A Star Wars Amphibious Landing

These fabulous creations are featured in Star Wars III, Revenge of the Sith.

Enjoy the Magic of Christmas in 2023

Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you.

Captain Lorq Van Ray Makes an Ill-Advised Trip

"Captain Lorq Van Ray's passion for vengenece drove him to attempt what no mortal as ever dared - to sail through the splintered core of a disintegrating sun.

Into Van Ray's obsession were drawn the aimless-wandering souls who would plug into a ship that offered adventure and escape:

• Mouse - the young gypsy who created blindingly beautiful visions on the syrjnx, an instrument of sensory projection,
• Idas and Lynceos - the twins from the outer colonies, one black and one albino,
• Sebastian - the golden - haired man and his Tarot reading mate TYY, who traveled the stars with their six black-taloned beasts,
• Katin - the scholor who preferred the quite moons of the universe to all the peaceful suns and planents..."

Nova, Samuel R. Delany, 1968

Robot Bits - building components

I am in process of building a few components for my future robots. I have decided to switch from a small sanding drum to one of the diamond coated routery tools that came with my dremil tool. The tool (I am sorry that I did not take a picture of the tool) gives me more control over the removal of unwanted plastic. Off to the left, a couple of other sets of legs and feet wait to be assembled.

Low Tech Drones

This is another purchase from Head Bunny Games, their 28mm Low Tech Drones, which are big on details.. It looks like I have some things to assemble and paint.

Cyberpunk Documentary, part 3

Cyberpunk Documentary, part 2

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How William Gibson’s Cyberpunk Radically Changed Science Fiction

The Cyberpunk Project: William Gibson

Cyberpunk Documentary, part 1

Cyberpunk may be new to some of you, but while away at university I cut my teeth on the cyberpunk genre and literature while reading William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy. These texts changed the way I looked at the world. We are not there yet, however it seems that we are moving in the direction.

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Edited on 1.1.2024 @ 11:34 PM.. Added additional comments.

Burning Chrome Audio

To here Gibson's Burning Chrome being read is to understand Gibson's genius.

Burning Chrome - The Matrix

"The core data began to emerge, exposed and vulnerable... This is the far side of ice ¹, the view of the matrix ² I've never seen before, the view that fifteen million legitimate console operators see daily and take for granted."

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¹ "ICE: Intrusion CounterMeasures Electroncs"

² "The matrix is an abstract representation of the relationship between data systems."

Burning Chrome, Burning Chrome, William Gibson, 1986

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• Quotes from Burning Chrome,
• Literature in a Wired World Wiki: Burning Chrome

Edited on 12.16.23, added link to Burning Chrome Quotes AND etc. @ 10:45 AM.

Robot Vermin

Set of 5 UNPAINTED 28 or 32mm Sci-Fi robot vermin can be found at HeadBunny Games. HeadBunny Games is offering a 10% dicount when making a purchase from their website. Use the following discount code: " winter23 ". "Can be used as vermin, drones or swarms of technological pests."

Were the vermin come from and whether they are being created by humans or an AI? "No-one knows." In a post-apocalyptic world they fit in to the scenery. They seem to provide one or two services, one is surveillance and the other is sharing to resources with memebers of of their order. They mainly obtain energy from sunlight and from the air. THey also can share energy through a Bluetooth like apparatus. These robots are made from the readly available junk that perminates their environments around ruined industrial areas. They are self aware and are able to protect themselves if needed.

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Updated on 12/13/23 @ 12:50 pm. Added label and edited second paragraph: background story.

Robot Greeble

Greebles come in many forms.

Parts for homemade robots are ready available if you know where to look. Legs from the handle of a razor blade cut in half, heads from caps and torsos from small toys and plastic tubes and parts.

Robot Bits

As I have mentioned before, the author of this mechanical being sent me extra parts, that is, robot bits for me to experiment with.

Never mind the robots arms and my amature rendering. I will be using this drawing as a guide, not a blueprint for my next kit-bashed robot. I will use two arms from the spares, including one with the ray gun, The rest of the robot components will be scratch built from left-over bits of plastics.

Realistic 40k Terrain - Ruined Factory Tutorial

Nicely done. And this from card board and other bits.

British Spitfire

This image depicts a British Spitfire as it flys over the beaches of Dunkirk. Screenshot from the movie Dunkirk.

The Flesh Fair

Flesh Fair, screenshot from AI

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See my earlier mention of the Flesh Fair.

Another Go at a Multipaned Windows

The plan is to scribe the desired dimensions on the glazing material, leaving enough material around the edges to adhere to the inside of the building and use prepainted strips to create window panes by glueing them carfully to the scribe marks. Thanks for suggestions, my friends

My Collection of Pinterest Robots

Screenshot from AI a film directed by Steven Spielberg. This one was one of the more odd robots featured in AI. He was propelled by four spider-like legs.

