Chronic's Research and Aeronautics Project (C.R.A.P.)

[TheChronicOne]

 

Thank you very much!  It's going to be an interesting experience and I appreciate the support. I have tons of crutches lined up so why not a couple more yeah?     

[TheChronicOne]

Hmmmmmmmmmm.....    back to mowing lawns today but it's not going to be remotely hot so perhaps I won't be all worn out later and actually get some model building done.     

With this in mind, I'd like to fire up the Hi-Fi and warm up my primer and get the F-52 primed up. It's ready, I do believe. There are lots of other things to be done on it like paint the gear, paint the exhaust stuff, and finish working on the weapons. I don't care how much of this gets done because I'm out of all the confusing stuff now so if this sits awhile it won't matter.

The firetruck will be finished today. It has 5-6 transfers that go on and I need to paint the interior of the cab and paint some detail work on the tank part.

Time to finish off phase I of PSR on the 737 body. Found a couple spots I want to put some glazing putty on and sand down before I prime it. Mainly areas where doors glued on and wee bit of work on the windscreen area. It'll be primed up at some point and I'd like to do the wings, tailplanes, and gear doors at the same time then I can start painting on everything (or or PSR on the fuselage if necessary.)

Finally started a racing GB build and I suspect I'll work on that today. I could get done with construction all in one day I imagine.

[TheChronicOne]

Praise be, I finished a build!      Things at work are starting to relax so it's getting a lil easier to work on builds again.   


So, this time, it's a wee fire truck!      Earlier in the year...  about two months ago now??  .. ...........   I built the blue fuel truck. There are three vehicles in a kit made by Heller (Bobcat edition) 1/72 Airport vehicles and some little figues. I have one to go, the most complicated one... some sort of yellow thing that has a couple trailers on it. I dunno what the hell the damn thing is....  I'm guessing a portable APU or something. ANYWAY I'll get to that later, for now, the truck:













Up close, with flash pictures give it a firey orange appearance which looks great!  But uhhh.. it's not orange. My garbage pictures here at least give us an idea....     I have to re-learn how to take pictures every time I finish something I swear..... 


Next up, I got to playing around. I never did quite achieve the results I wanted to with the pics of my 1-11. At the same time, I forgot to take any with the only other 1/144 scale airliner I have, so I took the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and for a lazy-arsed attempt with half regard to lighting and none to settings, I actually managed a couple decent pics so check 'em out:




You can really see in this one how my camera struggles with bright colors. The 1-11 is washed out whereas the 734 looks pretty decent.




Inexplicably, this one isn't too bad for BOTH subjects.. 





Like I said.... a couple are decent pictures..   



Not much else to report. I did some more work on the Saudi 737 but didn't really progress it any. Some of the seam on the roof split so I had to repair that..

[Rick Lowe]

There's been some good progress there, Brad - keep at it!

I also want to add my condolences on the loss of Mimi (sorry to bring it all up again... ).

Also to add my vote and encouragement on the Smoking Cessation Programme. Speaking as an Asthmatic, being able to breathe easily is one of Life's Little Pleasures we often take for granted. It really opens our eyes to what the alternative can be... and don't get me started on Pneumonia - avoid at All Costs is my best advice!

Carry on, Dude 

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks. I sure do miss my baby.    One thing I really looked forward to when I'd get home at the end of the day is visiting with my fluffy girl.

Smoking thing...  blech. I've already started getting things in order "early" so I can make the best attempt possible but so much stuff is falling apart all of a sudden it may be awhile.

For now, nothing is going right. Money is late, people won't return my calls, and I'm racking up debt borrowing money because of the aforementioned late bill payment. Not only that, my people in OKC have waited around and wasted so much time that I have been unable to submit a FULL bill so now a hell of a lot money that I was expecting isn't even going to get here until NEXT YEAR. Needless to say all this garbage has royally screwed up and ruined any and all plans I had so It's back to the drawing board. Hell, I can't even come up with a contingency plan because I have no clue what the hell is going on. Wrong time of year for this bullshit.

I pay my bills on time. Why can't other people?


EDIT:   YUP, TYPICAL. I just checked the mail and the stupid thing isn't here today either. Seeing as how tomorrow is Saturday... if it doesn't show up tomorrow then the earliest I'll see it is next Tuesday.     

[TheChronicOne]

I'm going to try to kick this lousy mood out the door and work on something this afternoon, but what? The wind is blowing the wrong direction to do certain things and other things I don't WANT to do (like paint wee landing gear     )  so I think I'll ruminate on a new project for a little while and later I can start actual work on something after I give it more thought (ATR-72 needs some detail painting done, so I might jump into that).

I have a couple of things in the back of my mind like Laotian Nomad, twin-fuselage Stiletto, and even a CAR model. I can't seem to find that one. I may have stuck it in with the piles of stuff I plan to sell. I have... oh I don't know... 20+ kits now sitting around I'm getting rid of. Need to get on that... BUT ANYWAY.    I've also a little bitty airliner...  Sukhoi Super Jet 100 (or something like that)  that I might start. Reason I'm thinking about this one is because it's Zvesda and I want to see what they're like. It's also, supposedly, a simpler build and I'm still trying to crawl before I walk with the whole airliners stuff. I can't seem to stop butchering the damn things so before I start on some 4 engined behemoth I'd like to have at least one successful "little" build.     I mean... the ones I've done are successful in many ways, but each one was a constant battle and I feel like I still need to polish my skills a bit before I jump into something more involved.   

