Spider Woes

So.. 3 more days to NOVA .. the final stretch and I'm back to feeling like I'm way behind. What's worse then getting nothing done? Painting for over an hour and feeling like you are even farther behind haha.. Last night my two main airbrushes started acting up and even with thinner and two baths in the ultrasonic cleaner they still aren't performing correctly. I know they are both in need of a full deep clean but I haven't had the time to even think about that ..  though that might have to happen tonight if I want to get anything done.  But .. on to some paint. I started out on the Warp Spider Exarch's Carapace which I think technically came out looking really good. Aesthetic wise not so much. The pictures distorted the colors a little so it's hard to see what I mean but right now the back makes him look like the Joker. A look I'm not liking .. I was going to paint it bone color and should have but in a spur of the moment decision I went with the green blend. I spend about an hour on the piece which sucks..  thankfully I have another carapace I can use.. I don't really have the time for a repaint but I don't think I can handle the brightness of it all.

But I did work on a bunch of things last night and got all of the Reapers, Warp Spiders and Fire Dragons moved over to their new bases which was a complete pain let me tell you. I was using super glue release, a fiile, clippers and some good ol elbow grease to remove them from their old bases. They had to remove any of the old basing from the models themselves .. then some touch ups.

I sprayed a little blue glow on some of the models if I thought they needed it. I noticed a few minor details that need to be done then I'll ring the bottom of the bases in black.

I'm tired..  real tired. I didn't want to go into NOVA feeling crushed but I don't know if that's a possibility at the moment. I only have a few more days/nights to get stuff wrapped up and it's making me crazy haha..

Cuz she's Cold Blooded .. Cold Blooded..

 One more thing completed, I was pretty close before on the Wave Serpent but it needed a few final touches. I made up two sets of ShurCannons for the turret (only needed one set for Nova but don't the road) and wanted to clean up a few sections. I do see one stone I forgot so I will finish that up real quick when doing the Seers but otherwise it's done. I think they look pretty good sitting next to one another.. next week I'll take a full force list for Nova.

 Sadly I forgot to attach the underslung gun on the solo pics haha.. having issues with that but thankfully I did find the one I had misplaced and that's on the Spinner..

 This Serpent has the Warp Hunter back attached as I love the fin look it gave it.

 The Wave Serpents are trimmed with bone .. that's usually have I split up the tanks in my army. The Spinner is green ..  just gives it a way to break it up easily.

 I think it came out pretty good..  there are still things I'm looking at but it's going to have to do...

 I'm pretty close to being done now...

This weekend I need to wrap up the bike riders and swap the bases on the Warp Spiders. I also need to finish the back of the Warp Spider Ex but I'm pretty close ..  I don't feel like I'm being crushed by it at the moment at least ..  well. . until tomorrow haha 8)

Spider to the fly..

 Last night I finished up the Night Spinner and I'm really happy with the final look. I did misplace my TL ShurCat lower turret which has to be around here somewhere but either way..  The green really pops out on the tank and makes have some flashiness to it. Through it's suppose to be hiding in the back so maybe that's not good haha..

 I was rocking and rolling last night and pretty happy with my progress. I have to get all the bike riders done which is going to be the largest amount of work but still .. I'm getting there.

 The final painting always takes me the longest. I find bits I don't like or think need more. I honestly could keep painting this but I really don't have the extra time. It needs to be done.

 The white lines and gems took some time and that was the most but it was the metallics on the control panels and fins and other parts.

 I also painted a bunch on the bottom which I didn't take pics of and thinking about it I really probably didn't need to .. it's not like many people will be seeing that haha... oh well.. maybe it will help with the painting score. I just have to remember to mention that when they ask about other details.

One week from now I'll be at the Trios Event. So I really do have to keep rocking and getting stuff finished up and done.

Ride Captain Ride..

