Halloween and no work being done!

Well, the end of October approaches, and painting has been at a standstill. It's times like these that makes one question the "motivation", or lack thereof, as well as the reality of continuing in this great hobby.

There are many things to consider as I ponder the future of my lead endeavors. I have many hundreds of models, all waiting for the brush. What's the chance I'll get to them? Not sure.

Some ideas about the painting roadblock.

1. Time- I've mentioned this before, but making time for the hobby has been extremely difficult for me. I've got a spot to work at, I find myself up at night watching the TV, or resting while the kids play yet I have no thought of putting paint on miniatures.
2. Co-hobbiests- Is that a word? You get the idea, much of my motivation comes from browsing the internet, especially lead adventure forums. This has helped in the past as I entered the lead adventure painters league. Of course I finished last, oh well. That being said, having a friend to plan with, game against, and motivate is of the utmost importance. I do have one, and he only lives about 2 blocks away! To continue this hobby I must get in contact with him as a way to tackle the pile.
3. Magpie Syndrome- I've seen it called "Magpie Syndrome". You know, the desire to get all miniatures, game all systems, and paint all the myriad armies for said systems? I guess like a Magpie, jumping from thing to thing. I've got this, badly. It was the same for online gaming, or MMORPGS. I would chose one class, then another, then another, never to finish one off. So it goes for miniatures.

With these things in mind, a plan of sorts is in order. I believe the first thing to do is pick an arbitrary time per week to be designated painting only. Just like hitting the gym, or finishing a project, I will dedicate the time to painting (even if it's only a few minutes to start). Getting a buddy should be easy, as I'll ask my friend over, and now comes the hard part. Which game to focus on? I have been pulled towards random-fantasy, you know, getting the Reaper/GW/etc miniatures together and running Mordheim-like battles. Well, I must brush that aside for a bit as I think that focusing on my LOTR army for Mordor will be the most productive, and give the most fun with my hobby partner.

Well, there you go. Time frame? How about starting next week. I'll be checking in to advise my progress (or lack thereof). Wish me luck!

I can see why Blogs crash and burn

It's been almost two months since I've had an update, and longer than that for any real content. Well, summer with the children, work, and all other things takes time away, but hopefully I can load some pictures of some fantasy painting I've been doing.

Until later!

Gearing up for Game 2

With a few more orcs ready to go, and a better idea about how to play LOTR Strategy Battle, we're looking at another game in the upcoming weeks. I've got a conference to attend the week of the 28th, but the 4th of July holiday is fast approaching. In the following weeks I'll try and add some more goodies to the force.

My friend has begun to get the miniatures "bug", if you will. He's been gobbling up Mordheim miniatures, and looks motivated to get some painting done. May be a good idea to start up a painting night!

Cheers, here's to a good start to summer!

Catching up

Haven't done any painting as of late, but just got some orcs up, base coated, and ready to go! I have about 20 more orcs ready to paint, but that may be a little too much for me to do at one setting. Instead, I'm going to break it down into groups of 5 orcs, and try and rush through them, painting them up to a table-top standard.

I've been considering some more fantasy figures, so I've got a few of them base coated as well. Probably to take the time between painting orcs.

I'll post the pictures when I'm done, and we've got another skirmish planned for about mid-month.

Cheers!

Skirmish in Middle Earth

Here are some shots and a light narrative from a skirmish I fought today.

Setting: Gondor's south-east territory.
Set-up: Routine patrol led by Ranger set to investigate ruins. There has been some activity in the area, and patrol in force is ordered. Little does the Gondorian patrol know there are orcs about, scouting the way for an eventual raid into Gondor.



Gondor takes the field, led by Arleth the ranger.



Arleth stops, scanning the ground for sign. Something is amiss. Captain Miron holds his warriors ready.



From the brush breaks a formation of orcs, a captain at the front. More orcs are skulking through the woods in front of the formation. The men of Gondor quickly form up into two units as their archers trade shots against the foul orcs.





Captain Miron forms his men together, while orc archers burst from cover to fire evil darts at their foe.





Arleth's aim is true, as he fells one of the foul orcs.



Three of the orc-brutes, wielding axes and pikes, charge the Gondorian flank.



The main body of orcs are forced onward by their cruel captain.



The battle lines crash together, as one of the orcs peels off to attack Arleth.



Arleth's aim is true as his arrow transifxes the orc!



The view of the battle from Gondor's lines as the Orc Captain attacks his foe.



Gondor's flank is holding nicely as orc casualties start to mount.



