Till death do us part

 Just finished these 2 Ghosts (yes, I know the lady is technically a Banshee). This picture really is 2021 in a nutshell for me, and the irony is not lost on me the model is also named Johan(n)......

But at least I had fun painting them!

Really starting to dislike my phone cam. No matter what settings I use, frame, timer, etc...I just cannot get hots to focus. Everything is just off by a tiny margin. So for 2022 I will look for a proper camera.

A spire, a spire! A kingdom for a spire!

All good towers have a spire. Even my ruined one.....needs a spire. Just not on top of it :)

So, with a bit of inspiration from a church fire we had a while back:

I went to town, as they say.....

 Yes, it does look a lot like a wooden Star Destroyer, thanks. :)

Tower of a little less power

As the build was originally La Maisontaal, well, why not add a tower? I was making some block houses out of scrap foam for the girls so they can paint them (nice combo of hobby, doing something for the girls and making something nice out of scrap waste styrofoam)

I did a little math, it took me about 3 full 8 hour working days to get where I am now with this part of the build. Commercially, not worth it, but fun none the less.

So, you start of with some scrap blocks of foam, and I planned in a walkway to go up to the top along the outside.

Cleaning up after new years means I have tons of wooden from the fire arrows (or whatever they are called in English) so I can keep doing this for a loooong time.

But, while progess was good, once the various platofmr s were made and ready to be connected by stairs.....it just looked utter shite! A quick chat or 3 with my mates, and out came the jewellers saw....

 A few cuts and voila, everything gone but a platform on the front. or is it the back? From there, add planks, add bricks, add more bricks, add even more bricks......

 The fun part is torching the wooden bits. :) Brings out the inner pyro in me

 Every join has a wooden dowel through t (ok, cut down toothpicks, but a dowel is a dowel, or would you like to buy a vowel?) and most of them have the same again through the base as well (even the fake broken bit you see there). This thing is now solid as a ....well, house?

Yeah, looks the part, happy with that. 9/10 done now, final detailing during or after the weekend I think, give the desk and the floor a good cleaning tomorrow as there are slivers of wood and foam everywhere now and I need to get other work done as well.

Ab imo pectore

La Maisontaal....needs a new name.

 Added in a chimeny, which went well. Added in arches in stone....which went shit. Added the roof, the burned parts of it (on purpose). Building on the fly is fun, but a bit more planning would be nice tbh. Already have 2 partially built bases from last year lined yup after this, when this is done (and painted!) I'll have a sit down and put some ideas some ideas to paper. Would be nice if I could find the old tower I made for La Maisontaal as well, but I'll be damned if I know where it is.

Lot's more to do, and a story is building, but not sure if I'm going with a Merchantshouse for exotic wares (explaining the blocked off storage area underneath the living area) or.....what?

Her's some pics to keep you entertained.

Hope you are. I'm also working on my years old 10mm Afghan comission (Rob is a really nice gent and never puts me down por being a slow as a frozen Chipmunk) and I'm aiming to have those built and plastered somewhere in the week, but pictures of that at a later date.

Remember La Maisontaal?

Back in January 2016 I started La Maisontaal, well, my version anyway. This then ended up in storage, parts broke, and was never finished. I found it while clearing out storage boxes last week, and I want to put my mind off of things, so.....why not.

So, we start with the only piece I have left (as far as I know, the other parts broke and I just gave them away). And from there, things just happen.

Add some wood from leftover fireworks, and add more and more.....

And more wood.....and sand. It's nice to be back working on it.....even if it's no longer La maisontaal but just a large house for Mordheim. Really keen on finshing this one for a change, a new goal as you say.

I've put it all to side for now, let it rest a few days, I need to sort some life stuff out, finances, get stuff catalogued and ready for sale for some hard needed extra cash.

Nameless Undead Champion

So, a while back I bought a single model that turned out to be a shop freebie (just effing great....) and it went through a few trials to become a Undead Champion. It's been on my desk for months now, and I'm not 100% happy with it (not in the least tbh) but I'm calling it done and dusted. I need to pump out more undead to have what I want/need for ....reasons.

Trying out something new - La Maisontaal wooden floor

While building the foamboard ruin I noticed after making such a cool looking piece that I could not reach everywhere easily with a brush (which is the reason why it stands on my desk semi painted right now) and I do not want to repeat that mistake again.

So, tonight I spent some time on making a wooden, seperate floor for the bigger of the 2 Maisontaal ruins. Seperate, because I can reach the floor space easier with all of the tiling, and because I want to stain the wood with a wood stain to give it some colour instead of basecoating it black and then having to paint it. Well, that is the general idea anyway. I've never really done this before.

All sateh sticks for breams and swirrel sticks for flooring, superglued together for strenght and the 2 colums in the front have been notched so it slides in. Also did all of the remaining tiling. Will do the same next week with the smaller building.

Tomorrownight will be about glueing stuff for Frostgrave and a small comission for Post Apocalyptic purposes.

Did you think things could not get any worse?

Did you think things could not get any worse?

My chef told me I had a meeting at 10. How odd, I had received no email? At the meeting room was HRM, my manager and his manager. Nothing unusual, just like the last meeting about my recovery.

"In light of the circumstances we will not be renewing your contract on March the 7th. Any questions?"

BAM! Out of the blue. Instant knockout, they had me literally gasping for breath. No, no questions, I was too shocked. HRM then asked if I was making improvements with my health. I said I did.

And that was it. Went back to my desk, told my chef I just got laid off, and he just said I could have seen it coming. This after the last warning I had 8 months ago, and then improving my productionspeed with 25-30%. Hardly ever internetting anymore, so not taking a small break every 30-60 minutes meant my nervers were getting frayed at work. So WTF I should have seen it coming?! I said I was leaving, he would tell HRM and my manager that I would go home and I just left, I didn't want to be there anymore, that place.

On the way home, I felt sad and relieved at the same time. Let's be honest, the job was incredibly mind numbing, everybody there seems to make a living complaining about everything (even more so then the typical Dutch) and the entire management couldn't find their way out of a paper bag cause they are so damn clueless/ignorant/aloof to the everyday problems over and over again. Honestly, who gives away free managerspositions here? Apply only if you are Asian and completely retarded and your life long dream is to shaft your fellow managers and staff?

So no real loss :)

The lack of income however is a problem, so I know have the dubious honour of applying for welfare, again, and choosing a quick job just to pay the bills or live with less for a while and retrain myself and look for a job that suits my particular skills and enthusiasm and company loyalty (mine flew out the moment they told me I have no more job)

This, however, is a problem to tackle during daylight hours, now is hobby time.

So, I'm now working on a model of the Abbey La Maisontaal from Warhammer fame. (Why? Because I can and I wanted some stuff for Mordheim and Frostgrave to try out). I've looked long and hard at the only picture from the White Dwarf that I have, plus the excellent WIP version seen on the LAF, and freehanded most of it. Here is where I am now, and in red I painted what I still need to do (some walls, gate, towerruin).

 Made the one with the crypt as a non accessible crypt, the front door is barred from the inside and I will pile rubble against the door in the back. Saves me from making a take out floor and roof. The other large building I made a full on ruin. And I just realised I have reversed it in the picture, the intact wall should be facing the courtyard....doh! Will build the tower and the gate somewhere during the weekend to get the basic shell done, and then I can start adding all of the card stones on the sides and widow-/doorframes. Here are some more shots as it stands now.

The tiling I made from thick card I got at work from the bin. It is a big piece (well, several really) that will last me for some time but I only really need for this project as it is too thick to be useful for other things. Still, looks neat, and needs some additional tiling in the hallway. Might even do the part on the right side.