Evolution

Well, his is the boring part. Just lots of time spent putting down the base coats so that I can get to the exciting business of shading and highlighting. I did create one test model where I highlighted one layer up from the base coat, just to see what it looks like. Honestly, I had my doubts about starting with Midnight Blue because it has so much purple in it. As it turns out, Enchanted blue looks pretty good over midnight blue. Hopefully the ultramarine blue will look good on top of that.

Another thing I've been contemplating was how the ink wash over all the layers will look. I've read that applying a wash over all the layers ties them all together. Well, it seemed to me that this would just make the whole miniature look muddy. I decide to try in on an old Blood Bowl beastman that I had previously used to practice extreme shading on. The wash actually pull all the shading together and made the gradations less extreme. I can't wait until I try this on my Thousand Sons, so I guess I need to go out and get some blue ink.

I haven't done that much painting this week because I've been sick. Yeah, I came down with Olympic fever! No seriously, I've watched them like every night since they started. I guess I like to see people I've never heard of compete in sports that I don't understand. A luge is kinda like a disc of Tzeentch, right? You know what I'm saying? Yeah, it's a push. As soon as the Olympics are over, I'll get back to painting.

Oh, so I titled this blog entry "Evolution." We all know that the patron god of the Thousand Sons is Tzeentch, the changer of ways. And Tzeentch is also regarded as the god of progress and evolution, etc... Anyways, I was going to end this blog with a passage about why us gamers chose the armies we do and how our choices reflect back on our personalities... blah, blah, blah... After finishing the first couple of paragraphs, I feel a little silly writing about what my gaming choices say about my inner self. Maybe another time.

However, I have been thinking about how I've never read anything about why people do all this. I've never seen and article, blog, or forum topic that really steps back and examines the gaming phenomenon somehow outside itself. I mean, why do I spend time painting and blogging and playing? What is it in human nature that attracts some people to what is really kind of a strange hobby? What are the social and psychological factors in the gaming world?

I guess the bigger question is if someone wrote a study about gaming life and culture, would anyone actually want to read it?

I'm Not Alone (links)

I found a forum dedicated solely to Thousand Sons called All is Dust. It's pretty cool that us Thousand Sons fans have our own forum, but most of the people on the forum seem to be in the same boat as me, just starting out. Hopefully, with time, the site will attract more veteran TSons players.

I also want to add this link, which is a pretty cool article on Thousand Sons from the GW site. There is also this article on painting Thousand Sons, but I'm sorry, they look like crap. I know I can't prove at this point that I can do any better, so you'll have to trust me.
Finally, here is pretty cool article with wall paper from the UK GW site.

Here is a cool army from Adepticon 2004. I'm sorry, but there was no information as to who owned the army or who painted it.

On the painting side of things, I've been plugging along doing the base-coat blue. I realized that painting Chaos marines is a lot harder than loyalist due to they're ornate armor (Have I said this before?). I suspect things will go a lot faster after I finish this base coat. Highlighting is always a little quicker.

And So It Begins...

I finished touching up the undercoat and began applying the actual color to my models this weekend. Man, it feels so good to be actually painting instead of doing all that prep work. Although I had a bad experience last Saturday when I dropped one of my miniatures on the floor while I was painting it. I had the mini in one hand and my paint brush in the other and it slipped. I'm not sure why I wasn't over my desk like usual. It hit he floor and broke into it's component parts like one of my son's Lego creations. So in the midst of my excitement with painting, I had to return to the border of gluing.

Anyway, after that traumatic incident, I got back to my base coat. That's coming along just fine.

I was having an e-mail conversation with my friend Chris today about different shading techniques. I broke down for him my plan with my Thousand Sons. I figure I'll publish it here:

I'll start with a black undercoat, then paint on Midnight blue, leaving a little black in the seams. Then I'll overbrush/ stipple Regal Blue, again leaving a little black and Midnight (I've actually already gotten to this point on a couple of models) Then I'll follow with a layer of ultramarines blue, mostly stippled or drybrushed. After that's all done, I'll do a wash with thin blue ink to tie all the layers together. I'll probably have to retouch the highest highlights. I think the idea is make the highlights a little brighter than you want, and then tone them down a bit with the ink wash.

Well, that was easier than retyping all that.

Prime Time!

We'll I guess that answers the questions as to whether or not people are reading this. Thanks, Chris for reading and answering the first ever "My Thousand Sons" discussion question. Hopefully, there will be a better response in the future.

I suppose I should answer the question too. I don't think I would re-build my space wolves right away. I definitely continue my work with my Thousand Sons.

Anyway, I primed my first unit. Black, of course. Not much to say. I think this is the most boring step in painting. At least when you are just gluing a miniature together, you have a choice of how to pose them and what pieces are going to go where. There is creativity to it. Painting something black is just like painting primer on your front room walls (which I've also been doing this week).

I've also touched them up after the prime coat, which is always a must. I'm a much better spray-painter than I used to be, but no matter what, the spray always misses something. I simply touch this up with a little Chaos black mixed with black ink and a little water.

Now, on to the real painting...