Suddenly brave Arleth is laid low by the vicious darts of the remaining orc archer.



The men of Gondor renew their attack, angered by the loss of Arleth.



In the end, the orc captain strikes true against Captain Miron, but is killed in return as the few remaining orcs run back into the dark woods and swamps.



The stunned patrol readies itself, prepared to bring word of the fight, and knowledge of evil tidings, back to their encampment.



After-report: Well, this is the first time we've played in forever! We had to re-read and review the rules several times, fumbled through forgetting many other rules (fate point to save Miron!) but thoroughly enjoyed the fight. This was really a warm-up battle for things to come. My friend has more warriors to paint, and I definitely need to add to my horde! Next time we'll set to playing a real scenario. Until that time, Gondor must prepare for further patrols to the border...

Ciao!

WOW, it's been a while!

Hello again,

I've been working, working, working, but that's fine. So goes life, yes?

I just spoke with my neighbor and friend and we've got a LOTR battle coming up in the next week. I'll make sure and take some pictures. I've also got a mind to put some pictures up from the orcs I've managed to get finished.

Soon, more goodies soon. Part of keeping a blog active are regular updates, so I guess that should be my priority. Once a week is good, with pictures as often as possible.

Cheers!

New blog added

Some great stuff for "Strange Aeons". It looks like it will be an active and helpful blog!

Other stuff: I must... finish... those... two... orcs...

On painting skills and time...

Well, I haven't been able to finish up my next entry for the Lead Painters League. That's too bad as I only needed to finish a couple of orcs to have the required 5 miniatures minimum. I'm not really bothered, as most of my free time has been spent with the kids over their Spring Break.

I'll hopefully get the orcs done by next week's entry. I'd still like to paint something different up for the league, I'm thinking of war-hounds, lots of them. I've got several miniature packs from different manufacturers and think it might be a fun entry.

I've been towards the bottom of the league, as it were, in points scored, and votes received. This is kind of a moral breaker, but I'm determined to go onwards. I've faced some very skilled opponents, and you know what they say, "practice makes perfect". Or at least permanent. I've got hundreds of miniatures to do, and will continue to strive towards improving my craft (or lack thereof) with a hope of getting some games in before too long.

Finally, I'm off to play some Dawn of War 2, I can get a game in here and there when the kids aren't all over me!

Ciao, see you next time.

Haven't painted yet this week...

There's still time, however!

I was lazy to paint this week, was busy, and I wanted to spend time with the kids. I've got 3 orcs of 5 finished for my next LPL entry. I may not make it this week, but will definitely have it for next week (knock on wood). Once they're done, I have a mind to put a shot together of the horde (mini-horde?) to see how it all looks.

I'd like to get another entry or two in for the LPL league, it's been great motivation. I also want enough miniatures put together so I can have a game with my friend. It's been toooo long since I've actually gamed something, and I'm looking forward to trying out LOTR with my own miniatures!

Thanks!

Planet of ... Death!

Here is my entry for the LPL round 5. It's a bonus round for "zombies". I figured I'd get some old Warzone miniatures, and a mercenary from Necromunda and set up a scene. I actually only painted four zombies to begin with, counting my mercenary for the fifth model. I was told that I needed five zombies (rules stipulate same model type) to make the cut. Well, I busted one more out in record time and made the submission deadline.

Here's a view:



As you can see, I didn't do much with the bases, giving it a "charandon granite" coat and finishing with some "graveyard earth" swirls. I like the effect, although it's not that fancy. I figure the bases would work for whatever near-future space odyssey they will be gamed with.

Here's a link to the new round, as you will see I'm getting my butt kicked... again.

http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=17485.0

Round 5 submitted for the LPL

Hello all, I was able to get some stuff together and submit it for the Lead Painters' League. I submitted some warzone undead/zombie space warriors lead by an ugly "super-zombie" beast. They're facing off against a husky looking mercenary type. There are bonus points this round for submitting something zombie, so I'm looking forward to that.

For my round 6 entry I've got three of five painted... wait for it... got your guesses ready?

Yes, you got it, orcs! As I need to finish more and more of them for my LOTR gaming I might as well submit them.

Anyway, once the new entries go up I'll post some pics of my round 5 entry.

Ciao!

Probably miss this week's entry as well

It's been two weeks since I've completed an entry for the Lead Painters' League. That's too bad, as I was pretty excited getting my first entries completed. I have done some painting, more orcs of course. I've got to finish one up, base them, and then we're done. I'll have a picture up as soon as possible.

