I finally decided to take a break from painting the Elf this week and focused on something else. Unfortunately, I didn’t choose all that wisely because the final Glowing One for Fallout was a bit of a chore. What I didn’t think about until I started is that painting one of these, is that I’d up using similar techniques to the elf so I ended up having to glaze and play around with colors until it finally looks good. And sometimes it can be a little frustrating waiting for what you’re painting to look good. I was a bit annoyed that the newest and largest ghoul came out a lot darker than the previous one but I’ve come around on it as I have realized that Glowing Ones vary in Fallout 4 so a little variation here is totally fine. On a positive note, I finished the box of ghouls and just need terrain to play one of the most interesting looking Fallout 4 scenarios so that is great progress. I might have liked to take a picture of the ghouls with some terrain as a backdrop but I didn’t have the energy for it, so I will try and do that sometime soon.
While it was nice to have a break from the elf, I’m in a weird state of transition because I move in a week and so I’ve held off on making any purchases including things like some Pulp minis which I would really enjoy painting right now. Along the same lines, I also need to get some Fallout terrain to work on so I can finish up the last tutorial scenario. One thing that will help me is that I sold my copy of Mansions of Madness to a friend from work which clears up some room in my closet and gets a game that I wasn’t playing to someone who will. It also added a few quid in my pocket, if you know what I mean! I will certainly look forward to making some purchases and starting on some new projects soon. A big reason why is that the Fallout minis I have left are all pretty similar so it will be a bit of a grind to finish them. I may try to paint one more between now and moving but it won’t be too terribly exciting and I expect that I won’t have much of an update next week, if at all, since moving is going to take up a lot of time on Friday and Saturday too.
Lastly, I recently finished Falcon and the Winter Soldier and I thought I’d briefly share my thoughts. I should preface this by saying I don’t watch a ton of TV. I generally prefer to play video games and only watch shows that really appeal to me or I hear are great. So with this in mind, Falcon and the Winter Soldier gets a somewhat mixed review from me. Maybe this show is one I wasn’t going to likely love. I’m not a huge Captain America fan. I like the character but he’s not among my favorites. It didn’t help that the show starts off slow and it takes a while to get its footing. The action sequence in the first episode was clearly meant to hook viewers but the show doesn’t deliver many more scenes like that until the final episode. The writers tried to do the Marvel funny banter thing that the Avengers movies do so well and its really forced and not entertaining here. However, the show does get better as it goes on and not just because they drop the forced dialogue. Madripoor is awesome and pretty much everything a Marvel fan would expect
Baron Zemo is hilarious. His butler is an absolutely fantastic side character who made me laugh every time he showed up. After Zemo gets involved, the show gets better and better. US Agent was well-acted for the most part by Kurt Russell’s son though I think some parts of the character could have been explored more. Regardless, between him and Zemo, and the heroes, you’ve got a nice complicated dynamic going on. On the flip side, the Flag Smashers were not as well-fleshed out for me and I kind of became bored of them by the end which is a shame because the actress who plays their leader (who is also in Star Wars: Solo) is talented. If you haven’t seen Falcon and the Winter Soldier, you’re probably already thinking what I’m about to say, the show just had a few too many characters and plot threads going on for six episodes. While Falcon and Winter Soldier was entertaining enough, the main draw for me by the end was the exploration of racism and patriotism. I was moved (not unlike with Wandavision) by the ending which surprised me since I had bordered on unengaged in some of the earlier episodes. I don’t know if I could say that Wandavision or Falcon and the Winter Soldier are better than one another. They both have some flaws and I think some people will be a bit let down by them. At this point, my biggest concern is keeping up with the TV shows and the movies. I could handle the movies but the way Disney is cranking out these shows, its hard to imagine that all of these will be good and that fans can keep up. I want the TV shows that I take the time to watch to be special. Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones (until the end anyway), and Rome are of that quality. The Marvel shows have not hit that level yet and I think many of them are going to be like the first two and not as good as say Netflix’s Daredevil series was but I hope to be proven wrong.
Kuribo's Painting 
That is a big Ghoul, should be quite a threat in a game.
Hope your move goes as smooth as your glazing 🙂
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I think the fatter they are, the more punishment they can take so I look forward to getting it on the tabletop too! And with clever lines like that, you must be (or have been!) quite the ladies man. It certainly gave me a laugh 🙂
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Sorry to hear the Fallout minis are becoming something of a grind. I love seeing each one you paint!
Having had some more time to think about Falcon and Winter Soldier and reading your thoughts I agree with you. The Flag Smashers are the real weakness in the show. They are just are not compelling enough. They are a confused, uninspiring set of villains compared to Baron Zemo. I really want to see the actor for Zemo get more big roles.
We finished Wandavision, which I need to mention in my next blog, and feel as you have said above. Again you and I are of like mind. Always a joy to read your blog!
