#WIPWednesday, January 24th, 2024

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full album.

So, here I sit. It's 10:09 AM the day this blog post is "due." I guess I could just make a social media post, because nothing I've been working on involves blasters or replica firearms or anything like that, but I've just gotten into the habit of writing again, so I want to get this out there. 

Part of the reason I haven't had the time to write is because, in all honesty, I've been working on projects. The weekends have been devoted to post-holiday cleaning and reorganization, and most weeknights when I get off of work, I've been at the workbench figuring out how to put together lightsabers by Big Fred's Customs and UnimatrixPro. 

On the lightsaber front, I currently have four complete for the "Cheap, fast, and good. Pick two." portion of my Props for Cosplay talk in May, with two more that will probably wrap up this evening. So far, I've completed Obi-Wan Kenobi sabers from The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith, a Yoda saber from Attack of the Clones, and a Qui-Gon Jinn saber from The Phantom Menace. Hopefully, after some forgotten parts come off the Bambu P1P this afternoon, I'll also be able to wrap up the Anakin Revenge of the Sith saber and the Mace Windu saber. This will leave me with half of a Darth Maul saber to build, and a Count Dooku saber that I haven't even started because that f****r is intimidating.

Over the weekend, I got the burr up my a** to print a BD-1 droid from the Jedi: Fallen Order video game. I blame people on Instagram for this, because I've only put in three hours on the dang game. Either way, over the weekend I printed all the parts from Fine_Engineer's files on Thingiverse before remembering I have the Mr. Baddeley files from when I was on his Patreon to gather information for R5-D4, so depending on how I feel after making the completely static first version, I might go ahead and print one with servos to really test myself.

The only other thing I've really been working on is dice boxes in the shape of original series communicators for Star Trek Adventures. Somebody in the Facebook group posted the link to their Printables page after they made them for their gaming group, and I needed to grab them. I'm hoping to get a Star Trek Adventures game going in 2024, and I think a set of dice in a communicator is a nice way to say "Welcome to the crew."

Okay, it's now 10:37 AM and I think I've given a decent rundown of what works are in progress. Don't forget to check out the Google Photos folder that shows some of this past week's projects. 

Remember to be excellent to yourselves, and each other. The world kinda sucks out there, so try not to make it suck even more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck a little less.

Until next Wednesday,
Tony

#WIPWednesday, January 17th, 2024

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 Hey there, everyone!

This past week hasn't gone too poorly. I have my desktop PC back, which means that not only do I have all of my files back, but I also have my full-size mechanical clicky keyboard, so typing isn't a horrible chore with these big old sausage fingers! So, what's been going on since last Wednesday?

First off, the printer has been running until Tuesday evening, when I ran out of Polymaker CosPLA and Amazon pushed back my order until Thursday. However, in the time I've been printing, I've completed the Rogue One Stormtrooper Blaster by Galactic Armory, a Star Trek original series Tricorder and Communicator by UnimatrixRed, and most of a Dagobah-version of Luke's Blaster Pistol from The Empire Strikes Back (I need to print the main scope body and the right grip, that's it) by Big Fred's Customs. The blasters are for me, 100%. I want more Star Wars blasters. However, the Tricorder and Communicator are definitely getting pushed to the top of the list to get finished for a possible discussion table in March and the Props talk in May. Why are they getting pushed to the top? Honestly, it's because they are recognizable props that aren't based on real-world firearms, like all of the blaster props from Star Wars. I am definitely going to represent the pew pews, but I want to have pieces that aren't just guns.

Next, I've been able to spend some time in the workshop the past few evenings, so I've started assembling some of the lightsabers I've printed over the past few months. If you don't recall, these are lightsabers I've printed "in color," so they look like the actual props, at least from a distance. These are lightsabers that would cost about $20 each if I sold them, and they're going to be examples of "Fast and Cheap" for costume props. So far, I've completed the Qui-Gon Jinn lightsaber from The Phantom Menace, the Yoda lightsaber from Attack of the Clones, I'm three quarters of the way done with the Darth Vader saber from A New Hope (need to attach small wires), and I snapped part of the emitter on the Obi-Wan Kenobi lightsaber from The Phantom Menace, so I am currently waiting for that to get reprinted. You can find pictures of all of them in the Google Photos folder that I attach to my blog posts.

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This coming week, I'm going to continue assembling lightsabers while I wait for my filament to come in. This filament also includes some metallics so I can finish up some of the other lightsabers I'm building. I'm also going to start work on some of the props for the talk, probably a Sting sword from Lord of the Rings that I printed in resin months ago, and the communicator from the original Star Trek. In addition, I've got the project I've started over on my Ko-fi account that I need to put some work into, though it's not getting much until I get some backers over there.

