Happy New Year!

Here's to everyone! Cheers! Happy New Year! Scratch-built Killa Kanz in progress!

Grotzooka

Big Shooa

From the Ashes... Dakkajet! (or maybe a Blitza-Bommer)

A few months ago, my Dad and I collaborated on a scratch built Dakkajet.

This project was really fun, but there were a few problems.  One, the model was way too big. Two, the model was way to heavy for the base.  These flaws led to the incident.  When my buddy Big M. and I were moving the gaming table, Dad's Dakkjet tumbled onto the floor and broke.  I was pretty bummed when it happened, but adversity breeds triumph.

Gorkanaut Painting... To Done!

This is the largest model I have painted in my relatively short hobby career.  I did a lot of research on different techniques and I am very pleased with the result.  Thanks for checking out my blog while I have been busy with work and school.  I hope the results will be worth the wait (trying out a new camera)!  Anyways...

I'm still here

OK! New job. Finals. Holidays.  Lots of stuff keeping me from hobby progress.  I have one more final and then I will get some free time to update this blog.  Sorry for being away for so long.  I did pick up some ready made terrain from my new job.  My work involves kids trading tickets for prizes and when I saw these I thought they were perfect.  I'm going to take them down to Big M's Man Room for the next game we play (hopefully Sunday!).  I know he is excited to give the new Blood Angels a try.  Anyway:

Gorkanaut Painting (Quick Update 2)

Happy Thanksgiving!  I am plugging away at the Gorkanaut, and I have the pilot finished.  The rest is coming along pretty well.  I have been experimenting a lot. Anyway, here's the pic:

Balancing on an extra bit.

 

And a few more:

Gorkanaut painting (Super Quick Update)

I have fallen a bit behind on my posts and my hobby progress.  I started a new job and have been going through the training program.  Luckily I don't have to travel out of town for training, so that helps a bit.  I also have family in from out of town, so the room I usually use to paint and do homework is unavailable to me.  I have still been making a little progress, but not as much as I would like.  I'll try to keep up with my hour a night approach to start making some real headway.  Here's a small taste of my current painting project.

 Thanks for checking it out. MORE TO COME! 

7th Edition Ork Battle Report vs Dark Eldar (More LVO practice)

When I last played against my friend Zeus, I posed the question: How will you deal with Imperial Knights?  This question prompted me to build an 1850 point list with my Stompa so he could get some practice.  Carnage Ahead!

'Ere we go!

Blogs Without Borders 4

OMG! I found this one recently and I am blown away by the Green-Stuff skills and all around great content.  Check out:

Sir Skofis's Workshop

His main blog is in Spanish but he throws us mono-lingual Americans a bone and does a separate blog in English.  

'Ard Boyz Trukk Squad. (Ork Painting)

I finally finished the 12 man squad of 'Ard Boyz led by Boss Nob Grimjaw.  This mob will eventually be 30 figures strong to go into my Green Tide list as part of my 2014/2015 challenge.  I am very happy with how they came out.  The next 30 man unit will have a different scheme sticking to the fluff of Mad Mek Screwbitz folding all of the various tribes under his control.  Enough talk! PICS!

7th Edition Orks versus 7th Edition Dark Eldar (LVO Practice)

My friend Zeus is getting ready for the Las Vegas Open (LVO) and wanted to try out a few things from the new Dark Eldar Codex.  I haven't been able to play for a while so I jumped at the chance to unload some dakka into the spiky elves.

WARNING! Blurry phone photos inbound!

"Gnaw-na-na-na, Gnaw-na-na-na-na, Get a job"

Sheesh!  I have fallen behind in my hobby progress but I still find a little time to paint here and there.  I wanted to finish another one of my Gnaws since I love the model so much.  Pics!

Grimjaw

Once the leader of his own small tribe, Boss Nob Grimjaw soon fell under the sway of Mad Mek Screwbitz.  Leading his 'Ard Boyz, Grimjaw always wants to be where the fighting is fiercest.  Warboss Gorbachop has a great fondness for Grimjaw's brutal nature, but keeps a close eye on his ambition.  Grimjaw's face was mostly destroyed during a battle with chaos marines and has taken to wearing a metal mask to keep it from happening again.  His 'Ard Boys all tend to wear metal jaws as symbol of their loyalty to Grimjaw.

Anthropology 1302 (Re-Post)

 (The comments were broken so I decided to re-post, sorry Marc!)


As I have mentioned before, I started going back to college.  I never finished my degree, so I decided to return 12 years later.  Some of my credits still existed!  For my required behavioral science I decided to take an anthropology course.  A lot of it is discussing various cultures around the world.  My current assignment was to identify the culture that I most connect with and what makes it different than other cultures.  So that gave me an opportunity to write my paper about Warhammer 40k!  Check it out:

Incoming! A Giant Wall of Text!

This is a test...

