Let's Put Weird And Weird Together
Yes, a Japanese vending toy company is marketing reproductions of the old PP/TimMee "Army Men" postWar toy soldiers that Baby Boomer boys used to have by the bucketload. I still have about 300 in storage, myself.
Yes, a Japanese vending toy company is marketing reproductions of the old PP/TimMee "Army Men" postWar toy soldiers that Baby Boomer boys used to have by the bucketload. I still have about 300 in storage, myself.
Wargaming Acquisition Weirdness
Still very much a Team Yankee wanna-be...and still nowhere near having an army ready.
Partly, I'm trying to determine the "character" of my forces, and partly, I'm trying to get the best deal I can on the pieces. It used to be that diecast tanks in Team Yankee's scale were thick on the ground and you could buy them at just any dollar store toy department. Not any more. Now I have to try to scrounge them in antique and thrift stores--if they've got any.
Partly, I'm trying to determine the "character" of my forces, and partly, I'm trying to get the best deal I can on the pieces. It used to be that diecast tanks in Team Yankee's scale were thick on the ground and you could buy them at just any dollar store toy department. Not any more. Now I have to try to scrounge them in antique and thrift stores--if they've got any.
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Useless Otaku Fact
The Revoltech Evangelion EVA Unit action figures are 1/570 scale, the same as some of Revell/Revell-Germany's ship models, including:
* Bismark/Tirpitz
* Queen Mary
* Titanic
* USS Saratoga (postwar, pre-nuclear power, aircraft carrier)
* King George V
* Prince of Wales...
* Bismark/Tirpitz
* Queen Mary
* Titanic
* USS Saratoga (postwar, pre-nuclear power, aircraft carrier)
* King George V
* Prince of Wales...
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For Your Viewing Pleasure
( The Sino-American War Is Here--In First-Person Shooter Form )
GLORIOUS MISSION, the official video wargame from the People's Liberation Army.
GLORIOUS MISSION, the official video wargame from the People's Liberation Army.
Adventures In Re-Imagination #3
PIECE OF CAKE
Original premise: based on the WW2 novel by Derek Robinson, about a Royal Air Force fighter squadron from the first day of the War through the Battle of Britain, by which time most of the cast, well...
Reimagined: Hornet Squadron is a Royal Army gunship unit, operating Lynx and Apache helicopters in the War On TerrorTM . Instead of all the original cast being pilots, a good number of them in the new version are Gunners/Weapons System Operators. The first season is about their deployment to Iraq for Operation Enduring Freedom/Shock & Awe.
Original premise: based on the WW2 novel by Derek Robinson, about a Royal Air Force fighter squadron from the first day of the War through the Battle of Britain, by which time most of the cast, well...
Reimagined: Hornet Squadron is a Royal Army gunship unit, operating Lynx and Apache helicopters in the War On Terror
One Of My Better Impulse Purchases
Bought it at HobbyTown in Knoxville at the IPMS meet Tuesday; got the usual club discount on it. With my Internet service interrupted badly by storms yesterday, I put it together and painted it tootsweet. Photos after more paint and decals.
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Red Storm Rising
Overday I bought a copy (to replace one I gave my brother) and binge read it. The reason I bought it (again) was to see if it could mesh with the existing Hackett Continuum...and so far so good, even though World War Three lasts a little longer in Tom Clancy's version of events. Two things that had been lacking in Gen. Hackett's vision were the political and economic causes of the War and Clancy's novel fills in some of that dimension. But beyond that I can shift the dates six weeks and most of it matches.
Meanwhile, I've noticed that the Date/Day of the Week patterns for 1984 and 1985 match those for 2012 and 2013, so for planning and reality checking in that regard, I can simply use my current date book (which has calendars for both '12 & '13).
Meanwhile, I've noticed that the Date/Day of the Week patterns for 1984 and 1985 match those for 2012 and 2013, so for planning and reality checking in that regard, I can simply use my current date book (which has calendars for both '12 & '13).
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Getting Ready For Next Year--Part I
Today in the mail I received...my wall calendar for next year. It's a freebie from Agilent Technologies' Aerospace & Defense division. (www.agilent.com/find/AD)
I've got loads of other things to do before January 2011 rolls around...but I'm already working on them. How about you?
I've got loads of other things to do before January 2011 rolls around...but I'm already working on them. How about you?
Okay, So I'm Not Feeling Particularly American These Days
( Toho War Movie Trailer #1 )
( Toho War Movie Trailer #2 )
( At Least The Jets Are American, If Not The Air Force )
Explanations: Toho Movie #1 is Taiheiyo no Tsubasa/Wings of the Pacific, also known as Attack Squadron and marketed on home video as Kamikaze, which is a misnomer. It's the true story of a Japanese squadron whose commander refused to allow himself or his pilots to be used in suicide missions. One of the actual planes of this same squadron survived the War and is in the collection of the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
Toho Movie #2 is Ozora No Samurai/Samurai of the Blue Sky about the pilot Saburo Sakai, who became an ace against the Allies during the Guadalcanal campaign but then was wounded in the eye and forced to make an epic flight back to base alone and in horrible pain. While the fight that caused his wound isn't faithfully depicted here, it was the subject of an episode of PBS' Secrets of the Dead last year.
Rounding out the triptych is a video tribute to the F-5E Tiger II in the service of the Taiwanese (Republic of China) Air Force.
( Toho War Movie Trailer #2 )
( At Least The Jets Are American, If Not The Air Force )
Explanations: Toho Movie #1 is Taiheiyo no Tsubasa/Wings of the Pacific, also known as Attack Squadron and marketed on home video as Kamikaze, which is a misnomer. It's the true story of a Japanese squadron whose commander refused to allow himself or his pilots to be used in suicide missions. One of the actual planes of this same squadron survived the War and is in the collection of the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
Toho Movie #2 is Ozora No Samurai/Samurai of the Blue Sky about the pilot Saburo Sakai, who became an ace against the Allies during the Guadalcanal campaign but then was wounded in the eye and forced to make an epic flight back to base alone and in horrible pain. While the fight that caused his wound isn't faithfully depicted here, it was the subject of an episode of PBS' Secrets of the Dead last year.
Rounding out the triptych is a video tribute to the F-5E Tiger II in the service of the Taiwanese (Republic of China) Air Force.
Life-Saving Technology Idea?
Last week in East Knoxville a teenage girl was killed by a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting. She was hit in her own house; the bullet came in through a wall.
Last week I read in a technical magazine how a nanotech process called "boronizing" can make ordinary fabrics bulletproof.
Idea I had overnight: Boronize the insulation in houses' external walls.
Who do I have to talk to, to make this happen?
Last week I read in a technical magazine how a nanotech process called "boronizing" can make ordinary fabrics bulletproof.
Idea I had overnight: Boronize the insulation in houses' external walls.
Who do I have to talk to, to make this happen?
Note To Myself
THIS SITE doesn't work too well for me over dial-up. Should try again when I can access it with something better.