#repainted this piece from 2015

[len-illus]

you (2015)

vs the guy she told you not to worry about (2022)

a 7 year redraw

#len-sess #art #illustration #old art #redraw #repaint #yall #look at what a fool i was at 13 years old #didn't even bother putting a filter on the wall #smh #also i yoinked the 2015 piece from my old dA account #its Old old yall #tbh im not too satisfied with the 2022 one either #i know i could do better

[so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site]

When you can't afford the Haunted Beauty Mistress of the Manor Barbie (2014) so you make your own... out of a doll you saved from the trash no less!

It was SO difficult to keep this set to just ten pictures, so there will definitely be a details and before-and-after post on the way.

Component parts and the story of this gal's months-long creation under the cut:

Head: 2015 Fairy Godmother Barbie (Helena Bonham Carter face sculpt), with face completely repainted and hair rerooted in extra-long kanekalon

Body: Tennis Player Barbie

Dress: made by modifying a Victorian wedding gown pattern by u/MyMisfits on reddit

Necklace: constructed out of ribbon and a nail charm

Boots: Barbie Fashionista boots repainted black

Book: new custom print made by me, book template by myfroggystuff on YouTube

Keys: key-shaped beads strung on a hair decoration loop

Candelabra: constructed from beads, wire, and q-tip sticks

Funny enough, this gal is the "sister" of my Christmas Tree Angel Barbie. I used the leftover body and head from this project's component parts to make that doll!

I knew I wanted to re-create this doll with my own spin for a long time, but struggled to find a base with the right face shape (the original has a special custom collector face mold that isn't found in regular Barbies...befitting a doll that retails for $800+). Then, one day one of my neighbors had a box of stuff marked "free" that was otherwise going in the trash can, and in it was a VERY worn-out and dirty Fairy Godmother Barbie. The face shape was perfect (after all, doesn't Helena Bonham Carter often play spooky roles like this?) so I cleaned up the doll, rid her of her matted old hair, painted a new face for her, and gave her a new poseable body.

I didn't just re-create the original doll's dress an accessories either; I tried to put my own details into them. That book is fully printed on the inside... I'll show off the text in a future post! I also had to give her my signature elaborate hair compared to the original's prim and proper bun.

This was months of work, including gathering parts, rerooting the hair, learning different sewing techniques, learning new prop construction techniques, and troubleshooting issues like the glue not setting on the candelabra pieces. This is one of my most elaborate customs and I'm very proud of the result.

#custom doll #custom barbie #ooak doll #ooak barbie #art doll #gothic #gothic doll #collector barbie #haunted beauty barbie #haunted beauty mistress of the manor #my art #original post

[thespectralvision]

“I Too Shall be Saved by Love”

Corel Painter and Wacom Tablet - 10+ hours

A repaint of my favorite (serious) comic cover featuring Vision, The Vision (2015) #7. I’ve had this piece planned for over a year and this week’s art challenge was to do this, so I had no excuse. I’m so glad I finally painted this; I really love how it turned out.

If “Working Theory” had a cover, this would be it. “Working Theory” is my (insane) fan work focused on the White Vision. It’s canon-divergent as of Multiverse of Madness, and draws from the comics to flesh out the recovery I wish Vision had been given in the Comic 616-Verse and would like to see in the MCU. You can find it HERE if interested.

I ended up deciding on Age of Ultron, Civil War, WandaVision, and Multiverse of Madness designs for Wanda. I skipped Infinity War/End Game becuase I prefer brunette Wanda and it’s the same outfit as Civil War. I also thought about doing Halloween Costume!Wanda or black and white 50s!Wanda, but decided against it since The White Vision wouldn’t necessarily be aware of them. Finding reference of all the outfits was probably the hardest part of this piece, and I was very thankful for my Scarlet Witch Hot Toys figure to pose as my model for the angles. Wanda’s magic effect was done with some fancy brushes that are lots of fun to play with.

The halo effect is taken from some transparent overlays emulating JARVIS. Originally I wanted to use JARVIS’s hologram design, but couldn’t get a clear enough HD reference to look nice and this was more aesthetically pleasing in the end. 

Here Original Cover used as inspiration:

(My favorite not-serious cover is Avengers Spotlight #23, Vision Goes Hollywood. You can see it as my banner on this blog and I do have a repaint of it in the works to finish eventually)

#wandavision #wandavision art #marvel art #mcu art #marvel #scarvis #scarlet witch x vision #vision x scarlet witch #wanda x vision #white vision x wanda #white vision #the vision #Scarlet Witch #wanda maximoff #age of ultron #civil war #multiverse of madness #digital art #Corel Painter #my art

[strictlyfavorites]

1971 switched things up at Playboy, as Sharon Clark was given a pink and red Spectra speedboat. But the cars were back for 1972 and in full flash with a DeTomaso Pantera given to Liv Lindeland. This one excited me the most as it’s little known that my first love was a blue DeTomaso Pantera GT5S. Her 351 Cleveland powered Italian beauty was originally white, and shortly after purchase was repainted.

I could imagine Liv had many problems, as it’s well known how DeTomaso had reliability issues for a good portion of its first 3 years, and by the time the issues were fixed it was much too late to save face. Although through this bad reputation saw a cult following. People taking care of the car and righting the wrongs of the beautiful tragedy.

Despite all the failure, Liv’s Pantera  was sold on Hemmings in 2015. Now red and black, with seats from a ’69 Vette and numerous engine upgrades bringing the final number up to almost 500hp. The only hint that its the famous Playmate’s car is a warranty book that’s filled out to Playboy. Not to say that this car is definitely the one, but I haven’t been able to find a tell that any other DeTomaso was sent to the Playboy company. So I guess taken at face value, its a old survivor that has some new tricks.

PIC 2 - Sharon Clark, 1970 Playboy subscription ad.

PIC 3 -  1970 PLAYBOY PLAYMATE OF THE YEAR SHARON CLARK JIGSAW PUZZLE UNOPENED 500 PIECES

[tothelasthoursofmylife]

Out of the vault

I wrote in my chapter notes for "Ecstasy" that it contains pieces of the very first draft of the 1846 storyline - which I wrote back in 2015! (It's #55.) Apart from that, I could utilise many more snippets I wrote years before in this arc so far :) (And this will continue for the rest of the arc; I'm sitting on a mountain XD)

I've been having the greatest fun pulling out those old bits and dusting them off for the finished chapters^^ Especially because I shared some of them before! And looking over them, so many will (still) come up later in this arc!

(If you don't know: When I started writing WotQ, I created a file called "Snippets" where I save random pieces of story/ideas and enumerate them. Sometimes they get used, sometimes not at all because they became outdated/I couldn't make them fit/I was just trying to figure sth out/etc. If I randomly share them, I rarely share them in full.)

Here's what I shared before and has shown up in chapters so far:

#286: “Considering how you are and that you inherited your god-awful job from your father, I’m sort of glad that I never got to meet him.” -> Curious Disappearance

#319: But she had to. With every passing day, she grew more annoyed and frustrated with herself. -> Affection

#326: Milton had hardly finished his sentence when someone entered the cabin, gun in hand, ready to shoot. Cedric froze; time seemed to slow down for a moment.

