Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!
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Back to Hasslefree Miniatures this week and a female figure which goes by the name “Young Maria”. She was bought along with numerous others, several of which I have painted and recently posted, to be part of a diorama which never materialised. Individually I loved each and every figure but I had a firm idea of what I wanted to do but some how just couldn’t get my head around how to put it together. What are the odds that once I finish the last figure I will have a light bulb moment and then need to start all over!
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Well It Made Me Laugh …
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The Return of My Diorama Mojo
In Miniatures and Musings No: 63 I mentioned that I had bought a building from Table Top World, to be precise I purchased it through Zealot Miniatures in the UK. You can buy direct from Table Top World who are based in Croatia but it is a little more expensive. Now I am not often blown away by the quality of models these days, standards are high and I guess that is what I have come to expect, but the little building I bought is simply exquisite.
I am really looking forward to painting it now that it has arrived and I have several ideas for dioramas. The search is now underway for the figures and accessories needed to accompany it. Availability will doubtless determine the route the diorama takes, it typically does.
It will be a while before the project gets properly underway but for now I feel my mojo has definately returned.
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Is It Just Me?
I think I made it clear that I am not a fan of the new WordPress Editor. Just to be clear I fucking hate it. More than that my hatred is growing day by day. It is only a matter of time before someone will say something and I will stab them. It’s got me in that kind of mood. If I lived in the US then I would probably be heading towards Silicon Valley armed to the teeth with an AK47 instead of being a keyboard warrior here in the UK. So what has riled me now? Four things.
Firstly, I schedule some of my posts. In the old world the calendar function showed me what had been scheduled already and it was easy to determine the next date for the post I was about to schedule. The new version I am looking at doesn’t. I now need to look at scheduled posts, make a note of the dates and then go back in and try again. Progress!
Secondly, if I dip out of a post I am writing to check something out then when I toggle back the post I had opened no longer automatically saves. I have to go back out and start again and then I am asked if I want to restore the back up version. Helpfull? No.
Thirdly, if I cut some text with the aim of pasting it elsewhere it will allow me to paste it in the new position but the same text in its original postion is still there so I have to go back and delete it.
Fourthly, apologies if I have missed any posts of late but some are not finding there way to my email account or other feeds. I know I am not the only one experiencing this but cannot see that this is down to me so I am blaming WordPress for this too.
Maybe it is just me. Perhaps things work differently on my Samsung Tablet. I might be better off using my laptop instead. Then again I might just be hitting the wrong keys or something. Whatever the problem I can’t help but feel there are a lot of glitches to be ironed out.
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This week TIM has been listening to …
“I Knew The Bride When she Used To Rock And Roll” by Nick Lowe. What can I say, I do like a bit of Rock and Roll and I quite like this video too.
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This week TIM has been watching…
“World War II In Colour” on Netflix. I suspect a great many of you have already seen this but if you haven’t and World War II is your thing then definately a series to watch.
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Remember…
You cannot control who walks into your life but you can control what window you throw them out of.
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TIM
The Imperfect Modeller 
I love that mate! I to have had that kind of problem but on a larger scale, was clearing up and found a heap of figures all painted and couldn’t remember why ! and then it came to me I was originally going to use them on the Desert attack dio and then found that they were a little larger in scale so I opt for the Dark Alliance guy. fortunately if I have a light globe moment it’ll have some figures in store!
Sorry to hear about your problems with the new Word press ,I just keep my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to post mine at the end of the week!
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Thanks to the classic editor option it isn’t to bad Pat in all honesty but I am getting to old in the tooth and far less tolerant to change. All signs of becoming an even grumpier old bastard! I must be right because even SWMBO agrees wity me! 😉
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Nice mini and nice to hear your inspiration for dioramas is back! 🙂 I used to do all my blog posts on my 7″ Kindle Fire but then switched to using a 14″ Chromebook and I was quite surprised that I could then see more of the menu choices without having to hunt round for them! COVID-19 and a new WordPress editor in the same year obviously makes for a truly memorable 2020!
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That’s interesting John. Sounds like using my laptop could make a difference. I might give that a go but if it stops me from having a good moan I may have to abandon that too! One thing is for sure 2020 wont be forgotten anytime soon! 😊
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Hasslefree surely has given her a hell of a mane. I wonder if this is the realistic version of their warrior priestess. You’re really nailing that blue-jeans-job. Seems like you enjoy doing jeans. Those bricks on the base are pretty neat.
Now to the post: I’ve been out of the loop of wordpress for 8 years, I had a different blog back then, so I never got to enjoy the innovations inbetween. I don’t know if it is because I’m using a (desktop) pc, but I honestly can get some use out of the block-system. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still quite clunky, especially with functions like linking to a single specific older post or the problem with the line break, that’s somewhat horrendous. But other than that I think it has a little bit of a learning curve and can come in pretty handy. For example, plastering in dozens of media-files like pictures, embedded vids seemingly has become way easier and customizable for my short experience with the new and the 2010-12 editor.
