Super Secret Hobby Secrets Which Are Secret!

I'm in a grumpy, bitch and moan mode so pardon me. I've been in the 1/6 scale doll-action figure hobby for nearly 20 years, 19 years this April to be exact. Before that, I had been a scale modeler since first grade and in fact, I'm still dabbling in that hobby more than four decades later. The thing is, I've never had any "hobby secrets" and I've always disliked when people did. Let me back up and say that I totally understand if you have a business that relies on some sort of "trade secret" to keep getting paid. Generally though, touting your finished projects while refusing to answer questions about it always annoys me. You didn't learn most skills sets entirely on your own and if you'd rather not share your super secret special methods, don't taunt people with them either. No, I don't believe you have any obligation to pass along methods, materials and techniques to the hobby community but you can avoid being a jerk about not doing it.

I bring this up because I've had some encounters recently with an individual in an online doll community who gets very snitty and testy whenever someone asks about a doll or accessory this person has posted. The response is always something like "why don't you use Google?" You'll notice that I generally post a list of parts used and their manufacturers. I'll always try to clarify if something is confusing and admit that sometimes, I just don't know. Most of my 'bashes are dead simple but I don't expect my readers to have encyclopedic knowledge of subject matter and manufacturers past and present. If you want to know where the shoes or jacket on one of my figures came from, I will endeavor to answer you. The only time it gets annoying is if a person expects me to do the legwork of finding something for them or repeatedly badgers me to sell or give something to them. But if you say "where did that pair of pants come from?" I'll never say "why don't you just Google it?" In the few cases that I've genuinely worried about causing a run on an item I needed for a project, I've kept it quiet until I have my supply laid in. I've done that maybe twice in the past decade.

These recent episodes with this particular doll collector have reminded me of how much I dislike this attitude. I hasten to mention that this didn't happen to me personally but was something I witnessed. I've already learned not to ask this person any "how'd yo do that-where'd you get that?" type questions. Like I said above, there's no OBLIGATION to answer such questions, it's simply nice when people do it.


 I don't know, maybe I'm totally off-base here. Is this just me or do you feel the same way? I would love to hear some thoughts from my readers on this.

British Para- Photoblog April 2016

This month, we'll take a look at a modern-ish British paratrooper, better know as a Para. To be honest, while I've always found these guys a fascinating subject, I won't claim any sort of expertise on them. Nice way of say that yeah, he's probably wrong but that's just how it is! In fact, the uniform represents an earlier style of the famous DPM camouflage while the load bearing gear is post-1995 but I thought it looked cool. As usual, I managed to lose my small stash of bayonets while working on this guy.

The basic breakdown is: Base figure is a super articulated GI Joe; uniform, boots and web gear from Dragon; beret from BBI and SA80 rifle from 21st Century Toys.

The uniform looks more like an early (~1970s) version of the DPM camo.

Close up without the rifle to show uniform and gear detail.

The famous red para beret.

SA-80 5.56x45mm rifle.

Sorry for the late update this month but as they say here on the 'net, "life got in the way"! A combination of wretched weather, having my house repainted and dealing with some plumbing issues conspired with the usual family and life obligations to delay my photo shoots until now. May's entry should be back on schedule and I'm hoping to have June's entry ready in time as well. Beyond that, I haven't decided where to go with the blog. At the once a month snail's pace I'm posting, I could basically never run out  of subjects. On the other hand, I think it's getting a bit stale. Maybe short, random entries more frequently? I dunno….