Touching base and update

It's been a little bit now since I was able to get to the blog.  It's been really busy at home and I've actually hit some trouble making progress on models at the moment.  Recently we've had holidays, relatives, and more work to do than in awhile.  Plus I look over at my table and it is packed!  Funny though I'm still shopping new models for Christmas!

Well, I've slowly been building up some Orks for 40k.  I've got a couple of the old Assault on Blackreach sets to use and that gives me some great models to start with.  Also I have several Space Marine projects and my Tyranids.  Besides this I recently found a new Star Wars toy that is something like plastic army men.  I decided to paint some up and they've really been looking neat.  If anyone wants to check them out you can find them as Star Wars Command in stores.  Really inexpensive and decent looking.  I plan to use some generic rules and make a game with them myself.

To the left is a pic of the Yoda figure I just finished.  These models are quite small but still bigger than your common 28mm figures.  They might be close to the Tamiya line of military figures found in small packages.  This guy started out as plain injection molded plastic.  He had a coat of gold paint on him because he was the special character in the package though.  I simply cleaned him and re-primed and then painted it like any other figure.  I still have a lot more of these to work on but I'm planning to keep them simple so they should go quickly.  I think Chewie is up next!  Really if anyone else gets interested in these let me know.  I'm pretty excited about them myself.

I also want to get a look back at my Infinity models sometime.  I never completely finished my Nomads and I have a remote that needs some repairs in fact.  If I get any of them more nicely done soon I'll post them up.  As it is you're more likely to see 40k progress though.  At least there I've got a lot cooking already.  A little spoiler is that I just might have an old Kharn the Betrayer to work on.  Never know til it pops up here I guess.

Alright, that's it for now.  Hope to be back again soon with more!

So little time lately...

Hey to the blog!

I've been forced to be scarce since the last post for a few reasons.  Planning to get back soon with some more updates and material.  Just thought I'd drop in and give a brief as I can be update on what's keeping me busy.

Since I was injured in the summer I was out of work on disability.  My injury actually caused me to miss out on a lot of hobby time for a good while unfortunately but eventually I got back to it.  After that another car accident in my family caused even more difficulties.  Thankfully it wasn't major other than damage to our primary vehicle but this was another setback.  

Just recently I've been able to get back to work part-time, and just today we got our car back.  To top it all off my mother-in-law has been in town for almost two weeks from overseas!  Lol, you might see where between rehabilitation of my body, family and work commitments, and trying to squeeze in hobby time, I've just not been able to get the blog fed.  No more though and certainly no long gaps like after my injury.  Coming up very soon will be some more hobby update including Tyranids, Iron Hands, Raven Guard, perhaps some Orks, and even a new project I've been working on for a homemade Star Wars wargame!

Stick around and see what comes up next!

Painting Tips: Buy or Mix?

Hey again!

As a quick preface I'd like to say that I am not showing how to mix paints in this post.  I think there will be some good info in here though so read on!

Tonight I was fooling around here at my hobby table, had YouTube on, and was digging through and looking at various paints and supplies here around me.  I made a trip to one of the hobby and gaming stores not too far from me earlier in the day.  I purchased a few paints and the newest weekly White Dwarf.  

Normally I don't get any of the White Dwarf issues unless there are very particular topics of interest to me and this time that was the case.  A new Warhammer 40,000, Tyranid release for the Toxicrene/Maleceptor model is being featured and it includes the rules for the model.  I am big on the ol' space bugosaurs and so I wanted that one, but looking around at the painted models inside and then the paints I had bought I had a seed of a question forming.

Here is an example of two 

similar "bone" colors.

So now, at my table, I looked over at a couple of the shades I thought I would definitely use soon.  I was surprised when I looked at one of the new ones again but had actually picked up an older paint pot.  They looked nearly identical but there was a very small difference, mostly in the brightness.  I'm not surprised that those closely matched colors are for sale, I knew that already.  I was surprised though that I had known so certainly that I needed this new color, even though they are barely different.  So then it lead me to the question...  Would I have been better off just choosing to mix and blend the older paint when I needed it brighter?

Now, first thing is I can say from experience that this type of thing is common among all companies that make paints that I am aware of.  Various and similar hues, shades, and values, are produced depending on multiple factors.  I have to say this is really a positive because more options is almost always better.  But we still want to know if it's really better to buy more colors, or just mix to achieve what you want.  Truthfully I had asked this question to myself long ago but it came back to me consciously today. For me the answer is both and I think there is no right or wrong answer to this one.  Each person painting will know what they really want in their mind's eye, and they'll likely have a good idea of their own skill and budget.  If they know these things the choice becomes very easy anytime that question is asked.

Different company, similar situation.  

Tricky to tell these reds apart.

Let's say perhaps you're a bit like me.  I believe my skill level is quite good and so I'm comfortable mixing colors at will.  I have a background in art and lots of experience and so I can choose what I want and have success at realizing it.  However I also often buy new colors as my projects and knowledge expand.  Many times these new purchases make mixing paints unnecessary and so there are easily times I don't choose to mix colors.  Those similar but slightly different colors can be a time saver for highlights and gradients and they also have the bonus of being consistently the same color when you use them.  Mixing always carries a margin for error.  This is why it's good to make precise measurements and notes when you mix colors.  You can repeat them with good success later on.  

If you're a newer hobbyist and maybe have a limited budget, mixing paint can actually be very good.  You gain more skill the more you work with paints and also mixing to make colors saves money.  You should always plan your project though and make sure you have a grasp of some color theory.  You can do your own searches on this topic but I have found a link here that seems to be good to start with.  NYU Color Theory link  I am not affiliated with anyone connected to that site but the information looks good and also it didn't seem to be related to any purchasing or selling.  You might find a lot of that while searching.  For how to mix paint I recommend a lot that you can find easily on YouTube.  I haven't written about that as of yet.

Of course if you have the extra budget and you want the colors I say go for it.  Having more options is better in my opinion and if you're putting more time into your hobby it usually pays off sooner or later.  I've certainly amassed a big collection myself.

Well, that's it right now.  Thanks for reading if you did and share, comment, and definitely come back!