It's Alive!!! - New 3D Printer at RGP HQ

A sad and sorry tale has finally come to an end...

I have been without a 3D Printer since November 2020 when my something got fried on my CTC i3 Pro B motherboard.  I blame the operator carelessly backdriving the extruder motor when extracting filament although it didn't help that the printer was equipped with an early Mk3 extruder with no way to disengage the drive wheel.

Geetech i3 Prusa Pro W

I took delivery of my new printer last Thursday, but opening the box revealed a kit of parts which filled me with dread.  My previous printer came partially assembled and I had no motivation to get stuck in to what could possibly be the larget single meccano challenge I have embarked upon.

Two days later and the printer was built.  

My New Geetech Prusa i3 Pro W

What were my initial observations?

No Manual - I am no newbie to 3D printing and this printer is essentially the same as my last one.  I knew I would find a comprehensive guide to building the printer on the Geetech YouTube channel and lo and behold there it was.  What I wasn't expecting was getting to the final stage in the build process, wiring the control board and there being no final step!!!

Luckily the printer uses the ubiquitous GT2560 control board so finding a manual and a picture online was no problem.  However, by following the manual I did manage to connect all the limit switches incorrectly which meant the printer didn't home properly (cue horrible motor clunking sounds as the x-carriage refured to recognise the limit switch).

In addition this printer differs in one respect from my old printer in that the x-axis limit switch is set considerably further back and so the home position is actually off the print bed by about half an inch.  I could have fixed this by updating the printers firmware and setting an offset, but I've been here before.

Half an inch makes all the difference

My old printer had a similar problem in the Y-axis which meant that it would home too far forward.  The solution now as then was to print off an extension finger which would press the x-axis limit switch that half an inch early.  

So off to thingiverse I went and lo and behold someone had made a model and bish bash bosh my printer was off to the races printing out its first part.  Given that the Prusa design is derived from the Rep Rap project itself I think this is quite fitting.

First Part Printed - An x-axis trigger extension

Upgraded Parts - The reason I bought this particular printer was that it was one of the cheapest I could find with a Mk8 extruder.  However, this was not the only upgrade that the printer came with.  No siree, I got proper lead screws for the z-axis instead of plain old threaded rod, proper flexible couplers not pieces of rubber tube and a significantly better x-carriage assembly with threaded holes for mounting a second hot end fan.  The hot bed was also an upgraded version without the annoying brass rivet in the middle like my old printer.  The borosilcate glass platter now sits perfectly flat on the hot bed ensuring no distortion in z height and no hot spots.

Laser Cutter Dust - I could not believe how dirty I got when handling the laser cut plywood panels which make up the frame.  Every edge of the printer is covered in a thin film of wood ash which comes off on your clothes and hands.  If I were ever to build another laser cut framed printer then step 1 would be to wipe down all the wooden parts with a damp rag.

Jessie Will Be Chuffed

Now I have a working 3D Printer I can return to blogging about the things that I print in my Jessie's Prints series.  Jessie has been on a severe no PLA diet since June 2020 so he will be chuffed to bits.

Curse of the Mummy's Tomb - Vintage Fun from 1988

Recently I blogged about rescuing my copy of the vintage Games Workshop boardgame Curse of the Mummy's Tomb.  This weekend I actually got to play it for the first time in about 30 years. 

Curse of the Mummys Tomb

Vintage Games Play Very Differently

Back in 1988 boardgames were very different.  Wolfgang Kramer had only just invented the Kramer Track implemented for the first time in Heimlich & Co. (1984) and no-one had heard of the term Euro game.

Curse of the Mummy's Tomb is essentially an exploration game set in a 3 tiered cardboard pyramid.  You move your token by playing movement cards on yourself but your fellow players can play movement cards on you to send you off your chosen path.

If you land on an encounter space, numbered 1, 2 or 3, they can also play encounter cards on you up to the value on your space.  These can be either a hazard, a creature or a discovery and you can have only 1 of each.  This means as a player you must search out the encounter 3 spaces in order to guarantee that you can lay a discovery on yourself.  Of course the more players the more chance that they will play hazards and creatures on you.

Heavy Player vs Player

I was quite surprised at how heavy the PvP action was.  In fact in order for you to get the right movement cards for yourself you have to get rid of as many hazard and creature cards in your hand as possible because you can only hold 5 cards at a time.  

The Mummy Is Not That Much of a Threat

Players bid to control the mummy each round by bidding with their Tana leaf tokens.  This auction style movement runs out of steam unless players are regularly pausing to burn their cards and acquire new tana leaf tokens.