I have been trying to get a little bit of painting done every night.  I am still pretty new at it, but I want to push myself to get better.  This is a test from Grimjaw's 'Ard boyz, the first mob in my Green tide list.  There will be 29 boyz and Grimjaw himself. One of the boyz will have a big shoota.  Enough with the explaining!  Lets see some pics!

"Somebody that you used to know"

Thanks Marc!  I love it!

Check out some awesome painting and fabulous conversions at Old School Gaming!  Some really cool things with Photoshop and minis.

Screwbitz... To (Mostly) Done

Da Mad Mek Screwbitz.  Scourge of Chrysos VII.  Blessed by Mork (and possibly Gork).  Visionary. Leader of the Klanz.

Off we go ...

I finished 3 exams over the last few days and quite a bit of homework.  My schedule also changed at work so it has been a hectic couple of weeks.  I did manage to get a little bit of hobby time in as a reward to passing all of my exams.  One of my favorite things in the codex are Dakkajets so I decided to build me another one!  I started with this:

And turned it into:

2014/2015 To Done

 I finally managed to finish something on my list!

Quick Painting Update

Even though I have been super busy, I managed to paint up a few boyz, a Nob, and a painboy.

GNAWSOME!

 WOO HOO!  I squeezed in some painting in between homework (ugggh I'm a grown up! Why do I have homework again?) and managed to finish this creepy tooth monster.  This is the Gnaw from Kromlech and I love it!

Loads of stuffs

Busy week for Da Mad Mek!  I started taking classes online to finally finish my degree.  Also, my boss quit and moved away so I am having to split his workload with the other manager.  Little time left for hobby progress but I wanted to give a bit of an update.

2014/15 Hobby Season. ORKZ ROOL!

THE NEW SEASON HAS BEGUN!

It is time for a new season of hobby progress.  There are many things that I want to do and I am excited for what the new year will bring.  This list is my attempt to mark some progress and celebrate successes.  This list will change throughout the year.  There are ideas I haven't had and thoughts I haven't thought.  This list will have both projects that excite me and scare me.  Tasks that I want to do and task that I will be reluctant to do but that are necessary for other progress.  I encourage all of you who read this to embark on your own journey and wage war on unpainted plastic, make magnificent models and have a lot of fun with a great hobby.

Times they are a'Changin'

I'm gearing up for a new season of hobby progress.  Mad Mek Screwbitz and his Waagh need some serious paint brush lovin'.  I mentioned last time that I was going to adopt prolific hobby meister, Dave Weston's approach and divide things up by season.  Starting August 28th I will have a huge hobby list that will hopefully allow me to focus and make up some ground.

Hobby Progress Part Deux

Another post with almost no progress to speak of.  This has been a pretty frustrating time for Da Mad Mek.  The medication I have been on has the strange side-effect of making me not want to do anything other than sleep.  I did start to make some trays to carry my painted boyz out of some scrap foam but I have made zero progress on my list. 

I felt like I need a bit of an extra push to get me out of my prescription induced malaise.  How lucky for me that a blog I follow is coming up on the end of its hobby season.

Crunch!

So this was a very eventful week for me.  Unfortunately, nothing was actually hobby related.  Three things in particular shaped my week.

1.  I quit smoking!  I have been smoking for 20 years and decided to finally kick the habit so my Son will not have to see his Father fall apart.  Quitting smoking sucks.  90% of my thoughts have to deal with smoking but I have pushed past the part where I sabotage myself and got past the hump.  The first 3 days are the worst and you have the "crazies."  You mind will try to justify smoking in the strangest ways as your body goes through the nicotine withdrawal.  6 days in and I feel better already!

Hobby Progress

Lots of work and family in from out of town made this a slow week for hobby progress.  I did manage to start painting a few boyz and the Gorkanaught and I Scratch built one lobba based of a tutorial I saw online.  I don't really like the way it turned out so I am going to try my hand at an original since I need 5 of them anyway.

THE GREEN HORDE DILEMMA

ERP!  The Mad Mek is getting pretty overwhelmed with all of the projects that need to be completed.  Every time I turn around it seems like I have half started or half finished a project.  7th edition and the new Codex have only added to the distractions.  New units!  New Tactics! New Load outs! WAAGH!

7th Edition Orks Battle Report

Sorry for the overdue post.  I was getting ready for a tournament at my FLGS and needed to find the time to build a few things.  I picked up the new Ork Codex as well as the WAAGH! Ghazghkull Supplement recently and I wanted a chance to play with my new goodies.

Blogs Without Borders 3

Being new to the hobby scene, I find blogs with a lot of great tutorial and WIP content to be extremely valuable.  One of my favorites comes from the War Teacher.  Check it out!

http://warteacher.blogspot.com/

Blogs Without Borders 2

This week another amazing blog full of eye-candy.  The models and painting featured on this blog are incredible.  I don't speak French, but I love me some great Hobby pictures.  Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Le Blog de Kouzes

Example:

GO CHECK OUT THIS BLOG!

Painting up some Boyz

So I decided to put away the knife and glue in favor of some paints and brushes.  I am still learning to paint and I do not yet have a wide variety of colors but I want my Boyz to look cool an the table top and basic primer is not cutting it any more.

