Zoxe's Getting Started Guide II - Painting

Basic Painting Supplies:  Q-Tips, Hobby Brushes, Disposable Brushes, Palette, and a small dropper bottle.

This is Part II of a (potentially) multi-part series. >> This is NOT a "how to paint" article << it's more about how to equip your bench with useful (and hopefully cheap) items.

Series Index
Part I - Getting Started Guide (Assembly)
Part II - Painting. That's here (duh).
Bonus - Filling in the Gaps

Disclaimer:  This post is a mix of how I got started, tools and techniques I currently use, and my opinions on the subject matter.  I'm not a pro modeler, and your goals may be very different than mine.

I'm assuming that you know how to use Google and can rustle up some beginning painting videos and know some of the basic terminology.  There are plenty out there.  I'm also assuming that you've read Part I and have your models reasonably assembled.

Brush Painting - here's a short list of things that I use regularly:

1. Primer.  Primer sticks to your figure and gives your paint something to adhere to.  If you don't use a good primer, your paint may flake off (especially on resin models).  There are many options here. Personally, I started with ArmyPainter rattle cans, but I would also recommend some of the brush-on primers like Vallejo Surface Primer.
2. Paint.  Standing in front of the rack of paints at the game store is an intimidating experience.  I recommend you get one of the premade starter sets from ArmyPainter or Reaper.  They're usually good value and you can do more than you think with the colors they include.  
3. A wash or ink.  These are fun to use and really bring life to your models by making the details pop out.  Usually included in the premade sets mentioned in #2.
4. Filler.  I currently use Milliput, or Vallejo Matt Varnish or Plastic Putty.  
5. Brushes.  Don't go crazy here, at least to start.  ArmyPainter's Most Wanted kit is good value.  Buy two packs, then upgrade once you've painted a little while.
6. A small dropper bottle.  This set is similar to what I use. Technically optional but so very handy.  I fill mine with distilled water for thinning.
7. Something to mix paint on.  Lots of options and opinions here.  I bought a 10-pack of "disposable" plastic palettes that I wash and reuse.  Technically a paper plate would work.  When I just need a dab of unthinned paint, I put a dot on a paper towel.
8. Misc/optional:  Paper towels, Q-tips, brush conditioner, desk lamp, distilled water
9. Optional:  Disposable brushes.  This set from HobbyLobby is good value.  I use mine for glues, some washes, and brushable fillers.  Sometimes I clean and reuse, sometimes I don't.

Left:  Paint from dropper bottles is easier for me to dispense, although P3 and Citadel paints work fine.
Right:  Vallejo Matt Varnish and Plastic Putty are water-based fillers.

Prepackaged starter sets feel like more money up front, but are usually good value and avoid "analysis paralysis."

Bonus  Tips (no particular order)
1. Multiple thin coats usually results in a far better surface finish than one thick clumpy coat.

2. I don't use a wet palette. This runs counter to a lot of advice out there.  Mrs. Zoxe uses one, but I have never acquired the taste.

3. Each brand - and each color! - of paint will come out of the bottle a little differently.  Paint also gets a little thicker as it ages.  Our hobby paints are heavy with pigments for the dense colors we want.  But straight from the bottle they're too thick to really spread evenly, so THIN THE PAINT (add water or other thinner) to avoid brush strokes and a clumpy finish.  There is no magic formula of "X drops paint to Y drops thinner" because every bottle you open will be different.

4. I generally thin until I get the consistency of skim milk, sometimes thicker or thinner depending what I'm trying to do. Because I don't use a wet palette, I mix relatively small amounts of paint and mix more before it starts to dry out.

But remember rule #3 above. It's about controlled application, not a "recipe."

5. I generally use paint brands that come in dropper bottles (Reaper, Vallejo, ArmyPainter) as I find I can control the amount of paint I have out, make less of a mess, and I waste less.

6. Clean your brush as you work. Err on the side of caution and clean more often than you think is necessary. You don't want dry paint building up in the bristles. Keep the brush as clean as possible and somewhat wet. After you swirl it in your cleanout can, wipe the excess water on a paper towel and spin the brush as you drag it to repoint the tip. A happy brush is a pointy brush.

Speculation on KDM Wave 2

This picture has nothing to do with Kingdom Death, but I just finished watching Interstellar.

This post is inspired by a reply I just made on the KDM Kickstarter Comments.

The question is:  Will Poots keep the target of Wave 2 fulfillment beginning in February?

Short version:  I think so.  It might slip a week or two, but my sense of the situation is that the target will hold.

Longer version:  I think that more or less, KDM Wave 2 will start about when advertised.  It's a reprint (not new development, presumably not with a new factory), and that tends to produce a more stable production schedules.  Yes, weird things happen - quality issues, factory scheduling mistakes, container ship delays, Union labor strikes at the port, etc. etc. - but hopefully Poots' schedule allowed some contingency for "weird" and the schedule he talked about was a realistic one.

