Most Valuable Hot Wheels Cars of All Time

Car and Driver has a page featuring twenty of the most valuable Hot Wheel cars of all time. Do you own any of them?

Another Post from Miscast Terrain

Here is another interesting post from Miscast Terrain, where the authors produces several types of war-gaming wall sections and how to take care of problems as they arise. Make sure you download the templates from the provided link.

Miniature Movie Sets By Dan Ohlman

I am always looking for inspiration; here is another site featuring miniature environments or sets that show cinematography before CGI.

SCIFI Inquisitor Trilogy

I found this page at the legion of plastic site depicting the authors third installment of what he calls the Inquisitor Trilogy. The page depicts some truly wonderful images of a science fiction war-game in progress. The scenery is full of a array of industrial colors of rust and neglect. You must see it to truly appreciate it.

Tales of Lost Isles

“The Ghost Archipelago, a vast island chain that is covered with ruins of ancient and other worldly civilizations, has reappeared after centuries, to the far reaches of the Southern Ocean.”

Tales of Lost Isles is a collection of short stories giving one several scenarios and ideas to use with the Tales of Lost Isles war game.

Curiosities of Locomotive Design

Puffing Billy image as found here in the public domain.

Curiosities of Locomotive Design was republished by the Catskill Archive and features several fanciful locomotive designs that lead up to "present day" steam locomotive design. This is an interesting treatise was taken from Angus Sinclair's "Development of the Locomotive Engine, Railway and Locomotive Engineering—September-December, 1907

Narrow Gauge Burma Mines Railway (Myanmar)

Burma Mines Railway, Railtruck to Namtu

Japanese Hino truck converted to run on a two foot line

Burma Mines Railway, steam train from Namtu to Lopah, Myanmar (2 foot line)

No 42, a 2-6-2, Bagnall, built in 1928, hauls a FarRail charter train from Namtu to Lopah.

A HO Model Train Layout with Animated Details

I wouldn't say that this layout has thousands of details, but it does have more than few mechanical details and a lot of interior lighting and detail. There are, what sounds to me like German ambience sounds that helps with the overall effect the video clip.

Hot Wheels Snowspeeder AKA T-47 Airspeeder

"Are the speeders ready?"
"Not yet. We're having some trouble adapting them to the cold."
―Han Solo and the Deck officer

The T-47 was manufactured by the Incom Corporation, and were modified by the Rebel Alliance forces on Hoth. The T-47 was adapted for Hoth’s extreme cold temperatures. The modified speeders were renamed Snowspeeders by the rebel forces and seated two crew members.

The idea here was to give you a before and after shot of this Hot Wheels vehicle, however the shot I took before my enhancements and weathering did not turn out all that well.

Game of Thrones White Walkers

White Walker Chief, Game of Thrones

"In that darkness the White Walkers came for the first time. They swept through cities and kingdoms, riding their dead horses, hunting with their packs of pale spiders big as hounds."

Old Nan

I had hoped to get this posted last month as one of my horror posts. Although I still have a few posts remaining for this year, I am rethinking my purpose for this blog. Don't seem to get the same feeling of accomplishment as I once did.

Model Railroading Directories

Since the modelroading season is quickly approaching I thought I might offer my model railroad enthusiasts some model railroading resources. I just came across to extensive directory's that feature links to model railroading sites

• The All Gauge Page
The The All Gauge Page homepage features an extensive list of links on multiple model railroad gauges and topics.

• NationaL Model Railroading Association Manufactures Index
The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) offers an extensive three page index of model railroad suppliers.

A Miniaturists Take on Decay

A House on a slope (Part 35)

Although this page explains how to age boards for your miniature projects, you really to spend some time on this site, there is simply so much inspiring work here.

What makes this site so unique are the many different techniques he presents to make his creations look dilapidated and in likely stages of decay.

Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland

Disney at its best. This fifteen minute video features a few of the more memorial scenes from the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland exhibit.

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The creator of a condensed Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland On30 model railroad has been making posts about the progress he has made his model railroad since January 2014. Although his model railroad is "complete" he still maintains his layout and will be making posts when he makes any substantial changes. To get a feel of the process please start on the bottom of his archives and work your way up to the present.

Two 25mm Reaper Zombies

These 25mm Reaper Dark Heaven Legends (#03604) are cast from metal. The two miniatures represent a Billy and Earnest will be added to my ever growing collection zombie characters.

The Barman Continues

“Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green,
There hath he lain for age and will lie.
Battening upon huge sea worms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by men and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise.”

A line from Lord Tennyson’s The Kraken; Only the End of the World Again, Neil Gaiman. As found in Lovecraft’s Monsters, edited by Ellen Datlow.