This one like others were shot from a cannon, while others were dowsed with acid as the Flesh Fair crowd watched and cheered as they melted away.

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My Pinterest Collection of Robots

Creating A Miniature Knapsack

THe knapsack was one of the accessories that was included with the Robot kit I recently assembled. I thought this casting is bit too small for my taste so I decided to try to build one from scratch.

I will continue to carve the chunk of polystyrene until I am satisfied with its contours, tool out I bit of the underside so it fits snuggly on the receptor on the back of the Robot, and add a couple of flaps and straps to the knapsack.

I figureed if the robot is out on patrol with the rest, why not have him carry some of the gear for the rest of the company.

The completed knapsack with a few materials lashed to the sides for an upcoming expedition.

Some of the Lovely Things you can Create from Plastic

See some of the many things you can do with plastic.Polystyrene is versatile, is easy to work with, and is an economical medium.

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Beginners Guild to Working with Polystyrene.

Miniature Robot Kit

Ladomér the Robot stands approximately 40mm tall. I found him at BiteSizedBattles on Etsy.

I used my Artistic license when building my copy of Ladomér, which is still in process. I am am putting finishing touches on a scratch built rutsack I have fashioned and of course the specimen will need some paint.

The way I interpeted the build was, the back side allowed the placement for one of the included accessories.

Perhaps the author was being nice for in addition to the accessories, like a small rutsack, a jetpack, a arm with a space gun, and treaded wheels there were extra arms and legs. These parts will go in my kit-bash box and are much appreciated. They will come in handy for future projects.

The Robot Follies In Three Acts

A set of robot renderings from Bings Image Creator powered by DALL·E 3. I have labeled these as the Robot Follies.

Act 1:The mechanical troop is just getting warmed up.

Act 2: The Robotic Weismann Girls

Act 3: You wanted to talk about diversity?

My Second Attempt at Creating a Multi-paned Window

My first attempt went down in flames. With only about 1mm tolarence my window fell apart once I started to cut the interior portion of the window from the cardstock.

This is my second attempt at a multi-pane window and I am not all that satisfied with the results. Creating windows in HO scale is a tedious process.

Most of the card will be used to adhere the window to the structure and only 1 - 1.5 mm of the remaining window casing will be viewable from the outside. Due to their quality I will pass them on as windows in disrepair and try again.

Another Set of HO Scale Miniatures

The Gang of Six. I am in process of painting these little jewels. I am having another go at them. These are from Rusty Rails miniaturers. If the truth be known I have been working on these six figures for years; always off to something new.

Scratch Build a Small Passenger Station from Matboard and Embossed Card

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As I have built a few small HO scale buildings of my own I can attest just how easy the whole process is. The author here uses matboard, embossed card, and a few plastic castings for the windows and door to create this lovely little passenger station, proving once a gain, just how easy the process can be.

“Mobilis in Mobile” - Voyage to the Deep

Voyage to the Deep is a new exhibit at the Reading Public Museum by Flying Fish Exhibits. The Voyage to the Deep exhibit is a take on Jules Vern's Twenty Thousand Legues Under the Sea and the Nautilus submarine.

“With its untold depths, couldn't the sea keep alive such huge specimens of life from another age, this sea that never changes while the land masses undergo almost continuous alteration? Couldn't the heart of the ocean hide the last–remaining varieties of these titanic species, for whom years are centuries and centuries millennia?”

Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Another Steam Locomotive Rolls Through Town

She sure is a beautiful. This steam engine is heading south to collect its passengers for their excursion north.

Raw and Found Materials

I don't know how I missed this post and so it is a little out of sequence. The materials illustrated here are those used in the creation of subassemblies for the cleaner bot.

The material on the left is a small slab of polystyrene out of which the solvent sprayer was carved and the black object on the right was used in part for rails in which the scruber assembly will be attached.

Adam Savage Makes an Old Book From Scratch

Adam Savage is at it again. In this episoid Adam gets into bookbinding and creates an old book.

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More Book Binding Resources

Science Fiction Super Six-pack

M 33 Andromeda is the title of one of the stories within this volume and also the title of this book, by A. E. Van Vogt. As you will notice most of these stories were written sometime ago, making Van Vogt one the was one of the "most popular and influential practitioners of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century". This collection of Van Vogt short stories was copyrighted in April 1971 and published by Paperback Library, New York.

Siege of the Unseen

“For Slade, that shocking third eye was his entry into a strange dimension of terror and adventure that would wrap itself around him forever!”

