Tip: Goal Sheets

I'm one of those people that start a hundred projects for every one that I finish. To help me focus on actually finishing a project, I've started using what I call "Goal Sheets".

So, what is a goal sheet?

A goal sheet is a piece of paper that helps you visualize the finished project. Here is my goal sheet for my 1000pt army for the DeffCup, a small tournament coming up in june:


Every box represents a model that needs to be assembled and painted. A small box is a single infantry figure, and a big box is a tank. This particular sheet represents my 1000pt army, consisting of a Company Master with a 5-man Command Squad in a Razorback, two 10-man Tactical Squads in Rhinos and a Predator.

When I have assembled (and based) a model, I circle the corresponding box on the goal sheet. When the model is painted, I cross out the box. Here's a close up:


As you can see, when this picture was taken on 23 april, the first Tactical Squad is finished, their Rhino assembled but unpainted. The Command Razorback and one of the Veterans in the Commmand Squad is assembled and based.

Here's a work-in-progress shot of the Company Master and the Command Squad:
Even though the Company Master is fully assembled, he's not based yet, so doesn't get a circle on the goal sheet just yet.

Why bother with a Goal Sheet at all?

I find it motivates me to look at the sheet and see what's left to do. It helps me focus on the right things. It's also very satisfying to cross out boxes on the sheet, indicating finished models. It's not always practical to have an entire army standing on display, so the sheet is a handy way to "see" the whole army and especially seeing the progress made after each session.

You'll see more of this particular goal sheet in other updates, as I will post progress reports on the army up until the DeffCup.

I have a bigger goal sheet, which is simply a copy of the Battle Company data sheet from Apocalypse. In a future update, I'll show you this as well.

Hope you find this useful. I'd love to see other people's goal sheets!

See you later!

/Stitch

Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 3

Finally, here's the last part of my first tutorial with magnets.

If you haven't read Parts 1 & 2, you can find them here:

• Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 1


• Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 2

The Shoulder Pad

This is how I attach the should pads with magnets.

First you slice off a bit of the shoulder.



You then drill a hole as a guide, as I explained in Part 2.



Expand the hole a bit, so that a nail will fit, pretty much like we did in Part 2, except with a slightly smaller nail.



The nail I use for this step has a head that's about 2.5mm.



"Sink" the nail a bit, by carving away some material around the hole, like in Part 2, but it doesn't have to be as deep. It's ok if it sticks up a little bit. When you're happy, glue the nail in place.



Here comes the tricky part, because the shoulder pad is so thin.



Carefully drill another guide, about 3mm from the edge. Make sure you don't drill through the pad! You almost only want to make a small pit, not really a hole.



Expand the hole, again very carefully, with a 1.5mm drill. You just need enough to sink the magnet a bit.



When you're done, just glue a magnet in place. If you're careful not to glue any magnets together, it's handy to use the magnets themselves as a sort of handle to maneuver the magnet in place. After the glue sets, you can easily leave it to dry by sticking them somewhere. In this case, I just attached the stack of magnets to a can of Quick Shade.



When the glue has dried, you're done! Now all you need to do is prep some more arms and torsos and you'll have all the flexibility you want!







By being able to remove the shoulder pads seperately, you also get the added bonus of only having to paint each one once. Handy, if you freehand them like I do. :)

Thanks for reading. Keep those comments coming!

See you on 1 may, with an update on my army for Da DeffCup!

Best regards,

Stitch

Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 2

Finally, it's time to magnetize some termies!

If you haven't read Part 1, you can find it here:

• Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 1

The Arm

To let me swap the arms around, as described in Part 1, I'll put magnets in the shoulders of the arms, and put the head of a nail in the shoulder of the torso, for the magnets to stick to. Now, it's possible to save some magnets by doing it the other way around. But because the torso is hollow, I find it easier to get a nail in place instead of a magnet. You'll see why, later on.

Let's go. Here's the arm to be magnetized:



Using the model drill, I drill a hole to act as a guide. It doesn't matter that it's way too small, in fact I want it that way. That makes it easier to get it exactly where you want it, dead center.



Now, using the 3.2mm drill, I expand the hole. The magnet I'm using is 1/8", which is just a little bigger than 3mm, so a 3.2mm drill fits nicely. The plastic is soft enough to use your hands to turn the drill. Just try to make sure you stay in the center, and the drill doesn't "travel".



