Author: Iron Modeler

The Mighty…Gnat?

Greetings, all!

I finished another one (finally!), this being the new tool Airfix 1/72 scale kit of the Folland Gnat T.1. Behold…

The kit goes together fairly well–if you are patient. There are some gotchas, notably the inlets, but if you test fit and take your time all will be well. I've read all the reviews online–it is a putty monster, the panel lines are too deep (or wide), yada, yada, yada. Boys and girls, this is a Six Dollar (American, at least) kit from Airfix–remember when Airfix were aimed at the "pocket money" demographic? You guessed it. This is what used to be called a "pocket money" kit, and as such it hits the mark. The only place where the kit could use some sprucing up is in the cockpit–I added some seat belts made from masking tape. Other than that, what you see came in the box–well, except the base.

The only color scheme provided in the kit is what you see–Central Flying School circa 1964 (they've sinced reissued the kit with different markings). It is one of those "Run Away!" paint schemes, too–Day-Glo and metal. In this case, the metal is Hi-Speed Silver lacquer, but silver nonetheless. It is easy to do if you let it be that way. Here's how:

1. You need a white base color. No ifs, ands, or buts. There are about a gazillion ways you could get there, but I take the lazy man's approach and use Tamiya's Fine White Primer in the spray can. Sure, you can decant it and thin it and airbrush it, but the stuff goes on just fine from the spray can–why make extra work? A few thin coats, left to dry overnight (I said it worked like a charm, I didn't say it was fast!), and you're ready to rock…

(Oh, I assembled everything except the nose light lens, gear doors, and the wheels before I painted the model. The wheels and doors got the primer treatment, too, only they were stuck to some cardboard instead of held by a paintbrush handle in the tailpipe. Obviously, the lens was not painted…)

2. You need to mask off everything on the airplane that won't be orange. I used Tamiya tape. The orange is actually Testor Acryl Flourescent Red with Chevy Engine Red added–the flourescent red is too pink, adding the Chevy Engine Red (actually, a deep red-orange) adds the orange tone and kills some of the eye-grabbing pink of the flourescent red. I simply mixed the two until the color matched the box art–I can't tell you how much of each paint I used, I just went for it. I thinned it with Acryl thinner, and sprayed on a few coats until I had even coverage of the white base. Let it dry overnight, but unmask it after about 20 minutes. Be patient…

3. Now, you need to mask off the orange areas. Tamiya tape again to the rescue. The silver is Tamiya's X-32 Titanium Silver, thinned about 80/20 with Tamiya X-20A thinner. Again, apply a few thin coats until you have complete coverage of the white. Another overnight drying period is required, but again, you'll want to remove the tape in about 20 minutes. If this sounds familiar to you, you probably read my "Thundering Jets" post from a few years ago. The only difference between then and now is that then we wanted an oxidized bare metal look, this time we want a uniform silver lacquer look.

4. You can do one of two things the next day–you can apply a coat of clear gloss for the decals (I like Future thinned with 91% Isopropyl, but whatever floats your boat is fine by me) or you can mask the anti-glare panel and paint it flat black. If you don't do the anti-glare now, wait until the decals are done, and add the black area last.

5. As always, I spread the decals out over a few nights to let gravity work for me. I wiped off the decal residue the next day. Once all the decals were on, a thin coat of gloss to seal them, some detail painting, a few final parts to add, and there you have it.

As for the base, I've started to make bases for my models. Previously, I had only done them when I was building a presentation model, but that AMPS membership is screwing with my head. Our AMPS Chapter Contact (and founder, and all-around great modeler and good guy) Mike Roof gave a seminar on bases and groundwork at the AMPS International Show a few months ago. Basically, the reasons for bases are many. They:

1. Give you a convenient handle by which you can hold/view the model

2. Show the subject in context with "what it does"

3. Place the model in a particular place at a particular time

In this case, it is a combination of the first two. The base you see is a hobby/craft store wood plaque that I sanded and stained with some Minwax stain and polyurethane. The dispersal ramp is mat board, cut to shape and glued onto the plaque after the stain had dried. The color isn't as gray as I'd like it, but I'll let this one go. The grassy area is Woodland Scenics' ground foam "Turf" and "Grass" mixed and locke in with Scenic Cement. I then applied little dabs of white glue and sprinkled some static grass on the glue. I cobbled up a set of wheel chocks, and I called this one done.

If you'd like more information on bases and groundwork Mike has kindly posted them here.

So, there you have it. Another one for the display case…

Thanks for reading. As always, be good to one another. I bid you Peace.

(And Smokey says "Let me fix that camera, feeble human…")

June 4, 2013
A modeler’s requiem

Today, I'm showcasing the work of a superb auto modeler, fellow club member, and friend, Jim Palasz.

Jim passed away suddenly earlier this month. I first met him when he was trying to match the blue of the Minolta decal on the Tom's Toyota in the first photos. These models now occupy a place of honor in our display case. Fare well, Jim, you are going to be missed.

Be good to one another, and as always, I bid you Peace.

April 30, 2013
A quick one while I have a minute…or two…

I'm back…

I may as well start with the bad news. My mother passed away on 26 February. Her health never recovered from her two falls, and to be honest, it was more relief than sorrow to me when she crossed over. She's with dad and the rest of the family that has gone before, and I like to think they're catching up on old times…

