Russians, Ukrainians, Goblins & Lithe Gothettes, with a special appearance by DEVGRU & Friends

Hi All,

I've been pretty quiet of late, due to a combination of being very, very busy and having to undergo a procedure on my left hand, which was 'fun'.

After said procedure, all I wanted to do, was to visit one of my favourite restaurants, the 'Cavendish' in the grounds of Chatsworth House for four courses of culinary pleasure and the attentive care of the staff, who, I can assure you, are as good as any nursing staff in that regard.

I received a package of my own Satanic Panic Miniatures back from another painter last week, which frankly are not up to snuff. Good manners prevent me from naming the painter, but I'm now having to paint in the eyes and beards, and generally tidy them up for the table myself. Ho Hum! 

My Old School fantasy project really is taking over and I am getting buried under the sheer amount of lead, waiting to be primed, packed and sent to my painter. I think I have about 1500 waiting to be processed in this manner and I really need to spend some time getting my shit in order. However, this weekend is Partizan at Newark, so it'll be at least another weekend away, plus I've got to strip and clean about 30 models.

 

I've been using a brilliant solvent-free, non-caustic stripper called Home Strip which is £24.99 for 2 litres and goes a long way. Once I get them cleaned off, they go in the sonic cleaner at 60 celsius, in a solution of 'Elbow Grease' de-greaser for a final sprucing up. It's working well, and I am able to strip figures again without damaging my hands. YAY!

My home is once again a building site, which I know at the end will look lovely and will be a pleasure to dwell in, but I really don't do well with disruption, so when yesterday I had the fire and fireplace removed with the resulting mess and odour of mortar and plaster, not to mention the gap in the carpet where the fireplace stood, I was somewhat shaken and will continue to be so for around the next 3 months as the living room, dining room, stairs and three gardens are all transformed, along with new window for my studio and a new door for the under house storage. I am not looking forward to it at all...

The builders removed the fireplace and amongst various items which had slipped behind the fireplace since the previous owners had it fitted, were a couple of pics (not to mention a £20 note) which go back to the days when my wife and I first met. Quite a time capsule, as a friend has commented. 

At work this week, I pulled some ridiculous shifts for one of my clients, in order to meet an unexpectedly shortened deadline. Another client was kind enough to allow some switching of his own clots for the month to enable me to complete a rather magnificent Russian & Ukrainian project which saw me produce around 170 different vehicles plus infantry. In each force there are only two identical models, which are the missile launch vehicles which need to be depicted in transit and launch modes.

The models are 6mm models from GHQ with H&R infantry. My client enquired whether I could model a Russian Federation vehicle. I said 'sure', and if you look, you'll find a scratch-built 6mm washing machine, rolled mesh fence and repurposed lamp posts on the back of some vehicles along with more traditional stowage, supplied by H&R:

The brief was a somewhat wide- ranging one, with daubed markings, replaced plates and mismatched turrets and hulls to give that battle weary look, we are becoming so familiar with on the news.

I'm not interested in the politics and arguments of the real world, so please don't get on my back about anything. My job, is to create the world in miniature and do so accurately and beautifully. I think I have done just that. I rarely comment on my own work, but I am proud of this project as it required some long hard days to get it over the line.

Last month I completed a 1:1 ratio Volksturm battalion in 6mm for another highly valued client:

Large projects are what I do... 

That said, yesterday, I put the finishing touches on some Spectre Miniatures 28mm modern forces which are a pain in the ass to paint, to be honest, with variable quality and differing design styles:

I've also been having lucid dreams of late again, in which I am having long conversations with people from my past, both living and passed on, as well as experiencing 3 days in a 4 hour sleep cycle in vivid detail. This has had me reviewing my life and along the way I've been listening to music from a 5 year slot I'd refused to revisit, when I became separated from my original peer group and spent a rather unforgettable (for all the wrong reasons, prior to meeting my wife) time in the Goth scene.

However, I found that by listening to a German internet radio channel '80s80s' I rediscovered some brilliant music, which in turn got me looking at the period from a nostalgic point of view as well as discovering the the band Ghost Dance are still very much alive and making some great music.

So, today Mt Bezos will be delivering me a book and CD:

And so reader, I must bid you a black-eye-linered farewell to go back to the coalface of creative reality for another 9 hours.

TTFN