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A Miniature a Day Day 10/30 #30daychallenge #getcreative

Today's Miniature

Warzone Mourning Wolf Heroine

Returned to Warzone painting last night. I know this is one of the worse shots I have taken, I'll try and get a better one tonight. But it was figures like this that got me into Warzone as a game. That's just a cool figure.

I will probably focus on the remaining figures in this squad. Instead of the usual process of making all the figures look basically the same my goal this time to is to allow a little more variation. You can't tell from the crappy picture but I tried to utilize some different techniques and colors in this one. Used a black undercoat with a real light metal dry brush for the gun and the chain, instead of my customary all metallic color. I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

Different route, flatter, knocked out 4.5 miles, it took longer for the pain to come, which is the plus side, must endeavor to persevere

A miniature a Day Day 9/30 #30daychallenge #getcreative

Today's Miniature

Clan War Phoenix Hero

Sorry for the break, I had a very busy weekend: multiple birthday parties, plus getting the new laptop configured correctly. Anyway, back to it with another Clan War figure, you can see another reason I like the game so much is the miniatures are very interesting to paint.

This one was done in multiple layers of red, starting with a dark 'blood red' then dry brushed with a lighter bright red, then topped with a light dry brush of a dark yellow. The feathers were a special challenge, but I thought I handled them alright.  

Back to painting tonight, but probably take a break from the Clan War, not sure what I will do, thinking of returning to my Lizardmen.

Well this game is seriously demoralizing, I wonder if the Rams can make the adjustments to not let this get any uglier?

Kids fed & bathed, oldest working on homework, decks are clear for me to watch the Rams on Monday night football! Here we go!

Dragged myself out for a 4 mile run this morning, pushed through the pain to do it, my new plan for the week begins with 1 word: stretch!

Party over, got in some good jungle ball with the teenagers & at least ate well & got to enjoy the broncos win!

Feeling like a slug today after circumstances kept me from running again, hopefully I can get in at least a walk & some basketball.

Well buffs got their first win, I stayed away from the house & the tv for the whole thing for sanity sake. Relaxing b4 a family bday party.

Stayed up late last night, and for my sins my children were up before 7. Sure am glad I'm just tired & not hung over too. No run today :(

Relaxing at home, getting ready for Friday night pizza & movie.

Testing Ping.FM, this will likely result in multiple Facebook updates, sorry for the feed spam.

A Miniature a Day Day 8/30 #30daychallenge #getcreative

Today's Miniature

Clan War Phoenix Clan The Nameless One

Another Clan War figure, this one is a Shugenja, the Master of Earth. The Phoenix Clan had all of these super magic users, which was part of what made them so powerful.

Since he is the Master of Earth I chose Earth tones: various shades of brown, with some other highlights. I decided to use a wash rather than dry brush to bring out the highlights, and I was happy with the results.

A miniature a day Day 7/30 #30daychallenge #getcreative

Today's Miniature

Clan War Phoenix Fire Elemental



Another Clan War figure. This was possibly my favorite unit in the game, I mean how could you not like a unit of guys that shoot fireballs like archers?

Obviously with a figure called Fire Elemental the color choice was going to Reds and Yellows. Not my strongest colors to work with. But I thought it turned out very well.

A Miniature a day Day 6/30 #30daychallenge #getcreative

Today's Miniature

Clan War Phoenix Hero

Clan War was another of my favorite games that has disappeared in the dustbin of table top history. Which was sad, because I always liked it, although that could have been as much because the army I picked (Phoenix) was one of the stronger ones, and my luck with 10 sided dice was always superior to 6 sided dice.

Anyway I went with different shades and brightnesses of blue with this figure. Trying to retrain myself on some dry brushing techniques. I thought this was a fun figure to paint. Samurai armor is always daunting, but if you take the time, and keep it simple you can still get a good looking figure.

A Miniature a Day Day 5/30 #30daychallenge #getcreative

Today's miniature

Warzone Venusian Ranger

This figure is from what is still one of the best table top miniature games ever made in my opinion. And it was figures like this that attracted my attention to the game. They are just cool miniatures.

I have tinkered with different schemes for the Rangers in the past, but went back to the traditional white body armor for this one. It is goofy if you read the background of the game that these are supposed to be the top jungle fighters, but this is how they are always depicted. So I went back to the scheme for this one.

Football thoughts #Broncos #Buffs #StlRams

Not a good weekend for the fan in me, all 3 of my teams lost. Plus I got to go to the Air Force game and watch them get pummelled. It was a good test of my ability to take losses in stride as something well beyond my control and therefore no reason to get worked up about. Here's my general thoughts on each team, based on what I have read (and watched in the first half of the Broncos game).

Colorado Buffaloes

We wanted improvement from the Hawaii game and we got it. We didn't win, but we got close. And we definitely played better. From what I have read so far the one thing this team has really developed is an ability to make half time adjustments. In both games they have had much better second halves. Which is a big change from last year, when it felt like the coaching staff just couldn't understand that basic concept. On thew other hand, it's still a rebuilding season, so there are a lot of bad habits, and a low level of talent that need to be addressed. But I at least feel optimistic that things are on the right course.

