Saw the dark knight and thought it was amazing !. What a movie !.
The anticipation for the joker head has gone up alot !
Thanks buddy!
PROGRESS REPORT #1 (7/27/08) (first of many to come in the next couple of weeks
)
OK, Everyone knows of my delays, so I am not rehashing all that. I think everyone knows why I am months behind. But, with my Mom settled now, I hope for good, and things settling down here at home for me, (and No the piano is not moved out yet!!! ) I am now, for the first time in ages it seems, back in a nice, quiet environment for actual work!
So, to expedite things a bit, I want to post what is in progress, and when I hope to have a lot of it done. First off, I hope to be done with most of this by late August. Period.
Loosely, the Ledger Jokers, will still be started in late August. That is no secret. Most all of you who have one on order, know that. I am just restating it for the masses. Thanks for those and
I cannot wait to get to them. They will be fun and I am really excited about what I have learned since seeing the movie myself.
IN THE MEANTIME, there is a lot of work that comes before those. Lots!
The larger group heads-only sets are,
HUDSONS (10) ,
HICKS (36).
REESES (8),
REEVE SUPERMANS (10 total, 3 of those are full figures)
then there's
BALES (15+)
and starting late August
Ledger JOKERS (23+).
There are in amongst those, plenty of single projects, full figure repaints or heads sent for repaints that are not my largest projects. Those are being worked on bit by bit as I do the big sets, some in order of arrival, some in groups regardless of arrival to expedite proper paintups. I do that so I can study a given actor's face, get into it, and paint those at one time. Helps all be the best I can do, rather than jump around and do this one and that one. That is hard to do, and results in less than ideal work from me. I just work better in sets.
I won't list
all those others, but they do include some Predator repaints, a ALIEN, some heads, Ripleys, Drakes, Vasquez, Rose Tylers, some varied Nicholson Joker heads still, and a LOT of singles spread out in there. There are incoming projects also, Napier Jacks, and some cool surprises!
I am back at it, so fear not! All these listed are in some advanced stage of completion. There is paint on everything but the Bales and Jokers.
Note this also, there will be a few single pieces that may get done ahead of some others, some due to customer resell or immediate project turnaround needs, (a pred helm sculpt that is needed for further immediate summer work on that person's part) , some heads in trade, and a lot of work for single customers who have waited a LONG LONG time, with a lot of work due each person, so those I will be trying to accomodate equally amongst all this as well. You know who you are, you few who wait longer than most. Thanks the most for your patience.
Everything I am working on is important to me, so have no fears about my concerns for your stuff.
Thanks for not over emailing me about when it is done. In fact, to expedite the process for you all, here is a request about that very thing.
As my PM box stays full,
email me if you would, rather than PM, and even then, only when you have to, and
when I can, I will respond in kind.
BUT, know this, I will be posting finished work
here, day by day, for the next three or four weeks, (there is a lot coming due here!) and in those posts, will be pictures of finished work.
If you don't see your head or heads in a given post or picture, I am simply not done with it yet. When I post the pics, I am finished with what you see. That is the best way I can keep you all updated.
Endless in-prog shots are time consuming and worktime wasteful for me, and may confuse you all with this new system, so with this much work coming, I want to not rush the work in hand and post only
finished pieces. Again,
when you see it, it is done!
If you PM or email me that you didn't see your's in the posted photos yet, you will get this message,
"It is not completed yet, when it is, it will be posted at SSF."
Just letting you know, to save us both time in emails and PMs. Don't be surprised at the brevity of that message as you now already know it. Thanks.
Gotta trim clock somewhere for all this and get them done. Seems the best way to me.
SO, pics coming soon and lots of them and lots of work for you all!
Feels damn good too! Glad to be back at it again!
And lastly, thanks again for your patience, your kindness (Ma's chair for one!) and your fortitude, as I bet waiting for all this is taxing. I know I would be frustrated too. I respect that. Thanks for hanging with me and being so cool to deal with. I am about to make all the waits worth while!
Your grateful friend and very busy servant,
Les Walker
, as I would bear hug all of you! 
