Busy With Insomnia

I seem to be busier than usual. It is that time of year. My sleep patterns are pretty peculiar at the best of times. As soon as the clocks go back they go crazy. This may explain why I have been awake and farting around since 5am. This may explain why  I managed three posts yesterday and October is becoming my busiest month for blogging in almost a decade and almost the busiest ever.

Given the level of insomnia, I suspect I am about to crash. Still I better make the most of it. Back to the Halflings.

Patrick Stewart RIP

Another sad day for the sci-fi nerd in me. I heard that Patrick Stewart has just died.

So back in the mid eighties, I liked to watch by horror film I could get hold of. This is back in the days of VHS and an absence of  age checks. Given my height, demeanour and facial hair, I had been able to get away with renting the best horror films since I was 14. I had a few favourites, mostly involving zombies, or something like that. 

One such film was Lifeforce. Not true zombies but something like space, zombie vampires. So perfect for me. This is the film where I first remember seeing Patrick Stewart. A classic Shakespearian actor in a trashy British horror film.

Images of him have featured in my blog many times. My image of him is as Mr Perdue, the maître d at the L'Idiot restaurant has become my personal motivator on many occasions. This was a character that touch a place in my head that perfectly matched my sense of humour. Rewatching him in L.A. Story is one of my favourite things to do. 

This was all before Star Trek: The Next Generation. This still continues to be relevant for me down to the image of his face on a Christmas jumper, surrounded by snowflakes over the words "make it snow, make it snow, make it snow". I watched every episode of this show. Multiple times. Star Trek is the other faith from my Sci Fi pantheon but it is a pretty cool one.

He has been in a lot of other stuff over the years. Not least of which was Coronation Street. This was a bit part in a show that would mean nothing to anyone beyond the UK. As the voice of Avery Bullock in American Dad always amused me. Not to mention being the best version of Professor X.

Just as a side note, I saw the band of the Guards doing a tribute to Patrick Stewart. They did however play the wrong theme.

Direction Of Travel

A bit less ranty today. I had planned for this to be my day this week. I sat down at the bench at about 07:30 with a view to getting things done. This went well until about 10:00 when the real world stepped in. Again. Still around all the stuff going on I managed to do a bit of shopping and get a haircut.

Unlike my recent past, I had a desire to finish some stuff off. This was not going to be the halfling Blood Bowl Team. I figured I could finish off the hexes I had been working on. The general idea was to finish off some edge hexes. Enough for my table at least. So this is what I did. As these are now interlocking hexes I need to finish off some more before the sets are complete. This involves roads, paths and tracks and some rivers and streams. The next project perhaps? This is just for the green scenery. There are half a dozen other sets to do although not all need as many pieces as this. Only most of them. My hex project is a long and ongoing project. There are a few more pages of hex terrain here.

There is also some progress on other terrain. This is just a piece of scatter terrain. It is made of bits of an old and broken Star Wars toy. Although primarily done for Star Wars Legion, I can dozens of uses for it. The basing bits are finished but I still need to paint up the metalwork. I appreciate that this is probably the wrong way around.

Finally I did make some progress on the aforementioned Blood Bowl halflings. Not as much as I would like but still this is me heading in the right direction Of travel.

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.

Wash Day

So I have done some terrain painting over the last couple of days. Most of which is still wet. I've used a lot of wash to get this done. Not something I have bought. This is way too expensive for this sort of work. So I make my own.

It's mostly water with some matt medium and flow improver. Lastly, a bit washing up liquid, measured in drops. Aside from the ink, it was about £12 all in. Another £4 for each colour of ink you need. So far, it's lasted about four years. So probably another two to go before I run out. I probably won't run out of ink by then. Well maybe the black.

I have used it on minis. It works fine. The pro stuff is a fraction better. So I probably wouldn't use this on anything I want to be the best it can be. It is perfect for terrain. So I call it terrain wash.

Moving on to the next project....

