From Failure to Failure

[CedB]

Very nice PC, all that effort has paid off, she's a beauty

[Courageous]

Wot they all said PC.

The only observation I can see that would niggle me is that bit of framing paint on the main glazing that needs a touch up.

[06/24]

Well done PC, perseverance has paid off 

[perdu]

I commend you on your wisdom PC, I too have learned (lately) to restrain my model making activities after taking the comfort of a 'drop of pop' or two

 

Bis looks excellent sir, congratulations from home dear chap

 

 

[AdrianMF]

Very nice result! Interesting how much longer the nose looks than the Blenheim IV, like a totally different aeroplane.

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

[Procopius]

2 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Very nice result!

Nowhere near as good as your MPM Blenheim a while back, I'm sorry to say, but that was a very high bar to try and hurdle in any case. If I were to do it over again, I might buy the Eduard mask set to see what if any of it could be salvaged for perhaps at least the canopy windscreen, where my masking by hand was not great. I don't think, on the whole, that the kit benefited much from its very protracted build time. I know I haven't.

 

7 hours ago, perdu said:

I commend you on your wisdom PC, I too have learned (lately) to restrain my model making activities after taking the comfort of a 'drop of pop' or two

 

Not that wise, I left metallic lacquer paint in my airbrush! Good thing I'm home with the kids today (Winston tripped my mother when she was picking him up from school, and she's had both knees replaced and went down like a ton of bricks and did a million hurts to herself, so we had to get a sitter for $270 for Monday-Tuesday, I'm home Wednesday-Thursday, and then Mrs P has Friday off) so I could clean it now while Grant's napping.

[Thud4444]

Great looking bomber. The finish is impressive, especially considering the journey to get there.

 

Keep your head up. I know it sucks, but all these hard times will pay off later. Believe me it's easier to teach an toddler than it is a teenager.  Disciple, boundaries and repetition are the way to go. I promise your better at this than you think you are.  I know it's just words from a weird internet stranger, but cut yourself some slack. Your doing the best you can with the tools you have. 

 

 

Not to go off topic, but do you plan on getting the new Battletech strategy game? Ive played the beta and it's fantastic. Here's the story trailer -

 

 

[Space Ranger]

56 minutes ago, Thud4444 said:

Great looking bomber. The finish is impressive, especially considering the journey to get there.

 

Keep your head up. I know it sucks, but all these hard times will pay off later. Believe me it's easier to teach an toddler than it is a teenager.  Disciple, boundaries and repetition are the way to go. I promise your better at this than you think you are.  I know it's just words from a weird internet stranger, but cut yourself some slack. Your doing the best you can with the tools you have. 

 

Agree on all counts (although I know zilch/nada about raising children, as I have none).

[Max Headroom]

2 hours ago, Space Ranger said:

Agree on all counts (although I know zilch/nada about raising children, as I have none).

A childless relative of mine once asked a friend about what to do if a baby started to crawl towards them. The friend (who was also childless) could only suggest throwing a stick to see if said child would fetch it!

 

Never tried it myself.....

 

Trevor

[The Spadgent]

Lovely finish PC, the turret looks great. Now dive back into the huge stash and get yourself a feel good build. 

 

John.

[Chillidragon]

The only time to be concerned by the quality of parenthood is when you can tell yourself you have all the answers and are a perfect parent.

Then, your biggest problem - and it's a disaster waiting to spring, believe me - is that you think you have none.

 

If, in later years, you draw praise from your offspring, then bask in it.  I'm sure you will, and should - in that order.

 

And, as a bonus, now I know what a Bolingbroke looked like!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Sorry to hear about your mom PC. Hope she recovers soon. After reading that post im thinking i need a babysitting license ? $270.00 for two days of work ? Thats my yearly modeling budget plus some extras. 

 

Dennis

[Procopius]

8 hours ago, Space Ranger said:

Agree on all counts (although I know zilch/nada about raising children, as I have none).

Wise choice. Today Winston told me that he didn't love me, but he did love his trucks. And also his mother, who, he informed me, was "very nice."

