Another day another Knight! My penultimate Footsore Baron’s War knight in the set of figures with two handed weapons. They will bring out more in due course I’m sure but for now I’m nearly there with this part of the range.
This is another figure with made up heraldry, well as far as I know it is and with it a made up name taken from my family tree. Whilst the paint work might look fiddly, and to some extent it is given the 28mm scale of the figure, the reality is I’ve gotten reasonably used to painting what amounts to little more than straight lines. As for the colour scheme I thought I’d have another go with a blue and yellow combo as I really think they go well together.
This weeks miniature is another Footsore Baron’s War Foot Sergeant. The shield design goes by the name of “Party Per Chevron”. A neat and simple design but one I rather like. I manged to get the figure started last week and just about found the time to finish it these past couple of days. Little else to add but at least it is one more done and off of the lead pile.
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Well It Made Me Laugh
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Give Me Five
This weekend just gone we took my daughter off to Oxford for the start of her University experience. She was emotional, not so much for me or She Who Must Be Obeyed, although I’m sure she’ll miss us, but more for her boyfriend who’d previously left a couple of weeks ago to go to Bristol. The joys of young love! Which leads me nicely into this weeks choice, Teen Movies. I think this genre is one of my favourites, so many great films. If I’d known life would be as good as over when I’d reached my twenties I’d have put so much more effort into my teen years. In no particular order:
The Perks Of Being A Wall Flower (2012)
Some Kind Of Wonderful (1987)
Ferris BuellersDay Off (1986)
The Kissing Booth (2018)
The Edge Of Seventeen (2016)
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Hitting The Wall
I’ve enjoyed my journey thus far with regards to my Footsore Baron’s War project but I’m reaching the point where a brief hiatus is called for. I’ve a pile of other figures I want to paint, a wish to do some basic base work, a need to prepare for the IPMS Nationals and a growing desire to begin work on planning and building a couple of dioramas. Something has to give but I am determined to finish what I started so in the coming weeks expect to see a few figures interspersed with the odd Baron’s War figures for a while.
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IPMS Telford
I thought I’d give a heads up to anyone who might be considering going to Telford this year. The event takes place on the weekend of the 13th and 14th November but as a consequence of Covid some changes to the format have been announced already. I must stress these might be subject to change and up to date information will be on the IPMS website but as things currently stand admission is via advanced ticket sales only unless you are an IPMS Member. ALL attendees are required to provide evidence of double Covid vaccinations too. Feel free to contact me for further information but as I say the website is the go to place for full details.
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This week TIM has been listening to …
“Smoke On The Water” by Deep Purple. I thought I would take a dip into the past and have a blast!
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This week TIM has been watching …
“Let Him Go” starring Kevin Costner. I think it is fair to say that I have enjoyed most of Costner’s films. I hadn’t heard of this one though, probably because it came out it 2020 and passed under the radar due to Covid and lockdown perhaps. In any event it turned out to be a good watch and a little different too.
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Remember …
Pleasing everyone is impossible but pissing them all off is a piece of cake.
Time this week has been at a premium. As you read this I am on my way to Oxford with She Who Must Be Obeyed taking She Also Thinks She Should Be Obeyed to the start of her new life at University. As expected anxiety levels for us all have gone through the roof in the lead up to this dramatic change in our lives and as such modelling has had to very much take a back seat. I did however mange to just about get something together for this post and get another figure underway which hopefully I’ll get finished in time for next Wednesday. Time will tell of course.
What I managed to get done was another foot knight and one which I kept simple on every front. No deliberation on colour scheme, plain white was good enough. No fancy name given to the figure and therefore no proper title for this post either, although I did indulge in a bit of basic freehand for the shield. Not entirely sure where the idea of a castle turret came from but it works of a fashion and is different to anything else I have done.
Next on the agenda is my dad’s 95th birthday next week which will further restrict what I can get done but hopefully, fingers crossed, things might settle down a little after that. Then I really need to take stock of where I am and where I’m heading as right now I haven’t got a clue!
