It's my birthday today...is that relevant?..probably not, but I've had a glass of wine and realised I could do more with this ....this blog has been idle for a long time, but I noticed it's had 1000+ views despite it being somewhat empty of content.

Well time's they are a changing!

I have actually done some modelling - I will post some updates later

but yes, it was my birthday....and I managed to get a couple of model related presents.....not models....oh no! How can I justify models when there's so many knocking around in boxes unmade!

First was the new FAQ Vol 2 book....written by Mig Jimenez...
Loads to take in.....quality pictures, the odd product placement, but nothing but useful information and jaw dropping examples of finely painted "realistic" models of military vehicles. Inverted commas over the word realistic because it's a matter of taste if you think it's realistic.....to me, they are visual eye candy of the highest order. This book.....given it's size , number of photos and intelligently written  text is another must have book.....

Thanks Clare!

The second present was from my Amazon wishlist - "The Lions of Carentan".

I have loads of books about the US Airborne during WW2, a few about the British Airborne, but few of the German. My interest in all things Normandy, from D-day to the breakout and Operation Cobra, meant that a book on the Fallschirmjager Regiment 6 would be a welcome addition to my library. Most people will know of this unit as the poor sods being mown down in the marshes in episode 3 of "TheBand Of Brothers" TV series. The unit was every bit as "elite" as Easy Company, but no TV show has been made of them....

Thanks to my mother-in-law for that one!

So the birthday was good....and I even got some Cappuccino Truffles from my son....

Shihateki.........Flight

Here's a piece I'm going to paint for a group project over on The Basement. The subject is Flight. I've had this figure for several years and the group project gave me an excuse to get this out and paint her;

This was a figure that I'd been saving because I loved it so much I didn't want to screw it up! But life is too short. Sculpted by the talented hands of Cyril Abati, who has a great understanding of Japanese and Manga-esque subjects. She was also hard to get hold of - a sculpt from a French company that I don't even know still exists - ordering anything from France to the UK is hard work, and the comapy were very helpful when things got screwed up.

I do have some decisions to make; Like what colour to paint her!!!!!!!! Also, do I have her with a sword that she's holding, or resculpt that hand empty, matching the other......mmmmm.

I will have to see how her nose looks once it's primed as it seems a little bit squashed, and indeed how the primer looks overall....the surface is quite pitted, as this photo shows:

The other "completed" project for 2009 is this "fantasy bust".

He was actually started in late 2007 as part of a "group sculpting project" on The Basement. A chap called Roy Hunt was the inspiration behind the sculpt - he's posted a head sculpt on the site and I thought "I could try that". So I did, using Super Sculpey Firm - the first time I'd tried the stuff.

By 2008 I'd finished the sculpt, but he was unpainted. I took him to the World Expo 2008 in Girona, the best model show I've been too, and got some useful feedback on the sculpting, but on returning to the UK, he went into a cupboard destined to be one of the multitude of unfinished projects we all have......

Not long after the Expo, we got the news that Roy had died. Such incredibly sad news as the man had been a consistent presence at shows across the UK, always with a friendly smile and a firm handshake, and excellent adive and constructive criticism. We're all still missing him today.

So I felt that I had to finish this piece as a Tribute to Roy - the sculpt is a bit ropey in places but I was really pleased with the painting:



He's a photo from Girona......thats me on the left, Roy next to me, Ronnie Preston and Mike Blank

282 Days Later.......

Well there goes my good intentions.......

In those 282 days the Ma.K headsculpt has stalled, but I did complete a couple of projects. Yes 2. Must try harder........

Still, here's the first completed project. As simple paint jobs of a 30mm figure sculpted by Raul Latorre for an online painting competition at CoolMiniOrNot. Painted whilst I recovering from a bit of a health scare, I tried one or two new things with her....namely using an airbrush to lay down the initial colours and trying a colour palette for the flesh outside my usual comfort zone.



I'm pretty proud of her....more proud of the fact I completed something! Mind you, that was completed only days after my first post in this blog......

Ma.K Pilot Head Sculpt; Part 1

Well any Blog has to start somewhere! Recently I've been getting intrigued by the world of Maschinen Krieger, or Ma. K, an alternate future populated by odd looking combat suits. I bought a 1/20 scale kit from HobbyLink Japan and am currently building it. As a figure modeller, I was rather disappointed by the rather dull characterless head supplied with the kit, so I thought it would be fun to try to sculpt my own version, one of a veteran pilot......




Oh! The sculpting material I'm using for this is Super Sculpey Firm, which is applied over a core of Magic Sculpt. At this point in time, it's still un-baked......all the Sculpey is totally soft.....(gulp!)




I've photographed it with the kit head to make sure I've got the size right, after all it has to fit in a helmet (and will be difficult to see once complete!!!!)

There's still plenty to do......