Akers Minis

A big Thanks and Overview of Onslaught GT 2012!

2012-02-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

First I would like to start this post with a major thanks to my friend Dave Taylor. His help in directing people to me for the sale of products has helped take a good chunk out of several bills that the wife and I were not sure on how we were going to pay. I have insurance mind you but my copays start adding up and it makes things difficult. At this time if anyone would like to purchase the lot as a whole btw I am making a great deal on it all. $250 and that includes shipping world wide so first person to email me about it will be my huckleberry at alexanderakers at yahoo dot com.

Now for the review of the Onslaught GT 2012 held at Templecon in Rhode Island. I like to break these down into event direct, venue as a whole, and other:
Event Direct: First off this was the Organizers first time running something so big. It is a daunting task mind you to run any tourney but when they spread several days it gets to be a major hassle and is very exhausting as a whole. Keith did a wonderfull job though and his prep was just fine with no flaws that I could see. Unlike the "Da Boyz GT" the scenerios were straight forward and not hard to comprehend but not so much that they would cause major unbalances either in final points. The terrain was perfect for the tables minus a few gripes from a few but thats honestly going to be the case no matter what. As far as awards they were rather nice looking plaques which personally I love more then tropheys, reason being trophies tend to break easily in moves etc. where are plaques sit nicely and look pleasant on the wall. They were from the convention itself so no overly large but still very nice and again unlike the "Da Boyz GT" at least there was awards as oppossed to product. Now there were no swag bags but for me this was actually rather nice because it took me back to how tournies used to be. Minus the minor personal quip of not having a best painted I understood the conventions reasoning on it as there was a comp outside with the coolminiornot people. There was players choice but this can get rather finiky as I noticed a bunch of people were forgetting to even walk around and look at others armies as is often the case, and will just write whoever down. Normally I have several negative but really not on this. Like I said the minor issue is a personal thing but didn't detract from the event for me in the slightest.

Venue as a Whole: All I could say is WOW. First off the hotels food was by no account crappy, nor was the bar and the drinks...mmmmm whiskey. Suprisingly I found the food well above average and you could get a great filling meal for under $10 if you went to there restaurant, or buy from the vendor etc. Lots of parking so no issues there, and even with thousands of people they kept the place damn near spotless and odor free.. we all know of gamer funk people! Also Templecon is heavily into Steampunk and let me just say... THANK YOU!!!! Besides the fun of the costumes the actually attractive women in them made one hell of a show. To the fat women PUT MORE CLOTHES ON!!!!! Overall the venue was honestly as nice if not nicer in other respects to Adepticon and far surpased my last gt in Oct... wait for it... "Da Boyz". Yes I am no longer a fan of the Da Boyz!

Other: Honestly I am extremely picky about tournies and often take a firm approach to whats good and bad as I was spoiled on the west coast with great events in Seattle and such, but this one really did an outstanding job and I am very happy to see people stepping up to the challenge of running these big events and what's more doing it well! My hat is off to the organizers Keith, and the terrain man Sam Butler you all did an outstanding job and I for one plan to return next year.

Overview: Out of 5 pts
Event: 4.9 as nothing is ever perfect but this was damn close
Food: 4.5 great prices and well done just I am biased towards Chicago sorry
Tourney as a whole: 4.9 This one is one to watch as I see great things in it's future!

Up for Sale!

2012-01-17T10:53:00.000-08:00

So I am selling pretty much everything personal atm as I need to raid money to cover some medical bills I am accurring. As such I am pricing everything to go big time so if you are interested then either email me at alexanderakers (at) yahoo dot com or call me at my business line at 508-251-0397. I can take payment via paypal or over the phone and I am willing to wheel and deal so the more you buy the more you get off!
First up is OOP Metal blisters. All of these are really recent but with the change to finecast all metal blisters are OOP. Each blister is $7.00 but again the more you buy the better I will deal.
40k Blisters:
-DE Lelith hesperax x2
-Eldar Avatar x2
-DE Urien Rakath x3
-SM Chaplain x2
-Eldar Farseer x2
-IG Ogre Bone'ead
-Dark Eldar Archeon
-Castellan Crowe
If somone wants to buy the whole package then I will sell them all for $200 That would save you $59

Fantasy Blister:
-Skaven Packmaster Gnawtooth x2
-Chaos Wulfrik the Wanderer
-HE Prince Althran x2
-Khorne Chaos Champ
-Skaven Tretch Craventailx3
-Skaven Warlord Spinetail x2
-DE Boltthrower
-Skaven Ratling Gun x4
-Skaven Ikit Claw
-Svage Orc Great Shaman on warboar x2
-Champion of chaos
-Ghorros Warhoof
-Wurzag
-Skaven Greyseer
-Sorcerer of Chaos
- Skaven Warlock Engineer x2
-Skaven Warlord x2
If somone wants to buy this whole batch then I will sell it for $250.
Buy all of the blisters for 40k and fantasy $400.

-Rare Limited Gamesday Archeon on foot x2 $35 each
-2005 understatably rare 54mm wood elf GW with certificate of authenticity (it was the employee xmas gift to select managers) $95

FW
-SM Dred left arm assembled and cleaned $13
-SM Dred cleaned right inferno flammer arm $13

- I will be posting pictures of my GK army that is over 2k as well in the next post but I am asking $950 for that plus shipping. For an extra $50 I will throw in the battlefoam x-board I converted to fit the dragon forge bases.

Seasons Greetings too one and All!

2011-12-25T15:37:00.000-08:00

So I am feverishly working on some British Pennisular Light Regt for a pot in a few days, amongst other things, but I thought I should just drop a line and say seasons greetings to you all my loyal readers. The reason it's seasons greetings because some people celebrate Chanukha or Xmas and as such I don't want too single out anyone. As such thank you all for your readership of this blog and over the next year I should have some really fun posts comming as Adepticon this year is going too push me too new limits painting wise. I have a 40k army too finish painting and building for Feb. and I also have a 1250 early war German army, Macedonian WAB army, and several show models I need to finish in time for Adepticon! So as such it will be a crazy kick off to the end of the world year but damn it I will make it count (btw the end of the world thing was a joke so no run offs on that).

Also DON"T FORGET TO SHOP AT BATTLEROADGAMES.COM for all of your bits needs!

Battleroad Games and Hobbies Launches bits section on webstore

2011-12-06T18:16:00.001-08:00

Greetings Fellow Dakkites,for those of you who know of Battleroad Games and Hobbies LLC we are a Hobby Retail Webstore. As such we are further striving too bring you the gamers what you want at great affoardable prices. As such we have switched our full ebay operation to our webstore and after a lot of work I am happy too announce that our bitz section will be launching this Friday on Dec 9th. As such we are starting with just the 40k and will be adding in Fantasy by the end of next month. Reason being it takes time too switch everything over and we have too rephotograph so that you for waiting as I promise you won't be dissapointed. By the end of Jan you will be able too shop from over 600 different bits up for sale and in the comming months we will be doubling that number too make us one of the most versatile one stop shops for your bits needs. We are also a full fledged web store and sell full box sets as well from over a dozen different lines. Come January you will also see our own 28mm heroic scale bits starting with several sets of heads that you will be able too purchase at extremely reasonable prices. I have attached a sneak peak at the first set recently sculpted by Dakkas own Navarro and he is hard at work on another as well. We have also contracted several major sculptors too do even more sets that we will be releasing in the comming months.

-Dec 9th launch of the bits section with 40k.

-Monthly 20% off sales on bits as we have the "Flavor of the Month".

-Full 10% off retail on all products ordered via the webstore and phone orders.

-If you don't see it call us and ask, we may not have it up atm or maybe it's something we should add!

-Finally unlike many other bits sites we will be making weekly restock orders (trust me our distributors already love us) so as too insure if it's out of stock it will be back in within that week.

So give us a call at 508-251-0397 or shop direct via our webstore at http://battleroadgames.com/ and remember this Friday is the launch so tell your friends.

P.S: The head set shown below we retail at $10.00 for all 9 heads. I am unsure yet if we are doing these as resin or pewter.

Another fine Weekend another fine tourney!

2011-12-04T11:10:00.000-08:00

So this past weekend I decided too hit up the Battleground Games and Hobbies LLC doubles tourney for 40k. It was um....well... GREAT!!!!!! Tournies like this on are as they honestly should be for rogue traders, great terrain, great people, and lots of both, ooh ya a little fun too I dare say:)_! Years ago when I lived in Tacoma/ Seattle I went too rogue traders every month and some of those were great fun because they had a great organizer by the name of Rob McKitrick. Saddly over the years he faded away from that scene and the rogues when too crap honestly, and when I came too mass I hit a few but none really matched up. That is honestly until yesterday when my team mate and I went there with no expectations too win any games just have fun.

I am sad too announce Sam and I did win our final game and we were rather disapointed as damn it we thought we could go for broke. I did however manage too walk out with $90 store credit for having the best painted army and best single painted mini! I promptly used it too get a friend some models I owed him so hey I was a happy camper but more I was happy because of the basic regonition of the judges and several people who noticed the work I put into it. I didn't care if I won anything as I was having fun but it was awsome too win and I promptley thanked the academy for my award and my director... wait wrong speech! Anyways looking around I did see several well done armies but more two fellow classmates of my painting mentor Mr. Mathieu Fontaine. These two fellas were brothers who had taken his classes on different ends of the country but were now back in Mass together and let me just say this. Once those two finish there armies, they are about 90% done I would think by looking at them, there will be some seriously stiff painting comp at rogues in the New England Area. These guys wowed me which doesn't happen alot but I can and will gladly admit when I am beaten and I think these two are forcing me too up my game even more.

More too the point I had three great games, and Sam and I had a clast and I for once have utterly no critiques. All around just a blast of a tourney and I look forward too more in the future there honestly and I do hope that Battleground branches into small indy GT's because I think they could handle it and run a good show.
-alex

The Da Boyz GT review

2011-10-24T06:53:00.000-07:00

Greetings fellow bloggers and readers; as the title says this is my review from the Da Boyz indy GT that I returned from last late last night. Normally I would sit down and show you all a bunch of pictures of some cool armies and ideas that I saw while I was there, and then talk about the winners etc, but saddly this post won't be that kind of one as this was disapointingly the worst event I have ever been too. Here is the break down that lead too that determination.

Venue: The event was held in "The Armoury" in Rochester NY and the location though large and open but did not live up to the hype that the organizer lead us to believe about it. My friend and I were both told that the venue had a restaurant attached too it. What this apparently meant was the piss poor bar, that was overpriced and had nothing but well drinks and cheap beer, was grilling burgers and fries and selling to us. We ended up at wendys and don't get me started into the service on that place. Another major problem with the venue was that due to the size of the location it was either too hot or too cold. There was no comfortable medium and this really made for a misserable time alone.

Organization: Normally if you put out a shedule you stick by it and that works for me. The Fantasy side was on the nose but saddly I was playing 40k and this lead too tons of problems. We were told too arrive at 830am on both days and we would be rolling dice by 930am.....never happened on both days and all this did was fling us into further confusion when it came too grabbing meals etc. The organizers would tell us we would start our next round at 1 even though we just ended at 1230. Ok so I know we have no time too run out and get food, so the problem with this is that would wouldn't start till 1:45pm because they couldn't get there software that did the pairings too work, or the person inputing the data was too slow. Furthermore we ended up playing 4 games on the first day and two on the second. The problem with this is technically that is 10hours on the first day, and that would have been fine if we started early but adding in the breaks etc we didn't get out of there till after 10pm and we were told we had too be there the next morning at 8am.

Judges: This was my biggest problem for the event because these guys were just awfull. For starters my games 5 was against a 15 year old kid. Now I am a mentor too teenagers and have no issues with children, teens whatever playing and often go into it with a little more give to the game as I know a lot of players are more pricks about it. During the game there was blatant cheating and I started calling my opponent on it, but one of the judges who knew the kid was a local, came up and started calling against me ever step of the way. For example: I took down one of his vehicles with my stormraven, I then used the machine spirit, as the rules clearly state, and choose too fire at a different target. The judge would not allow me too do this stating "you can't split fire it's all at once". IT"S IN THE RULES YOU TWIT!!!!!!! This was only the beginning of many such calls like it. I don't get angry during games but on this one I just got to the "whatever point". Other times during the event I would ask simple questions about time, location, minor rules on the scenarios and the judges would either start talking and walk away, say they have no clue, or tell me to figure it out for myself because they didn't care. Judges are there too help run a event but when I see them having no clue it begs too wonder what the hell they are doing.

Scenarios: This is the second worst part as the designer tried too add some flair....fail. The judges couldn't even answer questions on the scenarios, and before every game they would have too call the 40k side over too them too try and explain typos. The objectives were unclear and favored the locals who know the ways too play the game objectives.

Comp: This is a contraversal issue for many, and I personally have no issue with comp at a tourney... if it's done right. Initially we had a rubric we had too go off of that was out of 80, I personally score 70 pts (I took a untooled pure close combat falchions gk army). After this initially submitted rubric that we knew what our score would be the judges would grant up too an additional 30 points of comp. The problem was this was a blind comp decision and they refused too even state how they graded it. I personally recieved an additional 10 points, while another grey knight player took 30 for a full 110pts. He was a local....hrmmmmm but when I asked one of the judges he argued with me saying no GK player recieved max comp. I offered to show him on the list they posted but he refused to look and keep telling me I was wrong. The judges also refused when asked to at least explain to us how they graded the blind comp portion. This pissed a lot of players off and there was many grumbles.

Event prizes: Now when you go to a GT you go because it is something far bigger and grander then a local rogue trader. A weekend will often come in around 1k in overall costs too get out there, build your army etc etc so that is why you want it too be a cut above the rest in prizes and tropheys. Well the event had tons of prizes but almost zero trophies. More too the point they ran out of there certificates too the people who had won as one of my friends won best table and he got a few cheap scenery pieces. If I wanted to compete for product I would have saved my money and gone too Battleground Games as they put on some amazing rogue traders where you can win hundreds in product, but GTs we are paying for tropheys or plaques but namely something more then just product.

Overall review: I appriciate you all reading this long winded post but saddly there was no way to make it any shorter. If there was one issue I would chalk that too just bad luck..it happens heck even two I would but when I can find major problems in each aspect of the tourney then there is honestly something majorly wrong. I for one will not ever be returning too this event and that disapoints me as it was 5 years since I did a 40k singles GT and I was stoked for it. I went out of my way too sculpt and cast a purity seal for my army list, build a army full of major conversions and go balls too the wall to go all out. I didn't care if I won anything I just wanted too have a blast. Saddly for the first time I feel like I wasted my time, and money and honestly am really lacking the desire too even play anymore because events like this just destroys your desire for the game. Even several of my friends told me this event made them just want too sell off there GW because it just wasn't fun. So I am sure this negative post will cause some controversy and it sucks because I have tons of pictures I wanted too show and going into it I was really excited but now I don't even know if I care anymore about 40k GT's. Adepticon is a blast but I usually play WAB there so that is out of the question.

DA Boyz GT is only a few days away!

2011-10-16T16:13:00.000-07:00

Granted I do not have my usual strand of strong anticipation as I do for Adepticon (I mean who wouldn't for adepticon) but I am still rather nervous as this is the first indy 40k GT I have actually done since 2006!!!!!! I was signed up for one two years ago at adepticon but I fell horribly ill and ended up catching the early flight home. In the words of my friend Joe Orteza " I looked like Nurgles rot!". Anyways I have been plowing away at the army, display board, and army list....wait army list? For those who will face off against me they will recieve my list as a purity seal that I sculpted on a 60mm round real quick and attached some parchment too. I felt it addes a little bit of fun to the whole deal and to thank my caster (who is also my ride to the event) I sculpted him one too for his nurgle.