Poots suggested earlier that he had PART of the Wave 2 stock headed to the warehouse but didn't have the full quantity so he sat on it versus doing a partial fulfillment.  If true, that means the production quantity we're currently waiting on (call it "Wave 2B") is far less than the full run, and presumably Poots has opened a few boxes and run Quality Control on the first batch.  Having a known good quantity in hand reduces risk.

-----
I think the more interesting question is:  Will Wave 2 fulfillment go smoothly?

Short version:  Hold onto your butts, this is going to be a bumpy ride.

Longer version:  I'm scared of the actual Wave 2 fulfillment. I think that once it starts, it's going to take awhile to run its course. We still hear horror stories about the Core box fulfillment, and that was just two possible boxes (Core or Upgrade).

Wave 2 represents the first time they'll have to pick-and-pack "custom" orders line by line. Some of us got everything. Some of us got only a few things. Some of us got multiples of some things. That's orders of magnitude different and a lot of weird things that can go wrong.

Mitigating the inherit risk of complexity are a few things:

• This is not Poots' first time to the rodeo.  He has the 1.0 Kickstarter to rely on for experience (although that campaign was faaaaaar smaller).  
• He's been willing to spend the $$ to hire 3rd party fulfillment partners to expedite shipping. Unlike some other campaigns, fulfillment will not be one lonely guy in a warehouse slogging away at a long list of names; the load will be shared.
• This is a stretch, but - odds are - there are a fair number of people that bought ONLY the core box or the upgrade and therefore the total line count of unique addresses is lower.  

These things don't mitigate all of the risk I see, hence my overall position.  Hold onto your butts.  I read about other campaigns (Shadows of Brimstone, I'm looking at you) and the hot mess that "custom" orders can become and I sigh.  So I think that not only will the processing of Wave 2 take longer, I also think we'll hear more stories about things gone wrong.

EDIT - Jan 29
I found this picture on the 1.0 Kickstarter, Update #99.  The core box is huge.  The stack of brown box expansions is more huger. 

Size comparison.  And we thought the Core Box was huge. The top picture shows 11 of the 12 (Green Knight Armor is apparently missing).

No, not everyone is getting all of the expansions, but as I mentioned above - custom packing from each order list will actually make things more complicated.  And the numbers of the pledge levels that get every existing expansion is nothing to sneeze at:

• 1,143 Ancient Gold Lantern
• 239 Gamer's Lantern
• 666 Satan's Lantern
• 666 Twin Satan's Lantern
• 13 True Form Satan's Lantern
• 321 Final Form Satan's Lantern
• 400 God Frogdog
• 13 Percival's Lantern

... plus all the people that jumped in when the backer kit opened the first time, and the boatloads more than jumped in the 2nd time. 

Bottom line:  hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Hot off the Desk: Broken Token Gloomhaven Organizer

Looks simple. How long could this take?

This weekend's project wasn't painting, wasn't assembling little plastic beasties, and wasn't spent cleaning the airbrush.  It was all about laser cut plywood.

At PAX Unplugged, we did a bit of Christmas shopping for each other.  Mrs. Zoxe snagged the Broken Token Gloomhaven organizer for me, and it's been staring at me in its unopened box for the better part of a month now.  I had time on Friday to get started and figured I could knock it out before dinner.

Hah! Oh, I was wrong.  So wrong. 

I worked off-and-on Friday and Saturday on the trays.  It started rough but I got better with repetition.  I let the glue cure overnight (admittedly overkill), and then tore the shrink wrap off my copy of Gloomhaven today, punched out all the cardboard, sorted all the cards, and put the trays to use.  I took a lot of breaks, and wasn't in a rush, and may have sipped some whisky while working, but I have between 6 and 8 hrs in this little project.

To be honest, this was an expensive addition ($80 organizer for a $99 game).  When we first walked past the Broken Token booth in Philly, I wasn't sold on the value for money.

Later in the day, we came back by the BT booth and actually got a demo - the player trays and the monster tuck boxes are what sold me.  The player trays (not specifically shown in my pictures, but are dead center of the box picture above) allow players' cards and stats to be kept together between sessions for hassle free pausing of the campaign.  The additional (red) tuck boxes keep the monster cards and cardboard standees organized for easier setup with less sorting. 

Getting started.  The instructions are pretty good, just be sure to follow the steps in order.

There are a LOT of panels / parts. I chose to spread everything out on the living room floor.

The monster tuck boxes arrive flat.

This is where I stopped on Friday.

All trays built. Stacked oddly so I don't accidentally glue them to the carpet.

All Gloomhaven bits punched and sorted.

