Friday, September 30, 2011

Mother board victory!

  I have repaired the mother board and am back in action.  Nothing else can possibly go wrong, and yes that is you I am tempting fate.  Currently cutting a chariot base as well as some custom sprues.  I think things are going to go in that direction for a while. Sales of my little bits are a tad sluggish and it seems a few people have ideas for some custom plastic sprues.  In fact the little tanks are going to be stopped for a while as I continue to work towards making more organic models while making stuff for other people too.

  These are a couple of CAD files pics of some Amazons I am going to have a go at. I still want to do the sci-fi female militia, but they have to redesigned them from scratch because their arms, legs and weapons were too puny. This model has a more clunky design which should make a better figure.  It seems that most minis have poor proportions and oversize heads, hands, limbs and weapons.  Of course I guess you can go too far, but I have to find out where is a good balance.
   I am waiting for my new fleet game I ordered from the evil empire. I ordered this because they promised to not support it. It is my opinion that in the past support has ruined a lot of the games I used to like. Expansions should enhance a game, not butcher it and destroy the enjoyment.  Just my own $.02. Anyhow, if I like said fleet game I might make a similar scale generic ship or 2.  So much to do....

  Have a nice weekend folks, things are starting to get interesting.   :)
  
  

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Learning from a troll

   Today I wanted to follow up on the troll mold.  It was a learning step for me, being only my second attempt at an organic model. (The first never saw the press due to mechanical failures). Here is a pic of a prototype put out of the press and glued together.  It is again another near miss. There are a couple of things I would like to change.  I do not like the open hand and weapon laying in it. It does allow for a builder to use rocks, skulls or whatever in place of the weapon. I do not like the way it looks however.  I should have made multiple hands each grasping a weapon, as well as an open hand. Secondly, the face should be a bit bigger so the details are more noticeable. And finally, the torso needs a bit of filing before it fits into the legs.

   I put a bit of paint on the troll and it looks OK, maybe something like the quality of the Battlemasters ogre model.
  Overall I am pretty happy to see some progress towards the multi part figures I ultimately intend to make. My next mold is a custom mold being made for someone else, so it will be a while before I can get back to having another go at my own things.  I really want to have my first infantry products for sale by the end of the year. My to do list keeps growing, which is good. In addition to making "proxies" for other games I want to finish out some infantry to go along with may tanks so that can grow into a small game someday.
  Looks like I am going to be at Fall-in. Hope to sell some bases and hand out my new business cards. Get a chance to greet people and talk with other hobbyists. It has been a while since I regularly attended conventions and I am looking forward to it. I would like to have some new stuff available by then.

   There is only one thing that keeps standing in my way. The mechanical failures I so often complain about. I know this sounds like a broken record, but it is getting really annoying.

  It started off as a series of seemingly minor unrelated events. A finger chopped off here, a small fire there, a water leak, a PC power supply failure, a motor bearing siezing up, gibs on the CNC becoming rusted, etc.  But lately I have begun to suspect something more sinister. I am posting this blog report from my daughter's lap top. My main PC, with all of my files for making products has shut down and refuses to work. FOR NO REASON.  It is barely 2 years old. 
   A friend stopped by to help diagnose it and we think the mother board is fried. I am awating a new one so I can get back to work. However, the frequency of these events has led me to conclude that it is not a coincidence, the machines are out to get me.  Now that I have accurately assessed the situation I can take  measures to assert my authority over these troublesome gremlins.  And gremlins are the only logical conclusion. My shop is infested with them.   For now.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Still plugging away.........

  Hello again. Above is the new logo for Proxie Models. My son did some work in photo shop for me. I have been quite busy doing the little things I tend to neglect. I am getting some foldover cards printed up to attach to the product bags. I am also finally getting some business cards printed so I can put them in the packages I send out. I was trying to figure out what to list as my "title" and settled on tinker.  Based on these definitions;
1. To make unskilled or experimental efforts at repair; fiddle.
2. To manipulate unskillfully or experimentally.
3. One who enjoys experimenting with and repairing machine parts.
4. A clumsy repairer or worker; a meddler.

  Speaking of which, yes both the large and small CNC machines broke again! One even had an electrical fire and billowed out smoke.  Luckily I am already on blood pressure pills and the people who sold them to me both live too far away to prevent me from loading the machines on the back of the truck and backing it through their window.  Got them fixed again and going to work.
Speaking of which;
  Here are some new 15mm scale guns available in the store. I have not made any trolls yet. Sadly, he turned out to be really fat. I do not even know if nitrogen can fill that belly up.  I got to finish that out and give it a try soon.
  In other news, I got a lot of good ideas from people for making stuff. I have a 6mm scale building on the works and a 6mm tank unit.  I have been negotiating with a couple of guys to perhaps do a bit of design work in exchange for a royalty.  Looking forward to seeing what they make.
   And finally, this flood was the last I saw of my fish. After battling all summer to keep them alive,  the ungrateful little traitors jumped at the first chance to go AWOL. Not only that, the little gnome in the picture went with them. This photo was taken at the high water mark in the morning. The water receded quite a bit before I went to bed. When I got up he was gone. But you can see from the pic he was not even in the water. Either the water re-flooded and then went back down while I was sleeping, or that little guy is just as treacherous as the fish. He was most likely the ring leader. 

Have a great weekend.