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Years back i was in FP and having a browse through the Who novels and there was one that was set in Victorian times and had a Zygon shuffling around in Elephant Man clobber (i think).
If i remember it right, anyone know of its title - and is it any good?

Oh boy. Just done my finances, which were real bad  That was one expensive Christmas 
Add to that needing two new crowns, new pair of glasses, new front door, along with a new bed, and i need to raise funds fast.
So, been looking around at what i could sell and, alas, the ThreeA Mongrol sticks out the most due to his great size, so i've chosen to let him go:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ABC-Warriors-ThreeA-Ashley-Wood-MONGROL-figure-/160717414404?pt=UK_Collectables_SciFi_fantasyCollectables_EH&hash=item256b812004

SO pleased to report that Carl has sent his little gem for my little project.
I had to ask for Thrud for the in-print character



For who he meets up with, just follow the link:

http://someoneoldsomeonenew.blogspot.com/

We've just got our son for his birthday the Skylanders video game, which he adores.
The neat gimmick to it is
(A) You get three action figures of characters and you plop one on the "portal" and, there you go, he's up on the screen for you to control
(B) You can swop the figures at any time, usually if it'd be better to use the special talents of another one, say one who's good at stealth or smashing or whatnot and they take over from the previous one
(C) And there's 30 other figures you can buy seperately at 6 quid a go, meaning theirs endless ways of playing the game.
All summed up in this here ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktZSxMlQu_w

As i say, my son loves it and its great fun to watch.
And it got me to thinking:
How neat would it be to have a 2000AD version?
You buy the game with your three basic figures of, say, Dredd, Alpha and Dante, choose one, trundle off on the adventure and then, if you need brawn, you swap to Slaine or if its markmanship needed to achieve a goal better, change to Joe Pineapples or Rogue.
*sigh* would be nice wouldn't it?

We've got previews of the 3D Three Musketeers on Weds. Two of my team have seen it and reckon its dire. But, the trailer policy has just come through and on there is one for 3D Star Wars. Its not arrived yet, so no idea if its a general compliation from all six, or specific to jsut Phantom Menace.
But thought i'd let you know.

Just a quick heads up - The Works have the nice hardback Best Of Judge Dredd and 2000AD's for only £6.99 each

Very VERY happy that, after a maddingly frustrating delay, the next issue is at the printers and will be on sale soon.
Inside you'll find articles on Supercar, Martins own SNOCAT and a what if? private commission of UFO's SID if the series was remade now.
Also, there's the start of a gallery section, featuring some of Martins early work, many of which have never seen print before and an ad for an upcoming feature that i'm very excited about, seeing as i thought of it.
Over a couple of issues, Martin will be making a craft, using readily available materials. The idea is that folk follow it, make thier own variation, and stand to win an original Martin Bower creation.
Exciting stuff indeed.
And, a future feature in an upcoming issue may be of interest to Squaxx - one that covers the photo Star Scans that Martin did for the back pages of Starlord
Linky is below - just scroll down and its on the left:

http://www.scifimodels.org.uk/

Finally got round to watching Captain America and, while its pretty good, it just reinforced that i've never really cared for the character.
And got to me thinking of the the Caps that are above him.
Was wondering if it might be an idea to list your favourite five?
Here's mine to kick it off:

1:


2:


3:


4:


5:

http://www.karoo.co.uk/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=N0149351312284862579A&category=UK

That's odd - everythings been hunky dorey but now all of a sudden, i can access the Forum fine.
But every avatar, icon, smiley etc is the red cross in a box and the layout is decidedly different.
Figure its my computer at fault as i took a look here at work tonight and everything was as it should be.
Any idea whats going on?

Care to stroll by the Blog and see what she does on her evenings off?

http://someoneoldsomeonenew.blogspot.com/

Nearly there now. Pretty pleased with how his bodyworks come out and the rest of it is a doddle to paint, being simple blocks of colour:



And the rest are being painted seperately:



As the kit is based on the Bisley version, i was going to go with the logo/slogan-adorned rifle, but (A) he's holding it upside down, (B) i don't want anything too bright that'd distract from Joe.
So am going with a brutal, hrash, plain gunmetal as a contrast to him.

