I've been working with miniatures for a long time now. I got into the hobby back when I found my father's painted set of white metal TSR AD&D miniatures. I remember the dusty smell of opening a box tucked away in the garage and the wonder at the small wooden box I found inside. The models were simple, a warrior, sorcerer, dwarf, etc. and the paint had been well worn from years of use and handling. I frequently spent a lot of time looking at them and wondering about their origin.
Years later I was introduced to Warhammer 40k and my imagination and interest in art were hooked into the hobby completely. I learned to modify, paint, dry brush, air brush, spray paint and all sorts of tricks. As time wore on I followed my interests all over the place from welding, sumi-e, photography and on and on. I also found that the little tricks I picked up on the way came in rather handy at times. I was restoring a motorcycle and was having a hard time acquiring a particular part so I took the old one (a thumb lever), drilled some holes, added some thick wire, J.B. weld and sculpted it into a duplicate of the original. A little primer and chrome paint and it was hard to tell I hadn't acquired an original part. Always little things like that which would be helpful, time saving or just fun. Just goes to show that you never know where a little skill, developed in an obscure place (in this case miniature gaming), can come in handy down the road. Opportunity is every where.
This week has been much like my interest in art, absolutely all over the place (more after the break).
