Moments of Zen

[zenrat]

Venus is bright in the Western sky after sunset at the moment.  I'd love a telescope To have a proper look at it.

[DogfighterZen]

Venus is bright in the Western sky after sunset at the moment.  I'd love a telescope To have a proper look at it.

Isn't it the first star in the night sky? It's always so bright. Unfortunately, i have a small time window to look at it as it becomes visible in the west at a low point in the sky and quickly goes over the horizon but still, i know I'm gonna have some fun looking at it. 

[kerick]

Take a look at Jupiter when you can. Even a low power telescope will allow you to see three or four of its moons.

[DogfighterZen]

Take a look at Jupiter when you can. Even a low power telescope will allow you to see three or four of its moons.

Will do, Ken. Thanks for the tip.  I might a chance tonight, seems like the sky will be clear. 

[frank2056]

Venus orbits closer to the Sun than the Earth, so sometimes it's visible in the mornings when it's on one side of its orbit and a few weeks later in the evenings when it's on the other side of its orbit. It's remarkably boring through a telescope - it's a round, bright featureless circle, or it goes through phases like the Moon - but completely featureless.

Jupiter is far more interesting;  the moons should be visible with small binoculars (or maybe even a phone camera, zoomed in). It's even better in a telescope.  Some people with extraordinary eyesight can see the moons of Jupiter with their naked eye - they're certainly bright enough, but the glare from Jupiter makes them difficult to see.

Saturn should be visible as well, although you'll need good binoculars or a small telescope to see the rings, or its largest moon, Titan.

[DogfighterZen]

Venus orbits closer to the Sun than the Earth, so sometimes it's visible in the mornings when it's on one side of its orbit and a few weeks later in the evenings when it's on the other side of its orbit. It's remarkably boring through a telescope - it's a round, bright featureless circle, or it goes through phases like the Moon - but completely featureless.

Jupiter is far more interesting;  the moons should be visible with small binoculars (or maybe even a phone camera, zoomed in). It's even better in a telescope.  Some people with extraordinary eyesight can see the moons of Jupiter with their naked eye - they're certainly bright enough, but the glare from Jupiter makes them difficult to see.

Saturn should be visible as well, although you'll need good binoculars or a small telescope to see the rings, or its largest moon, Titan.

Wow... i didn't know that Jupiter and it's moons were so easily visible... looks like i have a whole  universe to discover. 

so, regarding models, i've resumed work on the Blue thunder but i'm also thinking about entering the recce/surveillance GB with the AFV 1/48 RF-5E TigerEye i've got in the stash.
I originally bought the kit mainly to steal some parts for the other AFV kits i've got and i was going to put the rest of the kit aside for a later date but seems like this is the right opportunity to build that kit as it comes in the box... i'm still thinking about it but, with my current building speed, i may end up biting off more than i can chew with this...

[kerick]

Take a look at Jupiter when you can. Even a low power telescope will allow you to see three or four of its moons.

Will do, Ken. Thanks for the tip.  I might a chance tonight, seems like the sky will be clear. 

There are a couple of different apps for smartphones to help you identify stars and planets plus the website "Find the station" to tell when the ISS is passing over.

[DogfighterZen]

Take a look at Jupiter when you can. Even a low power telescope will allow you to see three or four of its moons.

Will do, Ken. Thanks for the tip.  I might a chance tonight, seems like the sky will be clear. 

There are a couple of different apps for smartphones to help you identify stars and planets plus the website "Find the station" to tell when the ISS is passing over.

Yup, this Celestron brought a nice software package and links to download an app for that purpose but i haven't done it yet. I normally see some satellites going over but i'm pretty sure they'll be very hard to catch on the telescope only because of their speed, they go by at a pretty decent rate and, from spotting them with the naked eye to getting the telescope lined up to intercept their path, i'm pretty sure i'll only have a few seconds to try to focus and then follow them along till they disappear over the horizon so, if the ISS goes by at the same speeds, it'll be a bit of a challenge to get a good look at it. But i'll give it a try anyway.

