Thanks for writing, George & Jerry! As for nitpicking the site, I wish someone would... I noticed that in one place I warn about using paper cups for mixing mold compounds, but in another article show the stuff being mixed... in a paper cup! Ahem. The Truth is Out There...but it's mixed with qualifications, perspectives & conflicting information. It's a real pain-in-the-ass to sift through. Reality is far more direct. it sez: "Trust No One. Just do it." (Apologies to Mulder, Obi-Wan, Yoda and Nike(?) X^)

I suppose this is a good place to post "teaser" info (stuff which I'm working on but don't have any pictures of yet), sooooo... In the Works-- another "babe"; FAKK2 or something like that. I want to do an article about face sculpts, accompanied by source pics. That is, if I can pull it off. Then this will be "Julie Strain as FAKK2"... (Otherwise, not!) Unlike the other "Babes w/Bigguns", the costuming is pure fantasy, with lots of skin showing. Fortunately, she's got big boots, gloves, and shoulderpads which hide some articulation. But she does show a lot of skin around the nether regions. I haven't decided whether to cast flesh to cover that articulation, or just adjust the costuming. At this moment, the bare bod's been done (as usual, more comic book proportioned than Julie Strain), and I'm struggling with the head. After many, many hours, I still haven't seen that first glimmer of recognition...

jimbob, As usual, your site is AWSOME!! I'm constantly checking back to see what else your twisted little mind has created or discovered.The Japanese Stormtroopers are INCREDIBLE!!!I hope you'll find out if they can be purchased here in the U.S.! I'd love to get my mitts on a couple of them!! Keep up on the great job you've been doing!

Here are some cool links that I picked up recently:

• GI Joe Customizers (from Yoon via the Sandbox) It's a Japanese guy's page of links to customizers. I'd never seen some of these customizers' work before, and they're really good!
• Takara Combat Joes (from Yoon via the Sandbox) Some nice pics of the difficult-to-find (and expensive) Japanese GI Joes.
• More Takara Combat Joes (from Cristoph via the Sandbox, 7/8/98) Includes some uniform sets.
• 12" Stormtroopers from Japan (from Tony DiTerlizzi via e-mail) These are NEAT, and I hope they're available here in the USA.
• Francis Tavares' "Battlefields" Of course you've already checked this out, since I posted it in the "What's New" section... :^) If you haven't been back, check out his pics of the Zundapp motorcycle, armored car & Kubelwagen. Awesome!

Thanks for the info, guys!

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I'd like to share this strange & memorable e-mail message that I received a few months ago... It's one of the perks of maintaining this web site. (I realize that it's bad form to post private e-mail in public, but since I'm not identifying who it's from, maybe it's okay?) Enjoy... :^)

WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEMS?

I E-MAILED YOU ABOUT A MONTH AGO AND YOU SAID YOU DON'T SELL ANY OFYOUR GREAT CUSTOM WORK. I THINK YOU MUST BE A PIECE OF A CRAP AND VERY SELF-CENTERED PERSON TO FLASH YOUR WORK FOR ALL TO SEE. NO NO DON'T SELL ANY THING YOU NAZI PARTY REJECT, KEEP IT TO YOUR SELF. I HOPE YOUR HOUSE GOES UP IN FLAMES WITH ALL YOU WORK , YOU PIECE OF TRASH. OH BY THE WAY YOU SAID CW STUFF SUCKS WELL SOME PEOPLE CAN'T AFFORD THE GREAT WORKS OF ACTION CITY. I DON'T WANT YOUR STUFF NOW ANYWAY I THINK I COULD BETTER FROM SCRAP THEN TAKE AC'S UNIFORMS, AND CHANGE IT A LITTLE ,AND CALL IT MY OWN. RIGHT NOW I'M USING A FRIEND'S COMPUTER, BUT WHEN GET MY OWN I'LL BASH YOU EVERY DAY. THANKS FOR YOUR TIME, I KNOW YOUR A BUSY MAN MAKING ALL THAT CRAP YOU CALL YOUR OWN.

P.S. SURVEY SAYS ONE MORE FOR THE GOOD GUYS!!!!!!!!! (SPONSORED BY THE N.W.O.)

...Well this is just too cool. We finally get to "interact" with your web site. I visit often and with this new feature I'll be able to further my "stalking" tendicies. I'll be leaving you harassing messages day and night, never giving you a moments rest. With every added custom I will scrutinize your work and criticize down to the smallest detail! Muhahahhahahahahaha!!! Ah, nevermind...sounds too much like work to me. Instead Ill just say "good Job". =)

INTRODUCTORY MESSAGE
This Guestbook/Forum is a new addition to my web site and hopefully, some of you will use it. As it says on the Submissions Page, I'd like it to be more than a traditional "guest book". If you have any ideas to share, questions, answers, or know a neat URL, post 'em here. Your audience is not just me -- it's anyone who happens to read this.

If you're conversant in HTML, you can do neat things within a message, like this:

CENTERED BOLD TEXT

Cool, huh? It's like instant HTML publishing. Of course if you forget a tag, your message will look strange, and you won't be able to re-edit it... If you do mess up badly, you can e-mail me and I'll delete the message. (It's probably not a good idea to post pictures here, since this makes the page's load time even longer. I'll come up with something though.) Soooo...give it a try. If nothing happens here, I may use this to post web site updates.

I've added a few things to the site which I haven't listed in the regular "What's New" section: besides the minor tweaks, I've reworked the "How-To" section, and reinstated information on Moldmaking and Casting. I even found a long-lost article that I'd forgotten to post! Anyway, I checked out the links, and they all seem to work (for now).

Happy 4th of July!