353 The Difficulties of Finding Hobby Time

This is a serious (albeit somewhat rambling and inconclusive) post. No pics, as I'm not at home, and the connection is rather limited...

I'm delighted to share my life with an amazing wife, two beautiful young daughters (one 3 years old, the other 4 months) and a rather venerable corgi.

I also have a job - I'm a high school English teacher - which means that I work all day, then usually have to sqeeze in an average of two or three hours of work each weekday evening. Work also obliges me to work Sundays, with more planning and marking...and naurally I do my share of housework chores etc.

In what my own father calls 'the years BC' (Before Children), Mrs Drax and I could occasionally find time to do nice things; I could do my homework more-or-less as or when I pleased and this left me whatever time I could spare to pursue my hobby,

Now, by the time the girls are in bed, I've finished my chores and Mrs D has settled it's usually pushing 2130. By the time I've finished my work...it's usually around midnight.

When am I ever supposed to paint little men?!

From time-to-time Mrs Drax might go out with the girls...but when that happens it's always so that I can get some work done. Occasionally I might get an hour whilst No. 1 Daughter is having a nap, but during those snatched hours I quite like to spend time with Mrs D and maybe even No. 2 Daughter!

So where is Drax in all this?

Well, I'm trying to look after my family, keep the home vaguely shipshape, run my beaten-up old car and get enough work done to save me getting fired.

And at some point amidst all this, I keep trying to find some time to paint some models. The Flames of War bits are logistically easier for me to unpack and stow again, so they're getting more love at the moment for that simple reason. Gaming has been an absolute no-go since late September....which is a pain because I have now completely forgotten everything I initially learned about 40K Sixth Edition. Sheesh.

The Emperor Protects, eh?

- Drax.

352 Back to 40K...One Brick at a Time

I couldn't face working into the wee hours yet again last night, so I bit the bullet and painted some 40K models.

Specifically, I worked on my HQ unit for Zzzzzz.

Felt good.

- D.

351 Sherman Patrol II - NEW! - IMPROVED!

Hullo, All.

...I was so disappointed with the scaling of my decals the last time I posted these that - as they'd frosted and as Cameron over at the unutterably superb 'Rust and the City' was kind enough to give me the name of his supplier - I bought some new decals, from DOM'S DECALS and re-finished the two platoons. I was HUGELY impressed by the quality (and quantity) of Dom's Decals, and Dom is a very helpful chap.

All the blurb for them was in my last post with this name, but in a nutshell, they are from 3 RTR (Royal Tank Regt) and operate in support of my 11th Armoured Division infantry company. In this case, the models are decidedly better now, but the photos are decidedly worse than before. Yes that is an unironed pillowcase in the garden:

No.1 Daughter was helping Daddy with his toys. Brilliantly, about a year ago, she asked, "Daddy, am I allowed to play with your toys?" - I said no, not usually, and gave an explanation...and since then she's never touched them without asking first. Good daughter.

So there you go. Drax is a LOT happier with his tanks now.

It's just a shame that on those painfully rare occasions he finds to actually attempt some FOW painting his blasted 25pdrs are proving so damned fiddly to do...!

Thanks, All,

- D.