Happy belated Thanksgiving to all. Thanks for reading and watching. Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement. And thanks most of all to BTP’s excellent clients who make the dream (for both me, the artists and our families) possible.
About Thanksgiving day:
I was a complete bear all day long. I was grousing and griping. I nagged the kids, grumbling at them to keep quiet, and why did they need to be in the same room as me? I groaned each time my wife asked me to help her out. In word and deed the polar opposite of the spirit of the day.
For the Thanksgiving prayer I went off on one of my stupidities where I ask God to smite any germs on the food, to cleanse it from unclean-ness and filth, and to commit genocide on the microbes that may be lurking in the turkey; to hunt them down and leave only a single survivor so it can tell the tale to any other bacteria that might come near the food. And so forth until all the young nieces/nephews are giggling and I can feel the burning stare of the good-woman’s disapproval.
As usual, Tamie made a whole spread of gourmet quality food from scratch: pumpkin, pecan, lemon meringue pies; and so on. She is a saint of some kind; mild, loving, unselfish, unpretentious, genuine, and a demon in the kitchen.
Then instead of helping out with the dishes I crawled into bed, put an episode of Red Dwarf on the laptop, and went to sleep. All this citing a (real) headache.
The tale of Friday and Saturday is one of making myself exceptionally useful, and being ever so pleasant. Saturday morning was a moment of paradise with the baby crawling around in our bed in her pink sleepers; she was propped up on my back watching Red Dwarf with me and laughing and giggling whenever I laughed. She doesn’t understand a word, of course, but she knows when a larf is being had!
I did make it down to the studio for a game on Saturday. I got to play a 2600 point game using the Fateweavers (pure Tzeentch Daemons). I love that army. Final score was something like 1800 to 2500. The Horrors burned almost the entire enemy army to a crisp. It was outstanding. That army is ever so fun to play.
In a subsequent game for the campaign at 800 pts (Warriors of Chaos vs my Dark Elves) I got all but tabled, a complete rout. I forgot to use the cauldron of blood twice, and on one occasion gave Bloodshield (5+ ward save) to a unit that already had a 4+ ward save. Pathetic.
If you live locally (ie 20 minutes or less to the studio in Spanish Fork) and would like to give us a hand with Assembly during December and January please contact me at bluetablepainting@gmail.com
This could work into a more permanent arrangement, but not for absolute sure.
I need a well-adjusted and all-around happy person who can walk in knowing what to do. You need to have assembled several armies and know how to do quality work. Basic green stuff and conversion work a must. Scratch sculpting a plus.
If you want to apply, please send an email with “Assembler Needed- Your Name” as the subject line. In the body of the email put a short blurb about yourself and your hobby background.
Absolutely do not mention anything to do with protected class (eg race, gender, religion, family situation). I only want to hear things relevant to the job.
Please, only apply if you are local. I don’t want anyone to move here for this. And only if you have the skills needed already under your belt.
I’m starting a new special for December (and possibly January).
I was laying awake the other night thinking “What’s the least expensive an army could be done?” This was brought on by the multitude of inquiries I get for the cheapest route for getting a painted army on the board.
$650 for a 1500 pt army ($325 down pulls the trigger) That’s 382 UK pounds
$850 for a 2000 pt army ($425 down pulls the trigger) That’s 500 UK pounds
This is with BTP getting to choose everything (you pick 40K or Fantasy, but we pick which army), and painted to a basic level (L2).
The standard is we choose from more competitive armies with newer rulebooks: Orks, Space Marines, Tau, Eldar, Imperial Guard, Chaos Daemons, Chaos Space Marines. Unless you open up the possibility you won’t see Dark Eldar, Necrons, Daemonhunters or Witch Hunters.
Within this parameter, I promise to make the coolest army possible. But remember, I was going to call this the “Beggars can’t be Choosers” special!
All I need is a deposit to get started. You’ll have your army in about thirty days.
Here are some examples of armies we might do for this:
Tau 1500
2x Shas’o battlesuits
3x Battlesuits
6x Stealth Suits
24x Fire Warriors
2x Devilfish
4x Shield/Gun Drones
2x Hammerhead
Deathguard 1500 pts (actually a bit higher)
2x Daemon Prince with Wings
21x Plague Marines
3x Rhinos
2x Vindicator
3x Obliterators
Eldar
2x Farseer
10x Fire Dragons
20x Dire Avengers
3x Wave Serpent
1x Wraithlord
Hey all. I’m hanging out at home on Thursday. I’m ready to set up new projects. Still a few slots open for December. And January is wide open.
I’ll be at the studio for most of Friday and some of Saturday.
And will someone please move Stargate: Universe from the Sci-Fi channel to the Lifetime channel!
Blue Table Painting will be closed Thanksgiving Day (though I will probably be on line here and there), but open Friday for full-bore. I’ll be down at the studio Saturday as well. So, don’t hold off on inquiries and booking projects.
In fact, if you want to help old Shawn relax over the holiday, then bug me about a new project. Once I have it booked out to a certain amount I can breathe a sigh of relief.
This is a fortification made for our Warhammer Fantasy campaign.
See more pics here.
