Hello, and happy new year! With the new year always comes new ideas, goals or aspirations and this year was no different. When I started this blog last year, I didn’t really have a focus in mind, the goal being to write about the things I enjoy and share that with an audience of people that are interested in what I have to say.
As the year went along, I found I really enjoyed two things, writing movie reviews, and writing about my wargaming and painting. Sharing my hobby has been both cathartic and also a good way to keep myself motivated. Even when I haven’t been posting, I have been watching movies, and painting models.
So as I sit here in the new year, I have decided on a new format for this blog. I would love to provide more content for my followers, expand the participation in the hobby, and also to keep me and hopefully others more motivated to paint, play and to write about the hobby journey.
With that in mind, let me announce the focus of Urban Cowboy Hobbies for 2024…
A Tale of Several Warlords
Some of you may be familiar with the idea of a “Tale of Four Warlords” but if you are not, let me give you an introduction. A couple decades ago, a popular magazine in the hobby space named after a certain dwarf started a series called, as you might guess, “A Tale of Four Warlords” the idea of this series was simple, four hobbyists came together at the beginning of the year and made a solemn vow to each work on a hobby project that interested them and then post updates and pictures each month to document their progress. This series proved to be quiet successful, both as an interesting read, and as a tool to get the Warlords’ armies finished.
With the memory of those brave hobbyists in mind, I along with “several” other warlords will be embarking on a similar journey. As of today, I have four others planning on sharing this experience with me, and the initial update will be coming before the end of the month. My promise to you the readers will be to provide updates, hopefully at least once a month, maybe more! I will also be on the hunt for other hobbyists to provide some one off content, or possibly even join the monthly series!
PS: I will still be writing periodic content for other things as it fits me(probably mostly movie reviews). My lack of focus continues, don’t you worry.
Here at Urban Cowboy Hobbies we take great pride in our research team and for good reason. I’m not sure how many other research committees would come up with such a curve-ball answer for this question. Yet even with this off the wall attitude, Dave Thomas is undoubtedly a contender for the title of GOAT.
For the uninitiated, Dave Thomas is the founder of the best fast food restaurant around, Wendy’s. Adopted as a baby, Dave lost his Adoptive mother at the age of 5. Surrounded by tragedy, he and his Dad hit the road, traveling the country, eating burgers and finding work wherever it could be found. At the age of 15, Thomas dropped out of school and started work at a restaurant named The Hobby House in Indiana, falling in love with the restaurant business.
Unfortunately for Dave, the Korean War broke out and he joined the army, becoming a mess sergeant in Germany, feeding thousands of people a day. The knowledge this prospective GOAT earned in Germany went a long way in his future as a fast food Mogul.
After the war, Dave Thomas returned to The Hobby House where he met two people that would change his life forever, his soon to be wife Lorraine, and the iconic Colonel Sanders. Working with The Colonel, Thomas moved to Columbus, Ohio in an attempt to turn around some failing restaurants. Even in the face of The Colonel’s doubt, Thomas pulled off a miracle and saved the restaurants and earning a hefty stake in KFC in the process.
Selling his stock in KFC, Dave Thomas was able to open his own restaurant, Wendy’s, named after his youngest daughter. The company was founded on the simple motto, Quality is our Recipe. A motto that has stuck to this day. The people of the 70’s and 80’s knew quality hamburgers when they had them, and as such Wendy’s exploded in growth, opening 1000 restaurants in 100 months, and then another 2000 in the two years to follow.
As the 80’s drew to a close, Wendy’s sales began to dip and the long retired Dave Thomas was called back to the plate to rescue our beloved Wendy’s. Bringing his “Mop bucket Attitude” this GOAT appeared in over 800 TV ads, a record that still stands today. These ads brought Wendy’s back from the brink and to brand new heights.
After this legend of fast food had finished building and rebuilding his empire, he returned to high school, finally getting his degree almost 50 years after he began. An American icon, a testament to hard work and conviction, Dave Thomas undoubtedly stands as the Greatest Restaurateur of All Time. Dying in 2002 at the age of 69, the world still enjoys his tasty hamburgers to this day. In fact the UBH team went to Wendy’s last night and enjoyed a Nacho Cheese Burger, something that I doubt any other fast food chain could pull off half as well.
Editor’s note: Dave Thomas was a legend, a titan of American Fast Food. But is he the GOAT of GOATs? tune in next week as we dive into our next subject, American President Bill Clinton.
In the MMORPG Old school RuneScape there is a quest named “a simple favor” in this quest the player must perform a small favor for a character in the game. This small favor turns out to be more than meets the eye as the player is led on a wild goose chase around the world in order to complete this “simple favor”.
