My copy of version 2 of Chain of Command arrived today. Packed perfectly and just needing me to sit down and read it, which is the plan.
Then, I shall go back and revise my draft of Big Little Wars. That's the plan.
Plans don't always survive contact with reality. In my case, finding enough spoons, which have been in short supply this year, hence my lack of post.
It is what it is. Catch you all on the bounce.
My beloved decided she would buy me a new Dremel to replace the old one I broke one, which had delivered sterling service for nearly 25 years, before I busted it.
The old one was 125 watts, my new one is 175 watts. So it has a lot more oomph.
We also got a new hot glue gun because working on the trees has led me to the conclusion that sticking seafoam to Woodland Scenics armatures is tricky.
I tried E6000 plus, but it takes too long to set and the seafoam sags. I also got some spray contact adhesive to try, but it's way too messy for the confined area I have to work in.
So, hot glue it is.
Again, I'm doing fiddly small stuff so need to be able to control the flow, and my old glue gun was anything but easily controllable.
Those who follow me on Facebook will know that I broke my Dremel. Too much force when using it caused a stall, and it stopped working.
The saga of trying to find a spare rivals one of the greatest tales ever told (only a slight exaggeration). This armature is no longer made, but we have the internet, and I found samples for sale around the world.
Huzzah! All good, right?
Nope. The Australian dealer won't ship internationally, and the Italian dealer can't ship to the UK either, Which sucks.
So I moved to Plan B.
Plan B was to try a physical repair of the damaged commutator, which Susan did, as it required soldering the delicate broken wires together. Afterwards I did the less delicate gluing, and bodging to secure the broken piece so that it won't come apart at 33,000 rpm.
That repaired failed, so now I moving to Plan C and buy a new Dremel.
I came across this video, Miniature Figurines in the Old Days, quite by accident while perusing YouTube, as one does. I'd heard of the technique, but never seen it demonstrated.
I'm glad my experience back in the day was with wax for making jewelry lost wax masters, because soldering and carving metal is a bitch.
Consider this a public information broadcast.
A model of Thunderbird 2 set against the palm trees I've been working on; apropos to celebrating the passage of years, which I thought to share as an amusement, because birthdays are worth celebrating.
And Susan ran my picture through Photoshop to add a proper background.
What is a wargamer? And is it different for everyone? A tongue in cheek response.
Setting: A club room where the Grognard, an old wargamer is listening to classical music, sat with a brush painting lace and facings on some Napoleonic figures, with an open reference book at hand.
[Sound effect: a knock on the door]
The Grognard says, "Enter!"
A portly wargamer enters, wearing thick rimmed glasses and asks, "Is this the old Grognard wargaming club meeting room?"
"Yes it is. I am the Grognard. As you can see, I am the wargamer who always has a reference book open, while painting lace and facings on Napoleonic figures.
"I see."
Grognard continues. "I am also the wargamer who says, playing with toy soldiers doesn't mean we're childish warmongers."
The Portly wargamer replies, "I am the wargamer with a mean streak to my character. You will find that I am always rolling my dice, [rolls two D6 on the table] like so. I disapprove of other wargamers who paint lace and facings on their figures. And I am always the one who checks the rule book [as he opens a rulebook] and shouting, that's not what the rules say!"
[Sound effect: a knock on the door]
The Grognard says, "Enter!"
A young wargamer, dressed in a black leather jacket that has the name of a heavy metal band on the back enters, sneers, and says, "Old Grognard wargamers, allow me to introduce myself. I'm the young unconventional wargamer who unsettles everyone in the club by playing science fiction and fantasy wargames. As you can see I sneer at wargamers who obsess over historical details."
[Sound effect: a knock on the door]
The Grognard says, "Enter!"
A slightly effete, well dressed wargamer enters the club room. "Good evening gentlemen. I am the wargamer who cares not for tradition and silly superstitions about lucky dice.
Everybody says, "Welcome!"
"However, you will notice I wear a cravat, and well fitted clothes. I have bathed before coming and therefore lack any unpleasant body odours. I have spent many happy hours painting terrain, and discussing Clausewitz's the science and art of war."
All: [sentimentally] Aaah.
"The reason for wearing a stylish cravat and my effete manner is never explained."
[Sound effect: a knock on the door]
The Grognard says, "Enter!"
Paint it Pink enters. "Forgive my late arrival, I bathed before coming and took time to dress well..."
The stylishly dressed wargamer, clearing his throat, says, "No, I am afraid that role is already taken, I'm sorry."
"... But of course." Changing tack she says, "I wear a black leather jacket and play science fiction and fantasy wargames."
The young wargamer interrupts, "I think you will find that is me, old woman."
Then Paint it Pink says, "I'm the wargamer who picks up the rule book and..."
The portly wargamer shouts out, "That's not what the rules means!"
Desperate to find her role she says, "I am the wargamer who always uses reference book, while painting my figures..." But stops speaking as she sees the Grognard reading a book with a paintbrush in his other hand. And asks, "...while listening to classical music?"
