Napoleonic & ECW wargaming, with a load of old Hooptedoodle on this & that


Monday 25 October 2021

WSS - The Attic Room

 After a few months off, to leave space for some heavy Real Life stuff and also to avoid some oppressive heat up there, I've got back to some soldier painting in the Attic Room.

 
Up in the roof - very quiet up here, except when it's stormy. Tea and biscuits and I'm up for it.

I'm working pretty slowly, restricting myself to sessions of about two and a half hours, but it's pleasing to be back at it. I'm sort of getting myself comfortable with what I hope will be a useful Winter of hobby work. I'm attempting to establish some kind of default routine, so that it feels as though I know what I'm doing!

 
Lots of bright lights, and during daylight hours I keep the blind shut for painting, since my poor old eyes don't like overhead light.

Some suitable radio programme on in the background (if there's no football on it's usually BBC Radio 3 these days, not least because they have minimal news coverage, and I may now have retired from listening to the news...), a flask of black tea and some Abernethy or Digestive biscuits and I'm very peaceful up there!

I have some excellent painting work going on elsewhere, contracted out to guys who paint much better than I do, which will appear here before long, but I've resumed some of my ongoing WSS refurb work. As ever, this refurb stuff is an industry with traditions all of its own. The original figures are never as good as I thought they were, I spend a lot of time fiddling around improving things that I had planned to leave alone, I keep being reminded that these are never going to look as good or as crisp as work on fresh castings would, but they will be fine when they are finished!

 
Not yet ready to be looked at - I'm currently half-way through the belting and leatherwork; these chaps will take a big step forward when they get their hats painted!

I'm currently working on a batch of pre-owned figures I bought from the Rye Soldier Shop before it was closed by Covid; the figures on the bottletops at present will, by the weekend, be The Buffs (Holland Regiment, Charles Churchill's Foot, whatever) and the [Royal] Irish Regt (Fred Hamilton's Foot). After that I have some more refurb work to do on some rather better figures, these acquired from the legendary Albannach last year - I am still pondering who they'll be after a wash and brush-up.

British army is shaping up - still some more Horse required, and I'm short of a couple of guns and most of the Staff, but definitely getting there. Next after that will be a belated assault on the French - there are hordes of them waiting to be painted! After that there should be some Dutch, the odd German principality and what not. However, at the moment, my immediate objective is to get settled into my Winter studio, and get used once again to painting regularly and in sensible amounts. Looking forward to it, actually.

30 comments:

  1. Looks like a very inviting space you have there! Figures coming along nicely too. And I agree about the news. After (the four years prior to) the 2020 election here in the U.S. and everything that has come about since, I can hardly stand to hear it. Neither good for one's heart, nor state of mind. Some soldier panting and tea/coffee with biscuits is the perfect antidote.

    Kind Regards,

    Stokes

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    1. The official news is bad enough - what is worse is the relentless series of phone-in shows so we can hear at first hand what people think. All this does is convince me that most people are morons - this is probably why we get the elected governments we have. Tea and biscuits definitely the thing.

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    2. Correct on all counts. No arguments here.

      Kind Regards,

      Stokes

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  2. A very cozy painting station you have here, Tony! As stokes says, "very inviting." I like that you have a bookshelf of painting references at hand and a couch nearby for a rest or a reclining think. I have a couch positioned next to my painting desk for exactly that use. Painting and research can be so fatiguing...

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    1. Hi Jon - that is my vintage couch for thinking deep thoughts...

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  3. Nice to see you are getting back into the Scottish version of ‘Loft Living”…
    It’s certainly a lot tidier than my painting desk/area at the moment…
    I’m looking forward to seeing your new WSS regiments…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Hi Aly - I didn't show my elec heater, but that's an important item.

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  4. Very snug although best not to get too cosy or you will fall asleep - this is why my cabin is kept at five degrees C!

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    1. My ex-kitchen chair is sufficiently hard to keep me awake!

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  5. Looks very comfortable and well organised Tony, just how I like it! But what, no Telly? Fully get where you are coming from re News, just so depressing and every time I see a shot of those bunch of buffoons who make up the Cabinet I feel like vomiting.

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    1. I couldn't handle a TV while painting - it would all end in tears!

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  6. A very neat and tidy little area Sir. Nice figures too!

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  7. It does look like an inviting space. I've got the sloping 1/2 walls but there is an attic above me. It seems like it would be a great increase of space if someone were to insulate, put in a floor and finish it, oh and provide better access than a hatch in the ceiling that my shoulders barely fit through but its not likely to happen in my lifetime.

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    1. This is right at the top of the house - just a thin layer of insulation...

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  8. Looks very cosy, well done! I like the addition of a sofa, very handy for relaxing in between coats. You have to love loft wargaming - I'm finding my wargames OP much more conducive than the previous wargames bunker.

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    1. I like the peace and quiet. My Attic Room is too small to allow any actual games, but it's all part of the church.

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    2. I might envy you the peace and quiet. When it's windy (e.g. this morning) or raining heavily I can't hear myself think up there.

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    3. In theory its the same here, but - though I live within 300 yards of the sea - there is a wood between my house and the beach, which shelters us a lot from the wind. Rain is another matter, of course!

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  9. A really nice inviting area, mine is suffering badly from untidiness and disorder this may give me the spur to get it sorted. Audible books are my mainstay in the loft space, my main problem is that the whisky decanter is possibly too close.

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    1. Audiobooks very handy. I have my Audible tracks transcribed to mp3 files, and I have a special machine to play them on (it was my mother's, but she can't understand the stories any more, and it scares her, so I have liberated it) - problem is that if we get any electricity outages (not unknown here at the Front of Beyond in Winter) the damn machine resets itself to start the story again. Better (but less convenient) with an old laptop, which can fast forward, but it's messy and fiddly and doesn't conform to the general vibe of the room. Whisky decanter - have to watch that. I'm currently on the wagon, but did once wash a paint-brush in brandy by mistake. I've never drunk the paint water.

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  10. A lovely painting area, with tea, biscuits and a sofa to lie on and contemplate the universe. I seem to be suffering some loft envy here.

    Figures coming along nicely too.

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    1. Hi Matt - it is therapeutic, though sometimes the contemplation can get in the way of the handicrafts. I usually get Siri to set an alarm, in case I snooze off!

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  11. What a beaut painting enclave Tony. I like a beer, or little Cointreau to get the creative juices flowing!
    Regards, James

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    1. Excellent - the Cointreau is especially classy. At present I'm a Presbyterian Scottish Blend black tea man - a whiff of penance throughout. No unnecessary smiling. Black tea and Fauré, and a hard chair. Back in Liverpool, Father O'Malley wouldn't have cared for the Fauré (apart from the Requiem), but he was all in favour of a little suffering.

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    2. Just come back to this. Classic wit Tony! You crack me up :)

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  12. A cosy attic room, coffee and biscuits, a nice relaxing task to get on with, and not too much news - it's a good way to spend some time in the Scottish winter! May you be most productive - and we'll look forward to seeing the results.

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    1. Feels promising at the moment (and every year the onset of Winter is more daunting, so I do need some motivation). Please wake me up in March!

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  13. Looks like the perfect sanctuary. I get the feeling many of us wargamers enjoy a bit of peace and quiet. In my case, it's a big bit. Excellent choice of biscuits, by the way.

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    1. It is working out very nicely - though sometimes I do pop out for a look around, in case the world ended and no-one told me.

      Biscuits - I also like plain Hobnobs, but I spend too much time coaxing the roughage out of my teeth; distracting. I recently bought some Rich Tea, in search of lost nostalgia - very disappointing...

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