Once, I wanted to be a reporter. Or a photojournalist. I attended College twice for both trades, but both times, despite decent grades, my mental health tanked. I had many undiagnosed issues at the time that probably, now that I am aware, made school far more difficult then it should have been for me.
I had drive, and ambition, to pursue the career. My dream was/is to continue, to go back to school, despite the fact I am now 30 and the trade is definitely a younger persons game. The temptation of pulling a Routledge, selling everything, buying a decent camera, and flying to a combat zone and doing something, anything, is very strong and hard to ignore.
I conducted an interview with Joseph L. Galloway, the famous war-reporter who covered Vietnam for UPI. His parting words still stay with me. “You have the right stuff, kid, make a go of this”. The fact that I have failed to live up to that is a heavy burden sometimes, even if he probably forgot about me in a week or two.
So it was a bittersweet purchase, then, to buy the Special Artizan Service War Correspondents set. They are fantastically sculpted, with little flash. They have models that represent the whole gamut of the trade, from the Television crew with a boom mic, video camera, and a reporter with a mic. Prominent in the set are the presence of several Photojournalists, with their DSLR camera, and often several more.
With my current Team Yankee: Ace Combat project, and my ongoing adventures in Spectre Operations and Zona Alfa, having a reporter model would be neat to have for flavour. I decided to paint the kneeling photographer model, and while yes, self inserts are a bit “cringe” as they say….I felt almost compelled to paint it as me, had my life gone the way I planned.
It was a fun model to paint, and not an overly difficult one either. I’m quite happy with it!
All in all, I’m quite happy with the set, and this model specifically. As I have not yet sealed the model with matte varnish, I may yet add some details!
As for in-game use, he can be an interesting objective in Spectre Operations, however I’d rather he was an active participant not just a regular boring objective. Either way, he will be fun to have.
In Zona Alfa, I have the idea of him poking around the Zone, taking photos of anomalies and other interesting things. All the while, his protection detail keeps him safe from Zone Hostiles.
As a fun flavour piece, the model will slot in nicely into many Modern setting wargames quite neatly!
But, that is all for now. Happy War-gaming wherever you are, and remember, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough“-Robert Capa.
Not by Strength, By Guile 
Great work on that mini.
Sorry to hear about your drustrated career plans. Mental Health troubles are a terrible thing to go through. I’ve been there myself and I’m not really on the life plan I envisaged as a teen.
If you ever want a sympathetic ear please feel free to drop me a line.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Cheers! It’s okay, I’ve mostly come to terms with it. But I’m also keen on pursuing a writing career of some sort at some point. No idea how yet but I’ll see!
I appreciate your offer, and both thank you for it and reciprocate it. We’ve both had struggles, and a good ear is good to have.
I’ve got some cool models and ideas I’m working on, which is a great distraction.
Have a great day!
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Thanks- writing is a good process- helps get things clear in your mind I find. Try writing an article for the wargames press perhaps?
I look forward to what you do nect model and figure wise.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Nice work on the mini! 🙂 A useful figure to have in any modern setting definitely! Here’s hoping you still get a chance to move on to doing more of the things you’d like to, although life has a way of sending down paths we didn’t think we wanted to go on for a reason (I’m not usually this philosophical, honest)! The M1 helmet suits you! Hope you’re still enjoying working on/researching your Boshin War figures.
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Oh absolutely, lots of Boshin War stuff arrived last week, just taking time to figure out how I want to do that post! The Hoheigumi are in force, with 36 models, as well as some Shinsengumi to help them out.
I have quite the helmet collection actually! I should do a showcase on them at some point.
Yeah life can be strange, but hopefully I get the chance to do something with the schooling I did get. I’m quite keen on getting some sort of thing published at some point…
Thanks for the nice words! More Boshin soon, promise!
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Looking forward to the Boshin. Thanks for the Zona Alpha scenario idea I like it. The Artizan figures are excellent see mine https://wordpress.com/post/phillipislandgamingsociety392176732.wordpress.com/9591
and also another set https://wordpress.com/post/phillipislandgamingsociety392176732.wordpress.com/18140
Most of my children have had career crisis of one sort or another. At nearly 70yrs old I am unlike most of my peers and have had many career changes until I found out what I really enjoyed and was passionate about in Risk and Emergency management. Whilst semi retired I still really enjoy the profession. The only advice worth giving is that you need to enjoy and be passionate about all aspects of your life. I once read a book called “Passionate People Perform” that turned my career around. So Guru says: “Do what you love and love what you do”!
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