Sheesh. I cleaned up and reorganized the work area (the “Cubbyhole of Death”) and even got a new-fangled battery-powered mini Dremel… and the unfinished dollmaking projects still sit there. It’s my natural modal ebb & flow, and it does no good to try to force it. My current mood is to do other things; get outside more, go bike-riding… and the honeydoo list. In the right frame of mind, such projects are actually kind of fun, and the results are gratifying. It astonishes me to think that I can spend weeks agonizing over a doll project, but it only takes a fraction of that to install a vent fan, paint a wall, or put up a fence. There’s something seriously decadent about the amount of energy (and money) I’ve devoted to the dollmaking/collecting hobby, while neglecting the practical stuff! Uh… Like guitar playing? Yeah, I’ve been doing some of that, too.

Playing guitar and its gear-tinkering aspect shares similarities to the dollmaking hobby; they’re equally impractical but amusing endeavors for those of us who don’t rely on them for income, and both have collecting/customizing appeal. For me, it’s nearly impossible to justify buying any more guitars & amps: No room & no need. Damn. (and I was soooo tempted to get the Stratocaster VG just for its gizmotronic novelty factor, and I really like the way Rickenbackers look.)

So I’ve been settling for projects, like installing a battery box in Frankenstrat #5 so I don’t have to take off the jackplate to replace the battery. I replaced the Lace Sensors in my Hexpander Strat with Fender’s Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickups (it’s a good thing that I’d documented that guitar’s innards online, because I’d forgotten what all the switches did!). They’re much quieter than the older red/blue/silver Lace sensors. Eventually, maybe, I’ll scallop the neck of my newest Strat; that would be cheaper than getting a Yngwie Malmsteen Strat that I don’t have room for. I was tempted to procure Fender’s S1 switch so that I could play around with it, but realized that it wouldn’t work any better or do anything more than a multi-pole toggle or rotary switch. Besides, it’s not a good idea to install exotic parts that nobody but Fender stocks.

I said that it was nearly impossible to justify buying any more guitars & amps, but I didn’t say gadgets! Roland’s VG-99 is the ultimate guitar toy, and it’s easier to rationalize the spending if you’ve already got a guitar with a 13-pin output (or two). It’s smaller than an amp or guitar and fits on a tabletop, so space isn’t a problem, and with a VG-99, I don’t need to get a Strat VG! (it’s never really about “need”, anyway.)

This is an absolutely amazing and fun gizmo. Out of the box, it models instruments (electric/acoustic/12-string/analog synth), fx, and amps very convincingly. Bill Ruppert’s samples indicate what could be done… in theory, if you were a god-like studio musician. For the rest of us, it’s an excellent noodling machine and noisemaker.

Unlike a MIDI interface synthesizer, there’s absolutely no tracking latency. However, it’s not a MIDI synthesizer, so there are sounds that it doesn’t naturally make (like realistic organ, piano, horns, pipes, etc.) Since I’m not a Bill Ruppert and can’t make it sound like those things, I ran it in parallel with my GR-33 synthesizer, which involved installing an additional GK-3 pickup on my Hexpander Strat. (Roland cleverly designed the VG-99 without subsonic filters at the front end so that their magnetic hex pickup works better than everyone else’s piezo pickups… which track better for MIDI– hence, the need for both.)

Anyway, the sound using both units is HUGE… as is the mound of patch cords and cables that link it all together through a cheapie Behringer 802 mixer. The computer’s stereo headphone mix is awesome, but I had to get a second Cube 60 amp to hear it “live”, in balanced stereo. So I guess there was room for one more amp? Sadly, this forced my old ’71 Twin Reverb into retirement, or storage; it has too many sentimental ties to cut loose.

Yep, it’s all pretty decadent, and it seems like even more of a guilty pleasure after reading this serious stuff about “Peak Oil”.

