Clearing a blockage

People talk about writer's block as this affliction that prevents authors from getting constructive work done towards their novel or article. It's a commonly know affliction. Some prolific authors also label it as a myth and the excuse of unimaginative or lazy writers. Myself, I am not sure. I certainly have moments where I know I should be writing a blog post but cannot bring myself to think of anything to write about. I don't think it's a block so much as the result of my brain getting easily distracted all of the time. I am sure I have mentioned before that I try to write at least one blog post a month ( a self inflicted deadline that serves no purpose other than to keep this blog from drying up and ensures I keep my "writing" part of my brain exercised.) You will notice then, that I missed January entirely and February is going to have to be a double post month. 

Some months I have loads to say, a sensible man would therefore save a post or two for later, there isn't really any relevant time stamps on these posts, unless I am discussing a particular show that I am attending. Fundamentally though, this blog has always been a whimsical vanity project so you get what you get.

I have found that blog posts without photos tend to feel short and if I were chasing the stats of people reading this, posts without photos don't "perform" as well. I have been in a hobby free period since Christmas so that has also meant no photos have been taken in January either, that also scuppered any inspiration for a post. Luckily in that respect I am a tiny bit organised.

Since around 2018 when I started this blog, any photos I have taken that are vaguely hobby related have been moved into a "Toy Soldiers" folder on my phone. In more recent years I have discovered that I need a second folder for the same, but photos that have subsequently been posted online, whether it be in this blog, or something like Instagram. It is embarrassing how many there are in both, but luckily having a good couple of hundred in the non used folder means that this post now has some models that I finished painting in September last year.

These are all from Crooked Dice, a company that continues to itch my middle aged mans need for nostalgia. A need for nostalgia that I am fully self aware of as being unnecessary and sometimes disappointing when I scratch the itch. I recently finally got around to watching a DVD in my collection that has sat untouched for years. I watched the first episode of Visionaries,  a terrible cartoon from the late eighties based on a toy range that childhood me was desperate to own, but I know now the toys and the cartoon were both less impressive than any memory of them I might have.

But back to the hobby block, yes I haven't done any hobby this last month, but that's okay. I have spent more time video-gaming, again with a touch of nostalgia. Back when I was a student I remember getting a bit too into playing the Tomb Raider games, late into the night when I probably should have been doing coursework instead. Now I am playing the re-releases of all six games on the Nintendo Switch. I am once again finding myself constantly getting that itch to do just one more level. I did declare before I started this marathon to my family that I would get a bit too distracted with these games and my prediction did come true. This time though, I have managed to keep it just about under control and the time stealing it has created has only been affecting other hobbies and not the essentials, like work, or other adult tasks.

Additionally though, I do think that there is a touch of a mental block at the present with my hobby time. I do have a couple of projects built and primed ready to paint and they just don't seem to giving me the itch to get them done. It's not a problem, I am still playing games at the club and other non war dolly related hobby tasks are getting some attention so it definitely isn't anything that could be described as a "funk". I would probably go as far to say I am just enjoying a short break from the lead. I regularly repeat myself telling you all that hobbies are there to help you when you need them and you should not feel bad for stepping away for a short period. This 21st century obsession with monetising everything in our lives does make me cringe sometimes. A recent tv show about pet cats noted that people buy cats specifically because they think they will be "instagrammable". What happened to just getting a pet! I'm sounding like a grumpy old man, but I don't care, that is ridiculous. 

 So, when inspiration does return, I am sure my obsessive brain will dive straight back in and give me plenty more for me to talk to you about. In the meantime, feel free to keep wasting time scrolling the internet, or paint a toy soldier, or just veg out in front of the tv and watch low budget terrible movies. All time well spent in my opinion.

A very merry Lead filled Christmas to you all

 This will the be the eighth Christmas for Playing with Lead. Not too shabby, eh? I am surprised I manage to find things to write about sometimes, I'm not a YouTube personality constantly being invited to shows or being sent freebie items all the time to review, so sometimes I do just end up waffling about absolutely nothing. I am sure I have probably also repeated myself on the odd occasion. 

This month I did do something exciting though. In the grand scheme of things, loads of people have been and there are posts and videos all over the web about hobbyists making the journey, but to us it was exciting. Like a trip to a tiny wargaming Mecca, we went to Warhammer World.