Funny thing, though–after the memorial service, my sister-in-law kept on saying that Mom was going to mess with her. The family wanted to get together and do something after the memorial. When we last were together in December, we went to Joe's Crab Shack (Mom loved her seafood), so we decided that we'd all go back there after the service. There were 13 of us, but we told them 14. First weird part of the story–we got the same exact table we had in December. There were a few different faces this time, but those of us who had been there in December pretty much all sat where we had back then, and we left the seat Mom had been in back then vacant. Next, it got really weird–those who wanted appetizers ordered them. They arrived, and no sooner had the plates been cleaned, an order of mozzarella sticks arrived–an order that nobody had placed. The server says, "This has been happening to me all day, sorry. Enjoy them on the house." I looked at my brother and sister-in-law and said "There's your sign." See, one of mom's favorite appetizers was mozzarella sticks. I imagine she and dad and everyone else up there got a good chuckle out of that one…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Between the end of February and the service on 9 March, I had some time to go through some boxes of stuff I brought to the house when I last visited Mom. Going through the photos, I found several years' worth of Christmas photos, and in most of them were pictures of our stacks of Christmas SWAG–and in most of those pictures, there were model kits. I say it often, but it is true–back then (1970's-1980's), that's something kids did. We had video games (Pong, Atari), but we also still built models. I'll share some of those photos at some point in the future…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My wife has a librarian friend who came upon several large boxes of modeling magazines. Since her library had no use for them, she called my wife to see if she would like to have them. My wife said yes, made a donation to the library, and hauled the collection home. There was a mix of plastic and radio control modeling magazines, and among the boxes were some issues of "Scale Modeler", "Scale Aircraft Modeler" from the UK, and some early issues of "The Squadron", the magazine the Squadron Shops used to sell. Interesting stuff, and I'll share those with you, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While I was in Ft. Lauderdale dealing with Mom's estate, I found the time to stop by the IPMS/Flight 19 meeting. While some of the faces have changed, and the venue had moved, the meetings were much the same as when I was General, President, Doctor, and Dictator-for-Life for about seven years between the early 1990's and about 2000. They had just held their annual contest the previous weekend, and from what I heard they had quite a successful show, indeed. I was happy to see that the Chapter was as healthy (healthier, actually) as it was when I ran the show. One of the Old Guard had sent some books in so he wouldn't have to toss them. Among the boxes I found Volume 1, Number 2 of "Scale Modeler". An interesting observation–back in the day, they ran articles on all sorts of modeling, both static and operational (slot cars, radio control and free flight, model soldiers, etc.)–about the only thing they didn't cover was model railroading. One piece that caught my eye was a two-page spread by some guy named Bill Koster on scale radio control airplanes. If the name rings a bell, it should–Bill was a long time employee at Monogram Models, and has his own one-man cottage industry that makes vacuum form conversions and kits called Koster Aero Enterprises. I've met the man several times–although I doubt he remembers–and he's always been a wealth of information, information he is not shy about sharing. Back at the 2005 IPMS/USA Nationals, he sold my wife a 1/48 scale PB4Y Privateer conversion kit for the Monogram standard, and he spent nearly a half hour giving her tips on how to get the best end product out of the conversion, even examining the kit and replacing some parts that we wasn't happy with. On the spot. Bill Koster is an example of a true gentleman in every sense, and it was interesting to read his tips on scale radio control airplanes.

I also got to see some folks that I hadn't seen in a very long time. It was a joy being able to catch up with so many old friends. I'm only sorry that I didn't have enough time to spend with each and every one of them. Next time, though…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think that about wraps this installment up. Until next time, be good to one another. I bid you Peace.

March 20, 2013
And then, things got hectic…

Yeah, yeah, I know…

See, its like this: I finally had enough time to collect my meager thoughts. The new car was running nicely (and still is), work was humming along, the family stuff was on an even keel…

I even got to take a vacation. What happened after that? See the title to this post…

We're a small shop at work–we do with five or six technicians what other shops won't touch unless they have at least ten people available to work the job. We schedule things pretty tight, too–remember what I've said in the past about the empty hangar not making us any money? With things packed nose to tail, everything has to pretty much run like a Rolex (by the way, did you see the Rolex 24? More later…) or the whole schedule turns into a logjam. Yep. You guessed it. Unforeseen problems with parts, unexpected findings, and some aircraft sales issues clogged the pipeline a bit. As a result, we're trying to unburden ourselves from said pile of airplanes. We have two in the hangar, two on the ramp, and two stashed in various hangars around the airport to keep them out of any inclement weather that might move in. And, get this–we have two more on the way early next week. So it kinda goes without saying that we're working overtime. Lots of overtime. As in seven day a week overtime. The money's good, yes, but you have to be alive to enjoy it. Fortunately, we're on schedule to deliver one by the close of business Monday, and another a day or so after that. But we're still up to our eyeballs in aviation fun…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To add to the array of spinning plates, my mother is again in poor health. She was improving when we saw her in December, then she suffered a pretty significant setback, one which the family is dealing with. Lots of issues there, not least of which is I'm going to have to carve away some time to visit. Or clone myself. Or both.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All isn't gloom and doom, though. I have actually tried to get back to the workbench and get some stuff done. I broke my vow of not starting anything new until the backlog was done and started on the new Airfix 1/72 scale Folland Gnat T.1. It has been a relatively quick build, and I hope to be able to get some color onto the model shortly. There were a few minor issues. The fit of the wing to the fuselage can be tricky–be careful once you get everything ready for the glue. If you don't get a good, tight fit where the wings meet the inlets, work on it before you get out the glue brush–if you don't, you'll wind up with a slight gap that could set your wing askew. I'm speaking from experience, here. Also, watch the part numbers when you build the slipper tanks–I didn't and got the left top on the right bottom and vice-versa. By the time I noticed, the tanks were permanently fused. I had to trim and shim to get them to fit. I hope that those of you reading this take heed and learn from my ignorance.

I'm gonna build this one up using the kit decals. I figured it would be a good slump-buster, and I was right–were it not for all the overtime and other things, I'd have it finished by now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other things, you ask? Well, in addition to the family stuff, the court date for the guy who caused the accident in November came up a few weeks ago. I think I told you all at some point that the man is 82-years old. Well, when I saw him enter the courtroom, it reinforced what I had been thinking–he's indeed 82, has two hearing aids, two canes, and glasses with lenses thicker than any I've seen on a pair of glasses. How this man–a fine man, I'm sure–can hold a driver's license evades me.

