Great Train Show 2019 Phoenix

So,

This past weekend I attended with my HO modular club (AZMR) the Great Train Show at the Phoenix Fairgrounds. This show used to be called the Great America Train Show and when I lived back in Southern California I used to attend with my old club Orange County Modular Railroaders. Yes after years of being out of the hobby of Model Railroading I came back to it a few years ago.

The new club (or group of guys as we are not really a club) set up a 36'x36' layout to run trains on. Our group likes to run long trains and when I say long, I mean 80 plus cars! This layout set up had us running much smaller trains as dictated by the length of sidings.

Right side of layout

Left side of layout

As some know, I am working on (very slowly) a switching layout in my game room, it is really a point to point layout, so if I want to run trains in a larger layout I attend and operate on the groups layout. Nice thing is I am able to use locomotives that would not work on the switching layout due to size here.

Southern Pacific Railroad is my favorite and I model the time frame in the late 80's to 1996 when the Espee was merged with the Rio Grand Railroad. With that being said, one of the most iconic Espee Locomotives is the SD40T-2 Tunnel motor. When I used to do model railroading 20 years ago, no one was making this locomotive except in brass. But Athearn did finally release one and as soon as I heard about it, I knew I had to have one.

SP SD40T-2 

Also another iconic locomotive that was all the rage back in 1996 was the GE 39-8B (or as Espee designated them as GE 40-8Bs). My buddy Rick had an Atlas unit for sale so I bought it from him to add to my mainline road power.

Cotton Belt Dash 8

 Now one thing that you will notice is that both locomotives are very clean, this was not normal for the Espee as they rarely ran the locomotives thru the wash racks. now I intend to dirty up the Tunnel motor, but the GE unit will remain as it is as I am representing when it was first delivered.

The show was good, not as good as they used to be, but still not bad. It was busy on Saturday and Sunday saw a smaller crowd at the Fairgrounds. I got a lot of folks complimenting my train I ran as all but the Locomotives are weathered really well like the real things. In this day of ready to roll equipment, most model railroaders are not doing anything to their cars or locomotives to make them look weathered. It leads to a very toy like appearance as most buildings are weathered and the trains are not. So while my train looked beat up by the weather, it stood out from all other trains being run that weekend.

Here are a few more shots of trains being run on our group set up:

My locos together working the mainline.

A GP9 Rio Grande unit

ATSF Steam Locomotive

Amtrak out this weekend

So there you have it, another one of my many hobbies that compete for my pocketbook and more importantly, time.

TK

WW2 German Armored Reinforcements

So about two weeks ago after a game of Bolt Action, Robert & I were talking about some of our projects that we needed to finish up for our German armies for Bolt Action.

I had 4 vehicles that needed paint, so I decided that I should finally get painting on these. So first up was a Warlord 251 with PAK 36 and a Rubicon Hetzer. For the Warlord kit I went with a very simple strip pattern over a German Yellow (Middlestone) color. The Rubicon kit was a bit more time consuming as I did an Ambush scheme.

Left side

Right Side

Ready to Ambush

Just an FYI, these are all hand painted, I did not use my new airbrush on these. The 251 painted up pretty quickly, but the Ambush scheme took me about 3 hours of paint time to do. The hardest part is doing the dots and trying to make them random. Human beings love patterns and trying to do a random pattern is very hard.

Next up was a Rubicon 250 and Stug G from Rubicon as well. The 250 got a variant of the German three color scheme that I sponged on as I wanted it to look like the crew did it in the field. The Stug G was a simple two color scheme that I copied off of a 15mm Stug I did for my FoW army years ago.

250 NEU

This kit included crewmen

Stug G

Simple scheme

15mm vs 28mm

So there you go, four new vehicles for my 28mm German Bolt Action army, these took way too long to get to the paint table, but now they are ready for action.

