Caleb

Magnetizing just got a little easier . . . .

You can buy Iron Shavings all over the internet, but you can also get a pretty good deal on them here.  This site also offers some bulk orders here.    In addition, this company sells tons of different sizes of Steel Balls, which are very useful for when you need a sphere for magnetizing but don’t want to pay the exorbitant prices of sphere magnets.

In addition to regular iron shavings, I’ve also experimented with a product called Magnahold.  You can purchase Magnahold here.

Magnahold is a ferrite (iron) additive.  It claims that when mixed with paint and applied to a smooth surface that it will make the surface attractive to magnets.  In the case of a weak connection, it suggests adding an extra layer OR using a stronger magnet.

I bought a bag of Magnahold that was intended to be mixed with a Pint (16 oz) of Paint.  Of course I wasn’t planning on using all of it at one time.  For the purpose of this tutorial, I decided to compare Iron Shavings (generic) to Magnahold to see which held a better connection to several magnetized plastic limbs.

So, I gathered some supplies: the additives, some paint and brushes, and a sheet of plasticard.  Eventually I switched over to a paper plate instead of plasticard.   I also magnetized a few limbs.

For the purpose of this tutorial, I really just glued magnets on the ends of the arms, with the exception of the space marine arm where I actually drilled out a spot for the magnet.

As you can see here, even through the bag the magnahold has a pretty firm grip on the magnets.  And that’s through a thin layer of plastic!

To keep everything on an even playing field, I started with a 1/1 ratio of paint to additive.  I mixed it together, thoroughly.  The Iron Additive is in Blue and the Magnahold is in red.

After thoroughly mixing the additives I could already tell a slight difference.  In the above case, the Iron Shavings are of a much finer gradient than the Magnahold.

They were able to be mixed more thoroughly.   As such, they seem to create a firmer hold on the magnets.
It is very clear that the more concentrated the area of the Iron Additive, the stronger the magnetic hold.

It’s not that the Magnahold didn’t work, I just felt like the Iron Additive had a stronger connection, likely due to it’s denser concentration.

Final Conclusions:

Although Iron Additives are a suitable replacements for magnets, they never reach the strength of a true magnet on magnet connection, however, they do bypass the polarity issues, making them an ideal enty point for newcomers to magnetization.

Iron additives are ideally suited for small limbs, such as Resin or Plastic.  The finer the grain of the additive, the denser it can be applied to an area, and thus the stronger the connection between it and the magnet.

In addition, Iron Additives such as Magnahold could be a reasonable alternatives when magnetized host points are too close together and the magnets are trying to rip each other out of their respective sockets.  For example Tyranids often feature ball and socket joints very close together, and polarity is ALWAYS an issue in these areas as the host magnets often try to pull each other out of their respective sockets.

Due to the gritty nature of the iron additive, it is advisable to use paint as an application medium, but limit the application of the additive to areas that will rarely be seen by observers, such as ball and socket joints and underslung areas on a model.

Also AVOID using superglue to apply iron additive to a model.  In tests it tended to clump and application was very difficult.  Paint seems to be the ideal delivery method as it’s slow dry time ensures you can apply the additive wherever you like.

If you found this tutorial useful, be sure to check out more of our work on our homepage, or at the very least, like us on facebook!   We also have a new podcast called Warcouncil where we share other cool hobby tips!  And you can see more tips through our Youtube channel!  

Went to the 11th Co GT this weekend and I didn’t even get a crappy t-shirt . . .

Hey guys, Caleb with White Metal Games here, and I just got back from the 11th company GT in Myrtle Beach!

For those of you that know me at all, you know that I’m not much of a competitive guy.  However, I am always looking for new venues to showcase the studios work, so when I contacted Neil at the 11th Company about their GT in sunny Myrtle Beach, his advice to me was ‘Bring a Painted Army and come play!’

