Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

A New Year's resolution... better late than never!

After a nearly year-long hiatus from the hobby to pursue more electronic-oriented forms of entertainment (yes... I was an mmo addict...), I have returned to the hobby that I love, if only in part. I have sold off and downsized much, but somehow I managed to hold onto my Flames of War miniatures, along with a smallish Nurgle CSM army.

After playing the fantastic MMO "World of Tanks," I find myself being drawn back to the miniature game that started it all for me. I've been playing FoW off-and-on for five years now (coincidentally the same number of years I will have been married to my beautiful wife on the 26th of this month!) and I typically find myself gravitating back towards its more mature theme, basis in history and realism, and lower price-point (since I still own much of the game rules and material).

Now with the arrival of companies like Plastic Soldier Company reducing the cost of 15mm game pieces, and price-point-positive www.gamodls.com providing miniatures that even I can afford, it should be easier than ever for me to get back into the Flames of War scene.

I'll be starting with Mid-war battles, which have always been a favorite of mine. The battles of the desert and Mediterranean have always been pleasing to me. This is probably due in large part to the lack of a Pacific theater, as well as the tendency of Hollywood and game producers to over-glorify the battles of France and Germany during the late war period. Tunisia and Sicily allow me to play in environments more interesting to me than the over-done beaches, bocage, and villages of the Normandy countryside.

In the meantime, I'll be working on small modeling projects to prepare myself for larger projects. Time to get to it.

My resolution: to finish painting both my FoW armies and my Nurgle CSM. The nurgles might be just for selling but maybe I'll hold onto them... we'll see.

Until next time,
--FP135

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Mostly packed up

Well, with Move-Day just a week away, I had to come up with a new way to transport all my minis. Being a poor fellow, I did not have the dough to afford an expensive Army Transport or equivalent, and I needed a lot of spaces, so pre-cut foam was out. But I wanted foam, being the safest for the minis. What to do?

I looked around. At my local department store (Fred Meyers) I found sheets of material similar to the memory foam that they use to cover mattresses. A large sheet of 1.5" (big enough for a full-size bed) ran only 13 dollars. I picked up a sheet.

Many of you have seen the crates that soda products are delivered in. I found a gas station throwing them out, and asked for a few. I took only 3, but now I wish I had taken more. They measure approximately (depending on the manufacturer) 11"x18" and 4" deep. Perfect!

Using my hot wire cutter recently purchased, I cut out appropriately-sized sections for the models, and put the piece in the bottom. A solid piece over the top, and the tray was secure. Also, the crates are stack-able, since the 3" of foam doesn't quite reach the top enough to push the next one off.

I may include a tutorial and pictures on it later, but I can't remember which box I put my camera in! Just thought I would share to inspire.

Until next time,
FoxPhoenix135

Friday, May 22, 2009

FoxPhoenix Update: New Diggs

Yup, I am moving again. Hopefully this time it will be for the better! Expect sporadic updates in the next couple weeks, as I am moving the 3rd of June. Once things settle down, however, I should have even more time to devote to the little plastic men!

I have been using the hot-wire foam cutter to make myself some cheap figure cases lately, in preparation to the move. I suppose it might make a decent sunday tutorial for you all. For now, I guess this is all you get. Until next time!

FP

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Like Christmas in July... Except it's May....

I am waiting for another shipment of bikes to come in, but while I wait, I have received another AoBR set in the mail. This set will be used to bolster my space marine force as well as my ork horde. Today I assembled the SM contents, and tomorrow I likely will assemble the ork contents. I am undecided yet if I really want an ork army on standby. I like my SM army a lot better, as I see it as having a lot more sophistication than an ork horde. SM lists can be tweaked to counter a certain army or tactic, making them jacks-of-all-trades. Unfortunately, this has the side effect of being masters of none. Orks, on the other hand, specialize in assaults. They are very strong in this regard, but lack in shooting power. They are good at what they do, arguably one of the best, but they do not have the flexibility and the finesse that a SM list has.