If I were to play again I would definitely up the ante and instigate two house rules.

1. The Mummy moves every turn not just every round.
2. Either the player to the right of the active player moves the mummy or the mummy moves randomly using a d10.  (1 North, 2, North East, 3 East etc.. 9 Go Up, 10 Go Down)

The End Game

Once you find a Key of Osiris you can attempt the end game and ascend the pyramid to find the Chamber of Osiris and try to find the elixir of immortality by testing 3 of your attributes.

This is a bit of a lacklustre endgame to be honest as I hate a dice off.

Player Reaction

My boardgame pals didn't hate it completely.  Once they had gotten to grips with the forced PvP nature of the whole thing and the crippling nature of some of the hazards the pace of the game picked up.

Reaper Bones #28 - Medium Fire Elemental

Like a bad movie franchise that seems to go on forever (I'm looking at you Sharknado!!) here is another transparent mini but this time it's RED.

Medium Fire Elemental - Bob Ridolfi (SKU: 77083)

Smaller and much, much sexier than the Large Fire Elemental thus is a cute mini with ridiculous wings.  Whilst this may have worked in metal (this is a remoulded Dark Haven mini) in plastic she's a bit floppy given her slender form.  Still I enjoyed painting her even if the transparency effect has been lost a little.  

As promised I did use a pot of old (and I do mean old) Citadel Red Glaze that has probably seen better days.  My Blacklist Miniatures Kickstarter is inbound and includes 18 transparent minis!! 

I think I might need some new inks.

Newsround - Feb 14th to Feb 20th 2021

In the best tradition of John Craven's Newsround here's my rundown of "What I Learned" on the Internet this week.

Gelatinous Cube Love Song

I've always considered Gelatinous Cubes to be unfeeling unsentient slimes with the notable exception of the Forgotten Realms Glabagool.  However, Ginny Di has obviously spent far too much time considering the romantic emotions of the most famous slimes of D&D Lore, penning this 1950s style ditty of unrequited love.

Pixels - The Latest in Light Up Dice

I was recently made aware of these cool looking light up dice which might be launching on Kickstarter soon.  They were supposed to go live in June 2020 but for some reason (possibly a worldwide epidemic) they didn't.  

The dice are purported to connect digitally to Virtual Tabletops like Roll20 so what you roll in meatspace appears in the VTT.  The designers have undergone exhaustive product testing and  produced randomness comparisons with the gold standard platonic solid random number generating Gamescience Dice and those Chessex ones mere mortals use.  

Clearly they know what their target market wants and, fingers crossed, they get their ducks in a row and launch soon. 

Bonkers Bladesmith Fashions Real Life Gotrek Axe

YouTuber Michael Cthulhu has excelled himself once more and made a life size replica of the famous Axe from Warhammer's Gotrek and Felix novels.  No stranger to building stupid sized axes, Michael has really gone balls out on this one and you can follow every step of the way in his 4 part series on YouTube.  

Mike is a larger than life character but this time he is dwarfed (pun intended) by the size of this iconic weapon, wielded by one of Warhammer's most iconic characters.  As part of a charity live stream raising money for Doctors Without Borders (Medicine Sans Frontier), Mike shaves his hair and cosplays as the famous Dwarf before taking one for the team and needing medical attention himself.

 

Are you Struggling to Find a Roleplay Group Near You?

It's hard enough to find likeminded Tabletop RPG fans near you at the best of times but this has only been made worse by the current year predicament and the various lockdowns which have been imposed on everyone.

At Dragons Keep we are looking to recruit players from our local area (South East London) in anticipation of our venue reopening in the very near future so that we can return to playing face to face as soon as possible.

Our Tabletop RPG Club is in Chislehurst, South East London, within easy reach of Bexley, Bromley, Dartford, Eltham, Greenwich, Lewisham, Sidcup and Orpington.  But that's too far a commute for many people and whilst we are playing online games it is a purely temporary measure.

We thought it would be helpful to provide some tips and tools to help you find a local group which is right for you.

Sector 55 Blues Prog 3 - It's Ugly Out There

Sector 55 Blues is a Judge Dredd Campaign using the Savage Dredd unnofficial Savage Worlds Expansion.  This is an online only game with members from Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.

The trail seems to have gone cold leaving the Judges with only a couple of leads left from yesterdays events to chase down.

1. Does Victoria Nobody remember anything else from this morning's incident?
2. Are the deaths of Rock Dwayneson and Brittany Little connected or just a coincidence?
3. Is Synthi-Joe the most popular synthi-caf brand in Sector 55?
   

