More lame excuses

  Hello again from this strange little place I dwell.  I have decide to bite my overly opinionated tongue a bit after my last outburst.  It is sort of like a story told by my Pastor.  Writing obnoxious commentary on forums is like peeing in a public pool. You offend folks but no one knows it was you.  When you spout off on a blog it is like standing on the diving board to pee in the pool. Someone down below is sure to identify the culprit.

     I am here to make a pathetic plea for patience for those who may have been following along in my goal to make actual figures. I get distracted a bit from time to time and the world keeps on spinning. I planted a garden and surrounded it with razor wire, which was promptly penetrated by rabbit sappers who ate everything.

   It occurs to me that a 28 ton plastic press could be easily reconfigured into a really kicking wine press. I planted some grapes and had an enormous crop in the works. Then I went out to this;

 

 

 

 Birds had wiped out the future Proxie Winery before it even got started. They are so brazen to actually dwell within the vines, too lazy to even forage for food.

 

 

  I build some slot cars too. This one turned out pretty neat.

 

 

 





  I have also been working on the figure mold. Again. In between actually making money by building parts like this pile of bright shiny widgets.

 

 

So how is the figure mold coming along.....not sure yet. It is close but I think it might not be good enough. I have to play around with it a bit.

 

  Here is one glued together.

 

 

  Going to paint it up and see what I think. I have certainly paid for worse, and it is hard plastic and not that crap  PVC stuff.  (sorry, there was that opinion poking out again)

 

  But the head needs a little work to fit on correctly.  Other than that, I would be happy to send these out to fight. One stupid quirk and the whole thing is in jeopardy. 

 

  I like the weapon variants on the sprue. Here is one carrying an energy weapon and with an anti-tank gun.

 

 

  Going to ponder this one and plan some more stuff.  Still, it feels like it is inching closer and closer. Making homemade hard plastic minis right here in the USA. Each "almost" is a step forward and I like where this is going.

 

 I have actually reached a tentative agreement with a couple of folks to do some design work and see about moving stuff along a bit. I was really swamped for a while, just look at this message board hanging in front of the machine haunting me.

 

  That is all done and before things pile up again it gives me some time to tinker with the supposedly impossible task of making figures. Someday. 

 

  Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone. Summer is going but fall is a close second for best time of year.

 

 

A Tale of 2 Hobbies- a long talk sure to make me less popular.

  Hello again folks, been pretty busy and there is a lot going on behind the scenes. Still making odds and ends, like this for the guys over at Rust Forge-  http://rustforge.com/

  I been slowly sliding in to a more manufacturing role and less a retailer, but I still am planning big as always. I added a 120mm base to the store. It was requested and was too big for the press. Had to add a precision 2x4 block to hold it closed.

 

  I know my friend Chris is laughing, but it worked.

 The sci-fi girls were ruined and so I had to remake the first half of the mold. When you run a lot of programs it is easy to over look a small mistake. I powered the cnc bit straight down through the cavity and ruined one of the gun arms. Oh well, be more observant. Back on track and designing the next one.  :)  No promises but I would like to be done soon. 

  What brings me on to my soapbox today is the culmination of some talks had recently with people and a few forums where people were talking about price increases over at the big monster, GW. It is somewhat counter intuitive for me to think that the company with the lowest cost per unit to make has the highest price per unit. If I were GW I would use my massive ability to produce products to lower prices and wipe out all the little guys. ( see Walmart)   However, they have chosen to raise prices and thereby enable little guys to exist. Quite nice of them, one has to admit.

  What follows I have stated a few times, so apologies if this post seems a re-post.

  It seems that the cost is justified by the abilities of the model in the game. It ignores the fact that those abilities are the result of my own imagination, not value added by the company.  I can choose to pretend the models are whatever I want and have whatever abilities I can think of. Which brings me to the comparison of my 2 main hobbies at the moment- slot cars and wargaming.

  I started collecting High Elves in 1988, and have a gazillion. The painted ones shown in the battle report  are a sample of what I still have to paint. I could see myself buying every high elf made till death overtakes me in some far distant era. (hopefully)  I even have an entire army of West Wind high elves as well.   Why?  Because someday a stranger will approach me and challenge me to a 12,000 point battle with the requirement that all models be painted.  And I must be ready to look that stranger in the eye and say,  " Sure, grab your dice."

  So that makes me a prime candidate for this new product from GW-

Ok, I hope those maniacs do not sue me for using an image- all rights reserved, blah blah, they thought of everything, blah blah, they invented human conflict, blah blah, etc. 