Well, I took half his advice.  In a strange turn of events, three armies that I had been trying to sell suddenly sold in the two weeks before the GT.  So it was with lament I suddenly found myself without a painted army in sight.  I had plenty of odd figures, sure, a daemon prince here, a squad there, but nothing like what I would normally want to showcase.  My plan up until that point had been to bring a painted army, but with the trip fully planned and paid for, I said the hell with it.  At least I’ll have a good time.  So I snagged every figure I could that would showcase our conversion work, and got in the car, bound for the golden shores of South Carolina.

To preface my tournament experience, allow me to set the stage:  I’ve been to less than a dozen tournaments in the last few years, preferring to stay behind the scenes when I can.  I’m not a competitive player by any stretch of the imagination, and other factors like cost, time away from home, work, etc often deter me from taking trips like this (in fact, I had to leave early, as you’ll see below).  However, over the last few months I have reoriented my business plan to attempt to establish myself in the ‘community’ at large and to do that I have to get out there, shake a few hands, kiss a few babies, etc.

So it should come as no surprise that this was my first GT.  Part of my desire to attend the 11th Co GT was simply to see how a tournament this large is ran.  And while most of it will seem like common sense, seeing how the sausage is made is always interesting.

The GT was for 2000 points, with 7 rounds played over the course of 2 days.  Registration started at 7am (yikes) with dice rolling at 8am.  A new system was being introduced to the GT this year called Torrent of Fire.  Torrent of Fire was new to me, but the basic idea was to establish a way to rank tournament players in a way as uniformly as possible, and to be able to rank those players nationally as well, where scores could be tabulated pretty much at the click of a button.  You can enter the results from each round on a smart device or computer and pairings for each round are posted on the ToF website.  So you basically go the event, log in and enter your results from each round, then wait for the new round results to be posted for your next game.  That’s a really dumbed down explanation of what ToF is, which is to say I’m a bit of an idiot when it comes to anything techy, but the potential for this application is immense.  I asked the ToF guys to speak on WarCouncil where they could full explain what ToF is and how they are planning to spread the word about it.  So once I hear from them, YOU’LL hear from them.  

The 11th Company guys tried to get everyone to sign up for a ToF account before the event through their newletters, but sadly, not all of us (yes, that means me) did.  So posting the results for the first round was painfully slow, as dozens of us had to create accounts for the event and then post our results. However, let me say that after this traffic jam, the software worked beautifully!  Since 95% of the attendees had a smart phone or the like , they just posted their results each round on their phones.  The rest of us used one of the dozen or so tablets or laptops the 11th Co guys furnished so we could quickly enter our results.

The only room for error I see here is that if me and my latest opponent enter different results, I’m not sure how they will establish which results are right.  So while there is room for error, I think the overall feel was that ToF is amazing.  On top of all that, ToF had several support personal on site, promoting ToF and helping to create accounts, answer ?’s, etc.  Great job guys!  I hope ToF spreads like wildfire!

Check out their site if you get time.  The ToF site also has a list of events coming up around the country, so if you eager to get to a GT, there might be one closer than you think!

The event ran like you might think after that.  Pairings were posted at the start of each round, players fanned out carting massive display boards to their next match up, trying to avoid tipping over or bumping into anybody.  I can honestly say that every person I met or played all weekend was a delight, without a rotten apple in the bunch.  There was just a good vibe in the room.

Judge support at the event was excellent!  Judge walked the long lanes of the hall, answering questions, making rules calls, updating us on how long we had left to play, etc.  I never felt like a judge was far away.

There were some amazing armies present at the event and while it would be impossible to show them all, these images represent a smattering of some of the armies I found most evocative.    You can check out more on our Facebook Page!

