Major Ballsup's Hobby Shed

Real life certainly intervened in July.  The day before we were due to go on holiday we were woken with a family emergency and we lost the first few days of our holiday. This was a real shame and cast a bit of a shadow over what would have been a lovely break.  To cap it all I returned from holiday with a stinking cold which wiped me out for a few days.   All month I've been swinging between being quite motivated and having little interest in hobbying. However, in the later days of July, I made myself get on with some of the old shite that's been sitting about.  This has not only cleared up my table but also my mind.  Working on these simple pieces has given me some quick wins, helping to restore my motivation.  As I wrote this up and listed what I've cleared this month (especially bearing what's happened), I'm feeling quite satisfied.   Completed  Prior to all the drama and our holiday, I did manage to complete the few figures that were in p...

I picked up ten of the excellent Native Americans from Gringo 40's at Salute in April, five Apache and five Comanche.  I started my Old West collection 20 years or so ago and I add to it when I see something special, which these are.   I'd looked at these last year when the range was just starting out.  It's now grown and being actively added to which is great news.  Gringos do a lot of really interesting figures, full of character and a bit different, so right up my street.   I started with the four Apache warriors.  They're sturdy figures.  I haven't painted many metal 28mm in recent years and what always strikes me is how satisfying they feel in the hand.  They're all slightly different sizes, which is lifelike and gives each figure a real individuality.   The last time I painted this much flesh was when I painted Celtos Gaels in the early 2000s.  I didn't enjoy it then and unfortunately when I painted this first batch ...

Halfway through the year already, bloody hell has someone sped up time and not told me?  The hot weather this month means my painting time has been limited to early and late in the day. "Why's that?" I hear you ask.  Well my painting desk is in a South facing bedroom and it's hot as Beelezebub's balls in there, with paint drying instantly on the palette.  However, I have managed to progress on a few fronts.   The blog passed 100,000 views in June and shot up to over 103,000 by the end of the month.  I'm not sure if this is all genuine traffic (who knows how these things work), but my sincere thanks to everyone that's visited, and especially those that take the time to comment, either on the blog, TMP or Facebook.  It is very much appreciated and inspires me to keep waffling on.  The blog is just my hobby diary and as there's not any of the most popular subjects (American Civil War, Napoleonics, Warhammer 40K or NWE Second World War) I'm amazed tha...

May has been a funny old month both hobby and real life wise.  There's been lots of disruption with a move of location at work, and a visit to the doctors amongst other things to disturb my equilibrium.  The hobby has taken a bit of a back seat and my motivation dipped to the point where I didn't do much hobbying at all mid-month.  Thankfully by the last week of the month I was feeling more like it. Completed I didn't complete too much this month: Four 28mm Apaches from Gringos 40s.  Very nice figures, I struggled with these as I've never been great at painting large areas of skin and I'm not sure I did them justice.   From something that's new to one of my oldest outstanding items, I finally finished the 15mm Hetzer that's been sitting on the table since last year.  Once I got down to work it took no time all, which makes me wonder why I didn't get it done sooner.  This was a nice little 3D print, that was a freebie  from Plastic Soldier Com...