Road trip: Moorhead - original of the Dilly Bar

While at ValleyCon this year, we decided to do some touristy things. Shan had looked up points of interest and came across this.

The Dairy Queen in Moorhead is where the Dilly Bar originated.

We had been by this location before and had noted it for the very large umbrellas but had never known of its history.


The American Dilly Bars are larger and flatter than the ones up here. They also come in different flavors.

Lander - base

I noticed that the seam where the two parts of the base were joined left a straight line after being painted. It’s only noticeable from certain angles but, from that angle it is quite noticeable.

So I sanded along the seam with an emery board and then applied model putty.

After it dried I did a bit more sanding to blend it a bit better and then repainted.

It is better but still noticeable. So the paint needed to be sanded again. More putty applied, more sanding, and painted again.

Action figure - army building

I recently came across the RetroBlaster Channel on YouTube. I got lured in by the Restoring the Death Star videos and have now watched a bunch of them. One that really hit home was his video on Building an Army.

In it he talks about how hard it was to collect multiples of the troop figures. Given the choice between getting a new figure and a duplicate of a figure you already had, most kids opted for the new figure.

I was lucky enough to be picking up Star Wars figures from the "original 12" days. It didn't take long to get all the originals so extra stormtroopers were an easy choice. I also was able to get some figures for $2 from a clearance center after some store must have had a fire. So I had a pair of Jawas, a couple of Tusken Raiders, and a few Stormtroopers.

I also got some extra Stormtroopers when my fried Arron moved. As well, I got some of his buildings based on the Woman's Day plans. I had set up many dioramas on the basement pool table with them. They lasted for many moves but have sadly passed on.
I also inherited his Death Star when he moved. My son was very impressed to play with this back in the day.

Freestar finished, torch passed to Terrain

Because we were having trouble with the Freestar we started looking for a new vehicle. We figured that we would rather do it on our time instead of having to rush and get a car when the next car died.

In July we ended up getting a new 2019 GMC Terrain. It was brand new - with only 50 km on it. It has a sun roof, and the black-out package - which means that the chrome and rims are black. It doesn't have a CD player so I finally had to figure out how to rip our CDs onto a USB drive. It also doesn't have a gear shifter so I am getting used to changing gears with the buttons instead.

We've mostly been using it on the weekends, and gave it a good run out to Regina on the August long weekend. It seems like it will be a good fit for us. It's also the first new brand new car that we have bought.


Which is good as the Freestar didn't want to start after Labor Day long weekend. We had it towed to the shop and they asked if we had driven through water. It seems that it wasn't the battery or even the starter. They said the engine crankshaft had seized. If we wanted to fix it, we were looking at replacing the entire motor - about $3500.

It's a tough call, as we hoping to get at least another winter out of it. But it is starting to rust, and the brakes would probably need to have been done soon as well. So we really can't justify putting that much into it.
It's a shame as it was a good fit, and had tons of room. But it really doesn't owe us anything. We had a lot of good road trips in it and I will miss it.

Books read May to August 2019

May
The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity: How the Modern Culture is Robbing Billions of People of Happiness by Matthew Kelly
Outremer: Faith and Blood by Jamie Gordon
Dracula’s America: Shadows of the West: Forbidden Power by Jonathan Haythornwaite
Billiards – The Official Rules and Records Book (2000) by Billiard Congress of America
Star Wars: Lightsabers – A Guide to Weapons of the Force by Pablo Hidalgo
Born A Crime by Trevor Noah
Camelot edited by Jane Yolen

June
Heroes for Wargaming by Stewart Parkinson
Escher on Escher: Exploring the Infinite by MC Escher
Dream Sewing Spaces: Design & Organization for Spaces Large & Small by Lynette Ranney Black
Storage & Shelving by Jill Blake
Singer: Sewing Activewear by Cy DeCosse Incorporated

July
The Dracula Centenary Book by Peter Haining
Killing Floor by Lee Child
Heat Rises by Richard Castle
Brian Froud’s Goblins! By Ari Berk
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Aug
The Official Art of Big Trouble in Little China by Tara Bennett & Paul Terry
Time-Life Books: The Epic of Flight: Knights of the Air by Ezra Bowen
The Costume Making Guide: Creating Armor & Props for Cosplay by Svetlana Quindt aka Kamui Cosplay
Art of Atari by Tim Lapetino
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Basic Game by Cam Banks
The Book of Cosplay Sewing – Starting from Zero by Svetlana Quindt
Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely

Lunar Lander assemply started

I got a good start to the assembly on the Lunar Lander when I had time on the weekend of the anniversary of the Moon Landing. I put together the main parts of the upper and lower assemblies. I painted parts of it as I went – especially around where the clear pieces would go. The clear pieces were glued in with white glue to prevent crazing.

I got the basic structure of the upper module done as well as the bottom half. I had knocked over the liquid glue and had to go out and get more, as well as getting some copper paint.


I put the base together but the seam is still rather noticeable from certain angles. I may have to fix that.

While working on the lander, I watched a bunch of the Apollo 11 shows on CNN and NASA. I would occasionally pause the program and take a photo of the screen if there was a good picture for reference.

Figure Painting Total - July 2019

With the switch to resin, Knight Models still had their older metal sets available for a while before they phased them out. They had even bundled some of the figures into 3 packs with cards for DC Universe. I had picked up the other sets but did not pick up the Teen Titans set. I was hoping they would get a better sculpt of Cyborg. Knight Models did release a Teen Titans set in resin but it did not have Cyborg or Kid Flash, and the Starfire is the newer, TV costume. So I was able to find someone who had the old individual metals and was selling them. I was also able to get the original, pre-game Flash, which I like better than the newer models.

BM/DCU – Cyborg – 1
BM/DCU – Batgirl – 2
BM/DCU – Kid Flash – 1
BM/DCU – Starfire – 1
DCU – Flash – 1

July total - figures bought 6, figures painted 0
Running total 2019 – figures bought 124, figures painted 1