200th Post!

200th Post!!

Wow, I didn't imagine I would be able to keep this up for so long. Not with my short attention span anyway. When I started this Blog 3,5 years ago I started it with a big clean up, much like the one I'm in right now. I was fed up with how much tat I had managed to collect, though back that it was a lot of GW tat.

But let's recollect, shall we?

What will be leaving me?
- Silent Death - all the books ever published plus about 8 kilos of space ships of every type, plus big set of Star Wars fighters for this game (those have now been sold).
- Battletech - a ton of books, about 200 blisters and around 150 mechs and vehicles.
- All of my FoW (already sold).
- All of my 15mm Sci-Fi (already sold).
- All of my 28mm stuff, from Back of Beyond to WW2 to Sci-Fi.
- All of my GW stuff, from Fantasy to 40K to Epic to BFG.
- All of my 1/300 (or 6mm) stuff, WW2 and Moderns, land and aircraft. I have about 35 kilos of the stuff, and sofar sold about 9 kilos of it.
- Various RPG books like Robotech, Alternity, Stardrive and any other game I have that has not been played with for the last 3 years.
...and a ton of other stuff I need to sort out, bag and tag and put for sale online.

 Oh dear.

Silent Death - Nobody wanted the books or the ships.
Battletech - Still in storage, these REALLY need to go, but again, no one wants the books.
FoW - It saddens me to see I had, and sold my FoW, only to buy it again last year. Repeating mistakes is not what I should be doing. So let us say, never again?
15mm Sci-Fi. This was a tiny lot, I know, rebought it 2 years ago. Now, apart from a few vwhicles and troops, it is all gone.
28mm, I have maybe a handfull minis left, plus some stuff that goes with my 20mm cause it is scale neutral.
GW stuff, only a few books/comics, Skaven and bits left. This will be gone soon.
Various RPG books. Trouble with these is that shipping is a deal killer, no matter how cheap you offer them. So they are still here, and probably will be for some time.
Ton of other stuff. You mean, like the ton of stuff I have now? :D

Hmm, what else did I write?

Ok, I hear you say, you are selling a lot of stuff. What is holding me back from collecting it all over again?
Good question. I'd love to say I will hold fast to one project at a time, won't surf shops and Ebay to find new kit and bargains and try to not get swept in with the current fad, whatever that might be.

Uh...no, that won't work. I'm human. We all love getting new stuff. But what I can do is curb what I want by wondering if it is something I need. Since I've dropped quite a few scales I can happily bypass items that are offered for them. It should not be too hard, but knowing me, it will

Oh dear again.

Wel, at least I didn't join any fads (ahem). Dystopian Wars only just, and I'm selling that now, and 15mm sci-fi when it was well established, and again, selling that now. Holding through on one project clearly didn't work. At least I knew back then it was going to be hard.

I really hope sticking to one project a month plus a side dish will keep me on focus enough to last me a life time, but that will take the occasional reassesement of myself and my goals.


So what will I be focussing on in the near future? (Warning: Famous Last Words!)
20mm mostly, WW2 (1944-1945 Russians and 1944-1945 Germans) and Modern (2000+ Russians and Contractors for the 2012 Big Game. Propably a few 1/600 aircraft in between.

Will I keep that up? Maybe. I'm guessing I will, if I'm just able to focus and plan. We'll see.

 Famous last words indeed!

The Germans are pretty far advanced, the Russians have a lot of stuff ready to go onto the painting table, converted and all that. I did loads on them, so thats good. The Modern Russians is something I'm picking up just now, starting with just the infantry. Contractors for the Big Game never happend as the game got cancelled, but now and then I work on bits for them, and have been doing so since then. In 1/600 I tried to do Israeli Wars but failed, as I tried to do too much in one go. I've learned I can do 1-3 vehicles at a time and 5-7 troops at a time and then I don't lose sight of the end goal.

Focus and planning are the keywords here.

I will now have some cake to celebrate :)

Focus Points

For the rest of the year, besides selling stuff, I wil focus on 20mm.

For my own sanity, I have a checklist.

W1. WW2 Germans (Early-Mid-Late)
W2. WW2 Russians (Early-Mid-Late)
W3. WW2 British (Late)

M1. Cold War Dutch Mechanised (1980-85)
M2. Cold War British Special Forces (1980-85)
M3. Cold War Soviets Recce (1980-85)
M4, Lebanese Civil War, various Militias
M5. Mogadishu, African Militia
M6. Yugoslavia Civil War, Serbians and Croats
M7. Taliban

SF1. Stalker Project
SF2. Modern Mercenaries

I've sold off Vietnam and I will not be doing Sci-Fi for a while.

Of my Projects, only W1 Mid-Late and M1 are in a gameable state and have opposition in this country to game with/against. W1 should be updated with another German Infantry platoon and more vehicles (loads in stock thanks to PSC). M1 has a fully painted vehicle fleet but the infantry is unpainted. I will not be working on these this year.

