This and That...

Regular readers will have noted it has been some time since my last blog update, about 3 weeks ago with the DML Bison I review. So this blog update is really just a quick catch-up on what I have been up to, hence the title: "This and That...".

Let's start with the personal front. The last few weeks have had their highs and lows. 

The low being the passing away of my paternal grandmother this past weekend (Sunday 17 May 2009). It was all a bit of a sudden, in fact neither I nor my family (mother, brother, sister) even knew she was ill until she phoned my brother on Saturday to tell him she'd been in hospital - she died that night. It goes without saying that this is made all the more difficult for me being a continent away. Rest In Peace, Gran.

On the flip-side, the definite high for the past 3 weeks has been hearing we got the finance for the house I mentioned about a month ago!

Situated in a South-Eastern bay-side suburb some 30 odd kilometers out of Melbourne, it's a unit on a plot containing 3 similar townhouses. It's a double-story 3 bedroom house, with a slightly extended garage which will be great for modelling. Here are a few photos which were posted by the estate agents on their website:

From a modelling point of view, what have I been up to? Not much I'm afraid. While I finished the DML Bison I review, I'm still going through that slump I mentioned last month. Which really sucks considering the queue of reviews which has built up. There are some really nice products there, so watch this space! Also, let me offer my public apology to those vendors whom I owe reviews - I can't begin to tell you how guilty I feel.

I've also made an attempt to start my entry for the Kitmaker staff challenge. What's that? Well basically it's a group build between some Kitmaker staff members wherein we're each building something out of our normal modelling genre. Each staffer nominated a few kits, each from a different genre and we allowed the Kitmaker members vote on which kit they'd like each of us to build. Let's just say this wasn't an easy initiative to get going, from trying to get staff to participate (some were keen until it was explained that "out of our normal modelling genre" does not mean simply building something of a different nationality to what one normally does - then they strangely didn't have the time, and couldn't see the point or benefit to Kitmaker) to getting the public to vote (eventually we offered prizes in a lucky draw). Oh well, all in the name of fun!

Anyway, I digress. The kit that was chosen for me to build was Tamiya's 1/24 scale VW Beetle (1966). So, with the end of June deadline looming, I eventually dragged the box out earlier this week and photographed the sprues. At this point in time I'm not sure if I'll be doing a kit review to help out Mike at Automodeler.com - I really do want to help him out, but that whole time thing keeps getting in my way. Hopefully by building something different like this it'll inspire me in the same way painting Warhammer figures for a few months did.

Still on the work-bench is the M8 HMC, but something else I'd like to get cracking on is the Bison I. I'm thinking perhaps a French Campaign theme, but Barbarossa calls as well...

Speaking of the M8 HMC, I've fixed all the faulty photo links. Hopefully this tutorial is of benefit to some.