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

[zenrat]

I like the look of the Yak.
Definitely appears to be one of A Model's better kits.

Glad your back is feeling better.  Mines decided to come out in sympathy and has been giving me gyp all day.  I think it's due to twisting and lunging across the counter at work to read the post code on a customers parcel.  I'm carefull when I lift and bend but can catch myself out with things like this.  It's not bad enough to lay me up but is annoying and I am applying heat packs and looking forward to bedtime.

Funny how it works, right? You'd think something like picking up a big bag of dog food or carrying bricks around would be the source of such a thing when asking someone how they threw their back out and how they got so crippled up for 3 days. "Man you must have been lifting some big heavy stuff."  But no... it can be something like leaning over or stepping wrong. It's the sudden shift.... or whatever. I can lift a bag of grass and toss it in the dumpster if I'm careful about it... but if I brush up against a cobweb it's game over. 

Rest up!! I always recommend it. It's always a great excuse to goof off, too. "Was going to clean the such and such but I'll just work on me builds instead. " 

First time I put it out badly was through sneezing.

If you know a kit has a bad rep then you go into it with your eyes open expecting to put in some effort.  Trouble is when you get excited by the box art (and A Model do some great box art) and don't know it's rep and expect it to be easy.

[TheChronicOne]

Yeah buddy, ... the artwork IS pretty choice...   I just wish they had better boxes.    Everytime I get one of these types I take everything and put it into another kit box. I've saved 3-4 good ones of the traditional variety for this reason. One is my 1/480 Galaxy box, another is the 737 box, etc.



F-52, USSF:




It's going to get some nice, black space camo. US Roundels because they would be same and I just got a big pile of Luftwaffe letters and numbers to make the "USSF" and other things. It's going to be GLORIOUS. 

I guess this makes #4 build going on.    I'm in a race to be the first person on the planet to produce a USSF Fighter. 

I imagine I'm far from the only person scheming on this right now , however...     The more the merrier, I hope to start seeing USSF build popping up on the net soon whether the real USSF ever gets off the ground (hehehehehe) or not.

[TheChronicOne]

Oh man, I just realized I have been forgetting to update my finished builds thread. I'll have to do that later today. Note to self. .. .



Here's the stuff from this kit. Impressive pile of plastic!  The kits are a bit pricey, but I can see why.


Side view. Bag like 6" thick.     VERY BIGLY.














I'm still contemplating on the black space-camo but I'm going to do a sort of zig-zag type affair to make a disruptive pattern. It'll wrap-around the entire aircraft and I'm thinking what I'll do is clear it in gloss and matte both to get different shades/textures for a varied finish. The disruptive pattern and difference in sheen ought to make for some pretty cool looking, futuristic and also plausible space-camo. Other things like intakes... not so sure... perhaps some sort of darkish red type color or orange or something. I dunno. This stuff is typically painted lighter colors to aid in maintenance and spotting leaks and stuff I do believe so I'd like to keep that them going but "futurize" it a bit. Who knows, though, I might go with the really light grey or white or whatever. We'll see.

Now... I don't know anything about macross or this plane. I seem to recall something about space so I'm hoping this is a space plane and will have things like thrusters and the like molded in to explain manueverability in a vacuum. I'll have to work up some fancy bullshit to explain how it gets from the surface all the way into space (will require a tanker at some point, I know that much!  ) but I'll get that sorted soon enough. I'm going to dig into Macross and this specific plane a bit and do some research to see if I can get a little help in solidifying the story. I'm also going to have to figure out just how far into the future this will be. If we look strictly at the number system then it could well be a couple hundred years before we get from 35 to 52 but I'm thinking we're going to be a lot closer to 15-50 years. The number I have rolling around in my head so far is 2039.



In other news... what should be the last round of putty on the BAC 111 has been put on and I'll sand it off later. If I don't get too crazy and sand away too much I should be able to prime it one last time then start the white.

