of brush time in over the weekend and Khenti-Amentiu is starting to come together! I knew up front that I didn't want to go with the crimson, gold and bone that I've been doing (to death) on the Thousand Sons and their Mechanicum allies, so decided that whatever happened, there would be no red on the Knight!

After much hemming and hawing I settled on trying my hand at doing a lapis lazuli effect on the armour plating, as that's often associated with Egyptian artistry. I spent a fair bit of time checking out images and did some practicing on a couple pieces of cardstock until I started feeling confident. While it's blown out a little in the pictures, there's actually three different blues and teals sponged on in stripes, then some gold was added as striations. I'm thinking it needs a little more pop, so will likely add in a little white streaking and another pass of a shinier gold here and there. Overall I'm fairly happy with the result but the pictures aren't really doing it justice. Perhaps once it's sealed it'll pop a little more.

As spot colors I decided to go with white and yellow - The blue/yellow combo is always nice and Tzeentch-y, and the white should allow any transfers laid onto it to really pop. Went with the 'sunray' theme on one shoulder pad and tried to go for a charcoal/onyx look on the faceplate. Still a lot of little cleanup and detailing to do - I do like to take a couple pictures towards the end of a project as it helps me really see the various things that remain to be done that oddly can be hard to see in-hand. Nevertheless, it's coming along nicely, and think it'll look pretty sharp once I get the initial sealant pass on and start adding transfers and weathering to it!

Heresy Era Mechanicum - Knight Warden painting begins!

Managed to get the knight warden built and primered over the last couple days and broke out the big brushes to start laying in the metallics on the endoskeleton. All the various parts are separate to facilitate the painting process but reassembled it as much as possible for some photos.

Fairly straightforward recipe - Started by blocking in everything with a very heavy drybrush of boltgun metal, then a medium drybrush of silver on the upper surfaces. Once that was done the whole thing was mopped down with Agrax Earthshade which gives it a nice oily greasy look. The next morning once the wash had thoroughly dried it got a light re-drybrushing of silver to brighten it back up and bring up the edges a bit.

Added in a few more armor plates and it's starting to look pretty cool. It's a little top-heavy without any of the leg plates on, but I'm liking how it's turning out. The next painting stages should start adding in some color - plenty of blues, yellows and golds!

NOVA Open 2017 Charity Army Raffles - Don't Miss Out!

Less than a month to go before the glory that is the NOVA Open 2017! Having only attended for the first time last year, I have to say that it was hands down the best miniature event that I've gone to and I can't wait to throw down with all the excellent folks out there again this year! Once again the fine folks at NOVA are hosting a number of miniature auctions to benefit several worthy causes and time is ticking down to get in on them!

I was honored to be asked to participate in the charity auction army painting again, and my contribution this time around was a pair of Thallax units for the Heresy Mechanicum force. A small in number but high in damage output force, it is definitely a fearsome army!

The other side of the Heresy force on offer is a brilliant Sons of Horus Orbital Assault force, led by the big man himself. Another terrifying army that's designed to get up in their opponents faces and hammer them into pulp!

These are just two of a whole slew of armies and models up for auction, including not only Heresy and 40k stuff, but also Blood Bowl, Flames of War, X-Wing, Guild Ball and more! Tickets range in cost from 2-5 bucks and winners not only don't need to be present to win, but don't even need to be remotely nearby - The winners will have their prizes mailed to them anywhere in the world, and in fact over the past few years there have been prizes sent out to all points of the globe!

I highly recommend checking out the various auctions and pitching in a few bucks on anything that catches your fancy! Check 'em out here!

If you're heading to NOVA this year I'd love to meet you in person and say hello - I'll likely be found down in the Heresy Narrative Events area watching my beloved Thousand Sons be blasted off the tables, but having a great time as always! Stop by and say hi!

Heresy Era Mechanicum - Khenti-Amentiu, Freeblade Knight build continues

Just a quick hit this morning - Managed to get a little more build time in on the Knight, and have been fiddling around with potential posing options. Also put a name to the beast, Khenti-Amentiu, Freeblade Knight and Guardian of the Tombs of Cynopolis on the Forge World of Zhao Arkkad.

Added magnets at the torso and neck, and have been twisting the various pieces this way and that to see what works. I think I'm leaning towards the pose shown above, gazing over the top of the blade in a taciturn guardian look. Still quite a ways to go on the build of course but rather digging the jackal head and khopesh blade add-ons!