Dwarfs 1500 pts for $950
Dwarfs 2000 pts for $1150
Set it up today for a 3-5 week turnaround! You pay half up front and the other half when it’s done. We’re ready to start right now with materials on hand!
By my desk in the family room I have a low trash bin (really a deep sweater bin conscripted for trash duty). Today I found Willow torso down and fishing around for goodies. She already had an apple core in her mouth. Inspecting it, washing it and finding it fit for human consumption I watched with intense curiosity while she annihilated the entire thing with her two bottom chompers. Outstanding.
It was like watching Mr. Peepers from SNL.
She is teething. Her nose is runny and she’s irritable. But she wants to eat constantly.
She is nearly one year old.
I have been sleep deprived this week. I can feel tired-ness in my bones. My eyes are heavy, but worry props them open. Last night I got a really good night’s sleep, then a reprise on the couch in the morning after an episode of The Mentalist.
My wife at this moment is making apple cider from a box of apples. She is constantly cooking and our larder is always well stocked. When she was young, a venerable Patriarch prophesied that if she would always be willing to serve her fellow man she would never want for anything. I have certainly seen both of those the last fifteen years. I have been the beneficiary. She goes through life without a single worry.
Another great thing about Tamara is that she is forgiving. She never bears a grudge, large or small, for even ten minutes. That makes for a good marriage. Food and Forgiveness. She is a Good Woman.
We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl.
The last few months, any time I have found my usual good nature with church-related service, and indeed towards my fellow man, to be dampened, like on Sunday morning there is a sheet of lead draped over me.
That seems to have been lifted today. I was only a few minutes late to church. I actually got a moment’s peace. I just love church. It’s like taking a shower. I can’t imagine not going every week! My life has been so enriched.
I am breaking my conditioning. Everything on TV, Radio, and Print (with the exception of books) has been teaching me how to believe. It’s really starting to chap my hide. What if everything I’ve been taught is a lie? College sure was. Or what if there is a deeper layer even under all that. I don’ t feel at the present moment like taking this any further. You can breathe a sigh of relief now.
That’s the missing link with the banks (ie the fractional reserve banking thing). So there are huge profits that drain the resources of the general population. Who benefits? Does the wealth then become more or less evenly distributed back somehow? I don’t know. I have so many questions.
The kids have been taking music lessons for a few years now and it really shows. The can read music and belt out a few tunes. They love to sing, too.
First off, I just saw this vid report of a tournament and this guy had a Skaven army with 180 slaves/rats and another 180 clanrats. No magic, no casters, just a wave of brown.
Friday was Paint Fest. We went over basing styles as well as how to paint more efficiently. Here is one of a many number of slides about setting up an efficient station. This is my view of one of the best setups for painting. Everything is scrunched in close, everything handy. Water dish is shallow and broad and filled up just over half way.
I have recently started using an even larger water dish, a small tub actually.
Julie is working on a Lizardmen army that is just beyond belief. The saurus are sandy colored with deep jade colored armor, brass weapons with crystal blades. They look better than any lizardmen I’ve ever seen. You’ll get to look those over later.
Paint Fest had a fabulous turnout. It’s college level education intended to expand techniques and make sure that everything is homogenized: all painters should be able to do the same work as the others. And also cross-pollination of skills.
I have to shamefully say that I didn’t paint anything for Paint Fest. I just sat there and chatted, and read army books. Sad.
Friday evening I went out with Tamie to a small concert featuring her sister’s husband’s band. Afterwards we went out for pie. I bought a pecan pie to take home. I made myself sick on that the following morning.
Saturday afternoon I put in just more than a half-day at the studio getting everything caught up. I watched like ten episodes of Red Dwarf. That show is beyond awesome. What a great adventure. Loads of fun. And good sci-fi, too. Not for kids, but probably more tame than your typical episode of Seinfeld. Though evidently the middle finger is all right on the UK airwaves.
Once home, we bundled up all four kids and headed to the local grocery store. There is a certain one, Macey’s (not the clothing store Macy’s) that is particularly beloved of the locals. It is bright and well-stocked, and on a Saturday night it is packed, and we’re sure to run into a few people we know. It’s closed on Sunday, which is why we like it– the story is that they have been standing against larger chains open 7 days a week.
The kids love it. We like to pick up a little baggie for each child of those scoop-bin candies. I also picked up fixins for hamburgers which we had for dinner.
What I really want right now is to play a game of Warhammer Fantasy. I have no new plans for new armies. I do have multiple full armies ready to be painted up, on hand and ready to roll. As usual you get a break on price for just letting us make an X point level army for a set price. No waiting– when the half-down deposit comes through I just walk the materials into the assembly room.
- Vampire Counts
- Imperial Guard
- Orks
- Orcs and Goblins
- Lizardmen
- Space Wolves
At the top of our stairs is a wooden lip. I ran up full bore tonight and rammed my toe on it, smashing off a jagged, bloody quarter inch of nail. Then that magical ten seconds where you know you’re hurt but the endorphins have kicked in.
Mmmmmm… Endorphins.
Just some random reminders:
I have three copies of Space Hulk ready to be painted up.
I’ve got Type II Cobra and Scorpion tanks for Eldar on the block at $160 each, ready to be commissioned.
More to come…
