Sunday, 14 April 2019

" OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW "

So as 2017 draws to an end and Xmas is now just another memory of another year passed, I found myself thinking before rushing in as I normally would, "what do I mean by this I hear you say ?" Well at Xmas I would normally open new toys and rush straight in to build and paint them neglecting projects I already had on the go. So this year I thought I would follow the example of Luke and Simon and clear some of my existing projects before starting anything new !
With this in mind I set myself a target of finishing 4 models a day and as a reward I could have an hour at the end of the day on one of my new models.
" THE FORCE IS STRONG IN THIS ONE"
The first three models I choose to finish were Darth Vader, Ahsoka Tano and Luke Skywalker

Then I finished off one of the Imperial Officers and also my test Stormtrooper


Achieving my goal of minimum of 4 models I had an hour on a 1:48 scale X-Wing
"THEY'RE ANIMALS"
Day two I completed the Tusken raider on Bantha, Stormtrooper on  Dewback, two Scout Troopers with heavy weapon and my second attempt at Sy Snootles

Another goal achieved, so rewarded myself with a second hour on my X-Wing
"AN ARMY OF WHITE"
Day 3 and I continued on making progress by painting 4 jump pack Stormtroopers, you may notice I've done a dark and dirty colour scheme as all the Stormtroopers I've seen on Tatooine are very dusty and dirty.

I also managed to finish Han Solo

So tonight I will reward myself with another hour on my X-Wing, progress will probably slow up a lot now as I need to get back on with actual work so until next time HAVE FUN ! and hope you all have a great NEW YEAR however you celebrate.
Cheers Dave

37 comments:

  1. Happy New Year Dave. Great posting full of wonderful eye-candy, and a few minis I hadn;t seen before - flying stormtroopers :-) Will you be going all-out for "Star Wars: Legion" in March I wonder, or are you sticking with "Imperial Assault"?
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    1. Thank you Simon, the flying Stormtroopers came in the Jabba's Realm expansion.
      As for Star Wars Legion a lot depends on how well FFG continue to support Imperial Assault, if X-Wing and Armada are an example I will probably stick with IA and build the bits I want that they don't produce
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  2. I salute your level of discipline Dave, and the mouth-watering eye candy you're producing is evidence that the tactic of "clearing the part painted projects" pays dividends - but.......
    I can't wait to see the completed X-Wing!! :-)
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    1. Thank you Greg, it has indeed given me a lot of motivation to complete many started and unstarted models that have been languishing on my shelves, looking forward to getting to painting the X-Wing and will post it up when done
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  3. The splendid job continue you must, the Happy New Year you and yours I wish ...
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    1. Thank you Phil, I managed to finish the construction of the X-Wing last night, so if I get time to paint 4 models today I should be able to start the painting tonight. Have a great New Year Phil
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  4. It`s your Ahsoka Tano which most caught my eye. I am about to start an Imperial Assault campaign - in February anyway (which as anyone knows... if they actually play the game and not just paint the models) is a long process and once a campaign is started, is hard (verging on impossible) to add in elements to the game once the campaign games have begun and the titles roll. , you have to know which expansions and expansion miniatures you want to factor into your games before hand.... as once the campaign starts, you`re pretty much tied to your choices until each campaign is concluded and the credits roll at the end. ANYWAY lol, I have been dying to get Ahsoka Tano into my games but knew I didnt have a hope in hell of getting a campaign started until after Christmas, and my next step was "hmmmm How am going to paint my mini to look as good as she does in the Star Wars Rebels TV/DVD series". Then Bingo! I spot yours and eureka! problem solved. I absolutely frickin love how you`ve done her, and retained that iconic look she has.

    You`ve also made me take a look at my jump pack Stormtroopers from the Jabba`s Realm expansion as I suddenly realised haven`t painted mine up yet.... I have finished painting 85% of my SW Imp Assault boxed set and expansions, but still have some cool pieces to paint up (just never got round to using some of minis in my games yet, and so never found time to paint these advanced game pieces either... I tend to paint my Imp Assault pieces as I go, as the game scenarios demand).

