My mate Seb made a comment today that reminded me of this little project I did a few years ago. I did post pictures on ATT at the time but the image host has long since disappeared. I couldn’t find any pictures on my hard drive either, so for longevity I decided to take some new pics and document this little project.

I designed this back when I was playing a fair bit of 40k. It’s fun to use counters to represent hits from a Markerlight (like a laser target designator the Tau have), and I took the concept way too far with a marker that contains a little LED that flashes. Although I’ve got the parts and everything to make 5 of them, I only ever got around to making the one

Without further ado, here’s some pics:

As you can see, I had to increase the height of the base by a couple of mm to fit the electronics and battery underneath. Ignore my dodgy styrene work – this was before my days as a famous scratchbuilder 😉

The circuit design is pretty simple, but in order to maximise the life of the battery I designed a circuit with a tiny microcontroller (a PIC10F series for those in the know). Upon powerup the microcontroller flashes the LED in sequence three times every few seconds. It continues doing this for 5 minutes, after which it shuts down and enters sleep mode, drawing next to no power. It remains in sleep mode until it is woken up again by pressing the button.

Not much else to add about this one. Enjoy!

As clichéd as it sounds, I really have no idea where 2010 went! I trust everyone had an enjoyable holiday break – well that is everyone other than Jon from Paulson Games and Nick from Chapterhouse Studios. You see, Games Workshop showed their true Christmas spirit and offered both of them a nice lawsuit on the 22nd of December! How thoughtful!

Anyway details of the suit can be read about about on a number of forums, like here (warning: reading thread on Dakka will destroy sanity).

But you know what? I think this lawsuit crap is just a rouse by GW to hide the shocking truth: GW actually loves Chapterhouse! This is a crazy theory I know, but I have proof! You see I was tipped off to an article on GW’s blog which showcases an army using Chapterhouse Shoulderpads! Check it out:

Screenshot of the GW blog post

Comparison of GW blog post picture to Chapterhouse shoulderpad.

The evidence is irrefutable, no?

Edit: I just thought I’d better clarify that the GW blog article linked to is not written by Gav Thorpe, but merely has a paragraph of comments contributed by him. Additionally, the person whose miniatures are pictures using the Chapterhouse products does not work for GW. I don’t think this makes things much less amusing though

It’s not too early to start saying “Merry Christmas”, right? I heard a Christmas carol playing on the radio today so it must be ok…..

Anyway good RA friend Dan (Arkangel, who has been doing some great work promoting the site offline!) notified me the other day that it has been 5 months since I last posted to the blog. I didn’t realise how fast time has flown by! I do have a long list of excuses, including:

• Final semester of uni
• Purchasing of my [realistic] dream car
• Keeping up with casting my kits
• The fairer sex

however the excuses are now (partly) moot because as of a week ago I am a fully qualified Electronic Engineer! Graduation is in a week’s time but all of my results are in and I’m approved to graduate. Of course it’s mixed emotions: I’ve been living out of a suitcase this last semester which means I’m excited to finally be back in one place and have access to my hobby stuff again. On the other hand, I’ve just spent 4 years with a bunch of people with whom I’ve become very fond and will certainly miss them. And as much as some people cringe when I say it, I will miss living on the Gold Coast!

Throughout the semester casting has been a constant pain necessity and I’ve been extremely happy with the reception I’ve been getting for my kits. Know that the support I get helps fuel more great kits – I’ve just invested in some new tools (of which I’ll post a review soon).

Looking ahead I’ve got a couple of projects in the works, including a couple of commissions. I’ve already started on a big project that for now will remain secret, however I will post some teaser WIP shots as I go along. Trust me this one is going to be high demand! I’m also going to attempt to be more active on this blog. It’s tricky balancing both a blog and a forum, but I guess I will end up mirroring a degree of stuff between the two.

The 1st anniversary of Resin Addict came and went without even a passing mention (in October). Thankfully it’s not my mistress or I would have been in big trouble! But I must thank everyone for their support and contribution. I often hear from people just how helpful they’ve found the information we’re compiling on the forum and personally it’s very satisfying. I strongly believe that we are helping to enrich the hobby we all love!

So thankyou to everyone for your support and all the best for the holiday season. 2011 will be another year of exciting growth for Resin Addict!

Welcome to the Resin Addict blog everyone! Yet more PHP and MYSQL software to get my head around! Yay!