Like the simple favor in RuneScape, i ruminated on a simple question this morning on my run. Who is the GOAT? The question was born when Kenny Chesney’s “When the Sun Goes Down” started playing on my headphones. My initial thought was that Kenny Chesney must be the GOAT of country music. This thought then grew to another question, who is the GOAT of all musical artists? Then, who is the GOAT in entertainment? The natural conclusion of this series of questions was the simple question I aim to answer with a series of blog posts I call GOATuesday. Every Tuesday, please tune in as I try to answer the question: Who is the GOAT?
The format of this series will be simple, I’ve asked the members of the UrbanCowboyHobbies executive research committee to provide their answer. I intend to dissect these research findings weekly, going over each candidate’s résumé for GOAT.
This series will start this Tuesday with our first subject still up in the air! To decide who we cover in our first deep dive, I have opened up a poll below to my loyal readers to vote!
I chose the 2 below candidates as I thought either would be a great starting point. But you can rest assured because while these two titans may seem untouchable, many of the other candidates we found in our research are just as worthy of the title: GOAT.
Closing remarks: look forward to the first installment of this series on Tuesday. If you have any other picks for GOAT that you feel need consideration please comment below.
¡Hello and bienvenido! it’s been a pretty wild August for me. I’ve been on the road for over half of the month which has been a real roller coaster. Taking some time hanging out in Orlando airport to write up some of my hobby accomplishments this month and put some goals for September out into the world.
Legio Tempestor Reaver Titan epic scale
First up, we start small. This was my first mini in this scale, I’ve always enjoyed the Reaver titan and this was a great introduction to the scale. I’m looking to pick up some transfers before I add some weathering details so expect to see this guy again.
Little disappointed that the rest of the minis for new Epic are delayed but realistically I was never going to find the time to paint anything in the meantime.
Next up we have the bulk of my painting progress this month. I’ve had the below Valkyries sitting in my display waiting for me to find the time to paint them all year. Well I finally got tired of looking at the three unpainted aircraft.
Flight of the Valkyries
The first of the three planes had been finished to a tabletop standard but not yet based as I, as typical, could not make up my mind on how I wanted to set the scene for my project. First thing I did then was get my bases sanded and then painted. I’ll try to grab some better pictures in my next update as I’m quite happy with the desert feel these bases portray.
Valkyrie #1
I snagged a couple more pictures of the first two completed Valkyries above and below, as you can see I stuck with a very basic khaki color for the hull. I utilized my airbrush to spray zandri dust over a grey primer. This yielded a more worn look to the paint, perfect for sand blasted metals.
Valkyrie #2
You cannot tell as well in the pictures but I worked to create a transition on cockpit glass but I think I’m going to increase the vibrancy of the blue, hopefully bringing out the effect even further. Stay tuned for more updates for these planes as I still have one more flier to add to this squadron.
Next up we have the beginnings of a Horus Heresy White Scars army. Big fan of these guys in the novels and I wanted to challenge myself to paint some white miniatures.
Starting the building process, I decided to build a squad of tactical marines, always a good choice. Led by Qin Xa, a beautiful model that I picked up from the Warhammer Cafe at the demand of my girlfriend- a real keeper she is.
To finish off this month’s building efforts, I started with the real meat and potatoes of a White Scars horde- Bikes! Three of the awesome plastic jet bikes and 6 resin outriders to start. I’ve got 21 total outriders so stay tuned to see those as I’m sure I will be working on this force off and on to finish up the year.
To start, I’ve been putting this review off as it took my a while to put my thoughts together on this film. With that in mind, thank you for your patience my loyal followers.
A quick aside before I get started. I had the privilege of going to Los Alamos in May of this year, right before this movie was released. The natheal beauty of that area cannot be understated, the deserts of New Mexico are quickly becoming one of my favorite places on the planet. Therefore, if renowned genius Dr. Oppenheimer and I both share a favorite place, does that make me a genius as well? Food for thought.
I’ve always though Christopher Nolan was an extremely overrated director. I’ve always felt that he gets in his own way, most of his movies are incredible visually, usually with unique set pieces and story concepts. Sometimes it works, as with his earlier works. Sometimes it doesn’t, the back act of Interstellar, Tenant, and Dunkirk for example.
With that in mind, this is the kind of film that Nolan really should be making. This movie is less a movie about the creation of the Atom bomb, and more about the scientist that birthed it.
Oppenheimer the scientist was a deeply interesting man, a charismatic, almost rakish man. A bone thin scientist turned cowboy turned celebrity. If anything this 3 hour movie could have shown us more of what he did after the bomb’s creation.
That’s the magic of Oppenheimer, at 3 hours long it is a marathon, but still you want to dive deeper into the Manhattan project, the scientists that made it possible and the politicians that controlled our nuclear program after its inception. Nolan did a great job of showing us a slew of interesting characters that we, the audience want to get to know.
