The Guild D-Day Speedbuild: C-47 with a twist - finished? and other ramblings

With little time to spare, I completely burned out and posted the following 4 pictures for the competition.

I posted it on a few forums too to finish my running topics, but I have not had the nerve yet to read the replies. On the one hand I just have bitten off too much then I can chew, but to be fair, with better focus that might have not been the case.

But to spill the beans a bit, last week I was diagnosed with Depression, and seeing this is my third time in 7 years I kinda know how it goes, and it ain't pretty. I truly don't care about anything right now, hopbby, wife, kids, myself, nothing. I spend 2/3's of the day in bed. When I do have bursts of energy it pisses off my wife and confuses the heck out of the kids, so I just go to my hobby room and paint there for 3-4 hours straight while watching Youtube tutorial (and Fallout 4) videos. Since this is my third time, and my docter is super worried I've been labelled Priority and have my intake tomorrow. There is a bit of discussion whether to admit me for a short period so I'm away from everything or have me over 1-2 days a week for therapy and meetings. To be honest I don't care what they choose for me, I just want to get rid of this black hole that is inside me and swallows everything, from energy to feelings. I mean, I don't even care about painting right now, and I love painting. I've been on a downhill slope ever since losing my job and it is spiralling out of control ever since the news that my knee damage is permanent, and I just don't see the light at the tunnel anymore.

It sucks, but that is the way it is. Having said that, I've managed to snap out of it 2 times before. I have every intention to do the same thing again this time. But I want to ask them to treat it differently this time. Dark moods are a part of me ever since I was a kid (but I never was a Goth or anything) but I never discussed that with my family cause I knew very well what they thought about people that don't fit in their little world. I did find out pretty quickly that being by myself and/or with others and doing hobby related stuff meant it got pushed back. For quite some time I didn't have issued with it anymore and I kind of forgot about it. I have the hobby (gaming, painting) to thank for that.

So what changed? I'm not sure. When I got older I started to run into more and more people who don't accept my hobby as being something a adult should do. That it is a waste of money. I stayed friends with people who either like or have the same hobby, and tried to get rid of the ones who disapproved of it. Problem is, the disapprovers in my inner circle are my next of kin. My dad in particular has expressed more then once that he would come over, dump everything in a trash container and that would solve the problem once and for all. They see my hobby as a problem, as a disease, a money pit. I've long since given up the fight to change their views. I hardly ever show off painted stuff on my own FB page and keep it mostly to closed FB groups, a few forums and my Blog.

So why am I telling you all this? Well, I've never been the best in expressing myself verbally. I can talk long stories but sometimes it is hard to tell where they start and where they end. It's hard to explain the problem when I myself can't understand my own problem most of the time. Does this mean I have no more love for the hobby right now. No, it does not. That I don't care about it right now does not mean I do not love it. It is just that 99% of it gets blocked and only 1% actually manages to get out.

Like what I painted in between painting burst of the C-47. A local friend of mine commented that he would like and try to revive the cancelled 2012 Afrika game and see if we might get 3-5 players and have a small campaign with them. Even in my blocked off state, this triggered something as I had spent a lot of time on the background of my faction, the mercenaries called Zwartwater, and gathered quite a bit of kit for them. Also, this happend just at the moment I was watching a documentary on Netflix called "Only the Dead"

During the chat I saw this on my screen:

A press SUV in Iraq, 2003

.....and I wanted to paint that. What I normally do these days, is that I see something I think of interesting to buy, paint and have, I just copy-paste the picture, print it, and stick it on my whiteboard.

This months "Things I wanna have" list

But I did not want to paint another SUV, as I already have a Press SUV/Armoured Car (see ZNN
I gave it away to Bryan of the Hobby Den, then painted another one which I still have not finished (just needs varnish) for my own collection). I did however see, while cleaning in the attic.....

The attic. Welcome to hell/heaven and my Nemesis!

...a built, based and washed Lada Riva from SandS

And then magic happend, as I got through my numbess and painted my little heart out. I even cut apart white bar decals to represent the tape used to mark the vehicle with TV. I kept the clourscheme the same. And this is what I got:

Just so passing gunships know what you are.

Plenty banged up

Oops, missed that bit of gloss paint next to the window, will remidy that

As much as I love them, SandS casts are rough and usually have plenty of air bubbles to clean up. Since I paint up most of my stuf as bangers, not always a problem, but sometimes it is just bloody annoying. But for the price he charges I really can't complain. He asks 6.50 Pounds for these and I get my Guild discount on top of that, and then some when I order up a bit more. Thinking about ordering up 4 or 5 more to paint up as Iraqi/Afghani taxi's. Also thinmking about planting a money tree. Hah!

