2012 - A Year in Review

What a year eh?

Was it good? Well.....50/50

There were a few bad parts, mostly just the last few months, though that incident that forced my mother and little sisters to move house (psycho next door neighbour....I know, cause he threatened to kill me too). I guess apart from those things, it's been an alright year.

Got through a lot of projects this year, including Skaven, Chaos and of course my Brothers Army Challenge. While I have wound down from all it, I did get some great models done. Certainly Skrag the Gatekeeper is a  popular choice for some. Character wise, this was the year for Storm Spear, Sparky and Lord Corrupticus Fellwing. These three seemed to have a great focus and were well fleshed out character wise.

This leads to a big THANK YOU to all the Artists who I commissioned work from. The pieces they produced were fantastic and I will continue to commission more works as long as I have ideas and the money to get them done. Extra big thanks goes to SupaCrikeyDave, who has done a number of the commissions I've requested. Thanks Mate!

So what does 2013 hold. Well....13 is apparantly my lucky number....and the sacred number for Skaven is 13...sooo...

In all seriousness, I plan to get back into other forms of art. I'm already set up to begin oil painting and should receive my microphone soon so I can begin practicing voice recording. I'll get back into photography and of course, will still continue converting and painting models. I've also started a Tumblr account, which was ment just to watch other Tumblr's, but I will do something with it depending on what you guys think. So in truth, it looks to be a good year to come.

So a Happy New Year to you all and hope 2013 proves to be an even greater year.

New Years Eve Update

Got night work tonight, but finish before midnight so I guess that's good. Not sure what I'll do tonight to celebrate the new year cause I don't see how next year is going to be better.

Actually, let me rephrase that: What I ment was January is going to be a nightmare for me, but if I can pull through it then perhaps 2013 will be good (should be, seeing as the number 13 is actually considered a lucky number for me.......maybe that's why Skaven appealed to me?).

Speaking of those ratty devils, nearly finished work on that GD model. Had a gap behind him when he was glued to the base, so will add a big rat behind him (which, in my opinion, actually improves the model). After that? Well, I might paint up that Genestealer Cultist model thingy I got off Ebay (it's been tempting to start work on it, but I have other projects to finish first).

Also, can't wait to start oil painting again (it's been 10 years since I last did it.....wow, now I just feel old).

Finishing Games

So, just finished both Monkey Island 2:SE and Bastion. I gotta say both games are very good, but Bastions final level really got me good. Not only does the full weight of the story really hit you, but you're given choices on what to do. For the choices I made, I felt the emotion that it gave (it was deep enough for me anyway). As for MI 2, apart from Dinky Islands jungle part and the constant going back and forth (a trademark of point and click adventures) it was good and the voice acting for the most part (the game itself was text talk based, not ment for actual speech) was brilliant.

Not much else game wise, though while typing this I got a text offering more work, so tonight I work.

Update and a little MI

So, got brushes, paints and canvas's......not all I need is for my flatmate to go back to work so I can start painting again. Also, Microphone ordered and projects have started up again, though somehow all this gaming is distracting.

I can't help it, it's Monkey Island. Just finished the first one and nearing the final part of the second. Not sure why, but this series is just fantastic. The characters, story, humor and music is what a great adventure is all about (even if the damn thing gets too repetitive). I admit I did play these two years ago and I've also played MI 3 and the telltale game too. In fact, MI 4 is the only one I haven't played, and from what I heard it was the weakest of the series. If you haven't played it, then go do it (or at least look it up on Youtube).

Actually, that gives me an idea.......

Back from Christmas

Just got back from mum's place after a great Christmas there. I admit I didn't have much hope that Christmas this year would be good, but it was (for the most part, with the exception of the idiots in her street setting off illegal fireworks and upsetting the kids and pets...and waking us up).

Moving on from that: Bananaman (yep, completely different). A classic old show about a less then intelligent super hero, some rather idiotic bad guys and the worst puns you'll ever hear......which is why most of us love it.

 OK, so not my most favourite of episodes, but I had to put this one up because of the final part with Bananaman playing the piano and the police chief singing (or whatever you call that). For some reason I can't get that scene out of my head.

Steam Shopping

So many great deals on Steam at the moment. So far I've got myself Terraria, Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2.