  So why have I not purchased said item?  Because it costs more than this-

  Now the elves can shoot bows and stuff, but I sort of have to do all the work. The manufacturer made a nice model and all, but it is the players that bring it to life with assembly and painting. And then use the rules to play a game. I make that blob of plastic an army and bring it to life. And I really enjoy that.

  What can that stupid car do?  Well, it is ready to go right out of the box. It has electric motor, rubber tires, metal axles. Lots of parts to make for a manufacturer. It also has working headlights and tail lights. Which I can turn off and on from my controller. And the brake lights come on when I release the throttle to slow down and go out after I stop or go back on the throttle.  It comes in a nice display case with extra parts right along with it. And it has a computer in it.

  Yes a computer. With that computer it is programmed to an individual controller with the push of a button to allow 8 cars to operate on a single lane with out interference. Neat?  There are numerous crossing points that allow you to pass and block other drivers. My track is 2, 3 and 4 lanes wide in places.
   Also, the computer reverses the motor polarity when the throttle is released and uses the electric motor to provide resistance and therefore brakes. And I can adjust the amount of braking. In 15 different increments to give me the amount of stopping I want.

  I can also adjust the amount of power, if one car seems "bogus". A click of a button and instant balance. No more waiting 10 years for a codex.  15 different increments too.

  And it also has a variable fuel capacity. What? Yes that's right, it keeps track of how much electricity I have been using and subtracts it from the fuel reserves of the car.  But what do you have to do, gas it up?   Yes, there is a section of track where you have to pull over and using your controller add fuel.

Ok, but what happens then. Well, the computer adjusts the power and braking of the car based on the weight of the fuel it is carrying. The car runs best when it is almost out of gas and is a little sluggish filled up.

 Sounds strange so far, but what else?

  With a click the car can be set to drive by itself, in case I got no one to race against. I can put 7 cars on the track and race against all of them if I want. This sucks because they keep wrecking in to each other, but it can be done.

 The track has a USB connector that attaches to a PC. It manages all the cars and drivers and keeps a record of each lap ran, fastest, etc. It also can provide random events, like brake failure. This requires unscheduled pit stops. If your car loses brakes, the computer announces this over the speakers and will reduce your braking to nothing. I won a race against my daughters last night by refusing to stop and running the last few laps with no brakes.
   Yes, I said it announces. It comes with a full spectrum of sounds to fill your ears with updates on who is winning, laps to go etc. Of course I edited this. 

 

  OK, I love me some high elves and wargaming. But I can not figure out how a couple of those sprues cost more than that 289 Cobra. The features on the car are all tangible items of value improvement.  The elves got a decent initiative and good leadership. I know they have always strikes first, or at least they used to. And they have a BS of 4 or maybe 5.   Been a while since I could afford a new codex. All of these are intangibles added inside my own head by reading the rules. It is hard to understand how the actual engineering put in to that beautiful car equals the value of a rule. A rule does not make a model more expensive to produce. This fact is where I get sideways and have that head exploding moment.

    It has been a while since my finite disposable hobby income has been allocated to wargaming instead of race cars. I could not resist the Reaper kickstarter and really looking forward to some old fashioned dungeon mosh pits. Since then, nothing really for gaming but a couple new cars.

  And that is my take on the whole endless argument on the Internet about the cost of GW products.

 One final point.  Wargaming is a niche market. But slot cars are a much smaller niche.  I went to a slot car show in Maryland and it filled 2 smallish rooms in a hotel and was open from 10-2 on Sunday. I went to Cold Wars and it filled an entire convention center and lasted all weekend.

  To summarize- I ain't buying no more high elves at these prices.  So when that stranger does come looking for me, I will have to forfeit that battle.

  Till then, going to keep painting and rolling dice as well as rubbing fenders on the track. Both are really great hobbies and a ton of fun. It is a good time to have such wonderful pastimes, and we are very lucky.

  This post will vanish if I get a letter from one of the companies whose products are depicted. If that happens, which company do you think it will be? I know Carrera is an extraordinarily nice company to deal with.  GW calls me a "bearded git".  (Actual quote a store owner told me from a GW sales seminar. It was used to explain the type of customer to get out of your store ASAP. )

   I got some more widgets to do and the other half of the mold to do. Still the progress keeps grinding forward and good things are happening. Have a great week and keep your fingers crossed I do not screw up again. And buy some widgets from rust forge- he never calls me a git.



