Scooter's randomness- The Blob...er, Blog

scooter · March 05, 2015, 02:53:43 AM

Might as well take the plunge, but like Seadude, probably be few and far between posts. The primary project right now is to get my workspace/office set up, which is after SWMBO's. Once its up and to my liking, some of the projects I need to finish are-

1/35 modernized Koeningtiger for the Asiarama group build (two years late

)
1/48 F-61 Black Widow...which I'm thinking (functional?) contraprops to handle all the horsepower of its T-56s
1/24 NJSP Hurricane

And I was also thinking of a new project- 1/32 Boeing A-14 Kestrel, also with a functional contra-prop setup, and built off of Trumpy's new kit.

Captain Canada · March 05, 2015, 04:09:32 AM

Lovely ideas all. Especially the contra prop ideas.

scooter · March 10, 2015, 07:03:48 AM

One other long term project. Building the Bus in 1/24 scale, with complete RV interior. Because, frankly, I haven't seen too many school bus kits out there

Captain Canada · March 10, 2015, 07:51:49 AM

That would be a fun project ! Especially in 1:1 scale.

scooter · March 10, 2015, 08:55:50 AM

Quote from: Captain Canada on March 10, 2015, 07:51:49 AM
That would be a fun project ! Especially in 1:1 scale.

Oh yes, it is- especially when it comes to grinding off Grade 8 harden steel bolt heads (/sarcasm). I've never yet figured out why bus manufacturers (or at least International/Amtran) don't use nut plates instead of regular bolts. So much easier to work with. And if AM General, and every other green fleet manufacturer, can use them on combat vehicles that blown and shot up, they should be perfectly fine for hauling kids around.

Rheged · March 10, 2015, 09:48:35 AM

Quote from: scooter on March 10, 2015, 08:55:50 AM
Quote from: Captain Canada on March 10, 2015, 07:51:49 AM
That would be a fun project ! Especially in 1:1 scale.

Oh yes, it is- especially when it comes to grinding off Grade 8 harden steel bolt heads (/sarcasm). I've never yet figured out why bus manufacturers (or at least International/Amtran) don't use nut plates instead of regular bolts. So much easier to work with. And if AM General, and every other green fleet manufacturer, can use them on combat vehicles that blown and shot up, they should be perfectly fine for hauling kids around.

Combat vehicles ONLY have to cope with occasional enemy action (and the odd duff mechanic) School buses are on active service twice a day five days a week!......and possibly taking parties of elderly persons on outings on saturdays -------have you never come across the Hell's Grannies??

scooter · March 10, 2015, 10:18:08 AM

Quote from: Rheged on March 10, 2015, 09:48:35 AM
Combat vehicles ONLY have to cope with occasional enemy action (and the odd duff mechanic) School buses are on active service twice a day five days a week!......and possibly taking parties of elderly persons on outings on saturdays -------have you never come across the Hell's Grannies??

Yes, yes I have. I've even had them curse me out in multiple different languages when I was an EMT.

scooter · March 20, 2015, 12:56:33 PM

So, what have I been doing? Besides trying to survive my classes at college (its fun being the oldest [or almost the oldest] student in my classes

), working on the house and yard.

Of course, this gave me some moments of fun-

While I'm not my late father, who would have done it all in a day, with wood he'd have milled and dovetailed, and cut himself, I think its a pretty decent, mostly finished job done mainly with hand power tools.

kerick · March 20, 2015, 04:34:47 PM

Looks PDG to me! (Pretty Darn Good!) Is that oak flooring on the wall? Looks nice.
I just got done redoing the living room. Spousal unit ordered new furniture so I had to get it done before it was delivered.
I went back to college at 53 so I understand completely. College kids are not aware of anything that happened more than five years ago, tops. I did get appointed the geology department "class Dad". Only had to be boyfriend/girlfriend drama counselor once.

scooter · March 20, 2015, 05:27:57 PM

Quote from: kerick on March 20, 2015, 04:34:47 PM
Looks PDG to me! (Pretty Darn Good!) Is that oak flooring on the wall? Looks nice.

Yes it is, Armstrong oak flooring left by the previous tenant (gotta love zero cost). I plan on doing something similar with the master bath, with thinner flooring, to hide the obnoxious bright red paint

scooter · April 17, 2015, 02:46:39 PM

So...while taking a break from working on the house and getting the bus's battery charged, I managed to put together this in the closed beta for World of Warships. A very lucky run, with three kills in a Phoenix-class cruiser. FRAPS (what I use to record these, after the fight) isn't picking up system audio anymore. The klaxon came from the interwebs, and put to music by Richard Gibbs and Bear McCreary from nBSG.

kerick · April 17, 2015, 07:14:00 PM

Careful putting the wood near a place where it will get wet. Regular oak will turn black and Pergo type flooring will swell at the edges.

Captain Canada · April 17, 2015, 08:03:46 PM

Don't think I've ever seen a wooden back-splash before...looks good. And cheap !

Howard of Effingham · April 18, 2015, 06:08:09 AM

Quote from: scooter on March 10, 2015, 08:55:50 AM
Quote from: Captain Canada on March 10, 2015, 07:51:49 AM
That would be a fun project ! Especially in 1:1 scale.

Oh yes, it is- especially when it comes to grinding off Grade 8 harden steel bolt heads (/sarcasm). I've never yet figured out why bus manufacturers (or at least International/Amtran) don't use nut plates instead of regular bolts. So much easier to work with. And if AM General, and every other green fleet manufacturer, can use them on combat vehicles that blown and shot up, they should be perfectly fine for hauling kids around.

dunno if the USN/USMC still do it but in the 1980's old service buses [similar to these but with a bonnet] were regularly trucked out to some of the ranges in CA and NV for use as targets, especially at NAS Fallon istr. several of the arms and armor press books on say the NSWC et al have pictures of these in service OD very shot up.

scooter · April 18, 2015, 06:24:57 AM

Quote from: kerick on April 17, 2015, 07:14:00 PM
Careful putting the wood near a place where it will get wet. Regular oak will turn black and Pergo type flooring will swell at the edges.

I make sure it gets wiped down whenever it does get wet.

Quote from: Howard of Effingham on April 18, 2015, 06:08:09 AM
dunno if the USN/USMC still do it but in the 1980's old service buses [similar to these but with a bonnet] were regularly trucked out to some of the ranges in CA and NV for use as targets, especially at NAS Fallon istr. several of the arms and armor press books on say the NSWC et al have pictures of these in service OD very shot up.

I know Warren Grove Range has a bunch of old civilian vehicles they use, not so much as bombing/strafing targets but as set dressing targets. Helps give both the TACPs and the aircrews a more "realistic" feel.