From the workbench of the esteemed Horati0nosebl0wer

The gifting time is here since I saw a future gamer without his own army. Here is the handiwork of a Noseblower with purpose.

Its not a spectacular effort to wow the crowds but it passes my muster for a serviceable selection of 4 points or more. Here’s to a first foray into weird and wonderful non GW fare. Maybe we might see a bright new OTT-er pup on the boards.

An update to my painting armory is in order. As I’ve been in need of fleshtones lately I’ve considered investing in restocking my Vallejo paints. Due to a recent swap at my regular monthly painting group I’ve come to own a couple sets of Cuttlefish Color paints. I am very pleased with the results as the selection of color is easily placed for what I need

The names are not set to your standard expectation from some other lines and they can be overlooked for purpose. You only need to pull them to mind when you restock. The consistency and how matte the final result turns out are really where these feel better for me.

This is now going to be my standard for skin as how they flow out of the bottle, with only shaking and no thinning, just feels good and yields beautiful results.

I think these rescue operations for minis is appropriately titled. I have snagged a group of Dark Eldar Incubi created before they were Drukhari and made of other material.

There was high hope seeing all the pieces with what looked like little effort for restoration. I was wrong on my assumption. The single in front that is in pieces came apart easily as it seems that rubber cement was used to stick them together but it might just be a fluke. I will be dropping these into The Stuff (not that B movie stuff) and cleaning them before seeing if they need pinning. With luck this will be very simple.

To a better tomorrow for these figures from yesterday.

This really is a rant against an overarching government as it happens to hit gaming (look at the impact of the publishing industry in the not too distant past) and how I would like to have input from abroad on visual weirdness for tiny fighting men.  I can pore more over this for academic purpose but my point is to stay on track for the hobby industry as it relates to my very small) global presence.

My plan is to one day build a Chinese mythology army based around the many afterlives one might be subject to after death. It would be fun for a miniature agnostic system, take SAGA for example, where my mind could run naked and free in the same manner as a Phil Foglio character. It is heavily swayed by the fun time film ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ and thinking back to the quick reading of White Wolf’s ‘Kindred of the East’ books outlining their take on Asian vampirism. I will complain that I have found quite a bit of Japanese undead and some from other cultures but none from China. I blame the Chinese Communist Party and their affiliates for this cultural let down to impede my merriment in exploring mythologies through miniatures. Yes, a first world problem but actually relevant to our hobby as a whole.

Is there something to be said about a Eurocentric hobby mostly encircling the western portion of the continent? Yes, it’s definitely something to point out and see cultures that have the economic level to afford time and possess enough technical means of producing models for mock warfare. I will refer to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and say we as gamers have hit the big time beyond just scraping by for sustenance.

Do I think that the rest of the world should have some shot to show of their weird and wonderful stories with cultural idiosyncrasies? Hell yes, is my answer to that. I like exploration and finding new things to pore over visually. Here is the crux of the matter that I find most vexing. There are cultures in the world which do not allow for the free exercise of imagination; The People’s Republic of China is one of them.

This jumps into the realm of the political with the destruction of The Four Olds and The Cultural Revolution. The Chinese economic model for prosperity is great for analysis but out of the scope of the observation for the moment; I won’t touch on recasters in this post.

As a hobbyist I want to have my mental fun to bring to the tabletop and amaze other’s eyes. I’d like to be able to promote people who actually know the intricacies of folklore better than I. I can’t do that without pushing against another society’s norms and values. My interpretations are from the outside and cartoonish (not animated illustrations but the original definition). For a society with so much ambition to be seen as moden and developed internationally this seems like the smallest of benchmarks but could prove to be as difficult as making the roller balls for ballpoint pens.

So I’ve put together the box of Steppe Warriors and Mongol Cavalry box that I ordered a couple of months ago. I thought doing a force for SAGA would be fun but I have no need with so many armies of my own queued up. I have made amends with my conscience and wallet that this is going to be the starter force for the son of someone I know at my FLGS. The father plays SAGA Age of Crusades so I can play him occasionally with my figures as is barring monsters. On the flip side he would need monsters and his knights would fit right in. To give the young lad something to do I thought it best for him to have his own army which he could also face off against his dad with. Bringing in a young pup to chew on something other than 40K is alright by me.

As a quick aside I think Gerry might recognize some Amazons, in a lovely tote in the background, which may get painted at some point.

The recent commission that have been bundled with other things previously covered. I’m not keen on doing tigers in future.

Giftmas to be launched this week!

It’s been very quiet from me here on the site but it’s not been so with regard to my hobbying. The volley of Giftmas presents is almost ready to send and I’ve been catching up on long overdue work I promised to get to my regular patron. On top of that I was caught up on being sick and have more inspiration for projects that I may or may not work on. Terrain-fest will get my addition as Sundancer, Brennon and Ewokkebab (among so many others) has shown that doing the table dressing is manageable. I think it’ll be a good break as I continue to bounce around different hobby aspects to stay motivated.

To plan for the future beyond what I have set now and have a quick reference for projects to build as crossover points between historical and fantasy wargames (“Take SAGA for example”… some wookie we all know) here is a list of ideas I’ll have simmer for consideration and fuss about with as I feel moved to do so.

Jason and the Argonauts

Mongolians

Warring States Chinese

Ayutthaya Kingdom (medieval Thai)

Medieval Japanese

Aztecs/Toltecs

Dark Age Irish

Israelites

I picked up some new cheap nylon brushes as my current ones have been beaten pretty hard. I’ve done pretty well with the Royal & Langnickel and Dynasty. My FLGS has some Chinese made Ghost(?) brushes which I’m playing with right now but are priced a tad more.

I’ve worked with (size 1?) and have made a change to size 3. It is a bit of a jump but it’s made quite a bit of difference as the bristles actually have some spring in them. The point is useful with minimal curling and the reservoir (not much of a bell to speak of) holds enough moisture in my arid environment to allow pretty good work. I’ve also invested in a small spray bottle to moisten my wet pallette with occasional misting. As I’ve said, the place where I live is pretty dry (lately mostly around 45% depending on the time of day) and shortens the working time my paints significantly so this seems like a no-brainer. Here’s a way to check what kind of conditions you might get with your own humidity levels.

Meteored Humidity Map

Right now painting goes well and masses of minis are getting color. Good luck to you all slinging paint.