Anyway, he wanted to speak with the judge. The way traffic court works in South Carolina starts with your ticket. If you pay it and take the points, your case is removed from the docket. You also have the option of holding the court date and speaking with the law enforcement officer who cited you. At that point, the two parties usually work out what amounts to a plea agreement with reduced fine, you pay the fine and take the reduced points, the case gets closed, and all is right with the world. If you either don't want to speak with the LEO or don't like what he or she is telling you, you appear before the judge. This session was to start at 10AM. The trooper was in a jury trial and was not going to be able to appear until just before the judge was ready to take the bench. By the time the trooper showed, there were about five minutes left before the judge entered the court. An interesting conversation took place:

"I want to talk to the judge. I want my ticket throwed out."

"Sir, I doubt the judge will do that, especially since there are several witnesses to the case present in the courtroom today."

"I wasn't speedin'. There was other cars passin' me like I was on flypaper."

"Sir, you weren't cited for speeding. You were cited for driving too fast for conditions."

"But them folks wuz speeding!"

"Sir, I run traffic stops there all the time. I understand what you're saying, but I didn't cite you for speeding. We weren't running a speed stop that day, and while they may have been exceeding the speed limit, that's not what you got the ticket for. Traffic was stopped, and by your actions, you damaged seven vehicles."

This went on for a while. Then, he changes the subject:

"My van was totaled! They gots to get one of them lit signs warning about congestion or sumpin' on the road. I've been driving for seventy two years, and ain't never had anythin' like this…"

"Sir, I understand you vehicle was totaled–so were three others. As for the signs, the judge here can't help you. All he will want to hear from you is guilty or not guilty of the charge of driving too fast for conditions."

He pressed that issue for several minutes. Then, another quick sidestep:

"My brakes musta failed or my foot musta slipped."

"Sir, we tested your van's brakes–even with all the damage, the system was intact and you had a firm pedal. But that's also something the judge isn't interested in…"

The trooper had to explain this to the man at least three times before he switched tracks again:

"The hospital cut me loose and I wuz still hurtin'!"

"Sir, You'll need to take that up with the hospital. This judge won't rule on that. All he wants to hear is guilty or not guilty to the charge."

Then the guy's wife starts chiming in:

"Can't you reduce the fine?"

Ma'am, the fine is $81.88 and two points, the lowest traffic fine we are allowed to levy on this charge. The judge will not reduce the fine lower than that."

"You really think not? My husband's a Veteran and everthin'."

"Ma'am, even if the judge thought your husband was the finest man he'd ever met, he can't, by law, reduce the fine. He could be a Saint, and the law still applies."

Finally, the couple decide that maybe it is best to pay their fine, take the points, and move on. Much to my delight and to the delight of the other witness. Of course, by the time they decided this, the judge entered the courtroom. We did the polite thing and sat until the trooper and judge dismissed us.

There's several hours of my life I'm never gonna see again. But if he made his appearance with no witnesses present, the case would have likely been dismissed. So, I did my good deed for the day, and got a few hours away from work on top of it all. Sometimes life is like that…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During one of the lulls in the action, my wife and I paid a visit to one of the smaller hobby shops in the area, one that we hadn't been to in quite a while. When I say small, I mean it in size, mainly–what the shop lacks in size is usually offset by some of the stuff held within it's walls. We poked through the stacks, and I noted that the owner must have bought parts of a collection. One man's trash (or SIDNA) is another man's treasure (or future SIDNA, depending on how the stars align): I snagged a Fujimi 1/72 scale HSS-2B Sea King in JASDF markings for $12 and a Hasegawa 1/72 scale F-111F for about $20 and some change. Not bad, considering Hasegawa is pricing the kits of the Pig that they do re-release at nearly double that. I also noticed some HO scale/gauge Proto2000 Atlantic Coast and Florida East Coast locomotives priced nicely–I didn't get them yet, but will soon do so. It pays to shop local, doesn't it?

The Fujimi Sea King is a nice kit that can be difficult to find. It had most of the detail differences included (sponsons, short and long horizontal stabilizer, ice shield) in the box. I'd like to have some fun and maybe build this one as one of the CH-3B's that the U. S. Air Force used to resupply the Texas Tower radar sites or to recover drones. Eventually, I will build a Navy version or three, but the Air Force titles on an engine gray and orange helo intrigue me…

As for the -111, I may again break my vow in order to do something I've meant to do for years. Stay tuned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On our trip to Florida, we stopped by the usual haunts and came up with a few hits. I bought the wife a copy of the new Kinetic T-45 Goshawk. It is a nice kit–she has already finished the model, and it looks quite nice. I also managed to snag a Revell Germany issue of the 1/72 scale MPM A-20G kit. Just as nice at half the price. Really.

She found one of the new Academy 1/48 scale F-4B Phantom II kits, which she promptly wrapped and gave to me on Christmas. Personally, I think it is a superb kit regardless of the hubbub on the 'net. Mine is destined to wear the Top Hat of VF-14…

She also was directed towards a Zvesda 747-8 kit that I had spied for an oh-so-nice price. So she's got that going for her…

Before we left on the trip, she had pre-ordered a couple of the new Meng 1/72 scale F-102A kits. All I can say is that if you are a Century Series fan, get one. Or two. Or a half-dozen. Yes, they are that nice…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The 51st running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona is history. Scott Pruett won for the fifth time, tying Hurley Haywood in the most wins in "Daytona's twice 'round the clock classic" department. Let's say that I'm not Scott's biggest fan, but I do appreciate the achievement. Winning once is a lifetime goal of so many people, so to win it five times is truly remarkable. And I'm glad that Charlie Kimball was on the team for this race–Charlie races in the IndyCar series even though he has Type 1 diabetes–he carries a Novo Nordic FlexPen in the car with him, and he's done quite well for himself on the track. He's also a nice guy, and I'm happy that he now can say he was on a winning team in Daytona. Wayne Taylor Racing and their new partner Velocity Worldwide was on the second step of the podium this year. The BMW's were the class of the field, so Wayne's Corvette DP just didn't have the muscle to keep pace, even with Max Angelelli, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Wayne's son Jordan sharing the duty. Last year's winner, Michael Shank Racing's #60 car, finished third but was later fined and stripped of all the winnings and most of the points because of a rules infraction. Part of the fines go to Camp Boggy Creek…

