Narses2's Blog - or what I'm slowly making progress on

[Leading Observer]

Not modelling related but an interesting excursion.

Up early with the lark, literally, for an early appointment at the hospital for a C.T. scan on my skull. They are looking at the bones that are to do with hearing (hammer, anvil and stirrup if my memories of 1968 O Level Biology are correct  ), but I assume they'll also confirm if the rest of the skull is empty or not 

Anyway it was my first C.T. scan and the whole experience, all 10 mins of it, was fascinating, very Star Trek, but the really interesting part for me was that the newest piece of kit is in the oldest part of the hospital built in 1863. In the corridors of this part of the hospital they have put up loads of old photos taken in it over the years. Some are before the First World War, but most are in the late 60's/early 70's going by the hairstyles the nurses are wearing in them. One of the current nurses saw me looking at a group shot and asked me if there was anything I was particularly interested in ? I just told him that back then I'd gone out with a few nurses/student nurses and was looking to see if there were any faces I recognised. He laughed but then I said "notice anything about these photos ?". When he replied "no", I said "all the nurses are female, no males nurses back then. Female doctors but no male nurses back then". he looked again and then at the other photos and said "I'd never noticed that, how times have changed". Yup, times have changed all right  And no, I didn't recognise any faces, or I don't think I did. 

A friend of mine trained as a Nurse in the late 70's - I went to a party at his Residences and even I was in demand

[TheChronicOne]

I've actually came across quite a few male nurses in recent years. Surprising to me, really, having watched all 'at TV and movie-films.. .

One thing of note is that when I used to donate plasma from time to time, HANDS DOWN, the best ones at "sticking" were the males.  I know full well this is totally un scientific and doesn't mean a damn thing about gender, and which is better at what, and that it was a "closed system",   I'm just saying that male nurses can be quite good at what they do, too. Judging upon expectations, much more gentle and "good" at it, including bedside manner, than I would have predicted.

[jcf]

Yep, the best phlebotomist at the clinic we use is an older Vietnamese fellow, ye' literally don't
feel a thing, he's incredibly smooth.

[zenrat]

Not modelling related but an interesting excursion.

Up early with the lark, literally, for an early appointment at the hospital for a C.T. scan on my skull. They are looking at the bones that are to do with hearing (hammer, anvil and stirrup if my memories of 1968 O Level Biology are correct  ), but I assume they'll also confirm if the rest of the skull is empty or not 

Anyway it was my first C.T. scan and the whole experience, all 10 mins of it, was fascinating, very Star Trek, but the really interesting part for me was that the newest piece of kit is in the oldest part of the hospital built in 1863. In the corridors of this part of the hospital they have put up loads of old photos taken in it over the years. Some are before the First World War, but most are in the late 60's/early 70's going by the hairstyles the nurses are wearing in them. One of the current nurses saw me looking at a group shot and asked me if there was anything I was particularly interested in ? I just told him that back then I'd gone out with a few nurses/student nurses and was looking to see if there were any faces I recognised. He laughed but then I said "notice anything about these photos ?". When he replied "no", I said "all the nurses are female, no males nurses back then. Female doctors but no male nurses back then". he looked again and then at the other photos and said "I'd never noticed that, how times have changed". Yup, times have changed all right  And no, I didn't recognise any faces, or I don't think I did. 

A friend of mine trained as a Nurse in the late 70's - I went to a party at his Residences and even I was in demand

I attended a few parties in nurses residences back in the day.  They must have been good as I can't remember any details.

[NARSES2]

Are they thinking about swapping yours for plastic ones? I've had all six of mine done (it's called a stapendectomy apparently.......) and the right set works a treat, but the left set works ok, but it seems I'm the country's oldest patient with what's called 'Glue Ear' and the bones can't 'hear' the incoming sound without me using a hearing aid. 

Don't know yet Kit. They are just trying to identify what's causing the problem

[NARSES2]

I've actually came across quite a few male nurses in recent years. Surprising to me, really, having watched all 'at TV and movie-films.. .

I read somewhere that in the U.K. over or near 50% of nurses are now male, especially if you take mental health hospitals etc into account. No idea how true that is but at Mayday it's definately near the 50/50 mark I would have thought.

I attended a few parties in nurses residences back in the day.  They must have been good as I can't remember any details.

