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

[TheChronicOne]

One goal today: Fix the Tristar. If I get into anything else after then I'll consider it a bonus. Problem is... this Tristar is a lot worse than I thought it was... that powder crap wrap around the entire thing and while it's not AS bad as on the port side there's still this powder junk all over the place so I guess it'll be getting a "global" sand down. The undersurfaces are in good shape at least but I'll have to do the tops of all the wings and top and both sides of the fuselage and fin. This stuff is wicked.. it is indeed hard and definitely could be used to sand other things but at the same time it comes off on your hands a little bit, too. Weird!  Anyway... I've decided to do a little rubbing on it first with some with some paint thinner and see what happens. After that I'll be wet sanding again. I have my sponges ready so we're good to go!

Wish me luck! It may take a few passes but I don't any reason why I can't recover this. 

[TheChronicOne]

Never bin!

So, I started with the spirits first like I said and at first it was shredding the hell out of my paper towels.     BUT....  after awhile, it started knocking down all the craggy stuff so I decided to hunker down and just do a heavy polish of the entire thing with my spirits. It worked quite well but I was left with a bunch of craggy spots and crazing-like cracks so I wet sanded everything and after about an hour or so I cleaned it off then polished it down and "cleaned" it with alcohol to get rid of any oily residue and then she looks just about how she did a few days ago when it was largely fine. I even caught a couple areas I missed first time around. Getting in the crevices and placed like underneath the #2 intake was a bit tedious but I think it all worked out.





Back on track now I suppose. I'll try painting it again ANOTHER DAY however. I am not pushing my luck. I'm going to let this stew for awhile before I touch it again to make sure the demons inside chill out. Apparently some of the evil has leaked out of the Saudia 737 into this thing. Could be karma for spraying that spider that used to live inside #2 engine. 

Remembered to throw the engines on it this time...

[NARSES2]

Well done mate, perseverance paid off 

[TheChronicOne]

Cheers!  It was good to get that monkey off my back. I figured the longer it sat like that, the chances increase that I won't want to mess with it so I decided to just kill problem at inception by throwing in and getting it done immediately. Turns out it was done in under an hour and the peace of mind was worth it.

I even managed to get started on the XL. Indeed, won't need the instructions. This thing is VERY simple. I might work some more on it later but I'm flipping things upside down for now. Going to play video games and later if I get tired of that I can throw on some movies and build the XL some more.

[TheChronicOne]

And just like that, I can make a Lysander for the OORGB after all.     Our buddy Rick has found some spare wings sitting in a warehouse that should fit well onto the derelict Israeli Lysander. They are on the way to the barren airfield that houses the fuselage. 

I still like my little idea I came up with, that, in this alternate world, the IAF 'early on' got ahold of a Lysander for whatever reasons. I need some help, though. When was it "officially" retired? I want mine to be able to come out of retirement for the Suez campaign which if my memory serves was in 1958? If this works chronologically then we're good to go and I'm going to be having (I guess) blue and brown camo with ninja star roundels and bumble stripes.

[Rick Lowe]

Wiki article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Lysander

"All British Lysanders were withdrawn from service in 1946"

But...

" ...the Egyptian Air Force (which received 20). Egyptian Lysanders were the last to see active service, against Israel in the 1947–1949 Palestine war."

So in theory, you could have them duking it out against each other... circling and firing hand-held small arms, reminiscent of early WW1 protagonists, maybe? 

[PR19_Kit]

When I lived in Egypt in the mid-late 40s, my Dad was seconded to the Egyptian Air Force as an instructor at Heliopolis air base, and they had some Lysanders there then. I can clearly remember being impressed by Dad telling me how slow they could fly as he'd been on 4 Squadron when they flew Lysanders in 1939.

When the Palestinian War broke out in 1947 they moved us up to Alexandria and that was the last I saw of them. I was 5 at the time.......... 

[NARSES2]

I want mine to be able to come out of retirement for the Suez campaign which if my memory serves was in 1958?

1956 mate

[TheChronicOne]

Good stuff y'all, thank you!!  I think this is go then. I'm looking forward to it. This is such a weird little airplane. And....  it's good to "rescue" a kit! 

This is good.. I'm quite broke right now so I don't want to have to buy things. Lucky for me, I have all I need already! I have paint that will work and I have some transfers on the go and now I have wings. Another budget build! There's something satisfying about using up stuff you have on hand instead of collecting more.

[Rick Lowe]

There's something satisfying about using up stuff you have on hand instead of collecting more.

True, that! Preach it, Brotha!! 

[TheChronicOne]

I call it "decompressing the stash."    Got to open that valve up from time to time....   


Worked a bunch more on the F-16XLax. Clipped a bunch of stuff out and cleaned it up and glued it on. Primed a bunch of stuff. I realized at that point that the somewhat different grey color of the plastic was pretty much identical to my grey primer! I had to hold the parts in the light and shimmy them to try and see the wet glint of the fresh primer in order to ascertain whether it had been applied. "Why would you even question it, though?"  Well, because I'm using up the last remnants of my primer...  it doesn't spray consistent like it would were it a full can. Cool part is that these remnant cans are perfect for spraying the tiny parts like gear; I'd never attempt to use one on a large expanse. So, if the can stops spraying for a second or "spurts" it doesn't matter but, still, I had to make sure they were covered.

Left it at that and played some Mass Effect the watched The Blues Brothers.


Lastly...  do you ever feel a bit bad for your old builds? I was looking at one the other night as I was dusting and cleaning and I was like... "I remember this.. it wasn't popular at all, but, DAMN, I really dig it!!" The canopy went bad. I spent a ton of work fixing it because the original was all messed up. Robert and other folks helped me make it better then when I got to the end my clear varnish made it fog the inside.  Outside was masked but there were gaps in the glue. Enter the blacked out canopy "tinted windows." It was dissapointing.     But, you know what? Time heals many wounds and I love this little thing so I cleaned her up and took a couple new pictures. 

[NARSES2]

watched The Blues Brothers.

Yup, one of my go to films when I'm feeling a bit  still cheers me up after all these years  . Although I'm still not convinced that it's really Dan Ackroyd behind those sunglasses 

[scooter]

watched The Blues Brothers.

Yup, one of my go to films when I'm feeling a bit  still cheers me up after all these years  . Although I'm still not convinced that it's really Dan Ackroyd behind those sunglasses 

I think he started ballooning up after Belushi's death.  Always a great movie, with great music.

[TheChronicOne]

That movie is like an old friend that you're always happy to have stop by.    I haven't seen the second one but I've heard it's a steamy pile. 

[TheChronicOne]

Painted the black on the XL wheels.


....


....  That's it. That's all I've done today. Toodles!      If I get bored of Mass Effect, I might throw in another movie and tinker for awhile. I have some filing/sanding to do before more assemblies can be glued on and I need to dry fit the fuselage halves and get them ready. I need to paint stuff, too, like the cockpit, canopy, and finish the fiddly stuff but I might dispense with that for another day. Regardless, progress is nice, if a bit slow, and nothing has gone wrong yet.