Think, think.

I had Milton’s tinderbox in my hands. I couldn’t drop it. He told me to be careful. The candle was burning. The cabin was made of wood.

One hand had to be full. What of the other? What did I have with me?

Interdimensional-stored Death Scythe. A knife. No gun. Damn.

-> Mimes (that and its partner snippet #247 had to be heavily edited because they were SO bad and OOC omg)

I omitted #329 (The moonlight repainted him.) because it is so short but then posted it later anyway when I pulled just that sentence from the extended version, #344. It's in Nebulous!

#359: “Do not worry. I will be fine, I promise.” -> Ecstasy

#366: Cecelia said and then shuddered. “I want to be contrary so that I’m not on their side, but I cannot in this case. This may be the one aspect we can all agree on; I feel sick.” -> Affection

#378: “[…] But I suppose, I am being ridiculous,” Cecelia said and sat down her glass. “I must be spending too much time with Barrington.” -> Affection. This particular bit didn't make it, actually, but other parts of the entire thing did!

Surprisingly, only a few I shared (like #384) have become (partially) obsolete in the meantime. The full unedited snippets from above are here. Others that made it (though (heavily) edited) so far but I didn't share them before are here!

Oh, and new snippets are under the cut :)

#385

“This doesn’t feel right,” said Cloudia, staring down at the tombstone.

#386

Cloudia hugged her legs to her chest and rested her forehead on her knees. “I’ve been wondering,” she said. “What if it was better to forget?”

Cedric sat up. “What do you mean?”

#387

Cloudia exchanged a glance with Cedric who was as stunned as she was. “Are… are you not in pain?” she asked carefully.

“I feel a bit uneasy, I have to admit,” said Milton and placed a hand above his heart.

#388

“Cecelia, did Oscar say why he agreed with you? I’m surprised by his choice; I would have thought he would remain neutral in this matter,” said Cloudia.

Cecelia shrugged. “He simply agreed with my points and did not raise any of his own. Barrington and I were surprised too. We expected him to say something like ‘I will support any decision the Lady makes,’ not that he would outright agree with me.”

#389

(Already thrown out, but the gist of it is still in Ecstasy. Cloudia was so much calmer here XD)

“Lady Cloudia, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I knew,” Milton said.

Cloudia smiled. “Let us talk about that later when we have more time. And I know why you did that; you do not share secrets that are not yours.”

He returned her smile. “It really is that obvious when you know, isn’t it?”

#390

“Why didn’t you tell me you needed them again?”

“Because you became the Earl and Watchdog with Father’s death,” said Francis. “I did not want to burden you with even more.”

#391

Anaïs beamed and excitedly jumped up and down. “I feel so honoured! I thank you so much,” she replied, and Cedric feared she might cry tears of joy now.

#392

A scream came from downstairs. Cloudia was immediately on her feet and rushed out of the room. Cedric and [...] quickly followed her. They hurried down the stairs; right in front of the closed main door laid a man and a woman was standing next to him. All colour had left her face and she looked as if she would either scream again or faint any second now.

“What is going on?” asked Cloudia as she arrived by the woman.

“I… I…” She pointed at the man. “I left the drawing room and wanted to return to my room because I felt I was getting a headache. And when I rounded the corner, I… I saw this man! I touched him with the tip of my shoe but he didn’t move. I then screamed. I think I should scream again; I feel like screaming.” The woman broke into a wail, and [...], who had joined Cloudia and the woman a minute earlier alongside Cedric, glared at her. “Mylady, I understand you’re distraught but please remember that others are here too, and we would like to keep our ears intact.”

#393

“Why are you telling me this tale?” I asked. “Did something happen?”

#394

/

#395

extended version of #317

#396

/

#397

Milton blinked at [Cedric] and in the back, Cloudia put her face in her hands. “Will you ever stop with that?” she said.

#398

:)

#399

He accelerated a bit more and then he heard a shout – [...] – and someone collided with his chest. “I’m sorry,” the boy stammered and stepped back.  He was wide-eyed and didn’t even wear a coat. “I need to get to my…”

#400

/

#401

The older man, Rowan, levelled his icy gaze at Cedric, scrutinising him from top to bottom; it was a quick check, as if he had already decided Cedric was neither of note nor importance.

#402

“Cecelia, could you do me a favour and look into a person for me?”

Immediately, Cecelia perked up her ears. “And here I thought, this would only be an ordinary afternoon tea.”

“It’s meant to be one; I’ve only just thought of something,” said Cloudia.

#snippets #if someone's interested! #I was scrolling through the file and noticed that #a) I'm using surprisingly many of them lately! #b) I haven't shared any in a long time #so here's some post about the snippets #(I hope I didn't miss any!) #(tumblr formatting killed me orz) #(it didn't even want to save/post and I had to cut the post up like that!) #anyway

[vintonki]

Devastator toy legend class amazon

DEVASTATOR TOY LEGEND CLASS AMAZON MOVIE

DEVASTATOR TOY LEGEND CLASS AMAZON TV

2.1 Transformers: Battle for the Matrix.

Scrapmetal (stand-in for the second bulldozer).

Rampage (another stand-in for Skipjack).

Skipjack (left leg, or left foot if the yellow dump truck is included).

Nearby objects are drawn into his gaping mouth to be crushed. Devastator can also create powerful gravity wells by generating an artificial black hole with his Vortex Grinder, located in his mouth. Devastator relies on almost pure instinct in battle.ĭevastator is named after Cybertron's unwithstandable and terrifyingly destructive Devastator Winds, due to his intimidating strength. The imperfect fusion process produces a mind that's very much less than the sum of its parts rage and pain are all he knows, pushing aside whatever intelligence he might possess. He is in fact so huge that his body simply cannot support itself when carrying his weight upright, forcing him to lumber on all fours.ĭevastator is a tormented being, his very formation wracking his component Constructicons with pain and stressing them to the breaking point both physically and mentally. Two alternate lightning effect hands and two alternate handsĪlternate Michael Gough ( Batman (1989 film)), Alan Napier ( Batman (TV series)) and Outsider heads, tray, cup and discarded Batman maskĪlternate domino mask head, two guns and four alternate handsĬertain figures were also released in smaller waves without a Collect and Connect component.Whether he's formed from six, seven, eight, or even nine Constructicons, Devastator is a giant among giants. Left arm, alternate hand, katana and scabbard Two Speed Force effect pieces and alternate hands Power Battery and four energy effect piecesĪlternate ring effect hand and alternate hand Retool and redeco of the DC Unlimited New 52 Aquaman figure with a repaint of the DC Universe Classics Aquaman's head Redeco of the DC Universe Classics Superman figure with a new cape Repaint of the Grapnel Blaster wave Wonder Woman figure Repaint of the Grapnel Blaster wave Superman figure Retool of the Wonder Woman figure from the Grapple Gun wave with new accessoriesĪlternate unmasked head, nunchaku and spray paint canĪlternate unmasked head and miniature Atom Retool of the Justice Buster wave Flash figureĪlternate hands, removable helmet and two Speed Force effect piecesĪlternate laughing head, knife and pistol Retool of the Grapple Gun wave Batman figure with a new head Grapple gun, grenade, handcuffs and three batrangs Soultaker sword, wakizashi and two scabbards Same figure as above with different accessories

DEVASTATOR TOY LEGEND CLASS AMAZON MOVIE

Retool of the Movie Masters Man of Steel Superman figure with new accessories Mattel figures (2016–2019) Mattel action figuresīatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice version In 2019, it was announced that Mattel had lost the DC license, and that the DC Multiverse brand would be taken over by McFarlane Toys beginning in 2020. Like DC Universe Classics, DC Multiverse also uses the Collect and Connect concept, where each figure in a wave comes packaged with a piece needed to complete an extra bonus figure or role play item.

