Zenrat's Flying Circus

scooter · June 16, 2021, 10:24:02 AM

Quote from: zenrat on June 16, 2021, 05:28:43 AM
Mrs z and I then went and got innoculated. I await with interests any side effects.

SWMBO and I had the Pfizer\BionTech jabs. Neither of us had our X-genes activate. Much to our mutual disgust

zenrat · June 17, 2021, 03:29:34 AM

Both Mrs z and I have had nagging headaches requiring the taking of over the counter painkillers.
We have both felt tired all day.
Mrs z has felt cold all afternoon.
At about 16:30 I started making rookie mistakes at the bench such as glueing parts on upside-down and had trouble understanding the instructions (although it was a Hobby Boss kit).

No superpowers yet. But i'm still hopeful.

The Drag-Rap is very nearly finished. Another rigging line let go overnight which was annoying but easilly fixed. For once I remembered to weight the fronts of the floats...

...only to discover I didn't really need to. Although if I build a transport cradle for it that might change.

NARSES2 · June 17, 2021, 06:10:44 AM

Quote from: Old Wombat on June 16, 2021, 08:13:00 AM
My offsider at work today (a Welshman) had his yesterday &, also, felt lethargic today but not, it seems, as badly as I did.

Now't to do with Covid, the Taff's had a good win at the Euro's yesterday

zenrat · June 18, 2021, 05:03:22 AM

Another day of low grade, can't quite put a finger on it, under the weather feeling. Still, i'm grateful I have nothing worse happened. Although X-gene activation would be nice. Teleportation maybe, or flying, or #11 scalpel blade from my forefinger tip.

What's this Hobby Boss kit he's working on all of you will (OK, one or two of you might) be wondering.
It's a BA20M armoured car. I'm building it OOB as part of an "East meets West in Poland 1939" diorama.

BA-20M Armoured Car WIP 18-06-2021 01 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
Its intricate but goes together well. It has fine detail but avoids the too detailed parts breakdown manufacturers such as Takom employ to drive us insane. Accuracy is however questionable. They have gone to great lengths to give you spark plugs to glue to the cylinder head...
...but only two (its a four cylinder engine) and of those only one is where it should be. The engine also, while having distributor, coil, fan belt etc has no inlet manifold what so ever.
The brakes were rod operated drums which are reproduced faithfully with all the delicate rods and linkages for the front wheels plus those for the rear right up to a point in front of the rear wheels where they just stop.
It's like they researched detail from photographs without input from someone like a mechanic or engineer or restorer (or modeller) who would have said "hang on, where's the..."

BA-20M Armoured Car WIP 18-06-2021 02 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

NARSES2 · June 18, 2021, 06:14:54 AM

I like these between the War's armoured cars, looking forward to it

Rick Lowe · June 18, 2021, 03:58:44 PM

Rapide has come out well, Fred -

WRT the ratlines, BNA have a generic PE set that may be of use?

zenrat · June 19, 2021, 04:59:59 AM

Thanks folks.

WRT ratlines Rick I can see 1/350 & 1/700 but this thing is 1/96. It's a biggie.

Hardly any modelling today. Slept in (possibly still a result of the first AZ jab - maybe my X-gene has activated and my superpower is dozing?) followed by an extra long dog walk via the coffee shop. After clearing the remaining parts of the 1WGB build I then spent the rest of the day on the construction of our Perzebo (or is it a Gagola?).
This construction is akin to model building in that when, at the end of the day I think back on what I have built it doesn't seem very much.
$:-\$

NARSES2 · June 19, 2021, 06:10:05 AM

Quote from: zenrat on June 19, 2021, 04:59:59 AM

This construction is akin to model building in that when, at the end of the day I think back on what I have built it doesn't seem very much.
$:-\$

But at least as you are building it yourself you are not at the end of the day wondering how you paid someone else, so much to not apparently actually do much

frank2056 · June 19, 2021, 12:26:38 PM

The HobbyBoss BA-20, like most HobbyBoss kits, is over-engineered. They spent so much time adding rivets and bits where no one would see them that they neglected to correct some of the dimensional issues in the kit.

At least the body is in one piece on this kit. I built the ancient RPM version and the guy who designed the rear parts wasn't on speaking terms with the guy who designed the sides, or the roof.

zenrat · June 20, 2021, 04:02:29 AM

Thanks for the info.
I like the level of detail. They've managed to provide it without too onerous a parts breakdown. It's just irritating that they went so far and then gave up.
This detail is right where you can see it by picking up the model and turning it over. Better (IMO) that than a box with nothing but four wheels under it.
I have no idea if it is dimensionally correct or not. Looks OK to me but what do i know..

Drag-Rap is finished and i've taken some beauty pics. However I'm thinking it really needs a beaching trolley so i'll have to design and scratch one up.

De Havilland Dragon Rapide - 20 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

De Havilland Dragon Rapide - 9 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
It also needs some way for the passengers to get up from the dock to the door. A boarding ladder between the fuselage and the float.

NARSES2 · June 20, 2021, 05:37:54 AM

Does look good

ericr · June 20, 2021, 12:53:56 PM

Flyer · June 20, 2021, 09:17:41 PM

zenrat · June 21, 2021, 01:41:04 AM

Thanks folks.

Weaver · June 21, 2021, 02:10:06 AM

The Dragone Rapide looks nice.

Quote from: zenrat on June 18, 2021, 05:03:22 AM
Its intricate but goes together well. It has fine detail but avoids the too detailed parts breakdown manufacturers such as Takom employ to drive us insane. Accuracy is however questionable. They have gone to great lengths to give you spark plugs to glue to the cylinder head...
...but only two (its a four cylinder engine) and of those only one is where it should be. The engine also, while having distributor, coil, fan belt etc has no inlet manifold what so ever.
The brakes were rod operated drums which are reproduced faithfully with all the delicate rods and linkages for the front wheels plus those for the rear right up to a point in front of the rear wheels where they just stop.
It's like they researched detail from photographs without input from someone like a mechanic or engineer or restorer (or modeller) who would have said "hang on, where's the..."

That sounds hauntingly familiar, having got part way through a Trumpter RF-8 aerosan. It too has no carburettor, but that's okay, because the exhaust pipe plugs nicely into the inlet manifold...

Now I KNOW they did that from a drawing because there are none of these things left, and I've seen the same drawing where the one passes behind the other. That's not really an excuse though, because five minutes of research reveals that the engine in question is basically a Ford Model A and there a gazillion detail pics of those on the net...