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Monday, July 14, 2025

Making Tables

I took some wire screen with 1/2 inch holes and cut out a small piece.  Then I clipped it into this shape and bent four of the pieces of wire downward with needlenose pliers.
Use a heavy duty wire cutter, a sprue cutter may actually break, I have broken two over the years.
Close up for the long table framework.
Bend the long wires down to make the short table..
This is the template for the long table.  
Sheet plastic will make the table top.
Put the sheet plastic between the horizontal pieces for a narrow long table or on top for a long and wide table.
Long narrow table with a chair.
 

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Fidelis Models Update and News

 Fidelis Models - 1/87 Scale Models

 

Update on the link it should work now.  My error.

 

 https://www.ebay.com/str/fidelismodels?_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l170197

Fidelis Models where I have gotten models for over 25 years now has an eBay store.

My friend Randy owns Fidelis and before I retired and moved to Kentucky we used to wargame together almost weekly for over 20 years.  Now he is still working and I am playing with the army men full time.

 His website https://fidelismodels.com/ is primarily 1/87scale and similar small scale items.  His eBay store will likely have some of them in the future but for now he is selling military models that don't fit that category.

The first offerings on the eBay store are Dragon Models 1/6th scale World War Two era figures.  I have several of these exact figures and they are wonderful.  The detail is fantastic, the figures are very poseable and each figure has a unique head and face sculpt.  While I love my G.I. Joe figures these Dragon Figures are amazing.

Fidelis Models have also launched a new newsletter, and you can subscribe for free on their website.

  

 

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Kiss Kiss Band

James Bond, Thunderball movie, he visits the Kiss Kiss Club.  Here is how I built the band stand.  I started with some model airplane sprue.  I cut off the branches and trimmed up the mold lines.
I used bits of glue to make a base for these bits of sprue that will make the uprights for the band stand cover.  
I got bits of sprue that had a slight curve at the top.  I glued a small base to each one.
Then I took a Barbie serving tray that I got at Dollar Tree and cut off the handles.  Then turned it over and used it as the stage.  Then I glued the sprue uprights to a piece of sheet plastic that fit the serving tray.  I used beads for the drums with a little very thin sheet plastic for the drum skins.  Two of the smaller drums are pins from interlocking bricks, like Lego, but generic.  The figures are generic civilians from Amazon, each one on a small sheet plastic base.  I printed out pictures of curtains from the Internet to use as curtains.  I found a font similar to the one used in the movie and made the sign for the band name.
The figures are not painted yet, but but this is the general mock up I came up with.  The Barbie tray was used for another project after I decided I wanted a larger bandstand for this group.  Still needs more paint and touch up but you get the idea.  Guitars, maracas and tambourine are cut out of plastic.
 

Friday, July 11, 2025

Clipboard and James Bond

In the James Bond movie Thunderball, he visits the Kiss Kiss Club.  It is on the beach, in Nassau, in the Bahamas.  https://jamesbond.fandom.com/wiki/Kiss_Kiss_Club  Here is a link to more information on the club.  I decided that the club could be useful in spy games, Batman 66, low intensity conflict games, and Beach Party games.  While the club is fictional, I want to make a model of it that reflects the look of the club without spending too much time and money.  I use a simple clipboard to help keep my research together.
I got a pack of clipboards at Staples.  I choose to keep the plastic wrap on the clipboard as it is smooth, so I can write on it easily, and will help to keep the clipboard dry and stain free.  
My intention is to keep all of my notes and other papers in one place so that I can refer to them easily, without having to have the space of a binder and to be able to re-sort the papers as needed.
I made a number of screen captures, printed them out and use them as reference.  I made maps of the club and determined how to make the furnishings, the buildings and even the trees and the signage.  You can see this little note below that is on the top of the clipboard.  It is a plan for the entrance and rest room area.  The red thing is little plastic jewels that I will use on the lighting, and below that the black rectangle is a photo of the club that I downloaded.
This is were I am at in the construction of the club.  This is a diagram of how I intend to make the front entrance ticket booth and the rest rooms.  I am using two of the little tiki bars that I got from Dollar Tree more than a year ago, before I even planned this project.  I keep 3x5 cards and pens around the house in case the muse strikes me.  Often I wake up at night and jot a note or two, then the next day I spend a long time trying to figure out what I wrote.