DEVASTATOR TOY LEGEND CLASS AMAZON TV

Unlike the previous line, which primarily focused on comic iterations of the character, it was announced that Multiverse would mix classic comic designs with other media based on DC's characters, such as their films, TV shows and video games. After DC Universe Classics ceased production in 2014, Mattel unveiled figures from the successor line, DC Multiverse, at San-Diego Comic-Con 2015.

#Devastator toy legend class amazon

[dunyun-rings]

yeah, we gay. Keep scrolling

#repainted this piece from 2015 #acnh #acnl #animal crossing #kk slider #ac pascal #dog #otter #water #ocean #my art

[oak23]

This was posted early to my Patreon please check it out for early content. Here is my custom Hamantha doll made from leftover pieces. Hamantha is a character from the song "The Ballad of Hamantha" by @jackstauber which I absolutely adore. She uses a 2015 DC Super Hero Girls Poison Ivy arms, torso and upper legs, with her lower legs switched with a post-2017 jointed Barbie, and Azone Pure Neemo hands attached with Hobby Base joints. Her head is made from Milliput sculpted over on top of a cut up Barbie head that fits on the body so she can retain her neck articulation. I then painted her up in acrylic paints. #repaint #hamantha #jackstauber #hamanthafanart #theballadofhamantha https://www.instagram.com/p/COdB40BpP6n/?igshid=19thkgez8fcx8

#repaint #hamantha #jackstauber #hamanthafanart #theballadofhamantha #jack stauber #the ballad of hamantha

[dyingforbadmusic]

Henry Harrison Mayes Roadside Cross in Cecile, OH

Couldn't locate the cross on google streetview but it must have been around here: https://goo.gl/maps/nmemsHV5fMZEdULQ7

Cross is now at the museum https://goo.gl/maps/NNfPR6GDEWtiZMrK7

https://brucegerencser.net/2015/07/get-right-with-godconsult-the-bible-when-making-a-decision-and-keep-america-communist-free/

Public sentiment leads to old cross staying, new cross planned

Blessings in disguise

Tuesday, July 28, 2015 11:00 AM

By NANCY WHITAKER Progress Feature Writer CECIL – The old cross sign will remain in Paulding County, which was good news for a lot of people who have become attached to the cross that has stood for the past 49 years. Now, a second cross is in the works, thanks to enthusiastic public support. The original cross, which stands on old U.S. 24 approximately a quarter-mile east of the Vagabond, was placed there in 1966 by an old preacher from Kentucky. Harrison Mayes had promised God after surviving a serious coal mining injury that he would dedicate his life to God and his ministry. The homemade cross bears the message, “Get Right With God.” A few weeks ago, a woman from southern Ohio spotted the old sign in Paulding County and wanted to place it in the American Sign Museum. Following a social media post, there was a lot of support to try and keep the old rugged cross in the county. The founder of the American Sign Museum, Tod Swormstedt, explained in a telephone interview how and why the traveler happened to want the cross from Paulding County. “My girlfriend was trying to surprise me for my birthday next week by obtaining the sign for the Sign Museum,” he said. “However, I got an email stating that due to social media and the media, the owners had decided to keep the cross and let it remain where it was.” Continuing, he said, “I am very glad that so many people got excited and wanted to keep the sign.” He also advised that the sign be removed and put in a place out of the weather. Landowner Roger Nicelley said Monday that the sign isn’t going anywhere. “This cross isn’t going to leave. It should stay right where the guy felt lead to put it. Its message is intended to come from that spot,” he said. “It’s staying here; I never did want it to go.” Nicelley was contacted about a month ago by a representative from the Cincinnati museum. He was told it is basically a formalization of one man’s private collection and continues to be privately owned. Although the cross is probably in the Ohio Department of Transportation right-of-way along old U.S. 24, Nicelley has been a contact for people through the years who have wanted to do maintenance work on the sign. Through the years, Roger has cut back tree branches and brush that has threatened to cover the sign’s message. “I’ve never claimed it to be mine,” said Roger. He added that it has developed a lean this year and if it fell, it would land on his property. Anyone who is interested in helping maintain this piece of Americana should feel free to contact Nicelley at 419-899-2279. With a chuckle, Roger noted, “Since this all has come up I find myself humming ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ quite a bit.” In the meantime, county resident Jack Fetter read the story in the Progress last week and was shocked at the history behind the cross sign. He noted, “I have been taking care of a cross for 25 years I knew nothing about.” Jack also said that the saying “Get Right With God” is what drew him to care for the cross. Those words always have been his mission and played a vital part of his ministry. He said that the saying has always made his heart beat a little faster each time he heard or read those words. He said he was always happy to see the old cross. Fetter recalled, “In 1985, Tony Gonzales Jr. painted the sign as a project scholarship to attend Youth For Christ Camp. The sign was also repainted in 1997.” He added, “Up until 2008, I have been back and forth to the cross site many times to trim bushes and trees that blocked the sign.” Fetter also had some other good news to share. Thinking the old cross was going to be donated, he started right away working on a project to construct a new cross, which will be a replica of the old one. The old cross measures 13 feet tall and the letters “Get Right With God” are all roofing shingles, painstakingly cut out by hand by Harrison Mayes, who placed the sign there in about 1966. The so-called “Roadside Evangelist” spread God’s word by placing his wood, metal and cast concrete signs in 44 states. “I have a lot of volunteers who

are willing to help with the project and we are looking at three different sites at the current time,” Fetter said. “Any of the three sites will be very visible from both sides.” Tony Gonzales III has volunteered to bring some of his wrestling team to help with the mound of dirt and stone for the foundation of the new cross. Hartzog Lumber is going to help assist with some supplies and Fred Merritt, another volunteer, is busy designing the plans for the new cross. It is hoped that the new cross will last another 49 years like the one Harrison Mayes built. Fetter said, “I was just so happy to hear of the interest in the old cross and while it does need to be out of the weather, it made me realize that through the years many, many people noticed the cross and we just don’t know the impact it had on many lives.” Fetter disclosed that tentatively, the new cross sign will be up by this fall. Fetter asks that if anyone has any questions to email him at [email protected]. “The old cross remaining in the county is indeed a blessing and the support I am getting on constructing a new one has also been a blessing,” Fetter said. Somewhere above, the preacher known as “God’s ad man” must be smiling. – Additional reporting by Denise Gebers

https://web.archive.org/web/20211220160703/https://progressnewspaper.org/Content/Home/Home/Article/The-old-rugged-cross-still-carries-a-message/-2/-2/190177

#henry harrison mayes #against link rot

[fkabradypnoea]

Home | Losille (losille2000) | (27/?) -  96.5k | Ongoing - Feb 2018

Tom returns home grouchy and exhausted from a cramped flight after four months away for work. Unfortunately, there’s already someone sleeping in his bed.

