andy

I've had many aquariums over the years, fresh and salt. Love them all. Loved planning them. Loved getting them set up and cycled. Loved adding to them and watching them grow. And loved tearing them down and reclaiming my freedom. I'm aquariumless right now, but doubt that'll last forever. 

Salt is a major commitment, reef tanks in particular. They're not as *hard* as people say, but they are expensive and absolutely require consistency and attention to detail. There's no skipping maintenance day if you want a healthy tank. And god forbid you have a heatwave you aren't ready for, or <gasp> a power outage. A bad turn and two days later you've got a tank full of spoiled clam chowder.

I'd suggest going smaller, and seeing how it feels. There's lots of good quality nano-tanks and related gear out there, and things like weekly water changes are a lot easier to deal with when you're just making and swapping a gallon or two of seawater... 10+ gallons is a half-day's job.

Last Primaris model in my backlog is completed. Lockdown army doooone. 

I think it's pretty cool and look forward to playing with my son ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Putting the pedal to the metal on the IF. Just want them done at this point.

Yeah, that's absolutely the brave approach. I just wimped out and went for ActionFigure++. Wish I had another one to go all-in on, but they're selling for ~$100 at this point and that's a solid nope.

McFarlane Intercessor done enough for now.

Indomitus Captain done. Only three more models to go until my lockdown army is done.

And if, in a Covid-free timeline, you have high-school aged kids who need to do a community service project, their volunteer program is double-plus-good.

I donate used tech to Free Geek. They do good work. 

Cranked out some Vlka Fenryka. Back to the Imperial Fist salt mines next...

Almost finished my Lockdown Army... Assault Intercessors done. Boy, it'd be nice to be done with Lockdown itself.

10 minutes ago, Salty Monkey said:

A real Boss done!

Snikrot is one of my favorite ork models... great job 👍 

Finished the Primaris Techmarine. Fun model.

Assault Intercessor Sergeant

So, this year's Boxing Day mini is Gorzag Gitstompa, who's based on the 1997 Games Day Gorkamorka nob model -- which I had in my bitz box. Painted him up in prep for the new version...

I loved his style. It was so lush.

https://www.cbr.com/richard-corben-heavy-metal-obituary/

I finished my Eradicators, almost emptying my Marine pile o' shame -- it'd be nice to get that cleared out by the end of the year.

I also posted these in Discord, hope that isn't annoying.

TOECUTTER!

RIP

Fantastic work, looks amazing!

He says CA Cement, but he clearly means plastic cement. CA will just give you an interesting rock in the bottom of your bottle.

Finally finished the Chaplain, Out Riding.

Hmmmm, I wonder if my wife would believe it's for making beef jerky? 🤔

Yup, those are mine -- thanks for the kind words. Bases are still a work in progress, but are getting better as I get more familiar with the materials.

Regarding airbrushing, there are lots of great tutorials and guides out there. If you want to chat about 'em, let me know-- I'm happy to shoot the [big bad swear word] about it.

Regarding the gloss coat, yes. It makes the panel liner flow better, and also makes cleanup much easier. Decals go on better as well, though there aren't any on these particular models.

I've been doing something very similar. I do the basecoat and layers using an airbrush (something I really encourage, but YMMV). Here's the recipe:

1. VMC Black basecoat
2. VMC Basalt Grey midtone
3. VMA Medium Grey edge highlight
4. Gloss coat
5. Tamiya Black Panel Liner pinwash
6. Matte coat