Iron Modeler

Category: A little bit of this and some of that

  • How time flies

    I know I'm getting older.  My 30th High School reunion is next year.  Every morning, the only *Snap*, *Crackle*, and *Pop* I hear is from my ankles, knees, wrists, and elbows.  But funny things make you really reflect on how the years pass by without notice…

    I grew up when the next generation–what has become known as the fourth generation–of jet fighters were joining the U.S. armed forces.  At the time, the current crop of front line airplanes included the F-4 Phantom II (USAF, USN, USMC), F-8 Crusader (USN, USMC), F-111 (USAF, and a favorite of mine), A-4 Skyhawk, A-5 Vigilante (as the RA-5C), and A-6 Intruder/Prowler (USN), and A-7 Corsair II (USAF, USN).  By the time I became aware of such things, the F-14 Tomcat was on the verge of becoming the U.S. Navy's interceptor, and would have their shakedown cruise about the same time that President Nixon resigned.  The Air Force was still soldiering on with the F-4 Phantom, but the news was that in a few years, they'd have a new fighter–the F-15 Eagle.  Along with the F-15, the Air Force was also looking at what they called a "lightweight fighter"–the eventual winner was, of course, the F-16 Fighting Falcon.  Not to be outdone, the Navy was told to take a long look at a lightweight fighter of their own.  They liked the YF-17 Cobra (a neat stretch of the T-38/F-5 series of airplanes, and the competitor to the F-16), mainly for the twin engine design.  A few redesign features later (and some industrial hanky-panky–see the Wikipedia entry), and the Navy had their own lightweight fighter, the F/A-18 Hornet.  Other airplanes to come to the fore during this time included the AV-8 Harrier for the Marines and the  A-10A Warthog/Thunderbolt II for the Air Force–one of the toughest, coolest, baddest ground attack/close air support airplanes ever designed.

    Anyway, the other night I was looking at a photo of a Florida Air National Guard F-15A.  If you look close at the aircraft's serial number, it is 76-0019–which, as of this writing, is in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force base.  It was retired in 2007.  The airplane was funded under Fiscal Year 1976 (that's what the 76 prefix to the serial number means, to those non-USAF speakers in the audience), and was still flying as an interceptor thirty years later.  Not bad for an old guy…

    But as I started to reflect, I recalled other things, too–The F-14 fleet was retired wholesale in 2006, and the government did something they rarely do–they began scrapping them almost immediately upon arrival at AMARG.  The whys are kind of cloudy, but the consensus at the time was that we wanted to keep the F-14 out of "enemy hands".  Who might that enemy be?  The only other foreign power to buy the Tomcat, that's who.  And that, kids, was Iran under the Shah.  Talk about history…

    The F-15A/B fleet was, by the late 1990's, serving in Reserve and Air Guard units.  In 2007, a Missouri Air Guard F-15C came apart in flight, the result of fatigue on a critical structural component.  The bulk of the entire F-15 fleet (less the F-15E's) was grounded for inspection.  I guess 76-0019 was found to be what we call in civilian aviation "Beyond Economical Repair", or BER.  It wasn't until 2008 that the Air Force cleared the airplanes that had been inspected and repaired fit for duty once again.  As the fifth generation F-22 Raptor gets introduced, the F-15 will be phased out of service. 

    And it is still difficult to see the Lightweight Fighters as "old".  But they are, and they too will see the end of their road.  The F-35 Lightning II is slated to replace both types (as well as the A-10A and AV-8B Harrier, another airplane of my generation) in service–if the F-35 program continues to be funded. 

    I feel as if I'm becoming like that group of British pensioners who once stopped in at the place I worked–they stopped in to look at the old heavy iron we worked on at the time-the Convairs, DC-4/C-54, DC-6/C-118, PBY, and the like.  They looked back to when those were the airplanes that flew the skies of their youth.  And they probably said to themselves, "You know, I'm not as young as I once was…"

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

     

  • Labor Day weekend is upon us…

    A big surprise:  I don't have to work!