Stacked in the box. The design is such that the parts you use LEAST are at the bottom and trays you'll use MOST will lift out of the top.  Very slick.

I have 3 white tuck boxes that don't have a home. I put them here for now.

All up. My box lid is about 3/4 inch from closing fully. Maps are messy, will repack.

Complete.

All of these were tasted as part of this build.  Trying to get smarter on Ryes.  Michters was the best.

A few final notes.

• It's evident that a LOT of thought went into the design.  Not only are the individual trays designed well, they go into the box so that the ones used least are at the bottom.
• My game is unsleeved but it looks like there's easily room for sleeved cards. (I'm a little worried about the additional thickness of sleeved cards in the monster tuck boxes, but we'll see).
• It's actually kind of hard to assemble incorrectly.  Some of the parts are laser etched with icons, make sure you have the right side up.  Otherwise, follow the steps in order and you should be fine.
• Fit and finish was very good.  All of the parts fit tightly and only a few required any sort of finesse.  Only the large tray could have used some trimming but I made it work without.

Hot off the Desk: KDM Phoenix

Polly want a cracker?

This is kind of a part 2 in a 2 part series.  For my build notes, see here.

I'm following a set of self-imposed color rules for my KDM set. If this is your first post in the series (see summary page), here's the part that I copy/paste:

-----

Color Choices:  For my KDM set, I'm using an airbrush to provide shadows in a pseudo-statue, almost monochrome paint scheme.  I want a lot of high contrast from light to dark, with near-black in the shadows and near-whites in the light.  I'm using warm colors (creamy grays, buttery whites, and a bright mustard yellow) for the SURVIVORS and cool colors (blue-grays and a neon blue) for the MONSTERS.

-----

So, as a Monster, I should be breaking out the grays and my Crystal Blue.  But, the Phoenix is a special piece. It's big.  It's a wonderful sculpt.  I wanted to do it justice, and the thought of ending with a mostly black and gray bird made me sad.  

I also realized that I have a LOT more KDM coming, and while the Blue/Gray scheme will work for many in Wave 2 and beyond, there are also several expansions that will also deserve/need their own tweaks (Dragon King, I'm looking at you).  I didn't want to lock myself in completely to the same handful of colors from now to eternity.  I needed the Phoenix to be that bridge to the "something different" without breaking the overall feel of the project.

So, I started a plan.  Initial thoughts, written before I even applied primer:

• A good Phoenix should be big, bold, and fiery.
• Stay faithful to the overall look and feel of my set, even if I were violating the color palette rules.  In other words, I still wanted a lot of contrast; very bright highs and very dark lows  and I wanted the same muted color, abstract feel (I've called it "comic book style")
• Honor and tie into the main color scheme if possible, i.e. maybe warm colors high and cool colors low.
• I did NOT want to end up with a super-vibrant Rainbow Chicken, nor did I want the entire thing to be a solid "General Lee" Orange.

Priming:

• As usual, I used Vallejo Surface Primer, Black shot from my Badger 105.  
• Due to the model's size, I didn't glue to the base initially and primed the underbits and other hard to reach areas.  
• I mixed more primer than I needed, so I also put a layer of primer over some of the areas I filled to see how they looked, and decided to go back and re-sculpt some of the filler on his left wing joint.
• With this first round of priming done, I decided to glue to the base, then primed the rest.  It took a LOT of primer to get the coverage I wanted.  
• My filling isn't perfect (not intended to be).  I also found some mold lines during priming that I decided to let go.  My standard of painting is "tabletop plus" and will win no awards. I'm okay with that.

Underbits primed. The Watcher was under assembly and moved him for this shot. I even found all the pieces after.

Priming complete. Base is held to the block of pine with plasti-tac.

Shading:

Readers of the series will find no big surprises here, but the first adjustment to my color scheme takes root here.

• (Airbrush) ArmyPainter Necromancer Cloak, shot basically from all angles but focusing "head on" as much as possible.  
• (Airbrush) AP Uniform Gray again shot mostly "head on" and leaving lower surfaces a little darker.
• (Airbrush) UPPER SURFACES (head, and tops of body, tail, wings), AP Skeleton Bone, and reduced the angle more to be almost totally "head on" and giving more brightness to the leading edges of the wings and the head/neck.
• (Airbrush) LOWER SURFACES (underwing, arms, lower body, feet, log), AP Gorgun Hide.  I tried to shoot this mostly head on and high, but angles were restricted by the wings, etc. - did the best I could.
• You'll notice that this means that the lower surfaces are primed identically to my other Monsters, while the upper surfaces are now very close to my survivors.

Head on shot, after the upper wing has been shaded.

Reverse view, same as above, demonstrating the impact viewing angle has on the apparent brightness.