This weeks miniature isn’t. Well it is but it’s actually four figures with an added bonus. This week I managed to churn out four Footsore Baron’s War Levy’s and, as well as taking a couple of photo’s of each, I also managed a group shot of the four of them. In fairness these figures were, in contrast to just about everything else I’ve done to date on this project, quick and easy.
So what of the added bonus? Well, not quite what I had intended but conscious of the fact that I needed to do something, I took a group shot of the seven mounted knights I have completed and another one of the foot knights and sergeants too. I’ve still to work out any form of base that works for me and of course I haven’t included a photo yet of the spearmen, archers, crossbowmen and levy’s. Hopefully this is something I will eventually put right but for now it provides an indication of the progress I have made to date on part of the project.
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Well It Made Me Laugh
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Give Me Five
I never appreciated just how big the “Biopic” film category was. As far as genre’s go this one is one of my favorites, I do like a good true story (even a Hollywood interpreted one). This time around I’ve placed no parameters on the genre but as and when I revisit it I will look to break the category down. In the meanwhile five films, in no particular order, which I have watched more than once and will doubtless watch again.
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Schindler’s List (1993)
The Social Network (2010)
Philomena (2013)
Into the Wild (2007)
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This week TIM has been listening to …
“Fake I.D.” by Big and Rich Featuring Gretchen Wilson. I have to say I enjoyed the Footloose remake and this particular track, not least of all because it featured Julianne Hough, a very hot young lady who is on my hit list of potential wife replacements.
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This week TIM has been watching …
“The Green Book” starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali, neither of whom I’d ever heard of before. The film won Best Picture at the 2018 Oscars although I confess to knowing little if anything about it until I watched it. Turned out to be a good film and one which was based on a true story. Well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it already I’d say.
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Remember …
To err is human but to blame it on someone else shows management potential.
When I first set out on my Footsore Baron’s War army project I worked out the ratio of foot figures to mounted figures with the intention of working to it so that all the figures would be completed roughly at the same time. Doing a quick count up the other day it was clear that I had advanced far more with the foot figures than I had with the mounted knights.
There are many reasons, excuses if you prefer, as to why this has happened but time has been by far the biggest. On occasions time has been limited and I have preferred to pick up and paint to completion a foot figure in preferance to starting a mounted figure which will require work over several days. That said I needed to address the balance as and when and with a bit more time available just recently I have tried to focus on the mounted knights.
I rather like the yellow and blue colour combination and elected to use it once again. I’ve yet to discover a real knight that used this combination with a white cross, not that I have researched that hard but the colour combination and the blazon, in this case the cross, do appear from what I can determine to be authentic heraldry. In need of a name I once again delved into my family tree (so glad I thought to do this) and elected to go with my maternal Great Great Grandfather Frederick Joselyne.
The paint job on this one was pretty straightforward as were the freehand crosses as I’ve had a lot of practice on these and done quite a few now. The only real challange was getting all the crosses to be roughly the same size.
This weeks miniature is actually another double billing of two Footsore Baron’s War foot knights. Although I’m still enjoying the project and have every intention of seeing it through to completion I am nonetheless keen to start on something new. I don’t want to rush things but at the same time I am keen to try to pick up the pace whenever I can. This week was a good one and getting a couple of figures done was a nice little bonus.
Little to say about either figure other than I tried to make the crosses painted on each of the two figures a little different from what I have generally done in the past.
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Well It Made Me Laugh
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Give Me Five
Horror movies are probably my least favorite genre unless you include zombie films like Shaun of the Dead which some online lists do (so I have done so as well!). However, IRO asked if I’d done this category yet and as I hadn’t and in order to keep him quite now that he has done his shed I thought I would address the issue. My top five are probably very tame so I will let others like IRO enlighten us. In no particular order.