Here's a little overview show of the army as it stands. I am working on the squad to the lower front right and the brotherhood champion and should be finished tues night. In the mean time I also will have too paint the xboard that I sanded down and put all of the hex stones ( and other stuff) on as it is too mimic the dragonforge bases of the lost empires. Jeff Wilhelm being the amazing friend he is made me a master mould too create the hexes from and from there my casting mate did up around 340. Jeff believed it would take 500 and I thought he was right..Had I covered every inch in it well maybe but I didn't because it is a ruined temple. I can use this for my Dark Eldar, and Macedonians as it all fits very easily!

The brotherhood Champion was a fairly easy conversion/ kit bash. I thought about sculpting it and so forth further too really set him apart but time is not on my side.

A little side shot of "La Fontaine" or the land raider for those of you not in the know I guess.

Here's my best friend Hans riding my wife...ya I did it people!

The final squad (now several layers in on paint). This is my only mixed squad in terms of weapons as I needed the points for other things. Well there you have it people. I will get some final shots of everything (seals and all) on Thurday at the hotel but until then I hope you enjoyed the post and as always keep painting.
-Alex

The Road too Da Boyz GT

2011-08-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

Allllll righty then, well another few weeks and a few more models painted for the Da Boyz GT that will be at the end of Oct. As such I have been somewhat hard at work on these grey knights. Overall the work on them is easy and requires very little challenge on my part but if you get too see them in person they are far better then the pictures honestly. The lighter colors and lack of heavy contrast does not play well for photography but in person these are a delight and hopefully will do well in scoring at the DA Boyz for painting. After the GK's I am going too break my rule again (of not painting armies) and start work on a heavily converted Dark Eldar army for the Saint Valentines day Massacre in Media Penn. From there it's Macedonians for Adepticon then onto the demon progects for next year. In between stuff here and there but overall that's the shedule. Anyways onto the pics. First off we have the converted Librarian who is teh HQ for the army. Not a ton down sculpting wise minus I replaces parts of his arms and threw on some Dragonforge coils. All in all fun model:

Next up we have the first squad. Now I know they have no backpacks but for my own sanity I always do those at the very end of the army. So I will be doing 18 back packs at once upon completion of everything else.

A couple Singles Shots

Yes I know his barrel drillings off line.

Yes the eyes are suppossed too look a litte spilled over as when you see it up close it gives a radiating light source look. Next up the first four termies:

The one with the read swords in the squads is always the squad leader since he is master crafted. It was a easy way of setting him apart. Finally a rear shot of one of the termies.

Well there you have it for now. Still on the list for the army is two troop squads like the one up top, a landraider reedeemer, and a dreadknight. I hope you all enjoy this sneak peaks and just wait as even these models aren't done. BTW if anyone is wondering the bases are from Dragonforge.com so go check them out. I garuntee you won't be disapointed!
Until then keep painting people and have a great weekend.
-Alex

ARD' BOYS!!!!

2011-08-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

So let me start off by saying that this was the first ever ard'boys event that I ever played in. In the past I have always looked at this event with distaste and annoyance as it was so counter productive I felt too the hobby. I had always felt that a event solely based off battlepoint and not theme,sports, or painting was a bad idea. After seeing some negative gamers in my past I pictured these too be the type of people who would come out with the most disgusting lists and be other pricks. Let me just say that this blogger was very wrong!

I went with the sole plan to learn the GK's as facing off against people you normally wouldn't is a great way too really learn how too play an army. I planned (or more honestly figured) that I would loose all three games because I knew little about the grey knights play style or really the confidence at playing the army. My first game was against a Demons army...WOOT!!!!..ya not so much. Was his a tooled army as I had always thought I would face in Ard'boys, not in the least. Honestly he had a great play on the lists and was extremely well balanced. The individual was nice and we helped each other through the game and just had a good ole fashioned time. In the end "0" points as I was massacred but hey I learned a lot. Next up I got too play against a dark eldar army. I stole the initiave and surely this guy would be the dick I had envisioned, nope. He had a fun army lots of flying vehicle goodnew (probably close too $600 buck worth if not more) and was a very nice guy. I picked up some info on the dark eldar (something I have been drooling over painting for years) and walked out with...you guessed it "0" points but a tons more knowledge.

Finally I faced off against a terminator grey knights army..here's the dick right? No, not in the least in fact the game was only 45minutes but was jokes and laughs and just good gaming fun. Just as similiar as my second game I had a great first turn then fell apart. In the end I walked out with "1" point...drat!!!! Damn point modifiers stated if your opponent didn't have a fast attack choice you won the battle point no matter what. This meant I did not reach my goal of "0" points in a tourney. Granted I wasn't actually shooting for that but I knew I wasn't going too win the thing or even place after round two so why not go for broke. So what's the whole point of this as oppossed too showing you all some of my recent painting work well simple, don't ever place a sterotypes on something because you never know what will happen. It was a blast honestly and I look forward too next years (though this time I play too win :)_ ). It was a great store, great people and a great day.

Grey Knights on the Horizon!!!!!

2011-08-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

Greetings one and all and welcome back too my blog!!! Now I read something on FTW a while back that says I should never apologize for not posting as we all have real lives and damn it I agree. Things have been nuts with Battleroad fixing some MAJOR mistakes of now FORMER!!!!!! employees. Saddly this has pulled all of my attention and due too the significant losses one person caused my company has forced me too look for a more perminate IT job again. In the past I was doing well with this company bringing it up too 250k a year business (95% off ebay bits sales so that tells you how much work I have been doing). Saddly my business will no longer be focused solely on ebay as I am branching out quite a bit more. As we speak the first sets of my bits heads are being sculpted and in the next few months you will begin too see TONS of conversion bits comming out directly from Battleroad Games. I am very excited and think all of you will enjoy the final product. Jeff Wilhelm from Dragonforge is too be blamed for this as he convinced me it was a better way too steer my conpany. Now without further adu onward too the grey knights :)_.

So their are a few armies that I utterly love and will always play when it comes too GW. The first is hands down Slaanesh anything, the second is Ogres ( I just love them beyond belief), the third and forth are grey knights and dark eldar (and skaven but don't tell anyone). Now the reason I love this assortment is first and foremost the backrounds and second their close combat abilities. When it comes too my games I love too get in the thick of the fighting quickly and these are some great armies too. As such though I have been collecting some grey knights and will have a 2500pts army built soon for the ard boys though most likely won't be completed painting wise for another week or two after. All told I usually spend between 40-60 hours on an army as an airbrush is a wonderfull thing people!!! Anyways for now I have the first of my razorbacks too show you all today and sticking with my tradition I have named it after one of my friends. The Carasas is named after a former mate of mine from my GW days (hooray redshirts!!!) and he really helped me through some tought times. As such I thought it only right too name this model after him.

Now I know some of you are probably thinking "WTF it's not Silver!!!", and nor will any of my models ever be for the grey knights. I love true metallics but after a couple of practice models just couldn't get it how I wanted. So knowing I loved this color it seemed a good choice. Now this model was painted then I found I didn't like how I did it so I stripped it and laid down a grey that I would use for the battle damage. A little bit (or a lot) of the arbeitlung (or something of that name) liquid mask and then too the airbrush. The outcome I actually liked which for me never happens.

A closer shot.

The other side

And the front!! Now origonally I was going too have the turret be a burgundy red as the color would have offet nicely... it didn't lets leave it at that. I need too work a little more on my freehand but the weathering is set too the army. I thought about using some of my powders from secret weapons but decided too save them for other things as I am just looking for a overall nice army. Anyways I will have the pics of the squad up either later this week or next, then onto the dreadknight and back too squads. Until then keep painting and too Jordon "You ma boy blue...you ma boy!!!". BTW the dreadknight will be named Le'Fontaine.

Boston Brawlcon 2011 Winners!!!!

2011-07-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

Alrighty so it has been a while since the last post but I thought I would kick off a few more posts over the next few days with pictures from the Boston Brawlcon 2011. This was one of the closest tournies I have honestly ever run and being that I have done well over 50 events that says a lot. Well with that onto the winners pictures!!!

This was our Best Sports army Tom Greene. Really nice guy and a well deserved trophey as he always had a smile on his face during the whole weekend.

Here's his winners picture with the trophey!!!

On the Right we have our overall winner Ben Molie. Ben won no less then $2000 in prizes to include a plane ticket to Chicago for Adepticon 2012 to compete there and to go with it a 2000pts army to match. This was just the prize support from Battleroad Games and Hobbies, and Ben gets even more via Games Workshop...wow is all I can say. Not to mention that Ben is also the Captain of Team America and will be competing at worlds later on in Switzerland!!!!! On the left we have our 2nd place winner, and Best General to include our first ever Volunteer of the year award. He goes by the name Ragnar Arneson and let me just say he is one top notch player and person to boot. Earlier last month he won best Chaos Space Marine General at the Throne of Skulls held by GW in Vegas! Literally the overall and second place was decided by 1 point and came from a last minute favorite players vote. Ben being a gentlemen to of note is sharing some of his winnings with Ragnar and that too me says a lot:).

Next up we have Bill Souza for players choice. Let me just say this fella has one HELL of a converted demon army and it was no suprise that he secured the players choice with no less then 15 votes!!! I am only too sad that some of the pictures of his army didn't come out so well in the end but what I do have I know will put you all in awww. Bill also took a Silver in our Open format painting comp for a lovely changling. I look forward to seeing what bill presents next year for the brawl as I know it will be something to take notice.

Here's the only picture I could get to work so if anyone has others of his lovely army please pm me!

Here we have Simon Leen and let me just say his army was one too take notice. He had tons of lovely well done free hand over his whole sisters of battle army and it really helped catapult him to the top in the end. I had 4 armies that we in my favorites and in the end it was the averages between the two judges that settled who the winner was.

Well I will post more in the comming days and hopefully I will get off my ass and post more. With that keep painting and thank you too all of the players this year for a great Boston Brawl.
-alex

Preping for GD and other events!

2011-05-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

Wow... over a month since my last post... Well first off I tend not to write anything unless I feel I have something of value either to say or show. Lately since I haven't been that far along on my demon entry (30+ hours only so far on my 40k single) I felt their was little rhime or reason to post pictures.... and I still won't :). I will say that once complete, or even a little further along , I will show pictures of it. Right now I have two progects on the table that I intend to have done intime for GD chicago. Anything further will be gravey:)!.

Now how does this Demon winner prep you may ask? Well that is the point of this post as every painter is different in how they like to handle things as demon is a top notch and well known comp. To hold a trophy in your hands is utterly amazing (trust me) and the rush that comes with it is one of the greatest feelings I have ever been able to encounter.

EARLY PREP
So too start I first need to get inspiration as this is an art compatition for what counts. The end choice comes down to the judges of course and doesn't really matter if I agree or not with their decisions as they have the final say. In last years case I knew I would have time for one entry with little in the way of conversion, so I decided upon Ogre Ironguts. I have always had a major love affair with the GW ogre models as something about them just does it for me. In the case of this year I had had my entries built for months as I was waiting for one time but two, and more importantly the knowledge that I knew what I wanted to go with. The first entry had the weapon completely redone as well as the head. A lot of the resin detail was removed as the model was Librarian Severus from forge world. I determined that he would be great as a emporers childred librarian from the pre-heresy era. From here I planned out the story he would tell as Mathieu Fontaine once taught me that a model should always tell a story. In this case his name became "Ty're...Last Loyal Librarian of the 3rd Legion". He will be fighting on the steps of the imperial palace.

Planning complete now the building phase
Now knowing the direction I would be heading in I set about preping my model for paint. I went through 4 or 5 different heads before Mathieu told me to try a FW one. I found a bits retailer (saddly not me) on ebay who sold forge world, and purhcased several heads to try out. Ending with kor'vaydea's head as I felt it suited him best. Now some of you may be asking why a FW head, well simple. Mathieu pointed out to me that on a FW model only use FW as normal GW lacks the size and defination that are on the model and really detract overall. So with the model built I know was ready to clean and prime... no not clean the mold as I already did that, but wash the model and clear off any extra shavings I may have missed, or get rid of any remaining chemicals ,I won't want on it, from casting. Now came the priming time. Once the initial white layer of primer is down I decided to double check the model and clean any mold lines I may missed upon initial inspection. This resulted in some extra work on the weapon itself and then a reprime.From here I began the painting aspect. On that note I leave you all with this.. the other entry is the Nurgle FW ogres!! You all will love these and as usual keep painting.
-Alex

Samurai Army up for grabs!!! Sold

2011-04-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

Sold

That's right I have decided to clear out the shelves and start some new progects, but to do that I want to open up some space in the basement. So I figured I would clear out the Perry Miniatures Samurai army I have. This army is pretty massive by any standard comming with at over 200+ models of all perry miniatures. My initial plan was to actually build up several warbands of these for large scale games but I just don't have the money or the time to do it at the moment. I am looking for one of several sales for this. Somone can either buy the whole lot at $1050 or buy the painted units at $200 a unit or the unpainted at $2.00 each. I am for the most part sticking on the overall price, but would be willing to entertain other offers if they are reasonable. If you buy the whole lot I will give free shipping to the buyer, and all of the movement trays and stuff. Also for an extra $50 I am willing to throw in the xboard display base. Alrighty people here it is:

Here is a list of everything in it.
-36 Samurai with katana painted
-72 ashigaru with naginata painted
-1 general on horse with two retainers painted
-1 army standard painted
-1 lord on foot painted with katana
-9 cavalry with katanas cleaned
-8 monks with assorted weapons primed
-11 monks unpainted
-11 models of generals with tokugawa unpainted
-15 civilians with assorted weapons unpainted
-47 ashigaru unpainted
-5 ashigaru with flintlock rifles
-23 sashimo banners
-84 naginatas on sprue
-TONS OF YARI!!!!

Alrighty people if your interested email me at alexanderakers (at) yahoo (dot) com. Their is minor wear but all in all this army is in amazing condition and won me the overall in the doubles at adepticon this year.
-Alex

WHAT DOES EVERYBODY WANT......HEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-04-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

Ok if you were a pro-wrestling fan back in the day you would get that, but onto the meaning of the post. I know I have been awful lately about posting and I truely am sorry. The best part about owning your own business is well your the boss. The worst part about owning your own business is.... yep you guessed it, your the boss!!! Saddly when sales fall behind, or shipping does that means I get longer hours with no extra pay :(. Anyways to throw in some fun news my 90minute entry won me a crystal brush at adepticon, and I also walked away with the Warhammer Ancients doubles overall champion with my impromtu teamate Pat L. We got paired up several weeks prior to adepticon as we were both going to make our wives come and throw dice... neither wife to say the least was interested in this. 7 1/2 hours later, and three great games (the last one on nerves) we walked out with the amazing plaques, and some odd looks. No one thought that Samurai and Macidonians would work... including us but with some lucky dice rolls and great tactics we did it. The best part was that was my first weekend playing with the WAB 2.0 rules so any wins were even better for me. BTW you will not see the model I won with unless you look it up in the crystal brush itself because while walking out I saw an old GW coworker of mine and said "Merry Xmas Jordan".

Well onto the meaning of the title me thinks. I was approached with a request for a commission recently and always happy to make a honest buck said sure. The over all time frame to do the progect wouldn't take long and I love anything that allows me to work on my sculpting skills. The buyer wanted a GW Space Marine head that had to be screaming, since it was for a conversion of his. Normally I take a open faced SM and then remove all details and work up from there, as it is a great dollie, but in this case I had on had a forge world korvadye head that I had bought off ebay for a demon progect, and this was the extra (yes there are FW bits sellers on ebay too people, great way to save some doe so check them out).
I started by first insuring I had a new blade in so it would be extra sharp and made two incisions on his cheeks and one under the jaw (woot doctor shows). After removing that I cleaned the area then had a blast trying to get the jaw to actually stay where I wanted it too. To say the least super glue can really suck for small progects like this.

I then stuck putty in his mouth and began working it around to reform the face, and the mouth. Once that was complete a little shave lined the whole thing up, and I then applied the white putty to smooth it all out.

