Last Lap Towards the IX Painting Challenge

I’m already back home from hospital since Sunday, after solving my herniated spine disc problem on Thursday. Thank God, everything went right, a short surgery and being taken the first to the surgery room early in the morning was a real relief.

The whole affair is been less terrible that I initially thought (at least so far), but the doctor has ordered full rest and some short walks over the next three weeks til Xmas.  I’m surprisingly taking it very easy, reading a lot and watching some films in my TV cable channel.

Next visit on December 20^th (coinciding with the initial Challenge day by the way), and I hope to be enough strong by then to at least put a couple of models on my painting table in the first day.

The days before the operation I was not at all idle and progressed substantially with the preparations towards the Challenge. I could primed most of the models I’m planning to paint including some leftovers of 28mm Austrian Napoleonic from last year and the core project for the year, the British Airborne.

Half of the British are ready and while in hospital I received the Foundry order. These are very nice and crisp metal figures. Sculpting is excellent (early design by the famous Perry Brothers) and despite some differences in size, I don’t see it will noticed once painted and on the table. I’m tempted to buy a couple of more blisters considering the quality.

The Bren Carrier and para jeep were assembled but left for priming at my mother’s house (where I have my airbrush equipment). I also added nice Cromwell tank as potential support in the future games; and have acquired a 6 pounder on an impulse buy on Black Friday in a local model shop here in Madrid offering a 15% discount to the normal price. That same day I decided that it was time to go “pro” and bought (or better said “invested in”) my first set of Winsor & Newton series 7 brushes to make a debut in this Challenge.

That is for now. Hope to be in even better shape by the 20th and wishing all Challengers a fruitful prep- period!