Wooden Clothes Pin Clamp

Does everyone know about the inverted wooden clothes pin clamp? No?

Well you take a clothes pin and remove the spring, invert the wooden parts so that the spring now closes the long narrow parts, instead of the jaws.

Now you have a cool little clamp for those small, delicate pieces.
Well Roy Bourke does and he has a few more ideas on uses for clothes pins. Just don't let mama catch you stealing them from her clothes line.

Sherpa

A great gaming store

I was thinking about what makes a great game store the other day. When I first started gaming, the local game store was the hang out for the disinherited (D&D players and gamers); the individuals that society didn’t really understand at the time. In the past we had to special order our stuff from bookstores, toyshops and hobby centers. Then we needed to locate other players and then find a place to play. Many games were played in freezing garages, next to the family station wagon. Then came a place where we could find all these things at once, the game store.

A store dedicated to the games and only to the games we loved. It was the place you could talk about custom encounter charts, random chance modifiers and fields of fire for hours without someone raising an eyebrow at you. I wasted many days of my youth in the local gaming store without spending a dime, but it was fun. My apologies to those store owners.

So what makes a great gaming store? Is it product knowledge, great inventory, award-winning service, great deals or that firm handshake and smile when a deal is made? Sure all these things are great, but not necessarily the makings of a great gaming store. Don’t get me wrong, I like all of those things and get a little pissy when some of those things are missing, but none of these things compare to a sense of community.

Lets face it we play these game for the social interaction, if not we would all be behind our keyboards playing a MMORPG or an Online RTS. Granted some of us do, but any gamer worth his or her salt loves the intense interaction of an RRG session or a Tabletop Tourney. It is that connection to our community that makes the games alive for us.

Which leads me to believe that community is the key to a great gaming store. Sure it’s nice to have all the great merchandise, product knowledge and such, but nothing beats having a place where you belong. However I believe most successful gaming stores do a great job of supporting the community, but for the community to survive we need to do our part.

In today’s environment when all the stuff that had to be special ordered before, can now be purchased with a click of the mouse. No driving, no searching, no waiting, no interaction, and no community. Sure it’s great to be able to get stuff so readily and in some cases the only way, but we need to be careful or we could all be playing in that freezing garage again.

So before you order that thing online, take a moment pick-up the phone and call the local game store. Sure it might take a little longer for you to get the item and you most likely will pay a little more for it, but that’s the price for community. I for one don’t want to be all bundled up, sitting next to the family station wagon again. It kind of takes the fun out of a natural 20, not really.. woo

40K night at AAG

Tonight is 40k night at AAG, our the local game store. So I think I will go to hang out. I probably won't get into a game, I am still pretty fuzzy on the 5th edition rules. Maybe watching a few games, will help remove the haze.

Sherpa

Land Raider MK1 Project (update)

As I mentioned earlier I am scratch building a Land Raider MK 1, using the templates at the BWC-Archive as a rough set of blueprints. However I did a few modifications such as enclosing the secondary hull sections, there is supposed to be some grating there. The MK II does not have the exposed grating, so I left it off my MK I. Also the tracks on the MK II are closer to the suspension and are more recessed to the tread sections. I liked that look so I attempted to pull the tracks tighter to the tread unit.


I used as MK II Rhino chassis for a size comparison, since I don’t have a Land Raider MK II at the moment. The MK II Rhino is approximately ¾ the size of a Land Raider MK II (estimated from pictures of the two side by side), I tried to keep the same dimensions for the MK I.

For building material I used a layer of plastic card, a large plastic “ for sale’ sign found at the local hardware store for $ 2.27, and some scraps of foam core. The plastic sign is easy to work with, and the layers of foam core add rigidity. I plan on scratch building most of the Land Raider. As time permits, I will add more detail and some bits from other tank kits.


For the sake of scale and reference, I attached the side weapon sponson and hatch from a predator.

I plan to work on the main chassis sometime this week, however my time will be very limited due preparation for the D&D game this week.

"Predator Tank reporting for duty"

So after some soul searching, I decided to get a predator tank with my Christmas cash. It seemed the most logical choice for my Crimson Fists Army, and I felt it will be a good tactical addition. blah blah blah..

