Zenrat's Flying Circus

[scooter]

It doesn't matter how many times I read "Kraz now has a cab", I still hear it in my head as "Kraz now has a crab"....

At least you're going singular with that. 

[zenrat]

After working this morning (quiet in the shop so I put up the xmas promotional posters) I picked up food shopping on the way home, complemented Mrs z on her hair cut (most important), lunched, mowed the grass, nailed some weld mesh to a piece of replacement fencing i've built and then adjourned to my shed.
I did lots of little things.  Each of which didn't seem to be much but will in the grand scheme of things lead to progress I suppose.
Having too many kits started makes it easy to do this.

I did gloss clear the Mirage in preparation to decals.

I've been reading Cold War Peacemaker: The Story of Cowtown and the Convair B-36 by Don Pyeatt & Dennis R Jenkins.
It's helping me get my thoughts together regarding building the Mongoram 1/72 kit in the stash.  Current thinking is to build it as an early 50's RAAF B-36B (no jets).  Possibly with manned rather than remote aimed turrets.

[zenrat]

First of all, a 1:1 construction.  This replaces an old fence which rotted.
Mrs z has arranged to dog sit after xmas so the yard needs to be escape proof (although as we all know, if its really determined...).
New Side Fence 28-10-2018 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

Having finished manual labour for the day I stuffed my face and was about to commence modelling operations when the mad woman dropped in for a visit.
Slightly madder than usual today due to new meds.

Eventually I got into the shed and  proceeded to decal the Mirage using an (IIRC) Xtradecal set.
Mirage F1 WIP 28-10-2018 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
There are times when I love the RAAF roundels.  And there are others when I despair at having to make sure I get them all the right way up and facing the correct way.
This was one of the times I love them.  Oddly the ARDU Fanta Can Mirage 3 had no roundels on the wing uppers.  The set had enough to add them but I decided, for a change, to go with reality - possibly due to needing grounding after the earlier visit.

Decalling took most of my time but I also made a start building the rear suspension A-Arms on the Bugatti.

Something else i've been working on (to get myself into a racing mood) is a Model King re-pop of the old AMT Kenz & Leslie High Country Cougar Funny Car (1/25).

It has a lot of small inaccuracies that could be rectified but I elected to just build it OOB...
...until I got to the stage where I could fit the wheels to the axles and sit the body on top to find that the wheelbase of the body was about 1/4" greater than that of the chassis*.  This might have worked with the kit tyres (although it would have looked rubbish) but not with the new bigger tyres i'd fitted to the kit rims (OK, so OOBish) - they fouled the front of the kit wheelarches.
I could have switched back to the kit tyres but they are not very nice (understatement).  So I have cut off the rear suspension mounts and moved them 1/4" backwards.  This will lead to having to extend the drive shaft and possibly modify the interior parts which will invariably lead to detailing the cockpit and then plumbing the engine and then...

*I suspect this is due to AMT using chassis parts made for a shorter wheelbase car and just substituting a Cougar body which had a longer wheelbase.

[PR19_Kit]

Don't you just LOVE that old AMT model range 'planning', eh? 

Your Mirage F1 looks better than the original IIIO! That scheme suits the needle nose look of the F1 very well indeed.

[zenrat]

The irritating thing with the Cougar is that moving the axle back is very easy to do.  If only they had thought to point it out in the instructions then I wouldn't have had to cut off painted parts and sand off gloss clear and enamel paint.

Apart from this issue the chassis isn't too bad being a fairly accurate replica of a late sixties Logghe funny car chassis.  It would be usefull to create Whiff funny cars.  Maybe for a GB on an interweb forum...

Wish i'd bought more of them for $cheap each when I had the chance - they were being sold off as the boxes had been trashed by a careless forklift operator.

[NARSES2]

Mirage looks the bees knees 

complemented Mrs z on her hair cut (most important),

Mate of mine knew is other half was getting her hair cut, so when he got home from work he complimented her. Trouble was she'd cancelled the appointment  Boy did that cost him  I've always been very good at noticing even quite minor changes in their appearance 

[zenrat]

It's the little things like that which pay great dividends.

