Hive Fleet Ramrod Takes Ard Boyz!

Hive Fleet Ramrod secured a clean victory over the tasty foods that presented themselves in Ard Boyz!

Stripping Minis, Part 2

A bit of a delay here, but here is part two.




Ok, so this was one a mere day after my last post. I know I mentioned last time about letting the models soak for a week or so, but in my individual case the models were simply covered in a loose coat of bad primer. I checked on them after a thirty-hour soak and believed them ready for work.



First, here are the tools and the workspace. High tech I know. The sponges are there to simply block the hole in the sink, should any parts go flying off.

We have a firm bristled toothbrush, the harder the better, hot (steaming) tapwater to better remove any trouble bits, and my own unprotected hands.


...Upon note, best to use some kind of gloves for this, as the Purple Power, like most cleaners, will dry your skin out and that is quite an unpleasant and lingering feeling.


Here is one of the Termagants freshly pulled from our Purple Power solution, it doesn't look any better but upon close inspection we can see some of the primer has indeed began to fall off.



Basically I took the brush, gave it a firm scrubbing. Scrubbing itself, unless you're overly hard, should not require much force to remove the paint, if you find you need to use excessive force, to the point you are worried the model will break, then you need to let them soak for some more time.

Also to note: Sometimes not all the primer will come off, usually in the case of Black GW. Some people put the models back in, letting them soak... I myself just ignore this and merely re-prime them, as the layer is pretty distinguishable from the rest.

Here is a shot before a final wash but after scrubbing, which I usually do while under the water stream:




Unfortunately I realized I didnt take a picture of the final product... But it's clean, ha ha...

Now all you have to do is repeat the process until you're done..

Over... And Over... And Over... And Over...

...

... ... ...

... ... ... ...DAMNIT!!

Stripping Minis

So readers, guess what happened to my Tyranids? A can of faulty White Primer (Armory Brand).

I should have remembered why I don't care for the Armory Brand of primer... Because of the three times this has happened, they have been the culprit all those times...Sigh...
Basically, I primed some 100+ Tyranids... Five minutes later, I realized they looked like I had covered them in snow flock... Upon closer inspection, I saw the primer could be rubbed off with my finger, like a heavy layer of dust.

The can was old, or faulty (I got it from a friend/potential saboteur).

Sadly, it means not only is my painting set back some time, but I must now strip the entire lot of them... Well, article martial I suppose...

Step 1: find a good way to vent if you're stripping them because of an accident.

Next, head out to your local Wal-mart/equivalent and buy the following:



Purple Power is basically Wal-Mart's equivilent of Super Clean (or Simple Green or a myriad of other names).

I prefer Purple Power because A. It's half the cost of Simple Green and B. It's a bit more concentrated (recommends watering it down... don't), so it works a bit faster. And no, don't worry, it won't melt your plastic and it works fantastic on metal.


You will also need a bucket, sizable enough to fit the models in. This can range from a simple cup to a mop bucket in my case.


Step 2: Insert models.

Step 3: Wait a few days. Ideally they should soak a week, but I have little patience for that and usually find them acceptable after only two-to-three days.

Step 4: Get a tooth brush if that's all you have. I went out and invested in a large scrubbing brush. Basically just brush off the models until they show bare plastic once more. The plastic will have been shaded to a darker hue, I believe this is usually the result of removing Black Primer as some shade of it is ingrained in the plastic now. Whatever the reason, it does not harm the models in any way.


Someone recently suggested a more high tech approach to this as well, which I doubt I will try but found interesting none the less.

Basically, I was told to buy a small fish tank filter, the kind that churns water around so fish, you know, don't die.

He said that if you get one of the waterfall style ones you can create a small tidepool (basically) and just put the models in, the churning of the water will tumble them clean.

In theory, I can see this working similar to a washing machine, but as I said, I doubt I'll try it. I'd love to hear from anyone who went through with similar weird science and the end results.


But basically, that's just a short article on what to do if you find yourself in my situation... Sigh... Back to painting Blood Angels for the time being I suppose...




UPDATE


Stopped by Wal-Mart, got my Purple Power and two dollar containers. Here is the Gant/Hormagaunt/Gargoyle bath... I'll keep you updated...

Here is a neat picture, heh heh:

Alternative Tyranid Boneswords and Lash Whips

We're looking into a new campaign at the store here, one involving Tyranids, thus my interest in going back and finishing some conversions was rekindled. I had neglected them with the arrival of Blood Angels, as painting Termagants simply took it's toll on me... Now that the spark is back I believe that, while I won't be touching any Gants for a bit, I can still finish up the Tervigon and Tyranid Warrior conversions I had started.

That being said, this here is just a catalog of some of the Boneswords and Lash Whip bits various company have put out... I originally planned to make them on my own, via plasticard, Green Stuff, or whatever else I had around, but some of these where just so nice and affordable I couldn't resist.

These featured below are from http://www.paulsongames.com/resin.html. I personally placed an order for some Boneswords and Whips from this site last night, and will probably head back there to order some more for other projects.




Awaiting for them to come in, should have some WiP later this week... Also have to wait for some Forgeworld wings to come in...

Supporting your LFGS

I'm a firm believer that one should support your local gaming store. I have lost two stores over the years due to people just not giving it the support they need and, despite the best efforts of the owners, the businesses eventually closing.

I do not wish for that to happen with my local store, so I decided to post this... Well, advertisement for them here.

Note: This is done simply because I wished to post this here. I do not want people getting any impression I am some kind of advertisement whore.

My personal store is Gigabites Cafe, located here in friendly Marietta, GA.

The store is great, dedicated to Warhammer 40K, Warhammer, Warmachine, Flames of War, Uncharted Seas, and more other games than I can mention. It is also an internet gaming hub, as well as a trendy cafe with coffee and sammiches.

Here is a link to their website: http://www.giga-bitescafe.com/portal/


Again, simply posting this as an effort to support the place where I enjoy my gaming, in hopes that I can do so for many more years to come.

Ebay Time Again.

Not something I usually like doing, but I seem to have an overabundance of dreadnoughts... And while I gave a passing thought unto the eleven Dreadnought list, I have no need for that many.

So, that being said, this little guy is up for auction:


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300418239981


Only around ten hours left, just thought I'd put up a notice for anyone interested.

Blood! Blood! So much blood!!

Here is another fantastic tutorial I found some time back and have put to good use:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?autocom=ineo&showarticle=298

This is great and super easy to do. To date I've used it on nearly all my Khorne models as well as a few select Blood Angels pieces.

Here below are some of my experiences with the technique: