Also Want One Of These Orcs

Fraser did a wondrous job on it:

But of course that's not Fraser's. This, however, is the real deal:

But £6 for a figure on ebay? It's a toughie. That paint is beautiful and thick, so the metal should be near pristine. Be fair, I'd pay that much for wine without batting an eye lid.

Update: managed to win this wee feller for £5.50. Grand stuff.

I Want One Of These Orc Champs

Really fancy tracking this guy down:

 If you sees its, lets me knows...

Update: Nailed it. £6. Can't get over the current prices on eBay, but them's the markets.

Mind Blown

Never seen anything like it in my life. Rugby heaven. Don't mind the boys losing a championship like that. Wales had a shot to nothing and almost took it. Ireland and England both superb. What a way to sign off the championship. 

Millimetre By Marvellous Millimetre

I pinched an hour out of my busy schedule to daub a smidge of paint upon my current miniature, getting a bit of flesh laid on and stuff. He can be seen further down below.

As an aside, last Saturday I was fortunate enough to attend a very enjoyable evening bash at which I found myself sat opposite a man of the cloth. Doesn't happen very often that, so I took the opportunity to ask a lot of questions about the church, faith and doctrine. What boggled my mind was the lack of study in a large Anglican (Church in Wales) parish. I got the impression that high church - whether Anglican or Catholic - doesn't really want to encourage the laity to tax themselves too much with the detail of Christianity. I think that with my background in a non-conformist church, coupled to an ongoing interest since leaving that scene half a lifetime ago, I was able to talk to the guy on a level he doesn't get to talk on too often. As an agnostic/verging-atheist, I would have loved a meatier conversation, but I wanted to reciprocate his tidy attitude. Looks like we'll end up in each other's company for a whole week next year as we're heading off for a family wedding in Cyprus. Interesting times ahead!

In The Land Of The Unfinished Miniature...

My usual painting efforts involve a snatched hour or two and a photo of a figure I've posted at least a couple of times but with an additional - albeit impossible to spot - daub or two.

In this instance (differing slightly from my usual modus operandi) I have taken my miniatures in progress to a nice round 3. I had a hankering to put some paint on some Skaven fur. Here it is, along with a picture of the workspace and a shot of 5 miniatures that actually have paint on them. Adieu...

What a Christmas (Jeebus owes me)

Father Christmas made me ill for the entire break this year. 11 days to date. Still feeling like shit. All year I waited for this break, then I got shafted. Wiped out. All I've done is read when able. I'm stir-crazy. I've written a follow-up letter to Lapland asking for the holidays to start all over again, but I've heard nothing back yet. 9yrs in my current job and for the first time a proper bit of time off at Christmas but it's been a write-off. But hey, no one likes a complainer, so I'll just consider myself lucky to be alive, employed, surrounded by a superb family and able to look forward to good things. I even bought a cutting mat and a new daylight lamp from the internetz.  Stuff to look forward to there. And I've got a Skaven piece begging to be painted. That'll be a nice bonus for when I'm 100%.

Almost There (and musings about my hair)

After 4 weeks of voluntary sobriety, I am pleased to say that I'm very nearly at the end of Sober October. Being sober for so long has probably (marginally) assisted in my weight-loss programme, and has certainly given my body a rest. I've slept better, that's for sure.  But what it has done more than anything else is give me clarity and focus. For instance, just last night, I realised how much balder I have become in the past year.  I've been receding for years, but at a slow pace.  The difference now is that the scalp at the crown of my head is finally - in parts - pushing up and out into the daylight. I've never really noticed this before, such is the incremental creep of Male Pattern Baldness, but it jumped out at me yesterday like a revelation: I'm going bald, maaaan!

I decided a couple of years back that the best way to defeat nature was by taking matters into my own hands, so I started to use clippers. That's part of the reason I haven't noticed so much, as I try  to keep a very tight crop, almost to the bone. Also my naturally silver hair (cheers Dad) has made any obvious baldness a little less noticeable.  However, any diversion from my regular clipping regime has started to highlight the natural deforestation underway on my pate. 

A further side effect of my follicular travails is what I call 'The Halo Effect,' whereby even extremely severe cropping is unable to prevent light from reflecting off of my silvery stubble in such a way as to cause me to resemble a saintly figure from a stained-glass window scene.  People have fallen to their knees in my presence due to a surprise break in the clouds seemingly causing me to be transfigured before their very eyes.  Or maybe that didn't happen, but you get the gist.

Anyway, 3 more days of sobriety left. Ho-hum, etc...