Star Trek Exhibition / Miniature Review

As highlighted in my previous blog post, a Star Trek Exhibition finally landed here at Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. So is it worth the RM20 (US$6.50) admission price? Well ... yes and no.

Floor decal on the way to the exhibition proper

Banners showing the main characters and the Malaysian flag

If you are a die-hard Star Trek fan like me, then yes ... and only because we never had any exhibition of original Star Trek props before in KL. This is a golden opportunity to get to see some of the original props, costumes, scripts, replica of the Enterprise-D's bridge, transporter area, etc, etc. I was literally grinning from ear to ear like a kid in a candy store, looking at all the stuff on show. So if you're a Trekkie ... what are you waiting for ... go and see the exhibit now at the National Science Centre!

However, I kinda felt that the exhibit was way too short and I left wanting more, or more accurately, I left feeling there should have been much more to the exhibit than what was actually on show. If you aren't a fan, you would have left the exhibit thinking ... "what's all the fuss about Star Trek?"

Technically, taking pictures aren't allowed although that didn't stop many of the visitors from snapping away non-stop. I didn't really get to take much pictures and I don't want to spoil the excitement for future visitors by showing the pictures I took, so below is just some of the photos I took of miniatures ... in keeping with the theme of my blog. ^^

A Borg Sphere

Details on this miniature are simply mind boggling

This looks like the Enterprise B

Some miniature shuttles on display

A miniature replica of the Enterprise

FourEyedMonster revealed at long last ... that's me wishing you a long and prosperous life

Oh yes ... you can also take a three-picture set (for RM25) in which you can be in the original captain's chair (from the original series), in the deck of Enterprise-D and finally in the Transporter area. Those pictures are well worth it and I finally have one of my family and me in the deck of the Enterprise. How freakingly sweet is that! XD

One more thing - my previous blog had some official pictures showing Data's head and a big shuttle - both were NOT in the KL exhibition. As for the Ferengi, there was a miniature Ferengi ship as well as a Ferengi head on display. That's all for this post ... Live Long and Prosper!

Star Trek Heaven

Whoa … a Star Trek Exhibition in Malaysia … how awesome is that. It was recently reported in the local papers that Star Trek is coming to Kuala Lumpur, and the official site also states that there will be some official miniatures on show. How awesomely cool is that. ^^

As a self-confessed “trekkie” – some prefer “trekker” but I couldn’t care less either way as I am unashamed of my love for all things Star Trek – I hope I am able to make the trip to the National Science Centre before year-end to have a look at the really cool exhibits.

Below are some pictures that were displayed on the official site.

I am in Star Trek heaven. Hmmm … wonder if there are any Ferengi models on display.

Happy Holidays and New Year 2013

Time sure does fly. Before you know it, the seasonal year-end holidays is upon us once more.

Has peace come to a universe that knows only war?

Just wanted to wish everyone who has been reading my blogs peace and health for the holidays and may the new year bring happiness to you and your loved ones.

I leave you with a quote from The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien ... “Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.”

May the Took in you lead your mind (and hands) to explore all the wonders of miniature painting.

Transmission was lost shortly after the picture of camaraderie was taken

Word Bearers Chaos Cultists

Despite being laid low over the past couple of days by heavy medication to counter a gift from Nurgle, this past two weeks has been my most productive yet hobby-wise. I managed to finish painting nine chaos cultists from the Dark Vengeance set, in the colours of the Word Bearers.

As this squad is part of a Word Bearer army, the predominant colour scheme is Red Gore/Scab Red 

Glory be to Lorgar

This squad of chaos cultists presented me with a lot of details to paint and allowed me to practise painting both skin and cloth. Initially I had targeted to have them finished under 1-week but family commitments and a recent illness put that ambitious target out of reach.

Chaos Cultist Champion and a cultist with a flamer

The Champion provided me with ample practise in painting cloth

Chaos Cultists with autopistols

Both miniatures provided opportunities to practise painting skin-tones

More cultists with autopistols

Mini on the right allowed me to utilise purple paints for the first time

Yet more cultists with autopistols

Details on the head of both minis were a challenge to paint

Cultists with ... yes you guessed it ... autopistols

Close combat weapon on the right hand of the cultists look pretty neat 

 
Well that's it for now. Any comments on how I can improve on my miniatures are always welcome. Heavy meds are making me sleepy already. Zzzz Zzzz Zzzz -_-

First Word Bearer Chaos Cultist ... and a lady in waiting

Well, I am off the starting blocks. Just recently finished my first Word Bearer chaos cultist. Previously I would have been really proud of my achievement. But after seeing the Iron Painters finish 30 over models each over a 24-hour period during MaGaCon 2012, I am setting the bar higher i.e. I hope to finish between 5 to 9 cultists over this week. It will my little mini-Iron Painter. ^^

My ongoing experiment with painting flesh tones

Papa Nurgle seems to have taken a liking to this guy's back

This time round I completely changed the way I take pictures of my miniatures. I mounted a DSLR on a tripod; used only lighting from lamps i.e. no flashes; and set the shutter speed to a slow 1/60 which meant I couldn't hold the camera while taking it without getting blurry pics hence the tripod.

