Saturday Night (Plague Marine) Fever...

I love Nurgle.  Lets just start off with that.  I love the look, the idea of nasty diseased creatures wandering the battlefields, dripping puss and blood and shit and whatever else, maggots and flies crawling everywhere.  Devotees to Pop Nurgle are my favorite things to model up.  So of course the core of my CSM army is going to be Plague Marines... they look cool and are seriously hard to kill.  So I bought me some stuff:

Oh what fatastical models from ForgeWorld.  Ive been wanting these for a while... and today, VICTORY IS MINE.

So of course a key thing to remember with resin, is you gotta wash that shit.  Apparently they use some sort of mold release agent and the residue remains on the models... what does this mean for you?  Well it means that if you dont wash em, you will find that your glue wont stick... you can glue and glue and pray to the dark gods all you want... the shit just wont stick.  Not even Tzeentch can weasel his way out of this one.  So wash em.

Now that you have had water and soap hitting your skin for the first time in months, we can begin construction.

I lovingly gently removed the torso and shoulder pads from the sprue.  I whispered softly to them.  Soon, soon you will be complete.  I might have cried a little... just a little.

But I hear you say, not a torso and shoulder pads does a Plague Marine make!  I agree smart ass, and you will see that I got bags and bags of plastic crack from my favorite bits store, Hoard O Bits... I fucking love bits:

Legs for days baby.

a shit ton of backpacks of the chaos variety

arms, bolters, bits... what my dreams are made of

So someone just asked what a good way to remove mold lines is... wait.  You should never end a sentance with a preposition.  So, someone just asked what is a good way to remove mold lines.  That still doesnt sound right.  Well fuck.  Anyway, this is a good spot for that.

here is a slighty shitty pic of me demonstrating how I hold my blade.  I keep the blade perpendicular to the mold line (that is at a 90 degree angle to the mold line).  The blade itself I keep at an angle, the sharp side is upward, and the rest of the blade at a 45 degree.  I scrape downward on the surface of the model with the blade held at this angle, doing so lightly so I dont lose control of the blade.  You will probably have to make a few runs over the mold line if its a particularly nasty one, but always keep control of the blade.  More light strokes are better than one heavy one (thats what she said).  You cant see it from this pic, cause it was a pain in the ass to set it up, but I usually use my thumb as an anchor on the model to give the blade a place to rest as I come to the end of a downward scrape.  Does that make any sense?  Bottom line is be careful!



So after spending a good amount of time scraping mold lines from the model, I will do my favorite part... weathering the armor.  I feel that any Nurgle worth his testicle cancer will have made a point NOT to take care of his armor, and is so much more comfortable when he is covered in corrosion and pitted ceramite... so its time for the dremel:

I just sort of randomly dig into the armor, leaving pits and scratches and whatnots.  Its very relaxing.  BBZZZZZZZZT! BZZZZZZZZZZZT! BZZZZZZZZZZT!

To make sure my Plague Marine has his fun little cloven hoof booties, I switch dremel bits to this bad boy and two quick seconds into the model, we have cloven hooves....

the legs are done.  I am finished violating them... for the moment. (evil laugh)

so you can probably see that there is still shredded bits of plastic all over, and it just generally looks like shit.  Well we do want it to look beat up, but by Nurgle we dont want it to look like shit!  That would just be going too far.  Too far I say.  So its time for the plastic cement.  (if you use this stuff you might want to open a window, of if you are like me you just say fuck it and roll with it, ventilation be damned)

I just paint it on over the dips and scratches I made with the dremel, and the plastic cement does the rest.. it melts down all the little extra shit hanging off and softens the edges of the gouges Ive made.  Makes it look beat up in a smoother, gentler, easier to paint kind of way.

awww see how nice that looks?  Nothing like a Nurgle in his sunday best to really warm the heart and jiggle the nads.

So while that shit is drying I set to work cleaning mold lines, and of course drilling holes in the barrel of the bolter.  I recommend everyone do this, because if there isnt a hole, where will the bullets come out of?  Pew pew pew!

I wanted to take a second and show off these sweet ass bases I bought.  They are Micro Arts Studios "Spooky" bases.  I bought a metric shit ton of them based on the pics online alone, and I have to say I am more than pleased by these... they look fuckin sick!  They have scary little ghosty heads and shit in them, and the texture on them is fantastical... just what a growing Nurgle needs to stand upright on the wargame table for hours on end.



Ok, all my parts are cleaned, and that bad muh fucka is all glued together... here is the result:

Not too shabby and only 17 more of these goofy fucks to go.  Gonna need a healthy breakfast of Pop Tarts to ensure I have the strenght to complete this monumental task.

