#my kind of procastination… planning the task with way to much detail

[redkehlchen]

My goal this year is to finally make that Meet Chell animatic-

I got the rough outline done and finally made some more detailed sketches for the first shot! òvó9

[ocsandallthatjazz]

every damn number for frieda!

Whew, we’re doing this, huh, let me just roll out her red carpet real quick...before she, y’know, destroys me

1. is your oc easily bothered by things?

Yeah, I would say it’s not too hard to push her buttons.

2. how easily does your oc make friends?

Frieda is good at making contacts, not necessarily friends. She just got lucky that so many eccentric people found her to be worth befriending.

3. does your oc go beyond what they have to do or do they usually do just enough work to get by?

It’s 120% all the time, only the best makes it past her radar.

4. is your oc respectful of others?

In her mind, she usually thinks she is being respectful - and in some professional settings she would definitely come off as such, but she can be quite rough and direct and that’s hard to handle if you aren’t prepared ahead of time.

5. is your oc imaginative or more down-to-earth?

I feel like Frieda is more on the imaginative side, but her way of showing that is by just blowing average occurrences way out of proportion.

6. is your oc comfortable with themselves?

That’s a thing she’s sensitive about!! Frieda’s comfortable with herself in general, but gets concerned over what other people see and her own ability to see other people.

7. does your oc plan things and stick to it or do they make it up as their go?

This is her itinerary for the next 3 months and if you mess with it she will manifest inside your home. She plans things out.

8. was their life eventful before the start of the story, or was it more dull?

It was a lot duller and a lot lonelier, even if the overall structure of her life hadn’t changed much, coming to Ouran and meeting the gang cranked up the liveliness of her days.

9. do they have the habit to insult other people?

It’s....it’s all she does...

10. would your oc be described as “the life of the party”?

No...she can have fun at a party and be fun with the right friends, but there’s also the deep part of her that will just scrutinize everything depending on the event.

11. are they critical of others?

Again...it’s all she does...

12. do they like art? what is their favorite type (paintings, songs, fashion, etc)?

She loves paintings and visiting art museums (she inherited my van Gogh obsession and gets a tattoo of Starry Night Over the Rhone). She also loves fashion because...just look at the size of her closet.

13. are they more accepting or more controlling of the people in their life?

Frieda needs to be in control as much as possible (even if that’s not very possible with the friend group she has lol).

14. is your oc a good listener?

Not particularly. She’s really good at listening when it comes to completing a job - because detail is everything in those scenarios, but day-to-day she can get trapped in a mantra of “I’m right, you’re wrong, shut up.” She’ll really try if it’s one of her girls, the results just won’t be perfect.

15. are they opinionated or more willing to change their minds?

I always thought I was an opinionated person...she knocks me out of the park. It’s game over.

16. are they the kind of person who’s always on the defensive?

That’s safe to say, yeah. Does she know what you’re accusing her of yet? No, but she’s still correct.

17. do people like hanging around them? do they have a positive, friendly energy?

...I mean she has such a large and dedicated friend group that they have to like having her around, it’s in their nature, but she is one of the more prickly members of the group if you are new to the dynamics.

18. is your oc a procastinator? if they are, what’s an example of how much?

Oh, no, not at all. It calms her down to get work done.

19. do they tend to panic in certain situations or are they more calm?

Frieda is a calmer person, it’s more so that she gets angry than panicky. It takes something big to get her visibly panicked.

20. are they vengeful?

Yeah, she will find the means to destroy you and your future.

21. what are some skills your oc has a talent for and what are some that they worked for?

She has a great memory when it comes to remembering tasks or objectives, like if you ask her for help on a project she will just start listing steps, orders, and contacts rapid-fire. Frieda’s also a really good cook, but that’s something she learned from her dad and the staff in their restaurants as she grew up.

22. are they more socially awkward or socially confident?

She’s confident, she knows how to play the game. She was way more awkward and shy when she first moved to Japan because she felt like a fish out of water.

23. what is something really dumb that irritates your oc a lot?

Instant coffee. She loves Tamaki, she loves Haruhi, but she can’t stand the taste of that stuff and it hurts every time Tamaki tells her to order more.

24. do they tend to see the good in people?

I think, deep down, she can. She’s been taught instead to see what good people can do for her, and she can struggle with people and emotional instances, but I feel like Frieda has a very good track record for subconsciously reading someone. It manifests more as seeing when some people have bad intentions rather than good ones.

25. what does it take for your oc to trust someone?

For some reason, this is a hard one to answer. I suppose her subconscious vibe-check I just alluded to comes into play. But also, if you do something good for her, she’ll payback with something good for you, if that makes sense?