TK

Shadespire Underworlds

So at the end of last year, Robert & I got to try out Shadespire Underworlds, as he picked it up and been wanting to try it out. Well we both loved it and with that I decided that I need to pick it up myself but all I could find was the second season of Underworlds. So I picked that up as well as a few expansions. And at Christmas I received the first season.

So here are a few pictures of the completed figures for the game, I just have to say I really love painting up a few figures at a time. First up are the Stormcast and Cursebreakers, I really do not like the way GW and most folks paint their Stormcast models, I do not like the Gold and blue scheme. So for mine I went old school Middenheim colors of Red, White and Steel, a very White Wolf scheme. I have played with the regular Stormcast models and they are absolutely rock hard. 

Stormcast & crew

Next up are the Chaos Reavers, these were fun and easy to paint because they half clothed. I also went with a new basing color scheme that looks nice for a blasted wasteland look. I have had a couple of opportunities to face this band and  am not too impressed by them. But then again they were going up against the Strormcast.

Chaos Reavers

I picked up the Skaven set for my son, as he really loves playing Skaven. I have not tried playing them yet and honestly have not looked at the cards yet, but I have them now.

Skaven

Much like the Skaven, I bought the dwarves for my brother to play and these models were quick to paint up, the toughest part was their hair as it has two washes on them. I have played these Dwarves once and they are very different then the Stormcast. They are all about capturing objectives and looking for gold.

Half naked Dwarves

So I am excited about this faction, the Nighthaunts and used a similar paint scheme that Robert used on his AOS army. The models all have great character and I may be playing these guys in the very near future.

Nighthaunts

I have the Night Goblins on the paint table now and I am working out a trade for the Skeletal force, as they look cool to play and to paint up. So ther eyou go, my dive into Shadespire Underworlds.

TK

2019 Fortune Cookie Goals

2019 Fortune Cookie Goals

Okay, so time to set down some goals for my hobby for this year, as always, it’s a great way for me to see what I did not do. Maybe it should be 2019 Fortune Cookie Goals. So here goes:

Fantasy – Well I plan to continue playing AoS and I have decided that I will focus on learning the rules better as well as understanding my army, the Flesh Eaters. And as of writing this, GW has announced that a new box set is coming out to feature Skaven and Flesh Eaters! Hopefully that will mean cards for units and a updated army book! The new box set looks like more of what I have already except for a new Abhorrent King model, but I am sure there will be cards included. I have already reached out to a local Skaven player about swapping out my skaven stuff for his Flesh eaters stuff.

I would still like to get Frostgrave onto the table, Robert & I really like the game, but not many of our other friends do, so I may have to come to terms that it will not hit the table, but I will still try to get it there.

Shadespire was bought and played last year and I purchased a few more expansions for it, so this will continue to be played in the new year.

Warhammer Quest will still be played this year, my goal of having almost all the models painted is almost there. And my local players are really digging playing this old school dungeon crawl game, especially when I supply it all.

I have been asked about Lord of the Rings and if I plan to get the new rules. The reality is that only Robert, my son & I still play or have stuff. The fact is I still have all my old books and a few armies left, if I do anything with it this year, it will be using the older rules in one of games here and there.

Sci Fi – Well at the end of last year I decided to get back into 40k and bought my first Space Marine army, the Blood Angels. I got as far as getting the start collecting box assembled as well as the Space Hulk terminators painted (which caused me to buy the start collecting box). So this year I want to get the game to the table, I know Robert is waiting for me to ask for a game, which may be within the next few weeks, so it looks like 40K is back.

Necromunda was another last year sleeper that took us all by storm, I see this being played more this year as well and GW announced so new models coming out as well as weapon packs for gangs. I also need to get my Death Ray Designs wall set painted, so that Robert & I can have a truly large set up for Necro and for Kill Team.

Robert for Christmas bought me the Kill Team rules, so the plan is to play that this year, I would like to use my Death Ray Designs walls for some games which fits with GWs announcement of kill Team Arena which looks like Kill team on a Necro board. So I may be buying that game when it comes out in the near future.