In the GT ranks, Audi and Ferrari came to play, and play they did. Audi Sport/AJR took first, AudiSport/APR took second, and AIM Autosport/FXDD took theird in their Ferrari 458. And, the new GX class had mixed results–the three top finishers were all Porsche Caymans. Three Mazda6 GX entries met with misfortune early on, all of them dropping out due to engine and mechanical problems after 50 laps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there you are. We covered a lot of ground this time–some work woes, some family woes, some interesting disorder in the court, some plastic tales, and some racing. I hope that holds you for a while.

And I hope to be back sooner. Can't make any promises, but I'll do my best to fill your head with useless trivia, questionable knowledge, and goofy tales from back in the day.

Until then, thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

February 2, 2013
The Fit is GO…

I'm back! I trust all of my American friends had a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving…

Remember how I was telling you of the kerfluffle I was involved in Wednesday before Thanksgiving? Well, I took the truck to the collision shop for evaluation, and, no surprise, the insurance company declared it a total loss (our state requires that when the damage exceeds 75% of the vehicle's book value). It was a bit funny–when the adjuster told me, he acted like it would come as a great shock to me, and was fumbling a bit. He then was saying that "all we need to do now is figure out what we're going to pay out…" Without missing a beat, I said "Oh, how about thirty thousand dollars?" He fumbled some more–until he realized what I said. "We're not that rich!" I told him I was kidding, and once the business was done I wound up getting towards the high average of the value of a 1999 Toyota Tacoma V6 SR5 PreRunner Access Cab in good condition. As I said last time, I will miss that little truck–it served me for 13 years and 375,159 miles without fail. I only hope whatever becomes of it helps other people as much as it did me.

So, there I am Wednesday afternoon, check in hand at the credit union. I deposited the check, and the teller asks me of it is okay if there is a three day hold on the check. As if I had any say in that matter. I explained that I would be needing funds, but I could temporarily transfer some money from my savings account. I told her why I needed the money, and she reminded me that they did vehicle loans. Well, prior experience tells me that while they certainly do those types of loans, I'll be better off using other financing…I was right, more on that later…

I had been researching and sneaking test drives for a while, and I had originally wanted to go with a Kia or Hyundai. One nagging thing kept me from going back–their smaller cars use an electrically boosted steering, and on both drives I was constantly making steering corrections. Now, I live out in the sticks on narrow country roads, and during the winter my drive to and from work is done in the dark–the last thing I need to add to the drive is bump steering a vehicle. So, I took a pass on the Korean subcompacts.

I also thought I'd better look at the Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus–of the Big Three American automakers, Ford is the one that seems to have their act together. Well, I'll say thins–I'm sure they are fine automobiles, but by the time I found something equipped the way I wanted it, I was looking at the other side of $24K. Too rich for my Scot blood, especially for a subcompact car.

I researched the Chevy Sonic, too. Now, the Sonic isn't truly a Chevrolet, it is a badge engineered Daewoo product. It was put in the Chevy lineup to replace the truly horrid Aveo–but from what I read, it isn't much better. Add to that my previous experience with General Motors, and it was also ruled out.

Mitsubishi and Suzuki? Try to find a dealership here. Nope.

Mini? And pay BMW prices for the privilege? Hardly…

The VW Jetta seems like a good car–I drove one while I was in Tucson. But with that VW badge comes VW maintenance prices. If I'm going to pay those prices to maintain a car built in Germany, I'll take a Porsche or Audi, thanks!

Dodge? No way I'll look at a Dodge product. I'm a MOPAR fan from way back, but that was a very different Chrysler Corporation. Nope, they tied their fate to Fiat and it may kill both. That's also why I dismissed the Fiat 500.

What about Toyota, you say? True, my Tacoma was a solid vehicle. Problem is that Toyota got a bit full of themselves somewhere around 2003/2004. Most of their lineup hasn't seen a major restyle since then. Toyota seems to want to sell either various iterations of the Prius or warmed over Corollas and Camrys.

Just for giggles, I looked at the "Boxes"–the Scion vB, the Nissan Cube, and the Kia Soul. While I appreciate the funky styling, none of them was "me".

Speaking of Nissan, I did consider the Versa. We drove one last year when we were in Grand Junction on that pop-up trip for work. It isn't a bad little car, but Nissans don't hold their value as well as other makes.

So that leaves Honda. (Well, Honda and Subaru–and Subaru's pricing is like Ford's–good cars, no doubt, but too rich for me.) My family is no stranger to Honda–my brother had an Accord and a Civic, and my mother's current car is also a Civic. Since I wanted a hatchback, I looked at the Honda Fit (Jazz to those of you in Europe who may be reading). I did some research, and most of the complaints seemed minor. I went to the local dealer's website and requested a price quote. About an hour later, I got one–and it was lower than I thought it would be. It was below TrueCar's average, so that piqued my interest. Last Friday I managed to get out of work early, so I went to the dealership and did the test drive. The car drives very nicely, and better yet, I was able to climb in–creaky joints and all–with no problem at all. The salesman is about as tall as my wife, and he had plenty of leg- and headroom, which answered another question. And the inside of this car is cavernous. Depending on how you configure the seats (Magic Seats, Honda calls them), you have enough space to haul just about anything that will fit through the hatch…reminds me of a car I used to own. Once the drive was done, I told the salesman that I'd contact him when I got home.

