Moments of Zen

[DogfighterZen]

Looks like it'll be very hard to do... printing on white decal paper will end up being more work than it's worth. I'd still have to cut the white bits from inside and around the numbers, which will be very hard to do. The kit's decals have clear carrier film that, even if not cut 100% , won't be as visible as the white, if not cut precisely. The biggest problem is the smaller serial number and also the stencils. But i have been offered help by another modeler who has an ALPS printer so there is light at the end of tunnel, guys. I'm not sure if i'm at liberty to reveal his identity so i'll be keeping it a secret until I have permission to do so.
Anyway, i ended up having to do what i don't like to do and that is to put the model aside because i'm not happy with the shade of blue I used on it so, i'll have to buy Tamiya's XF-8 flat blue the XF-9 hull red to mix up for the correct shade of blue so i'll be painting it again... 

[DogfighterZen]

Almost a month since my last update and a few things have happened in real life that have sucked the modelling mojo out me...
The most important one is that i've been dealing with a job hunt because the forklift driver gig isn't working out at all. The salary i'm getting at the sweet potato farm is low and i've been having problems getting to the end of the month with enough money to put gas in my car. This is mainly due to the fact that although the farm is closer to my house than the wine estate i left almost a year ago but it still requires me to drive almost 80km everyday and the price of gas has been higher than ever in Portugal so i end up spending almost as much as i did when i worked at the wine estate. With a lower salary, that's simply unbearable for me and lately, things have been coming to a critical point so, after sending my CV to a bunch of different companies during this past year, finally i've been called for an interview for a position in the state's public water supply company and yesterday i got the call saying i was chosen for the job so that issue has been sorted.
I've also had some health issues with my intestines which caused me a lot of pain and i had to stay home for 12 days last month and that implied a big cut on my already low salary. I've had to do a few exams and i'm still waiting to have a colonoscopy done to see if there is anything out of the ordinary on my insides.
Seeing that my dad already had a carcinoma removed from his intestine, i have to be extra careful and i have to be on top of the situation so i'm rather eager to do the exam.
These issues have affected my mental state a bit and i've been struggling to get motivated to do any modelling lately.

On a more positive note, i had mentioned on my last post that a fellow modeller who has an ALPS printer offered to help me with the Blue Thunder's decals and after a few weeks i have received an envelope full of everything i need to finish the BT. 
Honestly, these decals look like they were printed by a professional company like Cartograf.



This was a huge gift from a person who took interest in the build and contacted me by email offering his help, all for free. He even threw in a bunch of spares in the case i mess up some of them.
I am forever grateful for this gesture and i can't thank him enough.

I would also like to send a huge thank you to everyone else who have offered their help before, being that by suggesting alternatives, offering to send me similar decals from their stash or offering to print them for me. You guys are some of the best folks i've met online and i'm also very grateful for your offers.
The truth is that, as was discussed on previous posts, printing these on clear decal paper on normal ink/laser printers would probably not make them opaque enough to use over such a dark color and, printing on white decals would make them much thicker and all the cutting and trimming that would be required to eliminate the white edges would probably have me ruin all of the smaller numbers and stencils so it wouldn't make sense to have someone else go through the trouble and spend their time, materials and money on something that i could try myself.
I'm also going to mix up a couple of colors to see if i can achieve the correct shade of blue cause i'm still not happy with how it came out, seems to be too grey...



The other build that was stalled was my entry for the Recce GB, the Moroccan RF-5E. I have everything i need to finish that one so i guess i have enough on my hands for the foreseeable future. 

[TheChronicOne]

Nice, dude!  What a roller coaster, all of it. I think we came out the end with more good news than bad but I hope you get your medical stuff sorted then you'll REALLY be free and clear to continue with life.

[DogfighterZen]

Nice, dude!  What a roller coaster, all of it. I think we came out the end with more good news than bad but I hope you get your medical stuff sorted then you'll REALLY be free and clear to continue with life.

