Opening the Trunks, Part 2 – APAs

Let's start with a disclaimer: This blog post, like my last two, is based on personal reminiscences. I'm telling my little stories while my aging and cracking memories still have enough integrity that I can pretend there's an element of truth to them. Here I'm going to focus on my participation in the New-York-City-area table-top role-playing fan…

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Read more about the article A letter about 3D printing
Dragon eggs! The cats like to knock these off my bookshelves.

A letter about 3D printing

Dear Bill of March 2020, It's Bill of October 2023. How are you? Don't bother to answer. I remember. I've been meaning to write to you for some time about what's in store for you. I won't talk about the big historical events; Julie Nolke has that topic covered. Instead, I'm going to tell you about the…

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Memories of wargaming

For my gamer friends: While falling down an internet rabbit hole, I found this article on a history of wargaming. I recommend reading it, if only to learn about the rise-and-fall of an important segment of gaming. The article was written by Greg Costikyan in 1996. I knew Greg briefly in the late 70s or early 80s.…

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Watson Game Topper

This is a description of a game topper from GameToppersLLC. It's not meant as a review per se, but a tale of my experience. TL;DR: The Watson Game Topper is a great product, but I wish I'd spent more time thinking about its physical properties: size, weight, etc. Tables and toppers I'll start by stating the obvious:…

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Vallejo shifters, space dwarves, and ISS Vanguard

I originally thought that I'd never had to write this post. At the time I wrote this post on shading Tainted Grail miniatures, I was growing a bit tired of the exercise of airbrushing minis. I knew that painting the second wave of Etherfields minis was ahead of me. That was about the same time that I…

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Etherfields Wave 2: Zenithal Prime and Contrast Paints

This is another post in my series on my adventures in painting miniature figures. You can see the entire series by clicking on the CRAFTS link in the tag cloud to the right (if you're reading this on a desktop) or below (if you're reading this on a phone). Once again, I offer you lots of pictures…

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Making a holder for miniature figures

For the first wave of the game Etherfields, I received a fifth-player expansion. It included two additional miniature figures to play that fifth character, the Reaper. To store and transport those figures, I downloaded and 3D printed a holder that someone else designed: I recently received the second wave of Etherfields content. It included lots more minis.…

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3D Printing 13 Bowls

... or maybe 12, or maybe 14; perhaps even 15. We'll get to that. I have in mind one or more blog posts on my personal trials and tribulations with 3D printing. This is not that post. Here I'm focused on one particular task: printing the Acorn Garden libation bowl. Truth in advertising: The various pictures and…

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Tainted Grail Wave 2 – shaded zenithal, contrasts and washes, and Metal Color

Let's shift to an interesting topic, with lots of fun pictures: Painting the miniatures that came with the second wave of Tainted Grail. What's a "Tainted Grail Wave"? Tainted Grail is a massive role-playing board game published by Awaken Realms. The game was funded as a Kickstarter project. The overall game was so massive that Awaken Realms…

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