It’s hard to deny the basic logic behind it, and the implications are pretty sobering: Our civilization’s mantra is Growth, but growth relies on our world’s limited supply of resources that we’ve been burning through at an unprecedented rate. The only long-term and abundant supply of energy that doesn’t suck something from the Earth comes from an external source, our sun. Although we’re inclined to believe that the markets will rebound (as they’ve always done), and that science will come to our rescue (as it’s always done), what if they don’t, and what if it doesn’t? The clock is ticking. The future might not be what wish it would be. Only the very privileged few will get those flying cars that they promised us in the fifties…

This stuff is depressing and no one wants to hear it, but it may make you see our daily goings-on in a different light… and see how doomed we are. There’s so much waste for frivolous things, there are so many of us, and we all want cool, fun stuff and the good life. The implications for future generations and our civilization are too abstract and too far removed to motivate the mass of humanity to begin making meaningful sacrifices. “Sacrifice” doesn’t sell very well; we want our share of the pie, and don’t want to believe in anything that threatens it. We do want to believe that somehow, things will work out for those poor, unfortunate pie-eaters of the future.

On the plus side, it would make us a less attractive target for evil robots and alien conquerors.

-Jimbobwan

On the fun side was the acquisition of a GPS — fun for me, in a geekish way.  It’s a boringly practical road tool, but I had fun doing Internet research, connecting it up to my computer and figuring out how to tweak it with 3rd party stuff and not configure it into a paperweight.  It’s a marvelous piece of technology, and since we pay for the satellites, we common folks might as well take advantage of them.  I must avoid the temptation to turn it into a video file player since that doesn’t mix very well with driving.

The other fun thing was discovering the joys of Dahon folding bicycles.  In some parts of the country it’s still considered winter, but it was 90 degrees F in Texas not long ago.  (That’s why it’s not all that strange to be talking about outdoors grills in January, or bike-riding in February/March.)  I first learned of these wonders when I spied a folded-up mechanism chained to a bike rack. I’m a sucker for Transformer-like mechanisms (hence my interest in kewl things like Uzis and mean-looking guns).

Initially, I was looking at Dahon’s line of larger-wheeled bikes.  I thought the small ones looked dorky and didn’t believe that they were “real” bikes.  Well, the dorkiness issue was swept aside once I had the opportunity to ride one.  They are real bikes, and despite the small 20″ wheels, you don’t have to pedal like a monkey on a tricycle.  They’re lightweight too, and easy to hump around.  And because they fold into a reasonably small package, you can keep one (or two) in your car’s trunk.  For me, that’s the main appeal: No bike racks, no removing the front wheel and struggling to position the rest of it in the back seat.  I carry mine around in my trunk and it takes about 30 seconds to unload and unfold. At work, I can hit the hike & bike trail that’s only a couple blocks away.  On weekends, my wife & I can bike in areas that are more scenic then our neighborhood, and more distant than we’d be willing/able to bike to from home, on a whim as we’re driving around.  (Damn, my butt hurts.)

The not-so-fun stuff is that we’re been painting the interior and having new siding put on our house.  Exciting, huh?  There are sure a lot more fun ways to spend that kind of green, but it’s the adult thing to do.  It’s also pretty disruptive, with all the hammering that’s been going on.  My one bit of advice is that you take their warnings about moving things away from exterior walls very seriously.  I learned the hard way that it wasn’t enough to simply lay things down on shelves.  The hammer blows can conduct and propagate from the exterior to the interior shelves, launching stuff off shelves, or even dislodging shelves.  Very, very disheartening. Once the dust settles, I’ve got quite a few things to fix and missing parts to find.  (FWIW, the Aliens die-cast Dropship is very appropriately named.)

As for the Texas primaries, it’s good to know that we actually matter at this late date. My vote was cast during early voting; Issues aside (because with so few candidates, it’s nearly impossible to find one who shares all your views on the issues), I reasoned that it made sense to vote for someone who brought people together and didn’t tout their reputation as a fighter.  The wheels of legislation aren’t greased by drawing lines in the sand, team-spirit chest-thumping or the verbal version of knife fighting.  I doubt it will ultimately make any difference though… the polar ice caps will still melt. Giant ferns and club mosses will thrive in the expanding marshland, increasing the oxygen content of our atmosphere, which will allow cockroaches, spiders and scorpions to grow as big as SUVs.  We’ll wish that we were only having to deal with those weenie SHTF-zombie critters.