I also see Speed Freaks being played from time to time as Robert and I both have everything painted for it, I see this as more of a side line game or drinking game. In the same vein, I have Gaslands and would like to get this to the table this year as well. I just need to figure the rules out and start pushing it around the table.

I would also like to get more games of Space Hulk to the table, the terminators are all painted, and I need to start working on the Genestealers for the game. My problem is I need to decide on a paint scheme and stick with it, hopefully I can have a fully painted Space Hulk game by the end of 2019.

Modern – This covers stuff like Bolt Action and Flames, so with that being said there are a few things I want to get done this year. First being Bolt Action, I just finished painting my 1500 point IJA army and I want to get it to the table as well as add a few more items to the army. I also want to do some sort of campaign with Bolt Action. Robert and I just bought the Operation Market Garden book so we will be looking at doing that sometime this year.

For Flames, at the end of 2018 I purchased a Syrian force for Fate of the Nation, so I would like to get that to the table as well as get all my tanks painted for it. I also would like to include a few more items for the army as well.

I would like to get Flames of War to the table again, I really do miss pushing my tanks around my North Africa boards, so I will try to get that back to the table.

Historical – This covers just about anything not covered above. I want to get my ACW stuff back on the table for Black Powder, Robert & I both have tried BP with a brigade or two to a side and it was great fun. So, I would like to use what I have painted.

Fistful of Lead will be back on the table again this year, I will be running a few demo games at AZ Game Fair, so this should be easy to accomplish in the new year.

Cruel Seas was purchased at the end of last year, so I want to get it onto the table this year. I have the starter set, just need to assemble and paint and should be smooth sailing.

Pulp Alley is always on the list for doing, although its been missing for a few years, but I would like to get it back onto the table this year as well.

Purchasing – There are many items that I have my eye on and it looks like GW will be getting the most of it yet again, all I can say is I will try to stay focused on what I buy.  But as any gamer will tell you, its hard to stay focused with all the new shiny things coming out. But in the very near future will be items for AoS & 40K.

So there you go, my plans or Fortune Cookies for the new year, we shall see what happens…

TK

GW Strikes Back!

So, another year has come and gone, so it’s time for the yearly look back to see what I got done. So, let’s take a look at what the goals were for 2018:

CAV – So this year I went with Talon Games to Adepticon to run CAV games, I painted up a few CAVs and the only games I got in where at Adepticon, I did get a few more CAV’s painted up, but do to work infringing on hobby time, I had to pull back on my commitment to writing for Talon, I hate when real life interferes with Hobby time. The 28mm Dictator is still awaiting to be built and painted as well as a ton of CAV’s. I will work on them when in the mood. So overall, I barely passed with CAV this year but I did have some effort completed.

Bolt Action – So I wish I could say I got a lot of games in of Bolt, but I think I only got in about four games. Now Robert & I did finish up the Bocage terrain we were working on for the Point 213 game and we did get it on the table. The game was one sided and the Brits got the major win. It was nice to see a project that we have been working for about 10 years get completed. I also started working on a new army, IJA Japanese for plans to do some Pacific gaming. I got the models assembled and for most of the year they have sat in the box until about two weeks ago when I started painting them. This past weekend I was able to get 500 points of stuff painted and Robert & I played our first 2^nd Edition game! We have been apprehensive to doing the newer version, but after this past weekend, not much has really changed. So with only a few games and a very big project completed I would say that I passed for 2018.

Blood Bowl – Well I ran my first ever Blood Bowl event at the beginning of the year, the Taco Bowl! I did get a couple of teams painted and I had plans to attend the Grumble Bowl at IO but could not attend. I also have been keeping up on the Spike magazines and been picking up teams here and there. I love Blood Bowl, but I just don’t get that much time to play. So this was a passing year for Blood Bowl.