Well, regarding models, yesterday i took the afternoon to clean and reorganize my bench as it was a big pile of clutter instead of a modelling space.
From bits of scrap styrene left over from the last builds to tools and paint jars all over the place, it was almost too much to even work on a small model, let alone the 1/32 kit of the Blue Thunder.
Also went through the stash to dig out a couple of boxes.

I'm thinking of joining the Recce GB with the only model i have of a recce platform, which the RF-5E Tigereye. I've bought a few of the AFV 1/48 family of F-5s because of the options included in those kits and their quality.
This is one of the kits i only bought to steal some parts off of it and i wasn't really thinking of building it anytime soon but seeing that the recce GB is on and i really want to start reducing the stash (so i can justify buying more kits ), and it's something i normally wouldn't do, why not?
Besides, i'm not sure i can dream up a backstory in which the Portuguese would've bought RF-5Es so it'll probably go to another operator so, that's a good change from what i normally do.
I'll have to do some more research to find out what country would be a plausible user so i'm not starting the kit right away.
F-5s are one of my favorite jet fighter designs ever so i know i'll be happy to include the Tigereye in my collection and it looks like it'll also be painted in a type of camo that normally wouldn't think off so, i see nothing but positives regarding this build.
Work on the Blue Thunder will keep going and today i'll be attaching a bunch of parts to the fuselage.

[NARSES2]

Well, regarding models, yesterday i took the afternoon to clean and reorganize my bench as it was a big pile of clutter instead of a modelling space.
From bits of scrap styrene left over from the last builds to tools and paint jars all over the place, it was almost too much to even work on a small model, let alone the 1/32 kit of the Blue Thunder.

And how long before it gets like that again ?  I clean my modelling area up quite frequently and have a complete re-organisation once a year, but it's still messy again in a week or so 

[DogfighterZen]

And how long before it gets like that again ?  I clean my modelling area up quite frequently and have a complete re-organisation once a year, but it's still messy again in a week or so 

I guess it depends on what i'm building. If it's something that involves a lot of scratchbuilding and PSR sessions, i'll quickly make a mess of things with the dust and styrene bits all over the bench, computer keyboard, in the coffee cup...
In reality, i try to keep my A4 cutting mat clear of debris so i clean it almost every day that i get some modelling done but around it are a bunch of Tamiya paints jars and most of the basic tools for building so, i normally only get everything organized again when i finish a model.
I had a bunch of rubbish left from the FA-50's work mixed with the Blue Thunder's parts and i wanted to have everything in sight and separated from anything that isn't to be used on this build.
I know i'll have to make some more room for the new build on the bench, the 1/48 RF-5E for the recce GB cause it's also a bigger kit... 

[NARSES2]

You know you've got a messy bench when after struggling to fit a part to a kit you give up and get the instructions out only to realise the part was from another kit completely 

[DogfighterZen]

You know you've got a messy bench when after struggling to fit a part to a kit you give up and get the instructions out only to realise the part was from another kit completely 

I've never had that problem but i believe it's bound to happen one of these days. My main problem is struggling to have the kit on the bench and being able to have the instructions laid out without covering the model itself. My workspace isn't very big, it's computer desk and I normally work on the retractable part for the keyboard and mouse and I normally put the sprues or remaining parts on the top level of the desk, where my laptop, lamp, speakers and printer are so, it easily gets cluttered and I have to keep the instructions on the drawer on the side of the desk.
If only I could stop from putting a bunch of paint jars all over both levels but i'm always too lazy to put them away when I finish a build...

[NARSES2]

My main problem is struggling to have the kit on the bench and being able to have the instructions laid out without covering the model itself.

I know what you mean. I have a similar problem mainly because of a lack of usable space, but compounded by me eyesight issues. 

[Old Wombat]

I have that problem solved, now!



Crappy image cropping but it's a reading stand.

[Nick]

My main problem is struggling to have the kit on the bench and being able to have the instructions laid out without covering the model itself.

I know what you mean. I have a similar problem mainly because of a lack of usable space, but compounded by me eyesight issues. 

I've seen workbenches where they have the instructions pinned up on the wall or a clipboard.