Jump to content

"The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside...


Bertie McBoatface

Recommended Posts

... until the air is alive with chatter and laughter, and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot, and enthusiastic meetings between people who never knew each other's names."*

 

Greetings everyone! Let me introduce myself.

 

I'm recently retired and apart from my lovely lil' dog, live the wonderful life of a free single bloke. I have many pastimes and hobbies and it's time I disinterred another one - back to model making for me!

 

Pip Pip!

 

Bertie

 

(*F Scott Fitzgerald)

  • Like 13
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/18/2021 at 12:33 PM, Herrick said:

Hi there Bertie! Sounds like you've caught the modelling bug big time! Welcome!

Well I certainly have big time to spend on the hobby. Modelling ‘bug’ - haha, very clever, very subtle…

On 7/18/2021 at 1:29 PM, Steve Coombs said:

Welcome to the motley crew!
Games Workshop's Nuln Oil, Agrax Earthshade, and Athonian Camoshade are just the ticket to make various bits of airframe pop out, and Corax White is indispensable.

Now here I must disagree. Tamiya clear colours or enamel/oil washes are infinitely superior to anything from GW imho. And infinitely cheaper too. I find the pigment grind in their paints is way too coarse for comfort and impossible to pass through an airbrush. I’m sorry to say that while I appreciate the GW models, nothing else of theirs seems worth the price. 

 

And thanks for the welcome Steve. I allowed my feelings about GW to override politeness there. Please accept my apologies 

 

On 7/18/2021 at 3:27 PM, Troffa said:

Welcome aboard Bertie, I look forward to seeing your work here on BM, and love the Gatsby quote!

 

Cheers,

 

Troffa

Thanks. I’d like to say that I’m fully loaded with literary gems but I have to give credit to Google for that one. 🤷‍♂️

Edited by Bertie Psmith
...to correct a little rudeness on my part.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do you do Sir.

 

You sound like oneself,tentatively dipping one's toes into the vastly improved pool than the old one that one was in before.

 

Verging on retirement too,the son and daughter appear to be garnering one with odd kits here and there("it'll give the old boy something to do"),

so welcome indeed.

 

Dave.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see old Psmith has joined up at last. Excellent says Quack. First rate chap that. Leave it to Psmith, I always say.

 

Welcome to the forums!! I look forward to some entertaining posts.

 

Q

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hello Bertie … :post1: from across the pond in the city of Chicago USA. Im mostly aircraft from the interwar period through to modern types. 
 

Dennis


Howdy Dennis, thanks for hanging out the welcome billboard.

 

 

2 hours ago, DaveWilko said:

How do you do Sir.

 

You sound like oneself,tentatively dipping one's toes into the vastly improved pool than the old one that one was in before.

 

Verging on retirement too,the son and daughter appear to be garnering one with odd kits here and there("it'll give the old boy something to do"),

so welcome indeed.

 

Dave.

 

I’m sure you’re going to enjoy retirement. There’s so much more to it than simply not going to work. It’s grand!
 

1 hour ago, Dr. Quack said:

I see old Psmith has joined up at last. Excellent says Quack. First rate chap that. Leave it to Psmith, I always say.

 

Welcome to the forums!! I look forward to some entertaining posts.

 

Q


Thanks, old bean. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tojo72 said:

Welcome back and enjoy the site,a lot to learn here 

 

Thank you. There certainly is much to learn, not least how to operate the tech and get a photo hosting service sorted out. Until I exhibit my own stuff, I feel something of a voyeur here. lol

 

Any community will have unwritten aspects of the 'club rules'. I don't want to make too many social blunders so I'll just ask when I'm in doubt. Firstly, can anyone explain the etiquette of 'reacting'? Is a member expected to 'like' everything, or is this just for quick acknowledgements when time is too short for a reply in words? I'm not personally a big user of emoticons and like buttons so that's something I find a little strange.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome aboard, Bertie. And welcome back to the hobby.

