Mom's Garden

I enjoyed a very nice visit with Mom early this morning, and as Moms often do, she gave me some vegetables from her garden to take home. I can't wait until the corn is ready. 
 

Sweat Gets in Your Eyes

Robobug

My friend Scott gifted me a pack of 28mm superhero minifigures. Tonight I painted the first and largest of them, a large robot of some kind with a creepy spider-like appearance. Thanks, Scott! 

Bus Stop

Tonight I painted a 28mm-scale bus stop. I took pains to paint between all the lines, and I came pretty close to succeeding. 
 

They Slip Away and Leave Empty Space Behind

Week by week, their numbers dwindle, my beautiful books, unceremoniously hauled off in cardboard carriages. But I can't take them with me now, can I, and we have no heirs who could inherit. Into the hands of strangers they fly, sacrificed to other hobbies, newer needs, supplanted by my electronic reader. And so again the future inexorably washes away the past. 

I Wanted to Love This, But I Don't

 

As a fan of both Paul McCartney and Beck, I was pretty excited when I ran across this new music video just a few minutes ago. But while "Find My Way" has an interesting beat, it just doesn't grab me like I hoped it would. Plus, the CGI version of young Paul falls deep into the uncanny valley. I guessed the final reveal, though! 

Nelson and Murdock's Apartment Building

Just now, in the wee hours of the morning, I finished painting this 28mm-scale New York office/apartment building. 

As you can see, this building is set in the Marvel Comics version of New York. 

I believe this is the largest terrain piece I've painted so far. 

I tried to make the building look a little grungy and aged by adding a murky ink wash and some dry brush effects. 

I'm quite pleased that the Nelson and Murdock sign is legible. The dry brushing here isn't perfect, but given how teeny-weeny the job, I'm more than happy. 

The Fib

I
Lied
When I
Said that I
Knew the rule of five
The truth is found on the sixth line

Desert Outbuilding Mark II

Yesterday Jeff posted some excellent tips for improving my desert outbuilding, and I took them to heart. I repainted the driveway in basic black, then sprayed a thin layer of glue over the driveway and building. I sprinkled sand over all surfaces to give the place a weatherbeaten look. Then, I popped in some foliage for a bit more character. 

I left the cargo module alone, since I might need it for other environments and I was pretty happy with it anyway. 

Here's an anachronistic merchant for scale. 

 

Desert Outbuilding

So here's a desert outbuilding and some cargo stored next to it. I'm happy with the paint job on the walls and cargo, but I'll probably take another stab at the driveway. I just couldn't find a result I liked, and as a result, I have a mess. 

Hip 2B Squared

 

Canada Drying Up

The Alps Over a Century Past

 

Here's a very sharp, clear glimpse of the Alps as they were in 1917. Trains, horses with sleighs, iced-over streams melting, dapper ladies and gentlemen seemingly overdressed for the weather by modern standards--it's all pretty fascinating. 

Against the Grain

It's hard to tell from this crudely-shot photo, but the Vallejo "Wood Grain" paint Sean introduced me to really does a great job of making plastic look like wood. Thanks Sean! 

Inkwashed Tower

Here's my Modular Realms tower, finished at last inside and out. I'm pretty happy with it. 

Cobblestone Tower

Here's the tower that came with the Modular Realms Kickstarter project. As with the cottage, I'm trying to make this look as though it's been built with many different kinds of stone. I'm going to call the outside finished aside from an ink wash. After that, I'll do it all over again with the interior walls . . . 
 

Cyberpunk Bridge

 

Here's a vaguely futuristic bridge from the near future. Metallic tones seemed right, and I tried to create a bit of overhead lighting by painting the underside's oval bar neon blue with a touch of silver. 

Countdown to Enerdity

In a little over an hour, I'll be live on Twitch for an exciting two-hour episode of Star Trek Adventures. Join the crew of the USS Artemis at 8 PM MT at twitch.tv/MassiveDamageAdventures! 
 

Gateway to Eternity

 

Don't Miss an Astonishing Star Trek Adventure Wednesday Night!

My friend Meric Moir has been running tabletop and virtual roleplaying adventures for years now, and I'm very excited to be part of his crew this Wednesday, July 14, partaking for the first time in the Star Trek Adventures system by Modiphius. The two-hour single-shot adventure will be broadcast live at  twitch.tv/MassiveDamageAdventures starting at 8 PM MT. 

