1,000 Points on the Horizon

After a month in the field with the Army, I'm finally back in the land of the... uh... showered. Now that all my field time is over, I have a ton of free time to devote to the hobby again.

Before I left, I was working on my third and final tactical squad for my Ultramarines 2nd company. Now that I'm back, I'm working on the last few steps before I can get this squad on the table. Painting tactical squads have become pretty tedious. For the most part, I’m just painting marines with boltguns followed by marines with boltguns. Needless to say, I’ll be really happy when this particular squad is finished, marking the completion of this squad as one of the most important steps in the building of this army.

All that's left is backpacks and bases.

Hopefully, I’ll have this squad complete within the week. After that, I have a 5-man Devastator squad to do. That shouldn’t take too terribly long. Once the Devastator squad is sealed, the Ultramarines will be ready to play at 1,000 points. Somewhere in the middle of painting all this blue, I’m planning on putting up a tutorial or two. Stay tuned for more from The 40k Hobbiest!

Taking a Break

In my last post, we discussed ways to come back from a long break. We went over things you could do to get back into the hobby after being away for a while. On the flip side of things, however, what can we do if we know we're going to be taking a break for whatever reason? What can we do to help us come back later when we know that we're going to be away for a while? Keep reading and we'll figure it out together.

For starters, get your reading list made up and take some 40k books with you. The root of this blog comes from the fact that I'm soon to be doing a long period of field training with my Army unit. I already have my list of books that I'll be taking with me so that I can keep reading while I'm in the field. In my last post, we said that reading 40k books is a good way to get your mind thinking about the universe and will excite you into painting again. Just as it can get you going again, reading the 40k books is the number one thing that is going to keep me excited about painting while I'm unable to do so. It'll help keep me motivated so that when I come back, I'll be painting straight away. Podcasts and the like work the same way.

I know that I'm going to stay motivated for when I get back, but what can we do before we take our break? You're obviously going to pack up your models to keep them safe while you're gone, but what about your current project? I for one know that my current project, an Ultramarines tactical squad, won't be finished before I head off into the field. Also, I don't feel comfortable putting my unfinished models into a foam tray because putting them in and taking them out of the foam can rub the paint off if you're not careful. I don't want to just leave them on the table, either. If I do that, they'll just collect dust by the time I get back. That just sounds like too much work to fix. BeforeI go to the field, I'll be putting my unfinished models into my glass display cabinet. There' they'll be protected from dust and any other random things that could occur to them. For those of you that don't have a display case, putting your models in a closet or draping a cloth or paper towel over them will achieve the same effect.

After protecting your models, you need to protect your brushes and paints too. Games Workshop sells their brushes with little plastic tubes to protect the bristles. I always keep mine so that if I ever need to, I can put them back on and store the brushes. If you've thrown your brush protectors away, you can make new ones out of duct tape or something similar. Just make sure to put the sticky side away from the bristles.

As for protecting your paints, there's not much to do. Games Workshop's new paint pots do a pretty good job at keeping your paints from drying out, but just to be safe I'm going to put my paint pots into a plastic bag before I go. That way I know I won't have to worry about them being dried out when I get back.

We seem to have all our bases covered at this point, but there's still one last thing to do. While you've been painting, you've been thinking up all sorts of little rules and things to remember about your current painting project. Make sure you write all that stuff down before you walk away from your project for a while. Write down what step you're currently on, too. Even if it sounds obvious, write it down. You'll thank yourself when you get back to it later.

While you're gone, staying motivated is the biggest thing you can do. Forgetting to protect your paints, brushes, or models can all be fixed in time, but if you're not motivated to get back into the hobby it won't matter. Keep reading those books while you're out. If you can, keep up with your 40k forums, podcasts, and blogs.

Before I go, it's time for a little hobby update. I've been working on my third tactical squad for my Ultramarines. Once they're done, I'll have all my core units finished and I can work on pretty much whatever I want to. I get excited every time I think about it. I won't be able to finish them before I go into the field, but about a week after I get back they should be finished and ready to play with. I'll be sure to add in some pictures to show you how they came out. This batch is producing some pretty awesome bolters!

Until then, take care!

Getting Back to the Hobby

Due to endless Army Field time, moving, apartment problems, and a bit of my own laziness, I haven't worked on my hobby in a while. Now that things have calmed down in my life, I've finally managed to sit down and start painting again. After being away from the hobby for so long and getting used to new routines in life, how does one find the motivation to pick up the paint brush again?

In my own experience, I hadn't done absolutely anything 40k related in a little over two months. I was halfway through A Thousand Sons and I hadn't even read any more of it. My half-finished tactical squad was untouched on the table. I hadn't even read any updates on games- workshop.com. After everything calmed down in life and things returned to normal, I just couldn't bring myself to spend untold hours in front of a magnifying glass like I used to. So I ask again: how does one return from hiatus and start devoting hours to 40k again?

