Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Work in progress

So far, so good for this year.  The first week back I wrote almost every day.  Maybe not huge wordcounts, maybe not the best words, but that's for editing.

When I wasn't getting some writing done, I was doing some 'round the house jobs.  Not enough time in a day for both writing and house sorting, it seems.  Still trying to unpack, sort and set things to rights.  Once you're done moving, there's the big, important stuff that you unpack first.  Then the more 'steady state' items that you use more or less often.  Finally, there's the last things that you use the least, but still need unpacked.  In our case, if only to make space.  Especially considering that stuff is occupying the suite your parents are moving in to.

Besides that, there were some good games over the remainder of the holidays, including a Firestorm Armada game where my dice were on fire!  Sweet, exploding rolls.  Also a custom scenario which I will post shortly, after I adjust a few things we shook out during gameplay.

My year's project, Dragons Don't Share from Reaper (the Bones II Kickstarter) also saw some progress.  First up was to clean the parts, which you saw in the last post.  Next up is to boil them.  The boiling softens the parts and for the Bonesium material, it tends to push them back into their original shape.  They have a tendency to warp during mold removal and subsequent shipping and handling, so boiling, then dousing in cold water helps get them back to the original shape and hold them there.

The boiling:

This was just plain tap water, set on the stove at high to boil.  Once nicely bubbling (and toiling and troubling), just put the parts in and let them sit and soak in the heat.  Best done while building some other models.

Once boiled, remove: (tongs are a must here)

And place in the cold water (also in another pot).  Some people use ice water, in this case it I didn't find it necessary.


Though, I did find I had to overbend the parts in some cases, as they wouldn't return to a full flat condition.  I did this while they were still warm, before the water fully cooled them.  The cold water helps as water soaks in a huge amount of heat for its mass (also explaining why it is such a good cooling medium).  In this case, the overbending overcame the elastic region of the material and they now sit almost perfectly flat.

Repeat for all the pieces of the castle ruin, and the base area is ready to clean.  By cleaning I mean take away the mold lines, flash, and otherwise tidy up the model.  More on that in the next instalment of Dragons Don't Share.

I also took the time to work on my Razorthorn class battleship.  Not a lot, but I put the full body ink wash on the ship.  It looks really good in the details, bringing a depth to the crevices and other detailing, but it made the large, flat areas look dirty.  Not keen on that look, and I think I'll apply the ink more judiciously for future models.  It will need some cleaning up for the flat areas, but the weapons, hull plates and other details look good.  Next up is a cleaning pass with the base colours, then highlighting begins.


You know, it didn't feel as productive, but when you list it out, I actually worked on a bunch of things.  Not too bad for the first few weeks of the year.

Monday, January 04, 2016

Welcome 2016

Welcome to all in 2016.

Last year was a good kind of madness.  Finished my Head of Department qualification, bought a new house, bought a new truck and generally did some big and bold things last year.  Some big steps and some good times.

There was a new Star Wars film, a review of which will come, pending my second viewing.

This year is the year of discipline, finishing the book and generally buckling down and getting things done.

So far, I've written on the first, third and fourth.  Good, solid words that will need editing, but nothing terrible.  I will admit that today's words came out in a trickle, but I did sit my ass down.  Next up is a scene I've been itching to write for a long time.  That will be tomorrow's job.

I did take January second to have a cool Firestorm Armada game, in which my stepson, my daughter and I played a custom scenario.  I'll post that up sometime soon for those who might be interested.  (The revised version, as we made some adjustments after the game we played)

I've also decided to take on a major model project for the year.  From my Bones II order, the Dragons Don't Share set is something I'm itching to work on.  This year, I'm going to make it the year's project.  To prep, build and paint the whole thing.


Inside the box there's also the whole castle ruin set.  It's a huge piece.

First step is to break out all the parts and give them a scrub to remove any mould release agents.


Here are the pieces (as well as the resin parts from my daughter's Legion of Everblight gargantuan) laid out ready for washing.  It's really helpful to have a large countertop in the ensuite, as I can move parts from one side to the other as they get done.


A good scrub with dishsoap and warm water.  No special secrets, just a good scrub and lay them out to dry.  Here are all the pieces for Dragons Don't Share.  The adventurers in the pictures are about 28mm high, for a sense of scale.


Looking forward to working on this one.

All in all, a good start to the year.