I can’t call this movie perfect as Nolan is not without his usual flaws. Namely, I’m not sure a period piece about a scientist needs three different timelines. But this is in my opinion Christopher Nolan’s best work since the first half of Interstellar. My only serious complaint comes from the fact that I was promised full frontal from both Florence Pugh and Cilian Murphy and I received only the normal level of nudity allowed in theaters today.
Oppenheimer gets 4.5 stars from me. A great movie and the best new release I’ve seen this year. #releasethedongcut
This movie man… not often in my life have I walked out of a movie completely shaken to my core. I’ve seen hundreds, maybe thousands of movies in my life and unfortunately 2 of those movies are a part of The Meg franchise.
The gravest sin a movie can commit in my eyes is to be boring and following that, this movie is certainly going to hell.
The movie was completely baffling. All the criticism that the first movie had seemed to be amplified in the second installment. Almost like it was purposeful! Again the characters seem completely bored by the prospect of fighting THE HUGE PREHISTORIC SHARKS. There are exceptions of course, Jason Statham is perfect, he is England’s greatest treasure and should be protected as such.
I could write pages of criticism for this movie but I will just keep it to 3 main points which you can see below.
They killed the female lead from the last movie off screen between movies?!
This movie seems to be a critique of billionaires as again the villain is a rich greedy capitalist, the only problem is now we have a rich Chinese Jason Statham-esque billionaire on the good side
They should’ve just made a full movie of the dinosaurs in the opening scene. Just give me Jason Statham fighting dinosaurs that’s what the people want
This movie is a 2/5, some good scenes save this movie from a 1 but this is one of the least interesting movies I’ve seen in years. My life is worse now that I’ve watched it.
Hello! This weekend I was left on my own by the lady and in a desperate gambit to avoid housework I decided to build my second Warhound Titan. This has the double effect of opening space in my closet of shame for my inevitable Legions Imperialis purchases, as well as giving me a little extra practice with resin ahead of my Reaver titan build (ETA December).
Almost every warhammer fan who has ever seen a titan in person before has fallen in love with them. In the lore, on the tabletop and in a display case, these massive models really showcase the scale, and absurdity of the Warhammer universe to the fore.
I have been lucky enough so see quite a few titans in person, and even luckier to acquire 3 of my own. 2 Warhounds and a Reaver titan. The two Warhounds titans are now built and I’m planning out the task of painting these incredible models now. The Reaver titan, my pride and joy, still remains in its box waiting for the day I’m brave enough to assemble it.
I picked up my Two Lucius pattern Warhounds about 18 months ago right after Adepticon 2022. I built and “painted” the first one last September in 2 weeks ahead of NOVA here in Virginia but tore it down to add magnets for stability and ease of transport about 2 months ago. The lessons I learned during that first build have gone a long way to helping me in this build.
I’ve always been drawn to the blocky shapes of the Lucius Pattern that you are about to see take shape but the Mars pattern that is more commonly seen is also stunning in person!
All the parts (wow that’s a lot) drying after their wash
The first step when dealing with resin models is to wash them in warm soapy water. This removes any mold release that has stuck to the parts. This mold release will hurt the adhesive properties of any paint that you use later in the painting phase.
The torso being dry fitted before adding pins and some more of the interior detail.
I personally like starting with the torso with my warhound titans. The instructions and common school of thought is that starting with the legs is the wiser move. I think a completed torso is easier to pose on top of the legs and helps you get a better idea of how the finished model will look.
Something to note, I don’t add the head or arms until the end as you will want to pose these after seeing how your legs are positioned.
The completed torso
The Lucius pattern has a tendency to warp pretty bad on these torso parts so make sure you dry fit these pieces before setting them together.
As you can see here, there are quite a few panel gaps that I have needed to address with green stuff. This is normal in my experience. These older Forgeworld kits were made without the benefit of CAD software and as such don’t usually fit together as well as we would like.
Next up- the feet! Now the feet on the Warhound titan are awesome. The possibilities are endless with the posing as each toe joint needs to be posed individually.
With this incredible range of choice comes difficulty though as there is I believe 27 parts in each foot. Each of the main toes requiring 6 resin parts and 3 brass pins to come together.
The feet are probably the most tricky part of this model due to the aforementioned part quantity as well as the simple fact that the feet must support the whole model’s weight. This means that pinning is essential for this step. I’ve seen a few Warhounds without pinned feet and after months or years of tension, the resin begins to sag.
This means that you shouldn’t follow the age old adage “measure twice cut once”. Measure thrice cut once. (And use JB weld not super glue to be safe)
The feet are done and now it’s time to build the legs
As you can see in the above pictures. I’ve decided on a striding pose for this Warhound. This titan is supposed to be quick and I want it to look like it’s running. I wouldn’t recommend this for your first titan as there are some more challenges associated with it but I’m not your father.
