Saturday Surprises!

Before I start all of the usual stuff, I'd like to welcome the newest follower of my humble Blog; Gaz.

...WELCOME GAZ! I hope you enjoy perusing my meanderings through the hobby world.

So, why a Saturday post this week? Well, I received a parcel that I wasn't expecting from my friends at Hasslefree Miniatures. Inside was a die-cast Scopedog in just the right scale:

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I mentioned on various forums that I needed one for my future projects and Kev said he had one to send me with my next order...but I didn't make an order and he turned up any way! How cool is that? Well, not nearly cool enough as it happens. Why? Well a few months back there was a 'Sculpt a Kev' competition on the Forum of Doom. A 'Naked Kev' miniature was sent out to all those who wanted to take part so that it could be converted in what ever way you felt. I, like so many others, sent my conversion off to Hasslefree and waited for the response. Well, below, is the response:

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Yes, that's right, everyone who sent in a conversion got their miniature cast! That means that I now have my first work 'In the Metal'! You can see a pic of my efforts below:

Click the Pic!

It is a future warrior wearing armour similar to a Grymn and armed with an auto-gun and power-glove...you never know...it may become available in the Hasslefree shop in the future!

...So to say that I was awoken with a great surprise this morning was a huge understatement!

My huge thanks go out to Sally and Kev at Hasslefree Miniatures!

...By the way...Happy 40th birthday Sally...you'd better have a great one!

Catch you on the sunny side!

Thursday THUNDER!

I have had a bit of time to play with plastic and glue today. As a result, I have added a bit more to my stealth fighter:

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As you can tell, I'm still fleshing out the shape but it looks a bit more substantial now. In fact, it may end up a stealth fighter-bomber if it gets any more substantial.

Well, there is a lot of trimming to do and a few more panels to fit before I get anywhere close to detailing but I think it is going in the direction I want.

Comments are welcomed!

See you on the flip-side!

Wednesday is Cutting Day...

I have been driven to dig out the plasticard and have a go at something new. As you will see, this is only at the very early stages of filling out a shape but here is the beginning of a Grymn stealth fighter:

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There are a few things to note about the design. First, the two intakes will merge into a central exhaust outlet that will be shrouded for stealth properties.

The front will have a narrower 'pod' which will jut out further than the front is now and will have a pair of canards for control and frontal lift (what with the wings being quite far back) and will also contain an angular cockpit.

It will have a standard tricycle undercarriage (with wheels).

Weapons haven't been thought about yet...

...So, who do we blame for this sudden burst of plastic chopping madness? Brandlin:

http://brandlin.blogspot.com/

Check out the drop ship...it is very inspiring.

See you on the dark side!

Monday with a bump.

Rain, rain, rain...anyone would have thought I had the day off work...

I have been on-line a lot today and have ordered a few bits and pieces to satisfy my current craving. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a plastic kit of a Scopedog in 1/60 scale but I did manage to find a die-cast action figure in the required scale...so it wasn't all bad. I also had to buy a few extras to meet the minimum order cost...so I have a couple of 1/35 scale Votoms kits coming as well. It is a shame that I couldn't get the kit that I wanted but I think what I did buy will at least be a point in the right direction...we'll see I guess. The downer is that I had to send them to my mother-in-law's because I'm in the process of moving so I'll have to wait a few weeks to get my hands on them.

In between bouts of web-wandering, I have managed to finish off my Interpol troops:

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Yes...I could have added a few more highlights...yes I could have added some insignia...but I think that they look OK as they are and have a certain dark-inconspicuousness so that they could be standing at a street corner and you wouldn't really notice they were there...

...well, apart from varnish, they are done so they will be packed away for the move very soon.

As you may have noticed, I am not quite as dour today. I haven't drunk a bottle of Merlot and I am not dwelling on the sadness of war. Every now and then, it seems that these things just catch up with you...better out than in and all that.

I haven't a clue what hobby meanderings will be gracing these pages over the next couple of weeks because all but a few of my miniatures are packed away and I don't feel that I can get my teeth into a big project until I'm unpacked in my new home...so you never know, there may be a surprise or two.

See you on the dark side!

A path well trodden...

Another Sunday and another post on the blog. I have had a week of this and that and in amongst things I have traveled to England, got the keys for a new house and even managed to slap a bit of paint on my Interpol troops:

Click the Pic!

As you can tell from the pic, they are far from finished but they have progressed quite a bit since the last pic.

I am currently in crisis. I have been getting completely obsessed with Armoured Troopers Votoms lately and it just won't go away. It is getting to a point where I will HAVE to get hold of a 1/60 scale Scopedog kit or I will go completely mad (well...madder than I am now...if that is possible!).

I have a plan, you see...