After the putty a little sanding work and the jaw line was in service. Not the buyer wanted a flat top buzz but saddly that wasn't working out so well so instead I went more with a german military cut from WW2 which I think works much better but in the end it's the clients call so hopefully he likes it.

The hair was easy as I took a lesson from Joe Orteza and made several lines from the top then just started scratching at it. After giving him a little trim and some sanding to clean it all up Whoola!!! We've got head. All told on and off two -three hours namely because of waiting on the putty to dry. Well this fella is up for final approval and if the client likes it then off he goes to his new home. Suprisingly this was a very inexpensive commission so hopefully the word will spread and I will get more. Well as usual "Keep Painting" as I know I will be (Fort Buyaki Inviational just announced). I am going to do my second favorite army of all times..........Grey Knights. After 17 years in this hobby I am finally going to have some real fun planning this army.
-Alex

Disastor Relief

2011-03-12T16:13:00.000-08:00

Greetings everyone, I write tonight with a heavy heart. On a personal level this has been a rough few weeks but my household has stuck together like glue and pushed forward through it. I have always believed that through faith a person can get through anything. As such I also believe that a person who is blessed should always give back and have thanks for what they have, and as such have conducted myself as so for the past few years. I have taken part in many charities and plan too do many more before my life is over. From buying several dozen new toys so that a local shelter can give each dog a toy for x-mas, to spending my time publicly speaking out for Veterans rights on the welcome home progect (something near and dear too my heart). Recently I donated some product to help out the floods in Australia (the country of my fathers birth, and his resting place).

As such I bring to you all tonight the start of a month long charity event that I am going to run to raise money to help the red cross send relief aid to the island nation of Japan. When I was in boarding school many years ago I had a roomate from Hokido and he and I were great friends. I send my prayers too him and his family and hope that what money we can raise in this next month will help out in some small way. Here's how it will work:

-Anyone can offer up product, time, money anything, and we will run a raffle. All of the product and the winners will be picked on April 12th that way we can go a full month. At the end of the month anyone who donated will be entered into the drawing and it won't stop until all of the prizes are given away.

-This is very similair to the storm wardens progect except their will be multiple winners and prizes. I will be posting the paypal info to donate next week but I am hoping that you all will spread the word on this.

-Already Jeff Hall has donated a painted battlegroup for warmachine http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/79868-Khador%2C%20Privateer%20Press%2C%20Warmachine.html. This is very generous of him.

-I will be donating 2 things for starters a conversion of a 28mm model for 40k or fantasy. The winners choice!!!!

-Also I will donate 1 battleforce NIB winners choice.

Well their it is people, if you want to donate something please let me know at battleroadgames (at) yahoo dot com. I thank you all and watch for the paypal donation widget in the next week.
-Alex

Changes, and apologies

2011-02-23T06:28:00.000-08:00

Recently I went too a tourney, and as shown previously the result I was in disagreement over the paint judging. Now straight forward and too the point, though I could have phrased what I said about the demon army in a much nicer context I didn't. I did enjoy the army hence the initial pictures, but like I said I did not feel it the best painted. Recently on my club forums a friend asked a question about it too which a local gamer flew off in a childish rant saying many things that really undermined him more then anything. This person and I chatted as he feels I am a dick and a few other words that will not be mentions. This is fine, I have thick skin and in the end do not care what some individuals think of me, nor will I ever. Where I do care is that even after everything got settled internally others continued in on the issues.

Now I was wrong on several points and for this I do apologise, but not retract. I believe firmly that every action we do we should be held accountable for. Though I was wrong and admit this openly I will not retract for the reasons that I said it and for whatever reason right or wrong I should stand behind my words, and my actions. I live my life with no regret as I learned this overseas, for to have regret is too say that should have never did the action in question. I believe firmly either right or wrong at the time an individual felt that it was right, but when proven wrong own up too your mistakes and that is what I am doing here.

It has been several years since I have done Rogue Traders and the game has changed heavily. My beliefs in painting do not fit with some rogue traders, and that is fine. The beauty of it all is they don't have too because their are those who run events similar too how I enjoy them, and those that don't. Painting is subjective yes, and the difference between gold and bronze in comps is just a little luster as my friend Joe Orteza once told me, but in seriousness it is subjective there.

Many gamers go for the flashy, and oo shinny. I will not now nor will I ever change my style too fit the whims of others. I would be lieing too myself if I did this, and in the future I may not agree with a judging but that's fine, as that is my right. Somone else has their right too and they can disagree with me and I may not like it but as long as they stand up for themselves I will hold respect too them for it. In the end this is just a hobby for many, and for me it is a business but to use abrasive language and you know who you are only brings you down in the eyes of others. Talking behind peoples backs is just high school drama. I have always believed that in saying my gripes too somones face and have no issues repeating myself ever. Though I do not advocate violence any more in my life I do believe in the old addage by Teddy Rosevelt "Speak softly and carry a large stick!".

With that again I am sorry for issues caused to certain affected people to the individual who caused so much drama on the Ardboys forums grow up because it wasn't even about you and you were just trolling. This will be the only time you ever see me post something like this as I will stand by anything I say.

First Tourney in almost a year!!!

2011-02-20T10:26:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday I decided too head on down too a Rogue Trader being held at Battleground Games (not too be confused with my store Battleroad Games), and let me say I was happily impressed. The location itself was well lite, nice clean restrooms, open space for gamming and lots of tables ( I mean LOTS!!). Store wise I would honestly say my only gripe would be not as much selection overall. Paint wise he only had GW and model wise his GW was well stocked but everything was lacking severly. Now like I said this is a minor thing in the end as I was there too play in a tounrey. Staff wise I was very impressed with them as they were friendly and helpfull for getting started.

So onto the Main Event!!!! Though the tourney was 1850 I only had 1650 painted as this was my spare time army and all. I would say I haven't even spent 40 hours from building too end on it and the quality is well above many other gamers out there. This is in thanks too my trusty airbrush, but I digress. I ran short because I will not bring an upainted item too an event as this would hurt my chances at best painted. I don't go too tourneys too win anymore as I have won plenty of tropheys years ago but instead concentrate on sportsmanship and painting. The two major things too me that actually take work! My first battl was against an INCREDABLY nice fellow with a Deathwing Army. Very cheerfull and fun too play it was a great start too the day. Sad too say for me he wiped the floor with me as this was the first battle ever for me with the Blood Angels. As a diehard Chaos player this is new grounds too me. Here's some pics of the battle as it unfolded!

As you can see my heavy hitting unit piles out and assaults the bikes. I was stupid and didn't allocate hits against Samael which was a lesson I will not repeat!!! I whiped the rest of the sqd but lost after three rounds fighting him. The Reclusiarch is under heavy scrutany by the inquisition!!!

Ahhhh Big Scary Dred!!!!

This was the last recorded picture of second squad as they went into combat.....none survived :(.

The second Game was far different. I ended with a draw but sad too say the opponent was no where near as fun. To the point he was actually rther stand offish and at times rude. This though can be accounted for his age a bit as he was only a sophmore in highschool, but sad too say he also chipmunked me on sport. In the end it is what it is and my marines fought his Tau too a well won draw. I learned after how too properly use the dreds and had I done right with them could have swayed it in my favor.

Here's a side action shot, and lets just say that Redeemer earned his keep this battle. My Final Battle was against a fellow club mate by the name of Andre, and as he said "That's French for... Andre!!!". I am very much new too my club and don't know too many of the people but this guy has too be one of the best people I have gotten to play in years. He won the day but it was a well stratigised battle on his part. I made several stupid mistakes early on but they wouldn't have helped all that much. He knew what he was doing and even helped me with my rules (again this was now the THIRD game I had played with the army). We were joking, laughing, and just chatting it up more then anything. It was the perfect way too end the day and his army was even rather well painted. It's hard too see in the photographs but their is a lot of maticulous details in his army that you can't see unless you take the time on it.

A whirlwind Melee against the Inquisitor!!!

The inquisitor would fall, but imediately after so too would the Reclusiarch too bolter fire (damn ones on my dice). Like I said I loved playing against Andre and look forward too many more games.

Well I know this has been a longer post but I felt I owed you all. I will post my major gripe though about this tourney. Paint wise many told me I was the best there. In fact the store owner even told me he was suprised when he saw my name because he knows of the awards I have won. Yes I am comming across a little egotistical but I am a demon winner, and more importantly can admit when others are better then me. This was not the case it seems however as the overall winner won best painted as well. It seems his army that was dipped and then drybrushed, and looked like something I could do in a day was better then mine too the paint judge. No rhyme or reason but I lost out too an inferior painter. This did tick me off because I don't feel that just because I have awards of note that I should be expected to spend 100+ hours on every model for an army like I do my show progects. That said maybe I am just out too left field on this so here are several pics you be the judge. If you think I'm wrong then tell me please and say why!!

In the end it is what it is I guess, but it is still a severe kick in the gut too me. Well I will post some show pieces I am working on later this week and good pics of the Army until then Keep Painting people.
-Alex

Too cool for words

2011-01-31T18:56:00.000-08:00

So seldom ever do I post somone elses work because I think it's cool. Their are a lot of nice models out there but very rarely you come across one that words cannot describe. As such here is a link to the CMON thread as well as the pic. Enjoy!!!! http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/showthread.php?44649-MASQUES-(l-arlecchino!!!)

and here is a pic of their work, again not mine!!!!

First Tourney in almost a year!!!

2011-01-15T15:25:00.000-08:00

So minus the event I ran in the summer (which I did not play in) I have finally found an event that has driven me to want to paint, and play in. It is in fact a local Rogue Trader at a store not to far from my home. Well since my creating juices to actually paint a 40k army have been pretty much dead for over 18 months I wasn't sure what I would do. When it comes to historicals I have no problem painting armies of hundreds as it is ..... different so to speak. In this case though I dug around and found that I really wanted to play with the blood angels codex. I utterly love the models, and the rules fit my close combat desires for play so it was a solid fit, but just doing plain old cherry marines isn't my thing. That said I decided that flesh tearers was the route I wanted to head so off to the races to plan a list I went.

Normally I just like lots of troops little shooting as that bores me constantly, but I have decided that this would be different. I knew I wanted a hard hitting close combat army, and for that I planned out terminators in a landraider, 3 squads of jump assualt marines, most likely a squad of jump death company, and some good compand troops. On top of that I a;sp have two vindicators, and can fit in either some dreds, or bikes into the 1850 list. All in All I think this should be a well balanced list, with some hard hitting potential. So I guess onto the topic of discussion for you my blog readers. Is their something that helps drive you to paint in excess. I plan a above table top standard army of 1850 done in just under 5 weeks.

Merry X-mas too all!!

2010-12-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

Well I just wanted to say thank you to you my blog followers. Another year has passed with another get set of posts. I have really pushed myself this year painting wise and this has been a great thing for me and I am greatfull for the abilities I have learned. I encourage all of you to try and do the same because only through failure will you ever be able to succed.

So thing's to expect in 2011, well my company Battleroad Games and Hobbies will have not one but three new miniature lines comming out. each line is being sculpted by some very famous (well in the sculpting world that is) sculptors, and they have been hard at work let me tell you. The first line which is an American War for Independence will be comming out in later January 2011, the next line which will be Bootlegger (1920's prohibition skirmish game) will be in the late summer of 2011, and finally a techno gladiator game at theend of 2011. The last two are skirmish games that will have our own published rules and such so this is partly why they are taking their times to be produced. This way our game testors can get back to us so as to insure you the client has the most fun with the products we produce.

Well people this is it for me for 2010, expect a post early in 2011! Merry X-Mas and Happy New Year.

X-mas gifts from the heart, and your bits bin!!

2010-12-19T18:41:00.000-08:00

So a friend of mine out in Washington State who has helped me out with a lot of business lately said he needed a chaos sorcerer. So I dug into the bits box(of which is huge since I am bitzing stuff out and have tons of leftovers), and after a totaly of 75minutes over two nights this is what I came up with for him. He is going to paint it but I just thought it would be fun. I left some room at the top of the standard with the metal rods so he could add two more heads on them. He is a avid nightlords players and has won conquest northwest two years in a row now for overall. With that here's the pics enjoy:

Front shot, since I didn't have a Space marine missile hand on hand, I decided that he would be cuping his hand as a force type thing. Today I added a horned skull to it as I just felt it appropriate.

Using Bits from Dragonforge, and from the seekers of slaanesh I crafted the force staff. Being sorcerers make packs with daemons for their powers I felt the corrupt ness appropriate.

I just thought since he was a character that a standard was well deserved.

"Alas poor Urik, I knew him well"

Well I hope you all like him, as I feel he should be a fine xmas gift, and goes to show that with $3-$5 dollars worth of bits from my ebay store what you can accomplish.

http://stores.ebay.com/battleroadgamesandhobbies

You can find all of the afformentioned bits I used(except the dragonforge ones) at my ebay bits store later this month.

As usual C&C welcomed and keep painting.

Pre-Heresy Army up for sale

2010-12-17T16:20:00.000-08:00

Well it pains me but I am selling this army. I am not going to be able to get to it for a few years, and I will need reconstructive surgery on my ankles in the near future so I am selling it. It pains me to do so but it is what it is. Anyways here is the link, bid strong bid proudly and just bid.

Also if this auction get's over $1000.00 I intend to donate half of the proceds to charity!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220712670936&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Progress on the 6in grey knight!!

2010-12-15T08:42:00.000-08:00

Ok since my time is limited I am just copying what I wrote on coolmini and reposting to all of the other forums and blogs that I am apart of.:

Ok so I have been working on this believe it or not. Like I said this is somewhat slow going but being it is the first "big" progect I am not really wanting to mess up. As such I took some advice from JRN and redid some of the chest work, and advice on how to work on the detailing. This has actually helped me emmensly as it is making the progect easier to sculpt, and thus meaning their is less for me to cut away and redo.

Here you can see the arm as that is probably the only part of this model complete atm. I still have a lot of work to do on the gun but it is moving along. When the gun is complete their will be a handle bar under the palm, and a butterfly trigger by the thumb as this seems the most practical way they would be able to shot these(be mindfull fluff wise they only carry 20 rounds).

As you can see I am having to resculpt body parts that I cut away and as such I needed to do the connecting parts between the armor. This was suprisingly easier then I though, and I knocked that out while watching NCIS LA . As well as more work on the gun.

Finally I cut deeper into the chest because instead of the plaques I wanted to do the ingrained texting on the armor. Though it really says nothing I think it is far better then before. I may redo the book a bit on the chest, but I may wait till the end to see how it all matches up.

Well there you have it I am not fast with this like others so updates will be slow but I am suprisingly intrigued with this progect so I will actually finish it. For those of you btw wondering what happened to lord Nelson well... he decided to take a bath in Simple Green yesterday, and will be restarted soon. The face was just really annoying me so I had to start over. This time I will start with the face directly.

Proof that I have lost my mind!!

2010-12-09T17:49:00.000-08:00

So a while ago (over a year) I purchased one of the FW 6in space marine models. Well I knew I wanted to always enter him in GD some day, and I started to paint him. Suffice to say I didn't like how he was turning out so I threw him in a vat of simple green and left him unpainted for months. So about a month ago I talked with a many time over slayer sword winning friend of mine, and I was going to commission him to turn the model into a Custodes. Well I still may have him do that one day but as I said I have always wanted to put this model into GD. So I sat down and starting cutting and hacking and I had determined that I would make him a GK as I knew I could pull this off. Well he is a long way from complete but here are the initial pics, enjoy.

Here is a shot of the left arm. As I said still very WIP.

Closer shot of the chest. The square is where the book of litanies and the sword will be sculpted. I knew I couldn't dig deep enough to put the inscriptions in the armor, so I dug down a little, and placed plaques instead that read Holy, and Terra. While working on this I sit there and have Stargate on, and a pic of a GK on the Computer.

