Grrr!
So I stopped by Ebay after a self imposed break to find a bunch of unpaid items in my inbox... I used the 'pay all' feature recently and apparently it decided to cherry pick which ones to pay.
This is the third time this has happened to me. Does anyone else have this issue, and is there a fix?
I am nervous now about paying and going off on holiday.
After all, after paying ebay still lists the items as unpaid whilst is processes... so unless I check back the next day there is no way of knowing.
Grrrrr!
I have cold sweats worrying about my ebay account getting locked or damaged as it is the only avenue I have to my hobby. What pisses me off is that every case issue I have had has been a technical hoo-haa from their end, and they simply do not respond to technical emails in time. I guess because they have just soooooooooooooooooo many.
[EDIT] Hey, happy little me just wrote a three page rant on how company policy trumps local law when using an international buying system, but thought better of it. I am, after all, recovering from a week of sleepless nights thanks to a nasty stomach bug- so am not thinking very clearly. Its always better to delete the messages after you hammer them out.[EDIT]
So on the hobby front, nothing this week. Too ill to lift a paint brush.
Hopefully fixed next week!
Dave
Monday, July 30, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Melbourne roadtrip!
Roadtrip!
Work often takes me off on adventures, and today I am reporting from Melbourne- Australia's cultural, if not official, capital. The one thing I can definitely say about Melbourne is it takes care of its geeks. Sydney, now bereft of any miniature shops other than GW should take note!
So after a wonderful day of site seeing (including the must see minotaur store), the call of the hobby summoned me to Mind Games where I had a good go at emptying their shelves of Bob Ridolfi minis and other Reaper shiny things.
Naturally I had to open them and have a improvised game of pchoo, pchoo in the hotel with my new dollies! Bob Ridolfi's aptly named incredible woman is just breathtaking as is his Allura Succubus. I grabbed some chronoscope figures and microsrt tech crates for Stardred too...
Sadly my holiday spirit was cut short by food poisoning, so I am currently surviving all alone in my hotel with nothing but gastrolyte, poweraid and hotel priced toast.
I am accepting sympathy comments below... and donations of miniatures ;)
Anyway, the thing I really wanted to blog about is, whilst there, a young kidlet was taking his first steps into warhammer hobby (learning how to pester his dad into paying for GW products by getting really excited and waving one expensive and one really, stupidly expensive option so the day would pick the cheaper option- bravo kid!)
Dad, however, won my respect by using the exact same tactic back on him - resulting in the kid happily buying a goblin starter paint set). I can just imagine the lad getting home, racing through his homework (the dad reminded him in an admirably firm and yet nurturing way about that responsibility) and proceeding to dunk and splatter his way to his first wrecked brush and that wonderful thing that is 'my first mini!'
I wanted to give him sooooo much advice, but giddy from what I suspect is an acute, super hybrid mutation of manflu and salmonella (I dub thee manellazilla-rex) I could only grin and think of the night I dunked my first snotling into a pot of goblin green and tried to paint eyes on with a 60p newsagent nylon watercolor brush. No advice can compare to making your first mistakes, and I really hope he keeps those goblins for years to come.
So I got thinking about what advice I would give a boy with a boys attention span. What are those, lets say, five golden tips to get you started.
Mine would have to be...
1:hey kid- undercoat- dont skip this! A thin, even undercoat is like a clean sheet of paper to work on.
2: hey kid- aim to just get everything neatly colored in before moving onto learning to shade- and do this on all your figures in the box before you buy any more!
3: hey kiddo- less paint on brush=more control! Only put a little paint on your brush, scrape off blobs onto the lip inside the pot and touch the brush to kitchen towel to soak up excess moisture that could flood your models details. You tell the paint where to go... Not the other way around!
4: hey Kid- to steady your hands put elbows on table, lock palms together, breathe out and hold your breath as you slowly stroke the brush. Dont forget to breathe afterwards.