 Last night I worked more on these guys and the Reapers pretty much done. Honestly I've spent way too much time on the Reapers, I should have just got all new ones and went that route haha.. with them being so old some of the molds must have been blah ..  but anyway.. The Jetbike riders are getting pretty close and I'll be happy to have all these dudes done. It's a ton of work. I'll tell you one thing .. you get you painting money worth at least. I think they are coming along nicely and are pretty much as done as I can get them before putting them on the bikes. Once they are seated I'll be added some details but need to see where the light is going to hit and what squad they will end up in. And arms .. some of them are armless at the moment. Fitting them and gluing the arms to remove again was too much of a pain. So I'll glue them on .. attach their arms and then finish the painting.

 As you can see there are a lot of them. This large group pic was from before I got the bone color done on their shoulders and face mask. I keep thinking I can move on then realize something I don't like and then waste a ton of time fixing it.. grumble..  I'm still going back and forth as to were I am on time .. a week and a day of working time left.. and this weekend I have to go in to work for maintenance. That stinks.

 A little work on the Seers and Locks, I need to get their bags colored and some of the fine details added.

 I sprayed the weapons in their hands.. I was originally thinking of mixing up the colors but then I realized I liked the purple look and it goes with the color scheme so all good.

And the other arms..  whoooo  exciting .. .

NOVA 2015 To Do List:

Models:

Jetbike Riders – 12 x Guardians - 90% done

Jetbike Riders- 2x Farseers - 60% done

Jetbike Riders – 2x Warlocks - 60% done

Warp Spider Exarch – 80% done

Warp Spider 8x Base Replacement- 60% done

Fire Dragon 6x Base Replacement - 60% done

Dark Reaper Clean Up - 98% done

Dark Reaper 7x Base Replacement - 100% done

Night Spinner - 80% done

Wave Serpent - 95% done

Displayboard:

Vane - Spackle Edge, Touch up paint - 100% done

Trios Display Board

Cut Backsplash - 0%

Cut Reflected Symbols - 0%

Paint - 25% done

I'm making progress but damn it still feels like there is so much to do..  And on this list isn't even stuff for the Painting Comp. I wanted to spend some time cleaning up a few models here and there but I don't think that's going to happen. I wasn't expecting to win anything honestly but I want them to look as good as they can..  you know. .    oh well. We'll see how it goes haha

Progress for progress's sake

 Yesterday I worked on getting some of the models I need to get cleaned up and done. I needed to paint up another Dark Reaper for the squad I'm bringing. Normally I just use one of the older ones I have painted up but for Nova I wanted to have them be the same and look uniform. They also needed to be cleaned up. Sadly it took longer then I thought..  a couple of them were painted over 15 years ago. So they needed more love then expected. They are almost done but still need some red work on their guns and gems. I also got all the bases painted (other than the black around the edges which will be last) so I attached them all to the bases.

They are all done and ready for dudes to stand on 8) ... now I need to move over my Fire Dragons and Warp Spiders.

 Speaking of Warp Spiders, I ordered another Warp Spider Exarch to paint up for Nova. The one I painted was also from.. probably also about 15 years ago. It looks ok but not great and I wanted to have it match the WS in the squad. I painted the blades and the spinner. I went with the same colors of the spiders with a little added purples. The back shell will be a blended black to purple and I'll be painting a a spider on the back since all the squad has webs he's the leader the source. As such I think he'd be the spider spreading it's web. I'm happy with it so far but I really need to get moving. A little more then a week now. Crazy..

Here's the old guy 8) .. He's ok just not as detailed as I'd like . ..

Requesting Permission to Land

 I got the display mostly done last night, I had to sand down the vane, prime and then paint it again. It wasn't too bad to match it back up thankfully. I then hit it up with about 5 coats of clear to give it as much protection as I could.

 I'm pretty happy with the added light color, I wasn't sure at first but I also didn't want it to be over blue. I need to sand the center pieces edges as there are a few tight spots. It won't take more then a few minutes.

 This year I added in the purple glow to the vane, the symbol at the top and some runes at the base of the vane.

 I also added the cut throw for the top deck so you can see under the deck. It also really adds some breakup to the top deck.

 On the center main deck section I added more of a raised dias and now it has three circles with designs. I also cut the same logo on this section as the vane. It required me to run another strand of blue lights and I also had to reglue some of the light tie downs. After a year a few had popped free.

