The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #388: Mega Contrux Custom DnD Thirteenth Hour Figures

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #388: Mega Contrux Custom DnD Thirteenth Hour Figures

https://archive.org/download/podcast-388/Podcast%20388.mp3

This week, I’m discussing a discovery I made awhile back when considering how to showcase figures in The Thirteenth Hour DnD style campaigns we have been doing over on the Patreon via Discord.  (I typically have a second camera set up to show an overhead view of the figures – so far, just during battles – this is an ongoing work in progress.)  I thought it would be fun to include some miniatures but wasn’t sure how to find ones that would fit. Plus, I wanted them to be able to hold things in their hands and be somewhat customizable.   Enter Mega Contrux minifigures.

Mega Bloks are a long time competitor of Lego that originally started as large scale bricks for young children, though just like Lego, they now have a number of highly complex, licensed properties more appropriate for the fingers and brains of older kids (and adults).   Mega also has much more detailed, articulated, and realistically proportioned minifigures, and those are the ones I used for making The Thirteenth Hour minifigures.  I started with a figure from their Assassin’s Creed line (I’m not sure who this guy is, but his costume has a number of similarities to the Imperial Ranger uniform – a tunic with large shoulders, grey pants, a hood, and a midsection piece that can be modified to make the triangular belt they wear).

Just like Lego minifigures, the Mega ones break apart for easy customization.  

This skirt can be flipped around to make belts when painted.

From left to right – Aron, Blake, Lance, and Wander the wizard.

Wander was made very quickly with the same base figure with a tunic and wizard’s hat made of the same material.  Added a bit of epoxy clay for hair and a beard.  As you can see, there is a Lego baseplate in the background which I have used for positioning the figures during the game.  One of the advantages of using these kinds of figures is that they have holes in their feet, making them easy to position.  Mega figures also can use the full range of Lego hand held accessories (of which there are many), which makes it nice to customize them.

Want to learn more?  Check Thirteenth Hour Arts out on Patreon!

Thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast Exclusive Preview: A Conversation with Catherine Mary Stewart about Night of the Comet

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast Exclusive Preview: A Conversation with Catherine Mary Stewart about Night of the Comet

https://archive.org/download/podcast-cms-preview/Podcast%20CMS%20preview.mp3

This past summer, I recorded an interview with actress Catherine Mary Stewart (Night of the Comet, Weekend at Bernie’s, The Last Starfighter), who supported a little Lego project I did kind of on a whim – making Lego minifigures of Samantha and Regina Belmont from Night of the Comet, one of my favorite movies.  

This is just a 10 or so minute preview of the full interview, as the original was meant as a surprise thank you to the auction winners of the figures. 

But!  You can unlock the rest of the conversation by answering the questions below.   Your answers will be the password. 

1.) In the 1984 film, Night of the Comet, Regina  (Catherine Mary Stewart) is shown playing an arcade game.  Which game?

a.) Pac Man

b.) Pong

c.) Tempest

d.) Mario Brothers

 

2.) In another 1984 film with Catherine Mary Stewart, roles are reversed, and she plays the girlfriend of an arcade game ace.  That film was:

a.) Wargames

b.) Real Genius

c.) Sixteen Candles

d.) The Last Starfighter

 

3.) According to Catherine Mary Stewart, her previous training in which discipline helped prepare her for the physicality (e.g. fights, stunts) in Night of the Comet?

a.) dance

b.) dirt bike racing

c.) synchronized swimming

d.) falconry

 

4.) In this film, Reg and Sam face off against killer zombies.  In 1986, Kelli Maroney, who was Sam in Night of the Comet, was in a film where she faces off against killer robots.  Both films feature a key component of US 1980s culture.  That was:

a.) Teddy Ruxpin

b.) the shopping mall

c.) trickle down economics

d.) video rental stores

 

Go to https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/749825591 and enter your answers as the password (no saces, all lowercase) to access the conversation.  I annotated the audio with pictures and some video, so there are some additional tidbits on the vimeo version that provide a bit more context to the audio.

