Thanks Secret Santa!

I had an lovely Christmas Day, and hope you all did too.

I'd like to state my public thanks to my Secret Santa.  Having read my Christmas wish-list (and I suspect my remarks about regretting not buying more Ainsty Castings scenery at the Hereward Show), he provided me with a bumper lot of Sci-Fi terrain in the hope it will come in for Doctor Who gaming.  It sure will!

But there's more!  Like a child given a horribly expensive present, or a cat given anything, I greatly admired the box it came in.  Secret Santa (or as I shall refer to him 'RR') had been cunning enough to do this...

Which means I can do this...

All I need is a hat-stand!

So a huge thank you to Santa, to his Gillingham Elf and, above all to Cath Willey for organising us all.

Dr Who Wednesday #5

Painting

Davros and the 18th Doctor for scale only...

I've not done much painting lately, but in order to get my brush in for the Analogue Painting Challenge I decided to do one of Ainsty Castings' splendid TARDIS consoles.  I think it came out quite well.

Google provided me with a dazzling amount of detail on the TARDIS control room(s).  It turns out that this configuration dates to the Fifth Doctor.  Just as well that I don't care about such things!

My plans for the Painting Challenge have a distinct Dr Who flavour.  So if you want to wallow around in Nostalgia* with Cybermen and Ice Warriors, stay tuned.  However I am distraught to say that I can't find my Jon Pertwee figure.  Alack, aloo!

*Other Challengers will get my drift...

Viewing

I have of course watched the end of the latest series.  I thought it came to a quite satisfactory end.*  The thought of Clara and Me whizzing around in their own TARDIS appeals - and it gave us a splendid homage to the original Control Room set, with the console in lime green and magnolia, looking like something from a 1950s nuclear power station!

*After all, the Doctor got rid of those ridiculous sonic sunglasses!

All-in-all my thoughts on the series that has just ended are positive.  High-lights to me were the use of Davros and all sorts of Dalek types in their two-parter and the reintroduction of Osgood.  The low-point was the Ashildr/Me arc - I just didn't warm to the character at all.

And we need more of Missy!

I'm not too sanguine about the Christmas special though - they've had a distressing tendency towards whimsy recently.  I'll let you know what I think next week.

I've also watched a couple of Tom Baker serials - 'Planet of Evil' and the 'The Android Invasion'.

The former was pretty ropy, but had some interesting design of the planet's jungle.  The inspiration for the monster was obviously 'Forbidden Planet'.

'Android Invasion' also steals from classic movies (in its case 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' - and I'm sure the bit about an astronaut being persuaded to lead an alien attack was done before).  It gets a bad going-over from on-line reviewers, but I quite enjoyed it - but's that always the case with episodes I watch and then realise I remember from my childhood!

It's a relatively rare Fourth Doctor/UNIT episode.  The absence of the Brigadier is palatable, and apparently it was the last appearance of Sgt Benson - both of which are a shame and, to my mind mark the end of UNIT's effectiveness.  Lis Sladen can do no wrong as Sarah Jane Smith of course.

And Finally...

A shout out for fellow blogger James Holloway.  Many of you will be familiar with his blogs, The Gonzo History Project and Gonzo History: Gaming Edition.  He has recently started a podcast in which he and a friend discuss episodes of Dr Who.  It can be heard here.  I recommend it.

Terrain Tuesday #10

During my period of enforced off-line time I thought I would experiment with making some Frostgrave-type ruins out of bits and pieces from the gash bin.  Typically, an afternoon's work has stretched out to three weeks.  And the damn things aren't painted!

Requires work...

The next three photos tell their own story.

ARRGGH!

Some of you may remember my discovery that in a house with whippets it was a bad idea to try us chicken bones to represent dinosaur remains.   Much the same goes for re-using Pringles tubes...

Finally, these two chaps will be statues flanking a staircase or the entrance to a forbidden sanctuary.

Last night I knocked out a batch of treasure tokens.  However, I have a cunning plan relating to them which I can't reveal until next year.  Stay turned...

'Twas The Night Before... (and Paint Table Saturday)

My computer problems have been resolved, and not a moment too soon, as this year's Analogue Hobbies' Painting Challenge starts tomorrow.  Sadly, the assessors decided that my laptop was repairable so I haven't ended up with a new one.  However, I must say that it's nice to have a familiar keyboard again after muddling through on my smartphone for three weeks.

In the Challenge I've set myself a realistic target of 500 points.  I done some preparation and have ideas for most of the bonus rounds and for the Curtgeld.  I'm ready to set brush to paint to lead!

So what's on the table on the night before the kick-off?

Well, there are some terrain pieces I've been building but haven't quite finished.  These are intended primarily for Frostgrave, but are basically generic ruins.

There's also a score of so of figures I'm in the process of basing for the challenge.  I'm not going to say more about them until they are done and submitted.

Thank you to those of you who offered sympathy and support during the computer crisis.  To those of you who are taking part in the Challenge: good luck and have fun!  To the rest, just have fun!

An Update

Nothing exciting, but I just think that I should make the occasional post to remind you all that I'm alive.

I haven't got a computer, so have been muddling along on my phone (I hate not having a proper keyboard!).  I have found that this makes it difficult to follow blogs unless the are on Google+ (so *that's* what it's good for!).

Instead I've been forced to spend time with The Wife.

No other news.  Prep for the painting challenge is non-existant.  I've got a little further with Frostgrave terrain.