A great dads day out!

Well, today was all about spending the day with my little lad. I had a bit of a trip out planned, that included nipping into Shewsbury, checking out a few model shops, a nip into GW, a visit to a proper castle and then finally a visit to a bouncy sort of castle.

It's been great! On the castle front, we've visited Shrewsbury castle which also houses the regimental museum for the various Shropshire regiments. Here's a couple of pics, unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any pics inside the museum.



This is Laura's tower, a summer house built in the 18th century by the then current owner for his daughter. It's the highest point in Shrewsbury and has some outstanding views. I also reckon it'd make a good terrain project, I love the twin staircases working around the door.


There were also two large field guns just outside the gates, so my little man climbed up (bit naughty) and give me a smile.



The museum was excellent and chocked full of bits of kit, weapons and uniforms from all different periods of time. One thing that got me was the Russian WW2 weapons, the heavy machine guns look straight from the DKoK. Big, chunky and on little trolleys. If any of you end up in the shrewsbury area, I'd highly recommend checking it out.

We also nipping into GW which was swamped. I only needed some green stuff but they were completely sold out. After chatting with the lads and explaining that I wanted it for the TOEMP challenge, they pulled a blinder and gave me some of the stores that they had in back. I know we can all get pee'd off with the corporate side of GW but I've got to say, the guys who actually man the front line do an excellent job. I also picked up the second Guant's omnibus and the planet strike manual, I'll let you know what I think once I've got my teeth stuck into them.

The last bit of our day out was a trip to Crazy Knights, a huge industrial playbarn geared around a castle, two hours of slides, ball pools and padded madness. It was knackering but GREAT, the perfect end to the perfect day. I just need to plan our next day, I think chester calls.


Old School Guard

I've been sorting through my kit lately and I came across these old catachens that I painted up so long ago that I can't remember when. I'm assuming one's got lost in the mists of time as there's only nine. What really surprised me is that I actually painted their eyes, which is something I don't do on my guard as I don't think I'm a good enough painter. I might have to have a rethink about that based on this new evidence.


Snipers

As part of the TOEMP challange, I'm painting up some snipers and a converted Marbo. I'm saving the Marbo for a bit of a tutorial, but here's the snipers.


I've already used the challenge to push myself by using a dremel to grind off the leaves off the four catachen snipers. I've never used a dremel before, even though I've had one for about a year now. Overall, I'm quite pleased with how they've come out but I'll only be able to tell properly once they're painted. The first few were a bit dodgy but by the end, I think I'd got the hang of it. The last model only took a few minutes and the finish was the best of the lot. So, the TOEMP challenge has already challenged me to leave my comfort zone, it's sculpting next!


That's all for now folks, more wip pics of the snipers coming soon.