COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Update V

Well, it finally happened. I tested positive for COVID on May 19th.

Best as we can figure, I got it on the flight back from our friends' wedding. I took off my mask to have my soda and pretzels and I guess that was all the time needed.

Thankfully, I didn't get it too badly; it felt like all I had was a bad cold (yay for being vaccinated and boosted). But it also made me super tired. I think part of the reason for this was because I'd been dealing with Shingles and Post-herpetic Neuralgia just a few weeks before. I've spent most of the last week and a half in bed...too tired to even work on minis. But Teresa has been awesome during this whole thing and was kind enough to look after me.

Really, the worst part was that I had to postpone a long-awaited trip to Las Vegas. Cancelling all of my reservations hurt. 

But yesterday I finally tested negative for COVID! 

I'm still pretty tired and have a bit of congestion, but I'm definitely feeling better than I was just a few days ago. Thank goodness too! I'm pretty sick and tired of being sick and tired. 

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Update IV

"It's been a long road getting from there to here..."

Well, it's been a long time! I wrote my last COVID update about six months ago and so figured I was overdue for another.

Last time I ended on a bit of a down note by announcing that Jimmy had cancer. At the time he wasn't doing well at all... Teresa and I thought that he only had a few weeks left.

Jimmy had other ideas.

Not only has he pressed on, he's also spunkier than ever! This photo was taken just a week or so ago, and so you can see that he is quite alive and well. Jimmy's appetite is also the best that it's ever been! Despite the fact that he can't use his back legs, he still scoots around really well (his front legs are SWOLE) and can be quick when he wants to be. He's definitely a miracle cat!

I went back to physically being at work in July, though only for a few days at a time. In October the Washington Monument reopened so I've been in most days since then. Because of that, however, I really haven't had much of a chance to work on figures. 

That's pretty much been it. Nothing too exciting, I know, but there may be something down the road that will be exciting. But that's for another post! 

Campaign Against Cancer: Cancelled

Unfortunately the 2020 Campaign Against Cancer X-Wing Miniatures Event has been cancelled. Given everything that’s been going on in the world, I support the organizers’ decision full heartedly. Better to safe than sorry. Way better.

I would be lying, though, if I said I wasn’t a bit disappointed. This is such a special event – and not just to me either. But there’s always next year. I suppose we’ll just have to raise double the amount in 2021!

Lunch Break Hobby Time, Part V

Nearly five years ago, I made a few wargaming hills while I was working on a (unfortunately abandoned) Peninsular War force. I recently modified them by adding a few sections of – wait for it – Italian seasoning to add a few interesting patches.

This in turn inspired me to use up the remaining insulation foam I’ve had sitting around since 2015. With a trusty little steak knife, I carved out a few more hills over my last several lunch breaks. The next steps are where I’m stuck: trying to remember what exactly I did last time (this is why I write things down now). Thankfully I did a post about them so that helps quite a bit. It’s also starting to come back to me as well...which is quite nice.

Campaign Against Cancer: Postponed

It’s not surprising that the Campaign Against Cancer didn’t happen on May 2. This of course was due to COVID-19. It has, however, been rescheduled to July 18 (depending on how things are looking of course). No idea if things will be normal enough by then, though, but I’m cautiously optimistic.

This year is significant to me in several ways: September 15th marks the 10th anniversary of Grandpa’s passing, this will be my 5th time participating in CAC, and now my little cat bro Jimmy has been diagnosed with cancer. It was a highly emotional year even before the pandemic and all its stresses hit. When the event does eventually happen I’ll be happy to take part.

So until then, we sit and wait. 

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Update III

Well, it’s been a while since my last COVID-19 update. We’re doing about as well as can be expected. My wife still alternates between going to the office and teleworking, and when she’s working at home on my days off I totally feel like I’m a nuisance.

I’m on Day 55 (I think) of working remotely. Not going to lie...it’s been challenging to be a productive worker through all this. My anxiety has been spiking hardcore and we’ve both been having trouble sleeping. I can’t even really stay focused on my painting. The fact I was able to finish a squad of Continentals the other day impresses me.

To make matters worse, my teleconference and painting buddy Jimmy is having serious issues. He’s been diagnosed with cancer in his vertebrae and it’s slowly affecting his ability to walk. As of right now, he still seems to be his cheerful little self and doesn’t appear to be in any pain. He’d had a major episode two weeks ago and I was fully expecting to say goodbye him then. That thankfully didn’t happen and so any more time I get with him is a blessing.