With that, that's all I've got in progress this week. As a heads up, on Friday from noon until approximately 7 PM Eastern, I'll be part of an online game of Blades in the Dark for work over on Twitch, as we show off our new TTRPG campaign management software, Lore Link. So if you want to see me play a TTRPG, go ahead and check out the channel. In fact, you might want to go ahead and give them a follow, because I'm fairly certain I'll be on it next Tuesday from 5-6:30 PM Eastern as the creator of Lore Link mentors me in adding the "Quick Play" adventure for Star Trek Adventures into the software for my first game.

Finally, if you want to help support my building and writing and all that jazz, you can visit here to see everything from donations to Amazon Wish Lists to Amazon Affiliate Links. Plus, anything you see me printing and building, I more than likely have merchant rights to sell prints from the files, so hit me up if you like something. Seriously, I took a hit with a $500 computer repair on top of getting things around for my Geekling's birthday in a few weeks, so if you'd like to give any help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Until next week, please remember to take good care of yourselves, and each other. The world sucks out there, so try not to make it suck even more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck a little bit less.

Tony

#WIPWednesday, January 10th, 2024

 

Hey there, my friends.

Not much to write about this week. I'm currently on a jerry-rigged setup while my PC is in the shop, which has put a damper on a lot of the work I was planning on doing over the weekend (the PC went in Friday morning, thought it would be out Friday afternoon). However, I have some projects I've been working on, so I do have a little bit to write about for today's post.

Note: I hate writing anything of length on a laptop keyboard, especially a MacBook keyboard, so this won't be too awful long! Also, pardon any typos. Large fingers, small keyboard, you know how it is.

Over the weekend, I started cleaning up my workspace. I scrubbed down my workbench and cleaned off a portion of the shelf underneath for my new combo belt/disc sander, which was also assembled on Saturday. I went through all of my kits, moved the ones I'm not planning on working on any time soon to another shelf, and cleaned everything up before staging kits for my projects over the next few months. Last week, you saw the before pictures, and in this week's album, we have more of the "after" pictures, though the cleaning project is in no way complete.

With my computer in the shop, all of my files are unavailable. So, I've been going through some of my Patreon links to find something to print. Over the last few days, I've been digging into the folders from Galactic Armory, and I've printed out an A-Wing Fighter model from Return of the Jedi that will take battery-operated tea lights and use them as flickering lights in the engines, and I'm in the process of printing the barrel and t-track pieces for an E-11 Blaster Rifle, and I THINK it's the Rogue One version.

Other than that, I've got my Ko-Fi Talking and Tea Team Project printed, with information starting to go up on the Ko-Fi page ($3 a month to support the team!) showing that build. For more information on that, visit my Ko-Fi page for details.

Other than that, I haven't done much more than watch the Star Wars original trilogy and finally watch The Batman. With my normal equipment out of service, I've just been trying to relax. Hopefully, I'll have my PC back by the weekend, and I'll have more to tell y'all about next week. In the meantime, remember to take good care of yourselves, and each other. The world sucks out there, so try not to make it suck any more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck a bit less.

Tony

#WIPWednesday, Looking Ahead to 2024

 

Happy New Year, everyone! I don't know about you, but I've had a heck of a week here at the Murder Basement Workshop. I have a "to-do" list that isn't really long, but it's a lot of labor-intensive things I need to do before I can start building again.

So what needs to get done? What am I planning on working on throughout 2024? What events am I planning on hitting? Well, this week's "Work in Progress Wednesday" post is going to cover that, since I didn't get anything actually built this past week.

So, let's get started. Remember, you can click a photo to be brought to the photo album for this week's post.

Workshop Projects

Dang, where do I begin? The Murder Basement Workshop is kind of a wreck. I haven't organized all the new kits I've brought down, there's still a fine coating of orange dust everywhere, and I now have a combo belt and disc sander I need to set up to create even more dust. The goal for the rest of this week is to at least wipe down my workbench and the shelf underneath with a cloth and soapy water, so I can set up the sander and store it. The next task is to organize my "to do" shelf, move old kits that I'm not going to touch in a bit to some shelving away from my workbench, and organize the stuff I am planning on working on.

Moving up to the office, where I do my Troxell's Trading Post shipping, my costume storage, and I have my printers, the first thing I need to get done is figure out the under extrusion issue that popped up on my Neptune 3 Max. Once that is complete, I need to reorganize the workstation around both it and the Bambu P1P, to get rid of things that just ended up there because, well, open flat surface. You know how that goes, right? Speaking of getting rid of things, I need to list both the CR-6 SEs and the Anycubic Photon and Wash/Cure station up on Facebook to both get them out of the house and into someplace where someone will hopefully use them, and to raise a bit of money for either the Bambu A1 Mini with a .02 nozzle (detail pieces, replacing the resin) or the Bambu AMS for the P1P so I can offer up some multi-color prints over on the Trading Post. In addition, the costume closet and bookshelves by it have become a tragic mess since the beginning of the pandemic, and I need to get that all cleared out so I have more storage in the closet, plus space to put shipping materials and stock where it's not just piled on top of comic books, which are piled on the 3D-Printer workstations!

