200,000 Hit Giveaway!

I kinda thought this would come next month rather then this month, but only 7 months after reaching 100,000 hits, the blog has now clocked up 200,000 hits! Indeed in the past couple of months I've had to switch to Photobuckets subscribed service as the monthly bandwidth has been regularly scrapeing and on a couple of occasions well exceeding the 10GB monthly limit for their free service something I certainly never expected to be dealing with (and yes that'll be comming out of the hobby fund as I refuse to use ads!)

As a celebration of sorts and too test the waters in the world of Blog Giveaways, something a number of the blogs I frequent have recently started to carry out semi-regularly, I've delved into my bottomless pit and pulled forth a prize - a Limited Edition Blister of Two Cadian Imperial Guardsmen at Ease.



For your chance to claim it all you need to do is post a comment following this article and to be a Follower of the blog, using the widgit which can be found towards the bottom of the right hand column, the winner will be picked using random.org on Monday 14th September at around 18:00GMT, if the case of multiple comments left by the same poster only the first comment will be eligable.

If all goes well with this giveaway there will be more in the future in line with a couple of up comming product reviews.

Thanks for reading!

Commission - Praetorian Ogryn Squad (Part 6)

Second hobby update of the day, the main project around which everything else is still being fitted in is the Ogryn Commission, and the first half of the squad continues to near completion.

Ogryn number three with his open jacket has had a tweak with a vest rather then a bare chest after some discussion with the customer, I'm definately much more happy with him now as a finished piece, bar weapons as usual at the moment! I have been thinking about giving him a Pith Helmet, but given they'll feature quite strongly in the second part of the squad I ended up leaving it for the time being.




The Sergeant has seem more work to his tunic, the epualettes have been added as have the tails to the tunic at the back, I'm starting to do a little detailing now with things like the aquilla on his chest - rank chevrons are also on the agenda, the next update should bring him virtually to completion

Leman Russ Demolisher Turret (Part 2)

Don't you just love bank holidays?

I'm ploughing through things today, and so here's the first update of the day, the finished Leman Russ Demolisher Turret now the aerial and penant have been rescued!

Leman Russ Demolisher Turret (Part 1)

Not the update I'd planned, but an update none the less!

I thoguht I'd have this Leman Russ Demolisher turret completely finished by now, but alas it's Aerial and Penant were struck down by cloudy varnish as a result of me rushing and spraying in damp conditions - my own fault. The aerials just come out of the stripper after my failiure to rescue it and is gonna get painted up quickly again to finish the job.



I've really gotta appalud GW's update of this kit, the turret went together lovely and the rest of the tank looks like it'll be just as nice, it's also really been brought upto their current kit standard and quality, something I'm very pleased about as I'm sure everyone who likes and wanted to retain the current Leman Russ design was (though I appreciate thats not everyone). I've also assembled it so as too be swapable, I can remove the Demolisher Cannon and switch it too the Executioner Plasma Cannon and later the Punisher once I've decided if I'm going with the kit version or a conversion. It does'nt need magnets either, though I've chosen too use one anyway, the direction GW is taking in this regard is definately welcome.

Leman Russ 2 (Part 6)

A second and quick update for today, the hull of Leman Russ 2 is now finished with it's spare fuel drum and exhausts added and a little mud to the lower portion of the hull. For the time being that's as far as this one will be going, it's actual turret will have to wait until after the GT army is ready, for now though it'll be used in conjunction with a Demolisher turret as I mentioned previously cutting back on what I need to get done urgently.

Commission - Praetorian Ogryn Squad (Part 5)

It's been a slow couple of weeks hobby wise, as a result of a weekend spent at Tournaments (reports to come), work and lots besides keeping me busy. However I have kept plugging away in whatever gaps I've had on two projects the Ogryns and the Leman Russ. Top priority has of course been the Ogryns and it's on these I've got a small update.

Firstly one more of the first five is finished bar his weapon, Ogryn four with his Tunic, considering where he started I'm pretty pleased with how he's come out.





Ogryn number three meanwhile will almost certainly also be finished by the end of the day, his mouth needs just a little work around the lips where the facial hair was removed, and his boots need finishing. I'm not 100% happy with him, the jacket is a little rougher then I'd like on account of how many times I've gone back and 'tweaked' it a little more to get it as I wanted, thats said I'm confident it'll paint up well, hopefully once the client has it in his hands he'll agree.



The Bonehead is coming along nicely, I've press molded his helmet which I'm now tidying and his uniform is taking shape, his weapons and rank stripes will be what really seperate him from the group, but I could'nt resist adding some augmetics to one side of his face to represent the surgery used to boost the squad leaders intelligence.





With a little luck this chap will also be ready very shortly at which point I'll do the entire squads weapons in one hit, the first batch will then be ready for the client while I continue work on the second five members of the squad who have ended up seeing no additional progress this week.