Saturday was four back to back games.  Playing four back to back games of 40k is just as exhausting as you might think it is.  The only snaffu to the entire day was that since this was an uncatered event, with some players finishing later than others, there was a definite imbalance in the lunch break for many of the players. There was a bar next door to the hotel, but it didn’t seem the 11th Co. had informed the bar to expect a lunch rush around 2-3pm as the GT let out for lunch.  So when 30-40 of us rolled in for a mid day snack, the bar staff was a bit overrun and orders took a bit longer to get out than they normally would have.  I saw a salad take about 20 minutes to get to one player.  If I had to make a suggestion, I would have either recommended 90 minutes for lunch to allow players longer to drive somewhere off site, or perhaps a catered event.  Even a simple boxed lunch furnished by the hotel would have been a welcome option.  I worked in a hotel for about 5 years, so I know this wouldn’t have been much of a stretch.  A little more planning in this regard next time guys would have gone a long way with an already tired player base.

Sadly, four games was going to be it for me.  The Sunday games ran from about 8am to about 7pm or so.  That meant if you played all 7 games, you were likely going to stay an extra night in the hotel, and for me that wasn’t really an option.  So while I bailed like a chump, I have it on good authority that day two at the event went very well.  The players from day one that stayed over were organized into brackets and you played through your bracket in an attempt to match up players with those of similar standing.  What this meant was if you wanted to play 7 games, you got to play 7 games, and those games would be against people of a similar W/L record.

So, final thoughts . . . .

Pros:  

11th Co GT was an AWESOME time, and I had a blast!  The event, while suffering a few expected growing pains, is handled with style and organized with professionalism.  The staff are friendly, knowledgeable and well organized, and they are looking for ways to improve the experience for their players, both with some amazing prize support from vendors like Greenman Designs, MicroArts Studios, BitzBox, KR Multicase, Mr. Dandy and yours truly among a dozen others.

Torrent of Fire was a welcome addition to the event and definitely sped things up as the day went along.

Cons:
A few organization snaffus were to be expected here and there, and since there is always room for improvement I don’t hold this against them.  Catering or a longer lunch break would have been a welcome addition, but was likely overlooked to attempt to keep the cost of the GT as low as possible.

In a major oversight on my part and possibly at least partially responsible for why I lost four games back to back was that I had brought an 1850 point list to a 2000 point tournament!  And while this was completely my fault, 100% my mistake, what was interesting that my list wasn’t looked at until the 3rd round of play, and that the judge didn’t catch the error or inform me.  In fact, until the start of my fourth game, no one caught it.  Finally my fourth round opponent brought it to my attention.  I was more than a little surprised at my oversight.

And while I agree that vendor support at a GT isn’t always right for every event, if the event continues to grow they may want to consider allowing vendors into the hall in some form, fashion, or another.

Final Conclusion:

I give the Myrtle Beach 11th Co GT  9 out of 10!  It was highly fun, exhausting, and a great chance to meet some cool guys (and gals!  More lady players than I’ve ever seen at an event!)

Great job guys!  You really . . .

PUT YOUR TOURNEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!!!

Caleb,
White Metal Games

Greeting all you boys and ghouls!  Caleb with White Metal Games here!  Today I have a quick and easy tutorial for you:  textured urban rubble basing for your miniature needs

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Basing your miniatures is often the final step to really finish off your miniatures.  The problem is that after you’ve take so much time to paint your miniature, you’re really tired and basing is generally the last thing you want to think about.  Most folks default to the green/brown earth/flock scenario, which is perfectly fine.  But not every battle should be fought on mother earth.  Some battles are waged in the ruins of the 41st millenia.

So, how to kill two birds with one stone.  The answer is texturing your paint!  Textured paint is nothing new.  GW sells it.  Let me save you a little time and money.  It’s sand.  It’s just sand, grit, or ballast mixed into the paint.

So, how do we make our own textured paint?  Well, this should come as no shock, we add it in ourselves.

First, grab a mini, some textured basing material (mine is a blend of sand, dirt, herbs, dried tea leaves, whatever I have extra that I add to the batch over time) and some cheap paint, plus an empty container.

First, add some paint to the container.  Darker is usually better, because then you can dry brush up to create texture.  In this case I use a dark grey paint.

