A quick WIP

June is a very busy month for me and work is just crazy so I'll just leave this quick WIP here. The Changelings and Luther should be ready somewhere next week...

#14/2017 The Girl Next Door

There was a fragment close to the end of William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" when most of the children on the island completely lose their innocence and give in to their atavistic, most primitive instincts. It's a truly terrifying moment that stays with the reader long after finishing the novel. In Ketchum's book a similar thing happens, only much earlier, and it also takes place in more modern surroundings.
It's a story of how a twisted adult can empower children and fill their heads with wrong ideas. The result is a prolonged, gruesome torture of young girl that lasts weeks. The novel catches reader's attention, it is hard to put it down and it leaves a lasting impression. Those are qualities that are typically associated with "good books", but here this seems to be true for all the wrong reasons.

Of Metal and Flesh #3 Master Hoffman

Finally, Master Hoffman himself. I followed the same color scheme on armor/metal parts here. I wanted his base to look a bit more interesting so I used bits from watch parts set I bought a while ago on ebay. 

I can't really say much about Hoff game-wise as I've never used him and never faced him so I'll just leave the pictures here.

W końcu nadszedł czas na samego mastera Hoffmana. Użyłem tego samego schematu kolorystycznego na pancerzu/metalowych elementach. Chciałem, żeby trochę się wyróżniał, więc użyłem bitsów  z zestawu części zegarowych kupionego jakiś czas temu na ebay'u.

Ciężko mi cokolwiek o nim powiedzieć jeśli chodzi o grę, nigdy go nie używałem ani też nie miałem okazji grać przeciwko temu masterowi. Zostawię tutaj tylko te zdjęcia.

I also painted Master Queeg. It's one of those miniatures that look just human. There's nothing unreal or steampunky about him, which makes the model a bit less interesting to me from the hobby perspective (although the miniature itself is very well made).

Pomalowałem też Master Queeg. To jedna z tych figurek, które wyglądają po prostu "ludzko". Nie ma w nim nic nienaturalnego czy steampunkowego, co sprawia że z hobbistycznej perspektywy  jest dla mnie nieco mniej ciekawy (chociaż sam model jest bardzo ładnie wykonany).

#13/2017 Gwendy's Button Box

The action of this short novella takes place in Castle Rock, Maine, which is King's version of America, Anywhere. In his latest work (created together with his friend Richard Chizmar who came up with the ending), he tells a story of young Gwendy. She is a 12-year old obese girl who will be starting middle school after summer holidays. She is determined to change her looks by taking a run up long stairs (know as Suicide Stairs), which lead to a cliff side. One day she meets a mysterious stranger, who invites her to palaver. That word alone caused me to expect some Dark Tower references here and I was a bit worried that it might be just another story loosely connected to that universe, only to increase sales. Fortunately, it isn't so. 

Gwendy receives a small wooden box with several buttons in different colors. She is to become its keeper and after brief, obscure explanation of some of the functions, she returns home. She doesn't know it yet, but her entire life will be greatly affected by this event.

The plot isn't complicated. We mainly follow Gwendy's adolescence and watch her become a young woman. There aren't many shocking events, cliff-hangers but the story is presented in a clear, elegant way. It's easy to identify with Gwendy as she is what can be called an Everyman. 

The audiobook is read by Magge Siff (Tara from Sons of Anarchy), who does a really good job. Gwendy's Button Box is not very deep or innovative, but it goes by really fast and I really enjoyed it.

Of Metal and Flesh #2 Eyes on the Sky, Feet on the Ground

I've been working on some more Guild constructs recently. I used the same red for armor as in my previous entry as I thought it worked quite well with these minis. 

The Wardens were fun to work with. The sculpts are interesting and dynamic, these robots seem to have a personality of their own rather than just being plain machines. Watchers. on the other hand, were a bit disappointing, especially the wings, which seem to have just wrong proportions no matter how I look at them. I also had  to go a bit creative with the bases as I didn't want them to look like they were landing on the ground. With such big wings the construct would be barely visible.

Ostatnio pracuję nad gildiowymi konstruktami. Użyłem tego samego odcienia czerwieni co ostatnio, doszedłem do wniosku,że pasuje tym figurkom.

Malowanie Strażników było czystą przyjemnością. Rzeźby są ciekawe i dynamiczne, te roboty aż kipią osobowością, nie wyglądają jak zwykłe, proste maszyny.Z kolei Obserwatorzy byli małym rozczarowaniem, zwłaszcza ich skrzydła, które wydaję się mieć złe proporcje nieważne jak na nie patrzę. Musiałem też trochę pokombinować z podstawkami, nie chciałem, żeby wyglądali jakby po prostu lądowali na ziemi. Z tak ogromnymi skrzydłami same konstrukty byłyby praktycznie niewidoczne.

#11,12/2017 Legion, Skin Deep

In this series, set in contemporary world, Sanderson introduces a completely new character - Stephen Leeds. He has a unique mental condition as he has developed multiple independent personalities. He is the only person able to see them, talk with them, and use their varied expertise in his work as a private investigator. To make things even more complicated, some of them suffer from mental illnesses like schizofrenia. Each of these personalities has a complex psyche and interesting interactions between them take place frequently.

Both stories are fairly short but Sanderson makes up for it with dynamic pace and frequent use of Leeds' personalities. I've complained before that many of his characters use ironic and witty language that sometimes seems out of place. Here such language is fully justified and fits perfectly. 

Black Hole Sun

"Black Hole Sun" freaked me out when I first saw it as a small kid. Maybe it's not the best tribute material but for me this has always been first association when I heard Cornell's name. Truly a unique talent who passed away in his prime, he will be missed.