Keycon 2025 Guests

 Keycon is our local science fiction convention.  It’s never been that big – in the largest years they have claimed attendance of ~500, but many years have been much less than that.   We used to go all the time but don’t go as often lately.  I even ran the gaming room for a few years in the 90s.

 

But Jim Butcher and Jeremy from Black Magic Craft were the guests, so we definitely wanted to go this year.  Jim Butcher is one of our authors and he writes The Dresden Files.  While Black Magic Craft is one of the youtube crafting channels that I follow.

 

In April, our friend Chris called us to see if we would be guest liaisons for Jim Butcher and Jennifer Blackstream.  We would have to get them to and from airport, and make sure that they made it to their panels.  They wanted someone who would not be too starstruck to be responsible for them.  After confirming that we would not have to attend meetings, we accepted. 

 

Chris was also running programming at the convention, and asked me if I would do an interview with Jim on the Saturday.  I agreed, and tried to find some questions that he had not already answered a bunch of times.  Because I was dressing as Captain Hammer on the Saturday, I wrote the questions on cue cards that I could keep in my glove.  I’ve often complained that the people doing the interview don’t seem to ask the obvious follow up questions, so this was my time to see if I would fall into the same mistakes.

 

While we had read the entirety of The Dresden Files, we hadn’t read his other two series, or any of Jennifer Blackstream’s books.  We made an effort to get the six books in the Codex Alera series, as well as the two Cinder Spires books.  We also ordered the first three of the Blood Trails books.  I was able to read the first two of Jim’s Codex Alera books, as well as Deadline, the first book in Jennifer’s Blood Trails series.

 

On the Friday, we picked them up from the airport.  Since the convention started later, we took them to dinner, and then took them to the local grocery so that they could get some supplies for the weekend.  We made sure that they got to their panels on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.. We got invited to the after-con dinner which allows the convention chairs a chance to interact with the guests.  On the Monday after checkout, we took them for lunch, and then back to the airport and made sure that they got on their flight.

 

As guests, they were lovely.  Jim was very engaging, and was quite good about posing for pictures and signing autographs.  A few people had brought a lot of books for him to sign (three at a time), and he was very generous about signing all of them.  He even stayed beyond his allotted time to ensure that he signed everything. 

 

Jennifer Blackstream was adorable.  She was also great about taking photos, and had a great panel with Tanya Huff which gave both perspectives – both from an older writer and from a newer one.  Her shark movie panel with Jim was very fun and engaging.  It sounds like they might try it again at DragonCon so, if you get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it.

 

Canadian author Tanya Huff was also there as a guest.  While we did watch her Blood Ties TV series, we haven’t really read any of her books yet.  She came across as feisty in her panels though, and we definitely will need to check out some of her work.  She had a great panel with Jim where they discussed the tv adaptions of The Dresden Files, and Blood Ties, which both had one season in 2007.

 

Due to scheduling, I wasn’t able to catch any of Jeremy’s panels. They had sounded interesting, but we just couldn’t get to everything.

 

After the convention, we ordered another dozen of the books in Jennifer Blackstream’s Blood Trails series.  She has been pretty prolific, but that gives us the first 15 of the 19 books.

 

Figure Painting Total - May 2025

 Even though I haven’t gotten any impetus to paint yet, I was able to fill another gap in my Dust Tactics squads.  With this, that is the last of the Allies that I am chasing down.  I might get more if I get a great deal, especially another Pelican, but this was the last one I felt I needed.  I am still looking for another Natalya/Nadya/Natasha as well as possibly a helicopter for the SSU.  I am also looking for the Gorilla Support Squad for the Axis, as well as another walker and Horten.  If I can find any of the bunkers reasonably, I would get those as well. 

While I am interested in the Cthulhu forces, the Mercenaries, and the Imperial Japan forces, they never seem to come up for cheap.  I might need to wait until they possible get reprinted, which might now take longer than ever.   

 

 

Bought

Dust Tactics Heavy Rangers Attack Squad – Grim Reapers – 3

 

Painted

 

 

May total – figures bought 3, figures painted 0

Running total 2025 – figures bought 33, figures painted 0

Keycon custume recap

 Keycon was fun.  It was good to see old friends again, and the guests were good (more on that later).  We were able to play Circus Imperium on Saturday night.

 

 

I wore my Jack Burton shirt on Friday.  I had let my stubble grow out from Wednesday.   I wasn’t able to wear my ninja tabi.  With the extra weight , my feet must have swollen a bit and I wasn’t able to close the tabs on the side.  So I just wore sneakers.

 

 

On Saturday I switched into my Captain Hammer.  The new shirt had arrived that week.  I had also bought a Captain Hammer groupie shirt for Shann, so we were dressed as a couple.  Since Captain Hammer is clean shaven, I cleared away the stubble as well.  A few friends already noticed this change the next day, so I knew the change for Saturday would have a big impact.

 

 My Kurgan proof-of-concept jacket was completed in time.  It did take a few later nights to get all the final sewing done.  The hot fix skulls I had ordered did not arrive in time, so instead I had to use the skull beads that I had picked up from Michael’s.  They were a bit smaller, but they are much cheaper than the actual skull studs. 