Building Projects

I have a few different categories of projects I'm going to be working on. First off, I have commissioned work. The very first item on that list is a pair of Bo-Katan Kryze blaster pistols and a blaster belt I need to complete for a co-worker who has been immensely patient with me. Once that is done, and I've taken care of the aforementioned Max, I have a Bo-Katan helmet to print for another friend, plus a Jedi Temple Guard mask, some Doctor Doom armor, and a couple other dinky things.

Next, I have a ton of stuff I'm printing and building under the guise of "Props for Cosplay" talk prep. I've shown some of these before, items like the lightsabers, but I've also been printing like a madman and picking up paid files when I have the extra scratch. This means, as seen above, I've got:

• From Star Trek
• Star Trek Discovery Phaser Pistol
• Star Trek Discovery Phaser Rifle
• Star Trek Picard Phaser Rifle
• Star Trek Voyager Compression Phaser Rifle
• Star Trek First Contact Phaser Rifle
• From Star Wars
• Mandalorian IB-94 Blaster Pistol
• From Fallout 3
• AEP7 Laser Pistol
• AER9 Laser Rifle
• From Aliens
• M41A Pulse Rifle

As much as I'm trying to not make everything a firearm, they are some of the most recognizable prop pieces out there. I'm hoping to do some stuff like lighting up the Discovery and Picard rifles, as well as the Fallout 3 rifle. The Pulse Rifle will be built and shown off with the resin kit I need to build, and the Nerf version, to show off the different prop options that are out there.

For my Ko-fi supporters, if I ever get them, I've got a few projects for that, as well. However, you need to be supporting me on Ko-fi to get the information on those. It's only $3 a month, folks!

Finally, there are the personal cosplay items I want to build. I really need to make my Ghostbuster costume again, as well as my X-Wing Pilot. Once the aforementioned Max is fixed, I also want to start sizing and printing my own Heavy Infantry Mandalorian/ Paz Vizsla. This will be more of a focus after the talk in Anderson this coming May, but I want to get the ball rolling while I'm finishing phaser rifles and the like.

Events

I'm hoping to safely get out of the house more in 2024. Of course, I've mentioned Anderson numerous times already, so you know where I'll be on May the 4th. I'll be there giving a talk about how to make and incorporate props into your cosplay, as well as showing some stuff off for the Star Wars Day (Observed) celebration.

If you do the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio, I will be there as part of the Lore Link crew, promoting our new TTRPG Campaign Management Tool. Not only will I be promoting, but we're discussing having some dice tower giveaways, sponsored by Troxell's Trading Post.

I'm also planning on attending VoltCon 2024, which has no date yet, but will probably be sometime in October. Kat and I will be tabling again as Troxell's Trading Post, and I'm hoping to have some other stuff to show off, similar to how I had the Optimus Prime helmet displayed last year.

Another item on our agenda is the Ohio Renaissance Festival. Kat loved hitting ren faires when he lived in California, and I've been promising to bring him to this one on his fall break. We're hoping to have some manner of costume for the event, though it looks like the available theme weekends for us are Vikings (ugh) and Romance.

Other than that, I'm not really planning on attending much in a "professional" way. I might hit some conventions with the family to just, you know, go to a convention.

Troxell's Trading Post

Along with my push to get a complete Starfleet armory running, Troxell's Trading Post is going to be a big focus in 2024. I'm curious to see if I can fund the hobby in a market that's already saturated. My main goal this year is to relearn leather crafting. I've got so much leather scrap with my tools, I just need to start practicing. Then I can get a wallet or two, maybe some dice trays, up on the shop.

I'm also looking to get more movie prop replicas and cosplay stuff printed and up. I'm a merchant-level patron for at least three different makers of prop and costume files, and I need to get some clean pieces printed out and up on the shop. The kicker is that I'm only selling items on the site that I have "in stock." I've had enough grief with printers to know that if I take a print-on-demand order, the printer will kick out on me and I won't be able to fulfill it. I'm not doing that, because I've seen it happen too many times and I don't want to contribute to the problem.

Finally, my ultimate goal (other than, you know, turning a profit) is to get the shop and blog off Square and Blogger, and put it on my own site. Then hopefully I can have a bit more control over shop layout, and shipping, and all that stuff that I really don't have unless I give Square even more money than I already do each sale.

Okay, and that's all for right now. Sorry this hasn't been edited down, but as of right now, I've had about ten to twelve hours of sleep so far in 2024, so my brain isn't quite braining properly. 

If you've read this far, you are awesome and mighty. I'll see you all on here next week, hopefully with a cleaner workspace and some progress on a project or two! Until then, remember to take good care of yourselves, and each other. The world sucks out there, try not to make it suck even more. In fact, if you can, try to make it suck a bit less.

Tony