Well, as the title suggests, real life concerns will be discussed today along with more painting progress. I was kind of hoping to be further along with the Primaris marine at this point but this week was stressful and exhausting at work and in real life, unfortunately. I keep telling myself, I’ve got one more week and I’ll either be done or nearly there and maybe this upcoming week that will finally be true. I do look forward to completing this one and finishing my next project but I’m proud of the patience I’ve had with this mini too.
First off, to address concerns of a couple friends of the site, this Primaris marine does indeed have a head! It looks like it is on a spike (no doubt the work of the Black Legion or some other Chaos Space Marine) but I did this to make sure I could paint all around the head without having any details blocked. I plan on attaching the head soon, I just need to finish painting a few details around the head as I don’t want to accidentally get paint on the head as that is a real nightmare to clean up. I also wanted to mention that Warhammer heads are barely bigger than human-sized LOTR miniatures so the fine details can be a real challenge. His lens was not at all easy to paint and took a lot of touch ups and patience to finish.
I mostly focused on his one arm and shoulder pad this week but I also got his pendant done which really looks sharp I think. The Tau skull on the base doesn’t look bad either and was an interesting challenge to paint as its shape is so different than human skulls. I still need to get some base details painted and I’m saving whatever those things are on the cape until last so I don’t accidentally rub any of the paint off while painting other parts and have to redo them.
The most interesting parts I worked on this week was on the sides where there is the purity seal on the leg and the scroll on the shoulder pad which require some freehand. I was nervous and excited to try both and they were both challenging to pull off. The purity seal at the bottom was particularly interesting because I was thinking about painting up The Triumph of Saint Katherine (pictured below) as kind of an ultimate painting challenge for myself (because longtime readers will know, I never do anything by half-measure).
But after doing that tiny amount of work on the purity seal, I know that doing those would drive me half mad and I’ve thought better of it! The scroll that says Raven (I had to do a little research on 40k to even figure out what to put on the scroll) was arguably not any easier. I had to try twice and I couldn’t get thin enough lines to even attempt the gothic font that Games Workshop does which was a mild disappointment. So that is my weekly Dark Angels update. I hope you aren’t bored of seeing updates on him yet and there shouldn’t be too many more to go now before he’s done.
The other thing I wanted to touch upon does involve a bit of politics here in the US which is not something I would typically go into but when politics start to affect my hobby, I will not be silenced! 🙂 I have been having all kinds of trouble with USPS here in Chicago for about a month now. If you’ve ever visited Chicago, you can probably attest to this that most homes and apartment buildings have gates with intercoms so not just anybody can get in. The property management company in my building is not great at keeping our intercom working and when it goes out, USPS can’t get in to deliver mail. The intercom has been out for almost a month and was finally fixed a day or two ago. What is driving me crazy is that things I have bought online like miniatures and paint are taking forever to get to me and I never know when I will actually get them. Truthfully, I’ve feared recently that things I’ve bought are never coming or that they may end up lost which would really suck.
I had that problem with the current Primaris marine I’m painting which came almost a week later than it should have and I waited impatiently so I could finally get my hands on it and start painting. Over a week ago, I ordered paint, a brush, and some MESBG minis from Games Workshop. I was feeling confident I would get them in a timely manner because they usually ship with UPS and UPS has no issues with hurling a package over my apartment building’s gate if they can’t get in which means they deliver things quickly and on time (USPS will not do this with packages for some reason). Well, wouldn’t you know it, GW shipped with UPS Mail which is the dumbest shipping service in the United States. It starts with UPS and they hand it over to USPS to make the delivery when it gets to your state. I don’t understand how that is a shipping option that exists and it is usually slower than if you had just gone through UPS or USPS on their own. As you can probably guess, I’m still waiting for this package after ordering it two weeks ago, the tracking gives me no idea when it might delivered, and it is just all around frustrating! Most of the times I’ve ordered from GW, I usually have received my order in maybe 3-4 days so you can see this is well beyond the normal circumstances.
