So long 2013, Fuck You!

Apologies for the F-Drop in the title, I know not everyone will appreciate it, but that's the only way to sum up how this year has gone.

2013 started pretty poorly and steadily got worse, levelling off at pretty crap in November. Frankly I'm glad to see the back of this year, but I'm tentatively looking forward to next year, hopefully get some better news in the first few months.

Also a quick thanks to my friends and family, the guys at the club and all my internet friends for helping me out over the last twelve months!

Have a great new year everyone.

Kindle Purchases

Ok, it turn's out that Sunday evening wasn't a good night for some painting; rather it was for sleeping a few hours on the couch!  Still, off for a few days now, so I'm bound to get something done.

One thing I've discovered about the Kindle: not only is it great for reading books and wargames rules, it's also really easy to spend money on!  I've picked up a couple books this weekend, notably:

I would have probably picked up the whole Osprey Legends series at some point, but these two were 99p and 49p respectively, bargain.  Admittedly, I'm still getting accustomed to not having the physical book, but reading is surprisingly comfortable.  The Thor book in particular has thrown up a number of things I wasn't familiar with.  Great artwork throughout too!

The Arthur book less so, but I did study Arthurian literature (mainly Thomas Malory and Sir Gwain and the Green Night) for a semester at university, so am a bit more familiar with those legends than the Norse.

Xmas Update

Well I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas (or at least the day off work!)  I was certainly glad of the day off, my first in a wee while, and managed to lounge around in the sack until eleven or so.  Stirred into motion by the smell of bacon, it was soon time to exchange gifts.

The old man really pulled a surprise by picking me up a Kindle.  I've been wanting to replace the tablet pc (which the ex has, I got the laptop) since the summer and this is a fits the bill perfectly.  Aside from ebooks, which I'm not particularly sold on anyway, it's great for surfing the net whilst chilling in bed or on the couch.  It plays my music and audiobooks too, which I'm getting used to, and is fantastic for reading wargame rules and pdfs.

Other than that, I was given a new Osprey book, Jackson's Valley Campaign and the latest Scott Lynch book, Republic of Thieves.

On a whim, I ordered a Christmas Crazy Box 2013 from Mantic Games.  It's essentially a lucky dip box with a random assortment of miniatures from their various ranges.  My box included two Dreadball MVP players, including the only giant figure I don't own, some elves, three ogres, ten human spearmen, five space Dwarves with heavy weapons, two space Orx with heavy weapons, two wonderfully weird Deadzone figures and a random playing piece figures (no idea what it actually is.)

I'm happy enough with the purchase, in terms of RRP, it's great value.  Of most immediate use, are the Dreadball giant and the Ogres.  The elves and spearmen should also see some use, probably in a skirmish game or an RPG.  The rest are all nice enough, the Dwarves (Forgefathers?) in particular are much nicer than the website photos suggest, and should see some paint on them at some point.  The Crazy Box is still on sale, so it's a nice purchase if you fancy some random fantasy/sci-fi miniatures.

Earlier in the year, I joined the Blogger Secret Santa that was going around.  Sadly, my present hasn't turned up yet (boo-hoo I know,) but that wasn't solely why I joined.  I'll keep faith in the blogging community, and the Royal Mail, that something will turn up in the next few days!

In terms of the Painting Challenge, the last week or so was a bit of a bust!  Just far too busy with work and the occasional social functions i.e. nights in the pub, to get time to pick up the brush.  Today though, I managed to prep the next few entries and, after days of terrible weather, get some spray priming done. Sunday night feels like a good time to get some painting in, doesn't it?

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.  I hope everyone is getting what and to do what the want today!

I've just finished a nine day run of busy days at work, so, at 9:30 in the morning, I'm still lounging in bed.  Can't see myself getting up soon either!  Until next time, enjoy the obligatory Sophie Howard & friends boob pic!

10mm Roman Command stand

Here's my first entry into the Analogue Painting Challenge; a 10mm Republican Rome command stand.  Figures are from the Pendraken cavalry pack, nice enough sculpts, but the rest of the pack are all one pose figures - one of my pet hates!

I want to avoid the whole sea-of-red look for my Romans, so tried using green as the main colour and will probably keep it as the main colour for the legionnaires.  These guys have sat glued to the base since the last year, so it was somewhat apt that I started this year's challenge with them.  4 points done!  Chuffed with that.

Sadly after day two, I'm already a bit behind schedule!  My scheduled day off on Monday went a bit pear-shaped and I ended up working a long shift.  Work and the club on Tuesday meant no activity at all. I managed to get some brushwork in this morning, but am going to have to push Thursday and Friday nights to get the theme weekend entry completed on time. Still, there's plenty of time left, isn't there?

One down, many, MANY more to go!

Well, that's me off the mark, one base of figures painted.  Having written that, it sounds more impressive than it actually is!  I'll have to wait for daylight tomorrow to take pictures, but otherwise I'm happy enough with the days work.  In some fortunate timing, it was my first day off in over a week today, coinciding nicely with the start of the Analogue Painting Challenge.  As a result, I was able to take a few hours to set up my desk how I like, look out some favourite pots of paint and generally gear myself up for the next few weeks.

Like many other participants, I haven't painted anything in the last few weeks, so today was a chance to brush off the cobwebs.  A few thought occurred to me while painting away:

• More light!  After lunch, the natural light on my desk dropped off dramatically.  I'll need to dig out a couple lamps for afternoon/evening painting, maybe swap out to using daylight bulbs too.
• Painting itself is reassuringly satisfying.
• My home-made wet palette is a godsend, particularly useful for correcting mistakes, by keeping original paints usable hours after a first coat.
• Listening material is essential to keeping your brain occupied during the more mundane tasks. Football earlier in the day and the latest D6 Generation episode in the afternoon.
• My points target suddenly seems a long way away!

Another day off tomorrow, so the plan is to finish up another group of figures by the evening. If I manage that I won't feel too guilty about not painting Tuesday while I go to the final club night of the year.

Everyone finished prepping yet?

Only a few hour now until the Analogue Painting Challenge 2014 kicks in.  As plenty of other Bloggers have documented, December has been busy with modelling figures, prepping bases and arguing about exactly what constitutes priming a miniature!

Dreadball figures aplenty!

Although not as much as I'd have liked, I've prepared a few weeks worth of figures; some Dreadball teams, the remainder of my Saga vikings, some 15mm sci-fi reinforcements and a few figures for the lucrative bonus theme weekends.

My Viking army.  Doesn't look like that much work, does it?

It'll be interesting, keeping an eye out to see how everyone starts off the challenge.  I work in retail so this is the busiest time of our year, but I have some painting time scheduled, including tomorrow as a day off.  first goal; to get off the mark.  Best of luck to everyone participating and for those not, I hope it'll be interesting to read about!