The Barmen Speaks

“Below the thunders of the upper deep;
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepth…"

A line from Lord Tennyson’s The Kraken; Only the End of the World Again, Neil Gaiman. As found in Lovecraft’s Monsters, edited by Ellen Datlow.

Reaper Hordling Miniatures

As you can plainly see I haven’t opened the Reaper’s # 77335, Hordlings sprue package. Reaper’s Dark Haven Bones line and are cast from plastic. The hordling in the center reminds me Lovecraft’s Cthulhu character, albeit, a smaller version of this massive mystical creature. I don't know how tall these miniatures are exactly, but they look about an inch to a inch and half tall.

I have so many projects that I could be working on, however I find myself continuing to purchase more items that will have to be added to my projects list. If the truth be known I really don’t have an extensive projects list and typically forget about what I have purchased. The latest acquisition becomes the latest project and the new workbench is starting to become over crowed with half built or half-completed projects. It is all quite madding; just in time for the ghoulish season.

How To Scratch Build Your Own Model Railway Buildings

I have made a couple of attempts using embossed paper for structures, but I haven't been impressed with the results. How To Scratch Build Your Own Model Railway Buildings is a complete tutorial, that is from start to finish, on how to create a small track layers shack out of brick embossed paper. Using the techniques I learned here I might have have another go at it.

Wonderfest 2018

It might be a little dated, but here are a couple of videos of this years WonderFest convention from Finescale Modeler. 

Part 1

Part 2

Lovecraft’s Monsters #2

These are the monsters and personalities that are featured in Lovecraft’s Monsters. The link will transfer you to a page with pictures, quotes, and a description of each monsters and personality.

Azathoth
Great Cthulhu
Deep Ones
Elder Things
Ghouls
Hounds of Tindalos
The King in Yellow
Serpent People
Shoggothers
Shub-Niggurath

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11 Lovecraftian monsters that aren’t Cthulhu

Lunatique

Lunatique Screenshot: Looking out through a set of goggles.

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"Lunatique" is short Sci-Fi Short Film presented by DUST that depicts a post-apocalyptic world. The story-line is quite abrupt, as you might expect a depiction of a post-apocalyptic world to be. However, that being said the cinematography in this short clip more than makes up the difference.

Lovecraft’s Monsters

Lovecraft’s Monsters from Amazon

Lovecraft’s Monsters is compilation of eighteen stories by eighteen different authors. Following in H. P. Lovecraft’s footsteps and the Cthulhu Mythos genera the authors introduce the reader to ten of Lovecraft’s monsters.

The authors represented here in this anthology are:

Neil Gaiman
Laird Barron
Nadia Bulkin
Brain Hodge
Kim Newman
William Browning Spencer
Elizabeth Bear
Fred Chappell
Caitlin R. Kiernan
Thomas Ligotti
Gemma Files
Howard Waldrop & Steven Utley
Steve Rasnic Tem
Karl Edward Wagner
Joe R. Lansdale
Nick Mamatas
John Langan

The Tombs of the Thoroughgood’s

The worlds captains of crime were summoned to secret meeting. They met in the private tombs of the Thoroughgood’s. It was a Who’s Who of organized crime. Professor Moriarty had summoned them to discuss the changing times. The new era was quickly approaching where the public and law enforcement would no longer put up with such shenanigans. The world was becoming more respectable. This new era called for a new strategy. Business is business! The list of the distinguished guests is as follows:

• "Lord of Strange Deaths
• Daughter of the Dragon
• Grand Vampire or Paris and Mademoiselle Irna Vep…
• Doctor Nikola of Australia and Madame Sara of the Strand
• Miss Margaret Frelwany and the Hovton Creeper
• Doctor Mabuse of Berlin and Fraulein Alraune ten Brincken
• Arthur Raffles of the Albony and his, ah friend, Mr. Manders
• Theophraste Lupin and Josephine
• Countess Cagliostro…
• Doctor Jack Quartz of New York and Princess Zanoni…
• Rupert, count of Hentzau and Miss Irene Adler"

Professor Moriarty, The Hound of the D’ Urbervilles, Kim Newman

The Bulstrode Archive

“The Bulstrode Archive of Smut perhaps rivals the legendary section of the Vatican library at the personal disposal of the college of cardinals." Some of the texts that can be found Bulstrode’s Archive of Smut are:

• My Nine Nights in a Harem, Sebastian Moran
• The Secret Life of Wackford Squeers
• The Intimate Encounter of Fanny Hill and Moll Flanders

Professor Moriarty, The Hound of the D’ Urbervilles, Kim Newman

Allen's Disembodied Consciousness

"After this terrible things began to happen to me and I became aware that I was dying. A great wind seemed to catch me up and blow me to and fro, as a leaf is blown in the eddies of a winter gale. Enormous rushes of darkness flowed over me, to be succeeded by vivid bursts of brightness that dazzled like lightning. I fell off precipices and at the foot of them was caught by some fearful strength and tossed to the very skies.

