Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Dangers of the Intwebz (not about Grey Knights)

Today I'd like to share a story to demonstrate the dangers of the internet...

Long ago, GW pulled the Tau race out of a dark region towards the back of the human anatomy. I wasn't thrilled that the Kroot, who'd been around since Rogue Trader fluff-wise, had been made the Tau's lackeys. So early on there was no temptation whatsoever to ever touch a Tau anything.

After a while, the look of the Fire Warriors started to grow on me. Of course, mold will do the same thing if you stand still too long. Then I decided that the Tau tanks didn't really look as bad as I'd first thought, and even the Ethereals were cool in their own unique way.

However, the one thing I could never (ever)(ever) get past is the armor suits. They look like a young childs' attempt at drawing some Japanese mecha. I know, because I used to be that young child. The Tau tanks are sleek and look fast and agile when standing still... the Crisis and Broadside suits look blocky and immobile even when moving. So, there was no temptation in the Tau army at all for me.

On another related note, I was assembling a solitary Fire Warrior for an as yet undisclosed project. I really kinda liked the little dude. So I did some reading about Tau on scribd.com. Research for the project I mentioned, of course. Then I thought to myself, "I wonder what Forge World has done for Tau?". This is where the internet gets dangerous...

A quick flashback to my burning hatred of Tau armor suits...

This sucks (in my humble opion)...



However, this freaking rocks (cold hard fact)...



Commander McUgly Pants...



Commander UberKewl with a side of awesome-sauce...



So what I'm scouring the internet for now is the answer to a particular question, but maybe some fine reader out there may know and be willing to share. These XV9 Suits are featured in IA Apocalypse II... are there rules for them in regular games of 40k anywhere? I have no desire to ever own an apocalyptic amount of Tau. I know there are people that won't play with you if you have FW toys, but I'd like to know if there are rules to do so.

That my friends is why the internet is a dangerous place. I'd advise you to close your browser, shut down your computer, unplug it, and run for the hills. Right after you leave a comment if you like.

Friday, March 4, 2011

WHx2 Pt 1 (saving the worst for first)

Welcome to Pt 1 of what will undoubtedly be an extremely many parted series. The project is to build two Mars Pattern Warhound titans simultaneously. I know what you're thinking, "what a great way to really slow down a cool project". I feel that if I build them at the same time they'll develop intertwined personalities as we go. Kind of deep and tree-hugger-ish I know, but trust me on this one.

The plan is to start at the bottom and work my way up. I have a goal to make the pose on one, or maybe both, extremely dynamic... like, how does that thing stand up, dynamic. We'll see if that is able to happen. I also plan to magnetize the weapons for interchange-abilty. I know a lot of folks have done that, but I have a plan that will allow me to still use the cabling that goes to the weapons. So let's get on with it!

The title of this post is Saving the worst for first, and for good reason.


(welcome to piston hell)


As I mentioned I'll be working from the bottom up. So that means two Warhounds worth of hip, leg, ankle, and toe pistons. Note: above you see only one Warhounds worth. In tedious matters such as cleaning and prepping parts I'll not make you look at pictures of two identical processes.

I'm happy to report that there is very little in the way of mold lines on all this mess. Sure, a little trimming, but not bad at all. Some pieces, like these toe bits shown below, needed nothing more than the resin channels trimmed off...



A quick shot of the feet themselves shows the kind of trimming that is needed there...



On to the washing we go. For cleaning resin I'm firmly in the Simple Green camp. I typically soak in it for a day or so then scrub with an old toothbrush and rinse well (the parts that is). In this case I've soaked all the pieces in a large cup. I would like to salvage my liquid for another batch of resin to soak in. I've found with small pieces (like hellish pistons) there is a common household item that can help me remove the pieces and keep the liquid...



A Strainer! I won't lie, I felt a lot smarter than I should have for thinking of this one. If you want to use one of these I suggest you a) use one your wife no longer uses, b)take it out of the kitchen while she isn't looking, and c) know if she reads your blog so you know whether 'a' or 'b' is your best option.

After much patience I've found that ForgeWorld was kind enough to place some extras of most of the piston types in the bag. Or else even they get so sick of them that they just throw a bunch in. Here they are all trimmed and laid out in their piston-y goodness...


(one Warhounds worth)


I already have the next bags of parts going through the cleaning process and hope to have all the leg parts cleaned and trimmed in the next week or so. I'll post as I get each bag of parts (x2) ready to go.

Thanks for visiting! Comments are welcome, as always. See you next time!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Old Stuff Day at The Inner Geek Blog



Rob over at Warhammer39,999 had a great idea that you can read all about by clicking the banner above. The gist of it is that we should pick a post or two from our past blogging and dust them off. While I'd like to just repost a couple blogs I'm particularly proud of, I'm going to link to them instead. Otherwise this would be one long winded post indeed! The first two posts are about working with resin and I'm quite proud of the way I documented my processes. It's something I've gotten out of the habit of and need to get back into. They are also good reference material moving forward into my Warhound Twins series that is just beginning...

Reaver Titan Pt 3 WIP Resin Tips


Reaver Titan Pt 5 (Legs Major Parts Assembly)


The third blog I'm proud of is a book review. I think I'm proud of it because I feel like I manage the review without rambling too much. I can be a bit of a rambler... but now I'm rambling.

Titanicus Book Review


There are a lot of great blogs of the past that will, no doubt, be on display again today. I'll be out enjoying them on the interwebz today and I hope you enjoy them too.

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