Magnet paint mixing.

(Disclaimer: Do it at your own risk!)

How to do that?

Recently I came up with a new idea...
Always when you mix a paint you loose a lot of it on the mixing stick...
So I decided to make a mixing stick that stays in the paint...
How to?

Buy a magnet toy...

separate 2 bagnet balls and throw them into the paint.

Now to mix the paint use the rest of the magnet balls and moving it arround the cup you make the paint mix...

Be carefull however - because your paints are now magnetic - that means do not place them near a strong magnet, or something that can influence the balls inside them... it is a good idea to keep a magnet outside sticked to the paint...

If the magnet inside the cup is strong enough... you can use it to fix your paint on a piece of metal (the right type of steel) .. :)

Don't let your paint dry out...

PS.
I tried it with various acrylic paints for models.. it works with most of the paints that have a lid and glass like can / cup... or whatever there is.

For those who like to explore some SPACE HULKS...

I found this on the web, an older remake of SPACE HULK - it seems to be freeware...

It can crash, but still it is a hard and funny game...

DOWNLOAD

Progress

I just wanted to write what I am working on...

1. Converting an old eldar gunner into a death jester - 70% done
2. Converting an old eldar high warlock into shadow seer - 70% done
3. Painting the converted Banshee exarch. 50 % done.
4. Making one of the planned tutorials...

Thinking about a possiblity to make a special system to keep paints fresh - this is a concept... :) It might be interesting... Stay tuned....

ADDON:
Tactic
I recently thought about a tactic for Eldar... - never tried it, but it might be fun to play...

Think about the face of your opponent if you would field about 130 - 150 models

Including 5 warlocks with spears 1 farseer 1 Avatar 2 Squads of fire Dragons in serpents 5 big squads of storm guardians, 3 separate warwalkers (cheapest version) and 1 infiltrating squad of scorpions...

So the basic idea is you can field: 20 fusion guns 5 spears 1 wailing doom against armor,,, you got 5 platforms (2 serpents 3 walkers with S6 guns)
3 war walkers scout or outflank 1 scorpion unit outflanks or infiltrates 2 Dragon serpents zip to kill something tough and the rest of the army footslogs with the avatar as the final swarm wave :)

The key to the tactic:
Crazy Ulthwe charge...
Avatar + Farseer in concealed troop fortuning Avatar..
The rest of stormies has embloden.. 20 man squads :) the idea is to try to swarm the opponent... :) Nec Herkules Contra Plures! (but we got the Hercules-Avatar aswell)

So what do you think? I think it might be a fun tactic to pull off...

lets assume that half of the guardians survive... it is a 50 S4 Shots volley... + 100 S3 attacks-charge and If the Avatar survives, he can cause havoc beeing 4+ inv T6 W4 fortuned demon :) still you have some Flank cover from war walkers / fire dragons...

The Storm Guardians can be exchanged for Guardian Defenders... Then a shuriken Cannon Platform could be a good addition..

Army Case - Tutorial

Part One:
What is it?

Ok, so here is a view on my newest creation - I call it "The Bonesingers Pillow"
It is a custom army case designed for a 40k standard base models. Because most of the models have a part of their body, a weapon, something sticking out. I used this problem as an advantage...

Now the Tutorial:

Use of plans, suggestions, parts, and supplies provided by the author of this blog, is at your own risk. Use of the final product resulting from the project is at your own risk. The author disclaims all responsibility for any resulting damage, injury, or expense. It is your responsibility to make sure that your activities comply with applicable laws, including copyright.

1. What do we need?
A ABS / PVC / plastic / metal / wooden case
I would go with - the cheapest

The model above is a cool one - it already has some foam - you can use it if you want but, does it work for you? For me it does not...

So next: you need
a utility knife

2 types of foam

The first type should be Thick:

The second type thin:

A specific glue in spray can for fibers and foams...
This is a must... I mean the glue ;)
You can go with a different one, but this one is should be perfect!!! :)
It is often used in cars / for acoustic isolation or in contruction works...

I have a different one, but it looks similar :)
Just watch out: right after using turn it upside down and clean by spraying... until the glue does not come out anymore...
If you do not do it you can look for a new spray cap :) or a new glue...

---------------------------

Cut as many trays as you need in the size of the case (inside dimensions)
from the thicker ones and thin ones (you can take one extra from the thin ones... for the top... adjust the thickness with the case so the foams fit close...

Now comes the tricky part :) you need a metal pipe of the diameter of a model base and some more... and then you need to sharpen the edge. The easiest way would be to buy a chromed thin-walled pipe for shower curtains...

After sharpening place the cut out foam with the right size (of the case) on something like cork or wood and cut out the holes turning and slightly pressing the pipe. Do not make the holes to close to eachother be reasonable.

After the work is done you should have an almost ready tray...
Now find a place outside or somewhere you can safly spray the glue... (read the safety instructions) WEAR GLOVES then place the thicker tray with holes on something and close the holes with the leftovers from the cutting :) then spray the glue on it.. quite a lot but not too much.. then remove the foam from the holes and carefully place the thin foam on the tray. Then turn it upside down and place on a straight surface make sure it sticks good.. then wait for some time and afterwards you can place it in your case... :) Repeat as many times as you need and TATATA!! You are done... :) But almost.. now the best thing take the utlility knife and make small cuts from the inside of the holes - for the sticking out elements... then mark the elements with a marker to make them comfortable to find...