From those skies I was hurled down again into a kind of whirlpool of inky night, round which I spun perpetually, as it seemed for hours and hours. But worst of all was the awful loneliness from which I suffered. It seemed to me as though there were no other living thing in all the Universe and never had been and never would be any other living thing. I felt as though I were the Universe rushing solitary through space for ages upon ages in a frantic search for fellowship, and finding none.

Then something seemed to grip my throat and I knew that I had died—for the world floated away from beneath me.

Now fear and every mortal sensation left me, to be replaced by a new and spiritual terror. I, or rather my disembodied consciousness, seemed to come up for judgment, and the horror of it was that I appeared to be my own judge. There, a very embodiment of cold justice, my Spirit, grown luminous, sat upon a throne and to it, with dread and merciless particularity I set out all my misdeeds. It was as if some part of me remained mortal, for I could see my two eyes, my mouth and my hands, but nothing else—and strange enough they looked. From the eyes came tears, from the mouth flowed words and the hands were joined, as though in prayer to that throned and adamant Spirit which was ME.

It was as though this Spirit were asking how my body had served its purposes and advanced its mighty ends, and in reply—oh! what a miserable tale I had to tell. Fault upon fault, weakness upon weakness, sin upon sin; never before did I understand how black was my record. I tried to relieve the picture with some incidents of attempted good, but that Spirit would not hearken. It seemed to say that it had gathered up the good and knew it all. It was of the evil that it would learn, not of the good that had bettered it, but of the evil by which it had been harmed."

Chapter XXI, The Lesson, She And Allen, H. Rider Haggard

20, 30’s Sedan in 1/86

This metal kit is 20, 30’s sedan of some sort. This scale model was created by Auto Replicas, which at one time manufactured automotive models in a various scales.The kit include the chassis, body, seats (both front and back), steering wheel, front bumper, four wheel, stick shift, windows insert, and front lights.

A Host of Characters-Mad Carew

“There’s a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Kathmandu,
There’s a little marble cross below the town;
There’s a broken-hearted woman tends the grave of Mad Carew,
And the yellow god forever gazes down.”

Professor Moriarty, The Hound of the D’ Urbervilles, Kim Newman

Model Railroading Tips, Tricks & Techniques

I performed a random search on Model Railroading Tips & Tricks and found two useful pages of Tips and Tricks.

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• Structure Techniques
• Scenery Tips

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A Host of Characters-Major Humphrey Carew

Major Humphrey Carew…There’s a bloody awful poem about him:

He is known as ‘Mad Carew by the subs at Kathmandu,
He was hotter than they felt inclined to tell;
But for all his foolish pranks, he was worshipped in the ranks,
And the Colonel’s daughter smiled on him as well.

Professor Moriarty, The Hound of the D’ Urbervilles, Kim Newman

Inferences to the King in Yellow

‘Ambrose Bierce, created a fictional character, a god: Hastur; “Haite the Shepherd”, 1891. H. P. Lovecraft made an inference to Hastur and elements from Bierce’s story in his “The Whisper in the Darkness” and his poem “The Elder Pharos”. This character Hastur was further developed by August Derleth. Derleth depicts Hastur as one of the Great Old Ones.’

Jasper Stoke-A Host of Characters

Jasper Stoke, Trantridge, Wessex

“In a long life at gaming tables, in brothels, up mountains, and in the bush, I’ve gained valuable insights into human nature. Any one called ‘Jasper’ is an arrogant, untrustworthy scoundrel. Anyone called ‘Cedric’ is liable to be worse. And anyone called “Piers’ should be shot on sight. Don’t say you’ve never learned anything from my memoirs for these are "True Facts”

From the Memoirs of Colonel Sebastian Moran

Professor Moriarty, The Hound of the D’ Urbervilles, Kim Newman

Standard Codes of Engine Headlamps

Here is another curious list lifted from Farrington’s Railroading Around the World.

1. "Two lights or disks on pilot beam-express passenger train or breakdown van going to clear the line or light engine going to assist disabled train.
2. One light under the stack on smokebox-local passenger train, or stopping passenger train, as they call it.
3. One light on pilot beam and 1 light in center of smokebox on pilot beam-express goods; also authorized empty coaching stock.
4. One light or disk on smokebox under stack and 1 light on right side of pilot beam-express goods or empty coaching stock
5. One light in center of smokebox and 1 light in left side of pilot beam-express goods.
6. One light under stack, on smokehouse, and 1 light left side-class A goods. One light on smokebox under stack and 1 light in middle of smokebox and pilot beam-class B goods
7. One light on pilot beam right side-class C goods or ballast train. One light on left side on pilot beam-class D goods or local fright.
8. One single light on pilot beam in middle if smokebox-light engine or engine with not more than two breakdown attached."

