WarGamesCon is VERY nigh!

By this time tomorrow I'll be frantically pacing a small room (somewhere in Austin, TX), making sure my presentations are ready and that I have all the handouts and giveaways sorted, and generally wondering how I'll screw up my first true "hobby teaching" test. If I'm lucky, I'll have had a Texas-shaped waffle for breakfast - to calm my nerves of course.

If I get a chance I'll post a post or two from the show. I know the guys running the show are looking to grow the event to mammoth proportions, not to rival Adepticon, but to complement it as another jewel in the crown of indy events. I'm all for that.

Until next we speak I thought I'd show you a piece that I'm working on for a friend's upcoming Apocalypse extravaganza.

Three Bastions, one Shrine of the Aquilla, one Citadel hill, and three weapons from Quantum Gothic in the UK.

Cheers

Dave

Quick Question for the Background Buffs

Hi guys

I'm currently working on a Night Haunter piece and wanted to track down a tidbit of information. I have heard at some point that Night Haunter (Konrad Curze), the Primarch of the Night Lords, wears a crown of some sort. I need to know if that is the case.

If you know where that information can be found (ie. a book reference, web page etc.), please post in a comment below.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

Dave

War Games Con is Nigh!

It is just under a week until War Games Con (formerly BoLSCon). You still have a chance to sign up for some of the events and "get your ass to Austin!"

Bigred, JWolf, and the team there have some great stuff planned for the entire weekend.

One of the things planned is the first stab at some hobby seminars. This time around they have asked me to talk about toy soldiers, and you know I love to do that : )

I think there are still a few slots left for the Friday Hobby Day, so hit up the website and register!

Session One: 10am - 12pm

Dave Taylor presents Joe Orteza's "Lose the Fear: Working with Greenstuff" class.

This class will focus on figure conversion and the use of green stuff. Students will learn different aspects of figure conversion, from basic to advanced. The class will touch on the pose of the figure, basing, and the theme of model. I’ll discuss different techniques from singular display models to large units. Students will learn to utilize green stuff for figure embellishment and sculpting.

Session Two: 1pm - 3pm

"Back to Basics: Streamling Techniques to get your Army Painted"

This class will focus on painting models efficiently and effectively, allowing you to get your armies painted that much faster. Students will learn different "tricks" to cut down on the time spent deliberating on color choices, correcting mistakes, and enhancing the "pop" of an army.

Session Three: 4pm - 6pm

"Building that Centerpiece: The Jewel in the Crown of your Army"

Each army you build really deserves to have a standout, unique model that stands in the center of the display board. This class will focus on the use of plasticard (and plasticard related materials) to enhance existing models/vehicles, or create completely new vehicle shapes and ideas. Students will learn the correct ways of handling plasticard, as well as plenty of ideas and tips for embellishing their centerpiece models.

Cheers

Dave

An Announcement!

Well, now that the dust has almost settled on the Storm Wardens project, with just the winner to be drawn (this Sunday, July 25, in a special episode of Jawaballs Live!), I've had a chance to take stock of everything going on in my life.

• Home life (taking the time to have fun with my wife and daughter)

- Fantastic!

• Work life (co-editing the premier wargaming magazine in the world, Wargames Illustrated)

- Fantastic!

• Commissions (Propping up the hobby fund with cool and exciting projects)

- My cup runneth over!

• Sleep (recharging the batteries)

- not so much.

• Hobby time (working on cool armies and having fun painting what I feel like)

- not so much.

"Wah, wah, wah, quit yer cryin' Taylor!" I hear you say.

On the whole I'm VERY happy with how things are going, but I'd like to get a little bit more time in on my own hobby, or at least some more time to do a few more altruistic things (like the Storm Wardens project). So something has to give.

I can't give up anymore sleep, and I'm not giving up my family or job, so the crunch has had to come with my commission stuff. I will be completing all the jobs I've agreed to do at the time they've been agreed, but as of today I won't be taking on anymore new jobs. I'll take stock again in January 2011, but until then I have to close the doors and get some of my hobby groove back.

I'm thinking of focusing on a Beastman army first up, the one I talked about back in February. More Minotaurs, some Centigors, finish up that Jabberslythe. I also need to paint up FOW Early War German Panzer Company soon and get rolling across the fields of Poland and France, as well as paint more of my Napoleonic British. There are also things I'd like to do for my Blood Pact and Genswick Rifles armies. And keeping up the quality of this blog would be nice too. So little time, but so much to do.

Oh, and there's Games Day coming up. I'd like to have a few quality entries for that : )

In the meantime, check out a job that has just arrived at the client's doorstep this week.

