Well, I just got back from spending a few days with family. So, now it’s time to catch up on more email and whatnot. Thanks to everyone who had some great complements and queries.

First off, I am currently in the middle of a Disney Experience site rehab. I’m rebuilding it with CSS, now that I understand how it works. But, I have around 199 pages to convert, which will take me a good week, and I can’t update the site until it’s finished.

Next, are some updates. I’ll be updating the guest comments, and the Fan Board. But the main thing that people are asking about is the Mark Twain paper model. I will be releasing that soon. I originally wanted to release it this month, but I’ve also agreed to guest-blog on Tor.com whenever a model comes out. As soon as I get some submission guidelines, I can get started on the article. I don’t know what I’ll say, but I’m sure I can find something.

It’s a few days late (July 17), but it’s here. Brand-spankin’ new theme park icons.

It was time for a little more cleaning of the ol’ inbox, and I rediscovered a little Internet gem that was sent in by Taylor Baird. Someone on the Atari forums is using Google SketchUp to recreate Disneyland Paris for RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. There are pages and pages of posts to flip through, but the tons of screenshots are well worth it!

Taylor recommended that I make my Blender models from the paper models I’ve designed and make them public so that others can incorporate them into RCT3. Unfortunately, I can’t do that (contract), and I really don’t have many that would be useful.

Another Wall•E model has popped up, this time it’s an official model direct from Disney. The actual model is far simpler than the one pictured, so it is misleading. Maybe Disney has a better version hiding someplace.

Although this model was only sent to Disney Visa card holders, it has popped up all over the Internet. I guess Wall•E is becoming a pretty popular character.

There’s also a book full of robot models, but without any images of the pages, I’m a little dubious. The book cover only shows blank models (and Wall•E’s head is too small!).

Or, if you prefer, you can try your hand at an origami version.

Steve Guizzo sent me a link to a Jungle Cruise inspired playhouse that he built for his two daughters. It’s certainly amazing, and it definitely screams “Jungle Cruise.”

While at the Instructables site, I came across a few more Disney inspired home projects. For example, Steve also has a Jungle Cruise/Indiana Jones bar. This guy does some awesome work; if I didn’t know better, I’d think he’d smuggled parts out of Disneyland.

Here’s a Small World nursery. I love the Mary Blair style.

This is another nursery, with an awesome “window” overlooking London. I think the best part is Peter Pan’s shadow.

Lately, I’ve been focusing a lot on the Doorless Chambers event, specifically trying to figure out what I’m going to do about treats. Since I have two Web sites participating, I have to design two different treats. And since I’ve recently widened the participation requirements to include any creative Disney enthusiast (regardless of any Web site), I may sign up the Head Shrinker, which means a third treat to design.

The treat I’m working on right now is going to be quite different from anything else that I’ve done. But, it does have a connection to paper models in that it has to be printed and assembled. For this, I’m using a tab & slot system for the very first time. It’s proving to be a pain in the butt for me, but it should make assembly a heck of a lot faster and easier!

The part I’m looking forward to is the artwork. The majority of the surface will be covered in art, hand-painted in Photoshop. There’s a lot of surface area, so painting will take 3-4 weeks at least.

In the end, I hope most people will get some bit of enjoyment out of it.