I'm hoping to stay with the LOTR theme for my next entry, but there are bonus points for "Zombies". I've got to have something like that to paint. Unfortunately, next week is busy again, so not sure I'll get a chance.

Anyway, more pictures soon, more painting time sooner!

Ciao!

Orc captain and retinue

Here we have last weeks entry into the Lead Painters' League. You can see I've added a captain, a taskmaster, standard bearer and two more orcs. I'm happy with the result, even though I was thoroughly defeated again!

I need to take a break from orcs for my next entry but will remain with LOTR miniatures.

Cheers!

Well, nothing done this week

I got primer on my next group of models to paint, but unfortunately have not had the time to put brush to them! This is too bad as I was hoping to get through at least the first 5 rounds of the Lead Painters' League before crashing.

Well two rounds are better than none! I hope to have something ready for Round 4.

That being said, I'll post up my last submission and then maybe put in a group shot.

Thanks, and happy painting!

Next entry for the Lead Painters' League

I'm getting stomped again. Oh well, it's against a very good entry that's presented nicely. I have gained about 3X as many votes as my previous entry so I also feel good about that!

My next project is sitting on the go desk, waiting for brush to apply paint. I like the idea of this project and hope it comes out well.

If I can power through it, that is!

Anyway, here's a link to my second entry, and look forward to getting round 3 in!

http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=16830.0

Painting is wearing me out!

I spent a few hours over the last two days getting my next entry read for the Lead Painters' League round two. It's sort of exhausting trying to push everything together in order to make the deadline.

Well, I made it, but I don't know if I'll be keeping up the pace for the next few rounds. I don't want to burn out!

Currently I've finished 12 orcs, including an orc captain, taskmaster, and banner bearer. I'll get some more out so I can have a small force to skirmish against my friend. Here is the last entry I made for the Lead Painters' League. As the round is over, I'll post it here!

Ciao!

Working on Entry #2 for the Lead Painters' League

Well, not much activity on my website, seems that traffic is down as well. That's okay, I do this mostly to motivate myself to paint, and recently have been indulging in the Lead Painter' League. Great stuff, check out my previous post to find a link to the forums.

I've continued my painting, and have my next entry about half way done. It's going to be titled "Orc Captain and Retinue". It's more LOTR stuff, I'm slowly trying to work through the huge pile of miniatures I have, and hope to someday soon, probably early summer, get some real gaming in with my friends.

As soon as the next round starts I'll post my last entry picture, and follow that through the remaining rounds. I've got a neat idea for entry #3, and another for entry #4. The bonus of "Zombies" for round #5 has me thinking of changing gears from LOTR at that time.

Ciao!

The start of the Lead Painters' League

Here is my entry web page as promised: Lead Painters' League Round 1

As you can see I'm up against some really great competition, and I'm getting blown out of the water! That's okay, and I feel proud that some people have voted for the poor orcs!

Either way, I've got some more guys on the way, and will continue to post links as the League continues. I'm not sure I'll be able to get all the rounds in, but I'll try. I would recommend that you take a look at the other entries, as there are some great figures this round.

New Orc done, Lead Painters' League submitted

Well, I entered my previously painted orcs, and a new orc in the Lead Painters' League competition over at the Lead Adventure Forums. I finished up the mordor orcs, based them, and added one more to make a total of 7 completed orcs in the last month. If I can keep that up I'll have a small army in no time!

I unfortunately thought that the competition deadline was 7:00 PM GMT. It was 07:00 in the morning GMT! I'm a little bummed that I didn't make it on time, but maybe they'll let my entry stay. If not, I'll have a new picture up here for all to browse.

As for my next models? I'm thinking I'll try and finish up the rest of my primered orcs, and then add some command models. I've also got a vision in my head of The Nine (wringwraiths!)... mounted. That would be a great entry!

More pictures to come! Ciao!

First weekend in a month no painting

That's got to end! I had a nice four-day weekend which I spent with the family. Was nice and I made a stop in San Jose at a Games Workshop store. I picked up two brushes and some paint. I bought 4 or 5 of the "browns" for use with my orcs. Now I'll have more shades to work through as I fill out the horde.

More painting and pictures to come once I get caught up with my work.

Another mountain?

I just ran across another great wargaming blog at:

http://lead-mountain.blogspot.com/

Another lead mountain?! Funny how one can spot trends across the internet. I recommend this blog as he's got some great miniatures painted up from different genres. If you like historical gaming, especially AWI or FIW stuff I'd suggest you take a look. He's also got some great fantasy stuff on the site.