This Herald of Tzeentch is designed to fit in with his unit of Horrors made from the classic Familiars (still available from GWs collectors range, I think).

And this Herald of Khorne on Juggernaught. I added some armor plates to match the bracers he wears, added the banner instead of the sword, and then sculpted the legs emerging from tendrils of smoke/daemonic energy flowing from the belly of the Jugger.

Until next time, take care!

Cheers

Dave

Storm Wardens total announced!

We are happy to announce that this project has collected

$16,107.00

for Doctors Without Borders

A message from one of the founders!

Within only days remaining for contributions to the Storm Wardens Project to be entered, I thought I'd re-post this message from Mike at Santa Cruz Warhammer. It speaks a bit about the project, and the great charity of Doctors Without Borders.

Please take the time to read through it. My thoughts follow.

John and I at Santa Cruz Warhammer started the Storm Wardens Project with a simple idea:

first find a great cause that needs help, then ask the most talented modelers we know to help us build an amazing army that gets raffled off with all the proceeds going to the charity. We didn't expect much and were mostly excited about doing something in the blog community to try and help out in some way.

Six weeks later I can tell you this project has become a bigger success then we ever imagined! This weekend we will make a very BIG announcement, ending the donation drive for this project.

Doctors without Borders

As our chosen charity, all the proceeds from the Storm Wardens Project will go to Doctors Without Borders. This organization provides medical and general health assistance in 60 countries around the world.

When needed, Doctors Without Borders send in only a minimal amount of skilled volunteers and they help set up a local network of sustainable health and medical projects that employs local doctors and nurses as much as possible. That way there is always a good understanding of the nature of problems in a specific area.

The projects range from building hospitals and field clinics to developing wells with fresh drinking water and setting up waste management projects.

The link below directs you to the current projects that DWB is involved in:

Doctors without Borders: Current Projects

Remember that a lot of the things that they accomplish are things we take for granted in our countries: vaccines, fresh water, electricity and general medicine like antibiotics.

According to Wikipedia, DWB is pretty much the only source of treatment for people with HIV and AIDS in much of Africa...that is pretty amazing if you think about it. The picture below points to a project where DWB designed a new, affordable IV drip that can be made locally and costs a fraction of what a normal one costs.

According to figures from DWB, 80% of it's money has been donated by people like you and me.

As far as we are concerned, there can never be enough money for this organization. One glance at the list of current activities tells you that the world is in desparate need of a neutral group of people that help out the innocent victims caught in the crossfire.

Our Wargaming Community

Over the course of the Storm Wardens Project, John and I have become absolutely amazed by the excitement and generosity of the global wargaming community, including players, bloggers and gaming related companies alike.

We have received support from all over the world, including places like Indonesia, Brazil, New Zealand, Singapore and Iceland. I like to think that through table top games, people can release so much stress from their daily life, that the world is probably a better place because of it.

We have learned that as a community, we are not only creative, playful, and social, we are also compassionate and have an interest in helping others.

So, we see that this project has become truly global, but what else can we do?

The answer is to reach out one last time to make sure you have told everyone you know, not just your gaming buddies, about this grand project.

You (and they) have until the end of this Sunday, July 18, to click on the button on the top right, and contribute to this collection for Doctors Without Borders. If you have already given, we are extremely grateful and proud that you did. Just remember, Sunday at 7.00PM we will remove the donation buttons, so you have a few days left to help out people in need.

Thank you all.

Mike

Well, there you have it. A great charity and a great response from our hobby community!

When I was invited to participate in this project I was very excited. A chance to work with some great hobbyists (and bloggers) for a good cause. What's not to like?

Thank you to all the team members for your time and effort.

Thank you to all the companies who gave their products (and profits).

Thank you to all of you who have given your cash to the cause!

If you haven't been able to contribute yet, please remember two things:

1. Charities need your help all the time, don't stop giving.

2. To contribute to this project you have until Sunday night (10pm EST or 7pm PST), get to it!

Cheers

Dave

More Storm Wardens Swag!

Just a quick post to point out that there is a new post over on the Storm Wardens project blog detailing three new items added to the Grand Prize, boosting its value by another $300!

Head on over there now to not only check out the new prizes added, but to take a look at the Storm Wardens miniatures finished so far.

Cheers

Dave

Storm Warden Veteran Bolters - a repost from BoLS

A few weeks back I posted this on Bell of Lost Souls, getting a few more eyes onto the Storm Wardens Project. As this week has been crazy hectic and I'm off to Historicon for work tomorrow (and the weekend), I figured I'd post it here again, incase you missed it the first time.

