This Posts Mini is …
… again from the Footsore Baron’s War range but he is a Gamekeeper and not a Knight. I’m sure he has a roll to play in the actual war game but he doesn’t really have one as such in my army. He’s a nice looking character though and one I enjoyed painting.
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Knights Gone By
As regular followers will know Knights have featured quite a lot in what I have been painting for quite a while. Prior to that I spent a fair bit of time painting Knuckleduster cowboys. The interest in both genres originated when I was a kid back in the 60’s. A company called Brittains produced a range of plastic multi part figures called Swoppets and an example of a Mounted Knight and Cowboy appear below.
By today’s standards they look very dated but in there day they were revolutionary and, as is the case if you look to buy them on Ebay now, the Knights were more expensive to buy than the Cowboys. The difference in price given how precious pocket money was back in those days meant that Cowboys rather than Knights were collected and played with. Nevertheless I’ve always loved the medieval genre and its colours and pageantry and still do. As a consequence I didn’t need much encouragement to buy, paint and build my Baron’s War army.
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Model Club
In my last post I mentioned that I found my first visit in months to my model club a boring one. A couple of you were interested in knowing why so I thought I would elaborate. Before I do though I feel I should point a couple of things out. Firstly, all the chaps at the club are decent guys so anything I’m about to say is not meant to be rude or personal. Secondly, modelling is a hobby and like all such interests there are no real rights or wrongs. Quite simply people should do what floats their boat and carry on enjoying what they do. However, that doesn’t mean I have to enjoy or be a part of what it is they, or anyone else for that matter, does.
So what is my issue? Well just about everyone at the club except me is very into World War 2 to the point where that’s pretty much the only historic period they have any interest in. Further, when it comes to modelling, they build tanks or planes and nothing else. And when I say tanks and planes I mean tanks and planes. No figures, no basing, no Vignettes, no scenery and no dioramas. Just tank after tank and plane after plane. More to the point they do not appear to have any desire or interest in doing basing, scenery, Vignettes or dioramas either.
Like I said, each to their own and it would be remiss of me to not point out that they build these kits superbly. Their attention to detail is amazing and what they don’t know historically about the original tank or plane isn’t worth knowing. But, and for me it’s a big but, they simply don’t appear to “get” anything else. Other genres don’t seem to exist. Let me give you an example. Last year at Telford I won gold for a 28mm Mounted Knight. It was a national winner but at the monthly club competion night it came fifth behind, yes you guessed it, some tanks and planes. My point here is not my ego but that they have no idea what they are looking at or the applicable skill level involved unless they are looking at a tank or a plane.
As I said before, it’s each to their own. If I think of the art world there are those who specialise in portraiture or landscapes so why are modellers who specialise in tanks and planes any different? Quite simply they are not. The problem is not so much with the individual but more the fact that there is a lack of diversity within the group and to be fair that’s not the clubs fault. If I compare them to you, my fellow blog buddies, it’s clear that many of us as individuals have our niche interests within an overall niche hobby. The difference is that as a group we all offer something different and not simply more of the same.
Maybe the model club will in time attract new members whose interest in the hobby are more varied. Variety as they say is the spice of life but alas there is not enough at the club for now. I’d hoped after my absence that things may have changed but sadly they had not, hence my previous post reference to finding it boring.
I’m grateful to the club in many ways, if not for the club I wouldn’t have known about Telford or other shows, but when it comes to my niche interest within the hobby I have much more in common with those on the blog than those at the club.
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Well It Made Me Laugh …
And Finally …
Have you ever wondered why no one is ever the right amount of whelmed?
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Until next time.
TIM
The Imperfect Modeller 
The Gamekeeper looks excellent Dave, and would easily look at home in a crossbow unit, if you had one, but as a stand alone figure it is exceptional.
I understand what you say about the club, if they only like tanks and planes, and can’t appreciate something different, it limits conversation. We are all different and many of us have very different tastes in models, and armies, whether historical, or fantasy, and it’s about being able to appreciate the time and effort that a person has put into there hobby, even if it’s not something that you would normally be interested in. As you say variety is the spice of life, so enjoy it’s richness.
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Thanks Dave, glad you like the Gamekeeper. As to the club I think you have hit the nail on the head. As I said, each to their own. Telford offers an incredible level of variety but unfortunately the club is not a microcosm of that. One day though, one day! 🙂
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I like the Gamekeeper. Even though he’s not as ragged as some, he has a look that he’s been through it and back. As for hobby stuff, you are not alone! I’m lucky that I dabble in a few different areas, but sometimes I wish there were more people doing Frostgrave/D&D minis (or whatever my current fancy is!). I also have one close friend in real life who does miniatures, but guess what…he builds tanks and planes! Haha! It’s hard for him and I to be on the same page or understand exactly how hard a thing was to make. But I like that I can pick some stuff up from him that I probably would have never learned if I had another friend who painted minis just like I do.