The Illustrious Opponent, myself and a couple other friends all set off super early on a Saturday morning to make the trip to our Wargaming Disneyland. As it was December it was all decked out for Christmas, with decorations and Christmas related merchandise available to buy. (Not enough though in my opinion, where is the Abbess Sanctorum tree topper?)

We took the obligatory shot in front of the Rhino APC and Space Marine, posing like an ageing soft metal band in the drizzling rain. We actually took this photo at the end of our day and as you can see we are still pretty happy.

The place was busy, obviously, but we did manage to get around the exhibition and see all the amazing dioramas on display. I really enjoyed it and I do think it is worth the entry fee. I would say a couple of negatives though. From my perspective, there was not enough historical models on display, one tiny room at the beginning showing some of GWs earlier work and a couple of cabinets dotted about showing a bit of history. This did mean though that I got to see the actual model from the battle report that inspired my entry into the world of Warhammer 40K

Yep, the original Tycho model back from White Dwarf 166. It was inspiring back then and great to see in real life. 

A couple of the armies on display had been made up from different studio armies, their colour schemes being slightly different shades. Maybe the studio painters didn't write down their paint recipes before passing on the baton to another crew? This is me being picky though. It was still great to be among all those dioramas and one highlight was  a 10 year old boy and one of our party enthusiastically discussing how awesome Orks are and how no-one else understands this.

The displays were impressive and I took an awful lot of photos, most of which don't really come out well as the rooms were actually really brightly lit. A combination of glass cabinets and lots of lights do not great photos make. It does mean though that if you actually go there, everything does look really great.

I must add that we did not just visit Warhammer World that weekend. We had a great welcome at Warlord games store and made some purchases there. We also went to a small independent gathering of traders on Sunday afternoon including Warp miniatures and Ramshackle games among others. We also had a super quick run around Nottingham Castle that was a great deal of fun. 

So, that's it for now, folks. May I predictably take this opportunity to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas, or if this festive period is not your jam, then may you have an opportunity for a rest from the business of life. If you are exchanging gifts, I hope you get that hobby kit you've been using all your maturity to resist purchasing yourself. I am sure you deserve it, even if you already have a stack of unpainted lead to deal with already. 

Happy Christmas all.

Waagh if you wanna go faster!!

The Christmas season is looming fast. My cans of primer are too cold in the garage and it is already dark when i finish work. Luckily working at home means i can nip out at lunch and prime the odd model for painting. Spray cans have to have a good warming hug for a bit as well as the traditional rattle before using. It hasnt stopped me painting, but i have slowed down a bit. Mainly because my leadpile is running pretty low. So low in fact that i have decided not to take part in the Analogue Hobbies challenge this year. I just don't feel I have enough models to paint and post about weekly for a full three months. (I mean I'm not saying i have nothing, the day I have my entire collection painted will be a miracle day.

Gaming wise though it's been pretty busy. We have been playing Heroquest at the club, tried the new Dragon Rampant 2nd edition rules and we are starting a Bloodbowl league. It has been like we are tabletop gaming in the 90's again. Using my Bloodbowl models I did realise they are looking a bit battered and the painted quality is not up to todays standard. I'd like to maybe give them a Biostrip bath and repaint, but I'm not sure I would get them turned around before their next match. It is very tempting to buy a new team though! 

The youngest has done his Warhammer wish list. It's a completely confusing list with models from about four different armies. Trying to explain to the staff member that our kid just wants the models so he can put together his own amalgamated army for Xenos Rampant rather than playing 40K just generated a befuddled reaction. I did try gently pushing the choices towards models i would prefer to paint as it is muggins here that will do the task. I must admit to being bored now of painting Ultramarine Space Marines. 

My own wish list has some more bits to go with my new Ork army i have been having fun painting. The army does now fill the storage currently assigned to it, maybe that is a sign to stop, or buy a bigger box. I wouldn't say no to a Battlewagon. I have already added this beast though:

It had to be painted red as we all know, say with me, 'paint it red and it goes faster!'

I did enjoy the following in the instructions of the 'Snazzwagon':

Turns out it isn't 'quite difficult' it's downright impossible. I ended up snapping his wrist on the arm holding the rollbar. Some extra Tamiya and a pair tweezers solved the issue though.

 The whole project involved building it, pausing midway through, painting details that no-one would see, then continuing the build. I can assure you there is realistic leather super tiny cracking detail on the seat rest of the driver that noone will ever see. All the effort went on the interior and the outer shell you can see was a rush job as I began to tire...

