Hobby Thread - May 31, 2025 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it came up with scale modeling!

TRex knows what you're thinking. "It has been SOOOO long since we have done a thread on scale modeling and SOOOO many among the Horde are scale modelers. Can we PLEASE periodically do a thread with a scale modeling theme?"

Why yes. Yes we can. The Wheel says so.

But what should we talk about? You're in luck. Our friend Washington Nearsider has been modeling for decades and models at a high level of skill and detail. See examples below. Hopefully, he's reading along and will jump in with thoughts and wisdom and answer questions.

The paintwork is amazing!

Check out his workspace:

Thanks much for sharing!

No voice commentary but a LOT of intricate metal lathe work:

We did a golf theme a few weeks ago, so this photo is late (but still too good not to share). Was this standard equipment at early driving ranges?

I was going to put this in an ONT at some point, but then it occurred to me - avian woodworking might qualify as a hobby! If that doesn't work, it still is a great photo and photography qualifies as a hobby. So there.

Are you wise in the ways of the Henry O. Studley tool chest?

Piano maker Henry O. Studley designed and built this toolbox. It is about 40 by 20 inches when closed and holds approximately 300 tools. He developed and added new tools over 30 years. The craftsmanship is extraordinary. It has been exhibited at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

A work of art itself, the Studley Tool Chest is full of detail, with mother-of-pearl and ivory inlay that speaks to his career as a piano man. The mammoth piece weights 72 lbs when empty and 156 lbs when open, meaning a full squad is needed to move it.

Before dying in 1925, Studley passed this prize possession to a friend. Pete Hardwick, the friend's grandson, held on to the chest and loaned it to the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History in the late 1980s. It was later purchased by a private collector for an undisclosed sum, but if you imagine that just one tool in the set was appraised at $700 in 1993, it surely paid off for Hardwick. The current owner still occasionally lends it to the National Museum of American History. 19th-Century Tool Box Is Meticulously Designed to Hold 300 Tools

Horde-adjacent hobbying in quilt form:

A woman in the complex where Mama Rex lives made this quilt.

It is gorgeous. It took her a year and half (admittedly off and on). When finished, she donated it for a raffle and now it has a new home with a delighted new owner.

She's been quilting for decades. How did it start? During a random stop at a used bookstore in New Orleans many years ago, she found a book on quilting. It looked interesting and she thought she could do it. She could and did. The book cost her a dime but sparked years of quilting.

Horde Hobbying update from the Hobby Thread's resident equine painter. This work from polynikes is called "Wild Horses."

Good stuff as always. Thank you!

What are you hobbying these days?

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Your participation does not need to limited to the theme. All hobbying is welcome. However, politics, current events and religious debates can live in threads elsewhere. Play nice. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls. Pants, as always, are optional.

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We talked Memorial Day traditions. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Notable comments from last week:

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different theme next time. What are you hobbying? We love showing off Horde hobbying. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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