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SCORE!!!

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  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Toledo Area OH
SCORE!!!
Posted by Sparrowhyperion on Thursday, December 16, 2010 4:54 PM

Today marks a milestone in my 14 year old Daughter's modeling history.  For the last five years, she has been bugging me to get her a large scale kit of her favorite aircraft, the SR71.  I am sure you all know that the 1/48 scale beast of this plane is somewhat hard to find and usually rather expensive.  Due to these two facts, I had up until now been unable to get her the kit.

Enter eBay.   Oh yes, that joyful Mecca of hobby items that all hobbyists will eventually flock for at least one rare item.  

Today, I was looking to find a good buy on some 1290 MM Spray Chrome in the 3oz. can.  My normal mode is just to go to the main model kits section and do a search from there.  But...  Before I could enter the first character into the great search god's white line, I saw something that caught my eye.

There, to my bewilderment, was an unopened sealed  double kit box of not only the 1/48 scale SR71 Blackbird, but the 1/48 scale U2 which it had replaced.  These were the testors kits which I know are very easy to spruce up a bit, and the amazing part was that they were only at $6.00 at the time.  I quickly did some calculating and realized that because I had not been able to get her the 2 items on her wishlist, I had about $20 to play with.

So there I sat, sweating with anxiety, as I entered my maximum bid of $12.03.  Knowing full well that I would probably be disappointed by some sniper with more sheckels than I.  I confirmed the bid  and on the confirmation screen clicked the item to monitor it since it had less than an hour to go.

I sat glued to the seat, unable to avert my gaze as the seconds slowly clicked down...  I nearly had another coronary when it jumped from the initial $6.50 to $10.50, but as time went on and my blood pressure began to rise, a slim flame of hope was kindling in my mind.

I watched the clock count down, a victim of polystyrene tunnel vision.  I kept thinking that this COULD be the end to a long quest which I had almost given up on completing..  And the time still clicked down..  The price was holding at $10.50,  My palms began to sweat as I considered violating the edict of the female in charge about the $20 cap.  I had enough time to bump it up a few dollars, but it would mean going over the cap if I won...   "No" I thought, I would have to trust in the fates that they would not be so cruel as to deny me this with only 30 seconds to go..  Those were the longest 30 seconds of my life.  Then 20, then 10, and the price was still at $10.50.

5. 4. 3. 2. 1. ZERO!

I waited the 10 additional seconds for the page to update and officially announce the winner.  I knew that I may still have lost if anyone had entered a bit in thew last 5 seconds.  But no...  It blazed forth from my screen in the illuminatingly warm glow of my LCD screen.  My UserID, and my final price of $10.50 and $6.80 to ship.. 

Marissa would now not be totally disappointed at least that is what I hope.  She has her 1/48 testors blackbird, and a bonus U2.

As for me.  My blood pressure is back to it's medicated normal and the fog has left my mind.

Now the only thing I am worried about is if it will get here by Yule.  I even chucked in the extra .75 to get priority shipping.

 

So if anyone says there arent any bargains, or excitement on eBay....  Well... Nuts....  LOL

 

Rich

 

 

Epilogue...

I completely forgot to get the paint.... AAARRRGGGHHH!

In the Hangar: 1/48 Hobby Boss F/A-18D RAAF Hornet,

On the Tarmac:  F4U-1D RNZAF Corsair 1/48 Scale.

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, December 16, 2010 5:00 PM

Sparrowhyperion

 My palms began to sweat as I considered violating the edict of the female in charge about the $20 cap. 

Congratulations...

...now let's discuss this little issue...

  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Toledo Area OH
Posted by Sparrowhyperion on Thursday, December 16, 2010 5:04 PM

A wise man (who led a long and happy life), once said, it is true wisdom not to argue with a woman who has a Black Belt...  This is especially true for folks with a coiled aneurysm in their head the size of a jawbreaker which could blow any time their blood pressure gets too high.  And since both conditions apply to me, I don't argue with her. LOL

Rich

 

Manstein's revenge

 

 Sparrowhyperion:

 

 My palms began to sweat as I considered violating the edict of the female in charge about the $20 cap. 

 

Congratulations...

