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

[PR19_Kit]

F-RSIN does them. 

Thanks Brad, that'd cost a pretty penny, but I may get one, just for old time's sake. I'll have to print my own Spantax decals for it, as you'll have bought the last set by then. 

I think F-RSIN are usually at Telford Kit. Which isn't that far away

Indeed they are, and I know Laurent, who runs it, quite well, so I may manage to swing a good deal. 

He's selling 990 kits in plastic bags for a few Euros off on his web site I've noticed. 

[TheChronicOne]

I like ol' Laurent. He was was pretty stoked when I posted my pictures of my ATR-72 on Facebook. He was like, "That's my baby"! or whatever (somethign close to that) And I was like, "Yeah, sure is!!! I'm glad you made it!!!!! IT's my childhood favorite regional airplane!!!"    blah blah words to that effect.        Pretty cool dude and of course he scores well in my book for making a lot of somewhat obscure stuff. 


That's it, damnit!! I'm dragging this 990 kit out to look at the plastic.  I can't contain myself any longer. It's bigger, but CAN'T be any more difficult than the ATR-72 with all the prop blades and stuff.............      Then again, I really need to stay focused on my current builds. But I at least want to look at it and daydream a little . ...   

[PR19_Kit]

Talking about Spantax 990s was ringing bells. so I dug through my VAST pile of Aviation News mags and found the one with the article about Spantax in it. 

Even better, the heading pic of the article is a two page width pic of the 990 I flew in, EC-BTE.   

They had the world's largest fleet of 990s, 14 of them, bought from American and Swissair, but although it was the fastest ever non-supersonic airliners their fuel consumption was horrific! On the Las Palmas-Bergen routing a 990 used TWICE the amount of fuel that a 737-200 used carrying the same number of pax! 

[TheChronicOne]

I wonder if that BTE will be an option on the sheet!  I don't see why it wouldn't, plenty enough room to print them all; 14 sets of little letters. I'm going to build your plane before you do.     

The fuel consumption is nutso. No wonder they didn't last. Twice the engines, HALF the fuel consumption, twice the fuel cost on that route?! Nothing like that would survive the 1970's/early 80's. I bet even the best routes with glorious tailwind and all that jive couldn't make up for all of that.  Still, it's a shame they didn't throw some new engines on them and make a go of it.



Not to change the subject, I'm rather enjoying learning about the 990 and Spantax, but I got this in the mail 2-3 days ago and after 2 hours of rather meticulous sifting through various records from eBay and Paypal have utterly failed to ascertain why this is here. I have a name and address (both vaguely familiar) but they don't match up to any purchases I've made recently nor am I missing any orders. I've gone back nearly 2 years in my eBay and Paypal stuff and still no luck. There are a few sellers I can't get information for, however, so it has to be one of these I'm guessing but I'm almost at the point that my only recourse is to literally sit down and write a hand written letter and send it through ground mail to ask why this is here.......   



But, man all this letter writing and stuff is a right pain in me arse and I've done quite a bit of due diligence trying my best to sort this out. Here's my question, if you rec'd something like this and couldn't figure out how or why and your only remaining option was a letter writing campaign would you go to the trouble or would you chalk it up to, "well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth..." and just toss it in the stash and go on about life?

A wee moral dilemma for us all to ponder......      

[zenrat]

I would like to encourage everyone to write as many letters as possible in the interests of selling more stamps.   

It's not someone here deciding to send you a semi anonymous present is it?

[TheChronicOne]

Don't think so. Know any Lawrences?        I'm not sure, but I do believe that of the 5-6 of yas here that have my address, every one of you lives overseas...    I'm going to make a run through eBay and Paypal again later to try to wring out the last few details from those few names that I couldn't figure out (listed as business names or bank account type names rather than personal name) and see what I can come up with.

[TheChronicOne]

Back at this mess again. I went back clear to February 03 and checked out a larger store. "amodels" and they sell tons of stuff..........    They are based in Deerfield, IL according to what I found on eBay just now and this mystery package is from Des Plaines, IL. Get this.... they're only about 10 miles away from each other so this is the strongest lead I have yet. Although, I swear I remember that when I ordered the kit from them in February they sent along an invoice with it.

Applying more putty to the Tristar. Going to try to sand on the Caravelle and Aardvark.

[DogfighterZen]

I think you're doing the right thing by trying to sort it out. Never been in that situation but i have once received a refund for a kit that wasn't delivered in the expected time period but when the kit was delivered a week later, i contacted the seller and asked him for the invoice again so i could pay for what i got. I know some will say "stupid" but that's not my way of doing things, especially when the seller was a serious guy and refunded me as soon as the estimated delivery date went by and i was still waiting for the kit.
Funny fact about this story is that the kit i'm talking about is now in your stash, my friend... all i can say is that it came from Moscow, Russia!! 