    Some Labor Day traditions have changed in the past few years.  To wit:

    When I was a kid, the big attraction on Labor Day weekend was the Jerry Lewis Telethon.  We'd watch it every year–Jerry would be there all night, all day, and by the end of the whole thing he looked as if he'd been through the wringer–twice.  And there would be Ed McMahon, Sammy Davis, Jr., and all Jerry's other long time friends.  I got out of the habit of watching, but would check in every now and then to see how Jerry was holding up–and even well into his '70s and '80s, he'd do well.  He always fell apart at the end–I think it was more of a trademark than anything–but he'd hang in there for most of the show.  I don't know what he did to get the boot, but he'll be missed by many.  Why the MDA couldn't have set aside whatever differences they had with Jerry for this last year–Lewis had announced that this would be he final year–I don't know.

    Another tradition that died several years ago was the Labor Day race that used to be held at Darlington.  The Southern 500 was just one of those things you did on Labor Day–like watching the Indy 500 on Memorial Day, this was a tradition that seemed like it would never go away.  But it did–seems that the owner of the speedway and the heads at NA$CAR  decided that they could make more money of they moved the race to California, to "grow the sport".  Well, it seems that a great number of the "new" NA$CAR fans were of the fair weather variety–they stuck around for a few years, then attendance started to drop.  They kept the name "Southern 500" attached to Darlington–they used it for the race held in the Spring at the track–but it doesn't matter.  To many life-long stock car racing fans, the Southern 500 means a race at Darlington held on Labor Day.

    The final tradition that comes to mind is one of those wink-wink, nudge-nudge things.  For years, Labor Day meant that there was some tropical weather system headed for Florida.  My personal "tradition" of tracking Labor Day storms started when I was in High School–Hurricanes David and Floyd seemed to be making a beeline right for Broward County.  My brother and I joined friends up towards Sebring that year, and wound up driving through David on the way home!  David sort of fizzled as he made his way towards Florida, but Floyd did some damage on the Gulf Coast that year.

    This year, Katia is churning out in the Atlantic, and Tropical Storm Lee has just formed in the Gulf of Mexico, near the Louisiana coast.  And from what the weather guessers are saying, Lee is going to dump a bunch of rain.  We might feel the effects of both storms here in South Carolina–we need the rain, but we don't need what they got in Vermont and Upstate New York last week… 

    Of course, the Grandaddy of Labor Day hurricanes was the 1935 storm known as the Labor Day hurricane–it swept through the Florida Keys, destroyed Henry Flagler's railway, and killed scores of World War One veterans who were building what we know as the Overseas Highway.

    No matter where you are, though, this Labor Day weekend, please be safe.  If you're in the path of any of the Tropical junk, be double safe–and if you need to get out, do so!

    Enjoy your Labor Day.  Be good to one another, be safe, and I bid you Peace.

  • It’s quiet around here…too quiet…

    And that for a reason–today was the seventh day in a row that I've worked either a whole or partial shift, and I seriously think it will be another seven before I have any time away from the job.  That's a mixed blessing, though, since I have been summoned by the County to appear as a Juror.  Yep, Jury Duty calls on the 22nd.  This will be the fourth time in five years that I've been summoned, and will be the third where I will have to appear–the other time I was summoned was for a Federal Grand Jury, from which I was excused the night before I was set to go to the Courthouse.  Now, I don't mind it–it is a responsibility that goes along with all the rights we Americans share.  What irks sometimes is that you're put in a room with other people who don't seem to understand what they are there for.  Oh, well, I'll get through this one, too…

    On the home front, being the sole caregiver to two very attention-hungry felines has kept me on my toes.  After working a 12 hour shift, I would arrive home to find the two of them waiting for me–or, more likely, waiting for food.  But they had to wait–we also have to tend to two hummingbird feeders during the summer, and since the little cat has a tendency to want to seek his freedom by running out the door, I shut him in a bedroom.  Once I get the hummers all fed, I let him out to frolic.  Of course, he has other ideas–he sniffs around for a little while, then begins warming up the pipes.  I happened across something that kept him quiet, though, and it directly affected my ability to do any sort of online work–he would climb onto my lap, then try to climb up my chest to my shoulders.  He'd stop mid-way up, and I'd put my arm under him to keep him from falling.  Well, he'd curl up in that position and go to sleep.  So, here I am,  trying to catch up on all sorts of online correspondence with a sleeping cat occupying my left arm.  Not an easy thing…