Warhammer Quest – So I continued to run games of Quest this year, painted up a ton of figures and created some cool scenarios for the players. I even got a chance to play the rerelease of the game that Robert picked up, I prefer the older version, but there were a few things I will port over to the older version from the newer one (pass through for one!). So, I have to say Quest was a huge success this year, so passed with flying colors!

 Space Hulk – Well the goal was to have a fully painted Hulk game, well I only got the Terminators painted up. I did get a few games in, but overall that was about it. Now because of Hulk though, I will be working on a brand new 40K army, Blood Angels, but that’s for another post! So I would say I failed on getting this completed this year. But I don’t feel too bad with what I did get completed.

Frostgrave – Well this is a huge fail this year. About the only thing I did was by the Spell cards that came out. I kept wanting to get it to the table, but other games took the spot. I love Frostgrave but there is only so much gaming time in a year.

Saga – Well we did get a new version, and I ordered it from my local shop back in the beginning of the year, well I just got my copy of the rules about a month ago, due to the supplier being out of stock. I also had ordered the Dark Age supplement with the new battle boards, but that has not come in. Because the lack of getting the rules, Saga fell of the table and did not get back onto it! So, this was an epic fail for this year.

Black Powder – Well this was a huge success; Robert & I played a couple of smaller WAB sized games of BP ACW and then we did our huge ACW game. While it did not hit the table much, it sure did hit the paint table, I painted up a whole brigade of Union troops this year for the big game. So once again while not played a lot, it was a huge pass on this one.

Other Games – This was not on the list, but there were a few games that hit the table this year that I had not planned for, one being Necromunda. I painted up three gangs (Van Saar, Escher & Genestealer Cult) and played in a campaign for about 6 sessions. I also purchased the Death Ray Designs hallway set for the game and picked up the core game, each Gang War and finally the two big rulebooks. For a game that was not on the radar, it got a lot of attention this year.

Age of Sigmar was also another game that was not on the radar and got a bunch of play time this year. I painted up a huge Flesh Eaters army that I game with and purchased the main rules and army book. I am still struggling with this game, I want to love it, but I am not doing well with it. I need to spend more time with the rules other than the few hours before I play a game.

Shadespire is a late entry to this year and I have gotten in a few games and will continue to move forward with it. I did the skirmish feel and small model count of this board/card game with minis.

Tanks also saw the table a bunch of times and I purchased and painted up a bunch of new vehicles for the game. It all was because I introduced my brother to the game and we played a few times. I also purchased the Modern Tanks game due to having a blast with the WW2 set.

I also got in a few games of Fistful of Lead this year which has quickly become my new favorite Old West game rules, its quick, fast and deadly. I also picked up a bunch of new old west figures for this game as well as a few other supplements.

So there you have it, what I did for 2018, overall I did very well, this was truly the Year GW Strikes back for me. Do I regret it, no, I have had a ton of fun gaming and working on new projects and playing all the games!  So, I look forward to 2019 and what that brings. Merry Christmas to you all, I will see you at the start of 2019!

TK

MIA

Well,

Been MIA again, but that doesn't mean I have not been busy. Been enjoying my freedom from having to paint for others and been playing more games. Recently just finished up my Flesh Eaters army, but as soon as I thought I was finished, I ended up with a bunch more models!

Grumble Bowl is a bust for me, my wife, as a gift for my Birthday, has got me tickets to a concert and we will be going to dinner before the event, so I will not be able be able to stay for the whole event. With that, I would not be eligible to win the coveted Cactus Trophy which I am sure that my Orcs would have just stole anyway!

So I will be getting back to posting here, have lots of updates to show off, so stay tuned!

TK

Who's ready for Grumble Bowl 2018???

Good Morning Blood Bowl Fans,

So my local store will be running a one day Blood Bowl event on September 29th, 2018 called Grumble Bowl! They are wanting to make this a once a year event and I have always wanted to play in a Blood Bowl Tournament, so here is my chance.