5: kidster- hey dont worry if you make a mess and it does not look anywhere as good as the eavy metal ones... You can always strip the paint off with dettol and try again and again til your happy!
What would your five tips be?
Work often takes me off on adventures, and today I am reporting from Melbourne- Australia's cultural, if not official, capital. The one thing I can definitely say about Melbourne is it takes care of its geeks. Sydney, now bereft of any miniature shops other than GW should take note!
So after a wonderful day of site seeing (including the must see minotaur store), the call of the hobby summoned me to Mind Games where I had a good go at emptying their shelves of Bob Ridolfi minis and other Reaper shiny things.
Naturally I had to open them and have a improvised game of pchoo, pchoo in the hotel with my new dollies! Bob Ridolfi's aptly named incredible woman is just breathtaking as is his Allura Succubus. I grabbed some chronoscope figures and microsrt tech crates for Stardred too...
Sadly my holiday spirit was cut short by food poisoning, so I am currently surviving all alone in my hotel with nothing but gastrolyte, poweraid and hotel priced toast.
I am accepting sympathy comments below... and donations of miniatures ;)
Anyway, the thing I really wanted to blog about is, whilst there, a young kidlet was taking his first steps into warhammer hobby (learning how to pester his dad into paying for GW products by getting really excited and waving one expensive and one really, stupidly expensive option so the day would pick the cheaper option- bravo kid!)
Dad, however, won my respect by using the exact same tactic back on him - resulting in the kid happily buying a goblin starter paint set). I can just imagine the lad getting home, racing through his homework (the dad reminded him in an admirably firm and yet nurturing way about that responsibility) and proceeding to dunk and splatter his way to his first wrecked brush and that wonderful thing that is 'my first mini!'
I wanted to give him sooooo much advice, but giddy from what I suspect is an acute, super hybrid mutation of manflu and salmonella (I dub thee manellazilla-rex) I could only grin and think of the night I dunked my first snotling into a pot of goblin green and tried to paint eyes on with a 60p newsagent nylon watercolor brush. No advice can compare to making your first mistakes, and I really hope he keeps those goblins for years to come.
So I got thinking about what advice I would give a boy with a boys attention span. What are those, lets say, five golden tips to get you started.
Mine would have to be...
1:hey kid- undercoat- dont skip this! A thin, even undercoat is like a clean sheet of paper to work on.
2: hey kid- aim to just get everything neatly colored in before moving onto learning to shade- and do this on all your figures in the box before you buy any more!
3: hey kiddo- less paint on brush=more control! Only put a little paint on your brush, scrape off blobs onto the lip inside the pot and touch the brush to kitchen towel to soak up excess moisture that could flood your models details. You tell the paint where to go... Not the other way around!
4: hey Kid- to steady your hands put elbows on table, lock palms together, breathe out and hold your breath as you slowly stroke the brush. Dont forget to breathe afterwards.
5: kidster- hey dont worry if you make a mess and it does not look anywhere as good as the eavy metal ones... You can always strip the paint off with dettol and try again and again til your happy!
What would your five tips be?
Friday, July 20, 2012
How to get ahead
Hey folks, just a quickie to show off my latest arrival... One eighth of The Citadel Giant!
I have him here next to a C28 giant head for scale. Solid lead alloy- It is really, really heavy!
I picked him up on a whim from ebay seller DaveT. Cheers Dave!
I was tempted to base a dwarf on his head, but considering there are less than 1000 of these on the planet I cannot bring myself to drill pin holes in him. I think I will paint him and make a fancy display mount for it to rest on- that is, until I gather all the other pieces.
Oh and five boxes of various and sundry fender washers arrived since last post. Nearly bust a gut lugging these from the post office. Very pleased with them- they are super thin and have tiny holes- I could not resist basing up a Bob Olley Ral Partha ghoul and am greatly satisfied. Probably more satisfied with a washer than any man in history now I think about it.