Wash:

• (Hand brush) Before I did the wash, I basecoated the beak, talons, and fingernails in Reaper Adamantium Black.  This is a metallic charcoal black that I'd like to use more of.  I thinned it liberally, and some of the airbrushed highlights still came through a bit.
• (Wash) UPPER SURFACES - AP Soft Tone Ink, thinned 2:1 (thinner than I normally use it).  The shadows were already forming nicely and I didn't want to darken the top very much.
• (Wash) LOWER SURFACES - Reaper Black Wash, also thinned 1:1.

For the wash, I dug out a 1/2 inch flat brush I found at Hobby Lobby several months ago - it's a "Master's Touch" brand.  It's got fairly fine, soft, but short bristles and a square tip.  This was the perfect balance between speed (avoiding dry-lines between sections), control, and bubbles.

Washed model, desk light

Dry Brushing:

For large areas I used the same 1/2 inch flat brush, but grabbed my normal ArmyPainter brush for detail work.

UPPER Surfaces:

• (Dry Brush) AP Skeleton Bone all over to brighten.
• (Dry Brush) AP Phoenix Flames on head and leading edges.
• (Dry Brush) AP Chaotic Red for trailing edges and darker areas
• (Dry Brush) AP Lava Orange over Yellow and Red areas to brighten and fade
• (Dry Brush) AP Daemonic Yellow for highlights (leading edge and feather tips)
• I made several passes with the Lava Orange, Phoenix Flames, and Daemonic Yellow to make sure the wings were more or less the same left to right, and get the fade the way I wanted it, and accent the tips of each feather.

Beak, Talons, Fingernails:

• (Dry Brush) AP Skeleton Bone
• (Dry Brush) Reaper Adamantium Black for adjustment

LOWER Surfaces

• (Dry Brush) AP Uniform Gray underwing lower body
• (Dry Brush) AP Gorgun Hide for highlights
• (Dry Brush) AP Crystal Blue for fun (hands and wing tips)
• (Dry Brush) AP Gorgun Hide to soften the Crystal Blue

Base:

It had some overspray from airbrushing and also got the Reaper Black Wash.  For other models I had done things to brighten the base, but the model already had a LOT going on, so I simply dry brushed with AP Necromancer Cloak to make the blending consistent and called it done.

Finished product, head on, fairly harsh light.

Reverse view, showing fade on feathers.

Model is so big, it's actually hard to get everything in the frame.  Top view.

With a few friends, showing the tie-ins to colors. Harsh light.

Group shot, on the showdown board. Natural light.

Reverse view. Natural light on a cloudy and snowy day.

And now I just have the Watcher to paint, and I'm done with the Core Box Monsters!

Self Improvement Through Threats From the Doctor III: Reactions

Editor's Note:  This is a repost from my (now inactive) EVE Online blog from late 2014.  Instead of linking, I wanted to consolidate the content here.  I'll make an editing pass and perhaps add some thoughts while I'm at it.

This is a post about weight loss. I'm pulling it forward on the 10th anniversary of my high weight mark (285# in 2008), and the 5th anniversary of my lowest since entering college (193#, 2013).  

We're at that time of year where those of us who made vows to lose weight on January 1st are now thinking about slipping back into old habits.  So, in addition to pulling content from an old venue, I'm also reminding myself to stay the course in 2018.

-----
Sunday, December 7, 2014

This is Part 3.  Recap:  When the dust settled, I had lost 40 lbs in about 4 1/2 months and was 90 pounds lighter than my previous high.

My annotated weight log from 2013.  I still keep this file, although today the numbers are up a bit.

I'm a nerd, so I graph things.  I still maintain this weight chart, although the annotated version above shows the interesting parts of 2013.

These changes caused a ripple effect through the people around me.  Some of it good.  Some of it tiresome.  Some of it comical.

First, I'll talk about family.  I've already mentioned that my immediate family (mom, dad, brothers) thought I looked great, like I did in high school.  We talk often enough that it wasn't a huge surprise when we finally did get together.  Mrs. Zoxe's family thought I had cancer, because I lost weight quickly and they'd never known me at that size.  The whispering was comical, if misguided.

As far as my extended family went (cousins, aunts, uncles), I got a far different reaction.  These were the people who loved to push my buttons at family gatherings with a "Hey [Zoxe], looks like you put on a few pounds, eh? Heh. Heh."  Now they wouldn't meet my gaze.  Wouldn't initiate a conversation about me or how I looked, and certainly wouldn't offer a compliment.

Some members of my family wanted to downplay the hard work we put into biking, swimming, and running.  They'd focus only on my dietary changes and downplay the 4 nights a week that we worked out or did outside chores, or the hundreds of miles we biked each year, the thousands of laps that we swam.  I'd point out that I lost over half (50 lbs) of my weight with exercise alone, but needed the diet changes to truly get over the hump.  They'd change the subject.

Coworkers were a mixed bag.  I'll put them into three groups, just for convenience.

