TIM’s Miniatures & Musings (No: 39)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Musings, Uncategorized

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

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TIM’s Mid Week Miniature

After spending time painting female figures for Fembruary I decided I needed a change.  I turned to a Hasslefree figure based on the Simon Pegg charachter in Shaun of the Dead.  At some point I will get round to doing a couple of zombie dioramas as I think they would be fun.  I don’t think you can over do the blood on a zombie based figure.

Not entirely sure why his trousers look glossy in the photo’s as they are anything but in reality.

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Well It Made Me Laugh …

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Retail Therapy

Regular readers will recall that a few weeks ago I mentioned it was my intention to make a concerted effort to clear my backlog of miniatures and resist any temptation to buy more until attending Salute in April.  To be fair it was going well with the exception of a minor but “essential” purchase which incurred the wrath of She Who Must Be Obeyed.  But then it started raining.  Then it rained some more but with the added bonus of 80 mile an hour winds.  This is how it has been for the entire month of February and looks like continuing throughout March if the weather forecast can be trusted which for bad weather predictions it can be.

Compared to some I have no grounds for complaint.  We, unlike a great many people, have not had our house flooded and given our position I would like to think we are unlikely to do so.  Nevertheless with no hold up in the weather damage is being caused and my list of out door jobs is growing and all I can do is watch.  Fortunatley I do not have to go to work in it but I do need to venture out to walk the dog twice a day.  Getting wet is one thing but continually putting on wet walking clothing because it is impossible to get them dry is unpleasant.  Each day is Ground Hog day.  Deja Vu, or as I now prefer to call it Deja Poo, the feeling you have seen this shit before!   

The thing is it has now become all rather depressing.  I am in a negative spiral with few signs of an imminent turn around.  At my age this is a potentially dangerous situation with serious health implications and so I poured my feelings out to SWMBO over a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit.  She was sympathetic, she understood, she cared.  After such an emotional out pouring and before the postman was due to arrive I figured now was the perfect time to mention that I had spent a couple of hundred quid on hobby therapy.

I was wrong.

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This week TIM has been listening to …

Robbie Williams.  I do like a bit of Robbie everyy now and then.  Like Freddie Mercury he is an entertainer who can work the audience.  I rather like the opening sequence of this video.

I appreciate concerts and huge musical events take place all over the world but, and at the risk of being very biased, I do think us Brits do it better than most.

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This week TIM has been watching …

“The Split” – Series One and Two on BBC iPlayer.  After watching Nicola Walker in numerous TV programmes over the years, all of which are excellent, I have decided I have a thing for her.  I expect it’s mutual.

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Remember …

According to Chemistry alcohol is a solution.

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Until next time.

TIM

TIM’s Memory Monday (No: 7)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Memory Monday, Uncategorized

This post first appeared in June 2017.  Outside of my blog it has never been seen so this January just gone I decided to enter it into my modelling clubs annual in-house competition under the dirorama category because I hadn’t done anything else I could enter since going to Telford in November.  Despite some strong competition it won in its class and to my surprise it also scored more points than any other model on show and so I won and award for that too.  So here it is again for those who have seen it before and here it is for the first time for those who haven’t!

TIM

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28mm Building Project No: 4 – Railway Freight Depot

I’ve always admired model railways but never had the space to truly consider building one so when I discovered that http://www.sarissa-precision.com had produced an old western steam locomotive I decided that this would have to be my next diorama. The train even in 28mm scale is a reasonable size and it took me a while to determine how best I could present the model whilst finding room on the base for a building and a few suitable figures.

originally I had wanted to build a railway station but even at 28mm this was to big for the base I wanted to use.  I finally decided I would construct a small-scale Freight Depot building but struggled to find suitable figures and so for a while the idea remained on the back burner until eventually I discovered some western railroad figures produced by http://www.northstarfigures.com.

I was now in a position to get my latest project off the ground.

As mentioned in Building Project No: 3 I had already determined that my next building would have a “wooden” shingle roof.  I had also decided that for this model I would try using foam board as the backing to the wooden stirrers instead of cardboard.  As with my previous build my first step was to establish the dimensions of the building and overall layout of the diorama.

In addition to the train Sarissa also produce track and other wagons.  I couldn’t accommodate additional wagons on this occasion but did acquire some track for mounting the train.

Having drawn up rough plans for the building (an end shed, an office in the middle and an open canopy at the other end) I set about cutting the foam board to shape and cutting away for doors and windows.  As with my previous builds I then cut the coffee stirrers to shape and glued them using PVA to the foam board.  Once the front, back and sides were complete the wood was weathered using a wire brush and a modelling knife for later painting.  Window and door frames were made using match sticks and clear plastic was used for window glazing.

I followed the same oil paint wash method for painting the outside walls as previously published.  Although I did not intend for the roof of the building to be removable I did take account of the fact that you could see inside the building through the open door and the window.  With this in mind I clad some of the interior and added a couple of wall posters and a couple of bits of furniture.

The next step was to have a go at my first shingle roof.  The basic structure was a simple piece of cardboard cut to the right length and then folded in half.  Before then gluing it to the main structure of the roof I drew lines at regular intervals on it. These lines would serve to line up the shingles.

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The central part of the building before adding the “wooden shingle roof

The shingles themselves were made from cardboard strips that were then cut into much small rectangular pieces.  A tedious job but not one that takes that long.  A line of PVA was then added to the lowest part of the roof and the individual shingles attached.  Using a cocktail stick dipped into a small amount of PVA makes it easier to pick up the small shingles.  The process is then repeated line by line.  It doesn’t take long to get into a rhythm and the process becomes quicker that you might expect.  I tend to put on a You Tube play list and before you know it the roof is complete.

When dried the next step is to paint the roof.  I chose Burnt Umber oil paint thinned with a little white spirit as my base coat followed by a black wash and then by a grey wash.  Once dried I used white as a dry brush applied going against the grain of the roof tiles.  This I felt highlighted the shingle edges.

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The central part of the building with the “wooden” shingle roof added along with the left hand side shed and the right hand side open canopy
Some further images of the buildings before final completion.  Note the inside detail.

With the buildings complete a few additions were added in the way of posters, weeds, grasses, dust and ladders etc for added realism.  The next step was to work on the train and the figures.

The train itself went together quite well and painted up OK too I felt.  I added wood to the Tender and a few pipes and levers to the cab.  The figures themselves were then painted using oil paint and placed on the diorama.  I also allowed for the Tender to be removable if required.

The finished train.

Images of the completed model appear below.

“Chim Chiminey” – A Twisted Minatures Diorama (Part 2)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Steampunk, Uncategorized

As very much predicted the weather this week has been dreadful.  Thank goodness for having an indoor hobby that I really enjoy.  Without it I think I would be suicidal.  All the time I was at work I cannot say I really noticed what was happening outside but after many years of retirement and the weather getting progressively worse year on year it has become significant to my well being.  If I could only convince She Who Must Be Obeyed to do so I would move to somehwere with a better climate.  Hey ho!  Still, on the positive side of things I managed to get this little model complete.

Having built the roof all I was really left with was painting and some minor assembly.  The tiled section was finished and stuck to the back and sides of the roof.  Using some galvanised mesh I created an ornamental top to the roof ridge.  The chimney stack was also glued into place.

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The next job was to prime and get a base colour onto the roof tiles.

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Once dry it was time to start the actual painting.

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With the roof as good as done attention was directed to the figures.  “Mary” was more done than I realised but I added a few more highlights, barely noticable from this photo but a little clearer on others, and fixed her umbrella before attaching her  to the chimney.

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Then it was time to paint “Albert” and eventually add him to the base.

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All that was left to do was add a clock face to the base and take some final photo’s.  This wasn’t part of the original plan but I decided the front of the base need a lift and the clock added to the Steampunk image.

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So there you have it.  My first and I suspect last foray into the world of Disney.  Time now to take a look at my “To Do Pile” and decide what to tackle next.

TIM

 

TIM’s Miniatures & Musings (No: 38)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Musings, Uncategorized

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

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TIM’s Mid Week Miniature

This weeks miniature is another female figure from Hasslefree and the last for Fembruary.  The little lady goes by the name of “Katarina”.  A sexy temptress for sure but clearly a more modern woman and not one to be messed with given the knife she is carrying with an intent to use.

Photo’s below of Katrina and a group shot of the previous three ladies.  As a non gamer I cannot say how they fit into that world but as a figure painter they are all quite different in their own way and were fun to paint.  Make of them what you will.

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Well It Made Me Laugh …

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Go To Suppliers

Although Salute is still more than a month away I thought I ought to start making a list of things, figures inparticular, that I would like to buy if the traders are at the event and have the necessary stock.  I decided to start with a list of suppliers who to date have never let me down, both in terms of quality and service.  My list of 10 will be refined in due course as I remember other suppliers but in the meanwhile I thought I would share it with you.