I had already done some math, and was ready to buy. I called the salesman and set up an appointment for the next day, and he told me to go ahead and submit a credit app through their website. For those of you who "know how to buy a car", let me tell you this–I was in and out in two hours. My credit app was sent to them Friday night, they had my credit score waiting. The only questions they had were "How much are you going to put down?" and "How long will you be financing the balance?" Well, that and "Do you want an extended service contract?"–I wasn't going to at first, but in the end I bought one. I had to remind myself that this wasn't a dirt-simple 1999 pickup truck, and the kicker was when the F&I guy held up a tire pressure sensor and told me how much it cost, both the part and labor to change. Sold…I guess he did his job.

Anyway, the whole thing was done in two hours and with little fuss. So, now I have a new car…a 2013 Honda Fit Sport:

And yes, it is blue. Vortex Blue Pearl, to be exact. I have had enough brown/tan/silver/gray/white cars in my life, I wanted something with a little color…I guess I got what I wanted.

Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

December 3, 2012
Support your local museums

I'm back…

September saw the first of what turned out to be a rash of traveling, both for work and for me. I had to head up to Richmond for a few days for work, and while I was there I noticed the Virginia Aviation Museum. I was on a tight schedule and couldn't swing a visit, but next time I'm in the area I do want to have a look. I'm going somewhere with the aviation museum thing here–I used to try and stop in on the various museums I passed in my travels, but at some point I stopped doing so. I don't know why, although part of the reason might come from the fact that I have seen far too many of these small efforts die or worse–someone there gets an idea, and it gets executed poorly, which detracts from the visit. For instance, one Southeastern museum has (or at least had back in 2000 when I was there last) an F-101B VooDoo that they've tried to repaint–poorly. Instead of the proper color, they used what appears to be a generic hardware store gray paint–and applied equally generic hardware store self adhesive letters to replace the "U. S. Air Force" titles on the fuselage. Things like that make me cringe. I know the exercise was done with the best of intentions, but it costs just as much to do it wrong as it does to do it right. Actually, doing it wrong costs more, because at some point you'll have to go back and correct your previous actions. I'm just sayin'…

The first week in October found me in Tucson for training at FlightSafety International. Now, anyone with an interest in aviation knows all about Tucson, home of several sightseeing targets. I was supposed to come to Tucson in May, but was glad it worked out so I was there in October–the weather was, in a word, perfect. I also managed to schedule my trip so I arrived with a day to spare. Why? One word. Pima. The Pima Air and Space Museum is one of the only places in the world where one can see such aircraft as the Budd Conestoga, Boeing XC-14, Curtiss O-52 Owl, and more. Most of the museum is open-air, as the rainfall totals in Tucson are low and the soil is slightly alkaline, which keeps corrosion down. The only thing that they have that is detrimental is sunshine, and plenty of it.

I went that Sunday and within an hour had killed the battery on my digicam (note to self–you said you needed a spare, take the hint!). Still, I wandered the museum grounds and saw everything I could. They've done a remarkable job at preserving many airplanes that are one-of-a-kind now. Where else are you going to find a restored B-29 indoors, with a full gallery of other airplanes–including a Nakajima Ki-43–and memorabilia? There are tons of history there, and I took lots of pictures both that Sunday and later in the week (I had to go back and get some of the pics I didn't get on Sunday–call me crazy, but…), and once I can get them all sorted and titled I'll post some of them here…

Later that week, class was dismissed early. So, I had choices–if I hurried, the last tour of AMARG (the boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base) would be just leaving when I arrived back at Pima. Knowing that I'd have to break most land speed records to do so, I decided instead to head down to Green Valley and check out the Titan Missile Museum. I knew that the museum existed, but I wasn't sure how they ran the tours–since 99% of the museum is underground, I was certain that you weren't allowed just to wander. I was correct. They take you into a room and show a short video, then a guide takes you down to the control room. There you're told how the whole deal worked, how it was constructed, and you then went through a simulated launch. Eerie. Really. Anyone who grew up under the threat of "The Red Menace" knows what MAD meant, and here you saw it up close. One thing the guide does emphasize is that had these missiles been fired, it meant that Moscow had fired theirs first. And, in the end, all of our destruction would be assured. They also emphasize that these missiles did exactly what they were supposed to–make our enemy think twice before he launched his…

You get to then walk to the actual silo and see a Titan missile. After that, you head topside and are allowed to wander the grounds. Here's some trivia for you: movie-goers with an interest in the Star Trek franchise have seen this museum and this missile. It plays a role in Star Trek: First Contact, it is the boost vehicle for Efrem Cochrane's warp drive test flight…

I never did have time to do the AMARG tour, but on the way back from the Titan museum, I did make the re-visit to Pima. After I left Pima, I still had daylight left, so I took a cruise around the perimeter of D-MAFB, and did manage to see some of their cocooned airplanes. On one lot, it was wall-to-wall C-130's, on another it was C-135 variants as far as the eye could see. Amazing. You don't realize how many of these airplanes have been built until you see them all in one place like this. I will be back–with my wife–and we will do the AMARG tour next time.