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #357: Making Minifigure Packaging and Finishing Night of the Comet Minifigures

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #357: Making Minifigure Packaging and Finishing Night of the Comet Minifigures

https://archive.org/download/podcast-357/Podcast%20357.mp3

This week, I wanted to share the final product of the Night of the Comet minifigures!  They’re done!  I figured out how to make the lettering on Sam’s cheerleader uniform and do the packaging so the two figures can both nest in a protective case.

This short video shows how I made the coverart to look like the original poster.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joshua Blum 📘🎨 Author & Artist (@the13thhr)

This is what the Night of the Comet coverart looks like.  Like the other similar ones I’ve done, I’ve used Chinese characters for the title – in this case, a literal translation of Night of the Comet (彗星之夜).  I’ve taken to not using the English title with these toys partly since it makes it a little harder for the movie studios / eBay to flag it as objectionable for copyright reasons. However, the biggest reason for the dual language packaging is that it reminds me of the imported toys (which were mostly robots and little figurines from places like Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan) I remember seeing on the streets of Chinatown when I was a kid in the 80s.  Like the others I’ve made so far, these will be charity auctions, this time to raise money for the US nonprofit alliace4girls.  I don’t know if this was something that was done intentionally when NOTC was written, but it’s a bit unusual for the time since it’s an action movie with two female leads who not only survive but thrive by virtue of their own resources.  So I figured pairing with a nonprofit that helps support and empower girls and women would fit.

There are now three such figures in these cases!

Making the cases for the NOTC figures.  I used paper covered foam for these (don’t know if I will use that material much in the future, though).

This technique for foam pieces looks promising – using a hot knife or soldering iron to essentially cut though the foam easily with little to no mess and cleaner lines than with a traditional blade.

By the way, I had the chance this past weekend to make it to a drive in showing of a double feature of Chopping Mall and The Last Starfighter.  It was a fun time!  More coming on a Patreon exclusive episode with additional pictures, audio footage from the event, and more!

Sam, Reg, and Cliff all approve of the drive in action.

 

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #356: Making Night of the Comet Minifigures!

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #356: Making Night of the Comet Minifigures!

https://archive.org/download/podcast-356/Podcast%20356.mp3

This week, I wanted to share a little bit of a recent project.  After finishing the Lego Rocketeer and resin Beverly Switzler figurines, I thought it be fun to do figurines of Reggie and Sam from the 1984 cult classic, Night of the Comet.

If you haven’t seen the film, it’s great! You can actually watch it for free on YouTube, that is until YouTube flags it and takes it down.  But until they do, it’s available here: 

Ever since I first saw this film over 20 years ago, I’ve been trying to get people to watch it.  It used to be only on VHS, but now you can also find it on DVD. If you can catch it, it’s a lot of fun.

Anyway, I used the model bases for the Lego friends minifigure line to create the main characters, which are more elongated and a bit more realistic looking that the traditional, squat Lego minifigure body.

Prior to painting Sam’s cheerleader outfit …

After painting … still working out how to do the lettering on Sam’s uniform (see below):

This scene, by the way, is available here:

The lettering on Samantha‘s cheerleader uniform is too small to realistically paint, but I think I should be able to edit some images on Photoshop that I can print out.  The tricky part, as always, is getting the dimensions right, but I think it should be doable. 

Like the Lego Rocketeer and Bev figures, I think I going to house them in a clamshell case and auction them off on eBay as charity auctions. 

More updates shortly!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #336 and Like a Hood Ornament #42: Toymaking Updates, Dave Stevens Fundraising Update, Rocketeer Cards, and Working on the Backing Tracking of a New Song

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #336 and Like a Hood Ornament #42: Toymaking Updates, Dave Stevens Fundraising Update, Rocketeer Cards, and Working on the Backing Tracking of a New Song

https://archive.org/download/podcast-336/Podcast%20336.mp3

In the first part of this show, I share a bit about a new song I’ve been working on for the upcoming Thirteenth Hour soundtrack LP, Once Upon a Dream.  It’s called “No Hero.”  I’m currently working on cleaning up the keyboard riff in the background since I’m old school and have to learn to play everything first before I can record it.  One of these days, I’m going to have to go digital!  

