Weekly Waffle #346 – Hammer Time
24th August 2024
This week’s weekly waffle has seen me complete my first full commuting week in a long time. Back before the days of hybrid working I would typically do a few days each week in the city. With rest of week being in my local office. Going into the city every day so far hasn’t been as bad as I first thought. Thankfully it’s still light in the morning when I have to get up which helps. And being on the early train means it’s not as busy as the later ‘commuter’ one. So I get a bit of space to sit back and chill out.
But with all of this I have ended up leaving writing and prepping the actual update until last minute. I normally like to have the words ready on Friday evening so that I have time to get things in order and published for my normal ten o’clock weekly waffle publication. Today though has seen me sat here early on Saturday morning feeding the cat and trying to get this update ready for you on time. I’m going to have to make a little better use of my time on the commute next week.
Obviously it impacts the amount of hobby time I have available but on the plus side I’m getting two hours every day to catch up on some reading. I don’t think I’ve done any reading recommendations on here for a very long time. Not since I recommend Malazan Book of the Fallen, but I’m reading something very interesting at the moment. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. It’s sci-fi and very interesting because it’s all about intrigued and politics. Sounds a bit heavy but it is really good and I would certainly recommend it for anyone looking for something a little bit different.
The commute also lets me ponder some kit bash ideas so I now have quite a few notes on my phone. Obviously with no time I can’t do anything with them at the moment but I will spend some time on them to flesh them out in more detail. Possibly even start to pick up the bits I think I need so that I have something else to add to the pile of possible future projects.
Some are more simple than others but I do need to remember to try and restrain my imagination a little. Some ideas just seem to grow wings and get so large I could never get them finished. So I need to try and keep them grounded if I’m to have any chance of actually completing even one of them.
On the hobby front I have once again continued with the Kromlech Goblin Aides ridding a jack hammer whilst wielding a pistol. Like the banner Grot from last week I’ve had this guy and a few others for ages. They have been sitting in a box of Ork bits just waiting for the right project. I have no idea what that right project was going to be but they were just there waiting for a coat of paint. Having so little hobby time each week at the moment it’s just about keeping things ticking along. Both in terms of content for the site but also in terms of actually painting something. It’s so easy to have a few weeks off and it takes time to get back to where you were.
So as an exercise in retaining muscle memory and producing content this little guy is ticking all the boxes. The scale isn’t quite in line with the grits from GW but it’s close enough. Especially riding a jack hammer as he is. I can just imagine hime bouncing around the battle field with his little pistol blazing away. And let’s be frank, doing very little damage.
The process has been exactly the same with me starting off with the metallic effect and then working on the rest of the colours. I’ve kept the skin tone nice a light because this is a weedy grot with no power so it can’t be any darker. The red and blue have remained the same prime colours so that it will fit in with anything else in my army. Whether he ends up joining a squad of Grot’s and just being a filler or if he becomes an add on to something else, such as a rigger.
I think it’s another success both in how it has turned out and also that I have enjoyed painting it. Which is keeping both the mojo up and the muscle memory ticking along. Even though the hobby time has been very limited.
You can see more Ork miniatures at my gallery here.
I’m going to preempt next week and say that I think it will be more of the same with me probably working through more of the gross I have. So nothing exciting is what I’m saying. But I have been thinking about what to do once I get a bit more hobby time. And the more I think about it the more I’m looking at a kit bash of another vehicle. Somewhere in my boxes of Orks I have the Forge World Looted Rhino and I really liked it when I painted it up years ago. So I’m thinking of doing another version of that which could be used as a truck for a squad of Ard boys. And yes I do have an idea about how to do a new squad of Ard boys, but that will be for a later update.
The idea with this will be add a driver and some exhausts but also to build it in such a way that it can be classed as either open topped or as having an ard top. Depending on how I wan to use it in game. The other thing that I think will really make it stand out from the Forge World offering is that I’m going to ditch the tracks and give it wheels. Because everyone knows that wheels are faster than tracks.
I think this, whilst not necessarily being a particularly unique idea would be a good project. It will be fun to make whilst at the same time being a little bit different but fitting nicely into my existing army. It also does that subtle thing, or I think it’s subtle, of being clearly more armoured than a normal truck. But not being out of place.
I have a lot of the bits I need for this so it once I get a bit of time I will get this started. Until then though it just going to be a case of doing what I can. Then sharing that with you on a Saturday morning.
That’s all I have for you this week. I hope you all have a great weekend, and for those of you in the UK it’s the extra bonus of being a bank holiday so one extra day. Keep safe, keep the hobby flowing and I would to see you all back here next week.