With my re-born interest in aviation museums running strong, a few weeks later we took a trip back to the Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte. We had been there when everything was in their old location, so we would get to not only see their new digs, but we would also get to see Cactus 1549, the USAirways Airbus that ditched in the Hudson. We were fortunate in that a passenger on the flight was there, and he recounted his memory of that day. I must say, the first several times he did that must have been both difficult and therapeutic. He gave a very interesting talk, and he answered questions afterward. You can read "Miracle on the Hudson" all you want, but until you see the airplane and hear the stories, you don't get the full impact…

Things pretty much had settled down by last week, but a late trip to Dallas led me to the Frontiers of Flight museum at Love Field. I had noticed the museum a few times when we were there last year, but we never had time to stop in (plus, my boss and colleagues don't have the same interest in history as I–they all tell me that they "see enough airplanes every day, why look at them when you're not required to?" The poor devils. They'll never understand.). I found it to be a very well run museum. One side contains most of the historic stuff–including a large amount of Chance Vought equipment and one of the only two surviving LearAvia Lear Fans–and the other end is a tribute to Herb Kelleher and Southwest Airlines. I was especially interested in this one for three items: the Apollo 7 Command Module is housed and displayed there, next to the prototype Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake", and tucked in the corner behind them is a Regulus II missile. I was overjoyed at the Braniff exhibit, too…

Since my visit, I have become a member of the Arizona Aviation Foundation, and am contemplating membership at our "home" museum in Charlotte–and a few others, too. If it helps them in any way preserve these historic craft, I'm all for it. If you live near one of these places, visit. Help out, if you can. Donate, too, if you are able. Let your kids and grandkids see these same artifacts…

**********************************

The past few months have been a little bit weird, and a bit trying at
times. In the end, though, I have a lot to be thankful for…

We had a bit of a family crisis in early September–my mother fell and
nobody knew about it for several days. A long story short, she's doing
well now, but that added a week of travel that I hadn't scheduled.
Fortunately, the week after she had her accident, my brother and
sister-in-law went to be with her and start getting things back in
order. It had become apparent that it was also time to get her
somewhere where she would be close to health care professionals in case
she had another accident, so they got the ball rolling on that. I went down there the week after I returned from Tucson to get the rest done. She's in her new place and doing fine, but there were more than a few stressful moments along the way.

And, to add to the stress of the holidays, I was in an auto accident Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It was a mild doozy, too, with seven vehicles involved. It could have been much worse than it turned out, though–only three people were transported to the hospital, and we were told all of them would be okay. That being said, I think my little truck is at the end of the road. It still runs fine, and the damage is mostly twisted sheet metal, but I fear that my 13-year old Tacoma with 375,000 miles under its wheels will costs more to repair than what the book value is. I was looking for a new commuter vehicle anyway (and I already talked about it a little), but this makes that more of a necessity than an option. I will miss my reliable, utilitarian little truck. This has been the best vehicle I have owned, without a doubt. I hope to get as much satisfaction from my next one…

Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

November 24, 2012
Miscellany for a lazy day

Howdy, y'all!

Yep, I'm back…need I tell you that I've been busy and life has become hectic yet again?

So, what does one do when one needs to make a post to let everyone know one is still alive? Well, let's start with another one of those *$m@ airplane stories…this time, I'm going to tell you about my brief acquaintance with Douglas AD-4NA, U. S. Navy Bureau Number (BuNo)126882, N91945, replete (at the time) in VA-176 "Papoose Flight" colors…

If you were an airplane geek and lived anywhere in the coastal region of Central Florida in the 1980's, you knew of two important facts: The Valiant Air Command had formed in Titusville and had airshows every Spring, and a man named Harry Doan was a Colonel in the organization. I first learned of both when, driving around Daytona Beach, I spied a large, fenced lot off Big Tree Lane–and contained within that large, fenced lot were carcasses of H-34's. Lots of H-34's. The sign on the fence said "Valiant Air Command–Big Tree Division". The man who owned the lot was, of course, Harry Doan, and Harry had a helicopter service–hence the many H-34's, I believe he used them for spare parts. I never got to meet Harry, so I have to go on what I was told at the time. His main facility was at the New Smyrna Beach airport, and along with said helicopter service, he also re-built and flew warbirds. The first of Harry's airplanes I ever saw was a Hawker Sea Fury–but he didn't call it that. His was a "SkyFury". See, Harry knew that the original Bristol Centaurus sleeve-valve radial engine was A: temperamental and 2: hard to source parts for. So, being the wily old airplane guy he was, he removed the Centaurus and installed a Wright R-3350 he had removed from a Douglas AD Skyraider. They were about the same size and weight, so I guess the swap was fairly straightforward. I saw the airplane fly at several airshows, and it was quite a sight. Later on (2006), I got to see an honest-to-goodness Sea Fury fly, too, and the sensory experience was day to night different–the 3350 sounds like many U. S. built radials, it has a distinct sound. Well, so does the Centaurus…

Anyway, back to the story at hand…after I had graduates from The Harvard of the Sky, I went to work in Ft. Lauderdale. My roommate had graduated the semester after I had, and he went to work for the space program and had also started to do some work for the VAC. He reminded me of the airshow, and I would go every year to watch the hardware take flight, and to see what he was working on at that particular time (the first airplane he worked was a total rebuild of an F4U Corsair that would be assembled from at least two wrecks–a -4 and a -7–and many more fabricated parts and to the best of my knowledge was never finished; the last one I knew he was working on was an Avro Anson that I believe still sits in the VAC hangar/museum, also waiting to be restored to this day). It was an annual ritual, of sorts–I'd drive up on Friday, we'd go to the show on Saturday, and I'd be home by Sunday afternoon.

The 1992 VAC Warbird Airshow started nicely enough, and it looked like we'd get to see some unusual hardware take flight–someone had brought a fairly freshly restored Canadair Sabre (a Canadian built F-86F), a group known as "The Georgia Boys" had not only a T-37, but also a C-119, a group of folks had rescued a C-123 from Customs impound in Ft. Lauderdale and had it ready to fly, and Harry had his Skyraider there. Our friend Bill Noriega was on the Air Boss scaffold, as he was every year. We walked the flight line, looked at the airplanes on display, then moved over to the viewing area. We stuck close to Bill, since he could tell us what was up next.

