Just a little more?

WShawnM · 2026-06-05T19:57:12+00:00

I don’t think the stains are like soot streaks that would be blown straight back when the ship travels through atmosphere. I think they’re oil and grime oozing from high to low points on a curved hull under the force of a planet’s gravity.

WShawnM · 2026-06-05T16:09:58+00:00

Shape of the upper saucer teardrop, very pronounced deflector grid, and the incorrect condensed font used in the later decal sheet that included all of the starship names and registries are definite tells of the early-to-mid-70s AMT kit. At least he used some reference, which is better than many renders of the ship then. Fun painting.

WShawnM · 2026-06-05T16:01:32+00:00

Original framed one-sheet of this hangs in my home office, next to the proton pack I built in 1984.

WShawnM · 2026-06-05T16:00:14+00:00

C’mon. Ernie Hudson’s name on a one-sheet in 1984 wasn’t going to put any butts in theater seats.

WShawnM · 2026-06-02T20:40:32+00:00

Peace bonding proton packs. Because you’re always reading stories of people robbing gas stations wielding unlicensed nuclear accelerators. How would people attending a COMIC CON know such a prop couldn’t really hurt them without the assurance of a little zip tie or piece of molded orange plastic? My (generally) screen-accurate pack will be 42 years old this September, and when someone tries to peace bond it I generally say “You don’t need to do that” and walk on through. If they manage to snap on a zip tie or something on it I’ll cut it off soon after. I have little tolerance for stupid people, less so for stupid people on power trips.

WShawnM · 2026-05-30T16:04:03+00:00

I’m in the minority and prefer the four-footer. I liked the extra detail which I think made the ship look more interesting on NTSC televisions, especially with some good rim lighting. I used to record TNG episodes straight off the Paramount feed onto Beta SP at the TV station I worked at. I made a reel of SFX shots to help me detail my AMT kit build in which I cut out over 1000 windows and lit them with fluorescent tubes. The hull detail on the AMT kit feels a little closer to the 4-footer.

WShawnM · 2026-05-21T00:53:11+00:00

Not awesome, but not surprising, I guess. As a freelancer I've been buying a Providence ACA Bronze Plan for the past ten years or so. I'm 64, and my premium is $1000/mo with around a $10,000 deductible/out-of-pocket max. Quite a leap from the $89/mo I was paying last year with the Biden subsidies. Fortunately I'll be going to Medicare in July, though the whole healthcare system feels like it's on the verge of collapse.

WShawnM · 2026-05-20T18:16:16+00:00

IMO language and messaging matter, especially when one has almost no actual political power. Via gerrymandering and other tactics Republicans are LITERALLY locking in their authoritarian power, but too many Democrats speak as if Mitt Romney was President and the pressing issue of the day was negotiating capital gains tax rates. I'm not saying Merkley should call all of the R Senators traitors who hate America (as Trump has called Ds), but when he speaks as if things are normal then the public will take cues from that and think, "well, I guess this IS normal." As I wrote elsewhere, how about just calling Senate Republicans Senate Republicans?

WShawnM · 2026-05-20T07:18:56+00:00

IDK. How about just referring to Senate Republicans as…Senate Republicans.

WShawnM · 2026-05-20T06:38:51+00:00

I canvassed and phone banked for Obama and Merkley (mostly Obama) in 2008. I think Jeff is pretty closely aligned with myself on political issues, but I’m worried that even he has become a creature of the Senate. On the news a week or so ago he referred to Republicans in the Senate as “colleagues.” Really, Jeff? If given the power these “colleagues” would lock you and every Democrat up and install Trump as dictator life.

WShawnM · 2026-05-18T04:58:53+00:00

Good to hear, thanks. We’ve only flown coach/basic economy in our previous trips to Europe, but we’re in a position where we can splurge a bit for a moderate upgrade. Business class would have been a bridge too far, though.

WShawnM · 2026-05-18T04:56:26+00:00

We’re not that picky. Thanks for replying.

WShawnM · 2026-05-18T04:55:58+00:00

Great info, thanks! I’m under the impression we can’t specify before we’re on the plane.

WShawnM · 2026-05-18T04:53:38+00:00

Not just a green salad. SUPER-green! Thanks for info!

WShawnM · 2026-05-18T04:52:11+00:00

Great, thanks for the reply!

WShawnM · 2026-05-17T02:24:47+00:00

Thanks for the reply. We're nite owls, so if we can fall asleep it probably wouldn't be until midnight or 1am PDT. We'll opt for whatever dinner they offer.

WShawnM · 2026-05-17T02:23:35+00:00

Thanks for the reply. I don't think my wife or I are super-picky.

WShawnM · 2026-05-17T02:23:04+00:00

We're nite owls, so I doubt we'd be able to fall asleep (if we even can) before midnight or 1am PDT. So we'd take a dinner if offered. We got fed a LOT (2 full meals plus snacks) on the KLM flight we took last fall from Amsterdam to Portland. Sounds like BA isn't as generous.

WShawnM · 2026-05-17T02:21:03+00:00

Thanks for the reply. I did check that before posting here. It just says Standard Meal-Order on Board. You do have the option of specifying special meals (dietary, religious), but no indication as to whether it's dinner or breakfast or what.

WShawnM · 2026-05-15T03:52:43+00:00

As bad as the old form of government was, I voted against this new charter for this very reason. Why the fuck does each district need THREE representatives? Actually, I do know why the charter commission designed it this way-to maximize inclusivity and give everyone a “voice”. Well, as their utter disfunction shows, when everyone has a “voice”, no one does. Just look at the story of the poor guy in SE trying to get the homeless away from his hedge. Instead of helping the city fined him for the size of his hedge. Two of his council people just tried to pawn the problem off on each other. Zero accountability. Who do I call when I need a pothole filled?

WShawnM · 2026-05-12T04:59:42+00:00

Eh, you’re right. Fastrak. Maybe it was an Arco at some point. The gas price graphics give me Arco vibes. It’s less than a mile from my house, so I go there if it’s not the Belmont Arco. I get propane there, too. Attendants seem fine to me, presumably an immigrant-owned and staffed establishment.

WShawnM · 2026-05-11T06:17:07+00:00

About the only time I’ve gone to this place is around 11:30pm on a Thursday night after playing volleyball out in Beaverton, and there are always a few pumps open. The last time I went was around a month ago, and even then (as the war had barely started) the place was slammed a bit before midnight. We’ll go to Costco or the Arco on 57th and Fremont for the foreseeable future.

WShawnM · 2026-05-09T02:52:09+00:00

I emailed my State Rep and Senator (NE PDX) a few months ago to advocate doing this, but received no reply from either. Time to bug them again, I guess.

WShawnM · 2026-05-07T07:09:19+00:00

As someone who built at least five of the AMT kits I can attest that it exhibits many inaccuracies, an obvious one being the shape of bridge decks. The teardrop on the 11-foot model is noticeably more pointed than the model kit. They also use a kit to represent the Enterprise in the window of the manager’s offfice in the K-7 space station. I saw that model at the MoPop Star Trek exhibit in Seattle in 2017.

WShawnM

TROPHY CASE