Eldar - Part 3

Well here's my next colour scheme attempt for the enigmatic Eldar - an Aspect Warrior of the Howling Banshee variety. It's still not finished completely (gems and other detail not complete) but I wanted to experiment and try a lighter scheme to see how such a model would come out. It's probably more realistic than the previous schemes as well, though I can't really pin down why I fee that way.

The weapons are black to represent the dark emotion that comes from their use - as is the face plate, representing the same in the Eldar soul. All Aspect Warriors will show the same colouring, barring a single cloth strip that most of these models have in one form or another (in this case on the models left leg, in the Howling Banshee bone colour).

For my craftworld, the Aspect Warriors would wear their colours more as robes when not at war.

I think I'll try a Dire Avenger next in the same.

Gone Nova?

Or perhaps 'Nova Gone' is a better title for this post.

Nova Corporation is (was?) the biggest 'Eikaiwa' or English conversation school in Japan and was where I worked for almost two years during the late 90s.

During the last few months, the company has been rocked by a series of events that could possibly herald its doom. A revenue structure based on massive upfront fees for lessons (anywhere from $5,000.00 upwards) with very strict allowances for refunds was challenged by students which in turn resulted in Government sanctions that banned Nova advertising long term contracts - the staple of their business.

This lead to an almost bank-run like calls for refunds from existing students as well as massive drops in new student numbers which has now resulted to the point where Japanese and foreign staff have gone unpaid/had salaries delivered late and schools kicked out of their buildings for not meeting rent payments. The president of the company has gone into hiding after being dumped by the rest of the management group (though he refuses to accept the decision in messages passed onto the media by his lawyer). The media were given a tour of his massive office that had remained off-limits to the lower echelons of the company during his reign - including a well furbished main office, a tatami mat tea room and a secret room hidden behind a wall containing a giant spa and double bed amongst other things.

Sponsors are being sought to bail the company out, and as of writing 12 companies have come forward - though tellingly none of them are any of the other eikaiwa companies in Japan.

Nova's methods of teaching are often ridiculed by the foreign staff that work for it - but this is not necessarily a symptom unique to Nova, but of the eikaiwa industry itself. My experience with Nova had its ups and downs, but overall was an enjoyable experience. At the very least, the company created a very easy way for me to get my foot in the door in Japan, through being able to apply for and get employment in my home country as well as organising housing (albeit crowded and small) for me when I got there. Nova going under would mean the end of a great way for people to get to know Japan in a more intimate way than just by holidaying there.

The future remains uncertain for Nova - and whatever one might think about the company, its absence would be a very noticeable one in the fluorescent skyline that is modern Japan.

Not so yoku dekimashita......

Land of the Rising Sun - Part 3

Something that I forgot to post in my previous entry, but is so iconic that it really does deserve its own spot.

The above picture must be familiar to most - if not all - readers out there. What many people may not know is that this carving of the three wise monkies is part of a series of engravings on a structure located at the resting place of Tokugawa Ieyasu (as noted in my previous entry).

Given that Ieyasu passed away sometime in the 1600's, means that these little troublemakers have been around for quite some time!

There was little English information near where this was taken and my Japanese is not good enough to decipher the entries that were noted - I'll look into the relation between the monkies and the Shogun when I get a chance - but I bet a friend of mine out there will come up with the goods before I next post.

On a completely different note, I have been using this holiday to work on various aspects of my ongoing endeavours for my novel.

I have some names now that I am happy with for some of the major characters - see what you think:

Malthius, Kharas, Talia, Yutenji, Jun, X'ian...

Land of the Rising Sun - Part 2

Well, I've said goodbye to Kansai, spent a brief couple of days with the in-laws in the warmer climes of the South and made the trip North to Tokyo.

Tokyo is not a city that I think that I would ever enjoy living in. The people here are so...busy and often come across being rude as a result. The city itself is wide - the equivelant of their 'city loop' takes about an hour to circumvent by train. The massive rail network has had my beautiful wife's head in a spin on more than one occassion - despite being Japanese herself. On a couple of occassions, when looking for help, she was brushed off by a couple of passers-by which only darkened my thoughts on the place.

I try to balance these negative thoughts with positives to be found - certainly the shopping is great if you are after the more modern items and we have many friends here (though not natural born Tokyoites). Akihabara (with its associated 'Electric Town') has been visited a couple of times and I've ended up buying a PSP which I have found fun (and certainly cheaper than what it would have cost back home).