Railroading Around the World, S. Kip Farrington, Jr., Castle Books, New York, 1955.

Marty's Matchbox Makeovers

The Marty's Matchbox Makeovers YouTube site features a small collection of "make-overs" of Matchbox vehicles. The author does not get into all the intricacies of restoration as baremetalHW, but he does prove what a little paint and TLC will do to bring back life to those played with hard Matchbox cars and trucks.

Making Small Scale Trees out of Cardboard Shards

I start by cutting thin shards of grey cardboard, the kind you might find in packaging. The thinner the better, but they don’t have to be too thin. Once you have several shards it is time to get a bottle of Elmer’s glue. Decide how tall you want the tree to be, I am making trees for N and HO gauge, so decide how many scale feet tall you want the tree to be.

I start with two shards of cardboard. I roll each of the strips between my fingers to round them out a bit. I then put them together and dip one end in some Elmer’s glue. I roll these together at the bottom to form the tree’s trunk, adding other strips at various lengths to create the tree’s limbs. Sometimes, for a more complex tree structure, I add these limbs to the center of the much.

Once you have the basic structure, it is time to add some leaf texture. I soak the whole tree in Matte Medium, (you could also use a diluted white glue, like Elmer’s), one to stiffen up the tree trunk and limbs and too supply some sort of adhesive for various textures and colors of ground foam and or poly fiber.

I am not trying to model any one species of a tree, except for the one evergreen tree. This was created by spearing bits of scotch bright pad on a round stained tooth pick. Foe the other trees, I just wanted to create set of random tree and used random colors and textures of ground foam.

Great Owls and other Fowl

“Not feeling inclined for slumber, however, instead of turning in Quatermain sat at the doorway contemplating the beauty of the night while I watched the countless fireflies that seemed to dust the air with sparks of burning gold; also the great owls and other fowl that haunt the dark. These had come out in numbers from their hiding-places among the ruins and sailed to and fro like white-winged spirits, now seen and now lost in the gloom.“

Chapter XXIII, What Umslopogaas Saw, She and Allen, H. Rider Haggard

Ingoldsby Legends, “The Nurse’s Story”

Then I (Allen) took a little book out of my pocket, it was my favourite copy of the Ingoldsby Legends—and began to read.

The passage which caught my eye, if “axe” be substituted for “knife” was not inappropriate. It was from “The Nurse’s Story,” and runs,

“But, oh! what a thing ‘tis to see and to know
That the bare knife is raised in the hand of the foe,
Without hope to repel or to ward off the blow!”

This proceeding of mine astonished them a good deal who felt that they had, so to speak, missed fire. At last the soldier in the middle said,

“Are you blind, White Man?”

“No, Black Fellow,” I answered, “but I am short-sighted. Would you be so good as to stand out of my light?” a remark which puzzled them so much that all three drew back a few paces.

When I had read a little further I came to the following lines,

“‘Tis plain,
As anatomists tell us, that never again,
Shall life revisit the foully slain
When once they’ve been cut through the jugular vein.”

Chapter II The Messengers, H. Rider Haggard

The Cardboard Republic’s Risk Variants and Solo Game Play

Judging from where this bookmark is located in my list of bookmarks I found this site some time ago. What I was originally searching for is any ones guess, however having found what looked like an interesting resource, and I saved the bookmark.

Although I just started to explore this site in earnest, I came upon two topics that are near-and-dear to me. They are the board game “Risk” and Solo board games.

Variant Risk

This page list three different variants of Risk; Vendetta or otherwise known as Assassin, or Paranoia. Vendetta takes two of revised versions missions and applies them to everyone. This variant is said to shorten a five player game down to two hours.

The second variant allows one to accumulate territory cards past the usual five card maximum. That is to say you can cash them in at a more appropriate time when the number of armies issued is at an all-time high.

The third and last Risk variant mentioned is One World Dominion, which includes a PDF for a print and play version of Risk. One World Dominion includes its own set of Territory cards, and its own set of rules and situations. This variant looks like a very interesting and might prove to be quite challenging to play.

One World Dominion, Territory Card

Solo Edition: The Appeal of Single Player Board Games

This page lists three board games that include either rules for or components for playing solo. The three listed board games that include solo versions are: Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm, Arkham Horror, and Ascension: Storm of Souls. Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm includes a miniature game board for solo play.

N-Gauge Water Tower

Here is another Ratio n-gauge product, their #230. The kit includes two polystyrene runners and one brass etching for the ladder. All parts are in 1.148 scale, which is slightly larger than the US 1.160 scale, but not by much.

A Comparison of English and American Railway Terms, 2

Compiled from Railroading Around the World, by S. Kip Farrington, Jr.