26. do they have a lot of mood swings?

Yes. Some days (or just conversations) you really don’t know what you’re gonna get.

27. do they like to be the center of attention or do they prefer to be in the background?

She is more than happy to be the center of attention as long as it to praise her. She is well aware of her prowess. 

28. do people think they’re pretentious?

They know she’s pretentious.

29. is your oc detail oriented or do they focus more on the big picture?

Her mind works in details, so definitely detail-oriented.

30. which highschool movie stereotype would they fit best?

Frieda is the mean girl and she’s in high school so this isn’t even a hypothetical. This is the real life.

31. are they good giving advice?

No. Unless “Do better” instantly helps you out, then just stick to asking about like investment and recipe recommendations I guess.

32. which one of the 7 deadly sins fit your oc more? do they see it as a flaw?

Pride is the correct answer, but I’d also say Wrath is a very close one. I don’t think she’d see it as a flaw because you have to be clear and cutthroat to make it in her world.

33. is your oc more likely to keep their feelings to themselves or to share them?

She’s a sharer most of the time. Her deep insecurities need to be poked at a lot to be admitted, except to Naomi and Arina, they’ve definitely heard all about them.

send some numbers and an oc

[eldradii]

June tournament preparation

Hey guys! Normally I just write about the Tournament games, but this preparation process was pretty cool so I thought I might share some of it with you. 

For list choosing and other gameplay stuff, please check out my other post (in this blog, or the other link off facebook!)

I usually procastinate a lot and this tournament was no different. I didn’t even have the whole army assembled a week before the event. I played a couple of games with some very inventive proxies. 

Here are my Ranger conversions - they are composed of a combination from Eternal Guard/Wildwood Ranger parts, a Drukhari knife on their back where the quiver would have gone, Glade Guard and Wych/Helion/Kabalite/Venom crew helmets. I was lucky to pick up all the wood elf parts I needed on cheap, and then the legs are kabalite ones you can buy from bits stores like Hoard O Bits for barely anything! In this way I had parts for over 20 rangers. I like running them with just splinter rifles, since once they’re painted there’s no mistaking them for kabalites, and this way I can run them as Kabalites or allied Rangers if needed!

Here they are in my new lightbox!

Quick guide:

1. Clip off the non-cloak parts of the cloak, so the back half of the torso where it would join to the front, then use a hobby drill/sand tool to quickly bore out the neck area of the little mount.

2. Glue to a Wych/Pilot torso - kabalite torsos can work but I prefer the less armored look of the Wyches. Then put on some kabalite legs, a head. Maybe use some greenstuff to feed into the neck. I didn’t use the back half of the Kabalite legs, instead covering it with either green stuff or some grenades/pouches from Harlequin kits. 

3. Finish with a trimmed of spikes splinter rifle or rifle and knife. 

Here are my storm Guardian conversions, very simple, scourge/wych legs, then wych blades. I figured wych blades already grant one extra attack so as a counts as chainsword they fit well. For pistols I had some random Storm Guardian metal parts that I used for some, or used a grenade, second knife, or splinter pistol arm with a shuriken pistol glued on. 

Here they are based. I use a combination of slate, milliput slabs broken up to give a fine detail slate, and milliput to sculpt raised areas, finally a mixture of sand and rocks for the dirt texture. I’m super proud of the guy on the right, looks very menacing!

Basing in this way also adds weight and fully secures the feet into what is essentially rock, so I don’t have to worry as much about these models falling off the base, saves me a bit of time pinning. In general if a model has a tab for slotta base, I cut it down and then sink it into a scenic base, and if it doesn’t I either pin it or glue a small piece of sprue just to give it something to properly bond to.

Here is my OOP autarch obtained from http://blackmarketminiatures.su , incredibly quality, and the staff were really great. It didn’t come with a reaper launcher but I had a spare, so just cut off the support for a shuriken catapult arm (the tube and stuff) and kept the top trigger mount, then glued it on the bottom. It is of course magnetised too!

So at this point I have my assembled army. I always love to have all my models out to just admire them and reflect on my work. My girlfriend makes a bit of fun of me for it. I sometimes feel a bit like Smeagol from lord of the rings. Admiring my precious! This will be a nice comparison shot to the finished army!

2 Days Before

I have to start painting up! So I started with the rangers, doing a quick drybrush over the black cloak with mechanicus gray, then washed it with whichever color I coded to the squad. 

