This weeks miniature is Knuckleduster’s take on Billy The Kid. With other genres likely to dominate my desk for a short while I thought I ought to finish this one off as I had only a little bit left on him to do.
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Well It Made Me Laugh …
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Interesting Site?
In last weeks Miniatures and Musings I mentioned that I would start a series where I would post links to sites I had discovered. In most instances I have rarely bought anything from these sites although ironically the two I am kicking off with I have!
First up is Zealot Miniatures. I discovered this fantasy/SiFi site when I started my Wizard Library project. I need some appropriate furniture such as bookcases and up popped this site. Unfortunately for me they were resin products but I had to compromise as I could find nothing better and these were exactly what I wanted. The company was efficient, the goods were well packaged and there was nothing wrong with any of the items I received.
Next we have Stoessis Heroes. Needing some WW2 figures for my model clubs annual display I came across this site based in Germany. The quality of the figures are excellent and the composition of them struck me as being different and more interesting. For these reasons I turned to this site when I constructed my large WW2 D-Day diorama Operation Overlord: The Road To Carentan. This site also provided a very efficent service.
Of course it depends what you are into but in my opinon both sites are worth taking a look at.
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This week TIM has been listening to …
“We Didn’t Start The Fire” by Billy Joel. Cleverly done video with relevant pictures. Seems to me Billy needs to add a few more verses to bring this up to date. Oh and for the record I didn’t light the fire either!
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This week TIM has been watching…
Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich – a four part documentary on Netflix. I can’t say I particulalry followed this story as it unravelled at the time but a friend recommended it so I gave it ago. An interesting account for sure and one for the conspiracy archives. Given the people he knew, presidents and royals, suicide seems unlikely to me but then again I do like a conspiracy.
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Remember…
Marriage is simply the process you go through to find out the what kind of woman you would have preferred.
28mm WW1 Mounted Figure – James Newton Langley 1876 to 1935
So who is James Newton Langley?
James was born in Brixton, London in 1876, enlisted in the Middlesex Regiment on the 7th June 1915 and died in 1935. He went through the war until he was demobbed in 1918. With his regiment he saw action at Ypres and the Somme as well as numerous other encounters. James was my Great Grandfather and below is one of a few pictures which were handed down to me.
When I was searching for WW1 figures I came across a 28mm mounted soldier by North Star Military Figures which got me quite excited. The figure itself was of an officer (James was a humble Private) but with a couple of minor alterations I felt I could produce something a little closer to the photo above.
The first change was to remove the upper part of the figures boots and turn them into gaiters. Next up was to add white braiding to the horse harness and to the figures left shoulder. Minor alterations which made a considerable difference but about as much as I could realistically achieve given the casting of the figure and my own ability.
The next thing I did was to take the photo and flip it so that the horse and rider were facing the other way.
Finally all that remained was to paint the figure and add it to a plain base. As a model this falls a long way short of being my best work. As a meaningful figure it sits top of the pile.
As those that regularly follow this blog will know in “Memory Monday No: 18” and “Memory Monday No: 19” I recently re-posted details of two 28mm 1st Corps mounted knights I had done a few years ago. Seeing these posts again made me want to revisit the genre so I did a little online searching and decided to buy some figures from Footsore Miniatures. The figures I settled on were from the Barons’ War range.
I have bought Footsore Miniatures figures before and found them to be excellent so it came as no surprise to find that these were too. After zero clean up I soon had them primed and ready for painting. Unusually for me I did no background work on these figures in terms of colour schemes, I just picked up a brush and started to get on with it. Two things were very clear though. Only the tunic and the shield, both of which were plain and with no embossing, offered an oportunity for any variation. I therefore decided to paint the tunics using two colours instead of one and to do them in quadrants. As for the shields I figured I would hand paint designs as I went along.
What you have here are the first five figures I have done. A few more will follow maybe next week. Some single shots along with a group shot appear below. My favourite thing was doing the Templar and Hospitaller scheme and free hand painting the crosses on the tunic. For now I will do all the figures I have in a random fashion but I think I will revisit them again and maybe do a little diorama of just Templar or Hospitaller knights.
