Building a 3D Printed Figure and Stop Motion Photography

Building 3D-printed figures.

The authors printed hundreds of these figures for his stop-motion photo shoot.

How to Use Each Dremil Bit

Until I watched this video I didn't know about the verity of bits that were available for the dremel tool let alone how they were used used. This a very informative and inspirational video and you will learn new uses for your dremel tool.

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Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel

My first post on this text was in 2017 and the last was in 2021. Whether I added this link to any of these posts is unknown. Having made 50 or so posts I am not keen on poking through these posst to find whether I had or hadn't added this link. If I have not, I should have:

"Please vist this link: www.jonathanstrange.com to read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel's reactions to Susanna Clarke's novel among other magical things..."

Mini Slayer

My posts have been scant this month. This miniature stands approximately 33mm tall and is cast from resin. Although he is pretty detailed I don't know if I will paint him.

Could These Micro Tools Actually Work?

Adam Savage Makes a Machining "Cheese Plate"!

More Fictional Titles

Sometime ago I made my first post of "special books", those titles that were referred to in some piece of fiction. In the past I have researched the titles and have come upi empty. They prove to be fictional titles that were mentioned within the test, a figment of the authors imagination.

Here are a few more of these "made-up" titles.

"These, however, were but a prelude to his shelves of books, designated for deposit to the university library. Some appeared fabulously old, so old in fact, that they bore no dates and must have decended, to judge from their appearence and their written characters, from medieval times. The more recent of these were not dated beyound 1850:

Pnakotic Manuscripts
R'lyeh Text
Unaussprechlichen Kutten, von Jungt
The Book of Eitho
The Dhol Chants
The Seven Crypical Books of Hson
Ludvig Prumn's De Vermi's Mysteries
The Celalno Fragments
The Cultes desGoules of the Conte d'Erlette
The Book of Dzyan
Photostat copy of the Necromicon

Japanese Long Bows

The amount of work and time that goes into a Japanese log bow is astonishing.

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<-- Previously: Process of Making a Traditional English Longbow<

Twenty Diminutive Souls

They are small, that is for sure. I would say they are close to 1/100 scale and they do not have too much in the way of details to their faces and fingers. Well for what they cost I wasn't expecting too much. With a little touch-up paint I can use them to fill in some scene. In the background of a crowd or possibly somewhere in the backgound of my layout.

I know I have been slacking on my posts. I got pretty close to my goal of fifteen posts this month. I haven't been getting any projects completed, although I do have couple on the workbench that are under construction.

Another Old Book Ad - Frank Yerdy

From the back pages of my yellowing 1961 copy of Bruce Catton's A Stillness at Appomattox, an old ad for Frank Yerby's books. I haven't had time to research Frank's work yet, but his book entitled The Vixens is intriguing.

Alligator Resin

Cast from resin this little cartoonish looking alligator measures approximately 57 long by 25mm wide.

I have different ideas as to what should be included on my model railroad layout. To add just a hint of whimsy he or is it a she will be added in the swamp on my layout.

Scale Model Geek

The Scale Model Geek channel features quite a few videos on the art of scale modeling that is whimsical, inspirational and informative.

The Table of Contents and Preface to The Survivor and Others

"Amoung the papers of the late Howard Phillip Lovecraft were various notes and or outlines for stories which he did not live to write. Of these, the most complete was the title story of this collection."

The Survivor
Wentworth's Day
The Peabody Heritage
The Gable Window
The Ancestor
The Shaddow Out of Space
The Lamp of Alhazred

"Certain houses, like certain persons, manage somehow to proclaim at once their character for evil. Perhaps it is the aroma of evil deeds committed under a particular roof, long after the actual doers have passed away, that makes the gooseflesh come and the hair rise. Something of the original passion of the evil-doer, and of the horror felt by his victim, enters the heart of the innocent watcher, and he becomes suddenly conscious of tingling nerves, creeping skin, and a chilling of the blood..."

—ALGERNON BLACKWOOD

Preface from The Survivor, H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth.

Contributors to the Cthulha Mythos

Although Lovecraft may not had planned the Cthulha Mythos at the beginning, it didn't stop his contemporaries from contributing to its cause and eventual creation. These contributors using many of the same races added to the Cthulha Mythos:

Frank Belknap Long
Clark Aston Smith
August Derleth
Lin Carter
Robert W. Chambers
Robert E. Howard

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More authors and their work. Classic Mythos Online

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Added text (Mythos) to the first paragraph on 3/31/25 at 1:10PM.

Updated on 3/25/25 at 11:48. I added the link above.

The Ballantine Horror Series

I found this list of additional titles of Ballentine’s horror line of books in The Survivor and Others, by H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth. This volume was published in 1957 and with its yellowing and water damaged pages is not in great condition.

