March 31, 2024
I know I am once again late in posting. It’s become a habit, but I hope that one of these days the posts will return to their normal posting time. That said the figures posted each week always represent the work done Sunday through Saturday of the previous week.
This workbench week began with the painting of a Conehead I picked up at the swap meet from the Horn Abbot Saturday Night Live game. It works well with 28mm and will become one of the tongue-in-cheek members of my Star Wars collection.
I next did a group of 3d-printed Star Wars Rebels. Nice figures.
A few weeks ago, I purchased the Hasbro Turbo Tank on eBay. Even with a lot of pieces missing, these things are expensive. Over the weeks I found a number of pieces I could afford and added them to the tank, but two side doors and the rear ramp door were a combination of too expensive and makeable with Evergreen plastic so that’s what we did. I say we because my wife measured and cut the door and ramp sections and I added some detail to them and attached them to the vehicle. Once this monster is painted, I think they will blend in well.
My last works of the week were two AT RT Clone walkers by Action Fleet (I think). I got them at the swap meet and there was no information about their manufacturer.
March 24, 2024
This week began with some Jawas using ropes on the side of decaying AT-ATs. I followed that by painting Dewbacks and Stormtroopers (two modified Action Fleet and WOTC and one OmniForged). I completed the week by returning to Tuskens and Tusken hounds (OmniForged and Order 66).
March 17, 2024
Very little of my hobby time was spent at the workbench this week. Most of my hobby time this week was spent reorganizing for more effective use of storage space. After more than 40 years in this hobby, storage space plays a big part in any project I undertake these days.
When I did get back to actual workbench time, I focused on some Star Wars 3d-printed figures from Modest Minis Studio and Order 66. The big project regarding those figures was using the Modest Minis’ “Heavy Beast” to haul/drag an Action Fleet escape pod found by my Jawas. I also did some modification of a Tusken hound handler. This is my second of that figure, and I wanted to modify its appearance so it looks different from the original.
I finished the week painting my Jawa machines and my Tuskens from Order 66.
March 10, 2024
A couple of weeks ago, I found a fan-powered ski vehicle at the swap meet… $2. It looked like a fun repurpose project for my Gordon Institute’s Frozen North expedition. It is from the Ban Dai Xyber 9 collection. The power fan was originally horizontal on mine, so I raised it to a vertical position. One of the wings below the driver’s seat was missing, so I removed the one that remained and replaced the wings with the horizontal stabilizers that came on the fan. To make it a little more believable for 28mm, I added handlebars from a Hot Wheels motorcycle. Lastly, I gave it a new paint job. While it is still a little out of scale for the perfectionists out there, I think it’s close enough for Gordon Institute work.
Another recent swap meet find was the Wild Wild West’s Dr. Loveless. At the same swap meet stall I also found a domed mechanic figure with a wonderful set of deadly arms. It was missing one of its mechanical legs which was not a problem because my plan was to remove the oversized Dr. Loveless and replace him with the domed portion of the other mechanical figure plus the deadly arms. I got the two mechanical figures for $4 each plus a great three-barrel gun (50 cents) that looked better than the Loveless or domed figure’s gun so I added it to my final creation. I still have to give it a paint job. I think it will make a great addition to my collection of steampunk weapons.
I had time left in the week to build an additional awning for my decaying desert AT AT and paint four more Ewok drummers (one a helmet drummer) and one heavily armed Ewok.
March 3, 2024
I began the week painting 3d-printed Jawas and Tuskens by Modest Minis and Order66. Next I gave my cult a music section. It is made from a wagon-borne organ by MEGO Corp. The organist is a combination of a Heroclix Lex Luthor and the head of a cult figure from the game Fate of the Elder Gods.A couple weeks ago I bid on a Brumm Royal Patent steam coach (1:43) on eBay. The picture of it on eBay was very small, but it was represented as new. When it arrived about a week ago, I discovered that the seller had significantly misrepresented the condition of the coach. One of the steam stacks was missing, the middle axle was detached, and the springs were broken. The axle itself was rusty. The arm rest on one seat was missing. The braking device was broken and missing. And one of the carriage lamps was missing.I contacted the seller and sent him a picture that showed the condition of the coach using green circles (shown here). I pointed out that given the condition of the coach, I found it difficult to believe that his representation of the coach as new could possibly be regarded as an honest mistake on his part. We renegotiated the selling price. I ultimately got it for 73 cents which included shipping. I have now repaired all that was broken, and I rearranged the row of steam pipes where one was missing so that having three instead of four pipes in that row looks intentional. I'll be giving it a new paint job in the not-too-distant future.
I concluded the workbench week adding three removable awnings to the desert version of my destroyed and decaying AT AT.
