miscellaneous: adepticon 2014: and so it continues...

...but with revised plans.

Back in January I posted grandiose plans to finish a Dreadball team, Dreadnought, and Crystal Brush squad for Adepticon. Since then, I've plugged away on my Iron Warriors for the Independent Characters' Hobby Progress Challenge, but have been less than pleased with my work on the Adeptiplans. After a failed start, Simple Green bath, and another failed attempt, I'm calling it on my Crystal Brush plans. There aren't enough hours between now and then to finish them and the models that are game necessary.

Of the models that are game necessary, the Dreadnaughts are currently on the back-burner after a Simple Green bath. They got stripped not because I was unhappy with their progress, but because the paint started stripped off when I started stippling on rust. I let them soak in Simple Green a couple days, washed them a couple times, and just this morning got a nice primer coat on them. Fingers crossed they take the paint well this time.

The Halfshell Heroes (which will likely undergo a name change when I deign their logo) are priority number 1 at the moment. I was finally able to get my sculpting mojo going again and knocked out the last of the "turtles" this weekend. Still have some work to do on "Slash" - the big guy in the back - but these guys also got primed this morning and will be getting paint ASAP.

Halfshell Heroes: Jacks (clickable)

Halfshell Heroes: Guards (clickable)

I plan on using the airbrush to pre-shading the team, then use glazing to provide the majority of the color. It worked okay on the Barsoom diorama and I hope I can make it work again here.

miscellaneous: adepticon 2014: ...and so it begins

I was one of the fools that spent the evening of November 14th scrambling through the madness of Adepticon 2014 registration. I may not have gotten every class that I wanted, but my schedule is still full of games to play and techniques to learn. And plenty of time to hang with friends old and new. It's always the best part of the con!

Now that January's here and Adepticon is (in hobbyist terms) eminent, it's time to buckle down and figure out what models/projects I need to have finished by the end of March. The events that I need something for are as follows...

• Dreadball League in a Night
• BootaTown: Dreadnaught Arena
• Crystal Brush: Sci-Fi Squad?

For Dreadball League in a Night, I've decided to convert and paint up the Season 3 Teraton team I got with the Kickstarter. When the Kickstarter included a very familiar anthropomorphic rat I was stoked. When they added a race of lizards with shells, I knew what I had to do...

Ukomo Avalanchers | Coach

A couple weekends ago, I pulled one of the Teraton models out and started working on a proof of concept. This is what I came up with.

Ukomo Avalancher (left) Ninja Turtle? (right)

Not 100% what I pictured in my mind's eye, but close enough to keep trucking with the concept. This weekend I spent some time working on faces and made my first attempt at the shell.

The shell needs some work, but like the faces I think the proof of concept is enough to keep trucking forward. I've done preliminary logo work for them too, but I keep vacillating on the name. "Vintage Cartoon Ninja Teraton" and "Master Yoshi's Halfshell Heroes" are the current front-runners.

For BootaTown, I've recently re-kindled my long dormant Iron Warriors and will likely kill two birds with one stone by building and painting up an Iron Warrior Helbrute from the ForgeWorld kit I purchased a couple Adepticons ago.

For Crystal Brush I'm currently waiting on Badger to fix my compressor so that I can try some new things and test my mettle with a Necromunda Redemptionist squad. Before I even put brush to model, I know it's unlikely to win. I've seen what others can do. But I'm still gonna try to push myself with it and I look forward to getting one-on-one feedback from some of the most talented painters I've ever had the pleasure to meet.