...now let's discuss this little issue...

In the Hangar: 1/48 Hobby Boss F/A-18D RAAF Hornet,

On the Tarmac:  F4U-1D RNZAF Corsair 1/48 Scale.

  • Member since
    February 2010
  • From: Ontario, Canada
Posted by Bockscar on Thursday, December 16, 2010 5:10 PM

Rich;

Congratulations!

When you dry fit the kit you will find that the forward top fuselage section, a rectangular footprint with the refueling dock at the front end, right behind the nose/canopy section, is about 3/32" too long.

Also, the big fuselage/wing unit is very thin plastic and often warped. The plastic is a very pure, very crispy, styrene that hates coaxing.

I've worked on two, so let me know how it's going.

 

  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Toledo Area OH
Posted by Sparrowhyperion on Thursday, December 16, 2010 5:17 PM

Thanks for the info.  I have done the 1/72 kit a couple of times and I know that one had some fit issues, but nothing major that some sanding and/or zap a gap couldn't handle.  I'll keep the group updated.  I am pretty sure Marissa is going to make me put all of my other projects on hold to help her with her new kits..  LOL  She will be doing most of the work.  I really should get some more debonder though.  The cat incident used up a lot of my last bottle...

 

Bockscar

Rich;

Congratulations!

When you dry fit the kit you will find that the forward top fuselage section, a rectangular footprint with the refueling dock at the front end, right behind the nose/canopy section, is about 3/32" too long.

Also, the big fuselage/wing unit is very thin plastic and often warped. The plastic is a very pure, very crispy, styrene that hates coaxing.

I've worked on two, so let me know how it's going.

 

In the Hangar: 1/48 Hobby Boss F/A-18D RAAF Hornet,

On the Tarmac:  F4U-1D RNZAF Corsair 1/48 Scale.

  • Member since
    February 2010
  • From: Ontario, Canada
Posted by Bockscar on Thursday, December 16, 2010 5:29 PM

Listen,

You've got a kid off in the right direction, and her instincts were right on: a 1:48 SR-71!

It's a beautiful kit, and let her know that, well, in life, we all debond occasionally.

(mind you, debonding a dreaded kit with my Cooey .22 was my favourite debonding experience, ahem!)

Thanks for reminding me, my own debonded F-86, maybe this spring...

Look after that wire-wound grenade pal,,,,,you've go a lot to look forward to!WinkCake

  • Member since
    August 2007
  • From: Toronto
Posted by BGuy on Friday, December 17, 2010 2:01 AM

An awesomely told model story.  Does this 14 year old girl know she's really supposed to be into barbies or clothes or Justin Timbersomething or....well, not models. Don't tell her, I'm just wondering.

Big Smile

Pizza

  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Toledo Area OH
Posted by Sparrowhyperion on Friday, December 17, 2010 8:49 AM

Marissa is 14, and into Iguanas (Hers is bigger than our cats), Godzilla, Dragons, Art (And she's really good at it), and lately models.  She thinks Timberlake and the new guy Beiber are both twits, and she doesn't like to go shopping...

In short, she is the perfect Daughter... :)

 

Rich

 

BGuy

An awesomely told model story.  Does this 14 year old girl know she's really supposed to be into barbies or clothes or Justin Timbersomething or....well, not models. Don't tell her, I'm just wondering.

Big Smile

Pizza

In the Hangar: 1/48 Hobby Boss F/A-18D RAAF Hornet,

On the Tarmac:  F4U-1D RNZAF Corsair 1/48 Scale.

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Rothesay, NB Canada
Posted by VanceCrozier on Friday, December 17, 2010 9:13 AM

Sparrowhyperion

...I really should get some more debonder though.  The cat incident used up a lot of my last bottle...

 

 

HUH? How to debond a cat, by SparrowHyperion.... I almost hate to ask! Indifferent

On the bench: Airfix 1/72 Wildcat; Airfix 1/72 Vampire T11; Airfix 1/72 Fouga Magister

  • Member since
    October 2009
  • From: Santa Fe, NM
Posted by stenscience on Friday, December 17, 2010 9:43 AM

Yes please, tell us the story of the cat de-bonding

  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: Jefferson City, MO
Posted by iraqiwildman on Friday, December 17, 2010 9:47 AM

That is great that your daughter wants to model. My 8 year old daughter just giggles and says "that's boy stuff" when I try to get her to help me.