So those are my thoughts on that. I'm going to wrap this up and take a look at the X3 Stilleto kit(s). They're 1/144 and TINY TINY TINY man, the wings especially are so thin. This will require some scratch building on my part so I don't know if something this delicate is a good place for me practice my skills or not.     It's worth a look, however!


TTYL   

[TheChronicOne]

Bah.  I tried. Wound up crawling in bed instead. 

5 hours later and now I'm... just sitting here again.    But.. I think I'd like to try again and look at my Stileto planes. Having thoughts about the wings; whether or not it would be a good idea to have larger ones, for various reasons. If so, I'd like to make a cranked type of design similar to whats on a Voodoo (because I think it would look cool). I wish I knew a little more about the ins and outs of making a twin fuselage plane.  IF the wing area of the middle wing were the same as the individual wings separately, would I even need more wing outboard? Before I get TOO carried away with all this mind numbing type of detail I need to actually look at the stuff and decided if I can even make an attempt. 

Stand by for pictures of it.   NEAT stuff, man. It's all clear plastic, has glorious fine detail, itty bitty metal probes, and other noteworthy features I'm sure. I took a quick glance at it when it arrived so I do know this much.     I also remember being filled with dread, though! I didn't get started on it right away because my first impression was that what I have planned for it would be impossible to pull off at this stage. But..... we'll see! I'm looking at it again with new eyes so maybe it won't be so scary this time. 


If I don't wind up doing the Twin Stiletto, then.............. good news!!!! I have a "Consolation Prize."   A 1/144 scale F-4E Phantom to be done in British Caledonian livery to serve as a high speed transport/courier. Very similar to the Twin Stiletto idea, in fact!! Good thing about the Phantom is I won't have to modify anything and I even have the decorations for it all lined out. Probably much more my speed....  if I do the other, it'll be some pretty heavy scratch building, and on a level I've never tried before. I'd have to use actual real-deal styrene sheet and all that jive. 

For now, time to finish making supper and shake these cobwebs loose. 

[TheChronicOne]

OK!  I've made up my mind. This thing is just too nice for me to maul up. I think I could manage the construction, but, I don't think I could manage to scribe the panel lines and stuff like that. My "new additions" would stick out like a sore thumb! I'm not about to practice on it, either. I'll save this project for another day.



Best I can do as far as pictures. I couldn't bring myself to break the seal on the bag! 

This thing is really neat... it even has engines and detail that sometimes isn't even on 1/72 stuff, let alone 1/144. Looks to be one hell of a nice kit(s). Construction looks really easy, as well, were I to simply build them OOB.


With that said and done, I've managed to actually find my little F-4E and also the Sukhoi Superjet so I'm going to look at them and pick one or maybe both to start.

Lastly, I'd like to take a look at my Fennec kit. It's all sealed up but perhaps I'll look up a review or someone's build page and see how well it goes together and if the kit itself isn't a nightmare, I might consider starting it instead of one of these others.


I'll get it all figured out eventually!!   

[TheChronicOne]

I've settled on the T-28 Nomad and........ 

A CL-604.  (1/144 Revell)     It's a lil business jet type thing.

I'm 'blown away' because when I looked into the "CL-604" (By Revell) I found that the kit was of an Eastman Kodak bird. Well, hell, my uncle was an important part of Eastman Kodak for many years. He was a chemist for them. He even patented a thing or two with them.  I can't help but wonder if he ever took a quick flight on this thing?!   

Either way, it's pretty damn cool to discover that my model kit is cooler than I thought it was.    That sealed the deal right there!! 

[Rick Lowe]

Brad, if you're talking about the Heller T-28, there's this:

https://modelingmadness.com/review/viet/previews/heller/80279.htm

Course, if you read a book called The Ravens, you may find a bit of inspiration... Lao ground attack pilots in the Vietnam war.

HTH

[DogfighterZen]

That couple of airliners looks really good, Brad! I've been watching you build these things and became more interested in them because of your builds, might even build a civil plane one of these days, might even go with a Cessna 150 or some kind of biz jet... obviously, i'll have to buy one for that. 

[TheChronicOne]

Brad, if you're talking about the Heller T-28, there's this:

https://modelingmadness.com/review/viet/previews/heller/80279.htm

Course, if you read a book called The Ravens, you may find a bit of inspiration... Lao ground attack pilots in the Vietnam war.

HTH

That's the one, thanks!!!   Doesn't look like too bad of a kit.

That couple of airliners looks really good, Brad! I've been watching you build these things and became more interested in them because of your builds, might even build a civil plane one of these days, might even go with a Cessna 150 or some kind of biz jet... obviously, i'll have to buy one for that. 

