Good Evening Campers! Well, Sunday night and we're starting off another week. Hope it was a good weekend for one and all...it sure went fast enough. You know, every once in a while I like to ask one of those "What's your favorite___________ questions". Okay here's one for you. What's your favorite head sculpt? I've put together a short  set of photos of some of mine. I will start off with one of my all time favorites - Steiner, from Dragon. This is the only old sculpt in my list, but it is an oldie, but goodie.

The next one is from DID, 5 O'clock Shadow Guy. I particularly like this sculpt and have two or three of them. It sort of reminds me of the actor that plays Bob Brown on THE UNIT.

Another favorite sculpt is German-looking guy, also by DID. Not sure why they call it that, I don't really think he looks that German looking, and I am using him as one of my Vietnam characters. In any case, it is a nicely done sculpt.

Another favorite of mine is Russell Franklin, also by DID. You know come to think of it, DID has done a lot of great sculpts. But I really like this one because this guy looks sort of like a normal guy, rather than some superman. I don't have this one in my collection yet, but I am thinking I need to add it.

Here's another great looking sculpt, also by...wait for it...DID. This guy would make a terrific RTO. I already have a couple of fairly good sculpts for that, but I am thinking this guy might have to join the team.

Those are my choices, with the exception of Steiner, they are all fairly recent heads and are all currently available, as you can see from the pictures that I used, they are all currently available at Monkey Depot at what I think are pretty reasonable prices. So if you like the ones you saw here, zip on over to Monkey Depot and see the rest of what they have available.
So, enquiring minds want to know, what are some of your favorite sculpts?


Until next time, have a good one!

Well...Wednesday night we had another great meeting. It was definitely great for Dr. Zorkon because he sold quite a bit of stuff during the evening. As I was the recipient of some of that merchandise, I felt like it was a pretty good night for me as well. Well, here are a few pictures for those of you who couldn't make it. We start with Point Man's Vietnam stuff.

Point Man built a teaser display of 1:1 and 1:6th Vietnam stuff, a taste of what he will be doing down at Ft. Thomas in November. The display featured a lot of his 1:1 scale printable items, a uniform and gear, M-79 Thumper and a flak Jacket. He also brought some of the characters from his Vietnam Story comic.

Hammer Six did a really cool set up, featuring a couple of his kitchen wagons, accessories and troops. I've got to tell you, he has got some cool stuff here.

One of the kitchen wagons started out as a kit and the other is the Cyber Hobbies piece. I can tell you from seeing both of them up close and personal that they are both outstanding models and Hammer Six has done a great job of painting, weathering and detailing them.

I know that you all would probably like to see more of this display and you will eventually as it is going to be the subject of an upcoming UPDATE. There is quite a bit more detail to show.

Hammer Six also brought this great looking Horsh for the rest of us to drool over and his sd.kfz 222 armored car as well (below). He has got the best toys hand down.

This is his Taowan 222, reviewed elsewhere on this site. It really turned out sharp. His painting and weathering are top notch. For being in questionable shape when he got it... it has turned into an absolutely beautiful model.


Below Trooper Tim did this rather scary looking zombie type thing. I'm not exactly sure what the story is behind the figure, but it gives me the willies. 

This was the evening's reminder from Tim's mother, Nancy, that fall is upon us and all things Football are starting up again. I saw these Football Robots the other day at the local Kroger. They are pretty interesting.

...And we finish out the night with just a quick shot of some of the stuff that Dr. Zorkon had for sale last night. I was pleased to pick up some Sideshow Indiana Jones figures from him. It was a good night. Well, that is all for this evening, until next time, have a good one.

Tonight's update is going to be sort of a short one, but I wanted to get this one in while it was still sort of news. Histore & Collections has a new book out and tonight's update is going to be a short review...