    I did manage to pick a few things up from the hobby shop, and I may do some in-box reviews in the next few days of some of the more interesting items that don't seem to have been reviewed elsewhere (a la the F-16I in-box I did several months ago).  Otherwise, though, I haven't accomplished much, since I need to use the upstairs workshop for what I have to do on my current projects.  With mama out of the house, the two felines could get quite forceful and loud, so I passed.  If I can find the energey this week, I really want to finish the Monte Carlo–there really isn't that much left to do on it, all I need is time.  See the common theme here?

    Speaking of my wife, she arrived back home, safe and sound, in the wee hours of the morning yesterday.  To say the two feline units were overjoyed is an understatement.  They missed their Mommy, and it showed.  We had a family get together yesterday evening, so they got to spend the morning alone with Mommy.  Once I got home, they had the place to themselves while we travelled to the hootenany, but when we got home again they were clingy, especially towards my wife.  All is right with their world again…as it is with mine.

    In the meantime, I'm still writing drafts of some future posts about the people I've had the pleasure to know while pursuing the sometimes wacky hobby of putting little plastic airplanes, cars, tanks, and ships together.  Stay tuned for that, I hope to start posting those after I get done doing my Civic duty.

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

  • It’s Dude Time at the hacienda…

    Mama's away on her annual pilgrimage to Alaska, so that leaves just me and the boys (Smokey and Junior) to mind the store.  Since it has been so hot of late, I've spent most of my time at home inside, and they are both rather needy.  In fact, right now Smokey's warming up his vocal chords and is ready to try out for Feline Idol…he's such an attention hog!

    And while Smokey's making enough noise for three cats, Junior is sleeping on the couch in the other room.  Every now and then, he'll shoot a look towards his little brother as if to say, "Would you put a lid on it already?"

    In other news, living out in the country has pluses and minuses.  One of the minuses was emphasized this morning–we live on a gravel road.  There's a bit of a downgrade before you get to our driveway, which has a grade of its own.  Where the two meet is usually in good shape, but lately the culvert has been blocked with pine straw and dirt.  Every time they plow the road, more dirt gets pushed into the ditch on the side of the road, and when it rains–we've had some torrential storms of late–more of this dirt gets washed into the culvert.  Well, now it is totally blocked and the water (which has had to find a way downhill and seeks the path of least resistance) has eroded a fairly large trench at the foot of the driveway.  And, as luck would have it, guess who got his truck stuck this morning?  You got it.  About a half-hour of blue language followed, but I managed to get un-stuck after a few tries at different remedies.  This afternoon, when I got home, though, I had to do something.  There was a wind fallen tree on the side of the road, so I put that in the truck and hauled it to the house.  Into the ditch it went, and then, in this ungodly heat, I shoveled dirt on top.  So, I have a temporary fix–but Newberry County, you need to send out a crew to plow the road *and* clean out my culvert which you have succeeded in blocking on more than one occasion…

    With me being sole caregiver to both Feline Units, nothing has changed on the model bench.  I wish I could eke out some time, but the older one misses mom (he thinks he's a tough guy, but he is most certainly a mama's cat) and the little one is simply an attention hog…can't leave him for more than a minute before he starts howling like he's lost his best friend.

