Cantigny pt.1: Tanks!

Greetings! I apologize for the absence, but I have been busy taking pictures of things and hobbying away my time, busy busy!

First up will be about a visit to Cantigny in Wheaton, IL. We go every year and it's superawesomefun, or at least it is rather enjoyable. The gardens are full of blooms, and the tank museum is great for references and of course, climbing on.

Tip #1 - Hang a right as you enter the park. This will take you to the parking lot at the tank museum, which is generally empty most of the time. This actually gets you closer to the park faster, as there are often busloads of kids in the main parking area.This also takes you to the best part of Cantigny: the tanks!

Tip #2 - Go during a weekday, because there's practically nobody there to crowd up your outdoor enjoyment, except the aforementioned school buses.


Here are the vehicles they have on display:

I'm on a tank! (Patton)

Rifling...

...for this. It can launch missiles through the barrel!

Rawr. Patton tank.

M5 Stuart.

The first American tank, based on a French Renault.

Bulldog.

Bulldog and Chaffee, my two favorite light tanks!

Classic American muscle car.

Finds something possibly more interesting in the distance...

As always I had fun in the tanks area. It was nice being there right around lunch time, which leads me to...

Tip #3: Visit the tanks during lunch hours, because the students will all be having lunch somewhere and not getting all in your vehicle photos.


So this was the tanks segment for Cantigny. They also have a field artillery section and indoor museum, but I did not cover those this time around. Next post will feature some nice shots of flowers, and trust me, they are very vibrant.

Til next time!

Miniature Monday: The Neverborn are...born

For Miniature Monday I decided to show off my wife's very first miniatures!

Over the weekend we sat down with the Malifaux Starter Box and started painting some figures. That is to say, she painted some figures, while I helped show her how to paint. The main thing I drove home (as all veteran painters should know by now) was to thin the paints! She wouldn't want to have a clumpy dude and lose all that detail after all, so we started with the most basic of characters: the two Bloodwretch figures.




These were a great platform to learn on, and she took to it rather quickly. Here are the Games Workshop colors used, and how the effects were achieved.

Skin:
- Rakarth Flesh basecoat
- Reikland Fleshshade wash
- Rakarth Flesh heavy drybrush layer 1, hitting everywhere except the deep shades
- Pallid Wych Flesh drybrush layer 2, hitting the higher points
- White Scar light drybrush layer 3, hitting only the spots where light would be shining on the brightest

Shirt:
- Rakarth Flesh basecoat
- Athonian Camoshade wash
- Rakarth Flesh light drybrush

Pants and Horns:
- Zandri Dust basecoat
- Agrax Earthshade wash

Hair:
- Abaddon Black basecoat
- Dark Reaper light drybrush

Stains:
- 1 to 2 mix of Carroburg Crimson and Lahmian Medium wash, in strategic staining locations

Blood:
- Blood for the Blood God around the mouth and chin, then flicked on the shirt for effect


Expect to see more minis from the starter box painted coming soon!

(the Imperial Knight tutorial is on hold while I wait for the right LED's to come in)

A New Beginning (A New Hope? Episode IV?)

Greetings! It appears you have found your way to my displayed-writing page, earth-person.

I decided to start up a blog dedicated to my hobbies and other things that entertain me, mainly because I didn't really have an outlet for it before. Well, I did for a time while I was part of the Unstable Dice Podcast, but we've moved on.

Anyway, I plan on using this space to showcase what I work on and maybe provide some helpful ideas you didn't yet know about. These hobbies will include models and miniatures from Games Workshop, Wyrd Games, Model Rectifier Corp., Dragon, and probably many, many more. Sometimes I'll toss up battle reports sometimes, so if anyone wants to see me play an army for a game, I'll take requests and see what I can do. I also do photography and love to explore, so we'll see what kind of mischief I can get into!

I welcome all the comments and nonsense you provide in the comments section, because at worst it will keep me entertained, and at best it will just be an excellent time!

To get us started, here is a link to a hobby thread I did a couple years ago when I was building up my Tomb Kings army for Warhammer Fantasy 8th edition: Linky-Link! It has my how-to guide and a bazillion pictures of my army of Tomb Kings. They're spread out over many pages, but if you're looking into starting an army for Age of Sigmar or 9th Age, it's worth checking out! Also, good luck with that, because Games Workshop axed the product line and they no longer exist. I'm super bummed about that, make no mistake.

Here is a teaser of what is coming up soon:

That's all for now, see you next time!