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Post by Vermin King on Mar 5, 2017 19:11:10 GMT -9
Real life is just going to require more time than I'd like.
I'll still be helping with the Hoards, and popping on a few times a day, but projects are going to have to go on the backburner.
I'd seen this coming for a while, so I was trying to crank out what I could before this day came.
So many times members disappear. I'm not planning on disappearing, but things will be scaled back. It isn't anything that anyone has done in this, or any of the other hobby-related communities, to tick me off or anything. Life is just needing to take precedence.
It's going to be a tough week (and probably couple of months), but I'm still healthy, about to become a grandpa for the first time, my folks are doing well.
Just giving you all a heads up
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Post by okumarts on Mar 5, 2017 19:20:37 GMT -9
Thanks for the update. Real life has been VERY demanding here as well. I'm doing my best to keep up, but it can be so difficult when real life becomes demanding. Keep involved and in touch! Congratulations on the grandpahood!
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 5, 2017 19:24:12 GMT -9
Looking forward to it. I'm just glad that it's just work related. Health good, family good, just deal with the rest
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Post by Punkrabbitt on Mar 5, 2017 20:44:18 GMT -9
I kinda dropped off for a couple of months... I will PM you a variety of personal problems I am having with the forums to keep you interested
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Post by whisper31 on Mar 5, 2017 21:16:12 GMT -9
Good luck with what you have to do and may it be resolved quickly and happily. Grandparenthood has got to be one of the greatest feelings you will have. Believe me on this one. Been there 5 times now and I just might be on the way to great-grandparenthood!!! ACK!!!
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Post by lightning on Mar 5, 2017 22:20:15 GMT -9
Kids first! Your own ... not us kids you have to see it as an investment of time. when they have grown up, soon they will want you to teach them paper crafting! But seriously, I enjoy all you do here and no matter how much you contribute or just peek in every now and then, it will always be fine. thanks for the heads up and enjoy your new job: The Grand Parent!
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Post by glennwilliams on Mar 6, 2017 6:48:15 GMT -9
Take care. And everyone's right about being a grandparent. Fill 'em full of sugar, run them around till they're hyper, then send'em home.
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Post by yifferman on Mar 6, 2017 7:33:18 GMT -9
good luck
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Post by cowboyleland on Mar 6, 2017 8:11:28 GMT -9
All the best Vermin King, we'll see you when it is good for you.
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 6, 2017 8:43:56 GMT -9
I'll be around, but designing and building has to take a back seat
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 17, 2017 17:22:39 GMT -9
Well, got the news that sometime near August 2nd is when my new grandson will be arriving, so I decided to work a bit on the Stegosaurus that didn't get done for Zoe. Originally, I'd planned to go with just a vertical strip of plates, but I'm splitting up the right side and the left side. Since the back curves, the plate/spine pieces have to be broken up into pairs and threes. These glue onto the back of the plates for that side, with a tab that glues along the backbone to the opposite side. I also re-worked the vertical plates so that they are staggered. The tail spikes will have a V-shaped piece that glues between the two sets of spikes. Here's where I've gotten to so far I'll do a bit more on it tonight, and hopefully have it ready to print tomorrow night. Wish me luck I need to finish Kathy's birthday present in the next two weeks. She is going with her friend Glenda on a trip to Italy with Glenda's granddaughter who is graduating from college, so I'm making her the Florence Cathedral from Canon, talk about fiddly. And I almost printed it at reduced scale. I'm glad I didn't
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 19, 2017 13:36:07 GMT -9
The curving back (and the spine plates) makes this a bit more difficult model. Once I build it, I'll check to see if parts can be combined and simplified.
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 21, 2017 13:59:16 GMT -9
Been a week all ready, so I decided to start building this little guy The spine plates were divided into pairs to make attachment easier, but that also meant that on one pair it needed glued to the body first and then positioning of the tail to meet the spine plate. Not preferred, but it works. On to the other side...
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 21, 2017 17:22:20 GMT -9
Roughly three hours off and on to build this ... basketball on TV I need to get some photos with better lighting.
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Post by jeffgeorge on Mar 22, 2017 10:21:01 GMT -9
"...step back..." Love the steggo, though!
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 22, 2017 10:59:55 GMT -9
Actually, this is stepping back. I was putting 4-5 hours a night into projects. I dredged this one out because my son was talking about how Zoe still plays with her dinos. I'd already cleaned up the image and aligned it, and since tent-style dinos are easy to do, I just broke it up to be buildable. I may have spent half an hour more on design. Then maybe three hours of building, since I was taking photos and deciding on build order. And it is something I am just putting out there instead of 'releasing' I didn't have to do instructions.
It was relaxing, unlike Kathy's Florence Cathedral...