[TheChronicOne]

BAC 111 looks good for primer. Snapped off a main gear so I put it back and also extended and put the nose gear back on. Then, I reinforced the main gear because I'm not trying to keep fussing with them and they only have one connection point OOB. So, just need to prime again then I can start painting it!







Spitfire is having some mending done:




Pic of the detail because I might lose a bunch and will need to put it back. I'll try to tape it off but no guarantees.



So, the F-RSIN ATR-72...... the other night I got start cleaning up the fuselage halves and the wings. This plastic is SOLID stuff and it takes a lot of extra time and elbow grease. This is going to be one very time consuming aspect of this build but quite necessary. No matter, I enjoy this type of work for the most part because you can really see and make a difference in the end product. 


Getting better already!!


Not too shab, not too shabby 't'all.

I may work on this some more this evening but for now I want to get the BAC-111 primed and sitting to dry and also am about to get started on the Amodel Yak-53. I'd like to study the directions a bit, start to clip things out and get them cleaned up with sanding/filing, and start some sort of construction on it. I also may get started doing the same thing to the USSF F-52 Space Fighter (last post on the previous page). 

[TheChronicOne]

OK the BAC-111 has been primed again..............and looks like a million bucks!!!! YEAH BUDDY.  So it's ready for white rattle can whenever I feel like messing with it. The gear are all still attached, too, so we're starting to be on the winning side of this one. 


But here's the cool thing.. I stumbled upon a model-building Easter Egg! I've built up a bigazz pile of kits so I know this isn't normal.

So anyway... someone scribed, into the bottom side of the cockpit floor, "Hptm 'o1."  How cool is that. They even put a little bird... 





I would have never seen it had I not decided to start wallowing out the hole for the control stick from the under side. It's un necessary and most would just do it from the top down and call it good.

I guess it was whoever put the molds together or maybe the person who did the bulk of the research and measuring and all that. Then again it could be more cryptic. The numbers would seem obvious (as a year) but the letters not so much as typical names abbreviated are two or three letters and here we have four. The letters also seem to have no relevance to the kit maker or subject (Amodel Yak-53) so who knows!

I just thought it was really neat to find an Easter Egg! Not something I at all expected from a model kit....  this is video game or movie type stuff.

That said.... this thing has proven to be challenging. Doing the "clean up" on the fuselage halves was a bit intensive. All the little ins and outs around the interior and things like gear doors and cowligns or whatever had flash and thick slag bullcrap so I had to file it all away. It wound up being pretty tedious.

I've also done other things like trim out parts and clean up some of the engine stuff and horizontal stabs.

Built part of the cockpit.... floor, seat, and stick.


Done with that for now, though. PRobably won't mess with anything else and go play some Minesweeper. 

[NARSES2]

You have been a busy boy 

[TheChronicOne]

I know, huh!!!         It's gone into overdrive but what can I say. I'm pretty caught up on everything and have found myself with free time. It's unusual. What's even more unusual is I expect it to hold for the next few months.

I must say I wasn't expecting a FIFTH project but I'm going to be on the cutting edge of USSF whiffery!!! 50 years from now the people on this forum will be like, "Here's my USSF whif..... yup......  yuhh... uhh-huh... yeah, back in 2018 the President proposed a new branch of the military, first since USAF was created....  it didn't make it through congress but could you imagine?!"  Then they'll post wiki articles and pictures of MY C.R.A.P.py plane.       (lmao)     

But really, is this not the very thing ripe for what if type stuff? Imagine if this had occurred in the 50's or early 60's? Remember the president back then said we'd go to the moon and that was just as ludicrous sounding back then as perhaps this space force stuff is to us now, and, sure enough, we went there and look at all the cool crap we got from it. But my point is... if this had occurred in years past it would be second nature to model it. Luft '46?  How 'bout Space Force '61. Even if just a sidenote.... 50 years from now, this whole space force stuff will be an interesting one in the least.

