The Simple Green Experiment

Just when you thought the blog was dead.. then BAM! you were wrong :)) Hello and good morning! WL Richard Camacho is here once again. I have a 5 day vacation and it would be a sin not to write at least once in the blog.

So for today's post, something that has been boggling a number of players now: how do you strip paint from your precious minis?

I've asked this question a number of times to different people even before having the guts to try it out and they all had different answers (Summary is in the bottom for those of you who don't want to read through. I tend to get carried away in thoughts).

1) 70% isopropyl alcohol - well I tried it and it actually works. It really does strip paint but is volatile so the solution quickly evaporates. It can't strip the primer though.

2) Brake fluid - a lot of people attest to the effectiveness of this method but something about using a car product for a non-car purpose sounds dangerous.. not to mention the part wherein it is not environment friendly and can seep through your wounds to atrophy your tendons and cartilages so you'd always need gloves.

3) Simple green - some people highly recommend this.. if you can get it! Places where I've seen this is in ACE Hardware store in SM Megamall and the grocery in SM North EDSA (but I got one of the 2 bottles remaining so good luck and I hope they restock ^^). They clock in  at 300-400 pesos and I have only seen large bottles so far. Simple Green kinda smells nice from afar but is really strong for the nose so I don't recommend smelling it..

THE EXPERIMENT

Simple Green. Yep! Buy the concentrated one

The victims.. uuuuhh I mean the test subjects!

Reason for stripping: My girlfriend hates them because they remind her of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. They are my Mantis Warriors and they shall know no fear my dear :)) Now I will try and turn them to White Scars where they truly belong!

I started 7:44 am in the morning. As you can see above, I tested first with one model because I was scared of what might happen (some people reported that their minis melted). The second picture actually shows the yellow in the shoulder pad sloughing off on it's own after a day's soak.


After a day and a half of soaking I was told there would be a good amount of scrubbing to be done and I'm sad to say that it's true :(

I recommend a stronger toothbrush.

THE RESULT

The OC in me is screaming at those remaining green spots but overall I'm satisfied. It strips out paint though you really need to scrub. There are hard to reach spaces and I had to use my nails in some (which is a more effective way of removing the paint than the toothbrush). Also, it stripped the primer off, which I wasn't expecting! Now I can work on the first models I ever had who suffered from bad primer-ing.

Next question is, can you use the solution again and again? So i tried it again and this time with the 3 remaining bikers for a 2 day soak...

Some parts will come off...

To answer that question, yes! You can use it again. I'm using it for a third batch now actually :)

So there you have it! Simple Green works and the above is proof for you doubters.

SUMMARY

1) Simple green can strip off paint and primer
2) It doesn't melt your minis
3) I recommend at least a 2 day soak
4) You really have to scrub so get a good toothbrush, and prepare your finger nails too!
5) Prepare for certain parts detaching (and it's not even from the trauma dealt by the tooth brush)
6) you can use the solution over and over again
7) It may be environment friendly because you use it to clean the bathroom and it would eventually go down the drain.. same if you were just dumping the used solution in the toilet bowl.. or better yet, use it to clean the bathroom grout!

That's it for now! Even though I have a 5 day weekend, I have a crazy week of exams, practicals, reporting, and paper submitting ahead of me and so much limited time!

Once again this is WLC, Jarl of the 8th, hoping that you have learned something new for today!

WIP: The Axe Morkai

WLC is back! The blog is not dead... yet! ^^"

I had to go on a hiatus for a week or so due to crazy med stuff going on. First week was med week and I had to learn a couple of dances, make some lines for a script, and act. Who says a med student is all study?

2nd week was retribution. The real med life came back with a vengeance of 10 quizzes. So glad I survived the onslaught. Now on to the project!

Most of the WIPs (work/works in progress) that are going to be posted here were done in the near past and were done bit by tiny bit so if you think I have a lot of time on my hands then you're dead wrong!

THE AXE MORKAI

The Axe Morkai is the main weapon of Logan Grimnar, the current badass chapter master of the Space Wolves. He acquired it after defeating Akor Doomflayer, a Champion of Khorne, during the first war for Armageddon. He then tasked the blacksmiths in the Fang (the Space Wolves home base or Chapter Monastery) to melt it and forge it into a new weapon in the image of Morkai.

IN GAME

The Axe Morkai is a different kind of relic weapon. Logan Grimnar can use it to divide his attacks into either 2 profiles, that of a Frost Axe with +2 to strength and AP 3, which can hit on initiative or Powerfist attacks.


FORGING THE AXE MORKAI

Now about several  months ago, I decided to scratch-build or kit-bash my own Logan Grimnar because 1) the old model (this was before the new one came out) was really bad and out-dated and 2) I can't find the model and 3) I really thought back then that he was expensive for a single model outdated model (the new one looks way better but clocks in at 2700+).

As I built my Logan Grimnar based on the pictures I found on the codex and online, I realized something; this was a weapon acquired from a great daemon, who's supposedly big and powerful. You melt that weapon and only get a puny axe?

see what I'm talking about..

He is a badass Chapter Master and he gets a very small axe. In my mind, it doesn't look appropriate especially that he is wearing terminator armor. So I decided to build my own vision of the axe but of course it had to be close to the original.

I compared the axe in my mind and cross-referenced it with a couple of pictures...

Drawing concept of Axe Morkai from the codex

The Old Axe Morkai... :/

The New Axe Morkai

And so I made this...

Looking at how a terminator model will hold it...

Is it perfect? No! Does it look better? Maybe.. In the world of Warhammer 40k, things get crazy and exaggerated so might as well go with a bigger axe! Besides, a terminator armor turns the user into a "mobile tank or artillery platform" as some novels would suggest so I guess a very big axe could be wielded by such. As a bonus, you could see the left hand of Logan Grimnar wielding a wrist-mounted storm bolter. It doesn't have a name but if I would name it, it would be "Storm Fist".

MATERIALS

So what did I use to build my Axe Morkai? In reality, I really wasted a lot of Space Wolves Axes and Thunder Hammers trying to turn the concept into reality but I found out that all you really need are the following:

x2 Frost Axes from the Wolfguard Terminator Box
x2 Thunder Hammer from the Space Wolves pack
x1 Right Terminator Arm

IN CLOSING...

I'm really satisfied with how the axe turned out as I really had a hard time. After gluing the parts together, there were some holes in it that I had to seal up with green stuff. A spray of primer grey and voila! The green stuff marking are not visible from afar but upon closer inspection you would be able to see it and I hope that the paint job would cover it up.

So that's all for today folks! Hope you enjoyed this journey and learned a bit of info regarding the Axe Morkai! WLC, Jarl of 8th signing out!

And oh! As a teaser for my next work... ^^

Clue: Tattoo