This is not going to be my usual YANK update. This was actually a post that I was going to put on my Facebook page, but after spending an hour arranging and typing out the post, when I hit the button, FB crashed on me (which has happened several times now). Anyway.... long story short, I did a cover, but the rest of the post is just photographs and copy, rather than being formatted as a magazine.
I recently had a big screen TV that the former owners left removed from one of my basement walls. The wall was repaired and repainted and resulted in me having another wall for display. I decided to rearrange my MAN CAVE a bit.
This fellow (above) use to stand in the back corner of the room. As I decided to move my field desk, I thought I would move him to this spot, the move also meant that he would no longer be in the way of a light switch in that corner of the room.
I was able to move my Vietnam display with the additional wall, giving me room to put this chair in this corner. This is a favorite napping place for one of my cats. She'll be happy as she won't have to walk as far.
This is the corner where that Waffen SS mannequin was. I've rearranged one of the display cabinets and the light switch is way easier to reach now.
This is the wall where the big screen TV was hanging. Now that it is gone, I have a nice dedicated space for my Vietnam display. That SRC-300 pack radio is a WWII piece, but with an interesting history. It was a 'lend lease' item that was in the hands of the French forces. The nomenclature on the panel is actually in French, even though the radio was built in the US. After the war, this radio made it's way to Indochina when the French returned to their 'colony'.
This wall is where that brown chair originally was, along with these four mannequins and two small bookcases. I decided to use the book cases somewhere else and that allowed me to move my field desk display to this wall. It also gave me room to move my Vietnam firebase diorama into my display area. It had been stored back in my work room.
I hated not having this diorama on display because I had put a lot of time into it. I am thinking that I will expand it at some point and as you can see from the photo below, I have room if I do it right.
Another view of the Vietnam display. Actually the place where that WWII radio is sitting will be occupied by my Monkey Rabbit Studios M-113 if I ever get around to finishing it.
BONUS - THREE PROJECTS
PROJECT NO 1
Some of the guys in the in the SSCC have been wanting to do a photoshoot of the scene from the movie 'A BRIDGE TOO FAR' where XXX Corps is sitting on the road, waiting to kick off and I was asked to scratch build a Humber Command Car. Using a 1/35th scale model, I was able to trace the major hull pieces and then in Indesign, create a set of templates. Of course, until I try to build it, I will not know how successful I was in my template creation. I printed the templates out in what would be approximately 1/18th scale and glued them to then cardboard. I have cut the templates out and I am ready to try assembling a "test model". I will update you on whether or not it works.
Some of the guys in the in the SSCC have been wanting to do a photoshoot of the scene from the movie 'A BRIDGE TOO FAR' where XXX Corps is sitting on the road, waiting to kick off and I was asked to scratch build a Humber Command Car. Using a 1/35th scale model, I was able to trace the major hull pieces and then in Indesign, create a set of templates. Of course, until I try to build it, I will not know how successful I was in my template creation. I printed the templates out in what would be approximately 1/18th scale and glued them to then cardboard. I have cut the templates out and I am ready to try assembling a "test model". I will update you on whether or not it works.
PROJECT NO 2
I have been working on some artwork for Cory Lord, who owns Cory's Toys. The artwork is of WWII French and German road and building signs. The artwork was copied from photographs and miniatures found in a variety of sources. All of the artwork has been built as vector line art and can be scaled to any size. There are currently 24 8x11 pages of signs in the collection and we plan to create more as new signs are found. Cory plans to create some sign "kits" and some finished sign vignettes to sell in his booth at the various figure shows he attends. This has been a really fun project for me as I love working on artwork.
I have been working on some artwork for Cory Lord, who owns Cory's Toys. The artwork is of WWII French and German road and building signs. The artwork was copied from photographs and miniatures found in a variety of sources. All of the artwork has been built as vector line art and can be scaled to any size. There are currently 24 8x11 pages of signs in the collection and we plan to create more as new signs are found. Cory plans to create some sign "kits" and some finished sign vignettes to sell in his booth at the various figure shows he attends. This has been a really fun project for me as I love working on artwork.
PROJECT NO 3
Finally, and totally off the 1/6th subject - Before I moved to my new house, I had settled on a plan and built benchwork for my On30 railroad, which was to fill a 9x12' space in my basement. The configuration was quite a bit different than what is shown below. It was obvious after I moved that plan would not work. I found a space in the unfinished portion of my new basement and began working on ideas. Amazingly enough, even though the configuration is different, I was able to use all of my modular benchwork components, so nothing was wasted. When Cory came up to Ohio to visit a few weeks ago, he helped me get the benchwork put back together and I am ready to start working on the railroad.... finally!
Finally, and totally off the 1/6th subject - Before I moved to my new house, I had settled on a plan and built benchwork for my On30 railroad, which was to fill a 9x12' space in my basement. The configuration was quite a bit different than what is shown below. It was obvious after I moved that plan would not work. I found a space in the unfinished portion of my new basement and began working on ideas. Amazingly enough, even though the configuration is different, I was able to use all of my modular benchwork components, so nothing was wasted. When Cory came up to Ohio to visit a few weeks ago, he helped me get the benchwork put back together and I am ready to start working on the railroad.... finally!
(Above) the loop on the left is not to scale, it would probably be about a foot and half wider than I have drawn it. It circles a wall and some built in shelves, you can see part of it in the photo below. The layout will feature to dock areas, connected by the railroad. There will be several industries, which will allow for quite a bit of switching. The buildings in the pictures below have been set out to get a better idea of the space as I begin laying out the design on surface of the roadbed. Most of what you see here was pre-built and will get modified in some manner. There are a couple of kit built structures as well. Most of what remains to be added will be scratch built.
That's it for this update, hope you enjoyed. Thanks for looking - PM