GOVERNMENT ISSUE, COLLECTOR'S GUIDE
VOLUME II
by Henri-Paul Enjames
Publishers; Histore & Collections

That's right, the French folks that bring you Militaria Magazine, plus lots of other great Military titles, have a followup to their fantastic first volume of GOVERNMENT ISSUE. And this book really does take up where the last one left off. Volume One's focus was military uniforms and gear of the US Army with some stuff on personal items. This book's focus is on personal items with some uniforms and gear thrown in, including a section on the items used by US Servicewomen in WWII. Between the two Volumes there is really nothing that the author misses when it comes to exploring the soldier in the ETO.

I think the most incredible thing about Volume II is that it is stated that everything in the book is from Enjames' personal collection. If so, it is one amazing collection. At $50, the book is not cheap, but both volumes would give you one of the most complete WWII ETO American Soldier guides available. For those of you in the club, I will have my copy at the meeting tomorrow night so you can check it out.
Well, that's all for tonight, until next time,
have a good one!

I really like long weekends, but the best ones are the kind where you don't have to do anything (like this weekend). It gave me a chance to work on some stuff and I thought I would show you what I got done. I didn't actually work on anything 1:6th, but most of what I did work on was for my display at Ft. Thomas.

The first thing I worked on was my Ration Pack accessory set. I wanted to be able to show a "sealed" packet as well as the contents of that pack. Listed below are the items in the picture.
1. Accessory Pack
2. P-38 can opener and packaged opener
3. Creamer packet
4. Coffee packet
5. Moisture resistant matches
6. Ration 4 pack cigarette package
7. Salt packet
8. Sugar packet
9. Toilet paper
10. Chiclets Gum box
11. Plastic spoon
The original accessory pack looks to have been a plastic bag with printing on it. I could do that, so I printed it on paper and then covered it with Cellophane before gluing, the bag together. It actually looks really pretty good. Other changes to the content items including resizing a couple of items, adding the Chiclet box and the toilet paper. Eventually, I will probably make art for all these items available in 1:6th. The Marlboro ration pack was available on a reenacting site, but I have now created art of a box of Salems, Pall Mall, Chesterfields and Winstons (all of which were available in ration packs). I also have art for the ration box, but have not figured out how to print it because of the size stock needed.

Next, I worked some more on my 1:1 Vietnam paper items, adding letters, an ID Card and a personal pocket journal. The various items in the picture are listed below.1. Nine Rules Card (double sided), Code of Conduct, Vietnam
2. Enemy In Your Hands Card (double sided, folding)
3. Booby Trap Card (double sided, folding)
4. South Vietnam Ready Reference Facts Card (double sided, folding)
5. Packet of Airmail Letters
6. MACV Ration Card (for PX items)
7. Liberty Pass
8. Meal Card (double sided)
9. Geneva Convention Card
10. Military ID Card
11. Personal Pocket Sized Journal, weathered
12. Dog Tags with silencers ( silencers first appeared around 1969)
The journal is really pretty cool. The entries actually tie into my Vietnam story and will compliment DOC's Diary. It is for my reenacting impression however and the photos contained in it, are of real people.

The next item of business this weekend was my Vietnam rifles (airsoft). For the display I wanted to get rid of the typical red-tip barrel that is standard to all airsoft weapons and was present on my M-16 and M-14. I started by taking some fine sand paper to the red paint to rough it up, or remove it, whichever came first. That done; I masked off the inside of the barrels and taped off and covered the rest of the guns. Then I sprayed with some flat black. When that was dry, I went back and hit it lightly with some metallic black. Once it was dry, I was able to remove the paper out of the barrels and un-tape everything. The result is some pretty realistic looking weapons. In the photo above, you are looking at my M-14, M-16  and M-79. I will be bringing the M-79 to the meeting on Wednesday at Hammer Six's request.

Next, is a picture of the display case that will be part of my Ft. Thomas display. This is a display of some items from the Vietnam Story saga, including Doc's Diary, some medals and patches and a 40 some year old package of Camel cigarettes (unopened). I am really pleased with the way this came out. It will be interesting to see over the course of four days how many people thing this stuff is real. I plan to have some fun with it.