Finally here is a pic of a WIP 3rd legion librarian for the Emporers Children, and yes that's pre-heresy.

I am waiting on some cabling before I continue, but already he is shapping up nicely.

And don't worry I will continue work on Lord Nelson in a week or so as I was getting rather annoyed at myself with him and had to take a break. Well I hope you enjoy these wip. As usual keep painting.
-Alex

Update on Lord Nelson

2010-12-05T10:43:00.000-08:00

Ok so a small update on Lord Nelson for you all. I spent another 3 or so hours on him thus bringing him too 7 hours total of work, and as you can see nothing, and I mean nothing of him is done. I had a small misshap on his face, and may end up having to redo the whole thing. I don't mind but it is more of an annoyance at myself for not thinking as I work, and just living off in lala land. Anyways here he is and as usual C&C welcome. Just a fast note btw, if I like how he turns out I will be entering him at adepticons crystal paintbrush comp.

As usual Keep painting, and see you next time. BTW I will be doing a contest if we can hit 100 followers by 100 posts, and being this is post 70 I think we can do it. This blog is barely over a year old too.

Finally a WIP pic for you all of a Space Marine Librarian. He will be for the emporers children Pre-Heresy:

Black Scorpions Lord Nelson

2010-12-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

So a while ago I had the honor of picking up the third cast version of Black Scorpions lovely Lord Nelson (their title not mine, and yes I know he's and admiral). As such with adepticon looming I figured I would paint him for it so as such here are the very early pics of him as he is no where near complete.

Finally here is a pic of the nest Hannoverian SYW Reg't I will be doing. He is the test model for the 4-B (funny the first reg't I did was 4-A CONSPIRACY I TELL YOU!!!) so I hope you enjoy.

As usual Keep Painting people, and C&C always welcome. With that I wish you all seasons greetings.
-alex

To cool for words!!

2010-11-30T14:45:00.000-08:00

So a friend in Denmark made this for his kids, and I thought it was just to awsome not to post. For those curious he was also the sculptor of the little princess I made (btw update on that I hated the base so I threw it out to make a nice simple winter one). Anyways just wanted to post this pic so I hope you all enjoy:). Also check out his site : http://www.jrn-works.dk/ as he does own his own miniatures company and produces some cool stuff.

Runic Miniatures Little Princess Complete!!!

2010-11-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

So last night I decided to sit down for an hour and finish up the little princess. Though I am not entirely happy with my end result she still came out fairly well. I ended up redoing her hair 3 times asI was not happy with the result, and the veil twice. My initial plan was to have pink involved with the model but to say the least this did not happen because I was not happy with the initial base pink I laid down. All in all around 7-8 hours so she was fun to paint. I hope you all like her, as I have a touch more to do with the base but that is namely to add more snow. As always keep those brushes painting, and if you ever see something you like on here and are interested in purchasing almost all of my models are always up for sale. I am also free for the moment for commissions and you can contact me at alexanderakers at yahoo dot com.

To Ebay and beyond!!!

2010-11-26T12:04:00.000-08:00

That's right people. Since the holidays are upon us, which means my electric bill rises to ungoddly prices, I have decided to clear out the cabinet(so to speak) and sell some of the stuff cluttering up my shelves. So that means I am selling the Ogre Reg't I won my demon with, some romans from warlord games, and several of this years GD chaos sorcerers.
Ogres Link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220702308016&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Roman army link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220702310861&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Games Day Models links:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220702313451&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220702313725&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220702313886&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

So with that I say bid hard, bid often, and just plan old bid:)!

Also don't forget Battleroad Games and Hobbies is having our weekend blowout sale.

Battleroad Games and Hobbies Black Friday Sale!!!!!

2010-11-24T10:06:00.000-08:00

THAT'S RIGHT!!!!!!! My personal company is going to launch a Black Friday weekend sale. We will start on friday and go all the way through too monday with it. 20% off everything we sell (must phone in orders only as the web page is not fully prepared to take sales through it).
We will start each day opening the phone lines at 9am each day and stay open till 10pm EST so as to allow you the customers to have plenty of opportunity to do all of your shopping you need. All orders domestically will ship for $4.95 USD up to $50.00 USD. After that they ship for FREE, International costs are 10% of order up too $100.00 USD then they ship FREE . So checkout our website http://battleroadgames.com/, and give us a call this weekend so as to insure you get what you want for the holidays.

P.S Any orders placed during this time will be honored so if we run out, then no worries. We have a one business day turn around with our suppliers, and are able to get restocked quickly so asto not inconvience you the buyer.
-Alexander

Minden Hannoverians, and Gorgon Studios Etruscans!!!

2010-11-17T18:27:00.000-08:00

So I have been extremely busy as of late painting historicals from the SYW to Etruscans to Cowboys... OH MY!!!(don't forget Samurai soon too), and let me say I have had a blast. Very different then GW models and tons of fun. Well to kick off I am going to Adepticon this year, and the little wife will be playing in the WAB team tourney with me ( she's just thrilled:) ) so I need to knock out a 1000pts army for her for the event as I will be running samurai. Well this gave me a reason to purchase more of the Gorgon Studios Etruscans that I love ( WOOT WOOT) and finally sit down and start painting them. I decided to do the cavalry and one of the two phalanxes first. This way half of the force is complete. As such I learned a couple of things as I made some major newb mistakes while working on the cavalry but thanks to the models they still came out ok so I am not too upset. I plan on increasing to two cavalry units by 2012 though so I will have another go around at least:). Anyways here's those pics:

Here's a quick group shot as you see. I placed them on bases of two because I won't just be using these for WAB but for future fights against early romans.

Here's a side shot. I intended to use the transfer for the shields but to say the least they are not too easy to work with so I just left it as is for now. I may come back later if I have time.

Here's a shot of the multiple armor types they have. These models are great, and had I painted the horses first, they probably would have looked better but either way they were great casts, and fun to work with. I kept the horses simple... as well I hate painting horses what can I say.

Now onto the Mindens: if you look in my blog role you will see the Minden progect which is the baby progect of one Frank Hammond. He started this progect as a way to build excellent quality SYW models, and believe me he and his sculptor Richard Ansell delivered!!! Saddly Frank only takes on a limited number of clients as he doens't want to be in the industry again but I count myself fortunate that I get to be one of these exclusive people(thanks uncle Jim). Right now I am slowly working on the Hannoverian Brigade for the Battle of Fontenoy, but will add 2-3 more British brigades over the next year or two as well as a cavalry brigade. My plan is for a 2012 battle of fontenoy at the Seven Years War convention in South Bend. Anyways here's the pics so enjoy.

Quick group shot of the 30 strong reg't.

Command shot. I still need to add the tags to denot the Reg't on the back of the base and the officers weapon top as I replaced them with brass rods, but otherwise these are done. The flags came from Flag Dude.com and they are awsome. I fully recomend him if you don't have any as he knows his stuff, and the prices are great. Technically this was the second battalion I painted but the first did not stand up to my expectations so they went into the simple green to be stripped, and will be painted next.

Well that's it for now people. I hope you enjoy and as always C&C welcome no matter good or bad. As always Keep Painting and see you next time fellow bloggers.
-Alex

When lines are crossed!!

2010-11-16T15:20:00.000-08:00

So instead of posting pics of WIP or talking about some of the miniatures ranges I am producing for my company Battleroad games and Hobbies I thought I would talk about our hobby and crossing boundaries on models. Now what do I mean by this, well simply put when is a model just a model and when does it become to much graphically to the point where we are ashamed to even let our family members see it. I am bringing this up because today I has the distinct displeasure of seeing a model from the kingdom of death line that was called "the wet nurse" .

This model (I refuse to even post it on my blog so as to not demean myself) has countless boobs, a baby suckling from them, and a penis whip that protrudes from the anus to interact with the naked female models that come with it. Normally when it comes to nudity and our toys I look the other way as well... they are just models. I have seen some hardcore bondage models on coolminiornot that people have done, and all I see is the amazing work that the painters did on them. I don't see the nudity, or the fact of what it is but more see the artistic side of the model.

The owner of this company on a forum ( not to be named) even stated that it just took the eggs from the women and fertilized them which to me sounds more of rape. I posted privately on a part of the forum and stated that I felt the thread should be removed to which several people just made childish remarks about the boobs. Now personally I know their is a lot of grey area in our industry as so many people want many different things, but if a number of people state that they would be ashamed to show a model to their friends and family that is when I say that the model has gone to far and should be kept to the sellers site alone. I want to know what you think of this my viewers because I for one am just appauld at this point. If you think i'm so far to the right on this then tell me why you think so. if you can present a valid arguement against my opinon hey I have no problem correct myself, but please remember no foul language on my blog.

Runic Princess, and WAB road to adepticon

2010-11-15T07:07:00.000-08:00

Well normally I don't treat you blogger with constant WIP as I feel a couple quick shots and then the final is the way to go, but for kicks I figured why not since I am taking my time on this mini, and slowly working through it. So far I have only put in around 5-7 hours of work, and I intend to do a lot more with it.I will either put a moon or a star on the hat in the final step, and then I was thinking of maping out the big dipper on the back cloak. Either or I am having a lot of fun with this mini. I was thinking if I was a better sculpter I would creat a base of a candy mountain(visit chalie he loves it there, and if you don't know what I am talking about you tube candy mountain).

Here is a font shot of here, as the face took a while for me to work on. I took suggestions from the sculptor on how to go about painting her because I wanted to incorp pink into the model( shoot to be the pieces on the hat). Jakob suggested if I use pink then I should make the hair black so as to allow the colors to pop more. Not one to bat down ideas from a multi slayer sword winner, and origonal member of the eavy metal team with Mike McVey, I hopped right on it, and actually liked the results. I am still in distress about what to do with the orb on the end of the wand, but I am sure one of you fine subscribers can give me some solid insite.

Here is the customary back shot, as I feel these help give you a better feel for the model and how it flows. Now Jakob has stated that he is already begining sketches on a knight to go alongside this model, so I for one am very excited to see what he produces. Jakob Rune Nielson has also agreed to join the Battleroad Team as one of our contract design, and sculptors and will be working on a special progect that we hope to release by historicon of 2011. More snipits to come in the future, but I for one know that this special progect will get many of you excited out there.

Finally here is a fast pic of the Gorgon Studios Etruscan cavalry that I am painting for the wifes army for adepticon. She is being.... I mean she happily wants to play in the Warhammer Ancients Battle team tourney:)_, but doesn't have an army. I intend to bring out my Perry Miniatures Samurii army for the whole weekend that I will be painting in the upcomming months, but I need to knock out this 1000pts force just in case I don't find a team mate. If any of you are interested and play WAB and will be at adepticon let me know.

Yes the pic is not that great but I will post more on these later as I plan on finishing them up today. Well that's it people, and thanks as usual for reading my blog. My next contest btw will be a small holiday Give away, and also a really big one once we hit 100 followers so tell your friends, and as usual "Keep Painting".
-Alex

Runic miniatures Little princess... and two devil dogs:)!

2010-11-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well I though I would kick this off with some pics of a great miniature I have been working on lately. This model comes from the talented mind of Jakob Rune Neilson http://www.runicminiatures.dk/index.php. Let me say that this is actually one top notch model that he origonally created with inspiration from his daughter. I am having a blast with this mini, and already have a second one that I will be doing ... more of a ... darker purpose with. The second will be demonic:). Well without adu here's the pics.

Here is a front view I took while sitting at the computer desk.

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Here is a pic of the frog familiar she is holding. Now normally I hate familiars as well I suck at them, but this one was fun, and wasy to do. Also I am not fully done with it but I worked namely on it while watching ghost hunters halloween live episode(Ghost adventures is better but another topic for another time).

]

just another front pic.

A pic of the cape. Now I am by no means done with this model, and only have 3 hours sunk into it, but I think it is comming along smashingly.

Finally I though I would post a quick pick from this halloween as it is my favorite holiday of the year!!!!!

Here's the devil dogs all dressed up, and ready to hand out candy. Last year the Min Pin (peanut) was Heffner the playboy pimp! Saddly we were all a little upset because we only had 7 trickor treaters, now this painter has 4 bags of candy and is getting tired of eating it(except the butterfingers.. yum). Well their it is people. I hope you enjoy this, and I will be posting more pics of her while I work/ finish this one up.

Also I will be attending adepticon with the wife, and playing just warhammer historicals that weekend and doing classes, so if you see us say howdy.

Finally Battleroadgames.com is almost live!!!! We have finished most of the site, and the web designer is busy uploading and setting up the store so once that goes live let the shopping begin!! As usual keep painting and see you next time, and thanks for reading.

$10,000 cash prize at adepticon this year!!

2010-10-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

Now normally I don't post links but I honestly couldn't even believe this when I saw it. You read my title right, and no this does not seem to be a joke, fraud, catch ANYTHING!!!!! http://theminiaturespage.com/news/81205/ Just read it people because I am in shock.

A sneak preview of battleroad miniatures

2010-10-10T07:10:00.000-07:00

So for those of you who don't know my uncle and I decided to go into the miniatures line together. This first prduct line, of two comming out this year, will focus on the American War of Independance as is only fitting being that the name "the battle road" is here in Mass where the revolution began. As such we are starting the line with British light infantry and Colonial Militia. This is to allow people to use these with current skirmish rules out there. By the time these models are just hitting the market we will be starting on the next set of 16 or so models focusing on the line units for both countries. This line will end up becoming a full out product line with upwards of a 100+ models or so in the long run, and will range the full spectrum of the AWI. These figures will also be sold at a very nice rate(we are looking at around 30 for $32 bucks, thats just plain unheard of nowadays). So with that I leave you all with these few pics of only some of these great models by famous sculptor Richard Ansell(check out his website here http://homepage.ntlworld.com/woodwose/ ). Enjoy, and let us know what you think. These are still WIP but almost done.

I hope you enjoy and stay tuned as Battleroad Games and Hobbies begins to launch off as a company.

Isable from studio Mcvey

2010-09-28T13:19:00.001-07:00

So namely I am just practicing stuff trying to improve(I still have so far to go in my painting abilities but at least I am on the right track), and so as such I though I would do Studio Mcvey's isable. Now namely this was just an excuse to practice with the new camera and light box, and yet again I still have so much to learn. Anyways as always C&C welcome as long as it's constructive.

ATM I am working on a reg't of 30 Minden Hannoverians for the Seven years War. Now I love these models through and through and let me say the detail is by no means lost on them. The upside cool models, the downside TONS of detail. I am about 75% through on them and will post once complete. I stripped my first battalion I painted of them as well my paint job sucked horribly but thats fine with me. They are next up to get repainted next month.

Also I wanted to take this time to show you all the New Logo for Battleroads Games and Hobbies. This was turned in 2 hours before the end of the compatition and the team and I utterly loved it. The shirts have already been ordered for the employees and I am happy to say I will have a deal where you the client can buy one(polo style) with your own name to it if you wanted.

And finally I thought I would show you all the true dedicated workers of Battleroad Games and Hobbies. Without these two individuals the company would not exist:

The black one is my Miniature Pinscher Peanut, and the tan one is my Chihuahuah Pendragon. Soon to join will be the final edition to the family a full size doberman female that the wife wants to name rose or something like that. Well to you all I say keep painting and i look forward to hearing your C&C.
-alex

Pleased to announce!!

2010-09-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

Alrighty one and all, I am writing today because with all of the paperwork done and materials ordered I am now able to officially say I am the proud owner and founder of Battleroad Games and Hobbies LLC. Recently as most of you know I was laid off from my job working for the Dept. of the Army. Well I was recently hired and have a new IT job as well as founded this soon to be online gaming supply store. We will pride our business on excellent customer service and fast shipping.

Everything will be below MSRP and I am proud to say we will be one of a select few for distributors of new companies comming out of Europe. Be sure to stay abreast of Battleroad Games and Hobbies as we will be launching our own product lines as well for miniature soldiers(historical) and should be fully operational by mid October if all goes semi well(sooner if flawless but I'm a realist). Thank you again and I look forward to putting out more great news such as this.