If you know anything about US politics, you’ve probably heard that there seems to be some kind of sabotaging going on with the postal service because our beloved leader is concerned that holding an election where people can mail their ballots will hurt his chances of winning. You can probably guess how I feel about this both politically speaking and practically speaking. I doubt that whatever Trump and his crony are doing with USPS is affecting me that directly but how am I supposed to get any hobby stuff I need if the mail service is this bad!? UPS and FedEx are more expensive options and not every seller offers to ship with them (especially not on places like eBay where it is easy to get the odd GW product). I do a have a great local gaming store but it is cramped inside and so it isn’t safe to go there to shop in my opinion. It seems like I will have to think ahead and buy more in bulk when it comes to paints and shell out more for other shipping services for a while or else risk my hobby grinding to a halt. Its such a ridiculous problem to have (though the same can be said about many things in the US right now) and it is another aggravation in the age of COVID. Enough grumbling from me though, I’ve got a Dark Angel to paint this weekend and hopefully finish soon.
Kuribo's Painting 
Great work mate. Such attention to detail and depth of color. Sorry to hear of your postal troubles.
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I really appreciate all your support on this project. I’m always more motivated to paint after seeing comments like this 🙂 Thanks for listening to my postal complaints as well!
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Nice to see the update on the marine! 🙂 Funnily enough, I always assumed he had a head that was being kept separate to make it easier to paint! Frustrating to hear about your postal deliveries, particularly when we’re more dependent on them than ever at the moment!
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You were assuming right, John! 🙂 I appreciate your support on the postal situation too. I can’t think of a worse time for this to happen than in the age of COVID 😦 Hopefully it gets better soon!
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The marine continues to come along very nicely, patience is the key and the final 10% is often the most dangerous so continue to take your time. The US obviously has its own political problems but at the peak of Covid in the UK getting hobby stuff in the post was a nightmare. This was part due to the stretched postal service but mainly because so many took to the hobby during lockdown. Stock evaporated overnight and the supply chain was broken too. Things are pretty much back to normal now but I have taken to planning ahead in anticipation of the second wave. Well that is how I am justifying it to myself! 😉
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Thank you and you couldn’t be more right! When you get towards the end, getting things done tends to outweigh getting things done correctly and I will try and to stay patient! The US had the same thing with supplies running out everywhere. It isn’t hard to buy supplies currently, it is hard to actually get something delivered, at least here where I live, which is almost more frustrating than when the supplies were nearly gone.
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The whole USPS thing aggravates me so, and that is all I have to say about that.
Curious how you are going to place the head, looking straight ahead, looking out over the pointing arm?
The whole figure is coming along nicely!
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I’m glad that I’m not the only one even if I don’t like that other people are running into the same issues, if you know what I mean.
The head basically has to fit looking in the direction of the arm (without some kind of conversion anyway). So in a way, I’ve been showing everyone angles of the mini that aren’t necessarily the best. Hopefully, that makes the final pictures look even better but we’ll see 🙂
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Don’t get me started on politics, put criminal president, and our post office; the whole thing makes me sad and angry. Sangry? Is that a thing? 😀
I’ve had similar woes lately about supplies. I’m suddenly in need of some balsa wood for a modeling project which seems like a small thing to go shopping for in times of pandemic, but don’t need so much to need order.. so project stalled.
Your marine is coming along great and his face is ferocious. Super soldiers in the future don’t need helmets! 😀
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I couldn’t agree more, Stew. There was another president we had that seemed like the worst when I was a young man (in high school) but we’ve sunk to lows that are scary and I certainly hope that we can recover from them.
I can totally see what you mean about the balsa wood. I’m starting to question what I can order and reasonably expect to get with how the mail has been going lately too. I’m curious to see what I end up buying in the near future because right now there are a lot of things I know I can’t or won’t buy because it will take forever to receive them.
Thanks! It used to be you couldn’t buy a space marine without a helmet on and now many are taking them off and running around in combat. Seems like a potential occupational hazard to me! 🙂
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That Dark Angel is looking ridiculously good – keep the faith mate, you’re almost there 🙂 I’ve not been keeping up with what’s going on in the states that closely, we’ve got enough political drama to worry about over here, but from what I’ve heard it’s all getting a bit crazy out there, keep safe and good luck getting those supplies. Luckily I have more than plastic, lead and resin under the bed to last out a siege. All these years I thought I was being profligate, turns out I was just planning ahead!