Steam at least has some decent sales on, better then most gaming companies at the moment.

Update: Just got Bastion. Great game too.

Tumblr

I set up a Tumblr account just to follow a few people, but now that I have one I have to ask, what should I use it for? Just general stuff? An 'Ask me anything here' page? Maybe one of those pages where you ask my characters questions and they respond to them?

Is it worth even using? Have I just opened myself up to abuse from random people for their amusement? What have I gotten myself into?

Perhaps I should have looked into Tumblr more deeply before I through myself into it. Maybe I should just ignore it and leave it for the moment, see what happens, that sort of thing (unless anyone else has any suggestions, which I'm willing to listen too).

Planned 'Art' Dump

An art dump is basically a big upload of art on my Deviant Art account. Sketches, Photos and various bits and pieces. Still working out what to add, seems a lot of my photography snaps to go through. A couple in particular a just asking to have a few words added to give it a comical feel. I'm hoping to do it once I've finished another painted model or when one of my commissioned works is finish.

Of which, I do upload those works that I have commissioned. The reason being is that I link them to the artists own page in order to help promote that artist. I do make it quite clear that they did the art and all I did was give them the idea of what I wanted. I love character creation, but my skill in drawing them is terrible, so it's nice that I can finally see my ideas come to life through the work of other artists. In this day and age, we should always support our fellow artists.

End of the World....Again

Seriously, I've been through god knows how many 'end of the world' days, only to be disappointed that we still had crap on T.V the next day. My question is why does everybody want the world to end? Do they think life will be better in an apocalyptic wasteland or something? Side note: the world ended long ago, but nobody's bothered to check :)

Since I'm working till midnight, the only thing ending tomorrow is my shift. Then it's home to bed.....assuming I don't run into any zombies along the way (Don't worry, I've seen the Dead Rising games. All I need is a wheel chair and a lawn mower....yeah, that's it).

GD Warlord Update

It's still bloody hot.

Anyway, base is just about done. Just need a few highlights on the gravel/slate and it's finished.

As for the Warlord, he's slowly getting done. I may have to files his toes as the metal doesn't seem right. Also, there is a gap in his neck when you place the head in, so I will need to green stuff that one up too.

His tail is very well molded, so I hope I can paint his up better then I do most Skaven (the tails are by far the hardest part on a Skaven to paint).

Heat Heat Heat

Damn I hate summer, heat really slows me down.

Nothing else really.


Sorry if you were expecting some exciting news or something.......it's the heat you know.
( Yes, it's a very slow day)

Skryre Base

I have the Skaven Warlord Games Day model and I want to paint him up as a side project while I work on my conversions. Given that I am of Clan Skryre, I wanted a base that would make this model stand out (as it should, givin it's limited status). All I needed was a $2 clock, some cheap clips and match sticks.

This is what it'll probably look like. I'm not sure if there is anything I can add or change to improve it. The top itself has not been glued on yet so I can paint it.

This is what it looks like without the platform. With any luck, once painted it should look good enough.

Snorta Klaws

He's finally done:

Snorta Klaws

A project that was way overdue, Snorta Klaws is one of those projects that you do for a bit of fun and nothing else. Was it's paint job rushed? Perhaps, but I really don't care. I was just a fun little project that I'm glad I did.

OK, so now you might want to know what was used to make the model.

Snorta Klaws is a Bloodbowl Chaos Dwarf with green stuff hat and skeleton flail top. His bag is an Ogre bag with some filing and green stuff. His mace is that from a Chaos Warrior with mace top off a Plague Monk census flail top.

The Snowmen Shield-bearers are made from modeling clay, with a green stuff coal,carrot and hat. As previously mentioned, the hats weren't smooth enough, so they became metal as befitting a Chaos Dwarf. Their arms are bits of wire with some liquid green stuff to make them more like sticks and the weapons are from Skeleton and Plague Monk kits.
Note: One of the eyes went missing and so I used the problem to make an opportunity to show the dark magic that's inside them. The 'snow' effect Snowman was simply white paint and Bi-Carb Soda mixed to make a textured paint effect.

Finally, the shield is a small flying base with some green stuff.

Wait, what??

Ross Noble, you can take the realm of fantasy and make it a greater place to be.

Wait, bogan Skaven? Beards into mullets?

