Firstly, a Happy New Year to the ever-patient and loyal readership. May your dreams and aspirations see fruition in 2013.

This is a bittersweet posting. There are some good news--at least I hope they are received as "good"--and not so good. . .

The good news is that Yoshiaki is all-but-done, and should be finished over the weekend. My plans are to have Yoshiaki (along with the unrevised Ft. Duq Maeda) en route to Steve next week. I will attempt to post pics once it is finished. As to where I will post them, read on. . .

It has been a rough 3-4 months. Work has become the dominant feature of my landscape, and while hardly ideal, it is what it is. My health has been taking a beating as well: let me assure you that it is nothing more serious than getting old/er, and being reminded of the folly of youth. Be that as it may, moderate arthritis in my right shoulder and wrist, and strained vision from staring at monitor screen for at least 8 hrs./day leaves very little for the intensity required of design and sculpture. This is, after all, primarily a visual art.

To top it all off, this site--my last posting in particular--has become the target of [mostly overseas] spammers and trolls. I have been receiving anywhere from 1-3 "comments" per week that have nothing to do with the subject matter or the purpose of this forum. I naively thought that it would pass, but it has not let up. Well, to quote one of my favourite movie lines, the time has come to "take the hostage out of the equation." Before Winter makes way for Spring, this blog will cease to exist.

I have already transferred the relevant postings to my other blog, and have created a "folder" dedicated to historical bushi. This is where I will post the images of the revised and completed Yoshiaki. For those of you who are not familiar with my other blog--and are interested, please drop me a line and I will happily provide you with "directions". 'Nuff said.

Regrettably, I am at a stage in my life where I have lost much of my interest in historical miniatures. Part of that can be attributed to the changes in the hobby in the last decade; the balance, however, rests entirely with me. As I mentioned, work has become THE dominant feature in my life at the moment, and this is not conducive to creating masterful works on a deadline. Sporadic bench time precludes building any momentum, to say nothing of continuity, from session to session.Thus, one comes to resent that 'one more thing' that pares away at the precious little time at ones disposal. Thus, it is with heartfelt regrets that I informed Steve last night that I will not be available to continue the series with any regularity. Steve's response merely made matters worse: I will just say that he is a gentleman. We will continue our association, and as time and circumstances allow for him, we will continue to grow the line with new additions by yours truly. In the meantime, check back periodically at my other blog for all breaking news re: historical bushi in miniature, especially those produced by SK Miniatures.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you for your support and interest in this very niche segment of our historical modelling community. I would like to think that the best is yet to come and that I will hopefully be a part of it. Time will tell. . .

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