TIM’s Miniatures & Musings (No: 85)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Musings

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

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This weeks miniature is the second one I have done from the Knuckleduster Bad Guys Faction which goes by the rather odd name of “Blue Duck”.  Of the six figures in the faction this one is probably my least favourite.

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Well It Made Me Laugh

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Hold Tight!

Some habits are hard to break and gripping figures to tightly when I am painting them is something I am finding impossible not to do.  Unfortunately it is now becoming a physical problem in my left hand.  For a while now I have started to find if I paint for too long my hand cramps badly and I can’t continue.

Unable to break the habit, something I have been trying to do for some time now, I have started to set the alarm on my phone to remind me to take a break after a certain amount of time.  So far, so good but the up shot is I have found myself painting less.  In itself that’s not a problem, in fact longer term it will help me with my ever growing storage issue.  The concern I do have is more with the blog.

Whether or not I can produce a figure for Wednesday’s and Saturday’s might become an issue.  I will continue as I am but if I have a bad week, and if things continue then I can see that happening from time to time, I might have to substitute a newly painted Miniature & Musings figure for one done some time ago adopting my Memory Monday concept.

Time will tell.

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Give Me Five

This week I thought I would consider my top 5 male film characters excluding Science Fiction and Fantasy as I will deal with the likes of them another time.  In no particular order I came up with the following:

  1. James Bond  – Various Actors but Daniel Craig is the best for me
  2. Vito Carleone – Marlon Brando, The Godfather
  3. Indiana Jones – Harrison Ford
  4. Hannibal Lecter – Anthony Hopkins, Silence of the Lambs
  5. Harry Callahan – Clint Eastwood and the Dirty Harry series

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This week TIM has been listening to …

“One Step Beyond” by Madness.  I do like Madness, they’ve produced some fun music and this particular track is one of my favourites.

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This week TIM has been watching …

“Planes, Trains and Automobiles” starring Steve Martin and John Candy.  John Hughes directed some great films and this one was one of the best.  Certain scenes still makes me cringe.

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Remember …

Practice your sarcasm because torturing people in your basement is frowned upon.

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TIM

39 thoughts on “TIM’s Miniatures & Musings (No: 85)”

    1. Thanks for the thought mate. I’ve got several handles which I’ve acquired over the years and all work a real treat. I think the problem is sitting and painting for to long and that I have this natural tendency to grip things very tightly. I can relax my hand but after a few minutes I’m back to where I was. Try as I might I cannot kick that habit. Get through the winter and lockdown and I’ll be painting much less I reckon and hopefully it will improve. The ageing process doesn’t help and I know my dad and his brother have had similar problems over the years so there is probably a genetic issue a play as well. It wont stop me painting hopefully but it will slow me down a bit. Then there’s the eyesight and the bad back and ….. 🤣🤣

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      1. Ah, gotcha. I have an issue where my right shoulder creeps up while painting – I end up like a wonky Quasimodo. I find weight training helps straighten things out for me, but no idea if that’ll help a crampy wanking spanner!!

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  2. Great work on the model TIM, the muted tones work really well.
    Top 5 characters
    1 John Wick played by Keanu Reeves
    2 Riggs played by Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon
    3 Murtaugh played by Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, as each character individually wouldn’t have been as good.
    4 Bond, probably Roger Moore or Sean Connery
    5 The Equaliser played by Denzel Washington
    For the hand problem, I had a similar problem when I was driving a lot, and used to wiggle my fingers to release the locked in shape of my hand every 15-20 minutes, found this helped

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  4. I hear you on the hand, for me it tends to be my lower back, no matter what work surface height I’ve tried – we all have our quirks and getting older doesn’t seem to help!

    Love the chuckle segment, it really did make me chuckle! The wife too 😉

    Ah, Madness, now that brings back fond memories!

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    2. You’re spot on Roger, I think being locked in one position for too long definitely plays a part. Age as you say. Have started setting the timer on my phone so I take regular breaks and stretch my hand out. If that doesn’t work I’ll ask the vet to put me down!

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  6. Nice work on Blue Duck there – I can see why he might not be your favourite miniature but you can’t fault him for conveying character. I sympathise re the hands, for me it’s my back that starts to bother me. No matter how much I try to raise the painting surface up I still end up sitting hunched. It’s my own fault of course for not bothering to stop growing when I reached a sensible height. Mind you I find I can’t sit and paint for hours on end anyway, even when time allows it. Instead I tend to paint in short bursts, half an hour here, half an hour there. It helps stop aches and pains creeping up on me but it does mean I tend to end up with lots of half-painted models as I start something then put it aside, only to pick up something else when I return to the desk.

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    1. Back pain isn’t fun and I guess one way or another we all pay some physical price for our hobby indulgence at some point in our lives. The winter months unsurprisingly are worse for me given the weather and more hobby time. The problem this last year has been lockdown, it’s essentially been one long winter with months still to go. Hopefully the vaccine light at the end of the tunnel will put an end to that and then I can mix my days up a bit and resolve part of the problem that way. 😊

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  7. Nice miniature Dave, I have eventually relented and bought a painting handle as I was tending to grip things too tightly. As for Male actors. Tom Hanks in Forest Gump, have to agree with Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones, Stanley Baxter in Zulu, Bruno Ganz as Hitler in Downfall, Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns

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    1. I did find a painting handle made a big difference for me. It spread the load through my hand and not just my fingers. The problem now is painting to long in a fixed position but time outs and using the timer on my phone to remind me is helping in that regard. Can’t fault those character choices. 😊

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  8. You did a great job painting Blue Duck and I would say the pose is a good example of unclear storytelling by the sculptor. What exactly is his body language telling us? What story can we discern from the pose? Its unfortunately a bit unclear.