EDIT- The price listed is not entirely accurate. It is possible to easily find the car shown at $42-48 online and my local shop sells the car for that price too. My local game store sells the minis at full retail.  However, if you compare full retail to full retail the minis are a few bucks cheaper. $54-50. Not sure if that makes a difference, but wanted to give the most accurate numbers. To be honest I rarely pay full retail for anything anymore but was comparing the prices at my local shops.

 So the elves are less expensive by a slim margin. Still a valid comparison of a German hobby company and a UK based one both competing for my disposable recreational income.

Spring time again

  Just a quick update on some crazy schemes and progress.

1.  I have made a mountain of widgets and have a couple more to make. Going to make a cup holder and another bit for someone. This has sadly prevented me from making a lot of progress on hobby products..

2. It has however allowed me to exist. I hired a scribe to fend off the IRS and am actually legit for a few months.  Nice. I may even become a thousandaire some time in the near future.

3. The video has gotten a boost from somewhere, currently over 50,000 views. This is where all the widget contracts come from.......

4.  I have become re-interested in Warhammer Fantasy Battle. The rules are good but the army books are ruinous to my enjoyment of the game. I am therefore writing a new army builder file. I have no idea why army builder files fascinate me so. They are like a 20 sided Rubik's cube. This file will be based on some sanity and allow old timers to play without exploding.

5.  Summer is here, and that means renewing the fight against Mother Nature. This year looks to be a grim affair indeed. There has already been use of chemical weapons against me, a direct violation of the Geneva Convention. I am suffering form poison ivy. There must have been some in the weeds that were strangling my cherry trees.  The left eye is most likely going to go closed for a while.

6. Still no luck finding a helper. My kids are all fired.  Slackers.  It seems giving them money for nothing has created a dis-incentive to work. This is going to be an issue someday.  At some point I will need some help or I will have to limit output even more than it is limited now.

7. I have started the sci-fi girls at least. Here is a pic of one of the cavities;

Still have the whole other side to do and have to sharpen the edges and polish. This might be a waste, because I had to reset the zero. I made an error and the spindle went off zero. It is impossible to get it back perfectly. I had not done any final cutting so I decided to continue. It should be VERY close, but things were too far along to call it quits. BTW- the sniper rifle is pretty darn big. There is no way these girls are going to be called puny.

  Going to keep working on this as long as no more widget deals come in.  It really has taken way too long to learn and make things like this, but just part time and one person keeps production down.  I have plans for the next sprue after this, which I want to be fantasy.  As you can see it all depends what I am playing as to what gets made. Strange how we gamers have attentions that leap from place to place.




  Have a great weekend and watch out for toxic plants.

Battle Report

  Ok, been still making some widgets, so nothing really new of interest to note. I have the artillery back in the store and a new resin project in the works. So I wanted to share a story of gaming. And this time with interactive click able pictures! These actors are portraying real life emotions. The video sound is not safe for work, or really anyone with any sort of class.

  I was a big 3rd edition Warhammer player, and dropped out during 4-5 editions. A couple of guys at the local store got me back in to it when 6th edition was released. At this time a combined army book called Ravening Hordes was put in to a White Dwarf issue that contained all the armies in an abridged format. We played a league and had quite a good time. I have always hated the army books and what they do to the game.  Now I show up at a game and this is my reaction.

As you are stunned at what the drug addled morons at GW have allowed to be fielded. This has sent me and many others out of the hobby. It has passed ludicrous a long time ago. They really are not drug addled morons, they are marketing to a specific type of gamer and it works for them. What about the rest of us? What to do......

  So having wasted all of the money I should have put away for retirement on model soldiers it seems I have to cash in or use them. I sold a pretty good chunk off last year, but luckily have a bit left. The idea was to use these books.

Newest rules and 13 year old army lists.  There is an Army Builder file as well.

Here is what happened.

The host of Ulthuan is marching off to war. Lots of cavalry to pick from;

And some infantry as well;

Having decided to play at 1999 points I had to leave some of these fine troops in the box. A 1999 point game is so much more tactical than a 2000 point game as lords are not allowed and the special and rare choices are less.

Here is what I decided on;

 A 24 strong block of spear men, 20 Maiden Guard, 10 Silver Helms with barding, and a unit of 6 without barding, 18 archers with command and 10 without, and a unit of shadow warriors with command.

  The scenario rolled was morning battle so I had to roll for lost units. The spear men wound up stuck on the left flank while one block of silver helms got lost on the right. I quickly marched the silver helms back to the center and put the spear men in column to bring them around the rocky chaos shrine and back into action.

