Crazy For You Player Piano set piece

 

Hurricane

 2009 Four Winds Hurricane 34B

Bought in 2017:  25 Days  17 States  2 Family reunions  6,336 miles  1 million memories

36' Class A RV, 3 slideouts.  Queen bed in rear, two full length bunk beds.  Dinette can become a bed and couch pulls out into a double bed.  

Ford F53 chassis with Triton V10 engine.  5KW gas generator, 2 AC units.

4 rear tires replaced Aug 2021.  2 steer axle tires have about 2 years left.

The upgrades:

Previous owner upgraded all TVs to flat screen, added in extra audio components

Dealership had all furniture recovered.

I put 2x 120W solar panels on roof with Renogy controller and remote.  

Replaced house batteries with 6V deep cycle.  Replaced chassis battery and installed a tender.  Recall service on battery switch performed.

Changed all interior bulbs to LEDs, added extra vent fans to the bed. 

Horrible white carpet removed and linoleum installed:

The Bad:

This is the biggest problem.  This trim can get ripped if the slider is moved while the driver's seat is back.  We loaned it  out one time to a good friend and they destroyed it. 

This window likes to whistle with any crossbreeze.  We taped it up for the trip.  A quick tap back into place stops the whistle, too.

I ripped the pull tab off the awning when storing it.  I haven't unrolled the awning now in over a year.

Other than those items, she is good to go.  The family just doesn't go out any more.

Margaritaville update 2

 Now he has feathers

Margaritaville props update 1

We have functioning controls:

 And Bucky / Beaky now has 5 axis of movements:

1:  Jaw open - close

2: Head left - right

3: Head up - down

4: Wings out - in

5:  Tail up - down

Edit 2:  Now with feathers and a tail

LSOH mask ideas

 Brainstorming page for LSOH Dentist mask ideas:

From the script:  "...wearing a huge clear plastic bubble over his head.  A long tube trails from the back of this "gas mask."..."  

I went on a couple of prop forums, and most people have made it that way using clear acrylic globes meant for streetlights.  There were a couple not-so-good ideas:

They used a face mask and some boat fenders.  

This one is actually for rent, but I don't think you could sing in it:

Most were along these lines:

The most experienced props masters demanded active ventilation, usually a muffin fan off a battery.

I built this last year for Halloween, it runs a fan with a large battery.  This rig could be downsized easily to make a smaller rig like the last one above.  Active ventilation at the back, passive at the front.

Willow got involved, and heard that somebody might not like the fishbowl idea, so she went looking for alternates.  She is convinced a normal oxygen mask would work, if it included a bunch of holes.  She even drew her own concept art:

The acrylic globe costs about $50, and would be the only expensive part of the project.  Everything else is available.  Text me thoughts or ideas!

 

Battlesuit Alpha gets Dusty

 Long time no post!  Been a busy year.

Battlesuit Alpha ain't just for those 6mm mechs out there.  Let's stat up these big guys and have some fun.

First, it just goes to show that no equipment can make up for bad training.  Standing still, with a co-pilot, and he still misses with both barrels.

I forget what the 10 was about, but you can see the close-combat device for the Allied heavy.

In BsA, lasers keep shooting through things!  Makes lining up a shot like this fun:

The rules state that Mechs don't have firing arcs.  But I wanted to emphasize the design difference between Allied and Axis mechs.  So all Axis mechs' weapons are 1 cheaper because of "hull mounted", and Allies have to pay for turrets.

Axis Leader.  Gave him a co-pilot, Encouraging, and Lucky.  (Always my go-to for leaders).  His guns are nerfed artillery pieces (shorter range, less hit). 

Of course the big guy in the back got the real Artillery.  Also everybody on this side was carrying anti-personnel guns.

Little guy down front is hard to see, but I made him a close-quarters freak.  A shatter gun for range, close-combat claw (+1) , close-combat system (+1) and Bloodthirsty (+1).  Right now he's toe-to-toe with the Allied Heavy and holding his own.

Allied Leader is in the middle.  Another modified weapon profile, it is similar to the Axis 2-gun guy, but gains armor piercing.  He's also a ranged fighter, preferring to snipe at his enemies.  Top right is a flamer, of course.  And the heavy at the bottom comes with 2 turrets.  This is the laser version.  The other I will run as heavy rocket pods.

Operation Last Train Goes Vertical

 First, some explanation is in order:

1) I'm printing up a new set of terrain for a contest.  I'm only halfway done.  Everything is only halfway painted.  But I just gotta play something!  So I fired up Operation Last Train.

2) Since it is still in progress, some of the components of the base are not for public consumption.  Blacked-out portions of the screen are not to be published on galactic media.

3)  WTF is wrong with blogger?  No matter what I do, if I bulk-upload pictures, it puts them in the wrong order.  Renaming, re-timestamping, nothing works.  Since I had to individually upload pics, this is a much shorter post.  

4)  The intent was to play a game and see if the terrain will work, not to take quality pictures.  That will show, I warn you.

Anyway:  The volunteer rescue crew has received a distress signal.  Civilians are holed up at the base of the station.  Can they get to them?

The crew starts out on the landing pad.  It's LT Badger's normal crew, with a replacement for Private Yellow (still in sickbay).

Their objective.  The closed room 5 levels below contains an unknown number of survivors.  

First contact is made.  And the theme of the game was set.  All dice rolls were either heroic or terrible.

Just a couple levels down, LT Badger gets jumped from behind!

With the expected result.  Even the "re-roll" card didn't help.  There goes our Comm specialist!

The two teams continue to descend, meeting bugs all the way.

An example of the dice rolls.  An alien charges PVT Blue, and he knocks the aliens head off in hand-to-hand

SHOOT IT, GRONK!  SHOOT IT!  CPL Gronk's machine gun came in handy.

Contact is made!  PVT Red gets the door open to find 7 civilians.  PVT White covers the deployment point (house rule).

But White has to uncover the point to pick up a train of civilians.  Of course, the dice gods rule that an alien spawns on it.

Another example of the dice rolling:  At one point Blue needs to kill a downed alien.  He plays "Full Auto" just to be sure.

And misses with all his dice!  The civilians were not impressed. 

This spawn point became the focus of the game.  It generated more aliens than any other, including a couple "big momma" aliens.  (Another house rule)

Somewhere in the lost pictures, somebody made a successful call for the dropship.  Some of the civilians were sent ahead.  As they know the layout of the base, they will go to the right and not run in to the alien. Or will they?

PVT Red failed to check his 6 and didn't see what was below him!

The first alien swarms up the ladder and attacks.  I random-rolled to see who it hit.  Private Red.

The 2nd alien attacks, and randomly picked Red again.  Bye-bye, Red.

You can guess what happened next round.  The civilians couldn't flee quickly enough and were devoured. 

RIP, anonymous civilians

Endgame.  All survivors have made it to the top level and are racing for the landing pad.  Gronk and White cover the rear.

A close battle the entire way. Nobody could get kill shots on the aliens, just kept knocking them down for some distance. 

SUCCESS!  The survivors make it to the landing pad.  5 civilians rescued.

RIP, PVT RED (KIA) and LT BADGER (MIA)