Thanks, brotha! 
Yeah, it's been a bit of a crappy period but it could be way worse so i can't really complain. There are some of us on here that have been going through stuff which is much worse.
Still, i admit that it the health issue has scared me a bit but these things are a part of life so, i can't be living in fear. I'm feeling much more positive and that's how i intend to stay, no matter what happens.

[TheChronicOne]

Glad to hear it! I admit to being a bit of a worry-wart and hypochondriac myself... sometimes when I'm not feeling right and not quite sure what's going on it just shuts me down. Takes a fair amount of gumption to press on. You're getting through that stuff and outsmarting the beast so keep it up! I know you'll REALLY feel better once that helo is painted the proper color.... . .. ...   

[DogfighterZen]

Glad to hear it! I admit to being a bit of a worry-wart and hypochondriac myself... sometimes when I'm not feeling right and not quite sure what's going on it just shuts me down. Takes a fair amount of gumption to press on. You're getting through that stuff and outsmarting the beast so keep it up! I know you'll REALLY feel better once that helo is painted the proper color.... . .. ...   

I think that everyone gets worried when health issues come up but i guess that some show it more than others and we all deal with these issues in different forms but i totally understand what you're saying. Took me a couple of days to pull myself together after my doc said i had a high probability of having the same problem my dad had. Still, my dad's been doing well since he had the "thing" removed so i can't let it get to me.
Regarding the BT, i'm a stubborn little runt by default so i have to keep trying till i get the color right and i'm sure it'll boost my mojo quite a bit.

[zenrat]

Keep on with the stubbornness.
nil illigetimi carborundum.

Good news on the new job.  Hope you enjoy doing whatever it is.

[DogfighterZen]

Keep on with the stubbornness.
nil illigetimi carborundum.

Good news on the new job.  Hope you enjoy doing whatever it is.

Wilco! Thanks for the support, mate!
I think my tasks will be interesting, they'll be divided into two areas. On one, i'll be learning a lot of new stuff concerning water supply equipment and everything that goes with taking care of the quality of the water that goes out to people's homes from the water treatment station. The other area will be doing readings of water counters in several locations and that sort of stuff. The salary is much better and i'll be getting a company vehicle. Besides that, i'll have more opportunities to move up in the company if i finish the 12th grade so that's another thing to get me motivated.
The only downside to it is that i'll be working in rotating shifts and days off but it won't be the first time i've had a job with that type of schedule, i know it's just a matter of reorganizing my life and getting used to it again so i'm not complaining. I'm really looking forward to this new job.

[kerick]

My brother started out literally working in the trenches for a city water plant. He stuck with it and ended up running the place. Also retired early with a nice pension so it sounds like something to stick with.

[NARSES2]

Good news about the job  As for the colonoscopy ? When I had mine I found the view of my insides fascinating, didn't feel a thing, but that may have been the effects of the pretty nurse holding my hand  They removed a couple of polyps while they were there and it's been fine since, touching wood.

[DogfighterZen]

My brother started out literally working in the trenches for a city water plant. He stuck with it and ended up running the place. Also retired early with a nice pension so it sounds like something to stick with.

That just comes to show how life is full of ups and downs but i bet your brother worked hard for that so he deserves every bit of it.

Good news about the job  As for the colonoscopy ? When I had mine I found the view of my insides fascinating, didn't feel a thing, but that may have been the effects of the pretty nurse holding my hand  They removed a couple of polyps while they were there and it's been fine since, touching wood.

Thank you, Chris! 
I've seen footage of my throat when i had an exam done during the first years of my band and it was amazing to see how the vocal cords work, gave a much better notion of what i was doing with my body to create the sounds coming out of my mouth. I imagine that what you saw may be similar in some aspects... maybe even more than i was thinking cause it just occurred to me that we also produce sounds from that part of the body...
I'm glad it went well for you, Chris. My dad had to be opened up but he's doing ok since that happened. Although i may have a higher than normal risk of having the same problem, i won't be worrying too much about cause there's not much i can do about it and if i do have it, it won't help to be worried about it all the time. I'll just take it day by day.