  Here is what I was facing;

Elliot and his pack of vermin. I really know little about skaven but how can such dirty little varmints stand a chance against elves? There seemed to be a lot of them though..................

Action began right away on the first turn. I deployed the shadow warriors using the scouting ability into the woods on my far left flank. A large block of his troops had also gotten off course during the deployment and they could interfere with my spear men being able to get back into line in the center.  By placing the skirmishers in the woods they would become stubborn and I actually thought they might best the skaven unit that charged them even though they were heavily outnumbered.

 A hidden assassin complicated matters.
  In the center the Maiden Guard and archers pounded away at a single unit and sent it running toward the rear.  The heavy unit of silver helms hit the skaven slaves and drove through them into the swarms in the rear. Other units kept approaching.

 At this point the center looked good, but it was not. The blue unit of silver helms was charged in the flank by a unit of censor bearers, which is the perfect unit to counter them. And the heavy unit of cav was stuck against an unbreakable swarm. Even though the swarm had little chance of doing damage they kept me stuck while some rats and skaven with whips closed in. At the top of the pic you can see my archers wheeling to the left, because they had to go and help the spear men.........

 

 

  For you see the skirmishers had broken and fled, leaving the spear men to face 2 large units. The only option was to hit one hard and break it and then do a combat reform to prepare to face the other. I chose to go after the rats who had bested my lads and captured their standard.  Opening a large can of whoop-ass, the spear men forced a massive break check upon the skaven. Who passed.  Uh-oh. So you see why the archers were desperately wheeling to the left........

 

 I was a bit unsettled at this point.

 

 

 

  And back to the center again;



  You can see the killing ground set up for the general and his pack of rat-men. Just walk on in and let me shoot you and then charge with cav and lots of violent but feminine elf girls.

  But it was not to be.

 

  The general instead wheeled to take out the unit of archers, while the plague monks added a flank charge to the spear men. Both units broke and fled and thus 2 more banners were captured. The cav both held however, and the blue unit passed its own impossible break test against the censor bearers. This allowed me to reform and fend them off. The heavy cav unit was able to inflict so many losses on the toughness 2 swarm that it won the combat and chased off the packmasters.

 

  And on the right, things stayed quiet thanks to this little Hougemont.

 

  A little unit of 10 archers garrisoned this building the entire game end exchanged missile fire with an enemy wizard and some poison globe throwing guys. Eventually breaking them and scoring some much needed points for the good guys.

 

  The skirmishers rallied and came back to try and recapture their standard, but were killed to the man.

 

  So it came down to this.

 

  The Maiden Guard had to best the skaven general and his ratmen. I only had one character and it was a level 2 wizard. I was facing the wrong way and not thinking I could win this, but........

 

 

  I did a reform and passed a leadership test to allow me to fire as well. I also cast a shield of thorns spell on the unit that would help in close combat, when it came. During the missile fire I took out a few rats, but on the last turn of the game the skaven charged. And I was able to stand and fire, doing just enough damage to cause a panic test which the general failed.

 

 This is Elliot's reaction;

 

 

 

 

 The game ended and we added up points.

 

  The elves managed to win with a 1238 to 878 point victory.   However, we calculated things if Elliot had not made that last turn charge and the skaven would have won by 878 to 874. There was no way for him to know how close things were and if he had made the charge and taken out my general and that extremely costly unit the outcome would have been much different.

 

  Overall a good game with little or no special rules. The game really pivoted on a few critical break tests and some good and bad tactical decisions. At no time did either of us feel that we were facing the hopeless situation of so many GW games when run using current army lists. We are going to try it again sometime and perhaps this winter my old campaign might see light again.

 









Instructions

 Here is a pic of the layout of the parts on the building kit for 28mm.  Think of this as more a suggestion than a rigid set of rules.

   I had a friend draw this up for me. I hope it helps things along. And answers any questions.

  Otherwise, things are going along as usual. The Novakon got a little FUBAR  ( that is "Fouled Up Beyond All Repair" for you civilians out there. Fouled is sometimes replaced with a stronger word in extreme situations if no ladies are present) and the setback left me watching Netflix for a bit. BBC makes some pretty good television it turns out, if you have the time to watch 30 episodes back to back.  It strangley began working just as inexplicably as it stopped.  I have to find an exorcist someday.
  Things are a bit quieter than usual because new methods are being tinkered with in addition to making a pile of widgets. More on that if it works, quietly forgotten if it goes the more likely path. 
   No matter the result, will keep posting the good, the bad, and the ugly. 
  