What's a twitch stream? It's like watching a television show focused on a handful of real people playing a game. Sometimes they're playing a board game, sometimes they're playing a video game, and in this case, we're playing a roleplaying game. I'm playing the role of fresh-faced young Ensign Barnaby Meme Throughput, the flight officer (pilot) of the USS Artemis. Who knows what new worlds the Artemis will encounter? Find out Wednesday night, and as added incentive, you could WIN your share of $500 in gaming giveaways. 

Fancy Cola

Today Sean and Sylvia and I took Mom to the HomeRoom Diner in Devon, where we enjoyed a truly superb brunch with locally-sourced ingredients. It was magnificent. Even the soda I ordered was local, brewed in Calgary. (Relatively local, I guess.) Quite tasty, with a strong nutmeg/cinnamon taste. 
 

Mom Takes Another Spin around the Sun

It's Mom's birthday again today, and I'm marking the occasion by showcasing one of my favourite photos of her. Here she is sometime in the early 1950s, enjoying a dip at the pool, presumably somewhere in southern Manitoba. Originally a black and white image, this photograph has been colourized by software. 

Today would be a good day for a dip in the pool; it's going to be over 30 degrees Celsius today, which is why Mom postponed her birthday lunch until tomorrow, when it's supposed to be cooler. 
 

Sad Ambulance

In my own defence, I'm not finished painting this yet. But oof, what was I thinking? I mean, the base colour is okay, and the Red Cross symbols turned out all right considering I did them freehand, but that red trim is just awful. 

My aim here was to paint this in the style of a real-life ambulance that I encountered in 1995. A friend of Jeff and Susan's came over to help them move, and he arrived in a vehicle something like this. 
 

Shifting Sands

I suppose this set of magnetic terrain tiles doesn't look that different than the mud flats I shared earlier, but just as a reminder to myself, I used three different shades of brown and a brown wash to create this effect. It's supposed to be desert. I'm tempted to apply a light coating of actual sand with spray glue, but I'm scared...
 

Wee Stone Cottage

Here's another item from the Modular Realms Kickstarter, a little 28mm-scale cottage. I tried to paint this to make it look like the cottage was assembled with assorted stones, some wood, and "painted" (in the world of the game) "wooden" shingles. 
 

Floor Tile

Another Modular Realms tile painted; this time, it's a wooden floor. It looks better in person than it does in this photo, thankfully. 

Mud Flats

Here's another Modular Realms magnetic dungeon tile. I painted this one to simulate a square patch of dried-out mud flats. 

Ocean Square

This is the flip side of yesterday's Pride tile. I lack water terrain, so I painted this side as a small 3x3 segment of a roiling ocean. As you can see, some colours from the Pride side were accidentally transferred to the ocean side. But I think they add a little something; they might be little splotches of algae or reflections from the sky or flotsam of some kind. 
 

Pride Flagstones

I'm a little late for Pride Month, but I wanted to see what Pride colours would look like on this 28mm-scale 3x3 magnetic flagstone tile. It's the first tile I've painted from the Modular Realms Kickstarter I supported last year. I think this is one of those cases where I should not have added ink wash. They do give the tile a bit more depth, but they also mute the colours. Luckily I have several of these tiles, so I can try again. 

Yellow Roof

Here's a section of cottage roof. Still needs an ink wash. 
 

Unhappy Canada Day

The Great Western Canadian Heat Wave of 2021 hit me hard last night, and the effects have lasted all Canada Day. Normally this would not be a big deal, except that I was really looking forward to today because it would have been the first social gathering Sylvia and I have attended since before the COVID-19 pandemic hit; and for that matter, the first time in years that we had decent plans for Canada Day. 

So I guess I'm feeling a bit out of sorts. And now I feel guilty, because hundreds of people in British Columbia are dead thanks to the heat wave, and there are probably more casualties around the world that I haven't heard of yet. 

And it scares me that this could be the new normal.

I'm glad that my friends were able to get together, though, and there will be other gatherings. 

Ugh, my privilege is leaking. 

JULY 4 UPDATE

Turns out my privilege really was leaking because in my heat-addled haze, I hadn't realized that there were calls around the country to cancel or at least tone down Canada Day celebrations to recognize the old wounds of Indigenous peoples in Canada freshly torn open by the discovery of mass graves at several locations across the country. To complain about a missed gathering obviously feels pretty tone deaf in retrospect, and if any Indigenous people ever read this blog, please accept my apologies for my insensitivity. For some great reflections on this topic, please see my friend Steve's blog: Oh . . . Canada.