Therefore, I have considered painting my ork army to sell. You've seen the pictures of my Warboss, do you think this scheme has any marketability? I know better than to think I am anywhere near professional quality, but I think I could get a slightly better value for a painted ork horde simply because painting an ork horde is a pain.

Friday, May 8, 2009

FoxPhoenix: Mr. Mom?

I know.... Today was supposed to be the deadline for the webzine. Unfortunately, this task is a little too large for me to tackle right now, with my wife going to work. I have assumed the mantle of "mommy" in her absence, and hobby time has definitely suffered. Therefore, the new date for release of the webzine will be June 1, 2009. Sorry, folks.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Apologies


First off, I am sorry I have not been posting as regularly lately. Combination of life, working on the new webzine (self-imposed deadline for mid-May), and still trying to do hobby-related things has slowed down my posting rate a bit.

Life: My son has been sick a lot lately, which means I have been required to pick him up from daycare early a lot. This is quite a hassle, since I live 45 minutes one-way from the daycare, so it is at least an hour and a half round-trip each time I have had to go get him. I have also wasted a lot of time in doctor's offices, only for them to tell me it is a viral illness that they can do nothing about. I find that hard to believe, seeing as he runs a 103 degree F temperature almost every day for the last week... But luckily Motrin or Tylenol brings the temp down for a little while. Today he got up at a wonderful 3 AM and refused to go back to bed, much to my wife's and my dismay. Oh well, who needs sleep?

Webzine: I have been working on a tutorial on building a Cathedral terrain piece using mainly cork tiles and a hot glue gun. Makes for interesting work. I would post it on here, but why would you read my webzine then???

Hobby-related: I have been working hard on painting up the Ork contents of the AoBR set. So far, I have all the green flesh-tones done on all the orks, and now I am just painting their garments and weapons. I have the warboss done, and am chipping away at the Nobz Mob. I decided to do a slight variant of Blood Axe clan, giving them an urban camoflague pattern, and adding in red accents to liven them up. Sometimes it makes it look kind of cluttered, like on the warboss, but I can paint it quickly which is more important to me at the time. I plan on purchasing another AoBR set in the next month to make a 1000 pt Ork list that I can build from. I already purchased the new codex for them yesterday, and have started throwing around ideas on how to put together my next army.

I will continue to plug away at that webzine. I know you all are anticipating its arrival, so vote on the name for it if you have not already so I can finish the title page early! As of right now, it is a tie between Hobby Bucket and FoxPhoenix's Hobby Monthly, so break that tie!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Must..... Feed.... Addiction....


Well, I am finally letting go of a portion of my Flames of War (a WW2 game) collection. I am trying to fund a few things, mainly my 40k addiction but also I am trying to escape to a new apartment. In Alaska, the job market has not been kind to my family, but my wife and I are trying to turn things around. She just got hired as an Optometrist's Assistant in a Wal-Mart Vision Center, so that should help bring in some money. I have an interview for a position of Personal Trainer at the local gym (don't laugh, I am not a overweight middle-aged guy despite the stereotype of 40k player. I am ex-military and love to stay fit). But until the money rolls in from new employment... I have to roll the FOW out. FoxPhoenix Jr. has to eat! So drop on by http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/238089.page to check out the going rates for some US Infantry platoons and such. I'd appreciate it!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Last day to vote!

Today is the last day of the Chapter Naming poll. Get on and vote!

I have little time today, but I will make sure to post later and explain my most recent exploits. I did buy some more paint yesterday, and some greenstuff! This will be my first attempt at sculpting, so I will try to document it in detail.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Yay job hunting...

Sorry for the lack of updates, been out job hunting today. Additionally, my son had his first day of daycare today, so things were pretty busy.

The chapter naming poll is closing soon, so be sure to get your vote in! I need some tie-breaking between the leaders, or I will have to run a third poll as a sudden death! I don't want to wait that long, so hurry up and vote!

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