Nostalgic painting

There is something comforting about nostalgia. I was trying to explain to my son the other day that the music he is listening to now will be with him for the rest of his life. Yes, as grown ups we do discover new music, but the albums and singles we listen to between the ages of 11 and 20 will, for most of us, define us as people. With few exceptions any songs I loved at that age, I still will happily sing along to while I type away at my day job (using headphones of course, I don't need anyone else to be subjected.) 

In fact as I type this, I am listening to a track which was the first CD single I ever bought. (I'm too young to be a vinyl purchaser in my youth, although older siblings did own some.) I already had an extensive collection of tapes, mostly copied from siblings or the library. Or, that excellent nostalgic method, recording the top 40 on a Sunday night. This CD was my first pocket money music purchase that I chose purely myself and not influenced by anyone else's suggestions. Go listen to it here and then come back, I'll wait. 

Welcome back. It's certainly different, right? I won't apologise, I loved it and stand by that. What I am trying to say, through the medium of terrible stop motion animated rock music, is sometimes something has an enormous appeal to us because it reminds us of the time that we started to develop our own tastes and opinions and start to become individuals rather than a combination of the influence of our parents and older siblings. This is why a lot of gamers my age have a real love for the models and style of painting from way back when Warhammer 40K was in it's second edition. You already know I do dear reader. It certainly wasn't a superior time in wargaming though, the rules were clunky and the models, although fantastic and full of appeal to us now, could be a little chunky and mono-pose. It could be argued that the skills of sculpting and painting amongst the hobby in general have improved since then and there are certainly better rulesets being written today. (There are arguments too that some current new models are dropping slightly in quality due to shortcuts being taken in digital design, but we are not here to debate this too much.) 

This waffling pre-amble leads to me not having to explain why I was immediately drawn to purchasing the following models from Ontos Games, the Roknauts. These models have a definite nostalgic feel to them, looking not too dissimilar to the Homo sapien rotundus, or Squats from early Warhammer 40K. The squats were dropped entirely from 3rd edition and almost entirely written out of the lore by GW much to the annoyance of a lot of us Grognards. (They have more recently started to make a comeback, although in a completely unrecognisable style.)

Although nostalgic in style, these models from Ontos have certainly benefitted from a more modern day design and production. They are vacuum-cast resin and of extremely high quality. They took paint with no pre-washing and there are barely any mould lines or flash on them. (A little flash between the boots needed removal on just one of them.)

 

I don't normally "review" a model range, but these were so impressive that it would be rude not to express my opinion on their quality. I don't know for definite but I suspect the sculpting was done digitally and then 3D printed for prototype before casting as just one model had the slightest visible layer lines on the shoulder pads. These were super faint and certainly nothing to complain about as they disappeared after the primer was applied. (I only mention it as evidence of my hypothesis.)

As expected then, I gave them a proper old school look including Goblin Green bases. The armour has proper orange edge highlighting (although it barely shows in the photos). I had a great time painting these and I have already ordered the alternative squad of five to add to my collection. I'm off now to scour the internet for a suitable tank to match their style.

I never thought I'd do it again

Meet Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka. I've painted him

 before (the guy on the right). That is the model from

 the 90's, but why did I feel the need to supplement 

with buying the brand new version? Yep, they are the

 same Ork. Something to do with Orks getting a lot 

bigger if they survive long enough to live a long life. 

Well, no I am not taking up 40K again after a many year hiatus. I still think the new modern game is no longer in the spirit of what I discovered back in the 90's. I kind of accidently made this army.

It all started with finding a bargain, a handful of modern Orks were looking like a bargain in one of those bit part magazines. So, I bought a few just for the painting exercise. Instead of painting in a classic Goblin Green, I thought I would try a modern colour scheme. 

It was fun, so I bought a few more, until I had four squads of ten.

After all, I had to try the other options out for combinations of weapons.

They were super fun to paint. A base coat of Orruk Flesh (Orruk? I mean really? Orks people, Orks. It's bad enough they changed it to a K rather than a C) With a wash over of Plaguebearer Flesh on top makes a great looking modern Ork flesh look. The rest was just colouring in the details of their clothes and weapons. Finding and painting all those teeth (some not in the mouth) was the tricky bit.