-03/03/08

The interesting & frustrating part of this was doing the research. I’d expected the Internet to be a great source for the real dirt on which models to check out and which to avoid. I didn’t want to pay Consumer Reports for the info; besides, you can’t really see what they’ve got on their website without subscribing. Long story made short: I wish we’d subscribed early on. For this quest, the Internet is a sea of identical bland sales copy, straight from the manufacturer’s marketing division. Yes, it’s good to know the technical specs, but I wanted some real opinions, discussions, and advice. There’s a little bit out there, but not enough to make you feel like you can select based on more than basic specs, price, and looks.

There are probably good reasons for this. Manufacturers put out bunches of different models, and they’re constantly bringing out new ones (or so it seems), some of which are sold only through specific vendors. Chances are that if you do find solid recommendations for a model, it’s for an old model that’s been discontinued. Appliances aren’t the kind of thing that people get fanatical about, like say… Doctor Who, or Aliens. You don’t find Usenet groups or websites devoted to gossip about kitchen appliances. Generally, people don’t submit reviews to vendor websites unless they’re really pissed, or are shills.

So off we went, armed with scant information about a few prospects… As I’ve learned from personal experience, a manufacturer’s reputation means diddley these days, and doesn’t protect you from being the unfortunate purchaser of a turkey that dies before its time (uhhhh… Sony?). We ordered a Maytag range based on the few reviews we could find, and it seems to boil water just fine. The control panel has a bunch of extra stuff on it that we’re unlikely to use because you have to consult the manual (unless you remember how to use it). I’ve verified that convection fan does spin, but it didn’t seem to make much difference in how fast our peach turnovers cooked or how good they tasted. We hate the porcelain-coated burner grates.

I miss our old cheapie builder’s special oven. I could throw tortillas, hot dogs, and Hatch peppers onto it’s old grungy burner grates and not worry about staining or discoloring. I miss cooking by instinct, where it was just the oven knob and my powers of observation. Our cat misses the top’s flat napping area. I suppose I’ll get used to it– that is, if we can ever get over our neurotic desire to keep it looking new and clean.

[Note: We didn't.  The skinny taupe grates started getting black marks from pots sitting on top of them, so we returned it and got a GE with manly matte black grates.  The GE also has a recessed area in the back, which allows it to install flush against the wall, whereas the Maytag didn't (the electrical and gas hookup have to go somewhere, don't they? Duh.).]

The toaster oven quest was a lot easier since our old Black & Decker was such an awful piece of junk. We were seduced by the fact that it could be mounted undercabinet, but its anemic 3 heating elements were positioned so that it was incapable of cooking anything evenly. Perhaps we overcompensated, but our new Krups box (with good Internet reviews) is twice as big, has 6 quartz elements mounted on the top and bottom, with a convection fan. It generates some serious heat.

The microwave was the toughest purchase. We initially searched for a space-saving above-the-range microwave/vent hood so we could reclaim counter space. We were almost sold on the Maytag model that matched our range… except for the few user reviews we were able to find, complaining about the thing dying within a month or two; the hassle and foot-dragging of warranty repair; and the replacement (when finally delivered) doing the same thing. We broadened our search to include different manufacturers and models and heard the same kind of thing, more or less. In this case, we were far more sensitive to reviews mentioning longevity because the thing required installation. If it died within two years, I’d be mighty pissed. It doesn’t help that mounting brackets are not standardized. If you replaced it with a different model, chances are that you’d have to drill new holes to put up new mounting hardware. We weren’t willing to repeatedly patch drywall and repeatedly drill holes into the stud. After wasting lots of time on that, we came to the realization that a countertop unit made much more sense. You get more bang for the buck with a countertop model, and it really doesn’t “lose” countertop space. The countertop space is transferred to the top of the microwave. The unusable countertop space is actually the area in front of the microwave door. Therefore, it made sense to get a microwave that was fairly deep and wide (to transfer as much counterspace as possible to the top), but not very tall (to maximize the space above the microwave, under the cupboards). We came up with a 1.6 cu ft. 1250 watt Panasonic unit that fit the bill and had neato gimmicks like “Inverter” technology, sensor cooking, and a knob for dialing in settings. If it dies, we haul it off and plug in the old one. No big deal.

