New Painting Book - Color Formulas and Techniques for the Model Horse Artist

I have been searching for this book off and on for about five years now. I emailed the company to see if there was any chance it would be reprinted and the reply was they had such grand plans for the third edition. So it sounds like its unlikely to be reprinted. However they were nice enough to send a couple of links to a model horse forum that used copies can be found on from time to time. One link was to a copy which was missing the formula cards but I already had a set of those so this was a good buy for me at a reasonable price; $65.

This is a three ring binder style book with pages that measure 5 1/2" by 8 1/2" which is definitely an odd size. Its also geared towards the larger scale horses like those by Breyer (and I thought our hobby was niche) so really its most appropriate for 54mm and larger horses but there are some things that can be applied to 28mm horses at least those meant primarily for display or competition, gaming horses aren't likely to need this kind of treatment except for maybe a mounted commander or mounted command stand.

But I find the subject fascinating and I'm probably going to learn a lot more about painting horses than I'm ever really going to need.

Nice cover and Carol Williams is apparently one of the top model horse artists in the hobby. This is the 2nd Edition, 3rd Printing from '97. From what I understand its the last printed edition and there is not an ebook or an intent to publish it as an ebook,. This makes not sense to me as the format is just about perfect and you could go full color for very little effort. Copies with that still have the formula cards apparently have sold for well over $100. I would say that the demand is still there.

It has a weird page numbering system with the numbers starting over for each chapter. All I can really tell you at this point is that there is an 1 1/4 worth of pages there. I probably don't need the first 9 chapters of the book as it includes pretty everything a model horse artists needs to know in depth including types of paints and how they interact with each other. Since I'm already a fairly experienced painter I figured I could skip those sections and skip right to the "how to" chapters.

Kickstarter Watch 1 - Tiny Epic Western Boardgame

I have really reduced the number of Kickstarters that I have gotten involved with but this is one that I'll be jumping on; Tiny Epic Western. I have their last Kickstarter game; Tiny Epic Galaxies and while I haven't had a chance to play it yet it is well designed with high quality pieces and parts and was delivered on time! I have high hopes for this one as well and apparently so does everyone else. It kicked off today and has already crossed the $117,000 pledge mark and wiped out all their initial stretch goals. They were only looking for $15,000! This might create a delay in production but I'm okay with that as it fits into the western genre that I love. For $26 you are in for the deluxe version with all the add-ons and digital content. What are you waiting for? Tiny Epic Western

I'm not sure about fitting in your pocket but Tiny Epic Galaxies easily fits in my full backpack.

At the beginning

In play

This is currently what you would be getting in the deluxe edition of the game.. Shipping in the US is only $2, Shipping everywhere else was looking pretty reasonable.

Building Calamity 22 - The "Hardware" Store - Windows and Trim

I was able to spend a lot of time at the workshop today. Sometimes I get started and I just don't realize how much time has gone by. Today was one of those days. I'm pushing hard to get to the assembly and painting stage on the Hardware Store. It feels like I'm just not pushing forward as fast as I want to. I must say though that this model is eating up the plastic strips. That's another reason to using commercial windows and doors whenever its possible.

Today I finished all the windows on the bottom floor, that includes the side and front windows. Along with that I tried to finish up all the interior trim as well. After it was all done though I see that I forgot to add the trim to the door on the second story. Something to finish up before I get to the next phase.

The next phase is at least going to include priming the interior walls. I'm going to try out my home made wallpaper and I think its going to stick better to primered walls. Or I may just rough all the interior walls with sandpaper and hope that gives a better surface to glue to.

Some pictures from today:

Building one of the big front window frames

Exterior, 2nd Floor Windows

Interior, 2nd Floor Windows

Finished, 2nd Floor Windows

Interior 2nd Floor

Interior, 2nd Floor End

Interior 2nd Floor, Front

Interior Wall, 2nd Floor

Interior Wall, 1st Floor

Exterior 1st Floor

  

Interior, 1st Floor Front

Exterior, 1st Floor Front

Finished Interior 1st floor walls

First floor, I like the configuration at this point.

Building Calamity 21 - The "Hardware" Store - Building Some Windows

I put the jig to work tonight and built up the windows for the upper floors. I decided not to replace the window in the front so I just had to build up three windows requiring six frames. I think things went pretty well. I did need to shim the windows a bit to ensure a tight fit but that turned out to not be to difficult. I finished them off with framing on the interior and exterior walls. I'll build up the rest of the side windows, which will use the middle portion of the jig, and the front windows, which use the bottom portion of the jig, when I have some extended time to sit down at the workbench again.

Putting the jig to work

The results

Side windows going in with the help of some shims for a tight fit.

The back window isn't quite as fancy as the front and side

A Care Package from Multi-Man Publishing

I haven't bought a new board wargame since I acquired a copy of Ogre from Steve Jackson Games. Part of my Christmas Present to myself was to complete my collection of Great Campaigns of the American Civil War. This first six volumes (games) in this series were published by Avalon Hill, the last three have been published by Multi-Man Publishing under license. When the first game in the series, Stonewall Jackson's Way, was released back in '92 it really set a new standard for maps. I would buy these games just for the maps. The original six were all set to the same scale so you could overlap them and put together almost the entire eastern theater. I will have to pull out my copy of Grant Takes Command and see if the maps still link up, I'm sure they do.

Boardgames have become incredibly expensive! These games ran $83 each, I think the originals only cost between $20 and $30, the only consolation is that I don't have to paint any miniatures to play them. Volume VIII is Battle Above the Clouds and covers both the Chickamauga and Chattanooga campaigns. I haven't opened the boxes yet or I'll become very distracted, maybe on the weekend.

Volume IX is a little different. It is both a revision of the original Stonewall Jackson's Way as well as covering the entire 1st Bull Run campaign. Its been a long time since I have sat down to play a wargame and I'm looking forward to pulling the whole collection out and playing them again.

Just what I was hoping for a box of air bags. They are a lot better than foam peanuts though!

An invoice, I had managed to forget how much these cost me