Welcome to this weeks Miniatures and Musings!
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TIM’s Mid Week Miniature
This weeks mini is Balian D’Ibelin, another limited edition figure by Giants in Miniature. This one is number 324/500. The figure is based on the character played by Orlando Bloom in the film Kingdom of Heaven.
The crosses on the tunic and shield are all freehand work. The tunic was especially difficult, trying to get the crosses roughly the same size and shape proved time consuming but overall I am please with how the figure turned out. The photo’s on the other hand don’t look as sharp on the laptop as they do on my tablet so might have to revisit them at some point!
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The Torquay Show
When I was at the Torquay show a couple of weeks ago I made 3 purchases. First up was a 54mm Space Marine. Not sure if it was a good buy in the end or not but at some point I will get around to doing it.
Next up I bought an Orc bust. I’ve never painted a bust before (although I have seen plenty of busts I’d like to get my hands on!) and thought maybe, just maybe I would give it a go.
Lastly, I bought some weathering pencils. Had never heard about these but they seemed like a good idea if they work and as they were pretty inexpensive I bought a couple. Anyone ever used these? I’ll let you know what I think of them in due course.
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Not sure how many of you are familiar with the app Pinterest but I find it a great source for modelling ideas and must thank She Who Must Be Obeyed for recommending it to me. The app throws up all kinds of interesting stuff too such as this life quote which I have dedicated to SWMBO.
“Marriage is like a deck of cards. In the beginning you need two hearts and a diamond. By the end you need a club and a spade”.
We’ve not quite reached the end game yet and it’s far from clear who is holding what cards but I’m certain SWMBO has a few up her sleeve.
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This week TIM has been listening to …
… Lou Reed. Transformer is a classic album and a big favourite of mine. I love every track and could have chosen any one. Take a Walk On The Wild Side perhaps being the most obvious but in the end I went with Satellite of Love. Sadly Lou is no longer with us and my youth slowly continues to die and roll a way but …
… the music lives on.
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This week TIM has been watching …
… Straw Dogs. The 1971 original, not the the 2011 remake which I have never watched. Why? Simple, never fuck with a classic, especially one directed by Sam Peckinpah.
Sam Peckinpah who was renowned for his slow motion scenes of violence. The film stars a young Dustin Hoffman and the gorgeous Susan George. Kleenex sales rocketed off the back of her performance. Set in “inbred Cornwall” where many similar real life characters can still be found to this day!
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Until next time.
TIM
The Imperfect Modeller 
Orlando looks great with a beard. Very well done on the freehand crosses. I’d have no hope doing that and would have lost the patience and my mind. Never heard of weathering pencils so please explain? Pinterest was one I was going to jump on board with but decided to go with Instagram. It’s mainly for a source of inspiration. If your marriage is like a deck of cards you’re the only joker in it and Mrs TIM is surely the Queen of Hearts. Ahahaha I’m making myself sick now.
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Link below to weathering pencils. Haven’t used mine yet. The product is new one but as to wether or not they are any good remains to be seen. Probably a Youtube video put there by now too.
https://ak-interactive.com/product-category/ak-weathering-pencils/
Mrs T is the Queen of Hearts that’s for sure (she’s watching me type this!). Sticking with the card analogy I have my doubts that you are a full deck😉
Go on Youtube and check out Tex Ritter, Deck of Cards, have a listen you will like it.
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Hmmm to the YouTube machine…
And stop thinking about my deck.
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I liked the Ritter ditty but I was waiting for a punch line haha. It reminded me of this classic which still sends a chill up my spine. https://youtu.be/KnnHprUGKF0
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No punch line but thought it might come in handy next time you have your deck out in church. 😉 Big Bad John, a while since I listened to that. Think I’ll listen to some Iohnny Cash this afternoon.😊
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I have Johnny Cash Tattooed on my arm 👍🏼
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I heard he had IRO on his but not sure if that’s true.
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Haha well IRO didn’t come about until 2015 so Johnny was loooong dead by then sadly.
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Well I reckon IRO back then was “I Rocked the Opry”.
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I’m with IRO on the paint job mate ,I have trouble with stripes at the best of time ,so good work mate .