The Exorcist (1973)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Zombieland (2009)
The Omen (1976)
Dracula (1958 – Hammer Horror)
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Footsore Miniatures
Having been pleasantly surprised to be highlighted by Mark Farr in his Footsore News Letter I was taken aback to see that I got another mention in his next one! I confess to being properly chuffed.
“Continuing with the Barons’ War we have this lovely pair from David Green. A very nice Richard I is paired with a Foot Knight that has a rather spiffy shield. Which looks like freehand heraldry! Well done David, these are great”
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This week TIM has been listening to …
“Rockstar” by Nickleback. I like this track and the video in equal measure. It’s hard to argue with the lyrics and it’s easy to understand the desire to become a Rockstar too. That said I tend to receive such perks and adulation just by being a modeller. Miniature painting is, as we all know, so rock and roll.
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This week TIM has been watching …
“Run Hide Fight” starring Isabel May and a couple of other actors I’d never heard of. A topical film for America, which is to say it’s about an every day school shooting. I guess the subject was always going to make it to a film at some point. The film got off to a good start but I did think the ending was a little flawed.
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Remember …
The “Dyson Ball Cleaner” is a very misleading product name.
Back in June (where did the summer go?) I painted up this Footsore Baron’s War figure with a bit of freehand painting on the shield to depict a knight by the name of Sir John De Belloows. At the time I did it I thought I’d quite like to have another bash at the heraldry at some point and over the last week I finally got around to doing so.
I decided this time that I would have a go at applying the heraldry to a mounted knight. I also chose to go with a different colour scheme, yellow instead of white, and a slightly different design. As you can see there isn’t much to choose between them other than the head really. Having done three paint jobs of the Eagle(?) – two at the back of the horse and one on the shield – I couldn’t be asked to do two at the front of the horse so I went for crosses instead. Lazy I know.
I really have no idea if there is a real knight with anything close to this heraldry, if there is then it is purely coincidence on my part. Accordingly the knight was in need of a name so once again I returned to my family tree for inspiration and thus settled on the name of my great grandfather, James Kimber.
This weeks miniature is another Foot Sergeant from the Baron’s War range and alI I had time to get done this week. The shield design is known as a “Party Per Pal” and is a first for me. I rather like the three colour mix so may well do this design again at some point but with different colours.
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Well It Made Me Laugh
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WordPress Stats
On a monthly basis I check my stats with particular attention to the countries which have viewed my blog. As I’ve mentioned before I get a buzz seeing where my blog has been viewed even if it is only one view and the likely result of an accident. On the positive side I’m pleased to report Estonia, a lovely country I visited briefly a few years ago, has now been added to my list. On the negative side I noticed that my other stats have seen a steady decline.
I’m not entirely sure why my figures have fallen as there could of course be numerous reasons. Blog content could be one of course but the slow downward trend has been over many months and coincides with the ending of lockdown in the UK. There is no doubt that my stats peaked during lockdown and now it very much looks like they are returning to normal.
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IPMS Scale Model World Telford
IPMS announced a while ago that they would make a decision on whether or not the Telford show would go ahead at the end of August. They have been true to their word and I was delighted to learn that the show is confirmed to go ahead in November. More details will be released in due course and doubtless there will be some inevitable changes due to Covid. The wearing of masks and the need to produce a Covid passport to gain entry are likely I would imagine and it remains to be seen just how many overseas visitors, traders and exhibitors attend. For now though all I can do is keep my fingers crossed and hope things don’t get worse than they are and the show can go on. 🤞
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Give Me Five
This week I thought I’d take a look at disaster movies. To some extent this is a very wide genre so I chose to restrict it to films which were either based on real events or had a “realistic” feel to them rather than, say, being Science Fiction based. In no particular order I came up with the following five.
