That is a neat find indeed.  I'd not seen this anywhere else...

When the original mock-up shots of the Red Leader were dug up by Scott I believe, wasn't there also a mock-up of a Vader TIE Fighter boxed set?

I could be wrong...  Maybe Scott can chime in since he has a better memory on stuff like that.  

Yeah, I always dip back into things...  I try practicing any way I can to master certain techniques...  Everything from complex casting techniques (nothing's been as complex as casting minis though, and I doubt anything ever is), making true water-transfer decals that are high quality, etc...

In the meantime, just try to get what I can if I can afford it.

It's all one can do I guess.  

Hey Thomas, thanks for the kind words...  I'm not nearly that impressive though, haha...  But it's nice someone thinks so anyway.  

For the toothpick thing, I actually learned to improvise tools like that when I built model military figures as a child...  Tamiya and some other companies put out some really REALLY amazing World War II model kits that my brothers got into, and then I started grabbing an odd kit here and there to make figures.  They had everything from BMW German motorcycle couriers to Artillery crews you could put on a German 88 model or Flak gun or whatnot.  Really neat stuff.  

Since I couldn't afford the expensive brushes at the time, and was spending $ on various things as a kid, I improvised the tools sometimes.  Pins, toothpicks, etc...  Even cobbled good brushes from cheap testors model brushes by cutting the hairs to a point and such.

The casting that you do sounds great and I am very intrigued that you are so adept at it. I have probably missed a thread of where you post your customs and miniatures and I apologize for not being a more well-rounded forum reader.

I wouldn't say I'm adept at it, but thanks.  I'm just self-taught because I wanted to get to know how to make my own pieces and cast entire customs instead of relying on Hasbro to make a decent figure themselves or only having one of a figure I made incase I wanted more than one.

You've missed no threads though, don't worry.  The few customs I have done I'm not really wanting to show right now...  Most I've scrapped and want to improve upon.  I have a lot of projects that are partly finished...  Those are mostly vehicles though.  My casting's been dead in the water for a while since I can't afford supplies at the moment and am out of most everything I need.  I have worked on scratch built vehicles and some modified vehicles but only have them partly finished...  One project's even been years in the making, and is nowhere near done, haha.  Sad...

To get the detail on the miniatures must be a total pain, especially if you have to apply sprues for pieces that extend out too far. The other thing is that the sanding and cleaning up must be a royal pain on something so small. I have tried my hand at jewelry and wanted to start using my tiny files and sanding tools and just flush them along with my work. I just do not have the patience.

Yeah, nailing detail right is a pain, and takes practice, but good minis painters really can do amazing work because a lot of minis are VERY intricately detailed.  The old West End Games ones were amazing, really.  If you ever get the chance to see some of them, they're worth a look.  The Lord ofo the Rings ones are superior even if you ask me.  Those are a diverse line...  There's even a vintage line, and the modern tabletop minis line that's out now.  I think they're the same scale too.  The vintage line my brother had all of, and he's a true master at minis painting.  He even was able to paint tattoos on figures in that tiny scale....  That just boggles my mind.  He has a vast array of speciality tools he uses to do his work too.  Lots of magnifying equipment, clamps, etc...  And the things look like real mini people when he's done too.  

It really does take a lot of patience and a steady hand...  It can result in some great items when you're done though.  The old SW minis are a neat side collecting thing too.

When you customize the 3 3/4" figure, I imagine it must be in many different pieces that you join when they are set. My obstacle has always been the engineering aspect of the action figure. The joints always come out mangled or oversized or not at all. I prefer a bit of a larger scale and I don't fear the small, I just abhor the maintenance of getting them to the finished product./quote]

A good way to work it is to build off an existing base, if you're casting a figure.  That way you get the correct joints and things.  not possible for a 100% handmade figure, but it's good for improving figures that Hasbro's given you a start to (or any other company).  Proper casting should yield a perfect copy more or less though, so it should work out...  I've done that just practicing, simply to see if I could do working joints...  I casted a Dr. Evazan upper body perfectly...  Was pretty neat.  There's other problems I'll run into then later, more advanced things I guess, but for a basic run it worked and I was pretty proud at the time.  It's just so darn expensive to get into though.