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Thanks for the encouragement, mate! It always helps when you’re lacking in motivation to hear some positive feedback from others 🙂 I think our leaders share some similar opinions on COVID and both countries reopened too fast and too quickly but hopefully, Boris isn’t tampering with your mail system! Having a big backlog is a real blessing right now. I have some projects that have stalled out (which may or may not ever be finished) and I have a very modest backlog of about 10-20 minis which I’m sure is very unusual in our hobby. I do rely on being able to buy minis online whenever I want and the recent events do call that habit into question…
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I used to be similar, had a small stash of models and didn’t buy any more until I’d got them painted up. Then I’d spot a bargain and snap it up (I do like a bargain) and one thing lead to another and now here we are. Between ebay and GW’s habit of boxsets that are (relatively speaking) cheap but you need to buy them right now, the little pile of unpainted gear has grown into a mountain. I did set myself the goal of trying to shift it this year but as it hasn’t reduced that much (*whispers* it may even have grown a little). Ah well, at least I’m well prepared on that front for any future lockdowns.
Aye, old Boris hasn’t thought to attack the post yet, although I’m sure he’ll get around to it. Mind you, with Scotland looking very likely to make our collective exit from the “union”, the economy in tatters, Brexit looming and covid refusing to go away despite all his wishful thinking he’s not been seen for the last couple of days. I reckon he’s hiding in another fridge…
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Those box sets really can lead to bargains. I’ve gotten the few 40k minis I’ve tried to paint for well under their retail price usually which is great. I hope you’re able to accomplish your goal with your backlog but if you can’t get reduced down, I’d say you’ll still be in good company 🙂
I haven’t heard any of my English say anything positive about Boris and he sadly shares the same qualities and poor ideas as Trump, it sounds like. I can only hope that the US chooses a different direction in Nov. this year and that UK follows suit as soon as Boris is up for re-relection! Unfortunately, I think you have quite a bit longer to wait than I do for that opportunity
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He looks great so far, and I can sympathise with the postal woes. We’re in Stage 4 lockdown here with all non-essential retail closed to all except pickups and postal orders, a 5km maximum distance from home (unless you’re an essential worker or travelling for caring) and all warehousing, meat packing and sorting facilities reduced to 2/3 worker capacity (including postal) and that has all had a huge impact on the postal service. I’m waiting on an expresspost parcel now (formerly guaranteed next day delivery) from across town sent on Monday that still hasn’t left its PO of origin on the other side of town..
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Thanks mate! While I’m sure that is causing a lot of people headaches, I would say that not locking down when needed in the US is a big part of the reason why we’re struggling with a high death toll. I wouldn’t complain if we locked down again but I don’t think that will happen with the current leadership unfortunately. It does make me feel better to know that others are dealing with similar challenges as well.
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Oh, I’m glad for (most) of the aspects of our lockdown. We’ve experienced the pointy end of COVID already, and I’d like to see local transmisison drop to 0 sooner rather than later and shut down the moron politicians that are so keen to open up too soon. I just wish the post was working a bit faster while keeping it locked down, though I’ll survive a slower post for the next couple of months if that’s what it takes…
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It is good that you have a backlog to choose from as I’ve been relying on the mail to bring me new minis. I hope this doesn’t cause hobby delays for either of us because of a lack of supplies. That remains my greatest concern at this point, well that and the frustration of very unpredictable delivery delays.
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I’m well stocked for both models and supplies. Going back years before COVID, when I get low on something I stock up. If it’s something I use a lot of (blach wash, brown wash, certain paints) I make sure I have at least a couple to grab whenever I need. The only things I tend to run out of are spray varnishes and primers, but then I restock 2-6 cans at a time (and live close by to places that are good for a lot of them, so a short walk and I’m sorted). Bought 4 cans of black primer just before retail got locked down a few weeks ago…
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That is very wise and I should really do what you do and stock up on essentials. I tend to wait until I’m low on a paint to grab more and that is going to get me in trouble sooner or later, I’d imagine with how slow the mail is. As we speak, I have a couple of essential paints (Abaddon Black and Kislev Flesh) that are drying or running out that I should get ordered and this is a good reminder to finally do so!
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Ugh, there’s so much shit going on these days, isn’t there?! I’m so ready for this year to be over, and I’m ready for some serious changes 😦 At least we have our hobbies to keep us distracted as much as possible!
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I’ve never seen anything like what we’ve experienced in 2020 and to be honest, I hope this is a one-time thing for us all. If I didn’t have video games and painting miniatures, I think I would have lost my mind by now 😀
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I agree! I don’t think anyone could have foreseen how crazy this year has been. And same here- video games and other hobbies such as reading have really been my saving grace!!
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