British	American
Down yard shunting	Switching tracks up or down to the yard
Up yard shunting	Switching tracks up or down to the yard
Down train	From the home terminal
Collieries	Coal mines
Train examiner	Car inspector
Line clear ticket	Ticket type of clearance cards
Pilot man	Individual who rides trains or locomotive without a staff or ticket n staff territory
Mail sorting van	Our P.O. car
Line side	Along the right-of-way
Mail pick-up standards	Mail cranes
Draw gear	Drawheads
Guard	Conductor
Brake  sticks	Break club
Express goods	Fast freight
Empty couch stock	Deadhead equipment
Reception line	Inbound yard track
Performing trains	Making up trains
Attaching vehicles	Picking up cars
Brake cars	Express cars
Ambulance boxes	First-aid kits
Crow	Peep of the engine steam whistle
Sleeper	Ties
Permanent way in-spector	Road-master
Fog signalman	A permanent wayman who Is picked as fog signalman and put at fogging posts where signal cannot be seen during fog or falling snow
Work rumpus	Work gang

A Comparison of English and American Railway Terms, 1

Compiled from Railroading Around the World, by S. Kip Farrington, Jr.

British	American
Signal box	Tower or signal station
Breakdown van	Wrecking trains
Break van	Caboose
Locomotive shed	Engine terminal
Locomotive shed master	Engine house foreman
Goods trains	Freight trains
Wagons	Freight cars
Vehicles	Passenger cars
Axles	Number of axles in the train
Bogies	Four-wheel trucks
Foot plate	Deck of locomotive
Driver	Engineman
Regulator	Throttle
Assistant locomotive	Helper
Banker	Pusher
Cross	Meet
Loop	Passing track
Level crossing	Highway crossing
Shunter	Yard or switch engine
Shunting	Switching
Marshall yard	Freight yard
Marshalling	Classifying
Engine road	Engine track to engine house
Coaling road	Coal track
Sorting siding	Classification tracks
Reception sidings	Receiving yards
Assembling sidings	Departure siding
Neck	Throat
Double incline	Hump

Hans, a Hottentot, and his Purdey

"In appearance Hans rather resembled an antique and dilapidated baboon; his face was wrinkled like a dried nut and his quick little eyes were bloodshot. I never knew what his age was, any more than he did himself, but the years had left him tough as whipcord and absolutely untiring. Lastly he was perhaps the best hand at following a spoor that ever I knew and up to a hundred and fifty yards or so, a very deadly shot with a rifle especially when he used a little single-barreled, muzzle-loading gun of mine made by Purdey which he named Intombi or Maiden. Of that gun, however, I have written in “The Holy Flower” and elsewhere."

Chapter II, The Messengers, She and Allen, H. Rider Haggard

Ratio N-Gauge Polystyrene Railway Structure Kits

Kit #	Name
200	Goods Shed (brick)
201	Signal box
202	Cattle Dock
203	Engine Shed
204	Station Building
205	Station Building Canopy only
206	Locomotice Servicing Depot
208	Apex Roof Canopy
209	Platforms (9"L x 1-3/4 "W)
210	Platform Ramps
211	Telegraph Poles (18 poles)
212	Lineside Huts (3 different huts)
213	Station/Street Lamps
214	Yard Crane
215	Water Tower
216	Lineside Fencing (white)
217	Lineside Fencing wood brown)
218	Laddering
219	Concrete Fencing
220	Stone Goods Shed
221	Pallets, Sacks, and Barrels
222	Concrete Footbridge
223	G. W. R. Wooden Signal Box
224	Signal box Interior
225	Flat Roof Platform Canopy

18 Eerie Train Graveyards & Abandoned Locomotive Cemeteries

Eerie doesn't do these images justice. To view these less-than-pristine locomotives that once traversed from location to location sitting there and slowing sub-coming to the elements is disheartening.

Mega Hive One & Two Technology Structure Modules

If I had only realized that these products would only be available for a short time I would have order another set of these part laden sprue. Since these products are longer available, more information about them is not available. However, if my memory serves me I believe that the components are geared for 28mm.

I had no intention of using them for their intended use; small war-gaming structures, but was thinking about using these components in other projects for their architectural benefits. The kits can be used for industrial or Sci-Fi scenes.

Ratio N-gauge, #226 Pump / Boiler House

I am very impressed with the quality and the amount of detail the kit parts contain. The kit is scaled to 1:148, 2mm, that is British n-gauge. The kit included eight plastic runners. Two for the chimney assemble, two for the stone and brick pump / boiler house structure, one that includes parts for a wooden shed an open rectangle shaped steal tank, one for the roof sections, one sprue includes wood trim parts, one holds spouting, and the last contains some miscellaneous detail parts, for instance, several wall mounted supply cabinets. In addition, scattered through-out on many of the sprue are other various auxiliary details.