Taking off both sleeves, and cutting them into strips to sew together for his arm guard took a while.  I also stitched up a bunch of the parts on the jacket where the vinyl was peeling apart. This actually helped add to the look. 

The chain mail went fine.  I had a spool of fencing wire that I had bought over two decades ago for making mail.  I coiled it around a bar we had in order to adjust the teleposts, and cut the coils with a Dremel cut off wheel.  The sleeve, pocket square, and partial glove took over 500 rings.  If I find a more accurate jacket, I can easily move the mail over.

I wore the same black cargo pants and work boots for both Captain Hammer and the Kurgan.  On the night, I combed my hair back and tied it in the back. 

 

I wore the same costume on Sunday morning.  But I buzzed my hair down that morning to 1/8 inch.  I also had cut a strip of nylons and put a bunch of safety pins in it to simulate the ‘in disguise’ look.  The hair cut definitely caught a few people by surprise.  People who hadn’t seen me Saturday night didn’t recognize me right away.

 

 

I didn’t get around to making the “bullet-proof” vest for Richard Castle.  I really should continue and put it together so that I have it for when I need it next.  This is another one I can make two of to use as a couple costume.

Books Read - January to April 2025

 Jan

The Dig by Alan Dean Foster

DK Warhammer 40,000 The Ultimate Guide by Guy Haley and Gav Thorpe

Munitorum Field Manual 2019 by Games Workshop

Reality’s Edge >> Cyberpunk Skirmish Rules by Joseph McGuire

 

Feb

When Nightmares Come – An Investigative Wargame of Supernatural Horror by Patrick Todoroff

Blood Bowl 2002 Annual by Andy Hall

Ragnarok: Heavy Metal Combat in the Viking Age by Tim Korklewski

Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

Codex: Drukhari 8th edition by Games Workshop of Nottingham

 

Mar

Ragnarok – The Vanir by Tim Korklewski

Ragnarok – The Abyss by Tim Korklewski

Men of Bronze by Eric Farrington

The Silver Bayonet: Italy: The Shades of the Calabria by T.C. Stephen

Forever Odd by Dean Koontz

 

Apr

Opposable Thumbs by Matt Singer

Blood Bowl Spike! Presents 2024 Almanac by Games Workshop Ltd

Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

 

Costume plans for Keycon

 So we are going to Keycon this year.  We used to go fairly regularly but haven’t really gone in the last decade or so.  But they have Jim Butcher of the Dresden Files as the author guest, and Jeremy from Black Magic Craft as a gaming guest, so we are going this year.

 

I plan on doing some costuming for it.  I have My Jack Burton shirt from Big Trouble in Little China.  I still haven’t gotten around to making/buying the mucklucks so I will wear my ninja Tabi instead – they are as comfortable and I can justify them as after the events of BTLC.

 

I picked up new cargo pants and gloves to upgrade my Captain Hammer outfit.  I also ordered an official t-shirt but we will have to see if it makes it here in time.  If not, I still have the one JP made from before – the logo is a bit dark though.

 

I have the supplies to make a “bullet-proof” vest for Richard Castle.  It remains to see if I have time to cut and sew it in time.  I’m hoping to use landscape fabric for the material.  We will see how easy it is to sew.  If it goes well and I have time, I will try to make a second one for Shan.

 

But my big project is my Kurgan jacket.  I don’t have a proper leather biker jacket to use, unless I find one in the next two weeks.  My faux leather jacket that had the sleeves tearing will do as a stand in. I have to remove the sleeves and hood.  I’m hoping to use the sleeves to make the vambrace for the left arm.   I am working on the chain mail for the right sleeve and left pocket.  I finally found and ordered some skulls to add to the collar.  That will mean another rush finish depending on when they get here.  I have to see if I can find some black gloves to use.

I’ve been growing my hair out since November of last year for the pre-disguise look.  This way I can avoid the safety pins-in-the-neck look.

Grognard test

 I've spent the last couple days digging through the Grognardia blog.  He's an old school gamer - mostly AD&D, Traveller, and Empire of the Pearl Throne.  He is a lot more prolific than I am, with more than a post a day for many years.  There is a lot to sift through but there is a lot of good content.

One of his posts was a Grognard Test, originally from Stuart "PaperandPaychecks" Marshall.  The site it was originally from is gone, but the questions are reproduce on the site.  I was only able to answer one question - question 7.

The bonus question mentionsinvolved two names - Morgan Ironwolf, and Aleena.  Neither of whom I recognized by name.  A quick qoogle search later confirms that I should know both of them, as I had come across both of them back in the day.

Figure Painting Total - February 2025

 My Black Site Studios preorder from September finally showed up.  I was pretty close to starting painting again but did not quite manage to paint or prep these yet.  The temperature is warming up, with occasional days above zero so, if I were to finish, I would be able to prime or seal figures as needed.

 

Figures bought:

Unmatched – The Witcher – Realms Fall – 3

Unmatched – The Witcher – Silver & Steel – 4

DLB – Northwood Killers Vol 1 – 3

DLB – Northwood Killers Vol 2 – 4

DLB – 1698 – The Founding – 5

DLB – 1698 – Black Dog of Bowfield – 1

DLB – 1698 – Forest Scouts – 3

 

Figures painted:

 

Feb total – figures bought 23, figures painted 0

Running total 2025 – figures bought 30, figures painted 0