2015

2014

2013

The progress of the displays I've made, The first one looked ok but I really wanted to up the game.. so the next year I built the big display. This year I really didn't think I needed to rebuild .. so I just updated some of the parts I thought were still a bit too plain.. anyway... moving on. Two weeks of work left ... then Nova.

Spinning a Yarn

 Last night I was all over the place, working on the Night Spinner a bit and also working on the Jetbike riders. I need a little more blending on the turret but I'm almost done the blues. I'll have to add some of the gunmetal to the engines and other bits then it will get some of the engine glow treatment. So much still to do it's crazy..

 Here's what the under body looks like at the moment. I'll be adding more detail but this is just the blue blending on the bottom. The turret will also get some glow but will most likely be the greens.. I forgot to attach the barrels of the guns but they are blue blended as well. I'll be redoing the energy chamber on the tank as they looked a little rough to me..  I painted them years ago when they first came out and before I had an air brush so I want to make them a little smoother looking.

I'm really liking the look of these guys together. When they are sitting with the hornets it really looks slick .. well..  to me at least I guess haha..  I'll probably be bouncing around getting stuff done for the next couple of weeks till Nova gets here... Greg and I were just talking about it ..  Painting a ton of things at the same time makes it go much faster but is way less rewarding haha..  Big reward at the end instead of a series of smaller rewards but those smaller rewards keep you motivated and moving toward your goal.

I'm taking this Sunday as a complete hobby day.. it will be a day to really crush some of the work load..  I'm hoping at least ..

Don't Jink our Janks...

 18 days to Nova.. I finished up all the jetbikes. Thankfully..  It's nice to have them knocked out and I can move forward with the Riders and other stuff I need to get finished. I keep going back and forth about whether I think I'm good..  It's crazy.

 It will be 2 Farseer's on bike and 2 Warlocks on bike plus the 12 normal Guardian bike riders.

 Here they are broken down into their groups..

 The Seer bikes got a little more detial then the other bikes, I wanted them to stand outl

 The on Squad has a center slash of blue //

 The other squad has a V design,

 I do still need to add some leaves to the bases..

I mentioned I was going to work up a list of what still needs to get done and I really didn't know if I wanted to know. And after writing it up it makes me more nervous haha..

NOVA 2015 To Do List:

Models:

Jetbike Riders – 12 x Guardians - 75% done

Jetbike Riders- 2x Farseers - 15% done

Jetbike Riders – 2x Warlocks - 15% done

Warp Spider Exarch – Update or I ordered a new model off eBay and paint a fresh one - 10% done

Warp Spider 8x Base Replacement- 20% done

Fire Dragon 6x Base Replacement - 20% done

Dark Reaper Clean Up - 0% done

Dark Reaper 7x Base Replacement - 20% done

Night Spinner - 60% done

Wave Serpent - 95% done

Displayboard:

Vane - Spackle Edge, Touch up paint

Trios Display Board

Cut Backsplash 

Cut Reflected Symbols

Paint

When I look at the list it gets me nervous ... hopefully I get everything done to my liking..  It's just getting close to the wire and I have a lot still that I want to knock out. The Jetbike Riders will be the largest thing to get done but I did get them into a good position. Well the Guardians at least.. the Casters not much yet. The tanks are in a good place so I'm not really worried about them. The base replacement will be nice but honestly if it doesn't happen it's no big deal.

Feel my Sting..

 The Hornet Squad is complete.. finally. Feels like I've been painting these guys forever and finishing them off took longer then I expected since I kept messing with bits here and there haha... i'll just touch this up oh.. this too .. hmmm .. this too. I think they look decent though there are still a few things I'd like to do.

 I'll add the canopies on later but right now I wasn't worried about it. I needed to get these off the work bench haha

 I'll be cutting a few more of the circle bases. I made a couple and wanted to test the look so some are different. I have my preferred base and the next time I'm on the laser I'll cut them out.

 Sadly one of the guns (above) keeps bending out ..  ahh the joys of resin haha

One thing crossed off the list ... Less then three weeks to Nova now and it's coming down to the wire. hard to believe it's almost here already.