[Note: Losille began contributing her talents to the TH fandom in 2013 with “Picking Up The Pieces” and has since delivered excellent stories in both short and long form, as befits an author with her impressive education. in 2015 she rewrote and self-published the excellent 2014 work “Masquerade” to Amazon/Kindle. In recent years she’s been only slightly less active online as her real life teaching career has understandably taken precedence. She’s expressed that she is eager to return to writing, and I hold onto hope she’ll update “Home” before her Cavill or Evans works.]

- Read on Author's Tumblr | @losille2000 -

Tom unfolded himself from the black chauffeured car and lifted his hands over his head in a stretch that tugged the hem of his shirt away from his jeans. The stiff muscles in his shoulders and lower back groaned the further he moved, joints popping to illustrate his advancing age and how airplane seats weren’t getting any more comfortable, even in first class—especially after spending the better portion of a day travelling in one. However, he figured, the sore body was more than worth it so long as he was home for the foreseeable future.

Blowing a stream of hot air into the chilly spring night, he peered up at the two-story building to reacquaint himself with his surroundings. He’d been away for so long he barely recognized the slightly peeling exterior paint or the off-color shutters he never bothered to have repainted. What was the use in changing their hideous shit-brown hue, anyway, when he was hardly around long enough to enjoy them? The thought that he might actually have time to do something about them this time around made him sigh.

“Your bags, sir,” said a voice, demanding but professional, at his elbow.

Tom blinked hard at the little man who had interrupted his contemplation. The driver had met him at Heathrow with an iPad and his surname scrawled on the screen. Well, his decoy surname—the name he used when he didn’t want people to know where he was going to be. The name Luke made him use after that time at the airport where a crowd had gathered around and followed him to the car. Even though the only reason he needed a driver in the first place was due to the two girls before that who stalked him home on the Tube. Life seemed so convoluted these days, considering the process he had to endure just to secure his sodding bags at the luggage reclaim, only to go home to a place he barely recognized in the pale moonlight.

Tom bit his lip and balled his fists, trimmed nails biting into his palm. “Oh, yes, I’ll just take them up.”

“You’re certain, sir?”

Tom nodded and dug into his jeans pocket for the fiver he’d stuffed there earlier. After exchanging the banknote for his luggage and guitar, he waited for the man to return to his vehicle and drive away before climbing the front steps. He produced his key ring from the messenger bag on his shoulder and let himself inside the foyer to dark, comforting silence. His silence.

Continue Reading on AO3...

#Tom Hiddleston fanfiction #Home #losille #losille2000 #Marigold #Ree #pov3 #mature #chaps #reading #incomplete

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

1953 FERRARI 250 EUROPA COUPE BY VIGNALE

$3,300,000 USD | Sold

New York, New York

10 December 2015 Displayed at the 1954 World Motor Sports Show in New York An important one-off Vignale design on an early road-car chassis 2012 Villa d’Este and 2015 Cavallino Classic award winner Ferrari Classiche certified

200 bhp, 2,963 cc SOHC 60-degree V-12 engine with triple Weber 36 DCZ/3 carburetors, four-speed manual transmission, independent front suspension with double wishbones and double leaf springs, live rear axle with semi-elliptical springs and Houdaille shocks, and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes. Wheelbase: 102 in.

FERRARI AND VIGNALE

In the marque’s early days, Enzo Ferrari was obsessed with finding the right “look” for his road cars in an effort to define his company from a visual standpoint. He courted a number of different coachbuilders who provided not only Ferrari with a number of different styles to choose from but also the customer. At the tail end of the era of the coachbuilt automobile, Ferraris could be swathed with bodies by a variety of European, primarily Italian, coachbuilders, allowing clients to commission their car to their own unique taste.

Opening their doors just one year after the conclusion of the Second World War, Carrozzeria Vignale of Turin was founded by its namesake, Alfredo Vignale, and his brothers, Guglielmo and Giuseppe. Crafting bodies for other manufacturers such as Cisitalia, Fiat, and Lancia, Vignale quickly earned a reputation for quality craftsmanship and innovative designs. Their reputation was further reinforced when Vignale teamed up with Giovanni Michelotti, one of the most celebrated designers of the time. Together, they would create a number of bold and impactful designs for Ferrari, all of which were handcrafted. Each body would be unique, with its own signature flair and bravado.

Outwardly, Vignale-bodied Ferraris are easily identifiable by their juxtaposition of sharp angles and rounded edges, with numerous louvers, air inlets, and other styling cues, including frequent use of two-tone paintwork. Some of these features were fitted simply for ornamentation, while others served a functional purpose. Regardless, Vignale’s designs differed greatly from those of their rival coachbuilders Pinin Farina, Ghia, and Touring, giving them a distinguished style all their own.

From the first Ferrari to wear Vignale coachwork in 1950 to the end of their relationship in 1954, the company had bodied over 150 different automobiles bearing the Cavallino Rampante. Today, these vehicles have become some of the most sought after and desirable Ferraris ever built due to their unique character and charisma. Vignale and Michelotti dared to be different and etched their names into automotive history with their bold designs.

CHASSIS NUMBER 0313 EU

Ferrari built just 22 of the 250 Europa before the introduction of the second-series 250 Europa GT in January 1955. Of these 22 examples, 18 were bodied by Pinin Farina with just four by Vignale, making them the most desirable of the series. The example presented here, chassis number 0313 EU, is the second such Vignale-bodied example built. Furthermore, after this car, only five additional road-going Ferraris would be fitted with Vignale coachwork, making it one of the last of its kind.

Chassis 0313 EU is an exemplary example of Vignale coachwork, exhibiting many of the characteristics for which both Vignale and Michelotti were known. The car’s headlights are inset into the front bumpers, which creates pronounced “eyebrows” above the headlights, and the front turn indicators are deeply recessed into the front wings. A chrome trim strip wraps around the bodywork from the front wheel arches toward the stern and around the trunk, emphasizing the length of the car. Furthermore, the vents just ahead of the doors and on the sail panels are accented with chrome.

Shipped to Luigi Chinetti Motors in New York City in December 1953, this car would be on the world stage a month later when it was displayed by Chinetti at the World Motor Sports Show at Madison Square Garden in January of 1954. By this time, the Ferrari was repainted red, allegedly at Chinetti's request, prior to the show. Following the show, the Ferrari was purchased by Mike Garber of Framingham, Massachusetts, for a price of $17,500. He kept the car for four years before selling it through Gaston Andrey to George H. Parker of Rome, New York, for $4,900 plus an Aston Martin in trade.