    The other critters I look after are the hummingbirds–and we have quite a few of them out here.  We started out with one feeder that we'd fill every other day or so, but over the years we've gone to two feeders that get filled daily–and sometimes twice daily.  So, as soon as I get home I feed the Feline Units, put them into a bedroom temporarily, feed the hummingbirds, then let the Felines roam the house while I make supper.  They hang out in the living room while I eat, then the little guy will start his vocal gymnastics.  Out comes the laser pointer.  Want to have fun with a cat?  Get a laser pointer and watch them chase the dot (be careful, of course, to not point it in their eyes).  Even the older cat gets in on the fun from time to time, and it settles both of them down a bit…

    Once I get on the computer, though, all bets are off–sometimes the little guy will calm down and snooze on the futon.  Other times, like tonight, he decides he wants to wail and see if ol' Dad will play with him.  He spent the better part of the time it took to type this post cuddled in my lap, purring away.  Then he got interested in the computer–the keyboard first, then the mouse.  After a while, he decided that all that purring was making him hungry, so he took a meal break…

    Once again, both of them are snoozing.  Peace and quiet–I should enjoy it while it lasts…

    Tomorrow is another (hot) day…and next week sees us with another airplane with a lot to do in a short time.  Those are the makings of some fun, there…

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

     

  • “It’s hot enough to boil a monkey’s bum in here, your Majesty…”

    I don't think I need to tell you that in certain parts of the United States, it has been hot.  Really hot.  Excessively hot.  The heat wave has covered a large part of the Midwest and Northeast, as well as those areas where you'd expect it to be hot–like South Carolina.  I was on the phone with someone is South Florida who said they were hot down there, until I told them that our temperature last Wednesday was 105–with the heat index it was 116.  I know.  I worked in it all day.  And yes, we beat South Florida…

    The past few years have seen heat waves the likes of which haven't been experienced for decades.  Now, I'm not a gloom-and-doomer, but I can tell you that I've never, in my 30+ years of living in the South, experienced such hot summers.  Today, to beat the heat, I decided to burn a vacation day–we're slow at work, and I couldn't see another 8 hours doing busy work in the hangar.  I spent the day catching up on some well-deserved sleep and spending time with my wife and our two boys, Junior and Smokey.

    Speaking of the Feline Units, they're getting along well.  A few swats at each other with what appears to be closed paws (no claws deployed, thank goodness), and few hisses, but nothing to write home about otherwise.  Smokey's still taking antibiotics as a prophylactic after his surgery, but we did move his dry food bowl into the kitchen, across from the Mighty Tiger's cafeteria.  Now, Junior has been nicking food from Smokey–I caught him nose-down in Smokey's wet food bowl the other morning, and he keeps noshing at Smokey's dry food bowl.  Maybe it is fortunate, then, that Smokey doesn't seem to enjoy wet foot (aka "Tigr Fud"), so maybe we can dispense with the extra bowl for him.  Junior, though, is a fiend for Fancy Feast, and I don't see how we can take him off it cold turkey–he'd have to go to a Betty Ford clinic for cats, he's so hooked.  The only remaining issue is going to be breaking Smokey of his late-night howling sessions.  He'll stand in the hallway and howl if he feels he's not being paid enough attention, or thinks he needs food.  Junior did the same thing at that age, and it seems to be one of those things you just have to be patient with–Junior saw many a night in the spare bathroom with his boxes and bowls and the door shut before he finally stopped.  I'm hoping that Smokey doesn't have to go that route, but I will go that way if I have to…

    And, I guess since Junior eats Smokey's food, Smokey only finds it fair to use Junior's litter boxes (another separate facility that will be combined shortly, by the way)…

    On the model front, I made some limited progress on the Monte Carlo.  One bite at a time, I keep telling myself…

    Speaking of NASCAR, my wife surprised me with Power Slide's new decal sheet for the AMT 1/25 scale 2010 Impala that will allow me to add to my Tony Stewart collection.  The sheet looks pretty good on the paper–the artwork is superb, and the printing is crisp.  Everything looks like it is on the sheet, ready to be applied to the model.  All you need to do is either add one of the resin nose clips floating around on cyberspace or make your own–2011 saw the distinct notched bumper/splitter combined and cleaned up a bit.  For a snap fit kit, AMT seems to have hit the mark–the newer kits give you both the wing and spoiler–and do as I did, and get the "Plain" version marketed for use with aftermarket decals.  You'll save a few bucks if you do.  I'll give you a better rundown on both kit and decal sheet as soon as I have time to review them more in depth.  This project may be one of the first I do after I tie up my loose ends on the bench.