So for the green, Coellia Greenshade, purple, Druchii Violet, and for blue I used Drakenhoff Nightshade. Then I redrybrush with Dawnstone, celestra, then a final drybrush, very targetted, with Ulthaan grey. Then I used a glaze to recolor it. For Blue Guilliman Blue, Green, Waywatcher Green, for purple I don’t have a purple glaze so I just used Druchii Violet. The picture above is the final picture.

Then I worked on the new Wine Red armored recruits. I knew I wanted very distinct guardian squads, as they would often be mixing up in formation to make sure I always had screen for my characters. So I have made them Ynnari colored. 

Unfortunately I was not too good at painting this time, just couldn’t focus on the little details well. I couldn’t really do as much detail as I would have liked but it was at least tabletop ready and looked nice from a distance. I followed the White Dwarf recommended Ynnari style. Started with a airbrush on the armor of Vallejo Scarlet Red which I then washed with Nuln oil, then went over quickly with Khorne red to brighten it back up a bit. I was having problems with the airbrush so couldn’t get it to apply smoothly with the Air Khorne Red. Anyway, then I highlighted with Mephiston Red, then a finer highlight of Evil Sun’s Scarlet, then a sparing highlight of Fire Dragon Bright. Finally, I added a touch of Yriel yellow on the very extreme corners for a bit of extra color. 

Finally I did my blue sashes and what have you to tie them with my existing force a bit more. They were done with Kantor Blue > Vallejo Magic Blue > Vallejo Electric Blue. Gold detail, then Mechanicus grey on the weapons. Leadbelcher on weapons. Mournfang brown on pouches. For skin tone, I basecoat with Doombull brown. It’s a very nice earthy tone. Then layer with cadian fleshtone, flayed one flesh, wash the pouches and faces with agrax earthshade. I wish I could show pictures of this but some of it’s not very impressive to look at up close and it’s a bit embarassing for me. 

Anyway at this point I have to do a couple characters, my Farseer, two Autarchs, the rest of the reapers, the Hemlock. I’m pretty tired anyway so I mostly spend the time with my lovely girlfriend playing some video games and watching netflix together. It’s important to take these kinds of breaks when you’re rushing like this. Sure you might not get everything done as much as you like before a tournament, but it won’t do you any good to be continuously worn down from not resting properly the days before.

Last day!

I really would have liked to do better work on the Farseer but it worked out alright. I actually still batch paint characters, often along with the rest of an army. I used my standard Blue recipe for the cloak to match my other characters. Starting off with Kantor Blue, layer with Magic Blue and highlight up to Electric Blue. This one turned out a little bit flatter, but that’s a bit because the cloak itself lacks the heavy folds of something like Eldrad’s cloak. 

Here’s a better example of how it looks with more folds to work with. I like this one a lot more. 

I painted the purple sashes on all my characters at the same time. It ties them together quite nicely and provides a bit more color. Basecoat Naggaroth Night, Highlight up to Xerseus, then Genestealer. Often I go back and forth deepening recesses as well when I’m painting like this. It’s pretty quick to do. My style is to be a bit neat but mostly just plan out which areas will be easiest to clean up. 

The navy robes are basically that technique of starting with the Fang, then highlighting with Russ Grey, shading with Dark Reaper just painted into recesses, just play with it till it gets nice. 

Bone white is Rakarth (two thin coats), Pallid. Brown is Rhinox > Mournfang. Gems are just Black basecoat > Mephiston Layer > Smaller Evil Suns Layer > Wild Rider Red layer even smaller then a tiny bit of Fire Dragon Bright. I wanted to do the Farseers middle gem like the Eye of the Time Stone (as it looks like the same!) but I honestly forgot. Maybe I’ll do it now :D

White is Mechanicus>Celestra>Ulthanaan. Prep all gems and details by painting them gold. Gold is great on a time budget because it naturally has shading and highlights already. If you’re going to use metallic gold to paint beyond tabletop, avoid washing the entire gold section with wash, as it dulls it down. 

At this point i’ve done all my details above on my various characters. Gold, white. I was yet to decide on colors for the autarchs besides the red for the Alaitoc autarch to match the new guardians and what have you. I still had a fair bit to do and all the bases. Starting to panic a bit, I took a break. 

Next step is the blue blades I like to do. You start with a blueish basecoat (can either be Sotek or Caledor Sky) then layer on with multiple thin layers to establish Temple Guard blue, then mix and layer up to Baharroth Blue then Baharroth blue + White. I wish I had more time to push these, but I rarely paint except when I’m prepping for a tournament, so these would match the ones I did before. 

Running out of time, I quickly did my reapers, just doing Russ Grey, a wash, the weapons and plumes are Nagaroth > Xerseus > Genestealer; White is Mech/Celestra/Ulthanan. Wish I could have done these better but a bit of a wash and they fit in with the slightly better painted ones from before.