This weeks miniature goes by the name “Turanil” and according to Reaper he is an Elf Paladin. It is a two piece model, the shield being separate. A lovely lot of detail to pick out made this one a pleasure to paint.
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Well It Made Me Laugh …
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Hobby Cost
I belong to what I suspect is a rare breed of people. Each month I reconcile my bank and credit card statements. I have been doing so ever since I started work. I didn’t earn a lot of money back then and the idea of running up debt, spending what I didn’t have, was a concern to me. These days some people do not seem to care about such things but each to their own.
So why mention this? Well only because I couldn’t believe how much I had spent on modelling bits and bobs in the last month. Self isolation has been the biggest driver of course but the money is there to pay for it so all in all it’s no big deal. I say it’s no big deal but She Who Must Be Obeyed would doubtless make it one if she knew. Which of course is another reason why I reconcile the statements. If I didn’t she would!
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Interesting Sites?
You may recall I recently posted a review on Dixon’s Miniatures, one of my favourite online stores. Now I am pretty sure I am not alone in having preferred suppliers but once upon a time they all began life as sites I simply found from surfing the net. Typically any site I think might be of interest, either now or at some point in the future, I bookmark as and when I find them. The reality is I have rarely, if ever, bought anything from most of these sites. That’s not to say they are no good, it’s more likely that I have forgotten them or what I found that interested me no longer does.
The thing is these sites don’t justify a review in their own right, not by me at least, but they may hold an interest for others and therefore could be worthy of sharing. Some of them you may already be familiar with, others you may not. In any event as I trawl through my bookmarks I have decided to share some of them with you through my weekly musings. I may start next week.
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This week TIM has been listening to …
“Angels” – A live version (after a brief intro) performed in front of an amazing Wembley crowd at a Taylor Swift concert at which Robbie made a surprise (I expect Taylor knew he was going to be there) guest appearance.
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This week TIM has been watching…
Ricky Gervais in “Extras” – Series 1 and 2.
It seems to me that you either love or hate Ricky Gervais, rather like Marmite (Vegemite). Personally I love him. For me he is the best in his business by a country mile. Whether we are talking sitcom’s, stand-up or award ceremonies this guy is the dogs bollocks as far as I am concerned. He says it the way it is and no subject is out of bounds. I do get why peolple don’t like him and why he divides opinion, She Who Must Be Obeyed for example can’t stand him (but what does she know?).
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Remember…
If your wife asks you to whisper dirty things in her ear it’s best not to use words like kitchen or bathroom!
I didn’t realise it at the time but completing this second WW1 model set me on the path of doing several more. I hadn’t anticipated getting so absorbed in the period but I was very glad in the end that I did. I’m no expert on the Great War by any means but I listened to a lot of documentaries (I watched Black Adder Goes Forth too!) at the time and found the whole thing incredible.
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28mm WW1 Diorama (No: 2)
This week saw my second mini WW1 Diorama completed and off the work bench. The good news is I now have two items for next years Plymouth show, the bad news (or I guess good news too as I enjoy my modelling) is that I’ve got about another 10 exhibits to do!
Not a great deal to say about this model. The figures were all purchased from Empress Miniatures (Mutton Chop WW1 range) and are some of the best figures in 28mm scale that I have seen. I’d recommend these figures to anyone else out there who is interested in WW1 they really are excellent. No adjustments were made to the figures, just the simple case of painting, composing and a bit of base work. The enamel badge, actually a remembrance lapel badge, was bought on Ebay for a couple of pounds to complete the base.
I did paint these figures slightly different from my other WW1 diorama. In both instances I put down base coats in Vallejo acrylics but on the first diorama I added a top coat in oils. On this model I applied a second coat of acrylic followed by an oil paint wash, the oil paint diluted using White Spirit. I’ve tried using water based washes but personally I’m not a big fan. It might be the way I use them but the water based washes run off too much for my liking whereas an oil paint wash is absorbed into the acrylic and in my opinion gives a better looking finish. Each to their own I guess. In any event I’ll leave those that look at this post to judge for themselves.
