AH-64D Longbow

Hey Everyone

Hope you all are having a good start to the month of June, and it's been quite awhile since I had posted...well, the end to my final exams/papers (mid-May) was pretty hectic as I spent a few long nights packing up my room (to move out) before just making it in time for a week-long camp that had no internet access.

After that, I went to a friend's house to chill before a wedding...and I broke my left hand in a whiffleball game, yes whiffleball. Google it if you'd like to find out more on that fine all-American sport :) So right now I am more or less typing with one hand at the moment...but it's fine and I am back with much less real-life work for now. Give a big hand to JQ who soldiered on for the blog, I am truly indebted to his faithful updates founded upon his undying passion for hobbying!

One thing you guys probably have noticed is that we love our micromachines, and perhaps we are facing an imminent end as we take shots of most of our little army vehicles. Or maybe we might get pushed further to ignite our creativity in order to capture more angles of our faithful toys.


This shot's a particular favorite of mine, which required us to work together to get the shot right...of course holding the longbow in place presented quite a challenge! The sight of the AH-64D longbow does inspire awe in me...a proven tank-hunter that probably still stands at (or at least near) the pinnacle of attack helicopters of today. It reminds me of those Hollywood moments or army recruitment movies where soldiers move out under the protective aegis of helicopters above (through filtered lenses and color editing that advertises an otherwise rare instance in a life filled with mundane duties and rigorous discipline).

It just makes me think if slick advertising actually helps in recruiting soldiers...or do actual career soldiers make that choice on their own accord? Or could it be due to life situations like poverty and immigration? (apparently the US has a significant amount of immigrant soldiers guaranteed citizenship at the end of their specified service)

Russia Victory Parade 2010

Part 1



Part 2

2 weeks ago, Russia celebrated its victory parade to mark the day in which the Allies defeated the Nazis and Facist rule in Germany. It marked the end of the greatest war in human history that is World War 2.

What is significant about the victory parade is that it commemorates the millions of Russian that had fallen, both under duress and for the defense of their nation against a foreign tyranny.

While there are many controversies and acts of atrocity on the Russian side against Poland in WW2 and certain dark past in Russia, this parade has shown how far Europe and Russia has become. I know this has nothing to do with Toys but it is sort of related to Military Hardware that the Russians were displaying for military enthusiast.

More significantly, there were foreign troops marching in the victory parade that were allies during the times of WW2. This included US troops as you will see from the above parade.

What made it all the more significant is the Angela Merkel the German Chancellor attended the parade as an acknowledgment of the Victory parade and it is a political play to show that Germany recognizes their dark past and has changed much to become a model for Europe again.

All in all, the victory parade shows a Russian Bear rising.. from the aftermath of an ill economy. It also asserts that Russia is still a dominant force in the world.

There were many interesting features in the parade though. One of which is the "Tiger" Vehicle that is the Russian version of the hummer. Sometimes, it nice to see a display of hardware and the military showcase of regimentation in such parades.

Enjoy!

Lizard Dude

Lizardman walking the green plains


Angry Face from one angle..


Happy Face from another...

I am always digging the whole centre focus feature of cameras, especially the DSLR.
Interestingly enough, While we will be continuing to feature more of these Lizardmen, haven't really contested with them before in a tabletop Warhammer game.

On first glance though, I know their magic is gonna be a real pain in the ass from experiences with High Elves.

But i think i should be delving and getting more involve in tabletop gaming soon. Hopefully not gonna get my ass whoop out there though... out from my comfort zone of the usual few friends I play with.

On another side note though, Progress has been going real well with the painting of my GHQ Micronaut ships. I'm just about done with the escort units and I will be taking on the Aircraft Carrier Real soon. It would be the First ever Aircraft Carrier I have assembled and Painted. (If i exclude that real dazzly crazy aircraft carrier i painted for my gal)

Will show you guys that sometime soon too.

Till the next entry.. Cheerios!

Coming Pretty Soon

Good day to everyone.

Our frequency of entries have been decreasing due to our busy schedule but we got
lots in store soon.

New collection of photos will be coming out featuring many many new action figures, military stuff and Warhammer stuff and many more. Not too forget other interesting vids and etc regarding varying hobby interests and other type of game reviews.

