First of all, I would like to thank those of you who have written to express concerns over the pro- tracted and uncharacteristic silence of the last 8 weeks on this site. Very kind--and very much appreciated!
By way of recap, work has been the dominant activity in the day-to-day, and will likely remain so in the foreseeable future. While I would rather it be otherwise, it simply is what it is. Spring was also rather demanding in terms of home repairs, and this effectively monopolized what little dis- posable time would have been available.
Hobby-wise, the events of the first quarter of the year--along with the dearth of imagination in 2015 releases and the inexorable rise in prices--eliminated any wiggle room for rationalization: I have finally made my break with figures! At the very least, this is a much needed hiatus from what had become a rather uninspiring routine--and I have enough of those in my life!! Sadly, I haven't missed it; but I am willing to concede that I haven't had time to miss it.
Since I last posted, I have spent my idle time working on armor. . . No, not armour; but 'armor' as in combat vehicles. It satisfies virtually all of my modelling requirements; and, for the most part, I can still feel a sense of accomplishment with as little as 10-15 minutes per day. Sit down, enjoy, and walk away. In short, a hobby.
That being said, I am a miniaturist, not a scale modeler! And I am very happy to be a miniaturist. What I was not--am not--happy about is the direction my beloved hobby has taken. And thus I decided to get off the bus, as it were. But that does not mean that I have ceased being fascinat- ed by what can be realized in this hobby. Most of my armor projects involve figures, and they are critical to the "snapshot in time" I am attempting to capture in 3-D, not groundwork accessories employed as visual garnish.
And, yes, I am still working on stand-alone figures. In fact, today I have begun the rework of one of Andrea's latest releases: Bonnie Parker. This figure is a pre-painted "toy soldier" from the company's Black Hawk Toy Soldier line in the latter's Gangland America series. The figure has now been stripped, and preparations for the enhancements have begun: unfortunately, the figure has some serious historicity issues. No surprise there, eh?
Back to the bench! And again, thank you for your concern and interest!!
“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003
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