We haven’t actually used it yet because it was an online order that’s supposed to be delivered today. We tried to buy locally, but after spending an hour picking it out at the store, none were in stock (grrrr…). As we found out during our expedition the next day, no one had it locally (grrrrr…), or any alternates that fit the bill (grrrrr…)

So… after all that, the main two meals we’ve cooked since this weekend have been ribeyes and fajitas. Both of these were cooked on the outdoors grill, which has a seriously deteriorating grate (beware of porcelain-coated grating!), and is in worse shape than anything we’ve replaced. I suspect that the upcoming weekend will be similar to the last two, but at least I don’t need to do any research: Outdoors grills are (usually) simple beasts. It’s much more fun to cook outdoors using simple controls and instinct; it also helps keep the new & shiny high-tech indoors stuff clean.

PICO DE GALLO RECIPE
(adapted from what I remember of Los Tres Bobo’s recipe)

Tomatoes
Onions
Serrano Peppers
Cilantro
Garlic/Garlic powder
Olive Oil
Malt Vinegar
Seasoning Salt/MSG

Santoku knife works great.

Slice & dice tomatoes; thinly slice & chop onion (no huge pieces); thinly slice & chop Serranos & Cilantro (even finer than onions), ditto for garlic (even finer than Serranos & Cilantro, or/and use garlic powder).

Let your tastebuds guide the ratios; the heat of peppers varies and preferences differ. I like it just below the point where it scorches my tastebuds, so they can recover before the next bite. (However, a Jalapeno that gives you hiccups and makes you sweat is worth waiting through the recovery time.)

-01/16/08

GRILL QUEST
Grill Quest turned out to be a much bigger deal than I’d imagined! Once I started doing my homework I realized it’s complicated and that these suckers can be really expensive, with prices ranging from less than a hundred bucks, up to several grand.

The reason for this can be pretty obvious: For several grand you get a stainless steel aircraft carrier. At the lower and mid range, it’s not so obvious. The hundred buck models can look similar to those that cost about $500. The difference is quality, manifested in the materials, construction, and the manufacturer’s reputation. These mainly have an impact on the grill’s longevity.

What I learned: Non-magnetic 300-series stainless steel is expensive but stands up to the elements better than 400-series stainless. Enameled steel has the shortest life and is what’s found on those $99 specials. This applies to the burners and grates too. Good stainless grates and burners last longest with less maintenance; porcelainized steel/cast iron lasts as long as the coating maintains its integrity (and goes south quickly once it’s breached), and cast iron produces the best searing but needs seasoning and a lot of maintenance because it’s born to rust. Porcelainized metals are widely used in mid-ranged grills since they’re a lower-cost compromise between performance, durability, and ease of maintenance. Just be careful and don’t chip through the porcelain coating because the metal will rust under the coating, expand, and further crack the porcelain.

Our first gas grill was the Weber Q: It’s a great little grill that requires almost zero maintenance. I’ve abused ours for years, and after the deteriorating grating surface started fusing with the steaks, I realized that it was time to get a new grate. At first I was pissed because I’d brushed and scraped off the obvious rust and flakes, but more kept appearing in layers– it’s that damned porcelainized cast iron! In retrospect, I now realize that the grate and the burner tube are worked the hardest, so they’re expected periodic replacements. After cleaning the grill and replacing the grate, it’s like a virgin again (a soiled virgin, that is). The downside of the Weber Q is that it’s underpowered, and with its single burner, indirect heat cooking isn’t possible. I’ve dealt with the underpowered aspect by preheating for about 20 minutes; this gets the grate surface hot enough to sear meat. I mainly cook full-blast with the top down.

We have a small patio area so I wanted to replace/supplement our Weber Q with a a fairly compact gas grill, preferably with stainless steel grates and burners. A 3-burner model fit the bill and provided a degree of versatility for doing indirect heat cooking. Initially, I looked at the Weber models– the bottom end Spirit line, and then the Genesis line. These have great reviews, but after seeing them in person, I decided that they were too big: The controls were mounted on the right work surface, and the Genesis’ left work surface isn’t detachable or foldable.

