Friday, 2 January 2015

479 - Oh, Brave New World. Big News!

Hullo All, and Happy New Year!
That sratch-built Lamba shuttle on the pad will give you an idea of scale: it's 7mm long. 
I might yet do one of those 'Year in Review' posts but for now, I thought I'd make some announcements. Minor, perhaps, but big news for me. I shall endeavour to keep things uncharacteristically brief, so stand by for a numbered list:

  1. I'm not giving up on 40K. Despite all of GW's subtle attempts to - ahem - alienate me, I'm going to try to follow Zzzzzz's example and play 40K occasionally, and for fun, with whatever passes for a vague approximation of the rules. I'm not even going to bother trying to keep abreast of the changes. This will probably mean a longer-term storage for the IG, which will make my minimal storage space far more manageable.
  2. I'm entering an X-Wing tournament. Genuinely. I plan to take a themed, rather than particularly competitive squadron, but that doesn't really matter nearly so much in X-Wing. Rather pleasingly, it's hosted by the wonderful Col. Gravis! 
  3. I've started expanding into Bolt Action at 28mm. I just couldn't resist, despite my misgivings about painting historicals at that scale. Late-War British Army, naturellement. Some folks have also been kind enough to steer me towards other rules sets for which I can hopefully use the same minis. Watch this space for developments, folks...
  4. I've made a moon-base as an objective for X-Wing. Yup. See pic, above. Details in a post soon.
  5. I'm ebay-ing some more stuff. Gotta happen sometime, right?
  6. I've made some modular hills! A wee Christmas holiday project, above. In case you're not a follower of The Terrain Guy on youtube (link here), well...he's none other than Mel of 'Col. Corbane' fame - another old-skool blogger, and his youtube clips are brilliantly useful! Following his advice I fairly swiftly planned, organised and made fifteen hills, ten of which are fully modular and interchangeable (the ones with red on the top). It made a fair bit of mess, but it brought me a heck of a lot of joy...and recycled a Christmas present box. Yay.
Planning notes and templates for the above.
A maturation, then, for Drax. Here's to what will - hopefully - be a great hobby year for us all, right?

- Chris.
at

28 comments:

  1. Cameron3 January 2015 at 00:43

    Happy new year! I'm looking forward to seeing your 2015 projects. Those hills look cool. When you post the final project please post more pics of the unpainted hills and templates! I may just make my own.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admiral Drax3 January 2015 at 07:34

      Thanks, mate and wilco - though I'm sure you could do a way better job! Mel's tutorials are smashing, and he's very personable.

      Delete
  2. Gothmog3 January 2015 at 01:48

    Like the hills and that you are not giving up on 40k. I think the "End Times" are coming and 40k is going to be great. Sure there is a ton of changes, but I am trying to look at it as new diversity. I rarely see the same list twice, despite the prevalence of the internet to spit out deathstars and spam. I am trying to embrace the craziness while expanding my army into a collection.

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    Replies
    1. Admiral Drax3 January 2015 at 07:43

      I shall keep a weather eye open for the 'End Times' - you may yet be right.
      I'm lucky in that I have pretty much every model I've planned to get for my Imperial Guard so that makes it easier to slow right down, but I had to chuckle reently when I was watching a youtube review of historical miniatures and the reviewer noted that "it's pretty unusual to be charged over about £2 for a 28mm metal figure". That's like early-'90s prices for GW!

      Delete
    2. Admiral Drax3 January 2015 at 07:43

      Great to see you here again by the way, mate. Happy New Year!

      Delete
  3. Ady3 January 2015 at 03:04

    Love the moonbase.

    You could also use it for the Armada variant.

    Good luck.

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    Replies
    1. Admiral Drax3 January 2015 at 07:45

      Cheers, Ady. I don't know much about 'Armada' to be honest...

      Delete
    2. Ady3 January 2015 at 15:25

      I don't even play X Wing, though I am the proud owner of a Tantive IV as it is my favourite starship of the series. I mentioned Armada as I think the fighter stands for that game are fairly small.

      Delete
  4. Paul W3 January 2015 at 04:52

    Happy New Year :-) Admirable goals there, and all centred around getting your own personal enjoyment out of the hobby. Excellent moonbase, I'll be keeping an eye out for the post on that!

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    Replies
    1. Admiral Drax3 January 2015 at 07:47

      Cheers, Paul. I've still got plans for Flames, of course, but they're ultra-reliant on Plastic Soldier Company's longer-term release schedule!

      Delete
  5. Spiderweb of History3 January 2015 at 05:12

    Good plans/revelations, will look forward to following along with ya!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Peter Ball3 January 2015 at 07:01

    Very nice work on that base, there. Happy New Year, and good luck with the plans!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admiral Drax3 January 2015 at 07:48

      Thanks, Peter - welcome aboard. We'll see how it all turns out, eh?

      Delete
  7. greggles3 January 2015 at 15:29

    Happy new year! Moonbase looks awesome!

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  8. SinSynn3 January 2015 at 22:04

    Happy New Year, Drax.
    :)

    I've been feeling a strange attraction to Bolt Action lately. I'm looking forward to seeing what you get up to with the game.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admiral Drax7 January 2015 at 00:16

      I'll let you know. Put together my first mini last night,

      It was pleasingly non-heroically proportioned!

      Delete
  9. Zzzzzz3 January 2015 at 22:57

    Just let me know when they release a Star Destroyer model.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Colonel Winterborne4 January 2015 at 11:04

    Happy new year to you and keep up the great work! Xwing and armada both look incredible games, the force gets harder to resist by the day...
    Don't lose the faith with 40k, I'm hoping there are a few guard projects lurking around your workbench!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admiral Drax7 January 2015 at 00:17

      Cheers, matey.

      And there are inded still some 40K projects...

      Delete
  11. Andrew4 January 2015 at 19:24

    happy new year, and good to see you making of 40K what you want, and some very cool other projects there too. Love the look of that moon base, it'll be a fantastic bit of scenery once painted, and add some great character to games.

    Those hills are fantastic, going to make a brilliant board for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admiral Drax7 January 2015 at 00:17

      Thanks, Andrew!

      D'you know, in 20-odd years of modelling I've never once made a hill!

      Delete
  12. Dai5 January 2015 at 20:01

    Good post.

    Love the moonbase - if we play X-Wing here a bit more frequently, I think I'd make an effort to create similar terrain pieces.

    If GW does indeed intend an End Times series of releases for 40K I hope to see some lovely new sculpts worth paying out for. Though these current prices do give one cause for pause.

    PSC Honeys hopefully sometime this year! Don't forget the next book release for Late War that will offer Comets too!

    Merry New Year to you and yours sir.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Admiral Drax7 January 2015 at 00:18

      Ooh yes - Comets! Good point; well made. They will be ace!

      Delete
  13. Lieutenant Jones6 January 2015 at 13:44

    Happy new (hobby) year!

    You've got some great projects going on.:) Love the modular hills and nice work on the moonbase!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to comment!