Thus, the car became Parker’s four-season daily driver and proved to be quite reliable over the following two years, leaving him stranded only once when a stretched timing chain needed to be replaced. In fact, Parker was married in March 1959, and he and his new bride immediately hit the road in his Vignale coupe, driving across the country to California for Mr. Parker’s new job. The first part of the trip went smoothly, but unfortunately by the end of the trip, the Ferrari was losing oil pressure and required a new gasket by the time they arrived in Los Angeles, where Mr. Parker replaced it himself.

The Ferrari was retained by the Parkers until they sold it in 1960 to Leonard Renick, a Cadillac dealer in Fullerton, California. He was obviously a man with a penchant for GM products because the original Lampredi engine was replaced with a supercharged Chevrolet V-8, a common engine swap at the time as correct Ferrari parts proved difficult to source. Furthermore, the car’s distinctive bumpers were removed along with its rear chrome trim, and its nose was repaired after a minor incident.

As of 1968, chassis 0313 EU was owned by Philip Stanton of Los Angeles, who sold the car to Ferrari of Los Gatos in 1976. It was purchased there later that year by Constantine Baksheef and Alec Sokoloff of Palo Alto. Sometime thereafter, the 250 Europa was taken off the road, but it would remain in California. It was discovered in 2003 by Tom Shaughnessy and sold six years later by him to Heinrich Kämpfer of Seengen, Switzerland, who immediately shipped the car to his homeland to be fully restored.

RETURN TO THE LIMELIGHT

No stranger to early Ferraris and with a well-regarded reputation for accurate, correct, and well-executed work, Kämpfer restored the car himself in Switzerland. Parts that had gone missing over the years, including various trim pieces, the bumpers, and the grille, were reproduced to exacting specifications. Kämpfer even sourced an ICI nitro-cellulose lacquer paint to refinish the car in Bruno Siena. Furthermore, Max Gimmel AG in Arbon, Switzerland, the very same company that produced the original leather for the car in 1953, was commissioned to reproduce the interior. Even the Wilton wool carpeting was shaved down from 9 millimeters to 5.5 millimeters in thickness to be as accurate as possible. During this time, the engine, number 0331 EU, was found to be largely complete, though the block was found to be beyond repair. As such, a new block was cast by Ferrari Classiche, and that engine was fitted to a gearbox of the correct type.

By the end of the restoration in October 2011, it was estimated that Kämpfer spent 3,000 hours of work on the car with an additional 800 hours completed by outside specialists. Reflecting the restoration’s overall attention to detail, the Ferrari is accompanied by an incredible file, detailing not only the history and restoration of the car but also containing samples of the paint, leather, and carpet, as well as original screws, nuts, bolts, and clamps found on the car when it was disassembled prior to the restoration. The car’s first public outing was at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in 2012, where it was awarded the Trofeo Foglizzi for best interior design. The restoration of the car was further lauded in issue 194 of Cavallino magazine, where Alan Boe authored an 11-page color feature about this car, its history, and the restoration.

Subsequently, the Vignale coupe was purchased by Tom Peck of Orange County, California, in 2013. During his tenure, the car was shown at the 60 Years of Ferrari celebration on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills in October 2014 and further profiled in the November 2014 issue of Automobile magazine. Following it showing at the 2015 Cavallino Classic, where it was awarded Platinum and the Ferrari Classiche Cup for most outstanding factory-certified Ferrari, chassis number 0313 EU was purchased by its current custodian. Today, it remains just as beautiful as it was the day it left Vignale’s facilities and is a highly compelling example from Ferrari’s coachbuilt era.

While the designs of Pinin Farina ended up winning over Enzo’s heart, forever associating that coachbuilder with Ferrari going forward, it is the designs of Vignale that peak the curiosity of collectors, enthusiasts, and historians the most. The partnership between Ferrari and Vignale was seemingly short yet was highly influential and important to the marque’s history and design language, making those cars incredibly desirable today. Returning to the Empire State for the first time in nearly 60 years, chassis 0313 EU presents as well today as when it was first on display at Madison Square Garden in 1954.

#FERRARI 250 EUROPA #ferrari 250 gto #ferrari #vignale #V-12 engine

[cosmomoore]

So I was finally able to get the last dolls I wanted from the major July doll releases, it was very, very frustrating (one backordered Target order, one backordered Amazon order, one part of a Target order that shipped, but seems like it will never arrive (it has changed arrival dates no less than six times - and still hasn't arrived), four cancelled in store pickups - only for me to find them on the shelf at random times and two different Targets - despite only two of them being "in stock, in store" based on Target's app...

Anyways, that being said, originally I only wanted two of the BTS boys initially (so I could get the rest on sale hopefully), but due in part to impatience, the face sculpts actually being pretty decent in person, and also quality control, I went ahead and got four. I'll explain more why later on.

So what do I have to say, and what is my opinion of the dolls themselves?

Well their hair is styled surprisingly well and isn't rock hard. That being said, it does feel like their is gel in their hair. I don't think their hairstyles will hold up well to play, however, because one of my boys already has flyways from laying his head flat. A note on their hair, however, if you want V, I suggest purchasing him in store. I wasn't not going to purchase him initially (I only wanted RM and Jungkook), but all of the V's I saw had QC issues with their hair. For whatever reason, Mattel chose to paint his scalp black despite his hair being pale yellow and pale pink. Due to the way texture of his hair, you could see his black scalp on all the dolls I could find. I got the one with the least amount of black showing, but I have not tried fixing this yet.

Their articulation is pretty standard, the agreement seems to be that this body was based/is the same as the MH boys reboot body. The 2015 copyright on their backs also somewhat confirms this. There are some very minor edits that can be made to all for much more expression, see below:

If you carve a little bit out of their upper arm at the interior part of the elbow, they can bend to an acute angle. If you trim a tiny bit off the top of the back part of their calf where the joint meets, their knees can bend to 90 degrees, and if you shave off a little right under their armpit (on both the back side of the arm and the torso), you can make their arms lay flatter. I may mod this area a little more because I really wish they could lay completely flat.

Their faces are... Interesting... We all know that Mattel switched to a new screening style this year, but this one is even more different. It honestly looks like what is called UV Printing in my industry, it is honestly a type of printing that should never be used for details this small. The result is an image that not only appears pixelated, but also textured. I tried my best to take a photo.

I suspect they did this to cut costs, but honestly I have never wanted to repaint a stock faceup so badly. Their lips look all bumpy... That being said, I saw very few screening issues and all of their faces looked pretty good.

Next up is the clothing. Their outfits come in 2-3 pieces. Some shirts are separate, but most, I have found, are not.

Which is a shame because RM's polka dot shirt is really cute!! Surprisingly though, they did go the extra length to hem the bottom and backside of the shirts that are built into the jackets.

Also worth noting, Jimin's tie (the other one I purchased unexpectedly, but primarily because I think his face/sculpt is one of the cutest out of the bunch and I didn't want to wait) is not only a functional tie, but is also sewn like an actual tie which was surprising to me. I do not think it will hold up well to children redressing, but as a detail, it is a very nice one, though I doubt I will ever be able to retie it.

