The Imperfect Modeller

TIM’s Miniatures & Musings (No: 12)

August 21, 2019August 21, 2019 by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Musings, Uncategorized

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

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TIM’s Mid Week Miniature

A return to Knuckleduster. Keeping up with new releases is proving difficult with so many great figures being made available but I am trying my best. Clearly modeled on Clint Eastwood this is in my opinion a great sculpt.

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Understanding Women

A wise man once said …

“Only when you accumulate the understanding to know why a pizza is made round, to be put in a square box and then eaten in triangles, will you then be able to understand women”.

… which leads me neatly on to …

Modelling Retirement Planning – Step 2

Get your jobs list done and out of the way. OK, OK this sounds like a contradiction but there is method in the madness so let me explain.

When you are newly retired you are still very much in work mode which is to say you are used to working at a certain pace and with a certain discipline. The good news is it wares off when you realise you are not on holiday for two weeks but for the rest of your life. So while you are waiting for reality to kick in get the jobs done but don’t work all day and only do indoor jobs to start with.

If you went about Step 1 properly then you should have 4 days a week to call your own. Having allowed the 4 day routine to settle into normality you now need to agree that on your 3 “working” days you plan to work on the remainder of your jobs list in the morning and have time to call you own in the afternoon. Having been a good boy and done most of the indoor jobs you were assigned this should not be a problem if you time it right. You might also try explaining that once the list is eventually complete you will then be able to share her household jobs. Encourage your other half to work in the same way and insist that she takes a break too. She probably wont of course because she has her own routine but make her a cup of tea every now and then and show her your caring side.

All being well you now have 4 day and 3 afternoons for painting and modelling. However, for at least half the year in the UK it is wet weather. Nobody likes working outside when it is pissing down so as long as you have concentrated on doing only the indoor jobs as mentioned above then on those wet days there is nothing to do but either help your other half (as “promised” above) or spend more time painting and modelling!

You are now on track for having 4 days, 3 afternoons and 50% of the working day mornings to call your own. Next week we will start on how to deal with “helping” your other half so that you can claw back the other 50% for yourself.

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This week TIM has been listening to …

Shotgun by Georg Ezra.

This years holiday song which I am dedicating to all you folks in Australia!

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This week TIM has been watching …

Band of Brothers.

This series completely passed me by and despite being told how great it was I still never put myself out to watch it … until now. Two parts in with eight to go. Great stuff. Should have got my arse in gear and watched it sooner!

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Until next time.

TIM

Space Marine – A 54mm Figure (The August Challenge)

August 17, 2019August 13, 2019 by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Fantasy, Uncategorized

Earlier this year when I went to the model show at Torquay I bought two items which for me were very different. I had wanted to have a go at doing a bust at some point and also fancied doing a Space Marine, the latter being driven largely by the inspired work of fellow bloggers. A trader at the show had some fine looking pieces for sale so I decided to take the plunge for no other reason than “what the hell!”.

The bust of an Ork I did a little while ago…

https://theimperfectmodeller.wordpress.com/2019/07/06/imperial-rebel-ork-jewel-of-july-challenge/

… and shortly afterwards I started the Space Marine before I got side tracked by something else as so often seems to happen these days. Then along came Azazel’s challenge for August and I decided the model would fit the criteria (“Cool” – hopefully – and bigger than normal criteria) so I got my arse in gear and set about completing it.

So what have we got here?

Well firstly the model is 54mm scale so typically larger than your average gaming scale figures. It was produced by Craftworld Studio and is made of resin, not my preferred material as some of you know, and comprised of a dozen or so parts. The base came with the figure and for now I am not planning to expand it but that may change later in the year. Pending what else I get done between now and January I might use this in one of the club’s in-house annual competition categories and if I do then I might beef the base up a bit.

The figure was painted only using acrylics. Normally, especially on 54mm figures, I usually use oils too but decided against doing so on this occasion. No real reason for that decision other than the fact that I quite liked the way he was turning out using just the acrylics so decided to leave well alone.

Has he been painted correctly? Is he the right colour scheme? Have I picked out all the relevant parts and details? Buggered if I know, it’s a genre well outside of my comfort zone and I didn’t do much in the way of research, just simply went with what I thought looked right and OK. Will I do another? Not at 54mm scale that’s for sure but I wouldn’t rule out 28mm/Heroic scale as something for the future. It was fun and I already have a few ideas floating around so who knows?