When you have expanded the hole a bit, try fitting the magnet in there. You want it flush against the torso of the terminator, so you don't want to drill too deep. Just keep drilling and trying until the magnet fits. When it does, glue it in place with super glue, or PVA glue. If you're operating on painted miniatures, you may want to use PVA glue, as it won't damage the paint job.

The Torso

While the glue is drying, you can get to work on the torso.



First, drill a small hole once again.



Now, using a proper cutter, cut the head off a nail. The nails I'm using have heads that are about 3mm, perfect for the job. Now, I know this is supposed to be obvious, but make sure to check that the nails are actually magnetic! :) I don't know if nails are ever made of non-magnetic metals, but it doesn't hurt to check.



As you cut, cup your other hand around the nail to catch the bits. Otherwise, they might go flying off in random directions, and you don't want that. :)



Now expand the hole a bit. I use a 1.5mm drill, about the same thickness as the nail. Then make sure the nail fits in the hole.



After you've made sure it fits, put the nail to one side. Now, using the bigger 3.2mm drill and/or a knife, cut away material around the hole to make the edges slope inwards, so the nail will go in without sticking out. (Here's where I think it's easier to "sink" a nail instead of drilling a larger hole for a magnet in the torso. Since the magnet is thicker than the head of the nail you can run into trouble when you drill deeper and wider into the torso, since it's hollow.)

When it fits, glue the nail in place.



When the glue is dry, you can attach the arm, and take it off, and attach it, and take it off again... You get the idea. :)

For a normal space marine minature, you probably have enough shoulder pads to glue one in place on each arm, so this would be the end of the tutorial. For terminators though, the shoulder pads are rarer, so you may need a way to switch these around as well. Since I'm a nut, I use magnets for this as well. :) And that's the subject of Part 3 that will be posted tonight.

/Stitch

DeffCup: Rules and Army List (and comments!)

Hey all!

Da DeffCup is approaching, and I thought I'd post an update.

Equinox said:

>>> What are you planning to bring for it?

Hi Equinox! Thanks for leaving a comment! I'm bringing a small mechanized force of 26 infantry models plus 4 tanks. You can see a full army list below.

Any information on the Deffcup? I am curious to read the rules surrounding it.

It's a small tournament for a maximum of 12 participants. There are some special rules and restrictions:

• Armies are a maximum of 1000 points.


• Models must be painted to a minimum standard (3 colours + bases).


• Most armies are allowed, incl. Lost and the Damned (with some changes), Kroot Mercenaries, Feral Orks and 13th Company.


• Some units from the Imperial Armour books are allowed, but will be reviewed and apporoved on a case to case basis.


• Named Characters are only allowed if you're playing a special list that requires them, for instance Dark Angels Deathwing or Ravenwing.


• Lash of Submission is limited to 0-1 / army.


• All wargear must be WYSIWYG, What You See is What You Get, apart from the normal exceptions, i.e. some knives, grenades, etc.


• Prizes will be awarded for best sportsmanship and best painted army, voted on by the players.

My army list

Since I haven't got much time, I've decided to take the easy way out and go for a small, expensive force. I thought about including a Dreadnought (possibly a Mortis), and/or a Vindicator, and a bunch of scouts (because they're cool), but in the end I decided against them all. My overall goal is to paint a complete battle company, and painting the force listed below will bring me a lot closer to that goal. Plus, I already have all four tanks assembled, just waiting to be painted (or repainted), so it makes sense to use them. I'm also going for cool rather than effective, and in my mind there are few things cooler on the tabletop than a fully mechanized space marine force. :)

So, here's what I'm bringing to Da DeffCup:

• HQ: Company Master and Command Squad (5) in a Razorback, 370pts
  Company Master: power weapon, combi-plasma
  Command Squad: 1 power fist, 1 flamer, 1 plasma gun
  Razorback: Twin-linked lascannon, hunter-killer missile


• Troops: Tactical Squad (10) in a Rhino, 260pts
  Tactical Squad: 1 plasma pistol, 1 plasma gun, 1 plasma cannon
  Rhino: Hunter-killer missile


• Troops: Tactical Squad (10) in a Rhino, 260pts
  Tactical Squad: 1 power weapon, 1 meltagun, 1 lascannon
  Rhino: Hunter-killer missile


• Heavy Support: Predator, 110pts
  Heavy bolter sponsons, hunter-killer missile

I'll be outnumbered by pretty much everyone, but my army will look cool and fluffy. :)


Boondale said:

>>> I came across your blog/painting guide in a search on how to paint Space Marines. Im basing my army off the Space Wolves, but decided to use dark angel green as my base with shining gold marking like the Ultramarines.

