Mechanicon! and some Tanith

The Mechanicon 40K GT is just around the corner, literally. In just under three weeks Tony, Jeremy, Jim and the rest of the crew will be running a growing Grand Tournament in the "old school" style. You can find out more about the show by checking out their website here.

This year the guys are running another charity auction. Last year I offered up painting a 28mm miniature of the winners choice. Jim Warrington won the auction, and I painted up this Vulkan He'staan for him. We are both pretty happy with it. So, for this show I'm offering up the same thing (a 28mm painted model of the winners choice that is). Get along to the show, have fun playing some great games of 40K, and bid early and often on all the prizes the crew will be gathering for the charity auction!

And here's an update on the Gaunt's Ghost project I've been pottering around with. Above you can see the finished Veteran squad, lead by Scout Sergeant Mkoll. The squad is equipped with two sniper rifles, a meltagun, and camo cloaks. Below is a closeup of some of their tattoos.

Below are the three sniper teams I did for the project. Although the snipers are from a Special Weapon squad and would typically be based individually, but the client and I talked about it and we figured I could tell more of a story on the larger, 60mm bases.

From left to right: Mad Larkin, Nessa Bourah, and Jessi Banda.

Cheers

Dave

Thank you one and all!

Well, as many of you might have seen, the auction for my (now former) Legio Custodes came to an end on Sunday having raised $3,800 for my two friends, John and Justin. Thank you to everyone who bid on the army, told someone about the auction, donated to Justin and John through their Paypal accounts, and sent messages of support through. Thank you everyone!

Thanks especially go to a great guy, Alec, who placed the winning bid on the army. I've spoken with him on the phone this week and I'm very excited that someone who is as passionate about 40K as I am will be taking up the mantle of "Custodian of the Custodes" (please, no janitorial jokes).

Alec is the guy behind the Apocalypse40K.com forums which are all about, you guessed it, Apocalypse gaming. In Alec's own words:

"Apocalypse40K.com is a forum for Apocalypse-sized battles in Warhammer 40,000. Some of the biggest Apocalypse groups in the country participate and discuss issues surrouding games sizes, rules, formations, DIY units and more. Battle Reports from World Record games and details on some insanely big armies are all part of this fun and informative forum."

I strongly urge those of you with a passion for the Apocalyptic to head to the forums and join in the fun.

As well as all that, Alec is donating a still-sealed-in-the-box copy of Space Hulk to be auctioned off. How cool is that? More details in the next week.

Anyway, I've been waiting a little while to show you these guys, a couple of conversions that are part of the last batch of commissions I've done. What you see below are some conversions done for a Ravenguard army. On the left is a "counts as" Sicarius. In the middle is a "counts as" Vulkan, and the metal chap is Lemartes with his Blood Angel iconography filed off. In the bottom picture you can see the feathered cloaks I did for Sicarus and Vulkan. I might have to do a quick tutorial on them.

Keen eyes will notice I have also modeled the two "counts as" characters with a style of armor first seen in the Index Astartes piece on the Imperial Fists. A member of GW France did some great conversions that have since spawned quite a few homages. One that I like a lot was done by blog reader Pulse, and his great work can be seen in this thread on Bolter & Chainsword.

Cheers

Dave

Only one day to go!!!

Only one day left to go in the auction of my Legio Custodes army! As you can see above, I've received the tokens and templates from the guys at Gale Force 9, and they look great! The team took the eagle icon from the side of the Land Raider and used it on all the templates, turn counter, and tokens. Not only that, but everything is in a striking red/white or red/gold scheme, just perfect for the army.

Ebay seller, theplayerscove, has also offered up a $100 coupon for her store to the winner of the auction. Her generosity will reward the generosity of the winner of the auction! Thanks Kat : )

And finally, the latest on fund-raising efforts. Jim Bailey from Grindhouse Games contacted me last week to see if there was anything his small company could do to help out. We decided on him sending me a complete set for their great game, Incursion, that I would paint up and we could auction it off. Jeff from Dragon Forge Design donated the round-lipped bases (from his Tech Deck range) you can see underneath the Sturmzombies and Bomberzombies that I've started on already. The bases are fantastic, and really suit not only the Incursion setting, but also the quality of the Incursion sculpts. Excellent and a joy to paint.

Keep an eye out for the charity auction of this great set in the next few weeks.

For the Legio Custodes army auction, head here.

And for more information on what it's all about, head here.

Cheers

Dave

Auction Update!

UPDATE!

I have just heard that Gale Force Nine will be donating a set of themed tokens and templates for the army, and Battlefoam will be providing a P.A.C.K. 432 case and custom foam for this army. I have just sent the tracings of the army off to Battlefoam and hope to have the case very soon. Note: these two donations are added to this auction. It will greatly enhance the pleasure of gaming with this army (great tokens and templates, plus no worries about transporting it anywhere)

In addition, my employer (Battlefront Miniatures) will be shipping this army completely free of charge to the buyer, to any destination in the world!

THIS JUST IN! 40K Radio will be adding a Beer glass, t-shirt, key chain, and autographed hat!

Thank you to these three businesses, and everyone who has bid so far, for your support!

Cheers

Dave

Doing the right thing

Update! Both Justin and John's paypal addresses are here now!

Well, things are going along very well with the auction of the army. Still plenty of time for those who are thinking of testing the waters. Check it out here.

I've had a lot of people ask me how they can help out (as they don't have the spare cash to buy the army), and that is just awesome! I've been bugging Justin (surfer) and John (father), my friends, for their Paypal addresses so that if you would like to help financially (and directly) you can send a few dollars their way.

John's Paypal address is: soundeagle AT aol DOT com

Justin's Paypal address is: mcconnelljs AT gmail DOT com

Over the years I've met a lot of great people in this hobby,and spent a ton of time talking about collecting, modeling, painting and gaming with toy soldiers. This has meant I have a lot of contacts who run very popular websites and blogs all about toy soldiers. Their help already has pushed this auction a long way, and garnered it a lot of attention. It would be wrong of me to let all that attention just fade away, so here come the preachy bits...

• Back in April I was involved in a car accident that totaled my car (I was completely unhurt though). The shortfall between the insurance money and the cost of a similar replacement car was going to be considerable. The fine readers of this blog stepped up and helped me out.

• In May I was approached by John and Mike from Santa Cruz Warhammer to participate in a collaborative army building project for charity that really developed a run away life of its own, the Storm Wardens Army Build. A group of 8 or so bloggers raised $16,000+ for Doctors Without Borders, a worthy cause indeed.

• In June and July, two of my friends and co-workers suffered tragedies. Both events not only left their own emotional and physical scars, but also quite a few of the financial kind. That's why I decided to get back on the charity bandwagon. It's a great feeling to do what you can for those who need help. If you know those that need help, then all the better.

So, I think the real answer to the question "What can I do to help?" is a two parter:

a) if you can help Justin and John out financially, then drop them a few dollars via the Paypal addresses above. If you know them and can't spare the bucks, drop them a line or give them a call. Support is always appreciated.

b) take a look around you locally, think about something you can do to make the life of someone around you a little better. Donating to a charity, helping out at a shelter at Thanksgiving, hosting a dinner party for friends, volunteering to cook the hot dogs for your block party, building some terrain for your FLGS, or giving your grandmother a call to chat about her week - there are plenty of things you can do to . I'm a big fan of small steps and beginning locally.

Preachy bits over.

Thank you all so much for your support.

Cheers

Dave