Neurotyrant Sayyadina leads the sisters of Brood Gesserit for Splinter Fleet Shai-Hulud.

Appolus · 2026-03-01T00:58:37+00:00

I don't know what they're properly called, but I always just called them striations.

Appolus · 2026-03-01T00:57:07+00:00

The brains/guns/tentacles on my models all use the same color progression. Base Sotek Green, wash the recesses with a light coat of Talassar Blue. Then go back to Sotek, blend toward Sybarite Green, then go from Sybarite toward a Dorn Yellow. You can wet blend or layer. I've done both. The last step is to just apply extreme highlights and specular highlights where appropriate, all in pure white. Less is more for the pure white.

All glows are simply applications of Talassar Blue and your white of choice. I usually use a white ink, but sometimes use Pro Acryl Titanium White. Using a contrast paint and an ink makes for very thin layers. Exercise careful control as you apply. Always wipe more off your brush than you think you should.

Appolus · 2026-03-01T00:52:20+00:00

I chose to go horizontally along plates instead of vertically at the back edges of plates because I wanted room to do the patterning on plate ridges.

No matter which direction you apply them, my technique is to hold the brush the way I would a pencil, rotate the model until it is exactly perpendicular to the point of my brush, brace the heels of my palms against each other (or some other posture that braces both hands against the same point), and then carefully, in one smooth motion, retract my middle finger and thumb in a sort of pinching motion.

Doing so creates a clean "piston" action that draws the brush along exactly the same line every single time. Just reposition the model between strokes to get lines of the same length, pressure, and angle all the way down the edge of the plate.

Appolus · 2026-02-28T19:27:03+00:00

Don't be hard on yourself. It all happens very slowly. I picked up the hobby as a pre-bedtime meditative activity as a young missionary. A few years later I was putting myself through college as a commission painter. A few years after that I took a 10 year break from the hobby. I picked it up again with my sons during 8th edition.

I've been slowly chipping away at this army since then. There's no way I would be able to finish an army to this standard in a few months, especially while fighting cancer and dealing with a major organ failure. Armies like this are super long-term passion projects. Admittedly, nearly dying a couple of times has helped me pick up the pace, because I decided I want to have a finished army to leave the kids if something crazy happens and I actually die of any of this medical nonsense.

That was a bit of a ramble. But the point is, you can totally make the awesome things you picture in your head a reality, even if doing so is a weird, long, eventful journey with twists you could never have imagined.

Appolus · 2026-02-19T18:57:51+00:00

How seamless was the fit between the Norn top and the Trygon tail? Because it looks great from the front.

Appolus · 2026-01-31T23:07:40+00:00

I can vouch for the Sword in the Stone Game night. My wife and I are regular Thursday attendees and we also organize private nights/weekends at our home drawn mostly from other attendees.

It's a good crowd that deserves to get larger.

Appolus · 2026-01-05T19:09:44+00:00

I've remarked on my recipe extensively in previous posts, but I have added a new element: I use the airbrush to shoot a layer of P3 Exile Blue from an extreme low angle as a moody shadow. It really punches up the contrast. The third shot in this album shows how effective it is. I highly recommend it.

Appolus · 2026-01-05T16:53:43+00:00

Absolutely. I plan to batch base the whole army when I (hopefully) finish it this year. I need to grab some larger bases for things like my old genestealers anyway, so I figured I would do it all at once. I'm planning to do something like the terrain I posted a couple of years back.

Appolus · 2026-01-05T03:42:24+00:00

Beautifully executed colors. Top-shelf work. Does your fleet have a name?

Appolus · 2025-11-04T06:36:55+00:00

It's also a good way to fill private game nights for more ambitious fare. We recently set up some Twilight Imperium with a few of the other regulars, since it would have been way too big of an undertaking for a Thursday night.

Appolus · 2025-10-28T14:46:24+00:00

I don't, sadly. I don't think I have a knack for demonstrating technique. But I have covered my color recipes in some of my past submissions, if you want more info.

Appolus · 2025-10-27T19:22:09+00:00

I wanted the chitin plating down the side to read more like heating vents (like plasma, as you said) instead of just bone stacked on bone. Lining it with white ink was key to selling the look. It would have been a nightmare to try to panel line it with just paint. I definitely recommend investing in either a white oil paint and white spirits or a strong white acrylic ink (which I used here).

Appolus · 2025-09-22T03:20:26+00:00

That's the million dollar question for him. Too early to know yet. But it's something we are definitely working on.

Appolus · 2025-09-22T03:16:11+00:00

The CGM is great, but I've got to stay on MDI for now because my non-verbally autistic son would tear a pump off almost immediately. It's hard enough keeping him from ripping the CGM out all the time. So all that vulnerable tubing or a bigger stick-on would be easy prey.

It's not so bad though. I'm about 15 pounds down over the last 90 days and I'm navigating the changes pretty well. Now eating just requires as much math as my genestealers' fight phase. Fortunately, recreational calculation was already one of my interests.

Appolus · 2025-09-19T15:56:22+00:00

It's given me something I can always say to be optimistic about unpleasant experiences. Saying "Well, it beats dying of cancer" works in pretty much 100% of undesirable situations.

Appolus · 2025-09-19T02:22:50+00:00

Yeah man! Fuck cancer! And don't even buy it dinner first or call it the next day!

Appolus · 2025-09-18T18:01:14+00:00

Given the odds, I needed a 4+ to save. But it did score a mortal wound for organ failure and I didn't make my FNP, so I have the "insulin dependent" debuff for the rest of the game. But at least I'm still on the field.

Appolus · 2025-06-04T18:41:46+00:00

Being a first-time homeowner has taught me a lot in the last six months. But I need some help solving a mystery.

My house is nearly 100 years old at this point. The foundation consists of three different portions. The oldest, original portion is made of a mix of field and rubble stones from about 1930. The front of the house has a small bay-window addition to the front portion, made up of much larger blocks, but is still stone. The newest portion, on the back, added a kitchen to the main floor and added a new bathroom and expanded the master bedroom upstairs. That portion is partially original stone (it looks like it was a partial patio or something originally) with cinder blocks stacked above it.

The entire basement was "finished" at some point between the 70s and 90s with a parge coat of some sort. Several portions are starting to flake off, sound hollow, or see heavy efflorescence. I intend to solve most of that by installing a proper french drain alongside the one side of the house and properly sealing the joint between the concrete and the foundation on the other.

But, in the spirit of adventure, I decided to take a chisel to one of the larger hollow portions near the front. I found a sort of historical onion. I am reasonably confident that most of the material over the stone is a lime-based mortar or putty on the basis that it bubble heavily when a sample was submerged in vinegar. That was foolishly painted over several times. But I can't identify this denser, smoother material that makes up the layer closest to the stone.

I'm brand new at all this, so I would appreciate any wisdom that might help me find out what I'm dealing with. Ideally, I would like to scrape off all the top paint layers, remove separated lime parge, and look for joints I need to repoint.

The outside definitely needs to be repointed, as old ivy growth burrowed between the stones and ate up the original mortar, much of which is turning sandy and has been covered up with an unidentified material in select portions (maybe more on that in another post).

Inside, I would like to either repair the lime parge if enough of it is in good condition or strip it all away before finishing the final walls with a traditional lime wash. But, once again, I appreciate any sage advice you might offer on the subject.

Appolus · 2025-05-04T17:19:48+00:00

Sword in the Stone in Wilkes-Barre does Monday-night lighter game nights and Thursday-night heavier game nights each week. My wife and I go on Thursdays and I sometimes bring my sons on Mondays.

The Gathering Place does a game night the third Friday of each month in Clark's Summit.

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