Thankfully the morning briefing is short but Judge Belloch informs the patrols that 

"The removal of Mosh 55 leader Vicious Sid has led to a power vacuum which the other Gangs will be quick to fill.  Tensions are running high and the Night Watch lost a couple of good judges last night to turf wars.  Judges Gonner and Toast will be sorely missed. 

Weather Control is still on the fritz and word is it's getting worse.

Black, Evans and Simpson you're off to Stallone Block.  looks like Z-list Tri-D star GC Essexwood took a dive in the ratings this morning and she's made a big mess of the pedway. 

Hammer, Teal and Uthred, I want you on crowd control at Sump's Ugly Parlour in JCVD Block.  There's an ugly pageant going down at 13 hundred hours and I don't want it any uglier."

Back in the Saddle

The Judges decide to interview Victoria Nobody again to see if she can recall anything from yesterdays incident.  As they cruise down Duke Street heading towards Bags O Style, they spot a man standing on the parapet of the skedway with a small crowd of people around him.  Half the citizens are urging the man to reconsider and the other half are baiting him to jump.

Uthred pushes the crowd back, whilst Hammer tries to arrest one citizen who is clearly guilty of coercion to suicide.  The perp remonstrates with the Judge "I've got 50 creds riding on this guy jumping Judge!" his friend retorts "No way Bert, I say he's gonna live".  Teal tries to persuade the jumper that its not worth it and that he has a lot to live for but is unsuccessful.  Hammer grows impatient and follows up Teal's Good Judge routine with some Bad Judge intimidation and lunges at the the perp trying to drag him down.  

The perp instinctively doges out of the way and steps back off the parapet.  Teal desperately reaches out to grab a leg as the man falls over the edge but all he can grasp is thin air.  He rushes to the edge to get a better view of the unfortunate citizen falling to his death some 300 storeys below.  Miraculously the flight path of a Resyk Trash Truck intersects with the man's death plunge and he lands in the back amidst the garbage of hundreds of Sector 55 residents.  Teal calls it in and tells MAC to inform Trash Truck 55-157 that they have a stowaway.

Hammer returns to the coercive citizen who is brandishing 50 Creds in 5 crisp notes.  He cuffs the pair of them to the pedway railing and takes the money.  "You are both going down for illegal gambling"  

Bags O Style

Twenty minutes later the Judges arrive at Bags O Style a ladies fashion emporium two doors down from Zooty Slutes Suits You.  Victoria Nobody recounts the horrific events of yesterday morning.  She does recall seeing something out of the corner of her move down the alleyway away from the victim (Rock Dwayneson) who then turned around and showered the alleyway with blood from his neck wound.  She was very lucky to avoid being covered in his blood and you can never really get blood out of white synthi silk.

 The Judges decide to check out the alleyway once more.  The alleyway ends in the reinforced rockcrete wall of Trump Tower ascending 300ft up like a concrete and glass cliff face.  Piles of trash bags litter the dead end, all of them having been ripped open by hungry vermin.  A cracked manhole cover sits in the middle of the alleyway.  Teal opens it up revealling a 5ft wide shaft which descends into darkness.

The Sewer

Pulling out their torches the Judges descend the slime and algae covered ladder 10ft until they enter a 5ft wide circular tunnel which runs the length of the alleyway.  No-one has been down here in many months if not years.  They move down the tunnel towards an intersection some 50ft away.  This is clearly the larger 10ft wide sewer beneath Melania Way.  There are no signs of recent activity and so head to Zooty Slutes to see if they missed any clues.

Mr Slute shows the Judges Demo Room 1, a state of the art office environment simulator where clients can road test their suits in "Real World" circumstances.  The fire door which opens onto the alleyway seems to be in working order.  Returning to the alleyway they question the other two vending machines (a Rola-Cola and a Burrito-bot) about yesterdays events.  Teal consumes a Triple Chilli Burrito in the process.  No extra information is forthcoming.

Munce Burger

They turn their attention to the Munce Burger restaurant on the other side of the alley.  The manager shows them into the office at the back of the restaurant past two bots shovelling frozen munce and synthibread patties into a giant kitchen bot.  They examine the CCTV and identify the 4 members of Mosh 55 who enter the restaurant about 30 minutes before they tried to rob Zooty Slute's.  The restaurant fire doors are operational and only open outwards.

Back to the Sewer

The Judges engage their bleepers and bikes to track their positions and take another look at the sewer.  Following the route of the flowing sewage they come out into Melania Way and then onto Meg 352.