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Glad you like the mini. You’re spot about being on the same page with other people, it certainly helps. My bug bear is that I’m some how expected to show an interest in what they do but I don’t feel it is reciprocated. Still it is what it is and maybe one day it will evolve and change. 🤞
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Yea, sounds like they need some new blood. Which might be something they are not even interested in though. Some people do get really set in their ways, especially as they get older. But hopefully it works out or maybe it leads you to an even better group.
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Hopefully. 🤞
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The gamekeeper is great. Your figs continue to impress me… I like painting but don’t get to that level.
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Thank you but your own work is of a high standard so don’t be too hard on yourself. 🙂
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Lovely work on that figure.
Sad to hear that there is a lack of variety at the club- glad that blogging keeps you sane.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Haha, I’m not sure the blog keeps me sane Pete but it’s certainly more fun. 🙂
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Lovely gamekeeper mate👍
Sorry to hear your club is so boring – is there anything else in the area?
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Sadly not Alex. It’s 40 minutes to this club and more than an hour to the next nearest. Maybe the answer is to try to create my own! 🤔
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Thanks for the laugh Dave, are you not whelmed with your 21 year old Kim?
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Haha, I should be so lucky and if I were I’d definitely be overwhelmed! 😉
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Haha we covered “whelmed” on the podcast once.
I think the points you made about the model club are fair mate. I could see why you’d find it boring or feel like a bit of an outcast. Maybe you need to find a diorama club or something. Have a look around. That’s one of the main reasons I love the blog. It’s a club without being a club. I get to interact with likeminded but also very different people with slightly different interests or approaches to the beloved hobby. Plus I don’t have to go traipsing around, I can sit in my hobby cabin or in my armchair with a cuppa haha
Love the mini mate. He’s got a lot of character and I like that he is fully armed.
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Unfortunately IRO there are no other clubs near by but I share your view on the blog which is a big reason for continuing with it. One day the club may move forward with new members but whether I’m there to see that remains to be seen. Glad you like the mini. 🙂
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Speaking as a dinosaur, I think tanks and planes are spot on! But so’s that gamekeeper! 🙂 And that Kim (and I’m still trying to identify the motorbike in one of your previous pictures by the way)! And creme eggs! Hang on, I’m going off track again!
That is nice painting though, Dave, one of my favourites, even though it’s not a tank or a plane!
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Haha, you’ll find the motorbike one day! It’s not so much the planes and tanks John but that the lack of other interest and willingness to expand. You do great tanks but you make boats and buildings and aren’t stuck in an era between 1939 and 1945. You also do figures of various historical periods. This makes you a modeller and painter and not just an assembler in my book. 🙂
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. . . and don’t tell anyone, but I now do orks! Well, OK an ork!
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Echoing what others have said before, I really like the GameKeeper. He’s grizzled and seen some action but looks trustworthy enough 🙂
As far as the club goes, that is a real bummer. You and I think a lot alike because I was nodding my head the whole time I read about it and I’m going to say something that hopefully doesn’t ruffle feathers of the WWII fans out there (John, look away!). I appreciate its significance and I understand why people like WWII but for modeling specifically, I think it is overrated and boring. The vehicles, soldiers, and planes have been done to death in the modeling community and I think it would hard to do anything especially original with WWII.
On top of that, what in the world are these gents doing just making the model and no scenery!? That is often the best part of the WWII pieces I see and it would absolutely turn me off as well. Its like they’re only doing 1/2 or maybe 1/4 of what the hobby has to offer! I’ll stop ranting here and say that I would feel the exact same way as you and hopefully I didn’t lose any followers in my passionate defense 😀
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You’re echoing my thoughts exactly. I’m not anti WW2, it’s a fascinating period on so many levels but there are hundreds of years of history out there as well as an imaginative future to delve into. All in all in I don’t get it but as I said it’s each to their own and as long as they are happy that’s how it should be. Would drive me nuts though!
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Great work on the gamekeeper – little characters and hangers on like that really add to the feel of an army and make it feel alive. Shame your local club are so set in their ways, variety is the spice of life and all that, and seeing people tackling a variety of different subjects is a great source of inspiration. Even if the focus is on something I personally enjoy seeing it become the centre of attention to the exclusion of all else can put off even an enthusiast. I once went with a mate who was planning to join a miniatures gaming group – except it turned out they didn’t do fantasy, or sci-fi, or historical, or in fact anything at all that wasn’t Blood Bowl – and that was how they planned to stay until the end of time. Now I actually enjoy a bit of Blood Bowl but there’s more to life than that. Needless to say we didn’t go back. Maybe take Kim along next time you visit the club – that’s shake things up!