Coming back to Japan this time, I had promised myself that I would visit places that I had not been to before and in the Kanto region this had equated to going to Yokohama and Nikko. Both of these places I quite enjoyed - Yokohoma was quite relaxing, with its flowing gardens and hills overlooking the sea combined with the Western influences found in the architecture as a result of early foreign contact during Japan's history.

Nikko is the home of the resting place of one of Japan's most famous military and historic figures - the first official shogun of Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu. I first studied this man over twelve years ago at university and it was quite eerie to actually be at a place so strongly associated with him after all this time. The place is thoroughly beautiful, set in the foreground of some very majestic hills and the place really shined given the Autumn reds and oranges were approaching full strength.

On a related note, the above picture was taken inside Osaka-Jo (Osaka Castle) which has been blown up, burnt down, invaded and attacked so many times in its long history that it is now almost all a modern remake. The insides - though completely refurbsihed - house much interesting historical information which was great to reaquaint myself with again after so many years.

The model above is from a massive display outlining the final attack of the Tokugawas against the Toyotomi (who really united Japan but never had the chance to proclaim himself Shogun).

I believe this model is of Toyotomi Hideyoshi - their leader at the time.

More to come....

Land of the Rising Sun - Part 1

I've been back in my other home town of Osaka, Japan for about a week now and as usual a mix of feelings hit me whenever I walk the streets here: lavicious thoughts of the mainly gorgeous women, the inherent humour of the Osakan attitude and the accompanying (and often bewildering for those that don't know it) Osaka-ben that everyone speaks.

My trips back to Japan often descend in a mad rush to see nostalgic places and to catch up with friends and family as efficiently as possible. I've mostly succeeded so far, though there is a particular place on the stairs by the main entrance to the temple of Horyuji (which I used to live quite close to) that I used to pause at, sit and reflect upon life that will have to wait until my next trip.

I lived in Japan for two years - living in an apartment in Horyuji which is a small suburb just outside of Nara and worked in Osaka teaching English. Although travelling times were long, I always found the arrangement to provide a great mix of old and new.

I have a couple of days left here in Osaka before I move on to Miyazaki and then Tokyo. A visit yesterday to Kyoto to see my brother in law reminded me how snobbish the people there can be sometimes (not my brother-in-law!).

I suspect it would be rude to remind them that Nara was the capital of Japan prior to Kyoto - but still the urge takes me when people look down their noses at us Osakans!

Still, they know how to construct an effective stone garden. The above picture was taken at Ryoanji, one of the more famous places dotted around the city. The contrasts of the angular black and straight sandstone tiles provide the perfect border to the garden itself, as does the wall a solid backdrop.

It is the play on the unconscious that really sets these things off.

Time to move - I am sure there will be more to come.

Tyranid - Part 1

Ah, space bugs. Not the most original idea for sure, but still a great looking army that has a huge range of modelling options. Genestealers in particular evoke warm memories of Space Hulk. A great game all by itself.

I've not devoted a heap of time to these creepy crawlies yet but expect that I will....



Here are some examples with a couple of colour schemes:

Gensestealers:

Hormagaunt:

Tyranid Warrior:

Necron - Part 1

This Necron army started off being a 'quick-fix' army that I wanted to get painted quickly so that I could start playing 40k with a good friend. I hope he links images of his Salamanders army - his technique puts my stuff to shame.

I found that while the Necron were an army that were relatively easy to paint, I soon became absorbed in their background. I still find that their codex is is just...creepy. Even now, I use an image of one of the C'tan looking down upon the ancient Necrontyr civilisation as my desktop image at home.

To date, this is still the only army that I have a fully painted (but small!) 40k army. I still intend to do more with it.

Scarab Swarms:

Necron Warriors:

Immortal:

Destroyer:

Necron Lord:

Eldar - Part 2

I love my Eldar. I hate my Eldar. It is perhaps a byproduct of the love I have for these models and the fluff that surrounds the alien species that I don't ever seem to be happy with the colour schemes and paint jobs I do on them. I have changed colour schemes a couple of times and still can't seem to make up my mind. Despite this, there are a couple of constant ideals that I have always wanted to maintain:

a) That the aspect warriors would not have their own colour schemes (as per the traditional colours. Blue for Dire Avengers, green for Striking Scorpions etc). I want a consistent colour scheme throughout the whole army.

b) The colour scheme itself was - at least in the main - to be of a dark colour. This was in order to create a strong constrast to the inevitable Harlequin unit that would be painted in the traditional riot of colours.

c) Wraithbone colouring would play a part in some of the uniform. Usually, wraithbone is done in a cream colour (as per the Ulthwe colours), but I tend to either an eerie blue or a grey.