Apollo 13 (1995)
Titanic (1997)
The Towering Inferno (1974)
The Perfect Storm (2000)
Twister (1996)
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This week TIM has been listening to …
“Too Late for Goodbyes” by Julian Lennon. I have just finished reading “John”, a book written by Cynthia Lennon, his first wife, which my brother passed on to my mum who in turn passed it to me. An excellent read and quite an insight to the legend which is John Lennon and the early days of the Beatles. His son Julian had a pretty tough time and knowing he later produced a couple of albums of his own I checked out a few tracks on YouTube. Years since I had heard this and I’d forgotten just how much he looked like his dad. Spooky.
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This week TIM has been watching …
“Erin Brockervich” starring Julia Roberts. This film came out in 2000 and completely passed me by. It popped up on a list of must see films so I thought I’d give it a watch, especially as it is based on a true story. All in all an excellent film and glad I sat down to see it.
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Remember …
The phrase “Don’t take this the wrong way” has a zero percent success rate.
Another week, another Footsore Baron’s War knight and another opportunity for some freehand painting. This weeks offering is Richard The Lionheart, King of England. The figure comes as a twin pack, the other figure being mounted and in a slightly different pose with his helmet on. I think I might start on the mounted version sooner rather than later but look at doing the freehand heraldry a bit different.
For some reason I couldn’t get the shield to photograph as well as I’d like. Not enough of a photographer to understand why but the end result is reflective light so the three lions do not show up as well as they look in the flesh. My best guess is that it is down to the metallic paint. Gold was appropriate to use but maybe a yellow would have photographed better? It is what it is.
This weeks miniature is another 28mm Footsore Baron’s War foot knight.
I found a image online of a couple of snakes entwined around a flame and thought it would look quite cool on a shield so I thought I’d give it a go. Not sure it scores points for authenticity but it was fun to try and do and didn’t come out looking to bad.
Having been originally determined to make my knights authentic I’ve started to move towards doing my own thing a bit more often. Does it matter? Nah! It’s All good fun and for a change I thought I’d paint some hoops on the tabard.
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Well It Made Me Laugh
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BBC Gaming Articles
By chance I came across an article on the BBC News Internet app which was interesting and led to a couple more articles which I checked out. All the links are very short but worth taking a look at. The first is about lockdown gaming and the therapy it provided. The second and third are short video’s. The second focuses on the revival of gaming and is set in Games Workshop HQ Nottingham and the third is about the creation of Games Workshop.
I do Iove a film which contains a surprise or an element of mystery. The downside of course is they are best first time around although that doesn’t mean they can’t be watched again. All in all there are a lot of films which are able to meet this criteria but my five short list, in no particular order, is as follows:
Gone Girl (2014)
The Girl on the Train (2016)
Prestige (2006)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Seven (1995)
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Footsore Miniatures
Mark Farr who runs Footsore Miniatures produces a weekly newsletter which is emailed to those who choose to subscribe, myself included. In each newsletter Mark includes a “Community Spotlight” highlighting the work produced by people who have caught his eye and one source for this is the Baron’s War Facebook group which I have begun to post weekly to.
Reading through the newsletter I was very pleasantly surprised to read the following written by Mark under the Community Spotlight section which also included a couple of photographs.
“I spotted this too late for last week’s newsletter so here it is this week. David Green has shared some pictures in the Barons’ War. The freehand on the shield is especially skilled, mine would look like roadkill”.
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This week TIM has been listening to …
“Morning Glory” by Oasis. I always considered the Gallaghers to be a right pair of nobs and to be honest nothing I’ve seen, read or heard about them has changed my mind. Quite how they came up with some great music and a couple of excellent albums I’ll never know. Just one of life’s mysteries I guess.
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This week TIM has been watching …
“Man Of Steel” starring Henry Cavill as Superman. On the positive side I guess it’s fair to say the special effects are OK but alas I don’t have much else to add. The story line was all over the place as far as I’m concerned and I found Henry Cavill unconvincing in the role. For me the 1978 film “Superman” starring Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman was a far better film and hit all the right notes for a comic book production.
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Remember …
Don’t believe everything you read in public toilets. It’s highly likely that Sharon isn’t up for a good time and that it will lead to an awkward phone call.
The Imperfect Modeller 