A Day to Remember.

2010-09-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

I remember growing up and finding a extremely old paper in my grandparents basement. My Grandmother had said that it was the paper from the day of what once was the greatest disaster in American History. That was until September 11th 2001. She had always said she remembers exactly where she was and what she was doing when she found out that the Japaniese had attacked Pearl Harbor and would never forget it. To this day she hasn't and she is pushing 89.

I was in basic training never expecting that I would be drawn into a war were I would actually use what I was learning. I remember one of the other trainies lucky and him in tears as his father worked at the world trade center. Luckily enough his dad was on a business trip that day but it took him over 3 days to find that out.

Days such as these will go down in the annals of our history and it is said because it is not for some great invention or some beautiful peace of art, it is for death. I was an Infantry soldier and I have seen war. I saw the true ugly side of human nature and I lost friends because of it. I choose this day to remember them and those who passed. I remember those people and pray for them that were on the airplanes that crashed into New York, Washington D.C, and of coarse in a field in Penn. I ask that all of you take a moment to remember them and their sacrifices.

I have been called a hero and even nominated for medals for my actions, but I am no hero. To me those that died truely are, and with that I ask please do not take this day as a holiday, or a day to burn other religions words of god. Take it as a solom day to remember 5000+ heros. Thank you and god bless.
-alex

Pre-Heresy and Romans.. oh My!!!

2010-09-07T19:31:00.001-07:00

Well I have been rather busy since Games Day. I have started on Studio Mcveys Isable and trust me have found his work to be truely a challenge(but fun). She is not even ten percent into completion but hopefully when she is done I will have picked up a few new things for my painting.

Onto the Title of this weeks blog. First off I would like to start with a quick WIP shot of my Warlord Games Roman army. Now this is just one model I am photographing but I love the models all the same so I grabbed one at random. Now this is not even 50% done, but it is a fast paint either or. I am basing the colors around the Brutii Family for this cohort and will do two cohorts of 18 models each to a legion. Now I only use the veteran models as they have the ture feel of a roman army on campaign for me, and thats what I am shooting for. With that Igive you the glimpse of the model in question C&C welcome no matter good or bad.

Now for those of you who don't know I am a HUGE emporers children fan, and with the Horus Heresy novels out I had to have an army of Pre-Heresy Marines. Now in late of 2009 I contracted friend and model master Dave taylor to build me this wonderful army and believe me he certainly deliverd. Though not cheap the army was well worth it and I will most certainly cherish it for years to come. Now I am slowly painting these as I am in no hurry and am having fun. A few minutes here and a few there equal a squad over a week or two. Now be mindfull these are table top but they most certainly took some time to paint and I am rather pleased with the turnout. Anyways onto the pics.

Well thats all for now and with that I wish you all Happy paintings.

P.S: All commissions are now finished and I am open to recieving New ones as of tonight. Email with your intrests at alexanderakers at yahoo dot come.

Pro Painted vs Seriously?

2010-08-30T19:24:00.000-07:00

Ok so I figured I would talk about something that has been on my mind lately. As usual I have been looking through forums and ebay and all sorts of places at minis as well, that's my hobby! I have come to the point were I really begin to wonder what the hell people are thinking when they post a "Pro Painted" model and charge an arm and a leg for it.

Now to many a true "pro" is a painting master or someone who has won demons, and other painting trophies of note, but for some reason people who have no actual talent claim to be pro's. Now I know a dictionary discribes professional as someone who makes a living off something, and yes their may be some "professional"painters out there that are actually good, but many don't seem to know a brush from a stick, and charge more when they obviously have no actual control in their paiting. I for one do not sugar coat things for people especially on forums. If I think your painting sucks I will tell you why and make suggestions on possible ways to improve. Now to my inspirations I am no where near their calibar, but I hope one day to be. Anyways I leave you with these pics as some of you have requested them. Some are of my Ogres that won me a my first demon some are the phoenix guard that dave taylor built for me. Keep painting people and let me know what you think of what I have posted as I love you critiques good or bad!

A pic of my favorite one of the lot. I threw out the display at games day as I thought it sucked :).

Group shot!

Side shot of the favorite!

I took a better pic of the Sorcerer as asked.

One day the primarch will join his retinue... not sure when. Missing is the banner carrier as he is not finished. These are of coarse table top quality.

Finally a single shot of fulgrims Elite.

Well that's it for this post people, thanks for checking out the blog and I promise next week to have some cool pieces up for you. I just finished building(and fixing) isable from Mcvey studios!

Games Day Baltimore '10 and a bronze win!

2010-08-23T18:18:00.000-07:00

Well I want to start off saying sorry for the lack of posts as well I have been utterly busy painting for games day, and all the hard work paid off. With my first demon EVER!!!! I took bronze in the warhammer fantasy reg't category with my Iron Gut Ogres. Now I love ogres no real idea why but I had a ton of fun doing these models. For those of you wanting to see them here is a link to the stuff of legends site.
http://www.sodemons.com/gd210us/06-whregiment/index.htm

I will get some pics this week of my guys with the demon, but as we know.. my pics suck. Until then I wish you all a found adu and grats to all of the other participants in demon and my gamming mates from "The Knights of the Basement", and fellow Darkwald members for being there. They really made this year the best games day I have ever been too and I am rather excited now for next years.

Finally a real Update!!!

2010-07-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

Alrighty well it has been a crazy few weeks to say the least. Lost the job, my car decided to die on me.. and tons of other stuff but thats ok because when it rains it poors, but after the rain is a beautifull day. Now with all of that said I have been extremely busy as of late. I have been working on a south african boer war commission(pics later this week) as well as my fantasy army and 40k pre-heresy army (built by davetaylor. To say the least add in my romans have arrived from warlord, and I have a brigade(over 200) of seven years war hannoverians to do soon so busy bench... But without further adu here are some pics. Please remember I suck at photography but I hope to improve so any tips welcome on it.

First off is my space marine pre-heresy librarian. Now I run my pre-emp children as slaanesh chaos space marines(as any devot follower would) so he is actually a sorcerer( killed vulkan he'stan without even batting an eyelash).

Now this fella was a blast to paint. He is of course my Slaanesh lord on steed for my WHFB army. I did not like the eyes or the fins but overall it was fun and he is much better in person then on camera.

Now these guys aren't adeptus custodes(someday I hope though), they are fulgrims finest and personal body... thats right the pheonix gaurds themselves take to the field for me. I run them as chosen. Still very WIP but hey why not.

Finally I leave you all with pics of my re-organized my paint desk and cleared out my old paints that had dried out(over 50), as well as since some people were emailing me and a few wondered what I look like heres a pic of yours truely in front of a mobile satellite terminal I work with. So with that I say to you all keep painting, and a fast shout out to Chris Borer who just launched his own personal website http://www.fullborerminiatures.com/ . Let me say his work is amazing and for those of you who don't know who he is CRAWL OUT OF THE ROCK YOU ARE UNDER!!!

Greetings

2010-07-01T06:33:00.000-07:00

Greetings one and all I am dropping this post so you all know I am alive and kicking. This past week since getting back from annual trainging has bee a tough one. Due to budget cuts in the Gov't I have been laid off. As such I was not willing to rish starting my own company at this time as I needed to make sure that money went to keeping my family afloat for the next few months. So with that said I am now accepting even MORE commissions. Here are my baseline prices people their is no negoitiation on these so please don't attempt to stiff me.

regular 25/28mm model $10.00(2 coats of paint)$15.00(3 layers very smooth) and show quality ranges from $20.00-$300(depending on what you are looking for).
Horse models add $2.50 to each price.

Vehicles for 28mm and such start at $20.00(plus $5.00 if I have to build it) $40.00(some freehand in use), and anywhere from $60.00-$300.00.

15mm is $2.50 flat rate for troops cavalry what have you with $10.00 per vehicle.

I also charge $1.50 per base if you want me to base your models. REpeat customers get discounts(since well they are repeats). If you are interested or know anyone who is please email me at alexanderakers at yahoo dot com.

Soon I will return!!

2010-06-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

Well my time here at annual training is nearing a close, and I for one am extremely excited as that means a lot of things will be happening soon for me. In July myself and my business partner Lenny C. will be founding our own gaming company called Battle Road Hobbies. It will be started with the launch of our own product line of American Revolutionary 28mm figs. We are "EXTREMELY" excited for this to say the very least and it will be followed in upcomming months with a full fledge store of 20-25% off on everything(MSRP) year round. Thats right you the client will get some killer deals on your favorite hobby supplies. Now this isn't the only thing I have got going on ,as I stated, in July it will be a very busy month. I also have 13 time Multi Demon winner Mathieu Fontaine(arkansath on my bloogroll) comming down to teach a intense two day workshop of golden demon style painting. Now we only have 9 spots remaining so strike while the iron is hot on these people($110.00 a ticket).

What is included is the warhammer Ogre you will be working on as well as 3 YES 3 catered meals, and 3 top end brushes per person. That my friends is a lot of loot as well as 22 hours over two days with one of the best painters of our time. I for one am utterly excited, and btw if you want Mathieu to come to your area to give a class email him (all the info is on his blog) as he is more then happy. Well I am off to tend to my physical soldiers as their is a lot of post work to be done and being their SGT. is a never ending duty. Until next week people.

Off for three weeks!

2010-06-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well I am off for the next three weeks having a lovely paid working vacation for the National Gaurd here in mass. If you can't tell sarcastict is the word of the day it would seem. What to expect when I get back is pics of several progects going on. Yes I do have an announcement after almost 15 years I will be quiting 40k for most likely good as I focus on my historicals and my warhammer fantasy more. I will be auctioning off most of my 40k stuff on ebay when I get back and rolling all of that money into my gamming webstore that will be opening later this year for all of your purchasing needs. That said I will be posting links but their will be a few mega armies and pieces you all won't want to miss out on. So with that I bid you all happy painting and a found adu. See you in 3 weeks.

And the winners are....

2010-06-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

toon in next week as this week I am bringing to you another episode of terrance and phillip...

JK bad humor I know:
Gold: Jason Buyaki
Silver: Lenny Caira
Bronze: Mistress Of minis

I will try and get some pics out this week as I am posting this from work, but could the winners please send me an email at the address with what they desire as their winings.

Now I wanted to shoot a plug out to this great charity fund raiser that a bunch of fellow bloggers are producing. They will paint a outstanding army of spacemarines that you can win all for a buck. Yep thats rights by donating a dollar you are entered to win, and for every dollar more you get another shot at winning. I know I will be putting in money every paycheck(as I already have) since I love the charity they are working for " Doctors without Boarders", and am a strong supporter of charity. If anyone of you have one you are interested in raising money for let me know as I have no problem painting models to be sold off. Without adu heres the link to dave taylors blog with a description.
http://davetaylorminiatures.blogspot.com/2010/06/great-storm-wardens-collaborative-army.html#comments

Finally the next contest will be hopefully soon as I will be giving out $50.00 in dragonforge bases, and in case you were wondering that will be once we hit 50 followers, and I entend to do even more at 100 followers. So thank you all for entering and keep painting as I can't wait to see what you all produce.

Final hours for entries

2010-05-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

Thats right people we only have 2 hours and 20 minutes remaining to get in your entries for the May blog painting competition. Send them too me at alexanderakers at yahoo dot com before midnight eastern standard time.

May contest almost at a close

2010-05-27T18:38:00.001-07:00

Thats right people the may contest is almost at a close with the final weekend comming up. I have been understatably busy but I know so have you all, so I apologise for the lack of posts this month and such. Next month I saddly will be away for annual training with my National Gaurd Unit for three weeks. This means little posting and saddly no painting:( BUT have no fear I will have a BIG post in this next week of all of my progects going on atm.

Review WEDS!! TrollForged Minis & Mcvey studios

2010-05-12T06:07:00.000-07:00

Good mourning one and all it is that time once again for product review weds. This week I am looking at two smaller companies one based across the pond and the other here in the states itself. So without further adu lets kick it off with:

TrollForged Miniatures: http://trollforged.com/

This company is owned by a very pleasant fella named Ed(hive trygon on his forums). Let me start off by saying that trollforged is based around selling the sculpts of many aspiring miniature sculptors. His company beliefs are based around helping guys bring their products to our attention and in doing so he has a damn good deal with them. For every model of theirs he selling they get 50% of the costs. Now as it stands I am going to give his company a 4/5 stars and heres why.

His shipping is top notch and is by in large one of the fastest and best packed I have ever dealt with. His customer service is beyond perfect as he responds that day via email answering any question you may have as a buyer. Their products are improving at an exponential rate keeping this reviews wallet empty as he tries to keep up. The only downside and this is being worked on is lack of product line connections. At first the sculptors did as they wanted and it resulted in some geat one offs for minis. Now though they are working together and producing some amazing lines of minis. Also several of them are working on their own playsystem to go along with their models and I must say it is fun, fast paced and rather exciting. All and all this is a company on the rise and I for one look forward at seeing how they are in a year.

Studio Mcvey: http://www.studiomcvey.com/

Studio Mcvey is the brainchild of multidemon winner Mike Mcvey and his Wife. They are both understatably outstanding painters who decided to form a small company out of their passion. Doing a lot of one off models that are drop dead gorgous and filled with details these two have really set a trend in the way resin should be done. These models came flawless on mold lines and were understatably cheap. Comming in around 15.00-30.00 buck u.s for shipping these models are 30mm and untterly gorgous. Even more so every model comes with a certificate showing the number on its mold as Mike won't do more than 1000 of each. This in turns forces people to strike while the iron is hot as I am sure these go quickly.

Now I am giving Mike 4 1/2 stars and heres why. He is great on responding to emails and very pleasant to speak with on any concerns a person may have. He ships very quickly and for a pacakge across the pond it took me less then two weeks from the time I ordered to the time I recieved and trust me that is pretty fast when going internationally. My only gripe and a small one as you know this going into your purchase is these are just one offs but are sooo much fun to paint and thats why I only gave him half a star off for that. With great competative pricing I am sure he has no problems in sales. Overall great company and I recomend you visting it any chance you get if even just to look at the models.

Product Reviews!!

2010-05-05T16:13:00.000-07:00

Now it seems that I am geting trolled here on my own blog which I would guess is a good thing because that means people took time out of their lives to read my reviews MAZALTOV!!! Now I know some companies may not like the reviews and may claim false allegations on me and that is fine. The point of the reviews is to put an unbiased idea out there about the companys by and large. Most companies will not be childish and post and DAKKA DAKKA about me but hey if they do thats fine, because all they are doing is drawing more people to the blog and reinforcing the point. People only get upset when the truth is presented to them I learned that day one of college psych! If you don't like the reviews then fix the problems and shoot me and email and I will test your company again except it will be a blind testing with one of my friends doing the ordering. If I find the company has fixed itself then I will publicly print a retraction. Now in the case of Chapterhouse they got upset and thats fine. I make no attempts to conceal myself nor will I ever. Nick like I said you have cool product just your overall customer service is bad. Wargames Factory didn't get upset at me for my posts, and believe theirs wasn't so hot either, but it is the truth. I understand some of you may not like what I have to say and thats fine, but all I am doing with these is showing my side of these companies in a review. So far we have looked at and to recap:
-Warlord Games 4/5 stars
-Wargames Factory 2/5 Stars
-Gorgon Studios 4/5 stars
-Chapterhouse studios 1/5 stars

If in the end you get heated over one person typing a review then maybe you shouldn't be in business. As of this moment though if I feel you are attempting to troll the blog I will delete your posts, and for those of you who do enjoy this blog I am truely sorry for this and promise that it will never arise again.
-alex

Prouct Review Weds: Gorgon and Chapterhouse Studios

2010-05-04T18:24:00.001-07:00

So I have decided that every week I will revies one to two companies that either sells product just as a retailer or produces their own mini lines. This will become and annual thing and people all of the companies I review I order from. I do this to provide to you my readers an unbiased view and maybe help direct you to some good purchases OR help you avoid bad ones.

