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Many thanks
DiStudios

The long overdue Soda Pop Miniatures review. Soda Pop is a fresh company that released its signature figure “Candy & Cola” early October. From the art direction and universe background, it’s a very much an Anime styled Cyber punk figure collection. The second figure to be released “Maya” seems to follow this trend with a a large (and very pink) Bubblegum Crisis esq Mech design. No doubt this range will be popular with Wargamer/Anime fans or maybe even pull some of the Anime fan base into the Wargaming fold.

"Candy & Cola" yum

Candy & Cola (above) is the signature character for Soda Pop Miniatures and the figure is a limited run (100?) that had a side promotion with Coolminiornot. The figure seems to capture the Anime qualities without looking ridiculous, this is a great hurdle to pass as previous miniature companies have struggled to capture that “Manga” look without changing the perspective of sculpt. We can hope that the quality of sculpt continues as the range grows. As of today, Soda Pop Miniatures cast another load of the “Candy & Cola” figure with 46 in stock (better than last week which was 3).

"Pink Mech doom!"

First of all the green matches the art, it’s absolutely stunning. I can’t wait for this figure to become available (hopefully) this month if Soda Pop keep their promise of the 1 figure per month rule. Great concept, great sculpt. Nothing more I can really say about this one until I have it in my hands.

Soda Pop Miniatures have 2 more concept sketches on their site, all equally armed with big weapons are massive oversized Mech with guns (just the way we like it!). Finally there is a company that has nailed the Anime style on the head and brought it to 32mm scale form.

To check out Soda Pop Miniatures site click: Here

Thanks for reading

DiStudios

Bad news all round on the run up to Christmas. As of last week I am reduced to posting through my iphone or sneakily (or not so) through my work computer. Last week my year old Dell Xps 1530 died a savage death, much like the Xps 1730 before it. In theory I would like a laptop that lasts more then 2 months after it’s warranty expires…

The loss of my machine means the loss of a great deal of photo media that was being edited (both Wargames and Anime). Needless to say I am a little more than miffed. One week in and I feel isolation sickness set in as I can’t check Thunderbird every 10 minutes

On the plus side, this has pushed me to look elsewhere and a replacement has been ordered as of today. Despite warnings of “ooh it’s not a gaming machine!” etc I have opted to go the Apple way. Fingers crossed my new entry-level Macbook will be passing through my doors in 7 days…

"Mac Attack"

So why Mac? simply put..I have never owned one. I have had Alienwares, Dells, HP’s and played about with laptops for the last 5 years (being a weekend road warrior and Ex Warcraft addict). While a laptop will never replace the beloved gaming rig, the portability that it brings to my life style makes it a necessary item (despite what my parents say!). Now don’t worry this is not turning into a Mac Fanac site (maybe ) but needless to say it’s on my mind!

Due to some very nice work incentives, I managed to max out the Macbook and make quite a saving. Winging its way to me is the following:

Macbook white 2.26ghz Intel Core 2 Duo(stock)
Nvidia 9400m (stock)
4GB DDR3 Ram
500Gb HDD

The upgraded Ram and HDD are where I made a very tasty saving, bringing the cost of this machine to less than a Mac Book Pro 13″ ^^

ibodge it!

Being a iphone user, like many I have been scouring the web for useful apps, some of them even to do with Wargaming!. The reason I am doing this is the apparent lack of Mac OS support from Army builder, unless I opt to run it via Bootcamp  (not their fault, it’s a niche company with limited funds). On my travels I have found not only a Mac friendly but also iphone portable app called ibodger. This app is free from the itunes store and has been advertised on the Privateer Press forums. This week it has been updated to include MKII points costs. I urge Warmachine players with iphones to download this app, as it’s that helpful! iBodger

Kabuki continues to push forward "Swords, Sorcery and Bewbs"

So thats the state of play. Not a bad time to upgrade really, as it gives me the heads up to prepare for the January releases of Warmachine MKII (let’s be honest the stuff we really want to see!) also this time away from the net will give me time to focus on progressing the Death Guard Project. Busy looking month for me…Also I need to prepare my review on Kabuki Miniatures full current line of gorgeous miniatures (order in the post as I type), I have had the priviledge of being in contact with one of the company owners and I have to say, the product line is looking taking a very impressive turn as we move into 2010. Finally listed on their site is the fabulous “Executioner” figure (21st Century Pin Up range), but expect Sci-Fi Samurai, Egyptian God engines and more! Once the full set of figs and Laptop (might be handy..) I will post pics and post my reviews.

Still waiting on the new figure from Soda Pop Miniatures, but from the green its such a cool looking figure! Bubblegum crisis meets Pokemon haha! Well worth the look and I will be sure to share/review when the chance arises.