Well, I had made a start now, next I got some Deffkopta's as they looked fun too. It gave me a chance to try out some free hand checker pattern work.

So now I practically had the beginning of a small army, I felt like I had to continue. The Dreadnought was a bit tricky as it was split between two issues of the magazine. I don't subscribe so it was a risk buying part one as there was no guarantee I would get part two. Luckily, the super helpful staff at my local WHSmiths put the issue to one side for me and I could finish the dread.

Well, we are nearly there at this point. So I had a delve through my other boxes and found a reasonably modern Ork with a big gun that I had picked up in a job lot of older Orks recently. I just needed to repaint the base as it was a lovely Goblin Green.

Of course, no Ork army is complete without some Grots to be bullied, so we needed a couple of Orks to encourage them forward. The kit has two different build options, so I had to do them both. I love the pet Squig.

Grots are one of the best inventions in the GW lore. I feel for the poor little underdogs. I highly recommend reading the Mike Brooks Ork trilogy of novels, it gives you an insight into just how poorly treated they are, those poor Grots.

The variety in the models isn't huge, some are monopose and the rest only have one choice of arms, but you do get to choose which heads go on some bodies. 

So, I had an army. As I said I'm not intending on playing 40k any time soon, I'm going to use something like Xenos Rampant, or possibly One Page Rules (someone at the club wants to give it a go.) But an army needs a leader, so that is why I felt the definite and compulsory need to get the new Ghazghkull. His little friend Makari has not grown much in stature over the years, but the rumour is it isn't actually the same guy (they just keep the same name to avoid upsetting the Boss.)

I've worked out I have around 2000 points worth for One Page Rules so I think that will be plenty for now. This has been a fun exercise in modern style but I do miss the Goblin Green bases. (I will not miss building kits that have over 40 parts for one model!)

Meeting the public

 Another year has flown by and once again the club are putting on their annual show. This Saturday the 6th we will once again be running the Colours Wargame show at Newbury Racecourse. There is little left for me to say about the show that I have not said over the last couple of years on my blog. It is a great day out and I really enjoy myself working on the Bring and Buy stall, meeting the punters and catching up with regular and new traders later on in the day. This year we are going to be jam packed with no spare trader or demo game space, filling all three floors of the racecourse pavilion. 

A couple of our club had a bit of a practise chatting to the public a couple of weeks ago now at the Corn Exchange in Newbury. This is the second year they have put on a geeky gaming day, kind of like a mini show with a couple of traders, D&D sessions and model painting. We were invited to come down again and put on a large Warhammer demo game and without blowing our own trumpets, I think we had a great looking table. 

Here is a photo dump of some shots from the day.

The battle was the siege of an Empire town by a large force of Orcs and Goblins. The Greenskins outnumbered the Empire, but still struggled to breach the walls. We were happy to chat to punters and let them join in with some dice rolling, so the game was not running at any particular speed. It was a fun day though and we happily offered advice to peeps on how to get into wargaming (or advised parents on how to save money when their children were already super enthusiastic!)

I think hobbyists are at their happiest when sharing knowledge, even better when the recipients are actually after that knowledge. I really enjoy seeing the smiles on peoples faces when they explore a hobby, whether it is wargaming, at a Wool show or collecting football stickers. It comes as no surprise to me that people say having a hobby is good for your mental health and I think the world is a better place if people go to these events and share their enthusiasm. True the enthusiasm does mean some of us get a little too excited and we got hot and bothered, but if we all put on plenty of deodorant and make sure not to swing our backpacks into other peoples faces I am sure we can all have a great time at shows, cons and events.

Hope to see you there, if you do come, pop upstairs and say hello!

Time for my close up

 In the current age of internet hobbying, there are countless images and videos of the highest quality painted models, photographed super close in the highest resolution. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing them and have the greatest of respect for these talented people. This is their hobby (or their job) and I don't want to disregard that at all. I myself also get enjoyment in painting something to my highest quality and sharing it, on this blog of course as well as an social media. With that in mind though, I sometimes need to remind myself of the other reason I paint models, to play games. 