To kick off we will start with Gorgon Studios. Recently I ordered from them and though I only dropped 40 bucks I was extremely happy with my purchases. To start off I think their sculptor Steve Saleh is just tops and I am a HUGE fan of his hands down. Some of you may have seen his work on gripping beast or any other countless places as he does a lot for all of the major companies out there. I decided to order some of Gorgon sexy Early Estruscans. For those of you not too in the knowledge of history the early etruscans where the inhabitants of italy in the early years of the latin confederation which would in turn become ROME!!!
Now their models are equisit, and I have to say their pacakging and shipping policies should be adopted by everyone out there as they were communitative all the way through and even sent me some extras(wink thanks Hank). their main painter is 9 time demon winner Dave Pauwles(sorry if I misspelled your last name) and let me just say he does these models true justice. Now I wouldn't be honest if I didn't point out their short commings so I would say their are two major ones but one of which will be remidied in time.
The first is their lack in playable lines. Yes these models can be matched up with other companies for historical games but let me just say us historical gamers don't like to mix and match. We like everything to be the same and consistant across the battlefield. Now these guys are pumping out models on the fast side so I think being this is their first year they are doing pretty damn well. With several AMAZING one offs and solid core units for a possible 3 different lines I say this company is on the rise.
the second shortfall is the price sad to say. Coming in just over an average $2.00 a fig these guys don't play around. You are getting a quality product and yes I know costs are up for everyone now adays but I think if they drop it by a quater a fig then they will increase sales Exponentially. Now I have created a points system that ranges out of 5. I judge shipping, costs overall, communication, and well how overall I think they are and if I would buy from them again. Comming in at a 4 pt 0 this company is HAWT!! I feel their flaws with lack of fully playable lines will be fixed very soon but the price is what hit me the hardest. As such I just dropped a star for the price and nothing for the playability. All in all I highly recommend these guys for anyone interested in ancients of just quality models.

Chapterhouse Studios: Well I have one good thing to say about these guys, and that is the fact they have some cool new products hiting the shelfs. Their customer service is horrible and their shipping takes over a month(and they are stateside). When I contacted their owner he told me I would get the stuff within two weeks.. that was 5 weeks ago. I then made a second purchase just to see if this was a pre-order fluke and that was 3 weeks ago and no product... For something they even claimed to have in stock. As such I plan to never waste money again with these guys and after a easy write up I give them 1 star. This is overly generous of me as well Nick is distastefully rude, takes him time to email you back, shipping is slower then me walking to china, and in the end the price is not worht all of this hassle. Once more they only make products that fit to GW stuff so sooner or later the famous GW IP fairy will shut them down. So in my opinon this company goeson my DO NOT SHOP AT LIST!!!!!

Well I hoped you all enjoyed the reviews and if you know of a company you want me to check out then shoot me an email at alexanderakers at yahoo dot com.

Solomon Demeter and FW!!

2010-04-29T15:42:00.000-07:00

So a little work here and there and Demeter is pretty much complete in being built. I plan on using the Spacemarine commanders breather backonce it arrives in the mail, and will create a banner for it. Base wise I am not fully sure atm what I will do but most likely something with the Laer in Mind.

After speaking with multi-demon winner Mathieu Fontaine I drew upon his criticism about the hands, the rivets, and the sword. I created a semi gaurd around the upper hand since this is supposed to be a finely crafted weapon, and fixed the rivets on the shoulders to much smaller ones.

As for the FW Space marine I have gotten a little work on him but I would say he is barely 10% done. Here are a few pics though to wet the whistle on him.

By the time he's complete I believe a safe estime would be between one-two hundred man hours just in painting him alone....You don't want to know how long it took just to clean him trust me he was in baddddddd shape.

May blog Contest!!! Winners from april announced in the last post!!

2010-04-27T18:26:00.001-07:00

Alright so here are the rule, and they are very simple. Since May is my bday month, and a great kick off to summer I decided that I will do a contest(I just love handing out prizes).
Rules:
1.) Be a follower of the blog
2.) You must send a pic of the model unpainted and has a time stmap on the picture. This way you prove you are starting with a clean unpainted model.
3.) You must send at least 1 wip pic and as many final pics as you so desire.
4.) The model must have a summer theme!!!!!!!!!
5.) Models pics must be sent to the corresponding email address I post by May 31st 11:59 pm!!!
6.) You may pick any model,squad,vehicle of any range/ company as long as you paint it in summer theme.
7.) You are only allowed ONE entry!!!!
8.) I will be the final judge!!

Now what do you get as prizes you ask well my biggest give away yet people!!!!!! 1st place will recieve $100.00 to either thewarstore.com or Dragonforge.com. 2nd place will get $50.00 to either of those two, and 3rd will recieve $25.00. The best part is thewinners get to pick which of those two!!!!!!!! I will even do battlefoam is one of the winners really want, and I will cover the shipping so all that product in your pocket!! So pick up those brushes, and follow my blog because Ican't wait to see what you all do!!!!

alexanderakers@yahoo.com

And the winners are!!!!

2010-04-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

Jeff Hall, and Scherdy You both win $30.00 each of dragon forge, and remember it's technically $35.00 so go on Jeff's site, send me an email at alexanderakers@yahoo.com for what you are interested in(codes preferably) and I will order it for you. Also please send me your mailing address as that kinda helps:). Now I chose jeff because I utterly loved his idea, and though I may or may not do it for demon I have to do it for my pre-heresy army that dave taylor built. Scherdy was choosen by me rolling a die and seeing what number it landed on. Oddly it rolled one twice and the one was jeffs post...hrmm thats force is strong in that one. NOW all of that said I decided to make a competition for may that I will announce now. A painting contest in summer theme!!!! The winner will get... $100.00 to either Dragon forge, OR the warstore their choice. The two runners up will get $50.00 for 2nd and $25.00 for third. This is one entry per person and it can be any category or any company line just in a summer theme, and you have to send the pics of the reciept showing you bought it may first or later, as well as the wip.!!!

Ok change of plans

2010-04-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

Ok so since no one has really sent me anything yet on a company name/logo I can going to stir the pot a bit. New rules, if you do send me something and I like it by the first you will get something special. Now those who post a comment to this blog post will be entered into the hat. Here is what I am looking for ideas for golden demon on what you would like me to do. On the first I will pick two names who will each win $30.00 of dragonforge product. JUST FOR POSTING!! OO and you still have to be a follower people.

Last post for a week!!

2010-04-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

Ok so I am flying to Arkansas this weekend for a week for work. Saddly this means no models(but I do have the thousand sons book to occupy my time) so I figured I would post a few pics of one of my other entries I am still building. This fella is still WIP as well but since I love the Emporers Children I decided to convert and paint up Solomon Demeter the 2nd Company capt for the Emp Children pre-heresy. Enjoy!

WIP for demon 2010

2010-04-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

ok so some fast pics of one of my wip for demon this year:

Further explanation on blog contest!!

2010-04-14T17:15:00.000-07:00

Ok to many people are over thinking this so I am going to say this as simply as possible. I am just looking for an idea for a gamming company name and a design. You do not need to be a graphic artist, or a professional painter just come up with a drawing email it to me, and have a name attached to it. If I like it I will give you $50.00 of dragonforge product of your choosing. Now their is a secondary prize for just being on the blog. The winner has to be a follower and will be given...wait for it... $25.00 of their choosing. I thought this would be a really simple way to hand out some cool swag, but it seems some people are thinking to in depth. Thats cool, and thank you for it but I just want to know what do you think a cool name for a gamming company is that is not taken. Also what is a cool design, you can come up with it and I may modify it a little or not at all but draw something, makes a jpeg doesn't matter just have FUN!!!

Blog contest!!!!!!

2010-04-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

Alrighty one and all. I have said in the past I will be doing more of these so here it is. This time around I will be doing a very simple contest. What I am looking is all of you followers you get the chance to win $50.00 in Dragon Forge products, and a second place prize of $25.00 that I will purchase for you of your choosing. I am in the process of reforging my old gamming company and turning into a web based corp. ATM I am working with sculptors to produce my line of minis that will be attached to the company, and am looking for ideas on names and a symbol for the store. I have had trouble creating a name for my company and am branching out to you all. As said I am also looking for designs for the company itself as our emblem. Heres how the rules go:

1.) As usual Be a follower of my blog!!!
2.)I the design must not infringe on any IP rights for other said companies.
3.) Must not be a name of any company currently out there on the web, and can't infringe on their IP rights.
4.) All designs must be emailed to me no later then May 1st at 12:01 AM.
5.) Be inventive people I am looking for something catchy!

Email entries to alexanderakers@yahoo.com . Let the ideas flow people!!

Wargames Factory vs Warlord Games!!!!

2010-04-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

So recently I started painting my celts which will be my germanics in an upcomming campaign a close friend of mine and I are doing together. We will be squaring off with him and his imperial romans vs my germanic tribes. Now I must profess it has been some time since I painted historical armies, and it is much more different then painting SCI-FI. As such the first warband is table top as the whole army will be but it is below my personal table top standards. So after pondering it I went downstairs (ahhhh my oo so cool basement not hot ahhh) and looked at some free sprues of warlord games celts that I snagged and compaired the two. Here is my observations of both companies:

Wargames Factory: lots of models, great price, and look great...until you put paint to brush at which point you notice all the flaws. The models are as many have complained way to open handed. This is a big deterance as the hands lack in major definition so painting fingers and thus the weapon makes the models look well tacky. The hands are clunky and rather cheap and after talking with a good friend who knows the sculptor I found out why. The sculptor uses the digital machine, now normally a good graphic artist can produce a wonderful sculpt highly detailed, and down right amazing. This guy has not and continues to produce junk. The models themselves have large indentation gaps between body parts and this is after extensive cleaning of them. All in all out of a 5 star I would give them a 2 as the heads are horrible the body parts are missportioned and all in all you are getting what you are paying for.

Warlord Games: Now I sat there extensively going over the models and looked at my friends which were put together, some painted some not. I have to say the models are well detailed and even maybe a little too detailed in parts(some of which can be derived from these former GW employees), but they are all in all great sculpts. Well detailed faces which paint up amazing, good solid definition in the body parts, and all in all a greater model in comparison to wargames factory. They do not use open hands and though I understand why some companies do to have interchangability it is by and large a bad idea. With clear cut sculpts that are less in pieces then warlord games and because of the flow of the model I give Warlord Games a 4 out of 5. The reason being that though they produce a quality model the shipping+price even if you can get it from the warstore is still a little on the high end, and the sprues don't have to much enterchangability unlike Wargames factory. If they were to add one or two more different poses with the legs and chest then they would most definately have a 5 out of 5.

Well their you have it people, if you are looking at these two companies take it from me. Go with warlord games!

Winds of change!!!

2010-04-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

So with just over a month out I have been exceptionally busy pulling together the final details for the boston brawl next month in May. Thankfully I now have a great team surrounding me, not that I didn't before but now we have more so less work spread out, and we are charging full bore ahead. Life is however throwing a few monkey wrenches at me in the terms of my home and stuff and getting some new wiring done and central air installed but hey that all works out for me.

I have been hinting to some that soon I will be pushing my personal company forward into a new genre. I will be working with sculptors to create a line of minatures that will be for sale. I will not yet tell you all but for a hint I will say it is historical and I am hopeing to launch the line with 10 sculpts to start so it will take a few months. I am confident though that once we are pressing the molds that these will sell as I have been talking a lot to people at conventions and found out what time line though would most like to see. With that said I bid you all good night, and good Dice!

Back from adepticon

2010-03-29T15:24:00.001-07:00

Well I apologize for not posting these last night as I caught an earlier flight out of my old home town chicago due to being extremely sick. Suffice to say I even left work early today as I couldn't get my temp below 100degrees so ya fun times right:) Anywho was a great event, and loved running into old friends and chatting them up. Joe Orteza introduced me to some great individuals who I count myself lucky to get to pick their brains apart. The premier class off the weekend though was Mr. Matteui Fontaines and let me just say he made it worth going alone. Here is a great guy, and a rather funny french canadian, who was an amazing teacher. Now my class with the Wappels was fun too hands down, but I have decided if I can go next year(possible afghanistan deployment looming over head atm) then I will only do seminars and some historicals.

Now quick shout out to my mates Jason, Dave, and Joe was a blast and hope to see you guys at baltimore. Now on a sadder news I am cutting back my commissions from now on and will only take on 3 clients a year. Now with this I am doing this to concentrate more on getting their progects done respectfully and forth with, also I am trying to advance myself and you may see some minis comming up for sale shortly under the guise of my company Rogue Valley Minis. As a hint ACW, now if your on my list on clients right now I.E Jim then have no fear perminate spots are open, but here next month I will be taking on one more client for the years as I have another already lined up. Onto the pics.

Wedding over and onto adepticon

2010-03-22T17:05:00.000-07:00

Well with my wedding over I am now cranking towards adepticon. This week will be light on posts but expect a TON next week people. Just to share a fast pic of my new wife and I having our final dance of the evening.

Criticism vs advice

2010-03-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

So recently I was perusing some forums while waiting for data to upload at work,and I noticed some talk about a amature company I really like. Now this company is all about giving new sculptors a break and I for one say cheers to that and as such they have produced some really solid stuff. some realy crappy stuff too but lets be honest even GW has produced some horrible minis(more then people will admit too). Now I mossyed my way over to warseer and read up some threads there and noticed some chatting about this company I so love and read the forum threads post for post and let me just say wow!

Several individuals were just bashing and saying they were offering criticsm and advice, but no were did they say what they would like to see or how to achieve the constant "advice" of "more detail". This was their "advice" in their posts and had nothing to the effect of hey maybe add a holster or a couple of straps across the back in an X shape as this will do this effect. Nope instead was "you suck, they suck, and MORE DETAIL".

Now when do "advice" cross the threshold and become pure negative critcism? Now I admit too I have said some mean things at times to painters,as we all have, but I tell them what I don't like and why. I don't just leave it as "you suck now improve" as this no matter how tick your skin is will hurt your feelings. I was a grunt in the Active Infantry for almost 5 years and am still in the military(computer now though), and if you just kept saying over and over that I suck but not give any actual criticism well I would probably pop you one in the eye. I hate to say that as I am relatively a non-violent person anymore in my life, but that just "grinds my gears(here's to you peter griffon)". So I want everyone to think because it seems negativity is streaming more so into our hobby and people are removing the fun and social side of it and replacing it with the holier then thou belief.

Now I feel if you don't know something then learn it don't complain to others so I ordered myself some dollies from reaper, some brown,grey, and green stuff and some clay shappers, and away I go.

Adepticon entry and trollforged models... OH MY!!!

2010-03-05T18:51:00.000-08:00

So fast post here is my historical entry for adepticons rogue demon. I am horrible with photography so if you are at adepticon come see it as the photographs don't do the model any justice. Secondly is a troll forge Big mutant that I am doing cause well I love their site and great models for show. This is just a fast update as I have to pack for a drill weekend with the Gaurd...Cheers!

Saying Thank you for tournies!

2010-03-05T09:06:00.000-08:00

Well time is fast appraoching for two mondo events for me this month and I am extremely excited for both. I have my wedding as well as adepticon one weekend after the other. I am not going on a honeymoon this year as I bought a house instead(and I like being able to pay my mortgage), but I did however start a new job that pays better so this will relate into my hobby fund nicely. I wanted to chat for a minute though on tournements and criticism.

Now recently one of my tournies sponsors held a tournement. Sadly I was not able to go as time/money restrictions with everything going on atm, but I stayed abreast of the situation and waited patiently to find out the results. Sadly on the Dakka Dakka forums several people who didn't go there started flamming him over how he ran it due to one persons unhappiness. This ended up turing into one long flame session that honestly made me rather upset. As I have found recently a lot of time, money and heart go into creating one of these events and it shames me when people who aren't even at the event start bashing the organizor.