Enjoy the head.
I have him here next to a C28 giant head for scale. Solid lead alloy- It is really, really heavy!
I picked him up on a whim from ebay seller DaveT. Cheers Dave!
I was tempted to base a dwarf on his head, but considering there are less than 1000 of these on the planet I cannot bring myself to drill pin holes in him. I think I will paint him and make a fancy display mount for it to rest on- that is, until I gather all the other pieces.
Oh and five boxes of various and sundry fender washers arrived since last post. Nearly bust a gut lugging these from the post office. Very pleased with them- they are super thin and have tiny holes- I could not resist basing up a Bob Olley Ral Partha ghoul and am greatly satisfied. Probably more satisfied with a washer than any man in history now I think about it.
Enjoy the head.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Zzap! Blanchitsu
Ah, dear readers- fancy meeting you all you here. Well, while I have you have a peek at these...
Citadel, sister of battle, nurgle marine and early chaos broo.
Its just a quick iphone pic, I am rejigging the room to include a permanent light box above my desk, hopefully better images after thats done.
So as you can see they are a liiiiiiitle bit inspired by John Blanche. It was killer fun to loosen up and treat the surface like a canvas- scrunching and scratching thinned paint with a little retarder to get the dirty look we so love about Blanchitsu.
All this early JB miniature reference has really opened up some new doors for me- its okay to be whacky and make things from pure fantasy and whim. I am enjoying the hobby again after a little downturn!
Cheers JB!
Oh, and I also made one of these tonight, its a static grass applicator made from an electric fly swat. It works a treat. Search on youtube for instructions (and safety warnings) and takes twenty minutes to make.
I am going to make a couple of tweaks- a nylon screw cup with a protective ridge to stop any chance of contact.
I made some tufts using weldbond and a metallic sheet. Easy!
Citadel, sister of battle, nurgle marine and early chaos broo.
Its just a quick iphone pic, I am rejigging the room to include a permanent light box above my desk, hopefully better images after thats done.
So as you can see they are a liiiiiiitle bit inspired by John Blanche. It was killer fun to loosen up and treat the surface like a canvas- scrunching and scratching thinned paint with a little retarder to get the dirty look we so love about Blanchitsu.
All this early JB miniature reference has really opened up some new doors for me- its okay to be whacky and make things from pure fantasy and whim. I am enjoying the hobby again after a little downturn!
Cheers JB!
Oh, and I also made one of these tonight, its a static grass applicator made from an electric fly swat. It works a treat. Search on youtube for instructions (and safety warnings) and takes twenty minutes to make.
I am going to make a couple of tweaks- a nylon screw cup with a protective ridge to stop any chance of contact.
I made some tufts using weldbond and a metallic sheet. Easy!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Prime time
Aha! After a dreadfully overcast week a single hour of clear skies allowed me a quick priming session. I thought you all might enjoy picking through the pictures to see whats there!
Its a real mixed bag of beauties from Ral Partha, Guild of Harmony, Hasslefree, Grenadier, Reaper and of course lovely, lovely citadel classics!
A big shout out to ebay seller partytree whose friar you can see at the top right- very cool to finally get this piece after a few years of hunting!
Speaking of shout outs, check out the awesome new blog...
http://www.thecitadelcollector.co.uk/
Its full of blanchey goodness and lead wisdom. Like this stuff...
Looooooooovvvvvvvveeeee!
Check it out!
Its a real mixed bag of beauties from Ral Partha, Guild of Harmony, Hasslefree, Grenadier, Reaper and of course lovely, lovely citadel classics!
A big shout out to ebay seller partytree whose friar you can see at the top right- very cool to finally get this piece after a few years of hunting!
Speaking of shout outs, check out the awesome new blog...
http://www.thecitadelcollector.co.uk/
Its full of blanchey goodness and lead wisdom. Like this stuff...
Looooooooovvvvvvvveeeee!
Check it out!