Lunch Break Hobby Time, Part IV

As you might've seen in my last post, I was going to try gluing part of a dryer sheet to add texture to my A-frame tents. I tried it and was most unhappy with the results.

Even with white Contrast paint, I think it looks awful. The texture is much too large for that scale and makes it look too weird. That base is also way too big (but it's what I had on hand).

So, I've pulled the dryer sheet off and will be starting from the beginning again. Ben from Weasel Miniatures suggested that I try Kleenex (instead of a paper towel) and watered down PVA glue so I'm going to give that a try. 

Cutting up the Kleenex was a bit therapeutic, to be honest. But since this is going to be a bit of a messy endeavor, I'm going to wait until one of my days off to tackle it when I have the time to spare.

While it's frustrating that my initial idea didn't work out, it was worth a shot. I'm learning from my failure here and learning from it. I feel like that's a good lesson for life in general. 

Lunch Break Hobby Time, Part III

While taking out the trash last week, two bits of packaging for our new exercise bike fell out. I instantly had an idea to make A-frame tents out of them. I've been using a lot of my break time to work on them and I think the project is coming along nicely. 

I measured 2 inches and made the appropriate marks. 

The dimensions aren't perfect, but I figure they're good enough for my purposes. Plus I think I'll mount them onto individual bases so that should help with the height a bit.

For the tent flaps, I traced the outline onto some thin bits of cardboard that came with our cats' food. 

Voila! I'll probably cut some flaps open to give it a more realistic effect but we'll see what happens. 

Now, there are two methods I'm thinking of trying from here for texture. One involves a dryer sheet, and the other a paper towel and heavily watered down PVA glue.

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Update II

These are weird times. I can't really think of any other way to say it. 

Just wanted to write an update on things since my last post on COVID-19 on March 15. Teresa and I are doing fine despite everything that's going on. I've been teleworking since March 18, which has been an interesting adjustment. I know now that I wouldn't be happy in a 9 to 5 desk job. My wife splits her time between working remotely and going into her office (she's been classified as essential). Aside from grocery and miniature supply runs, I've been mostly at home for the past two weeks. 

I am worried about my family in California though. Both my parents are in the high-risk category and I fear something happening to them, and my sister as well. They’ve told me they’ve been good so far...so that’s a bit reassuring.

Yesterday, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued a stay-at-home order for the entire commonwealth until June 10. Desperate times call for desperate measures and I'm glad he's issued this order (Maryland and Washington, DC have also done the same). I think I'm going to get a lot of miniatures done in the next 11 weeks.  

Keep washing your hands, folks, and be safe out there!

The One Colour Challenge

As discussed in my previous post, I signed up for the One Colour Challenge on Instagram. I was assigned green, and so armed with an assortment of shades I went to work! 

I finished after about two days’ worth of work, and had fun! But not going to lie: I’m so tired of working with Moot Green for the time being. It also gets everywhere. 

An old Space Marine was chosen for the task. To create a bit more visual interest, I decided to put him on top of a supply box. I like to think he’s defending the last shipment of toilet paper in the sector. Everything else is essentially my normal jungle base but with bits of dried parsley sprinkled on to represent more foliage. I might end up using that on my normal bases after this. I kinda like the effect. 

Without further ado, here are the paints used:

• Moot Green (Games Workshop)
• Yellow Green (Vallejo)
• Military Green (Vallejo)
• Black Green (Vallejo)
• Green Grey (Vallejo)
• Russian Green (Vallejo)
• Biel-Tan Green (Games Workshop)
• Athonian Camoshade (Games Workshop)
• Nuln Oil (Games Workshop...and yes, it was allowed)

I was glad to do this challenge. It helped pass the time and stretched my creative muscles. I can’t wait to see what the others have done for their entries!

Lunch Break Hobby Time, Part II

A few days ago I signed up for the One Colour Challenge on Instagram. It’s being put on by @the_warhammer_lass and participants are assigned one color to paint a miniature of their choice. You can use any shade of that color (green in my case). Bases can be whatever we want. The challenge itself will be from March 28 to April 4, which the finished models being displayed on Instagram. There are no prizes, winners, or losers. This is just a fun challenge to get us all through these weird times.

So I assembled my paints yesterday and dug through my boxes to find an appropriate model: a Space Marine from the Assault on Black Reach Battle for Vedros set. 