And while I was at it, I even made rules for it in Battlegroup (Moderns).

Press chit. This replaces a 1. When pulled, play on enemy unit and put a Press vehicle/3 man team on the table.
1-2 Unit too busy to fight cause they are recording messages for Mom and Dad. - no action next turn
3-4 Unit goes all out and puts up a show for the Press - Free action next turn
5 Unit is portrayed badly in the eyes of the Free World and loses D6 BR
6 Press is unwelcome. Place chit on enemy unit instead

Optional: If you have a translator team you may add or subtract 1 from your roll.

Right, tomorrow after the meeting I will come back home, clear my hobby desk, give it a good cleaning and the decide what to do next. Taking a week or so off doesn't sound so bad right now.

The Guild D-Day Speedbuild: C-47 with a twist - primed and based!

In between rainshowers I managed to get the kit basecoated in the morning, masked in the afternoon and sprayed Olive Drab just before dinner. I will now focus my attention elsewhere as I want to let the paint have plenty of time to dry and harden.

Also: Masking is fun! Not that difficult, just pay an eye out for details and press firmly. So I will be doing that more often. Tomorrow do the white, do the basic weathering, and paint a few panels in different tones. Anything else is a bonus.

Now to work on a more patriotic piece of scenery, Russian style :)

The Guild D-Day Speedbuild: C-47 with a twist - build part done!

Dead on my feet right now, but 99% of it is done with 1 day to spare. Only thing left to build so to speak is to soften the props in boiling water tomorrow to bend them all back. Landing lights I'll put in when everything is built and painted. I'm really happy how this turned out sofar, I hope my paintjob can do it justice.

That is a big piece of scenery.....

The Guild D-Day Speedbuild: C-47 with a twist - midway

Progress is slow. Antibiotics have left me drained and tired so I'm sleeping most of the day. Have today to get the build part finished, tonight to do the debris for the remaining wing parts after I give the engines a good smack down, so everything is dry thursday afternoon for the grey primer, taping it up, and then olive drab (or the English one to take the tone up) for the rest. Plenty of work.

Do remember this will be a wargames wreck so it won't be 100% accurate and I'm doing the best job possible given the deadline and what little time I have during the day. Having said that, I'm quite happy with the progress sofar and I'm looking forward to finishing the wings tonight.

The Guild D-Day Speedbuild: C-47 with a twist - startoff

On D-Day, I remarked that it would be great to have a speedbuild based on that. A couple of hours later, a speedbuild with the D-Day theme was announced!

The build is simple:

 Anything used or involved on the 6th June 1944.

If it was used in the defense, landed on the beach or dropped from the sky on the 6th of June then its good,
If it appeared or was used at a later date then it does not qualify.

No minimum requirements.

Then follows 3 days of going over ideas, sccratching them, making new ideas, etc, until I remembered just 2 hours ago I have a 1/72 C-47 that I traded recently. New in the box, very complete. I'm going to take "dropped from the sky"very literally. I've been wanting to make a wrecked Ju-52 for a while, why not combine that idea with making a start for Normandy for next year and making my first major wreck, but then with a allied aircraft that can pass for a Arnhem one as well? (yes, I know, markings and all, but at first glance it passes muster)

So, for inspiration I googled these:

Now, I cannot make them exactly like that. My Dremel and cutting tools are still *somewhere* up in the attic, so I just have some needle files, a few knives, a sidecutter and several sheets of sanding paper to get the job done. Secondly, the wreck will have to be in parts else I can't store it. Third, it is for a wargames table so it will have to be simplified a bit to prevent breakages. Fourth, this is a testpiece as well as a speedbuild. I have a rough idea how to create the texture and details that I want but I'm not 100% sure I can make it work.

So, out comes a 20 euro kit, brandnew, jay......

After a few rough cuts, snips and a bit of glue I have a wreck in 4 parts.

After examining the pictures of wrecks this is how far I'll be getting tonight. Tomorrow I will sand down all of the rough adges, I think I will cut off all of the windows as well and cut deeper into the cockpit, and find something to quickly and easily sand all of these rough edges into edges that resemble burnt aluminum. I'll also base up both wheels and the tailplane  as pieces sheared off during the crash so you can put them in the field behind it.

Stay tuned for more!