2014, meet 2015: A look back and hopes as we move forward.

Well, there’s really not too much to say when your blog doesn’t update all that often. 2014 was an…Ok start, I suppose, to the venture of teaching newcomers. A few nice guides came about as a result of Derp One’s (my) efforts, and while Derp Two had adult life hinder progress on his projects, 2015 should see a lot of finished material from him. As for major project highlights:

Andu’s TriadStrike started off our year with a bang, but of course the arrival of the Messenger kind of invalidated it unless you realllly like building things.

April showed myself and others that sometimes, despite good intentions, paint jobs can just kind of…suck. Still, the Futtbucker was born. (NSFW LINK!) (For those curious, it has since been “improved” with a new muzzle courtesy of a Dollar Tree blowgun and some more black dry-brushing.)

In May, I first tried my hands at a Mandalorian Mercs “heavy blaster” design. Results were pretty good for what it was, though honestly I was never satisfied with the paint job. Bad texture. I improved a bit when I made another for my girlfriend, but of course that one’s a non-functional prop, so…

June, July and August were kind of sleeper months, really filled with nothing more than discussion on new products and a small bit of reviewing. Of course, July had its EyePocalypse, and chances are you’ll be seeing more of that in future whimsical mods. I kinda like it.

September brought the X-D hype, quickly diffused by myself and others. If you’re late to the news, X-D is crap. It’s a marketing gimmick, and not much more.

In October, I showed you how easy re-barreling older blasters can be. In November, I followed others in taking re-barreling to a whole new level, making my own MessengerBlast.

There’s been a few community discussion posts/rants as well, but all in all a very quiet year. This month has been as such as well, primarily because of the holidays and cold weather. However, the next few months will be scant as well. Cold weather, yes, but also because I (Derp One) am out of money to spend on Nerf. Sad day for me, I know, but them’s the breaks. If I do anything, it’s gonna be done cheaply and to projects I’ve already started. Still, there’s some hope for 2015.

Derp Two should have more free time during the next year, so we can expect to finally see his adult-scaled DC-15 blaster come in to the light of day. He’ll also be working on converting some Firestrikes in to DC-17s, while I take a more “ghetto” approach and skeletonize one much like Andu Mijomee and others have. I think it looks neat. We can also expect to see a Rapistrike turn in to an M41a, as he already temporarily did so for a movie night and wants to make it more permanent.

As for my projects, there’s nothing too exciting down the road. Once the 4Victory becomes available, I’d love to size it up and see if we can fit its turret on the front of a Whipblast. Hmmm…”Blast 4 Victory?” I donno. Name pending. I’d also like to take Solner Marc’s idea of a double-decker Raider/Rampage to a new level, so expect a noob-friendly guide for that one. Last, but not least, we’ll be re-visiting older ideas of over-volted Vulcans and “BOOM!” Nitrons, but attempting them both on a budget and in far more noob-friendly ways. Other than that, we’ll see what my finances allow.

Still, I hope we’ve provided some amusement for you few readers who have found your way to us. It’s certainly been fun tinkering and sharing results with you guys, and with any luck that will continue in the new year. I also plan to do some commissions in the summer time, so at the very least I’ll be happy to share those.

Happy New Year, and be safe. All hail the googly eyes.

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Holiday, Planning

Leave a comment