So what are my thoughts?

Overall the dolls are decent quality and some minor editing makes them moreso. I really wish Mattel wouldn't have used that printed, satin-y fabric they always use, but honestly that is what I expected. I also wish their screening was different. I don't mind the stock faces, but the quality is below that even of the $7-$10 Fashionistas. I understand why they are $20, the full 13 points of articulation (not 11 as all the Mattel listing state), actually styled and rooted hair, and decent likenesses are solid selling points (and also there is no telling how much Mattel spent on licensing these - especially because they are real people and not characters), but the cut costs in the screening and odd clothing choices are disappointing.

My personal opinion is this, I would gladly pay $2-$3 more for better screening/actual separate shirts, but honestly I think $20 is pretty fair if only for full articulation the hair being so nicely coiffed. It is so rare we get boy dolls with such good hair (granted I know their hair is a little different from the music video, but dang if it doesn't look good in this doll iteration at least). Would I have liked them to be cheaper? Of course! It would be nice if they were $15 so you could get them all for just over $100 ($105 + tax for those who are counting), but $20 isn't too bad in this case.

#bts #bts dolls #mattel #fashion dolls #kpop #k-pop #jimin #jungkook #rm #v #toys #doll collector #review

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Pluralistic: 07 Mar 2020 (audio from Canada Reads Kelowna, gig economy spreads Covid-19, Intel's security chip is insecure, Barnes and Noble gets a savior)

Today's links

Audio from last night's Canada Reads event in Kelowna: Thanks to Sarah Penton for being such a great interviewer!

Gig economy drivers won't get sick-pay if they have covid-19 symptoms: Your Instacart driver is being incentivized to handle your food through his fever-sweats.

Compromise threatens Intel's chip-within-a-chip: A bug in the Management Engine threatens five years' worth of Intel systems.

The savior of Waterstones will turn every B&N into an indie: James Daunt has opened 60 profitable stores in his career.

This day in history: 2015, 2019

Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

Audio from last night's Canada Reads event in Kelowna (permalink)

Last night I sat down for an interview and lively Q&A at the Kelowna Public Library with the CBC's Sarah Penton as part of the Canada Reads national book prize, for which my book Radicalized is a finalist. Courtney Dickson was kind enough to send me raw audio from the board and to give me permission to post it. It was a genuinely wonderful night, with great and thoughtful questions, and I'm really glad that I get to share it with you!

https://archive.org/download/canadareadskelownadoctorowpenton/Canada_Reads_Kelowna_Doctorow_Penton.mp3

Gig economy drivers won't get sick-pay if they have covid-19 symptoms (permalink)

The gig economy workers who deliver your @amazon packages are not entitled to sick pay if they think they have covid-19 and want to stay home, rather than delivering contaminated boxes to you.

https://onezero.medium.com/keep-your-car-clean-gig-companies-offer-little-support-during-coronavirus-outbreak-cf6c55cca8a8

It's not just Amazon Flex drivers who are being tacitly incentivized by rapacious, giant corporations to show up for work sick. Your Lyft and Instacart drivers are all being given a stark choice: work sick or go broke.

As Sarah Emerson speculates in her One Zero piece, this depraved indifference is likely an epiphenomenon of gig economy companies' urge to preserve the fiction that their workers are contractors, not employees. Contractors don't get sick leave, after all.

"[Amazon is ] basically threatening that I'll be out of work if I have any symptoms of being sick, coronavirus or not, but no protections and no offers for help in the event it happens" – Jeff Perry, Amazon Flex/Uber driver, Sacramento

Lyft's advice to drivers: "disinfect your car" and avoid passengers who appear sick.

As outrage over this policy went viral, Uber reversed its earlier stance and announced that it would offer up to 14 days of "compensation" for some drivers.

https://twitter.com/MikeIsaac/status/1236126626028507136

Compromise threatens Intel's chip-within-a-chip (permalink)

A new showstopper Intel bug compromises the Converged Security and Management Engine, the computer-within-a-computer that Intel uses for a variety of purposes, some beneficial (detecting malware), some terrible (shutting out free software).

https://blog.ptsecurity.com/2020/03/intelx86-root-of-trust-loss-of-trust.html

The Management Engine has long been controversial. It's designed to reach into your RAM and tinker with it in a way that, by design, the CPU can't detect or prevent. This is deliberate: it lets the management engine monitor and disrupt malware.

https://boingboing.net/2016/06/15/intel-x86-processors-ship-with.html

But of course, if your Management Engine itself is compromised, then – by design – the part of the computer that you control can neither monitor it, nor prevent it from doing malicious work. In 2017, a ghastly ME bug showed how risky this was.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/05/intels-management-engine-security-hazard-and-users-need-way-disable-it

It's especially bad because ME security is, in part, security through obscurity: Intel barely documents ME function and doesn't permit outside auditing. To make everything worse, there's no way to fully disable it. So ME bugs keep on surfacing, each worse than the last. Here's 2018's:

https://press.f-secure.com/2018/01/12/intel-amt-security-issue-lets-attackers-bypass-login-credentials-in-corporate-laptops/

Which brings me to the new vuln: PT Security shows an early stage attack on the boot ROM, that allows for recovery of a master key that is used to generate all the other keys in the system. It's a deep bug that could potentially compromise all the downstream operations. It's only a partial attack (so far). The key needs to be decrypted to be usable, but the researchers say it's only a matter of time – and they point out that the key is shared across years' worth of Intel processors.

This compromise (when it comes) has profound implications for DRM, which is intrinsically brittle in that it's "break once, break everywhere." Once content is extracted from a DRM wrapper on a compromised system, it can be shared and played back on intact ones. DRM system designers try to address this with tactics like "renewability" and "selectable output control" that allows DRM systems to detect which systems they're running on and refuse to operate if they believe they might be compromised.

This is a thermonuclear option that could make DRM unviable forever. It means that if you had the misfortune to buy an Intel system during the five years that they were manufactured with this defect, you could lose the ability to play content you've already paid for.

Not because you hacked your system, but because you could. DRM is and always has been a timebomb, ticking down to the moment that execs in a distant boardroom decide to nerf or brick your property. The temptation to downgrade your customers' property to up your profits is irresistible.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/09/what-hp-must-do-make-amends-its-self-destructing-printers

But customers don't like getting punished for "doing the right thing." If media companies cancel playback for purchased content on affected Intel systems, they won't be targeting pirates (who get their media DRM-free), but people who deliberately chose to pay.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, we don't get fooled again." -GWB

Punishing legit customers to get at pirates is a surefire way to make more pirates.

"Might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb."

The savior of Waterstones will turn every B&N into an indie (permalink)

A great hero of British bookselling is James Daunt, the founder of Daunt Books, whose flagship store is literally the most beautiful bookstore I've ever been to.

https://dauntbooks.co.uk/shops/marylebone/

Daunt took over Waterstones in 2011 and rescued it. The chain now runs as a string of indies, with no co-op promotion – instead, the booksellers in each shop choose which books they promote based on local taste. Corporate HQ chooses a book of the month and a book every year for chainwide promotion, but they do so on the basis of their enjoyment of the book – not because a publisher pays them for promo.

