Definite Feeling Of Making Progress

Despite having problems, things seem to be  heading in the right direction. I have an army done and working on the idea for the next one. 

When I started the Sludge project (three years gone) the plan was to give them what I understood to be the trencher vibe. This involved using British WW1 style helmets and gear. I got hold of some helmets but they were too big for what I wanted. Very nice though and exactly the look I was after. I was also after backpacks. What I was looking at was going to cost about £100 just for the backpacks. So I changed the plan to not doing that. The whole production run was significantly cheaper than £100.

Oddly, I now find myself with the urge to do an Atomfall game which would require a some British bits from WW1/2. I nearly put some Sludge minis in the plan for this week. When I do get round to some new units, I should have some spare WW1/2 heads. So I see even more units for Sludge somewhere down the line. 

Having done enough to call a project finished (for now at least) makes me feel good. This leaves me open to new projects, which also feels good. Quar, Atomfallish and Stargrave (mk IV I think) are all coming up. This Quar's War is on hold due to release schedules. I have a few things I can do for Atomfall (which isn't technically on hold but I was waiting on The Damned to be delivered and the fact that I need some British Uniform paint) and Stargrave (also on hold pending a release at the end of May) but I have to finish the stuff in the queue painted first. 

I guess the real reason for wanting to do Atomfall is the decade long desire to buy and paint a wicker man mini. This is coupled with the excuse to buy a Blue Police Box. I just want one so I can put into pictures, not all of it, but just to hint that it is there.

I haven't been able to finish Atomfall. I get to much motion blur and even vertigo from watching a screen for too long. Games especially. What I have seen has been really good. I think its the vibe It the reminds me of childhood visits to The Lakes as a child in the 1970s. So I think its the next project.  

Start Of The Week - Brown Alert

Over the years I have come to recognise the signs in my life. One of them is tidying up. It's not that my house is a bomb site. Unless my daughter has been around. In which case it probably is. Most of the time it's tidy enough but not as tidy as I would probably want.

When I have something to do that I want to put off I start tidying up. I got a lot done last week but I didn't finish anything. This does not help my state of mind. So I have been tidying up. The workbench is clearer but far from clean. I even found time to finish my "Brown Alert" sign (if you want something to look like a turd I can absolutely recommend gor grunter fur. I suppose it is more like a beige alert now. 

So I think I have my twenty minis for the week. The one on the bottom left was purchased second hand, twenty years ago. In fairness, I think I got three of them and the other two were painted. 

There is a plan for next week, which I need to prep for. I have set an unofficial goal to paint all the metal minis I buy this year. I am hoping to get this done before the Phalanx Show in June. I also have an eye on Atomfall. 

This isn't much different to yesterday's picture but it seems to be motivating me. Maybe they need a bit more work than I thought.

Then there are a few random bits to take care of. If I get the chance.

End Of The Week - Disaster

Firstly I would like to blame everyone else. This is not remotely fair on the rest of the world. It's all on me. It's not that I haven't tried. I do hate the word try. This is the first time this year that I have failed to finish my ten mini goal.

I've spent a bit more time with my daughter than usual and another two days doing stuff with family. Then I have had car issues. And phone issues. It's also the week that I decided to work on my hex terrain, after watching the materials gather dust for six months. To finish everything off there was oblivion. Throw in some massive migraines and I am where I am.

The bench had twenty minis to work on this week. For the most part they all have a base coat. It's a few more hours work and I should be there. To be honest I could depend on the power of contrast paint and call about half of them done. That would be cheating though.

Despite falling to make my target, I am quite sanguine about it. I am close to finishing them. I dare say that I will finish these and whatever next week brings.

Family And The Start Of The Week

Yes this is Tuesday. Do not really the start of anything. But, well , you know, Easter etc. I have no excuse. But I am doing all this stuff for me.

A good chunk of my day was spent with family. Then there was the bit with Oblivion. Then there was the bit at the bench. It was the family stuff that I enjoyed the most. I am beginning to question where I am in a good way.

Painting wise I haven't got that much done. I did do some priming done. As I haven't got the riders done yet, and the riders need to have a duplicated colour scheme on their foot counterparts yet, decided to take what I could, the horses and the foot figures without mounts, and combined them with stuff already on the bench. 