Now out of 50 people you are never going to please everyone, and this is always going to be the case, but for those few 3 or 4 you don't they will ruin it for others suffice to say as they will often badger the organizor so much that they won't want to run it again and so 4 people ruin it for 46. So here is what I say if you go to an event no matter how big or small afterwards if you were unhappy then have the balls to say hey I think you could have improved on this event for X and X reasons, but otherwise I had fun and thank you and your family for the time you committed for us. It takes months of prep work all for a 1 or 2 days event and weather you won or lost it will be the grown up and sportsmanlike thing just to say a simple "Thank you". No two words will make a person happier then "Thank You". so to that organizor and all the others out there I say even if I am unable to be at your event....."Thank you for all your hard work".

To Infinity and ADEPTICON!!!!!!

2010-02-22T18:53:00.001-08:00

Ok so sorry for being so long between posts. For those of you who don't know I am organizing a charity warhammer 40k/warhammer fantasy tourney for here in boston for may of 2010 called the Boston Brawl. This will become a fixture for a tourney so hopefully one of these years you can make it out:). Also my wedding is in less then 30 days s cheers to that:). Now on to the pics. Recently I started collecting Infinity figs as well they are cool as sin. Here is my first one for my army who is still WIP but hope you all like him.

Here is a front view of the sapper. I decided to go with orange for goggles, as I felt they would help the face standout. I still may redo the face, but all around I like were the model is heading.

A side view so you can see the little french flag I painted on him.

Back view to show off the web gear.

Next we have my traitor gaurd stormtroopers for adepticon. I used green, and grey stuff to add shoulder/knee pads as well as create a smoother link from their masks to their packs. I used IG flamer ends cut off and shaved down for the barrels. Hope you enjoy.

This is the first of what will be 2 tanks for the army at adepticon(SPOILER ALERT). I am by no means an expert at weathering, but I figure nows as good a time to learn as any. I painted the model then used liquid mask found at any art supplies store(about 5 bucks a bottle) in splochy(ya totally misspelled) patches on the model. Once dried I painted over and when complete with the layering I rubbed YES rubbed off the liquid mask and painted in Mithril silver into those spots. I then used weathering powders I bought from AwsomePaintJob.com . Cheers all!

As usual any comments good or bad appriciated. Hope you enjoyed and I will update you all further next week I promise.

Tournements and why we love them:)_

2010-02-04T11:14:00.000-08:00

So I figured it has been a little bit of time, and I have been busier then I have been in months. This is both a pro and con as it leaves me little time to post updates, but it makes time fly by. Well I thought I would take this time to chat about Tournements and why it is we as gamers young and old love them like we do. This topic is being brought around because I have of coarse been working on my own indy GT for May, but also working on my armies for Adepticon, and Astronomicon.

To start I personally find the tourney scene fun as heck because it is usually a garunteed amount of games that I get against people I am not used to playing. This brings about the social aspect which a lot of gamers are into more then the actual game. Anywhere you look people like to congregate together and chat about similar intrests and it enforces the "Community" in everyone. Now for some of you readers you will get what I am talking about but for others it comes down to competition.

The competative side of tourneys can like anything else be rather nastey in and of itself. This is shown recently as Conquest North West were the winner(not naming names) was caught on camera cheating. His title was revoked, and thankfully he did not get the coveted golden ticket to the Las Vegas GT, but he raised a lot of awareness as to the lengths at which some people will go just to win. This rather saddens me because it brings to light those so called golden demon winners who did not actually paint their entries. I ask you the reader is winning the trophey our rights to say yoru the winner worth it if it wasn't actually earned? Personally I don't think it is as this is not just a hobby but a passion for me and I love to embrace all aspects. This leads into the final part of this disscussion, Modeling.

Yes I know sportsmanship is another topic, but i really don't want to head down that road at this time. I do however want to discuss why some people go to tournies in the fact of modeling/painting. I know most people will spend 3-6 months on average working on an army night in and out just in the hopes of taking that coveted trophey and I applaud these people. Even if they didn't win the next day they will be back at it comming up with a cool new idea just for the next time, and because of this they will learn new techniques to improve their selfs and I think that is really what this is about. I love seeing at tournies the dedication somone has put into an army because to me it shows their passion for the game, and I feel a common intrest with them. Most gamers will love to have pictures and talk up their army because well they earned it.

In conclusion whatever your reason for going to tournies it comes down to common intrest. We all love these hobbies otherwise we wouldn't do them. As such we want to show off the fruits of our labour with others and for that I say "LET THE DICE FLY"

Boston Brawl is now LIVE!

2010-01-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

Greetings one and all. I am proud to announce after the tireless and volunteer work of our web designer Brain J. the Boston Brawl Indy GT website is now LIVE!!!! Please visit at http://bostonbrawl.com/ . See you all soon.

Weekly update on road to adepticon.

2010-01-18T18:00:00.000-08:00

Well after a very busy week with an even busier one to come I thought I would show everyone a few pics from this weeks works. The traitor gaurd is rolling along as well as finishing up my contest winners prize form my dec blog contest. So to keep it short and sweet heres the pics.

How to traitor Gaurd Armor Part 2

2010-01-13T16:29:00.000-08:00

Greetings all, well I meant as usual to post sooner on this but the job can interfear in many aspects of the hobby, but I have made a lot of progress on my adepticon army and will be posting pics in the weeks to come. That said I have also been finishing up the other contest winner from my dec. 09 blog so it has been a very busy week. All this coupled with doing a FOW AFRIKA KORP commission that is also almost complete So without futher Ado the final installment of the how to traitor gaurd armor

If you remember we left off with a wash of Badab Black. Now this will darken the tone drastically so make sure you thin it a little more then you want. This way you minimize the chances of messing up and can do multiple coats.

To finish you will take Mithril silver and paint either in lines or as I like to do in ticks around the edges where ever you please. This is so show ever nicely the chips the trooper would have in their armor. Well hopefully you find this usefull but I decided to add some WIP of the commission contest winner, as well as some pics from my game night last week.

Here's Some pics from game night. Had a blast of a game testing out some khorne bezerkers vs Gil's space wolf drop pod army. Great army great paint job, and was a blast of a game.

till Next time fellow bloggers!

How to traitor Gaurd Armor! Part 1

2010-01-06T12:53:00.000-08:00

Greetings everyone, I hope your New Years was a fun and hopefully pleasant experience. I for one had an army buddy and his wife over to the new home to toast the ball drop. I will say that one of my resolutions this year is to start a different page with the blog. Show more work in progress pics, and hopefully increase the readership. With that said I thought I would cover a how-to on doing traitor gaurd armor. This is a very simple tech. that I have adopted from Dave Taylor. He was so kind as to share it on the dakkadakka forums so I thought since I was using it for my traitor gaurd I would share it with all of you. For starters you will need GW paints. Now I am sure you can find an adaptation paint to suite your needs and if you do please share as I would love to check it out. This technique though requires Tin Bitz, Boltgun metal,thrakka Green (wash),Levathian Purple(wash),Devlan Mud(wash), Black wash, and final Mithril Silver. This is the order they will go in as well so remember that with the pics. They aren't the best(hence another resolution is to buy a light box), but just bare with me on these.

Now this is with the model going through the tin bitz which will be applied first as your base coat. The next which can be seen in the pic above is a drybrush of the boltgun metal over the tin bitz. Be sure to leave some openings in the armor as this will help with the end result.

The next step as shown yet hard to see is an application of the Thrakka Green wash. You will want to do this is random spots as it shows almost a rust oxidation to the armor. Adds lots of flavor, and depth.

Our next step after the thrakka is another random application of the Levathian Purple. This is the later part will give off the discolored part that coppers show/most metals when they are rusted from water damage. Yes it is hard to tell with the pic, but this is just for a general idea atm.

The next step is a semi heavy application of devlan mud wash. This will dull down the colors to a more natural tone thankfully, and will go over all the metal.

Our final wash is the Badab black. This will really dark the tone of the metal and in my opinon help you for the final step of the mithril. The washes will help show to light the natural spots that the paint would either chip or be rusted.

The conclusion of this and more tomorrow!

The first contest winners done with updates form the past few weeks.

2009-12-29T19:53:00.000-08:00

Alrighty well it has definately been a crazy few weeks with moving, and painting, and the holidays but I can say I am glad I made it through it all. The first contest winners model is done, and I rather enjoyed painting it I must say. He wanted black armor where it would ahve been green and green where black. The rest I was given freedom on and I definately had some fun. As can be seen I made the top flames blue for a multiple of reasons. First off this is THE vulkan he'stan and to me that makes him da man!!! Blue flames also give a lovely contrast that offsets the model on the battlefield. I did this as the eye catcher. Next I drybrushed up the cloak and gave it a wash in devlan mud. Finally I used bronzes up to silver to make the golds as requested. Also to note I did not do the base as I wanted the customer to be able to match the model to their army. This way they can pop it off the base do it up and BAMPH instant gratifacation. Honestly my picture taking sucks and I really need a better camera but hopefully they will enjoy the pics anyways. The next delight is an Eldar pheonix lord and let me tell you I AM STOKED ABOUT THIS ONE JUST AS BAD!!!

These pics are some of my traitor gaurd I am doing for adepticon.

Just thought I would post a pic of a friends roman army he did. I have to say I was quite impressed with one the speed of it as well as the level of detail. As stated my pics do not bring justice to these models.

fast update

2009-12-25T21:22:00.000-08:00

Just thought since it has been over a week I would shoot you all an update. Things have been a little crazy and I hope to be able to post some pics tomorrow on recent work, and what not. After a few first and second degree burns from cooking oil today I was able to get down and get some commission work done on a vulkan hes'tan model for one of my contest winners. I have to admit I am rather digging this model, and have completed about 60% of it already. I also the other day recieved Ba'roth or however it is written and got him cleaned and ready for painting for this next week. I plan on getting pics of all of it for you all. Also I have been busy building my traitor gaurd for my adepticon team so pics to follow on that as well.

Seasons Greetings/updates on boston Indy GT

2009-12-16T11:01:00.000-08:00

Greetings one and all I come bearing seasons greetings to all of you. It has been a very busy week for me, as with the holidays rolling around, and buying a house and all here in lovely Mass. I must profess I have more gaming room in the basement then I imagined so that for me is a short but very sweet Xmas present indeed.

Sadly my camera is still being unpacked atm so I will have to share everything with you all instead of take pics which I was hoping to do. this past week I finished a Historical commission for 40 Marines (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ARMY RULES!!!!) from the boxer rebellion. Despite my noticable alliegances I completed this progect, and will admit I really enjoyed doing it. Those I was able to get some snap shots of before I packed them so once the cameras out I will get those on the blog. I also began working on Vulkan He'stan from Games Workshops warhammer 40k as part of my free commissions to my two winners of my blog contest. The other winner choise a very Lovely Jan'zar(however it's spelled) from the Games Workshop Warhammer 40k Eldar Line. Sadly I am still waiting for this to show up in the mail as being the holidays things tend to go extra slowly fro some lovely reason:) . I am really looking forward to doing these as well I always injoy a bit of a challenge, and the paint schemes these winners chose should look amazing so I only hope I can live up to their hopes.

In other news I have advanced my Indy GT a little bit more that will be held here in Lovely B-Town Mass in May of 2010. With one of my VIP's Locked in and some sponsers too this is slowly shapeing up to be a great event that I am very excited for. On that note i will leave you all with the website to it, and if you have any questions on the event please email me at Boston_Brawl@yahoo.com. Here is the website address, and again happy holidays. http://bostonbrawl.wetpaint.com/

-alex

New winner IS!!!!!!! As well as Working with resin.

2009-12-07T06:43:00.000-08:00

One more winner this week as murtogen Het never emailed me to claim his prize. With the other two winners who did contact me that leaves one spot. The new winner is TYLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so please email me by Friday at 11:59 pm on dec the 11th to claim your prize. My email address is alexanderakers@yahoo.com. Now for this blog I wanted to chat about some basics of working with resin. I am at work so sadly no pics to be able to post, but I figure I will give you all the low down on how to get the smoothest/cleanist resin pieces for your gaming needs.

First off we will need some basic tools. I love to use files(Yes files not sand paper), a dremel, x-acto knife, and more importantly eye and nose protection.

-Too start off you will want to take your x-acto knife and scrap away at the models flash. This is only the first of at least two to three times you will do this so be carefull. After doing this initial cleaning of the piece at hand you will want to wash the piece under luke warm water. Of coarse not hot as heat and easily warp resin. We will then after the model is dry litghtly scrape along the affected areas again this is to insure that there is no major flash once we use the dremel. Rinse one more time accept you will want to bring your dremel in with you. While the model is wet you will take the dremel and begin to bring it over the models rough areas. Doing this with constant use of water application will insure that the resin particles don't fly up in the air and settle all over your work station. Instead the resin will look like a past which will make it easy to work it and clean off.

Once you are sure the model is where you want it to be I would then put the model under cold running water and take your file and lightly file the area's that the dremel has gone over. This will remove any final surface corrosion that may have occured during the whole proces. Let the model dry for a couple of hours, and when it is done you will have an amazingly smooth piece of resin.

Now through all of this most people(myself once upon a time included) will not wear eye and mouth protection. People this is serious as resin believe it or not is in it's most basic form FIBER GLASS!!!!!!!! This stuff ingested over long periods of time can cause eternal damage to your body. If you feel like spending the doe ray me then their is great face mask for painting that costs around $30.00, but personally I enjoy using the cheap 3 for $4.99 ones I find at the harware store. Hopefully tonight when I get home I can get some pics done up for you all and repost them into this, but if not just remember people, your resin models are expensive so don't you feel they deserve a little extra attention in building, and painting them?

And the winners are!!!!!!!!

2009-12-01T07:51:00.000-08:00

........Not to be announced so as we can bring you a new terrance and phillips episode... JKJK sorry would have posted sooner, but busy at work.
1.)Faolain
2.)Alan Kreilick
3.)Murtogen Het

You three have until 11:59pm on sunday dec. 6th to email me what $20.00 model you would like and what paint style you would like on it. I will then begin doing those commissions for you. If you do not want it painted that is your choice , and I can send it too you. Please email me at alexanderakers@yahoo.com . Thanks again one and all and stay tunned closely pass the word along because this is only one of many contests. In the near future I will be raffeling off free tickets to the indy GT I am working on here in boston as well as other great models to you my loyal followers. Hope you all have a great holidays.

And the winner is........

2009-11-30T06:50:00.000-08:00

Come tomorrow I will announce three winners of my bloggers contest. What you three will recieve is a FREE model of $20.00 or less that I will buy and paint for you the winners just for being a follower on my blog. I am doing this to give back to you all since it has been such a great year commission wise for me that allows me to be able to do this. Also remember if you can recruit somone then I also have a prize for the most recruited. This person who recruits the most will recieve a rare forge world OOP unpainted Blood Angels Death Company statue. I will post the winners of my contest tomorrow mourning so stay tuned.

One week left in the contest

2009-11-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

Well first off I just wanted to wish you all a happy turkeyday(or in my house a nice honey baked ham mmmmm). I Also thought I would take a quick moment to create this small little post to remind you all of the contest that will end next week for this site. Three great models one for each of the winners and of which the model will be THIER choosing will be bought and painted BY ME FOR FREE as a end of the year gift to you my great blogspot followers. This is a thankyou I give to you all for reading my little rants and raves. Also dont forget for the person who brings in the most people with them will get a FREE OOP forge world statue of a blood angels death company not painted. This is a rare gem of a prize people and all it takes is for you to recruit your friends to the site and have them follow the rules posted in a previous blog. So remember people at 12:01 a.m the contest will end for this month and I will pick three winners to recieve this great prize.