#377K The Sound of Hos Horn, Sarban
#380K Tales to be Told in the Dark, Basil Davenport
#431K The Doll Maker, Sarbon
#458K Some of your Blood, Theodore Sturgeon
#466K Things with Claws, edited by Whit and Hallie Burnett
#508K Night'sBlack Agents, Fritz Lieber, Jr.
#522K Tales of Love and Horror, editor Don Congdon
#574 Zackerly's Vulture Stew

In addition, there are three books featured at the bottom the back cover.

Alone by Night
Shaddows with Eyes
Nine Orro

These titles may or may not still be available, but with not posting this list these titles would be lost to most of us.

More of Lovecraft's Cthulha's Mythos

It has been almost nine years since I last posted anything Lovecraftian, however recently a came into a small cache of Lovecraftian literature and I will be making a few new posts on this topic.

Thirteen Primary Stories of the Cthulhu Mythos

The Nameless City
The Festival
The Colour out of Space
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer in Darkness
The Dreams in the Witch House
The Haunter of the Dark
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Shadow out of Time
At the Mountains of Madness
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Thing on the Doorstep

Although argumentatively it could be said that there are other texts associated with the mythos, these thirteen were written by the creator of the Mythos, H. P. Lovecraft.

I have read the titles that have been italicized.

Building a Super Detailed Diorama for our Model Railroad Layout!

This 48 minute video is full of good advice and will be well worth your time.

Process of Making a Traditional English Longbow

"The longbow was typically made from yew wood, which provided the right balance of strength and flexibility."

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>History and Significance of the English Longbow

Alien Spaceship Invades my Science Fiction Library

I awoke this morning to find this ceature examing my science fiction library. The stack continues to grow and as well, my list of unread books.

The flying scaucer measures approximately 35w by 30mm tall and is fashioned from resin. It does include fare amount of moulded in details to a silver body with some red and green paint to some molded details. THe clear canopy sits on top of a black center with a set of small colored spheres.

The most merciful thing in the world…

“The most merciful thing in the world… is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on an island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far…”

The Shadow of of Space, H. P. Lovecraft & August Derleth

A Star Wars Medical Droid

A Star Wars medical droid from Star Wars five. A scene where Luke is being treated for exposure by one of the alliance's medical droids.

Man Turns Rusty Leaf Spring into an Amazing Knife

The transformation from a piece of rusty metal from a salvage yard to a beautiful knife is simple amazing. Although I don't see myself doing much in the way of metal work, the video is still inspirational.

5 Beings from Vega XXI

“July 12, 1915 – Arrived this afternoon (3:20 PM.) five beings from Vega XXI.

I have said they glowed and I think by that I mean they glowed in spirit. It seemed that they were accompanied, somehow, by a sparkling golden haze that made happy everything it touched-almost as if they moved in some special world that no one else had found.”

Way Station, Clifford D. Simak

The Star Wars & Hot Wheels X-34 Landspeeder

The X-34 landspeeder first appeared in Star Wars IV, A New Hope and was purported to have been manufactured by the SoroSuub Corporatio. Specific information about the X-34 can be found here.

The Hot Wheels Star Wars X-34 Landspeeder is one of Hot Wheel HW Screen Time line of play vehicles. This line of vehicles is inspired by popular culture in its movies, TV shows, and video games.

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Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas

“We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers… Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.” Raoul Duke

Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas was required reading way back at the University. Although I haven't ever gotten that ripped, It is one view of the drug cultur films that spurred a lot of us on.

“History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of “history” it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time—and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened.”

“Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run, but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant.”

Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Triangulation

Tomorrow never dies, James Bond.

They have used a triangulation technique to hone in on your location, 007.

The Representative of Data

"The core data began to emerge, exposed and vulnerable... "

Text from Burning Chrome, William Gibson, 1986; screenshot from Tomorrow never Dies.

Hot Wheels Street Wiener # 2

This is my second Hot Wheels Street Wiener and my seventh Fast Foodie model. Although they all are related to food and all but one are part of the Hot Wheels Fast Foodie line. One of the Street Wieners is labeled Hot Wheels Lets Race. This die cast model is identical to the Fast Foodie variety. It includes a featured open grill on the rear and spatula like device that acts like a front end spoiler.

My first Street Wiener is lathered in mustard and ketchup, has green wheels, black grill, and silver spoiler, the my second has red wheels, silver grill, and a black spoiler. However it does include two distinct features. The miniature includes several jalapeno slices and a red emblem of a dog with the text spicy dog.

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"Born: 2017
Birthplace: El Segundo
Designer: Hot Wheels®

Specialty: Let's be frank, when it comes performance the Street Wiener will have you saying: hot diggety! A feast for the eyes and a beast on the track, this speedy weenie never fails to make it to the wiener circle."

From the back of the 2017 card. As found on the Street Wiener Fandom page.

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I am sure Hot Wheels will be adding a few more to this mini series before the years out. Fast Foodie Mini Collection (2025)

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20 Hot Wheels Cars That Are Worth A Fortune Today

Exploring Terranox

S is for Steampunk

"Welcome to Terranox – a mesmerizing, steampunk-inspired alien planet where time itself is an enigma."

