Vampifan's Views 22 - My Monthly Musings 08

Vampirella door poster by Jose Gonzalez

I thought I'd do something different for my Monthly Musings this month and show you my man cave... or at least part of it. My man cave is my bedroom, which means I spend an awful lot of time in there. I love looking at photos of other people's man caves. Inevitably I'll make comparisons with mine. Is theirs bigger than mine? Stop tittering! Tidier? Do they have cool toys that I wish I had? The answers vary, of course. I must admit that although I have lived with my parents all my life, they never ever interfered with how my bedroom looked. Although they'd often say it looked a mess, I always countered by saying, that may be so, but it is an organised mess, as I know where everything is. I think that is a truism of most gamers.
A quick glance inside my man cave reveals one very obvious fact - my love and appreciation of Vampirella. The photo to the left of here shows the inside of my bedroom door, the obvious place to hang my Vampirella door poster. This poster is a relatively new acquisition. I only bought it early last year after it became available for sale once more. For many years it was out of print and I could only hope that one day I'd have the opportunity to purchase it. Thankfully, Harris Comics did offer it for sale and I snapped my copy up immediately.

The photo above shows my work desk configured for working on my computer. I mention this because when I'm painting or modelling I move my keyboard to one side. It's a cordless keyboard so moving it isn't a problem. In the bottom left corner is my scanner. On it sits my ATZ books, some WWG printouts and my zombie head pencil holder. In the top left corner are my Cy Girls action figures. The black box with the three blue dials on is my computer tower. Statues of Vampirella and Lady Death are placed just behind my computer monitor. Below my monitor are my non-Foundry paints and a selection of figures I'm painting. Below them is my computer keyboard. The three black box files in the bottom right corner contain my Foundry acrylic paints. Behind them is my latest WWG card model that I'm working on and behind that is my printer. The blackout curtains are actually very dark blue. At the far right you can see part of the view from my window, showing the school playing field and part of the school. It's a small school for infants and juniors.

This photo above shows what is probably the most interesting corner of my man cave. The picture of Vampirella in the bottom left corner is a birthday card that my brother designed for me. The busty beauty in the photo higher up is Donna Ewin, my all-time favourite glamour model, who rose to prominence in the 1980's and 1990's. She was nicknamed "The Body" and you can see why! To the right of her is my 2012 True Blood calendar, showcasing fledgling vampire, Jessica. Note my four PEF markers that are stuck on the side of my computer. Colin Nash, who made them for me, magnetised their bases. The skeletal pirates' head is a fridge magnet that my mum bought for me.

This grizzly fellow is called Fred the Zed Head. He is the main reason you are getting to see my man cave! I mentioned that he was available for sale on the Board of the Living Lead forum and got a very positive response to my post. Anyway, I sent away for one and once I'd mentioned it had arrived, Johnny/Lord Siwoc asked to see a photo of it in situ. So, Johnny, this one's for you. There are six holes in Fred's head for placing pens or pencils. His right eye socket is magnetic, allowing you to keep paper-clips there. His teeth are removable to allow you to put small notes below them. The back of his head has a slot for storing envelopes or invoices. All in all, he is a very versatile tool and I love him. Note the zombie head pen - that's Fred Junior. Because I had to photograph this, I thought I'd take some more photos of my man cave at the same time. Thanks, Johnny!

This is my collection of 12" tall Cy-Girl action figures. I have twelve of them, which sadly, is not the complete set. There are also three other action figures in the photo, kept in their boxes. To the lower left is Buffy Summers, aka Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Standing on top of her box is Cordelia Chase, a star of the early series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer before moving to the spin-off series, Angel. Not very visible, is a box with an action figure of Lady Death in. The two Cy-Girls, Jet and Electra, at the top of the photo are standing on top of her box. The gorgeous beauty in the calendar is Linda Lusardi, who used to be my favourite Page-Three Girl until she retired from glamour modelling, about the same time that Donna arrived on the scene.

Here are two of the newest acquisitions to my man cave - statuettes of Vampirella and Lady Death. You can also get a much better view of my 12" action figure of Lady Death off to the left of the photo. Lady Death is one of my favourite comic book characters. I bought the 9" Lady Death statuette earlier this year. The 10" tall stauette of Vampirella only arrived a few days ago and cost me a whopping £155.00! The pose is based on an Adam Hughes painting, and I think she's gorgeous. It only goes to prove why I am called Vampifan!

This is my work area, where I do my figure painting and card modelling. The computer keyboard has been moved to reveal my cutting mat and rather small work area. The front row of figures that I'm currently working on are an assortment of Zombiesmith 28mm scale figures. Behind them are eight West Wind 28mm scale werewolf figures. Just to the right of my pot of paintbrushes are two 5" tall plastic models of Vampirella, that I'm taking a long time in getting painted. The cat in the picture frame of the clock is Wiskee, who sadly died in 2004. He was much more than a pet to me, he was my best friend, and I still miss him dearly.

Finally, a view of just part of my huge collection of Foundry acrylic paints. There are another two box files just like this, below this one. At the back end of 2011 I finally reached the end of my tether with Citadel paints and I binned most of them. I spent a fortune replacing them with Foundry paints, although I was smart enough to buy them when Foundry had one of their 20% discount sales. Just behind this box you can see a corner of the Foundry Painting and Modelling Guide - a superb book that I would recommend to any figure painter. I have adopted the Foundry style of painting, which to be honest, wasn't that different to my usual style. The biggest difference to my painting is that I now use Foundry paints instead of Citadel paints. At the back of the box of paints you can see my latest WWG card model that I've built. It is the garage from the Mayhem Junkyard set. It will be playing an important part in my ATZ campaign as Team Vampifan will be moving their base to a junkyard.

As a bonus, here is a photo of where I live. This was taken a couple of years ago, just after we'd had the tiles recoloured. That sign next to front porch belongs to the firm who re-coloured the tiles. I have lived here since 1970 and can't see myself ever moving. My man cave is at the back of the house.
I have another reason for showing you my house and it is this, would you like to spend a short holiday here? I ask this because when I posted my article about my blog's third birthday a week or so ago I mentioned that I'd never met any of my followers. This prompted an e-mail message from Stefan, who asked why don't we arrange a meet up? It's a good question and I'm all for it. If numbers are low, I can accomodate three guests at home. I have two spare bedrooms that aren't being used. If numbers are high, then Stefan suggests organising a meeting somewhere else. Perhaps at a wargaming convention or maybe somewhere that we could hire a room for a weekend's gaming. Regarding the timing of such an event, I'm very flexible as I'm unemployed and don't have any work or family commitments. Let me know what you think of the idea.
That's all for now and I hope you enjoyed a look at my man cave. Next post should be an ATZ batrep. Yay!