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I just picked the wrong mini to paint this time. I’m shocked because I had a great time painting an Institute mini last night and am looking forward to working on it this week now so I guess my motivation is back! I also saw that Modiphius is finally going to have a North America store for their products so I can hopefully get the terrain pieces from them I’ve wanted for a year now. Those will definitely get me excited to paint Fallout again soon too.
I strongly agree on Zemo. The actor who played him was able to make him likable but also very untrustworthy. He also was actually funny which the show desperately needed since Falcon and Winter Soldier are both serious characters. Its a shame because the Flag Smashers could have been really interesting and fleshed out more but I think having them and John Walker was too much. Maybe both characters suffered as a result, in fact. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on WandaVision when you get around to it. I think I liked it more than other Marvel fans have so I want to see where you land with it!
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Great work on the Ghoul Jeff, must be good to have another set completed. Hope the move goes smoothly, and doesn’t take long to get all set up in the new place.
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Its always nice to be able to toss the cardboard box that had unpainted minis in it, into the recycling bin! That is the feeling of a job well done! 🙂
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I think the ghouls are brilliant, Jeff (no pun intended)! 🙂 Very nice indeed! Maybe not painting or buying anything else until after you move will make you that much keener to get everything tidied away in the new place (so you can get back to painting)! I’m way behind on all superhero films and TV series I’m afraid, but I suppose I’ll catch up one day! Hope the move goes well!
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Haha, thanks John! I think there is definitely some wisdom in what you’re saying too. I think taking a couple days off from painting will certainly make me appreciate it more 🙂 It is tough keeping up with the superhero films and TV series these days. They don’t make it easy to stay a casual fan of them which I think is to Marvel and DC’s detriment.
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Those glowing Ghouls look amazing! Even if painting them turned out to be a bit of a chore you should be very proud of yourself as the colours just ‘pop’ perfectly.
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Thank you! I think the grumbling along the way ended up being worth it in this case, thankfully!
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I think the gouls came out looking great, both fine additions. As others have said, I hope the move goes well and you get settled in without any fuss. 🙂
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Thanks, mate and I hope so too. At this point, I’m ready to get on with it! 🙂
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The glowing ghouls look superb, the shading and highlighting on them is so well done.
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Thank you, Matt! They take a bit of patience to paint so I’m really glad to hear that you like them.
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Aww man the ghouls are coooooool. Hope the move goes well 👍🏼👍🏼
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Thanks, mate! I think ghouls definitely fit in your hobby wheelhouse 😀 I hope the move goes well too. I’m ready to get it over with at this point!
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Awesome Ghoulies – I think that’s right isn’t it! I love the shading, it certainly gives him a glowing look – nice one.
I really enjoyed F&WS, which is more than I can say about WandaVision, which I found to be so slow it almost stopped! I think F&WS fits more in with what you’d expect from Marvel, whilst WV broke away from that and was aimed very much at an American market – I didn’t get half the references or the humour.
I’ve watched the first three episodes of Loki and that’s different again. I really enjoyed the first two but the third episode I’m not so sure about – it turned into something I’d expect to see in Doctor Who – not normally a bad thing but for me it didn’t gel.
I think Disney are aiming at too many different audiences rather than producing Marvel for Marvel lovers!
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Thanks, mate! 🙂 Yeah, when do we get WandaVision with Fawlty Towers and Upstairs Downstairs!? In all seriousness, F&WS is inspired by recent comics as well so I think that makes it more appealing to many Marvel fans than WandaVision. I am excited to see Loki and I’m hoping it proves to be really good overall. It seems on paper to me to have great potential but I’ll have to re-up with Disney+ if I want to find out for myself! Disney is definitely really going for variety in their shows. I’m with you and would like to see some more traditional super hero action at some point. There’s so many shows coming out that I’m not even sure what comes after Loki….
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That would be worth watching… a superhero based on Basil Fawlty!
Variety is the spice of Marvel it would seem, but I don’t want to see quantity over quality, which Disney may fall foul of.
Black Widow is released shortly but I’ll wait until October to watch it for free – not sure what the next series is; Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk?
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I’m with you on quality over quantity. Don’t kill your audience’s interest with too much content. Disney did that with Star Wars once already and haven’t learned much from it. Black Widow hopefully is good and if She-Hulk is next, my expectations won’t be high. I know next to nothing about the character and will be hoping that its good enough to make me want to watch it.
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Agree. From what I’ve heard She-Hulk is going down the humour route!
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That guy can’t be a bad guy! He’s just asking for a hug! Kinda reminds me of an uncle I used to have (minus the strange green glow). 😀
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He really does look like he wants to give you a hug though with all of the radiation he is emitting, I think that would be the death of most people. I think we all have an uncle or grandfather like that too haha!
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Great glowing ghouls! Really nice Jeff. I hope your move went well. As for TV, I might eventually catch up, but I have a challenge keeping up with blogs as this comment shows. By the time I catch up on shows, I’ll be so old I won’t remember anything
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Thanks, Mark! No worries at all on keeping up with blogs. It is a part-time, unpaid job as it is or that is my feeling 🙂
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