Procrastination by Numbers

[Dave]

excellent, I love a happy ending. But next time you should really ensure that the 'jc' or 'gavin' characters die a horrible death as it makes for far more satisfying reading.

[The Trampoline]

He's probably moved onto pastures new, such as the Jeremy Kyle show.

[jackhoneysett]

Funnily enough, I went for an interview with an investment bank in my final year of undergrad, when I had this crazy idea that a career in banking might actually be a vaguely bearable prospect (and because all my friends seemed to be doing it).

I didn't get the job - they probably sensed that I would rather extract my nipples with boltcutters than work there.
But the bank in question was Lehman Brothers. So I like to think I also contributed to the demise of a major institution!

[Dave]

Hmm, I had aborted job efforts with - BP, Organon, GSK AstraZeneca and Pfizer before finally settling on Metabolism Research in the form of Inveresk Research.  Turns out that job was shite and I lasted 6 months before ditching the world of pharaceuticals for the far more friendly and comfortable world of finance.

Since then I've spent the last 9 years working for one of the big bad accountancy firms (oops not meant to call them that, professional services firm). Doing a couple of different things, initially getting my qualification I did audit, in laymens terms blindly signing off peoples accounts as fine whist doing menial tasks of checking one thing to another.  After 4 excrutiatingly dull years of doing that (but with the perks of specialising in the drinks industry before they completely banned the use of staff shops and sundry perks of that ilk) I then flipped into the wonderful world of infrastructure finance and spend my days dealing with the lovely combination of government, construction firms and bankers.  Most of the bankers are actually quite normal people, who knew!

[cunningmatt]

Most of the bankers are actually quite normal people, who knew!

I didn't!

Glad to see other people have had a good go at ruining companies that don't give them jobs.

[lagar312]

I didn't!

Don't i count 

[cunningmatt]

Don't i count 

The exception that proves the rule, of course! awkward - didn't know you were a banker

[Undead Dan]

Update 52 needed to target Hollister as well. Seriously, there's queues outside it when I go to Bluewater! Pretentiousness personified (if a shop were a person, I mean).

I had an interview with a major pharmaceutical company on Monday, I hope I don't end up miserable about it! Some friends in my field have transferred over to finance-type jobs, one of them's been at the FSA for a while. Don't think I'd like that really. JSA not FSA FTW!

[cunningmatt]

Update 52 needed to target Hollister as well. Seriously, there's queues outside it when I go to Bluewater! Pretentiousness personified (if a shop were a person, I mean).

I believe Hollister and Abercrombie are part of the same company, or linked in someway, either way they are just as bad for the Chessington World of Adventures queue line!

[cunningmatt]

Update 54 – Thursday 8th March 2012: Here be Dragons – no really there are

Warning this post contains an awful lot of pics, 3G users beware!

This week in hobbyland I've had a very productive week where I've finished lots of half-started things, I love weeks like this but I always find it gives you an unexpected impression of your own level of speed and expertise. So that next week when I invariably start on something new I will be disappointed I didn't rattle it off in a couple of hours like these last projects. Such is the inevitable disappointment that is life.

Anyway onto the comparatively boring bit of some actual finished models. The astute amongst you may have notice I have stolen the title of the blog from Noah's fine (if irregularly updated) blog, in fairness I don't think he can claim credit for the invention of the phrase. However unlike Noah's blog this blog is actually going to feature Dragons, yep lots of lovely fire-breathing dragons to roast the cockles of your heart this cold March morning. Everything here is 100% guaranteed to feature a Dragon or your money back – (just remember you didn't pay for it, before you get your lawyer on the phone).

Up first it's time for the Dragon Princes of Caledor, see Dragons, ok they aren't riding Dragons but they are dreaming of it, and that's good enough for this tenuously themed blog. Back in Update 47 (was it really that long ago) I left you on the gripping cliff-hanger that was Stage 2 of my extra 5 Dragon Princes decided to expand my unit up to a mighty 10 (or 2 Doom Diver hits worth, in alternate measuring systems). Here's the remaining stages to take them up to being finished:

Stage 3 – Dragon Princes







Base: *NO CHANGE*
Rocks: Drybrushed Codex Grey
Masonry: Overbrushed Khemri Brown
Hooves: *NO CHANGE*
Tail and Leg Fur: Drybrushed Skull White
Horse Body: Layered slightly watered down Skull White
Silver Metal: Highlighted Chainmail
Gold Metal: Washed Gryphonne Sepia
Reins: Highlighted Bestial Brown
White Cloth: Layered slightly watered down Skull White
Blue Cloth and Pennant: Highlighted 1:1 Ice Blue/Skull White
Yellow Cloth and Armour Trim: Layered Sunburst Yellow
Lance: Layered slightly watered down Bleached Bone
Flesh: Washed Ogyrn Flesh

And finally...