Cheers! It's sites like this that continue to motivate me on my own trek to reduce the mound of lead.

Here we have some new pictures of the original metal orcs for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game.



Look how nicely they stack up against the newer plastic orcs. I really enjoy the character and the variety they will add to the horde.



Some more orcs, based and ready for the primer. Is the orc on the right holding his shield to ward off elven arrows? Maybe!



And to round it all out we have an orc captain. The sword is taken from a wildman of dunland, with a little "green stuff" work to hide the join of the arm. I Like the look of this captain. He's mean and ready to get into the fight. I added a spiky point to his shield to give him that menacing appearance. Now off to the priming station and we'll add these guys to the production line!

Following a new blog

I just found out how to add "gadgets" to my Blog, and have decided to follow other miniature-wargame blogs. The first is the wonderful http://www.heresybrush.com/

There are many great painting guides here, with some wonderful brushwork done on 15mm aztec armies. The site is in Spanish and I suggest taking a look at the artwork even if you don't understand the language!

I look forward to getting back to the work bench to continue my orc horde! It's amazing what a little bit of motivation will do, hence the blog! I'll be back tonight with some more work in progress pictures, including the new captain of my orcs.

Thanks!

Orcs for Mordor!

Here we go, I've completed the next batch of orcs destined to do battle with the forces of Minas Tirith! I've got some work to do until they're completely finished, namely cleaning up the base and adding some burnt scrub to the base. I don't have the right type of flocking for the base so I'll hold off until I order some or head by the hobby store.




Here's a look at all six of the orcs. I wanted a stylized "eye" for the shields and didn't want to go with red. I'm trying to capture a look of very muted colors, brown, drab, etc to match my idea of Mordor. Red will be added to any Moranon orcs I paint up as I want them to stand out more.



Four orcs I've just finished. I tried to get a bronze-type armor affect for the guy on the right. It's okay, but looks a little muted.















Well there you have it! Now, I only need to paint about... 100 more? I'm going to keep working with the same few basic colors in an attempt to crank these out. I've got 18 more ready for painting.

I have a handful of the original metal orcs that were released when the game came out. I'll get them set for primering and add them to the horde. I also have another box or two of plastic orcs. I plan on doing some very basic conversions on the plastics to at least add some flavor to the horde. Thanks for checking in, more later this week!

Update: More LOTR

I'm still plugging away at my four WIP orcs. I have another 18 primered and ready to go. I need to buy some new paints as many of my games workshop paints have hardened and dried out. This is strange as I still have paint that is 20+ years old and it's fine as the day it was mixed. Oh well, new formula not like the old I guess.

Along with my plastic orcs I've got a handful of the original metal models. I've also got some leader models ready for primering. I look forward to getting a real force ready for battle.

More updates with pictures coming in the next few days.

Thursday 2-4-10: painting WIP pictures and conversions

Some work in progress pictures of some more orcs. I'm trying to get them churned out as fast as possible. Also some conversion pictures of a Mordor Uruk Hai captain and a Wildman of Dunlending leader (I like to call him The Mullet).





I like the look of this helmet and added a spiked shield and a different weapon.

Welcome February, and 3rd week in a row painting

Well I've finished the orcs I started last week to bring my grand total to four (4!) painted miniatures. Now I only have something like 2000 more to finish! My next plan is to work as quickly as possible through the next 22 orcs before base coating some more! I'll most likely take a break and finish up some more fantasy but I'd like to have a good 30-40 orcs done by the end of March (crosses fingers). I'll also have to paint up some captains and banner bearers but I feel pretty good about everything so far.







Here's a shot of my work station as promised. Yes, that's a lava lamp, and yes those are bagpipes.

Weekend Plans

Well another weekend another painting session. I plan on finishing the two orcs I started last week. As I posted earlier, I'm pretty bad about picking one project to concentrate on and sticking to it until it's finished. I'd like to paint up a good force of orcs to do battle against my friend's Minas Tirith army, so that will probably be the immediate goal.

I'm also waiting for the new Blood Angels for 40K, but then again I've got Imperial Guard to work on! You get the idea.

I'll get some pictures up of my work desk and hopefully have some new minis to show case.

Thanks!

Armored Knight

Here's my next miniature, an armored night wielding a large two-handed sword. This was an easy paint job obviously, he's all armored up and I went for the usual silver/wash/drybrush. I am trying to get into my "flow" so I'm not taking on the most difficult miniatures around!
















