Make every day Game Day

I'm a firm believer in setting aside a little time every day for yourself. This can be anything from 15 minutes to a couple of hours. I'm luckier than most, I get an hour lunch break at work and most days I can use that time to read rules or magazines or prepare written material for the Blog or my own D&D campaign. But what about those workaholics that don't take a lunch break?

My fist recommendation is TAKE YOUR BREAK. Life's too short to work for free! Even if you end up having a cut down break its worth taking some time away from the desk (or workbench or wherever you work) to think about something other than work. And if you do find yourself with some 'thinking time' why not put it to use constructively. I like to pick on one aspect of my hobby - A plot twist for a campaign; a colour scheme for a model; or an outline for a blog entry - and focus on that. You'd be supervised how productive this method can be and how refreshed you'll feel when you do get back to work.

But what about when you can't sit down and work on something? Such as when your shopping with your 'significant other'. Like most blokes I didn't particularly enjoy Saturday shopping trips, standing outside changing rooms for hours on end. But now I'm a changed man. I take the time to think about small aspects of projects I'm working on. And as a modeler/painter I can turn every shopping trip into a chance to hunt for materials or resources. I usually make a shortlist of items I'm hunting for before we set off and my mission (while the wife shops) is to get at least one of those items.

So, no matter how boring the shopping trip or how short the lunch break, I'm secretly enjoying my hobby and therefore quite content.

WooHoo! The post has arrived.

My Flames of War rulebook has just arrived and I'm all excited, like a kid before christmas. Unfortunately I've got to wait till I finish work before I can read it. Dagnabbit!

...maybe I can fake illness... [Cough..]

Music to Paint by

What sort of music do you listen to while painting? Or are you the silent type? Personally I need to listen to music, if only to drown out the noise of the TV. I'm easily distracted and before I know it I've wasted an entire evening watching mediocre programmes that are laughably called entertainment [Whoa boy! Off that soapbox!]. Ahem...


As I was saying, I like to listen to music while I paint. My choice can be quite varied, from Classical to Movie Soundtracks. Of the latter I'm quite fond of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack by Howard Shore (no surprise there) and the Blade Runner music by Vangelis. I also consider the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack by Basil Poledouris to be an essential for every painter.

In recent years I have discovered a love of Chinese films and consequently enjoy soundtracks from films like Hero and Crouching Tiger (both composed by Tan Dun). Another favorite is music from the computer games World of Warcraft by Jason Hayes and others.

I can't write an article on music, especially fantasy music, without mentioning the website Radio Rivendel. This is an online radio station based in Sweden playing fantasy music 24 hours a day seven days a week. Started in 2001 it has continued to expand its selection and quality of streamed music on the web and I heartily recommend it.

Aside from its TV obscuring properties music also helps me get "in the zone". I definitely paint better when I've lost myself in some fantastical world conjured up by a compelling soundtrack. In fact it could be argued I drift too deeply... the house could fall down around me and I wouldn't notice.

Ultramarine

Here are a few development pictures of my latest project, a Games Workshop Space Marine. I'm painting this as a display model and mostly for the nostalgia factor. I'm really enjoying this model, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed painting space marines. Anywhere here are a few pictures of the early stages, from sprue, through assembly and on to the first basecoat.

I used basic liquid polystyrene cement to assemble the parts together and a cheap superglue gel to affix the model to the resin base. As this is destined to be a display model it won't get rough handling so I decided not going to bother with pinning the model to the base. The bond seems very strong so crossed fingers this was a good idea.

I'm painting this model in Ultramarine livery in homage to my first ever space marine painted years and years ago. My 'vision' for this model is definitely 'old school'.

I'm working on the first of the highlights at the moment and will finish off with some darker washes to tone down the final colour. I also need to add plenty of 'weathering' to give this model a battle hardened look. I'll post more pictures as this project develops.