Reacting is up to the individual. Don't react to everything, just keep it to builds/advice etc that tickles your fancy.

Use the buttons as you wish, or make a comment. But, The general rule is, if you can't say anything nice, then keep shtum.

Oh, and as it's a family site, bad language will get you a place on the naughty step!

 

Get yourself sorted for pictures (Imgur etc) and keep them small, (I use 640 x 480). lots of gen on this in the intro/FAQ section.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Welcome aboard, Bertie. And welcome back to the hobby.

Reacting is up to the individual. Don't react to everything, just keep it to builds/advice etc that tickles your fancy.

Use the buttons as you wish, or make a comment. But, The general rule is, if you can't say anything nice, then keep shtum.

Oh, and as it's a family site, bad language will get you a place on the naughty step!

 

Get yourself sorted for pictures (Imgur etc) and keep them small, (I use 640 x 480). lots of gen on this in the intro/FAQ section.

 

 

Thanks for the welcome, message understood re reacting, I've got the idea now, though I'll probably overdo it while it's still a novelty.

 

I've already got the photo thing sorted. I'm impressed with OneDrive, very easy to use. If I don't faint from today's weather I hope to post an RFI tonight. My laptop photo storage is chaotic to say the least so I need to sort that out before I upload my recent output.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rather than rush and mess up RFI topics, which I would prefer to be professional as poss, I'm going to run a few photos up my flagpole here and see who salutes. It will give you an idea of my recent modelmaking activities at least and give me a chance to practice photo posting in this out of the way corner.

 

y4mB_HJgyoz9LArtznZjyefj-a83F8kQNtxFNY1q

 

I began with Warhammer. This figure is quite large, maybe 54mm or 1/32? This wasn't my first one but I liked this guy for the detail and the really cruel face. He is painted with Vallejo acrylics. He led me further into figures...

 

y4mNwEZ_tBOcqeERNrpRKpozc-TY8VOxV_xE5Ifg

 

These fellow are seconds which I bought at a show for about a tenner, back when there were shows. Scale is 1/10. I had them for ages before I became brave enough to have a go at painting them. Tyrion (l) is painted in acrylics according to the description in the Game of Thrones books, hence the odd eyes. Viper (r) sort of morphed into the Riddler! And the pilot was an exercise using Winsor & Newton Artists Oils. (The red stain around the mouth is desert acne from the O2 mask + sand). I was pleased with these, though there's a lot that I would do differently now. They at least proved to me that figure painting in larger scales is both possible and enjoyable. And playing with paint blending and other techniques led me into the extreme weathering possible with AFVs...

 

y4mJ61QyOjCDJzkNyO8EW_0Yn1RthvE0QhjKdusB

 

All that grease, mud and rust! It's a Takom MkIV in 1/35. I wanted to make it look like heavy metal and in a few places, I think I did. I loved the way the tracks came out. I hated a lot of the construction, especially those blessed tracks. Tracks seem to be the canopy masking of the AFV world - the bit I'll put off for weeks. I like the idea of building bases for armour subjects and telling stories with them. Not full-on dioramas but vignettes with emphasis on the models and figures rather than the setting. Although, I could see me doing something bigger one day. 

 

And then, well, you've gotta do a 'plane from time to time...

 

y4myniZuvxVjKsO4bYMkYWJ48NWlFwDf-ccMNXYz

 

And invasion stripes are cooool. Red noses are also something I like for some reason. Maybe I fancy a drink!

 

This is an Eduard kit. 1/48 scale. It took me back to the start of my modelmaking - single-engined fighters were tops for me  as a kid. It came out ok but didn't excite me much. I need to find a way back into aircraft; perhaps Jets and perhaps larger scales. If only there was a Hellcat twice as big as this one...

 

So there you have it. Are the pictures ok on your monitors? I took them on an oldish iPhone but I will get a proper job camera in due course.

 

 

Edited by Bertie Psmith
clarification
  • Like 14
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Bertie McBoatface changed the title to "The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside... (NOW WITH PICTURES!!)
3 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

If only there was a Hellcat twice as big as this one.