Blogs Without Borders

I am pretty new to this hobby and to blogging.  When I have time I like to search out new blogs for modeling ideas and hobby tips.  I have come across some amazing things out there on the interwebz and I want to take time to spotlight a few blogs that are amazing.

If you haven't seen this one check it out.

Colonel Winterborne

The amazing conversions and painting are something that should definitely be seen.  His use of green-stuff is out of this world.  I personally went back and read each and every post!  Keep it up Colonel!

Scratch Built Dakkajet

I have a strange relationship with my Father (who doesn't). We don't share many common interests. For some reason I decided to show him my new hobby. This was followed by him telling me all about his old WWII model plane collection he had when he was a kid. I felt like this could be an opportunity to bond over something which never happened when I was a kid. My Father is now in pretty poor health and is unable to leave his home without assistance.  I visit him about three times a week to do random chores and help him with his Facebook.  When the idea for modeling came up we brainstormed quite a bit and gathered a bunch of odds and ends to start the project with.

Fluff for the Fluff God

  Rain began to fall in the valley.  Vile plumes of acrid smoke only just obscured the carnage that took place.  Thunderous volleys of gunfire, from weapons custom built to be as loud as possible, drowned out the screams of the dying and cries of defiance.  Lightning streaked across the sky turning the scene into one out of a nightmare.  The flaming carcass of a once majestic Raider cast eerie shadows through the smoke.  The Dark Eldar retreated, driven back by the green flood of Orks that still cried out for more battle.  The murderous red eyes of the Orks and the frenzy that they brought to bear proved too much for some of those trying to cover the escape.

Wazzdaka Gutsmek

This 40k thing is really starting to get out of hand.  I picked up about 1500 points worth of Boyz and Nobz with some other goodies from Craigslist for a pretty good deal.  Out of that I ended up with 3 more Warbikers bringing me to a total of nine with three more needing to be built.  I have yet to run Bikerz but I wanted to give myself the opshun.  I really loved the fluff of Wazzdaka Gutsmek from the Ork dex.  As you probably know there is no official model for Wazzdaka and the amount of Scratch-building creativity on the interwebz is AMAZING.  My favorites are from Sam Terry and I pretty much love anything from Irondog Studios.  I figured it was time for the Mad Mek to try his Klaw at good ol' Wazzy.

Like many before me I started with a Deff Kopta as the base for the bike.  My biggest challenge was the the model was already put together completely and primed.

WOW! I have been busy!

During my way too long absence from the blog I have been working on tons of stuff for my Orks.  I traded some Magic cards to my local shop to pick up a battleforce and a few boxes of Lootas and Grots.  Despite having "real" models I am still scratch building away and I have some projects I wanted to share.  I made two Battlewagons and an Orky Aegis defense line with quad gun.

Deff Dread

I recently took apart an old computer from the year 2000 and found all sorts of shiny bits to add to my collection.  Tons of shiny doo-dads and whatchamacallits just ripe for making killy stuff.  Plenty of projects are going to come from this but I decided to start with a Deff Dread.  Da Mad Mek Screwbitz is my Warboss so I wanted to benefit from his troop choice.

So many bits....

Kit Bash!

The Mad Mek is back with a tasty kit bash today.  To help me get into the game my good friend J. gave me a wonderful piece to work with:

3 year old Paint Job

Busy week!  I have been doing lots of modeling and painting but my camera broke so I don't have a lot of pictures to share...  That kind of puts a crimp in Da Mad Mek's style.  Fear not! I do have a few goodies.

My 3 year old son is very interested in my models (because they are wicked cool) and to keep him interested I let him pick head/weapon/body combinations for different things.  Here is a Nob with a Rokkit launcher that my son "built" and painted on his own:

Kustom Looted Wagon (WIP)

Welcome back to the Workshop!  I have been pretty busy working on a few projects as well as learning how to paint.  Practice makes perfect and boy do I need some practice.  However, the Mek's Waaagh is building momentum and soon I should have a decent sized army.

Last time I told you how I traded the Eldar Codex for a Chaos Rhino and the AoBR Warboss (pro painted).  I had never built a real model before (even as a kid!) and I was excited for the challenge.  It started by following the instructions until I had the base of the Rhino in tact and then I started to Kustomize!

Da beginnin'

Like many of you who happen to stumble upon this blog, I am a gamer. I try not to pigeonhole myself into any category; video games, pen and paper RPG's, CCG's, board games, whatever. If it has rules and a way to win I'm down to try it.  Also, like many of you, I have had a difficult time trying to pick one hobby to focus on.  Obviously, games are expensive and unless you fancy eating bread sandwiches for dinner and reading your rules by candle-light you have to make choices on which hobby to go all-in on.  That is why I have stuck with my favorite hobby for many, many years acquiring an impressive collection that rivals some hobby/game stores.  I have been completely devoted to Magic the Gathering and I don't plan to stop.

(breaks squealing)