For the rangers, they really needed some detail so I decided to just give them a quick dryrbrush on armor of Dark Reaper, into a lighter shade of “ I can’t remember “. Then the silver details and they were tabletop ready. 

I was still at a loss for my Autarch at this point and resolved to just send him in as mostly black (as he had his blade, robes, gems and gold done). After drybrushing his helmet plumes, my girlfriend suggested doing his eyes to add a bit more detail so he’d look better. I was way too tired to do such a fine detail task so I asked her to do it for me. She took a while and it turned out she’d gone way beyond my request of “ just paint them green “ and done some really nice highlights!

They look awesome! Really excited to do more work on this guy now I’m not under the gun. Anyway. I put all this down and finished up some detail on other units. Finally I had to work on the Hemlock. Unfortunately my airbrush was not cooperating so I couldn’t do my usual punchy blue that I like. I didn’t mind. Just did a thick highlight of Eshin Grey then a smaller of Mechanicus. Painted a couple small things gold then added a turqoise glow to the engine vents and the D-scythes. 

Not very proud of this one but I was very pressed for time. That’s why you don’t get to see it up close. Basically it’s just a drybrush starting with Sotek Green > Temple Guard Blue > Baharroth Blue > 50% Baharroth and White, with a smaller and smaller drybrush area each time. 

Finally, I needed to do all my helmets. Ended up not feeling steady enough so mostly left them white. However when I was airbrush priming all the white I realized I could do some work on my currently mostly black Autarch and just do a zenithal highlight to catch his wings with a quick burst of the airbrush (I prime “ white “ with vallejo light ghost grey). It worked out pretty well! Nice and quick too and I felt comfortable with the work on him!

Anyway everything is mostly done at this point (”Good enough”) so I was working on my display board. It didn’t really work out as I had left it too late, so the first layer of PVA bonding the texture to the surface hadn’t dried. We tried everything to speed up the process but it just was not working. It was time to work on all the bases. I had to basecoat a lot of them to get the dirt and rock basecoated. I didn’t have time to do any in progress pictures, but you can see it in the pictures of the storm guardians above, reposted below for ease:

So basically I have one of two ways I do a base. If I’d had to airbrush, I needed to use the base colors to really cover those areas, then redefine them with a wash of Agrax and/or Nuln oil. If they’re black, I can just drybrush immediately. For dirt, the base is Baneblade Brown. Then I heavy drybrush the rock Mech grey. Then, highlight the dirt with Ushabti Bone, not being too afraid to get it on the rock because it helps you tie it together. Then, on the rock, Dawnstone over all of it with a less heavy drybrush but you still mainly want the color to be dawnstone. Then, another drybrush mostly on edges with Celestra gray, then onto a fine drybrush of Ulthaan. 

Once that’s all done, my amazing girlfriend rebasecoated the edges of the bases with chaos black, while I placed my tufts on the bases and put snow on them. This was getting very late at night. My tufts are “ gamer grass “ of the beige 6mm, green 6mm variety, and on bigger bases I use 12mm tufts. Then I applied generous but sparing Vahallan Blizzard. It’s quite useful to cover any areas you messed up in the basing process, like missed texture, or areas where the red from airbrush hit somewhere. Other than that I like to create little stories of where grass grows. For a bit of realism with snow remember it mostly would stay on the edges and then the snow melts onto the area below a ridge. But mostly I do it how I think looks good. Little bits of grass growing from crevasses is my favorite, it reminds me of that line from Jurassic Park where he says “ Life finds a way “. 

A cool trick is to really drag out the texture spreader to create thin snow. I’m not sure how to describe the technique but it ends up looking quite nice I think! 

Anyway I ended up finishing all of it around 2 AM! Quite bad to have to play the next day getting up at 8 latest! I couldn’t resist a group shot before I packed it all away. Here it is!

And here is the before picture!

I was very happy with how the Dark Reapers turned out with the basing, as they have three points of white for the eye to look at. I’m not sure how to say that but it just really pleases me to look at so I hope it looks good for others too. Anyway I hope this has been a bit entertaining and maybe helps you prepare for your next event. Obviously take more time! You need to be rested and take care of yourself! My final tip is to just start with biggest areas you can. Finally you can really cheat and push some details, like on my guardians, the big highlights on the armor with that final push of yellow, really can draw the eyes and make them look a lot better than they actually are. They’re very messy, and the helmets aren’t done, but I still got a lot of comments for the army looking nice. 

Till next time! :)