Hard Modes – Group Choice
Title: Hard Modes – Group Choice
Link out: Click here
Description: New on The Warhost: My Guild’s SWTOR stuff.
We’re getting all of our 50′s together to run Hard Modes for those wanting gear to get started in Ops. RSVP in the comments below. Even if we have more than 4 lvl 50′s, we’ll be able to rotate them out.
Post comments below for discussion.
Start Time: 1900
Date: 2012-04-09
Topics: SWTOR | No Comments »
Chaost Reaver Titan Completed!
Thanks a ton to Rushdrill for bringing us this footage. The complete assembled and painted titan is shown. Enjoy!
Topics: News, Unboxing and Assembly | No Comments »
Comedy in Power Armor!
These guys are hilarious. Yes, there’s an ad at the beginning of their video. I didn’t put it there. Bear through the 15 seconds of ad for the hilarious video.
Topics: Odd and Ends | No Comments »
An Insider’s View (And Lamentations of A Similar Origin)
Well, It seems that while I tried to post this video on a new channel that reflects more of what I am trying to do with the videos, I either don’t have enough tenure or enough video content (or replies to it) to warrant me uploading a video this long to it. I understand, Its just a pain that it’s going to be this way for a little while. Anyway, the new channel link is http://www.youtube.com/user/thewarhostvideos?feature=mhee
This video goes over something that has been on my mind for quite a while, now. It’s long, and it goes over a few things that are best explained in the video itself. So if you’re bored and eating lunch during a break in work, this is a good time to view it. It was a tough choice to make, but I think it’s the best for me and my hobby.
If you’re looking for the thread I used to read from, it’s http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ppwzq/iama_former_games_workshop_employee_ama/
Topics: Opinion & Commentary, The Warhost Videos, Vlog | No Comments »
Necron Army List Generator Beta, by Matteo311
Hey guys,
One of my YouTube fans has been generous enough to show me his updated Necron Army List Generator, in Beta form, I believe. I offered to host it to give you guys something free to use, but I can’t get it to work myself because I don’t use Microsoft Works, and it is in Excel format. You can check out Matteo311′s video below on how to operate it, and what it’s all about. Let him know what you think!
You can download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?04xt3crk37v667k
Topics: Odd and Ends | No Comments »
Tau Rumors
A quick video about the rumors of the upcoming 5th edition. Enjoy!
Topics: Informative, News, The Warhost Videos | No Comments »
Been Gone For a Bit…
Hey guys, sorry I haven’t posted anything new for a while. I had a brutal finals last semester, followed by a two-week vacation for the holidays. I am working on new stuff currently and will try to get things to you as fast as possible, but it’s difficult to get an hour straight of free time.
Topics: Odd and Ends | 2 Comments »
The Warhost’s Guide To Magnetizing
Magnetizing is a valuable skill for assembling wargaming models, because it allows you to swap part to represent what your model is actually equipped with. You will end up saving money by buying tools and magnets instead of just buying more models. You’ll need to decide if you care enough to spend the time magnetizing, because it still won’t give you more than one model at a time.
Magnetizing, particularly with large, hollow and flat imperial vehicles, can be pretty easy to try. In some cases, you’ll just need to glue magnets onto the surfaces you are joining. However, as you get into more complex angles and smaller parts, you’re going to run into issues.
You’ll certainly need more supplies than just magnets and glue. Here’s the total of what I used for my models:
-Super Glue (CA Glue)
-Rare Earth Magnets
-Modeling files or emery boards
-Contour Putty
-Green Stuff
-Sculpting tool (a used dental scaler works fairly good – my girl gets them free from work).
-Brass Rods for pinning (Do NOT use steel rods or other similar materials, they will maul your clippers)
-Clippers
-Hand Drill or Dremel Tool
-Drill bits sized for your magnets and your brass rod (buy spares – they tend to break)
-Tweezers
-Nail Polish Remover (for removing superglue)
One of the first things you will notice when gluing large limbs to small joints is that to fit a small enough magnet on for it to not be obvious, the limb will sag. While the magnet is strong enough to hold on a part, there is not enough friction between the magnets to support the leverage of weight. Also, smaller magnets can be a real pain to work with. Some articles will tell you to glue a line of very small magnets when you have a thin, long attachment point that needs real strength, but I have noticed that this can be very difficult and messy, unless you REALLY know what you are doing. Placing magnets side by side is asking for one of them to get pulled on top of another and out of place, making a mess of your magnets and super glue application. Fortunately, you have a few options.