The below photos are from my first painting attempts for Eldar (a couple of years old now) and even now I sometimes think I should return to it:

Dire Avenger (new model): Howling Banshee/Striking Scorpion (old models): Farseer:

Druchii - Part 2

The below is not a GW model, but a Dark Elf done through the 'Dark Heaven - Legends' series (I think!). The GW range suffers greatly from a lack of character models - especially the sorceress models, which I think often look ludicrous. The below model I thought fit in quite well with the evil power that these women are supposed to radiate. Note that this is an old colour scheme compared to what I am doing at the moment:

A Memory of September 11.

I remember that night clearly in my mind.

Often people will claim after the fact that they had a feeling - a moment of prescience that hints at things to come. I make no claim to such powers, but even now years later I recall a distinctly eerie tone to the shadows that were cast upon the road as I made my way home.

I was late returning that night - much later than was usual for me then. By the time I pulled into our street the last rays of sunlight were bleaching the colour from the day. The sense of unease that had pursued me home intensified when I first caught sight of our house. Instead of being greeted with windows filled with golden light, only a cold darkness greeted me. The house seemed empty of life, which was unusual as I did not live alone.

I got out of the car and made my way to the front door, naturally only finding my keys in the last pocket checked. The unease became dread as I realised that the door was unlocked, and as I opened the door quietly became tinged with fear at the deadly silence that enveloped me as I stepped inside: the radio that I habitually left on whenever we left the house as a security measure was silent. Fearing that we had been, or were being, burgled (this had happened to us before) I quietly put down my bag and made my way into living room.

Nothing had been touched - there was no mess that had defined the previous invasion of our home. The TV, video and other prime targets of theft were all as they should be. A mixture of relief and confusion flowed through me at the realisation that the house hadn't been broken into. I went back and retrieved my bag from the front door, then made my way to my bedroom. I dumped my stuff on my bed and then went to check the the rest of the house for signs of ...anything. The first thing I did was check the room next to mine.

In that instant, my life changed forever.

What I remember most about that moment was the scream of shock I emitted (and upon reflection years later I am almost embarrassed at the unmanly nature of the sound). Lying sprawled upon the floor of his bedroom was the body of my brother. A series of images hit me very quickly that took me what felt like ages to assimilate: the rifle that he and my father often went shooting with cast aside besides him, a bottle of rum on his desk, the cover of Metallica's "...And Justice for All" half soaked in blood scattered on the floor, the blood and what I found later to be brain and bone matter soaking into the rich blue carpet of his room. Most of all, I remember his face - peaceful, but with lips and skin that was tinged with a slight blue discolouration.

I knew that my brother was dead, and that he had taken his own life. In that knowledge, I found some clarity of purpose and managed to get myself going. The panic was replaced with the beginnings of grief. I knelt beside him, and felt inexperiencedly for a pulse which I could not detect. I remember touching his cheek and kissing his forehead, thinking that this might be the last time I get to be near him.

I remember rushing from the room to the phone and dialling '000' (the equivelant for 911 in Australia). I remember explaining what had happened to the voice at the end of the line and being told that someone was on their way. I remember explaining that our house was hard to find and that the ambulance should watch out for our driveway as it was very steep (we lived at the base of a mountain - a dirt road with neighbours far away). I remember the voice asking me if there was anyone there with me (there wasn't - my mum was on holiday with her husband out of state, my dad was on a work conference in Sydney (we lived in Melbourne - so an hour away by plane) and his girlfriend at the time was with a friend of hers whose daughter had been in terrible car accident the day before - the daughter was the same age as my brother and I later learned she died the same day as he. Though not close, they had been friends.). I remember the voice asking me for the number of a friend that could come over and keep me company. I remember giving the voice the phone number of two friends I went to high school and uni with who happened to be closely aged brother and sister.

Despite our house being hard to find (or so I thought) the ambulance made excellent time and was there within 10 minutes, or at least that is what it seemed. I have two specific memories of that ambulance crew: firstly that they approached me in a manner that indicated very clearly that they thought I might have been a danger to them (I don't blame them at all for that precaution, mind you) and that later, when they were checking the vitals of my brother, that one of them made the comment that they thought they felt a pulse. There was no pulse after all, it turned out.

