Major Ballsup's Hobby Shed

May was a relatively productive month on the hobby front until the final week.  We had some really hot weather over the Whitsun Bank Holiday which put paid to any painting as my hobby table is in a South facing room.  As well as being unpleasantly hot the paint dries instantaneously!  I like the Summer for the extra light, but you can keep the stupid heat we now get thank you!  Prior to that point I'd worked on several different projects which helps to keep motivated and keeps them all ticking along.   Completed I got a few more disparate bits completed and off the table: The first item finished was the Airfix 1/72nd Bristol Blenheim.  Yes finally.  I started this back in October 2025 doing a bit each month.  At the end of last month I focused any hobby time I had to get it finished, which I did over the May Bank Holiday weekend.  It’s come out ok, but it’s very much a wargamers' model and I don't think any self respecting aero modeller ...

After a less than productive August, I went away for a week at the start of September.  I'd started to get my hobby mojo back before I went, but being away really sharpened my enthusiasm for cracking on when I returned.  Sod's law though since being back real life has been so busy that I've only managed to get in odd snatches of hobby time, with no games at all. Completed I've only completed three things this month: Early War Miniatures 20mm Pz IV H's. I'd finished the majority of the painting on these last month, and just had the crew, some extra details and the weathering to do early in September.   Now they're all done I'm very happy with them and I’ve had some good feedback.  I hadn’t painted a tank larger than 6mm for a good few years and it took me a while to get into it.  It’s made me think about revisiting the tanks I made over 20 years ago and bringing them up to this standard.  You can see more of the Pz IVs  here .  Anschluss Warga...

As often happens when I get to Autumn my thoughts turns to what I’ll be working on for the rest of this year and what new projects to look at for the year to come.  This year I’ve been quite focused, and a combination of clearing the backlog and buying very little that needs doing, has left me in a good place to start something new.  There’s a few projects that have been on the to-do list for a while, but the one I’ve decided to kick off in what remains of 2024 is a 1980s Cold War "what if?" project. Being of a certain age and long being interested in military matters, I remember very clearly what seemed the continuous threat and fear of an enemy horde advancing across Europe from the east.  Not much changes does it?  However, current events aside it did have an impact on my formative years.  Being primarily an aircraft modeller at the time I made models of lots of service aircraft like Harrier, Jaguars, Phantoms, Tornadoes and A-10s and also some contemporary t...