Friday, July 17, 2015

It's Official

Soooooooooo...

How many projects have I started and stopped over the course of the past year? That's pretty normal where the hobby is concerned, but in trying to tie everything together and keep myself going in this latest hobby push, I am prepared to roll out the new blog.

That's right, a new blog, complete with all sorts of fluffy text, with no clear explanation of my motivations or plans as of yet.

You can find it here. As you make your way over, here is a sample to send you on your way.


Sunday, February 1, 2015

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Box I :: The Pages I


To decorate the cases which will in time carry my models, I am putting together a series of small pages with paintings (in large part inspired by the character cards in Dragon Age: Inquisition) and brief summaries of the setting and characters/history which my collection will contain or touch on (interact with, etc.).

To that end, I have a quick batch of launching point thumbnails for the first box. The theme I have in mind is ritual and the corrupting influence of the warp. So...

Which of the above images should I expand on as an oil painting?

Thanks for any input,
B. Wright

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Lets start with a photo...


So, as you can see, almost no work at all has begun on the truescale project as I would like to see it. With another term of college nearly finished and my free-time addiction to Far Cry 4 coming to it's sensible end point, I see a lot of work hobby work in my immediate future. After finally caving and making a small parts order (jump-packs and dreadnought torso), I am prepared to dive into the first contingent of Imperial Fists.

Contrary to my previous post, I will not be starting a Blood Angels force, despite the new wave of lovely parts available. I still think a truescale Blood Angels army could be gorgeous, but Imperial Fists hold a place closer to my heart and I have a number of ideas on how to set them apart. I realize the image is sort of sloppy, with the text hurriedly slapped on and the background of dirty dishes, but please bear with me.

I quite like the idea of twenty model tactical squads, and will be starting there. The squad, temporarily titled Bulwark Tactical, marked with a Roman numeral "I" and led by a full command group (sergeant, vexilla, and vox), will theoretically tie up enemy infantry while the second part of this project crashes in from the flanks. This second squad (not yet named Assault) will potentially be doubled in size, but for the moment consists of five models with chainswords and bolt pistols. After this, work can begin on the Breacher or Seeker squad. I am as of yet undecided on which I will build, but suspect that by the time twenty-five models are built and painted, I will have the intent to build both units. The Dreadnought is something that I've fiddled with periodically, and will continue to do so; I can't say for certain when it will be finished, but the plan is to give the model a twin linked Heavy Bolter and a Power Scourge, as per the old metal chaos dreadnought. By this time, the army will need a leader, so I will be making a champion or low-ranking captain and a standard bearer. As I end with that, I should mention that the only squad which has been lain out with the appropriate legs are the Assault Marines. Any other unit will have legs selected as the project continues, so have no fear, that final command group will not be in the same squatting pose, side by side.

The boxes on which I have set these parts will house Tactical Squads. There are a number of other wood cases that will carry the other models, but for now, I have set aside this box for the first Tactical Squad, and its twin for the theoretical second Tactical Squad.

Thanks for looking, hopefully a closer look at the first few models will be up before I visit family for the holidays.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

The Red Company :: Inspiration for a New Project :: A Very Long Post

I have found a definite shift in my hobby tastes over the past few years. While I still find games like Privateer Press' Warmachine and Hordes interesting, and enjoy from afar the sleek science fiction style of Corvus Belli's Infinity, 40k has slowly but surely beat out Warhammer Fantasy as my favorite miniatures universe. When introduced to the hobby, I found the art of John Blanche terrible, scribbled and uncertain, but now hind myself drooling over whatever work I can find, enthralled by the crispness of line and obvious confidence he seems to pour into his work. I still, and I suspect always will, love the work of Kopinski, Dainton, and Boyd, and find it of the utmost importance (in the 40k hobby) that the spirit of their work be rendered in miniature form.

It seems like an exaggeration, but in all honesty, hundreds of projects have been started and stalled out over the past few years, constantly being tweaked or dropped, picked back up or merged into new ideas. Ten years ago, I would have been comfortable, if unenthusiastic, about starting a Blood Angels army, with the most recent codex, I would have been pleased with the miniatures but scoffed at the new characters and mood of the models, and somehow, right now, I sketch out countless ideas for my newest project, A Heresy-Era Blood Angels army.

Since it first came into my awareness, I have loved the Horus Heresy. First, the look of the Maximus armor caught my attention, with Forge World's Red Scorpions and the release of the Black Templars Upgrade kit. Later, I would discover the art books, not yet packaged in the Collected Visions, which has since been re-released to contain the work of Neil Roberts. Finally, the work of such truescale pioneers as Synapse, Apologist, and Doghouse would cement an aesthetic in my mind from which I could not break away. Migsula and the Shaddes of Greye would eventually convince me to try my hand at the truescale process, and this will be the latest in a series of starts into the Heresy, inspired by some of the greatest hobbyists on the web.

To collect inspiration and to perhaps introduce other hobbyists to their work, 
I refer to the following:

Apologist has a number of threads on various forums, but a solid point of departure is his more recent blog, Death of a Rubricist, where you can find his latest work and drool over his second major foray into the Ultramarines Legion.

Legion of Plastic is a blog run by Migsula, creator of some amazing truescale Alpha Legionnaires and one of the pioneers of =I=Munda/Inq28.

I discovered Spiky Rat Pack more recently, but with a wide variety of work by two unique hobbyists, this blog is a real pleasure to peruse. With work underway on a second Red Corsair, I find myself checking this blog more than ever.

I have to throw in some project logs as well, and with a consistently clean style and an eye for composition, STC_LogisEngine has produced some brilliant pre- and pos-heresy Alpha Legion here.

Another great thread follows the work of one Cerebralerebus and his Adeptus Mechanicus. This hobbyist continues to impress with a creative and unique use of parts and a striking but familiar color scheme.

Though he seems to have stopped posting some time ago, Space Wolves players may find the following blog especially interesting. Drowned in Plastic is a good resource for those interested in making their own pre-heresy armor and a pleasantly mellow showcase of high-quality models.

These last three threads are all from the Warseer Forums. Leoparden's Imperial Addiction displays a couple of solid armies and the start of a couple others. With space marines from before and after the Heresy, Leoparden's work gets better and better as the thread goes on.

Trying out multiple styles, Ritterkreuz1 explores the Sons of Horus before moving on to the Word Bearers at Calth.

Finally, drawing parts from multiple Forge World lines, The Fall of Seraph showcases JackDaw's latest project, a memorial for fallen Astartes of the Blood Angels Legion.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

++ Light From Far Away Suns ++


Where the lion makes his court, our eyes look high, and though service to the throne-afar demands more than any man may give, we sing praise to the immortal, for no tribute is too great for the Emperor's chosen.

***