Images of the completed Figure below.

TIM

TIM’s Miniatures & Musings (No: 11)

August 14, 2019August 20, 2019 by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Musings, Uncategorized

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

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TIM’s Mid Week Miniature

Fortunately just before going away I had a nearly completed mini which I have been able to finish off quickly for this weeks Mid Week Miniature.

What we have here is 28mm Hasselfree Miniature which goes by the name of “Ulfred”.

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Back in the Saddle

After a couple of weeks absence from having been on holiday I am back in the saddle, revitalised and raring to go! As much as I enjoyed the holiday I missed the brushes. Needless to say there are a number of things which need doing the moment you get back from being away but hopefully I will be on top of those shortly and fully back on track by next week, fingers crossed.

Although I didn’t post anything myself I did my best to keep up with everyone else’s blogs. Apologies if I missed any and in some instances failed to comment but it is hard to type while holding an ice cold beer in blazing temperatures while at the same time trying to convince She Who Must Be Obeyed that I was reading my book or looking at something cultural instead of checking out another scantily clad beauty which just happened to be walking by.

For reasons I am still unable to fathom she was unmoved by the sincerity of my words – “Why would I have eyes for anyone else other than you my darling, you are the love of my life?”. Which rather neatly leads me into …

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Modelling Retirement Planning – Step 1

The inspiration for this mini series comes from John at Just Needs Varnish.

In a recent article John flirted with the idea of finally retiring with the aim of being able to spend more time modelling and painting, a perfectly undertsandable desire. However, John (and I suspect he is not alone) fears that his good lady wife may well have alternative plans for his time and thus he could, horror among horrors, conceivably have less time at his disposal rather than more.

As someone who has an in depth knowledge of the female mind and how it works I thought I would help John out here with a weekly step by step guide to some tried and tested techniques for ensuring he gets all the hobby time he needs. Over the coming weeks these steps will build into a handy guide which even you younger guys might want to file away for future reference. A word of warning though. Do not under any circumstances allow your wife/partner to see this.

Step 1

Reach an agreement up front that being retired allows you a certain amount of time to call your own. As a general rule if you work 5 days out of 7 with 2 days a week to roughly call your own, do not settle for anything less than 4 days a week to call your own in retirement. Success here is all down to your sales pitch.

Stress that your retirement is for both of you and that the other 3 days you will spend doing your jobs list and helping her with tasks such as dusting, shopping, cooking, etc. so that she too can have time to call her own. Remember to tell her that you love her and that your retirement is about sharing time together and the best way to do that is with a mix of personal time and shared chores. Unless you married a complete idiot she will know you are up to something but wont be able to fault the logic.

You should now have 4 days to call your own. Over the coming weeks we will address how to go from 4 days a week to 7.

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This week TIM has been listening to …

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and “Red Right Hand”.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this track it has been adopted as the theme tune for the UK TV series Peaky Blinders (see below).

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This week TIM has been watching …

Peaky Blinders – Series 1.

Image result for peaky blinders season 1

I have been meaning to watch this series for quite a while now but for various reasons I hadn’t gotten round to doing so. Going on holiday provided me with the ideal opportunity to down load series 1 and watch it as we cruised from place to place. Put simply the series was brilliant. I had hoped to download Series 2 but unfortunately traveling on a US ship the internet address considered me outside of the UK and I was unable to do so. Still, something to look forward to now that I am home!

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Until next time.

TIM

Dad’s Army – Part 3 (28mm Figures)

July 27, 2019July 24, 2019 by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Uncategorized, WW2

Apparently this is my 200th WordPress post. Unfortunately I hadn’t appreciated until now that I had reached this land mark and therefore I have nothing more exciting to present you with than Part 3 of my Dad’s Army figures. I’ll try to do better the next time I reach a blog milestone.

As I go on holiday today (by the time you read this scheduled post I will probably be on my way) I have been up against it this week to get the next two figures done. I should also tell you that this will be my last post for a couple of weeks too. Hopefully if I can get internet access I will try to keep up with what you are all up to but I wont be posting myself. As much as I need a break I reckon you guys deserve one as well!

