A Teaching of the Bene Gesserit

“When religion and politics ride the same cart, when the cart is driven by a living holy man (Baraka) nothing can stand in their path.”

From the Teaching of the Bene Gesserit

Alternative ending of Dune

The Map Makers Shop

Once I got past the absurdity of the film and childish behavior of “Hellboy” I did appreciate the varied forms of creatures and the parts they played. Like I alluded to there were quite a few hellish creatures featured in this film and might I make another post or two featuring some of them.

Although there were many rememberable scenes, there is one scene or should I say series of scenes of the troll market. This section of the film featured many remarkable scenes and I found the troll market amazing. To think about all the thought and work that went into these scenes is remarkable.

Anyone of the scenes in the film would make a fabulous diorama, even done without its characters. Or at the least, you could fit any one of scenes into some project. Think of them as greeble. There is so much to see and to study in this section of the film.

I picked out one scene to start a new mini topic-the Troll Market. This post is from the Map Makers Shop:

Interior scenes of shop

Screenshots are from Hell Boy 2

The Styrofoam Egg Carton Hut

I created this file to remind me of the different materials I want to use and types of shacks I had planned on building. This file was created about three years a go to the day. I cannot say what I had in mind when I typed styrofoam egg carton hut. I have been thinking on using other materials for construction purposes and I want to create something out of the ordinary, however I do not remeber what my brain process was with the 'Styrofoam egg carton hut'?

Corrugated Supply Shed

The loading dock is complete.I used a piece of leftover balsa from my last project. I have also added Cambell corrugated material to one side of the supply shed. I extended the front and back to 16 scale feet in HO guage. I wish I had made the sides wider.

I used Elmers spray adhesive to adhere the corrugated material to the cardstock and I found that both materials needed to be sprayed in order for the corrugated material to stick to the cardstock. I then weighed the material down with one of my weights until the glue dried.

12 Monkeys and 1 Swine

The movie staring rolls were: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt.. 12 Monkey's is tale of a futuristic dystopian society who hope to reverse a plague that has driven their generation under-ground. The push their best candidate-Bruce Willis into the future to find the orgianl cause of the epidemtic in hopes, they can somehow change the past and thus change the future. All sorts of set-backs accure because of mis-calculations. Willis is shot dead, however one of his colleague gets on the same plane with the one who had stolen the infectious cultures and presumingly saves the day.

Willis walking down to the time machine apparatus area.

This sign triggers some sort of recognition from Willis and he stops to investigate the location.

The Wanderings of Conan the Barbarian

Conans World

Conan traveled from one region to another looking for men who had murdered his father and clan.

Screenshots from Conan, The Barbarian, Lionsgate, 2011

The Rookeries of Victorian London

“Although the term “slum” was not widely recognized until 1890 a vague and familiar pattern was recognized as a contributing factor to the creation of these regions. A region of the city would be cut-off from circulation by a nearly constructed thoroughfare that bypassed it; businesses departed, disagreeable industries would move in creating local noise and air pollution and further reducing the attractiveness of the area; ultimately, no one with the means to live elsewhere would choose to live in such a place, and the region would become decrepit, badly maintained, and over populated by the lowest classes.

Prior to being referred to as slums these regions were known as to as rookeries and London had several notorious rookeries. There were the Seven dials, Rosemary Lane, Jacob’s Island, and Ratcliffe Highway, however none were more famous or should I say infamous than the six-acres in central London that comprised the rookery of St. Giles, otherwise known as ‘the Holy Land’. The Holy Land was located near the theatre district of Leicester Sq., the prostitution center of the Hay Market, and the fashionable shops of Regent Street. The St. Giles rookery was strategically located for any criminal who wanted to ‘go to around’.”

The Great Train Robbery, Michael Crichton

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"In such a neighborhood, beyond Dockhead in the Borough of Southwark, stands Jacob’s Island, surrounded by a muddy ditch, six or eight feet deep and fifteen or twenty wide when the tide is in, once called Mill Pond, but known in the days of this story as Folly Ditch. It is a creek or inlet from the Thames, and can always be filled at high water by opening the sluices at the Lead Mills from which it took its old name. At such times, a stranger, looking from one of the wooden bridges thrown across it at Mill Lane, will see the inhabitants of the houses on either side lowering from their back doors and windows, buckets, pails, domestic utensils of all kinds, in which to haul the water up; and when his eye is turned from these operations to the houses themselves, his utmost astonishment will be excited by the scene before him. Crazy wooden galleries common to the backs of half a dozen houses, with holes from which to look upon the slime beneath; windows, broken and patched, with poles thrust out, on which to dry the linen that is never there; rooms so small, so filthy, so confined, that the air would seem too tainted even for the dirt and squalor which they shelter; wooden chambers thrusting themselves out above the mud, and threatening to fall into it—as some have done; dirt-besmeared walls and decaying foundations; every repulsive lineament of poverty, every loathsome indication of filth, rot, and garbage; all these ornament the banks of Folly Ditch.