End Of The Week - With Added Zomtober (25)+(2)

Note to self. Did send it to be published on Sunday. Instead I booked to be posted at point in the future. I hit the wrong button apparently.

...

It's been a week of some progress. Not the greatest in general though. I have hit and surpassed the painting target for the week. Which is nice. The New Cruelty is happy. There are some new budget toys and even a bit of progress on terrain.

Starting with the zombie. Just the one. Another Warlord Konflict 47 mini. This one is for my sUnderDground project. Along with a big pile of other stuff.

The first bit of the terrain stuff is the Dwemer scenic bits from Skyrim: Call To Arms from Modiphius.I didn't want to use the original bases that came with some of it. An aesthetic choice 🙄. So it should fit in with the rest of my stuff. I did take a copy of the surface of the original bases to make this happen. Not finished, or even primed yet. There are a few other random bits of terrain that needed to be prepped, so they are in there too.

I've had a pile of wooden terrain features (yes made of plastic) sat around for a few months. Mostly for fantasy games but I figured I also needed terrain for Sludge. It got primed a month ago so I figured I better do something with it. It's had a couple of colours put on the plastic and a wash. Once the basing is finished, I will give everything a dry brush to make the colour pop a bit. This includes assembling the last four 20' cargo containers from Wargames Atlantic.

These are the last eight of the Warlord  28mm WW2 Soviets in the active queue. All good so far. Think I need another box to finish off some options. This project can stay on hold for a bit. Maybe come back to it in the new year.

There are some more Imperial Assault bad guys complete too. I am a bit taken aback by the size variation in some of the models. But, well, you know. I have plenty more to do on this project. This includes some more bad guys and a lot of heroes. Still finding that I like this project. There are a few more bits to buy, so I doubt that this project is going away soon.

Whilst I want to get these finished before XCOM arrives, I want to start and finish another project. So Blood Bowl it is next week.

I got hold of some budget metal 28mm Normans a few weeks ago. Whilst I should put a bit more texture on the bases, I am calling these guys done.

I got hold of some more budget stuff (in the region of 20p a figure for most of it. This includes a load of old, old school G Dub skinks. I I already painted up an Imperial ?£#@ton of these a few years ago. I figured what the hell. This would make them into a small, or rather short army.. They have been trimmed from their original bases and I've glued them to smaller bases. There were also a dozen or so Kroot and a couple of random metal minis.

Thanks to the decision to pull out into my lane and stop because they realised they couldn't turn right without hitting another car, I crashed into them. Not my fault, definitely on them. The car is still drivable but even with the minimal amount of damage done to it, there is a good bet it will be a write off. I don't see how this ends up not costing me money. I had hoped to get some more done this week, but my left shoulder is killing me. In the round, I suspect that things might slow down again for a bit. It's probably going to put a dent in my purchasing plans too.

Still I got a bonus day with my daughter, so on balance, an okay week.

Start Of The Week - Blood Bowl Halflings (No Real)

I have a soft spot for hobbits (or halflings if you don't want to get suded). I think it's between my ears. Personally I blame Tolkien (and the thing with elf's ears still annoys me). I have been running a dark age game which I try to secure in myth and history. This kills me because there are no halflings. So any way I can angle them into a game, I will probably take it. I am still looking for the right halfling mins for RPGs. Most are just too 17th and 18th century for my taste. This aesthetic does fit with G Dubs overall Old World vision

Over the years I have not be a big player of G Dub games. Except for Blood Bowl. I have kinda promised myself I will paint at least one Team for the game every year. There is a backlog. Oddly. Part of the great plastic mountain that I hide by trimming stuff from the frames. I brought a box and then got a treeman. Then picked up another team with another treeman on eBay a good few years ago. This Gives me a pretty solid team.

All Star Players are still a bit of a work in progress. I struggle with the idea of a squirrel blitzer, but you know, the older I get, the more open minded I become. If I struggled with that, I really struggle with a blitzer on the back of a sheep. There are a couple of other Star Players as well. In general, I don't see this as a team I would play competitively (but then nobody does), so buying them is a lot of money when I could probably proxy them. Well maybe not Rumbelow Sheepskin (the most 1980s name there is). not sure I could get hold of a suitable sheep.