Memories of Cheedale

This twenty-minute film was made by the Manchester Model Railway Society depicting their 2mm Finescale model railway which was called 'Chee Tor'. The film was originally filmed in 16mm in the early nineties and was recently digitized . The video includes some very nice narration and sound effects.

Click If You Dare: 100 Favorite Horror Stories

I just came upon this list of 100 Favorite Horror Stories on NPR's Summer Reader Poll 2018. Nice list. I have read a few of these, but I say, I do have my work cut out for me.

Frank Reade and his Electric Prairie Schooner

It has been a while since I posted anything on Frank Reade, how ever I am about to. I just found a site that features public domain comics. Comic book plus has a large collection of Reades work. I don't remember how I ended up on this page, but I did land on the Frank Reade and his Electric Prairie Schooner pages.

Small World Land

I am severely disappointed that this site did not continue. The author's first post features three miniature layouts, one of those fits in a matchbox. The layouts are wonderfully whimsical. These layouts were picked from many that can be found on 13th JAM Convention report pages.

Scenes from Blade Runner 2045

Dashboard of a Spinner, a futuristic flying vehicle

Blade Runner 2045 is a cinematic feast for the eyes. There is plenty of vivid color, texture, and dramatic music scores. Not to mention the realistic din of a large city. The plot was intriguing, however I not all that sure that I got whether the boy or the girl survived or did they both survive?

LA

LA is mega metropolis with peoples of all types of cultures. It seems that LA has grown and uses San Diego has its garbage dump.

San Diego

San Diego is now a large scrap yard and garbage dump.

Los Vegas

Hit with a dirty bomb Los Vegas is a waste land.

Trent & Scott's Terrain Death-match

Here is another installment from Trent. This time he is making a pentagram terrain piece. It looks simple enough. Just take a left over slab of foam board and follow Trent's instructions.

‘Model-Making Basics’ – Creating Surfaces

I just found this very informative treatise on “making model surfaces”. The authors methods are derived from real life surfaces. We need to study the less than pristine structures that are all around us for ideas and “instruction” on to apply realistic weathering to our model surfaces. The author takes us through the methods, supplies and tools to get the job done.

Down and Out

The page features five structures that have seen better days. I would suppose their creation were a lot of fun, but I don't know how satisfying the outcome would be. I have a hard time comprehending the process that went into these structures. They look so bygone and abandoned and have seen many years of neglect.

10 Must-“Visit” Fictional Lands

10 Must-“Visit” Fictional Lands is a short directory of ten fictional lands created by the likes of Lovecraft, Edgar Rice Burrough, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien

The Geography of Lovecraft’s Dreamlands

"The Dreamlands is divided into four continental regions, each named for its cardinal direction.

The West is the most well-known region of the Dreamlands and is probably the most peopled as well. It is where dreamers emerge from the Steps of Deeper Slumber. The port of Dylath-Leen, the largest city of the Dreamlands, lies on its coast. The town of Ulthar, where no man may kill a cat, is also located here. Other important cities are Hlanith (a coastal jungle city) and Ilarnek (a desert trade capital). The land of Mnar and the ruins of Sarnath are found at the southern border. The Enchanted Wood of the Zoogs is also found here. It joins the South.

The South is the southern coastal region of the continent shared by the West along with the islands of the Southern Sea, including the isle of Oriab, the largest. The South's land-locked regions and its coastal areas are known as the Fantastic Realms, because they contain nightmarish and sometimes incomprehensible zones. Otherwise, the islands of the Southern Sea are fairly normal.

The East is a continent that is largely uninhabited, except for Ooth-Nargai. The city of Celephaïs is the capital of Ooth-Nargai and was created from whole cloth by its monarch King Kuranes, the greatest of all recorded dreamers. Beyond Ooth-Nargai are The Forbidden Lands, dangerous realms into which travel is interdicted.

The North is a cold, mountainous continent notorious for its Plateau of Leng, a violent region shared by man-eating spiders and satyr-like beings known as the "Men of Leng". The North also has a number of friendlier places, such as the city of Inganok, famous for its onyx quarries. The deepest reaches of the North are said to hold Unknown Kadath, the home of the Great Ones.

In addition to these regions, the Dreamlands has a few other locales that defy conventional description.

The Underworld is a subterranean region that runs beneath the whole of the Dreamlands. Its principle inhabitants are ghouls, who can physically enter the waking world through crypts. The Underworld is also home to the Gugs, monstrous giants banished from the surface for untold blasphemies. The Underworld's deepest realm is the Vale of Pnath, a dangerous lightless chasm inhabited by enormous unseen beasts called bholes. Bholes are likely the ancestors of the dholes of Yaddith.