Group 'A' were the ones in denial.  To them, Zoxe was the fat kid in gym class, always has been and always will be.  They would do a 5k charity run and strut around the office like kings.  I'd do a Sprint Triathlon (swim, then bike, and THEN do a 5k run) and they'd downplay it ("oh, 5k isn't that far, I do that all the time.")

These were the guys who told me, "Don't donate your fat pants, you'll need them in a few months."  [That's a direct quote, and even in 2018 it still pisses me off even though I don't work there anymore].

Or, the guys in Group A would waive off my regimen and tell me I was doing it wrong. Or that it wasn't healthy.  Or that their diet was better.

I had one coworker tell me that I "was in no shape to do a Triathlon" the night before I drove up for my first race (I was nervous as hell; this was the kind of positive support I got... ).  No dialog about how I'd trained or what the course was like, just a kneejerk reaction based on bad assumptions.

Ultimately, I felt like these people didn't want me to be successful because it meant admitting that their poor choices were ... poor.  If I didn't change or if I wasn't successful, there was no pressure for them to adjust their lifestyle either.  Nobody set out to hurt my feelings or offer conflict; it wasn't intentional.  But it was a constant barrage of negativity that I had to wade through.

Now that so much time has passed and I've kept the weight off, a few guys in Group A have now tried to switch sides.  My boss (the ringleader of Group A) came to me with the "research" he'd done and "he" determined that my diet actually was a good one, and he'd known it all along.  He tried telling me the merits of the diet I'd been living for close to 2 years as if I hadn't heard of it before.

Group 'B' were the ones that were outwardly supportive, would defend me against Group A when the spitballs started, but would quietly pull me aside to ask what my secret was.  When I shrugged and explained that it was just diet and exercise, and described my triathlon training regimen, and the diet I was on, they would lose interest quickly.  They wanted an instant solution with no changes to their lifestyle.

Obviously, I had a secret that I wasn't telling them.

Group 'C' were the guys who truly got it.  Supported me blindly.  If they had doubts, they didn't express them.  They offered thoughtful advice, showed genuine interest, and asked good questions.

Out of an office of ~30 people, there were two (just two) that I'd put in Group C. [Thank you, Pevil].

Most of this just sounds like I'm bitching about how thoughtless or callous people can be.  Or maybe I'm still yearning for the support and validation I didn't get from my friends and coworkers.  And you'd be right on both parts.  :)

But my point is (bold italics for emphasis): if you are going to embark on abrupt personal change, the social implications are huge.  I hate to use the words peer pressure, because that's only part of it.  I'd call it peer momentum.  People expect you to continue on a certain path in life; it takes large amounts of resolve to break those expectations.

There were a couple of islands of support that saw me through.

The Clydes and Athenas forum at bikeforums.net is a great place to hang out for a large framed biker looking to shed some pounds.

And more than anyone, I have to thank Mrs. Zoxe.  Supportive and a good listener, she was my greatest ally through the rough patches.  She helped me ignore the naysayers.  She also understood when the food in our pantry changed, and the food that ended up on the dinner plate changed.  When I needed to talk strategy, she listened and offered opinions.  She went through the changes by osmosis with me; I do most of the cooking in the house, and with just the two of us I wasn't about to cook two separate dinners each night (i.e. I wasn't going to cook a 'normal' meal for her and my specialty plate).  And when I stopped going to certain restaurants, she understood and didn't fuss.

Without the support of the people in your household, you'll not get very far.

I'll end on a fun note:

The most fun I had with people were the ones that I see maybe once or twice a year.  College friends, or coworkers that are part of my team but work at a remote office, people like that.  These guys would have the best reactions because they saw me only rarely.

At a wedding [that] summer, I walked into the hotel lobby and saw some old friends sitting on the couch.  I walked up, extended my hand and said "Hey! ... how the hell are ya'?"  Two guys that I'd known close to 20 years were rocked back and caught off guard.  Only after a couple of blinks (and spotting Mrs. Zoxe) did they figured out who I was.  :)

I will stop here for Part III.  But, if you're reading this and you're not happy with your weight, here's some advice from someone who's been there:
- Nobody can decide to lose the weight but you.
- It's likely taken you years to get the size you are, it's ok if it takes you years to get smaller.
- Small, incremental changes do add up.

Self Improvement Through Threats From the Doctor II

Editor's Note:  This is a repost from my (now inactive) EVE Online blog from late 2014.  Instead of linking, I wanted to consolidate the content here.  I'll make an editing pass and perhaps add some thoughts while I'm at it.

This is a post about weight loss. I'm pulling it forward on the 10th anniversary of my high weight mark (285# in 2008), and the 5th anniversary of my lowest since entering college (193#, 2013).  

