The News at TIM – Mid Week Musings (No: 9)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Musings, Uncategorized

Welcome to this week’s Musings!

Fantasy Knights?

In bed the other night I mentioned to she who must be obeyed that I was thinking of a fantasy knight.  Judging by the look on her face it was clear we weren’t on the same wavelength.  I was thinking modelling while she … well lets just say she wasn’t!

Having been married for 36 years the need for words at a time like this are unnecessary.  Quietly we slipped into our well rehearsed fantasy ritual, one I’m sure you are familiar with.  Yes, I’m talking about the one where one of us pretends to be a sleep while the other reads a book.

Timescales

Something I am occasionally asked is “how long did it take you to do that?”.  The answer to this question is purely guess work as I do not keep track of such things.  I typically sit down at my desk and work away to a background of either music, a film or football.  So was when I was asked recently “how long did it take you to tile that roof?” I replied – “Well, the front took me the entire time it took to listen to the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album followed by David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The back took as long as Sgt Pepper by The Beatles, Tina Turner’s Greatest Hits and Thriller by Michael Jackson”.

I’m not sure this was the answer the guy was expecting but undeterred he then asked “Is there anyway to do it quicker?”.  “Yes” I said “don’t sing along at the same time!”.

Don’t blame me blame the dog!

Let me introduce you to Buddy.

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Buddy is a border collie and he is largely responsible for the creation of the Mid Week Musings.  But how can this be, he is only a dog?  I shall explain.

Like most dogs Buddy needs to be walked and like most men of my age I need exercise.  I don’t think I’m in bad shape but let’s just say if it came to running for a bus I would fall into the wait for the next one to come along group.  In a typical week Buddy and I walk around 35+ miles.  Sometimes more, sometimes less, much depends on the weather and how wet I want to get.

The amount of walking we do in a week has a significant bearing on how much thinking time I have to myself.  It’s when I’m walking the dog that I either problem solve or simply allow my mind to wander aimlessly.  Much of this thinking time is devoted to modelling which in turn often gives rise to Musings.  

As Buddy and I get older the walks will get shorter and so I expect will the Musings.

—000—

Until next time.

TIM

 

 

22 thoughts on “The News at TIM – Mid Week Musings (No: 9)”

  1. Well, I read the fantasy knight bit followed by “how long does it take you to do things” and wondered where it was going! And you’ve finally featured Buddy who, admit it, is the brains of the outfit! Funnily enough, I seem to do most of my thinking on wargames sitting in the car keeping an eye on the dogs while my wife does the shopping (and that’s because she can’t trust me to do it properly)!

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  2. Bugger me ! nar! just kidding ,stick you fantasy Knight’s TIM , I have just turned 63 so I’m still in the miles and Lbs mindset even though Australia changed over a long time ago , so to me 35 miles is a long way to go ( sounds like a song don’t it ) so keep up the good work Buddy and keep TIM from getting to flabby ,we need him to be at his best for a long time .

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  4. Woohoo, love seeing a post on exercise and hobbies! I’ve been pretty successful at carving out time for miniatures, but sadly need to get back into some exercise routine. I agree, it’s great to be able to walk around, clear your mind, and do some hobby thinking!

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    1. I didn’t know what I was taking on with a Collie. Not our first dog but the only one the kids were involved in chosing. I fell for the “we will do everything” line and now it’s all down to me! I guess I knew that was going to happen and I’m grateful for the exercise. As for modelling and music, I can just lose myself for hours, brilliant!

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  7. That’s a decent amount of walking. I only wish I could manage that much each week! The timescale thing is funny. I get asked that a lot as well, and it’s so hard to answer. Actual brush-on-model time can be really small, but the total time fills up massively with cleanup, assembly, gluing, drying time (for glue), spray priming, drying time (for sprays), gluing sand to bases, drying time (for sand to bases), painting the bases with thinned paints, drying time (for the thinned paint on bases), drybrushing bases, drying time (for those drybrushes), painting, washes, drying time (for washes), drying time (for metallics), clear coating, drying time (for clearcoating), adding flock and tufts, drying time (for the PVA holding down the flock and tufts).

    There’s a lot of bloody drying time involved.

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    1. As you say it’s actual time plus lapsed time but how that all adds up to overall time is not something I’ve ever stopped to work out. I tend to ignore the lapsed time because I just get on with something else while I’m waiting but as you have highlighted there are a lot of stages we go through when you see it written down like that.

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      1. Indeed. But then when you’re mostly working on one or just a couple of models and you just turn your attention to the computer for 10 minutes or so while you’re waiting for the wash to dry because you want to get to the next stage and don’t want to work on other projects. Like when I finish typing this I’ll go check on the bear’s muzzle I’ve been working on now and see if it’s dry enough for the next stage. It’s not “painting” time, but it’s definitely “time to complete” which further muddles “how long did that take you?” as a question.

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      3. The interminable drying time is why I tend to do those base stages as overnighters, and the sprays as either morning or more overnighters. Well, sprays can be much faster during the height of summer, but that’s over now until the end of the year…

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      4. At least you get a summer! Like you I try and do a few bits before doing something else but the winter months (for which read most of the year) are great for modelling at one level but frustrating at another.

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    1. I put aside the idea of building something grand as I’m clearly not in the mood right now, and have just been plugging away at building smaller things instead, and doing some non-specific painting, which is always a good way to clear the mind. I’ve just finished that bear for example. Now to matt coat him, let that dry(!) and then add some foliage.

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  10. Did you actually go to France or is the picture behind buddy a postcard? My all time favourite song is Nights in White Satun by the Moody Blues and when I was a kid I thought it was Knights in White Satin. Buddy looks like a wise dog. My dogs are idiots but I love them all the same. I like that you gauge time by lengths of albums.

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    1. We used to go to France a lot when the kids were smaller. The picture is a family shot at the Eiffel Tower. As for Buddy he’s the brain’s of the outfit! Modelling + music or films + beer = my idea of a great evening these days!

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