This also got me to thinking about new branches of the military. It would seem "physical realms" are the main thing; Land, Sea, Air get you Army, Navy, Air Force and even the other possible branches such as Marines are still a combination of specializing in these realms. SO, it would seem, that unless there is a new "realm" to explore, there wouldn't be a need for an entirely new branch of military? Space makes sense, so we would have, Land, Air, Sea, and Outer Space. That's about it, right? So what other possible branches could there be? Possible answers start to get out there... like.. other dimensions, time, etc.

[DogfighterZen]

You have been a busy boy 

That's exactly what i was going to say, Chris! 
Love what you did to the Raptor and the Seagle (sorry, couldn't help it ), i'd already seen them on Facebook but didn't get to look at them with some time to really appreciate the work but, they look great, Brad! 
And although i don't like the Liberty as much, it is a very original idea and i'll raise my beer to that!

[kerick]

USAF already has Space Command.
http://www.afspc.af.mil/

[TheChronicOne]

Not a separate branch of the military, however.  We've shot down satellites and USAF routinely puts things in space. We had "Star Wars" and and lots of shuttle missions were military in part or whole, etc. But none of this is a separate, new, entire branch of a military.




So, plans for today? Not sure. I'm not even sure how I'm scheduling todays work. I know I'll go pick up garbage, (that's always) and I have one small yard but I'm not sure if I'll do another, part of another, or leave it for another day. I think I'll make up my mind after I leave the shopping center. If I get that done really fast I'll likely do a second yard. I'm making good time at least, I rolled over and looked at the clock at 2:01AM!  Perfect! Didn't wake up late and better, didn't wake up early! So, anyway, yeah, making good time here so I'll have plenty later to work on builds.

I think I'll definitely be moving ahead on the BAC-111. I'm not sure but I think I may make it to transfers today if I stick with it long enough. It SHOULD be easy to get the black and white paint on. SHOULD. We'll see.

I'd like to move more on the Yak-53 as well. I'd like to get as much main construction as done as possible and at least trim up and prime the fiddly bits (and build the landing gear) so it all can sit around and dry.

Elbow Grease for the ATR-72 later if time permits.

Getting started trimming out things on the F-52 ("Ultra Hornet" ?) if time permits.

Sanding on the wings of the Spitfire. I'd like to get this thing going on and on out of here, to be honest. 2 reasons... I'm looking forward to painting it.. and... I'd like to get something off the bench. For some reason, I'd like to get down to 4 ongoing builds instead of 5. I've been at 4 before, I don't think I've ever done 5. It's starting to make things cluttered around here and that impacts more than a few things.

[TheChronicOne]

You have been a busy boy 

That's exactly what i was going to say, Chris! 
Love what you did to the Raptor and the Seagle (sorry, couldn't help it ), i'd already seen them on Facebook but didn't get to look at them with some time to really appreciate the work but, they look great, Brad! 
And although i don't like the Liberty as much, it is a very original idea and i'll raise my beer to that!

Thanks!! Good to see ya gettin' caught up. lol  That F-15 is a hoot, right?! Turned out pretty nice. The little one didn't want to build up no matter how hard I tried but it's decent. 

[NARSES2]

SO, it would seem, that unless there is a new "realm" to explore, there wouldn't be a need for an entirely new branch of military? Space makes sense, so we would have, Land, Air, Sea, and Outer Space. That's about it, right? So what other possible branches could there be? Possible answers start to get out there... like.. other dimensions, time, etc.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, or you'll be getting a visit from the boys in dark glasses and smart trilby's 

[TheChronicOne]

SO, it would seem, that unless there is a new "realm" to explore, there wouldn't be a need for an entirely new branch of military? Space makes sense, so we would have, Land, Air, Sea, and Outer Space. That's about it, right? So what other possible branches could there be? Possible answers start to get out there... like.. other dimensions, time, etc.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, or you'll be getting a visit from the boys in dark glasses and smart trilby's 

Hell, I say bring it on. I'll put them boys to work picking up garbage and cutting lawn and teach 'em what real work is all about. 

[zenrat]

Space Battleship Arizona anyone?

[TheChronicOne]

Needs a rotating rail catapult with a space-faring bi-plane on top.