It's only Tuesday and I am already thinking about the end of the week and weather I will get there.  This week is another broad range of minis. I am trying to prioritise the stuff I have purchased this year. There is a Stargrave mini in there that is several years old and a couple of super hero minis I got at the same time. Ish. Maybe. So probably seven or so years ago.

Having A Plan But Not A Goal

I am starting to see that I have a plan but not a goal. Perhaps this is a metaphor for life. My life especially. There are plenty of figures in the queue. For the most part I think of myself as happy in my work. I hear the phrase "here for a good time, not a long time". Which should be a more apt metaphor.

It is fair to say I have a good sized lead mountain. This is now somewhat smaller than the plastic one. There isn't much in the way of resin. By no means the biggest but enough to keep me going. Of the stuff I plan to paint, and assuming I can keep up the pace, I should be at the end of the metal queue before December (subject to whim and random acquisitions).

Whilst there is now a bigger queue of plastic, this doesn't work the same. With Stargrave for instance, I wanted about twenty minis and got eighty. It did give me an excuse to use the Frostrgrave gnolls. I usually end up with twenty to thirty freebies from magazines each year. Then there are a lot of collateral second hand purchases. I want that and it comes with this. I even have a couple of boxes of gifts. 

There are probably a  thousand plastic minis ready for the right project. I paid full price for less than a hundred of them and a lot cost around ten pence a mini. Add in the extra bits kept for kitbashing. I have another three hundred or so coming from various sources this year. These were cheap but not especially so. Additionally I plan to buy another hundred or so for "planned" projects. 

So I have a plan for Atomfall, Quar, and The Last War. Stargrave might be in the pipe. I have plenty and I will see what comes out for the Nickstarter this month. I can even think that I might end up doing The Silver Bayonet. There is a British supplement coming and I have some plastic minis in the collateral pile. So I can see me buying the two Brit sets.

I guess the reason that the Quar and The Last War appeal is that I have a plan for terrain. Not just a plan but I have the materials as well. This would be using my hex terrain at its core. That said, I have enough for a sci-fi and a desert project too. 

Remember

I know today the news has been dominated by a death. Much more important than the one I am thinking about today. Although a confirmed atheists, it's not good news. Despite the Pope's last meeting being with JD Vance and me hoping he works that magic when he gets home, the day goes on.

I am pretty sure she would be critiquing my work.

Today, for me at least, is all about my mum. If waster Sunday is about someone coming back from the dead, Easter Monday is about death. Today more so than usual. I've lost count of the years now. Her death was technically on the 13th but in the year she passed, the 13th was Easter Monday and this is the day I chose to remember. So as I watch my daughter play with the slime she got with her Easter kittycorn (no......just really don't ask) I am thinking about my mum.

There isn't much to say really. I miss her every day. My dad too. I wish they were here with me. But they are not. So I get on with it. Life is for the living. Time is the only commodity worth having. And little metal and plastic men.

End Of The Week - Happy Zombie Jesus Day (20)

Happy Easter. Hope it was a good one. It's been a busy day for me but tomorrow is looking like the day I will remember. For good and ill. A story for another day perhaps. I've spent a lot of time with my daughter this week and I have had some happy days.

So I hit the target for the week. And then some. There were a few "in progress" minis in there. Other than the Stargrave stuff, everything else has been in the queue for less than a year. The end result is I did a bit better than I had planned. Keeping on the path to my first year of painting a thousand minis.

I sorted out the details on the bases from last week. Then I have managed to prep the stuff from Salute. If I can get round to priming them, some of them will be in the queue for next week. I think the plan is to finish these over the next two weeks. Despite the Easter holidays being over, this is still looking like a busy week. Twenty minis is about right. I suppose I could push it a bit.

One of my many plans was to have mounted and dismounted characters. So this is part of the process. There are two lots of five or six of these and I will throw in some more foot dark age/fantasy minis to bring the total up to twenty. 

The plan after that is Atomfall. In part I am delaying this in the hopes that Wargames Atlantic will begin shipping The Damned. I can sense the stress that will fall upon me when I have to put all that plastic together. There are a few more purchases to make anyway so it is a ways off. If I get the minis done, I will buy the vehicles I want and work on some terrain.

On top of all of this I have been putting off the next phase of the hex terrain. The MDF bases are done, they just need to be glued to the foam. The foam has now been hanging around long enough to gather a substantial amount of dust. I can see me tinkering with that too.