Frank the Tank

I had lunch today at a place called "The Yard".  The restaurant is located in Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh.  My son had talked about the amazing grilled cheese sandwiches there for some time.  When he asked if I would like to go to lunch there with him, I jumped at the chance.

We both ended up ordering Frank the Tank.  Frank is a grilled cheese sandwich with buffalo chicken dip and fried onion rings on it. AWESOME!!!!!  It is served with tomato soup (more like tomato sauce) and homemade potato chips.  I can tell you that it is a ton of food.  It's been nearly five hours since we ate there and I still feel full.

I felt that the food is a tad pricey, but it won't stop me from going there again.  I hope that the next time we go there, we get a waitress with a personality.  All in all, a good experience.  When in the 'Burgh, yinz gotta try da Yard enat!

Hammer Time

Things are heating up again with the search for the lost boys.  I just finished our favorite thunder hammer wielding Salamander.  After considering a bunch of different color schemes, I went with lime colored armor accented with pewter.  The scale covered areas were done in metallic green and then given a reddish-purple wash.  Flames on the armor were highlighted with yellow.  The hammer has a brown wooden shaft accented with pewter metal areas and the hammer head itself was done in two-tone gold. 

I can’t say that I’m a big fan of the pose. It reads,"too superhero".  The base is sort of odd.  It is on the smallish side and is a piece of rock with a dragon (actually, half of a dragon) climbing up it.  Like many of the KOL figures, this “Smith Knight” is rather small.   Anyway, it’s finished and I’m now half way done with the project.  Check out the pic.

Up Next: The nemesis of the Lord of the Forge!

Adios, Amigos!

It's always sad to see players from the sports teams that you love get traded.  To you the fan, these players are a big part of the reason why you enjoy the team and the sport itself.  The Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins are no exception.  A bunch of the guys that Pens fans have cheered their hearts out for are gone.  So long guys and thank you for all of your hard work, hustle, leadership, no-quit mentality, and for doing the black and gold proud.

Exiting the Pens:  Marc-Andre Fleury, Kris Kunitz, Matt Cullen, Trevor Daley, Nick Bonino, and Oskar Sundqvist.  It appears that recently acquired D-men, Ron Hainsey and Mark Streit won't be back either.  You guys will be missed.  There would be no Stanley Cup in the 'Burgh without all of you.  To the fans here in Pittsburgh, you will always be Penguins!  We will miss you.  Best of luck with your new teams!!!

So next season, Pens fans will see some new faces and have to learn some new names,  That's how it will be.  We will welcome the new guys and welcome back the vets.  Coach Sullivan and company will have the boys in black and gold ready to play.  The puck will drop and a new season will begin.  I can't wait!  Let's Go Pens!

One Can of Watermelon, Please

Tried a great summer beer the other night.  It's called Hell or High Watermelon by 21st Amendment Brewery out of San Francisco, CA.  I found this beer to be mighty tasty!  As I'm catching a few cold ones with friends around the fire, I plan on adding some of these beauties to the mix!

Hard to Believe

If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes last night, I might not have believed it.  Rumors have circulated in Pittsburgh for some time about whether or not Marc-Andre Fleury would remain a Pen next season.  Seeing him in a Las Vegas Golden Knights jersey brought home the reality that he would not.

Like many Pens fans here in the Burgh, I've had my ups and downs with "Flower".  In the end, there is no denying that without him as the netminder, the Penguins wouldn't have won their last 3 Stanley Cups.

Fleury is a total class act.  He is going to be missed in Pittsburgh both on and off of the ice.  I wish him nothing but success (unless they're playing the Pens) with his new team in Vegas.
Bonne chance, mon amie!

Suffering Catfish

Suffering Catfish....I'm sure that is the expression in Nashville this morning after the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated their Predators 2-0 last night.  Pens were awesome!  Congrats all the way down the line from Mario to the Zamboni Driver.  Back to back Stanley Cups!!!  Can anyone say three-peat??!!

I finished the Kabuki Knights of Legend Steam Knight yesterday.  The base that came with it was lame so I replaced it with one from Scibor.  This is one of my more favorite models from Kabuki.  The sculpt is cool and the pose is active. One more to go and I'll be half way through the project.

I'd Be Lion To Ya

I take great pride in this little guy.  This angelic figure is from Scibor Miniatures.  It is from their Lion Warriors set.  The figure is nicely sculpted and comes with a great scenic base.  For the most part it was an easy build (except for trimming off all of the flash).  I think that the painting turned out decently well.  This is the eighth figure I've completed so far.  Number nine is in the works.  I've included a pic.  I hope that you like it.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are back in the Stanley Cup Championship.  Best of luck guys!!!!

Last night I ate at the Taipei-Tokyo Restaurant in Monroeville, PA.  I've eaten there many times over the years and at their other locations around the area.  The food is always fantastic,  the service excellent, and the price reasonable.  I had the General Tso's Chicken - superb!!!  I washed it down with a Tsingtao.  A great meal that I got to enjoy with family and friends!  If you love Chinese food, then you need to eat at Taipei-Tokyo.

A Little Perturbed

This tiny bugger gave me one heck of a run for my money.  First of all, it had a piece missing.  Second, the glue that I initially used failed to hold parts together.  Last, but not least, I really struggled with a color scheme that I was happy with.  It took me some good old Internet searching to come up with one that I felt was decent.  When all was said and done, despite the struggles, I am pretty okay with the end result for this little Lord of Iron.  

I'm getting a tad worked up about my Picksburgh Penguinies.  In the last two games against the Caps, the boys in black and gold haven't looked too hot.  I'm hoping for a better game seven in D.C.  

One thing that I not perturbed about was the awesome cheese steak sub that I got from a little pizza joint named LaScola's.  This bad boy was huge, meaty, and delicious.  I'm looking forward to trying more of their stuff.  Yummy!!!!

Ultra Cool!

I just finished another member of the band of brothers.  This model is from Hitech Miniatures.  It is the ArchFather Theodor Madera figure.  The model overall is pretty cool as far as detail and pose.  It is roughly the same scale as the Scibor figures although perhaps a tad less clunky looking.

I dug out the model's head and replaced it with one I had from an old Heroclix figure (the one that came with it was small, bald and had a goatee which didn't quite fit the part as you will see).  I painted it in the colors of the Lucky 13th and added some decals to complete the look.

I'm super happy with how this particular bad boy turned out.  I'd appreciate it if you would take a second and check out the picture.  

Anger Is The Enemy

One quarter of the way done.  With this Berserk Knight from Kabuki Studio completed, I have found five of the family.  This particular model put up one heck of a fight (as one might expect).  Where the ax connects to the model on the right side is an extremely small area that became a nightmare to keep together.  The same problem occurred connecting the tiny feet of the figure to the base.  I'm sure these will be areas that I will need to revisit in the future.

Much like the Preacher Knight, this model is on the smallish side.  Like all the other Kabuki KOL models, the figure has nice details.  The pose is decent.  However, the scenic base was really stupid looking so I converted it with some Sculpey.  I'm happy with the overall rock base look that I created.  I was tired of painting with gold so I went with black for the armor.  I gave the armor brass trim and did the leathers in red.

I am mostly happy with how this wayward warrior looks especially in contrast to his siblings.  As always, thanks for checking out my blog.  I am honored that you do!

Fisticuffs

I finished another brother without a mother.  This brings the total to four.  I think that this particular son-of-an-emperor ended up looking pretty cool in my humble opinion. The figure is the Eagle Knight from Scibor Miniatures.  For the most part, it is a really nice and detailed sculpt.  Scibor does a great job with the scenic bases as well.  Take a look.