Starting off easy by reading the novels is a great way to get started again. After the craziness in my life calmed down, I picked up A Thousand Sons and started reading every night before I went to sleep just like I always had. Reading about space marines in action and visualizing the epic battlefields always makes me want to paint more and more squads so I can play bigger games.

Lastly, one can always turn to the forums for a source of inspiration. When all else fails, nothing makes me want to paint more than seeing someone else's beautifully painted miniatures. Whenever I see someone else's work, I always find some new idea or technique that I want to apply to my own minis. That just makes me want to paint even more.

Now, I turn the question over to you. What inspires you to paint? After being away for a while, what do you do to get back into the hobby?

New Tutorial: Parchment & Purity Seals

I've been to too many stores and seen too many people just paint their banners and purity seals with Bleached Bone and leave it at that. We can all do better, especially when we want to paint better than the tabletop standard. I think it's the little details that really help to bring the models to life and make them look great. To that, I posted a tutorial to help everyone get more detail out of their purity seals and other parchments. Head on over to the How To page and check it out!

Review: Older GW Codices

While I was visiting my friend in California, we went to a flea market at his local game store. In my last post, I talked about going there and meeting Carl and Geoff from The Independent Characters. What I hadn't said was that, while I was there, I found several codices from previous editions.

In these older books, one can see older models and really see how the game has developed over the years. Stuff like this really helps me decide how to paint an army. Seeing the old Ultramarines from the third edition codex is what helped me decide on the color scheme that I'm using now. I like it a whole lot better than the newer scheme with black weapons and gold everywhere. These older codices also have "model showcases" that aren't in the newer books. In the old Codex: Chaos Space Marines, I found a few converted minis that I'd never seen before. Codex: Space Wolves has a really nicely painted bike squad just inside the front cover. Codex: Dark Angels has a fantastic chapel diorama just inside the inside cover of that book. While the models aren't as good as the ones from today, there are some fantastic ideas and great ways to get inspiration for the hobby that just can't be found in the newer codices.

Also, the older codices are full of stories and background material that isn't in the newer versions of the game. This is my favorite part. The fluff that comes from these older codices sometimes doesn't match up completely with what's currently in print, but it clearly shows the evolution of the universe and of the game itself. In some of the xenos codices I picked up, I read a few stories of Imperial scientists researching things that, in the current editions, are known fact. And if you look closely, you may even read something that you never knew before.

To me, older codices add something to the game that I can't get from the newer editions. If I ever come across an old book that I don't have and isn't in print anymore, I'm probably going to buy it on the spot. If you want to get heavily into the Warhammer 40,000 background then I suggest you keep an eye out too. They're hard to find, but well worth it.

Vacation to California, Met IC Podcast

On Wednesday, my wife and I left for a vacation to California to visit my buddy and his fiancee. He's an avid 40k gamer, so we went down to Game Kastle, his local gaming store, and played a game. My Ultramarines managed to beat his Tau in a game of victory points. It was a little close at the end, but after not playing a game for as long as I had, I think I did pretty well.

Ultramarines Devastators searching for Tau targets.

A few days later, we went back down to the same store for a flea market they were hosting. While I was there, I ran into Carl Tuttle from The Independent Characters, my favorite podcast! It was one of the highlights of the trip so far. I got a picture with him and Geoff, and then showed him some of my Ultramarines. For those of you who listen to the show, Carl is starting an Ultramarines army for his painting challenge, so I thought it would be neat to show him my army.

Left to right: Geoff, myself, and Carl

On the topic of Ultramarines, I'm reworking my entire Ultramarines army. In a few days time, I should have all new army lists posted. I think they're going to work a whole lot better than what I currently have. Keep checking back to see what I've come up with.

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, I've started working on my third (and final) Ultramarines Tactical Squad. I'm taking pictures after each step. Shortly after the squad is completed, I plan on posting a step-by-step tutorial on painting Space Marine armor using my techniques. Now that the Titan is done, producing tutorials is my main focus. Every squad I make should produce another tutorial or two for the How To page. Keep checking back; new content is on the way!

The Titan Walks

Ladies and gentlemen, it's finally done. Canis Rex, my Mars Pattern Warhound Titan, is finally finished after about nine months of constant work. There are new pictures of it posted in the Other Models section right along with all the other ones I've posted. Head on over and check it out!

Not content to rest on my laurels, I've already moved on to my next project. Right now, I'm working on my third and final Ultramarines tactical squad. But more importantly, I'm taking pictures of every step as soon as I finish it. When this squad is done, I'm going to use the pictures to make a tutorial on painting space marine armor the way I do. Stay tuned, everyone. The tutorials are finally on their way!