Grey Knights Progress Update

I had the opportunity to play in a local Combat Patrol tournament last night, and I took my Grey Knights. A friend of mine I between rounds asked why I hadn't posted an update the army lately. My answer was "Well, the first squad isn't done yet...". His answer?

"So post something in progress, anyway. Show folks that you're actually working on them."

He had a good point.

Batch Painting Blues

Batch Painting [bach - peyn-ting] noun, verb, whatever

1. The process in which a hobbyist takes a number of like-models, and paints them all in stages, so as to finish said models all at once, instead of one at a time.

2. The preferred method of painting an entire wargaming army, to maintain and retain consistency across the entire force.

3. One of the many possible reasons for Hobby Burn-Out, and why Miniature Tim wants to talk about it.

New Carrying Case for Competitions!!

Back at Adepticon 2010, I took a class by Chris Borer on advanced painting techniques. One of the many things I got from that time, was that many painters who begin competing at a competition level, don't seal their figures with any kind of dull cote spray, because it can alter the meticulous paint job they spent so long achieving.  

So how do painters transport their competition figures without damaging them?

Grey Knights Paint Formulas...and a Lesson Learned

Be Prepared...

It seems I need to be reminded of that motto from when I was in the Scouts.  Why, you ask?  Well, I sat down this weekend to get some painting done on my Grey Knights, after some other work I had to finish up Sunday night.  I laid down the base coat of a slightly thinned Boltgun Metal and then had some dinner.  Afterwards, I went to give the figures a preliminary wash of Badab Black and quickly realized one very important thing...

I didn't have any Badab Black.

Engineer on Mechanical Pegasus, WiP 1

Yes, yes...I know I should be getting the Grey Knights painted and done, but I just can't leave this project alone.  I'll be using this figure as a break in the monotony of painting that army, so I want to get the major converting done on him early.

Besides, a package arrived in the mail for me late last week, and I just can't leave the project alone until I get to play with a new-found hobby resource.  In the comments of the concepting post for this project, Fiend Without A Face pointed me in the direction of Hasslefree Miniatures in the UK as a source for steampunk parts...

The Point of All This

So I wore my Miniature Tim T-shirt to work the other day, and got asked quite a few questions about it.  What is Miniature Tim?  What kind of hobby is it?  Is it fun?  Is it expensive?  Do you really play with little army men…etc.

However the question that stood out the most came later in the day when a coworker came over and said, "So I read a few of your blog posts, and I like them and all…but what's the point of it?  Why do you do it?"

And you know, It took me a minute to answer him.  Not because I didn't know why, but because the reason has evolved over the past 7-8 months.

Project Concepting: Engineer on Mechanical Pegasus

And so begins a new series in the blog, showcasing just how I get ideas from my head, into reality.  I thought it would be interesting to show the concept-to-completion process with my projects this year.

I don't play Empire…heck I barely have played two games of Warhammer Fantasy in my life, for that matter.  In fact, I am only just now gathering concepts for my Ogres forces that I'd like to play, for next year!  However, with all that said, I have always loved the Empire Engineer on Mechanical Mount figure.  Through some outside inspirations, and the fact that I was able to get the model for cheap, I've decided to make this one of my competition pieces this year.

"But wait, Tim,  that's a Mechanical Horse he's riding, not a Pegasus…"