We're at that time of year where those of us who made vows to lose weight on January 1st are now thinking about slipping back into old habits.  So, in addition to pulling content from an old venue, I'm also reminding myself to stay the course in 2018.

-----
Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Welcome to Part II.  At the point I left off, it was March of 2013 and I had just decided to try the South Beach 2wk intro phase so that when it didn't work, I could tell the Doc that I'd tried real hard.

From June 2008 to January 2013 I had lost about 50 lbs, gotten generally pretty decently fit, and I didn't really expect to go much below 210 lbs.  In other words, I expected to be overweight my entire adult life.

Anyway, enough recap. Where was I?

Ahh, yes.  South Beach.

Son of a bitch, it worked.

Now, I could type this story like it was easy.  It wasn't.  I was reprogramming my brain and my taste buds.  I desperately wanted beer and pizza, but both were verboten.  And French fries. Oh, to eat a French fry.  French fries topped with ice cream topped mashed potatoes topped with Kraft Mac n' Cheese.

The month I spent on myFitnessPal wasn't horrible, but that tool isn't meant to do what I was trying to do (30 lbs in 3 months).  I came out of the first month in pretty rough shape.  In hindsight, I wasn't eating ENOUGH calories.  When I went on the diet and then cranked my cardio I was putting myself in trouble mode.

But South Beach was different.  I counted servings, but not overall calories or carbs or anything.  Just servings of certain foods.

As bad as I felt, I could have stopped.  Maybe I should have.  But, I was determined.  I was not going to be weak and fail.  I stayed on plan and the weight came off.  I didn't lose weight every day or every week - I had ups and downs.  I hit 208 lbs and that seemed to be a hard plateau for quite awhile.  But I persisted and the weight continued to slip away.

I hit my 30 lb mark and kept going, finally hitting a natural plateau at 195/197 or minus-40 from where I started and minus-90 overall.

I stuck with the plan.   The longer I was on South Beach, the easier it got.  I didn't realize until much later that somewhere in the middle I'd stopped craving fries, pizza, and beer.

Your brain is sneaky that way.

I returned for my recheck and the doctor was amazed.  "Good grief ... NOBODY, EVER does what I tell them."  My extended family was overjoyed and said I looked like my high school senior picture from 20 years ago.

My wife's family (who had only ever known me at 235+) was ... convinced I had cancer, much to my amusement.  Whispers behind my back, the whole works.  Hah.

On May 1st 2013, I weighed in at 198.6.  I have stayed at 193 to 200lbs for the ~18mo since. [2018 Edit:  I extended that record well into 2015].

Quick aside about South Beach:  It gets lumped in with Atkins because it came about during the height of the low carb craze of the late 90s.  It's actually more about having a balanced diet and staying away from simple sugars.  I chose to implement it without any artificial sweeteners or processed foods, so my particular personal version of South Beach is perhaps almost a Paleo diet, which seems to be trendy now [or was in 2014 when I wrote this].

But at its core, South Beach is about eating complex carbs (whole grains), high quality lean protein (mmm, filet mignon), minimizing bad fats (butter, bacon) and eating more good fats (avocado, oily fish).  It's pretty tolerant to an active lifestyle and I can eat in most restaurants.  (And yes, on Triathlon days and heavy workout days I cheat and use high quality gels, energy bars, and/or recovery shakes; body needs simple sugar to keep going under those circumstances).

Since June of 2008, I have taken 10 inches off my waist and reduced my shirt size from a US-2XL to a Large (no X, just Large).  I'm quicker on the bike, easier on my equipment (no more broken spokes), and have greater stamina.  Mrs. Zoxe appreciates that I no longer snore.

And ... I'm not on cholesterol meds.  (2018 Update:  I finally went on meds in late 2016 at a very low dose; I still consider the ~4 years of deferral a victory.)

I will stop here for Part II.  But, if you're reading this and you're not happy with your weight, here's some advice from someone who's been there:
- Nobody can decide to lose the weight but you.
- It's likely taken you years to get the size you are, it's ok if it takes you years to get smaller.
- Small, incremental changes do add up.

Self Improvement Through Threats From the Doctor I

Editor's Note:  This is a repost from my (now inactive) EVE Online blog from late 2014.  Instead of linking, I wanted to consolidate the content here.  I'll make an editing pass and perhaps add some thoughts while I'm at it.

This is a post about weight loss. I'm pulling it forward on the 10th anniversary of my high weight mark (285# in 2008), and the 5th anniversary of my lowest since entering college (193#, 2013).  

We're at that time of year where those of us who made vows to lose weight on January 1st are now thinking about slipping back into old habits.  So, in addition to pulling content from an old venue, I'm also reminding myself to stay the course in 2018.

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Saturday, November 29, 2014

This is a pre-year-end post.  It is also part of a series.  I'll be talking on this topic on/around Jan 1st, but want some background on the books to refer to.