Tim Wilding

  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Toledo Area OH
Posted by Sparrowhyperion on Friday, December 17, 2010 10:29 AM

Okay.  In order for folks to understand this story, a few facts need to be pointed out in advance..  They are as follows.

1.  My Daughter's cat Abby is unarguably the stupidest quadrupedal life form on this or any other planet.  

2.  Said cat, is also the most cowardly quadrupedal life form on this or any other planet.

3.  13 year old girls are not all that coordinated, especially when Scrambling to save about 20 hours of work.

4.  Great Planes CA Glue will bond to ANYTHING, even Quadrupedal Life Forms.....

Now it was about 2 months ago.  Marissa was sitting at my workbench working on a small kit I gave her (Old 1/48 Gates Learjet), when in the other room, unbeknownst to her, a battle of epic proportions was raging.  This is a battle which tends to repeat itself quite often in our house.  The primary participants were, as always, my Wife's cat Raven who we call fuzzys1ut.  She thinks of herself as the alpha female, and will stupidly pick fights with the other batling fuzzball, the community kitty Spice, who is normally the nicest sweetest cat on the planet.  Except when Raven starts in on her.  Now Raven isn't all that bright either.  she is just under half of Spice's size, and has a chihuahua like attitude that gets her beaten back on a regular basis.  Spice is a stray we picked up, and I think she is part bobcat or something.  She has those really tufted ears and a thick short tail, oh yeh and she weights about 18lbs.  BIG KITTY!

At the workbench, Marissa was just starting work on the landing gear while I kind of half watched from my PC which is about 7 feet away.  We were minding our own business when we heard the feline Armageddon commence.

Marissa had wanted to use a couple of AM rubber tires I had sitting in a box for about a decade instead of the ones supplied, so I was letting her use the CA glue with proper precautions (Rubber Gloves).  She was just squeezing out the first drops when the battleground suddenly moved to the floor next to the workbench.

Normally these fights lasted about 15 seconds.  This one however, lastedf almost twice that and only ended when poor Abby who had been trying to stay out of it, took on a full on shot from Raven, right in the Derriere.  Needless to say, because of facts 1 and 2, she immediately launched herself like she had 20 D12-7 Estes rocket motors attached to her, directly up onto the workbench and converting to horizontal thrust, ran by Marissa at about Mach .05.  Unfortunately for Abby.  Marissa had flinched when she suddenly saw 5lbs of highly charged cat heading for her model.    So much so, that she squeezed a LARGE amount of the CA Glue onto the workbench as she vainly tried to get her model out of the cats way.

Abby didn't slow down a bit, she ran right through the glob of CA and onto the floor on the other side of the desk (Did I mention that she could dive bomb like a Stuka, complete with wailing siren?) Manny should like that..

She only slowed down once she was sure Raven hadn't followed her.  She needn't have worried.  By this time, Spice had once more wiped up the floor with the little befurred hussy, and Raven was off licking her wounds.

Unfortunately, for Abby, she had stopped and settled down on my wife's favorite Afghan blanket.    Did you know that there are a few synthetics that CA seems to bond to even more forcefully than polystyrene?  Well there are, and the blanket it seemed, was made from just such a synthetic.

The CA that by this time had worked it's way onto all 4 paws and part of her belly took hold and not only stuck her to the blanket, but had bonded her and the ver porous blanket to the couch.

It took a long time, but half a large bottle of Great Planes Debonder and about a hundred cat induced incisions later, the cat was unstuck.  I took a bit to bind my wounds and inspected the damage.  The combo of the debonder and the CA had effectively melted a large portion of the blanket so it was not salvageable.  Luckily my marriage was once I explained exactly what happened and Marissa gave corroborative testimony to back me up.

As for the Lear..  Well, it was never quite the same.  But she managed to repair it back to a reasonable facsimile of a Lear.  And as for Abby, she never went near that couch again.  Oh yeh, now she is terrified of any knit blankets.....

stenscience

Yes please, tell us the story of the cat de-bonding

In the Hangar: 1/48 Hobby Boss F/A-18D RAAF Hornet,

On the Tarmac:  F4U-1D RNZAF Corsair 1/48 Scale.