Here is one that I started painting last night... I think I will go brighter with the colors than the first dark one I did... I think its more fun!  I think in the end all of these little fuckers will get a slightly different  paintjob, there are many different diseases afterall, and I dont know if Pappy Nurgle would want his boys to all look exactly the same, that would be fuckin boring!



Time to get to work on the rest of these fellas.  Hmmm, I think I have a sore throat... fuckin Nurgle.

-Dan

Tools of the Trade part Dos

Hello!  So lets talk about a few more handy tools for the modeling wargamer... these things arent quite necessary, but on my desk, they are indespensible.  And quite a lot of destructive fun!

DREMEL

Now, the Dremel tool isnt totally necessary, but if you really want to do some serious plastic shedding, you gotta get one.  You can use them for drilling holes if you have a steady hand, or get a bit like this one, and use it to create pits and scratches in armor, vehicles, etc... its a great effect.  You got to be careful with this little bastard though, you can take a little too much off of you arent careful... and if you run this bad boy at too high a setting you will be melting the shit out of your little plastic mens, and you dont want that... one cause it could ruin your models, and two because burning plastic can create some fumes that im pretty sure arent good for you.  This tool is great fun, and when you run it, people in the other room wonder what the fuck you are doing.  Here is a model I did that had some serious Dremel action.  In retrospect maybe too much, but it gives you a good idea of what the Dremel can do in the wrong hands:

The desired effect was corroded, pitted armor.  I think he looks quite pitted. Quite.  Ok, next tool...

DENTAL TOOLZ

Not just for dentists anymore!  Anyone with an interest in semi-professional dentistry might have some sweet tools like this you can borrow, or head down to the ol dental hobby shop and pick some up.  But really, you should be able to find things like this in a hobby store in the sculpting section.  Or next time you go in for your yearly checkup and flouride, you swipe the dentists tools when they arent looking.  And every time, every fucking time they say, "you arent flossing enough".  Jeezus.  Who has the time to floss?  Anyway, stealing their sweet-ass tools will show em.  These are great for modelling and molding your greenstuff and whatever else might need poking and prodding, paint scraping, and general stabby-ness.  Speaking of Green Stuff....

Modelling putty/Green stuff

You will find green stuff at your fave game store, and its actually called Green Stuff.  I bet you cant guess why.  Also pictured here is my favorite modeling medium, Milliput.  Both  are two part modeling compuounds, and both get good and hard after a few hours (just like prom night!).  Modelling compound like green stuff is responsible for more shitty "conversions" than I care to count, so it takes some time and a keen sense of editing to make it look like something other than a big fucking blob on your models.  We'll talk about that later... but just some quick notes, work these compounds with wet fingers and tools, or it will stick to everything... and for fucks sake smooth out all those fingerprints.  It is not cool.  Heres a model that I went apeshit crazy on with some Milliput:

The tentacle around the axe, the fleshy bits around the spikes, the eyes, the horn, his chest, the base... all built up with milliput.  This is what happens when you have a lot of time on your hands... sometimes the result is ok, this example is questionable.  Moving on...

HOTT GLOO GUN

One of my favorites, the hot glue gun.  These are mad cheep, so if you are like me and you lose one every few months, you can just buy another... they are like 4 whole dollars.  I cant think of many things I can get for 4 dollars these days... maybe a few double cheeseburgers, or a night with your mom.  But unlike your mom, these things get warm and gooey and are useful.  They are fantastic for gluing together foamboard when you are making awesome buildings, and for gluing your styrofoam and styrene hills together.  I also use them for interesting goo effects, Ive gone so far as to use them on the bases of my Nurgle troops, to mimic the look of them standing in puddles of nondescript slime.  There are also colored glue sticks that could be used for some interesting effects... Ive also modelled some sweet 'nid drop pods, cracking open with pools of goo spilling out... the only limit is the imagination.  Get one (a hot glue gun, hopefully you already have an imagination).

THE AIR BRUSH

Another nice to have tool that makes life a whole lot easier.  Base coating models with an airbrush is one of the simple pleasures in life we should all experience.  Like a cool breeze off the ocean, a relaxing bubble bath, or the screams of your victims as they try to escape, this is just a joy.  Its great to be able to mix your own colors, to paint large models cleanly and evenly, and to graffitti anti government slogans on very small buildings.  A decent setup could cost you as little as 150 to 200 dollars, and it will pay for itself in no time.  Check out the ebay, im sure they have plenty of airbrushes and compressors for a decent price.  Mine is a sweet double action deal that allows you to adjust the pressure of the air flow as well as the size of the spray... very handy.  A rule of thumb with these as well, CLEAN THEM OFTEN.  They can get gummed up with paint pretty quickly, so clean after every use.  Clean them at least 3 times as often as you clean yourself, you stinky little monkey.

