Muskblog: the sad, pathetic truth

It has been a long time since I finished any models so as I could put them in my display case. These four will be going in once the sealant dries. They’ll also shortly appear on a tabletop, which is perhaps even more rare. I plan to assemble and prime three more models and use them as testers mostly. I’ll be focusing on my terrain project.

It took too long to finish these models, they should have been finished on the weekend, tonight I forced myself to just shut up and paint. I always spend too much time on finicky details. These four didn’t come out super great, certainly not my best work. I did try some new paints and techniques, but that isn’t the reason for the substandard work. Partly it was being out of practice, partly it was trying to take some short cuts. They’ll do.

I got quite a few things on my painting table, but I’m going to clear most everything off and start building one foot by one foot terrain tiles, 24 of them.

I again used my iPhone to take the pictures of the models. I shoved it right in close and balanced it on the table. They’re on Flickr so you look at them in higher res. The paints used were GW (lots of old pots), Foundry, and Vallejo. I even used some Ral Partha paint and some weathering powder and washes from these guys. Still haven’t gotten weathering powder down and I’ll need to test the washes more.

It’s been a while since I’ve officially been helping promote a concert. Usually I just encourage people to go because the band is awesome, but the upcoming Kaleidoscope benefit concert is trying to raise money for social programs in the DTES. The concert features four local bands, door prizes and tickets are only ten bucks. The show is March 27th at 7pm at the Rickshaw Theatre which I haven’t been to since it was reopened.

Wes is going on a multimedia, media blitz, but in the mean time their is my first blog posting about the concert and of course the official Facebook page. You can’t do anything without an official Facebook page these days.

The bands playing are: Rodney DeCroo and his Convictions, the Boombox Saints, Spoon River and the Left. All the bands have MySpace pages, but I thought this time I’d try to dig up YouTube footage of each band too.

I couldn’t find a single Spoon River YouTube clip, so instead you get a Georgia Straight interview.

Well gotta get back to my real job, while I still have a real job. ;-)

Today was another sick day. I forced myself to do the laundry, actually leave my apartment to buy more orange juice and medicine and I painted on. The four models now look more like Nefarious Fire Chaos Space Marines.

I used the wet palette, but still haven’t done any custom blending. The blue-green stuff on the Obliterator, is built up from a grey basecoat, a thinned waaagh green ink, and some vellejo green grey (model color 106). I used two thin washes and finished with a final highlight of the green grey.

For black power armor I go Foundry triad 34. I tried lots of things and that worked the best. I also use Chaos Black and Badab Black and even a little Fortress Grey on the final most highlights.

My purple is pretty much unchanged from the last batch of these guys. Liche Purple, then Warlock, then slightly darkened Titillating Pink. I use a thinned wash of the old purple wash, not the new one GW is selling, the ones with blue lids.

Then I really had to wait for things to dry. The banner needs some fixing up, the brass trim needs some fixing up on most models. None of the eyes are done. The next two colors to be done are a classic dark green for the tubes and bones for the skulls and what not. I also plan to add in a little copper tubing and gold knickknacks. Things always take longer than I estimate, but if I apply myself I should be able to finish the four of them bases and all over the weekend.

Might have to shop for a new camera, of course I’m still paying for my MBA and likely always will. I also may soon need a new job…

If you want to see more of my painting particularly how the Nefarious Fire paint scheme came to be finalized, check out this thread on the Bolter and Chainsword.

Over the last three or four years I’ve acquired a lot of models, particularly resin models for the trench table I plan to build. But before I can get started on that I wanted to clear off my painting desk a little so I’ve been poking away at four models that will be in my 2010 Vancouver Astronomi-con.

At some point I moved around a lot of furniture and set up a new photo booth, with new lights from Ikea, alas my camera died, so I tried it out with my iPhone with disappointing results. I may lean in more next time, and I may invest in a new camera prior to Astronomi-con.

Trumpeter’s Salute is coming up and I’m playing in that 40K tournament so these four models will be done by then and debut on those tables. I really need to crank out the 1 foot by 1 foot terrain squares, maybe I’ll do up a schedule. I also plan on painting a couple test models, then two new HQ choices and finally a rhino. Maybe that doesn’t seem like that much to some, but to me it seems like a lot.

I keep buying new paints and was even talked into using a wet palette. Not sure if it will help much with speed, but I can see how it saves you some paint and helps with custom blending. I tend to be a wash centric painter and to build up from a black undercoat, but it is always good to have extra tricks in your painting toolkit.

These models are my very first Obliterator ever (and for the extra keen, the cheapest possible lascannon in Codex Chaos Space Marines) and three other models that allow my tactical squad to be a little more versatile and to have the Mark of Chaos Undivided. I’m big on lascannons and havoc missile launchers of late, but I may switch to something other than CSM after Astro Vancouver and the Trench Table are complete.

Oh if you ever wanted to know how miniatures get made, particularly pewter ones, or the history of Battletech and Iron Wind Metals check out this story.

It seems I may have the post-Olympics flu, as I stayed home from work today. This is my final Olympic-related post, just to clear off the last few links and stories I seem to have kept handy in case I needed them.