    In the next couple of installments, I want to look back at my modeling "career" and talk about some of the people I've met along the way who've given me guidance, instruction, and inspiration.  I'd like to communicate with those who are still alive and kicking before I do, so be patient.  I think most of them would have no problems being "showcased" if you will, but since they are my friends I'd like to get their blessings before I write about them.  Stay tuned…

    Have a safe weekend.  Stay cool!

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

     

  • Goings-on

    This has been a busy week–well, maybe not so much busy.  I guess the word I'm looking for is out of the ordinary.  This week every year is like that for me–the post-Le Mans let down, for one, gets to me.  Of all the motorsports events that take place around the world every year, this has got to be my absolute favorite.  And, because of that, I tend to want to watch all of it that I can, which leads to sleep deprivation, which slows me down for the following week.

    We've also got an airplane in the final phases of an inspection, and that's when things tend to get hectic.  Parts are arriving, final checks are being done, and everyone is working to make sure that A: the airplane gets done when promised and 2: we don't miss anything or compromise the safety of the airplane in any way.  Believe me, there are times that the latter provides enough stress to last a month of Sundays.  

    And, an additional factor is the heat.  The calendar may indicate it is late Spring, but here where I'm at, it is most definitely summer.  The hummingbirds are back–we've put both feeders out for them–and the whip-poor-wills are hanging around in the evening, singing away.  Even those annoying gnats–we refer to them as "dog-pecker gnats", since they tend to congregate around that particular part of canine anatomy–common to South Carolina are back.  Most telling is the heat and humidity.  We're going on maybe 20 days where the daytime high has been at least 90 degrees so far this year.  We've not had a lot of rain, either–although the skies did open up on Wednesday evening and knocked power out for several hours, we haven't had a good, steady rain in quite some time.  And while the weather-guessers and meterolog-ities (you know, "celebrities" who guess the weather–folks like Al Roker and Jim Cantore) will tell you, "It will be a hot one, stay inside!", they don't say what to do when your job consists of working outside year-round.  The best we can do is stay hydrated and keep the fans running, but even that doesn't help much.  So, at the end of the day, the heat and stress take their toll.  These days, my Fun Meter is usually pegged out come mid afternoon (maybe 2PM), and Going-Home Thirty can't come soon enough.

    On other fronts, the local IPMS Chapter held their monthly meeting this week.  There was a good number of models on the table for show and tell this month–I'm always interested to see what others are doing, and this month's turnout was a treat.  At the same time, the local AMPS Chapter is in the final planning stages for our Inaugural Show/Contest, so things are getting busy on the hobby front, too. 

    As usual, I'm trying to keep some build momentum working, but I hit a bit of a snag this week.  I shot the silver paint on the NASCAR Monte Carlo this past weekend, so that I could start putting the decals on this week.  Well, a decal sheet that has been kicking around in my stash for some 15 years is a little worse for the wear.  The decals shattered when I tired to soak them off the backing sheet (the inks have become brittle, and the more layers of color, the worse it is), and the kit contingency decals are no great shakes, either (typical of Monogram decals from the '80s and '90s).  I can touch up the decals and finesse the contingencies, but what I'm probably going to do is strip off what I have on the car and clean up the paint.  There's supposed to be a new sheet of the same scheme coming out soon, and I think I can wait.  After all, the project has been waiting for the past 15 years, what's another month or so?  I can finish the engine and chassis, clean it up the painted body, and put it aside again–temporarily–so that I can get back to work on the A-10A and the StuG IV.  I'll be happy to finally get some more projects moving along and finished.

    I made myself a promise–other than the Le Mans build, I will not start another project until I can get the A-10A and StuG finished.  And I intend to follow through…and as soon as I can get replacement decals for the Monte Carlo, it will get finished, too.

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

  • Under the weather just got snowed in…

    My head cold from last week has turned into a sinus infection, so I've been out of sorts for the past few days.  The doc prescribed antibiotics, so I should be right as rain in a few days.  And, of course, that four-letter work spelled w-o-r-k is picking up, too, so I gotta make hay while the sun shines.

