In my younger days I used to go hither and thither with my trusty chum and our five man canvas tent.

Our favourite place to go was the Lakes. We would get the bus to Keswick from Newcastle and spend a few days over there before hauling the bloody thing back again.

One Easter, disaster struck and we were at an awesome camp site at Ashness Bridge. The temperature plummeted and we were stuck. Blizzards whirled around us and we decided to sit it out.

One morning after surviving a night on Kendal Mint Cake and Hypothermia we were awoken by a knock on the door.

A policeman stood there shivering. He told us to get out as we were loitering Within Tent.

Get it, Loitering within tent…. Okay I’ll get my coat.

Well after the dog ate my sprue the other day. Well yesterday she ate something a bit more irreplaceable 😔

I loved my Deer skull, she evidently thought it was her latest chew toy.  It must have fallen or been knocked off the shelf.

All the beads have gone, they will probably appear in a poo bag in the fullness of time.

Luckily the actual Skull survived.

Yes, after really having to force a couple of the magnets in I decided on going for 3.5mm. I was really worried that I would end up snapping something off with the pressure I was having to use. I was probably compressing the tiny amount of air to about 50 psi 😂.

Not pretty but they are in. To be honest there is more superglue on my fingers than is on the bases.

And why am I doing this? So I can put them on an old saw to spray them. Lol. Honestly I sometimes wonder about myself.

Well I went looking for my drill set and shockingly found it. It even had a 3mm drill in it.

So I did a little test and it seemed to work.

So I used the drill to go up into the miniatures puddle base to allow for any discrepancies.  Used the back of the drill to check for depth to ensure there wouldn’t be  a bit of magnet sticking out.

There is a 3.5mm in the set so I can enlarge the holes if needs be.

Well this evening I felt the urge to do something creative, but not too full on. Sooo I thought I would glue magnets into the holes on the bases. First off I had to find the magnets, then the open superglue and down I sat to stick magnets to myself, the table and the floor… (Well that is what normally happens)

I mean what could go wrong… 3mm hole, 3mm magnet….well this really!

That is as far as it went, it took me a good few minutes to get it that far. Problem is, it now won’t come out.

So options as to why are this:

• The hole is not 3mm
• The magnet is not 3mm
• The plastic cement used to affix the model to the base has closed up (possible, but I did glue around the edge of the base)
• The magnets are meant to be added from the other side before a miniature is added.
• I am just crap at adding magnets
• Push fit requires a hydraulic press to achieve a snug fit

Answers on a postcard to me please as I have at least 30 of the buggers to shove in the bases.

So options I have are getting a bit of 3mm rod and heat it and expand the hole. Get a drill bit that purports to be 3mm and hope for the best.

I could try and scrape out a bigger hole.

I could say Bollocks and ignore the magnets.

So I got this far and gave up…

Evidently the undead hadn’t realised that they had released a terror greater than them…

Not quite sure what it is going to do when it latches on!

Thank goodness that is over. I got it finished with only a moderate amount of foul language.

It’s a Funky little tank with lieutenant Gruber in the turret. The wheels turn and the track moves, as does the turret and gun.

Quality control was the biggest problem with this build. But I did persevere and am happy enough with the final result.

This one seems to be for the desert war. The crew haven’t got their tropical kit yet.

the F in FLEGO is an accurate description… Might have called it that once or twice today.

Quality control was a little lacking at times, the main floor plate was a bit on the bent side, a couple of bits from bag one were in bag two and one bit just seemed to be missing. Luckily I have the odd Lego box knocking around and as such I found a suitable piece. Luckily it is inside and not visible.

I evidently didn’t take a more complete photo… The hull top is now finished. Tomorrow I learn new swear words as I tackle the wheels and tracks…

Well the rest of my Christmas present (or rather what I bought with my pennies) came today.

It has to be one of my favourite early war armoured fighting vehicles alongside the MkII and 222 armoured car.

This is obviously just on the German side… I will have to think about the opposition.

It is the Lerwick Up Helly Aa today. As usual wind and rain… Here is a pic I blagged from the internet. At least it shows off their costume nicely.

There is a livestream too it can be found on YouTube. One of my kids has gone along to watch, but to be honest it not my thing. I have been a couple of times and that will do for me.