Yes I know you spell clown with a “C” but this is the title that Reaper have given to this 28mm miniature.
Of all the types of humour out there slap stick is my least favourite (that and over elaborate pranks which are so sophisticated that anyone would fall for them) and thus I have never really found anything about clowns particularly funny. In fact the complete opposite is true. As a kid I found them scarry. Clearly I was not alone in seeing a sinister side to them as numerous movies have chosen to play on this and portray clowns as creepy fuckers, one of the most recent being Stephen King’s “IT”.
Despite my dislike of clowns they are very colourful and offer a very nice painting challenge. It was with this in mind that I decided to buy and paint Bonzo. I think Reaper do another clown too and at some point I may well do that. If I can find others then who knows, there might be an opportunity for a creepy diorama to follow. I might not find clowns funny but this one was fun to do.
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Drum role.
Ring Master: “Ladies and gentlemen, the Circus of Horrors proudly presents Bonzo The Killer Klown”.
This weeks miniature is another Reaper figure which goes by the name of “Thorgram” and apparently he is a Dwarf Warlord. Ordinarily this would not be a figure I would chose to buy and paint and I wouldn’t have done this one but for the fact I got it for free. If you spend over £40.00 on the Reaper UK site you get to chose a free figure from the small selection they have every month. I wasn’t overly inspired by what they had on offer but decided to get this one to have a better idea of the sort of thing some of you guys get up to. As it turned out I rather enjoyed painting the little chap. I don’t know if there any colour rules for Dwarf Warlords or not but I settled on the scheme below.
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Well It Made Me Laugh …
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The Mysterious Case Of The Partly Lost Mojo
Over the years I have lost my mojo on many occasions. I’m not overly worried, it will come back, it always does. It’s just a matter of time. The thing is I have only lost part of it which does make the matter a little more unusual.
Right now I am happy painting figures and doing some very basic base work but for the moment I have lost all interest in dioramas of any size or description and I’m not entirely sure why. I’m not short of ideas, I even have the figures to get started on one or two but I just cannot seem to be arsed.
The best conclusion I can reach is that I am missing my model club, competitions and shows. For me all three provide a level of interaction and motivation which is important but has been lost to Coronavirus and the need for social distancing. As much as I am happy to sit at my desk in isolation and paint I do like a bit of modelling banter with fellow enthusiasts from which invariably comes ideas and inspiration too.
I’m confident the situation will resolve itself with or without a change in the Covid-19 circumstances but until it does you will probably see figures rather than vignettes and dioramas for the next few weeks or so.
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Coronavirus – Self Isolation Week 12
Day 78 – As I enter the twelfth week of isolation and reflect on the last eleven I am amazed that I continue to remain so positive, particulalry as this isn’t an attribute normally associated with me. I’m not entirely sure why this is but I suspect a part of it has to do with the fact that the whole thing still does not seem real. The death numbers tell a different story though and according to current numbers only Spain has a worst death rate per one million of population than we do in the UK.
Day 79 – As lockdown rules continue to be relaxed in the UK so it appears via my TV screen that some new form or reality has begun. Social interaction is back, albeit with social distancing, and before too long people will have put Covid-19 behind them. In a matter of weeks, perhaps even days it will have been forgotten by many. On a personal level the time is nearing to take personal stock of the situation and to assess how I want to try to live the remainder of my life. I see that as a good thing not a depressing one.
Day 80 – As each day goes by the more convinced I am that I could and would given half the chance be happy to live even more remotely than I do. A log cabin in the middle of nowhere would suit me down to the ground. Unfortunatley She Who Must Be Obeyed is far from keen on the idea and unlikley to come with me on such a venture. This could prove decisive in our 40 year relationship so in need of a contingency plan I have drafted the following advert for my local newspaper the Tavistock Times.