I've never been big on New Year's Resolutions.  I'm not sure how widespread this kind of thing is internationally, but in the States, this is the phenomenon where people commit to doing something they should already be doing, fail miserably at it, and then make the same commitment the following year.

Or at least that's my snarky observation of how it usually works.  :)  For me, if I know I should do something different, I'd rather start now than wait for an arbitrary mark on the calendar.

But in January of 2013, I did make a pretty good commitment.  I resolved to losing 20 lbs by my birthday that Fall.  AND, I resolved to track my progress throughout the year.  That meant a big ol' spreadsheet with graphs and stuff.

At this point, I should back up:  In June of 2008, I weighed in at 285 lbs.  In July of 2008, Mrs. Zoxe and I started bicycling.  We ate "better" (meaning not Chinese takeout and pizza delivery 4 nights out of 5).  The weight slowly came off of me.

The first time we biked together, it was a 1 mile lap around the subdivision and we thought we were going to die.  But we kept at it, extended our ranges, improved our equipment (donating our box-store brand bikes to the neighbor kids and upgrading to "real" bikes).  We joined a gym and wore out the wii fit disc.

In 2010, we moved out of town, bought 10 acres, and I added splitting wood and clearing brush to my list of regular "exercise."  At this point, I'd lost ~35 lbs and weighed in at ~250 lbs.  In August of 2010, I did my first Triathlon with my brother. My times sucked but I did it.

In January 2013, I weighed 235 lbs, or a total loss of 50 lbs.  At this point, we biked many hundreds of miles a year, jogged, and swam endless laps and the gym.  We'd also done many charity bike rides around the state and we both had competed in several local Triathlon events.  My weight was very stable - I could eat perfectly and drop to 230/233 or eat mostly what I wanted and be 235/237.

So I made a resolution in 2013 to lose 20 lbs over many months.  At the time, it seemed impossible to break my plateau, but on that January 1st I set out with some increased cardio and myFitnessPal I made up my mind to do it.

On the 3rd week of January 2013, I visited my doc for my annual physical.  I'd lost 5 lbs in 3 weeks and was happy.  I had 15 lbs to go and almost the whole year to do it.  Doc checks my blood work and my cholesterol came back high.  His advice/threat:  "Lose 30lbs and it should stabilize.  Recheck in ~3mo, flunk again and go on meds for life."

Holy crap. I was floored.  I was hoping to lose 20 lbs in almost a year.  He's advocating losing 30 lbs in less than 1/3 the time, and that was 30 from where I was on the day of the visit ... the 5 I'd lost didn't count!  Doc and I had a discussion about the safest way to lose the weight, and I go home to sulk.

At this point, I could have blamed the doctor.  Gone into denial and gotten another opinion. I could have blamed my mom's family genes.  I could have done nothing and just accepted a monthly trip to the pharmacist.  But I was too young for that kind of crap.

So I decided what the hell - let's do it.

The first month, I did myFitnessPal and continued to track everything in excel in true nerd fashion.  I lost an additional 8 lbs, but at the end of the month I was miserable.  Mrs. Zoxe was miserable.  I was a cranky bastard.

So that March, I started South Beach (my doc's recommended plan).  I intended to just do the intro 2 weeks so when I went back I could tell him that it didn't work.  I resisted South Beach because I didn't want to be "on a diet."  I didn't mind making changes but didn't think I could snap my fingers and wake up a new man the next morning and make it stick long term.

But the course I was on wasn't going to get me there, and I if I were going to fail, I wanted to look the doc in the eye when I returned and say "I did everything I could."

I will stop here for Part I.  But, if you're reading this and you're not happy with your weight, here's some advice from someone who's been there:
- Nobody can decide to lose the weight but you.
- It's likely taken you years to get the size you are, it's ok if it takes you years to get smaller.
- Small, incremental changes do add up.

What's Up

This is a random update post.  I haven't done many of these, as I had enough to post about with the KDM content coming off the table.  Work has been a killer this week, and I've arrived home (extra) tired.  I also think I'm getting a sinus infection.  Bleh.  Under those conditions I'm not enthusiastic about hitting the bench for painting, as I'll not be focused and just make a mess.