This weeks work Nov 20th

2009-11-20T19:26:00.000-08:00

Well I had a little time this week inbetween ammo inspections at work to get a little done. I have been working hard at multiple commssions as I have also been getting ready to move into my nuw home that I have baught so it all in all has been CRAZY, but fun:).

It has been determind that I and some mates will be going to adepticon in march(a week after my wedding WOOT) and as such I have been hard at work formulating plans on my end of the program. That said we are doing a great traitor gaurd them and I am gearing mine towards the all powerfull and great god of pleasure slaanesh. Those of you who know my past I know are by no accounts shocked at this in game choice:)

I have also been able to get a little done on the demon herald from forge world as well as borrowing upon some of Ron's great ideas for a speeder bike for my pre-heresy force, I have been busy working on that. All this has truthfully been done with what little spare time I have. Now don't forget people we have less then two weeks till I do the competition so lets get cracking on getting a few more people on this site so as to earn some GREAT przes:).

Tournements

2009-11-15T15:59:00.000-08:00

Well as this year comes to a close soon and a new one begins I figured I would focus on talking to you all about tournements. I do this because my friends and I are starting to organize for our events that we will attend in the upcomming 2010. I for one find that I know I will attend games day and adepticon(the weekend after my wedding In the same place how could I not:) ) as well as a great tournement called astronomicon in vancouver canada.

To focus on the fact of tournements and why we drive ourselfs to them I sat down and thought about it.. Besides golden demon they are really the only reason I paint. Now that said I do enjoy the local games and what have you's with the friends but I really push myself to do well and my best at tourneys and really try and create armies that will gain recognition amoungst my peers. To that end an average tournement army can run starting at $500.00 on up for a true GW event. We do this all for a trophy and maybe a little swag on the side. All I have to say to thatis wow I end up doing expensive hobbies.:). Thankfully though I have a extremely understanding fiance(we will see how long that lasts once we are married) that fully supports my gamming ADDICTION because well it is an addiction.

This year I hope to complete two too three brand spaking new armies geared just for tournies. The first will be a traitor gaurd army for Adepticon with the next being an Pre-Heresy Emp. Childrens army for astronomicon. If I am still around and not on deployment then I will also hit mechanicon and one to two more:). Thats a lot of travel but I feel for the fun and the socializing of it all I feel it's a worthwhile investment. SO beyond my normal ramblings I wanted to remind you all that hey don't forget about the competition I have going for some free commissions that I will post my lucky three winners on dec.1st. Also I will have a prize that I am adding now for the most people recruited to the site. This is a rare OOP FORGE WORLD bloodangels death company statue unpainted that I will hand out to the person who recruits the most people to the site. That said I wish you all a happy week, and I will report back again latter this week.

This weeks work

2009-11-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

So all in all not a bad week on the overall. I have been extremely busy with work, and getting ready to close on this new home I am buying a couple towns over. So that all coupled with well painting commissions has left me with very little time to update this blog. That said though here I am one and all and I have started a few cool progects this week that once done should be some great models. I started practicing for golden demon on a herald of nurgle for what will become mamom.

Using some new tech. I have learned and are hopefully gonna master inthe upcomming months I am happy with some of him but will end up redoing the body. I have also been digging away at a commission of U.S Marines from the boxer rebellion. This has been an exceptionally fun progect and thankfully I am almost done with the 40 some odd models of them.

This will thankfully lead into the next commission of FOW German Afrika Korps. So I should get another post out to you all later this weekend but for now heres some pics of this weeks work. Oo and dont forget to pass the word on about the competition going on for some free painted models from me. All they have to do is create a legit profile and publicly follow this blog

CONTEST GIVE AWAY

2009-11-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

alrighty people I have decided since im in a great mood and it's been a good commission year to hand out 3 FREE painting commission to you my great followers as a thanks to you. So for those of you just comming on board and for those of you in general heres the contest deal:

1.) You must sign up as a follower to be able to win.
2.) If you recruit a friend for ever friend you bring on as a follower to my blog I will put your name in the hat again. So if you recruit 4 friends you would get 5 chances in the hat to win.
3.) if you recruit a friend they have to email me at alexanderakers@yahoo.com to be counted as such.
4.) All follower have to have legitimate profiles and pictures as followers.
5.) winners will be posted up on this site and will have 7 days total to respond to me at the above email address otherwise I will pic another name out of the hat.
6.) Winner get topic one singular model no vehicles of any kind and I will paint it for free. Models must be under $15.00 and can be from the GW, Rackham, Reaper, or Privateer line and I will even buy it for you Oo:)
7.) I will even pay shipping and all you guys have to do is be followers of my blog. With that said the contest starts now and will run until Dec. 2nd 2010. Good luck one and all.

Landraider and more done

2009-10-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

well not much left now with only a week to go and though I know im under the wire I think I will make it:) once this is all over I will take several days off from painting to spend time with the family then get all the commissions done I have on my table:) So keeping this brief heres the landraider. these are just pics form the stuff on top but hey. Also is a pic of the rhino from this week.

MECHANICON

2009-10-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

MechaniCon 2010

November 5-7

West Chester Holiday Inn PENN.

Well later tonight I should be able to get some WIP pics up as I am charging away at painting the army for mechanicon come next weekend. Sadly I have to pretty much get everything done by the end of this weekend as this will leave me enough time to do what little changes I need and to build a movement board. This is all thanks in part to Uncle Sam telling me I have classes next week to attend(some days I hate the army). As part of all of this so far all I have left is to finish my Landraider(90 percent done...for now), 3 rhinos, 9 jump troops, and 5 termies... WAYYYY TO MUCH WORKKKKAHHHHHH. actually its not all that hard but more annoying then anything as I havent gotten much sleep on weekends and what not due to all this prep. Note to self next time dont start an army 4 weeks before a tourney YOU'LL NEVER MAKE IT.

FTW collabrative post

2009-10-27T11:51:00.001-07:00

Well recently I recieved an email from the FTW group which I am so happily appart of asking me to blog about what my favorite must have unit is. This put me into some indepth thought I must profess as I seldom honestly ever thought about it. For many gamers they know that OOO I need 3 landraiders, or I must have some pretorians(I know mispelled) for a roman army. Often those stuff like this I feel is by no means assoc. with having a soft spot in their hearts for the unit as much as it is wanting the strong unit for game play.

I am one of those gamers and yes we are out there that seldom ever cares if I win. I have and I will admit in almost 90 games of warhammer fantasy never one a single one tied 2. Some of these loses I am proud to admit were at grand tournements. I derive my pleasure in painting and sportsmanship. I enjoy more then anything kicking back with my buddies watching a movie and just building or painting some minis. This is to me what hobbies in general are about.

I digressed and for that I apologize honestly I would have to say for my warhammer40k I have to have bikes. Just something about them screams awsomeness. I have always wanted to learn how to ride in real life but sadly dont for a multiple of reasons. I think that bikes also have to do with my time in the active army. I was on a stryker in one of the original brigades they created and took the thrill of riding into battle(which I actually am proud to say I have done). The speed at which bikes can move and just the sheer joy of getting some dice rolling early in the game makes me happy. So to all you fellow gamers out there I want to hear from you on what your favorite unit is, and also spread the word about this blog as I would love to extend this community even further as it gets some great modeling ideas involved. As always I am accepting commission and if you want to drop me a line feel free. Even if you have a question on anything I am doing I am more then happy to share. On that note fellow bloggers I bid you a good afternoon.

Busy at work

2009-10-22T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ok so sadly all I have had time to do commission wise this week was get all of the FOW commission built and ready for the airbrush. I cut away all of the barrels on the tanks and replaced them with thick sturdy brass rod so this will help the client in the long run since I can garuntee baring some serious abuse those wont break. Next I have been cracking like crazy to get more of my mechanicon army ready considering the event is in 3 weeks. It will come down to the wire but I know for fact that I will be able to pull it off. That said here are some of the WIP pics currently going on with the continuation of the army. Hopefully you will all enjoy them. And for those of you who want more images of the Boxer rebellion models from the other week I will have those up tomorrow evening so keep an eye out:)

Down and dirty

2009-10-14T12:20:00.000-07:00

I have recently been working on a fun commission that involves me doing some Boxer Rebellion marines. Though on a personal side I feel wrong painting marines being army I wont hold it against the buyer as my tongue and check style has made it all rather enjoyable. I wasnt sure at first how the models would come out but I have to say the end result made me quite pleased.

First of my short stories. Please tell me what you think and what you want to see.

2009-10-08T06:16:00.001-07:00

The Great Khan:
As Hart’aghara stepped onto his bike to throttle the ignition he thought back to the days on the steps before he became an Astartes. As a youth he was the son of a minor clan’s blacksmith for father was by no means a notable man. He etched out a living for his family by tending to amour for the clans warriors. Hart’aghara was the oldest of his four sons and as such he knew that it would be him that would have to tend on with the family trade.
Hart’aghara was an impetuous youth often getting into many fights with the other children of the clan. He was often made to shame for role his father had within the clan, and as such he developed dreams of being a warrior that would rise above his indentured life, and make a name for himself. Hart’aghara was fortunate in that he was growing up in a time when boys such as he were being given the chance to leave their clans and earn glory as they fought a war against the nobles from the lands beyond. For century these people from the lands beyond would raid the steeps often to capture slaves but more just for the joy of the slaughter. The clans were simple in the ways of life and though they were most accomplished horsemen on the planet they lacked in the ways of technology. This factor alone was enough to condemn them in battle as their enemy possessed black powder weapons and great iron cannons that would shake the world under them when they fired. This was the way of the steeps until the great Khan arrived. Like a true warrior of the steeps the Khan had rode in from the sky upon amount of molten fire and crashed to the earth in wanton destruction. Hart’ghara had heard the tales of the great Khan Jag’hati who was unifying the tribes of the steeps into a solid fighting force that would bring ruin to the people of the lands beyond the steeps, and avenge the clans for the atrocities their enemies had committed.
“The great Khan is on the move father” said Hart’aghara, “he will deliver us from these lands and forge a great nation for the people of the steeps”. “The only thing you need to worry about with forging is how to make armor my son”. Harts father was stern man when it came to talking of dreams. He had grown up the first born son of a blacksmith and as such was destined to become what his father was. Harts father accepted his role within the clan at an early age as it was never heard of any person rising above their status on the steeps. Hart’aghra though admiring his father greatly had no desire to become a blacksmith. Knowing full well that if he were to achieve anything in his life he would have to forsake the title cast upon him and leave the tribe in hopes of joining up with the Great Khans crusade. Hart’aghara thought to himself” if I gather up some of my father’s finest weapons and amour, and take our nobles finest horses I could ride like a leaf on the wind and join up with the Great khans armies within a few days”. These actions even, if taking from his father, were enough to have Hart put to death by draw and quartering. His family would also be punished greatly for his theft of the horses. His mother and sisters sold into slavery, and his father and brothers would be put to death by decapitation.
Though Hart cared for his family he craved the life of a warrior accepting that this was the only way for him to achieve his dreams. He was after all a man of 13 years and old enough to make his own way in life. “I must plan out the detail to the minute for my escape for if I fail my life, and my dreams will be destroyed” hart whispered to himself. As the hour of darkness approached hart’aghara began to prepare himself. At dinner he had told of great stories of past warriors to his family and had even shown affection by taking his mother in his arms and saying he would one day lead his family to greatness. She had dismissed him at the time as having too much mead with his dinner and felt he was too heavily drunk, but hart had in fact not had any wheat mead at all. He knew that if everything was to work as he had planned that he must be thinking with a clear head. Hart’ghara stole himself into the night and with his father’s finest amour, and weapons . He cautiously moved hut by hut until he had reached the far end of the camp where the horses were being held. As he approached the hut he heard a string of voices nearby.
The guards for the noble’s horses were sitting at a camp fire no more than ten meters from him. He could see that they were drinking heavily and laughing as they boasted to each other of old war stories. Hart could overhear one of them talking about how he had fought for one moon with the Great khan and how he had earned praise for his strength and had even saved the great khans life from a blade of a rival Khan. “He fills the mouths and ears of others with lies” hart spat, “but I will not, and upon my return one day it will be I that these plebes will be speaking of”. Hart waited there behind a barrel of hay for what seemed like hours until he was sure that the guards were drunk enough to pass to not notice his stealing of the horses. Hart’aghara knew very well which one he wanted as he had seen it gifted to the clan’s leaders son not too long ago. The animal was a beautiful and majestic creature that stood like a towering giant. Its hair was a rich brown mane that was tied into knots so as to denote the value of its rider. Its body was rippling with muscles much like an ox. If not for Hart’aghara having seen this beast ride before he would not believe this creature possible of such speed. Hart knew full well that that even such a magnificent being as this was not enough for him on the steeps if he was to meet up with the Great Khan in the next few days. He decided that he would need second horse. He also knew that he would need a distraction and if at all possible a way so as to not involve his family into this affair. For all the boasting that he had done Hart was still bonded by blood to his family and knew that this was stronger than any blade.
Hart slipped the saddle onto the beast as quietly as possible so as to not cause a stir that could wake the guards. Once all was set and his amour tied to the horse Hart’aghara took one last look around the camp of his home. Life on the steeps was a simple yet harsh as the constant warring between the clans and raids from the people from the land beyond could claim a warrior’s life in a second. No sooner had he mounted the great animal then it had made a loud snort of its discontent about him being on top. One of the guards had heard this and approached the darkened area where the horses were being help to investigate. Hart’aghara knew that it was now or never and drawing his sword from its sheath he uncut the ropes of the other horses with one fell swoop of his weapon. The guard startled at this site and raised the alarm. Hart then turned his blade on himself as he cut the top part of his forearm and shook it everywhere. Hart was doing this so as to give off the appearance of a struggle so as to insure the lords thought this action as a raid from a rival clan. Hart’aghara spurred his mounts and road off into the night he could hear the clatter, and noises from the camp as it came to life. He would make one more stop by the river bank to place some more of his blood and a weapon; this would insure for all that it was raiders who had stolen him and the horses. Hart thought one more time of his family and knew that this moment would be the last time he would ever see them or the camp again. This moment passed through him like the wind over a blade of grass and he rode off into the night to meet his new life and his destiny. Little did hart know of the hardships still yet to come.

More to come in future blogs.

Boxer Rebellion..PT1

2009-10-05T18:41:00.001-07:00

Soon to be posted will be some pictures of a boxer rebellion commission I have been tasked with. This is a first for me as I can say I have never painted from that time period what so ever but I do look forward to the new challenge of it. After the BOxer's models I get to delve back into a FOW commission for some excellent Afrika Korpse models. I do confess that I particularly like these models, and always do look forward to getting commissions for them.
With all that going on in life I am still continueing to plan out my soon to be wedding in March of 2010, and trying to find a more perminate position that pays higher in my job. Working for the Gov't has its benefits I will profess. Anyways hopefully my followers will start to grow for this blog, and until they do I will continue to post upon models upcomming and such. I plan on purchasing professtional camera equipment so as to better upload the quality of models painted(plus I love photography as a hobby). Once I get a better camera I will start posting pics to this blog. If anyone has a desire for a painting commission I have great affordable rates and I garuntee top painting scores in any tourney you compete in. Please feel free to contact me at alexanderakers@yahoo.com .Talk to you soon and be sure to look for me on ebay as Roguevalleyminis .

Commission work

2009-09-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

well it would seem that I have been hired for another few commissions the first promises to be a fun one with doing a emporers children heresey terminator army. The next is going to be onto historicals as I will be doing up some boxer rebellion United states marines. I look forward to shooting out some pictures here inthe near distant future.

New Squads up and running

2009-09-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well for those reading this I have finished the next squad of the Flawless Sons for my chaos space marines. They are looking solid and am currently working on my Land raider for it. Atm though I will be taking a break from GW and switching to do a show piece for kicks. This will be from crocidile games and has been sitting on the desk for quite some time now.