Incoming Gundam Project

A good friend of mine is interested in collecting some Gundam models... but he doesn't like the idea of them just being in their pre-colored plastics.  So, I'm going to help out by painting them.  This is the first model up:

It's the Wing Gundam Zero, Master Grade, 1:100 scale.
Bandai makes a veritable ton of these very articulate and poseable models in a variety of grades and scales... something that we both had to educate ourselves on in order to make a better selection.  Master Grade applies specifically to the 1:100 scale, and is a measure of complexity, model articulation, and poseability of the model.  It's in the mail, and I can't wait to get my mitts on it.

There will be a little bit of conversion work to be done, involving an upgrade kit that supplies more feathers.  The end result will look like this:

We still have yet to discuss color scheme.  The only solid decision made on that front is that he does not like the default mostly-white scheme, and we've been in discussion about some possibilities.  I'll see about making some mock-ups to send his way to help finalize the scheme.

One of the intriguing bits about this is that (outside of the extra feathers upgrade kit) it involves no glue.  All the pieces are snap-on, several involving ball-socket joints.

I'll post pictures occasionally to keep you all updated on progress.  :)

Back from Vacation

It's been a week of amazingness in the Yucatan Peninsula with some friends for me.  Thought I'd share some photos :)

A large group of us went for a friend's wedding, though we took advantage of the locale and went on a Mayan excursion one of the days.

The one up top is of me grimacing towards the jungle below from the top of the Coba Pyramid.  The picture makes me laugh because it looks like I'm running my own survival reality-TV show... but all I did was climb up there, hahaha.  Not to say it wasn't hard, mind.  It was hot and very humid.  Just walking around on flat ground was enough to make sweat ooze from every pore... and Coba's steps are steep, but that pic kinda looks like I'd been without civilization for days instead of just hours, hahaha.

Vacation

I'm heading out tomorrow morning for a friend's wedding in Cancun.  Given the location, thought we'd make a week of it.  Hello beach, food, and drink!  See you all in a week or so.

I may still post snippets of things over the week, but don't expect anything heavy, as I don't think the TSA looks kindly on packing dozens of paint-pots. ;)

Hyper Light Drifter

Came across another awesome looking kickstarter-driven video game: Hyper Light Drifter

"Hyper Light Drifter is a 2D Action RPG in the vein of the best 8-bit and 16-bit classics, with modernized mechanics and designs on a much grander scale.

Visions for this game have been fluttering in my skull for ages; something dark and fantastic, with giant forests to navigate, huge floating structures to explore, deep crumbling ruins to loot, massive throngs of enemies to rend, and behemoths both flesh and mechanical to overcome. I want it all to be as beautiful as possible, forging color with the dark and eerie wastes and intimidating landscapes. It plays like the best parts of A Link to the Past and Diablo, evolved: lightning fast combat, more mobility, an array of tactical options, more numerous and intelligent enemies, and a larger world with a twisted past to do it all in."

They have a pledged goal of $27,000 ... which they've already shattered on their second day.  Their stretch goals include additional features.  Let's push to $100k to get a co-op mode unlocked.

MERCS KemVar test model

Spent some time picking out paints for the KemVar Caes de Guerra, and decided that the guinea pig would be Alejandro here.

Step-By-Step Black Legion Daemon Prince

So this buddy has been sitting in my cabinets for a while.  I built him up before the new CSM codex, and afterwards, came to the conclusion that there was no place for him in the army :(

So into the cabinet he went, unpainted, while I focused on collecting and assembling what would make a good army.  

Now that I'm not focusing on armies as much, I looked into my model cabinet and saw all these great models with a renewed motivation.  I didn't care if they were viable in-game or not, I liked the models and dammit, I was going to paint them.

So, let's do a step-by-step on this model...

Space Marine Centurion War-Suits

So much of what made Warhammer 40K compelling to me was the fluff/setting.  The models are cool, sure, but I got involved back in 2nd edition; The models were OK then, but not great.  It was the fluff that held shit together, that made me want to act out battles between squads of stoic Dark Angels and a lithe and deadly strike-force of Eldar.  There was a serious cool-factor to the idea of that universe: Humanity in a technological dark age, having lost technology they once had, superstition and mysticism prevailing, the empire crumbling under the weight of bureaucracy...

Finished CCC Yellowjackets Breacher

With that, I have completed all 7 of the CCC Yellowjackets squad.  This guy is the most recent addition of the team, apparently his ability is to open a base-width hole in any fortification/wall.  Sounds cool, but situational at best.

That was fast

Wow, it's been 2 days since Mighty No. 9 was put up on Kickstarter as a "spiritual successor to Mega Man."  Their goal is set at $900,000.  The goal has already been surpassed.  2 days!  That's insanity.

I'm definitely excited to see how this game turns out, it looks incredibly fun, especially the mentioned mechanic of swapping out parts for others, i.e. swapping out legs for tank treads so you can cross spikes.  If done right, this could be an amazingly fun and challenging game.