 

1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Sorry to hear about your mom PC. Hope she recovers soon. After reading that post im thinking i need a babysitting license ? $270.00 for two days of work ? Thats my yearly modeling budget plus some extras. 

 

I blush to think of how much I spend on modelling a year versus how much modelling I actually do. My mom has been in a state of advanced deterioration since her late thirties and it's only gotten worse with time. Her health is the biggest argument against having a third kid, because the odds of her ever being well enough to watch another are so poor.

 

5 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Lovely finish PC, the turret looks great. Now dive back into the huge stash and get yourself a feel good build. 

 

I still need to finish the Blenheim I, but I can barely wait to sink my teeth into the Arma Hobby Fokker E.V.

 

9 hours ago, Thud4444 said:

 

Not to go off topic, but do you plan on getting the new Battletech strategy game? Ive played the beta and it's fantastic.

 

I mean, mayyyyyyyyyyyyybe? I got rid of almost all of my stuff (I just have Mechwarrior 2nd Edition, the old Master Rules, and TROs 3025, 3026, 2750, 3050, and 3055 left), and I worry it might pull me back in. Plus Catalyst accepted my proposal to write a PDF supplement for the game a while ago and hasn't moved on in since I sent in my revised manuscript two years ago, so that's annoying. Does it have the Thunderbolt? If so yes, a thousand times yes. Also I'm trying to get good at Europe Universalis IV (I'm very bad at it), which brings me to my next question...

 

Does anyone know anything about British history in the middle ages? I'm looking for book recommendations. My knowledge of British history is very hazy prior to George I.

Does 

[Thud4444]

45 minutes ago, Procopius said:

Wise choice. Today Winston told me that he didn't love me, but he did love his trucks. And also his mother, who, he informed me, was "very nice."

 

 Does it have the Thunderbolt?

 

That's all he said? My youngest was once telling my wife all the people he loved. After going through half the phone book she finally asked, "What about daddy?" He shot me a look that took me back to middle school. You know the one that teenage girls give you that's some how equal parts loathing, disgust and dripping with cruelty. But they have an authority figure nearby so they have to display faux politeness.  He looks me square in the eyes and says, "Him? He's ok. I guess." But the jokes on him. He's gonna have to bury me one day. You gotta play the long game.

 

 

 

Yes the Thunderbolt is in the game. And just like in the tabletop game, I suck at using them.  In my last game I got a ping on the radar so I ran my Thud straight at it to investigate. The Thud was my big gun, so what ever was over there I figured it could handle right? Nope! It was a Battlemaster and an Awesome. Turns out the contacts on the other side of the map where two Urbanmechs. That fight was... short.

 

 

Now a Grasshopper, that's a mech that's smooth as butter.

Edited April 19, 2018 by Thud4444

[Thud4444]

BTW, what was the supplemental about? Was it iClan? I don't post on the site anymore, but I do follow a few Reddit feeds on Battletech. Apparently they had a management shake up last year, so every project was having to be reexamined. That might explain the delay. If you have a NDA and can't talk about it, it's cool.

[Procopius]

4 minutes ago, Thud4444 said:

BTW, what was the supplemental about? Was it iClan? I don't post on the site anymore, but I do follow a few Reddit feeds on Battletech. Apparently they had a management shake up last year, so every project was having to be reexamined. That might explain the delay. If you have a NDA and can't talk about it, it's cool.

It was one of the PDF unit profiles -- basically you write up a company of 'mechs throughout its history in the game. I was doing an AFFS one, though I don't recall more off the top of my head. I sort of know a couple of the guys in charge (and was apparently personally disliked by Herb during his tenure? I guess?) now, so I dunno. 

 

18 minutes ago, Thud4444 said:

 

Yes the Thunderbolt is in the game. And just like in the tabletop game, I suck at using them.  In my last game I got a ping on the radar so I ran my Thud straight at it to investigate. The Thud was my big gun, so what ever was over there I figured it could handle right? Nope! It was a Battlemaster and an Awesome. Turns out the contacts on the other side of the map where two Urbanmechs. That fight was... short.

