Possible fix for Blogger Editor

I have just built up my sons desktop again and found that Microsoft Live now supports Blogger in the ‘Live Writer’ tool.

So here I am trying this out to see if it will sort my pictures out without having to edit the HTML myself.  So far the editor looks like a very cut down Word while giving me the ability to preview and see the source if I want to.

The teaser then (as who wants to know about IT problems at the weekend) is what can you do with two Coke bottle tops?

Note the rounded corner and left positioning – not sure if the link is correct though as it does not have a URL or anything in the source tab.

Well the upload worked and it stores the picture at http://lh6.ggpht.com – interesting thing is I can now edit this even though it has been published and I started a new post…

My initial impressions are good with only two minor problems:

• The preview shows the footer from the last post and not an empty blogger one
• The photo toolkit on the left does not have a scroll bar and with me doing this on a net book, I cannot see the button at the bottom (seems to edit the picture size)

I’ll try the next few posts in this and see how it goes.

Roads - Attempt number 1 - done in 5 minutes

Now I have hedges and fences under my belt (though I need around another 2m so) I thought I would try to make a road way. Hunting around the craft shop (The Range in the UK) I found some Grey Funky Foam 2mm thick from Craft Planet for 50p a sheet (9" by 12")

A quick couple of cuts later and I had a simple road and two curbs but then the fun started - white lines... I had real problems finding something that would go on the foam and not smudge or fade (and TMP did not help) I tried:

• Sharpe silver - OK but dark black with a hint of silver
• Biro - worked but the wrong colour
• Highlighter (yellow) - fades away over a day so it is only just visible
• CD PEN - fine if allowed to dry but wrong colour
• Snopake pen - did not flow
• Paint - worked but masking a pain
• Sharpie Paint pen - works and white (but did leak when charging the second time)

Using the paint pen I put two white lines down the middle of a 4.3cm wide strip to give The photo shows the curbs (5mm wide) glued up ready to stick on the sides. Not sure what glue to use so I am trying PVA first but may get some 'rubber' cement if this dries too hard (as I fear is may). I'm not sure the road sizes are correct for 15mm as I was thinking Ogre at 6mm when I cut them - only problem here is the step on the curb as 2mm is a good 25-30cm in real life. I may drop the curb idea and go for flock with a rubber glue base as this does look wrong and is clearly shown in this picture

As a scale I have put the wire fences in the background and the bases drop well below the curb.

For less than 5 minutes work I am very happy but need to give it a bit more thought.

One point to note - use a sharp blade as the foam tears very very easily.

Not a good day for Skaven

I finally got to play the Songs of Blades and Heroes battle this weekend and took three quick photos during the games.

My first thought is that the games is nice and compact and great for two / three battles in an afternoon (inc tea, biscuits and a sandwich or two) so fits perfectly in my life but my second thought (after getting well and truly thrashed) is that very minor changes can swing the game drastically. In this photo


you can see the remains of my first attack - after the dwarves came over the river and hit me hard I was left with three out of 10 figures (inc 1 swarm base) and they ran away!

Same fight from another side showing that some dwarf units never even made it into battle!

Changing tactics from a sneak to a flat out "swamp the stunties" led to a fast attack across the river (despite an error in 'leadership' understanding) and a mad combat in the middle


Looking at the two games and asking why the problems, the crucial factors are the difference in:

Quality - vital for moves and actions. I could not react or hit as often / as hard
Combat - vital to get a kill. I lost more due to this than you would believe

The worry I do have is that the figures are only one point apart in quality and combat but both Derek and I where shocked at the difference this 'minor' change made (and both of us rolled good and bad dice during the games).

Over the years I have lost many a game but was stunned by this result (not sure I killed a single dwarf during the two games) and wonder if I have got something really wrong? Do not take this as a criticism of the rules - I do like the feel of them and the simplicity is great BUT something in them is either odd or I am getting the rules totally wrong.

I'll have to set a little time aside to surf and read again - try a few more games myself and see what is wrong with my playing of a very well loved set of rules.

Wire fence

I slipped in a teaser on the wire fence I had prototyped a couple of posts ago, as by sheer fluke, the assembly went perfectly first time I did not take any photos while putting it together. To rectify this, I've created two more and here is a step by step:

Components are a pair of kitchen scissors (the only thing I've found to cut the mesh with), the normal thin plasticard for the base, some thin plastic rod (as wood is way to thick) and the wire mesh


The best mesh I have found is used for car body repair and is available from Halfords in the UK - an A4 sheet is currently £1.89

Using the scissors, I cut out a piece 70mm by 22mm (or so) and four posts from the rod and use super glue to join them. Simplest way I have found is to bluetak the sheet on the top of a small cup and put drops of glue in the mesh holes (i.e. do not glue the rod) and use a knife to roll the rod onto the glue - this stops the mesh sticking to you and the work surface. After this dries, you may like to bend any fence that sticks out at the side back around the rod using pliers - this does save it cutting into your hand when moving it around.

I plan to have some broken sections long term and on one strip I cut a slit just by a central rod position to simulate someone breaking into the compound by cutting the fence


I used two part epoxy glue to stick the dry fence to the base - by running a trail of glue across the bottom and around the posts it gives a better stick than both super glue and plastic glue - I did consider a hot glue gun for this bit but I cannot control the volume of glue on the base / fence so the 'epoxy and toothpick' method was used. Once dry (with my glue that is less than 30 minutes) it is a simple job to paint the base brown and flock as normal. I have used a black wash to take out the stark white of the posts and a brown / black touch to add rust and dirt to the fence itself - this breaks up the clean new look for my needs - your space port may be cleaner than mine...

