What Happened?

Now that I'm stuck at home, off and on, I figured I should post something about what's going on in the Rich/GSI gaming world.

Escape Pod Objective - FINALLY!

Been walking around with this idea in my head for 2 years now and I finally got it out in the world.  It's not spectacular modelling, but it makes for a really cool objective.

Inexpensive Hard Case For Your Figs

My wife and I were strolling through Harbor Freight (a chain hardware and tool emporium that might as well be named ACME) when she points at an aluminum tool travel case and says “Could you use that for your armies?”  Kneeling down next to it and feeling the cool, bright aluminum beneath my greedy fingers, “Yes, I could.”

Fixing My Camera Part 2: The Battery Door

It was a simple failure.  A tiny tab of plastic.  A tiny, but vital, contour on a critical component of this complex and arcane device... the Coolpix L22 digital camera.

40k Terrain - Mechanical Warhorse Comms Tower

by Novus

I got hold of a Mechanical Warhorse Communication Tower kit at the BAO 2014 and, like nearly all my other hobby projects, got to it long after the fact.  It's an excellent laser cut kit at a very reasonable price.  Paints up really nice, too!

Zone Mortalis Board - Alpha Test

My buddy Myles from the blog There Is Only War bought a laser cutter last year and has been working on various projects with it.  One was cutting the wonderful Bay Area Open branded Omni-Templates that GSI donated for prize support this year.  Another is an amazing Zone Mortalis terrain system.

Digital Pro 2L Ultrasonic Cleaner! - Product Review

by Novus

I had some terrribad problems with some Army Painter primer recently.  It left the surface of the models with a gritty feel and an uneven finish.  I thought I could work around it and get my army ready for the BAO, but I was very wrong.  That gritty finish made my 10mm scale Dropzone Commander models nearly impossible to make look good, let alone allow me to paint them the way I wanted.  I either had to buy new models or that primer (and all the painting I did up until then) had to go!

Badger SOTAR 20/20 Product Review

by Novus

Someone on 40k For Grown Ups (a great Facebook group I belong to) linked the group to Amazon where Badger SOTAR 20/20's were being sold for $59.99.  To be honest, I didn't have much faith in a product that has an MSRP of over $400 and is being sold at an 85% discount, but I needed another airbrush to replace the one I accidentally threw away (never mount your airbrush holder over a trashcan).  At that price, I was willing to take the risk.

My Top 9 Kits for Chaos Kit Bash Parts

by Novus

As you have probably gathered by what I post, I do a lot of model conversion and kit bashing.  Over the 3 years of my tabletop war gaming career there have been a few model kits that really stood out, far above the rest, for conversion usefulness.  These are my top 9 kits for Chaos Converting...

Cowboy Studio Product Studio - Product Review

by Novus

My latest hobby acquisition is something I've desperately wanted for a few months now.  But, there were other things I thought I should get first, I felt (like a new compressor).  Last weekend I finally had the funds available and decided to buy myself a macro (aka "product") studio for taking better pictures of my models.  Proper lighting has been the major issue for me for a loooong time when taking macro shots.

Badger TC910 Aspire Pro Compressor Review

Badger TC910 Aspire Pro

by Rich K.

Not knowing anything about airbrushing I bought a "starter kit" from Amazon for $60 about a year ago.  It came with a Master G22 airbrush (which isn't bad for an economy 'brush, but not all that great, either) and a super cheap compressor shaped like an elephant.  That kit has been OK to learn on, but I recently wanted to up my airbursh game.  Seeing as the Elephant only produced about 17psi at any given time, it was very hard to get anything but the most watered down paint out of it.  I needed more power... er, pressure!

Tutorial: Fixing My Broken Coolpix L22

Yep, that's broken.

by Rich K.

Well, two weekends ago I trucked over to Frontline Gaming to catch a 1750 point game with my buddy, Tim.  I brought my camera along with every intention of recording the event.  While setting up the table and deploying I put my camera in my back pocket and probably leaned against something sharp which cracked the hell out of my screen, as you can see.

Minature Photography, Part 3: Tarting Up Your Photos

By Jordan of There Is Only War

Greetings, all. Jordan here from There is Only War. Last time we took a look at how to take great photos using Point-n-Shoot and DSLR cameras. This time we'll be learning how to put the finishing touches on your miniature photographs.

The Mauler/Forgefiend Kit: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly... and Easy Magnetizing!

By Rich K.

I recently completed the Mauler/Forgefiend kit I purchased at the CSM codex launch and I have some observations to share...

Miniature Photography, Part 2: Point and Shoot!

By Jordan of There Is Only War

"Cellphone photos are fine, but I'm looking for something a little better, something I can use to really show off the time and detail I put into my models."

Hello once again, GSI readers. This is part 2 of the series on miniature photography tips and tricks. While cellphones make for a great stop-gap measure and often even a pretty good solution to your miniature photography needs, even the semi-serious blogger is going to want something better at some point.

“Rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated.” – Army Builder

by Rich K.

I know many of you out there saw rumors floating around that Lone Wolf, the folks who make Army Builder, are currently being legally B-slapped by GW.  That said, Loan Wolf has posted at least two 6th edition updates since its release!  The updates include the 6th ed MRB adjustments (USRs, fortifications, Warlord Traits, etc.), the WD Daemon and Storm Talon updates (among others), and the ability to generate multiple armies on a single sheet (aka Allies).

Miniature Photography, Part 1: Cell Phone Photography

Guest post by Jordan

"Wow! That's a great looking photo, but the only thing I've got with a camera is my cell phone." Not to worry. Cell phones now-a-days have integrated cameras with resolutions in excess of 3 megapixels. As a matter of fact, my iPhone 4 has a 5 megapixel camera, more than six times the resolution of my DSLR camera. This is a guide to get hobbyists not familiar with photography comfortable with taking great looking photos of their miniatures without the upfront cost or effort of creating a miniature photography studio and without having to adjust anything other than the size of your image in an image editing program like Photoshop.

Deadman Footswitch - Short Product Review

The cable that goes off to the right plugs into the wall.

I saw this MLCS 9080 Billy Pedal Footswitch on Amazon and thought “Hey, that would be great for my Dremel tool!”  Unfortunately, I completely forgot my wife got me a cordless Dremel for Christmas and I had already given my corded unit to my brother.  So, seeing as it was already on its way when I realized my error, I decided to try it out on my airbrush.