The Moon has a parallel in the Dreamlands and is inhabited by the dreaded moon-beasts, amorphous frog-like creatures allied with Nyarlathotep. Interestingly, it is possible for a ship to sail off the edge of the Dreamlands and travel through space to the moon.”

Yog-Sothoth Wiki

Map of Lovecraft's Dreamlands

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Lovecraft's Dreamlands Literature

News from the New Traveler’s Almanac

Excerpt is from New Traveler’s Almanac

"In 1871 Newcastle while on a coal mine rescue mission, rescuers stumble upon an other-worldly subterranean culture called the Vril-ya. The occupants of this world are tall, and winged .The Vril-ya. have red skin and black eyes. They are a race with great longevity and are socially enlightened. It is reported that they can cure sicknesses simply by touching the wound or ill person with their lips.

The Vril-ya have skills in mechanics and artificial intelligence (albeit a very basic form of it) with their mechanical robots which attend to the Vril-ya’s every whim."

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Volume II, Moore & O’ Neil.

Quotes from Four Gentleman and One Extraordinary Woman

Nina Harker

“I feel a wonderful peace and rest tonight. It is as if some haunting presence were removed from me. Perhaps.”

Henry Jekyll

“Edward Hyde alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.”

Harwley Griffen

“This is day one of year one of the new epoch-the epochs of the Invisible Man. I am Invisible Man the First.”

Allan Quatermain

“I’ve killed many a man in my time, but I have never slain wantonly or stained my hand in innocent blood, but only in self-defense.”

Captain Nemo

"I am not what you call a civilized man! I have done with society entirely, for reasons which I alone have the right of appreciating.”

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Volume II, Moore & O’ Neil

Excerpts from the "The Book"

Lovecraft is known for his dreadful creatures, exotic spaces, and his ancient texts of mythologies. Here are some excerpts from one of his short stories, the Book. The book remains title-less.

" I seem to have suffered a great shock perhaps from some utterly monstrous outgrowth of my cycles of unique, incredible experience.

These cycles of experience, of course, all stem from that worm-riddled book. I remember when I found it in a dimly lighted place near the black, oily river where the mists always swirl. That place was very old, and the ceiling-high shelves full of rotting volumes reached back endlessly through windowless inner rooms and alcoves. There were, besides, great formless heaps of books on the floor and in crude bins; and it was in one of these heaps that I found the thing. I never learned its title, for the early pages were missing; but it fell open toward the end and gave me a glimpse of something which sent my senses reeling.

There was a formula sort of list of things to say and do which I recognized as something black and forbidden; something which I had read of before in furtive paragraphs of mixed abhorrence and fascination penned by those strange ancient delvers into the universe’s guarded secrets whose decaying texts I loved to absorb. It was a key a guide to certain gateways and transitions of which mystics have dreamed and whispered since the race was young, and which lead to freedoms and discoveries beyond the three dimensions and realms of life and matter that we know. Not for centuries had any man recalled its vital substance or known where to find it, but this book was very old indeed. No printing-press, but the hand of some half-crazed monk, had traced these ominous Latin phrases in uncials of awesome antiquity.

...For he who passes the gateways always wins a shadow, and never again can he be alone. I had evoked, and the book was indeed all I had suspected. That night I passed the gateway to a vortex of twisted time and vision, and when morning found me in the attic room I saw in the walls and shelves and fittings that which I had never seen before.

...I remember the night I made the five concentric circles of fire on the floor and stood in the innermost one chanting that monstrous litany the messenger from Tartary had brought. The walls melted away, and I was swept by a black wind through gulfs of fathomless grey with the needle-like pinnacles of unknown mountains miles below me. After a while there was utter blackness, and then the light of myriad stars forming strange, alien constellations. Finally, I saw a green-litten plain far below me and discerned on it the twisted towers of a city built in no fashion I had ever known or read of or dreamed of. As I floated closer to that city I saw a great square building of stone in an open space, and felt a hideous fear clutching at me."

The Book, H. P. Lovecraft

How To Make a Bunker for 40k

Miscast Terrain has released another DIY video. This one demonstrates how to build a Warhammer 40K bunker and a string of barbed-wire. The bunker is made out of foam core.

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Volume II

I have finally gotten around to reading Allan Moore and Kevin o’ Neill’s second volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentleman. My first post from volume on was back in March 2014. With its host of extraordinary characters, fantastic story-line, and saucy scenes, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, volume 2 takes over where the last volume left off.

Here are the titles of the novels six chapters:

1. Phases of Deimos
2. People of other Lands
3. And the Dawn Comes Up Like Thunder
4. All Creatures Great and Small
5. Redin Tooth and Claw
6. “You Should see me Dance the Polka…”

The Nautilus

Here is another rendition of Captain Nemo’s Nautilus. This version as depicted in the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a bit more fanciful than the one rendered in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

I suppose I could have gotten some better screenshots of this craft. Better luck next time.