Stage 4 – Dragon Princes









Base: Drybrushed Bleached Bone, then flocked with Static Grass
Rocks: Drybrushed Fortress Grey, then washed Badab Black
Masonry: Overbrushed Dheneb Stone, then Overbrushed Bleached Bone
Hooves: Highlighted Codex Grey
Tail and Leg Fur: Washed very weak Badab Black, then drybrushed Skull White
Horse Body: Washed very weak Badab Black, then layered Skull White
Silver Metal: *NO CHANGE*
Gold Metal: Highlighted 5:1 Shining Gold/Mithril Silver
Reins: *NO CHANGE*
White Cloth: Layered Skull White
Blue Cloth and Pennant: *NO CHANGE*
Yellow Cloth and Armour Trim: Washed Ogryn Flesh, then highlighted Bad Moon Yellow
Lance: *NO CHANGE*
Flesh: Highlighted Bleached Bone

Then it was just a case of adding eyes, gems and the like – as in the first half of the unit I gave some red gems to my Dragon Princes. For my army I had only used yellow and blue gems on rank and file and saved red gems for characters but as Dragon Princes are supposed to be the most arrogant of Elves it seemed fitting for them to also have some red gems. Naughty.

And here they are ranked up with their predecessors from the final month of Tale of OG Gamers – High Elves.





Oh and yes peeps the infinity curve is back you lucky, lucky people – check out Update  42 (god was the infinity curve that long ago?! I was straight back then, well on the blog at least!). This time I've placed the infinity curve on the carpet (where I usually do my photographing) save me having to clear the chest of drawers and demolish the house (plus also covers up those unsightly pubic hairs that now again drift into shot). See Annie I do care!



Next up it's a quick trip to the oceans of the Warhammer world for a look at another ship from the Dreadfleet.  This time it's The Bloody Reaver, the flagship of the Dreadfleet itself. For those of you not familiar with the game and background it may be helpful to know (so you don't think I've gone crazy with my colour choices) what the background of The Bloody Reaver is. The Bloody Reaver was formed when our naughty Vampire Pirate Lord Count Noctilius, a man who really couldn't decide between two distinct fancy dress costumes, teleported his castle from Sylvannia. The castle arrived in the Maelstrom where a group of shipwrecks rose up from the depths to form a base for it thus turning it into a ship, hence the amalgam of rocks, ships, castle and other debris that makes up the ship. Bit like that bit in Titanic, you know the bit.

And before you start moaning there's no Dragons, look at the prow of the ship a Sea Dragon skeleton – see don't doubt me.

Here's follows another one of my excellent if unread 87 part stage-by-stage guides to painting your own Dreadfleet ships. As before I followed the guidelines in the White Dwarf and assembly instructions on the box for what sub-assemblies to construct before painting – check out Update 51 for more details.

Stage 1 – The Bloody Reaver



Rocks: Adeptus Battlegrey
Bones: Khemri Brown
Ship Wreck Hulls: Mercherite Red or Knarloc Green or Gretchin Green or Moridan Blue or Boltgun Metal or Scab Red or Chaos Black
Ship Wreck Decks & Masts: Codex Grey or Calthan Brown or Khemri Brown or Tin Bitz
Masts: Drybrush Codex Grey
Sea: Regal Blue
Path: Scorched Brown

Stage 2 – The Bloody Reaver



Rocks: Wash 1:1 Badab Black/Devlan Mud
Bones: Dheneb Stone
Shipwreck Hulls: All wash Devlan Mud, (Chaos Black) highlight Adeptus Battlegrey
Shipwreck Decks & Masts: (Codex Grey) wash 1:1 Badab Black/Devlan Mud; (Calthan Brown) wash Devlan Mud; (Khemri Brown) Drybrush Kommando Khaki, (Tin Bitz) wash Devlan Mud
Masts: Drybrush Fortress Grey, wash Badab Black
Sea: Heavily Drybrush Enchanted Blue
Path: 1:1 Scorched Brown/Khemri Brown

