a new year... a new entry

Welcome to 2015. 

There are some updates happening in the Manufactorum, and the desk has some projects on it now, as well as some clearly on the way for the future. 

First; some great supply news.  Fusco Construction Yards has apparently seen a turn around.  Instead of winding down production, it appears that 2015 will actually be a prolific year.  In addition to a release of the new  Vulture Mk IV, an updated and improved Timberwolf Mk II-a is due to be run, as will perhaps a revist of some older designs. (Mr. Fusco, if you're reading:  *cough*Victor*cough*  I know of 2 merc units that have Victors that look more like walking rolls of ducttape. . *grin*  )  Seriously tho, this is great news for those who need to acquire new 'Mechs to reinforce front-line action of the Clan Invasion and Inner Sphere Liberation from the Tyrannical House Governments.  I forsee an unboxing video in my future at some point. 

Speaking of unboxing, I also have a shipment in our loading dock of a captured I.S. Jenner from THOR.  It's been in the box for a couple of months, and has yet to have undergone R&D to check it out and get it ready for scouting.  I expect I'll do an unboxing of that one when I do the one above.  

The work on the WHM-1R and ATL-DDC both are currently on hold.  The WHM is an amazing machine, but needs some dedicated time on the manufacturing floor to get ready for the field.  The cockpit build is still being developed and I recently acquired some 1.8mm leds for another project (see below) that will be used for the cockpit on this one, which means I'm basically starting over from scratch for that.  The surface still needs a ton of work, although I'm contemplating some sandable primer rather than trying to sand down the whole surface of the mech.  With the intricate angles on it, it might be better.  As for the DDC, I need to figure out how to work the hip joint and then start building the torso.  I definitely am still sold on modular weapon builds for it.  And of course, a cockpit.  I suspect that'll take me through the end of 2015 on the BattleMechs.

Stepping away from the Innersphere, I have a personal project and a commission for the world of Warhammer.  First, the prince of the WoodElves has an Eagle-rider he wants to see done.  The original piece is a metal horseman.  The size and weight of it is such that it won't work well for the war eagle model that he has.  I am currently attempting a re-cast in resin that I can work with, although it hasn't come out well so far.  I may end up having to modify a different model altogether to get him the same look.  I just might be trying some greenstuff sculpting.  We'll have to see.  I'm not sure I'm up to that for a commission... but we'll see.

The other personal project is one that He-who-shall-be-unnamed suggested.  I saw the warhammer Warpfire Dragon and thought that'd make a perfect mount for the Eternity King.   I was looking up some painting techniques for glow effects, because I LOVE the look of the Balrog from Lord of the Rings and the effect of the infinity Stone in Guardians of the Galaxy.  I thought it'd be neat to have the throat and four eyes of the warpfire dragon "glowing" a purplish/blue glow.  I was talking about the throat, and was commenting that it'd be really hard to paint that shadowed place to actually look glowing. 

So, HWSBU says to me "well, you're the master of LED's.."  yeah. Right. 

So, I think I will give it a shot.  I have 1.8mm blue led's and they're the perfect size for the eyes and throat spaces.  The trick is, I don't really want to carve up the original Forgeworld head.  That's pretty much the defining piece of the model, and it's not a cheap kit.  So, I decided to give a try to casting off the head while I was making a cast of the above rider too.  The first try didn't go well, but the second attempt came out much better.  I'll give a try on that casting to see how to carve out the head and make the space for the lighting kit.   It's entirely possible that I'll just use the resin cast as a test run on HOW to do the carving, but either way, it has the potential to be either really awesome or a terrible bust. 

We'll see where this one goes...