Later memories of the same night - explaining to my dad over the phone that his son was dead, the arrivals of both the police and my friends who had obviously been called (and I can't imagine how that conversation must of went). I remember the girl (I won't mention her name here, but both friends are still very close to me now) asking me how my jeans had gotten so dirty. It was obvious to me even then that she was in a certain state of shock as well - as the dirt in question was dried blood that I must have knelt in when with my brother. The ambulence team took my brother's body away.

Much later, my dad's girlfriend picked me up and took me to her house. I do not remember that happening. I do not remember drinking a whole bottle of Jack Daniel's that night to the point that I passed out (but I've told many times that I made quick work of it and threw much of it up).

My brother left a note, someone told me. I remember looking around for one at the time but not finding anything then. I've read that note, though I believe the police eventually took it as evidence.

I know why my brother took his life and my part in it.

Living with the knowledge of the why changed my outlook on life completely.

My brother died eleven years ago today. September 11, 1996.

So why do it...?

So I've posted a bit, and set up a few things and now I've had a little time to reflect on why I'm doing all this. Those of you that know me in the real world know that I work in an industry that is thoroughly devoid of imagination - and imagination is something that I cherish.

I've often thought over the years what is the one thing that I really wish to achieve as an individual before I pass onto the next stage of being. The one constant answer that I give myself is that above all other things, I want to write a book. I love books, I love reading and it seems suprising now that after all this time I've never considered it as something to take seriously.

But being a realist, I've always tempered this desire with the knowledge that I have materialistic needs that need to be met in the short term, including a wife and hopefully (hopefully!) a couple of children (and won't that topic be an entry all by itself).

So, then. This site is the first step in most likely a long road of achieving that goal.

The one constant piece of advice I have heard given to budding writers goes something along the lines of:

"Stop bloody talking about it, and get out there and do it. WRITE!".

And that, dear reader, is exactly what I intend to do.

A Whole New World....

Well haven't I just gone IT crazy....Not just content with my own website, I've gone and created my own forum board as well. It's just one big party here at Sigil....Check out the link section, or below:

http://sigil.freeforums.org/

Will most likely use it for things that just don't fit here, including work on a novel that I've had banging around in my head for ages...

Iron Hands - Part 1

'Warhammer 40k' started as a spin off from the fantasy world that had already been created by Games Workshop in the mid eighties. The 40k universe really is its own being now - and a major part of that mythos is the space marine. An army that I initially shied away from for various reasons (they were too 'common', a friend was painting them, etc etc), they have over time called to me to the point where I have started (albeit slowly) a force of Iron Hands.

This 'chapter' of space marines is one of the founding legions - one of the original armies of space marines that were created by the Emperor. When painting space marines, I specifically wanted to paint an army that already existed in the mythos (unlike my Eldar craftworld which is a work of my own) so that I would have something to remain consistent to.

The Iron Hands despise weakness - to the point where they encourage the replacement of human body parts with robotic equivelants.

I'm very much looking forward to tackling some terminator armoured marines and perhaps even a massive dreadnought.

Eldar - Part 1

Here are some Eldar Dire Avengers that I've been working on. I fell in love with these aliens when I first spotted the original art concepts by Jes Goodwin way back in some early editions of White Dwarf. I seriously recommend that you track down his collection 'The Gothic and the Eldritch' - his work is some of the most graceful I have ever seen and truly does the Eldar justice.


Again, works in progress - and that damned flash!






While I'm at it, here's the Exarch (or group leader) that goes with this lot:

Druchii - Part 1

Here's some pictures of my WHFB Dark Elf army. These models are still works in progress (as are pretty much all my models *sigh*). I took these photos with my digital camera just using white paper as a background. Damn the flash is a harsh mistress, yet without it not much can be seen. It took me a long time to find a colour scheme that I was happy with for these guys - I didn't want to use the standard purple colouring that you often see, nor did I want it to look too cartoon like - I think I've found a happy medium here.

Some Druchii warriors:







Crew members for my bolt thrower:




Note to self: must get better light when I try this again.

Welcome to Sigil - Part 1

And here we are...

So why 'Sigil'..? It's a name that I have often used when spinning through these realms. An enigmatic word - and don't we users of the internet always reach for such mysterious labels when travelling these worlds? It is as if we feel the need to wrap a layered barrier of fantasy around us as we step into the unknown.

Another association springs to mind - the fantastic city of the same name. Sigil: The City of Doors, where one can go anywhere...

So which door will I take?