So there are two Hefties, two Runners and twelve Hopefuls, along with the two treemen. Past experience with the current batch of modern G Dub mins, this is a bigger project than it looks. There is as much detail on was stunty as there is in two regular historical 28mm plastics. The plan is to give it a go. Its a short week for me. 

My usual free time is starting to fade away. I will be happy if they all get finished by the end of next week. In fairness I will be happier still if I can finish this Team before Sunday. If I can stay disciplined, I might just get it done. Just in time to finish off the Imperial Assault stuff before the XCOM package arrives. So the Start Of The Week post is done. Time to get on with it.

Limited Progress

So it is now stupid o'clock in the morning. Insomnia is fun. I should be making a determined attempt to get some sleep. Just a quick post first. Tomorrow should be a daddy daughter evening but she is away, so I am at a loose end. I would much sooner be spending time with her than blogging to be honest.

I have made a bit of progress. Not to mention getting some getting some other jobs done. Today feels like a positive break. I've put a few jobs to rest and can move on.

After getting my second box of Wargames Atlantic Cargo Containers, I have got them glued together. So I now have eight of them. I will look at priming them is the weather is good. Nothing too fancy. Will attempted to give them a coloured prime, rather than a fancy paint job. Hopefully these will be ready by the time the XCOM Miniatures Game comes around.

Start Of The Week - Same As The Last Week

The Start of the Zomtober week is here. There are a couple of WW2ish minis on the bench for this. Hopefully this will. Last week was a mix of Start Wars Imperial Assault and WW2 Soviet infantry. This week is going to be pretty much the same. 

I am a fair way through the Soviet project now. As you can see, I got carried away. There are a fair few of them left. I am eyeing up a box of Siberian Veterans. This is more of a way to get some HMGs. Maybe fill in a few gaps. As there is a metric xxxxton of them already, a bit of variation wouldn't go amiss and I need to sit down and work out an army. I could use a bit more in the way of heavier weapons too and maybe an NKVD squad. The plan was for ten more this week but I only have 8 prepped.

I wanted to do a bit more for Imperial Assault. This is a bit of a mix. I want to get the bad guys done first. Some elite stormtroopers. These needs a satin gloss when done. Some of the minis I got had already painted so I have two Royal Guard to paint. The same applies to the two Trandoshans. Lastly there are four Imperial officers. I have some extra minis. The plan is to pick a selection of different uniform colours.

Some of the minis I got were prepainted or st least primed. So there are two guards and two Trandoshans to paint. I don't usually paint onto white. I might try it a bit more. This stuff is really shiny though. The paint is running all over it.

I am already part way through putting some minis together. Mostly pinning and gluing metal minis. I have some stuff for Fallout Wasteland Warfare and Skyrim: A Call to Arms. There has been a really good sale on. I am especially struck by the Dwemer terrain stuff from Skyrim. The best bits of the game were exploring Dwemer ruins. Some of the bits have their own bases. These don't fit with the rest my scenery so I have taken casts of the purchased bases which will go on my usual bases fill in with a bit of texture.

End Of The Week - Getting stuff Done Mk MM (23)+(26)

Another end of the week is here. Ten Soviets and twelve Imperial Assault minis are done. Probably over done what I needed to do. The New Cruelty content. Given it is Zomtober I have a single zombie to add to the pile. So I am calling it twenty three minis for the week. It's not a record breaking week, not even for the year but it is pretty solid progress.

This is my second week of painting the Imperial Assault minis. Got to love the Star Wars stuff. It seems to make sense to do the bad guys first. So... obviously I didn't start out that way. So this week was four Gamorean Guards, four Weequay guards and four HK assassin droids. I am fairly happy with how these turned out. Not my best work but I did put some effort in.