More how to info

    I saw a mention on The Miniatures Page about the whole process of making things. It has been one of my goals to sort of pull back the curtain on the process and let folks see what goes on. So here is another post of semi-factual knowledge.  I think it is factual but it could be wrong.

  This book is a good starting point to learn the basics.

"Cutting costs in short-run plastics injection molding"

  I tried to add an Amazon link but they claim it is out of print. Try contacting the producer directly;

http://www.morganindustriesinc.com/plastic-molding-guide.htm

  Really helpful and explodes a lot of myths about the process.
  I worked at Harley Davidson Motor Company for 19 years. (until the evil one came and darkness fell across the land. Might be why I am so opposed to greed. )  It was supposed to be a major company, but if you got right down to it most of the time we were flying by the seat of our pants. It always amazed me that anything ever got done. The slap dash manner of making things was hidden behind a veneer of chrome and leather. I could tell you stories.......

  The shop has become a nice refuge from the normal work environment. It has all the things the big factories have. A warehouse space;

Mold storage;

And machines;

   This last machine keeps you on your toes. I have spoken before about its seemingly sentient manner and ability to malfunction at just the wrong time. Lately it has been doing better. It has an auto oiling system that REALLY takes its job seriously. So seriously that it seems determined to lubricate everything in its path. If you get a base with a bit of oil on it this is the reason why. It is hard to find equipment this dedicated.
  The fastest I ever tried to run it was an amazing 14.7 seconds per sprue. This caused a bit of stress and it kept blowing the breaker. It has several cycles: cooling time, open time, close time, injection time. If you overlap the cycles and 2 timers are triggered at one time, sparks fly out of the bottom and it shuts down. A more reliable time is about 30 seconds per sprue.

  Currently on the to do list is a couple more widgets for some folks. This means the girls got bumped again. There is a logic to this. Widgets allow me to eat food and spend money on things like this GTO slot car I just built.

  Making odd plastic bits that I want to put on my table is more of a hobbythan a business. You need some smart people analyzing the market and figuring out what to make if you expect to break even..

  This building, which I really like, has not proven too popular. In spite of repeated requests to make 28mm stuff I have to say the demand is a bit underwhelming. So underwhelming, I have completely scrapped plans to make a 28mm tank.

So there is a bit of insight into making your own plastic shop.

  To sum up;

 1. Keep the machine spirit happy.
 2. Find someone smart to tell you what needs made.
 3. Buy a book to get started.
 4. Have a back up plan.

  And have fun.


 Back in the shop there is one more thing that I have been reluctant to address.

    About the time my beloved ducklings vanished I was thinking maybe they just flew away. Not sure why when I gave them plenty of food. Then I spotted 2 red foxes right out back scrounging around. It all made sense then.  These loathsome creatures murdered my ducks.  It is hard not to want to kill them.  These foxes are unaware of advances made in the area of firearms over the past hundred years.  Your average American can single handedly throw more lead than the entire 20th Maine regiment at Round Top.  While this could be curtailed by new legislation, at the current time it is not a good idea to randomly eat ducks if you are a fox. And an even worse idea when your skin has a monetary value. Although I guess numerous holes could lessen the price.  Have not seen them in weeks so maybe they left the area.

  In any event,  have a good week.  Spring time is on the way.   :)




 

The problem with blow up objects

 

OK, more nonsense from the asylum.

 

 It has become some what a of a windmill for sure, but I am going to try another organic. The issue with "plumpness" Has been somewhat resolved. If he were alive Frazetta would take one look at this girl's butt and say it was overdone. And if that gun were real it would weigh more than a Mopar 4 speed. And I mean the old ones that even a hemi could not break.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And that creates a bit of a physics problem. Namely 2 objects can not occupy the same space. I was playing around with a rifle and it sorts of tucks in the pit of your arm and is somewhat hidden.  This would not be possible if I was made of plastic and the gun was 5 times larger. So it is going to be tough to make something plausible. It could simply be explained that it is sci-fi. But it would be nice if it was slightly convincing.

  That leaves me with a few options.

1. Mold the gun INTO the arms and torso, losing the multi pose.
2. Keep it multi pose and just have an awkard stance constantly.
3. Make everyone standing around like this.

It seems there are a lot of compromises along the way.

Will keep you posted, but some sort of big ass female with a big ass gun is going to fall out of that press in a couple of weeks. Not sure if it will be a pile of crap or not.

Keeping my fingers crossed on this one.