Add some textured basing material.

Stir to the consistency you like.  Pancake batter is about what I go for, or ‘gritty’.  Yoggurt like consistency.

Use an old brush or wooden craft stick to apply some of the basing material to the mini.  Be mindful of the paint areas, but a little drift is okay since this will look like dirt/grime/dust later.

Do a little clean up with your finger and then apply a little paint to the edge to polish it off.  I used black below.

This mixture will take longer than usual to dry, a few hours at least, but once dry you can wash it to detail or dry brush to help the texture stand out more.  You can also add some bits like spare weapons, skulls, etc into the basing material, which will be slightly pliant and will hold down those spare bits like glue.  I usually paint mine first and then just stick them wherever I feel like.

If you found this tutorial useful, be sure to check out more of our work on our homepage, or at the very least, like us on facebook!

And until then . .

PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!

Caleb, WMG

War Council Episode 8 is here!

Greetings fellow Wargamers!  Caleb with White Metal Games here.

In this episode we speak with The Jen and Joe from Screaming Heretic about cosplay!  The Jen is an avid cosplayer and she speaks candidly about her cosplay experiences, everything from how she comes up with her amazing costumes, to some of the antics they get into at conventions, as well as how to politely tell someone to take their hand off your costumed ass.

If you want to know more about Screaming Heretic be sure to visit their website: 

Or visit them on facebook:https://www.facebook.com/screamingheretic

You can stream this episode from the White Metal Games Website, here.  

Alternately you can also listen to the episode on Itunes. 

War Council is a new podcast about 40k and things wargaming related.  Justin was a one time client of Caleb’s that stuck around long enough for Caleb to ask him to do a podcast with him.  Episodes revolve more around the hobby and fluff aspect of wargaming, and part of each episode follows the progress of White Metal Games as it tries to make a place for itself in a sea of miniature painting services.

War Council is a presentation of White Metal Games.

PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!

Caleb

If Time = Money, and Terrain = Time, then Terrain = Money.  This tutorial will help you save a little of each.

Hey guys, Caleb with White Metal Games.

With every new project you take on, you have to ask yourself what is your end game.  If the project is going to be a competition piece, then by all means, take months to complete it, 50 shades of grey shading and all.  But sometimes the goal is just to get a model or piece of terrain on the table and quickly.

There are some amazing models, dioramas, and display boards out there.  We see them at cons, we see them at GT’s, and online.  And they raise the bar really high.

THIS TUTORIAL WILL LOOK UP AT THE BAR, LAUGH, AND WALK WAAAAAY BENEATH IT.

This tutorial is for the guy with two kids and five minutes to build a hill who has spent his last dime on baby food and diapers this month.  I salute you, sir, for trying to stick to the hobby at all.

For everyone else out there with money to burn, by all means, take the time to build a nice hill.  But if you have no time to spend and even less money, this is the tutorial for you!

Here’s what you’ll need for this urban hill:

• Some hard packaging foam (not the cheap kind you get in the mail, the hard stuff you get with electronics.)  
• A base of some sort (I used MDF here, but cardboard would work fine.  After all, why waste good money on terrain when you could blow it on miniatures)
• Some expanding foam (You get a can of this at DIY stores or Walmart or the like for about $4 bucks a can)
• Some spare sprue from you the latest kit
• Sand, dried spices, ballast, or whatever other basing material you have around.  Dirt from your back yard will be fine.

Okay.  I call this the five minute hill.  If it takes you longer than five minutes to do this then that equation up above was a complete waste of my terrain (whereby terrain = time).

First, apply a generous amount of foam to the base.  Be sure to go around the edges.  It looks a bit like a curled up intestine.  Gross.

Now break up bits of the foam.  If you have any large, flat pieces, stick those on top.  They will form a place for miniatures to stand on.

Use the rest of the foam and just thrust it into the foam pile.  Shove them in there anyway you like.  Like how you got your sofa in your living room.

Take a few bits of the sprue and do the same.