Saint Louis Rams

Not a good loss, but there are some mitigating factors that can put this in perspective. First, it's never good to lose like that at home, but like an early college football game loss, there's a real chance that loss won't seem so bad if the Eagles end up being as good as everyone expects them to be. I mean we were in the game for a while, until they just wore the Rams down (in more ways than one looking at the injury list). Second, we lost some important players, but now will be a chance to see how our depth really is. Third, while it seemed that there was a chance for the upset, that was what it would have been: an upset. Looking at the schedule it is unlikely that we will really see where this team is until after the bye.

Denver Broncos

If Broncos fans did not already curse the name of Josh McDaniels before, they really can now. Because his poor drafting, and poor management really just gutted this team of real talent. Couple that with the damage the lockout did for the new coaching staff and it's a wonder that we kept the game as close as it ended up. There were some positives, but it's going to be a long season, and I would be surprised if there isn't a continuous churn in personnel for the rest of the season. Fox, Elway & Xanders have a lot of work to do.

Overall, I had better find some other things to focus my mind on than football because if this weekend was any predictor I better get used to learning to be philosophical and taking the long term view with all of my teams. Because when the seeming best team you root for just lost 31-13 you had better not set your expectations too high.

A Miniature a Day Day 4/30 #30Daychallenge #GetCreative

Today's Miniature

Void Assault Infantry

I did 3 pictures of this, none of which turned out real well, but hopefully the 3 together give a decent idea. Here's another figure from Void, but a different type, this is more of an Space Marine type, full body armor etc. Which changed up how I approached the painting. 

I chose a different color: purple, as my primary. It was a challenge to use something different like that. I covered it with a dark wash to give it the shiny look. I was happy with the finished look.

A Miniature a Day, Day 3/30 #30DayChallenge, #GetCreative

Today's Miniature

Void Infantry

This figure is from the failed game Void. I was never really entranced by the game, it's mechanics were not very great, and it was horribly imbalanced amongst the factions. But I really liked these particular figures, thought they were cool and fun to paint.

This is an example of what my color blindness can do (or not do as the case may be). I can try to do some camouflage schemes using brown, green, red & black. But I just have to rely on the labels on the paint jar when deciding what I want to put on next in terms of color. I was pleased with the overall results though.

A Miniature a Day, Day 2/30 #Getcreative

Today's Miniature

Warhammer 40,000 Ork

Kept it deliberately rough and dirty, because that's how Ork's roll. Had some fun with this one as far as using some color, instead of my normal drab greys and blues. Although that is hard for me to do, because my Red-Green color blindness does present a challenge when I try to use Green's, Red's or combinations (Brown). I was pretty happy with this one.

Last night I got to combine 2 of my favorite things: painting miniatures and watch football. Nothing makes me feel more like a slug than just sitting and watching football, so it feels good to combine the 2.

Painting miniatures, a 30 day Project #30daychallenge Day 1/30

In the absence of feedback, none in fact :( I have decided to plow forward with a project of my choosing. Because it seems like a good challenge to take, and I want to take up the challenge thrown down by Wil Wheaton here: Get Excited and Make Things and do just that. So my goal is to upload 1 picture a day of a miniature I am painting or am in the process of painting.

I recently decided to change my approach to painting, instead of worrying about completing units etc for games I just don't play very often (if at all) I was going to focus on painting for the sake of painting. And if that means I am painting a seemingly random set of miniatures then so be it. All that being said here is my first post:

This is a Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine Terminator Captain

The paint scheme is a continuation of a scheme I have for the rest of my Space Marines, which was a Space Wolf force that I built up and played with pretty regularly many years ago. This was the figure I pulled out of the box to paint when I thought of starting this project. You can see my rustiness in painting on display here, but overall I like the result.

Looking for a challenge, plus successful restraint of addiction

Last night was the last preseason game for the Broncos, and the opening night of the college football season. Plus Kim went out with her Mom so I had the house and TV to myself. All of which in the past would have resulted in some serious overindulgence of football. But I held off, just kept apprised of scores on my phone while watching movies instead. I was very proud of myself.

A couple of my friends have been indulging in some challenges on their blogs/Facebook. Challenging themselves to post a picture/blog post a day for X number of days. I think that would be a fun challenge, but the thing for me is what to post? I don't necessarily come across a worthy picture moment every day. I sure don't paint a new figure every day (although that would certainly be a novel challenge). Another thought was a quote, be it from a TV show, movie or book. To help me decide I will write a list here of options and await feedback, I will also add a place for votes on the page.

1. Take a picture and post with a comment every day for 30 or more days.
2. Paint a miniature and post a picture of it every day.
3. Find a worthy line or quote from whatever book, TV show or movie I am watching
4. Something else (throw out the suggestions).