Other than that, please go ahead good Sir, the chumps in the valley of silicon really would gain from a good piece of mind once in a while, peacefully of course. (just a little joke to lighten up the terror of the depths of the new editor)
Looking forward to what you whip up with the house for a diorama.
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Haha, very good my friend. Glad someone likes the new editor. I think I am simply showing my age and resistance to change! Looking forward to getting started on the dioramas I have planned. They should keep me busy and out of harms way for a good couple of months. 😊
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Nicely done mate, and looking forward to seeing you go to town on the Table Top World – they have some beautiful kit… I’d love to just take a year & do a whole town of their stuff!
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They truly are quite stunning Alex and I am quite excited at working on them. Like you I fancy the idea of doing a whole town, talking of which if you haven’t seen this you might find it interesting. 😊
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I’d love to see you do that man. My idea for my Pirate project is similar but at this stage it’s just an idea, a dream, a fantasy haha.
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Space is the issue mate as you will see when I hopefully get one of the two I have planned done.
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I keep telling ya to build a shed mate. You can buy kit form ones. Just need a nice solid foundation and away you go. If I lived closer we could have a good old fashioned barn raising hehe.
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yep another cracking bit of painting beautifully done. I also hate the new editor as it seems like a backward step to me. I did put up a post and as i dont have tons of followers i did notice your absence but i know life gets in the way. I have actually had a few new followers come onboard, so i better keep thee posts coming, stay safe mate..
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Thanks Steve, sounds like our mutual hatred of the new wordpress editor is something else we have in common! Glad you deservedly have some more followers, it will build in time. Just checked that I am still following you and according to wordpress I am. If that changes give me a shout because I do enjoy your posts. 😊
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that is so lovely, thank you. I must admit, i am not that bothered about people that follow and never interact with anything you post, much better to have a few and a chat..
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Rather like Facebook (which I don’t use), real friends are but a few.
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Great work on the miniature, especially the skin and denim. She must have been hard to get good photos of, with that twisting pose.
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Thank you and your not wrong about the photo. It was oddly difficult to know what the best angle was. In the end I just gave up and took pics from different positions! 🤣🤣
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Once again, lovely work on “Young Maria” there. For me it’s bags of bits, I find little zip-lock bags full of random components from various miniatures that I’ve gathered together because at one time I had an idea for putting them together into something truly original and creative. What was it? Damned if I know now!
Don’t get me started on the new editor again, every time I think I’ve got the hang of it I find a new glitch. I do all my editing on a desktop PC and part of me wondered if the new editor was optimised for kids on their phones, but perhaps not. The one that ticks me off is when I’m halfway through writing and it says “You don’t have permission to edit this post”. Don’t I? It’s my bloody blog you smug Silicon Valley oik!
I do like Zealot Miniatures’s stuff, and like Alex and yourself I love the idea of painting an entire town. Someday if I’m rich I guess!
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One day we will get used to it and they will iron out the glitches. That will last a week or two and then there will be a new editor … (repeat until death)! The town idea sounds great. If I had the space I would certainly crack on with that as a project. Might have to consider divorce as the only option. 😉
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Maria looks great and I’m really glad to hear you like your Tabletop World terrain. I can’t wait to see it painted up and to see what your vision is for the diorama! I’m sure it will be spectacular 🙂 For what its worth, I do all my updates and commenting on a desktop with a TV monitor and I think using a tablet to update would be a bit of a nightmare. Compressing WordPress down to a small screen seems like it would create some headaches to me. I hope that using a laptop helps you enjoy using WordPress more!
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I do like WordPress despite all the changes. Hopefully there is still time to teach this old dog new tricks!
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Oooh Maria has a bit of attitude. I like that in a lady, although it makes me a bit of a glutton for punishment haha. It’s not just you RE WP editor. It still really bugs me. The WP app on the Iphone is so glitchy. Doesn’t save, if I add a picture I have to refresh, comments don’t show and blogs don’t show. Grrrrrrrrrr!!! At least you are not alone mate. Us noobs will struggle together and unite and one day… ONE DAY WE WILL RISE UP WITH OUR FISTS AND PITCH FORKS IN THE AIR AND SCREAM LIBERTE EN FRANCE!!!!! Sorry I got a bit carried away there but you know what I mean. Can’t wait to see the diorama mate.
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At least you have age on your side. I fear time will run out before I master the bugger.
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You’ve got at least another 30 – 35 years mate 😉
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Love the rankings almost as much as the mini. The jeans and face are done your normal spectacularly great fashion. As for the WP editor update, it’s been ok. Not entirely unpleasant but not a lot of fun. I use a PC to compose and to post but peruse with either the PC, an iPhone or an iPad. Change is never my fave, neither now nor 40 or 50 years ago. So I feel your pain!
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I’ll get used to the new editor eventually Mark. At the moment it’s just bugging me as it seems like a backward step rather than a forward one.
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