[TheChronicOne]

MiG Fun!! I love that and the other kit... they're in my special stack behind me of stuff I want quick access to.

Good on you for seeking out that invoice and paying up anyway. I'm doing all I can to find the owner of this one.  There could be some ill-feelings brewing somewhere and I'd hate to see that. I can imagine it now, "Hey, where's my Lanc?"  "Well, we mailed it out..... "   I sent a message to Amodels but it might be awhile before I hear back. For, now I've suspended my efforts to swill beer and work on MY kits. 

On that note........   I've finally, today, after a long while, decided to try wet sanding. I've been wanting to for along while but always seem to forget. Well, not today!!! And..... all I have to say is...... I'll never go back!  This is the snazziest poo-poo ever. Cuts down on the dust 100%. Nice to not have to hold my breath at times waiting on the fan to exhaust it out the window. Also, the FEEL of it is magnificent!! It's so nice feeling, it just feels like it's working 5X better than dry. Lastly, the sand paper doesn't foul nearly as quickly. Going to save money this way.

'Bout gear up to mask this F-111 canopy. I dipped in Future already and got my tape and blade out. All I need now is to prep up with some nice Chronic and get busy. 

[TheChronicOne]

I've managed some actual, decent progress on the F-111 and it has now jumped ahead of some of the other builds as far as how close to paint it is. PSR and more PSR then I primed it. I also masked the canopy. Threw LEGO airport guy and the TET bottle in there. Need to start adding a banana for scale reference as well.

[NARSES2]

but when the kit was delivered a week later, i contacted the seller and asked him for the invoice again so i could pay for what i got. I know some will say "stupid" but that's not my way of doing things, especially when the seller was a serious guy and refunded me as soon as the estimated delivery date went by and i was still waiting for the kit.

That's not being stupid it's being decent. Well done sir 

[DogfighterZen]

Migs are cool...   Way to go with the wet sanding, when there's a lot of sanding to be done, it's the best. I did it on the F-16W's DSI intake made out of Tamiya putty and it was the best solution to avoid breathing it all in. That F-111 looks smooth...

but when the kit was delivered a week later, i contacted the seller and asked him for the invoice again so i could pay for what i got. I know some will say "stupid" but that's not my way of doing things, especially when the seller was a serious guy and refunded me as soon as the estimated delivery date went by and i was still waiting for the kit.

That's not being stupid it's being decent. Well done sir 

Thanks, Chris. I could've easily gone the other way and just keep both the kit and the money but it's just not me. I believe in honesty and respect so that's how i try to live my life. Anyway, would 21,50€ make me poorer? That money had been destined for that anyway, i'd paid for it once gladly before so, to me, it was the right thing to do.

[TheChronicOne]

"No joy" today, man. I decided to flip the script completely and do something different so I got myself and a housebound friend of mine away from both of our homes for some leisure time. Other than errands, shopping, and work, I haven't left my house for the express intent to simply enjoy myself since some time in 2015. (weak!  )  We went out on Ft. Sill and drove around and looked at the large collection of artillery, anti-aircraft, and ballistic pieces they have in the outdoor Artillery Park portion of the base museum then we invaded the bowling alley for lunch & a few games of Magic: The Gathering. ( sweet)

I'm working on other things, as well, to shake things up. Now that my back is much better I've been feeling the cabin fever. It's easy to just be here all the time when it was too excruciating to walk, but now....   Well, things are starting to become reptitive and it's rotting my brain. I need to stoke some of my other neglected hobbies such as the aforementioned MTG,....  and others such as video games and leaving my house.

Just trying to look after my mental health. I've been in a rut for awhile and it's starting to effect my mood. 

Not that I'm done with this other jive, though!     I can't remember if I mentioned where I left over or not but I think the last thing I did last time was put yet more putty on the Tristar then sprayed some primer on it. It's been out in the 105 degree weather for about 3 days now. This RAPIDLY advances the drying/curing time!    Bad part is the high humidity offsets this a bit but overall it's a lot better than it sitting inside in the "dark" and "cool."


Picture for interest, the latest things to arrive in the mail.


Oh yeah! On that note, still no luck with the FROG Lanc mystery. I found a seller that was only 5-6 miles away from where it was mailed but they got back to me and said they don't know any Lawrence McDonnough from Des Plaines Illinois....     I'm not done yet, though. At this point I kind of don't give two flips what happens; I just can't stand a mystery sometimes. Even if I wind up "losing" a "free" kit I just can't help but want to solve the conundrum!

[Tophe]

With these two "Boing", I am dreaming you will build a twin-fuselage B-7377, yes?

[TheChronicOne]

You know........ that's not a half bad idea.  And with all the nutty stuff they're doing with the 737, we may as well!   


I could get, like....... a couple of the Revell 737-800 and make a twin fuselage, 4 engined airliner. It would be a blast!