If you have a moment I would be delighted to know what suppliers you would recommend so I can check them out before and at the show.  Cheers.

Current top 10 suppliers.  In no particular order …

  1. Knuckleduster – Gunfighters Ball
  2. Hasslefree
  3. Other World Miniatures
  4. Reaper
  5. Demented Games – Twisted Miniatures
  6. Crooked Dice
  7. Lead Adventures
  8. Gripping Beast
  9. North Star
  10. Empress Miniatures

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This week TIM has been listening to …

“Layla” by Derek and the Dominos.  Eric Clapton at his best.

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This week TIM has been watching …

“Seven” starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman.

I originally saw this film in Hollywood in 1995 when She Who Must Be Obeyed and I made our last trip to the USA before our son was born the following year.  Very dark, quite gruesome and SWMBO hated it.  She can be hard to please.  I remember taking her to see Apocolypse Now for her 21st and she didn’t like that either.

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Remember …

Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance – the 5 stages of waking up!

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Until next time.

TIM

TIM’s Memory Monday (No: 6)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Memory Monday, Uncategorized

On The Work Bench – Scratch Built Wire Tree (part 2)

Having allowed the All Purpose Filler mixed with PVA to dry the next step using a sharp tool (I use my modelling knife) is to scratch some lines into the trunk of the tree in order to create a better bark effect when painted.  Once done it’s time to paint the tree starting with the underside first.

The paints I use are Winton and Newton oils – Burnt Umber, Ivory Black, Burnt Sienna and Titanium White.  The first application applied was Burnt Umber, diluted with white spirit to create a wash which nicely soakes into the filler.  This was followed by a wash of black, mostly applied to the shadow areas, then followed by a wash of Burnt Sienna with emphasis on the upper outside branches.  Titanium White was dry brushed to provide highlights.

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Almost there with the painting

With the paining complete the next step is to add the smaller branches which will take the leaves in due course.  For these smaller branches I use small pieces of “Seafoam Trees” available from Gaugemaster.  Bit by bit these are added to complete a full canopy.

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Small “Seafoam” branches added to complete canopy

The final step is to add the leaves.  For this I use “Leaf Foliage” by “Noch” which comes in a variety of colours allowing for a nice mix of trees if you are aiming to have several in a display or reflect other times of the year such as Autumn.  The tree canopy is sprayed with a strong hold Hairspray and the leaves sprinkled on. Typically I find this process needs to be done several times in order for the leaves to create clumps and create a finish that I am happy with.

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The Final Tree

Essentially the tree is finished but as I intend to use this one on a diorama the roots will need to be worked on once again along with the appropriate ground work being added too.   It will be a while until the diorama is complete but when it is I will post some images of the tree in its final state.

 

 

 

 

 

“Chim Chiminey” – A Twisted Miniatures Diorama (Part 1)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Steampunk, Uncategorized

As Monty Python would say – “and now for something completely different” … well different for me that is.

WARNING – If you are easily offended by sickly sweet Disney movie charachters this post (and more likley the second post when published) is not for you.

Twisted Miniatures do a couple of Steampunk figures based on the Disney movie Mary Poppins.  One figure goes by the name of “Mary Poppets”, the other is simply called “Albert”.  Now don’t ask me why I was drawn to these two figures because in all honesty I haven’t a clue.  I cannot even claim to have wonderful childhood memories of the film and claim points for nostalgia.  The best I can offer is that I had an instant and simplistic idea on how to base them, thought the figures looked colourful to paint and decided to throw caution to the wind and buy them.

Now as mentioned I am no fan of the film, in truth I don’t think I have even watched it from start to finish.  However, given the film was released in 1964 I have, like most people I would think, seen countless clips on TV (Disney Time at Christmas springs to mind) and am familiar with several of the films songs.  This little diorama was inspired by the song “Chim Chiminey/Step In Time”, specifically the film sequence where they are dancing on the roof.  Don’t pretend you don’t know what I am talking about!

OK, time for some pictures and to talk a little about the build.

First up I decided to make a start on painting Mary.  Totally arse about face as I always start with the base first but hey ho somes times it’s good to live life on the edge!  She isn’t complete yet.  Block colouring done but highlighting to start and complete plus she has an umbrella which needs to be attached and painted.

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Attention now on the base.  Nothing overly complicated,  just a roof section.  To begin with I needed two sides and a back, MDF and card.

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Then both the sides needed to be bricked.