W1 will be updated when I have a game planned and need new kit. Most likely Late.
W2 will keep the focus on Late due to the number of T-34/85's based and built and converted and ready for paint.
W3, being 2 British Infantry platoons plus support was my project for the last half year, which sadly tanked due to my increased dosage. I've pushed these on towards 2015

M1 will be picked up in 2015, and I have to do test samples to get the vehicle paint right again. Hopefully, in 2015 SandS will release the YP-408 so I can motorise my infantry towards 1975-1980. A F-16 has been aquired for airsupport.
M2 my Special Forces haven't been toutched since 2011, but I have 2 more special Land Rovers ready to be painted, I just need crew. Also need to make debussed crew. For small Skirmish games.
M3 is a new project, I want to get a small Recce force done, nothing major, as 2 of my mates already have sizeable Soviet forces, and I want a few of my own. I'll probably start his year.
M4 Already did some work on these, I want to do generic stuff first that can cross over to Mogadishu before comitting to one or two militias. As there is no opposition here locally this is a skillz and fun project. (my opposition being in Ireland and Portugal)
M5 I will focus purely on the Africans so I can eventually do AK-74 with them as well. No local opposition so again Skillz and Fun.
M6 Several vehicles converted, I need to test out JNS green before I will commit. There are long term interested parties that probably won't commit till I have a decent force (and they paint much quicker then me) Skillz and Fun cause the opposition is in the USA!
M7 Taliban. 2 people I know have Modern Dutch I can fight against. I want to focus purely on Infantry, I have a bag of Liberation, when those are done I will order Elhiem. 2015

SF1. Really long term ans I don't even have rules for it, more a labour of love and excuse to expand The Junkyard.
SF2. Modern Mercenaries. Also meant for AK-74 but modelled after Blackwater. No opposition, Skillz and Fun.

The list looks rather extensive, but I will try and focus on one project plus 1 back up project a month. Everything has their own box or drawer, so after that period they are easily stored untill taken out again. Each month I will see what tickles my fancy and do that, that way I dont have to worry about getting bored.

I really don't want to be running 12 different projects on my table at once, so this is a better way. A bit OCD, I admit, but quite maneagable.

A extra plus is that I have most projects in stock, so I don't have to spend extra money on figures, instead saving money for future scenery expansion.

3rd Lot on hold

Due to illness of me and the missus I haven't been able to devote time to the sale. I have been able to send out replies, quotes and packages and have used some of the gotten funds to buy more 2nd hand Liberation figures.

At the moment I'm 2/3's through my original pile of stuff and have a good sum on the bank.

Figures for my Modern Russians and Cold War Russians are complete now, I even managed to score 3 BRDM-2's from Liberation and a batch of Modern Russians painted by Piers Brand. When the last of the purchases arrives I have to go over my old and new Liberation figs to see what projects have become viable and which ones are undernourished, so I can try to make a order for exactly what I need. For my Lebanon project for instance, I'm well stocked on vehicles, but have hardly any troops.

After that, I don't need to make any more purchases this year other then some Technicals from the Hobby Den and Russian trucks and assorted vehicles from SandS, but that should be it.

The only exception being Crisis, but as it looks right now the only possible purchase sofar there would be a army transport for my troops.

But lets not get ahead of ourselves yet, first we need to sell, sell sell!

And it is nice to be smiling  again, even if I have a bad cough.

2nd lot up

More goodies, have a browse if you like.

lead-adventure.de

Had to cut my topic in 2 as I managed to cross the max characters, never had that happen before! Also added quite a lot of unused decals in 15, 20 and 28mm.

It has been a busy week, I will do some more sorting this week and see if I can manage another 50 lots for next week, and after that I will drop prices on remaining items and have a month off or something, this has really drained me..

Why oh why did I buy so much stuff? <scratches head>

And we are off!

Right, got the first few lots posted on the Guild and Lead Adventure

Guild

Lead Adventure


I've received quite a few mails already asking me to reserve stuff so things are going well. Tomorrow (sunday) more gamers should be online and I expect even more respons.It will be a busy afternoon/evening for me, and then gather enough packaging material next week to ship em all.

Also, I need to factor in time to sort out the next lots for next weekend, loads of 15mm sci-fi for instance, and I need to try and dent my 1/300 stuff in the next few weeks as well.

Sadly, Paypal is being a downright suka at the moment, as I have had to open a new account as I could no longer log into my old. I received a normal payment (not family and friends) and because my account is new, Paypal will hold onto the money for a minimum of 21 days before they release it to me, if the buyer (a good friend) tells them the goods have arrived. Also, I need to fill in a bit of paperwork plus a tracking number to show them I've sent it. Since I always ship uninsured (with the buyers blessing, if they want it insured they have to pay for it, and 99 out of a 100 don't) I have no tracking number so I will have to make one up to fool Paypal.

So far no responses on my trade request either, so I'd better ask it here: anyone have 20mm Liberation vehicles or miniatures they wan't to get rid of? I'm quite selective atm, but I can either pay you or trade you, whatever is more to your liking.


Gunbird signing off.....it has been a long day and one of my girls has a fever so she will be getting my attention now.