Thanks for reading

DiStudios

March of Death

Using the Doghouse Space Marine builds I have tried to create a marching death theme for my army. To add a little flavouring to the mix, they will also be Pre Heresy.  Right now I have 7 Death guard, 4 Cataphract Terminators and a sculpt of Mortarion. I have also purchased random figures for various companies to make up the small Nurgling swarms that will naturally accompany the tide of filth.

Mortarion is a massive undertaking, using the main components of Brother Artemis from the Inquisitor range. The size of the model is actually pretty good for the Daemon prince incarnation of this model. and has had the details trimmed off and replaced with various bits of green stuff. One option I made early on was to remove the arms and sculpt bones in their place. These which naturally have sufficient rotting bandages as details.

Mortarion Stage 1

As of this week, I have a deadline for the project…May 2010 in time for a Pre-Heresy campaign known as “Age of the Emperor” Hopefully between then I can get 3000pts of Death Guard built and painted to the standard I envision AND get enough games in so I don’t make a complete fool of myself at Warhammer World haha…So much time spent playing Warmachine has left my Warhammer 40k node un-tapped for quite some years!

"Something look different about the boss these days?..."

With only 1 more month until Warmachine MKII is released, I am starting to stare at a very busy start to 2010, add on-top of this the amazing Sodapop Miniatures I have been drooling over, I ‘ll be surprised if I don’t OD on figure goodness well before May!

Thanks for reading

DiStudios

Been a while since I posted on my blog, but for good reason! Real life occurences including a new position at work meant limited model making shenanigans. Add to this the fact tha I have every Khador Warmachine figure released and no games (cold makes people lazy!) means a slow trickle and fade in the Warmachine department…

However! with only 2 months or so to go until the release of Warmachine MKII I am sure things will pick up in both the gaming and model making aspects of this blog. Now while Warmachine may be have been on the back burner for this month, something else has been brewing steadily and no into epic proportions!

I managed to find inspiration and motivation in the Warhammer 40,000 genre going hot and cold for the last year or so. Originally I had started a lack lustre Pre-Heresy Dark Angels army in original black colours with red nose stripe. The fad did not last long until last week…I found myself looking for something to do hobby wise and ended up looking at some of my old 2nd and 3rd Edition codices, after much speed reading I found myself inspired to do a brand new project in the current Warmachine lull. Now I won’t say what is it just yet, in-case I lose motivation and stop doing it. But needless to say the starting prospects are looking good! I have put together a bunch of Space Marine Terminators and regulars and have had a lot of fun. But what has really captured my imagination is this little beastie sitting here on my desk. I have done the frame clean up and added some greenstuff details (total of 4 works today) and have a strong idea of where this figure will be by the end of tomorrow. It will be my first major sculpt in a long time (albeit I cheated by using an existing model for the frame), complete with custom base (with inbuilt wound marker!) and is totally completely Pre-Heresy. I am hoping to have some photos up by the end of next week, by then I expect to have the figure around 60-70% sculpted.

Oh yes and on a totally random side of things, I discovered this great Anime themed miniature seller going under the name of Soda Pop. Lovely figures with a cyber punk mecha in the works for this month, worth checking out! A word of warning, the first figure is a limited edition with about 15 figures left last time I checked (I ordered 3 for myself lol!).

Soda Pop Miniatures: CLICK

So Christmas is round the corner and I am sure wargamers everywhere are frantically writing their wishlist. On mine this year are a number of pricey Forge World bits…needless to say the girlfriend looks less than impressed…

Thanks for reading, lots of photos are on the way of the new projects and also a few reviews that Mini fans need to see.

regards

DiStudios

Today my order from Skullcraft scenics arrived. I ordered the newly released Steam Punk basing kit and with a little luck I will be able to do the full review with photos and have it up tonight for everyone to see…

DiStudios

"Falcon Punch!!"

By cutting the original arm links and shaving down the ball joint, I am able to repin the arms to a desired angle which will show more movement. The process is fairly simple and can be done quickly with a rotary tool of some sort. Due to the soft nature of pewter, it is possible to cut (carefully) and file down rough edges. The above model was shaved and smoothed with knife and file. By removing all the detail from the arm sockets, you have total control as to where to position the new arm pins, have a play around with poses until you are happy. Once you have gotten a pose you like, start drilling placements for the pins.

"I must break you..."

By gently applying pressure with your clippers behind the Juggernaut’s head, you can squeeze out the metal and work it to look in the desired position. Be careful though not to clip through the neck completely, its better to work slow with this bit and tease the metal gently.

"Dancing Juggernauts..."

Probably the most intricate part of the conversion process. You need to cut the left leg off as cleanly as possible as to preserve the plating detail. Once you have done this, look behind the knee plate, you will see some thin hydraulics. Cut these out and keep cutting until you reach the back of the knee plate. this will leave a gap of a few millimetres. At this point, you should be able to bend the lower leg so that it connects to the back of the thigh as above. Your leg is no ready to be re glued, have a look at how you want the Juggernaut to look and then glue into place.