Siege of the Unseen was originally published as The Chronicler in Astounding Science Fiction, © 1946.

Discord in Scarlet

“It was utterly unkillable, frightfully armed and armored – and ready to rule a new universe as it had ruled the old!”

Discord in Scarlet was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, © 1939.

M 33 Andromeda

“From a tiny puff on invisible mist it had grown to fill a galaxy...and the death of others was its life.”

M 33 Andromeda was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, © 1943.

The Expendables

“To the fifth-generation colonists aboard the Hope of Man, the alien invader was less dangerous than their private power struggles.”

The Expendables was originally published in If Magazine, © 1963.

Heir Unapparent

“For 50 years Arthur Clagg had been emperor of earth. Now he had a revelation on his hands. A four-day poison in his veins – and a successor who might be the poisoner!”

Heir Unapparent was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, © 1945.

The Weapon Shop

“From the moment the shop appeared. It had been Fara Clark’s enemy… Until is sold him the gun that he needed to kill himself.”

The Weapon Shop was originally published in Astounding Science Fiction, © 1943.

Creatures from H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands

Ghasts

"That a mortal dreamer could traverse their cavern realm and leave by that door is inconceivable; for mortal dreamers were their former food, and they have legends of the toothsomeness of such dreamers even though banishment has restricted their diet to the ghasts, those repulsive beings which die in the light, and which live in the vaults of Zin and leap on long hind legs like kangaroos."

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, H. P. Lovecraft

"Ghasts are humanoid creatures with hoofed feet and kangaroo-like legs and nose-less faces".

The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia, Daniel Harms

Boo - Happy Hollowean

I primed this miniature sometime ago and then missplaced it. I found the piece and stuck in my painting draw. Recently, I was looking for something inwhich to make a post. This disembodied spirit is from Reaper Miniatures, a ghost.

Creatures from H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands

Moon-Beasts

"There, around a hideous fire fed by the obnoxious stems of lunar fungi, there squatted a stinking circle of the toad-like moon-beasts and their almost-human slaves. Some of these slaves were heating curious iron spears in the leaping flames, and at intervals applying their white-hot points to three tightly trussed prisoners that lay writhing before the leaders of the party. From the motions of their tentacles Carter could see that the blunt-snouted moon-beasts were enjoying the spectacle hugely, and vast was his horror when he suddenly recognised the frantic meeping and knew that the tortured ghouls were none other than the faithful trio which had guided him safely from the abyss and had thereafter set out from the enchanted wood to find Sarkomand and the gate to their native deeps."

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, H. P. Lovecraft

Moon-beasts are "pale, squat, toadlike creatures, superhumanly strong and noxious-smelling. Moon-beasts, have no eyes, but use the mass of pink tentacles at the end of their snout to sense their surroundings."

The H. P. Lovecraft Wiki

Creatures from H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands

Shantaks

"Other views shewed the gaunt grey peaks dividing Leng from Inganok, and the monstrous shantak-birds ¹ that build nests on the ledges half way up. And they shewed likewise the curious caves near the very topmost pinnacles, and how even the boldest of the shantaks fly screaming away from them."

Fourth and fifth mention of the creature "Shantaks" in Lovecraft's "The Dream-Quest of the Unknown Kodath.

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¹ Shantaks are creatures that resemble large scaled birds with heads of horses . Shantaks live in the moutains near to the Plateau of Leng, in Dreamlands.

The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia

Full Text of The Dream-Quest of the Unknown Kodath, H.P. Lovecraft

Creatures from H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands

Zoogs

“In the tunnels of that twisted wood, whose low prodigious oaks twine groping boughs and shine dim with the phosphorescence of strange fungi, dwell the furtive and secretive zoogs¹.„

~ H. P. Lovecraft , The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath

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¹Zoogs are a race of sentient forest-dwelling creatures that inhabit the Dreamlands of Earth. They are rodent like creatures about the size of a cat and have short tentical like appendages around their mouths and nose. Zoogs have a taste for flesh and may attack a human who wonders into the wood at night. They are mortal enemies of cats, as they prey upon their kittens, for they consider them a delicacy, and are preyed upon in return by adult cats.

Adam Savage Makes a Lock From Scratch!

Adams finds a box and starts to modify his find with more fitting hardware. In the process we get to see a little of his cave.

Adam is still working on his box. In the video he sheaths the interior with copper sheathing and by using reverse engineering Adam creates a homemade lock. Truly astounding!

Human Augmented Mech Units in Mass

Mech Units in Mass

Screensnip is from Avatar 2. The miserable bastards have returned to work havoc to Pandora.

Cleaner bot sub-assemblies; part 4

In my last installment I had chosen materials for the sprayer and rails for the scourer unit and had removed some unneeded material from the black plastic piece.