Ok it was an impulse buy, I saw it and though it would be cool to build and paint. So I got it. It wasn't really needed for my army, however it does have an added benefit. I am really short on troop transports and with the use of magnets I could make this a PRINO!.


Thanks Shawn and Renn

Also any spare parts could be used in [large booming voice]
THE LAND RAIDER PROJECT.

Sherpa

Dreadnaught Needs a Name

So here is a picture of my Crimson Fists Dreado which is a work in progress.
However it still needs a name, something cool like Furoso or something.

Sherpa

New Camera! (well, new to me anyway)

Lately, I have been taking pictures of my miniatures with a Kodak Easy Share C315. although it has been a great camera for the family photos and survived several dips in the Payette Lake, it does not have the lens for miniature photos. Thus all my pictures are very fuzzy, much like my vision after an all night Twilight Zone marathon. Ya, the old stuff with Rod Serling, like "To Serve Mankind" rocks.
Anyway I was visiting my mother-in-law the other day, and we were digging through her old tech stuff. Ya know the box of cables, old cell phones and cassette players that no body wants or needs. When she found her old Canon Powershot digital camera, andasked me if I wanted to use it. Fully realizing it was vastly superior to the camera I currently use, I couldn't answer YES quick enough.
So now I have a decent camera. Maybe I can finally add some visual content, to go with my incessant ramblings.

Sherpa

Links for taking Miniature Photos:

• TWFigurines


• Karoth


• Tiny Tin Men


• Mini Vault

The MK I Land Raider Project

After the Wave Serpent incident, I had decided to never scratch build a 40k model again. However after seeing some of the scratch built MK I Land Raiders, I have decided to build one.

I agree with Wildhermit that the MK I's odd rhombus shape is creepy. However I am going for the nostalgia, and that oddity that is 40K. So where do I find a MK I? Nowhere at present, and which MK I? I have seen two different variations of this kit. One with the drive train exposed and hull extended to cover the drive train.

Personally, I like the one with the hull extended. So it looks like I will have to build one. I joined the BWC-Archive group, a great bunch of individuals with a lot of neat reference material. I've made a sketch of changes I would like to make to the basic model. I am striving for retrofitted MK I.
It should match the rag tag appearance of my Crimson Fists army. At present I don't have any pictures, but hope to have some soon.

Sherpa

Land Raider MK I or MK II, that is the question

So I had sometime this week to sit and reflect on my Crimson Fists army. Its a pretty small army compared to my Tau and Eldar armies, but I have always like them. I first got hooked by their history and the battle for the farm scenario in the first edition of 40K (Rogue Trader). I doubt the army will ever reach 2000 points in size.



However I was thinking that I needed a few Land Raider(s), but since I am building this army on a tight budget they might be a bit costly. Like my Wave Serpent saga, I decided to see what I could find online. Who knows maybe I would find a MK I to salvage. At present no luck, however I did find a group that had the plans to scratch build a MK I and a couple of really great posts from Bell of Lost Souls and Warseer.com.

So the question is; MK I or MK II? I love the nostalgia of the MK I, but the MK II is a good looking machine. If I decide to build a MK I, it would most likely be a cross between the two.

Sherpa

Hey Hey Back in Ulthwe' (Black) or not...

After seeing the "Way of the Saim Hann" by Fritz and Reading about Pete Foley in the "Tale of Four Gamers" by Games Workshop. I have decided to complete my Eldar Army.
My Eldar Army has been an epic saga, one which spans decades, yes decades. I began collecting Eldar when there was only 5 models available, during the Rogue Trader Days. Later when the Harlequins were released I was the first in line at my local game store. I had planned to model my own Craftworld: Morda Hai, using a Blazing orange and Green Color scheme.
However after collecting several models and partially painting several squads. I then for some reason decided to leave gaming, and gave all my stuff to a friend. Who sometime later put much of it on ebay or traded it. I missed the whole 40k 2nd Edition time period.
Anyway 15 years later, I was back with a vengence and still back. I began collecting Eldar like crazy, and immediately fell in love with the Ulthwe'. The idea of fielding an entire army of black really appealed to me, just prime with flat black and well ... you are done. It must have appealed to everyone else, cause that was all I saw on the tables. Yes there was the occassional Biel-Tan, Alaitoc and Iyanden, oddly no Saim-Hann (must have been the cost), but most cases it was Ulthwe'
So I decided to play a Ulthwe' variation, mine would be negative version, bleached bone and black. Then halfway through, I decided that bleached bone was boring and moved to Bilous Green and Scorched Brown, that lasted until I was half way through my army. To shorten this blog a bit, lets just say I am getting really good a stripping paint from plastic.
Well now I am back to my original Craftworld: Morda Hai and it's color scheme. I may change the name, but the Blazing Orange is here to stay. I don't think the enviroment can take any more of my stripping process.