I pretty much decided that I would run an Orc team and it would be a great chance to bring out my Azog Ardinals team, the only time they have been out was Taco Bowl I, which was earlier this year that I ran for a few friends. My Orcs were run by a friend of mine, Derek Rider. He did very well with them getting Mr. Assassin award, although he was playing against a elf team to get all those casualties!

Any way, I decided that the Ardinals would make another appearance for Grumble Bowl, but I needed to finish off the team. Now when I started the team about a year ago, I had plans to make a few extra models for the Coaching staff, so I dug through my unpainted minis and found a few models to use for coaching staff. First up was a Savage Orc Shaman that would be great for an apothecary,  no real conversion work, just painted him up in the Ardinals colors. Next was the cheer leader, which was a Savage Orc musician that I converted and gave him a banner for the team. I am on the look out for a second edition orc cheer leader and if you have ever seen this model, it is a very disturbing model, but perfect for Orcs! The Head coach model is a 3rd (or 4th or 5th) edition plastic Black Orc Blocker that just seemed to be perfect for the coach.

Apothecary, Head Coach and Cheerleader

So with that I had my coaching staff, which I will use for my Re roll, TD and turn markers for the game. I plan to add a back drop that has the Azog Ardinals name and logo on it for the event, but we will see how the inspiration for that goes. All in all I am very happy with how this team came out and I was worried that the Red/White uniform color with their green skins would give off a xmas vibe, but I don't think so. So now I just have to get in a few practice games with them before Grumble Bowl 2018. here are a few more pictures of the team.

The award winning coaching staff for the AZog Ardinals (Which they looted from the Blood Bowl Hall of Fame!)

2018 AZog Ardinals

TK

How do you paint so fast???

So,

This past Saturday I painted up 50 Ghouls for my AoS Flesh Eaters army and I had a couple of friends ask me how I did it? Well the trick is to just do it!

Now, as some know, I did commission painting with my own company for about 9 years up until I decided to take a break this year from the business. I would always take large commissions in and it would not be unheard of to have at least three paint commissions on the desk at one time. I would always hit my 4-6 week mark that I promised my clients. Many of my customers were very impressed in the turn around time and that's what kept them coming back.

So what was my secret? Well much like the Nike commercial, you need to just Do It! Meaning that you just have to sit down and do the work, that's it, just put your head down and paint! I would spend at least three hours a day painting, and hour before I went to work and two hours in the evening after getting home from work. But I always painted! I stayed on track by not letting other things get in between my painting time, like Facebook, Twitter, video games, binge watching Netflix or other time sinks. I also only worked on those commissions that I had deadlines for. So if I got tired of painting, I prepped other commissions for paint or got them assembled. But I always stay focused on the project at hand and just put forth the effort to finishing up the current project.

Now, as a commission painter, there are tricks that I have used for painting, here are a few things I do which are not in order.

• Know what and how you are going to paint. If your doing a Space marine army, and you know its going to be blue, then why not use a blue primer for them to start? 
• Work on one section of the model at a time, if you have a hundred 15mm models to paint, do all the boots at once and don't think about painting now 200 boots, that will drive you insane! 
• Set your self some goals, say after painting 200 tiny boots, you get up to grab something to drink from the fridge, then go back to the paint desk to start on the next thing. 
• Make sure you have everything you need before you start, if you know you are going to need two bottles of Strong Tone wash, make sure you have them before you start, nothing worse than having to stop to run to the store!
• Have a good chair to sit in, your going to be sitting for a while, might as well have a good comfortable chair to sit in.
• Have a dedicated space to work, nothing kills the urge to paint then having to get everything out and put it all away.
• Listen to music, TV, Podcasts or what ever. I find music and pod casts are the best for me, I used to have a TV in my area, but I found I would just start watching it and did less painting, so now its music or podcasts.
• Enjoy what you are working on, as a commission painter, I had to work on a few commissions that I was not super excited about, that kills the mood and turns painting into a chore. So enjoy what your working on.
• If painting a certain project starts to become a chore, then paint up one miniature out of the blue for no reason. I found that doing a figure at random for nothing I am working on helps me to stay focused on the job at hand.
• Last but not least, keep the end goal in mind, at the end of this, your going to have a painted model, unit or army to show for it!

