Keeping things tidy

New brush stand!  Woo!

That's all I have to say about that.

KUM Brushes

I've mentioned before about my fetish for the Cult Pens website.  This time I found they were selling a range of brushes from KUM, a stationery manufacturer I've always liked.  The brushes are claimed to be special because they hold their shape and are able to keep a point even when old, wet and abused.

I bought a size 1, 0 and 00.

The points are nice and sharp.

I've used them a little so far and I'm really impressed. Only a few quid per brush and 3 for 2 on my favourite site helps, of course, but I really like using them.  The other brushes I use are army painter, W&N series 7 (such a god deal - £1, £2 and £3 from the bargain bin at HobbyCraft, still in the plastic tubes and with the tip protectors) and the WAMP brushes from the recent kickstarter, and I have to say these are up there and holding their own so far.

3D Printing

As a bit of an experiment, I've printed a piece of terrain I found on thingiverse. It's very Eldar.

I wanted to see how easy it would be to get it looking decent for the tabletop.

Here's the raw finish...

The material is translucent, which makes it harder to judge the quality without feeling it.  The vertical stripes are from the light coming through the material and aren't apparent in the surface texture.  What is affecting the surface is the layering of material, leading to a definite grain.

I've never tried liquid greenstuff, but I imagine it has similar applications to squadron putty, which is what I used.  This stuff is a bit noxious, but I really like working with it.  You can spatula it on thick, shape it, or pour lots of acetone on it and brush it on the model.  Or, as in this case, both. I made a thinish paste of it and brushed it on, then went over with a brush dipped in acetone to smooth it off a little. Here's my little dish of acetone and one of putty.  The acetone in the bottle comes from a larger one. It's actually Poundland nail-polish remover.

And here it is on the piece...

Once dry, I rubbed it all down with emery boards (Poundland again) and in the curves I used a piece of sanding paper wrapped around a paint bottle.

It looks nice and smooth, but I'll prime it soon and see.

My new favourite knife

I've always preferred a metal scalpel blade over the round-handled "x-acto" type. Maybe if I'd ever tried a good round-handled knife it would be different.  I've also never taken to using the knives with snap-off blades for hobbying. Until now.

I'm a big fan of Cult Pens and every so often I pick up a little bundle of pens and pencils.  Usually the ones on offer, or the cheap-but-interesting sort.  It's where my collection of small and disposable fountain pens came from.

Last time I was there, they were having an offer on knives by Olfa.  I bought the sharp-angled snap-off one, thinking it looked sturdy, with a steel body, and would be good for the tougher stuff.

When it came, I was surprised at how slim it was. It feels really well made and has a great mechanism.  The blade is moved by the black tab, as usual for this style, but rather than have a second tab for locking the blade, on this knife it's all within the slider and the blade only moves then you push or pull it due to some clever locking/unlocking mechanism.  You can feel the mechanism work and it gives a sensation of precision and sturdiness when it does.

The pocket clip is neat. I nearly just took it off as something to get in the way, but when I end up grabbing the knife for tasks away from my corner, it's been handy to be able to clip it to my shirt, or something near where I'm working.

It's now my favourite al-round knife. It's wickedly sharp, small enough to fit where I need it and it feels solid and controllable.

Deff Dredd progress

New legs are on!

The supports will be hidden by terrain and grass. I thought it better to keep the stiff wire supports rather than rely on the spindly legs.

I posted a WIP pic somewhere (reddit?) a while ago and someone said it was way too small.  I didn't realise until much later that it might look like a standard Kinder egg toy container. It's an Easter Kinder egg toy container.

Next: more panels, more dakka, fuel barrels, grot servicemen, cupola for a pilot/driver/captain on the top. 

More awesome from Spellcrow

I've seen a few third-party Eldar aegis defence lines, but the new one from Spellcrow is the best I've seen. Rather than energy fields, it's just an ornate wall of wraithbone.

I've ordered a couple of sets (two pieces, as above, in each) to make a reasonable wall. It should look good either as random terrain or as a placed defensive line.

While I was there, I also ordered a couple of their new "space elf" jetbikes.

I have four of the new model Eldar jetbikes, and one of the new warlocks on bike, plus many old jetbikes plus a farseer and two warlock I converted, so I probably won't use them as jetbikes. I intend to use them as hornets, which should be fun. I love flying Eldar.

Can't wait for them to arrive.  Now I have a permanent hobby space I have got a lot more done, so I'm not worried that these will stay untouched for long.

Double lamp power!

I've been coveting other people's workspaces lately.  Now I have my own corner set up, I've been trying to optimise it and steal everyone else's good ideas. One thing I've seen more than once is a double-lamp setup in which two angle-poise lamps are used to make a kind of arch over the work area, angled slightly so the light is falling on the front of whatever is held in the sweet spot.

My own lighting was cobbled together from the spare lamps in the garage, but even with a whole array of spots and lamps, there were horrible shadowy patches and while working I was having to move the minis around to see them in better light.

No more! At Ikea on Sunday I picked up two lamps with clamps instead of bases (£8.50 each) and two daylight bulbs (£7 each). There might be better bulbs than the 5000K 600lm Ikea ones, but they work well enough for now and the whole thing cost just £31, which is fantastic.  I'll do some research and may replace them in the future but right now I'm really enjoying the nice bright and even lighting.

The arms are flexible and long enough that I've managed to put them at the extremes of the work surfaces and can still arrange them both to be over the painting area, airbrush booth, or the cutting/gluing table on the right.