    (Count the number of clichés and homey, old time phrases in the last paragraph.  Not intentional–or was it?)

    I have managed to get a little bit of model building done, though–the Monogram 1996 NASCAR Monte Carlo is now wearing gray primer.  Shortly, the inside will be wearing a new coat of Chevy Engine Red, and the outside will be silver.  Then, all I'll lack is finishing up.   Seriously, though, once the interior paint is done, it won't be too long before I can check the "done" box on this one.  It won't be terribly accurate, as I'm going by a very few photos, but it will do for my purposes.

    But, in the meantime, I'm relaxing and trying to get back to 100%.  Between this bacterial invaasion and the heat (today was somewhere close to 100 degrees, with a matching humidity), I'm wiped out when I get home…

    **********

    I've been meaning to pass on some of my favorite places to visit on the Interwebs.  Let's start with blogs.  I've already mentioned Pat Hawkey's blog and Replica In Scale.  Another one I'm fond of is The Northward Contrail, a hodge-podge of stuff about, well, different stuff.  And Chris Bucholtz of Obscureco also maintains his own place where he talks about models and history.  All of them are well worth checking out. 

    There are a few others, too.  Stonekettle Station is one of those I enjoy reading, but be warned–he tells you what he's thinking and really doesn't take any crap…

    Next time, maybe I'll point out a few places on the Interwebs where I hang out.  And I should have some pictures of the Monte Carlo, too… 

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

  • Busy, Busy World

    (With apologies to Richard Scarry.)  My brother and I had a copy of "Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World" when we were kids, and I must have read that book a few thousand times.  My wife also had a copy that she fund when we visited her parents a year or so ago…I do love the way he drew cats!

    I had intentions of posting a few more RDUCON photos, but I haven't had the time–or, frankly, energy–to tweak them and get them posted.  While we aren't exactly bustin' at the seams at the job, I have had some things to keep me busy, and with the slow period, we've all been trying to catch up with personal things (doctor and dentist appointments, personal leave, etc.) and, believe it or not, keep the shop equipment up and running.  I spent almost a week with a paint brush and Safety Yellow paint working while we rehabbed some newly acquired ground support equipment for the shop.  A good deal of it had been through two floods in Cincinnati, and it showed.  Picking rust, priming, and painting was the order of the day…

    Add to that, last week I attended a half-day battery seminar.  And, during our clean up sessions, we located three Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) aircraft batteries, two of which were still in good shape.  So, yesterday I discharged them and I spent this morning tearing one down to its component parts (cells, case, thermistor strips, shims, etc., etc.) and washing all of it.  Tomorrow, I'll be re-assembling it and tumbling the hardware to clean it.  Once the first battery is back together, I'll do the same for the other.  After that, I have two days chock-full of fun–main charge, top charge, capacity check, and a possible deep-cycle.  Repeat.  Locate any bad parts and cells, repair, and repeat.

    And, during this fun-fest, the state held a mock disaster drill next door.  So, we got to watch the dog-and-pony show roll into town yesterday as they set up their circus tents and command posts and media centers and such, and got to watch today as the "victims" were airlifted in (actually, they were waiting on the C-17 in the hangar next door–after the airplane stopped, they walked across the ramp into the airplane, were "injured" or "killed", and toted back off the airplane on litters and body bags), their "injuries" evaluated, and were sent via ambulance or helicopter to the local trauma centers.  A few hours later, the airplane flew off.  I left work early today to tend to some personal business, but I'm told they repeated the process a few hours later.