First David Eby got a pie in the face, this was amusing for more than just the Black Bloc I imagine. Apparently not everyone in the Downtown Eastside hates the games, their are some secret fans.

Today is actually NHL trade deadline day, but here is an older article on Brendan Morrow, one of the unheralded members of Team Canada.

Apparently the few angry British journalists that weren’t even in Canada for the games may have been wrong, Canada may not have been that bad of Olympic hosts after all. North America and Asia seemed to have gained at Europe’s expense at least that is the conclusion of this article.

Here is another article about kids especially in Vancouver’s historic inner-city being given free tickets to Olympic events. This never gets mentioned by the anti-Olympic protesters…

Today I’m off and recovering. I shouldn’t have let Mathieson talk me into going downtown, right downtown after the Olympic Gold Medal Hockey Final. Other than some pictures I’m not sure what was gained. I did enjoy my Fritz, but it was hard staying together and in the end I just pushed on down Granville until I could find a seat to watch the closing ceremonies.

Neil Young was good, but the rest wasn’t so hot, though everyone liked William Shatner. He was at the game, most people who appeared at the game on TV who were famous were part of the closing ceremonies. Todd Wong was overly disappointed, but apparently some Canadians turned down the offer to perform. It really is just a big Gong Show anyway, Canadians were mostly drunk and not paying attention anyway. I haven’t bothered to see what the mainstream press has to say.

I took photos but my sister, while she was in town, took more. They can be found in various sets on Flickr, as can a number of groups full of Olympic photos such as True North Media House. I’ve used a few of my sister’s photos below.

Directly after the game, my mother and sister left for the Island. I watched the final game of the hockey tournament at the On the Edge pub with the usual cast of characters. Many bloggers and photographers were there so I’m sure more words and pictures will surface. Maybe I’ll try and find them, but right now I just want to get this last Olympic post finished.

More to come I’m sure on the fallout of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. I’m going to do some domestic chores and get some lunch. I seem to have caught Will’s cold or something. I may venture forth to see what there is to see, or I may just stay in and watch movies. I plan to hit the gym finally, seriously, as I look fatter and fatter as the Olympics went on. I also plan to do more miniature painting now that the Olympics are over and my house guests are gone.

No not the Olympic Gold Medal Men’s Hockey Game, today my sister and mother have tickets to three events in which medals will be awarded. They are at the Bronze Medal Men’s Curling match, then they will be at the Gold Medal Men’s Curling match, then finally we are all going to the Bronze Medal Men’s Hockey Game.

Go Finland!

I’ve always liked Finish hockey players, one of my all time favourite players is Esa Tikkanen. I’ve been telling stories about him to the Aussies. I also was a huge Jari Kurri fan. I was a huge 80’s hockey fan when I was a little kid. Finland’s team this Olympics has a lot of veterans, one I’ve followed closely as I had him in my hockey pool for years is Saku Koivu. So yeah, Go Finland!

I’ve been playing tour guide and recommending restaurants. I’ve taken a few pictures, my sister has taken more with a bigger camera and putting them on her Flickr account. I borrowed the odd one.

I thought of that title a couple of days ago, but saved it. Today wasn’t a particularly eventful day Olympic wise, stuff happened in the DTES, stuff always happens in the DTES. W2 did a whole bunch of stuff today, I’m sure it is all over the blogosphere, April was there. I was in the same bar as the TNMH folks but I seemed to not end up in any of their photos, I sat with Mathieson and the Australians eventually.

In case you didn’t hear, the US defeated Canada in Men’s Ice Hockey. The US deserved to win, they played a smarter game, didn’t take as many penalties, their goaltender kept his cool, made over 40 saves, Canada has to regroup and may do so with a new goaltender, but Canada has bigger problems than goaltending, they need to take less penalties and convert on their own power play chances for starters.

Canada’s next game is at 4:30pm or there abouts and we (BOB staff) will be watching it at the On the Edge Pub in all likelihood.

My Google Alerts found this story about the Woodward’s complex over the weekend, my boss liked it and wants more people to read it, so I’m posting a link to it from here too.

The Backstage Rider has another review (plus pictures) of the Neil Young Project. She went on Friday I think, I had tickets to the original show, no way I was missing it, I bought them months and months ago.

There is a lot of art on display in the DTES during the Olympics, here is another blog post about it, this one I didn’t write, but will link to it at least once.

In a totally different vein, there was an interesting article posted on Twitter comparing Venture Capital, especially venture capital post dot com bust, and social enterprise. It was an interesting idea, but VCs always need an exit, most of the social enterprises I know of in the DTES plan to operate for as long as they can, paying their investors a modest if any return, certainly no way to exit the investment with a large profit. Maybe if they had a fund people could buy units in, that invested exclusively in social enterprises…

Kris Krug likes this list of online Olympic resources. I downloaded the Bell iPhone app, but never got to fiddle with it yet.

Kris was also involved in this walking tour of the inner-city. I’ll be writing more on walking tours tomorrow at work.