The new Waterstones stores are spectacular. There were always some great ones (the Waterstones in Bradford rivals the main Daunt books for beauty), but the vibe and experience of shopping at a post-Daunt Waterstones is a million times better than before. And new shops like the one in Tottenham Court Road really embody what a bookstore can be. The event I did there in 2017 with Laurie Penny was one of the best I've ever done in the UK.

https://www.waterstones.com/events/cory-doctorow-in-conversation-with-laurie-penny/london-tottenham-court-road

The good news is that Daunt is now running Barnes & Noble, which has been struggling and worse – pulling desperate moves like laying off all their most experienced booksellers to lower payroll costs, which is obviously a catastrophic mistake. And Daunt's public plan for BN – America's last major chain bookstore – is to replicate what he did with Waterstones. Let the stores run like indies, with local control by experienced booksellers who know and care about their customers' tastes.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-03-04/barnes-noble-wants-to-be-more-like-an-indie-bookseller

He's ending co-op promotion, featuring books that the booksellers choose, not books that publishers pay to promote. He's reversing the focus on non-bookstore SKUs (sunglasses, puzzles and scented candles) in favor of, you know…books. They're shrinking CDs and DVDs and expanding kids' books, laying the ground for a new generation of readers, and they're cleaning up, repainting, and generally repairing years of neglect that have given some of the stores the vibe of an abandoned K-Mart.

They're also opening new stores, targeting places that don't have any bookstores (as opposed to places where indie stores have kept the faith and continued to serve their communities). He's shooting for 1,500 stores nationwide. It's superb news for a nation where bookselling has been imperilled for decades. On every tour stop, I always insist that my media escort take me to every B&N in town to sign stock and meet the booksellers. As a recovering bookseller myself, it's one of the great pleasures of the tours. Bookstores are community hubs, and were key to my own literary upbringing. This is just delightful news.

(Image: RachelH_, CC BY-NC)

This day in history (permalink)

#5yrsago Improving the estimate of US police killings https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-new-estimate-of-killings-by-police-is-way-higher-and-still-too-low/

#1yrago Ajit Pai has been touting new broadband investment after he murdered Net Neutrality, but he's been relying on impossible data from a company called Barrierfree https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/03/ajit-pais-rosy-broadband-deployment-claim-may-be-based-on-gigantic-error/

#1yrago The EU hired a company that had been lobbying for the Copyright Directive to make a (completely batshit) video to sell the Copyright Directive https://twitter.com/Senficon/status/1103582295523553280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

#1yrago The "Tragedy of the Commons" was invented by a white supremacist based on a false history, and it's toxic bullshit https://twitter.com/mmildenberger/status/1102604887223750657

#1yrago It's on: House Democrats introduce their promised Net Neutrality legislation https://www.cnet.com/news/democrats-introduce-save-the-internet-act-to-restore-net-neutrality/

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources: The Verge (https://www.theverge.com), Wired (https://wired.com), Slashdot (https://slashdot.org).

Hugo nominators! My story "Unauthorized Bread" is eligible in the Novella category and you can read it free on Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

Upcoming appearances:

Museums and the Web: March 31-April 4 2020, Los Angeles. https://mw20.museweb.net/

LA Times Festival of Books: 18 April 2020, Los Angeles. https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/

Currently writing: I'm rewriting a short story, "The Canadian Miracle," for MIT Tech Review. It's a story set in the world of my next novel, "The Lost Cause," a post-GND novel about truth and reconciliation. I'm also working on "Baby Twitter," a piece of design fiction also set in The Lost Cause's prehistory, for a British think-tank. I'm getting geared up to start work on the novel afterwards.

Currently reading: Just started Lauren Beukes's forthcoming Afterland: it's Y the Last Man plus plus, and two chapters in, it's amazeballs. Last month, I finished Andrea Bernstein's "American Oligarchs"; it's a magnificent history of the Kushner and Trump families, showing how they cheated, stole and lied their way into power. I'm getting really into Anna Weiner's memoir about tech, "Uncanny Valley." I just loaded Matt Stoller's "Goliath" onto my underwater MP3 player and I'm listening to it as I swim laps.

Latest podcast: Disasters Don't Have to End in Dystopias: https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/03/01/disasters-dont-have-to-end-in-dystopias/

Upcoming books: "Poesy the Monster Slayer" (Jul 2020), a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Pre-order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=socialpost&utm_term=na-poesycorypreorder&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781626723627

(we're having a launch for it in Burbank on July 11 at Dark Delicacies and you can get me AND Poesy to sign it and Dark Del will ship it to the monster kids in your life in time for the release date).

"Attack Surface": The third Little Brother book, Oct 20, 2020.

"Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a very special, s00per s33kr1t intro.

[sternerstufftoys]

Bludge up a bit, mate

Bludgeon isn't necessarily the first name you might turn to as an example of a Decepticon leader. For the longest time I had to keep reminding myself that he ever had held a position of command, but yes, Bludgeon does get to keep his place in the Deceptileader hall of fame thanks to a late-game power-grab in the G1 Marvel comic, just a short time before it folded for good. Despite this, Bludgeon's time in charge was followed up by Simon Furman twice, first in the ill-fated Generation 2 comic and then later in the ill-judged Regeneration One, both of which had him very much put in his place by the bigger kids in the playground. He only really became leader in the first place by virtue of all those bigger kids being off elsewhere at the time, and a distinct power vacuum left back on Cybertron which he was eager to fill. Just think, if Furman was more into moustaches and wrestlers than samurai, we could have had Stranglehold on the Deceptithrone.

Yeah, Bludgeon's one of the staple favourites of Simon Furman, and has the honour of appearing in almost every series that he has penned. Marvel G1 and G2 (despite his toy being long gone from shelves at the time), Dreamwave G1 and Armada (yes, really), Titan's movieverse comics and of course, IDW. That's an even more impressive spread than even Grimlock or Swoop. And yet... it's taken until this year for Bludgeon to appear on the screen in any way, with a couple of minor cameos in season two of Cyberverse. That's a pretty massive disparity between being a comic book mainstay and a TV nobody.

It gets worse, as this Bludgeon is (mostly) the RID 2015 version, who got a substantial retool from the Megatronus toy and still didn't appear in the show, only for his own Autobot repaint, Blastwave to get an episode of his own instead. The ignominy! The affront! The bare-skulled cheek! Just because Blastwave's colour scheme was secretly way cooler... ahem.

So you probably noticed that my Bludgeon is looking somewhat different to his regular self. The toy was based on Megatronus, whose arms become the single cannon for vehicle mode, but Bludgeon's arms just end up hanging around on the back looking a bit daft, while his cannons are a new piece. So it didn't take much thought to simply Frankenstein the two together, and have Bludgeon's body with Megatronus's arms. And then an alt mode with three guns, because three guns is two more than one gun, and that's just good maths. Murder-maths!