We ended up with Barbeque Galore’s low-end 3-burner Capt’n Cook model, mainly because of its foldable work surfaces, but also because we could upgrade the grill and burners to stainless steel. I liked the semi-modular approach; that you could upgrade parts from other models in their line. The more stainless steel trim you add, the higher the price goes. I’ve read that you can cook with the hood open on this grill; in fact, they warn you not to cook with the cover down or preheat for too long. The thermometer doesn’t go up to 700 so I followed their instructions (5 minute preheat, no higher than 475F?), and erred on the side of caution. My first attempts were disappointing. I believe that once the grill gets dirty and I start ignoring their directions, it’ll put out some tasty, grill-flavored meat. The problem is that there’s a limit to how much testing you can do with a new grill: We already have enough leftovers to last through the week.

With the taste of disappointment still fresh, I wasn’t ready to let the unresolved question go unresolved. A trip to Academy Surplus/Sports produced a new grilling toy: the Ultra Sear, a cheap knock-off of Solaire’s portable infrared grill. It looks and feels solid enough, although a magnet proved that the stainless steel is the inferior 400-series stuff. Nevertheless, it did the trick. After a quick 3-minute preheat and 1 minute on each side, I was treated to a sweet grill-flavored ribeye snack, still mooing in the center. If you prefer your meat somewhat cooked in the center, you can turn down the heat, but I’m not sure how effective that is (and not likely to find out).

–01/23/08

I’ve just re-read my October “Impressions of the Hobby: Fall 2007″ entry and with a couple months’ perspective, feel that it gave a reasonably accurate picture. Yes, the revised “Perfect Body” is kind of like a cadaver pumped full of embalming fluid; it hints of BBI’s and Cy Girl’s glory days but the eyes suggest that the hobby is actually dead. That’s misleading. Some parts aren’t getting much circulation, but some parts are quite healthy. After these couple months I’m now many bucks poorer, but I’ve got a bunch of Hot Toys sci-fi stuff to show for it, and a bead on their offerings for 2008. As near as I can tell, the militaria segment of the hobby is doing well too; there are plenty of modern day militaria releases, and Dragon’s now giving last names to their Germans where first names used to be adequate. Sideshow is still plowing through their licenses, and their Star Wars license ought to keep fans busy spending for a while. I picked up their “Return of the Jedi” Luke because I thought the headsculpt (despite its goofy expression) looked closer than Medicom’s, and their Assaj Ventress doll because she looked like such a great snarly Jimbob-esque female (despite being from a really ugly, stylized cartoon). I’ve decided to pass on the just-released New Hope Leia & Obiwan because I’m not looking to jump start my Star Wars collecting again. If I were in the market for a new collecting niche, I’d probably check out DID’s samurai series. Back in the day, that would have been a no-brainer, but there’s too much other stuff that wants my money… and when you can say that, you realize that claims heralding the demise of the 1:6th scale hobby are premature.

Certain parts of the hobby do seem to be suffering a dry spell however. Hasbro’s left the building for those who crave nostalgia Joe, but hints that they’ll be back with Joe in a less vintage form. The femfig faction is left with table scraps, the cadaver, the S-1, and insane eBay prices now that Takara/Tomy is on a slow release diet of exotics. There are promises of fodder on the horizon and the usual higher-end fashion doll stuff is still out there, but that has a limited appeal for some involved in the male-dominated 1:6 Joe hobby: I’ve never been a fashion doll dude and anime-style doesn’t do anything for me. Even though most of my dollmaking interest does lie in femfigs, I don’t consider the state of fodder to be much of a deal-killer, but an opportunity; reworking a chunk of plastic with decent hinges into a doll with child-bearing hips is my specialty. (As long as I can scrounge a good pair of hands.)

Prices have risen. More and more factory-produced stuff costs as much as or more than custom stuff did back in the day. Inflation accounts for a lot, and the price of oil ripples through the price of everything. Granted, the factory stuff is much slicker than the home-made stuff, and memories aren’t adjusted for inflation. However, that’s not the whole story. Manufacturers have had to adapt to the realities of the hobby, and one of those is that this isn’t a huge, mainstream hobby. Mass production lowers per-unit costs through efficiency; but if the production run is small and involves lots of steps and materials, you don’t realize that efficiency. Dolls with more pieces/accessories/working detail are more work to produce, and accordingly, raises prices for the consumer. That’s basically the same rule that the commercial customizers lived by. Although love of the hobby is an important prerequisite, production is about making a profit. Manufacturers have had to learn their price points the hard way. Through the years, we’ve seen examples of manufacturers initially offering great bang-for-the-buck; then the price rises, and then the product offerings are pared back or the manufacturer drops out. One has to assume that those manufacturers were reacting to a reality that that they hadn’t foreseen.

