Banners, Chaplains & Commissions

A few months ago JJ over at "How to lose at 40k" put up an offer, make him a banner for his website and he would paint up a mini in trade. After a few emails back and forth I managed to meet his expectations and create a banner design he was happy with. For my mini I asked for a single Death Company Chaplain is exchange. I have been following JJ and his progress over the last year when he started his blog and I thought that I would at least challenge him a bit with the project. Here is the result:

I am putting this gun into a Death Company squad which will all have custom bases, so I let him know that a plain base was fine.

I specifically wanted a Forgeworld type combi-flamer, scratch built (to challenge him a bit). Not only did he get that part perfectly, he free handed the blood angel symbol on the shoulder.

On the scroll work everything is done with minute attention to detail and all the test runs in clear lines.

All the highlights are thin and well done, this is truly an excellent addition to my budding Death Company and I greatly appreciate all the work that went into it. An excellent trade for my work on his banners, and something that a great many people could have taken advantage of!

Now I am not normally one to pimp for other people but JJ has treated me right, and the photo speak for themselves. I would encourage anyone who might be interested in getting some painting done to go over and check out his rates, hes quite reasonable in comparison to some of the other services out there and the quality is just as good (in my ever so humble opinion). His site is here:

Silver Gargoyle Productions

_still practicing

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Hobby: Priming and Airbrush Trick

Very simple tricks are almost always the most useful. While painting my mini's before I base them I generally place the pins in the feet and then use corks from wine bottles to hold them in. I just find it easier to paint them with the ability to remove them from their 'holder' before I base them. Another benefit to doing it this way is when using an airbrush or priming.

I always use a flat piece of cardboard to spray against when painting, the last thing painted on this one was drop pods as you can still see the outline. I set my wine cork on the cardboard and run a paper clip through like so:

Introduction to Casting

Alrighty then, I have received more than my fair share of questions about the magic that is 'forge pat', so here we go. There is a place in my hometown that carries Alumilite products that I use for my casting. This particular place also offers 40% off coupons every other week in the local paper for after a few weeks of stocking up you quickly get all the supplies you need at a very good price. Here are the basic elements I use in casting.

Quick Set:

5 Minute History: MY Storm Troopers!

Storm Troopers arrived on the scene in 1996 with the release of the 2nd edition codex. With their foppish little barrettes, horrible faces and single pose they were a dream for hobbyists, or not.  My Storm Troopers have always been a command squad for at least 3 paint jobs that I remember.

Games Workshop - Used without permission (I asked but never got a reply!)

Game Time: SPOCON army list progress

When I put together my list for SPOCON, the annual local geekery convention with 40k tournament thrown in, I thought the majority of my army was done. What a horribly wrong assumption that turned out to be! After reviewing my army list and laying out the mini's I came to the dramatic realization that I have a bunch of work to do in order to get this force ready to my standards prior to the tournament in a month.

The old King is dead, long live the King!

Blogging, gaming, hobby and life are all constantly evolving. Change is constant and when we stop evolving we are either dead or already dying. ‘Flashlights of Fury’ was born of necessity as a creative outlet when I decided to leave the world of forums; it was created quickly and without a lot of thought. More successful, entertaining and eye opening that I ever anticipated it quickly became evident that I would need a more permanent home that would more accurately reflect my continuing evolution.

Army Reborn: Space Wolves

In late 2006 to early 2007, right before my second trip to Iraq, I had the pleasure of playing with a local gamer, Tom Schadle. Some of you guys might know Tom from a few years back, he moderated some boards at Bolter and Chainsword and painted mini's. Auctually he was a pretty prolific painter with over 13 Golden Daemons and a Slayer Sword to his name. Tom and I played bunches of his Black Templars against my Imperial Guard until one day he suggested that we each start a new army, he chose Sisters of Battle and I went with Space Wolves. For Christmas 2006 is gave me the simple, and very old school, space wolf below. This space wolf and all his brothers have sat in an army transport for the last 4 years, until this week.