Nick's Notes

Nick · June 27, 2023, 06:03:56 AM

I dived into the bottom of my wardrobe to retrieve the kit that's been in my stash longest - Fujimi's F-14 Tomcat in Jolly Rogers scheme. My sister gave me this 30+ years ago for my birthday and I got halfway through building it.

What I was after were the 2 separate engines that can be posed with the aircraft on trolleys. These may just see alternative service when attached to something completely different like a boat. This is for the Re-Engine It GB. They are larger than I remembered so... I'm gonna need a bigger boat!

(about the same length as an LCVP

)

Fujimi's F-14 is a superb kit and 14 year old me made a mess of it. Yellowed glue seeping from every join and every part misaligned. But the wing sweep works just fine. I'm going to clean it up as best I can and finish her. Then I'll look out for another one to do properly.

Pellson · July 02, 2023, 08:59:11 AM

Good stuff! Renovating my own 30+ years old builds have been a large part of this hobby for me during the last few years. And for some reason, it does give me a lot of pleasure to complete the legacy, or something.

Or I'm just weird..

NARSES2 · July 06, 2023, 05:46:03 AM

Quote from: Pellson on July 02, 2023, 08:59:11 AMOr I'm just weird..

I'm saying nothing

Nick · July 22, 2023, 06:54:55 AM

This week I has mostly been on holiday. Which was nice.

Started on Saturday with the drive up to Chester and a look around the town. My grandparents had a painting of the fancy clock on Chester Eastgate. They got it in the 70s and it had an actual working clock in the middle - cheap Taiwan clock that never told the right time!
I walked around the old shops which are unusual as they have a second row of shops above street level - a sort of gallery that allowed more shopping in a cramped medieval town. Chester Model Centre is large and definitely worth visiting should you be nearby.

Sunday I went on a tour of Rhydymwyn Chemical Weapons site. Back in 1939 the Govt decided to build an underground storage site for production and storage of Mustard Gas. Three long parallel tunnels in a hillside and a bunch of other buildings outside. They also worked on part of the Atom Bomb project there by diffusing Uranium in a heat chamber to create purer blocks for weapons use (or something like that).
Fascinating site and now mostly a nature reserve because the contaminated buildings were demolished and buried and the site cannot be built on. They still have UN Chemical Weapons inspections to make sure we aren't using the site again!

Monday was a slow drive to Shrewsbury which is old, hilly and full of pretty buildings. And nice pubs.

Good local military museum in the Castle too.

Tuesday to Thursday I was mostly browsing the many many bookshops in Hay on Wye. I came home with just a dozen books. And some nice local made beer.

Today I have spent behind and under the bathroom sink trying to sort out the waste pipes that are leaking. The plumber who put it in deserves a rap on the knuckles with a large wrench. The water pipes run down the wall touching either side of the exit waste pipe so you cannot get the nut on to screw the p-trap on. For some reason the idiot glued a length of smaller diameter pipe inside so that nothing fits.

NARSES2 · July 22, 2023, 07:11:38 AM

Sounds like a good week away in a nice part of the world Nick

Always helps when there's decent local pubs and breweries

kerick · July 22, 2023, 12:32:17 PM

Always a bad sign when you find glue or excessive caulk on pipes. I've made that mistake myself when I had less knowledge and even less money. Now I go out and get the pipes and fittings I need to do it right the first time. And a few extra fittings for when plan A goes south.

Nick · July 23, 2023, 04:30:35 AM

If anybody can make use of a 40mm McAlpine P-Trap then drop me a line....

I measured the wrong pipe when I needed a 32mm trap. But the job is done now.

It got a little bit stressful when I fitted the trap, ran the water and found the sink wasn't draining. Turned out that the pipe going out thru the wall was blocked from all the crap that had knocked loose while I was working. Finally cleared itself when I filled the sink with hot water and pulled the plug.

zenrat · July 23, 2023, 04:50:44 AM

Well done.

You have passed DIY plumbing level 1.

Now we move on to something more challenging - changing taps with corroded base nuts when the sink has been mounted as close to the wall as possible...

Seriously, well done. Some people won't even give it a go.

Which reminds me, I must replace the seal on the toilet outlet I temporarily stopped leaking with silicone mastic before covid...

Nick · July 23, 2023, 06:16:01 AM

Quote from: zenrat on July 23, 2023, 04:50:44 AMWell done.

You have passed DIY plumbing level 1.

Now we move on to something more challenging - changing taps with corroded base nuts when the sink has been mounted as close to the wall as possible...

The mixer taps on the bath are corroded, leaking from a knackered washer when used, and welded to the pipes. The lowest point in the bath is not the plughole but a little dent in front of it where I stand to shower.
If I ever decide to change it I'll hire a professional

scooter · July 23, 2023, 06:16:36 AM

Quote from: zenrat on July 23, 2023, 04:50:44 AMNow we move on to something more challenging - changing taps with corroded base nuts when the sink has been mounted as close to the wall as possible...

With straight copper supply pipes right up tap?

NARSES2 · July 23, 2023, 07:11:08 AM

Well done Nick

PR19_Kit · July 23, 2023, 07:52:39 AM

While we're on a plumbing thread, I've got to change my toilet cistern in the next couple of days.

I'm REALLY looking forward to that, I DON'T think!

Old Wombat · July 24, 2023, 01:48:30 AM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on July 23, 2023, 07:52:39 AMWhile we're on a plumbing thread, I've got to change my toilet cistern in the next couple of days.

I'm REALLY looking forward to that, I DON'T think!

There are worse jobs; you could be replacing the other side of the plumbing!

Rheged · July 24, 2023, 01:44:10 PM

I've just had to change a ceramic cartridge in a bath tap. The actual job was easy...........5 minutes at most.................... but identifying the correct size and shape of cartridge was no fun at all.

PR19_Kit · July 26, 2023, 04:54:28 AM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on July 23, 2023, 07:52:39 AMWhile we're on a plumbing thread, I've got to change my toilet cistern in the next couple of days.

I'm REALLY looking forward to that, I DON'T think!

For some building regulation reason I can't buy a cistern that exactly replaces the one that's cracked without re-piping some of my water system! That's NOT going to happen, I'd have to tear down half the bathroom, so I've 'adapted' the new cistern to fit the old pipework. One of the 'adaptions' needed a large hole in the bottom of the cistern to be blanked off and proper blanking plugs don't seem to be available.

My solution was to glue a circular piece of 60 thou over the hole.

How do people who aren't plastic modellers survive?