So, back to this post, What we have today is Private Godfrey (Medic) and Air Warden Hodges.

The Warlord Games accompanying flyer refers to Godfrey as “… a veteran of the Great War whose frailty, age and weak bladder prevent him serving with quite his old vigour”.

Of ARP Warden Hodges it says “Hodges the Air Raid Warden and local grocer is Mainwaring’s great rival. The pair are always bickering over the use of the Church Hall, which they share together with the Verger’s Sea Scouts. He always begins any confrontation with Captain Mainwaring with a cry of, “now look ‘ere Napoleon!” None the less, when it comes down to it, both know which side they are on.

So on to the figures. Nothing much to say on the painting front other than both figures required a minimal amount of freehand. I also think the sculptor did a pretty good job on capturing the image of Godfrey.

All being well I will complete the final two figures of the uniformed figure set when I get back but until then enjoy your break from me!

TIM

TIM’s Miniatures & Musings (No: 10)

July 24, 2019July 24, 2019 by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Musings, Uncategorized

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

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TIM’s Mid Week Miniature

Another limited edition figure from Giants in Miniature, this one is number 358 of 500 and goes by the name of “Oda Nobunaga”. For some reason, and I have no idea what, this figure was a complete pain in the arse.

The sculpt was fine so I cannot lay the blame there but nothing seemed to go well at all. Error after error for no explainable reason nearly saw me throw the thing away but I stuck with it although quite why I am not entirely sure. Looks OK but the end result does not reflect the hate I have for this one. A very long time since I felt this way about a figure or any model I have done so cannot complain too much but a joy it wasn’t!

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Lesson of the Week

The above comments lead me nicely into Lesson of the Week (this stuff isn’t just thrown together you know!) –

Good painting comes from experience.

And experience comes from bad painting.

Never give up!

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Did You know that …

It takes 7 seconds for food to pass from mouth to stomach?
A human hair can hold 3kg?
The length of a penis is three times the length of the thumb
The femur is as hard as concrete?
A woman’s heart beats faster than a man’s?
Women blink 2 times as much as men?
We use 300 muscles just to keep our balance when we stand?
By now a woman would have read all the text of this article?
A man would still be looking at his thumb?!

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This week TIM has been listening to …

Meat Loaf and Paradise By The Dashboard Light.

A classic track which lyrically is bang on the money for a good many of us chaps I suspect.

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This week TIM has been watching …

King Kong starring Jack Black.

There have been several versions of this film and to some extent each one gets better thanks to special effects. This is my favorite, albeit that the first half is a little to long and drawn out, but the Empire State building scenes are excellent.

Image result for king kong movie poster jack black

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Until next time.

TIM

Dad’s Army – Part 2 (28mm Figures)

July 20, 2019July 24, 2019 by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Uncategorized, WW2

This week I managed to get two more of the 8 uniformed Dad’s Army figures produced by Warlord Games.

First up is Lance Corporal Jones followed by Private Frazer. We then have a photo of the two together and one of all four figures that I have managed to paint to date. All being well two more will follow next week.

Not much else to add other than they have been fun to paint so far and I’m looking forward to completing the rest. The civilian version or each of the figures will provide a bigger painting challenge but hopefully that will prove to be fun as well.

The Warlord flyer which accompanied the figures describes Lance Corporal Jones as “… a veteran of Lord Kitchener’s campaign in the Sudan and no stranger to the rigours of hand-to-hand combat! As he is prone to pointing out, ‘they don’t like it up ’em’!”

For Private Frazer the flyer states – “Frazer is the local undertaker and veteran of the Battle of Jutland. He is openly critical of Captain Mainwaring’s leadership, though his constant carping is usually followed by the claim that, ‘I never doubted you for a minute, Sir!’ as Mainwaring triumphs yet again!”

TIM

TIM’s Miniatures & Musings (No: 9)

July 17, 2019July 15, 2019 by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Miscellaneous, Uncategorized

Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!

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TIM’s Mid Week Miniature

This weeks 28mm mini is a figure from the Artizan Thrilling Tales range and goes by the name of “Mr Harries”. No real reason for buying this figure other than the fact that I quite liked the character and thought he would be nice to paint.

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What Colour?

