Thankful for a Day of Giving Thanks

     Over the past few decades, I've built a practice of incorporating gratitude for all things in my life. It's not easy sometimes remembering that even that guy who cut me off in traffic has some small part to play in shaping my world or that even the unpleasant stuff has its lessons to impart. I must admit that I'm not 100% diligent and sometimes I'm just grateful for the chance to exercise my expressions of profanity. What can I say? I'm a work in progress.

     On the surface it would seem that another day of giving thanks is redundant. But on Thanksgiving day here in America I am truly grateful for a day of giving thanks. It's a day where the folks around me are a constant reminder that I am one lucky guy and blessed beyond any imaginable degree that I deserve. Today I am especially grateful for the chance to stay at home to relax and do the things for which I am truly thankful.

     I got to sleep late, make brunch and mimosas for the girls, do some housework, work on some 3d models, fill an order for a customer, spend time cooking, talking and watching TV with my wife and have my favorite non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Some of these things may not seem worthy of gratitude. But then I think of the alternative... not being able to do them.

     So... here's my simple prayer to share with you all. "Thank you for all things." Try it out when the good stuff happens, but I find it especially useful when things are tough.
 

The non-traditional dish

Martians Artillery Requisitioned

     I've had the chance to get back to some 3D modeling lately. I'm trying to do about 5-10 hours a week to keep my skills fresh. It seems to be working.

     This week's project was to return to the Space: 1889 line. I've had to back burner most of the Highlander Studios projects for a long while, but things are starting to fall into place again. The models this week are for Martian artillery pieces. They've been designed for Aero/ Naval platforms first. Later I'll add some field carriages.

Rogue

      I've been using a combination of Space: 1889 sources for the modeling; Cloudships and Gunboats, Cloudships and Gunboats Deckplans and Space: 1889. I've had to extrapolate a few general shapes and simplify the design for mold making.

Sweeper

     The rogue and the heavy gun will be on a separate carriage. for two reasons. First, it's easier to make the molds that way. Second, it allows me to exchange the carriages for the field mounts for later packs.

Lob Gun

     I placed all of the guns in one master file. That's why you'll see the previous models in some of the pictures. From the master file I selected each individual part and saved it as a stereolithography (.stl) file for later scaling and preparation for printing.

Heavy Gun

     The heavy gun is basically a rescaled rogue with an extra bump at the breech.

Rod Gun

     The rod gun and sweeper are modeled as one piece with the pintle. I've cut the pintle at the point where the bottom flare ends. The rod would take up a lot of space in both the printing try and the mold. It might also have caused some casting issues in the long run.

Light Gun

     The light gun is made to be mounted on the gunwale. The reference picture shows it roped in place by the pins sticking out of the lower bar. You can also see that learning has occurred here. I finally discovered the limit renderability button that will remove the other cannons from the scene.

     While rescaling these I was surprised to see how big they actually were in comparison to a figure. But using the 25mm deck plans and cardboard figures as a guide, they seem to be correct. Well as correct as an imainary VSF piece of equipment can be. We'll see how it all turns out when I have the actual models to compare.

     Oh, almost forgot. The final product will be scaled for my 15mm line. Sorry 25mm and 28mm enthusiasts. I don't have a license for those sizes.

First Crowdfunding Finished

     I'm happy to say that my first crowd funding experience with Ed at Two Hour Wargames was a success and all orders were shipped by the projected date at the end of October. It's a relief to have that first experience completed. It's also exciting because I can now offer the figures for sale on the website.

     Here are the new packs available as of today.

GID-02     Zombie Apocalypse Survivors     $6

GID-04     Zombified Survivors     $6

GID-05     Zombie Rednecks     $6

VIC-01     Ape Man Set     $5

     Yeah I know, these aren't zombies or survivors. They're just new additions to the website.

     I also have the Urban Fantasy Set coming for Fall In.

GID-03     Urban Fantasy Set     $6

     I'll have these available at the show and on the website after my return.  You can find the Zombies at the Gideon's Dust page.

Gideon's Dust minaitures

     And the Ape Man at the Victoria! page.

Victoria! miniatures

     Look for more additions around mid December.

Just What the Plague Doctor Ordered

     The past four to five weeks has seen some significant changes around the Campbell household. I've been struggling a little bit while I attempt to adjust to the new schedule of physical activity and tracking food for myself, appointments and physical therapy sessions for my sister-in-law and taking care of extra duties around the house so my wife can actually get some rest after twelve to fourteen hour work days. So when we were invited to a Halloween party/ wedding reception on the first weekend of November, my initial reaction was less than enthusiastic.

     I'm not one who really likes to dress up for Halloween or other costume occasions. It's not that I don't enjoy the idea of it, it's just that I usually have trouble coming up with a costume idea that I both like and that will work with my chunky build and often limited finances. I put things on the back burner to simmer while I dealt with the chaos of life around me. On Sunday I realized there were just six days to go. Luckily an idea had been taking shape... the plague doctor.

     But I didn't have a hood, hat or robe. Some modifications to the theme were needed. Inspired by the following masks, I decided to update the 16th century guy to somewhere roughly around the turn of the 19th century.

     Now if only I had some leather, leather working tools and the skills to use them. No joy there. What I did have around the house was some poster board from a starship deck plan project, some brown paper and cardboard from our recycling box, and a whole new slew of ideas to try using a modified paper mache technique.

     My overcoat would be substituted for the robe. A scarf and mask would take the place of the hood. I recently purchased welding gloves and wing tip boots that I could wear. I only needed to make the mask and the hat. I won't talk at length about the construction, but here are some progress shots as the pieces came together with a few notes on materials.

     I started with a poster board mask. Patterning is a bitch for me so it was a lot of estimate and fit it later.

     Here the mask is being covered with a brown paper and polyurethane mache. These were the materials on hand which became a happy accident. The final material is waterproof, tough and flexible.

     The hat is constructed from corrugated cardboard with poster board over card board strips for the sides.

   The mask now has details added in cereal box card board. And the holes for the rivets are drilled.

     It was spray painted white with a walnut stain rubbed on it. The beak has been stitched and the metal work painted.

     A strap made from a belt was added and the rivets were placed. These are 1/2" brass fasteners.

     About the same time I finished the hat with a paper mache covering, hat band from cereal box, and stitching all around.

     The final mask details were made from electrical fittings; some kind of insulated plastic bushing.

     The hat was spray painted orange brown with the same walnut stain rubbed onto it. It came out a rich, non-uniform red brown. Very close to what I had envisioned and very little effort.

     Some pics of it together:

     Total out of pocket expenses for the hat and mask came to $11. Time involved was about twelve hours. Well worth it though. I can honestly say this project was a real sanity saver. It gave me a creative outlet that was a departure from my daily fare. It was calming, centering and energizing at the same time. Just what the plague doctor ordered.

      Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.