Wednesday 31 December 2008

074 Me (after a fashion)

Hullo again!

For those of you not aware, those over at Andy's Blog have been having a friendly competition to 'design oneself' in miniature form. I thought the deadline was the end of January: apparently it's tomorrow! Now, while the time difference gives me a few extra hours, I've had to ignore our houseguest (luckily, none of us care much for New Year's Eve celebrations), in order to turn out a verion of...well...me.
This is me in an approximation of me during my brief period in uniform. Details include the following:
- my glasses - these were an absolute bugger to convert!
- my sword (the "Ballard Sword")
- my ever-present satchel
- kit (I'm something of a pack-rat and always carried stuff)
- the colours, both of the service dress uniform and the cap
- the light blue flash
- my pre-commissioning rank insignia on my left shoulder: a beautiful design, and a rank the conference of which I've always been proud. This is probably the most tricky thing I've ever painted!
Sadly, I'm no Golden Demon painter, and the mini looks far better from a distance than under the glare of naked bulbs and a flash at eleven at night. Oddly, I had to use candles for illumination whilst painting this tonight, too!

Oh, I'm a little less, er, rugged these days, and I should point out to anyone who knows me reading this that this is just for fun: I'm not seriously trying to recapture my past with any degree of faithfulness!

I'll finish and base him at some point soon. Kate says she's going to do a version of me in a Hawaiian shirt if I provide the model...

Here's to the New Year and Codex, and do pop over to Andy's blog.

Cheers,
- Drax

20 comments:

  1. That's very cool. I might have to do similar myself.

    The glasses look good, and highly fiddly. How'd you do it?

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  2. Thanks, mate!

    For the glasses, after experimenting with greenstuff sausages, I used a peice of electrical wire from an old circuit board and pulled the wires out of the coating.

    Then I chopped the coating into roughly 1mm cross-sections for the 'lenses' - the bridge and arms were made from tiny tiny strips of the same wire coating. And I had to do this by bloody candlelight!

    It's a learning curve. Thanks for swinging by...

    - Drax.

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  3. haha excellent, looks like you are shouting at some unruly children!

    happy new year :)

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  4. Just noticed I got some of the weaving wrong on the curlicue design - I'll have to fix that...

    And thanks, Ben: luckily in my new school I haven't really needed to shout at all - the kids there are nice!

    - D.

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  5. I do believe this is the first model I've ever seen with glasses.

    Kudos to you for even trying to make them. I wear glasses and I wouldn't have even attempted them.

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  6. Brilliant model, Drax! Thanks for sending in the pictures. We'll post an update on the blog later.
    I agree that the glasses are particularly impressive on this model. I did not try to model glasses on my own self-build...

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  7. Post is up, check it out:

    http://andygomez.wordpress.com/

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  8. That's most excellent! Nicely done. ::salutes::

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  9. very cool. makes me want to do one for myself.

    - Cadian 127th

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  10. Thanks, Guys,

    Most appreciated!

    - Drax.

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  11. So where do you fit in your force organisation ?

    Also, I've finally finished building my Wyvern, a few pics are up in my Photobucket account.

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  12. Honestly? I'm not sure where I fit. I might ride in the Wyvern though, we'll see.

    Likewise, I'm a huge fan of the Chapter Approved 'High Command' rules published in WD during 4th Edition, so Ilike the idea of being an aide-de-camp...For now though I'm just a supernumary officer.

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  13. very nice mate, loving the use of the FW cadian kit, i love thaqt stuff.

    also a big well done on the glasses, fantastic idea, now im going to rumage around the garage for an hour to find some decent diameter wire and have a go. utterly inspired!

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  14. Thanks, mate!

    I think this model will be my 'master of ordnance' come the new codex...

    - Drax

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  15. Whenever I see self-portrait style models, I always wonder how accurate they are. I presume you have glasses, but otherwise, what makes this model suitably Draxish?

    I often wish people would post a comparison pic to demonstrate...

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  16. >W39,999:

    I see your point. Essentially the uniform and accoutrements are pretty close (as detailed in the post), though I never wore all the bits together. Naturally, I never took to the field in my 'No2' uniform; nor did I ever wear greaves, shoulder plates or a radio with the cap...but again, it's interpretive! I selfish nod to the bits of my brief military career that were distinctively 'me'.

    I certainly don't pretend to have such a manly jaw with a cleft chin like some 1930s Private Eye, but the frame and bulk of the model is pretty close.

    Afraid I don't tend to like posting photos of myself on the blog, although they do nip in sometimes [I'm in Post #248, for example]. I may do in the future.

    If I were a sculptor I'd happily indulge myself in a bit of miniature narcissism...but it ain't never gonna look much like me with the starting point of a 40K figure.

    At least I tried with the glasses!

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  17. I hear ya... I've never tried to make a model of myself, because GW doesn't make enough shortish round-faced individuals. Well, I guess I could always convert a halfling!

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  18. Drax, if you heard some rustling it was just me digging about in your blog archive. I had to stop and comment on this.
    Wow, this is tops. I love it. The glasses are superb!
    What is the light blue flash on the right arm?
    Did you bring him out for many games?

    On a side note, how good were those old Chapter Approved 'High Command' rules.

    Anyway, I'm thoroughly enjoying digging around here looking at your 6 year old (OMG 6 YEAR OLD!) posts. What a journey! I wish I had started blogging years ago. :)

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  19. Thank you, Ackland - I feel honoured, and I do so hope you're able to find some good stuff in the archives!

    If you've not read some of the comments above, you'll find there a smattering of more explanation, and there's some finished shots of him (me?) here: http://admiraldrax.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/144-stormtroopers-and-self-build.html .

    The light blue, by the way, reflects the shoulder flash for Cambridge UOTC [http://www.army.mod.uk/UOTC/30757.aspx#].

    This model, I'm pleased to say, has seen the tabletop a number of times; either as a platoon commander or as a veteran sergeant...and rather hapily has never (as far as I can recall) met his demise!

    The High Command rules were an absolute delight, although I never actually used them, sadly.

    Oh, and if you fancy a giggle at poor Drax's expense, check out the difference in quality between my own 2008 over-glossy, pallid-faced Command Squad and the 2013 version I did for Zzzzzz:

    http://admiraldrax.blogspot.co.uk/2008/05/011-b-coy-hq-squad.html

    http://admiraldrax.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/360-24th-cadian-liaison-detachment-pic.html .

    Matte varnish = win, eh?

    Thanks for the interest, mate!

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  20. As part of TAG Heuer Monaco's 50th anniversary, the brand is launching a series of five limited edition pieces commemorating the iconic square case watch. The first limited edition was made in the spirit of the decade between 1969 and 1979, and now we have got the second piece inspired by the decade between 1979 and 1989. Here we have the TAG Heuer Monaco 1979-1989 ref. Watch CAW211W.FC6467, and while I didn't expect to see a bright red fake Rolex Monaco watch, it looks pretty cool in its ruby ​​majesty. Like each of the five lines that TAG Heuer is releasing, this one will also be released in a limited edition of 169 pieces. This model is specifically associated with the 24-hour race of Les Mans and the now ubiquitous 1971 Le Mans film starring Steve McQueen.

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Thanks for taking the time to comment!