Stage 3 – The Bloody Reaver



Rocks: Drybrush Codex Grey
Bones: Wash Devlan Mud
Shipwreck Hulls: (Moridan Blue) Moridan Blue, (Knarloc Green) Catachan Green, (Gretchin Green) Camo Green, (Scab Red) Red Gore, (Mercherite Red) Scab Red, (Chaos Black) highlight Codex Grey, (Boltgun Metal) highlight Boltgun Metal
Shipwreck Masts: (Codex Grey) Drybrush Codex Grey, (Calthan Brown & Khemri Brown) Drybrush Bleached Bone, (Tin Bitz) highlight 4:1 Tin Bitz/Mithril Silver
Masts: DONE
Sea: Drybrush Wave Crests Ice Blue
Path: Layer watered down Kommando Khaki
Sails: Liche Purple

Stage 4 – The Bloody Reaver



Rocks: Drybrush 1:1 Fortress Grey /Skull White
Bones: Layer Bleached Bone
Shipwreck Hulls: (Moridan Blue) Highlight Spacewolves Grey, (Knarloc Green) highlight Camo Green, (Gretchin Green) highlight 1:1 Camo Green /Skull White, -(Mercherite Red) highlight Kommando Khaki, (Chaos Black) DONE, (Boltgun Metal) highlight Chainmail
Shipwreck Masts: DONE
Masts: DONE
Sea: Wash 1:1 Badab Black/Tharaka Green
Path: Wash Gryphonne Sepia
Sails: Layer Warlock Purple
Castle Walls: Codex Grey
Castle Roofs: Mercherite Red
Silver Detail: Tin Bitz
Gold Detail: 1:1 Shining Gold/Scorched Brown
Wood Detail: Calthan Brown
Flag: Astronomacian Grey

Stage 5 – The Bloody Reaver



Rocks: DONE
Bones: Highlight Skull White
Shipwreck Hulls: DONE
Shipwreck Masts: DONE
Masts: DONE
Sea: Highlight watered down Skull White
Path: DONE
Sails: Wash Leviathan Purple
Castle Walls: Wash Badab Black
Castle Roofs: Layer Red Gore
Silver Detail: Wash Badab Black
Gold Detail: Shining Gold
Wood Detail: Badab Black
Ship Debris: As Heldenhammer/Flaming Scimitar Cogs
Flag: Watered down Skull White

Stage 6 – The Bloody Reaver



Rocks: DONE
Bones: DONE
Shipwreck Hull: DONE
Shipwreck Masts: DONE
Masts: DONE
Sea: DONE
Path: DONE
Sails: Layer Warlock Purple, then highlight 1:1 Warlock Purple/Skull White
Castle Walls: Layer Fortress Grey
Castle Roofs: Badab Black
Silver Detail: Highlight Chainmail
Sail Detail: Dheneb Stone
Gold Detail: Devlan Mud
Wood Detail: Snakebite Leather
Ship Debris: As Heldenhammer/Flaming Scimitar Cogs
Flag: Skull White

Stage 7 – The Bloody Reaver

Rocks: DONE
Bones: DONE
Shipwreck Hull: DONE
Shipwreck Masts: DONE
Masts: DONE
Sea: DONE
Path: DONE
Sails: DONE
Castle Walls: Layer 1:1 Fortress Grey/Skull White then highlight Skull White
Castle Roofs: Highlight Mithril Silver
Silver Detail: DONE
Sail Details: Layer Bleached Bone
Gold Details: Highlight Burnished Gold
Wood Details: DONE
Sail Debris: As Heldenhammer/Flaming Scimitar Cogs
Flag: DONE

And here she is all finished:











Just like with the Heldenhammer last week I had problems with the sub-assemblies this week, as the two halves of the ship simply would not join together:



Looks like a green stuffing session for me, speaking on the subject of the Heldehammer (seamless link alert) thanks for all the suggestions for repairs I could make to the Heldenhammer back in Update 51. Bravely I decided to snip the mast at the base – gulp. I then cried a lot. And then drilled and filed out the bit of plastic left in the masts whole, this did a tiny of bit damage to the deck – nothing horrendous and worth worrying about. Then like a charm it all fitted together again, I glued the mast, it's a lot more stable now!



This made me very happy. Oh and if you're thinking there's no connection between the Heldenhammer and Dragons you'd be wrong because of course "Helden" is the old Norse word for Dragon – probably.