This past week, I’ve been working on putting the Thirteenth Hour action figures together.  So far, here’s what they look like:

Logan …

Aurora …

Logan and Aurora …

I still have a few to fix / assemble.  The ones in the center right are the original prototypes that I made the molds from, and I think I’ll go ahead and paint them as well also.  Here are all the pieces and figures along with clear coated parts from the Lego minifigure Rocketeers I’ve been working on.  These pieces, when done, will be auctioned off, with all funds collected donated to The Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation (the complications of which took Dave Stevens from us) and Hero Initiative, which supports comic book artists.   

Speaking of the Rocketeer, my brother gave me some vintage Rocketeer cards recently, which I’ve been slowly opening up.  Here’s the next batch:

On the back, there is an ad for this souvenir magazine …

Inside, coincidentally, there’s an ad for the cards:

I recently discovered that the game Microsoft Flight Simulator X has a skin for the Gee Bee that is the same as the NR77V Gee Bee highlighted in the film (the one that crashes in the first few minutes of the film), which is the one that Dave Stevens showed in the comics (itself modeled after the City of Springfield model that crashed in the early 30s … though presumably, Cliff and Peevy found the remains and built it into the Gee Bee that was used the comics and the film).  Nonetheless, check out these graphics!  I know nothing about this sort of thing but next time this baby goes on sale …

 

@13thhr

Opening another pack of #vintage #Rocketeer trading cards my brother got me as a bday gift.

♬ Rocketeer To The Rescue: End Credits from The Rocketeer – Dan Redfeld

Lastly, if you have questions for the show, 1/31/22 will have a listener Q and A segment.  Thanks to all who submitted questions already!  Get your questions in by 1/24/22 for inclusion in this month’s show! Email or anywhere on social is fine.  

Thanks for listening!

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This winter, if you’re looking for an adult of child mask, check out Thirteenth Hour mask combo package on Etsy.  This fall, it became really hard to find good quality masks for our kids as they were going back to school.  There are still long wait times for some of the companies we like best, so I thought, why not try to find an alternative?  I eventually settled on the triple layer masks available for printing on by the company Flashbay.  They were one of the few companies I found that were transparent about their third party safety data (Junior: https://static.flashbay.com/images/certificates/Junior_REACH.pdf?v=1617870020, Adult: https://static.flashbay.com/images/certificates/Sky_Performance.pdf?v=1603078812) which is nice.  I was impressed by how well these masks performed on the filtration tests, even after repeat washings.  Also, I really liked how both the ears and nose piece could be adjusted for a good fit.

The Thirteenth Hour mask combo also comes with Thirteenth Hour hand sanitizer! (But of course.)

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #335: Upcoming Plans and Updates on Current Projects

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #335: Upcoming Plans and Updates on Current Projects

https://archive.org/download/podcast-335/Podcast%20335.mp3

In this episode, a few updates:

1.) the last episode of the month for the next few months will have a Q and A segment.  Submit your questions via email or on social media (or if on Patreon, via messaging me there or commenting on the most recent post) to be a part of the show.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be Thirteenth Hour or 80s related – anything you like or think would be interesting to discuss.  Have fun with it!

2.) A few pics of the Lego Rocketeer minifigures I’ve been working on.  They’re about 95% done.  Just some touch ups needed then will begin work on the packaging.  

3.) A picture of the current state of The Thirteenth Hour action figures.  Just a few paint touch ups there, also, and then will start assembling the figures. 

4.) Speaking of figures, I was thinking I’ve used this little bookshelf to take some pictures before, but I thought I’d use it more since it has a lot of my influences in book form! 

5.) Introducing my kids to resin over the past few weeks has been entertaining (and messy).  We’re making keychains here with a combo of Thirteenth Hour illustrations, Batman 1989 pictures, and Rocketeer stills.  The kit we received came with these little molds perfect for making keychain and charm pendants (and just right for small fingers).

The finished products!