The Soviet infantry is also progressing. I am getting to the bottom of the pile of stuff in the backlog. I am not altogether convinced that I have a workable army.

There are a few one of minis in the group. I am not sure if I need a guy with a heavy machine gun ammunition box or a second medic. But they look good.

I even have a single zombie. A simple nod to Zomtober. My plan had been to get three done but I ran out of time. This is probably going to end up in my Atomfall ish/sUnderDground set.

I ordered some more stuff from Modiphius. I really need to start getting some of this stuff done. There is an awful lot of it, albiet purchased at a 75% discount. I have the XCOM stuff coming soon and I haven't painted my annual Blood Bowl team. I have sixteen halflings and two treemen prepped, primed.and ready to go. Not to mention the Quar Crusaders. And Paranoia. 

Another Busy Day

It has felt like a long day today. New glasses put a bit of a dent in my mood. Grumble, grumble. I had some fun playing Caverna for the first time. I did my usual thing playing board games. The first game often goes insanely well. Having set the bar, things are only going to get worse.

I felt I should get some paint on a few miniatures. There was a need to paint the banaged heads on the Soviets. So I used the colour on some of the Imperial Assault minis. These are not quite done but they are pretty close. The Soviet stuff needs a flesh tone and some patching up. 

A daddy daughter weekend is coming up. So things are going to be busy. Hopefully going to be out and about for a bit and I am told to expect a bike ride. This puts a smile on my face.

I can see that I am going to get the jobs done with a little bit of grace. There is enough certainly about that, that I am already planning what I am going to do next week. 

Progress Via Diversion

It has felt like a crazy busy day. Whilst there was some daddy daughter time, I can't figure out where the rest of the day went. I still managed to find an hour to paint.

I ended up with some excess paint on the pallete. A few times. These made ideal choices for the Quar Chyweethl tractor (definitely not a tank). It's been sat on the bench for a while, waiting to be grabbed up a bit. This is now done. 

Over the years I haven't painted many vehicles. So this is a nice change. It will do some double duty for Sludge too.

I've spent more time on the Imperial Assault minis. These are getting pretty close to done. I am sure there are a couple more colours to do and a wash and the bases. Quite happy with how these are going.

The WW2 Soviets have made some progress. But only just. That said, as a group I need to do the skin tone, find a few small patches on missing colour before getting a heavy duty wash.

I can see some real progress. It seems very unlikely I will finish them off before the weekend. I have three zombies to do then. I might even try and get some more minis prepped and primed.

A Sudden Flurry Of Activity

I feel like kack. For over a week now I've had a cold and although I feel like I am boiling up, the thermometer says no. This means I haven't wanted to move around a lot. So I have not wanted to move far from the last place I sat down, which has recently meant the bench.

There is a bit more to the sudden flurry of work than that. I am enjoying what I do again. So there has been a fair amount of progress already. The end of the week is going to be busy so maybe I am trying to get ahead. This should give me a chance to get ahead so I can paint a few zombies over the weekend. It's Zomtober after all. Having fun regardless.

Start Of The Week - A Mixed Bag

Assuming the mojo stays with me I have a big plan for the week. Some more So it's. Another batch of Star Wars Imperial Assault minis is next. All bad guys this week. Finally a handful of zombies for Zomtober.

I have twelve Imperial Assault minis in the queue. it should probably be ten but the robots are unlikely to get the most complex paint job. The other minis are from the Jabba's Palace set.

There are another ten WW2 Soviets in the queue. I am a little further through this project than I thought. I should have worked through what I have before the end of the month.

Lastly I have some more zombies. More Konflict 47 freebies. I need to prime the zombies before I paint them. These will not be getting the full treatment but they should end up being good enough.

Zomtober - Week One

How did I forget about Zomtober. I found myself with a bit of extra time. So why not?

I do love free stuff. These came on the front of a copy of Wargames Illustrated. They were designed for Conflict 47. All the minis I have for this game came of the front of a magazine. They are expensive for what they are so if WI could get some of the British Army robots, I will buy a dozen copies.

