Once Again I Have Been A Very Spoilt Chap!
This Year's Gifts From Santa...
Despite us promising that this year we would cut back on the present giving, as you will see that didn't work out! (It never does!) 😏
Once again I have been completely spoilt by my family and ended up with a plethora of terrific gifts (including many that I had on my 'wish list'). Despite *really* trying to be 'good' we both just kept seeing things that we thought would make excellent gifts. It seems that we just can't help ourselves.
So, here we go, this year's haul...
GAMING
It's funny, I don't actually game as much as I used to 'back in the day' - my clan days are well over and I no long spend multiple evenings (and nights) in front of the computer playing online.
That said, I still do enjoy a regular game night meeting up with my daughters and having a fun session blasting zombies and stuff. And a big part of this relaxed gaming is the snax!
We love to stock up with a selection of goodies to munch on while playing (much to the annoyance of my daughter as I tend to chose loud and crunchy snacks which she complains sound terrible over the microphone). So this year both StaceFiona and Kayleigh bought me little snack hampers so I can stock up my desk's 'goodies cupboard'!
On top of this, various members of the family gave me STEAM vouchers - always welcome and helpful for anyone who gets stuck as to what to get a gamer!
BOOKS
As an avid reader you can't go wrong by gifting me a good book. My youngest daughter - Stace - surpassed herself this year by remembering a fleeting comment I made to her when we passed a local book shop earlier in the year. I mentioned that I fancied reading some books written by local authors about supernatural tales of our home town - Scarborough.
Thank goodness she remembered this, as these were the only books I got this year, but as it was a complete series of books it gives me plenty of reading matter for a good portion of the coming new year!
MINIATURES
I ended 2024 by dabbling with some miniature fantasy model painting in the form of a short project based on the TRENCH CRUSADE tabletop game system.
And, again, it was rather nice that family members do actually take an interest - or at least know - what I get up to in my attic mancave, as my lovely wife played an absolute blinder by getting me something that I was completely not expecting!
Sharon went out her way to choose me a set of miniatures to paint that was a little 'off-piste' (so to speak). Now normally someone buying you a present based on little knowledge of the intricacies of your hobby and 'based on a hunch' is a recipe for disaster, but as the key word that describes my hobby interests is 'eclectic' her choice turned out to be a very welcome surprise...
By freaky chance, way back in the late 1980s I was for a time really into Warhammer Old World and - in particular - Orks. I painted quite a few but as I was only interested in painting the figures and not playing the game this interest was eventually surpassed by other hobbies.
So, it was delightful not only to get something completely out of left field but that was something that was loaded with nostalgic goodness. 😊 A additional surprise was that Sharon also bought me the 'Age of Sigmar' lore book that went with these Orks as I really love reading lore (and the book also contained some beautiful photographs of completed Ork models as well as a handy painting guide).
Model Kits
After last years avalanche of model kit gifts (some of which I still haven't completed), I was glad that everyone decided not to go get me more this year! It sounds a bit ungrateful, but the main thing I seem to need isn't so much things to do as TIME to do them! 😆
Instead, for those that didn't know what to get me for my Birthday or Christmas I am glad to say that they plumped to give me AMAZON gift cards!
And so, I actually bought my own model kits this year from my Amazon wish list!
The first model I bought was a COBI Vietnam Series 1/32 Huey helicopter kit. This carries on very nicely from the couple of the COBI Vietnam Series kits that I got last year (I am hoping to collect the full set - though where I am going to display them - they are BIG - I don't know)!
And next, I decided - based on the fun I had building last year's TAKOYAKI shop kit - to get another wooden 'puzzle', but this time instead of a Japanese shop I went for a Japanese train!
This goes along nicely with my model train pastime, bit is a bit bigger...
This is a really cute little diorama and reminds me a lot of the little train from my favourite anime movie 'Spirited Away'.
But Wait! There's More...
The last Christmas gift of 1024 was a real stunner and totally unexpected. You see, I had been coveting one of the newer resin 3D printer for quite a while. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with my current FDM 3D printer (it's a real workhorse and has churned out loads of useful household and hobby bits and pieces) my adventure in N Gauge (1/150 scale) model making has shown me the limits of my Flashforge Adventurer 3, as far as very small 3D printing is concerned.
So, for very small and detailed models, a resin printer seemed the way to go. BUT, that is a big expense and my pocket money just wasn't up to this extravagance... And then...
Completely out the blue my brother - Ian - got in tough and said 'do you fancy a resin printer'! 😮
Apparently, he had bought one BUT he soon discovered that he had a very nasty reaction to the fumes caused by the liquid resin, in fact he was very poorly for a while. I had hear some that the fumes caused by resin 3D printing were not to be taken lightly and sadly my brother is one of those folk who just do not get along with the chemicals and the smells that go along with tjhis type of printing...
SO... I ended up with a very nice 3D resin printer. Thanks Ian!
Because of this, the main gift from my wife this year was a handy 3D printer enclosure 'tent', to help deal with any unwanted (and smelly) fumes. It took me a while to find a good place in my attic to set up all the new resin printer gear, as I wanted it near a window to vent the fumes outside.
Ian also sent me down a powerful extractor fan and hose which attaches to the 'tent'. So all I have to do now is put everything together, watch a good few tutorials about resin printing and - hopefully - 2025 will be my year for printing teeny tiny models!
HOPE YOU ALL HAD A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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