Funny you mention Lou ,but in 82-83 I was driving from Sydney to my home town Swan hill ,a 9hr drive and it was at night ,in those days there was F…all on the back roads at that time and I only had the radio on and pretty average music was being played when at about 3am a strange song came on ,really weird for the time and it went on for some time .I never found out who it was ,(all I remember was catching what sounded like Lorry !) or the name of the song ,and no one new anything about it ,big mystery never to be solved .Last year I was reading an article about his wife Laurie and that along with being an actress she produced some songs .Hang on Lou was different maybe she might have made that strange song so long ago ,A quick Google and there it was !!!! the answer finally ,the marvel of modern technology ,brilliant .
Oh the song ! O Superman .
Ok now Dave tape it and drive around on Dartmoor on a dark night playing it and you will get what I mean .
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I’ll check it out Pat sounds interesting. Might take a better explanation to SWMBO as to why I’m out in the middle of the night though! 😉
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Ha ha ,yeah right !
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Just tell her that you’re prowling for victims. It might be more believable than “listening to music”?
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Haha, that might work! 😉
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Shit mate ,the youngen saw this and said I should set up my own musing sight, but call it the waffling’s of an old boring fool ,nice eh! kids to day no respect ! .
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Haha I’d read it 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
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me too
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You should do it and put her in her place, show her the old man can still cut it! Like IRO I’d read it.
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Cracking mini mate, you absolutely nailed the freehand!
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All excellent stuff! Very nice mini! Creased up at the New Zealand deck advert!
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Yes it was funny. 😆
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Great work on the mini.
I can’t fault your music and film choices either.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Cheers Pete. The film and album are classics for a reason that’s for sure.
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Yes! Love the freehand crosses on the tunic as well as the one on the shield. Very much my “bag”, as it were, and I always love seeing people’s kick-arse freehand work as an inspiration for myself. The weathering is also really nicely done as well. Like IRO, I haven’t heard of weathering pencils before. Weathering “Sticks”, which are kind of like women’s make-up but in the colours of mud and grime, yes. but not pencils. Now I’ll have to track some down, but please do give your thoughts on them here on the blog as well. Are they the AK-interactive ones?
Marouda and I both found the “deck of cards” saying hilarious. Which may not bode so well for me in the future… but a good laugh together for the time being. 😉
As for seeing your youth die off.. yeah, I’ve certainly been experiencing that, bit by bit over the last decade. Along with the lovely knowledge that it’ll keep happening at an increasing rate, and the only way it won’t will be if *I* drop off before they do!
Ah, lovely…
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Cheers, glad you liked the freehand. I struggle sometimes to see where to do some on a figure but this one and the period was more obvious which helped.
Yes the pencils are AK-interactive and they are like women’s make up pencils. Could be one and the same thing as “sticks”, a translation thing but they seemed new to a lot of people at the show. They have quite a range of colours too which is interesting.
You have age on your side so you and Marouda (great name by the way) can put the clubs and spades away for now!
Ah yes, the ageing process, so much to look forward to! Sadly that’s the way it goes but as everyone older says, make the most of it while you can. Just remember my friend, you have to have fucking shit days to know when you are having a great one! 😊
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I’m busy rejuvenating bits of my physical form these days. I’m lighter and fitter than I have been in more than 20 years right now. The same cant be said for my joints, though. That damage is cumulative! Might upgrade my eyes and/or choppers later this year, though.
I found the pencils online (uk source, none locally) and would have ordered them yesterday but out of stock. Clicked the “notify me” so we’ll see how long that takes. Good to find that they exist, though!
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Scalemodelshop.co.uk ship worldwide and have them in stock if that helps.
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I refuse to consider myself old until Keith Richards dies. Though the loss of Bowie still haunts me.
That free hand cross work is absolutely stunning! I’m trying to imagine pulling that off, let alone multiple iterations of that on one figure. Just wow Dave.
As for the cards, I always play for the Joker.
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Keith has been dead for 20 years. The guy on stage is his magically reanimated mummified corpse and will out”live” us all!
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Glad you like the figure Mark. As for Keith, living proof it would seem that doctors and scientists haven’t a clue at times. Would be interesting to know what they could learn from him if he leaves his body to medical science.
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