In all honesty I don't need any more WW2 zombies. I have an Imperial Feckton of metal ones somewhere. My inspiration comes from playing Atomfall but translating it to the 1980a and my attempts to create sUnderDground, a post apocalypse setting based in London.

An Early End Of The Week (20)+(4)

Here I am again. It feels like it has been a breeze this week. I will have to up my game. Everything I set out to do this week is now done. Maybe I will start next week's work early. I need a break first. And a cup of tea.

With the Star Wars Imperial Assault stuff I chose to start out mostly with the good guys. The Jaws is definitely a bad guy. I should probably look at doing some bad guys next.

The minis appear to be mostly in the 28mm scale. There are some that are definitely a bit larger but not big enough for Legion. 

The WW2 Soviets project is moving forward. There are still plenty more to do. It's not a forever project but it is one that looks like it is going to run for a while.

Still. I have some command figures and the first weapons group. I should really get around to finishing the project but I need to get some more stuff. So I should probably work out what I need to buy. Not planning on doing that any time soon. One of the minis below hasn't been based properly. He is a crew member for a mortar so will get based up with the other one. Eventually.

It is looking like this weeks two projects are going to continue. I am tempted to move on to the Quar. This should probably be the next project. I would like to get the other two finished first.

Earlier today I acquire some more car boot bargains. Some bits and another four Normans. These have already been attached to new bases and the glue is drying. Whilst not badly painted, they are not to my taste. The ironwork has a bluish tinge to it which doesn't really fit with my own work.

I am feeling a bit more positive about the future at the moment. There is nothing specifically that has happened to bring this about. I can see something that looks like a timeline ahead. It has been a while since I felt this way. So I can't really complain.

Real Progress

Insomnia is a wonderful thing 🤔. Due to waking up remarkably early and finding myself at my workbench since 7am, I've gotten quite a lot done. I now need a bit of a break and something to eat. So I m off for lunch, a brew and to watch some TV.

I am already thinking about what to paint next week. There is a lot of shiny out there. I can see the release date for the XCOM Miniatures Game getting closer. Before that arrives I would like finish all of the WW2 Soviets done before that. On point of principle if nothing else. I'd also like to get all of the Imperial Assault minis done as well. 

I can't be bothered to put a specific number on how many of these there are. More than eighty and less than a hundred. So probably there is just enough time to finish them off. 

So XCOM will arrive and then probably on to the Quar to finish off the Crusader (what I have prepped anyway). Wargames Atlantic seem to be getting a disproportionate amount of my money just of late. I strongly suspect that there are enough have to buys coming out that I know that some of my money will be going their way, if indirectly. The Gladiators and the Baron's War Outlaws seem like a certainty. I am guessing that the UAMC Hard suits, the Militant Monks, the Monstrous Mutations and maybe some of the fantasy packs may be on their way. Eventually. Christmas is coming. It's my birthday soon too. Maybe I won't have to wait until next year.

I managed to get some more work done later on. They are not done but they are a lot closer than I expected. Some more washes, a bit of touching up with a little bit of tarting up to give them a little bit of pop and they should be done.

Progress, Or Something Like That

Having had a bad night last night, I am now wide awake. Time I should at least make an attempt at sleeping. I've got a low key cold which isn't helping. So carrying on regardless. It's been a cat nap kind of day.

I was beginning to think I wasn't going to make much progress. However I did better than I thought. I've got three full colours done and another four colours on some of the minis. So actual real progress.

The Imperial Assault stuff is a bit basic. This makes them easy to paint but very hard to paint well. Whilst not quite a uniform colour across the group, I am trying to a degree of commonality.

The Soviet stuff is more "uniform" but in many respects, are not the same as the other minis. I think these are all metal or resin, unlike everything else do far, which has been plastic.

If I put some effort in tomorrow, I might just get this done. The New Cruelty would be happy if I manage to make my target.