The Bitz Box, a Hobbyist's Best Friend

What do you do with all the left over plastic bits and bobs that you're left with once you're done assembling whatever kit you are currently working on? I mean, you don't use everything do you?

Would you believe that when I first got back into the hobby, I threw them away sometimes? Yup, that's right. I didn't really know any better at the time, and until I needed one little part for something that I was sure I had, then realized that I had thrown it away. It was then that I decided that come hell or high water, I'd never throw another unused bit away again. Unfortunately this left me with another conundrum... What do I put them all in?

Adding Dynamic Movement when Posing Miniatures

With all the versatility we're seeing in the quality of the plastic kits that are coming out for our favorite hobby, there is an opinion I'm seeing more and more..

"Who needs to convert, when the kits let us have so many different poses?"

Well, I do, dangit! And you should too! Why? Because with just a little effort, you can truly have a unique force that not only will no one else have, but you can really add a sense of dynamic movement to a fig who's standard, static poses we've all seen, all too often.

Take for instance the below examples of some basic poses of a few of my Centurions.

Kholek Suneater Conversion

"Any idea how you'd make a Kholek Suneater, Tim?"

That was a question posed to me one day while a few of us were at the local shop in town. The end result of that conversation ended up in a commission to convert said Character from the Warriors of Chaos army book.

What I determined I needed to create this was a Stegadon and a Giant Kit. What my client was able to provide me was exactly that.. a Stegadon and a Giant Kit. Literally. The Stegadon was already put together!! Ack! This posed a slight problem as I was going to be a bit limited in how I worked these two kits together since I lost out on the versatility of being able to work with the Stegadon kit before assembly.
I had originally planned on going very draconic in nature for this conversion, with alterations to the Stegadon to be made accordingly as I built it... Lengthening the tail, resculpting the feet, etc. Unfortunately the fact that I would have to butcher the Stegadon that was provided to even attempt some of those parts of the conversion, and very likely ruin the model, then making me have to replace it, wasn't a risk I wanted to take. Ah well, best laid plans, and all that. Time to change the game plan!

Deathwing, Black Templar Style

 

So here starts the beginning of a series of posts on this commission I've taken on in the past month or so. I'll be updating this commission with a post every so often as I complete more and more of the army.

The army itself consists of:
1 Terminator troop squads
1 "command" squad
2 5-man devastator squads
Belial conversion
Librarian in Terminator armor (using a Grey Knight)
1 Dreadnought (with various options for arms)

It Lives!

So today is the day where I say, "Hey Look, I'm back!!' And then make all kinds of happy promises about updating regularly, right? Well.. sort of.

I won't bore anyone with my previous health issues, just suffice it to say I'm finally back on track health-wise. Lately, as in in the past couple months, I've even been able to devote a little more time and energy towards hobby-esque things as my health progresses for the better. In addition to actually working on projects, I've decided to make this Blog more of a priority as well. The goal is to update once a week. If I do it more, then great, but for now, but let's be realistic here. Once a week is a good start.

The Ressurection Begins...

Well it's been nearly a year since I posted anything of worth.  My life has changed quite as bit since June of 2010 with a bevy of illness plaguing myself,  my son being in therapy, surgery starting off this year... it's been a ride, let me tell you.

The good news is that I'll be resurrecting my own little corner of our hobby world with a new Blog.  After everything that's happened, I'm starting fresh and hitting the ground running.  Here's hoping some of you still remember me, and will be interested in seeing what I have in the works.  I'm actually writing ahead to create a log, JUST in case something crops up.. gee with me, that can't happen, right?  Right.  And GW won't raise their prices this year.

Wait, that already happened.  You get my point.

I've set new goals for myself.  Achievable ones.  Both in this hobby I love, and even my health and life.  I'm starting fresh, and I can't wait to take you along for the ride.  Check back as I'll have the launch of the new come Monday, May 30th!

Tim

My health apologizes...

Hey everyone!

I wanted to give a quick shout to anyone still paying attention to my little corner of our hobby world. I literally have two new posts written, and just need to edit some pictures to go along with them for some basics of sculpting tutorials and discussions. My problem? I just got out of the ICU with a severe case of pneumonia in both my lungs. I've actually been fairly sick this past month or so and well, the virus won for a bit apparently.

So everyone has my apologies for the inactivity and i hope you stick around for what I've got planned in the future.

Tim