Look at the pictures below:

And a tray for pole arms and characters - this is more tricky... I just cut it int the thick foam leaving the ground untouched... it is not as easy...

Ok... I hope it is not to chaotic...
If you have any questions need clarification - please ask..

Army Case ready

Yesterday I finally managed to make an army case :) - it is almost finished...
I had some crazy ideas on how to make it - maybe one day I will go for one of those crazy ones. But finally I decided to do it the traditional way. (well - almost).
I need some spare time to make pictures and place a new tutorial...

So guess what - it works well. It can fit about 150 models, it's quite big, (I can stack 3 cases on a standard shelf)
but it is quite comfortable, and the models should be safe
I need another one, for the vehicles - but I must assemble them first...
I got the materials.
2 trays for standard size troops 1 tray for troops with pole-weapons. and jetbikes (this one is still under development) - I actually have an enormous foam sheet ;) so If some of the foam-trays are not ok - I can make new ones.

The holes in the foam are round (to fit 40k models better), and the sticking out (weapons and stuff) parts are handeled by a special marked cut - this also prevents models from moving :) The pain in the butt became a blessing. And the cost of my case: 13 EUROS :) - Compare to: the commercial 64 EUROS cases... So I can have 4-5 in the price of one - And really If I take different sizes of cases I can get even better results. I can fit 100 models per tray - so 300 models case is a piece of cake... to better handling I can cut the big trays into separate ones.

Space Corals - base decoration

This will be my first tutorial, about some cheap,
easy and quite nice looking
base decoration.

Ok back to the topic. Often we see a lot of warhammer 40k bases with bushes, grass, plants that normally would grow on terra ;) but what if the flora on other planets would be a lot different from the one we know. A simple Idea I had... Space Corals :)
Space Corals is something similar looking to underwater corals but they grow on some deserted moons. How can we make good size space corals. There is really nothing simpler than that. First of all we need:

1. Scissors
2. Foam - and by foam I mean a specific type of foam, that is quite hard, and has a large "grain" structure - It is hard for me to explain. I figured out to show you a picture of something similar:

 Now if you look close - you will see that cutting small parts of the foam will create a coral - like structure... And of course the color is up to you, but in my opinion blue is perfect for a space coral - btw. it fits my color scheme. If you wan't to see the used space corals watch my blog entries :) I put some on the bases of my eldar.

A little hint: If you are looking for the right foam - try to search out foams for filters.

And here is the result on my WIP Banshees:

The Idea of my Eldar force...

In my first post I explained how I would like to see the army.
As a bundle of various, different Eldar forces gathering together to fight for survival of their race...

I have some Ideas how to improve that idea...

Todays subject:

I. Part One: Harlequin "division"
1. Harlequins - My natural choice are troupes with the standard options...
2. Dark Reapers Acting as Death Jesters :)
3. Wraithlord acting as Manekin / Marionette ... :) (That is not my idea, but making 3 different original wraithlords in one army seems cool to me Just think of the look of harlequin-wraithlord the laughing god mask from the vintage jetbike. You speak it.. it is beautiful.
4. Storm Guardians can be nice harlequin wannabies :) even a warlock could act as a Mystseer (the conceal power is a good lesser veil of tears and the enhance makes them better in HtH - Halucinogen Gas ;D) The warlock has an inv save... so it fits aswell... - but it is just a thought.
5. I thought also of having a solitaire autarch - but lets face it an autarch without the jetbike is simply not as good as he seems. He does not fit entirely into the role - He does not heave rending attacks, no furious charge, actually the autarch sucks when on foot. Easy to instant kill for a great overall skilled eldar commander he has a poor suvirvabilty.
Maybe as solitare on jetbike with the lance - this could be a nice idea... and again a cool mask on the jetbike... a bad looking one, a solitare plays slaneesh.
6. I could Include a falcon as Venom transport... for the troops but that is just an Idea. A Dark eldar vehicle would be better for this... But I am not into dark eldar. They are the weak ones.. falling for chaos...

So what do you think of such an army part?

Painting

My first painted guardians (black guardian - like colors) and warlock - this picture might not be perfect. They are not entirely black, a little blue is added on the edges to lighten up the chaos black... but not to much...

There are 2 different squad schemes (yellow helmet and black helmet)



WIP - Howling Banshees Squad - i just want to show the color scheme - with the almost finished exarch...

Howling Banshee Exarch - conversion

My first major conversion - Exarch made from a core aspect bansee from greenstuff and some bits. I think she needs some prepainting for you to be able to see more of her.. Basically The conversion of the weapon is interesting.. The main thing is the power weapon from Dire avengers Exarch.. but adding another blade to it... makes it count as an executioner --- it can at the same time count as mirrorblades ( 2 blades) ... The problem was with the first exarch I got... It has a double bladed powerweapon - two blades that look the same - that is a mirrorblade for me - at the same time the pole makes it an executioner... For me it is Wysiwyg