Today;
Satin clear on Evo Zero fiddly bits.
Radius rods on Cougar rear end (not as easy as it sounds as I shouldn't have glued the brake drums to the axle first).
More work on Bugatti suspension and stage 1 PSR on its body.

[zenrat]

Looking at Kerrick's Hasegawa F-20 & X-29 build i've realised that in addition to those two I also have the same company's T-38 and F-5A kits.
I wonder what would happen if I put all the parts in a box and shook it up?

Did a bit more on the Sea Witch today.  I found some parts I really should have glued on before painting the hull.
I should probably have studied the instructions properly.
Oh well, plus ça change.

[kerick]

Looking at Kerrick's Hasegawa F-20 & X-29 build i've realised that in addition to those two I also have the same companies T-38 and F-5A kits.
I wonder what would happen if I put all the parts in a box and shook it up?

Hmmmm.........
A two seat X-29 or F-20???
Where's Tophe? Obviously we need an F-5 zwilling!

[NARSES2]

Did a bit more on the Sea Witch today.  I found some parts I really should have glued on before painting the hull.
I should probably have studied the instructions properly.

It does help sometimes, even if it's a case of knowing what you are ignoring 

Seriously after a couple of recent howlers caused by the "I've been building models for nearly 60 years what do I need instructions for ?" I've gone back to reading the so and so's. It's amazing what you can discover 

[zenrat]

These are not the clearest instructions.  And they don't actually show two of the six parts I should have attached, nor (with any accuracy) where the rest should go.

No modelling today as I was working 1000 until 1700.

[TheChronicOne]

I feel your pain... I'm in "instruction hell" myself right now. One kit doesn't even have (by design, it's not just a case of them being missing) any and the other they're entirely written in Japanese. This has eaten up a fair amount of time in each build because they require more than usual repeated dry fitting and in one case lots of staring at walk around photos.  One is completely fiction and has lots of options for things posed in different ways and lots of parts and stuff that may or may not be required. UGH. 

On the other hand, the oldazz Airfix 737-200 I could build blind folded.    Naturally, it's the one with the best instructions.

[zenrat]

Ah, Japanese instructions.
Following the pictures is not a problem but it's what the call outs and options labels say that I wonder about.

Got in a bit of modelling tonight after work.  Apart from starting two Racing GB builds I cleared the Mirage and the spoiler on the Evo Zero and painted some Cougar and Mirage parts.

[zenrat]

Worked this morning and as usual when I work Satyrdays ended up nearly falling asleep on the sofa after having lunch.
I had to force myself to get down to the shed to model.
But once there, I had a productive time.
I changed my Airfix calendar to November (Red Arrows - October's Victor was more inspiring as it got me thinking about a Formula V race series...).
I put up a new white board onto which I transcribed my zenrat industries to do list (#1 - World Domination).
I started building the upper A arms for the Bugatti rear suspension.  The Bug gets priority as I have a deadline of Dec 1st.
I cleared the Mirage again (having done the panel lines) and painted some fiddly bits.
I painted some Cougar parts.
I did some work on the Drag Cab.
And, I finished the Evo Zero.  I'll take some pics tomorrow.

[Rheged]

Worked this morning and as usual when I work Satyrdays ended up nearly falling asleep on the sofa after having lunch.
I had to force myself to get down to the shed to model.
But once there, I had a productive time.
I changed my Airfix calendar to November (Red Arrows - October's Victor was more inspiring as it got me thinking about a Formula V race series...).
I put up a new white board onto which I transcribed my zenrat industries to do list (#1 - World Domination).
I started building the upper A arms for the Bugatti rear suspension.  The Bug gets priority as I have a deadline of Dec 1st.
I cleared the Mirage again (having done the panel lines) and painted some fiddly bits.
I painted some Cougar parts.
I did some work on the Drag Cab.
And, I finished the Evo Zero.  I'll take some pics tomorrow.

World domination is over-rated.  I once earned my Boy Scout World Domination badge, but being a supreme being got boring so I stepped back to let the others play