Progress and perplexion

First, I've picked up a couple new followers since the last time I checked that part of Blogger, so howdy to the new folks.  God only knows what you find interesting here, but I hope you continue to like whatever it is.

Second, I got some painting in yesterday, though not as much as I would have liked.  I had a rare opportunity to pick up some extra hours at work and took advantage of it.  I got the initial red done on one assault marine and started in on a second.

Red on red.

As has been too often the case lately, pictures are somewhat poor quality.  When I get a model finished I'll take some decent pictures, but for these WIP shots I'm not terribly concerned with quality.  I want to do a little more on this guy before I wash the armor, mostly around the collar and chest eagle.  I'm also considering whether I want to base coat the chest eagle now, as I'll be doing them in white/bone, so I can wash everything at once.

In particular I'm wondering about shoulder pads, and how much I should shade them around the lip.  A bit of photographic aid:

Shading looks much better in this one.

I'm concerned that I've left too much of the primer showing.  It isn't much, not quite the width of a pencil point, but then again this is a miniature so space is at a premium.  I go between thinking it looks fine and thinking there's too much.  Opinions?

Finally, while perusing 3++ the other day I ran across this article.  In the body of the post the author wonders aloud about why he's blogging, writing that he doesn't want to write "random, useless daily posts that are entertaining but ultimately pointless."  I was initially offended by this, in no small part because that's the sort of thing that I produce, but I've come around on the idea since then.  Everyone likes something different after all, and while some folks may eat up tactics and list building articles, I'm not one of them (though I will admit to spending a decent amount of time at 3++).  As I've mentioned before, I love army collection series, whether in magazines or online.  The Tale of Four Gamers articles from way back when in White Dwarf are what ultimately, if belatedly, caused me to start this blog.  I don't do tactics posts because for the most part I don't feel qualified to do so, and I certainly wouldn't want to solicit lists from people to tweak and critique.  What I do want to do is chronicle my hobby progress, in the manner of the absent for far too long Owl and Moon Guy blog over at B&C, which I'll credit with being a cause of my return to war gaming in the first place in addition to an entertaining read.

Upon reflection, I think I'm falling short of what I intend.  The blogs I like the most are the collection blogs, not ones stuffed with battle reports.  This blog resembles the latter more than the former, and I hope to change that.  While I like doing battle reports, and intend to continue doing them, I want there to be more about painting and modeling than there is currently.  Of course that means I need to paint and model more so that I have something to cover, but I'm working on that.  Ultimately I'm pleased with what I'm doing here, but there's always room for improvement.

P.S. - I keep forgetting to put this to-do list in my posts.

5 Sanguinary Guard - primed
Full assault squad - basecoating in progress
3 jump pack meltagunners - primed
Jump Pack Sanguinary Priest - primed
various arms/backpacks/bits -box