Sherpa

Always room for Jell-O (Eldar)

A friend once told me that no matter how full he was; he always had enough room for Jell-O. My friends, that is the way I feel about Eldar vehicles. It seems that no matter how much I collect, I would like to get another kit. I like the vehicles, the vYper, the Falcon derivatives, and especially the Flyers by Forgeworld. To me, Elder vehicles look graceful, deadly and swift and it all started when I got my first vYper for my birthday.

At the time I only had some Swooping Hawks as my sole fast attack unit, realizing I needed something with a little more kick I began reviewing my options. Jet bikes are nice, but I never really understood them, to me they looked like Eldar on flying snowmobiles. The vYper on the other hand was bad ---. It was fast, had holofields and could put out some serious firepower when needed. I spent a lot of time on my vYper, and it looked great. There was to be a battle with the Tyranids, and this vYper was going to dominate the board. Estatic I went wage war with the Tyranids.

I had won the first round and immediate let the vyper lose on my enemy’s flank. It streaked across the battlefield to reach its first target. It looked great on its clear flying stand. I swiveled the bright lance around to the target. This was going to be glorious. Would I blast the target to smithereens or strip away at it, one wound at a time? I rolled the dice and missed! Not disheartened I waited for the next turn; surely this incredible vehicle would make up for its poor performance then.

It died on the first volley by the Tyranids.

Well regardless of the my vYper’s performance, I was bitten. To this day I still have to resist the urge to buy more Eldar Vehicles. I have good days, and some bad with this addiction. Today I have 6 Vypers, 2 Wave Serpents, 2 Fire Prisms, and 2 Falcon/ Serpent combos. One would think that I have enough Eldar Vehicles, but well there is always for room for more. Jell-O anyone

By the way check out the blog ”The Way of the Saim Hann” by Fritz. There are some great pics and battle reports, but most importantly Autarch Fritz shares his knowledge on Tactica.
*Kneeling in Reverence*
Thank you Autach Fritz, may your blade slay many Mon Keigh.

Sherpa

Amrybuilder 2.2c Data File for Eldar

So while I was working on the datafile for "The Forge", I did discover an Eldar Data File for the latest codex, originally written for 4th Edition. The rule verification may not be current, but the point value and powers are. It is datafile: EL AllEldar HV27.zip. To make this file work, you will need to download the 40k armyfile: 40k3v3p45.ab from Filefont and import it to Armybuilder 2.2.
Next you will need to unzip EL AllEldar HV27.zip in the C:\ArmyBuilder\data directory, this will overwrite the older eldar file. Launch Armybuilder 2.2c and you should see the new codex.

Sherpa

An Alternative Army List Tool

Well my version of Armybuilder is now officially obsolete. I don't have the lastest version 3.0, and all the data files for 40K 5th. Ed are for now for 3.0. Armybuilder is a great product, and I used version 2.2 quite a bit. ThThe latest version is even better and is very reasonably priced. However with my budget being tight, I can use the $40 somewhere else. So I have been looking for a less expensive alternative.
Currently I am checking into "The Forge" by The Digital Foundry. It is a low cost (Free) alternative to Army Builder. It lacks some of the rule verification and some of the cool features of Armybuilder, but all in all it is a very usable product.
As with Armybuilder the key to The Forge is the data files, which are archived at Yahoo.com. I am currently working on a new data files for the Eldar and the Tau. I hope to eventually have a new data file for the 5th ed Space Marine Codex. If you can't afford Armybuilder (an excellent product), "The Forge" is a nice alternative.

Sherpa

Happy New Year

Greetings Everyone and Happy New Year,
We wish all well this up coming year. However with the New Year comes the New Year Resolutions. So among the usual resolutions, I have resolved to finish an Army, maybe two this year.

Sherpa