Now there's a conversion challenge.

Bi-Carb FTW!

With the snow textured paint haven dried up, I decided to try something different. I mixed Bi-Carb Soda with white paint and dabbed it around the model. The coal and arms need to be re-touched, as does the nose and that just leaves the weapons of the snow men and each will be finish (about half-way completing the shield).

Also, the reason for the metal hat was that my green stuff version didn't come out as smooth as I'd like. Given that my 'Santa' model is based on Chaos Dwarves, a metal hat doesn't seem unreasonable.

Update:

 The shield is done. All a bit of fun really and not ment to be fantastically painted. More information on it will be said when it's finally uploaded to Deviant Art.

Blog Updates

More Storm Spear commissioned work now added to Project: Storm Spear page and to Deviant Art account. Also note more information has been added to the characters.

Getting closer to finishing Xmas project. snow texture paint dried up (must of been that heat wave we had), but perhaps some Bi-Carb soda can solve that problem (is there anything problem that stuff can't solve). Now just have to design a sort of twisted seasonal image to paint on the shield.

Life Up-date Up-date

Went in to discuss about the study options and the results were not what I expected. This has left me contemplating my options. Turns out that study may not give the out come I had expected, that I may have to do more research and check out my options to determine if they can lead me to my goal.

This won't put me off from my plan to do painting/photography/sound recording and I will continue with that even if study proves fruitless.

Life Up-date

Where to begin? Let's just say that if you've read previous entries that you'll know my life has hit a bit of a wall. One of my major flaws (a flawed human being, who'd a guessed) is a complete lack of focus. This seems obvious with the lack of finished projects. Unfortunately, when my life does hit a wall, this lack of focus does become a serious problem for me.

I am cutting down on my miniature projects, partly due to taking so long to do them, but also I'm not enjoying them as I once did. Don't worry, I'll still continue to do them, I just won't go overboard like I've previously done. So what else will I do? I plan to go back into some study and finish that Art course I was doing years ago, but never completed it because I could no longer afford the materials to do my work. This means I plan to go back into painting, along with my photography. I also want to try my hand at voice recording, maybe even do up a voice resume for a possible chance at some voice acting roles (even if all I say is one line it'd be a great start).

They say 'if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself' and that's exactly what I'm doing. So between now and next year (which is when these study courses begin) I've got a lot of work and thinking to do.

But to show this post isn't a total waste, here's a quick preview/teaser of the Xmas project:

What could it mean?

Oh yes, got this one from Ebay too (another project that I'm still collecting pieces for).

Sound Recording

One of those things I'd love to do in my life would be some voice work, be it character voice's (which I'd love), gaming let's plays or even be part of a podcast. While I doubt that anything could happen, I'm willing to try it out.

I know Brad (from theradbrad youtube channel) did a recent video explaining products he uses. The microphone he uses seems to be a popular choice and I am looking around for a good price on it (seriously, Amazon.com had it for around $99, not including postage but it seems the only place I can purchase it here in Australia is around $238.........eh what??). Not sure on voice recording software, still looking into that.

Not sure why I didn't do this years ago, but I'll never know if I don't give it a shot.

PM Conferms End of the World

No, I doubt the CSRIO could actually confirm anything. That said, I doubt most Aussies would actually notice the world ending or even think it a problem. Considering that most of the animals here can kill us, what do we have to fear?

Critic Opinion: Practical vs Rage

I've watched a number of critic reviews of movies/games by a number of critics and the one thing that seems to come up is people who respond to them. Their responses ether tend to have creative criticisms or flat out immature raging. What I don't get is why rage? It seems to serve no purpose and doesn't convince others you should be taken seriously.

Critics try to provide a non-biased view and tell of the positive/negative parts in a constructive way. If you disagree with their opinion, give reasons in a constructive way. Don't come out saying things like "OMG U SUX IT WAS AWSOME" or "YOU DON"T KNOW SHIT". How is anyone going to believe your side or believe your right if you act like a nob with no real evidence or explanation why.

I don't know. I'd like to hear peoples reasons for why they think the critics are wrong (and try to convince me that their side is right), but it seems that until they do, I'm just stuck scrolling through crap.

