Triumph the comedy Jack

So I completely missed the deadline and ability to play at the local big game.  I've heard really good things about it and am really upset I missed it.  But real life comes first.  I thought I would include a shot of my newest reinforcement to my Cyngar forces, Triumph.  Folks on the interwebs are very polar about him.  I think he looks cool, saves on some mana here and there when fielded with Siege, so he's in my force.  The original plan was to get ahold of a metal devastator and do the conversion work so he would have a bit more character.  The folks I was trying to get one from were sold out and I don't think PP is casting up an more.  Then came the hunt in the DFW area for a Cygnar heavy Jack kit.  I found it at store 3 of 3 when I went hunting.

Steampunk Friday - Cheap Goggles Project Part 2

Welcome back! One thing I forgot to mention, you'll want to buy some Mineral Spirits (at wal-mart or something over in the paint department). That will make cleanup easy.

Anyway, on with the tutorial.

Here we see the goggles with a drybrush of Reaper MSP Chestnut Brown. If you roughed up the surface with sandpaper and used black primer, this will go very very quickly.


Next image is with a drybrush of Reaper MSP Honed Steel. Note that I've given the goggles a fake leather and metal effect by the use of paint. It works on your Warmachine minis, why not goggles too!


Here we put on the Rub N Buff. For photo purposes I used Silver. You just put a tiny amount on your finger and rub it on the screw-on lens caps and the vent hole covers. Don't be stingy. When it dries fully (maybe 20 minutes, say 1 hour to be sure) you just buff it with a small piece of scrap cloth or a paper towel and it'll start to shine like metal.


FYI - Clean up your finger and any spills by pouring out a little Mineral Spirits in a cup (or the lid of the Mineral Spirits jug) and wash your hands with it. Then when the wax is gone, just wash with soap and water to take off the Mineral Spirits. Easy.

Here we see the finished product on my derby. The gold one is mine, the silver one is my wife's. The lenses were replaced with some 50mm discs I had Litko cut for me from their transparent acrylic plastic options. I just emailed him for a quote. The silver has "Fluorescent Blue" and mine were made using the "Transparent Bronze."


And here's me wearing my gold accent goggles with my derby (with my facial hair I've been growing for fun).


Super easy. I spent maybe 15 minutes (tops) painting the goggles once the primer was dry, not counting time waiting on the wax to fully harden. Hope this gives you ideas for your own first goggles.

This now concludes my Electrocypherscript Aetherlog entry; direct to your personal omnifunction visoscopic difference engine from my lab.

Steampunk Friday - Cheap Goggles Project Part 1

Sorry for the long delay since my last update.

So, I wanted to do a post about cheap but functional "Steampunk Goggles." As we all know, they seem to be THE iconic first clothing item for folks new to Steampunk.

This is not meant to be a definitive guide, it's just meant to get you a cheap "first goggles" while you work out the rest of your "look." Not all Steampunks wear goggles, but most do.

I also wanted to do a post that talked about the wonderful properties of framing wax (sold in the US as "Rub N Buff" at Michaels or Hobby Lobby).

This is part 1. Parts and preparation.

The cheap goggles I prefer are the AES Industries Welding Glasses. Dirt cheap online. After shipping you might pay $10 or just find it local for about $6-7.

Google Shopping Link
Amazon

When you take it apart it'll look something like this:


Next steps:
Stuff to buy

1) Rub N Buff Antique Gold - as a Steampunk DIY guy, you'll use this a lot. $4-7 at Michaels or Hobby Lobby.


2) Some really fine sandpaper (Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. - the finer the grit the better).

3) Black primer (cheap Wal-Mart brand black spray paint is just fine)

All you need to do is
1) Disassemble your goggles (unscrew the lens caps and it all falls apart)
2) Use the sandpaper to rough up the surface of all the black parts of your goggles
2b) Optional step - Grind off all the corporate logos and copyright stuff molded into the plastic
3) Primer your goggles (not the elastic band or the lenses of course)

Wait for next week when we'll see how to apply the Rub N Buff, drybrush a faux leather color, and look at the final product.

Update 10 days and counting

Well, things never go like I want them to, there will be no fully painted army by the event.  I did get a game in last night with the proposed list and while it did OK, I got stomped by elves.  It actually was a good game and a good learning experience.

So the mini's will not be painted because the house has been. I must see to the needs at home before the little plastic and metal men get painted.  I'll probably still have time to build the command trench section, and might get one of the Jacks' fully done by then, but most defiantly not the trenchers.

Trench War 25 Days and counting

So I picked up the last of my models needed last night and pretty well blew my gaming budget for the month.  Here is what I'm looking to have built.  Everything on the list is purchased and at least assembled.

Army Name: Siege 35 Point Trench Army

Cygnar

35+5 points, 17 models

Major Markus 'Siege' Brisbane  +5 points

* Triumph  11 points

* Squire  2 points

Journeyman Warcaster  3 points

* Hunter  6 points

Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator  1 point

Trencher Master Gunner  2 points

6 Trenchers  6 points

* Trencher Officer & Sharpshooter  3 points

* 1 Trencher Rifle Grenadier  1 point

** Grenadier  5 points

By the way this list was put together using iBodger which I can not recommend highly enough for anyone with an Android or iOS device.

Start the Clock

Well I've done something I told myself I'd never do again.  I signed up for a tournament event with out first finishing the army.  Heck none of the proposed forces are even finished at this point.  So I have until August 27th to finish a 35 point Warmachine force.

The gang at Gunslinger Games are hosing a Wrath release event.  I will probably not win anything but I think it will be fun either way.  I had a chance at the Cygnar coin until the other three Cygnar players signed up.

I will be trying to keep track of my progress, as I don't think I'll be giving away any huge advantage to my opponents by posting my force here.  Simply because I can't afford to buy some of the uber units I'd like to play so I'll be fielding a single list all day made up of models I already have.  Coming from and still playing in the 40k world I'm still not used to the concept of multiple lists for an event, but there are actually a couple of soft score points for playing the same caster 5 games in a row.  So win for being cheap!

So keep your eyes peeled for more posts from the road to No Man's Land.