Chaide Pelicanne, Mirror Master and Caretaker Tobias, with a cool link!

PIP - I've been stealing small moments of time to paint these characters and having hell of a time. There will be delicious little sub themes and pairings in the Retinue. Chaide will hunt with Valencia. Valencia actually has two of his feathers on her hair for you keen eyed followers.

Mirror Master will have two minders, first whom I tried to be as "normal" as one can be in this retinue. Sense of normality, in scale and equipment is very important when everyone else is so unique and a tad over the top. Both the master and minder have very wicked faces and a success with the eyes in particular.

I should have all three of these finished in a week or so.

One of the secrets of my late surge in production is the now fully functioning, desk of my dreams. I have everything there, ready to go for a 10 minute session if need be, and need no cleaning, other than closing a drawer or two :)

The fact that the whole table and setup oozes what the hobby is all about for me makes getting in the right mood very easy. I'm surrounded by hand picked objects that are all about good design, and great craftsmanship or a nostalgic form of industrial production.

The Fact that my current projects grow on the top is a great motivator, and I can pull them down for reference in seconds. I highly recommend you make the effort to create the right desk setup for yourself. And if you are serious about producing beautiful models, art, work... then it would be plain wrong if beauty isn't a key driver for the desk.

Finally,

Sometimes I find something so damn cool and gothic, that it just makes me want to raise the quality of my own work and produce. I've known Cedric's work for what must be close to a decade now. We've both grown from enthusiastic converters to "artists" with a very distinct approach and ambition.

This thing right here is so damn cool... fits what I had in mind for the "good" continent of the trilogy very well. (In spirit, not in object)

Ministorum Walker

The Hourglass Inquisitor

It's been ages. But believe it or not, an update with actual new conversion is coming up sooner than later. Just a bit of pressure to make it worth the wait - which I think he just might be.

A lot of things in my recent life has revolved around time, or the lack of. I've had the time of my life and a dozen things competing of attention with the dear old hobby. I've got a new job I love and that takes a lot to do. The realization of just how little time I will have for the hobby has made me focus my attention much more. I sincerely want to play with the Legion Army some day this year, so forays to new artistic endeavors and off hand +I+ retinue's shall wait. Everything I make until a playable army will fit in thematically and visually under the legion umbrella. Which is wide, chaotic and artistic enough for a decade of work anyway!

That means, I am building Lord Inquisitor Zaetoc Andaluz, Carrier of the Occult Glass, Cabal Emissary. And HE may just steal Borsus and Valencia to work for him, under the moonlight, and leave Silas standing around for showcase purposes ih his red haze that would never fit the legion aesthetic or story line. Inquisitor Zaetoc will obviously be my count as Coteaz and allow the Legion army to use the Grey Knight Codex, which makes my XX Legionnaires feel like the marines they are, and also allow for the wildest array of +I+ and other dramatic personae with the most gothic retinues and war bands. Beings like Fabricator Captain Siimon and Leonard Delel, Rogue Trader will fit right in.

Before I left Finland, so over 3months ago now - I put together and cleaned bits for the +I+ conversion, and opted for a very striking focus, a halo like location for an hourglass.

Just so happened one of the first new "perfect things" I got for my desk project is one too.

Check it out:

+++ Making of the Hourglass Vid Capture +++

Last but not least, a good friend has awarded me with a nice opportunity and a DL, so by the end of the month, I shall have some new stuff and the desk project in first stage show off junction and documented well.

cheers,

m

Deskjob mini update - full pictorial drawing near!

Patience is a virtue! Sadly I have very little - I excel at anxious waits, tirelessly organising and designing things in my head if I don't have the time or opportunity to work on a project. These past two months have been so overwhelming that for once, the wait was not too bad. But finally two weeks ago our stuff arrived and the household is now fully operational. I had to save the best for the last. So I Spent three hours with the desk today and will spend all of tomorrow setting it up further and touring antique shops and odd joints for little gems to add. Vallejo paints are perfect size for the small drawers and when I organized them in colors (eg all the greens to one drawer) the paints I had also fit perfectly. It feels like this desk was waiting for me all along Nothing I dislike is touching this desk. Pictures very soon!

Creating the dream Warhammer 40000 work and display space : part 2 - Antique write up and some pics.

While the weeks have been busier than ever before in my life and I am still waiting for our sea container and my modeling gear to arrive, the new desk is home and eager to carry some tools and paints. I have nothing else to share, so a few more pics and some history on the maker.

George H Fuller Desk Company

Creating the dream Warhammer 40000 work and display space : part 1

For quite sometime I've dreamt of having the extra space to create the perfect (for me) hobby set-up.

The brief I've set myself is part practical and part philosophical, a great whole that genuinely sets the mood right when starting work on the models and turns the display of geeky hobby into visiting an almost magical little world of miniature art. I want the level of care in choosing every single tool and part and piece for this whole to be so impeccable and beautiful, that it resonates with everyone who is fond of crafts and beauty, whether you care for plastic miniatures or not. Something that Gregor Eisenhorn might appreciate if he happened to spend his free time creating and painting miniatures.

I have less and less time for the hobby, and the models take more and more effort and consideration. I want this space to be a celebration of my realities. It will also be part of our home and should fit our big picture too.

I'm somewhat obsessed with the wider context of objects, all the way down to detail. The story behind a product, what it is for, why it was conceived, how it was built, the interaction you have with it, it all adds up to something you either suffer or love. I believe it matters if the tool something was created with is beautiful or not.

This project begins from finding the right desk. After visiting a dozen great secondhand furniture outlets, we found the perfect desk, the centerpiece, framework and foundation for creating this magical set-up. I haven't got quality pics yet - just a teaser!, proper pics will have to wait until it's delivered next week, but these will give you and idea. It's an old oak draw top. Made here in San Francisco many decades a go! It's in excellent condition and bears the past uses with pride, like a knight's armor really. Every single drawer works perfectly, and there are dozens! It will house all the tools and paints I need, and also integrate the lighting and display solution I have also been hunting parts for. It will also be my new photography set up, with solutions for both the wip picture language with iPhone / oak backdrop and the proper pics with the new g3, with special waxed paper backdrop.

On the wall just above it I will hang two very very special works of art.

More to follow - stay tuned!

Post Scriptum,

In respect to the hobby, my fresh friendship to J.B. has opened a new, wider appreciation on the fabric that makes Warhammer 40000. I feel that John's work has a totally unique component to it - I call it elemental, perhaps for a lack of better term. Great discourse with JRN over the years has been another great inspiration to make a big leap in how I approach the hobby.Thirdly, in 2006 I went to my first GD and realized those events are not for me, totally different content and motivation makes me tick. I do love the fact that people more talented than me disagree and I get to enjoy the pics from said events every year.

migs