Careful!  When you make one, you'll be hooked and want to make dozens more!

[TheChronicOne]

It's been days since I worked on anything. Just haven't been up to it because of all this mess right now with work and all that.  But, I'm determined to have a good day and since I picked out a couple new projects to start I need to get some work done on the stuff already going. With that in mind, I want to get SOMETHING done on all three current projects, whether it's a little or a lot. Just SOMETHING to advance the builds.

So, on the Boeing 737-200 I would like to do a little more of the PSR work. I think I left off last time after having put some more filler on the windscreen area. I need to sand that down then check the doors. I was going to put some stuff on those as well but I can't remember if I have already. So I can do those then I suppose I can prime it (or not, I know I'm getting low on primer and of course I can't go buy any but whatever).

Same sort of story on the F-52. I think I can prime the plane itself but it depends on how much primer I have. If not, I can work some on the ordnance. I need to clean up the seams on that stuff then it, too, is ready for primer.

Lastly, the ATR-72!   This is the one I'd like to get the most done on. I'd like to paint some of that detail work I was talking about then I can start the decals process. Should be interesting because the decals are some weird type of stuff from Nazca. I'm going to have to read up on it and make sure I do them correctly. I know they all have to be trimmed down right to the edge of the decoration. I figure if I can the cheatlines and windows on I can call it quits for the day.


After all this is done, I can look at my Laotian Nomad then have a look at the little Lear jet.     The Lear jet I'm really looking forward to because it so many ways it's a new type of thing I've never built before. I was looking at the parts yesterday, though, and MAN.... the stuff is scale, for sure. The nose gear is a little larger than the width of hair. Freaky stuff... I'll try to get a picture of that later next to a toothpick and a wee sewing pin/needle. I think the needle is thicker even and the toothpick damn sure is larger. 

We'll see how it goes. Once I get back from work (if I even make it, I may not have enough fuel to get across town but I think I left enough in the tank for today) I have to beg and borrow some money just so I can find some groceries, then I'll have to go get them. By time I'm done with all this I might be in a garbage mood again.    I know I could be in a much worse situation but who in the hells has FUN whilst being broke and going into more and more debt every day just to be able to EAT?!  Not real happy about this. I ruminated last time about charging these people a 10% late fee. After all, they would charge 10% for sending me the money early so it's only fair, yeah? They have entire month to pay the damn bill, there's no excuse for it being later. Especially not 3-4 times a year. But whatever....     


TTYL 

[TheChronicOne]

Ha! I love this hobby... .      So I'm sitting around working on my little airliners and stuff when I see someone liking my pictures on Facebook from months and months ago.....     my pics of the 1/200  Polet Cargo Airlines "Spruce Goose."  So I'm wondering why someone is going so far back to look through my stuff?!   So I looked at dudes profile and he's a Slavic fellow that works at Polet.       Seems he was using the search function in the model groups to look for stuff from his company and found my build. That explains the likes on months old posts on two different actual pages. Fascinating stuff. Kind of warms the soul a bit I guess when people find things THEY like and also to see that people are interested in stuff even if it's not the most current "thing."

I thought that was pretty neat....  ol' boy must have been thinking, "Wow what the hell is that, we never had THAT here?!"    So amusing.


As far as plans, I've managed to stay on task and do everything I wanted to. In fact, as far as amount of work, I've actually done more than I thought I would so I'm quite pleased with today's progress so far.

For now, I've done quite a bit of putty and PSR stuff on the 737 and it's ready for primer. PRoblem is, I ran out of primer today and no telling when I'll be able to get more. What little money I manage to scrape together right now disappears instantly just to keep going. Fuel, food, bills, etc.



I can paint the tail planes and landing gear. The rest needs priming and I've lost the gear doors. Not sure where they are but I'm sure they'll show up.


ATR-72. I've painted the bottom portions of the engine nacelles black. Oddly, on all the pre-made models of this thing and even on the Nazca decal instructions they're all missing these black bottoms but they're definitely on all the photos I've seen of REAL aircraft. This isn't the first time I've noticed something like this. How is it that such a novice and mediocre modeller spot these types of things and so many others don't?  Weird man. Twice now that I've found what would appear to be a glaring mistake on so many other models and bits of reference that are clearly shown to be otherwise of mountains of actual photos.

Also paint the red/green nav lights. No drama and bloviating about those, though. 







Next up, I have primed the F-52 Ultra Hornet:



No more nasty pinkish purple color. 

[Rick Lowe]

You'd be amazed at how quickly and often Airline liveries are 'tweaked'... listening to the fella that makes NZ airliner decals, it's almost a case of "This is the scheme between July and Sept '15, when they added a splodge on the tail, which was gone 3 months later; then the scheme changed again 6 months after...", or similar!
And they change all the time, and at different times, when the individual aircraft goes through maintenance.

I always have to look at a photo 3 or 4 times, and make notes, or I'll see something I missed when the model is done... and even then it's no guarantee.

It's cool someone likes your older stuff, it can make you take another look and appreciate it afresh, yourself. 


And hang in there, things will get better... or so I keep telling myself...