Ro-Jaws - A sewer bot

Up ahead a sewer bot crew are clearing a massive fatberg which has almost completely blocked the 15ft wide tunnel.  Ro-Jaws and his buddy Ro-Harry are chisling away at the concreted mass of congealed fat refuse and wet wipes.  They are suprised to see Judges down here.  

Hammer asks if they've seen anything come down the tunnel in the last 24 hours or if they have seen a wig.  After a short explanation of what a wig is, Ro-Jaws triumphantly dons a bedraggled floppy hairy monstrosity upon his head and says "You mean like this!!"

It is a broken mop head.

Judge Teal asks if they have found any knives.  Ro-Harry fishes about in his waste receptacle and proudly retrieves a collection of miscellaneous cutlery including a rusty stiletto.  "I stick to the shiny stuff" he claims.

The Judges leave the two sewer bots and return to the surface.  Checking their wrist terminals they have about an hour before they need to be at JCVD Block for the Ugly Pageant leaving just enough time to go back to the sector house, shower and change into fresh suits.

A Call from Dapper John

Uthred's comm buzzes and sector despatch relays through a call from Dapper John.  He confirms that Rock Dwayneson was not a client.  

Perhaps if they have time they can call round to his apartment this evening and go through some of the finer points of the case.  

An Ugly Situation at the Ugly Pageant

The Judges arrive at the Ugly Pageant (Plaza Park Level 400 JCVD Block) just before ceremonies begin.  The crowd is a mix of block citizens and wannabe contestants of all shapes and sizes.  A Tri-D news crew is filming the event.

The Judges Patrol the crowds on the lookout for any suspicious activity.  Judge Uthred's keen senses highlight a small croup of young juves huddled round a bench.  One juve holds a small booklet and the rest seem to be utterly engrossed in its pages.  

As he approaches the juves scatter in all directions leaving the booklet on the ground.  It's a badly printed copy of 2000AD, a banned publication in Mega City One.

*** SURGEON GENERALS WARNING ***
Highly addictive containing brain melting stories and thrilling action
likely to cause seizures in small children, the elderly and pregnant citizens

Judges Hammer and Teal both spot a known dunker, Pogo Patterson, at work with his hands in other peoples purses.  He is surfing the crowd on his way towards the Plaza Park exit.  They instinctively set up a pincer movement but Hammer struggles to make his way through the crowd unnoticed and his eyes lock on Patterson's.  The dunker quickens his pace, he's obviously been made and its time to make a dash for it.  As the perp gets to within feet of safety Teal jumps out brandishing his day stick "Freeze you pickpocketing Punk!!"

Patterson puts up his hands and says "Hey Judges you got it all wrong, I'm legit these days" he pulls out handfulls of Otto Sump Ugly Clinic discount vouchers from his pockets which fall to the floor.  "I was hired to give out these discount vouchers, I'm in live event marketing now".  Hammer, tells the creep that he's arresting him on a charge of Disorderly Conduct.  This doesn't sit well with Pogo who claims that he is being brutalised by a system designed to criminalise the population.  In desperation he throws a punch at Hammer who effortlessly dodges and cracks the dunker over the head with his day stick.  

"Brutal but fair" he muses to himself as he radios in for a med wagon to pick up the unconcious perp.

An Unexpected Shower

Everything is peaceful as the various disgusting contestants parade their horrifying visages to the gawping crowd.  Suddenly there is a crack of thunder and a blaring siren from high above the park.  Weather control deluges the crowd in a short 30 second shower.

Not long after a scream errupts from one of the contestants on the stage. 

"Help, Help I've been assaulted!" she cries.

Jocelyn Wildenstein / Mr. Blofeldt
Ugly Competitor / Pet Cat

The victim is one Jocelyn Wildenstein, one of the favourites to win.  She is dripping wet and bald and she claims that someone ripped off her wig.  She also claims that her cat Mr. Blofeldt is missing.  She has minor lacerations to her head.

Jocelyn is most concerned about the survival of her pet and holds an impromptu press conference with the news crew posting a 10,000 credit reward for the apprehension of the vile individual who hurt her cat.  

If questioned about the wig she will say she bought it at a Wigiculous Wendy's over in Ozzy Apartments a couple of weeks ago.  It was a Trend Toppers Toupee "Lady Crystal".

The Judges search the park for the missing cat and Teal discovers it unconcious near a loose manhole cover under the stage bleeding profusely from several bite wounds.  

The cat has a scrap of bloody, hairy flesh in its mouth matching the colour and style of the "Lady Crystal".  The Judges will need to send this scrap of flesh to the lab for further analysis.

Prog 4 - Down, Down, Deeper and Down ->

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