The Grognard, apologetically says, "I'm afraid so."
"You leave me no other choice! I am the wargamer who is outwardly calm but, subject to sudden [slams fist on table] and inexplicable 'fits of temper'!"
All: Aaaaah!
THE END.
With apologies to Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones, and any wargamers who might feel seen.
Having survived another year around the sun it's that time for resolutions, except I don't do them because the reality is that it is very hard indeed to keep to resolutions that require substantial change.
So, as I posted on my other blog, I'm going to wing it as usual.
Above is the current state of affairs on my workbench, sadly mostly neglected over the holidays, though I did do a small amount of painting to make some older models painted yellow pop a bit more.
Which means paint some
miniatures, and keep
doing because they're fun things I enjoy doing.
Or Happy Hols, Merry Xmas, and any other alternative greeting that is appropriate. I'm ecumenical about celebrating at this time of the year.
Another picture taken by my beloved of our tree. She is the light of my life. So from us both, have a lovely day and catch y'all on the bounce.
Three takeaways from the 2023 Great Wargaming Survey are resin printers are popular, 98% of wargamers are in the hobby for life, and the average age of historical wargamers is rising.
Actually, go watch the video, it's worth watching.
My takeaway, we are all getting older, even us SF &F wargamers. The survey while an outstanding achievement is still self-selecting for those who know and can be bothered to answer. Caveat, none of us are getting younger.
That's all. Sharing because I care about stuff I do.
It has been a long time since I posted a Thanksgiving post, but today we're recovering from last night's meal with Susan's colleague from work, Simon Bland, who really appreciated being invited to share a feast with us. He's lovely.
And while Simon didn't want his picture taken, and Susan was far too flustered to have hers taken, she took a lovely picture of me, which I'm going to share just because I love her for taking it.
Y'all have a great weekend, and catch you on the bounce.
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| Decals to do, but otherwise done. |
And here we are. The end of another year. And here I am slipping in the last painted miniatures of 2022.
It has been a quiet year on the blog, for reasons. Those being the need to get my arse in gear and back to writing, which has not gone as well as I would like. Add to that ongoing health issues and here we are.
But, making and painting models have been good for my general well-being. So no grumbles.
I don't make resolutions as such, though I have some goals for next year. Namely get a working draft of Big Little Wars written. The current one is a mess, bloated, over written, and not working as it should to be a set of understandable rules.
That comes from having large aspirations to be the best rules I could write. Failure to deliver said rules being its own critique. But, I can learn from that, and remain hopeful I can pull the rules together.
After all, how hard can it be? Hard, but not impossible.
So, Happy New Year to one and all. Let's hope 2023 is better than the last three years.
Posted a little later than I intended due to circumstances beyond my control. They say timing is everything, and this post illustrates this succinctly. Something about prior planning prevents poor performance.
This year is another low key Xmas.
Given the state of the world this seems to be a thing. The presents under the tree were all things we agreed on, at least in principle, that we both wanted to read or watch together.
That's all. Catch y'all on the bounce.
A year that can best be described as a good example of the Curate's Egg. Bad, but needing to find something good about it because, otherwise the horribleness of it all just gets you down. Time as they say to turn lemons into lemonade.
An opportunity to try and makes the best from all the bad happening around us. So Merry Christmas one and all.
I've been interviewed and talked about Japanese mecha, science fiction and warfare in the shape of mecha and wargames.
Hear me speak in Episode 72: Mech Mania is live!
And, having listened to myself yack on, I can authoritatively say the word of the day is Absolutely.
I use it so often in the podcast that one could turn it into a drinking game.
If anyone does, please let me know what happened so I can add the number for that totally authentic Sesame Street vibe.
Bring it on. Anyone who doesn't think that the future has robots in it is sorely mistaken. I've lived with a love for robots ever since I was a child, and now the science, material technology, and engineering have come together.
Real robots.
Now all we need to do is start making them large enough to ride on, or ride in, and mecha will a thing.
Note: Always remember to consult a science fiction author before introducing robotic mechanisms into the world. Adverse, or unintended outcomes for human civilisation sometimes arise.
My Xmas present; an electronic microscope to see the smallest details.
Well, what a year that was.
The least productive year I've had since I started this blog in August 2009. And I missed celebrating 10 years of blogging back in August too!
This has been down to a number of issues: pain in my joints, and the side-effects of medication, which has meant not being able to either hold a paintbrush in one hand or a miniature in the other at the same time.
If you want the full litany of problems of the last 10 years, go to my other blog for all the gribbly details.
Finally, I'm not one for making New Year resolutions, because by and large that's setting oneself up for failure, which can be useful if you "go large" and fail, but not so useful for a hobby that's just meant to be fun.
So let me wish everyone happy modeling and gaming for 2020, and I'll catch you all on the bounce.
Where did December go? Actually, this year seems have rushed by me, and not for any good reasons, but enough of that.
Thank you all for following my blog. Now it is the time to wish you all a Merry Christmas.
See you all in the New Year.
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