Bandai Starblazer Model

This is one of Bandai’s Star Blazer #2206, a Karakrum Class Combatant Ship. Although I did use plastic model glue this model could have simply been snapped together. The instructions are in Japanese, however using the included instructions printed on the inside the box the model fit together nicely.

The models 21 parts are connected to X number of sprue and are molded in olive green polystyrene.

Since I was planning on using glue to add to the overall strength of the model, I was extra careful to make sure that I had the correct part in hand. There were a couple of times when I had to study the exploded illustrations and the box art to ensure that I did have the correct part.

My motto for this year is get something done and after seven months I really do not have too much to show for it. I have another Bandai model on my workbench that needs some finishing touches, a HO scale smoke house that is waiting on a few small details to be painted and placed, and lastly I have a HO scale outhouse that needs to be laid out and completed.

Revell’s 1957-59 ‘Space Age Model Kits’

This page published by "We are the Mutants", (I haven't explored to much of this site, but it does look interesting and it seems worthy of a romp through), offers some fanciful late- fifties spacecraft models from Revell. The short and interesting article mentions the space race and Revel’s motivations for manufacturing these designs during that time period.

Post-Apocalyptic 1/72 Chernobyl Diorama

The author puts a lot of work into this diorama. The military vehicle is plastic kit, but the structure is scratch built. I was amazed while I watched the author add details after details to this diorama. Watching this video was a truly rewarding experience.

Buildable Details

I have two thoughts. The first, structures and detail pieces for model railroading have always been expensive, but have gotten even more expensive over the years. Secondly, I have loads of left-over bits of polystyrene and wood from previous projects. Why not put these bits and pieces to use? The following list is just a start. These details can be built from polystyrene, wood, or even paper board. These are small projects and you could possibly pop-out several of these pieces in one afternoon.

• Coal bins
• Outhouses
• Sheds
• Dog houses
• Shop doors
• Windows
• Benches
• Desks
• Tables
• Chairs
• Storage shelves and bins
• Rectangular tanks

The Glossary of Opium

The Den (opium den):

Joint
Hop joint
Lay-down joint

The Pipe:

Gonger
Bamboo
Dream stick
Saxophone

The Smoker:

Pipie
Pipe-fiend
Gowster
Yen-shee-boy (def. Websters)

To Smoke Opium:

To be on the hip
Kicking the gong around (def. urban dictionary)
Rolling the log

Opium: A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon, Barbara Hudgsen

The Flying Scotsman

A great small whimsical animated "flying train". It really is worth a look.

A Host of Characters - Arina Vlassievna

It has been awhile since my last post on this topic, so you might have forgotten what my rational. A host of characters is a place where I document possible characters for my games.

Arina Vlassievna is the mother of Evgenii Bazarov. Arina is in her sixties and is small and rotund. Arina diminutiveness accents her humility and Arina Vlassievna was a true Russian daughter of the petty nobility; by rights she should have lived a couple of centuries before, in the times of old Moscow. She was very devoted and emotional: she believed in all sorts of omens, ways of telling a fortune, spells, dreams; she believed in holy innocents, in brownies, in wood demons, in unlucky encounters, in the evil eye, in folk remedies, in salt, especially when it was blessed on Holy Thursday, and the imminent end o f the world…”

Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev