Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Drilling for Hydra

After lots and lots of drilling, the Hydra is at last coming together. I started off well but became distracted over the weekend trying to fix the wings on my Harpies which needed some realignment and had quite a few gaps to fill as well. I returned to the Hydra and have proceeded to drill several more holes into it than are found on a golf course. The count is currently at eleven pins and I expect by the time I'm finished I will have used around seventeen pins on the beast. This is for me is a nice accomplishment since I normally avoid pinning as much as possible. The War Hydra model is simply too heavy and off balance to allow for any of my usual corner cutting, thus the pin frenzy.

I have three more necks and three more heads to go before the Hydra is complete. There are already a number of large gaps between the pieces that will need to be dealt with but so far I'm happy with how things are going. I had hoped to be working on the plastic guys by now but I think the extra time and care I'm putting into assembling the Hydra will be worth it in the long run. Those heads might still pop off but I feel confident they at least won't break apart merely by putting the model down on the table.

Oops! A little too much enthusiasm for pinning...

Alright, that's it for tonight. I just wanted to give reassurance that the Hydra had not defeated me and that in fact the battle rages on even now. Armed with heavy-duty brass rod, I will be victorious. I think I should be able to finish all the pinning and gluing tonight, leaving whatever necessary greenstuff business for tomorrow. Also my mother-in-law will be visiting for a few days so I'm looking forward to some potential extra hobby time the rest of this week. Okay, I gotta get back to that monster. I hope everyone is doing well this evening, take care!

13 comments:

  1. Glad the hydra has regeneration! Other monster would have died with such a piercing wound xD

    Nice to see that the pinning on such beast it's not defeating you PapaJJ ;D
    Keep up the pinning work! lol

    Good luck with the rest of the holes!

    PS: I don't understand how can the visit of your mother-in-law become more hobby time. How can this be possible?

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  2. Hahaha! It actually seems to be thriving under the assault as another head has sprung up in just the last few minutes... only one more to go and I'll be done. Well, there's a lot of greenstuff to do but I'll still feel proud to have gotten that far. :) I appreciate the encouragement, thanks!

    As for my mother-in-law's arrival, whenever she visits she's so excited to spend time with her granddaughter that my wife and I end up getting a nice little bit of break to rest and recover. My plan is to sneak off whenever I can to assemble Dark Elves and get as much done as I can in the next few days. We'll see how it goes, I should at least be more alert and not so bedraggled as usual which wouldn't be bad either.

    Thank you, Nesbet, it't great hearing from you!

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  3. You're a better man than I Gunga Din.

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  4. Good to hear you have the upper hand.

    Is it possible I'm the only one who sees a possible mother-in-law joke here?

    "Also my mother-in-law will be visiting for a few days so I'm looking forward to some potential extra hobby time the rest of this week. Okay, I gotta get back to that monster."

    Looking at the conventions, it's lucky you were working on a hydra and not an old dragon.

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  5. @ Porky, an old friend of mine said his mother in law looks like the Ailen and has acid for blood.

    @ Mr J, All sorted the DE DOR will be shipped @ the same time as the flying brick (Space Shuttle) and what are the stats for Dark Riders?

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  6. @ sonsoftaurus - LOL, I wouldn't go that far but thanks! :) The pinning was really tedious at first but I started to get into it after a little while. I don't blame you at all though for deciding to look for some better-fitting models to work on... time is a precious thing! Thank you, sonsoftaurus!

    @ Porky - Very nicely played! While it wasn't my intent, I did notice the setup for a good mother-in-law joke as well there. That's dangerous territory for me to enter but I'm glad the potential there did not go entirely to waste. Your dragon line was too much for me, that's so funny!! Thanks for the good cheer, Porky!

    @ Derina - I assume your friend's biomass went on to nourish many lovely Alien babies... ouch! Fantastic news about the muster of the Deep One Knights, this promises to be an exciting adventure. Thanks so much, Derina!

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  7. Looking good! Large metal models are a nightmare to keep intact.
    Will you be transporting your model much? That said, metal is far more detailed than plastic.

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  8. Yes, it is indeed quite a challenge making sure so much metal does not go falling apart under pressure from a stiff breeze. It can be rather embarrassing when your fancy, super-killy model starts shedding its arms, claws, wings, etc. right in the middle of a game. Sort of takes away some of the intimidation factor when your monster can't even stand up to gravity. I hope my Hydra will now prove to have somewhat more fortitude at least. I don't think I'll have to transport this one around too often as I do most of my gaming in the comfort of my home or that of friends. Unfortunately though the first big test will be my trip to Chicago for Adepticon. If the Hydra survives that I think we'll be in good shape from then on. It's a pleasure to hear from you, Bartender, thanks!

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  9. I hear Chicago is called the windy city. Make sure that hydra is well assembled!

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  10. I am not sure what glue you are using but I find pinning combined with Gorilla Glue Super Glue really makes a strong model. I have dropped ones with this combo and they have stayed intact. Just a thought :)

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  11. Hey guys, sorry it's taken me so long to respond. I've been away from my computer for a couple of days but wanted to reply as soon as I could. Thanks for being patient, I hope haven't offended either of you.

    @ Bartender - Oh no! I hadn't thought of that... Lol. Looks like this first away trip for the Hydra will be more of a test than I had realized. At least it will be a good test of the beast's mettle, or should that be metal? Thanks again, Bartender!

    @ Meatball - I've just been using the thin stuff GW currently sells which could possibly be the worst choice possible in glue. Thank you very much for the recommendation, I've recently seen a few other positive references to Gorilla Glue Super Glue. For a long time I didn't even know they made super glue, I will have to try it out. If the Hydra does end up falling apart, I now know what to use to fix him. I really appreciate the suggestion... thank you, Meatball!!

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  12. Question to the masses about the Gorilla Super Glue- does it expand like there other products? I suppose not, but want to make sure before getting any.

    Jason- nice work with the pins. Are you using any particular kit? I hope I don't accidently knock it over while finding a place to put my beer! :)

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  13. The only Gorilla Glue I used was some of the expanding stuff so I was wondering about that as issue too. Thanks for reminding me about that. Regardless you better look out with those beers, man... I don't want to have to push my Hydra's regeneration ability too much! :)

    I'm using kind of a mix of stuff for the pinning work. Brass rod from I think the PP kit, GW bits, and both an old style GW drill and one of the new ones. Not for any particular reasons though, these were all at hand and seemed to work nicely enough. I like the PP kit the best personally but the new Citadel drill is quite comfortable.

    Thanks, DrGabe!

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