If you sit back and look around you for a short while - I mean at the cultural influences, not your living room - you'll quickly conclude that it is now 'hip to be square' or to put it another way, it's fashionable to be a 'Geek'. Let's take a look at what the term actually means in it's original form, and let's go to Wikipedia for the answer: 'The word geek is a  slang  term originally used to describe  eccentric   or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or  enthusiast  or a person obsessed with a hobby or  intellectual  pursuit, with a general pejorative meaning of a "peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to be overly intellectual". OK, I'm good with that... Those of us with a 'certain vintage' may have been - and probably were - bullied harassed and generally given a hard time. It's a common thread, although many deny it

Despite feeling like shite, I have managed to get the security fence and propane storage cage fitted on my OO layout. (yes, the 'legit' business has it's stuff secure, unlike Simmonite's yard) and landscaped in next to Miami Spice (Imports) Limited, prepped a second set of fencing for the BR civil engineering depot, and got the groundwork laid for the motive power shed at the far end of the layout. Quite enough for today and I feel rather tired out now...

The first of my Amtrak consist arrived yesterday and I am very impressed indeed. Fully lit, including number boards and ditch lights, these are truly channeling the spirit of America and the heydays of Amtrak. TTFNMF

North Korean generals, apparently: It looks like they've been co-opted into a solar energy program as collectors.

I have found that toy trains are even more addictive than toy soldiers, and that just like the tiny tin troopers, if you spend money you can get some fine stuff... As I outlined the other day I am commissioning a third bespoke layout after the Christmas holidays - another N Scale layout which, will pretty much fill one wall of my studio on shelf brackets, above the two free-standing layouts already commissioned.  It's a mere 9 inches deep but 13.5 feet long . Still in N scale you can get a LOT into that space without even using scale compression. As with the other N scale layout, I've gone back to Ollie Reading at The Fiddle Yard  www.thefiddleyard.webs.com   Ollie is about half my age but has a pretty solid reputation on the model railroad circuit. What's more, he understands what matters: Communication Frankness Communication Quality Communication Reliability Communication Accountability Communication Competitiv

Straight off the bat I'll say that posts may be sporadic for a while as I focus on work ahead of Christmas (I want to be able to clear my workload for December by the 12th and then I have nearly a month of holiday at my fingertips - muwhahahahahahahahahaha) and to also try and get on top of health issues including this arm and shoulder thing, which it appears is caused by a prolapsed disc about 5 down from my cranium, giving the nerves a hard time. Consequently, going against medical advice I am working my usual 8 hour days and so the thought of typing afterwards is not pleasant. The Renaissance plan has been shelved for a while as I move on to plan and execute the commissioning of a third model railroad set in North America in the late 80s again. I am split between either a Florida themed layout or perhaps Canada. A long, mainly single tracked roadbed with spurs to assorted small industries and a staging yard, representing the 'rest of the world'. The brief to

Now, I am a big fan of the classic 80s film Ghostbusters , for which I make no apologies. I am also a lifelong fan of LEGO. Last year, I managed to get the limited edition 'ECTO-1' which was released for the 30th anniversary of the film and which, sits on the Shelf Of Treasured Things in my studio. Well, LEGO have taken things to the extreme now with the upcoming release on January 1st, 2016 of the Ghostbusters HQ, which is in scale with ECTO-1 model, and which has almost 4500 parts. The price is a pretty reasonable £274.99 and this will mean that I sacrifice about 7.5% of my allocated hobby budget for the year, leaving plenty for the few games related purchases I want and the two conventions (Vapnartak and Britcon) I'll be attending, the rest being set aside for model railway deviancy. More details can be found here:  http://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Firehouse-Headquarters-75827 TTFN

OK, so if you have been finding that all those big, shiny shows in recent years have looked a little like this: And you would rather go to a show which feels like this: Then I would direct you to  PAW 2016 hosted by the Plymouth Association of Wargamers... This is a great show, with a great atmosphere - and a BRING & BUY untainted by mercenary concerns. The show takes place at the start of the next 'campaign season' on  February 6th/7th 2016   At  The Kitto Centre Honicknowle Lane Plymouth  PL5 3NG You can find out more at http://www.paw2016.co.uk/ So, get your wargaming year off to start that will make you feel more like this: And less like this: And now with all that said: TTFN

I've just spent 4 hours with some 20mm/OO scale steel security fencing from Knightwing International. I have built and measured for use, 6 feet of the stuff in that time. That includes building the hinged gates etc. I don't think that's bad at all. I paid £24 for 78 inches but you can get it in 26 and 52 inch packs too. It's great for 20mm scale figures where you want 8.5 foot high fencing, but it would work really well for 6ft type that you see all over the place, if you were wanting something for modern, zombie or post apocalyptic type games in 25/28mm. The mouldings are sharp and clean, and once you have built a couple, it's simplicity itself. There's lots more stuff on the site, but the fencing can be found here: http://www.knightwing.co.uk/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?cart_id=&product=New_Releases&pid=244

A very quick post, as my arm is giving me some real discomfort today... But I still managed to get a couple of hours on my OO layout and Simmonite's Yard is finished at last. Nobody quite knows what goes off, there but that's a nasty mix of chemicals, old dry pallets and propane tanks. I fear that the local Fire Safety Officer and some City Council Enforcement Officers may be making a call. TTFN