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I also needed to construct a chimney stack.

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The space between the sides and back then needed to be filled which was done with quick drying clay.  I also needed to put down some roof slabs to cover the base in front of the roof and trim and grout the bricks using filler.  The whole in the slab is for positioning Albert in due course.

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The next step was to start working on the roof tiled section which when complete will be placed on top of the clay and span the two sides.  The tiles are made from card using a Green Stuff World hole punch.

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If the weather proves to be as bad as what is being predicted then there is a good chance this model will be finished next week.

TIM

 

TIM’s Miniatures & Musings (No: 37)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Musings, Uncategorized

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

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TIM’s Mid Week Miniature

Another post and another female figure, well it is Fembruary after all.

What I have tried to do in my own little way is to try to present the female figure in a small variety ways to meet the brief from Alex of the Leadballoony  – “… I’m just looking for awesome portrayals of the feminine in miniature form, as part of an ongoing conversation about how women are presented within our hobby”.

First up we had the scantily clad “Shayda”, a dominant and intimidating female figure clearly designed to be sexy.  Sex sells and rightly or wrongly so do these Hasslefree figures.  “Rowena” by comparison was dressed from top to bottom with no flesh on show, very much the victorian style.  Hard to believe that the glimpse of a female ankle 120 years or so ago was enough to give a young lad an erection.  This post we have “Alyx”, another depiction entirely.  Clearly not sexy unless you are paedophile, but with a disturbing attitude unless you consider armed school girls normal.

Doubtless there is much discussion to be had on these and other figures in terms of how they present females in the modelling world.  Are they are acceptable or do they exploit?  Well I’m not the sculptor, I only bought them.  For my part there is a danger, as there is with too many things in my opinion, to look far to deeply and over analyse the subject.  For my part I can only say that as a figure painter I purchased them because I liked them and thought they would be fun to paint.  Oh, and because  “Shayda” had a nice chest and reminded me of a girl I once dated. 😉

With over a week of February left there might be another female figure or two to follow.  Meanwhile photo’s of “Alyx” below.

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Well It Made Me Laugh …

For Wudugust, a Scotsman with a sense of humour …

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This week TIM has been listening to …

“Gracelands” by Paul Simon.  An album which was a huge hit when it was released and one I haven’t listened too for a long time.  Still great and glad I dug it out.  Mustn’t leave it so long next time.  I like the whole album but this was the official single if I recall correctly.  Nice bit of lip syncing by Chevy Chase.

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This week TIM has been watching …

“The Outlaw Josey Wales” starring Clint Eastwood.

As I haven’t painted a cowboy figure in a little while I thought I ought to at least watch a Western film just to keep my brother happy.  They don’t come much better than this one.

 

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Remember …

The next time your wife gets angry, drape a towel over her shoulders (like a cape) and say “Now you’re SUPER ANGRY”.  Maybe she’ll laugh.   Maybe you’ll die.

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Until next time.

TIM

TIM’s Memory Monday (No: 5)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Memory Monday, Uncategorized

It is hard to believe that this post originally went out on the 4th June 2017 and that it is ober two and half years ago now that I made my first scratch built tree.  I’ve made a few more trees since then but the method for doing so remains unchanged.  Part 2 next week.

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On The Work Bench – Scratch Built Wire Tree (part 1)

Figures for my 28mm American Civil War diorama are coming along OK but I am now starting to think about base construction.  Decided I definitely want a tree and thought I would have another go at scratch building one.  I have only ever done one tree before and much to my surprise found it easier than I thought it would be.  It might have been beginners luck though so we will have to see how this one finally turns out.

To start with I wrapped some 0.5mm wire around an A5 pad about 20 times which gave me a loop of wire approximately 9 inches (23cm) long.  Once removed from the A5 pad the loop was twisted several times starting just below the half way point.  This produced a figure 8 shape.  The bottom loop was then cut so that the wire strands all became separated.

The separated wire strands were then grouped into four individual bunches.  Each bunch was then twisted a few times and then separated once again into either two or three further bunches which were also twisted a few times and then separated again until eventually only one strand remained.  Where the remaining strand was to long it was cut off to a length I was happy with.

Once I had done this to each of the initial bunches of wire I was left with the tree’s root system.

Having completed the root system the next step was to repeat the exercise by cutting through the upper loop and creating the branches.

