Zenrat's Flying Circus

[zenrat]

Here's the Hotspur sitting on Heyford spats.  I think i'll go with these.  She'll need some nose weight though.

And here's the single seat Babs.  Shades of Hughes H1?

[zenrat]

Thanks Brad.  It's amazing the difference shortening the canopy makes.

[NARSES2]

Liking the look of the solo Babs

Makes her look like a racer. More Hughes then Caproni, but very mid 30's state of the art 

[zenrat]

I may fair in the rear of Bab's spatted undercarriage to add to that racer vibe.

The Hotspur now has Heyford spats firmly attached.  It took 2 of my smaller fishing weights in the nose to keep it down.
The wheels look almost comically large but my thinking is that this is for taking customers to unmade bush strips and landing in paddocks on outback stations.

Caproni is ready for pre-decal clear but it's been too cold to risk trying it.

Dagger is still being PSRed (the final shaping around the gun pack and the last stubborn gaps in the wings and tail).

I've also found this kit on evil-bay.  It has so much possibility I may have to get one.

[Librarian]

What's your technique for filling and sanding smooth that forward cockpit on 'Babs'. I have my way but I've noticed that after a few weeks some shrinkage can occur. I really want to 'Skyraider' a Naka B6N but that hydroponics farm they call a canopy always puts me off.

[Captain Canada]

Hotspur looks good like that ! I like that Japanese carrier thing too....who makes that ?

[zenrat]

The Material Carrier is made by Aoshima.

Max - I glued a piece of curved styrene sheet inside the fuselage and the put filler on the outside.  I think the trick might be in the filler.  I use Tamiya Polyester Putty which is a 2 part product meaning it sets by chemical reaction rather than by evaporation of solvent and thus doesn't shrink.  It stinks to high heaven and is bright yellow but it's the best i've used.
Tamiya do however also make a light curing putty which intrigues me.  They claim it's ready to sand in 1 minute after exposure to sunlight or 2 minutes with artificial light.

[Captain Canada]

Ya thanks I found some online from Amazon and Ebay...might just go for it ! Be a cool addition to a Harrier dio eh ?

[Weaver]

The EKFG was trying to persuade me that that JGSDF load carrier would make a good snowcat at a recent show....

Re the Hotspur (which is looking very good BTW), try anagrams: Top Rush, Hu-Sport etc....

Re your old tank question:

T-55 = 100mm gun, 4 x crew inc. manual loader
T-62 = 115mm gun, 3 x crew plus auto-loader

[zenrat]

As i've just had a tooth removed under IV sedation (recommended - I remember nothing except snoring 3 times.  It would be a great way to spend the next time I fly Australia to UK) I may still be under the influence of drugs but I just bought a Load Carrier kit through evil-bay.
And oddly I was thinking as I did so "that would look good on one of H's Antarctic dioramas.

Thanks for the tank info.

I'm off to put Hotspur into an anagram generator.

[zenrat]

OK, it's a GAL Porthus.
Not a Musketeer or Captain Archer's Beagle it is in fact Swedish for gatehouse.  However it DOES sound like a name you'd find in classical literature.

E.G. Porthus Comte d'Adelaide.  Master of the Royal charabanc under Louis XVI.  Tragically killed when Monsieur Oui Oui the beloved pet mandrill of his youngest mistress (The Honourable Michele de Frankston - aged 14) mistook his rouged cheeks and towering wig for an in season female and suffocated him with forced fellatio. If only he'd had his teeth in at the time...

[Librarian]

As i've just had a tooth removed under IV sedation (recommended - I remember nothing except snoring 3 times.  It would be a great way to spend the next time I fly Australia to UK) I may still be under the influence of drugs but I just bought a Load Carrier kit through evil-bay.
And oddly I was thinking as I did so "that would look good on one of H's Antarctic dioramas.

Thanks for the tank info.

I'm off to put Hotspur into an anagram generator.

Thanks for the putty information, I'll certainly try that next time.

Wisdom teeth are the worst, I've had that 'op' twice. What I find that hurts after are the neck muscles 'cos the dentist and assistant were pulling left, right, left etc to yank the bu**ers out .

[zenrat]

This was a pre molar.  It had to come out due to a dodgy root canal done 20 years ago by an NHS dentist in the UK.  On top of that was a crown which failed and was replaced with a cantilever bridge.  An abscess developed and the LH side of my face swelled up like a Hamster.  It swelled up so much it was lifting up my glasses on that side.  The bridge is sound so the tooth had to come out from the side.  The dental surgeon gave me a full explanation of the procedure which was going fine until he got to the bit where he said "...and then we scrape out the infection...".  I had to stop him and ask him to not use that word and say "carefully remove" instead.

One of my sisters had a hell of a time having her wisdoms removed.  The other twin has had no problems.

[zenrat]

Thanks for the putty information, I'll certainly try that next time.

If you buy some Tamiya Polyester Putty then try and give the larger tube a bit of a squeeze* and don't buy if it feels too firm (although it's hard to tell when it's still sealed).  The last tube I bought was obviously old stock and despite still being sealed had gone off a bit at the cap end meaning it wouldn't squeeze out until I scooped out a heap of it with a paint mixer.
A good new tube will when opened have separated slightly (or not been mixed correctly) into putty and solvent under the cap.  You can either take advantage of this and stir it in to make extra thin putty or throw it away.
Oh, and the stuff is soluble in mentholated spirits so you can use cotton buds soaked in the stuff to smooth it out along seams.

*Tricky if buying on line but the bigger interweb shops should move enough of the stuff that their stocks are fresh.

[Captain Canada]

Had my wisdom teeth taken out when I was about 16....they knocked me out for it but I awoke when the doc was hammering the damn things out ! Felt good after as I was stoned to the bejesus but after that went away.....