I have a guilty secret.
Something the wife knows nothing about.
I wonder if you have such a secret too?
I am a Citadel Collector and I have gone three days since I last went on eBay.
Despite putting myself on an online bidding ban, I still seem to be receiving packages in the post. How could such a thing be possible? I am finding myself having to intercept the postman with a 'anything for Number 10?' on the way to work to avoid the Power That Be finding out about my guilty lead based secrets. Truth be told, I now have a huge amount of lead and I am beginning to become confused about what exactly I have. This tells me I need to stop collecting and start sorting and painting.
Starting now!
Secondly, I have another shameful secret tucked away in the kitchen well away from the Wife's eyes. Three Chinese Takeaway plastic containers full of Dettol soaking miniatures. Well, there were three, now there are two, as I set about cleaning the contents of one of these this morning. After an hour of frantic washing up liquid lubricated toothbrush scrubbing, I was left with this collection drying on the kitchen work top.
What can you make out observant reader? What surprised me was the stuff I had forgotten I had. Including a dragon ogre and an early 80s Balrog or Balgorg as they were known in the Warhammer Mythos.Some of these models have been in the mix for over a year, and a number of these models have a sticky feel to them. fresh Dettol will have to be the order of the day here, or the fabled Fairy Power Spray which I have never found on the shelves of my local supermarket.
But cleaning woes beside, finding this lot amongst the brown sludge makes me wonder what treasures I have forgotten in the other two containers!
Anyone else guilty of such shameful secrets I wonder?
Orlygg
Hi!
ReplyDeleteHow do you unpaint the plastic minis? Someone told me that brake fluid works very well and do not harm the plastic. Is it true?
Thanks for all and keep writting!
I did use brake fluid, but it would often leave some plastic rather soft. I use Dettol for everything now; metal or plastic. They only thing it doesn't shift is superglue!
DeleteThanks for your answer, but I have another question. Here, in Spain, there are only hand wash products from Dettol. What is exactly the Dettol product you use?
DeleteThanks for all Orlygg, there are many fans around the world reading you! Your articles are superb!
THIS ONE!
DeleteIt needs following up with a brush and washing up liquid but it's very, very cheap in the UK.
Ok, but i don´t know what product of the extense range products of Dettol is. What product is?
DeleteThanks for all!
Thrudd!
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone. I get my stuff sent to work to avoid "questions in the house", I just get ribbed at work but it's worth it. The trouble with Dettol is the all pervading odour, and as you say sometimes the figures can have a sticky residue on them, shifted by oven cleaner or a resoaking. I admire your planned abstinence from evilbay, but fear it will be transient, as I have tried it myself to no avail.
ReplyDeleteMost of the stores I used to purchase fairy power spray from in my area stopped stocking it.
ReplyDeleteI can still get it from Wilkinsons and I think Boyes still had it too. If you have one of those franchises in your area it may be worth a look.
That is a mighty collection of stuff. I have taken to keeping an inventory, as my wife and I realised that I simply don't remember stuff I'm not currently using!
ReplyDeleteGiven I currently have 137 projects I have not started, I have imposed a "2 out, 1 in" rule until I am down to 100 outstanding projects. I'll then stop and take stock again.
For the sake of marital harmony, my wife has access to my project logs, so I can't hide things from her. I currently get my e-bay fix with bits, and our rule that anything that is still in reasonable condition and 50% under retail including the postage is fair game (auctions only, not buy it now). These have the merits that with light fixing, they can often resold with a little mark up for the work of stripping and re-undercoating if they haven't made it onto a project I want to keep.
I'm also doing quite well at buying up half used sprues for cheap, snipping off all the bits, keeping the ones I want and selling on the ones I don't for a handful of change that makes getting what I was after an incredibly good deal. Obviously, for lead-heads, that option does not exist...
I'm afraid someone might 'accidentally' let these secrets slip, within earshot of your wife... Unless those chaos thugs find themselves a new owner... Me!!! ;)
ReplyDeleteGuys, perspective. As hobbies go, this one isn't really bad. If you are broke and can't afford to spend $20 on your hobby then yeah, your spouse has a right to complain. But honestly, people spend a lot, lot more on "hobbies" like snowmobiling, collecting sports bobbleheads, or trying to own more shoes than all their friends.
ReplyDeleteIts all in perspective as far as the hobby goes. But since we found mold while replacing the Exploding Hot Water Heater (sorry it now has to officially be capitalized) and found out what our deductible is on the $11k+ repairs....I have been banned from buying on ebay. Its not the "bosses" fault though, its just lack of funds. Its killing me as I have seen 4 things go dirt cheap, and I would have loved to add them to my collection. By I have found that I am still trolling through to "keep my mind on the prices". It is a painful torture. But I guess I have finally been driven to become a flagellant. Oh, and yes, I have two storage buildings. A 2 car garage and a slightly bigger one. Except for the gaming table, they are rooms full of boxes. It is often easy to lose things in there. My big secret is I have often bought all new stuff, rather than go through the work of finding things. My boss does not know that. But I do think she is beginning to suspect something.....(gulp!)
ReplyDeleteYeah, home repairs are a top priority! And try not to think what vast army of minis you could buy with the cost of the work :P It sounds like you definitely have a solid case of "figmentia"... but the upside is you certainly have some great things in that collection. Just dig them out and paint them, instead of buying more! Spending money is a cheap, transitory thrill, but finishing a paint job is a real, enduring feeling of satisfaction (in my experience).
DeleteHi, for me it's more about what you want to do..
ReplyDeleteI mean there is ot me 2 different ways to buy:
- A personnal project with clear targets: you ebay with keywords, etc
- checking randomly ebay and buying whatever you wish to have or what appears to be a good deal
If you use the 2nd choice, you might end up with many minis you don't even remember why you bought them. And yes, i advise you should ask youself and eventually refrain :)
I myself stopped few months ago... ^^
I've got to admit, I'm in the same boat. Less than 24hrs since my last ebay purchase, a big jar full of models soaking in Dettol, far too many projects/lead to actually complete...
ReplyDeleteI suppose I could be doing less constructive things ;)
Ebay sprees is something I fear a lot, you inocently browse deals or keywords and you see so much "killer bargains" (you think they are) an dyou end up bidding on a lot of them; just to realise at the end of the auctions you've won quite a lot of very cool thngs you could have waited to have. I've decided with my lady to not stop completely but to stop at a certain monthly amount. I get lead, but I don't get too far so I'd say everyone wins. Plus I tend to go more on killer job lots rather than single pricey models and I end up with more lead at the end.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there's not much secret I can have from the missus since she's looking at the bank receipts with a sharp eye for any paypal...
Uhhh Ohhh. Well I think the problem with people who do not understand what we are tying to preserve is well known to me. As long as my little lady doesn't know what they they cost all is fine. Until finding out what they cost....the clue is find something to bribe her.. With my little lady this works..And the lead pile is allowed to grow.
ReplyDeleteWell done on getting the chaos brothers - little buggers keep getting away from me these days!
ReplyDeleteThe only one of these I'm aware of is not being entirely sure what all I have.
ReplyDeleteA YEAR?! I thought I was bad.
ReplyDeletedo i spy a thrud the barbarian there?
ReplyDelete