When you get your models on the table and roll some dice, no-one is looking at whether the eyes are perfectly painted, or five shades of highlight have been applied to the nose of each model. You spend the entire time looking at the back of your entire army, until they start retreating that is. When I first started painting, it was purely to get models on the table. I once painted 60 Skaven rat slaves in one evening to get them ready for a battle for the next day. (Spray brown, paint noses black, paint spear points metallic and paint the bases green. Done)

So I would like to spend a blog post talking about those models not painted so well. This is all done with love, I never want any reader to think I am mocking anyone, or judging their painting skills. I just want to share with you one of my hobbies, browsing Ebay and taking close up screen shots of model faces. Please note, these are not my painting and I would share the artists details (yes I consider them artists, all art is art regardless of the "quality") but I feel it would be less kind to credit rather than not.

We start with Mephiston. A great close up. I suspect on the table this actually looks really great, I love what they were going for with the white and grey. In close up he does look like a member of Kiss. It's better painted than I did this model back in the 90's. 

I love these guardsmen. They were described as "Schmo Painted", I'm not sure what that means and yet I kind of do. They are actually quite well painted and would probably look great on the table. I just love the expressions in close up so I had to share.

This one really just suffers from the photography, a Sister of Battle with no shading whatsoever. The dots for eyes are at least level.

Unlike Mr Space Marine Scout here who was described as "Pro Painted". A description on E-bay that makes me laugh for many reasons. Technically I guess, anyone who has painted a model for someone else and cash has exchanged hands could describe themselves as a "Pro Painter". This definition is why my idea of having separate categories for Pro Painters in painting competitions is an impractical solution for giving us less talented painters a chance. 

This little dude, probably looks great on the table surrounded by a thundering charge of cavalry. Close up he looks like he has just done a whoopsie in his lower armour.

I love this one, clearly someone has not thinned their paints and just dumped it on. I suspect a younger painter. You know what though? I think it is great that they have had a go. The colours are defined and they have that nice neat line of blue on the piping. This Ultramarine does need a Biostrip bath though to reach his full potential.

Now, this Commissar does look great, in fact I would say they have done a better job than I would have done. Again though it has been listed as Pro Painted, a description I think is pushing it a little. I'd love the number of his dentist.

Another Pro Painted, which to be fair, on the table probably looks super great. I would suggest investing in a nice soft brush for dusting down the model before photographing though. I love the weird negative eyes.

I'm sharing this one because the seller listed it as "Badly Painted" a description that was probably not required, but I admire the embracing of it.

This Space Marine scout is I suspect a victim of a combination of lack of undercoat and some terrible storage. I love the haunted look he now has though, the horrors he has seen, rattling around in a cheap Woolworths toolbox with his fellow squad. He has definitely been well loved and had some great battles, rolling a 4 up for all results and not worrying too much about the rules of the game. Oh, and props to the artist for the addition of flock for camo. He is a scout after all.

The blue, the blur, the red, the grey eyebrows. There is so much to unpack here. To be honest the photo probably doesn't show it but I think there is probably some cool highlighting/shading there. Why should all Space Marines be white?

I'm totally getting some Manga vibes here. I have super respect for the artist though for getting that fine straight eyebrow and that thin mouth line. I think this is a Captain Tycho model, if it isn't, that is a very thick chunk of gold paint splashed across one side of his face.

Ol' blue eyes here is a Dark Angel Space marine I think. A great example of why I hardly ever even attempt painting eyes. 

Finally my favourite. A Gretchin from the Space Crusade board game. The artist has chosen to ignore the standard greenskin colouring that most painters go for. Instead, they chose a thick layer of flesh coloured paint that makes the model look like he is wearing a halloween mask. The black dots for eyes are perfectly placed, which makes it look even creepier. They were listing a whole set of these with the accompanying Orks, which means they never regretted this colour scheme. Love it.

In the interest of fairness then, here is a close up of a model i have painted.

That sideways glance is hilarious. I think I was just glad I got them looking the same way. Yes he is a halfling, but that is some deep red blusher.

So, don't fret too much about what your model looks like in a close up photo. Unless you are a "Pro Painter", you just need to make it look good enough for the table. If you are painting up large companies of men, the spectacle will be enough to look great. Of course if you want to spend an a long time painting one model, you do that too. That is one of the great things about this hobby, you can take a completely different approach to the hobby to the next person. I hope no-one takes offense at my brief reviews of the above models, it is all done with love. The people that painted them are all artists in my view and I applaud them all for their efforts and hopefully the joy it brought to them. They put some paint on them. A far better thing that fielding unpainted armies. After all, we all know the greatest crime is fielding an unpainted army!