Post AMPS

No M10 update today, just an AMPS rap-up. I attended Steve Zaloga's talk, Saturday morning. He focused mainly on painting, and weathering, and overall presentation. He had lots of great tips, many have been published in his Osprey books, and Military Modeler articles. After listening to his talk, I think I will change the diorama base. I heavily weathered the M10 with mud and dirt. It will look better on a dirt road than a cobble stone road (it will look more like the picture I based it on anyway). I'll use the old base for another model, which is more lightly weathered.

We had a Braille Scale Meeting after Steve's talk. Meeting the guys from the Missing Lynx Braille Scale forum was great. The guys brought a bunch of kits and accessories to look over. I'll have to get my hands on some of those Astra Models diorama bases. I picked up a few Tiger Productions buildings, Prieser figures, and some other accessories. The braille scale selection from the venders was thin as usual, but better than previous years. I took lots of pictures of models on the contest tables. They should show up on On the Way soon.

Finally I've added a link to Jason Geelong's on-line Panther Build, in Braille Scale of course! He's really tripped out the Revell Panther Ausf D/A, check it out.

Happy Dance

I forgot to mention that I finally got a copy of Sherman, by RP Hunnicutt. My Sherman Library is now complete! Actually that's not true, but don't tell my wife! I one the Ebay action while in San Diego, and the book arrived shortly after we did. It's a first edition, without the dust cover, that's in fairly good condition. I probably paid too much, but it wasn't my maximum bid.

While in San Diego I did manage to visit a hobbyshop, Discount Models. I picked up an Extrapac version of Eduards M4A3, for only $19. IMHO, Eduards "Extrapac" versions of the M4 chassis are nowhere near as good a deal as the Extratech, but they are a bit cheaper.

Make it dirty!

Ok, it's been a long time since I had an update, but my wife and I went to San Diego last week. It was tough, I know, but I managed to survive out there. Unfortunately, I developed a rather nasty cold, which turned into bronchitis, and knocked me completely off my feet. I haven't been able to devote much time to the M10, and sadly doubt that I'll have it ready for AMPS. Even if I do get it done, I doubt I'll feel good enough to spend all day at the show. Oh well, there is always next year!

OK, so it isn't the M10....

...but this is the view I have outside of my Hotel window. I'm roughing it at the Manchester Grand Hyatt for the next few days. While the wife goes to a Scientific Conference, I have to figure out what to do??? Well there is the Midway right down the street, the Aviation Museum, the Flying Leatherneck Museum at Miramar. Not to mention the San Diego Zoo, and numerous other museums, and the Pacific beaches. I'm not sure if there are any armor museums close by, but if there are I find them. I've got two digital cameras and a laptop, so I'll be shooting lots of pictures.