So here are some bullet points on other random things:

• As you can probably guess, I've still got the Phoenix on the table.  I've done my airbrush work, and need to sit down and do the wash and detailing.  Maybe this weekend.
• I have the Watcher assembled and should have primed him but see above.  I'm actually waiting for an experiment on the Phoenix to determine how I'll approach the Watcher, so I'm not too much in a rush. I need the Phoenix further along before I'll commit to the Watcher.
• Believe it or not, Wave 2 is (in theory) 6-7 weeks from entering fulfillment.  I'm still in good shape to get a break from KDM before the next wave hits, but I really need to not screw around too much with the last few figures from the Core box.
• We got a new gaming table.  Found it on clearance at a local store.  It's out of the box but not assembled.
• We got a short break in the weather and I did get out the last 2 nights and enjoy the +60 deg F shift in temperatures.  (The absurd change in weather also likely has something to do with my sinus headache though).  Someday I'll put a post up about Chainsaw Therapy.
• The past two days reminded me that I have a lot of work to do outside this year. I'm hoping for an early and dry spring.  The past 2 years have been late and very wet; hoping for something different.
• I backed a pair of Kickstarters this week:  Countdown: Action Edition and Triplanetary.  Both are a great departure from KDM and Shadows of Brimstone.  Countdown looks fun for when we have a lot of family over.
• Another post that I mean to transcribe is my journey with weight loss.  The short version is that this is an anniversary year - 10 years ago I hit my peak weight.  I lost weight slowly over the next 5 years, and in 2013 I surged at lost ~40 lbs in 3-4 months.  I've generally maintained that weight until the past year, and managed to find 10 lbs between Thanksgiving and New Years this year.  I'm currently rebaselining my diet around my 2013 plan, and while there's been some progress ... weight is stubborn.

That's enough for now.  Happy Thursday!

Work in Progress: KDM (Order of the) Phoenix

The Phoenix, mocked up on the base.

It is time for some demon chicken action!

The KDM Phoenix is such a big model that I'm going to break up the post.  This is the "build" post and the "paint" post will follow that, hopefully as a HotD.

And then there were sprues. And it was good. And Zoxe did grin.

Build Notes:

• I say this every post, but take your time and dry fit everything.
• This build is more intimidating than most but I found it to be surprisingly enjoyable.  I followed the Official Build Notes with peeks at Vibrant Lantern and found assembly to be straightforward despite all the pieces.
• As is typical for KDM, most of the sprue gates are on mating surfaces.  Trim them carefully to eliminate gaps between parts.
• In a few places, there are little circles caused by ejector pins (metal pins that push the parts out of the mold).  All of them are on mating surfaces, and a few of them need to be trimmed to minimize gaps.  There's one in particular in the tail that caused me some trouble.
• My worst gaps were on the tops of the "drumsticks" but these are perhaps the easiest to fill because of the smooth (non-feather) texture in most of the area.

Sprue gates between mating surfaces throughout this piece. Trim carefully and dry fit it all.
Also, an example of an ejector pin imprint (the circle, top center of photo). This one was fine but others caused issues.

Even with trimming, because of multiple pieces coming together, there are still gaps. The worst for me happened on his left drumstick. Pushing this closed caused worse issues elsewhere, so I went with it.

Gaps at the head closed nicely.

Iterating:

Normally I build, then fill, then prime - in sequence, one pass.

For the demon chicken, I chose to iterate.  I assembled the body/tail and feet but didn't attach the wings.  This let me fill the seams on the body with easy access everywhere.  I also installed all the little hands in the wings before installing on the body.  Once all that was done, I glued it all together and did another pass with filler.  (This took more time, maybe, but kept my blood pressure down).

• Those Notorious Hands
• For the small hands, clip ONE hand at a time off the sprue or you'll get them mixed up (.... he says with experience *wink*).  
• If you don't have a good set of clippers, do yourself a favor and buy some from Amazon.
• Most of the hands have an obviously "happy" resting place. It's quite satisfying when you find it.  Most go in fine, but some needed some nudging with the back of a hobby knife and my fingernail to get just the right tilt or rotation.
• I tended to use more cement than strictly necessary; a little extra 'melt' seemed to help get them into their happy place a little easier.
• A lot of people seem to struggle with this, but I worked slowly and it went so easily and quickly I didn't even take any pictures.

Filling:

This is a huge piece with a lot of parts and several seams through the demon chicken's head and body.  I debated not filling anything but couldn't let it go.

• For most seams, I used Milliput to fill. If you're not familiar, it's pretty cool.  It's a 2-part "molding clay" that you knead together to activate (like GreenStuff) that's water soluble (unlike GreenStuff).
• Generally this meant rolling out a very thin "snake" of Milliput then working into the gap with carving tools, scraping off the excess and then working the seam with a disposable brush and water to blend and smooth
• In a few places on the sides of the body I was able to sculpt some ripples to (hopefully) match the feather pattern.
• For the record, filling is my least favorite part.
• For smaller seams and spot areas around the small hands, I used Vallejo Plastic putty. I was able to work it (unthinned) with a brush and (hopefully) replicate the feather pattern on his right wing joint.

Overhead shot showing which lines I filled and which I left alone.  Yellow is Milliput and white is Vallejo Plastic Putty.

Repeat picture: Front view, temporarily sitting on the base.  This is the uncropped version showing that he FILLS the photo light box I got for Christmas.