Furthermore, there will be a new focus on tabletop gaming and modeling tips coming soon. There will be stuff featured on GHQ Wargaming too.

What is it you say? What is GHQ? GHQ is a tabletop wargaming company that specializes making micro miniatures for wargaming based mainly on WW1, WW2 and Modern Day. Have been painting products from them. Currently, I am constructing my Micro Modern US Naval Carrier Battle Group based on their products.



So stay tuned for that too.

Rukia from Bleach

Hi there again. Its going to be hectic crazy times for me as my school work has begun to pile up and I am on the brink of dying from the overloading of units this semester.

Won't elaborate my problems but posts will be a little slower than usual. So Bear with us!


Shinigami Samurai Rukia on the prowl.


Exerting her reiatsu (spirit power) as she prepares to fight a Hollow (Monster creature in Bleach)

Okae, so since I showed in my last post about Anime being in the most uncorrelated stuff. I thought its time to show some Anime Action Figures.

So yes, aside from the Action Figures, Model Kits and Warhammer stuff. I do share a certain affection for various Anime shows.

The most "cheesiest" and "lamest" of them all would be Bleach. While it is a Mainstream anime, it is deemed as rathe rold in Japan already. However, it has gain a popular following in Asia and I'm pretty sure that it also has a substantial following in the West.

I don't particularly like their style of featuring this Anime because its Laden with ridiculous and meaningless fillers to the main plot and the Main lead Character is a douchebag with no skill that easily beats off hard obstacles or opponents that would have otherwise have been hard for even the most prowess of fighters.

It gonna take me forever to tell you the entire main plot of this show. But the gist of the show is a eternal struggle between these Shinigami who are Death god or Angels that regulate and aid in the transition of wandering souls from earth into the afterlife. These Shinigamis are depicted as Samurais with exceptional skill and power.

Things get interesting when monster called Hollows that are the by product of souls that are broken from their chain of fate is let loose to consume other souls. this is where the Shinigamis come in to kill them off.

The story gets really interesting after the betrayal of a few captains in the Shinigami ranks that cause a big rift and a more intricate plot into the war that has emerged from this plot. The best part of this anime would be the fight scenes and the interesting swordplay that infuses arcane powers into it.

I am a sucker for Samurai Anime films so Bleach is a great rehash of that type of Anime from a long hiatus of such action pack Sword fighting anime series. Very often, You will get to see many action pack fight scenes, but don;t expect complicated plots to this Show. You will be sourly disappointed.

Rukia is one of the main characters in it of which she plays a big role in the story. However, she is a pretty low rank Shinigami in the hierarchy of things.

What I Like about this figure is that it takes all the pretty and great looking aspects of her in the anime and adapt it to the sculpt.

It is a well-sculpted figure and does break stereotype anime girls that have big boobies and look generically pretty or "Kawaii" (cute) in a stereotypical way. (You know what i Mean if you have watch and analyze many anime films)

I'm noy quite sure if the product line is still available but this sculpt was the original Japanese version of the action figure. There are many pirated or low quality "Made in China" grade action figures from this line so be sure to pick it out carefully if u do manage to get one.

All in all, really like the figure and many of the Bleach Characters in it. While Plot may be a little hard to swallow, there are many characters that have appealed to me in the Series. I will be sure to show other characters of Bleach real soon ;)

Anime + F22 Raptor = I don't get the link

Clearly there is a market for such a product. However, the last thing i want to have on my display rack for a model is a F22 raptor that looks pink and has some unidentifiable Anime maid doll up girl as its camouflage.

Not sure why they call it the Idol Master but they have other variants of such a model kit. I think they have the Su-27 Flanker in Blue Colour coat and another Anime girl in it.

But I guess Model Kit manufacturers have to diversify their products and since Anime is a big market both domestically in Japan and globally.. Why not? :S

CoD: Black Ops

Hey Everyone

Just some video games news for today...dealing with Treyarch's recent teaser trailer release, which provided pretty interesting clues about the new game for the CoD franchise. Treyarch has released CoD titles to mixed feedback, and with IW more or less decimated (with the advent of Respawn Entertainment), would Activision depend on Treyarch to develop flagship CoD titles? Or could that go to Bungie, who recently signed on for Activision?