The mass market doesn’t support the kind of stuff that many adult collectors want. Kids have lots of interests nowadays that don’t involve playing with dolls or action figures, but even during the best of times, it never offered the kind of high detail and quality that many adult collectors have come to expect from the non-mass market producers. Back in the day, we didn’t have much choice– it was mass market or the customizers. Today, we have a new type of producer that’s positioned between those choices. These producers don’t offer quite the “loving care” of a hand-finished custom piece, but they bring the precision and quality of industrial production to the table. Most importantly, they “democratize” the hobby by better matching production capacity with demand. Back when customizers ruled the upper end, the customer not only needed money, but patience to endure a customizer’s backlog of work, and faith that the customizer was reputable and would actually deliver more than excuses. The new breed of producers prove that more than a handful of people are willing to pay top dollar for a highly detailed product produced by a trustworthy, professional company.

As a non-commercial customizer and collector, I welcome this change. Commercial customizers had developed a bad reputation based on practices by a few individuals– whether they were morally flawed or not, it’s not my place to judge– but it’s clear that they were inept businessmen. I sized up the marriage of business and art early on and decided that it wasn’t for me: In my opinion, it’s best to leave that stuff in the hands of the experienced professionals. I also realized fairly early on that my subject matter attracted interest from younger folks with a lot of wants… but not a very realistic idea of the time-cost involved in hand-making this stuff. (Hint: I prefer to work for more than minimum wage.) The new production companies can fulfill this demand much better than customizers (and they do hire folks for less than the USA’s minimum wage). As my index page sez, I do it strictly for fun and personal gratification, and I haven’t regretted that decision in the 10+ years I’ve been doing this website.

As a collector, I’m glad that there’s some really kick-ass stuff out there, and much of it is stuff that I couldn’t produce. Hot Toy’s Powerloader far exceeded my expectations with all its detail and articulation. Their Terminator endoskeleton is a little over-the-top with its articulated fingers, but it’s something I had to have in my grubby hands to experience in person. Their Alien dolls are the best renditions so far and as a dollmaker, it’s been a joy to see a producer tackle the mix of rigid and flexible materials intelligently (other than the feet). The Aliens USCM dolls are a little less impressive (surprisingly, my custom Hicks/Hudson wasn’t made obsolete by their Hudson), but it’s great that they tackled the full range of gear– I would have never gotten around to making Vasquez’s & Drake’s smart gun or the flamethrower. Likewise, I’m not about to toss my custom version of Ripley, because it kinda resembles Sigourney (unlike theirs). As a result of having 3 Ripleys (1 for the Powerloader, 1 geared up), I’ve now got a spare Hot Toys female body to mess with. I’m pretty impressed with it (other than the head), but I’m not sure what one can do with the rubber torso; it would be review-worthy if it were actually available as fodder. The Predators: I’ve been having great fun with those, as you may have guessed from my last projects. They’re a great series for a collector, with lots of variety (and more to come) but it’s also been a great series to riff on. Thankfully, I discovered the Hot Toys stuff during a lull in Medicom’s Ultraman releases… and CCP’s been pretty quiet lately. That seems like such a long time ago… This year’s adult-targetted Ultraseven X TV show hasn’t inspired me to acquire new monsters, but it’s made me regret not learning Japanese.