Here's a heads up for a new Blog of mine.
Got a project underway where i ask artists for their takes on two characters i've chosen for them - one a classic, out of print character from 60's/70's British boys comics meeting a modern, in print one.
Aside from it being in B&W, its totally up to the artists to decide what the characters are doing, whether they're getting along etc.
I've got a couple already, with more in the pipeline, and i'm also using the site to showcase my Black Max comissions and convention sketches where i've asked folks for their takes on some iconic characters.
All of it is inspired by Cliff Robinsons commission he did for me, which was inspired by Dredd winning the "favourite British comic character" poll i did on my "AIEEEE!" Blog, which a lot of you voted in.
So thanks to y'all too.
Linky:

http://someoneoldsomeonenew.blogspot.com/

Just picked one of these up and, while small, its perfectly formed with some brilliantly disturbing images.
As good as it is, its even better that, for a bit extra, Dean does a sketch of your choice at the back.
Me being me,and Dean excelling at what he does, had no choice but see what he'd do with Black Max:

You may remember this sculpt featured here a while back?
Chuffed to bits that its now a kit:







But a bit miffed that its a birthday pressie - and i have to wait a month before starting 

Maybe someone can help with this?
I need some sort of video editing software that'll allow me to:
import from DVD or video,
edit stuff together,
maybe be able to fade in and out between seperate pieces,
and lay music down on top.
And that's about it.
Nothing to fancy or Pro is needed - just something that's easy and simple to use.
Any recommendations?
Oh, i'm XP by the way.

Well here's my take on the fella.



Not too accurate as, despite searching high and low - and getting very funny looks in the process - i couldn't find a style of chain that was anywhere near what Henry had come up with.
And the nearest match i could find also had to be in scale with the only thing i could find for the head spikes, which are Clout Nails.
HAD to have eyes lit up didn't i? So i've sculpted the face around the front of a torch, with leads going down and out at the back.
I asked Henry what he had in mind colour-wise if the fella stepped out of the strip and into a different medium and he came back with " metal parts battleship grey, covered in oil and rust and the bandages a very dirty white, like Bruce Willis' vest at the end of Die Hard."
So that's what i done did:

Dunno if anyone here can help me out, but i've an abiding memory from when i were a nipper that i'd like to gen up on - but don't have a blummin' clue where to start.
Back in the early to mid 70's we used to visit Chessington Zoo a lot.
Don't remember the animals or the zoo at all but DO really recall one of the attractions that were stuck off to one side from the main one's (bit like that booth in "Big" but nothing came of it) and there were about 3 rectangular cabinets.
Behind a glass front there was a little scene, think they were all indoor sets, with folk in it and stuff.
You put your money in and things started to move and happen.
What was so fascinating and memorable was that the events were all supernatural. Not in a crappy, cheap, British gost train kind of way, but really quite spooky, well done little vignettes.
They were utterly mesmerising and the highlight of the trip each time for me.
And then, one trip, they were gone.
No idea what they called or anything about them apart from the above 35-odd year old memories.
Was hoping maybe folk here have come such things and maybe, maybe, could provide some info?

With mention here of Noggin back on the Beeb, thought i'd do the heads-up thing for the Rupert Bear Muesuem in Canterbury, which has a permanent Postgate & Firmin section, including the original Clangers and Bagpuss minatures, along with the animation cut-outs (because, incredibly, that's all they were) from Noggin and Ivor The Engine.
And a really rather splendid model of Noggin's flying boat - though no mention of why it was made.
Highly recommended.

Watched most of it last night.
Can't say nuffink really as its not out till later today, except:
Effects are very good - but some things that work in comics just look darn silly onscreen no matter how much money is thrown at it,
Rainbow Bridge isn't as bad as i feared it'd be,
Loki's helmet is terrific,
and the 3D is totally unneccesary, smacking of the Friday 13th "oooo, lets wave something across the screen" approach.
And that's it for now.