The last thing I worked on this weekend is a sample of a Ft. Thomas ID that will be available to club members that want them. I will tell everyone a little bit more about this on Wednesday. It is styled after a current Military ID on the front, though it is very much themed for the SSCC. The back has an EVENT STAFF message. The ID is done on heavy card-stock and is laminated and comes with a lanyard. It looks a little washed out in the picture, I think that was because of my flash. It's actually fairly bright. I can do the laminating myself. If you do want one, I will be appreciative of anyone who would like to give a dollar donation to help pay for the materials, but regardless, If you are going to be working Ft. Thomas and want one, I will make one for you.
Well, that is what I did this weekend. It was fairly productive. Hope everyone else had a great time. Until next time, have a good one.

This is a project idea that I have had for a long time, but it has never come to completion. Thought I would share it anyway as it might serve as an inspiration for someone in search of a unique project.

I have always been interested in mining, in particular the prospector of the 19th Century. Living in Colorado for 16 years, I even tried my hand at some amateur prospecting (an amateur it was). As I became interested in 19th Century figures, I thought it would really be fun to create a prospector with all his various equipment (gold pan, shaker, sluice box, etc). Well, I didn't get too far on the project, but eventually I will get started on it once again. Here is what I did get done.

First of all, let me point out that donkey. My good friend CK2 made that donkey. He started with a Best of the West Pony, changed the tail, and re-sculpted the head, ears and main to create a really nice looking donkey. It only needs to be painted (and guess who was assigned to get that done - guilty as charged). The prospector started life as a 21st Century toys mercenary figure. Faux Fur hair was added. The face got a paint job and finally glasses were created using floral wire and a special glue created the glass.

The shirt originally came on a barbarian figure. The pants were from a Joe figure. Buttons were added to it to attach the Battlegear Toy suspenders to. That gunbelt is a Battlegear product as well. The hat was a felt one that I found at Michaels.

Here's a closeup of the head; you can see the hair a little better in this shot as well as the glasses. I don't know that I will ultimately end up using this particular figure in the finished project, but it is a pretty good head for a grisly old prospector with the modifications I've done. He has that "stay away from my gold" look about him.

Here's a closeup of the donkey's head. It is really a nice modification and it looks nothing like the original Best of the West piece, it well...looks like a donkey. CK2 did a beautiful job on it. I have since acquired another one of these pony figures and could probably make a second donkey following what he did on the first one. It would be kind of cool to have two donkeys for my prospector to lead through the high country. Below is another shot for inspiration.

I kind of have to believe that this shot was done just for fun. If not the prospector probably blew both himself and this beast of burden up before they got very far. Still, there are some interesting things about the load, shovels, rope, explosives and what looks like some cooking utensils. It's a pretty funny photo. The one below is a lot more plausible.

And on the note, that's all for this week. Sunday night we will head off in a different direction. Until then, have a good one!

Tonight we are going to feature CK2 and his site again with a brief discussion of his Indian Tepee. The first time I ever saw this thing was in pictures on Green Leader's site, which I finally saw it in real life, I just couldn't believe how cool it was because pictures just don't do it justice. Not only is it scale, it has some absolutely beautiful hand done artwork on it. And the great thing is, if you want one for your Braves, you can make one too.

The reason why is simple, if you venture over to CK2's website, you will find a terrific pattern with instructions that will enable you to make your very own Plains Indian Tepee. The diagram at left is just one page of those instructions, which CK2 has provided in 1:6th format. I believe he even has some comments on the process to help guide you through it. I mean look at it, what's not to like (picture below).

Imagine a whole Indian village of these things, each with their own unique designs. There are probably tons of resources online to help with the artistry element. I know that Okimbored is thinking right now,"wouldn't my Cavalry look really good riding into an Indian village?" Yes, of course it would. Especially if your Indians are all wearing buckskins created from the pattern that is also on CK2's site (Yes, and "HOW"-okay I know, really bad pun).

To get to CK2's website, if you don't already have it bookmarked, click on the link below.

CheckmateKing2's Kingdom

Head on over an' check it out, you will be glad you did. Well, that is it for this evening. Join us again tomorrow night for a new update. Until then, have a good one!