Option 1. If you can do so, find a drill bit at just the right size for the magnet, and drill into limbs and torsos just deep enough to completely embed a flush magnet. This is the preferred choice, but we can easily run into the sagging limb problem. This is the cleanest, easiest option but it only works if your magnet it strong enough to support the weight of the limb. Be sure to take your time when drilling – you can easily slip and stab yourself with small drill bits, damage your parts, or drill too deep.
Option 2. If the magnetized part is supported at two points, a weaker magnet should do fine. Take for example, my Guardian Weapon’s Platform. Pardon the awful paintjob and blurry picture – it was designed only to show magnet placement.
The blast shield holds the weapon straight, and the magnet keeps the weapon stuck to the base. This way, I can swap out different weapons instead of buying 5 different platforms. You can also do this with two weak magnet points instead of one large one, useful when you have a long, thin application that will likely wobble, and all but the smallest parts will.
Option 3. You can do a combination of magnets and pinning. At one point, place a magnet small enough not to be obvious, but combined with a discreet pin to keep the part from sagging or spinning. The pin will provide stability if the magnet’s friction is not enough to support a part’s weight. If you do this, use a pin glued only to one side. The second side should be an empty hole just barely big enough to fit it. You don’t need a long pin, just a snug fit. The advantage to this is that it does not require as wide of a point as just a magnet does, but it is difficult to attach loose parts to quickly (since you have to fit a pin in the proper hole), and it tends to still keep some wobble. Check out this example of what they look like separated:
And one of them together:
This can be, as you see, a bit of an eyesore but it is something to consider if you have no alternatives. If you do this, I would recommend either painting the pin black to make it subdued, or paint it the same color as the surrounding parts. Also, this is definitely prettier than option four. I also used magnet/pinning for the pewter guardian heavy weapons platform to make the turret swivel and the guns interchangeable, so it’s a pretty versatile method to magnetize things you never thought you could.
4. In case no other options are available to you, you may have to do some rather invasive surgery. You need to decide for yourself if you would rather noticeably alter your model to have interchanging parts, or spend the extra money on keeping your models closer to their intended look by just buying more of them. This is going to take some courage, but if you consistently take your time, dry fit everything and modify slowly, it should work out for you. Character models – particularly monstrous creatures or pewter pieces – tend to place such large limbs on such small joints that it is simply impossible to disguise the magnets. Take for example, the wraithlord arm and torso below.
The “shoulder” and “collarbone” joint both have plastic areas either too narrow or too thin to hold magnets strong enough to keep this arm suspended forward. I did try with other magnets and it barely held the joint, and it certainly didn’t keep it from sagging or wobbling. I realized that I was just going to have to place the larger magnets and paint it to look as natural as possible. Look at the “collarbone” part. To keep the thick magnets from jutting the arm up against the pauldrons, and to have a solid base for the magnet to glue on to, I clipped off the rounded end.
To give the arm some angle, I specifically glued a magnet into the arm in a crooked way. Check it out:
In the above images, you can see that to someone not actively handling your model, you can’t even see the magnets. They are obscured by the pauldrons. This will not always be the case, though. Especially if you are going to do this for the forearm or shoulder mounted weapons a wraithlord has. Additionally, if you use contour putty and green stuff to cover up gaps and such from placing the magnets, it should look just fine if you paint over the parts that will be exposed. You don’t have to paint over the surface of the magnet that will be receiving all of the contact, though you can if you expect to be foregoing optional wargear on that spot. The paint will not affect the magnet’s hold in any significant way as long as you do not cake the paint on.
(By the way, these are 3x1mm magnets. Thanks to poster Gac666 for the tip on size.)
I applied the same principles to the rest of my wraithlord, and here’s the result:
Additionally, doing infantry can be a challenge, but with the right skill it should look wonderful. Take a look at my example below for visual references.
These use magnets 1/32″ wide and 1/16″ thick. They are strong enough to keep the arms fastened and rotatable, but because of their small size it can be easy to bump them or pull them off, so watch where you put your fingers when you play with it.
The only way you can really do this is to get a drill-bit in the exact size and embed the magnet flush with the surface of the shoulder-sockets of the infantry torso, and the beginning of the arms. You can not have any of the magnets sticking out because with a join so tight as infantry limbs, carelessness will make your arms look like they’re not actually attached to the torso. If you bury the magnet too deep, you won’t get a join at all and will have to dig the magnet out, damaging your model.
