For me the interesting thing about reading this post again was my take on future models I aimed to get done in 2018.  The only thing I didn’t embark upon, and still haven’t, was something on the Zulu wars.  For the life of me I cannot recall what, if anything, I had in mind to do!

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WW1 British Command – 28mm Scale

So, Christmas is over, the parents have made the short journey home and most importantly the wife imposed modelling ban has been officially lifted!  To be fair it was important to spend some quality time with the old folk as well as the kids. However, there is only so much TV dross I can take so I confess to feigning an after dinner sleep on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day.  This proved positive though and gave me some time to gather my thoughts together with regard to this years  modelling past, and more relevantly, next years modelling future.

In modelling terms this year saw the start of my blog, a major departure from 54mm scale figures to 28mm and my involvement with the Plymouth Modelling Club.  All have proved to be very enjoyable.  I love the sense of community that my blog provides and the comments I receive are extremely motivational.  Dropping down in scale has enabled me to do so much more and my creative juices have increased considerably.  I still love 54mm scale but producing buildings and dioramas in this size is simply far to space consuming.  Joining the modelling club, not everyone’s cup of tea I know, has also proved a success.  I think more than anything it has given me an opportunity to compare my work with others and although I’m not the most gifted modeller I do feel that I can hold my head up and make a contribution.  On to the future.

First up is the completion of the WW1 project.  I have a few items to finish and a couple to start and then I think it will be time to call it a day.  I’ve no doubt I will return to this period as I love it but I need to use some other paint colours!  Looking ahead I have a few ideas around the Zulu wars which may get off the ground and a WW2 scene is gathering some momentum in my head.  I found some Viking figures recently which I liked the look of and Santa brought me some American Civil War and Old West figures which as some of you may know is my genre of choice.  Aside from figures there are a few diorama ideas that I want to explore and as I may have mentioned previously, I have a growing urge to start another building.  In fact I’m pretty sure this is where I will kick-start the New Year.

At the end of January the Plymouth Model Club hold their annual in-house competition.  There are a couple of categories which I will enter and it will be interesting to see how I fare.  If I do well then you’ll hear more about it!  The club does do monthly competitions and I haven’t done too badly at those but I suspect some members will have geared themselves up for this one event so it’s hard to tell.  In any event it will be a new experience and should be fun.  Thereafter there are a number of shows to attend including Telford in November.  I’ve heard a lot about Telford but never been.  By all accounts it’s a huge and fantastic event and will doubtless be the subject of future blog posts.

Back to actual models and this posts offering.  As I mentioned previously I have a couple of WW1 items to finish.  This was one of them.  There was very little to do so the limited amount of time available following my modelling ban was more than sufficient to get this one off of the work bench.  The model itself is a simple enough affair.  The figures are from Gripping Beasts and Great War miniatures, all white metal and all very nice castings.  The quality of Gripping Beasts in particular is fantastic.  Figure painting was done using a combination of acrylic and oil paint.

My WW1 timeline needed some officers in it and this is what I came up with.  It’s hard for me when dealing with this historic period to put the series “Black Adder Goes Fourth” to the back of my mind.  It’s tempting therefore to say these officers are trying to determine what square foot of land they plan to sacrifice 20,000 men for.  Every which way I’ve turned when researching elements of this project the tragic loss of life and various statistics associated with this war simply beggar belief.

Model photo’s appear below.

To close this post it’s appropriate to acknowledge the New Year.  I believe in the power of positive thought (although I’m not the greatest exponent of it) but I suspect like many others my New Year Resolutions rarely last more than a few weeks.  I have therefore, to quote Baldric from Black Adder, a “cunning plan”.  For 2018 I have come up with three resolutions which hopefully will prove successful.  In no particular order they are:-

1. Having never smoked I’m going to pull out all the stops to make sure I don’t start in 2018
2. I will resist all temptation to drink alcohol at breakfast
3. I will aim to increase my weight and go up a waist size but will not be upset if I fail!

Happy New Year.

TIM