A group of T-6's and T-28's did their thing overhead. At the same time, a group of airplanes–including the Skyraider, but I can't recall to this day what else was with it–waited their turn and the Sabre was in the process of spooling up, too. As the Texans and Trojans landed, the next group took flight. They marked time as the previous airplanes landed and as the Sabre took off. Once the runway was clear, the Skyraider led their flight over show center. They zoomed and looped overhead until their time came to return to the Earth. As the Sabre took center stage, we noted a huge could of dust at the departure end of the runway. We looked up the tower to Bill, and he told us to hang close–something had happened to the AD, and he wasn't sure what. As the Sabre wheeled in the blue sky, something darker was beginning to unfold…

At the time, few were aware of what happened, but they knew something was going on when the next group of airplanes to fly sat in the display area, idling. After a few minutes, they were told to shut down. At that moment the airshow effectively ended. The Sabre landed on the intersecting runway, taxied to a taxiway across the airport, and shut down.

Bill tossed a hand-held radio to us and told up to stay on frequency–he had requested the Fire Rescue squad to go take care of the situation. We were told that the Skyraider landed hot and long, and had flipped on it's back when it overran the runway threshold and hit a sand berm. We did as we were told–we listened and waited. Word slowly got back to us that yes, the airplane was upside-down. Then we got word that they were trying to get Harry out. Finally, we got the word that Harry had died. (The accident was noted by the Daytona Beach News-Journal on the following Tuesday–scroll to page 21 of this link…)

The next morning, Bill and a few of us went to the end of the runway to get the airplane upright and to the VAC hangar. That was a trip I never really want to take again…

Aviation is a small world. Several years later, I got to actually work on the same airplane when Denny Sherman of Sherman Aircraft Sales brought it to us for an intercom installation. I looked it over, and couldn't believe it was the same airplane. I later gave Denny a model in the same markings that I had built from a Monogram kit earlier that year, a model I built to honor Harry, a man I never knew but wished I had. Men like that have colorful histories, and more of them are leaving us every day.

Bill Noriega is also gone, from lung cancer. He passed about ten years ago, and I recall with great amusement those times when a group of us would descend uopn the Who-Song and Larry's Ft. Lauderdale location, where the server was told "Give us a couple orders of shrimp stuffed hollowpenises (Bill's phrase for jalapeños) and a couple buckets of beers. We'll let you know when we're ready for seconds…"

*************

Speaking of colorful men who are no longer with us, my uncle, a WWII Marine who saw action on Okinawa, left us last week. I build a few models for him about ten years ago:

_{A Tamiya 1/48 scale F4U-1D. Uncle Ted would tell me stories about his ride in a Corsair–he sat in the seat pan and the pilot sat on his lap…}

_{An Accurate Miniatures 1/48 scale SBD-5 Dauntless. Uncle Ted rode in the back set of these many times, but not as aircrew. He'd go on short hops just to ride…}

_{And, finally, an Accurate Miniatures 1/48 scale TBM-3 Avenger, just because. The Avenger and Corsair bases are scratchbuilt carrier decks made from basswood and plastic strips. The Dauntless base is HO scale ballast painted to depict a crushed coral parking area. Pardon the quality, these photos were taken ten years or so ago with equipment of the era…}

Uncle Ted, we miss you already, but we know you're home again. Semper Fi!

**************

As a follow up on an earlier airplane story, here are some more leads on Catalina Zero-Four Juliet…

First, a story by one of the passengers aboard on that last, ill-fated trip. And, finally, a brief history of the CIA PBY's.

**************

As far as plastic goes, I haven't done a whole lot–except acquire kits. Today's purchase was the 1/35 scale Hobby Boss rendition of the IDF's Merkava IIID. From what I've read, it compares favorably to the Meng kit of the same subject, and it would appear that Hobby Boss corrected the suspension goof of their Merkava IV. I also was influenced to buy Italeri's 1/35 Carro Armato M13/40 Italian medium tank–our fearless leader at the AMPS Chapter is busily kitbashing a proper M13/40 with the Italeri kit (which is actually a pretty accurate M14/41) and Tamiya's M13/40 (which, he tells me, isn't the most dimensionally accurate thing out there). I'm slowly plugging away on the StuG IV as well, so as I get spare time, I should be able to complete another kit or three. It seems that I'll go for weeks without touching plastic to weeks where I'm popping them out in quick succession. Maybe that stems from my pledge to clear the backlog before I start anything new…

Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and as always, I bid you Peace.

September 22, 2012
Time for some time…

Been a while, hasn't it? Yeah, I know. I promised to spend more time with you. I promised to finish more stuff and show it to you. Well, life got in the way. In order to pay the bills, I have a job. And in order to keep said job, I have to work some pretty wierd hours–but you know that already, don't you?

One of the bits of fallout from working all those hours is that I finally got a day off. Not the way I'd like, no, because I spent a good part of the day at the doctor's office and then at the hospital. Nothing serious, but I've been hobbling about for a week or so on a bum knee–when things didn't settle down as usual, the other knee started to hurt, too, so I decided it was high time I had them looked at by a professional (unlike my boss, who, like an eager coach, tells me to "walk it off"). The bottom line is that age is catching up with me–neither knee has been 100% for a long time, and between that, spending a great deal of the day kneeling on a hard aluminum floor (and when I'm not, I'm walking on a hard concrete floor), and arthritis that I've known about for 15 years or so, well, you get the picture. The doctor suspects some inflammation of the soft tissue, but the insurance company wants to have an X-ray before they'll approve an MRI. In the meantime, NSAIDs and rest it is–and in the words of John Astin playing Buddy Ryan (Harry Stone's father on Night Court, not the football coach), "But I'm feeling much better now…"

I finally finished a project! The Operation Cool Snow Hog '82 model in 1/48th scale, in all her glory:

That's Monogram's kit as reissued by Revell. It builds up into the nicest (in my opinion, anyway) 1/48th scale A-10A. I still feel, however, that the world still needs a state-of-the-art A-10A in all scales–the newer kits out there leave a great deal to be desired. A simple base from the craft store, a printed ID card, and a quick protective box made from foam core board, and she is now int he hands of her rightful owner. I'll build another for my collection, using what I learned on this build…like how to get that camoflauge scheme done right and look the part. What you see is the result of at least three attempts and one complete strip and repaint. I still see things that make me cringe on this one. The engine covers hide some particularly nasty intake and exhaust issues with the kit that I didn't care to fix. Lazy? Yep. Next time, I'll get some resin intakes that will eliminate the issues…

Oh, and remember that little waif cat who adopted us last year? Here he is, inspecting the work:

He learned from his big brother, here checking out a Hasegawa 1/72 scale F-16D Barak in 2004:

That's all I have from around these here parts. I'm working diligently to have some progress made on the StuG IV, which will be the subject of an airbrushing demo for the local AMPS Chapter meeting in October.