@13thhr

Experimenting with translucent resin and some #ThirteenthHour novel and the #Rocketeer cartoon for keychains. And yes, #createdonthate 🌈 #booktok

♬ The Thirteenth Hour Theme (Synth Orchestra) – Joshua Blum

6.) Lastly, check out this meditative youtube playlist.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEw1Y93zEv0qIPKp444imEBBASYxNrPYU

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Protect yourself and others with the Thirteenth Hour mask combo package on Etsy.  This fall, it became really hard to find good quality masks for our kids as they were going back to school.  There are still long wait times for some of the companies we like best, so I thought, why not try to find an alternative?  I eventually settled on the triple layer masks available for printing on by the company Flashbay.  They were one of the few companies I found that were transparent about their third party safety data (Junior: https://static.flashbay.com/images/certificates/Junior_REACH.pdf?v=1617870020, Adult: https://static.flashbay.com/images/certificates/Sky_Performance.pdf?v=1603078812), which is nice.  I was impressed by how well these masks performed on the filtration tests, even after repeat washings.  Also, I really liked how both the ears and nose piece could be adjusted for a good fit.

The Thirteenth Hour mask combo also comes with Thirteenth Hour hand sanitizer! (But of course.)

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #324 and Like a Hood Ornament #40: Toymaking Updates, Watching the Rocketeer Cartoon Episode 19, and Reading The Howard the Duck Movie Novelization Part 11

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #34 and Like a Hood Ornament #40: Toymaking Updates, Watching the Rocketeer Cartoon Episode 19, and Reading The Howard the Duck Movie Novelization Part 11

https://archive.org/download/podcast-324/Podcast%20324.mp3

Welcome to the first part of the Halloween editions of The Thirteenth Hour podcast!  This week, we’re discussing a few toymaking updates, reading the next section of the Howard the Duck novelization, and watching the Halloween episodes from The Rocketeer cartoon. 

Toymaking stuff first: with the spare resin that comes from making other things, I’ve been saving a bit for these little helmets to become (once finished) to Rocketeer helmets for the Lego Rocketeer minifigures to be donated to charity auctions:

There’s always resin left over after a project, so I generally pour it off into another easy to use mold, like this one.  Some of those projects:

The Beverly minifgures – still got to clean up the flashing along the seam lines and touch up a bunch of other parts (basically consisting of lots of filing, sanding, etc. edges and other parts, perhaps also strengthening the guitar necks).  Then they will be ready for painting (at least the non glow in the dark ones).

Lastly, it’s rough, but I finally have a prototype cast Logan made from flexible Smooth-On Smooth Cast 45 D resin for the limbs and head and Smooth-On Smooth Cast 300 resin for the torso.  I might try to make one that is all made of 45 D since I might be able to make it translucent, which would be fun.  Now, it’s just a matter of fine tuning the casting process to make sure the limbs can reliably fit inside the torso – which they did on the initial non-cast prototype but somewhere along the lines, something got lost in translation after casting and tolerances that were tight are no longer. 

We’re also watching the next episode of the Rocketeer cartoon (number 19) … the Halloween episode!  Some screenshots:

You can see Kit’s dressed up like a WW1 pilot for Halloween, making her look just like Cliff in the beginning of the film or in various pages of the comic by Dave Stevens.

We are are reading the next section of the Howard the Duck from the movie novelization.

The author added another humorous aside calling back to our episodes on The Wizard of Loneliness, where “Lord, love a duck” was a frequent utterance.

 

Happy Halloween!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #323 and Like a Hood Ornament #39: Toymaking Updates, Watching the Rocketeer Cartoon Episode 18, and Reading The Howard the Duck Movie Novelization Part 10

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #323 and Like a Hood Ornament #39: Toymaking Updates, Watching the Rocketeer Cartoon Episode 18, and Reading The Howard the Duck Movie Novelization Part 10

https://archive.org/download/podcast-323/Podcast%20323.mp3

This past week, I have been waiting for some new resin to arrive for the Logan and Aurora Kenner style figures.  In the meantime, I have been working on these Lego Rocketeer minifigures to be donated to charity auctions. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

The packs and helmets are being resin cast.  As I mentioned in the episode, I think I will use magnets to attach the rocketpacks, at least the ones not intended for kids.  (Rare earth magnets and small children are a bad combo).  

We’re also watching the next episode of the Rocketeer cartoon (number 18) …  Some screenshots:

… and readung the next section of the Howard the Duck from the movie novelization.

The author added this especially humorous segment:

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