In the late 70's/early 80's I went to a few parties in council tower blocks on the Isle of Dogs (just after it declared UDI  ). They were being used as nurses's homes as no one else wanted to live in them. Now they have been turned into luxury apartments and sell for £Millions 

[NARSES2]

On the modeling front  the Gnat and Maggister are finished  Need to get photos sorted so as I'm a bit busy over the next couple of days I should get them up over the weekend.

I've an awful lot of bits and pieces , especially from the Gnat kit, for the spares boxes to be sorted out as well

[Librarian]

I've actually came across quite a few male nurses in recent years. Surprising to me, really, having watched all 'at TV and movie-films.. .

I read somewhere that in the U.K. over or near 50% of nurses are now male, especially if you take mental health hospitals etc into account. No idea how true that is but at Mayday it's definately near the 50/50 mark I would have thought.

I attended a few parties in nurses residences back in the day.  They must have been good as I can't remember any details.

In the late 70's/early 80's I went to a few parties in council tower blocks on the Isle of Dogs (just after it declared UDI  ). They were being used as nurses's homes as no one else wanted to live in them. Now they have been turned into luxury apartments and sell for £Millions 

Having spent quite a few years being examined by nurses I'm perfectly happy to 'drop em' in front of a lady but never quite sure about the male ones. A female appreciative nod being so much better for the ego than one from your home team

[NARSES2]

Having spent quite a few years being examined by nurses I'm perfectly happy to 'drop em' in front of a lady but never quite sure about the male ones. A female appreciative nod being so much better for the ego than one from your home team

Strange you should say that. Since the age of 4 I've always had a female doctor. My doc is still a lady. My mates have always found it strange and I always replied "I'd much rather have a lady ask me to drop them  "

As for nurses, I've had a fair bit of experience lately with nurses and to be honest it doesn't bother me either way. They all do a flipping great job  It would be interesting to try and work out what my feelings would have been in the 60/70's however ? As stated times and viewpoints change 

[NARSES2]

Finished shots of the Maggie and Gnat are posted up in their individual threads

[NARSES2]

Got a fair bit of work done on the Martlet whilst waiting for paint to dry and such on the 509.

Now this is the third one I've built so a couple of pointers if you are considering getting one, or the Wildcat which is essentially the same tooling.

Attach the forward bulkhead/firewall to the fuselage and then fit the completed cockpit tub to that ensuring you get the tub lined up with the rear guidelines.

With the undercarriage I suggest you cross out those parts of the instructions that don't apply to your build to start with  Then carefully follow the instructions checking that you have the parts the right way around and the right way up. It sounds a bit basic but they can get confusing. They are also very fiddly and quite delicate. The construction of the undercarriage is a tad complicated * but surprisingly sturdy once assembled. Once assembled fit it to the forward bulkhead/firewall and then close the fuselage halves. It can be helpful to sand the spar a little to give you some wiggle room as you slide the other half on to meet the cockpit tub/undercarriage etc.

Sounds complicated but providing you take your time it does all go together very well. The way Airfix would have you do it can lead to issues so I find this way easier.

* I presume the complications of the real undercarriage was caused by the way the wings folded ?

As I'm at the point where there's some downtime with both kits on the go at the moment I broke out the Hasegawa Dweotine 520. I forgot how "oily" some of these old Hasegawa kits are. Nice and simple kit though and I do know what I'm doing with it 

[NARSES2]

I now have a completed Martlet airframe. Once you get passed the fiddly undercarriage it really is plain sailing and the fit overall is superb.

The 509 is progressing in the paintshop and the D.520 has had her cockpit painted that gorgeous Royal Blue the French used in some of their interiors. Won't be doing much to this as you will hardly see a thing through the canopy, just a set of tape belts and the rest out of the box.

[Thorvic]

Well you could do the D520 as a French Naval version (email sent with attached drawings  )

[NARSES2]

I know what I'm doing with the current version but I have another in the stash together with an Eduard etch set.

Thanks mate 

[NARSES2]

I've been rushing these 3 current builds in the hope to complete them before I'm off next week. Silly really as there is now way I'll be able to do that and I'll just screw them up. Made a couple of  already by attempting to cut corners.

So I'm just going to work at them at my usual pace and then leave them with notes detailing where I am and whats up next. far more sensible