A quick surf shows some simple signs saying 'Danger Keep Out' etc. and when copied into Word and shrunk these printed fine on thick paper - I used the Pritt glue to stick these till I varnished the whole thing (I'll try to get a better photo soon):


Note that the above two photos show the problem with the mesh - it is very hard to cut in the correct place. Sometimes it leaves a 'V' shaped top and other times the loop remains whole. I've tried a knife, scissors and score / bend to fix this and given up - my skills are not good enough to get this level of detail consistent...

One other point I have not mentioned - I use magnets from Litko on the base of these to hold them in the smae box as the 15mm figures.

Hedges and Fences - Part Three - The messy bits

Having my little trips out of the way I'm back home to finish off the bits (and see the family as well).

By now, the base will have dried solid and running your fingers over it should not dislodge any 'grit' - if it does do not worry, the next few stages will sort out any semi-loose bits.

First water down some more PVA glue abut 30% water I find right and flood all the brown grit area again making sure any holes are filled in. To help you may want to add a few drops of washing up liquid (but no foam folks) and ready the flock. I use an upturned shoe box lid but a large sheet of paper work fine. Note do not do this with cats, a cold or any young children within 2 miles unless you have a hoover ready...

Once wet, bury the strip in the flock and push well down into the glue:


Note the flock is half way up the hedge in the above photo. A quick shake will dislodge any loose hairs - do not rub the base - just tidy up the edges by running a finger around them and clear the bottom off. Now leave OVERNIGHT to dry.
Next day, tap any loose bits off and run your fingers up and down. Try not to create bare patches. You may be surprised by the amount coming off


The next stage requires Woodland Scenics Scenic cement. This is the only liquid I have found that works for this (sorry folks) and it is like runny milk and contains water, PVA and something else but I have no idea what from the smell. Using either a dropper or fine spray, flood the grass till it goes white and carefully wipe the bottom off before setting down on a plastic bag to dry



Do not do this when going out or to bed - you need to move the strips for a couple of hours while the glue dries - let it stick and you have real problems. After an hour or so, I wipe the bottoms again (seem to have this thing for bottoms in the post) and move them onto an upturned lid or box to reduce surface contact.

Now once these are dry you can use them as is but you may find the green a little bright / artificial. To cure this I dry brush dark green, black and browns onto the fence and hedge, edge the base with black then protect with a matt varnish. The finished item looks like this


With a little bit of care, you can create simple gates and broken fences


(I will try to get some better photos taken - the mobile is just not clear enough as only the last picture is clear enough to expand)

Hedges and Fences step two - painting and flocking

Continuing on from the last post, this one covers how you turn the parts into a hedge or fence.

Once the fence parts are dry, you can stick them to the plastic base either using the Pritt glue or a two part epoxy resin. To be honest, I have found the Pritt to be fine for this job and leave the epoxy alone.

Once all the glue is dry, the next step is to create the rough ground as a base for the flock. To do this I mix up 30% water with 70% PVA glue (Anita's Tacky Glue to be exact) and paint all over the plasticard and bury in grit. The grit is an old pack of sand that I purchased when Gorkamorka first came out and I use lots of it to totally cover the base in one go


A quick tap on the base to shake any loose bits off and this is put aside to dry. Do not worry if you have missed bits BUT make sure you remove any lumps from the underneath and sides of the card



Once this is done, put aside (overnight if possible) and DO NOT touch until dry. Only when the glue is dry, pick up and shake any partly stuck bits off - I use an old brush to scrub other bits off at this stage. You can also dig any bits out that are caught up in the hairs of the hedges at this point (a right pain - tweezers help).

Then mix up a batch of 'brown gloop' - this mix is 50% glue, 30% brown paint, 20% water and a couple of drops of washing up liquid. The washing up liquid reduces the surface tension and allows this to soak all around the grit. Again paint this all over the base covering any white gaps and ALL the grit. Note this mix is for my brown paint and you may want to try a mix first to get a muddy colour. This picture shows you the difference



It is vital that this is left to dry very well as we will add extra glue in the next stages.

Though not part of this step-by-step have a look at a security fence I am working on using the same basic process:


I'll post the flock and finish part towards the end of the week as real life interferes over the next couple of days...

Hedges and Fences - step one - The cutting

Having had (in my eyes) great success at the alien 'tree's I decided I would venture out to add soem earth style hedges and fences to my growing collection. A quick surf for ideas and a trip to Brigg I was the proud owner of a pack of 99p Wilko scourer pads and some 3mm balsa from Brians DIY - adding some plasticard out of the cupboard (the first set warped as I used a balsa base) these are the steps I came up with:

Starting with a stip of plasticard 15cm long (the size of the pad) and 15mm wide (looks right to me), I used an emery board on one side ready for gluing and cut the corners for neatness:


Taking a strip of pad 15mm wide (this looks fine and matches the local hedges) I then cut into the tops at a 45deg angle (ish) to create a hacked natural looking edge basically by pulling the off cuts out by hand - I took some down to 5mm to represent gaps but so far not tried for holes...


A quick pull on the sides to fluff the material out and I end up with


Using Gorilla Glue, I laid a SMALL trail along the bottom and wet the base. This I found better than gluing the base and wetting the pad.


If you have never used Gorilla Glue search it out. It is the strangest glue I have used and due to the foaming it is perfect for this as it works its way into the pad fibers - here is a hunt on TMP to see other users comments.


To make the fences, I cut strips off the balsa and used Power Pritt Gel to hold the joints. This was a stroke of luck as I had no balsa glue and already found this handy for paper models (and paper is wood in another form):



Over the next few days I'll post the basing and painting items but I need to let the glue dry first.


Forgive the centering of all photos - the editor in Blogger is driving me crazy and I cannot see any error in the HTML