    Sorry to hear about the hand cramps, mate. That sounds like a real pain (no pun intended) and I hope you find a good solution to it soon. Taking breaks sounds like a good way to combat it for me. I was going to to suggest a painting handle but it sounds like you’re well covered there.

    I saw Planes, Trains, and Automobiles when I was young and enjoyed it. I’ll have to give it a re-watch one of these days as they don’t make comedies like that much anymore!

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    1. Yes its not the best figure and I think you are right on the storytelling angle. As for the hand cramps, I think breaks has proven to be the best solution so far. Pre lockdown it was far less of an issue but after almost a year of going nowhere and having an abundance of hobby time I think it has taken its toll. Hopefully breaks and a routine on a par with pre lockdown will resolve the problem. 🤞😊

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  9. Haha LOVE Madness!!!! I’m gonna put them on in the truck today now. I’m guessing you’re like me and just hold the figure in your fingers. I see a lot of people using corks to stick the mini on as the cork is easier to hold. You can also get proper grip holder things from Games Workshop and other places I’m sure. Or you could just drink a cup of concrete and harden the fuck up mate haha. Just jokes!!!!! My fingers ache too but I have yet to buy any kind of holder choosing, instead to fight through the pain haha. Crazy! Top five: 1. Leon – Jean Reno (The professional) 2. John McLain – Bruce Willis (Die Hard). 3. Arthur Bishop – Jason Statham (The Mechanic). 4. Major Reisman – Lee Marvin (Dirty Dozen). 5. Jack Ryan – Harrison Ford (Patriot Games)

    I like Blue Duck, especially his hat, but his stance looks a bit awkward though.

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    1. I used to hold the figures in my fingers but moved to using various handles several years ago when the problem first flared up, now it’s doing it again. Could be the result of a misspent youth but think it has more to do with a fixed position. Taking steps to sort it though but it will just slow me down is all. It’s not the pain but my had just cramps up and my fingers can’t move!
      Nice list of actors there sunshine. As for Blue Duck, a poor figure I think.

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      1. Just try to keep them moving mate. With my work my neck gets quite stiff so it’s the same thing. There’s a lot to be said about stretching and flexing. When I’m there why don’t we put on the leg warmers and leotard and do some aerobics! Let’s get physical… physical!!! Hehe. Seriously though, stretch and flex mate.

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      2. Stretch and flex is definitely the way to go, I remember by Doctor saying as much some years ago that it was the secret to growing older. To be fair I do put my beer out of reach and up high so I have to stretch but am not sure that’s enough. Perhaps I need to wear the leg warmers and leotard too though! 😉

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  10. I like the knife on Blue Duck, and you painted him up nicely even if he’s not your fave.

    I feel like I should be able to make some actors, but I think my brain is winding down for the night. I’ve liked Kurt Russel in a lot of movies, Edward Norton used to be gold for awhile too. Steve Buscemi always cracked me up, except for Boardwalk Empire, where he wasn’t meant to be funny. Speaking of that show, there is an actor “Jack Huston”, who was in that show and some other stuff we’ve watched…but he’s so damn good at burying himself in his role, that he’s easy to miss. Those kind of actors always impress me even more than the big ones.

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      1. You might want to give Boardwalk Empire a try, it’s a American Gangster/prohibition era series. Starts off a bit slow, but I found it pretty interesting since it revolves around the point in history when organized crime got its roots over here. Kurt Russel isn’t in it, but it’s got some solid actors! 😉

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  11. Very nicely painted, as usual. As for the hand problems, I find the stretching to be very helpful. In addition to the stretches in the article, I find opening the hands and spreading the fingers as widely as possible and holding that for about 3-5 seconds, relaxing and doing it again helps.

    https://therapylounge.ca/stretch-blog/summer-stretch-get-grip-summer

    Some great actors listed so far. Five, whose work I enjoy, of the many I could list (in no particular order):
    1. George C. Scott
    2. Gregory Peck
    3. Kirk Douglas
    4. Charlton Heston
    5. Ernest Borgnine.

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      1. I think the hammer is optional, though I’m not 100% sure about that. Still, the others ones might be useful. I have to do a lot of stretching for my hands as well.

        There are so many great actors out there. Another of my favorites is Karl Malden. We just re-watched “Bombers B-52” (1957) and I thought he was excellent in that, as were many of the supporting cast.

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  12. I might be in the minority but I did like the mini. Reminded me of my Texican Space Rangers. Sorry to hear about the hand, and the back, etc. you might want to see a hand specialist or a neurologist as you might have a hand dystonia https://dystonia-foundation.org/what-is-dystonia/types-dystonia/hand-dystonia/. The good news is there are ways to deal with them that (if it is your problem) that could make you more comfortable. I used to deal with movement disorders docs so I know a bit about them. As far as back stuff, I get it. I don’t remember if I told you, but I do not sit while painting, I stand, and that helps. Best of luck hobby brother!

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    1. Thanks Mark. For now I can work around the problem and am seeing some signs of improvement. All being well we might start to see some lockdown easing in the next couple of months and then if I need to I might get a chance to see a doctor. Lockdown itself has been part of the problem, what routine I used to have simply no longer exists.

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  13. Hey mate Ann’s on the money for your physical complaint as I also suffered from pains in my hands when I stated painting my little fellows, just holding them was causing me trouble so i mounted them on soft drink bottle tops but still I had problems.A trip to the Doc and strangely enough it was put down to tennis elbow, weird as I don’t play sport ! Anyway I got hold of some exercises similar to the ones Ann showed and I haven’t had the problem since.

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