Enjoy : )

It has certainly been a busy time since the first announcement of "The Great Storm Wardens Project" made it's way onto the blogosphere. John and Mike from Santa Cruz Warhammer had a vision, a vision of a cadre hobbyists/bloggers coming together to work on a collaborative army build that would be able to be turned into raising money for a charity.

The hobby community has REALLY embraced this idea and is supporting it in amazing ways. Not the least of which is the production of some great models, and some excellent looking swag. You can head to the Storm Wardens Project blog to see a collection of all of the models so far, along with links to the individual blogs that the project team members have going.

Part of my contribution to "The Project" is a squad of Storm Wardens Sternguard Veterans. As everyone knows (or should know). Sternguard Veterans are issued with some pretty tasty ammunition variants that can help them out against a wider variety of opponents (from shells with AP3 to shells that ignore cover saves). To that end I emulated the GW Sternguard models when I converted my squad. Three of the Veterans from that squad can be seen above, all clutching what I have dubbed the SIAM-pattern bolters (Special Issue Ammuntion Magazines).

I've had a few folks ask me how I went about building them, so what follows is a simple step-by-step.

Requirements: Bolter, Terminator stormbolter with the double box clip, scope, thin strip of plasticard, sharp knife, and plastic glue.

Step One: Remove the double box clip from the stormbolter and carefully trim all the mold lines and extra detail off.

Step Two: Carefully slice the double box clip into two magazines. You'll need to keep both sides of this one.

Step Three: Remove the standard sickle magazine from the bolter.

Step Four: Glue one side of the box clip to the bolter in place of the sickle clip.

Step Five: Carefully trim the forward sight from the bolter and glue the scope to the top.

Step Six: Start bending the thin plasticard using your fingers. You are trying to curve the strip around to make a strap.

Step Seven: Once you are happy with the curve, cut it off the rest of the strip at the appropriate length. Cut three small pieces of plasticard from the remaining strip.

Step Eight: Glue the strip to your bolter, one end just beneath the muzzle, the other to the bottom of the handgrip. Glue the small pieces of card to the strap, one at each end and the other one third of the way along. These strips will simulate the strap fastenings.

And there you have it, a SIAM-pattern bolter ready to dish out the Emperor's Vengeance on the Daemon, the Heretic, and the Alien alike.

STORM WARDENS UPDATE

As I said earlier in the post, it has been a pretty hectic three weeks. The community has rallied behind the cause and over 640 people have made a contribution to the Storm Wardens Project and therefore Doctors Without Borders, our chosen charity. But we know there are many more of you out there who want to contribute!

The final drawing takes place on Sunday July 25, on a Special Storm Wardens Edition of Jawaballs Live!

We also have a lot of other prizes being given away over the course of the build, keep an eye out on Santa Cruz Warhammer and From The Warp each week for information about these bonus prizes, contributed by the community.

Every dollar donated goes to Doctors Without Borders (apart from the Paypal fees of course) as all the other swag (including the original models) have been donated by the painters themselves, by their FLGS, or by a list of other great companies. Anyone, anywhere in the world, can contribute - we will ship the prizes anywhere in the world!

The last day for you to contribute some cash is Sunday July 18.

Cheers

Dave

Not at all Storm Wardens-related

Well, they can't all be about the Storm Wardens, can they?

A little while back I got a commission for some paintjobs. These were slightly unusual as I am typically commissioned to either convert a model, or convert and paint a model, but really to paint a stock model (or two in this case).

I have to say, it was quite nice to be able to focus on bring out the great detail in these two models, and add a little bit of my own.

On Kharn the Betrayer you can see quite a lot of detail on the front of the model, including little paint chips and scratches from poor unfortunates who thought they culd stand in the way of Kharn and his beloved Gorechild. I was just about to add some scratches and so on to the back of Kharn, but realized that they simply wouldn't be there. No-one shoots at him from behind, no-one has a chance to get behind him in close combat. So clean armor it is.

Macharius was a lot of fun. I remember painting a converted version of this model that I used as the commander for my 24th Macharian PDF, the guys who had their planet destroyed in Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade back in '03.

They key element my client asked for here was the laurel wreath on the cloak, I think it came out quite nicely.

On the Storm Wardens front (because I just couldn't pass up an opportunity), we have another mini-drawing this Sunday for a $50 voucher from the guys at the Warstore! Make sure you've contributed to the project by clicking on the Paypal button at the top of the right hand column.

More Storm Wardens news coming next week.

Cheers

Dave