New Hobby Space

Well, I've had a fairly chequered painting and modelling history for the last decade or so, but that's all about to change! Last week my hobby room was finished and, although it is a shared space with my partner's hobbies (sewing and embroidery), it is perfect for me. Now there's no excuse to being slack with painting (well, except for work, study, gettig stuff done around the house, band, social life, etc).

I also figured, seeing as everyone seems to be doing it nowadays, that I'd start my own little blog. So, welcome to SinDex Studio!

To start things off I figured I'd give a bit of a list of the projects I am currently working on, if only to make sure they are written down in stone somewhere so they might get finished one day.

Blood Bowl Teams
First on my long list is a range of different half-finished Blood Bowl teams. These days it is actually rare to get a game in of anything. Blood Bowl is my saviour in this regard because games are short, tournaments are fun and, if I need to, there's a computer version so I can keep my skills honed. I'll get around to posting my "finished" teams at some point, but my half-finished projects are:

• The Shard: a skaven team with five finished rats, built from the old Mordheim style plastics.
• The Hungry Maw: an ogre outfit, also with five finished (two ogres and three gnoblars/snotlings). Built from the ogre and gnoblar boxed sets respectively, these guys look really good.
• Ark Nemesis: dark elves, using a variety of figs. These guys are four strong at present and, while I'm happy with the two witch elves, I'm having trouble finding good parts for the other positionals.
• Platinum Compass: a high/pro elf team I only have one prototype for these guys at present. They are very labour-intensive as they use eldar jetbike rider torsos and guardian legs with a metal spearman head. I also haven't thought about positionals so this could lead anywhere.
• Duskrunners: my wood elf team based on the Maidenhead Miniatures feral elf range. I'm hoping to get this team ready for Southern Shrike Bowl 2011, which gives me roughly nine months.
• The Drop Bears: a "goblin" team, I'm trying to use the EucBowl koala figures plus some other random Australiana figures that have been sculpted for tourneys here, for this team. Not sure if I have enough of the koalas though so...? I have one koala flaming tinny done and another whipper-snipper partly there.
• I also have another dark elf team being painted on commission (well, kinda, it's my brother's team). These are the Shadowforge evil elves team which are, while not the best minis around, very easy to paint.

Trollkin - Hordes
My other main game is Warmachine/Hordes and I have, for a long time, run Cygnar for the former and Trollkin for the latter. At the moment I wouldn't class most of my stuff as 'projects' so much as spare minis sitting in my bitz box as I haven't played properly since the rules were re-done, but I do intend to get back into this and I do have a few bits and bobs in the works. For my trolls this is basically what I have been calling 'Wallace' for some time. Wallace is a Dire Troll Mauler upon which extensive conversion has been done. He is currently half painted, well... OK, maybe a quarter painted. But each time I sit down to paint him I get about a square inch done - and this boy is large! Once done, however, he will kick arse!

Warmachine - Cygnar
Also on my painting desk for Warmachine is an epic Caine that I have been painting in a monochromal blue colour scheme. He is looking spiffy so far but still needs a lot of work to finish.

Warmachine - Retribution
I also made a foray into Retribution when they came out and purchased a small force consisting of Kaelyssa, a squad of Mage Hunters with their commander, a Ghost Sniper and a Phoenix warjack. I already had an Eiryss that worked well into this force. Thus far the Kaelyssa, Eiryss, Mage Hunter Commander and Ghost Sniper are done, some pics below, but the rest are still in progress.

Other Projects
My chief other two current projects are just coll stuff I want to do and, by coincidence, both are based on old cartoons I used to love as a kid.

The first is a multi-part diorama of the TMNT (that's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for those who didn't grow up in the eighties and ninties). I want this to be five separate figures (Leo, Raph, Doni, Mikey and Splinter) that can be arranged together into one 'set' diorama. Thus far Leo is half-converted, so I have a long way to go, but hopefully I'll get there eventually.

The other is a bit more nebulous. I have, from a different project that I might discuss at a different time, some of the vinyl Transformer 'miniatures' that you can find on eBay. This is not the best medium to work with, but with some work you can get a good base to build from. I want to do an awesome Optimus Prime on a display base, basically just becase Prime is awesome. But, once again, this is in very early stages so... who knows!?


Anyway, with that list I'd better get working. Hopefully I'll get around to posting some WIPs as I tackle these and, with any luck, there'll be some progress. Look out for my pics on CMON and good luck in your own painting endeavours.

SinDex