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Once this was complete it was then a case of spending a few moments positioning and bending the roots and branches into a shape I was happy with.  I then mixed up some All Purpose filler together with some PVA glue to an almost liquid consistency and using an old brush applied it to the underneath of the branches first and then to their upper side, the trunk and the roots.  It was then placed to one side to dry.

It might be necessary to add more filler and to scratch away any excess dried filler but that pretty much completes the process for the basic tree.  The next step will be to paint and “dress it”, more of which in a future post.

Rowena Von Graaf – 28mm Reaper Chronoscope (Part 2)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Steampunk, Uncategorized

I’m not sure that I needed to but following on from my previous Miniatures & Musings post …

https://theimperfectmodeller.wordpress.com/2020/02/12/tims-miniatures-musings-no-36/

… I thought I should complete this young lady if only to show that I am happy to paint female figures which aren’t scantily clad.  So this week I made sure to get Rowena painted up and based (see below).

In comparison with “Shayda Diovol”, Rowena, on the one hand, is well dressed and nowhere near as sexy which means she ticks the box of not being sexualised and exploited I guess.  On the other hand, to me at least, she looks a little timid, less in control and likely to do whatever the man in her life tells her to do which for the Victorian era would be about right for most women of that period.  When I compare the two figures I think Shayda is the more confident, self assured and intimidating female and yet she is virtually naked.  Significant?  Relevant?  For me sexual exploitation is an open can of worms.  The simple truth is sex sells, always has and always will.  Men know it and so do women.  In general terms it is hard at times to know who is exploiting who.  While you are thinking about that and making of it what you will I will start work on my next female which will provide further food for thought!

As for Rowena the figure itself was straight forward to paint and enjoyable on account of the level of detail on the sculpture.  One of the things I like about female figures is they can offer much more colour opportunity as they are often far less uniform based.  Pending the period and fashion there is a lot of scope particularly in the Victorian era.

Fortunately most of the work on this model was making the base which I did last week.  Just as well that I did as I had very little time to spend modelling this week.  Some brief periods of decent weather for the time of the year meant I could get out in the garden and make a start on my lengthy jobs list.  The good news is more rain is on the way so hopefully I will be able to hit the modelling desk once again!

Photos below.

TIM

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TIM’s Miniatures & Musings (No: 36)

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Musings, Uncategorized

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

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TIM’s Mid Week Miniature

This week we have another 28mm figure from Hasslefree Miniatures.  This one goes by the name of “Shayda Diovol”.

Now according to IRO, who seems to have gone all lardy-dar, the Fembruary challenge shouldn’t include scantily clad females, however, if you look at the rules set down by Alex no such restrictions apply.  Clearly IRO is just sucking up to his female following oblivious of the fact that they have him worked out.  Women are not easily fooled.

Now “Shayda” may well be scantily dressed but she is not a girl to be messed with.  Never underestimate a woman who has a bigger chopper than you.    

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Well It Made Me Laugh …

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Fingers Crossed

I promised She Who Must Be Obeyed that after Christmas I wouldn’t buy any more figures.  She was right to point out that I have a very large pile of forgotten figures and that it was high time I began to do them.  But then I remembered that nearly 38 years ago she promised to love, honour and obey me and I realised that my promise was there to be broken just like hers.

With that in mind I went and bought some new figures and earlier this week I took delivery of four figures from Lead Adventure Miniatures, a company based in Germany who I had never used before.  They do a very nice Steampunk range and the words “Limited Quantity” were enough to send me into panic mode and place an immediate order.  Just as well because two of the figures have now been labled “Sold Out”.  Proof indeed that if you see it and want it you should buy it.

Needless to say SWMBO spotted the recent acquisitions and questioned the value of my promise to her.  Bravely I argued that she too had made a promise 38 years ago to obey me and had rarely ever done so.  It seems when you make a promise with your fingers crossed behind your back it doesn’t count.  I need to remember that.

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This week TIM has been listening to …

Rod Stewart  and “Maggie May”.  This is a Top of the Pops mimed version from 1971.

I do like a bit or Rod and he has had his share of classic songs.  This track is one of my all time favourite songs.  I love the song itself but it holds a great many memories.  In our day my mates and I would always look for this record on a pub Juke Box and give it our all after a good few beers!

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This week TIM has been watching …

“Spartacus” – the classic 1960’s version starring the late Kirk Douglas.  Following his death last week it seemed appropriate to watch this awesome film.

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, “I’m Spartacus”.

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Remember …

When you get dressed in the morning try to remember that if you die what you are wearing will be your ghost outfit for ever!

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Until next time.

TIM