Oh ok so you want a Dragon proper, fair dos, here's my High Elf Prince on Dragon, last seen in Update 44 – look at me going cross-referencing crazy! You may remember that I left you last time on a tricky wing conundrum. Originally I'd planned to leave the wings separate for ease of transport, however one of the tabs had broken off within the Dragon body – what to do. Well in the end I went for broke and decided to just glue the wings on, sod it. It will be fixed, I'll never be able to take it to the club to play with but that seems like a minor inconvenience. The left hand wing – with the broken tab, was pinned in place (god pinning plastic is so much easier than pinning metal the drill actually drills through it) and the right wing was glued in the normal way. Then I used green stuff to both join the gap and strengthen the join:



This was then painted up to match the rest of the Dragon and I completed the final stage of the Dragon:






Sorry for the rogue bit of carpet here, turns out my infinity curve isn't quite infinite enough!











Dragon

Base: Drybrush Bleach Bone, then Flock with Static Grass
Rock: Drybrush Fortress Grey then wash Badab Black
Elven Pillar: Drybrush Bleached Bone
Bird: DONE
Saddle and Leather: Highlight Beastial Brown
Silver Metal: Highlight Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Highlight 5:1 Shining Gold/Mithril Silver then highlight Mithril Silver
Horns and Teeth: Highlight Skull White
Mouth and Tongue: Highlight Skull White
Skin: DONE
Scales: Highlight 1:1 Enchanted Blue/Ice Blue
Wing Membrane: DONE

Prince

Necklace: Highlight Beastial Brown
Pendant: DONE
Silver Metal: Highlight Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Highlight 5:1 Shining Gold/Mithril Silver then highlight Mithril Silver
Yellow Cloth: Wash Ogryn Flesh, then highlight Bad Moon Yellow
White Cloth: Highlight Skull White
Armour Trim and Blue Cloth: DONE
Flesh: Highlight 1:1 Elf Flesh/Bleached Bone then highlight Bleached Bone
Wood: DONE

Shield

Wood: DONE
Shield Field: Highlight Skull White
Phoenix: DONE
Flames: Wash Ogryn Flesh, then highlight Bad Moon Yellow

Back Rest

Gold Metal: Highlight 5:1 Shining Gold/Mithril Silver then highlight Mithril Silver
Padding: DONE

See an actual Dragon, told you there would be Dragons! By the way this seems like the most appropriate time to use this smilie:

And finally... not a phrase you see written that often in this blog, so enjoy it whilst you can. And finally finished off the Archers, also last seen back in Update 47, here you go:

Stage 3 – High Elf Archers







Base: *NO CHANGE*
Leather: Highlighted Beastial Brown
Robes: Layered with watered down Skull White
Silver Metal: Highlighted with Mithril Silver
Gold Metal: Washed Gryphonne Sepia
Flesh: Washed with Ogryn Flesh
Sleeves and Trousers: Highlighted (Sash) / Drybrushed (Quiver) with 1:1 Ice Blue/Skull White
Sash and Quivers: Layered with Sunburst Yellow
Hair: Drybrushed with Vomit Brown (Vomit Brown base) or Drybrushed with Bleached Bone (Dheneb Stone base) or Drybrushed with Snakebite Leather (Calthan Brown base) or Drybrushed with Beastial Brown (Scorched Brown base)
Wood: Layered with slightly watered down Bleached Bone

Stage 4 – High Elf Archers











Base: Drybrushed Bleached Bone and Flocked with Grass
Leather: *NO CHANGE*
Robes: Layered with Skull White
Silver Metal: *NO CHANGE*
Gold Metal: Highlighted with 5:1 Shining Gold/Mithril Silver
Flesh: Highlighted with Bleached Bone
Sleeves and Trousers: *NO CHANGE*
Sash and Quivers: Washed with Ogryn Flesh, highlighted with Bad Moon Yellow
Hair: Drybrushed with Bleached Bone (Vomit Brown base) or Drybrushed with Skull White (Dheneb Stone base) or Drybrushed with Bubonic Brown (Calthan Brown base) or Drybrushed with Snakebite Leather (Scorched Brown base)
Wood: *NO CHANGE*

Ok they have nothing to do with Dragons, but they do have comedy Shakeaway banner, as well as the real one, well here you go:



It's the Banner of the Spilt Milkshake, and makes the unit bearing it subject to frenzy and hatred of the unit or model that spilt their milkshake in the first place!!

Goodness, what a busy painting week. As always would love here to your comments, suggestions, advice, sex tips (I am sure I will regret putting this flippant comment down) etc. so get posting!

I am off to ruin the institution of marriage, have a good week!