So there you go, there are a few of my secrets and tips to painting large amounts of models. I find it very satisfying to get my painted  armies onto the table and it is a feeling of accomplishment. Every weekend I go into my local game shop and I see the same tired looking armies that have not had anything done to them in weeks or years. Part of this hobby is all about painting and it really is not that hard to do, but you just have to Do IT!

TK

GW does it again...

So,

Just last week GW released Age of Sigmar Soul Wars on the public and a bunch of my gaming group took notice. Now, I am an old Warhammer Fantasy Battle player from back in third-fifth edition. I thought I walked away from GW for good, but with the re release of Blood Bowl, then Necromunda, GW was pulling me back in. But I really had no interest in Age of Sigmar (AoS) when it first came out, as I wanted to go with smaller armies and fewer models on the table. I was a skirmish gamer now and large blocks of infantry were not my thing anymore. But...

There is always a but, isn't there? Well my but was for a longing to go back to my first army I ever had with Undead/Vampire Counts, but as AoS had blown up the Old World, I felt pretty safe with not seeing that army. But with the release of Soul Wars, there were new undead models about to be released onto the world and these models are incredible. But I felt safe with the fact that a few of my friends (Drunken Samurai being one of them) wanted to build this new Haunt army. As cool as the models are, it really didn't fit my idea of a Vampire army.

So as Drunken and I talked the weeks leading up to the release of Soul Wars, he mentioned that Vampires were still alive (meaning undead of course) in the game world under the Nagash lists. But something caught my eyes while looking at books at my local store, the Flesh Eaters army book. Here is an army that is all based around Ghouls and a Ghoul King. It was different, and only really had a few models and it became a possibility to build.

I had pretty much decided that if Drunken Samurai took the plunge, then what could it hurt, right? Well He did take the plunge by picking up the first edition AoS box game that he found for 40% off while we were out checking out game stores. With him buying it, it sort of solidified me into picking up an army. And in my mind I said if I find a Get started collecting box and a big reinforcement box that I would take the plunge with him. Well as karma would have it, at the very same store where Drunken picked up the 40% of 1st edition box set, low and behold there was exactly what I was looking for on the shelf. So as an addict does, I grabbed both boxes and headed for the sales counter!

What happened next is still a blur, but as I started assembling models, I knew I had to have more. So I went out a few days later and bought another reinforcement box and the Flesh Eaters army book. I still had not looked at the rules or even bought the new rules, I was just happy building up Ghoul models again. And before I even read one page of the rule book, I had three Crypt Flayers painted up!

First of many

With those done I quickly started assembling the rest of the models, in fact, Drunken and I set up a game the next weekend so I needed to get everything assembled for the game. Since both of us had never played, this would be a test game. He brought all his Stormcast and I put down all my Flesh eaters, which included Zombie Dragon and King, 4 Crypt Horrors, 5 Crypt Flayers and about 50 ghouls.

The game was a blast and we learned a lot about how AoS works, which has similarities to Lord of the Rings, but different. I was so jazzed up about the game that I started painting on more models, which has been rare for me to get excited about painting anything. I knocked out the Crypt Horrors and then had either start on the 50 Ghouls or start on the Zombie Dragon (which I really wanted to paint!).

Cyrpt Horrors

Well this past weekend I had another game set up for Sunday with Drunken or another buddy, Randy. So on Saturday I decided to start painting on the 50 Ghouls. I painted all day Saturday and was in the zone to have them all finished by about 8:00pm that night.

50 Ghouls ready for action!

So with that done in time for Sunday's game all I had to do was start working on the zombie dragon, something I really really want to paint.

