Zenrat's Flying Circus

[Captain Canada]

Sure does look like a Dak without the engines on ! Is it still going to have the third engine ?

[zenrat]

Yep, three engines.
It does look Daklike.  Less so from the side though when you can see the bomb aimers glazing under the nose.

I started one of these today.

Not sure what i'll put on the back.  A very short fuel tank maybe?

I've also found that Aoshima make this


which is very tempting and looks incredible for 1/72.

[zenrat]

Well its happened again.
What was going to be a simple, quick easy whiff has snowballed.
All I was going to do was put windows in the side of an old Airfix Beaufighter, glue on different engines and paint it blue.  But I had to decide to use Merlins from a Revell Lanc didn't I.  The kit with actual engines inside the inner nacelles.
So now i've got carried away fitting the engines and am going to have removable cowlings and it's all just got more complicated.

I'd better start something else and try and keep that simple.

[PR19_Kit]

So now i've got carried away fitting the engines and am going to have removable cowlings and it's all just got more complicated.

You mean you're NOT going to model one of the engines with the cylinder head removed and the groundies doing a valve job on it? 

[kerick]

I could have some whiff fun with this if it were 1/35th! The 1/72nd Patriot looks interesting.

[zenrat]

So now i've got carried away fitting the engines and am going to have removable cowlings and it's all just got more complicated.

You mean you're NOT going to model one of the engines with the cylinder head removed and the groundies doing a valve job on it? 

Now there's an idea...

I was actually thinking that the engines look a bit bare lacking as they do plug wires, magnetos, oil & coolant lines...
Were all Merlins paint one standard colour?  I was thinking of using Ford or Chrysler engine blue or Hemi orange.

You get 2 in the box Kerick.  I'm thinking one of them might get the katyusha from an ICM truck kit.

Nothing much done today.  I continued with repairing and painting the eaves and soffits of the house.
I had thought about going to the Tyabb airshow today (1/2 hour drive on the other side of the peninsula) but $40 is a bit steep for a ticket especially when they didn't provide a display timetable on their website so I could get an idea of what i'd be paying to see fly past.

[PR19_Kit]

Were all Merlins paint one standard colour?  I was thinking of using Ford or Chrysler engine blue or Hemi orange.

That'd be WELL OTT, Derby built Merlins were all black. Not very inspiring, but black paint was cheap then.

Of course in WhiffWorld..............

[zenrat]

Black is so last season darling...
I primed both engines today and will decide on a colour tomorrow.

Decals are on the SM81 and have been cleared over.  Removal of the masking from the inside of the fuselage has made a change in its look as all the windows now show up.

Most time  today was spent on fitting the windows into a 1/25 pickup i've been working on.  It's an unusual build for me as its almost OOB.  Even the paint job nearly matches the box art AND i've used the kit decals.

Best thing today though was my reference books are back out of storage and returned to their place on the specially tall bottom shelf of the bookcase.  Most important (to me anyway) is the copy of Bill Gunston's encyclopaedia of combat aircraft I was given by my parents in 1978.

[zenrat]

A spider problem yesterday - not a large one though, this was a tent tiny one which decided to set up home incise my airbrush and severely restricted the airflow.
Today I broke the law and (more seriously) ignored a Mrs z ban on carrying out any electrical work myself by successfully installing a new outside light without killing myself or burning down the house.

Modelling wise I painted the Beaufighter Merlins Hemi Orange and did a whole heap more on the model car.

[NARSES2]

Can you do any electrical work legally ? I know you don't need to wire many plugs nowadays but could you legally ?

[zenrat]

No.
In theory you can do all the electrical work you like as long as it is inspected by a qualified electrician before it is connected to the mains.
Of course, realistically that is never going to happen.
So, if I shorten the damaged flex on something with a moulded plug and then wire on a new plug (which I can buy quite legally from a DIY store - albeit plastered with warning labels about using a qualified sparky) I am breaking the law when I plug it in.
As I was replacing an existing fitting with a new one (entailing undoing 3 wires and then inserting them into the relevant places on the new fitting) I didn't see the need to call out an electrician.

