Building the Library

My first four purchases from Folio Society. To give my Japan-based library (and the new house) some literary cred.

Making modifications to 'the only fantasy world map you'll ever need' because I needed more Africa and Asia. Still debating where to put my Skraelings... in a pocket in the moutains of what would be Asia, or off the map to the west.

Originals by EotBeholder:

Fantastic Heraldry

Quite busy with the move. All hobby supplies (save one little EM4 mini sitting by the computer) have been packed and mostly transported. Even the computer is gone... I type now on an old laptop. Going to be like this for a while, until summer when the house is complete, and we've unpacked.

Until then, I've been worldbuilding the old fashioned way... in spiral notebooks. Getting ideas together in anticipation of my kids playing D&D...

So, since I have a moment, here is what I've been working on:

Fantasy World Heraldry Guidelines (WIP)

Under the Imperial system there were seven castes; commoners, yeomanry, gentry, peerage, nobility, royalty, sovereignty (listed in ascending order).

Commoners were not granted, and not permitted, arms of their own.

Yeomanry were permitted a simple arms of 3 complexity points. Each color, charge, field division, and non-standard line was worth one point. Thus, upon entrance to a military order, a new knight was granted arms, typically in the Order's colors, featuring a single charge, division, or ordinary. For example: Argent, a cross sable (3 points = 2 colors + 1 cross).

Gentry. Should an exceptional knight be awarded a holding, he or she was authorized an additional point of complexity (4 points total). In this case our knight added an ordinary: chief sable. The most common modification was to add a line of division and countercharge.

Peerage. Attaining a position in the this caste was difficult, and those who attained it were awarded another TWO complexity point (6 points total). In the case of our knight, she has added three griffon heads, in a third color, to the chief; the number of heads is immaterial as the group is counted as a whole.

Nobility. Again as our knight advances in status, she is awarded the right to make her Arms more complex (7 points of complexity in all) as well as the right to use a bordure - in this case she has altered the line on the chief.

Royalty. Really getting up there now. Royals are permitted another point of complexity (total of 7 pts.) and the use of furs. Our knight has chosen to alter the field to ermine.

Sovereignty. The top level has no real limits on what they can or cannot do, however there are no known examples of an arms bearing more than eight points of complexity - represented here in with a bordure or.

Of course the addition of complexity was a privilege not a requirement, and there were humble knight-kings who bore simple arms of three complexity points.

Mars Attacks Truck Kitbash

Getting ready for a big move. Much packing, few supplies readily available... I did however start kit-bashing one of my Mantic Mars Attacks trucks.

Looking at a wheel swap and covered bed from a Chinese 1/55 diecast of a Russian Kraz 6x6. Think I might magnetize the bed to allow payload swaps (tanker, SAM missile launcher etc.).

I still need to stretch the frame, a bit in the rear wheel well to accommodate the bigger tires, but mostly aft of the mud flaps to align the rear bumper with the tailgate - might slap a spare tire up in that space.

Hong Kong Police Cars

First draft of police car decals, version: modern HK, for my "Fistful of Kung Fu" forces.

Layout is based on the 1/50 scale BMW 7 series models I have - and is a pretty traditional jam sandwich design. Hong Kong does have British-style Battenburg cruisers but they are limited to traffic division vehicles, standard patrol cars are still like this.

Optimized for clear decal film printed and applied to a white car. Rear bumper decal is over printed to allow it to be wrapped, and the rear plate text will be adhered over a yellow painted plate.

MSG Mechanic 001 Wheeled Command Post Carrier/Missile ADA Vehicle

New vehicles... Watching 'Streets of Fire' and test assembling this MSG snap-fit kit this morning.

The kit, by Kotobukiya, is a good size for 28mm, though I'd like to kitbash a rear drop ramp, and redo the hatches to something slightly bigger. For about 1000 yen it's a pretty nice vehicle, that assembles very quickly, and features swappable command vehicle and ADA roofs.

In command post carrier mode she measures:
Length: 118.4mm
Width: 58.8mm
Height: 54.5mm (roof) / 58.9mm (including gun)

The air defense missile carrier version measures:
Length: 118.4mm
Width: 58.8mm
Height: 71.7mm (top of radome)




Kotobukiya also makes tracked vehicle with armored fighting vehicle (AFV) and engineer recovery vehicle variants... I will be needing several of each.

Police Cars and Taxi Cabs (Happy 100th Post)

I'm still waiting for my shipment of cars from China. However I have not been idle. there has been much GIMPage; I've managed to nail down the designs for the police cruisers and taxis.

First, the Fuzz.



The model is a BMW 7 series (E65), however I am toying with the idea of converting the split grill into a single one, and blending away the trunk-lid halves of the tail light assemblies - leaving the sedan more generic. We'll see when they get here. Aside from that, I'm planning to add Valor-type lightbars, front push bars, and grill-mounted emergency lights (not the headlight modifications seen in the sketch).


After much back and forth, I decided on a conventional black and white scheme, with simple text markings. There are subtle nods to Hill Street Blues and the Blade films, but the design is original.I'd toyed with golden-yellow fender markings, but the sketches look much better with white, perhaps because the design is so simple.


Secondly, a Hack Job.


The taxi design is based on the taxi livery used in Almost Human, albeit made more conventional. I decided to add a hint of checkering to the C-pillars, and the registration text block is taken from the type seen on NYC taxis. I haven't done front or rear elevations yet, aside from "CityCab" and the car number on the trunk lid... I don't think I'll be adding anything else aside from, possibly, an aerial marking on the top surface of the trunk lid.

So, that's what I've been up to this week. I guess I should also mention that this is the 100th post. Woot. What started out years ago as a page to support my Delta Green Realms of Cthulhu game, morphed into a Savage Worlds weapons supplement (subsequently spun off on its own), and now serves as my general hobby journal. Hope you all enjoy what I have put up. I'm hoping the year ahead will lead to more regular projects and posts after we get settled in the new house. Fingers crossed.