    Meanwhile, I'm still mulling over just how I plan to attack the A-10A paint job–I did a little repair work where the seams popped open, and I re-attached the parts that came off.  Some of the seams needed to be re-filled and sanded, so that got done a few nights ago.  I took some time this evening to continue dressing the seams with some 1800 and 2400 grit polishing pads, too.  A quick re-mask of the clear parts, and I'll be ready to try again…

    Meanwhile, a few comments on my "Thundering Jets" post of a few days ago: about the same time that I posted that article, Phil Friddell posted a piece on Monogram Models on his Replica In Scale blog.  I agree with Phil–Monogram was the best in the business back during their heyday.  The cockpit and other detailing was crisp, sharp, and accurate–careful painting was the only "detail set" you needed.  Sure, the panel lines were of the raised variety–and we didn't care.  We were used to them being that way on every kit–Monogram's were usually more petite than the others.  One thing that I don't like is that these days, the Revell reissues of Monogram's classics are molded in a different plastic.  Monogram used to have a semi-hard, very shiny plastic that took paint well and could be polished very easily when it had to be (buffable metallics, anyone?).  Back in the day, an article in FineScale Modeler answered the question–Monogram added a larger proportion of clear styrene beads to their mix than the other manufacturers did, yielding that shiny plastic.  These days, the Chinese companies that are molding the kits seem to add more vinyl to the mix, making the plastic softer.  And, for whatever reason, the fit is not as good as it once was.  The A-10A I'm working on is a Revell reissue, and while Monogram's original was no Nobel Prize for Well-Fitting Model Kits recipient, the Revell reissue seemed to fit even worse.  These days, I'd rather buy an original Monogram issue of a kit second-hand than a Revell reissue.  Still, though, Revell-Monogram kits are still a very good product for the money.  And, if you are interested in 1/48th scale B-29's, F-102's and F-106's 9and many others), you go Monogram or you do scratchbuild.

    Be good to one another.  I bid you Peace.

     

     

  • Show Report: RDUCON 2011

    Yesterday, we took a trip to Raleigh, NC for the IPMS/USA Region 12 Regional Contest.  First, a few pictures.  I have more, they just need to be tweaked before I post them.  I'll put them up in a few batches.

    Rducon chess
    An interesting chess set, based on the North African campaign of World War II.  That's my thumb, I put it there to give you an idea of the size of the pieces.

     

    Rducon kraft midget
    One of my fellow IPMS/ Mid-Carolina Swamp Fox Modelers built this one, and took home a Second Place trophy.  Well done…

     

    Rducon strip down cub
    This is a 1/72 scale Eduard "Strip Down" kit of the Piper L-4 Cub–it is largely made up of photoetched brass, and is maybe four inches in length.

     

    Rducon ramp scene-1
    One of the more interesting dioramas, this is a 1/700 scale ramp scene.  Again, my thumb's there for scale…

     

    Rducon ramp scene-2
    Here's a close up of one of the hangars in that 1/700 scale ramp.

     

    Rducon mirage
    Here's a nicely done 1/48 scale Mirage III in Spanish colors.

    During the show, I got to look at a lot of models–of memory serves, there were 425 models on the tables.  For a Regional, that's a little on the low side of normal–I suppose two factors were at work, the price of gasoline and the fact that Wonderfest was being held in Louisville.  There was also a smaller South Carolina Modeler's Association show going on in Simpsonville, SC.  To give you an idea of just how crazy gas prices are, they are usually around a dime cheaper in SC, so I filled up just outside the Rock Hill area for $3.89 a gallon.  On the return trip, we filled up for $3.75 in Dunn, NC.  Prices in the Charlotte and Raleigh areas were fairly consistent at about $3.75, give or take a few cents.

    The vendor's area was on the small side, but there were deals to be had.  A member of the host Chapter had passed away, and the club was having an estate sale to help the family.  One of the fixtures at shows throughout the area, "Hollywood" Mike Dunn was there with some new, some old, and some out of the ordinary.  MidTenn Hobbies was there with a small selection of product, and the rest seemed to be folks selling off SIDNA.  I managed to get a few kits to fill holes in my Italian Campaign armor collection (a Dragon Hornisse assault gun and an Academy M-10 Tank Destroyer, both in 1/35 scale), as well as an Academy 1/72 F-89J kit that will probably get knocked together here as soon as I can catch up.  My wife managed to find not one, but two Revell Goodyear Blimp kits–one is missing the lighted sign sheets, but they're easy to do.  She also picked up a 1969 issue of Revell's 1/32 scale F4F Wildcat kit for me as a nostalgia piece.