So far he’s been given three very thin coats of Games Workshop Moot Green. Once dry, he’ll be given a wash of Games Workshop Biel-Tan Green and then I’ll block in some of the darker greens elsewhere. Still not entirely sure what I’m going to do with him, but I’m definitely enjoying this challenge! 

Jungle Fever!

While stuck at home, the urge hit me to try my hand at making some jungle bases. It came out of nowhere really, but I realized I had all the necessary parts. Using this awesome tutorial from Games Workshop, I set to it. I did stray from the video a bit and throw in some skulls and fallen branches (courtesy of a fallen branch in our yard....how meta).

The underside of the barbed bracken was under coated with Death Guard Green. I also strayed a bit from the tutorial on this, but I didn’t want to run the risk of any bare plastic showing on the final product. While this was drying, I slapped on some old GW texture paint (from four years ago...yikes!) and allowed it to dry. I glued in the branches and skulls while the texture paint was still damp. I waited until the texture paint was dry to glue in the flora. 

With everything dry and in glued in place, the bases were also given a spray of Death Guard Green. 

Once dry, I randomly picked out the leaves with Elysian Green and Warboss Green to give things some variety. The fallen branches were painted Steel Legion Drab. As the tutorial specified, everything was given a wash of Athonian Camoshade, then the plant bases, stems, and branches were given a wash of Agrax Earthshade. Everything was then dry brushed with Screaming Skull.

Speaking of skulls, they were heavily dry brushed with Screaming Skull and then given two coats of Skeleton Horde Contrast. I liked the “earthiness” of the color mixed with hints of the original Death Guard Green. It reminds me of examples I saw in my Anthropology classes back in the day at Fullerton College. 

This was also my first time using a light box! I'd picked it up for cheap on eBay a few months ago with the purpose of photographing both my minis and Teresa's jewelry. Full disclosure, I did adjust the brightness and contrast in editing but I feel it does the best job of showing the bases' details. 

Additionally, while running errands yesterday I hit Curio Cavern and went through their bits box. To my knowledge this is currently the only bits box in Northern Virginia (since the Island Games closed last year). I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of jungle pieces they had! I'll definitely be incorporating these on future bases and scatter terrain.

Now that I have jungle bases, I think it's only natural to put proper figures on them.

Yup, the classic Catachan Jungle Fighters for Warhammer 40k. I used to hate these guys when I was first getting into the hobby but they've grown on me over the years. Plus they're not the ubiqitious Cadians that every Imperial Guard Astra Militarum player seems to have. They're different and that's something that really appeals to me. 

“Papa Nurgle has no chance!”

Well done, Tower Center!

I just want to give a huge shoutout to the Games Workshop: Tower Center crew in Springfield, VA. They’ve been taking the COVID-19 outbreak seriously from the beginning and have really been looking out for the gaming community. They’ve been on the ball, and I thank them for it.

After about a week inside the house, I needed to get out and grab some paint and new brushes for my most recent project. This sign was up on the door, and I appreciated it immensely.

Hopefully things will return to normal sooner rather than later. I do suspect, though, that we’ll be in this for the long haul. 

Please be safe, everyone, and take good care of yourselves.

Lunch Break Hobby Time, Part I

My team and I were approved for situational telework in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, I’ll be working from home for the foreseeable future and will have a lot of time to get a lot of training and planning out of the way. But this also means that I’ll have plenty lunch breaks in the coming weeks to work on minis. 

So as a result, I’m starting a semi-regular feature called Lunch Break Hobby Time!

I only had about five minutes today (had to take care of some other chores around the house first), but I was able to quickly spray some barbed bracken for some jungle bases. I’ll have some more time tomorrow and I intend to glue them onto the bases I prepared with texture paints after I was off work. Stay tuned!

Now I just need to contend with an oh-so-helpful friend....

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Update I

This last week has been surreal to say the least. COVID-19 became a pandemic and increasingly drastic measures are being taken to try and stop the virus’ spread. There’s total chaos as stores can’t keep toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and bottled water stocked. Schools, libraries, museums, etc. are being closed and people are being urged to stay home.

My wife and I, at least for right now, still have to report to work. But guidance changes daily and we have no idea what’s going to happen. But then, no one really does do they?

At least one thing is certain:

Be safe, my friends. May the Force be with you and live long and prosper.