That being said, it is very much like the wraithlord above. You only need to worry about a couple of extra concerns. The first is, since you are drilling into your model, you cannot undo it nearly as easily as a magnet glued to a model’s surface. Make ABSOLUTELY sure that wherever you start drilling will put these limbs in the positions that you want before you start. Get a sharpie marker and note where you want the magnet so that you can drill accurately. The second thing you have to worry about is drilling into the small limbs on rounded surfaces can be a huge headache. Your drill bit can easily slip and stab your hand or thigh. To prevent this, use a file – preferably a triangular or square one – and use the narrowest point of the file to create an “X” on the arm. The lines in the “X” should intersect where you want the magnet to be, and it will hold your drill bit in place to get your hole started. Still, be careful until you are sure your drill bit will not slip. Go slowly. Be sure to use your file to mark the same polar side of every magnet you have, that way you don’t glue the wrong sides exposed. You’ll always want marked side to meet non-marked side.
Hopefully, this gives you guys everything you need to get started with magnetizing. If you have any more questions, post them in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer.
Topics: Articles, Images, Informative | No Comments »
A Tribute To Nerds
To the nerds –
After six years in the army’s infantry and two combat deployments, I had witnessed horrors I would not wish for any to see. Through the following years after taking off the uniform, I had to keep myself busy to keep the memories of those times away from me, and so I decided to take up hobbies. Several hobbies, in fact, from math to astronomy, from miniature painting to board games, I immersed myself into a culture before I knew what I was doing – and I liked it.
After six years, a huge chunk of my life at my age, I was becoming a nerd again.
More than that, I realized why I liked other nerds. This tribute is for them – those who never cease to be entertained, those who get paid well to do what they love, those who always have something interesting to say, those who do as they please without fear of judgment.
The nerds I’ve known in the past few years have made me the most content and happy person I have ever been. While there are exceptions to any rule, nerds don’t judge their friends – they’re used to the weird and the ugly. They are accepting to a fault. They don’t need booze or pot to socialize, and when they do party with substances, they are all happy and no one makes a scene. It is the most carefree environment I’ve known since I was a child.
Like the minds of the renaissance, odd talents and esoteric knowledge are prized among nerds. Success fiscally is relative. Most nerds know how to live with very little besides a computer. Their currency is interests, those of their own and of those people they know. They have at their disposal a near-infinite supply of things that could interest them, of bits of fact that are collected like rare coins. Most nerds have skills in areas you would not expect, such as car repair, artesian cooking, bodybuilding and exotic sports.
Unfortunately, nerds have an image difficult to shake. Because of their lack of conformity to the status quo, they are looked upon with contempt. They are simultaneously the slaves and the masters of the human populace. The engineers and nuclear physicists of the Manhattan Project, mostly nerds, advocated discipline, stewardship of the forces of the universe, and a judicious use of technology and power, regardless of nationality or title of authority – something anatheme to the troglodytes who usually end up in positions of authority. For this mindset, they were socially assassinated and crucified in front of the House Committee of Un-American Activities – a sham of a witch-hunt run by stodgy and narrow-minded tyrants, but only after the nerds did what they were tasked to do, and under the pretense of ending a very real threat of a fascist and genocidal global regime, built the most destructive device in the history of our planet.
Some would ridicule them for their laughable lack of style in clothes, and yet the money they save by not shopping for designer brands can be used to do other things, like keep themselves from being buried under a mountain of debt, or buy things that don’t flaunt their social insecurities. The social awkwardness perceived of nerds does exist, like any other person going through culture shock would do. Living in a world apart would do that to you. It’s hard to do what’s trendy when you don’t spend your teenage years idolizing the swaggering douche bags who, for some reason, continue to set the standard of social norms, even after the advent of civilized protocol.
Life is a feast of experiences for a nerd. Everything is a challenge to be enjoyed and overcome. Happiness comes easily to them. They have changed my life for the better, and I will never look at them the same.
Here’s to you, the trekkies, the fanboys, the bronies and the instance raiders. Here’s to you, the wizards of silicon, the architects of subculture, the sculptors of memes, and the pioneers of social media. Here’s to you, the pale, the unfashionable, the unpopular, and ultimately the most fun people I have ever known. You’ve returned joy to my life, and for that you have my thanks.
Topics: Articles, Odd and Ends | 3 Comments »