It's not, objectively, a good design, or at least not an optimized one, and it suffers greatly in comparison to later 'mechs where people had figured out all the angles. It's seriously lacking in the knock-out punch department. I can't explain my love for it, but I'm sure in part it's because it looks super cool. 

[Thud4444]

Herb? Apparently he had a meltdown of some sort and started telling off the fans. His fall had something to do with a reboot  he was trying to get done. The fans didnt like it. His replacement was the guy who was recently replaced. There was a third guy who was one of higher up writers, not Stockpole or Blaine, who ran the game for a few months. He was quietly demoted because of some sort of embezzlement. Mind you most the records of this stuff has been purged. Especially Herb's incident and the embezzlement, so some of it might be internet rumors.  But nobody from Catalyst is actually denying any of it. I personally walked away during all this stuff, overzealous mods after the meltdown made the boards unbearable.

 

 

As for Herb, forget that guy. I'll never forgive him for what he did to the Comguards. At least the Clans got an outstanding send off.

But he had a grudge against the guards so they had to go.

 

 

I know what you mean about the Thunderbolt.  I have an irrational love for the Crockett and Shadowhawk myself. 

Edited April 19, 2018 by Thud4444

[Procopius]

9 minutes ago, Thud4444 said:

Herb? ApparentThere was a third guy who was one of higher up writers, not Stockpole or Blaine, who ran the game for a few months. He was quietly demoted because of some sort of embezzlement. Mind you most the records of this stuff has been purged. Especially Herb's incident and the embezzlement, so some of it might be internet rumors.  But nobody from Catalyst is actually denying any of it.

That'd be Loren Coleman. 

 

11 minutes ago, Thud4444 said:

His fall had something to do with a reboot  he was trying to get done.

That I actually do know something about, but sadly it's all second hand and NDA-protected. It sure was dumb, though!

 

12 minutes ago, Thud4444 said:

I know what you mean about the Thunderbolt.  I have an irrational love for the Crockett and Shadowhawk myself. 

The Crockett is super funky-looking. I have a soft spot for the terrible, terrible -2D2 Shadow Hawk, with less armor and more useless secondary weapons. Wheeee!

[Max Headroom]

Hi PC 

 

Not a book, but here is a link to the British History Podcast by Jamie Jeffers. He started about seven years ago and has just got to the 900’s. Plenty of good info. Each episode is about 30 minutes long and is good to listen to on my commute to work!

 

https://www.thebritishhistorypodcast.com/

 

Trevor

[Teuchter]

Great work on the Bisley, as usual.

For a bit of British history that folks overlook, you might take a look at this account of the Scottish/English border conflicts

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Steel-Bonnets-Story-Anglo-Scottish-Border-Reivers/22535119352/bd?cm_mmc=gmc-_-used-_-PLA-_-v01&product=COUK9780330238571USED

He writes well, and you should look at his Flashman Stories and his autobiography about the 14th Army in Burma.

Don

[Silver Fox]

27 minutes ago, Teuchter said:

Great work on the Bisley, as usual.

For a bit of British history that folks overlook, you might take a look at this account of the Scottish/English border conflicts

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Steel-Bonnets-Story-Anglo-Scottish-Border-Reivers/22535119352/bd?cm_mmc=gmc-_-used-_-PLA-_-v01&product=COUK9780330238571USED

He writes well, and you should look at his Flashman Stories and his autobiography about the 14th Army in Burma.

Don

for a bit of light reading, he also wrote three books of short stories about a post war Scottish regiment, ( The General Danced at Dawn, McAuslan in the Rough are two of the titles, I can't remember the third) which are very funny.

[Thud4444]

On 4/18/2018 at 11:39 PM, Procopius said:

That'd be Loren Coleman. 

 

That I actually do know something about, but sadly it's all second hand and NDA-protected. It sure was dumb, though!

 

 

Whoops. I guess I was explaining stuff you already knew. my mistake.