Thoughts on: Captain Planet Movie

Recently there are rumors going around about a possible live-action Captain Planet movie. I'm probably one of the few fans of the actual show (since any reference to the show on the internet tends to be negative based). Given it had so many moral and environmental messages it was trying to convey, it's probably people saying "We don't want you telling us what to do, just give us action". But anyway, my thoughts:

First up, I find most shows/games/etc that get turned into movies don't turn out so well. Given that one of the major people behind this also worked on the last Transformers movie really has me worried. Why? The human factor. While Captain Planet's heroes were the Planeteers, Transformers were the Transformers, but it never seemed like it (and what the hell did they do to Soundwave?), it just seem too focused on the humans. If they plan on going down the 'humans' path, then at least limit the focus to just the Planeteers, not all sorts of people as it just leads to boring sub-plots and stupid awkward situations that drive me nuts. I would still like to see the Wheeler/Linka romance in it though. As for the character actors, I'm not sure since I can't think of any teen-like characters that would fit each roll.

Secondly, the semi-human/non-human like characters. I would like them to at least go for a decent villain, but actually keep as close as possible to the looks of them. Take Hoggish Greedly. He's a large, overwieght, pig-like character, so keep him like that and not just name a fat guy that name and be done with it. I think Dr. Blight would be the best villain to use for a starter movie, but they could even attempt to get Meg Ryan to play her (she was the cartoon Dr. Blight's first voice actress). Heck, then they could get Tim Curry to voice MAL, Dr. Blight's computer A.I. assistant (Tim Curry was MAL's second voice actor).

Finally, Gaia and Captain Planet. Would they get Whoopi Goldberg to play as Gaia again? Would they get Captain Planets original voice actor back? And would he look good or bad as a CGI character? Again, these questions may not seem like much, but if you take a T.V show and replace everything so that it resembles very little like it, it tends to remove the nostalgia experience, which if at least half your ordinance.

Apart from those worries, I think it's a great idea. In this day and age, Captain Planet needs to return to educate the younger audience, and if they can modernize them without going overboard, it should do alright.

December Project Update

OK, so I'm just about finished doing the banner for the Skryre BSB (then I just have to glue it on and cover the gap) and only have a few more things to do to finish the Chaos Ogre. From there, I work to finish my Xmas project (one that I've been on and off for so long).

What is it? Well, let's just say it's a Warhammer one with snowmen involved.

#%&* $@%^&T%&$@#&*^&!!!

Venting my fury for a bit. Have just learned that the company that employs me can now only really give me late night hours. The only problem is I can't work those hours. Unfortunatly, no one really knows about this due to my store manager being fired on Friday (thank you for NOT telling me when you wanted me to work on Saturday!) and my Support officer was still away. As if this heat wave wasn't enough, I now have to deal with more work related crap. I have only recently returned from work related stress leave only to become involved in more work related stress.

Fan-tucking-fastic and Merry Christmas.

Up-date: Did talk to the new store manager and she is very understanding of my situation. It's good to know that there was some good news in all this.

Art Studio

I've made references to the show Art Studio in the past. Thanks to Youtube, I can now show you the show I'm talking about. This one is also one of my favourites.

Slaying Song

Work called me up yesterday wanting me to work that night to help with stock. That was fine and all, except that they played this once Christmas song over and over and over again, four hours straight. No song or ads in between, just that one song being played over and over.......Jingle Bells will be the death of me, I swear it.

In other news, started playing League of Legends and I gotta say it is fun. I did play DotA for a while years ago and this is a better version of that. My fav character so far is Twitch, whom is very much like a Skaven. I did try playing various characters, but Twitch is my fav so far (mostly cause I suck at melee characters). 

Empire Archer/Huntsmen Unit

Done. Despite the heat I finally completed the unit.

Most of the snow did cover some of the rocks I wanted to show, but considering the unit is in deep snow I was quick to ignore it.

Photos do tend to show too much detail, thus my human faces look bad. Given my style though, I can't complain too much. Certainly the grey hunters outfit blends the uniform well with the snow theme.

Damn some of these guys look like clowns. It's amazing how a little drybrushing can fix some of the stand out colour of the bows. Overall, pleased with the results. Now all I have to do is finish a 19 man Swordsmen unit and a 10 man Handgunners unit (AAAGGGHHHH!!!!!!).