I've always liked that Bludgeon becomes a tank. It's been suggested that, as a martial arts master, something a bit quicker and more agile might be a better fit as an alt mode, but Bludge is having none of it. Real Japanese samurai armour made them into big hulking powerhouses of the battlefield, built to take punishment as well as give it out, and that's what tanking is all about. Sure, Bluncheon-meat has some sexy moves, but he's still the party tank, not a DPS rogue. He's probably put some skill points in evasion and parry though, so he can tank with style.

Is this the best Bludgeon? Not really. ROTF Bludge is still the superior version, even after a whole decade. But while his erstwhile boss Thunderwing continues to languish in deluxe size, the thought of Skeletor here towering over the greatest leader the Decepticons ever had just couldn't stand. His RID version can certainly hold a pose or two, but his sword's a little on the stubby side, and there's no way he could ever hold it in two hands. And there's a strangely scattergun approach to a colour scheme (which admittedly I made worse by giving him new arms) with green, purple, orange and red all in the mix. And, let's be real here, he's totally overdone it on the skull motif. Not just his face this time, but torso and bum-flap all are made to look like skele-men. He's trying a little too hard, bless.

Still for now, RID hybrid Bludgeon can take the spot on the shelf. For now.

#transformers #maccadam #toy review #bludgeon #robots in disguise #rid2015 #decepticon leaders

[roboemma]

Sabine through the years. I was inspired by an amazing piece of art by @lledra-fanstuffs [link] to make a similar collage from photos of all the versions of my Sabine costume I’ve made; it honestly makes me super proud to see these all together, thinking about how many hours I’ve put into this character/costume in the past 3-4 years. I completed Season 1 Sabine in 2015 for SWCA, then repainted it for DragonCon that same year in the Season 2 scheme. Season 3 was completed for DragonCon 2016, Season 4 in October 2017 for the episode it was released in, and I’m finishing up my Epilogue suit for DragonCon 2018 this year! Photos by @thereallucasmccoy [link], Zeherfoto [link], & The World of Gwendana [link]. Helmet cast by Ruthless FX [link], everything else on the costumes were drafted, sewn, made, and painted by myself.

#sabine wren #star wars rebels #sabine #star wars #cosplay #costuming

[vddls-blog]

Friend reader, imagine a place where you could cross 15 clones of the One Piece Hero, eat octopus balls, buy cat ears (stuffed!), Be photographed on the back of a virtual pig or receive a lot of cuddles coming from perfect unknowns … Impossible, do you think? Well no ! This idyllic world, strange, perfect, crazy, kawai (bar useless mentions) exists. His name is Japan Expo!

Favorite robot..

As you say right now, I'm not mad about manga. Although I have the pseudo "BDphilou", it is especially the Franco-Belgian comics that has always fascinated me. Younger, I still loved the cartoon "Akira" which remains a reference of the Manga genre but other than that, few have caught my attention.

In these conditions, why go to the Japan Expo? Especially since I'm not able to quote any minor character of Naruto or to sing the least credits of cartoons appeared after 1985? Well it's simple: Japan Expo is an experience in itself!

For those who do not know at all what Japan Expo is, know that it is a kind of huge living room based at the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition center. And what do we see? An incredible amount of stands more or less in connection with Japan in general and Jap'animation " in particular.

On the menu of this event many different activities:

Of shopping in the countless shops of the show selling everything and often anything: Who wants to buy cats paws stuffed? Or keychains in the shape of Cup Cake? Or very "kawaïs" stuffed animals representing llamas (yes, I'm still looking for the relationship with Japan), bottles of fruit juice with real pieces of fruit inside? And lots of other objects as useless as necessary.

of the course martial arts, wrestling (!?!), calligraphy, majong, cooking and – in the midst of the deafening sound of the Yoga Salon!

of the restaurants selling a whole lot of Asian specialties as tasty as unexpected. Well, do not count on me to give you my impression on the menus, I had loosely bought my sandwich at the station just before entering the exhibition!

of the scenes where groups of Japanese singers-unknown to ordinary European mortals-whose average age should not exceed 15 years, make a real card to the applaudimeter.

of the conferences more or less surprising. Thus, one could religiously listen to the creator of the hit video game series "Crazy Taxi" that explained how he had designed his game … or go a few tens of meters away to see a huge crowd cheering a big yellow stuffed that had a badly mad to move and who was screaming in incomprehensible language!

of the stands for the less curious where you are offered to sit on a cube and in front of a green background. A snapshot and 2 minutes later, you leave with a picture of you on a virtual pig with written: "Seven Deadly Sins". Why ? How? What happened there? So many questions that will remain unanswered!

Stands video games represented a little by Sony and a lot by Nintendo. It was also the part of the noisiest room. It must be said that the animators visibly confused the verbs "comment" and "scream" to describe what everyone could yet see on giant screens.

But ESPECIALLY: there is Cosplay !

Well sorry for this old-fashioned reference to Captain Flamme, but as I said above, I'm not super up to date on the latest Japanese cartoons. So, back to our sushi, and unlike this as one might think, the most interesting point of the Japan Expo is not necessarily in the various stands and activities on offer. No ! It is indeed in its alleys that is all the "salt" of this event. Indeed, many visitors are " cosplayers ". Understand that they made the trip to walk in the living room fully disguised as heroes of manga and / or video games. But be careful, do not imagine the costume knitted quickly by Tati Huguette the eve of the last year's holiday party. Here it is really about often impressive costumes. We feel that most Cosplayers had to spend a considerable amount of time designing the smallest details of their clothes. It goes from the simplest (The Hero of One Piece with his red jacket and his straw hat was very well represented) to costumes simply impressive or confusing realism. So even though, like me, you only know the 10th characters crossed in the aisles of the show, it is obvious that your eyes will naturally be attracted by all these creations. Thus, Ariel the little Mermaid rubs Cobra with her cigar, Princess Amidala talks with a zombie nurse and the Spartan "300" queues at fast food with a warrior looking straight out of prehistory! Surreal and very fun at the same time. Especially since all this beautiful world is very easily affordable and will be happy to ask for any objective on request from you. Some even give you a business card so you can take a look at their website presenting each of their costumes!

As you can see, strolling the aisles of the show is an attraction of every moment.

To conclude this little report, I realize that I forgot to talk to you about many things. For example, we could notice the locations for dedications of Japanese authors well known who were not so far from those young amateur designers seeking to break through by presenting their first fanzine. I also forgot to mention the presence of a clone of Freddy Mercury vacuuming on stage with a giant panda (!! ??). And how not to mention people walking around with their signs " Free Hugs ". Understand that they propose to hug you, just for fun! I could also talk to you a little about video games by telling you quickly that I was able to watch a fight from the next Super Smash Bros (to be released at the end of the year on Wii U) on a giant screen. This was the 1era European public presentation, if I'm not mistaken. And the baffles are flying low, believe me! I also discovered " Splatoon (Still on Wii U / planned release in February 2015). A game of confrontation with 4 players against 4 where it will be the team repainting the largest area of ​​the playground. To move faster, you must … turn into a squid! (???) A game perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the show: completely barred and incredibly endearing! Well, there are still 1000 things to tell about the Japan Expo but I prefer to leave you the surprise to live them in one of the next editions! Sayonara!