Thanks for stopping by. As always, be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

August 22, 2012
Spare time? Surely, you jest…

Howdy!

The beginning of the summer finds me once again on the treadmill at work. We're getting busy again, and if all the birds come home to roost (i.e., if all the quotes out for approval come back approved) we'll be booked until close to the end of the year. Truly, in this economy, it is a good problem to have, given the vilification of corporate jets across the board because of the truly stupid actions of a few corporations at the height of the crisis a few years ago…

In the meantime, I've been able to steal a few minutes and work on some projects. The Cool Snow Hog '82 A-10A is nearing completion. I got the repaint done fairly painlessly, although I still have some learning to do with the new airbrush. It is a good job, no doubt, but it isn't the same quality I used to get with the older airbrushes I've used. Once I master the Patriot, I think I'll be right back where I was. All I need is time and practice.

I've also started tinkering with the Monogram 1/48 scale F-106A more and more. It wasn't as bad as I feared it would be, and it is actually further along with the re-scribing than I remember, too. That's a lesson for you, kids–don't give up on a project because it frustrates you, or isn't progressing as you had hoped. Put it aside, a build something else. Eventually, you'll come back to the project and realize that all is not lost. And remember, too, that in order to build better models, you have to finish models. They all won't progress smoothly, but the goal is to get them finished.

On other fronts, I must praise the Newberry County Public Works department. Our house, as I've told you, is out in the country on a gravel road. A sloped gravel road. There are drainage ditches on either side of the road, and the County does periodically re-grade the road. This re-grading started the problems for me a few years ago–when the road got re-graded a few years ago, it lost a lot of the gravel and was largely down to the clay and sand base. Since we live in the woods, the leaves and pine straw mixes with the clay/sand to make mud–and it promptly clogged the culvert under my driveway. I'd dig the clog out, and it would reappear with the next heavy rain. After a while, the clog got to the point where the runoff would bypass the culvert and run down the road at the base of the driveway, creating deep cuts in the road–some, it appeared, large enough to swallow a small car.

After months of digging it out, or trying to blast it out with high pressure water, I finally contacted the County. I heard nothing from them. A few days later, they came out and re-graded the road–again. Three days later, we had torrential rain which once again caused havoc in the road. A second e-mail was sent, and the head of Public Works said they were working on a permanent fix, the just regraded to make the road passable. Within a day of the response, they were back out at the house. The removed the old plastic culvert that our lame-ass GC used when the house was built (against my wishes, by the way, much like a lot of things that are causing problems at the homestead) and installed a new concrete pipe. They brought the grade of the road level at the bottom of the driveway, and they re-defined the drainage ditches on either side of the road, from where it begins to where it ends–they even made two or three diversion cut-offs up the road so the water at that end won't travel all the way from one end to the other. Genius. And, finally, they added about 10 truck loads of crush and run gravel to the wettest areas of the road. We had more or less a week of rain last week, and things are just ducky.

Oh, the down side? They accidentally cut the phone line. AT&T came out and fixed that…

So, now I have to put gutters on the house, get rid of a bunch of trees, and re-grade the yard. I'll do that in my spare time. Yeah. Spare time…

I did tell the higher-ups at work, though, that next weekend was mine. Why? This, of course…

Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

June 9, 2012
Lest We Forget

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend in the United States, usually it is the unofficial start to summer vacations, camping trips, cookouts, and fun. Sometimes, though, the meaning of this coming Monday gets lost in the shuffle or twisted to fit something that it isn't. Monday is the day here in America where we remember those who answered the call, went to fight, and never returned.

So, we remember. We remember the Minutemen and Colonial soldiers at Lexington, Concord, Cowpens, Trenton, and Yorktown.

We remember the Americans who defended Washington in 1812.

We remember Billy Yank and Johnny Reb, those brothers who fought on opposite sides of a war over States' rights.

We remember the sailors aboard the USS Maine when she sank in Havana Harbor.

We remember the Rough Riders who rode up Kettle and San Juan hill, but never rode back down.

We remember the Doughboys who went off to Europe to fight the Kaiser in The War To End All Wars, men whose ability to fight was questioned at first–but not for long.

We remember those brave Knights of the Air, who flew flimsy crates against an enemy who was better equipped.

We remember the Americans who died at Pearl Harbor.

We remember the Americans fighting on land, at sea, and in the air to slow down the Japanese steamroller in the Pacific, and, at the same time, taking the fight to the Fascists and National Socialists in Europe for the second time in 25 years.

We remember the men and women who fought "The Forgotten War" in Korea.

We remember the Americans who perished in the tunnels below, rice paddies on the surface, and high in the skies of Vietnam.

We remember, too, those who died fighting the Cold War. While there was little shooting, the dangers were as real as any war.

We remember Beirut, Grenada, and Panama, and the men and women who died doing their duty in those locations.

We remember those who perished in the deserts of Kuwait and Iraq, and in the mountains of Afghanistan.

We also remember those Americans, service members or not, who died in the attacks of September 11, 2001.

For if it weren't for their sacrifice, America would be a far different place.

My American friends, whatever you do this weekend, be safe. And stop to pay respects to all the Americans who remain forever young, knowing they did so to keep America free.

Be good to one another. Thanks for reading, and I bid you Peace.

May 25, 2012