Christmas Wars: Summoning Complete ... Or Is It?

I get VERY little hobby time in currently (sick kid the last couple of days, altered appointments that pose logistic challenges, etc., and more CHistmas shopping coming up on the weekend), but my display still does get an upgrade now and then,

The pics are a tiny bit shaken as I find it difficult to hold the camera completely steady by hand, but you'll get the situation.

Miss Puddingsixpence has succeeded in summoning a Spirit. but is it the right one, and will it 

The Evil Snowmen are approaching from the forest. What heros will N be able to rally against them?

Christmas Wars: Bad Moon Risin'

Today has been Crazy! This morning, after the first night with some notable frost degrees, we found that we had no warm water, and the radiators were cold in all of the ground floor (the top floor, oddly enough, still had some heating).

Anna almost suffered a nervous breakdown, as instead to taking a shower and washing her hair last evening, she had postponed it untill today, so we had to boil water and mix it with cold tap water in the bathroom sink, and the wifey helped her.

I had to drop off the Land Speeder at the garage for changing tires (and the rear windshield wiper), but as soon as I returned home, I called the plumber (as the pipe from the community heating plant leading into the basemant was hot, the problem had to lay somewhere inside our home).

Thankfully, the plumber could come right away (their smithy/workshop is just down the street), and an hour later or so, the radiators slowly began to warm up again. It seems that some kind of dirt filter was clogged, and now we should be marked safe from cold mornings for a while.

Then, after picking up the Land Speeder, I went to Ringe to work out at the Fitness Center/gym and pick up the girls from grammar school afterwards (15:15). Lea had to be at work at 15:30, and Anna took her time to appear, so I had to leave her behind at first to get Lea to work on time. I could not get Lea to call Anna right away to reassure her I'd be back for her (she was changing shirt for work), so Anna kind of panicked and thought I'd abandoned her. Which didn't make my day any better.

All in all, today was pretty shitty, and I did not have the mojo to do much hobby stuff in between.

But, I got the Christmas Display updated, and the story can unfold ...

Miss Puddingsixpence seems to have some problems harnessing the Power of Light here  under the Full Moon. Meanwhile, another Snow Goon has emerged from the Darkness on the Edge of Town.

Whose bidding are the foul constructs doing? And what is their purpose?

Christmas Wars: The Snow Goon Incursion of '22

 Clearly a violation of the Santa Clause, stating that no evil spirits can enter the Mortal Realms between Samhain and Epiphany, this situation may call for the activation of N's Sleeper Helpers. Miss Puddingsixpence seems about to invoke the Spirit of Christmas Present to summon some reinforcements - but will they arrive in time, and will they be enough to stem the tides of Darkness, or will Christmas be jeopardized ...?

So It Begins

December is dedicated to painting minis which will show up in the Christmas Display on the sideboard. The first 'mini' finished this year is the largest of the trees, which I have given a washer base built up with some wall filler and painted with Humbrol Matt White Enamel and Citadel Apothecary White Contrast.

I am basing more of those cheap decoration trees (and I shall also give the small tree a bigger base), and I have quite a line-up of pop culture icons in the pain(t) queue,

Our 'Christmas Diorama'

I promised to show the little 'Christmas Scene' for which I originally started panting Santa and his assistant - and if I am to do that while it is still somewhat current, I think I have to do it today.

It lacks snow, I know - I'll work on that for next year....

Christmas Wars: Santa - Now With Snow!

I have now poked the Snow-Tex around on Santa's base, and I think the finish is OK,

It is not quite the effect I was looking for (I wanted sparkling 'postcard' snow), but I may be able to achieve an enhanced result by drybrushing some clear varnish over the Snow-Tex.

I do have a feeling, that I could create a similar compound myself - the Snow-Tex feels and looks very much like 'gloop', which is a mix of paint, sand, and PVA glue (the Snow-Tex even could be only white paint and sand), and if I keep using this stuff for winter bases, I think I should experiment with beach sand and white emulsion paint.

I have all but finished Santa's assistant, and I hope to be able to post pics of her tomorrow morning (before I start bringing in The Tree), and of the small Christmas Village Scene we have on our sideboard.

Let it Snow...

A nice bloke at the LAF, going by the nick 'Hu Rhu', was so kind to send me this tub of scenic snow, so I can decorate Santa's base (and other, season-themed models) in an appropriate manner.

Gestures like this make me all warm and fluffy inside, and I raise a horn of mead in salute to this fine Gentleman!

I am going to make a test one of the next days, and then get some show on the base, just in time for Christmas, and maybe also on the base of Santa's Assistant - if I get her done in time, that is.

Christmas Wars: Santa Claus, Peaceful Edition

As mentioned in an earlier post, I have been working on some seasonal miniatures - and earlier today, I finished Santa.

I am going to add some scenic snow to the base, as soon as I get my hands on some. I intentionally made the base somewhat darker (hopefully looking a bit more 'wet') than my standard bases, by adding a wash of Agrax Earthshade. Most of the soil will be covered in scenic snow, though, which is also the reason why I did not add any flock.

I could have posted this earlier today, but Microsoft had updated my Windows, and the PC used most of the day for booting up 😠😠😠😠😠

Well, I spent most of the afternoon moving firewood, as the husband of a former colleague, from which I buy my firewood, had offered to bring a log splitter and help me split the rather large quantity of wood I had gathered in front of the shed, from various trees felled by the wind and/or myself in the back yard over the last couple of years - but now I have time to make a couple of updates.









Most of the colours are pretty straightforward, but I would like to note the following:

Belt and Boots:

• Foundry Bay Brown triad

Sack:

• Foundry Rawhide palette

 Teddy:

• Foundry Butter Fudge palette

Tomorrow, I need to finish rebasing some Lizardmen for God of Battles, and a few Pulp minis - and then it is time to put some paint on Santa's lovely assistant!

More December - This Time of the Fun Kind

Although I am almost in a stupor, hobby-wise, my suppliers are not, and the orders I made a while ago, before succumbing to workplace stress, are now being delivered.

I saw my GP yesterday, and got sick leave, for now until and including December 19th, which means that I now have at least a fortnight to focus on all the positive things in life - and afterwards I decided yesterday that I simply WILL NOT let my ailment ruin my family and hobby life.

As on cue, my North Star order arrived this morning, and allthough I cannot keep my focus for more than about 10 minutes at a time before having to rest my head, I am determined to get St. Nick and his luvverly assistant prepped and painted before Christmas. It may take me the rest of the day to get them cleaned up and started basing, but I shall not give in to the urge to just sit idle and do nothing but watch some braindead tv-shows all day!!!

In a few moments. I am going to take a long walk with Molly, my fantastic dog (1/4 Golden Retriever, 3/4 Yellow Labrador), who can always be trusted to comfort and support when needed, and afterwards I am going to pull out the needle files and start getting these two great Mark Copplestone sculpts ready for some brushwork.

I got more minis with this order, but I shall post about those when I have to pause in between prepping these minis.

That, and I need to get some scenic snow....