I've got some sorting to do.

Not just a bit, but a lot!

Just to give a heads up, I'm sorting through boxes and boxes of stuff atm, and whats in that pic is 2/3 of what I will be offering for sale in the coming weeks. You'll find 1/600 miniatures, 1/300 miniatures and scenery, 15mm Sci-fi miniatures and scenery, 20mm miniatures and scenery and books. I will try to get the first items up this week.

Stay tuned!

Long term planning

My gf and I have been looking at the future. And we have come to a few conclusions regarding my hobby and the space it occupies in the house and elsewhere.

First off, I'm a lucky guy. I've spent the last few years buying and gaming what I liked, and only had to worry about myself. But tbh, it did not really make me happy. Hopping from one project to the next left large amounts of unpainted miniatures in its wake, not helped by volume buying models cause I like the period/scale/mood of the day. Paint 5, get a new interest, move on. I was and still am, up to a point, living with the Ooh, Shiney! bug.

Now my gf, psychology major and all that, says it is natural to have passing interests, so she wasn't surprised when I gave it all up 6 months ago. The depression sure wasn't helping either. But with the recent reduction in medication I've been able to think more clearly about me and the hobby.

So we had "The talk"

Where do we see ourselves in 5 years from now, not just the kids, the house and the relationship, but the hobby too, cause it means so much to me. And I got to some interesting conclusions.

1. It is ok to like new things. It doesn't mean you have to buy them though. If you have so much stuff, look at it and grab something that tickles your fancy, and paint that. That should supress the urge to buy something new cause you can now focus on painting something.

2. The hobby isn't 24/7. I can now leave my hobby room alone for a week and spend the entire weekend with my daughters without thinking "Gosh, I wish I had more time to paint/model/buy stuff". (next thing to learn is to actually leave a clean room and not a table full of projects behind me when I close the door, so when I do have time next week it is actually inviting to paint/model (and NOT buy!)

3. Having stuff in 6 scales and in 3 periods is a bit megalomanic. Having stuff in WW2, Modern, Sci-Fi spread over 1/3000, 1/600, 1/300, 15mm, 20mm and 28mm is nothing to be proud about. it just shows how things got out of hand over the last few years. This isn't a contest to see who has the biggest <ahem>, in this case pile of lead.

4. I have a large hobby room, a full attic and I'm renting a storage unit. All of these places have a lot of hobby stuff in it. So much so I'm somethimes (pretty often tbh) surprised when I open a box and wonder "When did I buy that?"

So, we ended the talk.

In comes the long term planning.

1. Within 12 months, terminate the lease for the storage unit. This saves 60 euros a month, and means I have to sell off my old furniture (or give it away) from my old flat, and check all of my hobby boxes to see what can go and what can't go.

2. Within 3 years, the girls turn 4, they are going to get my hobby room as their room, and I will have to move into their room. Their room is half the size of my current hobby room, so there is no room for 2 desks, 3 cupboards and 7 bookcases. This means:
- Lose 1 desk and get a joint pc instead of the 2 desks and 2 pc's (with 2 printers) we have now, and maybe get a laptop on the side for when my gf wants to use the computer and I want to paint.
-Lose 3-4 or more bookcases, sell off books and sort the cases out, atm there is a lot of stuff in it that I have no plans for using anytime soom, and for storing scenery they are quite unecomical, lots of wasted space.
-Keep and maybe expand the 3 cupboards. They are from Ikea, called Alex, and when you leave the wheels off they stack quite nicely. Got 3 of them now, 6 drawers full of armies, 6 drawers full of projects and 6 drawers full of crap. Much more space efficient then the bookcases . I love them.

3. Within 3 years again, clean up the attic and sell off all of those model kits I have been hoarding. According to my last count I had over 200 and these days I'm a resin vehicles man cause it is much easier and quicker to build for the same cost. We agreed I'm allowed to keep 15 large containers the size of moving boxes and this is where I will keep my scenery and boardgames. The rest can go.

This means I'm now cleaning my hobby room, boxed up all of my projects and made a neat pile of stuff that I want to sell in the coming weeks. I'm trying to collect at least 10 items in a certain scale so I can post that on hobby fora, that should increase the chance of people buying it. All too often I look at lots on for instance the Lead Adventure foum and see 3 of this scale, 3 of that scale and a scenic piece thrown in, and then the shipping costs just get too much.

Not buying new stuff is propably obvious, but apart from a house, some paint and 1 box of models, all less then a 100 euros, I've bought nothing this year, and saved a considerable amount of money. I'm motivated to get out of the red numbers first and get me a healthy bank account and start saving again, something that I have not done in years, and as a result, I have no backup if something goes wrong.

So in short, I could sum it all up as clean up your act, sell what you no longer need, paint whet you have left and save the money for later.

Funny how taking a pill a day leass has actually cleared my head and made me see the light (again), and I'm actually looking forward to the day I can quit the pills and live a, not more normal, but a more stabil life. As long as I remember my priorities (clean, paint, sell, not buy)

So, anyone wants to buy some Linka Moulds off me?


Johan