Hi and welcome! And thanks for leaving a comment! Sounds interesting, the green and gold should look good together. Looking forwards to seeing the result!

Your guide is working out for me prity well so far, only problem I have is all my minis are together already so I have had to improvise on the eagels. I cant seem to get to the wings under the arms/weapons, but otherwise its looking good.

When I paint models like that, I just paint whatever sticks up over the bolter. There's no need for you to fret about parts of the model that you can't even see without picking it up and really studying it. My advise is just to poke a big brush full of black paint behind the bolter before you start painting. Then you just paint the bits of the chest eagle you can actually see.

I plan to post a few pics when im able to.

Like I said above, I'm looking forwards to it!

If you would like more info what im doing to my SM army please ask.

Consider yourself asked! :) I'm always interested in stuff like this.


I will post part 2 of the magnetic terminator tutorial later today, so stay tuned! :)

As always, thanks for reading.

Best regards,

Stitch

Da DeffCup - 1000pt Tournament

I've got a new goal in sight: 1000pts painted by June 13!

I need to get a playable army together for the first annual (hopefully) DeffCup.

What did you say? June 13 is only 2 months away? I better get to it!

See you soon...

/Stitch

April update

Wow... March just kinda sailed past me and I completely missed it... :)

Well, I'm almost back on track now. The april update will be split into several parts, though, until I catch up. The first update is already online here:

• Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 1

Part 2 is coming up in a couple of days.


Now, comments. I love em! Here we go:

AaronB said:

>>> I just finished 1500pts of my Skull Bashers. I made a little back story where they try to follow the Legion of the Damned around. Their Chappie is able to "summon" them.

Here's where I am so far:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8424618@N02/sets/72157614067871510/

Great stuff! You've got a really nice looking army there! I particularly like the Terminator Chaplain, it looks awesome!

>>> *shakes fist* Com'n already! :D

Yeah, sorry about that... :) Well, like I said above, I'm basically back on track now.

The 25mm Warrior said:

>>> I really, really dig the wings on the helmet. An all around great and solid conversion... nice!

Thanks! Yeah, I'm kinda getting used to it, and I really like it. By the way, I checked out your blog. It looks like you've got a pretty solid Blood Angels army there, it looks good. Quick Shade is a great product. I've met Bo on several occasions, and he is a fantastic guy!


Thanks for commenting, guys! Please keep reading, and please keep commenting.

Best regards,

Stitch

Terminator Weapon Swaps made Easy with Magnets, Part 1

Hi all!

Sorry for skipping a month. I didn't plan it like that, but stuff and things, and stuff, got in the way. :)

For april, though, I'm back with an in-depth article about how to let you swap weapons on your Space Marine Terminators. The new plastics are awesome, and you get a lot of options in the box. Why not make sure you can use all of them? (Or most of them, anyway...)

For this project (I'll tell you more about it later), I won't need to be able to swap both arms on every Terminator. So, I'll glue some of the arms, but magnetize some. For instance, I'll have two Terminators with Storm Bolters and the option to swap between Power Fists and Chain Fists. And of course I'll have one Terminator with Power Fist, but with the option of swapping between Storm Bolter, Heavy Flamer and Assault Cannon.

Let's get to it!

The Tools

You'll need some tools to make it all happen:

Hobby drill and knife.

Drill bits; these are 1.5mm, 2mm and 3.2mm.

You need a proper wire cutter. A small cutter like you use to cut bits from sprues just won't "cut it"... :)

Notice the difference? Later on in the tutorial, we'll be cutting nails. (Not finger or toe nails!) The smaller cutter would be ruined, and you risk hurting yourself when bits of it breaks off and flies towards your face at high velocity.

The Supplies

You'll also need some nails and magnets:

Flat headed nails in a couple of different sizes.

This is a Neodymium disc magnet from K&J Magnetics. It's tiny but strong! This one is 1/8" x 1/32", and will be used for the arms.

This one is even smaller! Also from K&J Magnetics. This one is 1/16" x 1/32", and will be used to hold the shoulder pads in place.


Right, unfortunately it's now past my bed time, and I will have to continue another day. Part 2 of this tutorial, where we actually magnetize the Terminators, will be online in a couple of days. No really, I promise!

I know it sucks that I couldn't finish it in time, but I thought it better to give you half a tutorial now, and show you that I still mean business, than waiting even longer before publishing anything at all.

See you soon!

/Stitch

Here's a taste of what's to come:

Swappable arms!