Another coat of paint on the eaves today and I cleaned out the gutters.  Foolish ants thought it was a good idea to nest up there.  If I hadn't moved them the rain that's due to arrive in 3 hours (it's on its way from Flyers neck of the woods) would have flushed them out.
Should finish off painting the eaves tomorrow and then its onto the rest of the gutters.
Model wise I finished off putting together a 1/25 small block chevy.  Plug wires, accessory drive and a resin sprint car fuel injection from www.thepartsbox.com.  It's all painted and just needs some washes to add depth to the detail.  It was only as I was adding the fifth plug wire to the dizzy that I realised i'd used a 6 cylinder one instead of one for an 8 and it didn't have enough holes in the top. Unlike real life I just had to drill another two holes and move the wires around to hide the iffy spacing.
I also glued the roof onto the top of the cab and relieved the front suspension so the (OOB kit suppled) exhausts would clear it.  I was slightly annoyed that I had to do this.  Revell are normally better than that.  Mind you, the extractors I am using are a recent addition to the kit and were not in the original release.
Nothing new on the Beau as I need to glue the wings on and PSR it before doing anymore engine detailing as I don't want to knock off an engine while sanding.

[NARSES2]

Flippin' Ada I thought our Health and Safety rules were bad !

[PR19_Kit]

No.
In theory you can do all the electrical work you like as long as it is inspected by a qualified electrician before it is connected to the mains.
Of course, realistically that is never going to happen.
So, if I shorten the damaged flex on something with a moulded plug and then wire on a new plug (which I can buy quite legally from a DIY store - albeit plastered with warning labels about using a qualified sparky) I am breaking the law when I plug it in.
As I was replacing an existing fitting with a new one (entailing undoing 3 wires and then inserting them into the relevant places on the new fitting) I didn't see the need to call out an electrician.

Jobs for the boys 'innit? 

I bet the legislation was 110% approved by the electrical trades unions, notwithstanding the capabilities of the users, who'd been changing their own plugs for DECADES.

[zenrat]

It's legislation which is routinely ignored by most of the population but which nevertheless can catch people out if they are asked for an electrical safety certificate for a piece of work when selling a house or having new works inspected.
I know my limits (found by events such as the "screwdriver in the ceiling rose thrown backwards off the stepladder shouting F##k" incident*) and I also have a sparky for a neighbour.

As today was World Sleep Day (seriously!) and not having to work I spent most of the morning in bed listening to the rain and howling winds.
Got down to the shed later on and put some wash on the SBC.
Also glued a wing onto the Beau and attempted to assemble the undercarriage of the SM81.
I say attempted because each side has, to attach the large spat (4 parts including the wheel) to the underside of the wing three struts which come in five parts.  All with butt joints and no locating pins (just six raised areas on the underside of the plane showing where the struts attach - four of which I have sanded off during the PSR process).  Fun.  If anyone has a Supermodel 1/72 SM81 and wants a suggestion on how to get everything in place and lined up then drop me a line.


*in my defence I had turned it off at the wall.

[NARSES2]

I bet the legislation was 110% approved by the electrical trades unions, notwithstanding the capabilities of the users, who'd been changing their own plugs for DECADES.

My white collar union merged with the EETPU (Electricians and plumbers) and then with the Engineering union so by the end of my time I was a card carrying electrician and plumber  That caused some fun when our office maintenance guy had a right go at me when he caught me changing a plug on a calculator. I "asked" to see his card and when he showed me a TGW one I showed him mine and said the next time I caught him doing anything electrical there would be trouble. Our office manager spent about an hour down the pub calming me down 

At one point British Steel had over 50 unions representing the workforce and I could tell some right demarcation stories  All changed gradually wen we were privatised.