I love the rules and fluff behind Stormboyz. I’m hoping the rumors are true that they can be used a anti-air units in 6th edition.
Boss Zagstruk is a terrific addition to a Stormboyz unit. His high-initiative powerklaw, deep striking, and commissar abilities make him worth the points to me. An extra bonus is he has a great mini, and is fun to paint!
I give you my Boss Zagstruk. Again one of my earliest painting attempts but still loads of fun!
I like dry-brushing fur details. This was my first attempt at that.I used some extra Dark Angels stuff to accent the base.Ork Face!One of the Boss’ claws broke when I was taking him off the sprue. I built him some new ones that aren’t TOO obviously scratch-made.That’s a flag from LOTR elf cavalry drastically altered.I like the details on his Rokkitpack. I may do a different Boss just to make it a bit cleaner.He got a bit of a diorama base.Lacky grot!Da Boss!
I mentioned in one of my very first painting posts how much I love orks. Though I still consider myself an imperialist at heart, orks are so much fun to paint and play that I knew when I got the Black Reach starter set I’d be able to make use of both sides.
I’ve gotten a bit better than I was when I first painted that Black Reach warboss. I’ve been able to do some layering, and I’ve gotten into basing (I really enjoy basing) and making some custom additions to each model.
This was my first warboss after the Black Reach guy. His attack squig and armor left plenty of room for customization. I gave him a spike with some space marine helmets on it, but it was metal and it ended up breaking the resin pole. I just glued the hell out of it to make it stick in the end.
I gave him a couple of helper grots (both metal) and ammo crates. The Ultramarines bomb is actually from a Trumpeter 39(H) French military tank set I had. The rocky base is terra cotta (which I highly recommend, it’s light, breakable for customization, and can be painted and textured to provide any look!) with some extra bits around to give it character.
He got a little dusty and he was hard to clean without snapping resin pieces off. It adds a bit of character 😉
My favorite part of painting this guy were the human heads hanging from his belt. I gave each one a different wound. Obviously, basic rudimentary stuff (I’m not ‘Eavy Metal!) but they were a lot of fun!
I like my Goff orks grungy!This boss has a couple runts, this guy with the stikkbombs was a favoriteFull view!Back view! You can see where his boss pole was “repaired”Dem teef!My favorite feature. The severed heads over an Ultramarines bombs made from a Trumpeter 39(H) French tank kit I had.The other runt prepping to bravely hurl a stikkbomb from behind his boss.Attack squig!
This was a real first for me. For the first time in 20 years, I picked up a paint brush that wasn’t for trim or a wall. I painted a little in my youth but never anything more than your typical ten-year-old.
In my post about Red Bubble, I mentioned the important of thoughtful gifts. And this month, one of my dearest and best friends had a birthday. He is incredibly difficult to shop for though, so I have to get creative. Really creative.
This painting first premiered in Psych’s This Episode Sucks, and my pal immediately texted me about it immediately. In fact, a couple of people did, and you have to admit, it’s pretty friggin’ cool.
The problem is you can’t buy the painting. I’ve read through dozens of forums and posts searching for the artist and/or painting, but turned up empty handed. The problem-solver in me thought, “Psh. If I can’t find it, I’ll just paint it.” And that’s exactly what I did.
The flowers were not a problem for me, but I knew the Uzi would be, so my amazing RevPub partner penciled the Uzi on the canvas. From there, I printed a picture of the original and used it to paint my version. It’s not an exact match, which is a good thing, but I think it came out well. This project also inspired me to paint regularly because it was fun, relaxing, and something different. I can’t draw or visualize things, but I look forward to painting more penciled drawings!
It just proves that you should never be afraid to try something new. You never know what talents lit inside you or what new hobbies you’ll find!
*If anyone knows the original artist’s name, feel free to leave it in the comments section.
The start of painting the sketch. I did the shading in pencil and the basic outline first.Uzi painted in full color scheme. I lost all the lines but having a print out and pics helped a lot.Full painting after flowers were painted. I sketched them in pencil.Completed Uzi flower painting. I had no idea how to shade, so I made my own version!
Thanks to TV and movies, I always thought Tarot card reading was a special skill or belief. I assumed it was frowned upon unless you were or wanted to be a psychic or someone else seeking supernatural guidance. It never occurred to me that I could pick up Tarot card reading as a hobby. Until now…
Recently, while reading the Beautiful Creatures quadrilogy (or quadruply as I like to call them), it dawned on me I could order a pack and learn to read. In the series Amma, a Seer, uses cards to see the future outcome of events. This character triggered a curiosity in me that I buried as a child because I thought Tarot cards were wrong in some way.
So, I ordered a pack. My friends and family thought I was a little crazy, but they embraced the idea, and I received a Zombie Tarot pack as well (thanks, James)!
The Cards and What It All Means
Tarot reading does not insinuate worshiping Satan or not believing in God. It’s about symbolism, and as an English major, I was trained to look for symbolism in everything I see and do. It’s all about interpretation. The cards represent human emotions and situations, and although some look into them for prophetic reasons, I am more interested in picking up a new hobby to entertain myself and friends.
There are multiple ways to lay out the cards depending on what you want to know. Each card represents specific emotions and can have different interpretations. For example, the death card does not necessarily mean death – it could mean the end of something or change. The lovers card does not mean sex, it represents youth, innocence, and true love “before it is corrupted by material possessions.”
Photo from learntarot.com
The Rider Waite pack designed by Pamela Coleman Smith in 1903 is gorgeous; each card is a work of art. They are simple and effective, almost mystifying you as you shuffle them. My Zombie cards are somewhat bizarre and modernized, but they are very fun and zombie-apocalypse specific. I recommend either deck and encourage you to look for ones that may interest you; there are also angel, Steampunk, vampyre, and witch designs, to name a few.
Photo from manplat.wordpress.com
The few readings I’ve done were lots of fun and full of laughs. Finding new hobbies can be a great stress release, rejuvenate you, and teach you something – especially about yourself. Sometimes a new hobby pulls me out of a funk or opens my mind to more possibilities, and often times, my hobbies help me focus more on things work, family, and goals.
Do you have any unusual hobbies you recommend? Feel free to share below!
When Raven and I started RevPub we wanted to have an outlet for all of our random thoughts, opinions, and interests. We love posting our topics every week and find lots of new topics and threads we can follow and share with our readers. Though we enjoy our weekly posts we never lose sight on our true goal, and that is to find a venue for our creative works.
Last October we introduced our first (and for me monumental) publication,Lil Horsemen #1: How Death and War Postponed the Apocalypse, a story I wrote as a teenager finally brought to full-color life as a graphic novel. This was only the beginning of things and we have more Lil Horsemen and other series to come.
This post, as it’s our one-hundredth, I thought it would be a good time to share what we have in store for this year and beyond.
In the Spring/Summer of 2013 we’ll introduce the second adventure of Grimmy and Skirmish in Lil Horsemen #2: The Soulless Shoes. This issue will introduce the other two Lil Horsemen, Smally Pox and Faminista.
(Sorry for the scan quality, I only had access to a consumer scanner this week…)
Below is the first design of Smally Pox!
And Faminista with her lil dog Fam-Fam:
By the end of this year we also hope to introduce the first installment of a continuing, more traditional, graphic novel action series, Bloody Bantam IV. Introducing the gunslinging swordsman character, Bantam IV, aka “Quad the Merciless!” I’m truly excited about this series. I have the story arch planned and this, unlike the random fun of Lil Horsemen, is more of a traditional narrative.
These major projects aren’t all; we also have planned several new post series; a few one-shot comics; at least one more BIG Lil Horsemen adventure and several mini-adventures; new t-shirts and merchandise; and eventually the series to which Revenant Publications owes its namesake…
We’re a little over a month away from Christmas…and it both seems like ages ago and like we all just barely made it through…
I admit I like giving personal gifts. Anyone can buy gift cards or choose something from a list, but for the people closest to me I like to give very personal gifts. In the past this usually meant drawings, but since my drawing time mostly consists of RevPub projects I decided to marry my new interest in painting Citadel miniatures with giving creative gifts.
Part of the fun was picking models that matched the individual receiving the gift, the rest of it was creating small dioramas within the display case size to make a nice scene.
This is my father’s. For him (he enjoys carpentry) I chose a Fantasy dwarf master engineer and created a workshop for him, including a furnace made of a Volvo wheel bolt (See THIS post to see how I got a pile of those…) and extra tools. I gave him a little helper on stilts.
For my Sis, who likes Egyptian history, I did High Queen Khalida from the Fantasy Tomb Kings. I added bitz from a Sphinx and gave it a teal/gold tone. This might be my favorite composition. I also added a little copper familiar.
For my mom I made a Isabelle von Carstein. I cut a halloween decoration skull in half for a hill and added some zombies to give her a horde army. The snow effect also was fun to do for the first time.
Since I’m interested in the 40k universe this gave me a chance to paint models I’d otherwise be unable to paint and I’ve always enjoyed creating little dioramas and stories this way.
Anyone else give unique/creative Christmas presents this year?
Revenant Publications 