In Jacob’s Island, the warehouses are roofless and empty; the walls are crumbling down; the windows are windows no more; the doors are falling into the streets; the chimneys are blackened, but they yield no smoke. Thirty or forty years ago, before losses and chancery suits came upon it, it was a thriving place; but now it is a desolate island indeed. The houses have no owners; they are broken open, and entered upon by those who have the courage; and there they live, and there they die. They must have powerful motives for a secret residence, or be reduced to a destitute condition indeed, who seek a refuge in Jacob’s Island."

Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens

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What was it like to live in the London of Charles Dickens?

The London Of Charles Dickens: Mapped

Updated on 10.25.21 & 10.27.21

New Project Started

Although I don't know where this project is heading, I do have a few of ideas on where it could go, but let it move head a little and lets see.

A Medieval Village in N-gauge

The author used sheets of styrofoam for the base of his diorama.

Most of the miniatures for this n-gauge diorama were printed on a 3-d printer. The author used several different styles of medieval structures and mixed and matched the parts of these to create a verity of differnt structures.

Making Small Details For Dioramas and Layouts

I was looking for ideas for my next project and happened upon this video. It is full of ideas on creating and using details to make your models come to life and more interesting.

The Malcolm L. McKenzie & Son Goods Sheds

I had a good time building this HO gauge structure. Although there are one or two details I would like to add to the structure I have completed enough of the structure to make a post. I have reported much about the structure during its construction, at least on its start and the construction of the right-hand side. However, there are few details I have left out.

Structure Stone Work Colors

As I have mentioned previously, I used embossed stone paper for the front and back of the structure. I used the following colors for the stone work:

• Model Master, Light gray basecoat
• American, Raw Sienna
• Folk Art #462 Burnt Umber
• Folk Art #917 Yellow Ochre

After allowing the base coat to dry I dry-brushed Raw Sienna and Burnt Umber on to the embossed stone. Dry-brushing is one of those skills, that once mastered is not easy forgotten. The trick is to scrape most of the paint off the brush before taking it to your surface. I will make post of the process in my next post. Once this was totally dry I very sparingly dry-brushed the yellow ochre on selected areas of the surface.

Construction of the Left Side

The shed on the left was constructed from what was sold as Balsa wood. It is light weight like balsa, but it wasn’t as light as other balsa I have dealt with. It also had a different grain pattern than other balsa wood. No matter, I have a stack of it now I will use the material again.

Although I had taped the side off before cutting the openings for the windows I accidently snapped the side piece in two, but since the tape held the pieces together I was able to glue a patch of cardstock on the back of break to make the side piece even stronger than it was before the break.

There a few other flaws that I didn't mention that will need to be hidden behind a bush, tree, or other details.

I haven't decided on the type of foundation I would like to add to this structure. Will it be a concrete slab,block, stone, or brick?

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Satisfaction Scale: 3 out 5.

Dreams of a Micro-Layout

The author is dreaming of a 'Louisiana Sugar Plantation' micro-layout and has started the process of creating his dream lyout. Dan has created some drawings, hand laid some track, and has scratch built two strucures for his proposed micro-layout. With my current facination with scratch building small structures the images of his two scratch built sheds perked my interest.

I should have mentioned, the discussion continues on three additional pages. See the bottom right of the page.

Out of Glue Again

There are many little things I could have done to complete the goods shed, but the only one I cared to do was to glue the windows in place. These new glue containers make it eaiser to apply the glue and they don't become clogged up as often as they used to, but it is still very hard to tell when you are running low on glue.

Roofs, Windows, and a Sign

Although I have over simplified what I have left to complete, the shed is almost ready. I need to fashion a roof for this unit. The components for the left side been cut and painted. I just need to paint a couple of windows, create some form of roof, and attach the sign "Malcolm L. McKenzie & Son" and the goods shed will be complete.

I am still trying to get my windows down pact.

Clamps and Weights

Sometimes a clamp just will not do, especially when working with a small cardstock or paper project. Usually after using gluing bracing to a section of a structure I would grab whatever was at hand, a bottle of paint, or a block of wood.

I started putting these random items aside after finding them in my travels or in my collection of random bits and miscellaneous hardware. These items are the perfect weight for my paper and cardstock projects