In general women have a lot of qualities I admire. Top of the list has to be that two women can go to the toilet together and nobody bats an eye. A bloke would never ask his mate the same question. Lower on the list is their ability to be pissed off, never show that they are but never forget that you annoyed them. They mark your card and bide their time. I believe Black Widow spiders act in much the same way.

Now a while ago She Who Must Be Obeyed bought some new towels for our en-suite bathroom. “What colour do you want?” she asked me. I had a choice between a plum/purple colour or a jade/green. To be honest I couldn’t get excited either way and simply said “They’re just towels, you choose, I’m not bothered”. She smiled sweetly and chose the jade/green for herself and that was the end of the matter.

A week or so later I was sitting at my desk painting. Messing about with a Reaper Wizard figure that I had picked up and put down more times than I care to remember. Dutifully bringing me a nice cup of tea I took the opportunity to ask her “Do you think I should paint his cloak blue or purple?”. “It’s just a figure” she said “I’m not bothered one way or another”.

Even though she had her back to me I swear she was smiling.

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Buying Rules

Looking at my stash of models and figures the other day made me realise that perhaps things had gotten a little out of hand. The days when I would work on one model at a time before starting on the next project has become a thing of the past. It was time for some self imposed discipline and the establishment of some rules. From now on I will only buy things as I need them to complete my ongoing project unless …

… I have a discount voucher to use up,

… I see something special at show trade stand,

… there is a sale,

… the supplier is offering free postage for a limited period,

… I have nothing else I want for a Christmas present or to spend birthday money on,

… I just want it.

Now, as long as I stick to the rules it will only be a matter of time before I gain full control. Everyone needs a plan.

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This week TIM has been listening to …

… Alice Cooper and “School’s Out”

With our holiday less than two weeks away and my daughter now finished school for another year this seemed appropriate. Takes me back to 1972 and a period of teenage attitude. Happy days!

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This week TIM has been watching …

… Darkest Hour starring Gary Oldman.

Related image

Must have watched this a few times now and each time I do it never fails to highlight what a bunch of wankers some of our politician’s were. Sadly little has been learnt and the current crop leave a great deal to be desired too. The more I read or watch about WW2 the greater my respect for the fighting men and women of the era. Civilians too are equally deserving of praise. That said, it’s amazing how twists of fate and not just strategy and bravery alone often proved significant to the outcome of not only this war but countless others as well I suspect.

A couple of years back I took my daughter up to London to show her family roots. As part of the trip we did the tour of the Houses of Parliament. Standing in the House of Commons I tried to soak up all the decisions which had been taken in that room which changed the world. If you have never done it do yourself a favour and take the tour.

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Until next time.

TIM

Dad’s Army – Part 1 (28mm Figures)

July 13, 2019July 12, 2019 by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Uncategorized, WW2

It must be getting on for more than a year now that I bought the complete set of Dad’s Army figures from Warlord Games. The figures can be purchased indivdually or in to halves plus there is a bolt on. In the complete set you get 18 figures, 8 representing the 8 main characters in military uniform, the same 8 characters in civilian attire and a bolt on comprising of the Vicker and the Verger, two lesser lights in the series.

I occurs to me at this point that overseas readers of this blog might not be familiar with Dad’s Army. Without going into a lot of detail it was a light hearted TV series based around the trials and tribulations of a fictional home guard unit based in Warmington Upon Sea during WW2. The TV series was extremely popular and is still repeated on TV to this day. If you want to know more a quick Google search will tell you all you want to know and I am sure YouTube will have classic clips you can watch as well.

As it is now the summer in the UK, and as things currently stand we seem to be having one this year, then I am up to my eyes with all manner of outside jobs and things to do which divert me from my hobby. Fortunatley it is not too difficult to find the time to work on a few figures but anything bigger such as my Old West diorama has pretty much had to take a back seat for now. I will return to the project when the weather changes, my holiday which is almost upon us is over and the jobs list has been greatly reduced.

So, with all that in mind I decided to dedicate myself to my Dad’s Army project. I thought I would begin with the 8 main figures in military unform and so far have managed to get two of them done.

The keen eyed amongst you will notice the use of cotton reel bases once again. Unfortunately I only have 16 to use so need to acquire two more before I can complete the entire set. EBay is a possibility but so too is nicking some from She Who Must Be Obeyed’s sewing box!

