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Mig Jimenez's newest book found its way to my door yesterday! Fortunately it is the English version so I can read it. I haven't actually read it yet, but I have flipped through it and looked at all the pretty pictures, stunning! There are a lot of new techniques and variations on old techniques and I'm pretty excited by trying to make some of this stuff work on my 15mm tanks. Not everything translates well from the bigger scales down but I should be able to make enough of it work to improve the looks of all my armor. I think I'm going to strip down a unit of my DAK force just to try them out (not the Pz IIIs, I'm thinking a platoon of my Aufklarungs that are mounted in 7 SdKfz 250/1). I would really like to get my hands on F.A.Q.1 but those just go for outrageous sums on eBay right now. Oh, and the cool bit. I guess because I pre-ordered mine (and long enough ago that I couldn't figure out why I had received a package from AK Interactive) my copy is signed. This is going to go along just great with my copy of "Imperial Armour Model Masterclass Vol 1" (will there ever be a Vol 2?).
I found a really good review of the book over at Armorama: FAQ 2 Review

One of my convention activities at Genghis Con is coordinating the Painting Conference and Competition. Through a bit of mis-communication an old version of the event went into the program. So I figured I would at least get the record straight on one place. The CMPA is actually running two competitions but you only need to enter once and qualifying entries will be considered for the appropriate awards in both.

First is our standard medal competition. In this five judges review your entries in a category. They decide which piece they consider to be the best (so if you enter 3 figures in Single Historical/Modern only one will be judged, if you also enter a miniature in another category then it would be considered for that category) and then it will be scored from 0-4 by edge judge. We throw out the high and the low score and add the other three to determine what medal you will get; Gold, Silver or Bronze, or didn't place. This allows us to reward all the entries not just the top three. This is done for each category. Then using a trophy judging style the best miniature is selected from each category and from there a Best of Show is determined.

The second competition is exclusively for 15mm WWII miniatures and is called the Silver Star. Similar to Battlefront's Iron Cross but you can enter miniatures by any manufacturer.

There is a third competition being handled by LEG just for armies. Minimum of 30 "stands" and six "units" will get you into this competition. You must enter this separately though and it is being held in a different room.

Here are your categories for the main competition:

I worked at home last night on these Marines and they traveled with me to Troll Country Games tonight. I painted while the rest of the group played Flames of War (Finns vs Americans). These are getting close to being done, just some small details to pick out and then the inevitable touch ups. I discovered that I'm out of the style of bases that I want to use so I'm going to have to order some tomorrow. That will probably set me back a bit on getting to that ready to play with toy soldiers point. So here is a group shot and the rest are in the WWI gallery (which is getting quite full at this point).

So with one competition mini going for a stripping bath I figured I could work on the other two. I promptly found mold lines on both of those. Since the skin work was basically done at this point I didn't want to strip them so I carefully cleaned them up and will re-prime by hand when I get home. That means the Marines got a lot more attention today than they normally would have. So basic uniforms and coats are finished and I have laid in the dark layer for the webbing and other gear, which is fortunately all the same color. The first wash shade was applied as well and I'll build up to the lighter color from there. So one shot here and the rest in the gallery.

I am a self acknowledged pack rat and I like to have my stuff with me. I regular pack up my paints 2 or 3 times a week and paint at the local FLGS or at friends' houses. Although I have a container that holds my "ready" paints. I hate to be in a situation where I don't have something that I need. I have tried various snap tite containers over the last couple of years and overall they are pretty good. But they haven't held up to the constant transport abuse like I hoped they would. To that end I keep an eye out for something to supplement them with. Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Lowes and Home Dept are the usually culprits and the scrap booking and tool box sections are usually where I end up. Back in November I struck gold at Hobby Lobby. A transport designed for scrapbooking that was twice as wide as the ones I usually find. The interior compartment was deep and was sectioned off with compartments but closer examination showed that these were velcroed in place and could be removed. Three compartments on the outside and wheels with a collapsible handle sealed the deal. The price tag $130.00. Pretty rich for my blood, but then if you sign up for Hobby Lobby email alerts you get coupons for 40% off on a regular basis right to your email. So one month later this baby was mine. It has served very well and I have it packed full. Since its designed for a hobby that deals with paper its pretty sturdy and it looks like its going to hold up to my abuse for a long time. So here are the pics of the thing loaded down, including a shot of everything I'm currently carrying in the main compartment. It will be doubling as a troop transport when that need arises.