    The Bantha and the Dewback look stunning, I must admit, but sadly I dont own these two models. But they are on my wish list for 2018. I also like how you did Luke (farm boy) its simple, but absolutely so right... that simplicity makes it right. love it.
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    1. Cheers mate, as you know I'm a fan of Star Wars Rebels so wanted my Ahsoka to match the on screen shots of her.
      Agree once started in the game you want all the bits your putting into your campaign ready to go, which has made me realise that there is at least one expansion I need to get before really starting in earnest, also I need a lot more robots so have a Death Star Droid in the works and an R4, would also like to add some K2's if I get chance.
      Would love FFG to release the rest of the Rebels group as well as would love them to have guest appearances in my campaign, but my wish list is pretty big.
      Could really do with some more Bantha's and Dewbacks if I get the chance as well.
      Luke was a lot of time staring at reference pictures to get the right colour tones so was happy to get him finished, his utility belt should have been black/brown for his homeworld but I realised it was modelled with the stormtrooper one from on the Death Star so went with the white
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    2. Yes we are the same, and badly need the new Heart of The Empire expansion (top of our wish list). We don`t tend to buy a lot of new stuff nowadays, but Imperial Assault is our top played game and this is an essential purchase: especially with the new FFG `solo` AP coming out for the game soon.
    3. Yes, I really DO hope FFG bring out the rest of the `Star Wars Rebels` gang, and I still hold out hopes that they will do so.... in time.
    4. I believe the App is already out, or someone on the Facebook group got an early copy. The expansion I need is the Twin shadows with the Tusken raiders and Stormtroopers with back packs.
      Steve did you realise that a lot of the characters are based from the original Ralph McGuire concept art ?
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    5. {{{{{Steve did you realise that a lot of the characters are based from the original Ralph McGuire concept art ?}}}}}}

      Wow! WELL spotted mate.

      For us we need Bespin`s Gambit and Heart of The Empire... both still to pick off: then we will be able to play anything the App throws at us.
    6. Most of the expansions I need to get, but there not high on my priority as a lot of the models don't fit on Tatooine, would like to get them all eventually but prioritised what I need for the campaign first, there's also several of the individual models I need for the current campaign as well, so many models, so little time ! LOL
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    7. >>>>>>> Most of the expansions I need to get, but there not high on my priority as a lot of the models don't fit on Tatooine, would like to get them all eventually but prioritised what I need for the campaign first <<<<<<<

      You know right, the campaign game rules for IA works just fine with only the base game set, and if you facotor in any expansion (whether that is a box expansion or just an expansion miniatures set) it all gets added into the campaign rules story arc... new map boards, new side missions, new cards, new stats, etc. SO even if you pick up a game that is not specifically on Tattooine, you still get to add the into the game (for example, Hera Syndulla and Chopper have to do a side mission to Bespin to retrieve some smuggled supplies needed to bride the Mos Espa King Pin to release the plans to the Imperial bunker they need to infiltrate).
    8. Yes realised you can go from place to place and add in any element, just want to start on Tattooine and play in that world to begin with, then I'll move to other planets, might do Hoth as my second destination as Dash joins the rebellion there
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    9. You need to be playing Skirmish mode then rather than campaign. much easier to pick and choose that way.
    10. Thank's for that Luke, hope you had a good Xmas and have a great New Year
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  5. I honestly don`t know why anyone would bother buying a newer version of a Star Wars game when Imperial Assault OR the much older WotC Rebel Storm (or Clone Wars spin off - take your pick) are still so readily available. Both/either are THE epitome of a great Star Wars table top game, and do everything the happy gamer could ever possibly want to achieve in a game.

