Hobby Update

      It's been quite a while since my last post, so I figured I'd just do an update of what I'm working on right now. I don't have much to show as far as finished models, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working this month. I'm putting together the box of Thunderwolf Cavalry and Grey Hunters that my brother got me for Christmas, and I've also been building some more of my Blood Angels troops. And I've been working on something else to add to my skills... 3d printing!!! More below...
     So 3d printing. It's pretty much the coolest thing ever. You make a 3d model, then upload it to a Shapeways (an online 3d printing company), and then you get that object in the mail a few days later. The fact that they charge by the square centimeter means that it isn't even all that expensive at the scale of 40k. I used to be pretty decent at 3d modeling, and I'm now relearning everything in Blender, a free 3d program that is incredibly powerful. They photo above is a model done by Dynath who makes a whole bunch of shoulder pads with icons, vehicles, weapons, and a bunch of other stuff. I'm hoping to try out 3d printing by making some autocannon dreadnought arms for my brother's Grey Knight army, and then maybe some scopes for sniper scouts, missile launchers, or anything else that seems worthwhile. As I print things out, I'll post reviews of Shapeways' service, and the quality of the prints, as well as a tutorial on how to make the bit with blender. I'm really excited to get this going, and to get to printing!
     Recently I realized that I've been in this hobby for quite some time, but I still don't have a finished army! I decided that I need to get organized and get myself an army fully painted so i don't have to play with unfinished models and stand ins. To do this, I made a nifty little progress chart so i can see at a glance what I have left to finish.

      So I made up a list that seemed like it would be fun to play, and also included mostly models that I already own. Disclaimer: This may not be the most competitive list in the world, but it wasn't really designed to me. Since I only play friendly games I'm looking for a fun list more than squeezing out the most power for the points.
     As you can see from the picture above, I only have one finished model in this list; the attack bike with multi-melta. So i have some work ahead of me. Hopefully I'll get some good hobby time in, so I can start giving you all some good WIPs and finished models!
     So a little about this list. The Librarian is coming along nicely, with a cool force halberd/bolter combo, some books, and other librarian nonsense. I have two assault squads that are just about ready to get some paint, but I'll have to pick up another box of them before the army is done. I have five bolter scouts who I will be converting to snipers (stalker bolter style). The assault terminators are also very close to getting some paint. As for the furioso, I don't have any arms since I got the torso off of ebay. So I may be trying out some 3D printing (more on that later) for those. I just got two sets of apothecary bits and the Dark Angels chapter upgrade frame which I am using for the Sanguinary Priests. They both have robes which makes them stand out from the rest of the troops a bit. For the bike squad, I am using the Dark Vengeance bikes along with my Attack Bike. The biker with the plasma gun will get a shiny new meltagun instead. For the Land Raider, I'm converting the pintle mounted storm bolter into a multi-melta from a devastator. And lastly, the drop pod. My brother built a Forge World style dreadnought drop pod out of plasticard and plexiglass (I'll have a post about this when I start working on it more). It looks really nice so far, but it still needs a few more details to make it really look good.
     So there are the Blood Angels! I'm hoping to have them done by the end of the year (I know, I'm slow). And a fun fact about this army. Seven melta weapons! Five meltaguns and two multi meltas. I love meltaguns. I know that they're not needed as much in 6th, but I just really love the look and idea of them (melting through anything with insane heat beams!) and they actually come in handy with their S8 being able to instakill marines, and easily hurt anything. And the 12" range isn't a problem with the speed of this army.

     Next up is the Space Wolves. I'm not going to say as much about these guys because I don't have much for them yet (One box of grey hunters, and one box of thunderwolf cavalry). There is a very good chance that this list will be changing since I've only played one game with them so far, but I thought that I should just put something down on paper (or excel in this case). I'm really enjoying/looking forward to all the conversion possibilities with this army. I've been watching the progress in Pingo's excellent Space Wolf army which is really inspiring me to do a bunch of conversions.
     Well that's what I've been up to, hopefully I can start making more hobby time in February than I had in January so I can get some things done. Thanks for reading!