Well it was decided that I would battle Randy and his Khorne Boys in a battle, he had 780 points and I decided that I would try to match points. I wanted to see just how sturdy my army was, so i took the Zombie Dragon and King, three Crypt Horrors an three Crypt Flayers, a total of 7 models up against Randy's 37 models or so.

A Flayer takes on some Khorne troops! 

 Everyone kept asking me where my army was and laughing and making jokes, but as the game progressed, the Flesh Eaters started killing Khorne models pretty quickly. And about that time I realized that the King has a special Command ability to bring on free models, and then the game turned in my favor. At the end, I lost about 36 wounds to Randy's 68 wounds, which left nothing left on the table top.

So, after two games, I think I am in love with this army and will be expanding it to at least another get you started collecting and a few other models. It took me a long time to come around to AoS, but no that I am here, I think I like it! And I didn't know GW had such a hard pull on me, I thought I was strong, but I was fooling myself!

Now, as to what other army do I start???

TK

Building a town...

So,

About 6 months ago I decided to pick up a few models from Sarissa Precision Ltd to add to my old west collection. Now last year I built there Old West Train for my buddy Merle and after building it, I knew I wanted one of those for sure.

With that in the cart,  I then wanted a few more buildings. But having a good selection of 4Ground old west buildings I wanted something a bit different, so I went for the South of the Boarder set 2, which had a cool looking church and train station!

With those ordered, I sat and waited for my order to arrive. My plan was to slowly assemble and build each kit, taking my time and adding a few extras to each kit as I go. The great thing about Sarissa kits is that they are a great starting point to add extras to them and they are half the cost of 4Ground kits.

So when my box of laser cut pieces arrived, I had to decide which to work on. I started with the Market stalls and quickly assembled them. I didn't take any pictures of them as they are pretty basic and I still need to decide what I want to have on each table for a market.

The first building up was a simple Adobe building, the plus I did to it was to cover the entire outside walls with model paste as I wanted it to look more like adobe. I also added working doors on the kit by taking a cue from Crescent Root Studios and just used a simple piece of black duct tape to allow the door to open. I also textured the base so it would look better on the table.

Two story adobe

The next building up was the cantina as i needed a proper Mexican looking bar. I was excited about this kit, but once I pre assembled it, I was bummed by the overall size inside the cantina. I had wanted to add a few tables but it would be too tight to move any other models around in it. But I still love to overall look of the building. I added working doors as well as modeling paste to the outside as well.

Cantina on left with 2 story adobe on the right.

My next building was the Hacienda kit, once again I loved the look of the kit but I wanted to do something with the roof. Mexican buildings have a Spanish style look to them and I wanted to do a Spanish tile roof, but struggled to find anything that looked right. But then Drunken Samurai came to my aid by giving me some very finely corrugated card board that he got from another friend. This stuff must be for dollhouses as once it was cut into strips and glued on, it gave a very nice Spanish style roof. So big shout out to Drunken for saving the day!!!

Nice simple building.

I also made all the doors work but opted out of adding modeling paste to this one as it had some nice detail etched into the wood. The only down sided to this kit is there is no stair way up to the second floor, neither on the outside of inside, that's not a deal breaker but just bummed that there is no way up there.

Spanish Church in the rough

The next building that is on the bench is the Spanish Church, it is currently being painted but the few additions I did too this one are Spanish tile on the roof, the front doors open and I added a bell to the bell tower. with this kit I also pre-painted the inside white, as I now have learned that doing this is much easier than trying to do it while assembled.

Next up will be the Spanish style railroad station, i will be adding the tile roof to this one, this will be pretty much it. I may add some details to the inside of the station, we will see.

From Sarissa's website.

So stay tuned, more pictures will be coming as I get ready to start on the train!

TK

Life in the Underhive is Harsh!