Leman Russ 2 (Part 5)

Though hobby time has been short this week so far I've managed to get a fairly considerable chunk done on the Leman Russ I've had on the work bench for quite a while now in the odd five minutes I've had here and there - I even managed a bit more work on the Ogryns which I did'nt expect to fit though it's looking like thats probably it for hobby time for this week now.

This Russ hull just needs it's exhausts, a a couple of other detail bits and markings, then I'll apply a little weathering as with the other finished vehicles. It's own turret however will have to wait as with the addition of one of the new Demolisher Kit turrets it'll be standing in as a Demolisher for my GT list this year letting me get on with some of the other models I need to get finished.

Commission - Praetorian Ogryn Squad (Part 4)

Another evening spent working away on the Ogryns, the second two are nearing completion now, the third is still furthest away, the epualette on the left is'nt quite as I'd like it, but I can't quite place how to improve it, however the jacket is coming along nicely I think. I've been using a piece of paper cut to the shape of the jacket too allow me to get the right shape for it with the folds, the right hand side is more or less finished with the left still being worked on.




The forth Ogryn meanwhile is very nearly done, hands are all that definately need to be done, I'm pondering over the Pith Helmet as I've found he looks quite cool without one, I'm also keeping in mind that the Ogryn Bonehead will have a similar uniform - but probably only one should have a helmet to keep the models suitable different. What do you think? Helmet or not?



Finally a package arrived yesterday with the remaining two boxes of Ogres I needed to get on with the rest of the squad, I've quickly got to work on these six. They're in very varying states at the moment, but all are making progress, I'll keep working on all of them for the time being, but the Bonehead is going to be the focus on the work - alongside the existing two which are almost finished. The aim is too get half the squad ready for the customer within the next couple of weeks, with the other five to follow in early September - lets see how that works out!



Oh and I almost forgot! Courtasy of Longinus on Boot Camp - it gave me a chuckle...!


"You've spilt mah bloody tea, Im gonna CRUSH you!!!"

D Company Sergeants (Part 3)

I've taken a few hours out of my work on the Ogryns to spend a little time on finishing the converting of the six new sergeants I started for my own army, they'll now join the painting line - with the GT countdown now on this is getting steadyilly more pressing - at the moment top of the pile is finishing the Leman Russ Hull I've been working on, the Sergeants, plus a few other Praetorians figures will be next on the list.

Sergeant number one ended up being posed similarly to one of the basic sergeant models, it was probably the one which gave me the most trouble as I just could'nt get the wrist right, it's still not bang on and is a little chubby, but I'm happy enough with it, hopefully once it's got some paint on it it'll not be so noticeable amongst the squad.



Sergeants numbers two and three both just needed grips for the their chainswords, these also proved fustrating to model, I probably should have added them to the scabbard before adding it the the model in retrospect, they also look far too large, but they are the same size as the grips on the actual chainswords of the other models - heroic scale does fustrate me at times like that.



Sergeant four was the easiest to finish as it just needed buttons adding, a nice simple greenstuff job.



So with these four added too the two I had already finished my two finished Platoons now have their Sergeants modelled to bring them in line with the new codex (...how late...?), now for painting, ho hum.

Commission - Praetorian Ogryn Squad (Part 3)

Another day, another update on the Ogryn Commission.

Firstly I'm happy to have got the first two finished, bar their Ripper Guns, to the extent that I'm involved in the project - two down, eight to go!





Work is now focused on numbers three and four.

Number three is coming along slowly, his open jacket is proving interesting to sculpt, though I continue to be happy with progress I won't be sure it's gonna work until I've finished the jacket in honesty.



Number four meanwhile is as I mentioned based on one I started for myself as a test piece quite a while back, however with a little work I'm very pleased with how it's turning out so far, he'll be a full dress Ogryn with Tunic buttoned and Pith Helmet once finished.

Hobby Fund (1st August)

Well thats a bit better, after a last months, well nothing really(!), I set down to resume topping up the hobby fund and clearing out alot of my older bits an bobs. The result is a nice healthy total in the fund and a shelf free of box's! Things which sold included the best part of my WFB Orc & Goblin army, a fair collection of Imperial Guard metals (but theres still plenty more of these to list!), several books and lots of various odds and ends from various Fasntasy and 40k armies.

Purchases this month have been hobby supplies, a pre-order of the new Leman Russ Demolisher kit and everything I need (I hope) for the on going Ogryn commission.

• Starting Balance 1st July (Previous Sales) = £5.33


• Sales in July = £344.55


• Sales Fee's in July = -£14.39


• Purchases in July = -£87.78


• Misc Income/Outgoings = £2.70


• Balance 1st August = £250.41

This month I'm aiming to continue selling items, though with the greatest bulk of it now gone I can't imagine I'll see a monthly gross sales total as high as this again based on selling old things alone. I'm seriously considering taking on more commissions once these Ogryns are done. Meanwhile I've got my eye on the new Planetary Empire release, I've wanted to run some campaigns at my local GCN club for a little while and this makes a nice tool for that.