Where do I begin?

...Well, at the beginning I guess! With having such a long 'time out' from all things Molatero I now find I have lost or forgotten a number of skills that I was starting to develop - take my 'Harry' project, I had worked really hard to learn about 1/32 scale figure sculpting but not I don't have a clue about what I was up to or planning next. Likewise, some of my other 'advanced' scratch building projects seem like mystical black arts to me now.

Left: My very first scratch sculpted 1/32 soldier - 'Harry'. Not perfect by any means but I think he has a certain antique charm. Sadly it will be a while before I can continue this project.

So I am going to have to do some prioritisation, starting with some 'easy' projects - like simple plastic figure painting - and working back up to the more complicated conversations and scratch builds. What a shame! It really depresses me when I look back at what I was achieving and now I have to start from the very beginning again...

A job that is probably more within my current skill-range would be my planned 'regiment' of Molaterian Jaegars. This is a simple paint job with just a smidgen of light conversion (replacing hats) which would be a good re-introduction to FLW modelling.

Amusingly, even this fairly basic work has been effected by the chaos that has taken over my hobbies over the past year and a half. Rather foolishly, while not undertaking any Molatero based projects, I gave my little collection of Tamiya paints to my brother who was just starting out on the modelling hobby.

One thing I do remember is that I found that Tamiya paints - while being slightly too gloopy for model kit painting - where of exactly the right consistency to get a nice coverage of coat on plastic soldiers (once suitably primed of course). Tamiya produces a lovely flat but rich colour coat which is very close to enamels but without the inconvenience of having to use solvent based thinners or cleaning fluids - which stink up the house (and annoys the wife).

So...Job number one - start buying some Tamiya paints! :)

Huzzah! Progress...Finally!

I have some good news to relate (for anyone who is interested)! Yesterday saw a very momentous event with joyous implications for the Principality of Molatero. I got my attic ‘man cave’ back!

For at least a year and a half all work on my Molatelo projects have ground to an unceremonious halt due to my ‘hobby room’ (aka attic man-cave) being relegated to being the house's junk store. I couldn’t even see my work desk for the random pile of oddments that had been precariously balanced on it. Hence my concentration on smaller kit projects that I could undertake on my lap-top modelling tray (see ‘Kitnoob’).

But yesterday - getting back to the point - saw the lifting of this embargo and my attic space was finally cleared of accumulated detritus due to some house-wide decorating and carpet fitting (which as a by-product resulted in us having to tackle the enormous mountain of crap we had been storing for no good reason other than ‘it might come in handy one day’, but didn’t)!

The result is I now have this….

Beaty's 'man-cave' 2015 (minus new carpet which has now been fitted).

In effect my attic has not been this junk free since I first sorted it out in April 17th 2013. I know because I took a picture back then too…

Beaty's 'man-cave' 2013!

If anything I seem to be even more junk free and tidy than I was back in 2013, which is a good thing. Plus the missus has promised that - now we have a posh carpet in - we can buy some proper storage furniture to replace the hotchpotch of plastic boxes that I was hiding crap in!

So there we go. I’m not exactly ready to start up production on my Molatero projects again - most are still packed away - but this is a promising move in the right direction. I still reckon it will take me a couple of weeks to get things in place and then I can try and remember what I was doing.

To be honest I may just have to start from the beginning by simply painting some plastic soldiers - rather than the more complicated scratch projects I had on the go - just to get back into the swing of things.

Still, upwards and onwards! :)

It's been a year since I posted? Really?

I can't believe it's been exactly a year since I posted [a meaningful project] on this blog. A big surprise as I was actually enjoying this form of model making and collecting more than I was the WW2 vehicles I was doing at the time!

In the end, however, as I was a beginner to model making I decided that trying to attempt to gain mastery of two such different styles of model making was too much for my minimal model making skills. So I put my FLW interests to one side until I felt confident enough to be able to adequately model in either style and scale.

Well, I feel I am about there! I have made some quite pleasing progress with my basic modelling skills, and my basic painting skills, and so am dusting off my FLWs projects and reminding myself where I was exactly with this hobby.

I have a week off work next week, so that seems an opportune time to reacquaint myself with the quaint little principality of Molatero!

Update on Harry! Shaking a leg...

OK, so I admit it's taken me a long, long time to shake off my Christmas modelling funk. But maybe the Spring weather has given me the boost I needed as today Harry (Pose 2) is finally seeing some progress!

Left: 'Harry' in his Pose 1 incarnation.

Just to quickly recap; my 'Harry' figure - my very first original 1/32 sculpt - will eventually consist of three body poses - 'At Ease', 'At Attention' and 'Firing'. The 'At Ease' (relaxed or walking) pose was the first pose to be completed, but now I am working on the second pose - an important one for toy soldiers - 'At Attention'.

(Once all three body poses are complete I then have to work on a selection of four or five heads and a variety of arms.)

The 'attention' pose shouldn't - in theory - be too difficult as the right leg of the 'At Ease' pose is already straight and ideal for a standing straight posture. So, it should be just a case of making a new straight left leg...

I began - as you can see above - by amputation poor Harry's 'relaxed' left leg. I then removed his boot, discarding the leg from the top of the boot upwards, and inserted a metal wire into the boot. Then I reattached the left leg again.

Using the right leg as a template I hope to mirror the leg's design so I end up with two straight legs.

As usual I will be using white Milliput putty to remake the leg. I start with a roll of putty and then will add the detail of the trousers.

Once I have two legs I may have to remove both legs from the body again to re-center them and place them closer together in a typical 'at attention' (heels together) pose.

Fingers - or do I mean legs - crossed! LOL ;)

It's not all about making stuff I guess!

Long story short...I forget that this hobby is as much about collecting as making and I have neglected to post about some of the stuff I have collected to use later as part of my Molatarian army.

Take this horse pulled carriage that I found on good old eBay. I'm not sure who made it or what it represents, all I know is that it is 1/32 scale and provides a good mode of transport for our beloved monarch King Vallzack III.

Being the senior Vallzack, His Majesty is something of a traditionalist and a horse and carriage of his type seems more fitting.

It's a nice diecast carriage, the horse team is plastic, but I am intent on changing the colour. I nice sober and magisterial black is my choice, and I may replace the heavy nags - which seem a little more suited to a beer dray - with a couple of more eloquent horses!

Update: Found this model on a model farm website - it's by SIKU and seems to be discontinued now.

Anyhoo, this will make a nice centrepiece for my general staff element of my army. The real challenge will be making the driver, His Majesty and his 'companion'. :)