Blog Update

When I started this blog my posts and updates were frequent. Often several in a week. Then it calmed down and settled into a one a week update.

The past fortnight, however, there hasn't been one. First off - the explanation. I've been pretty busy in my spare time sorting the move into a flat with my fiancee.Yes, it's time to make that first grown up step. I've fought it for too long.

I expect the next month or so will continue to be busy, but fear not, there are blog posts still planned.

Coming soon:

Tom and Me: Part 4
NHL 13
Games Day 2012

And also, I thought I'd do a few blogs about the flat and the move. As much as this blog has stuck to my hobbies, it would be wrong to ignore something as momentous as moving out of the home you've lived in forever and heading out to fend for yourself.

So, have faith, stay tuned. There's more to come from JD's Blog.

Canis Wolfborn: A Photo Diary

Sometime ago on Facebook, I made this Photo Diary of the painting of Canis Wolfborn for my Space Wolves army. I decided I'd convert it into a blog post to share with you. Bare in mind that this was before Finecast and the new paint range.   

The model comes in about 7 pieces. After cleaning it up and removing all of the unsavoury bits you get with metal models, I super glued it all together. There were a few gaps here and there which I filled with putty - known in the business as "Green Stuff".

The face is always the focal point of a model, so I started that first. After undercoating the model with Chaos Black spray, I gave the face a coat of Tallarn Flesh foundation, followed by a wash of Ogryn Flesh, to provide shadow in the recesses.

Leaving the original colour in the recesses, I painted the rest of the face with Dwarf Flesh, then painted the raised areas with a mixture of Dwarf Flesh and Bleached Bone. I then added Skull White to that mixture and further highlighted.

The eyes: Painting them to make the character look to one side is both easier to paint than trying to centre the eyes and also adds to the expression.

The hair was first painted with Scorched Brown. I then highlighted it with Vermin Brown before another highlight of a 1:1 mix of Vermin Brown and Vomit Brown.
I then added Fortress Grey to this mix for a few highlights around the beard etc. He is several centuries old after all!

I basecoated the wolf's fur with Khemri Brown Foundation.

Fur - Chaos black at the top - drybrushing further down. Bleached bone thicker at the bottom, drybrushing upwards. Then Skull White drybrushed from the bottom up. Highlighted with Fortress Grey and Skull White on the black.
Then it was all given a wash of Devlan Mud.
I'll write about the detailing on the face when it's finished.

 

The eye has been painted and further highlights to the tongue and teeth.

The armour has been painted with a 1:1 mix of Space Wolves Grey and Shadow Grey. The cape and fists were painted with Mechrite Red Foundation.

Any skulls or bones were first painted with Vomit Brown, followed by Bleached Bone. Then a wash of Gryphonne Sepia. Then highlighted with Bleached Bone and finally Skull White.

The gold on the armour etc, was painted first with a 3:1 mix of Shining Gold and Bestial Brown. It was then highlighted with Shining Gold before being given a wash of Ogryn Flesh. The final highlights are Burnished Gold, followed by a 1:1 mix of Burnished Gold and Mithril Silver.

With the model just about finished, it was time for the base. I marked out where I wanted the model to stand and then covered the base in sand.

After undercoating the base with Chaos Black spray, I gave it two coats of Graveyard Earth, followed by a drybrushing of Vomit Brown. Then a lighter drybrushing with Bleached Bone.

I then stuck the model to the base and sprayed it all with Purity Seal to protect it.

I added snow effect and dead grass to the base.

The finished model.

Tom and Me - Part Three: I Am Sam

So it was while I was happily playing away on Ghost Recon on my new PC that I heard about Splinter Cell creating waves over on the Xbox.

 

I managed to get a hold of a copy of the PC version through a friend and really enjoyed it. The true Splinter Cell obsession didn’t start right away though. In fact, Pandora Tomorrow came and went and I didn’t even check it out.

 

But then something happened. I was round at a mate’s house when he decided to draw the curtains and turn out the light. This would have been somewhat worrying if he hadn’t then booted up the Xbox, tuned up the volume and proceeded to show me Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. And I was blown away. It looked amazing and this was truly the way it should be played.

 

By this time, I had bought myself a PS2 and so the next day I went out and bought Chaos Theory. And then the obsession started. There I was in my front room, curtains drawn and a small sound system doing its best to vibrate the walls – playing Chaos Theory over and over. Hours spent in the dark. Superb.

 

I went on to buy Pandora Tomorrow both for the PS2 and the Gameboy Advance. I got Chaos Theory again for the Xbox (once I’d got the 360), the mobile phone and the DS (a terrible version!).

 

When Double Agent was released for the 360, I also bought the Xbox and PS2 versions! I have to say, as good as the 360 one is, the story is told much better in the 6^th gen version and if you’re a fan, you should check it out.

 

 

Then all when quiet for a while. I moved on to other games and there was no sign of a new Splinter Cell. Not until 2007 when we were greeted with this:

 

A hobo Sam Fisher. The gameplay video for Splinter Cell Conviction was interesting. A new take on the franchise. A bold step in a new direction. But then it disappeared. There were delays and rumours that the game had been scrapped. Thankfully, this was only partly true.

 

Splinter Cell Conviction remergedat E3 2009 with a whole new look that put the hobo to shame. With the Mark and Execute and Last Known Position features, Sam Fisher was made into a predator, slick and efficient. When the game was finally released in April 2010 - Brilliant story-telling, amazing gameplay and a superb co-op campaign to boot ensured that Splinter Cell Conviction rose to the top of my Xbox 360 titles and became one of my favourite games of all time.

 

And it looks like the sequel – Splinter Cell: Blacklist could well do the same. I’ll leave you with these demo videos, showing two different approaches to the same mission. Enjoy.