Ten Years Since The End Of An Era

Just a little over ten years ago my dad passed. I have been thinking about this a lot in recent weeks. It seems like a long time and no time at all. He was always in good health. I recall helping him mix concrete a year or so before he died. So far there has yet to be a day I don't think about him.

Back then I was fostering. The kids were great. I loved them dearly. Having a child of my own is not quite the same. I did things for them because it was the right thing to do. For some of them it felt like I had a sense of duty to care but there was a stronger feeling for most of them.

Now, being a father, I can see that my life is different and it has perhaps given me more of an insight into my parents. There is more of a sense of propulsion. Right now most of what I do puts my daughter front and centre to what I do. 

My daughter was born a good long time after her grandfather died. She will never get to know him. This is a shame as the two would have really got on. I feel the need to be there. 

Miss you dad.

A Short One

I managed to get in front of the bench. If a little late in the day. I've finished the skin tone bits. there is a lot of skin on halflings in general but these seem to have extra. A couple of bits of accent colours too.

I haven't made huge progress. Nor am I expecting to. Well I have to be happy with any progress. It has been a fun day.

Start Of The Week - Blogtopia With Extra Zomtober

For quite a while now I have been looking at bits of my blog and thinking I really need to tidy somethings up. There are a few spelling mistakes and places where there are too many spaces. Or not enough of them. One of the things that narks me more than anything else has been the lazy labelling.

I am after a few more bits for the hex terrain. Edging for the round table I use. Still need a coat of paint and some tarting up.

There have been labels like Vikings and Viking and multiple ways to write board games. My inner OCD has kicked in this week. It is clearly overwhelming me as it has taken about fifteen years to work up to it. It's just a big project. Whilst sat in soft play this afternoon, I have done a bit more.

When I started blogging I think I had a different expectations. I was doing almost all 15mm painting at the time. I can't remember when I last painted 15mm now. I was also thinking that I might make a bit of money out of it. How naïve I was. So now, looking to the future, it has become more about me. This is really just a diary now. With pictures and painting. Part of me does it for me, and a bit for you. I also think my daughter might read it someday. So better get of those spelling mistakes.

In terms of a plan, the Halfling Blood Bowl team and its Ents are still on the bench, A busier than expected week last week and a week as busy as I am expecting this week, means progress is slow. Everything else is fun though. Time with my daughter and some time with friends. What more could I ask for?

I have yet to find a suitable zombie mini for the last week of Zomtober. To be honest I would like to go out with a bang. It is looking like I am struggling to find the energy to whimper right now. Somehow I am sure I will find something from somewhere.

End Of The Week - Back in Time (0)+(0) & A Little Bit Of Zomtober

I am perhaps a bad person. I failed to change the clock in the living room and my daughter convinced herself that it was two hours later than it actually was and went to bed. To be honest she went to bed at the right time. So no real loss.

It has turned into a busy week. As it's half term week, I have some extra daddy daughter time. Good for me but bad for the figure painting schedule. Oh well 😊. There has been some progress with the G Dub Halfling Blood Bowl team. A long way from being ready for the table but there has been some progress. I managed to get a bit lost with some more hex terrain. I've not finished this either but it is a a lot closer to be finished than it was this time last week.

Looking forward, next week is a busy week. So I am not really planning to finish much of anything at all. I might get some time in the evenings and a day to work on what is on the bench. That will be about it. Right now I am not convinced I will finish the Halflings.

Lastly, I finished one more zombie. I've not been too prolific for this year's Zomtober but I am keeping my hand in. This is another Warlord games Konflict 47 zombie.

Broken Hearted - Halloween Is Coming

Halloween is coming. My dad really wanted me to be a vet. Of horses mainly. I was never going to get there. He would have wanted my daughter to be a vet too.

So we were preparing a pumpkin earlier. There is a lot of gooey kack inside a pumpkin. Obviously this is a job for dad. There was a degree of disgust if not revulsion as I pulled the contents out.

Having seen the look on her face 🤮whilst I was, shall we say clearing out, I'd say that there is a fairly good bet she is not going to be a vet.

Hexes Again

Another distraction. Again. It has been a busy but fun day and I even managed to dodge the rain. I have moved back to doing some more hex terrain. A while back I came up with an idea for using my dining table for wargaming. Being a round table, and not especially big, it isn't all that useful so I had to figure a way around it. So no squares. Hexes on the other hand work fine.

So the plan was I can manage to fill a table with hexes about four hexes to a side with connectors to secure it. To my mind five would be better but the table just isn't big enough. My cutter won't do four hexes but it will do three. I was also thinking I might need a bit of flexibility if I want to use the existing road and river hexes. So a set would start with eighteen tiles

In an ideal world I would like a set for each of my planned biomes. This would start with the standard green fields and the ruined urban set would be next. Then there are some mud tiles, bad lands, desert and my sci fi urban set (a hex with hexes on it). These all need to be able to integrate with transition tiles. The sci-fi urban set probably need a full set but the other only need a half set at most. Along with a load of transitions.

Halfway With The Halflings

In truth I am a long way off halfway through the project. It's been a busy day with a lot of distractions. The weather would prove the Americans view of the UK quite badly. Still it will only get worse and I feel like I am tempting fate as I type.

There is some progress. Not enough for me to think I am about to finish any time soon. There is a lot of detail in modern G Dub minis. Whilst I hope to get stuff done quickly, it is seldom the case with Blood Bowl.