If you have anything else to throw in there, like bolters, skulls, or other bric-a-brac (that’s fancy talk for junk), now is the time to add it too.

While the foam is still malleable (that’s fancy talk for squishy) apply some basing material.  Be generous.  The holidays are coming up and your want to get all that generosity out of the way now.

Okay.  That should have taken you less than five minutes.  At this point the hill is done.  Now all you have to do is paint it.

Oh, what, you thought that was part of the five minutes?  How misleading of me . . .

So, let the hill dry through your night terrors, and when you wake up in a cold sweat, apply a thick layer of black spray paint.  The cheaper the better.

Yes, the spray paint will dissolve the foam.  You want that to happen.  The solvent will partially erode the foam.  This is desirable to help give the foam a less ’round look.

Once that’s dry, take some cheap black paint (interior paint from your garage, or craft/hobby paint is fine) to touch up any areas where the foam shows through..

Once you have a good layer of black down, find some grey paint.  Dark preferably.  Dry brush or overspray some grey paint onto some of the surfaces.  If you spray paint this, it will dissolve the foam further.  So do so at your own risk.

Then, if you really want the gold star, do it again with an even lighter grey paint.  Let’s call this light grey, and let’s call this technique highlighting.

That’s it, your done.  What, did you expect fireworks?  It’s a hill, not the Mona Lisa.

Build a bunch, impress your mom.  Move out for God’s sake.

If you liked this tutorial, then check out more of our work here and here!

PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!  –Caleb

 
Help us reach 100 likes and qualify for chance to win AMC Movie Tickets!!

They like us, they really like us!   Let it never be said that we don’t reward our loyal subscribers!

White Metal Games is closing in on the 100+ Likes on Facebook.  A small milestone for some, but for us this has been a long time coming.  Longer than we’d like to admit . . .

To celebrate this milestone, we will be giving away two AMC Theatre Gold Experience Tickets to one lucky subscriber that likes us on facebook!

Here’s how it works .  .

STEP 1:  Like us on Facebook to help us get to 100 likes!

STEP 2:  Leave a comment  ON THE FACEBOOK PAGE under the post titled THE GOLDEN TICKET about what you’d like to see from us in the future.  More conversions?  More painting?  More armies?  More terrain?  You name it and we’ll try our best to make your dreams come true!

STEP 3:  Once we hit 100+ likes, we do a video where we randomly select one lucky LikeR who also posted on the facebook page under the GOLDEN TICKET heading to receive the tickets.

It’s that simple!

Good luck and thanks for supporting us so far!

Remember, we are currently accepting commissions.  Don’t hesitate to contact us for a hasslefree quote!

PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!!!

Caleb

War Council Episode 7 is here!

Greetings fellow Wargamers!  Caleb with White Metal Games here.

In this episode we speak with Tristan Morris and Allen Clark of Proxy Army.  Proxy Army is a new venture aiming to create custom minis for all wargaming systems using 3D technology to help gamers design custom minis any way they like!  That’s right, you make the mini, you make the choices.  

If you want to know more about Proxy Army be sure to visit their website: 
http://proxyarmy.com

Or visit them on facebook: http://facebook.com/ProxyArmy

AUTHOR’S NOTE:  This recording is lower quality than our normal podcasts due to tech issues.  Sadly, we did not speak nicely to the machine gods . .  BUT FEAR NOT!  You can also watch the interview in a series of three videos on our youtube page!

You can stream the episode from the White Metal Games Website, here.

Alternately you can also listen to the episode on Itunes. 

War Council is a new podcast about 40k and things wargaming related.  Justin was a one time client of Caleb’s that stuck around long enough for Caleb to ask him to do a podcast with him.  Episodes revolve more around the hobby and fluff aspect of wargaming, and part of each episode follows the progress of White Metal Games as it tries to make a place for itself in a sea of miniature painting services.

War Council is a presentation of White Metal Games.

PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!

Caleb