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Yes as a hanger on I guess he does work doesn’t he. It’s a shame about the club but it is what it is and unless there is a change in the membership things won’t improve. The problem is that the WW2 format of the club attracts like minded people as those who think like me don’t stay. Personally I think Kim could turn the club on it’s head but to be honest I don’t think I’m committed to sharing her! 😉
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Lovely figure, though he needs to be more careful with his arrows or he’ll have his other eye out! 🤣
I totally get what you mean about you club experience, if they aren’t doing or interested in what you are doing then what’s the point, this is a big hobby with lots of “little” hobbies all under the one big umbrella. Luckily since the internet came along you can cast your net a bit wider and catch others with a similar interest.
Ah the old Britains figures, that brings back some memories!
Great joke too by the way. 🤣🤣🤣
Cheers Roger.
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Haha, his mum warned him he’d have someone’s eye out but he didn’t listen and certainly didn’t think it would be his own! As for the club I get more out of the blog to be honest that’s for sure. Glad you like Kim, she’s quite a girl! 😉
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That is a really nice model, on how he might fit with the rest of your army did they use people like game keepers to help guide forces through woodland areas?
Regarding the club I often think finding the people that fit best with how you want to do your hobby is very hard, and geography makes it even harder, so I don’t think there is anything wrong with realizing that you and there interests just don’t overlap enough.
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That’s a good question. It would make sense if they did I reckon. As for the club you make a good point. I guess at the end of the day it’s a niche hobby with further niche interests within it. I think that maybe that’s why the blog works better as the geography issue doesn’t really exist. 🤔
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I agree with you on the blog front the worldwide nature helps. Also the fact that it’s easier to ignore a bits of people’s hobbies you not interested in but still have positive interaction with them, e.g. you can read indepth and comment on someone’s painting or modeling posts, but simply skimp past there discussion on a rule interaction in a particular game they play, its not rude like walking off from them if you where at a club trying to talk to you about it. Blogs sort of make it easier to get to the bits of people’s hobbies you care about.
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Couldn’t agree more. 🙂
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I do like the gamekeeper figure and the work that you did on him was excellent as usual. The joke definitely made me chuckle too.
As for the club discussion, and the comments that followed here, I found them intriguing. I have found analogous conditions among games. Some folks only play one gaming genre or game type and won’t try another. I have found that to be rare to nonexistent with regards to the majority of gamers that I play with thankfully. But I have seen it more with gaming clubs that are based in hobby stores. While they do see multiple types of games, they are rarely anything other than what the store is trying to move, which I get as there is a business aspect here. But the upshot is that the games are very GW focused or Warlord or commercial. So varied, yes, but similar to what you described with regards to just WWII, I find that most of those games are very different than traditional tabletop wargame. There’s not as much creativity- outside of some basic terrain and figures. I’d rather play a game – any period or genre – that involves a lot of depth, and most club games just don’t do it for me, so I’m more into convention style games which can be anything. So I’ve not been back to a club (not my club but a nearby one) that was not focused on good games. You saw the 007 type on Zoom, and my tank and Aztec games, but I play lots of games as long as they are not cookie cutter stuff. I just came from Fall In convention – and will post about it shortly – and it was a mountain of creativity in thousands of directions. So, in short, I get your point Dave! Not personally dinging those who prefer different stuff. I just need the creative aspect that makes me say wow.
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I think creativity and variety are the key for me Mark. As with any hobby or personal interest people should do what they want to do and I am respectful of that. The fact that I find that boring and dull is neither here nor there really. If you are the one out of step, as in my case, then it’s either time to accept and fall in or move on. After Telford this coming weekend I expect I’ll move on. All things come to an end at some point.
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Apologies mate! way behind as life hasn’t been dull in the last month of 2022! Fi wrote of one of my cars!! So lucky no one was injured which is the main thing, but as it was the farm work horse as well as her mode of transport it has made things a bit difficult.
Them the younger one split from her fellow after two years, very complicated and emotional as you can imagine and then I find out I have to have an operation on both my eyes!!
Well enough winging and making excuses, I will endeavor to catch this year,I recon I have said that before! Nice work on the figure and as for Kim she’s OK but not quite as attractive as my good friend Kim Kad~~~~ ! Ha Ha !
Back in the city sometime ago I looked at joining a club but after I saw that they were all doing what your mob do I gave up that idea,like Kuribo said, its OK but done to death and if you cant come up with a decent little bit of scenery its a poor show, I could go on but I will save you from even more boredom than you club can give you , so cheers mate, chin up!!
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Sorry to hear about your car Pat but more importantly glad to read that Fi is doing OK. Sorry to hear about your young one too. Relationship breakups are rarely great experiences but I’m sure she’ll move on and things will work out for the better. 🤞 As for going to a model club I don’t blame you for giving it a miss. WW2 is a great period but there is so much more to do and have fun with. Had better go as Kim is calling! 😉
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