The Visitors are massing!

It's all going 'bootiful' on the Visitor front because I have now finished fixing the twenty little guys to bases and have also covered each of their tiny toes up:

Click the Pic!

You can see that the front row has also started to get some plates added to their chests. I will be adding boot tops and gauntlet cuffs as well as finishing off all the chest/back plates by joining them together. It is taking a little longer than I would have hoped because they are very tiny and I am in constant fear of dropping them. The colour scheme I am going to go for will be dark blue clothing, red boots/gloves/plates and very pale green skin (the red plates will separate the blue uniform from the green skin). The dreadnoughts will be all blue with some red script on the carapace of each head.

Ticking along, as they say.

See you from the loading area!

Some Visitors...

I received a lovely couple of parcels yesterday. First of all, I got my bases and Green Stuff (plus a lolly!) from Heresy Miniatures. Next I got my Grey Aliens (plus an extra freebie one... so thanks very much to them!) from Tengu Miniatures.

The Tengu Greys are absolutely perfect for my plans as they are almost exactly the same height as the Grymn. They would also fit inside the Eldar Dreadnoughts and walkers that I plan to use them with so everything is cool. I have begun to base the Greys and once I have done that, I will start the conversion work  (boots, gloves, collars and belts). I have twenty of the standard Greys and  the freebie one which has a space helmet and suit.

Here is a pic of the Greys and a very WIP paint job on the first of the Dreadnoughts along with a scale shot of the Greys against a Grymn:

Click the Pic!

Now all I have to do is finish the commissions and I can get really involved with the Visitor invasion party.

See you from the gurney!

Bank Holiday Fun!

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been gathering together old Eldar Dreadnoughts and going through the motions of assembling and painting them. Seeing as E-Bay has been a good friend to me of late, I have managed to get hold of six... including three which are yet to arrive. The one I have already assembled was from my attic... so at the moment the force will have seven Dreadnoughts and 20 little greys.

So... I get things from E-Bay and they are covered in paint so I need to de-base them, break them down into their components and strip the paint and glue off. I recently learned the merits of Dettol for paint stripping so I dunk the components into Dettol and leave them for 24 hours before brushing them vigorously and re-dunking.

A lot of people dilute their Dettol but I tend to use it neat so that when I brush, the paint doesn't turn into a sticky mess. The only time I add water is when I have finished stripping and it is just to rinse the Dettol off.

So... I finished stripping the paint off but there is superglue on some of the pieces. I thought I'd get some Nitromors to finish off the job. Nitromors is only usable on metal as it will pretty much dissolve everything else. It is good for getting rid of old Green-Stuff, Milliput and glues along with any stubborn bits of paint that the Dettol didn't shift. So I went to buy some and was astounded to see it for sale at £11-95!!! Rats to that... so I went to Wilkinsons and it was £6-95 (much more reasonable). While I was there I also got some more cheap tooth brushes for the paint stripping.

Once all the Dreadnoughts are ready to be assembled (they are in the Nitromors at the moment) they will need basing so I have gone for some 50mm bases from Heresy Miniatures. They are a perfect size and it gave me the opportunity to buy another ribbon of Green Stuff.

On the subject of Green Stuff, I have some of THIS and have had a nightmare with it. It is so much less user friendly than THIS. It is good value but storing and using it is much more difficult than it living in its own box and just cutting of a little segment of ribbon. It may just be me of course...

I am in quite a slump at the moment. I really want to be sculpting but I just can't seem to get motivated. It will bite me if I'm not careful because I only have until 6th September to finish the cyclist!

Ho Hum...

I am hoping that the Dreadnought project will stimulate some much needed enthusiasm. That said, I will need to decide on what colour to paint them... at the moment I am thinking a black/dark grey with some red accents here and there and I am also thinking that the Greys will be green instead (with black/dark grey suits).

A change is as good as a rest.

##EDIT## As it happens... I am painting the dreadnoughts very dark blue. Isn't it funny how ideas ebb and flow.

See you from the doorway!

Sunday again

I have been sculpting a bit this week and for some reason I've also become completely fixated with a big distraction. What? Me distracted again? surely not... but yes, I have become distracted again.

E-Bay has been my friend over the last couple of weeks and I have collected together a few of these:

Click the Pic!

As you will see, I have assembled an old style Eldar Dreadnought (Wraithlord). I have padded out the rear of the head so that it could feasibly house a pilot... did I say pilot? Well... I've decided that these would be good support for some little people. Now I thought long and hard about what would work with these and I thought... Greys. My first thought was ones that come from Tengu Miniatures... so I ordered a few.

Click the Pic!

I will be adding some clothing to them but apart from that, they will remain as they are. Should be fun.

Apart from that, I have added a bit of putty to the cyclist but not very much. Henry the kitten has been keeping me busy.

See you from the races!

Tuesday... KITTEN!

Last night we collected the newest member of the family... Henry:

Click the Pix!

That's something to raise a smile on a Tuesday :)

See you from the happy chair!

Sunday.

What can I say? After a five hour drive yesterday, an evening of celebrating until very late and then a five hour drive home this morning; I have had no time for anything other than bemoaning the horrible humidity of the English summer day we are having.

I had a good time yesterday and it was worth the trip.

So...

Not a lot to really say...

I have decided that rotating engines on my drop-ship, won't be happening.

Hopefully, the next post will have a bit more to show off but I guess it is a good thing every now and again to have a break from it all.

See you from the rocking chair!

A quiet week...

I have had another one of those quiet weeks. Virtually no hobby stuff, a bit of writing and a bit of fun. I was talking to my daughter about nonsense poems and I suddenly thought of the Jabberwocky so I found the words and put my poetry hat on...

The first poem I thought of was Ning, Nang Nong but that one is less dramatic.

I am off to a wedding reception today. I like it when I am driving somewhere and I only get the details when we leave... life is so exciting that way and it never causes any argument.

I am not sleeping at the moment so I have been thinking a lot about drop-ships. It is going to get to a point where I am seriously going to have to bite the bullet... I just wish I could draw what I am thinking about because it would make life a whole lot easier. The main drive of the design is to have enough space for four Old Crow vehicles and thirty troops. The main cargo area will house the vehicles and there will be gantry steps up to the passenger area above the cargo bay. I have been pondering the whole 'rotating engines' thing but I am really in two minds about it because it seriously complicates things... but at the moment, it is all shapes and lines... and a lack of space.

I have finished my latest story and concluded the trilogy. If you are interested, click these:

The Duplicate Adventures

Rebirth and Realisation

Eastward Endeavours

For my next stories, I am thinking that a walker pilot would be a good character. I may give the walker a robot personality or something...

Henry will be arriving soon.

Henry is a little black and white kitten.

He is going to be my daughter's... but he'll still be in the house so he'll still be fun for me too.

Have a nice Saturday.