Here I have cut the piece in two and have sanded off some unwanted bits off the piece. These two strips will be fashioned into the rails that will be attached on either side of the superstructure.

I used the dremel tool to remove material from the slab of styrene, have drilled holes for the sprayer, and have started to contour the unit into a desirable shape.

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Cleaner Bot Series (mostly)

Cleaner Bot Sub-assemblies; part 3

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The black recycled plastic part to be used for left and right rails for scourer component. I don't have any idea as to its original use and I have already removed unneeded parts from the unit.

The piece of white styrene will be the basis for the sprayer unit. It will be shaped and drilled and adventually added to the cleaner bots superstructure. At first I thought of addinng this component as part of the scourer unit.

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Cleaner Bot Series (mostly)

Bakugan Figures Blind Bags

This lovely character goes by the name of Dragonnoid. My copy is moulded and painted in some garish colors

He stands approximately 60mm tall from its feet to the top of his head. I didn't measure to the tips of his wings. Why? I just didn't. If I had, that would add another 40mm to its height.

These are static miniatures. They are made from a soft, but sturdy type of plastic, which when opening the bag gave off a strong order sort of like dry cleaning fuild.

If the bags illustration is any indication as to the number of different types being offered in this offering, then there are three others available, namely:Trox, Hydorous and Nillious. There is always a chance I obtain another just like the one I have, should I try to pick another one?

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Cleaner Bot Sub-assemblies, Part 2

The scourer unit has been completed. The scourer material, the purple material, as yet to be trimed and adhered to the scourer unit assembly.

The scourer unit was fashioned from a piece of piping of unknown origin, disks were cut from styrene and I used small strips of styrene to hold everything together.

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Cleaner Bot Series (mostly)

Recycling Ideas for Model Sprues

Although I don't build too many plastic kits, thus I do not enough sprue to do much of anything with,Recycling Ideas for Old Sprues from Warhammer and Model Kits does offer several ideas on how they may be used.

Scratch-Building & Painting - The Fine Scale Honker Skiff

Building a small scale boat is on my bucke list. I was facinated watching the author scratch build this skiff. Starting with something small and simple might be a better place for me to start.

AI Generated Gaslands Vehicles

I recently discovered Microsoft Image Creator and wow! Type a few words into its interface, wait a few seconds and be prepared to be astounded. Image Creator which uses AI will create four images for you.

Big wheels and gun and we are ready for some fun on the Gaslands.

Looks like we have a convoy. We are locked and loaded and ready for action.

Are they rockets or something more exotic?

It looks like we have a flame thrower in our arsenal. You never know when you might need one of these.

This is one very exotic system here. I have been inspired, not just by these images, but also by the images of other subjects, some of which I might try to build.

The Alien Chronicles

Searching through my notes on these occurrences I found that I made two more sightings of alien species some time ago and never documented either specie.

Atheleni

“The Atheleni in Natures lottery had been luckier than most – and yet had missed one of the greatest prizes of all. They had powerful bodies and powerful minds, and they lived in a world which was both temperate and fertile. By human standards, they would have seemed strange but no means repulsive. Their sleek fur covered bodies tapered to a single giant rear limb that could send them leaping over the ground in thirty-foot bounds. The two forelimbs were much smaller and served merely for support and steadying. They ended in pointed hoofs that could be deadly in combat, but had no other useful purpose.”

Philens

"The Philen were little creatures, scarcely half the height of the Atheleni and did not hop, they rather walked upon two jointed limbs that seemed very thin and feeble. Fro the other appendages they processed multiple tentacles that they seemed to use very ambidextrousnessley. Its large spherical head was dominated by three huge eyes, set far apart and were capable of independent movement."

Second Dawn, Expedition to Earth, Arthur C. Clarke

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I envisioned the Atheleni as being more like a rabbit than a horse.

Cleaner Bot Sub-assemblies, Part 1

Frame for autonomous unit with partially built scourer unit.

Here it is 12:02 am. I had to hoped to get this posted before the end of the month. I am having fun creating these parts. I didn't get the hole centered on several of disks perfectly, but this will be hidden by the subsequent componets of this unit.

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Cleaner Bot Series (mostly)

Proxie Models Ruined Building Assembled and Painted

It is nice to have something to post, even when I had hoped to have gotten further with my cleaner bot and although I did cut several strips for my windows, I never got to build one. Perhaps next month I will having something to post on these projects.

View 1, Proxie Models, painted and weathered. They are marketed as 15 to 20mm Ruined Buildings.

View 2, Proxie Model Ruined Building. They were very easy to build and I had fun painting and weathering them. They will make great scenery pieces.