The legs are relatively quick compared to the feet. I like to use a sticky tack to help me dry fit all the leg joints to give me an idea of how the joints will be angled in the finished product.
Once you have your pose, time to bring out the JBweld once more. I like to do each joint individually, letting each dry fully before moving onto the next. This helps keep me honest and prevent any major mistakes with posing as you can always correct any slight errors on the next section.
The finished legs, fully striding. Perfection.
As you can see, the legs are done! I’ve kept the hips pistons and the leg armor off for the time being. I like to add the pistons on last as they are dependent on how the legs are posed. whereas the armor will only be attached with tack until I get this painted.
You can also see a hole on the top of the hips. This is for a quarter inch magnet that will secured the legs to the torso. If you have any intention in gaming with your titan, I suggest magnetizing the hips and arms for ease of transport.
The torso on the legs. PerfectA better picture of the pose, as well as a size comparison with one of my ultramarines.The mostly finished product. (Hoses still need to be attached)
The head and the arms are the last steps and once you’ve gotten through the legs they are a cakewalk. Since we’ve decided to magnetize them all that needs to be done is to JBweld your magnets in place. Be careful with the polarization, you don’t want to mess that up.
I hope this guide has been helpful. I love these older titan models and after this model I am feeling much more comfortable ahead of my reaver titan build coming up this winter.
Hoping to get this beauty painted along with its partner in the next few months.
This week I went to see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. To start this review off, I never thought Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was as bad as people act like it is. A far cry from the original 3, yes, but a solid 5/10 adventure movie. I feel like this is worth mentioning since it seems like this movie has been doomed to fail since it’s announcement, paying for the sins of its predecessor and unfairly compared to some of the most entertaining movies of all time.
I saw this movie in IMAX, and while I don’t think IMAX really adds a ton to this movie in particular, the more epic scenes were very enjoyable on the extra large screen.
The movie opens with a flashback action scene of our titular character taking on the Nazis during the end of their reign in 1945. While I have never really gotten over the use of de-aging technology, I have to admit it was fairly well done here. A classic Indiana Jones action scene with a modern spin to start the movie off, nice. As the movie begins in earnest, in 1960’s America, we see our hero at his lowest, a brief reference to the 4th movie should allow all of its detractors to enjoy the rest of this film. We meet the rest of Indy’s companions (and adversaries) over the next few scenes and I think that everyone involved did a very good job bringing their characters to life (except the kid, I understand why the character was added but I think they could have picked a better actor)
The story was in my opinion great, the McMuffin in this movie is perfect for Indiana Jones. The action was tight, fun and as believable as you could expect from an Indiana Jones movie. Some surprise cameos and some well placed jokes keep you interested the whole time. With an epic conclusion, this movie keeps you watching the whole time.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a solid 7/10 for me, not as great as the originals but a good movie and send off to one of the most beloved characters we’ve ever known
Hello! This article will be about the largest painting project I have written about on this blog thus far. Last year I had the privilege of acquiring a Sector Imperialis Realm of Battle board. This was the first, and biggest, step of the years-long project of acquiring, building, and painting all of the necessary terrain needed to create the Cities of Death board of my dreams.
For those of you that aren’t aware, Cities of Death was a Campaign book released by games workshop in 2003 highlighting how to play games of Warhammer 40k in the cities of the far future. Filled to the brim with pictures and artwork of beautiful terrain pieces, this book really inspired me to make a city board of my own.
Years later, I’ve been in the building stage of my city for over a year now, acquiring and building structures of all shapes and sizes. A healthy mix of buildings both old and new, along with an ever increasing pile of scatter terrain are the starting point for this project but I plan on adding to this table for years to come.
This post will cover the painting process for the base 6×4 board that will eventually become a full size city battlescape.
The beginning, a nice black base coatBasecoated all the concrete with Skavenblight DingeAdded some random green and brown splotches to break up the grey Dry brushed first Administratum grey and then Ushabti Bone Time to begin the roads, washed the road tiles with Athonian Camoshade, Nuln oil, and Agrax Earthshade Dry brushed the road with Administratum greyTime to start the metals! Leadbelcher mostly with some Warplock bronze and Balthasar gold to break it upAll of the metallics got a wash with a mix of different washes. Sidewalks with Nuln Oil mixed with Camoshade, Agrax Earthshade and Mortarion Grime. And the rest with the same mix without the Nuln OilAll of the metallics got an all over drybrush of Necron Alloy. Also through on a coat of Zandrio Dust over the skulls that dot the board.
Finally done! This project ended up taking a lot longer than I originally thought, taking me 3 weeks of hobby time. Happy to be done and absolutely love the finished product! Stay tuned for the next posts as we bring this board vertical!
Bonus picture of the board for tonight’s game! Looking good so far…just need to build and paint those buildings!
HowdyHammer 