Retro Future Dreams

R is for Retro. A short AI generated film.

Whittling Tips - The 8 Basic Cuts to Master

Small Projects - 1/ 100 scale Life Boat

The instructions are not the best and parts are very fragile. If I am successful, that is I can remove the lazer-cut parts without breaking anything, it should make for a delicate, neat and eligent model.

It is another of those small projects. Small projects are those that usually lack the complexity of the more multifaceted projects that require hours of work to complete.

Another Fast Foodie from Hot Wheels

Sushi Tuner: "pass the wasabi because this sushi is running hot! Fueled by soy sauce this tuner is about to jump from the dinner table to the track and win the race using its raw power abd fresh speed."

The Sushi Tuner is from the Hot Wheels Fast Foodie line.

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Post From the Past

Food on the go never tasted so fast

Message to Station #18327 - 3

"NO. 406.302 TO STATION 18327. NATIVE OF VEGA XXI. ARRIVING AT 16532.82. DEPARTURE INDETERMINATE. NO LUGGAGE. CABINET ONLY, LOCAL CONDITIONS. CONFIRM.

Way Station, Clifford D. Simak

Mastering the Art of Crafting a Sharp Knife

"Mastering the Art of Crafting a Sharp Knife" is just the first of many how to vidoes on knife making and sharpening.

It is quite odd how when I first posted this there were several other knife making videos including on this page. Now there is just one. And I fear this one might one day be replaced. If that should happen try this one instead.

Message to Way Station #18327 - 2

NO. 406.302 TO STATION 18327. WILL ARRIVE EARLY EVENING YOUR TIME. HAVE THE COFFEE HOT. ULYEESE.

Way Station, Clifford D. Simak

Message to Way Station #18327 - 1

NO. 406301 TO STATION 18327. TRAVELER AT 16097.38 NATIVE THUBAN VI. NO BAGGAGE. NO. 3 LIQUID TANK. SOLUTION 27. DEPART FOR STATION 12892 AT 16439.16. CONFIRM.

Way Station, Clifford D. Simak

Enoch Wallace, the Keeper of Inter-galactic Way Station #18327

“The keeper of inter-galactic Way Station #18327 had one purpose, to prepare Earth to join the other races of the universe.

The alien planets had many things that Earth lacked, eternal peace and prosperity, advanced knowledge of the sciences and the arts. And they were willing to share their benefits – provided Earth showed signs of being civilized.

As the only Earthman in touch with the universe, the keeper of Way Station 18327 was beginning to hope that his fellow men might prove worthy.”

Way Station, Clifford D. Simak

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An interesting find : Science Fiction Studies. Once I have investigated a bit further I might review a bit of what can be found here.

Way Station by Clifford D. Simak

"Enoch Wallace

looked like any other man on Earth – except that:

--Time (about 100 years) had passed and he showed no sign of aging
--his house was invulnerable against destruction from any weapon known to man
--in his family cemetery a tombstone inscribed in an unknown language guarded the grave of an alien horror

For years no one had invaded the solitude of his lonely farm. But now the watchers in Earth were closing in on him, determined to solve the mystery of who or what it was that went under the name of Enoch Wallace—a man, magician, or nonhuman creature from an alien planet.

Way Station, Clifford D. Simak, Macfadden-Bartell Book (c) 1963

Final Faction Action Figures & Accessories

The Kharn

"In the year 2050, a large asteroid collided with our moon. Among the debris, we discovered a hibernating alien mothership. Now, the Kharn are awake and they want to plunder our precious natural resources. So, we recruited teams of special operatives to defend Earth from their alien threat."

This page features specifications on the Kharn and Alpha Team 1 action figures.

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Be sure to visit the 1:18 Action Figure Archive

The Magic of a Well-Designed Bookshelf: 30 Ideas

There is one thing my wife and I can count on, we will purchase more books during the year and that always raises the question where are we going the store them.

Here are few "Well-Designed Bookshelfs" that might do the trick.

Ancient Libraires

Mentions many ancient libraries. Why are we so afraid of knowledge?

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I have created a new label or collection : libraires where I will feaure videos and links to articles on libraires and links to libraires of note..

The Rural Lumber Mill

Every once in-a-while I find these lost assembly instructions. This instruction sheet is to a Woodland Scenics rurual saw mill. These kits are cast from a white metal and formally what I referred to as "small projects" and collection.

I wouldn't say that it is a simple build, however it is far from being complex. I plan on using CA glue. With all the small parts I would definitely use a pair of tweesers to attach the very small parts.

More "Boxed" Signs

Signs printed on the bottom of this Con-Cor kit box.

"Boxed" Signs

My first post of 2025.I hope you had a great holiday season.

Back in the day kit boxes were decorated with signs for your layout. Con-cor was a good source of these signs. Other manufacturers included an insert with a selection of signs.I am thinking POLA here. Many of the signs in my collection are from these sources.