Thursday 8 December 2022

From ChrisW: Work space & introduction

 

No mountains or buttes this year!  (I promise)

Hello everyone!

My name is Chris and I hail from Ottawa, Canada. I have been in the hobby, on and off, since the early/mid 1970's. I have a  BLOG under my alter ego Menelduir, that I try to post to regularly, but these last 3 years have seen less gaming activity to report on. This main blog also has links to my other blogs that cover off on painting/building,  role playing games and VSF.  Please visit anytime and if you do please feel free to leave a comment.

My gaming life started with this book by Terence Wise. From there I progressed through Airfix rule books, various other historical games and then Warhammer. I have of course branched out beyond these early days into any number of genres with unfinished projects in all of them! A current favorite is Pulp Alley a small skirmish game for which I have amassed few hundred miniatures (exact numbers unknown but gads it must be 500+ at least, madness!) I have recently experienced a revival of interest in fantasy gaming courtesy of Fantastic Battles, a fun little game. As a result of this renaissance I have been dusting off my old collection, rebasing, retouching and in some cases repainting many of my old items. Occasionally I get around to painting some new items, maybe in this challenge!

As I approach my 62nd birthday I look back on my hobby life with mixed feelings. I certainly have had fun gaming and painting over the years but despite my long time in the hobby (at least on paper) I must confess that too many things interrupted my hobby activities (marriage, divorce, work, dating, family, human interactions, dogs, etc) resulting in my not gaming or working on my hobby craft skills nearly as much as I should have.  Now that I am retired, relatively settled, and dog less, I technically have more time to embrace my hobbies, but all too often I lack the motivation and/or focus to get things done. I still do not play enough games and gaming has always been the main inspirational driving force to increase my production. That is where this challenge enters the picture, it is the impetus I need to get stuff done.

But enough of this introspective rambling, on to brighter things!😀

This is my second AHPC that I have signed up for, AHPC XII being my first. I had a great deal of fun last year and was more productive than I could have ever imagined. However that production did not carry on after the challenge as I quickly returned to my old bad habits. So once again I rely on the challenge to force me to be more productive. Last year I was, perhaps, overly active in the challenge, pushing myself to the limit, and becoming quite compulsive. It came with a price as there were times when I could feel the muscles throbbing in my neck and back from being hunched over so much, but no pain no gain, right? 

This year I hope to be not so focused that I miss out on the rest of the challenge. Last year I summed up my involvement admonishing myself for not having looked up from the painting table long enough to see what other participants were doing. That will not happen this year. This time around I will take it a bit easier, I will look in on others throughout the week, I will take the time to 'smell the paint' so to speak, and wallow in the skills and accomplishments of others.

So this was supposed to be an introduction and a presentation of my painting area. I seem to have gone off on a tangent haven't I? Well here is my new painting area. 

Guides to the left, photo booth to the right, basing materials above, assorted supplies below and space for me in the middle.

I may have a paint addiction!

This was set up in June of this year. HERE is the post that talks about the 'great reorganization' of my room. The painting area is a brighter more spacious set up than I have been using for the last 10 years and marks a high water mark for my hobby areas in general. It is excessively lit by daylight bright LED lights (it has almost no natural light). There is room to have all my paints in easy reach, along with all my flocking basing materials and hobby guides. It also has plenty of space for many of my partially painted projects and I have room behind my chair to allow me to kick myself away from the table when a break is required. You can see a small TV and a stand with my Kindle Fire while my stereo is within reach to the right so I am surrounded by entertainment while I paint. I find that I sometimes like to listen to audio commentaries while I paint, along with listening to music and even listening to old favorite movies that I do not really need to be watched to be enjoyed. The kindle fire is where I cue up YouTube how to videos.

My previous painting area was crammed in next to the gaming table, merely turning my chair often resulted in the knocking over of anything near the gaming table edge. 

 

Dark, chaotic and cramped!


No room to 'kick back'

This new area is the culmination of decades of progression from small trays that had to be put away in between hobby sessions, to slightly larger small tables to repurposed desks that really never suited the task. In those days the process of setting up and digging out what I was going to paint often kiboshed the activity before it started.

I am fortunate to have found a spouse and a house that would allow me the space to set up such a permanent hobby area. Only 50 some odd years in the making!

So, what will I be focusing on this year you might ask? Well when I stop laughing I will tell you. 

You see, I have no ability to focus on anything, this will be another squirrel year for me. My one good quality is that I try to always prime and base anything that I buy as soon as possible. It allows me to immediately start painting something should the urge grab me. I dislike prep work and in the past it has been an obstacle to starting projects, so better get it done early. However I have found a few hundred miniatures that I missed and I have been priming them this week, just in case.