But there is, the 1/24 Airfix one, no excuses now. ;)

Looks to me you've got stuff pretty much sorted Bertie, welcome along, I'll look forward to seeing your stuff. I do like the tank, the heads & the Hellcat, not so much the WH chappy but applaud your painting skills on that too. :)

Steve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, stevehnz said:

But there is, the 1/24 Airfix one, no excuses now. ;)

[...] I do like the tank, the heads & the Hellcat, not so much the WH chappy but applaud your painting skills on that too. :)

Steve.

 

Thanks Steve, I'm less proud of the WH figures when completed. That's something I only just realised and I will ponder about that for a while. The great thing for me was the creative freedom of the painting process. I couldn't beat myself up because the cloak was the wrong shade of sabre toothed tigerskin and the rivets on the belly plate were domed rather than cheese-headed. In fantasy figures I found no opportunity for my perfectionist tendencies to spoil the fun, as has happened with Scale models. This is something I hope to bring back to tanks and planes, fun and creativity being more rewarding to me than striving towards realism. 

 

6 hours ago, dnl42 said:

Welcome aboard! :thumbsup:

 

And that 1/24 Airfix Hellcat looks like it's truly a gem! Here's the WIP

 

 

Thank you.

 

And that Airfix Hellcat indeed. Now that's a 'perfectionist trap' if ever I saw one! The moment I viewed it on YouTube it I started to devise ways to show off ALL of the detail. A crashed one? A major servicing? A cutaway? And how much more could I do in 1/24 scale, actually four times the surface area of my 1/48 usual aircraft scale and EIGHT times the volume? There's potential for me to make equipment labels for every relay and actuator with serial numbers and part numbers and manufacturer logos. I could wire it up. I could make the lights work with LEDs. I could...

 

And I'd almost certainly never finish it. The joy would go, it would become work instead of play. Probably best for me to leave it well alone, says rational me. On the other hand, crazy me says "Go for it, and either find a way to keep the fun in a big project or abandon it midway and significantly increase your spares box!"

 

I will have a long talk with myself about this.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've ordered a lovely li'l camera, and my desk is being delivered on the thirtieth. Full steam ahead then! In the meantime, watch out for a short series of RFIs of the projects I've managed to complete since Del Boy in the market flogged me the Warhammer kits and accidentally got me back into our hobby after years away in the wilderness.

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 20/07/2021 at 08:23, Bertie Psmith said:

And I'd almost certainly never finish it. The joy would go, it would become work instead of play. Probably best for me to leave it well alone, says rational me. On the other hand, crazy me says "Go for it, and either find a way to keep the fun in a big project or abandon it midway and significantly increase your spares box!"

Ah, knowing when to stop is a skill in itself, one which I have yet to master!

On 20/07/2021 at 08:23, Bertie Psmith said:

I couldn't beat myself up because the cloak was the wrong shade of sabre toothed tigerskin and the rivets on the belly plate were domed rather than cheese-headed

Oh the freedom!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Herrick said:

Oh the freedom!


That’s the word I was looking for… “Oh”.  Lol

 

Seriously, I’m taking that freedom with me back to other genres. No longer will I strive valiantly to create as accurate a model as humanly possible; instead, I’ll work as much as makes me happy in order to make something that I think is beautiful in some way.
 

This might be the cure for AMS!!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, my new friends, since I've been promoted and have posted my first RFI, I think its time I left this introduction thread alone. Thank you all so much for the welcome I've received, I feel completely at home here and in less than a week I feel a lot better about myself and the world outside. I'd say that, between us we've banished my lockdown blues. 

 

I'm impatient to get on with some actual modelling of course but I must be patient and until my desk, camera, and the new kits (for the group builds I've joined) arrive. Until then I can only do a little figure modelling on that new dining table (risky!) and of course, explore this huge website. Please keep in touch and Happy Modelmaking to you all! 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...