I also started two of my LOTR orcs. I'm trying to do these guys in a more "assembly line" style. Basic colors, wash, highlight, wash again. They're WIPs, I'll show the finished project when done.

Thanks!

Time is of the essence

Well, it seems the biggest hurdle to my painting is that elusive element we never seem to get enough of... time!

I'll be hitting the painting table again, maybe tonight but definitely tomorrow. I've got some more Reaper fantasy figures I've decided to paint (sorry LOTR) in an effort to continue some fantasy gaming I've had with my friend. We're trying to develop a game system we've been running a while (mostly in our heads!) that incorporates a single die roll and takes into account a model's weapons, armor, and any special rules or abilities. Obviously we want to keep this simple, as complex rules are not conducive to quick, fluid games.

And, as we know, time is of the essence!

I'm not sure anybody reads this blog, once I get more stuff up I'll "advertise" a little on some of my favorite forums.

For starters I'd like to refer you to one of the best and active forums for miniature painting and wargaming around: Lead Adventure!

http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php

First mini down

And to tell you the truth, I'm not happy with the results... at all. I changed my mind and painted a "Conan" figure instead of the Orc. I've considered myself a "fair" painter with an idea of how to highlight, shade, drybrush, you know, the basics. Unfortunately, after many years of non-painting my first figure has turned out, well, bland?















In reality there is more definition than meets the eye. My wife has a VERY nice digi-camera, but unfortunately I take horrid pictures.

So, poor painting and a bad picture... well you be the judge.

On a positive note, I've got the itch, and nothing like practice to make one better. Next up? More fantasy goodies, including that Orc I picked out to paint in the first place!

Preparing for the big day

Well the weekend is here, and it's going to be time to paint. I've got a fairly busy work week, and have two young children who DEMAND attention. I am, of course, happy to oblige, but must wait until the later hours before I've got "alone" time.

I'm setting up a desk in the garage where I'll do the painting and have some music and sufficient light for working.

That being said, I've always enjoyed seeing people's work areas, so I'll make sure I get a photo of mine if there's anybody interested in that sort of thing.

Let's see what Sunday brings, hopefully the spark of weekend painting will inspire me!

Wow, scatterbrained... too many projects!

Hello again,

I've got soooo many miniatures, and so many different projects I don't know where to start. Aside from the Orc I've chosen as my first miniature, I don't know where to go from there.

In no particular order:

LOTR- many different factions
40K- IG, Inquisition (Witch Hunters), Chaos, Blood Angels
Fantasy- Tons of great minis from Reaper, Mordheim, Hasselfree
Colonial- Force Publique, Natives, NW Frontier
Vietnam
Other odds and ends

Whew, how does one choose where to start?

The first mini has been chosen!

The chosen one is an orc archer from Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings set. I've got a bunch of the miniatures, and it's a nice system. I reached into my "primed and unpainted pile" and found Mr. Orc Archer.

I'll get a picture of him up, and will be working on some different skin tones for my orc horde. I'm not a fan of the green, I'm thinking something dark gray or darkbrown/reddish will work well.

Cheers!

Colonial musings

The majority of the painted miniatures I own are from the wonderful Darkest Africa line by Wargames Foundry. I've based most of my miniatures on American pennies, but I think a change to some washers will be better. I've got a load of figures in the pipe line, mostly "characters". I also plan to get some more tribesmen and maybe some Arabs ready. I use the Sword and the Flame rules, which have stood the test of time and are very playable.

Introductions, about the name, and plans

Miniatures Motivation:

This is a hobby based blog about painting, collecting, and gaming with miniatures. I've been living vicariously through the dozens (hundreds? thousands?!) of gaming blogs and forums I follow on a regular basis. These include hobby based forums, wargame groups, photo sites, and blogs.

Miniatures: The wonderful figures, made of lead, pewter or plastic, that I keep buying and rarely paint.

Motivation: The hope that I can move from behind a computer screen to in front of the hobby desk.

A view from the bottom of the mountain: The pile of lead is tall, and fraught with danger. Will I be able to focus long enough to get something done?

Areas of interest: I love GW (please don't boo me now!) and especially 40K. There are lots of problems with the company, which have been discussed ad ad nauseam on other web sites, but I'm still a fan. I enjoy and collect 40K, and I think that Mordheim and LOTR are two of the finest games available. I also wargame and collect colonial, generic fantasy (huge REH fan), and vietnam miniatures.

Thanks for looking if you did, I hope this is a motivator for me, and maybe someone else will start to tackle their own lead mountain!