 

 

I thought Alpha Strike was what he was trying to get pushed through. Alpha Strike is an excellent game. How terrible was his idea?

 

All the Shadowhawks are terrible. (Until the FCCW) The curse of the AC5. But the 2D2 is unbelievably awful. 

[perdu]

On 19/04/2018 at 08:00, Silver Fox said:

for a bit of light reading, he also wrote three books of short stories about a post war Scottish regiment, ( The General Danced at Dawn, McAuslan in the Rough are two of the titles, I can't remember the third) which are very funny.

McAuslan was one of the great humorous characters

Loved those books

[Gorby]

On 19/04/2018 at 03:50, Procopius said:

having a third kid

Nooooooooooooo!!!!! Get a dog instead (not a puppy, they're just hairy toddlers).

 

Dogs are better then kids, pro's:

Dogs give unconditional love and affection.

Dogs won't demand the latest iPhone (That might change in the event of Apple releasing an iBone).

Dogs are a great excuse; “I'll stay to look after the dog”; “I would love to do that unpleasant thing, but I need to walk the dog (for the exact amount of time it will take you to do that unpleasant thing)”.

You can get them neutered - legally.

 

Dogs are better then kids, cons:

Dogs wouldn’t be good at choosing your old peoples home.

 

Can't think of any other cons.

[Procopius]

9 minutes ago, Gorby said:

Nooooooooooooo!!!!! Get a dog instead (not a puppy, they're just hairy toddlers).

Don't worry, I don't even want two.

 

On 4/19/2018 at 1:30 AM, Teuchter said:

Great work on the Bisley, as usual.

For a bit of British history that folks overlook, you might take a look at this account of the Scottish/English border conflicts

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Steel-Bonnets-Story-Anglo-Scottish-Border-Reivers/22535119352/bd?cm_mmc=gmc-_-used-_-PLA-_-v01&product=COUK9780330238571USED

He writes well, and you should look at his Flashman Stories and his autobiography about the 14th Army in Burma.

Don

 

On 4/19/2018 at 2:00 AM, Silver Fox said:

for a bit of light reading, he also wrote three books of short stories about a post war Scottish regiment, ( The General Danced at Dawn, McAuslan in the Rough are two of the titles, I can't remember the third) which are very funny.

 

6 hours ago, perdu said:

McAuslan was one of the great humorous characters

Loved those books

Yep, I have all the Flashman and McAuslan books, as well as the excellent Quartered Safe Out Here, and even his novel The Pyrates, which has one of my favourite passages:

 

"That was England, then; long before interfering social historians and such carles had spoiled it by discovering that its sanitation was primitive and its social services non-existent, that London's atmosphere was so poisonous as to be unbreathable by all but the strongest lungs, that King Charles's courtiers probably didn't change their underwear above once a fortnight, that the cities stank fit to wake the dead and the countryside was largely either wilderness or rural slum, that religious bigotry, dental decay, political corruption, fleas, cruelty, poverty, disease, injustice, public hangings, malnutrition, and bear-baiting were rife, and there was hardly an economist or environmentalist or town planner or sociologist or anything progressive worth a damn. (There wasn't even a London School of Economics, which is remarkable when you consider that Locke and Hobbers were loose about the place.)

"Happily, the stout justices and wenches and gallants and peasants and fine ladies---and even elegant Charles himself, who was nobody's fool---never realised how backward and insanitary and generally awful they might look to the cold and all-too-selective eye of modern research, and if they had, it is doubtful that they would have felt any pang of guilt or shame, happy conscienceless rabble that they were."

 

I often think about this passage when reading history; it's a good reminder that the past very rarely lived for the pleasure of the present, and that we too will someday be judged incredibly harshly by people who'll never really know how felt to be alive now. 

 

9 hours ago, Thud4444 said:

I thought Alpha Strike was what he was trying to get pushed through. Alpha Strike is an excellent game. How terrible was his idea?

It was a storyline thing. I think it's fair to characterize it as incredibly ill-advised.