Reapercon '14 Pics

So, I went to ReaperCon 2014 last weekend. HAD A BLAST!

Got to see several people I known, but haven't seen, in years. Got some games in. Got some cool new stuff to play with. Got some info on the next version of CAV. (Hint: Not as bad as I thought, but I still don't like it.)

What I didn't get was a lot of pictures. Here's what I have so far:

Demo material for CAV:SO

A Bonesium CAV to call my own

This was supposed to be the new Emperor, but will now be called something else

A wild west participation game I played in. I was one of the bad guys trying to stop the law dogs from taking our compatriot to the hangin' tree. I shot the Preacher.

The first eight CAVs to be done in Bonesium

New CAV designs. Some I like, others not so much.

Bolt Action participation game. Another gentleman (off screen to the right) and I played the Americans. Some amazingly lucky die rolls in this game. First a Sherman and a bazooka team took out the StuG on our left in the first turn. In turn 3 we got an airstrike. I rolled up a tactical bomber (I think that's what it's called, I rolled a six to determine the aircraft type if anyone cares to assist) which obliterated that Tiger on our right. In retrospect, we shouldn't have put the AT gun where we did.

I've known this fine man through message boards and Facebook for the past 10 years or so, finally got to meet him in person. We had a couple great games of Starmada:AE on Saturday (regular and SFU). Unfortunately we were having such a great time I forgot to take pictures of that. :(

And here's the loot (not including the swag bag). The box has three frames of German infantry, enough for 15 or 18 figures if I remember correctly.

These were acquired the week before the con. Adding about 20 (goblin math) miniatures to my collection.

Kyra and Lavarath Done

I actually finished this up last weekend, but didn't get around to taking photos until today. This is the first dragon I've ever painted. It will probably be the last dragon I'll ever paint. I made that comment on Facebook and was asked why. My response is that I didn't enjoy painting it as much as other types of models and it just plain sat around on my desk for too long. Part of that is my fault, but there was just so much going on with this model that it took forever. Granted, it has more than more dragon figures do, like a rider, complex armor plating dynamic posing, etc etc. I'm going to go back to my sci-fi figures for a while I think.

The base is a wood award blank from Hobby Lobby that I stained with the stain I usually use for dipping my figures. Originally I was going to do a whole mountain top thing for the base, but now I've lost interest in that. The model isn't attached yet, and it may take me a while to figure out what I'm exactly going to do with this, so things may change later on.

In unrelated news, I finally added pictures to the year end update. See them here.

Here's the pics of Kyra and Lavarath. One of these days I'll figure out how to photograph metallics without the glare.

Kyra & Lavarath WIP 4

Got Kyra almost completely base coated and finished the front piece of the saddle.

Kyra and Lavarath WIP Part 3

Couldn't sleep so got up and slapped some MSP Honed Steel on Lavarath's armor. Pics could be better, but photographing metallic paint is tough enough with a regular camera and the light tent set up let alone with a phone camera and bare lights.

Starting to look pretty cool if I do say so myself.

Kyra and Lavarath WIP part 2

Here's the pic of today's work. Have just a little bit of the tan left to do, then clean up the edges between it and green. Then probably leather straps and buckles next. Trying to decide what color to use for the inside of the mouth.

Dragon Progress 1

And this is about as far I got today. Touched up the green including some spots I missed four years ago and started base coating the underbelly and tail. I got side tracked a lot and I'm in no real rush on this one.

Old Project Resumed

Decided today to pull Kyra & Lavarath (Reaper DHL #3000 http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/Dark%20Heaven%20Legends%203000/latest/03000) off the bench for completion.

I had started them in 2009 before I broke my wrist and they have been sitting dormant since. Now I just have to remember which shade of green I used on Lavarath.

Here's a couple shots of where I left off.

Cygnar Battlebox Done and Other Stuff

Well, it only took me four or five months, but as mentioned earlier, I finished the Cygnar battlebox last weekend. Feel like crap today so will probably go to the store for my first smackdown next weekend. Here's the pics of the finished group.

Also, last weekend was the third game of our Day One campaign. Going to replay it this weekend though because I don't want the last game to be too one-sided. That and Zachary should've mopped the floor with me, he just couldn't get the die rolls he needed. Not going to post the commentary, just the pics.

And finally, these are the 15mm goodies that came in from a combination of Christmas orders and anniversary gifts from my wife. A few packs of Rebel Earthforce Marines, a Rebel Merka 5, a Khurasan Siler tank, and Khurasans' mammoth Dictator. These may become WIPs in future posts.

Merka 5 parts

All the goodies together

Last Minis for 2011

Finished these up on the 30th, was too busy getting ready for company on New Year's Eve to get pics. Speaking of pics, my trusty old Panasonic camera died on me today after seven or eight years of service. I think the cheap blister pack cameras we got the kids for Christmas this year had a better megapixel rating than this one but I kept it around because I liked the optics. It seems to be a firmware error, but I need to research it to see if it is salvageable. In the mean time I'm using my wife's Coolpix and it is taking some adjusting to. For one thing I have no idea where the sweet spot is for the macro mode. So I apologize for the pics until I get a better feel for this camera.

So, enough on that. I did manage to get the Ironclad done, but not the Charger. I may go back over the shoulders a little bit, but for now I'm calling it done.

This next piece had been sitting on my table for some time as something I'd work on while waiting for paint to dry on other models. It was close enough for me to quickly add the last details and be done with it. It is a Federation New Light Cruiser from Amarillo Design Bureau. If I get any mini in the new line of ships it will be this one when it becomes available because the mold is just shot on this one. I'll deal with it being larger than the rest of my fleet. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to using it in games, the stats are just a bit less than the traditional Heavy Cruiser so I'm looking to try a scenario with a patrol group consisting of this NCL, two oCLs, and two FFs encountering either a Klingon C8 dreadnought or a pair of D7 battlecruisers.

Not anticipating getting any painting done today. I'm in the process of setting things up for the End of Year Wrap-Up post for 2011, which will be going up later.

Dramatic Slow Down

Since finishing Stryker I have made very little progress in the realm of painting...or playing for that matter.  Blah blah Real Life blah blah blah.

Hoping that this weekend I can finish off the Ironclad. It currently has the metallics base coated and one leg has the blue applied.  The Charger still needs to be prepped, primed, and painted. I have some time off for Christmas so hope to get many things accomplished. (Like finishing last years Christmas gifts!)

In the meantime, the boys and I have a four-way fantasy skirmish set up. This time they're playing with their own miniatures! Though Zachary does have one stand in for the wizard in the game. Michael is playing with an assortment of Heroscape figures, Zachary with his 1/72 plastic vikings, Phillip with his MegaMiniatures skeletons, and I with an assortment of Reaper Warlord and DHL figures. There are a number of unpainted figures and partially painted figs. Not a big deal really as I'm more interested in having a good time with the kids and they just want to play miniatures with Dad.

pStryker Finished

So the day after Thanksgiving, rather than braving the crowds I spent the day painting, or at least a good part of it. I had intended to stop after finishing the basecoat, but I kept doing "just one more thing" and at around midnight he was done. Spent about 10 or 12 hours on him and I have to say that this is the best mini I've painted since returning from deployment. Unfortunately I still haven't figured how to get my camera to photograph a figure so heavily covered in metallic paints.  The cloak doesn't actually glow like it seems to in the picture. Oh, and I still hate painting eyes.