Lady in waiting ... Cyrene Valantion (Work-In-Progress)
I also managed to get some work done on the Kingdom Death model that I am using to represent the reincarnation of Cyrene Valantion of the Word Bearers. Nothing too fancy as I just managed to finish the basecoats. Next will be the washes followed by the midtones and then the highlights.

Front View - Reincarnation of Cyrene Valantion WIP (aka Kisya of Kingdom Death)

Back View - Reincarnation of Cyrene Valantion WIP (aka Kisya of Kingdom Death)

Word Bearer Inspired Books
Obviously Cyrene was inspired by Aaron Dembski-Bowden's The First Heretic. Meanwhile, I just finished reading Dark Apostle and have started on Dark Disciple by Anthony Reynolds. The former book gives some insight into Chaos Cultists while the series as a whole will make good background reading and inspiration before I attempt work on the Dark Apostle miniature.

Ahhh ... religious fanatics ... you can't help but love 'em. Heh heh.  

Loot from MaGaCon 2012

MaGaCon 2012 was a cool family experience though more so for the missus and son who had an eventful weekend. I was there mainly to help out at the Hobby Forge booth, together with other more regular gamers at Alvin's shop i.e. Yip, Hakim and Billy. It was great to see so many people really get into miniature painting but as Hakim can attest to, the relentless horde of participants at the painting table was overwhelming at times. Both our backs were hurting like mad by end of MaGaCon.

Tags for MaGaCon 2012

Cheaper early bird tickets I got hold of for the family

Unexpectedly, MaGaCon 2012 also provided some cool loot for the family. The missus got a prize in the first lucky draw i.e. a PS3 Game - F1 2012. Nice! Though I wouldn't have minded getting my hands on Assasin Creed III or Rocksmith, which were also on offer.

This is a great addition to my racing collection (GranTurismo5, Dirt3 and Shift2)

My son also managed to complete all the quests in MaGaCon 2012 and was one of the eight finalist for the final challenge which was a a console game dance off. Though he didn't win the main prizes i.e. a PS3 Slim, he did manage to score a bean bag. Ultra Nice!

Quests to complete, including Hobby Forge's painting own painting task

King of the Hill was the most difficult to complete; it took my son 2-days up until the last hour to complete it

Finally, a bean bag for the family

Nothing says jump on me like a bean bag ... well almost nothing but lets keep it PG13

Was too busy to take any pictures of MaGaCon 2012, but two things did stick out and make me wanna take some pictures. One was an awesome sculpture on display, a figurine which I believe would not be out of place in the Games Workshop Chaos mythology. The other thing was the armies painted by the Iron Painters of MaGaCon 2012. While all the armies painted looked awesome, I particulary loved all the Chaos stuff i.e. the Iron Warriors, Black Legion and Nurgle army.

How cool is that!

A Nurgle army painted by Iqbal of Stealthy Blades

MaGaCon 2012 also saw the missus paint her first miniature while my son did a simple three-coloured space marine - dry brush of the basecoat, metal paint for the guns and a wash.

Finally, the missus takes a stab at miniature painting

Simple paint job for a space marine of the false emperor

Well, it was certainly an interesting experience and overall, a fun weekend for the family. Had a game of FIFA 13 with my son before I left, and as always Liverpool drew yet another game. Bummer! Finally, I leave you with a picture of an army of space marines I had assembled for MaGaCon 2012. It was the most minis I had ever assembled in one go - 30 soldiers of that corpse emperor. Oh well ^^ and as always ... thanks for reading!

More targets for the Chaos Chosen I suppose

Sect of the Blessed Lady ... and Ork Lootas progress

Cyrene Valantion ... Confessor of the Word ... also known as 'The Blessed Lady'. There were no candidates in Game Workshop's vast array of miniatures that were worthy of this Horus Heresy First Heretic character so I had to turn to a Kingdom Death model i.e. White Speaker Kisya. So Kisya will now be a proxy for the reincarnation of Cyrene Valantion. As she plays no part in the gaming universe that is W40K, Cyrene will be just fluff for display with my Word Bearer army.

Front view of assembled White Speaker

Back view of assembled White Speaker

Reincarnation of Cyrene Valantion via a Kingdom Death vessel aka Kisya, pictured above with a white undercoat

So far I have only given her a white undercoat followed by a wash of Ogryn Flesh

Based on my previous experience with Lelith, I decided to give Cyrene a wash of Ogryn Flesh before proceeding to paint the basecoats. In addition to covering up potential white spots from showing up in later painting, the wash actually gives me a better view of where the shadows should be.

Cyrene with my Chaos Cultists ... all undercoated with Chaos Black

Ork Lootas
In between preparing my Chaos army for painting, I managed to finish the first squad of Ork Lootas led by a Rokkit Mek. I plan to add another five Lootas to this squad, maybe with a Mek that has a big shoota. But before I do that, I will most likely paint up five Ork Burnaz for variety.

Below is a more detailed look at the three new additions to my Ork Lootas Squad.

Well that's it for this week. Most likely I won't get much done next week as I will be helping Alvin out at MaGaCon 2012. Should be a fun experience.