Anyway, here's the teaser trailer and it looks pretty interesting: not many shooters have been set in the Cold War era, with Battlefield: Vietnam and Shellshock being a couple that comes to my mind. The trailer's full of images and it is a bit hard to keep up with it at first.



Also, gamespot did a pretty extensive review of images to reveal tidbits on the settings involved in the game. It beats me how long they have spent scanning every single frame to spot the stuff they saw.

Apparently, the game is set in the Cold War as IW is currently suing Activision on CoD material after the Vietnam War. The news can be found here.

What do you guys think? Yay or nay?

Gecko Boy wants his CORNFLAKES!

Hi again. Sorry for the late posts or the long delays.
Its been awhile and Josh and I have been pretty preoccupied with School and Work. Its been hell for me in terms of school, but I'll make it through, like how this Lizardmen would make it through any tabletop gaming conflict.

If You are all curious who did this Lizardmen, fear no more, for I shall be giving a more in-depth review on the maker of these Lizardmen and many more of their works that you might have seen on our old Warhammer blog.

This figure is painted by a company called Paintedfigs.com

Headed by Mr. Navin Weeraratne, Paintedfigs is a company that provides painting services for your models for tabletop gaming and they do a wide range of stuff, including the picture above.

You gotta be asking yourself this though, What makes them standout from ALL the other painting companies? Well, firstly, the COST. They have the most competitive prices that beat all of their competitors.

Till this day, there is noone else I know that gives a better price than Navin. In a Economic term, he has the monopoly in terms of cheapest painting service. Secondly, the guy does pretty much everything that involves in tabletop gaming. Paintedfigs will take ur sprues and give u the final product, inclusive of assembly, removal of excess plastic and also basing. (Some other companies actually charge for each process seperately)

Furthermore, the guy is friendly and patient into listening to your preferences and would emulate as much as possible according to your requirements. However, sometimes you got to lay down the specifics.

Quite a number of my figures are testament to Navin's painting services. My Chaos Army is painted by paintedfigs and I must say they have done a real awesome job on all of them as you can see from the various photoes i have featured in the old Warhammer Blog. I had a my Knight Errants painted by them and also my friends have receive various other painted jobs from paintedfigs like this Lizardmen.

Okae, I'm guessing you might think I'm being one sided and trying to appease Paintedfigs for my own benefit. But here's the thing, I will always try and be balance on this.

Paintedfigs is an affordable way for u to get ur figures done by spending money on time that you do not have to let other people use their own time to do it for u. Essentially though, If you want Epic Artful quality type of figures painted, I suggest you either spent the time making it yourself or spent a fortune on those painting services that actually do offer it. I am also not a particular fan for their painting skills on human skin or their detailing of the eyes. Sometimes there is no depth in the texture of the skin for their paint job unless u tell them or instruct them on the technique you would like done to make it better.

Another problem with Paintedfigs is that if you do not emphasize or be as specific as possible, some details and definition on the painting may be left out.

However, its not like Everyone is totally perfect. And as far as i know, Paintedfigs have done great jobs when it comes to Chaos, the Lizardmen above and Space Marines too. A lot of their products are pretty awesome looking aside from what i pointed out. Furthermore, they have made their figures sturdy and strong after assembly so you hardly find them breaking apart while using them for tabletop gaming.

In Summary, If you are looking for tabletop to Collector's Quality of painted models, Paintedfigs is the most reasonable service you can get. Furthermore, if you buy Warhammer from them with the intent on using their services, you get a discount which makes it even less expensive and way more convenient than shipping your figures to them from your own country.

They offer to do many paint service for typically any type of models which is also something that makes them great. With great service and a killer price, it is hard to find fault in what they have to offer. Especially when you truly do not have the time to make that army yourself, but you want a painted army to boast for a tournament.

I think I have said my fair share of this Paintedfigs.com service. In the end, only you can be the best judge of what they have to offer. All I am doing is just giving you my own personal experience with Paintedfigs service along with the pictures to show for it.

Here's the website to begin to see what they have to offer: http://www.paintedfigs.com

Probably, gonna ask them for help on other stuff soon. Hmmmm...

HAHa till then.. See you again soon ;)