Christmas Wars: Santa's Assistant - With Snow, but Without Lipstick!

Time ran out for me on this, so I did not quite get it to the point I wanted to.

Julia was late this morning (if you know my language, you will get her name), so she forgot to put her lipstick on, and I think she grabbed the wrong pair of silk stockings, as thes eare light grey instead of white or red (or even green).

I like the way her hair turned out, it was:

1. Citadel Desert Yellow
2. Coat d'Arms Buff
3. Army Painter Skeleton Bone

I thin I could have gotten away with another highlight - shall experiment on my next blond mini!

All in all. I like how she turned out, and she is now joining Santa in our winter/Christmas scene on the sideboard, of which I promise to post a photo either later today or tomorrow. No snow landscape though - I think I shall make a mat out of painter felt, then upgrade it with some Woodland Scenics snow later this winter!

MERRY CHISTMAS, HAPPY CHANNUKAH,

and whatever festival YOUR culture/religion is celebrating right now (sorry, I am too ignorant to know them all - I celebrate 'Christmas'  more in line with the original Norse Jól, anyway, without any particular religious meaning).

Christmas Wars: Santa - Now With Snow!

I have now poked the Snow-Tex around on Santa's base, and I think the finish is OK,

It is not quite the effect I was looking for (I wanted sparkling 'postcard' snow), but I may be able to achieve an enhanced result by drybrushing some clear varnish over the Snow-Tex.

I do have a feeling, that I could create a similar compound myself - the Snow-Tex feels and looks very much like 'gloop', which is a mix of paint, sand, and PVA glue (the Snow-Tex even could be only white paint and sand), and if I keep using this stuff for winter bases, I think I should experiment with beach sand and white emulsion paint.

I have all but finished Santa's assistant, and I hope to be able to post pics of her tomorrow morning (before I start bringing in The Tree), and of the small Christmas Village Scene we have on our sideboard.

Let it Snow...

A nice bloke at the LAF, going by the nick 'Hu Rhu', was so kind to send me this tub of scenic snow, so I can decorate Santa's base (and other, season-themed models) in an appropriate manner.

Gestures like this make me all warm and fluffy inside, and I raise a horn of mead in salute to this fine Gentleman!

I am going to make a test one of the next days, and then get some show on the base, just in time for Christmas, and maybe also on the base of Santa's Assistant - if I get her done in time, that is.

Chrismas Wars: Spending Another Day Off

The holidays are almost upon us, and I am on sick leave, so I have to take well care of myself, while the wife is at work, and my daughters are in school.

And, how better to spend the solitary daytime just before Christmas than to get some paint slapped on another seasonal themed mini?

I have been spending some time with Santa's Lovely Assistant, and I hope to finish her off a couple of days before Christmas, so she can join Santa in the small Christmas scene on our sideboard.

I took the pics before I started painting today, I have since then more or less finished the white, although I am not quite content with the result (I may go back and touch it up, after I finish the rest of the mini).

I have also spent some time preparing for this evenings God of Battles appointment with Kevin, and I am going to field my Lords of Undeath, after all - I am keen to see how it fares at 36 points, and as our appointment on December 3rd had to be canceled, they have not been used since before Horisont VIII.

Christmas Wars: Santa Claus, Peaceful Edition

As mentioned in an earlier post, I have been working on some seasonal miniatures - and earlier today, I finished Santa.

I am going to add some scenic snow to the base, as soon as I get my hands on some. I intentionally made the base somewhat darker (hopefully looking a bit more 'wet') than my standard bases, by adding a wash of Agrax Earthshade. Most of the soil will be covered in scenic snow, though, which is also the reason why I did not add any flock.

I could have posted this earlier today, but Microsoft had updated my Windows, and the PC used most of the day for booting up 😠😠😠😠😠

Well, I spent most of the afternoon moving firewood, as the husband of a former colleague, from which I buy my firewood, had offered to bring a log splitter and help me split the rather large quantity of wood I had gathered in front of the shed, from various trees felled by the wind and/or myself in the back yard over the last couple of years - but now I have time to make a couple of updates.









Most of the colours are pretty straightforward, but I would like to note the following:

Belt and Boots:

• Foundry Bay Brown triad

Sack:

• Foundry Rawhide palette

 Teddy:

• Foundry Butter Fudge palette

Tomorrow, I need to finish rebasing some Lizardmen for God of Battles, and a few Pulp minis - and then it is time to put some paint on Santa's lovely assistant!

Christmas Wars: Tintin and Terry WIP

I am now officially embarking on a new long-term project that I hope to have something playable ready for next December.

As mentioned in a previous post, I am painting some Christmas minis at the moment - and originally they were only intended for decoration purposes, but of course my intricate mind set about finding alternative uses.

And now I have settled on 'Christmas Wars', as a catch-all project for which I can paint whatever I fancy for fighting the good fight to save the holidays, or the sinister powers trying to ruin it.

And whom better to recruit for the forces of good that the eternal boy-scout, indomitable detective, and intrepid explorer, Tintin, and his trusty companion, Terry?

I have had this particular pack of Copplestone minis for quite a while, and this seemed like as good ans any occasion for digging it out, and get some paint slapped on this dynamic duo.

