Note to Self

Next time, wear gloves when you spray paint your mini's.  Not sure what the boss is going to think...

New Hobby Area

I like pictures of hobby areas.  So here is a picture of mine.  It is still a work in progress up at least I can dig my mini's out again.

Click on the pic to go even further down the rabbit hole...

A quick tour will reveal spray paint and Simple Green sitting on a box of Lizardmen still not unpacked.  A Space marine Dreadnought guards the bits box.  More Space Marines hang on the wall while several Orks are trying to take over the unpainted ranks of Cygnar.  Many of my gaming books are within easy reach with the Order of the Stick looking on.  Fun Times!

Cygnar Firefly

Click on the pics for larger versions.

Back Story:  We have moved into our new house and I have finally unpacked enough boxes that I don't feel guilty when I walk by my hobby room.  To celebrate, I went to the local craft store, picked up a few new paints, a nice pack of brushes on for half off, and headed home.

I spent the first couple of hours digging out mini's and organizing my area.  It is still small but I think it will work.  I dug out all my Cygnar mini's that still need paint and lined them up.  Then I got intimidated and nearly packed them all back up.  I decided that what I really wanted to paint was a warjack and then I realized that I have them all painted!  So I went to the game store and purchased a Firefly.

Firefly:  This is the first Privateer Press plastic model I have gotten and I have to say I like it.  I was surprised by the number of pieces, especially in the right arm with the spear.  If you want to pose this guy, the right arm will be heaven.  I checked online and found Guts N Gears video of how to put it together (here).  I like these guys podcasts and the video was incredibly helpful.  They mention the amount of flash on their model and mine was similar.  The mold lines were very clean but the place where each piece was connected to the pour had to be cleaned and it was little tricky around some studs and other details.

I really liked how 95% of the pieces fit together.  The legs and back furnace didn't even have to be glued, though I did.  The arms each fit together really well and could have been glued without any pinning.  If you have built the metal warjacks before, you can understand my joy.  Of course, I couldn't just glue it.  I wanted to be able to swap arms.  Sometimes, you just need an extra Lancer, or you can pull an arm off when it experiences combat damage.  And I wanted to play with my magnets!


I started by tracing one of the magnets with a mechanical pencil.  I then used my Dremel tools to hollow it out.  It took a while to get used to how the tip of the Dremel removed material but it really was the best tool for the job.  Once I got the circle the right size, I was able to remove more material deeper without changing the size of the circle.  I was aiming to get the magnet flush with the plastic.

I am very glad I started with drilling out the body.  It is much easier than the arms.  The arm sockets happen to be about a hair bigger than the 0.250" diameter (6.4mm) and 0.063" thick (1.6mm) rare earth magnets that I have on hand.  I basically removed everything out to the studs and as deep as I could without busting through.  I could literally see daylight through the bottom of the piece when I was done drilling!

Note for others:  You can do it the same way I did.  It obviously works.  But, you could save yourself some grief and either get smaller magnets or or just cut off the arm piece with the studs and glue straight on the hydraulics.  A smaller magnet would work because the pieces are plastic and they are holding virtually no weight.  Cutting off the studded collar would work, though you lose detail and there is less material to glue to.

The rest is still a work in progress.  More pics will be coming soon.

What DnD Character are you?

I Am A: Lawful Good Human /Cleric (3rd/2nd Level)


Ability Scores:

Strength-11

Dexterity-13

Constitution-14

Intelligence-16

Wisdom-15

Charisma-13


Alignment:
Lawful Good A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion. However, lawful good can be a dangerous alignment because it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.


Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.


Primary Class:
Monks are versatile warriors skilled at fighting without weapons or armor. Good-aligned monks serve as protectors of the people, while evil monks make ideal spies and assassins. Though they don't cast spells, monks channel a subtle energy, called ki. This energy allows them to perform amazing feats, such as healing themselves, catching arrows in flight, and dodging blows with lightning speed. Their mundane and ki-based abilities grow with experience, granting them more power over themselves and their environment. Monks suffer unique penalties to their abilities if they wear armor, as doing so violates their rigid oath. A monk wearing armor loses their Wisdom and level based armor class bonuses, their movement speed, and their additional unarmed attacks per round.


Secondary Class:
Clerics act as intermediaries between the earthly and the divine (or infernal) worlds. A good cleric helps those in need, while an evil cleric seeks to spread his patron's vision of evil across the world. All clerics can heal wounds and bring people back from the brink of death, and powerful clerics can even raise the dead. Likewise, all clerics have authority over undead creatures, and they can turn away or even destroy these creatures. Clerics are trained in the use of simple weapons, and can use all forms of armor and shields without penalty, since armor does not interfere with the casting of divine spells. In addition to his normal complement of spells, every cleric chooses to focus on two of his deity's domains. These domains grants the cleric special powers, and give him access to spells that he might otherwise never learn. A cleric's Wisdom score should be high, since this determines the maximum spell level that he can cast.


Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)