So possible items to paint this year

  1. 17th century sailors
  2. French/Indian war
  3. Silver Bayonet
  4. Renaissance pike and halberd units
  5. Dr Who
  6. Pulp
  7. 20mm WWII
  8. Warhammer fantasy
  9. Epic 40K
  10. WH 40K
  11. All Quiet on the Martian Front
  12. VSF
  13. Back of beyond
  14. Frostgrave
  15. Dystopian wars
  16. 15mm sci fi
  17. Wild west and any number of other genres just lying about the gaming room

 I can hardly wait for this to start, have fun everyone!

 

Oh I just remembered maybe I can work on some Napoleonic 1/700 ships, or maybe the 28mm ships, then again there is also the...oh never mind😉 

33 comments:

  1. Your new hobby area is very nice, comfortable area to work. Socializing is part of the Challenge, so feel free to browse through the entries of other participants, you might find a new and interesting Squirrel somewhere. :)

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    1. Socializing, not my specialty, but is a work in progress. Thanks

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    1. Thanks look forward to checking out your efforts this year

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  3. Great post . A fine hobby area

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  4. Welcome back to the Challenge. What an impressive gaming and painting area! I share your approach this year: let's take it in a more relaxed way, and above alll try enjoying the work of the rest of challengers as much as you enjoy painting yours.

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    1. Last year at the wrap up I realized just how many posts I missed, not this year.

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  5. Nice space, with hints of OCD. Do like plans that include painting every period

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    1. Thanks, I need to try and keep things orderly as I have many bad habits. I am reminded of the statement, paraphrased here, no plan survives contact with the enemy. I will try to post pictures of this area at the end of the challenge, I am certain it will not look the same!

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  6. That is a LOT of paint!
    Nice hobby set-up, you have mountains of space, room for at least one more peak.
    I'm looking forward to seeing what you paint up this year.

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    1. Yes, just think of how much money I would have saved if I just mixed my own shades! Please do not tempt me about mountains I technically need two more quarters to make a complete mountain, & I learned so much building them last year....no, no not again...every time I think I'm out...

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  7. You did terrific work last year, I will be keen to see what fantastic minis you unearth for that wide range of projects. Love the pic peeking from behind the butte.

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    1. Thank you. I too am keen to see what I will paint this year, I have already thought of other genres that I failed to include on my list! Time will tell what gets done.

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  8. Boy, can I relate to your introspective rambling! Even your hobby set-up and paint collection look somewhat familiar, it is that there are 5,700 km between us or I would think we are family :-). Very much looking forward to more of your work, especially hope the Dystopian Wars stuff makes the cut!

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    1. Well, now I think Dystopian wars will have to move up the list can't disappoint family.

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  9. Ahh, yes, your obsessive tendency last time to paint as much as possible even if it meant missing the posting deadline for your minion... *lol*

    It's good to see you return this year, and *checks* "wahey!" it appears that you have been assigned to another minion this year!

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    1. Wow, with your memory for these details you are like a dwarf with his 'Book of Grudges'. :)

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    2. They were always there by the time I got up on the Wednesday morning so they got minioned then, while I had my breakfast. :)

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  10. No! Say it's not so, now another minion must suffer through my madness...Good to see that you are participating again too.

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    1. Sadly, it is so and not due to any request by yours truly - Curt just worked through the list alphabetically assigning to Monday, Tuesday, etc, rinse, repeat. If there had been three more As or Bs you would have been in my Tuesday Terrors again, but sadly that wasn't the case. :(

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    2. I shall miss your knowledge, patience and understanding. Thanks again for last year.

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  11. Great post Chris! We'll have to lure you out to Saskatchewan sometime for a bit of gaming.

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    1. I would love to, never been farther west than Winnipeg. However I sometimes have a tough time making it across the city to game!

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  12. Looks amazing Chris. Looking forward to your output. I agree with Curt on landing you out here.

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  13. That really is a superb set up Chris, one to be envied, well done

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  14. Wow.. brave there to post a photo of all the paints! Though more photos of such things might be needed for inspiration for how I manage my paint addiction! Good luck with project Squirrel!

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    1. Thank you, there are more paint reserves/duplicates in deep storage in another room...

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  15. That's a rather nice set up you have there Chris!

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  16. Thanks, it is in it's very rare neat & orderly state. It more typically resembles the aftermath of a tornado strike.

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  17. Great looking space Chris and well organised! All the best on the challenge

    Cheers
    MattW

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  18. Good to see you (and your buttes) again!

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