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 22, 2017 13:22:43 GMT -9
Another thing that is relaxing is coloring, only doing it digitally on the computer. I originally saw these pop up when I was looking for steampunk images. My thought was to paint them and scale them to be steampunk figures, but it's also fun to let the inner kid have fun.
You can search for 'steampunk coloring pages' or 'steampunk coloring sheets', or you can look up other topics
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Post by jeffgeorge on Mar 22, 2017 14:17:07 GMT -9
Another thing that is relaxing is coloring, only doing it digitally on the computer. I originally saw these pop up when I was looking for steampunk images. My thought was to paint them and scale them to be steampunk figures, but it's also fun to let the inner kid have fun. You can search for 'steampunk coloring pages' or 'steampunk coloring sheets', or you can look up other topics Coloring pages as a source for mini art...that's a great idea! I came up with several real-world animal line-arts that would work for minis in less than a minute.
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 22, 2017 14:52:01 GMT -9
griffons, dragons, etc. are all there.
If you are looking for horses, some of the best are under 'carousel'. Also lions, griffons, veldt animals, and giant birds.
I usually select the blank portions and delete them to have a clean surface to paint
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Post by jeffgeorge on Mar 22, 2017 17:07:13 GMT -9
It's pretty easy to remove the white background from black-on-white line art in GIMP, actually, once you know the trick. Here's what you do: 1. Open the line art in GIMP; the original file format doesn't matter, so long as it's black lines on a white background. 2. Create a new layer in the file, and fill it with solid black. 3. Right-click this new layer and Add Layer Mask. 4. Select the entire original image layer, and use Colors > Invert to reverse the black and white values. (If you're starting with a .gif, use Colors > Value Invert instead.) 5. Select the entire color-inverted image, the copy it (Ctrl-C or Command-C) to the clipboard. 6. Paste the copied, color-inverted image onto the layer mask for the black layer. To do this, click the layer mask (right image icon on the layer with the mask), then use Ctrl-V/Command-V to paste the inverted image into place as the layer mask. 7. Set the visibility of the original image to Invisible, or simply delete the layer. You now have a black outline of the original image, with no background at all. At this point, you can export it as a background-less .PNG file, or use it for your coloring or modding entertainment. Here is a coloring page of Snotlout, from How to Train Your Dragon, converted into a .png with no background using this method: Some day, I'll create a back for this guy, color it, and format it as a mini, unless someone else does it first!
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 22, 2017 17:22:34 GMT -9
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Post by Vermin King on Mar 23, 2017 9:12:31 GMT -9
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Post by Vermin King on Apr 4, 2017 18:44:05 GMT -9
Took time to work on Kathy's cathedral tonight. Her birthday was yesterday, but since she and her daughter and granddaughter are spending the week with her Dad in Iowa, I have a little time, just not much. I'm currently working on page 6 of the model. I've decided that I hate all the little doo-hickey's on this blasted thing
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Post by jeffgeorge on Apr 4, 2017 20:13:24 GMT -9
I've decided that I hate all the little doo-hickey's on this blasted thing Doo-hickeys are teh worst, right?
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Post by Vermin King on Apr 5, 2017 3:53:51 GMT -9
I'm down to the three apses or whatever they are called, with the four buttresses on each, and then the base, so I think I should be done in two or three nights.
I'm not enjoying this
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Post by cowboyleland on Apr 5, 2017 6:32:27 GMT -9
Sorry you are not enjoying it. It IS a great looking build so far.
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Post by Vermin King on Apr 5, 2017 7:22:20 GMT -9
She's going to Italy later this month, so it seemed appropriate
I couldn't find a build thread on this, but someone had posted photos of it. He printed it at four pages per page. These parts are too small for me at regular size
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Post by Vermin King on Apr 5, 2017 8:10:05 GMT -9
This would have been easier, but certainly wouldn't have looked at nice
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Post by Vermin King on Apr 5, 2017 15:25:35 GMT -9
You know, minor irritations build up. On the first apse (or whatever it's called), you are supposed to build 6a to 6d, the buttresses first, then the part of the building you attach them to 6e. Then 6f to 6j, followed by 6k to 6o. But, surprise! You can't glue the buttresses in place until you do the page 7 sub-assembly. One would think the sub-assembly would be 7a and 7b, but no. 7e and 7f. Thank goodness that they have things well numbered. A little logic here would have been helpful, though If you ever feel like doing this model, after all my glowing praise, do the page 7 parts before the page 6 parts. It will make things a lot easier. If the blasted thing was only 25% larger, the little pieces would probably be half as difficult. But you have to admit, it looks really good. I might get these done tonight, then build the base tomorrow. And I thought the vardo undercarriages were fiddly...
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Post by Vermin King on Apr 5, 2017 18:22:47 GMT -9
It will be awkward, but I need to glue the apse roof onto the building before closing it up. I'm glad this one is on the back Petals and tabs, gotta love it
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