“Wanted, Jenna Coleman look a like (or the real one) to share wild nights in remote log cabin with ageing hunk. Must like modelling and know how to skin a beaver. No time wasters”
It needs a little refinement but otherwise I think I am there. My bigger concern is will Jenna get to see it?
Day 81 – Woke this morning having dreamt I was in a log cabin watching Jenna skin her beaver.
Day 82 – Given the time of day I walk the dog I rarely see anyone at all but unfortunatley today I had the misfortune to encounter local pain in the arse Mad Martin as he came running towards me from the opposite direction. As he ran passed he shouted out “Hi Dave” and I wittily replied with “Fuck off you wanker”. For a brief moment it felt good to abuse the moron but then I realised he hadn’t heard me as he had his head phones in. Bugger. Better luck next time.
Day 83 – My wife’s hayfever is dreadfull. Morning and night she sneezes constantly. To make matters worse the sneezes are capable of registering on the Richter Scale and no amount of medication makes a difference. If in the future there is ever the chance that the UK is invaded by an opposing military force and we have to hide and be quiet I hope to God it happens in the winter.
Day 84 – The last post. No, not the end of the blog but the end of my Covid-19 diary. At the outset the UK Government said those in the most vulnerable group would have to self isolate for 12 weeks. My aim therefore was to keep this “diary”, if I can really call it that, going for the duration. It is clear that my family’s isolation will continue for some while yet but many of you, most I hope, will be emerging from the gloom and darkness and will want to move on. You don’t need me to remind you of this period. I may continue with a summary update, especially if my continued confinement prevents me from having anything else to say, but otherwise the diary is dead for now …. unless there is a second phase!
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This week TIM has been listening to …
Rod Stewart. Now I do like a bit of Rodney, he is one of my favourites. A while back I am sure I featured “Maggie May” in a Musings so this time there was a need to go with a different track. The problem was I found two and couldn’t decide what to feature so this week you lucky (or not so lucky if you don’t like Rodders) have a double bill.
Now I love live music and therefore like live recordings. For me they sort the real muscians and singers from the studio enhanced ones. Both these tracks are live performances. The first is an acoustic version of “Mandolin Wind” with Ronnie Wood and the instrumentals on this track are awesome as far as I am concered. The second is a performance of “Hot Legs” by Joss Stone featuring Rod.
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This week TIM has been watching…
“The Stranger” and eight episode series on Netflix. My daughter, She Who Must Be Obeyed 2, suggested this one to me. It seems we share some things in common despite her teenage attempts to disown me by claiming she was adopted. Turned out to be quite watchable.
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Remember…
Drinking can cause memory lose … or even worse, memory loss.
It was July 2017 when I produced my first World War 1 diorama and it was Memory Monday No:13 a few weeks ago when I reposted it.
It took me until October 2017 to begin work on this my second diorama. This post was the first of two for this model. At the time I did not realise this genre would grow into the project it became. Be warned though, there is a lot more from this period to follow!
The project came about as my modelling club in Plymouth wanted to put on a display to commemorate the end of the Great War for its 2018 show. Somewhere I got it into my head that it would be good to do a time line series.
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On The Work Bench
Well at long last the various models I had ordered have all arrived and I have been able to commence work on the first of what will be a few 28mm WW1 dioramas. If all goes to plan then I should have half a dozen or so models complete over the coming weeks. However, we all know that nothing goes to plan so in reality it will probably take longer and involve obligatory swearing and cursing.
I decided to start with some of the figures I bought from Empress Models, their Muttonchop WW1 range. The detail in these 28mm figures is simply outstanding. Painting the figures is underway with some finished and others almost there. Base work has also started and all things being well then by the end of next week I will be able to post images of the end result.
Every now and then I happen across a figure which is a little bit different and inspires a basing idea for me to get my teeth into. Such was the case here with this figure by Crooked Dice. To be fare the figure isn’t that special but it took my fancy and the base is a simple affair too.