    Dave, these models are excellent and soooooo nicely painted. I`m jealous of your wonderful Sy Snootles hehe. Stunning paint job on her. Makes me very keen to do mine now xx
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    1. Thank's Hils, If the models were the same scale I could have warrented picking up some of them to add to my IA but as there different I have little to no interest, with a lot of traditional models being available for Star Wars I can fill out some vehicles I would like to add in as scenery pieces or functional vehicles, but time to sculpt all the models I want to add in is in short supply with all the sculpting for the business I need to do.
      Really happy with how Sy turned out and is better than my first version so that's a relief, hope you have fun painting yours
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    2. She will mate. I completely forgot to show her the new `not` Sy you sculpted, cast, and gave me when I visited you, and I only just showed it to her a few weeks ago.... suffice to say she went mental with excitement lol.
    3. Fancy not showing Hils, hope she has fun with them !
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  6. WHEN he finally showed me grrrrrrrr *grins* it was like a mini Christmas :-)
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    1. That was the idea, he just had them early ! LOL did he show all of them ?
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    2. No, and will rectify that over the net few days. With Christmas and endless packing of boxes for the big move, there has been less time and somehow it all got side issued. But I just spotted the bog of all the stuff and will sneak a peek asap.
    3. Not a problem Hils and with how much you guys have going on fully understandable
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    4. its.. hectic mate is truly the only way to describe it. And with Hils pretty much out of action atm.. leg wise, and me with my various ailments and conditions (mostly called `getting old`) lol its an uphill struggle.
    5. hopefully it will calm down a bit for you after the festivities, but probably not a lot with Hils op coming up soon and then the move later on. 2018 could be very busy for you in the early part but then hopefully will calm down, will certainly be quite with no internet ! LOL
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    6. no internet Yuuuiiiish!!!!! *shudders* that sure will be cold turkey. But interesting too. We spend so much time on the dread machine, it will be liberating to `have a life back` hahaha.
    7. We'll have to go back to our youth mate and converse with pen and paper ! LOL
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  7. to be honest, imperial assault is incredible i think. if you like star wars it has a bit of everything in it. rpg, skirmish, campaign, and wargame, and now with the app its fully cooperative or even fully solo functional like never before. what i find is that even on you tube you see people play the first couple of scenarios and then stop. so you get dozens of repeated videos of the same few adventures, but no one stays with anything and completes a whole campaign. same happens on blogs, i wish they did because this is what i would most like to see. the more games being payed the better.
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    1. Duly noted Luke, once I start playing the adventures of Dash Rendar, I shall keep playing it when time allows. I will be doing the the same with DM and the skirmish game and you've already met what will be the principal character I shall be using in that in the fist AAR I did
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  8. thank you dave, christmas was pretty amazing, but then again mum always makes it good for us. shes a super mum and should have the t shirt to match -- "wonder woman" stand in.

    your dash rendar games will be a treat to look forward to. star wars is massive for me and has been from an early age (my mum too, which is where I get my name sake from), and when imperial assault came along i just knew i had found a game for life. i have to agree with hils, why when something is already perfect, do gamers have to go searching for something similar without even exploring what they already have first. if they did they sure wouldnt find a need for constantly chopping and changing and getting new stuff but never even playing with any of it properly. just saying.

    i hope you had a fantastic christmas dave, and wish you and yours a happy new year too.
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    1. Great to hear you had a good Xmas, and look forward to meeting you and your mum at Salute, held of getting into IA until I was sure it was what I wanted, so wasn't going to rush into another system just because it had the Star Wars logo on it, only looked as regards to extra models to add to the IA ones but being a different scale threw that out the window.
      Because of my workload I always have limited time for hobby, not that I'm complaining as I love my job and seeing people get enjoyment from what we do, is the best reward ever ! It just means I only get to game occasionally, so when I do I like to have nicely painted models and scenery to give it a cinematic feel.
      Star Wars has been a big part of my life also and remember queuing for almost an hour to see the first movie, so just want to do this part right for me.
      Had a quite Xmas but was very enjoyable thank you, and will probably have a quite New Year as well with the wife
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  9. I actually can`t disagree Luke mate. Your comment sparked and struck a chord and I discussed it with and asked Hillers, and we both sat and worked it out. On average me and her play 2 home/house games a week and about 4 club games a week in addition: so that`s =6 X 52 weeks of the year so in total we play roughly = 336 games each year (not counting our long running D&D rpg game of course). Now, that`s not even hard work, its no different from any other hobbyist. My best friend goes fishing at least twice a week, Hils daughter attends pole dancing classes twice a week, our club friend makes his own kit car(s) and must easily spend 20 hours a week on his hobby: another person may be passionate about football and attend matches and watch hours of football on TV a week, a keen gardener spends hours a week in the garden, and so on and so on. Its really priorities isnt it. We most of us DO have lots of hours spare any given week, its just how we choose to use them is all. If in our hobby we choose to spend 20 hours a week painting miniatures, then those people are modellers not wargamers. Wargamers play, modellers paint.. I find very few gamers are both, but spend most their time painting but (in truth) only `play` at gaming lol.
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    1. you Dave are excused mate.... you work every god damn live long hour life has to offer LOLOL.
    2. Cheers mate for the excuse ! ROFL In an ideal world I would love love to spend 50 % of my time modelling and 50% gaming truly having the best of both worlds as I enjoy both aspects, the reality is more like 98% work and 2% planning work and giving up sleep to hobby ! LOL
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