You will need to do some putty work to cover the original arm sockets but other than this your conversion is done. The end product is a very dynamic and unique looking jack. Total conversion time was 20 minutes including slicing and filing.

thanks for reading

DiStudios

The products up for review are 30mm “Topper” bases, 40mm “Topper” bases and 30mm Warmachine style bases. They threw in a load of mis cast samples so readers can have a look at other textures that this company is able to produce. The resin is pretty good quality, holding shape very well but prone to a little more dusting then I am used to, when scraped or filed. Out of the base types produced I prefer the “Topper” range to work with.

The concept behind the “Topper” range is that you have pre moulded bases that sit inside the lip of the Warmachine style bases. This means you can use the bases that come with your figure rather than discard them completely. The “Toppers” sit very nicely and require only a small amount of cleaning. The above selection are labelled as “Post Apocalypse” bases and as you can see the details are finely moulded with a variety of styles provided in each pack. Above shows 10 styles but the set actually comes with 12 in total for £3.50 (postage extra).

Above are the 40mm versions of the “Post Apocalypse Topper” bases not attached. This set shows the extra little details such as the sewer lid, broken lamp and traffic cone. You can also see some of the casting spill over, it’s not much and can be cleaned up in a short amount of time. Above is the complete set of 8 styles, labelled at £3.99

Above are examples of the full base or “DS” bases. The details are actually really good and the above is probably not the best example to show as I purposely chose them for the plainer appearance. What may be difficult to pick out are the little bullet shells scattered around the bases. They have many different textures including temple themed for those Menoth fans and timber textures for those pirate Cryx fans out there. Again it’s a 12 piece set listed as £3.50

Above are some mis casts that they sent me free. It’s a very good example of the other texture styles they supply.

I have made around 4 orders in the last week from this company and they have consistently been great with communication and delivery, minus the postal strikes that have been going on I have received my products within 2 days on average. This week they have plasti card packs to their store, including some textured sheets. I have been through their range and although only purchased the bases, I have to say that their scenery is looking very promising. Post sales communications indicate that the “Topper” has been very popular and they are planning to extend the rand start of 2010, just in time for Warmachine MKII.

Great company, worth checking out for your base needs, to see there ebay shop click HERE

Thanks for reading

DiStudios

Month two of the return to Warmachine and with Autumn approaching, the Khador lines march forward. Its been a busy month for painting and real life issues, namely getting a new job! More cash for the cash cow that is Privateer Press (and not that I am complaining)…

September saw me attempt to paint a bunch of figures, finish my Khador collection purchase, a whole load of War jack conversions, some new resin bases and my first game against the Restribution of Scyrah! So quite an eventful month in all honesty.

So ok I did not finish my painting challenge and while I can throw the excuse of “I needed to secure my financial future” fact is I failed to paint 7 models in 1 month…told you I paint slow. I did however finish the Kodiak and rest assured photos of that one are on the way. I managed to get my hands on a whole load of new resin bits, I will share the details with the upcoming review but needless to say the quality is superb and the concept ideal for Warmachine players. I also managed to finish off the Khador collection Hurrah! yes I now have every Khador figure released by Privateer Press since release including Katrina Vlad. This leaves me totally clear to hoard a little cash for other luxuries and perhaps hoarde a little nest egg fo January 2010…where it all begins again.

So what can we expect from october?

I will be using this time to refocus on painting Warjacks, the point being to improve on the NMM on the Kodiak especially on the weathering front, also I have had a whole load of fun converting Warjacks so it would be nice to see these dynamic jacks in full painted glory.

I am also planning to post up my recent battle (yesterday) and first encounter with the Retribution of Scyrah, needless to say there was no photos and i want to make sure there are some pretty diagrams to accompany the inevitable wall of text. Busy looking October already aint it.

And there we have it, September was full steam ahead on all things Warmachine like and with Grind still to arrive in the UK I am sure it will not be the last. I just got word that my shippment of MKII posters is waiting for me and I have to admit i am eagerly looking forward to framing and hanging more Warmachine art in the room.

Well thanks for reading, rest assured pictures of Jacks, art and all the random bits in-between are on the horizon.

regards

DiStudios

Today was payday (yay wave flag) and with payday comes the inevitable Warmachine order, result? complete Khador collection. Once this order arrives, I will have every Khador figure released to this point in time with full squad caps…all I need to do now is paint them?! I have no intention of buying another army but will take this time to get my hands on Grind and Monsterpocalypse.

On the painting board for next week, lots of Warjacks woohoo! I have a converted Spriggan, Juggernaut and hopefully Beast-09, lots of Jack fun. Also getting a incline to paint some cavalry on the horizon.

Thanks for reading

DiStudios