    All in all, we had a good time–actually, I don't think I've ever been at a model show where we didn't manage to have a good time.  Some were better than others, and this one ranks up towards the top.  The trip up saw some moments–just because it is the Richard Childress Freeway doesn't mean that it is where he auditions drivers.  By the way some cats were zipping in and out, you would think otherwise.  Once clear of Kannapolis, things opened up.  On the return trip, we circled around to I-95 and revisited the tail end of our trip home from the 2008 Virginia Beach IPMS Convention, complete with a visit to the gas station across from the hotel we stayed at on the trip and with snarky comments about South Carolina's tourist attraction trap, South of the Border.  I remember going there as a kid when we would make the summer drive from Ft. Lauderdale to New Jersey, and the place looks somehow slimier than it did.  Of course, back then you'd start seeing signs somewhere around Brunswick, GA and they'd become more frequent as you approached Dillon.  Also, back in the day, the highway ran under a large Pedro figure that straddled the road…

    And, we capped it off with a trip to Moe's and Cold Stone Creamery (Joey Bag of Donuts combo–chicken and black beans–and a Gotta Have It Chocolate Devotion, if you must know)…our first choice of Copper River Grill was being invaded by the Prom crowd last night. 

    (MINI-RANT MODE = ON) 

    As an aside, you guys out there going to Prom (or parents of young men attending their Prom)–wash your hair (a haircut wouldn't be out of the question, either!), get some good socks (and wear them!), get a shave, brush your teeth, take a shower (and use soap, please, and deodorant afterwards!) and wear some nice shoes instead of your beat-to-shit Chuck Taylors or (horror of horrors) flip-flops.  Oh, yeah, leave the itchy woolen caps at the house, too–number one, it is mid-May and the mercury is settling out at 90 degrees during the day; and number two, they look disgusting (as in "when was the last time you washed that thing?").  I was amazed at the number of guys I saw who looked like Shaggy from Scooby Doo in a rented tux, when their dates were looking very pretty, indeed.  Oh, and if you do dress like a slob in a tux, don't wonder what happened when your dates ditch you for someone who knows about good hygiene. 

    A lot of that can also be said about the model contest attendees.  While things have improved, there are still some modelers who are not acquainted with the wonders of what soap can do, both for the body and the wardrobe.  If you want to stink like old cigarettes, sweat, and stale beer, fine, but don't be surprised when people give you a wide berth because of your BO…

    (RANT MODE = OFF)

    Sorry, I went off on a tangent for a while…

    I should have more pictures ready for you in the next post.  Until then, be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

  • Where does the time go?

    Since the Learjet departed our facility, I've had some time to actually sit down and do stuff–like start clearing out the model backlog on the workbench.  I'm Happy to report that I've had some success at doing so, and once I get some stuff completed, you'll get the full report right here.

    Meanwhile, we're hitting the e-books at work–the FAA requires a certain amount of recurrent training every year.  With the lull, I decided to get mine done and over with.  There's nothing like sitting for several days listening to presentations on Human Factors, Lockout/Tagout procedures, HAZMAT, and the like.  It keeps everyone happy, so in the end it is worth it.  I'm also lobbying for more specialized training this year, too–I'm a firm believer that you can't get enough training.

    I wish I had more to report, but in all honesty I started spend some time at the workbench, and before I knew it I had one airplane done, another painted and is now getting decals, and a third ready for paint.  Along with those, the StuG is really making progress now, and I found myself converting a 1996 NASCAR Monte Carlo kit–Monogram's early round-sided kit–into Dale Earnhardt's 1996 car from the Winston All-Star race.  When I originally bought the kit and decal sheet, it looked to be simple enough–until you research it out and discover that the actual car had the slab sides.  Oh, well, some sheet plastic, Bondo, and Squadron White putty solved that dilemma…

    Stay tuned.  I'm on a roll, and want to keep the momentum going.  I'll be at the workbench…

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