eBay is great. Fees? Not so much, but all of the largest platforms have fees. I think I lose around 9% of a sale on eBay to miscellaneous fees. This isn’t so bad on items where I’m making large profits, such as Warhammer Bits (I would love to provide a link, but due to recent policy changes, most bit sellers have shut down), but on things where profits are slim, it sucks. I was in the black on warhammer bits, it was wonderful. Then Games Workshop… well, shut everyone down. They shut down the websites. They shutdown the stores. They shutdown the bloggers, forum posters and forum hosts. As I sit here looking at 23,000+ auctions for “warhammer 40k” auctions, eBay is the last holy ground for these sales.

eBay is great for selling things at a higher value than you’d get on specialty sites. Take Magic the Gathering cards, they sell for 40-50% more on eBay than on a website like tcgplayer. Honestly, I’m glad people buy things on eBay, I ain’t complaining. Hopefully, I’ll start a store on eBay and link it back to brtw2.com, but that won’t be for a little while.

I was born to love the New York Rangers. No really, I swear, my mother and father conceived me just so they could raise a NY Rangers fan. And this is where it becomes akward, because my father is an Islanders fan and my mother is NJ Devils fan. When I was 1 year old, my family moved out of the small, squat, 900 sq. ft. house (yes, house) that my father put $1 down on and moved into a 19th century victorian, a house with a NAME. Thank you von Schoder, for having such wonderful taste in two-layer crown moulding, marble fireplaces, and large brick ovens.

My room was adorned with a NYR sticker in 1988 that still survives to this day. That sticker was a reminder to the young version of myself that I was to watch MSG (Madison Square Garden’s television network) every night because that’s just what I had to do.

It’s 2013 and the New York Rangers finished as the 6th seed, an amazing feat in which they ended the season 10-3-1, with Lunqvist (G) having a 0.922 save average, amongst the highest in the league. Playoffs start up this Thursday and I’m ready to see my team make it out of the first round!

A good 40K army needs to be able to adapt to any challenges. To that end, I attempt to covert and magnetize wherever possible. Since my model count is high (around 90 space marines models), I try to get creative from time to time when converting, rather than buying and having to store MORE space marines.

These days I mostly buy terrain and weapons and this WIP is an example of what happens when I go shopping on eBay. In order to keep costs down, I chose to cut off hands, rather than arms. I made most cuts with a hot, thin x-acto blade (flame heated). Magnets are 1mm x 2mm and 1/8″ x 1/16″, length by width, and were installed by drilling using same sized drill bits using a hand drill.

You can see, in the photo below, how each size magnet was used. There are two 1x2mm magnets in the base to store the not in use bits when the model is on display. The original power sword has a 1x2mm magnet as well, due to the small size of the bit. All other weapons and arm joints use 1/8×1/16″ magnets.

And here are some photos showing the gaps and fit of all of the different weapons. I may or may not fill the gaps with liquid green stuff on the next model, but this model will retain his gaps through the painting process.

The gap on the sword is fairly large, as I had to make two separate cuts at 120 degrees.

This last photo is the opposite of the first, with lightning claws attached to the base instead.

Update: the next day. I added some black gesso to everything and posed this little guy up. I’ll be giving him a genesis chapter paint job, not the more traditional deathwing paint job. This is a fluff decision on my part as who knows how many editions it will take before mixed armies won’t be allowed.

And this guy on the left is the other painting goal for the day. Librarian Tumriel from Dark Vengenace shown next to my Tactical Squad #1 Sergeant. The sarge is being used as reference for both units being painted (detail level and color scheme choices).

Update 2! Looks like progress, got enough red on him to match the shade I like. I use a dry burshing technique wth a shader brush with a very small amount of Liquitex glossies red. When completely dry, there is no gloss, just a nice layered, enamel-like finish.I didn’t notice it when I took the picture, but you can clearly see where the magnets are in  this picture because they are ever so slightly raised, they attract a lot of paint when dry brushing.

And if you look carefully in the background of the terminator pic, you can see Librarian Tumriel, completed.

Here are some glamour shots of him before being sealed with Testors Clear Coat (I’ll clear coat him tomorrow, want to make sure all the paint has ample time to dry.  The sarge to the right is sealed with a cheap clear coat and I  have another unsealed model testing out the Testors Clear Coat, drying behind me.

Want the recipe card? Click here!

     It’s Thanksgiving morning and I don’t know how to make green bean casserole.  The one item I promised to deliver and I don’t know how to make it.  I mean sure, I’ve made it before, but it is not yet ingrained into my internal cook book and that will just not do!

     Happy Thanksgiving by the way!

     Thankfully, I’ve managed to locate the first key ingredient, Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup. Cream of Mushroom soup is a funny being because it has 3 purposes and only 3 purposes:

1. Tuna Noodle Casserole
2. Mushroom Soup
3. GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE! which I still do not know how to make!

     Certainly a quick google will result in the default recipe? PERFECT!

     Today I am thankful for Google.

     And French’s, kinda.

     On that note, I would like to introduce you to the second recipe in the ex-cel-lent recipe series, French’s Official Green Bean Casserole.

     Okay so  lied, I’m modifying their recipe because I can. Today, out with the cream of mushroom and in with Cream of Chicken! I know, I’m ruining a tradition, but it’s worth a shot, right? Poor cream of mushroom, right? I’m taking away one of its 3 uses and relegating it back to the cupboard for another years time.

A long time ago, a wizard created simple and easy-to-read cooking instructions. Along came some mischievous whipper-snappers and they began to improve upon his idea. Locked away high in his tower for years on end, many began to worry the wizard was dead. To preserve his legacy, group of commoners have attempted to carry on his life’s work.

     Cooking for engineers was a once active website that has faded with time. I’m assuming that much like many of the projects I began in college, they too ended up separating and developing other interests.

     In the hopes of bringing back to fame what was once a mainstay for many of my friends, I am going to recreate several of my favorite (and future) cooking creations into my catalog and present them in a quite compact format.

     Today I want to introduce you to three very different recipes that were once served together for a family gathering of 8. In bringing you these recipes, I hope you can appreciate the simplicity of the format, yet cook and create masterpieces of your own.

     Improving upon the format is one of goals of this project and for the first improve I would like to retitle this form of cooking as “Ex-cel-lent Recipes”! As an added bonus, you’ve now learned an easy way to spell excellent!