You'll have to post some images of your items you've casted, I'm pretty curious to see them.  At some point maybe I'll be able to post images of something I've done, but at the moment I'm dead in the water on the issue of customizing.  Eventually though.    

If the minis line pans out to be a true minis battles game I'm probably not going to bother casting any minis anymore.  May as well just buy em I figure.  I just hope the game's as good as the old WEG one was.  That thing rocked...  I hope the minis are that nice (prepainted or not) and as diverse as WEG had.  

BTW, here's a cool site I found for that track near me...  This thing kicks ass, it's a nice BIG outdoor track.

Wide lanes too, pretty sweet.

http://www.mcculloughs-offroad.com/index.html

Love this arial shot of the thing.    



It's less than 20 minutes I'd say from my place.  Gotta love that.  Sadly it's the ONLY track here.

In Texas I guess these tracks are semi-common...  Or so I'm finding.  

Anyway, I just hope the people at the racing track are nice guys...  I hate getting into hobbies where there's a distinct dislike for the outsiders.  I was in this hobby long ago, but am sure I don't know anyone in it now.  

Nobody likes that feeling of being the new guy of course, but it's doubly worse when the hobby's full of people who are arrogant and stuck up.  Unfortunately I think the Star Wars hobby is getting that way too.

Check out some of the "Elitists" in it anymore...  Sheesh!  I was tearing through scum tonight, and there's so many guys there now that just look down on anyone...  It's to the point there's even names that are intended to be semi-condescending to the new guys, or to Star Wars fans in general.  

Hiearchey of geek-dome should never exist, but somehow some of the guys involved are making it that way anymore.  That's pathetic in and of itself.

I know from experience that a lot of the vets of RCing aren't privy to helping new people.  It's a competitive hobby too, so maybe that has something to do with it...  Star Wars doesn't have any reason to be that way, yet it still does.  

Eh, it's still on topic I suppose.  It's related to minis I guess right?

Well, I don't really use a specific brush brand myself...  I use anything from needles and toothpicks on up to expensive brushes I pick up at Hobby shops.  There's a couple shops dedicated to RPG and minis gaming in Pittsburgh that you can get supplies specifically for minis at.

I tend to use a variety of paint for minis though, as their composition lends them to using most any brand of model or hobby paint.  Testors works fine since the plastics used are generally rigid.  The other minis are cast metal, so it's real easy to find paints that work well.  Keeping them from chipping is more a problem really.  Clear coats work fine though, but in that small a detail, if you want something like a single piece to shine with the rest of the figure being flat, then even clear coating can be a chore.

As for casting, I use poly-eurithane resins, which I also employ in customizing Star Wars figures as well, but casting miniatures is a side thing.  The intricate detail makes it difficult so some complex methods are  needed to do proper casts but it's cheaper than looking for metal minis from a line that was canned back in the early 90's.  West End Games had some of the best minis out though.  There's like a dozen different stormtroopers, and a dozen different Rebel Troopers...  It's great really.  

Anyway, on the brushes again, yeah I don't use anything particular...  Whatever looks really good to me for what I need it for is more what I look at.  Often times for the details though, like I said, I go with any tool I can rig at the time like needle points and things...  No brush seems good enough for me then, not when painting eyes in that scale, haha.  

Yeah, that's one I've been looking at, and it's one of the few Nitro cars to have reverse too, which I really want since racing isn't my main thing...  4-wheel drive's a plus too.

I'm hoping to get out there and find some new things out about other trucks...  Run time is a key for me also, tied with the ability to pop into R, so I gotta make sure I check all my options first.  

I am really psyched to get a new truck and drive some...  Maybe make some new friends in the hobby in my area, though I know of absolutely no established tracks around here.  Blah

Couple articles for this game got linked to at Scum today...

It DOES have a SinglePlayer format, thank god, but I'm having doubts still about the quality.  Sounds like you mindlessly run around shooting people, and there's no structured goals for the game except to simply defeat all of your enemies...

No goals to attain beyond that, no puzzles to solve, little (or no) real strategy really...  

Graphics rock, and I reaplaced my desktop with a nifty shot of an AT-ST and Imp. Officer below it, but beyond that this game sounds like a BF1942 clone with a Single Player "game domination" mode that isn't a structured/storylined singleplayer game in the traditional sense.