Avenger Strike Fighter & Other Hobby Stuff

Today I managed to finish off a commission piece that proved quite... interesting. I honestly thought the kit would be more fun to work on, but really the assembly was a nightmare and it is a delicate piece overall. However, painting it was pretty enjoyable and the decals worked on it rather well. I would have liked to had done the bottom in a white-gray look, but the client is king. I think it turned out relatively well and I am glad I had a chance to try out some rather new techniques on it (notably direction shading).

A caveat before you look - I am using my phone for pictures (Instagram, no less) and a homemade lightbox. So, forgive me if these are HD pics, but I am an amateur really and I do more of this for fun than as a business of any sort, so I hardly invest in that end of the spectrum. That being said, I think these pics are better now that I do have a new phone with a much better camera on it.

So, that was a fun project. I tried out some really new stuff on it and found I liked the outcome. Not that I use my client's models as guinea pigs, but I do like to push my limits and that is kinda similar. For this, I used plasticard to block off areas to push the contrast from front to back with the panels. I think it gave it a much more interesting look than just shading where the lines are (as I have done on Imperial Knights in the past).

One thing I enjoy doing now is airbrushing inks to get some really interesting metallic effects. I use an umber and a black to really give the metallic colors depth. I spray it in corners and recesses and it dries fast, but just slow enough I can wipe with a Q-tip to get away the surfaces. In the end it looks like the above pics, that being oily/dirty looking. |

Next up on the hobby end of things for me is to wash up and clean some resin Imperial Knights for my Horus Heresy House Taranis army. Really, really excited to get going with this project - it will be 3000pt with seven (SEVEN!) Knights. I am waiting on printer ink to arrive so I can print decals (Thanks Dave Taylor!). Concurrent to that, I am hoping to get a test model for my Ironskin Tribe Ogres done, to feel out where I want to be for them, as well as continuing the Carcharodons Astra slow-and-steady assembly.

House Taranis circa M32 decals

On a fitness note - I am down about 4lbs. That is for one week with MyFitnessPal. Talk about results! I did calorie cycle a bit high today (Sunday), but I am going to cycle low the next few days. In fact, I don't "eat into my calories", as in I don't eat extra food to compensate for calories burned at the gym, so I think that is really helping me shed that weight. With my warm-up, weights, and then cardio, my workout days have been pretty solid - and I think counting the calories and putting the weights before the serious fat burning cardio have been the biggest help.

Next week, I will hopefully continue to the downward trend in my weight. Be sure you look me up on MyFitnessPal and get your own rear in gear. If you aren't getting up and moving around yet, you should be! Inactivity can be deadly, so get out there and walk, jog, or run. Whatever you can do to move. If you work a job like mine, where I am behind a computer screen eight hours a day, this is more important than ever!