...rank upon rank of piloted robot suits with transport vehicles, technical back up and a few defensive troops (just to protect the suits when they are not being driven).

The only problem is that even if I manage to get hold of one of the long out of production (OOP) kits, I won't be able to get hold of enough to satisfy my obsession so that means I have to use the kit as inspiration, build my own out of plasticard and green-stuff and then get to casting them up (something that I have never attempted)...I guess we shall see where that takes me (and whether anything comes to fruition...). Obviously, they will be Grymn based...

On another note, I bought a book of poems to keep me busy whilst waiting for my plane at the airport. I must have got some funny looks because I laughed out loud on a few occasions while I was reading.

With great sadness and in memorium, I will now re-produce one of the poems to remember those British soldiers who have recently died, with honour and distinction, in Afghanistan.

The Soldier
If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever Britain. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
a dust whom Britain bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of Britain's, breathing British air,
Washed by the rivers, blessed by sons of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by Britain given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under a British heaven.

I have changed 'England' to 'Britain' in order to reflect the fact that Welsh, Scotish and N.Irish soldiers are serving in afghanistan...and some are amongst those who have fallen.

This is the only poem that I know of, that completely sums up how I feel about the situation.

May they rest in peace.

See you on the dark side.

The Loooong Sunday.

It has certainly been a long day today. I was up at 06:15hrs and went into work to play with my helicopter. Once I'd waved it away and got back home it was nearly 10:00hrs so it took a little longer than I was hoping...but that, as they say, is life in a blue suit.

I was up late on Friday night watching a film (Magnum Force...a classic) and got disturbed early on Saturday morning by 'the neighbours' so today I am feeling a little jaded. When that happens, I generally don't feel like doing very much in the way of painting or hobby stuff but I always become agitated and can't decide what I want to do (it drives my wife to distraction). Well, on this occasion I had a bit of a root through my cupboard and found a bunch of old minis hiding away. There was a pack of ten with cast on bases but two had their bases 'crudely' removed (along with bits of their feet). Normally, I would have left them as they were and looked else where for something to tinker with but for some reason I decided to dig them out and base them up. After basing them and repairing a few feet, I started painting and here is where I am at the moment:

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The miniatures are from East Riding Miniatures and they are Interpol troops from their Corporate Wars range. The little chap is there just to show you how tall they are (taller than a Space Marine from GW even!). They are extremely simple sculpts with no extra detail but they are quite nice to put paint on. I think they are supposed to be a bit like future SWAT troops but I'm painting them with a military slant. I may get more in the future but I doubt it...these are being painted because I'm not worried about messing them up (as they aren't in any of my big plans...unlike all my Grymn).

What else have I been doing? I've been reading 'The Watchmen' graphic novel.
Is it a good read? The comic bit is but all of the superflous rubbish isn't. Why spoil a good comic book by having proper book pages in it? Hardly very fair is it? I am enjoying the read though (mostly because I have been ignoring the book pages).

This week I get to see my new home for the first time. I'm sure it will be just as 'adequate' as this one but it always makes me feel aprehension. At least it will be in Blighty! I'd live in a box to get back there again!

Well...that is about all I have at the moment so I'll bid you farewell for the time being.

See you on the dark side!

Friday.

What a week! So much to do with so little time. Sleep? What the hell is that? It's too damn humid to sleep! On the bright side, it's Friday at last. That means I have a couple of days to get away from it all...apart from Sunday (when I have to go to work in the Morning...but at least I get to play with real helicopters...so it can't be ALL bad, can it?).

So...with packing aplenty and lots of trips to the dump, I guess I'll not have too much time for the hobby this weekend...but you never know :).

Well, I've finished painting Sola:

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You could say that she is painted in an explosion of colours but I think it makes a change from a lot of the drab stuff I've been painting lately...

...mind you, looking at all of the crew so far, I guess they aren't as drab as they could be:

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The last one (before the release of the mystic Panda), is the robot and he still needs a bit of putty work before paint goes on and I doubt that he'll get any before the move.

To be honest, I've got a lot on my mind at the moment...a fighter squadron for a start...a group of 'giant robot heroes' (made from super-deformed Zakus), a 'Dark-Grymn' gang (to go with the Grizzlies), a tank squadron backed up with APCs and infantry...but it is all on hold until I've moved, unpacked, put in a few orders (for TOYS!!!!) and bought an airbrush...THEN I can start on the Macross mechs, Pilum dropships, Tiger APCs and a host of other projects...

...obviously I'm thinking about the move...but that's just boring, isn't it?

Tree Poem

If I was a tree,
I'd have green leaves
And live with other trees
And all together,
We'd be a wood...
...Now wouldn't that be good?

See you on the dark side :).