The plan is to paint one dedicated mini for this project each month, and then somehow shoehorn in a lot of the other stuff I paint (and have painted) for some games with the kids and my regular gaming buddies, come December and the holidays.

It will be 'One Game to Rule Them All', as it is 'everything goes as long as it is fun'.

I hope to add some themed minis to the collection (I have my eyes on the 'Storybook Wars' range from Victrory Force, but I need an economically viable way to get them), but my main goal is to 'activate' some of the minis I have painted for LAF Painting Clubs without any specific game in mind, and to get some of my extensive unpainted collection painted up and game with.

Christmas is Coming

I was hi-jacked for Christmas shopping today, and as a consequence I have not made much hobby progress.

I got the presents for the wife purchased, though, which means I do not have to go to Odense next weekend, and with my current condition that is great news, as it is likely that every commercial area will be completely swamped with people, and I have a touch of ochlophobia, feeling almost claustrophobic in large crowds - and that would just be another stress factor.

I bought this door ornament in IKEA, and Anna entwined it with a light chain for added effect.

Pretentious? Maybe. My daughters love it, and that is quite enough for me!

More December - This Time of the Fun Kind

Although I am almost in a stupor, hobby-wise, my suppliers are not, and the orders I made a while ago, before succumbing to workplace stress, are now being delivered.

I saw my GP yesterday, and got sick leave, for now until and including December 19th, which means that I now have at least a fortnight to focus on all the positive things in life - and afterwards I decided yesterday that I simply WILL NOT let my ailment ruin my family and hobby life.

As on cue, my North Star order arrived this morning, and allthough I cannot keep my focus for more than about 10 minutes at a time before having to rest my head, I am determined to get St. Nick and his luvverly assistant prepped and painted before Christmas. It may take me the rest of the day to get them cleaned up and started basing, but I shall not give in to the urge to just sit idle and do nothing but watch some braindead tv-shows all day!!!

In a few moments. I am going to take a long walk with Molly, my fantastic dog (1/4 Golden Retriever, 3/4 Yellow Labrador), who can always be trusted to comfort and support when needed, and afterwards I am going to pull out the needle files and start getting these two great Mark Copplestone sculpts ready for some brushwork.

I got more minis with this order, but I shall post about those when I have to pause in between prepping these minis.

That, and I need to get some scenic snow....

December Has Come

I will not lie. I am hardly making any progress on the hobby front at the moment, as I have come down with severe stress due to impossible psychological conditions at work.

I called in sick earlier this week, and I have an appointment with my GP tomorrow (could not get one earlier), and I expect to have to take sick leave for at least the rest of the month. I shall then start slowly building up myself  again, resting a lot, taking even more long walks with the dog than I use to, and spending a lot of time with my family.

I also hope to be able to resume work on my hobby projects, soon, but at the moment I find it difficult to concentrate for more than 5-10 minutes, which means that I can hardly put more than one colour on one mini at a time, before having to rest and/or do something else.

It has taken me almost an hour to write this text, as I have been re-writing passage after passage, but I think it is necessary to explain my sudden absence from this blog to those of you following my feeble attempts on producing something worth looking at for fellow wargamers and hobbyists.

The game I had scheduled for Saturday evening was canceled, not because of my condition (I think it would have meant a nice diversion, although I don't know if I would have been able to keep focus), but because my opponent had a sick child he could not leave, which is perhaps by far the best excuse in my book for cancelling an appointment.

In the meantime, my family is trying to spread a little light in the darkness surrounding me at the moment.

Starting a New Tradition!

Behold, the Family Kragh Christmas 'Log'

It is actually just a piece of wood from the shed, in which I drilled a series of holes with various sized paddle drill bits (I did not drill the last two holes, yet), to fit almost any size of the annual Advent Calendar Candle (I don't know if this a tradition outside Denmark, but we always have a candle numbered 1-24 to keep track of December - we wouldn't want to miss Christmas, you know :p),

My plan is to 'round' the 'log' with some wood working tools, drill a lot of holes for spruce twigs and other seasonal stuff, then maybe have the kids paint it (or spray it gold, silver, or bronze).

Ho, ho, HO!

Advent in Kværndrup!

Typical pan for making 'æbleskiver'

We attended the 1st Advent Sunday Service at our local church today - mainly because Lea is singing in the local childrens' choir, doing a performance at the service.

I don't have any pics from the church, as I opted for video (and I haven't got the faintest idea about how to post a video here), but I have some spooky pics from the following session at the community house, where Lea's choir did another performance (and we had mulled wine and something we call 'æbleskiver' which is akin to 'fritters', but made exclusively of batter without any fillers in a special pan, but served with marmalade and icing sugar powder.

Children of the Corn? Them?

A weird combo of lighting and my camera not liking to take indoor pics at a distance gave me som eerie results.

Diabolical, innit?

Below are some pics of the first stage of Christmas decoration of our living room, and the Advent Wreath, opulently decorated with gold, silver, and bronze, sprayed by the girls unto a variety of flora from the garden and other sources.

Lightchains around a window.

And an elaborate display organized by Anna. The coins aren't part of the show.