[kerick]

Good luck And good doctors will get you very far. Carry on!

[Pellson]

Almost a month since my last update and a few things have happened in real life that have sucked the modelling mojo out me...
The most important one is that i've been dealing with a job hunt because the forklift driver gig isn't working out at all. The salary i'm getting at the sweet potato farm is low and i've been having problems getting to the end of the month with enough money to put gas in my car. This is mainly due to the fact that although the farm is closer to my house than the wine estate i left almost a year ago but it still requires me to drive almost 80km everyday and the price of gas has been higher than ever in Portugal so i end up spending almost as much as i did when i worked at the wine estate. With a lower salary, that's simply unbearable for me and lately, things have been coming to a critical point so, after sending my CV to a bunch of different companies during this past year, finally i've been called for an interview for a position in the state's public water supply company and yesterday i got the call saying i was chosen for the job so that issue has been sorted.
I've also had some health issues with my intestines which caused me a lot of pain and i had to stay home for 12 days last month and that implied a big cut on my already low salary. I've had to do a few exams and i'm still waiting to have a colonoscopy done to see if there is anything out of the ordinary on my insides.
Seeing that my dad already had a carcinoma removed from his intestine, i have to be extra careful and i have to be on top of the situation so i'm rather eager to do the exam.
These issues have affected my mental state a bit and i've been struggling to get motivated to do any modelling lately.

On a more positive note, i had mentioned on my last post that a fellow modeller who has an ALPS printer offered to help me with the Blue Thunder's decals and after a few weeks i have received an envelope full of everything i need to finish the BT. 
Honestly, these decals look like they were printed by a professional company like Cartograf.



This was a huge gift from a person who took interest in the build and contacted me by email offering his help, all for free. He even threw in a bunch of spares in the case i mess up some of them.
I am forever grateful for this gesture and i can't thank him enough.

I would also like to send a huge thank you to everyone else who have offered their help before, being that by suggesting alternatives, offering to send me similar decals from their stash or offering to print them for me. You guys are some of the best folks i've met online and i'm also very grateful for your offers.
The truth is that, as was discussed on previous posts, printing these on clear decal paper on normal ink/laser printers would probably not make them opaque enough to use over such a dark color and, printing on white decals would make them much thicker and all the cutting and trimming that would be required to eliminate the white edges would probably have me ruin all of the smaller numbers and stencils so it wouldn't make sense to have someone else go through the trouble and spend their time, materials and money on something that i could try myself.
I'm also going to mix up a couple of colors to see if i can achieve the correct shade of blue cause i'm still not happy with how it came out, seems to be too grey...



The other build that was stalled was my entry for the Recce GB, the Moroccan RF-5E. I have everything i need to finish that one so i guess i have enough on my hands for the foreseeable future. 

Way to go, mate! It sounds as if you've turned things in a very positive way.

As for your health - the only thing you can do is check it up. You should do it, and ASAP as well, but there's no use worrying about things you can't do anything else about. So keep your head high and things will fall into their respective places. 

[DogfighterZen]

Good luck And good doctors will get you very far. Carry on!

Way to go, mate! It sounds as if you've turned things in a very positive way.

As for your health - the only thing you can do is check it up. You should do it, and ASAP as well, but there's no use worrying about things you can't do anything else about. So keep your head high and things will fall into their respective places. 

Thanks, guys!
My doc says i shouldn't be alarmed and stress about it but as i've recently turned 42, it's time to start paying more attention to these matters... and indeed, there's no point in worrying about the stuff i can't control so, it's a matter of focusing on what makes me feel good.
Believe it or not, you guys always play a big part in that, i don't call the folks on this forum my modelling family for nothing. It's how i've always felt about this community. There's always a good joke that makes me laugh and i get inspired by what i read here. I may spend some time without saying much but i normally come round to check on what everyone's up to and almost every time it cheers me up.

[NARSES2]

. and indeed, there's no point in worrying about the stuff i can't control so, it's a matter of focusing on what makes me feel good.

That is oh so true