Clearing out some space

There is an excellent scene in the movie Incredibles where Helen Parr calls her husband to announce they are officially moved in. She has finally unpacked the last box following their last house many months ago. I sometimes feel like that's how we are going to be, it's incredible how much stuff one can accumulate over the years and I'll openly take the blame myself. 

It's really hard to throw things away. Sometimes its easier to think there may be a future project use for that spare bit of mdf or sprue. That obscure mimeograph copy of old tank warfare rules found at a second hand book sale will be played one day. Every time I put together a box set of 36 plastic British line infantry I carefully snip off all the spare unused bits from sprues and squirrel them away somewhere in case I need them. (please don't stop giving us all these choices however, Michael and Alan, I'm certainly not complaining.) Sometimes I even paint the parts on the sprue, so I have tubs full of already painted British infantry arms like some bizarre field surgery dumping ground. Multiply this by all the kits I own (also taking up valuable limited storage space) you can see why I have to have a purge every now and then.

At one point my "bits box" filled a 90 litre storage box. When would I ever start a project that needed that many arm swaps? That's weirdly what most of it was, human arms, ork arms, space marine arms, hormagaunt arms. I guess I could have made a 1/56 scale model of a section of Jim Henson's Labyrinth?

I promised myself I wouldn't start any painting or modelling until I had finished clearing the old flat and tonight I can comfortably say that task is finally finished, with a lot of help from the Father and Brother in law.  So I can allow myself the luxury of trying to find the box with the paints and brushes in now. Of course I am also fully aware that I also made myself public promises to get some more Napoleonic models painted ready for September and the new year has brought that deadline looming into focus. It will be here before we know it. If you see me at Salute in April, ask me how my Prussians are coming on.

In a serendipitous moment, the last personal item I moved from the old home was a wargaming item. Left on a windowsill to be carried as he wouldn't fit in a box and almost forgotten, my 28mm scale Orky Stomper was squeezed into a plastic dustbin for protection and brought across in the final run. He was pretty much the last thing to leave the flat.

This chap is a reason I do keep some things in a bit box. Made from an old Land Raider, a Spam Land Speeder, some plasticard and bits from a Poundland toy, this old scratch build predates the official GW kit. My only reference came from the Epic scale Stomper.

So, sometimes it is worth keeping the odd bits and bobs, recycling and all. But also bear in mind, it might be worth having the odd sort through your bits box every now and then. You might even find a complete kit or two you can sell at a bring and buy stall.