Hopefully by the time I have got this little lot painted up I will be able to claim them either as neglected models or as a unit or something which will meet an Azazel monthly challenge.

First up we have Captain Mainwaring. The Warlord Games flyer which came with the figures describes him thus –

“Captain Mainwaring is the prim and respectable local Bank Manager. He is proud of his standing in the community, even if he is less keen for folks to know about his humble background. His constant strutting and pomposity belies a leader whose loyalty to his men and country are equally boundless”.

Sorry for the rather dark photos.

The second figure is Sergeant Wilson, described in the flyer as –

“Socially superior, public-school educated and urbane, Wilson is none the less a diffident character who finds himself working under Mr Mainwaring the bank manager by day, and serving as his platoon Sergeant as part of the Home Guard”.

Hopefully by next week I will have a couple more done.

TIM

TIM’s Miniatures & Musings (No: 8)

July 10, 2019July 9, 2019 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 Giants In Miniature. A limited edition of 500 this is number 305 of “Quartermain”.

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Dusting

She Who Must Be Obeyed has been on a house cleaning drive. The place isn’t dirty but the kids are both away and she has elected to use the time to “Spring Clean” despite the fact that it is the summer and we are enjoying a heat wave down here in the South West. It wont last, it never does, this is England after all.

It didn’t bother me that she had elected to go on this crusade until she handed me a duster and told me that my modelling desk and associated area needed cleaning. Worse than that she had an expectation that the various cased dioramas and figures which I have about the house needed dusting too. Anything for a quiet life I gave it a go.

So I dusted. I dusted it all. It took an age and then, guess what? A few days later the dust came back.

Fucked if I’m falling for that again.

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What’s The Difference?

Have you ever wondered what the difference was between Erotic and Kinky? Don’t lie, of course you have.

Well if you didn’t know Erotic is using a feather …

Kinky is using the whole chicken.

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This week TIM has been listening to …

… Slade and “Mama weer All Crazee Now”. Live version.

Now if anything is likely to give your age away it is listing a track by this 70’s group. This decade was my teens and as I think back I loved everything about it. No responsibilities, no accountabilities and a general couldn’t give a fuck attitude. This track was released in 1972 when I was fourteen. OK, so we dressed and looked ridiculous but it was fun and for me possibly a time when some of the best music ever was produced. This track may now be a good example of that but I am in a good mood and when I am like that the music has to be played loud. Very loud. Very, very Fucking Loud! Put your ear to the speaker and enjoy the experience of silence for three days afterwards.

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This week TIM has been watching …

… Into The Wild.

Based on a true story about a young man who chooses to live life off the grid and heads off on a journey to Alaska where he finds the Magic Bus. Sounds weird but it is an interesting but very sad tale.

The film is based on the life of Chris McCandless and if you haven’t seen it then it is, in my opinion, well worth a watch. I have seen it several times but my son got into it and also put me on to a YouTube documentary which provided a further insight on the life of Chris as told through the lives of his family. Fascinating stuff. Check it out.

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Until next time.

TIM

Imperial Rebel Ork – Jewel of July Challenge

July 6, 2019July 5, 2019 by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Miscellaneous, Uncategorized

Having failed miserably to meet the challenges for May and June I thought I ought to get my finger out for July. The challenge was to produce a centre piece, never particularly easy for someone who tends to concentrate on vignettes and dioramas. Fortunately I remembered that I bought a bust (not any old bust but an Ork bust) at the Torquay model show a few weeks ago. It seemed like now was the ideal time to get it done.

I have never painted a bust before, partly because they never really appealed to me but mainly because of the scale. I knew it would offer a whole new painting experience and I wasn’t sure if I was up for that. I don’t claim to be an expert but moving up and down the scales requires different techniques. What you can get away with at one scale you cannot get away with on another and the large scale associated with a bust is pretty unforgiving. Still, as I had bought the bloody thing I reckoned I might as well do it.

So here you have my first attempt (and probably my last too) of painting a bust. Some photo’s, including a few work in progress ones appear below. For scale I have also include an image of the bust along side Lord Flash.

On this occasion I used no oil paints. As if painting the bust wasn’t challenge enough I decided to only use acrylics this time.

If only I could have come up with a better name for the model though!

TIM

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