Fantastic Beasts

"I have visited lairs, burrows and nests across five continents, observed the curious habits of magical beasts in a hundred countries, witnessed their powers, gained their trust and, on occasion, beaten them off with my travelling kettle." —Newton Scamander

Newt Scamander is a character from the Harry Potter series and is purported to be the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The Newt Scamander miniature is cast from metal by Jada Toys and stands approximately two and half inches tall.

Books Authored by S. Kip Farrington, Jr.

Railroading around the World, Castle Books, New York, 1955

Here is a partial list of books form this distinguished author and sportsman.

Fishing the Pacific, off shore and on
Fishing the Atlantic, of shore and on
Pacific Game Fishing
Atlantic Game Fishing
Sport Fishing Boats
A Book of Fishing
The Ducks Cane Back
Ships of the U.S. Merchant Marine
Interesting Birds of Our Country
Giants of the Rails
Railroading from the Head End
Railroading from the Rear End
Railroading at War
Railroading of Today
Railroading the Modern Way
Railroading around the World

I don’t have a large collection of his work, in fact I only have the one that I have posted an image of its dust jacket. It was almost a year ago that I purchased this volume at a train show. Because of its mildewed pages I can only take it in small doses. The book reminds me of another in my collection somewhat, in that the other text recalls foreign narrow-gauge railways.

Shanty # 2-Post-Apocalyptic #1

This is my first Post-Apocalyptic shanty and my second scratch-built shack & shed. It is number 12 in the Shacks & Sheds series. I built it in 1/72 scale for war-gaming terrain and it will be one of many eventually!

It is built to represent an all steal construction, steal plates that might have been savaged from abandoned or grounded ships. You can see other elements of steal plates that have been left to the sand and rust. The shanty has seen occupancy by many bands of post-apocalyptic adventurers. It has been attacked by the elements and with chemical and biological weapons.

How Tolkien created Middle-earth

The Guardian has published an interesting article “How Tolkien created Middle-Earth”, which tells of the opening of an exhibit “Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth”. The article goes on to mention the many items that are being exhibited within the exhibit.

The Bellman Knocks

Maidens in your smocks
Look well to your locks
And beware of the fox
When the bellman knocks

Lud-in-the-Mist, Hope Mirrlees

TS CUBIC CARD

The diorama artist on this site creates some very fine dioramas. The site serves has his production blog.

Free Samples

AM models sent these samples of their 1/87 scale fences and pallets. The pallets especially are very delicate castings. I was sent two spruces of each. There is a sheet included that recommends that one should glue the top and bottom sections of the pallets before removing them from the sprue.

Magically Sweet Music

“There are windfalls of dreams, there’s a wolf in the stars,
And Life is a nymph who will never be thine,
With lily, germander, and sops in wine.
With sweet-brier.
And bon-fire,
And strawberry-wire,
And columbine.”

Lud-in-the-Mist, Hope Mirrlees

Vulgar Songs

“Why did she cock her pretty blue eye,
At the lad with the silver buckles?
When the penniless lad who was handsome and spry.
Got naught but a rap on his knuckles?”

Lud-in-the-Mist, Hope Mirrlees

WestWorld Season 1: The Maze

Disk One
The Original
Chestnut
The Stray

Disk Two
Dissonance Theory
Contrapasso
The Adversary
Trope L’Oeil

Disk Three
Trace Decay
The Well-Tempered Clavier
The Bicameral Mind

I just completed watching season 1 of WestWorld. Although the plot was excellent, I am left feeling a bit disturbed by the ending of the last episode.

Gorilla Epoxy (materials)

Recently found a new epoxy for assembling metal parts. Usually these epoxies dry in a grey color. Gorilla Epoxy can be used to bond metal, wood, ceramics, glass, and most plastics. Gorilla Epoxy sets in five minutes and dries clear.

Riddles from a Fairy

“Who are you? Who is me?
Answer my riddle and come and see.”

“I milk blue ewes; I reap red flowers,
I weave the story of dead hours”

“What is it that’s a tree, and yet not a tree, a man and yet not a man, who is dumb and yet can tell secrets, who has no arms and yet can strike?”

“Dig and delve, delve and dig, harness the mare to the farmers gig.”

Riddles as spoken to Master Nathaniel by the fairy, Polumus.

Lud-in-the-Mist, Hope Mirrlees

AM Models Stones

There are four sprue full of random sized stones. These look dressed stone, AM Models # 502, and they look like they would need form roughing-up with a razor saw or wire brush. Perhaps I’ll apply a hobby knife to a few of these stones to suggest the stones being knocked around a bit. They will also need some paint and dry brushing. Might be great for a foundation. The online ad mentions that the package will cover ten square inches.