Extrapolating for the whole year from a few months: For some folks (like me) it’s been a good year for the 1:6 collecting hobby (but not for the pocketbook). I’m not so sure about customizing though. If there’s a downside to this, it’s from things being made too easy. Customizing grew from lean conditions when there wasn’t much available and if you really wanted something, it often meant building it from scratch. On eBay, you frequently see something advertised as “custom”, but it’s really just a doll dressed with factory-made parts from another doll. It’s what’s called “kitbashing” nowadays, a term that has slipped considerably from it’s original meaning in kit modeling. With the non-mass market producers making practically everything under the sun, there’s very little incentive for the little guy to make anything. Or learn anything. I’m as guilty of this as anyone else– I used lots of prefab parts in my recent Predator projects. I could have learned how to knit fish nets, and I could have fabricated my own dreadlocks, but it was much easier and quicker just to buy them. It did the job, but I know that I’d have learned more and the project would have been more personally gratifying if I’d done the work. On the other hand, I have no desire to learn how to brew plastic, so there’s a happy and reasonable balance in there somewhere. It’s natural not to want to reinvent the wheel, so it’s just much harder finding reasons to make stuff nowadays. (That’s been a running gripe for the last 9 years, hasn’t it?)

Anyway– Looking forward to the new year (and more grousing)!

-12/28/07

Initially, I was pretty snobbish about the first AVP movie, but it grew on me and I’ve watched it bunches of times in the last month. What can I say? It’s entertaining and there are some kewl visuals.

However… as a doll/model maker, I feel that modern computer graphics make it too easy for filmmakers to do things that look neat, but don’t really work. I don’t have any problems with things like the Predator cloaking effect, magic, Doctor Who’s Tardis, the Terminator’s liquid metal alloy, or ray gun beams. What bothers me are things like the Predator’s Shuriken, which is like a frisbee with really long, sharp blades. Some Hot Toys AVP Predators comes with two versions: The compact stowed version and the version with the blades fully extended. The extended blades version looks cool, but it’s kind of a pain in the ass because it takes up a lot of space. It would be great if you could retract the blades, like you can retract the telescoping spear. The problem is, it’s totally bogus! If you watch the video in slow motion, it doesn’t unfurl with a logical mechanical motion, it magically sprouts the blades! Why? Because there’s no way that such a thing could be constructed unless the disk is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. In my opinion, if you’re going to make something that appears like it has a real mechanical basis, then you should be able to model it in the real world. Otherwise, give it something like plasma energy blades.

Okay… I’ll stop ranting now.

–11/26/07

Officially, the project’s done because I’ve uploaded the article. That really means that it’s almost done, and that I’m past the crunch mode where there’s always something major waiting to be made or be fixed. To preserve momentum, some parts serve as placeholders, pending a better idea; the point is to get to an acceptable level of “doneness” so that the project doesn’t drag on forever. Now I’m past that, so it’s time to kick back and look at what I’ve made, assess how it all fits together, lament about what needs to be fixed, think about improvements, and plan what I might make next. For example, the Hooter Predator’s forearm console panel was cut and hinged, but I haven’t detailed the innards. The feet are near-stock Medicom, and the hands could use some spikes or something. I’d like to try to make a telescoping spear, just to see if I can do it (probably not). I’d also like to try to remake some of the Hot Toys Predator helmets because they’re heavy and bulky– Chopper Predator’s helmet looks particularly goofy. I’d like to dicker with how HT’s armour are attached and articulated since their design severely restricts their figures’ articulation. I’ve got a couple of spare HT 14″ bodies, plenty of dreadlocks, and am awaiting delivery of some netting suits, so there’s at least one more Predator project that could come out of this…

The project post-partum blooz done kicked in. It’s a little sad to be abruptly finished, no matter how sick you are of facing the same project every morning. The web article is the final coffin nail, which is why I keep prying it out to for a few edits and pictures. But yep, it’s done.

It’s great how one thing can lead to another though, and as I’ve been winding down, I’ve been thinking about what to make next. Since I’ve been immersing myself in the Alien/Predator stuff, my thoughts naturally turned to the Alien Queen. How cool would that be? What a huge undertaking that would be. Since Hot Toys is making the powerloader, it’s conceiveable that they might make one…? Yeah, bring it on! (So I can stop thinking of doing stupid things)

A more reasonable undertaking would be… a female Predator? There are a bunch of resin kits from Thailand depicting this, and it’s one of those favorite controversial fanboy topics: “No boobs! They’re not mammals!” Yadda, yadda, yadda. Of course they have boobs, because it’s more fun that way. It’s FANTASY, ferchristssake. A far bigger question (for me) would be whether ugly Predator mugs can be turned into something other than ugly Predator mugs.

Here’s a really great website for all your Predator needs: http://www.predatorstuff.com/