About 27 years or so ago, whilst living the life of the tortured Goth sexpot in a shared house, we gamed a hell of a lot and oddly enough, the house was always filled with gamers who had nothing better to do than look for jobs, get pissed in the Limit club and wargame. Usually in the reverse order to that given... The gaming part was was made easier because my girlfriend at the time was often out screwing one of my non-gaming mates, with the odd break to shag a Runequest player or two. Anyway, one of our number who was unlucky enough to still have to live with his parents ( because I think he was supposed to be a virgin when they married him to God or something... I don't recall the exact reason, but that one will do ) walked into the kitchen and excitedly told us how he had been asked to paint an army for another mutual friend, who was a well paid professional in a local hospital mortuary and could afford to have a rank amateur paint his stuff for an inflated price. The

Despite the continuing issues with my right arm (no, it's nothing to do with wanking... I'll leave that to others more qualified) and the arthritis, I've had a really good weekend. Saturday was spent playing boardgames with friends and family, and a jolly time was had, arm notwithstanding. Today was a great day because I managed to get more artwork into the studio, and waved bon voyage to another. I parted - not without sadness - with one of my John Blanche paintings to Jon Boyce of 'Magpies & Old Lead' a rather spiffing blog. In return I received an undisclosed sum, but more importantly I took ownership of 3 Tony Ackland pieces, all of which have been published previously and which I have tried to get Jon to part with previously to no avail (a shrewd man). Anyway, as I wanted to make a few changes in the studio, Jon and I were able to both realise our desires - well, some of them at least. I've also been able to finally get some other pieces onto

After a day of little chores and odd jobs all over town (some holiday eh?) I have spent 5 or so hours finishing that area known as 'Simmonite's Yard' on my OO micro layout. I'm pretty happy with it. It now needs the clutter and 'life' breathing into it. The Nissen hut is lit with the Woodland Scenics system, and the windows to the front are whitewashed to add that little touch of 'KEEP OUT' to it all. Next, I'll crack on with the yard behind it which you can see has a building placed for 'visual planning' but which is untouched. It will have the whole area fenced and gated , the office will be painted, added and lit, with a small fuel tank and B.R maintenance trucks parked outside. To the rear of Simmonite's will be the recently constructed industrial unit occupied by 'Miami Spice (Import & Wholesale)' run by two brothers originally from Puerto Rico who have lived in Florida for the last few ye

Now, before anyone races to 'out me, I used to be an airsofter. In fact I founded the North's largest team back in about 1997.  However, I found this story whilst sitting in the waiting lounge yesterday morning awaiting the fitting of our winter tyres "Mark Izzard, 44, pretended that he was an ex-military man who served with an elite SAS unit in Iraq. His wife Tracey had no reason to doubt his elaborate tales during their 15 years together and believed he had been at war in the Middle East and saved many lives while on missions there. Sadly, she died of cancer three years ago, remaining proud of the heroic serviceman until the end, and  never knowing the truth about her deceitful husband. Izzard told The Sun newspaper that his web of lies began when he played a joke on a woman in a pub many years ago. He then continued with the lies for nearly two decades. "I put some pics on Facebook and the next thing I know I’m getting death threats,&

As you will have noticed, if you've been reading my posts recently, I've been hard at work on a truly massive project for two of my clients, focussing on assorted renaissance armies including 96 figure strong Swiss pike blocks. Now, you may also recall that I had lost my drive for military history, beyond doing my job, but I think a chink has appeared in my armour and the light of wargaming seems to be shining through. I have decided that I will begin work again on an early 16th Century Florentine army, which is to be honest rather vanilla, when compared to other forces of the period. It really is quite plain, but in that, lies it's strength. I play to either the old WRG rules by George Gush, or to La Condotta. The beauty is, that I can point an army up using WRG, but use it unaltered for L.C. The majority of the Italian armies for the period are either filled with a lot of cavalry or have truly piss-poor city state troops. The cavalry is usually impetuous and the

Xmas has come early here at The Tower... My wife has bought me two fantastic sets of N scale rolling stock for my Illinois set up. One set is a grouping of six Chessie System hoppers and the other is a 12 car set of Rail Box cars. Both date to the eighties and will look great in the yards or being pulled in consists at yard speeds. The really anal thing about both sets is that all the cars have different running numbers. Yeah, yeah... I know, 'have I got my flask of weak lemon drink?' Well no but I do have a large glass of red wine at the side of me as I type this. Here's a couple of pics of the  cars in all their glory. TTFN

Well, work continues apace on two of my three railway layouts. The OO layout 'Bright Pastures Yard' is coming on in leaps and bounds with the action shifting to the addition of buildings before the planting of security fencing and then the beginning of the super detailing stage. It's very therapeutic and I am happy to potter here and there, even after a 10 hour shift painting wargames figures. The larger layout 'Somewhere In Illinois' is still under construction by "The Fiddleyard" and as it is all paid for, I am in no rush. It's a large N scale layout set in Illinois in the mid to late 1980s along a semi-industrial valley, where Chessie System, Conrail and Norfolk Southern all have trackage rights. It's coming along nicely now and with 25 points. it's going to be fun to operate. I am anticipating a year of work to get the scenics completed once the basic layout is delivered. During that time I will be commissioning Ollie t

I have now taken delivery of two Kato locos, custom painted and finished in the livery of Norfolk Southern, one of the three rail companies represented on one of my layouts. They have been DCC chipped and are now awaiting delivery of the layout for running in. Lovely! TTFN

Now, I am the first to admit that electricity and I don't mix... That's why I pay people to do the wiring and track installation on my railway layouts. But now, Woodland Scenics have come to the rescue when it comes to the matter of adding lights to structures in any scale. I purhased a set of their new 'Just Plug' lighting today to see if it was anywhere near being a case of 'just plug'. All I can say is that it really is that simple. The lights are variable and what's more you can get several colours. I'll certainly be adding more to my layout, and even to a few wargames projects. The total cost of lighting six buildings will be around £45 with the possibility to add two more for £7.50. Another awesome product from WS.