Ok, so a few odds and ends aside, thats what I have sitting on my awesome desk here.  These tools have made all of my work that much easier and enjoyable.  Again, this is just what I use, and your mileage may vary.  Find the tools that work best with you, experiement and have fun.

-Dan





Tools of the trade

Tools of the trade, beyatch.

So im sitting here reading my favorite online source of entertainment, Reddit.  And theres always a number of posts on my favorite subreddit about what tools you need to do this modeling biznass.  I think to myself, well fuck, you probably need some glue cause how the holy dog fuck are you going to stick your little plastic mens together?  Well to you and I, yes this may seem like a no brainer, but to the average nooberite, this might be a source of consternation... "what kind of glue?"  you cry, "hot glue, super glue, plastic cement, fuckin elmers?  What? Tell me you holier than thou veteran of the plastic space man world, fuckin tell me!!"  I am here to quiet your fears my smelly little friends.  Behold, tools for the modern wargaming anarchist:

KaNife

here we have the standard tool of tools, the hobby knife.  You want to get the kind with removable replaceable blades, so when they get duller than the sharp edge of a bowling ball you can replace them.   Unlike this one here.  I will change it when im damn good and ready.

Sproo Cutta

Here we have the sprue cutter.  This is an invaluable tool.  I use mine for everything... removing parts from sprue, trimming parts, conversions such as cutting off hands and heads, and general dental work.  Also handy in the bedroom, and fuck, it even makes fries in 7 different ways!  7!  Anyswayze, you want this to safely remove parts from the sprue, cause I know what your little nooby ass is thinking, "I will just twist them till they come off!"  NO, BAD MOVE MY LITTLE HOMBRE.  This is a good way to break those delicate parts, and generally ruin a perfectly good peice of expensive plastic.  Use sprue cutters you goofy bastard.

Supah Gloo

Super glue.  Get some.  I prefer the thicker kind.  This will allow you to add a drop, and it not run all over the goddamn place while you are fumbling to get  the other piece lined up with it.  Use sparingly, or dont listen to me cause I glob this shit on as though the fate of the universe depended on it.  Whatever you decide keep your hands away from your naughty bits if you get some of this on you, nothing is more embarrassing than going to the ER and having to explain to the Doc that you glued your hands to your nutsack while trying to make plastic space men.  Trust me on this.

Plastik Seement

Plastic cement.  This is an option for you, obviously only for gluing plastics.  Thus the name, Plastic cement.  I hate that I have to bring that up, but as usual, I only bring it up cause some dipshit has probably tried to glue metals or other shit together with it.  But you wouldnt do that would you?  Course not genius.  Anywhoo, I dont like plastic cement as much, because it creates too strong a bond for my taste... sometimes I get all antsy in the pantsy and want to remove an arm or a leg to redo a model, and a superglued joint will snap apart nice and clean... not so with plastic cement, it melts the plastic together, and once its together, its together... if you try to pull any arms off you will find the weaker parts of the model snapping off, and there you are with the elbow joint of your favorite xenos, thinking to yourself, I need to switch to superglue.

Pin vise

The pin vise... this is a handy little tool that is nothing more than a drill bit on a nifty little handle.  Use this for drilling out gun barrels for that realistic look (pew pew pew!!) or for drilling holes to attach pins, for pinning heavier bits of models together.  Also handy for drilling tiny peepholes in bathroom walls.

Filez

Get some files!  Super handy for removing those exta bits of plastic, or flattening out pieces to make them fit.  Get different shapes and sizes if you can. 

Ok, so I think thats the basic shit to get you started.  Check out any decent hobby store nearby and get your shop on.  At the very least get a hobby knife and some good glue.  Over time you will find the tools that work best for you, and you will soon find out what you really need.  Have fun and dont take yourself too seriously, we are playing with little plastic guys for fucks sake.

-DAN











This cant be that hard

Earlier this week I jokingly said that I should start a blog.  Well you know what, fuck it, lets do this blog thing.  Can't be that hard right?  I guess we will see.  This is the first post, and godammit if I dont feel like some sort of dickhead, you know the type, sitting there at Starbucks, drinking some sort of caramel- whatever-the-fuck-machiato, typing feverishly on my laptop for all the world to see... so when someone asks, "hey what are you working on?" I can sit back and smugly say "oh just my BLOG... " then I follow it up with one of those thick rimmed glasses hipster kind of looks.  But anyswayze, fuck all that noise this is going to be about modeling and playing with plastic men, its raining plastic men, hallelujah!

-DAN