The figure conjured up a Jules Verne image in my head which in turn made me think of “Journey To The Centre Of The Earth” which led to a base a long the lines volcanic lava and hot coals. I decided not to get to carried away and kept it simple using just a few granite chippings from the garden. Milliput was used to secure the chippings and create the base which once dried was painted with yellow, orange and red blobs and allowed to dry. Citadel textured paint was then applied reasonably thickly on top and allowed to dry and crack revealing the colour below.
This weeks miniature is from Reaper and goes by the rather odd title of “Mad Scientist (Female). She needs a name so I have decided to call her “Marie” after a girl I had a crush on at school back in the 70’s, not that she looks anything like her other than the red hair (I love red heads) and the blue eye shadow, very much a thing for UK girls back in the day.
A nice little figure (Marie had one too!) which I based using some bricks and a few old watch parts to add a little emphasis to the steampunk image.
Well It Made Me Laugh …
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A Hard Days Knight
Yesterday evening I took the plunge and ordered some knights from Footsore Miniatures along with a couple of other figures too. It has been quite a while since I embraced this genre and decided for better or worse that it was time to do so once again.
I’m hardly short of figures to paint but I was motivated by the encouragement I recieved following a couple of recent Memory Monday posts which featured two mounted knights I had done sometime ago. Another consideration was that, aside from the one outstanding order I’m still waiting on, I have no deliveries pending. Receiving something in the post offers much excitement during my confinement and therefore there was a need to addess the matter. I have a feeling I may have to address this need again next week too. Probably the week after as well. And the week after that. And the week after that, and the week after that … !!!
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Coronavirus – Self Isolation Week 11
Day 71 – Today I found myself thinking about 2015 and wondering how many people predicted lying on a sofa for weeks on end when asked “And where do you see yourself in 5 years time?”
Day 72 – The finger pointing has begun and questions are being asked about why certain things were done and why others were not. The world is full of people who are happy to criticise but unwilling to actually get off their arse and do anything, it’s the easiest job in the world. Have the various governments got it all right? Certainly not. Could they have done better? Probably. Have any of them had experience of this sort of thing before? No. Hindsight is twenty twenty vision. Rather ironic given the year is 2020.
Day 73 – My dating days have long passed but I do worry for today’s teens. With everyone wearing face masks the odds of getting an ugly bird/bloke have significantly increased. Still I guess it has levelled the playing field somewhat. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder which is just as well as that’s about all you now get to see.
Day 74 – Haven’t entirely figured out why yet but for some reason I seem to be able to get ready for bed much quicker these days.
Day 75 – The more time I spend thinking about it the more I think we have missed a trick when it comes to making the world a better place. I have long known the world has its fare share of idiots and morons, those who swim in the shallow end of the gene pool, I just never knew there were quite so many. The pandemic has allowed these people to float to the top like a form of vile green algae. We should have skimmed them off the surface and disposed of them while we had the chance.
Day 76 – At about this time last year I was in Amsterdam with She Who Must Be Obeyed and She Who Thinks She Must Be Obeyed 2 visiting the Anne Frank museum. A very moving experience. If you didn’t know Anne, before she was found, spent over two years in isolation hiding from the Nazi’s to save her life and the lives of her family. I haven’t read her diary but I am guessing there isn’t an entry at about the eleven week point where she says “fuck this, I’m off to the beach”.
Day 77 – At the start of the UK lockdown the most vulnerable were told to self isolate for 12 weeks. Next week will be the twelfth for my family and I. Whilst a lot has changed it would seem our fate for now has not. Some lockdown measures have been relaxed by the UK Government but we await the latest safe guarding advice of the Cystic Fibrosis doctors and nurses. We anticipate no change but better safe than sorry.
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This week TIM has been listening to …
“Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) by Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel. One of my all time favourite records, not so much for the song itself but for the memories it conjures up. An absolute classic in my book.
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This week TIM has been watching…
Innocent, a four part ITV series. Well worth a watch in my opjnion.
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Remember…
Your wife wont start an argument with you if you’re cleaning!
The Imperfect Modeller 