So,

I really have been enjoying going back to the Necromunda and playing the game again. For me Necromunda was one of the coolest settings in the 40K universe, and I thoroughly enjoyed the game back in the day. Now that it has been out, DrunkenSamurai and I have played through the basic scenarios, both of us enjoying the standard 2-D game.

Well this past weekend I brought out an old favorite, the Van Saars (with new Models) onto the table to show our buddy Tom how well the game works. I took a stock gang equipped just like the instructions for the new box came and headed into the Under Hive to face Drunken Goliath's in scenario one.

Now you may notice the walls, these are from Death Ray Designs that I picked up for Drunken while at Adepticon this year. By adding these walls, it really changes the game, you start to loose where your enemies are on the board and just bring a cool vibe to the game. Drunken is still painting them and they are paint heavy on details, so it will take him some time to get through them. I am looking forward to getting a set for myself in the very near future.

So below are a few shots from this weekends game, enjoy!

Champion and two Gangers

Leader, ganger and Champion.

Leader shoots at charging Ganger!

The Van Saar leader is Taken out of Action!

So there you go, a brief update as to what I have been playing recently and I am loving it! Now onto bigger things...

TK

Van Saars ready for action!

Well,

I spent this weekend getting paint on too my new Van Saar gang for Necromunda. This is my gang and I had said when they come back out, I was getting them. Well I did and spent about 12 hours building them. Now since I had the older metals fully painted, I decided to paint these new ones up very similar to those so I could use them to mix in if I needed more for the gang.

New vs old

Well seeing how I painted the older ones well over 15 years ago, I got pretty close to the original scheme. I may take my older models and change their bases to the newer style to get them to blend in better. I also may go back to the older ones and paint the faces like I did with the newer ones. After reading the new back story, the Van Saars suffer from radiation poisoning due to some of the machines that they covet. So I went with more of a paler skin tone as to make them look more sickly as if the radiation was effecting them. 

New Gang in the hood!

All in all I like the look of the new models, as I mentioned before, they have a very Infinity Nomad feel to them and still feel like the older models. Now I just need to get them on the table to see how well the perform.

TK

Van Saar on the Work Bench

So,

A quick update to the Necromunda, I ended up picking up a box of Van Saars on Saturday and started building. Now one thing I will say, these kits are awesome! They are also true model kits that do take some time to assemble. In fact, it took me about an hour for each model shown below, so about three hours of work. The figures are so complex that when I first saw them I almost pulled out my old metal Van Saars and said forget it, but I pushed on.

First New Van Sarrs

Now one thing I noticed while assembling these figures is that they looked very familiar to me. Now they did not have the same old school look, but something newer. Then it dawned on me, these figures look very similar to Infinity Nomad models! Take a look.

These look strangely familiar, hmmm??

Anyway, that gives me hope to possibly some of my larger Nomad suits for Van Saar Brutes, so we shall see.

TK

The More you try to get out, the more they pull you back in!

Well,

Games Workshop has done it to me again, either they are really good or I am really weak, but here is what I did yesterday!

New Box Set for and old favorite.

So ever since GW released Necromunda, I have been keeping it an arms length justifying to myself that I did not need it. GW already had me back with Bloodbowl and I thought I could stay away from this one. Drunkensamurai had picked up the game when it came out and was pulled back in and we played a few games and I loved it. But I rationalized to myself that I would allow Drunkensamurai to pick up the game and I would stay focused on Bloodbowl and keep up with their releases.

Well this week, the Van Saars came out for Necromunda and the models look amazing and it was my gang back in the day. I had mentally told myself that if the Van Saars came out and they looked good, I would pick up a box of figures and possibly start playing again. If they looked just okay, I would pass.

Well guess what, the figures are awesome and I succumbed to picking up the box game, tactic cards for the Van Saars and the Gang War booklet for the Van Saars, but as luck would have it, my local shop was out of the figures!!! Doh!

So, hopefully my local store will get a restock so I can pick up my gang, so I guess the saying about trying to leave is true, they keep pulling you back!

Man I am weak!

TK