  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Toledo Area OH
Posted by Sparrowhyperion on Friday, December 17, 2010 10:34 AM

Marissa unfortunately didn't have any kids her own age to play with our of school.  There just weren't any where we lived which is a dinky mobile home park that is 90% old folks.  That and her Mom who is also a bit of a Tomboy, contributed to her lack of silly girliness.  She will NOT wear a dress..  She has little or no interest in boys which is good because she was a really early bloomer and the boys at school drool over her a bit.  She likes a lot of things but nothing which could be considered average for a 14 year old girl.  Which is just fine with me.  It's kind of like having a son who has th same interests as you, but without the teen male hormone induced bad temperment that most boys get at this stage of life.  Oh yeh, she is also a HUGE Doctor Who fan.. :)  LOL

Rich

 

iraqiwildman

That is great that your daughter wants to model. My 8 year old daughter just giggles and says "that's boy stuff" when I try to get her to help me.

In the Hangar: 1/48 Hobby Boss F/A-18D RAAF Hornet,

On the Tarmac:  F4U-1D RNZAF Corsair 1/48 Scale.

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Rothesay, NB Canada
Posted by VanceCrozier on Friday, December 17, 2010 10:35 AM

YesYes

Nope, a person just can't make that stuff up - priceless! My quick math says I have multiple brands of CA at the work bench, two cats and ZERO de-bonder.... I should stop by the LHS today.

On the bench: Airfix 1/72 Wildcat; Airfix 1/72 Vampire T11; Airfix 1/72 Fouga Magister

  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Toledo Area OH
Posted by Sparrowhyperion on Friday, December 17, 2010 10:40 AM

That might be a very good idea.  It is only a matter of time until you will need it.  Alas, I have to get mine online.  So I think I might order a bottle as well as some ELO for a kit I found at a yard sale that is partially painted all yellow.

 

VanceCrozier

YesYes

Nope, a person just can't make that stuff up - priceless! My quick math says I have multiple brands of CA at the work bench, two cats and ZERO de-bonder.... I should stop by the LHS today.

In the Hangar: 1/48 Hobby Boss F/A-18D RAAF Hornet,

On the Tarmac:  F4U-1D RNZAF Corsair 1/48 Scale.

  • Member since
    November 2008
  • From: Jefferson City, MO
Posted by iraqiwildman on Friday, December 17, 2010 10:59 AM

Doctor Who fan also, very cool. My daughter used to watch that with me until the Weeping Angels, they scared her too much. There is a Doctor Who Christmas special on Christmas Day.

Tim Wilding

  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Toledo Area OH
Posted by Sparrowhyperion on Friday, December 17, 2010 11:15 AM

I've been watching it since the John Pertwee years.  Inferno was my first episode watched.  My Wife and Daughter love it now, although my Wife can't stand the guy playing the latest Doctor.  No one is ever going to pull it off like Tennant did.  I got my wife the first 5 seasons of the new show for xmas last year along with all of the specials.   Great show.  Up until Tennant, Tom Baker was my favorite.  Now I have two favorites.  I was thinking of building a Tardis from scratch some time.  No curves so it would be a really easy build.

iraqiwildman

Doctor Who fan also, very cool. My daughter used to watch that with me until the Weeping Angels, they scared her too much. There is a Doctor Who Christmas special on Christmas Day.

In the Hangar: 1/48 Hobby Boss F/A-18D RAAF Hornet,

On the Tarmac:  F4U-1D RNZAF Corsair 1/48 Scale.

  • Member since
    February 2010
  • From: Ontario, Canada
Posted by Bockscar on Friday, December 17, 2010 4:04 PM

VanceCrozier

YesYes

Nope, a person just can't make that stuff up - priceless! My quick math says I have multiple brands of CA at the work bench, two cats and ZERO de-bonder.... I should stop by the LHS today.

Vance, Priceless, for sure. You and Rich gave me an idea about CA.

Rich, they call it the 'good times', thanks for that!Wink

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