Ken: Terrific photos!!! Gee, I didn't even know there were any flyable F-86s still around. And that Harrier - definitely not a stealth aircraft- probably the loudest thing I've ever heard.

BTW: How is your basement coming?

Wow! Beautiful photos, Ken!!   Thanks for sharing those!

Russ

Gamera

Ken: Terrific photos!!! Gee, I didn't even know there were any flyable F-86s still around. And that Harrier - definitely not a stealth aircraft- probably the loudest thing I've ever heard.

BTW: How is your basement coming?

Hi Cliff,

Thank you for the compliment on the pictures.  Next time though I am going to practice with my camera on getting the correct settings before the show!  They could have been better.

Actually, I think there are a handful of F-86s still flying.  It was definitely my favorite at the show!  And the owner/pilot could really fly that thing!  He was doing a lot of trick flying.  This particular model was flown and maintained in pristine condition by the Warbird Heritage Foundation of Waukegan, IL. The pilot was Paul R. Wood, a founder of the Warbird Heritage Foundation.

And yes, the Harrier was quite loud, especially when it was hovering!  The pilot was quite good.  Unbelievable how well he controlled it.

On the subject of my basement, I will be ordering the replacement speakers this Friday, which will allow me to put my home theater system back together.  I am really looking forward to that!

Ken

Striker8241

Wow! Beautiful photos, Ken!!   Thanks for sharing those!

Russ

Thank you for saying so Russ!  I am very happy that you enjoyed them!   

Ken

Ken: Good to hear your basement is coming along.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised there are flyable F-86s, just I'm more familiar with the prop aircraft.

Hey all!

Ken, thanks for the pictures! It's been years and years since I have seen either the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I haven't been in for a spell as it's been 6 day work weeks and one totaled over 60 hours. When I wasn't working I shampooed carpets at home and many other domestic chores. In spite of that, I did make some progress on the Voodoo! It now stands on its own! I post some pics later when I get a chance.

I finally did my computer upgrade with a new graphics card and a bigger power supply for it. I had to make a trip back to the computer store as I read the the cheap power supply I bought was rated poorly and had reports of it burning out and taking the rest of the system with it. Had to pay more, but I figure it's worth it as the newer one has over voltage protection and all that good stuff. Better to be safe than.......

The new supply has about a dozen or more connectors of which I used a total of 4. I suppose if I add another HD or an optical drive, I have power.

More later with the Voodoo as I have to run erronds now....

Jim

Gamera

Ken: Good to hear your basement is coming along.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised there are flyable F-86s, just I'm more familiar with the prop aircraft.

I know there are a few 86's still out there, but I don't know how many. I had the misfortune several years ago of seeing one crash at an airshow. I think they are very cool as they are just so simple looking.

Hey all, just finished a few hell weeks at the job and have been kind of AWOL. If misery loves company then I'm right there with you Jim. When will these people who require our expertise realize we have other priorities besides work  I did manage to do something constructive during the time as I built my Elefant that I've had in my stash for over a year. The only aspect of it that I wasn't too thrilled with were the faces of the crew and the lack of depth to the zimmerit. As those who know anything about me though, I'm not a perfectionist and am still happy with it. Thanks so much for the pics Ken; that Sabre was so cool. I've never seen one up close in years let alone seen one flying!

BTW, today is the 45th anniversary of our first manned mission to land on the moon. An incredible accomplishment and one our country should be proud of.  So here's to Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins and all others who made that journey possible!

jimbot58

Hey all!

Ken, thanks for the pictures! It's been years and years since I have seen either the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I haven't been in for a spell as it's been 6 day work weeks and one totaled over 60 hours. When I wasn't working I shampooed carpets at home and many other domestic chores. In spite of that, I did make some progress on the Voodoo! It now stands on its own! I post some pics later when I get a chance.

I finally did my computer upgrade with a new graphics card and a bigger power supply for it. I had to make a trip back to the computer store as I read the the cheap power supply I bought was rated poorly and had reports of it burning out and taking the rest of the system with it. Had to pay more, but I figure it's worth it as the newer one has over voltage protection and all that good stuff. Better to be safe than.......

The new supply has about a dozen or more connectors of which I used a total of 4. I suppose if I add another HD or an optical drive, I have power.

More later with the Voodoo as I have to run erronds now....

Jim

Hi Jim,

Sounds like you have been extremely busy!  Sorry to hear about all the mandated work hours.  I hope it gets better for you soon.

Also sounds like you have your computer's life extended with the new power supply and graphics card.  I am sure you will be pleased with it.

Can't wait to see the pictures of your Voodoo!

Ken

mikeymize

Hey all, just finished a few hell weeks at the job and have been kind of AWOL. If misery loves company then I'm right there with you Jim. When will these people who require our expertise realize we have other priorities besides work  I did manage to do something constructive during the time as I built my Elefant that I've had in my stash for over a year. The only aspect of it that I wasn't too thrilled with were the faces of the crew and the lack of depth to the zimmerit. As those who know anything about me though, I'm not a perfectionist and am still happy with it. Thanks so much for the pics Ken; that Sabre was so cool. I've never seen one up close in years let alone seen one flying!

Great job Mike!  That looks fantastic!     

Ken

mikeymize

BTW, today is the 45th anniversary of our first manned mission to land on the moon. An incredible accomplishment and one our country should be proud of.  So here's to Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins and all others who made that journey possible!

Yes, a big toast and salute!   

Ken

Beautiful job on that tank, Mikey

Son Of Medicine Man

mikeymize

BTW, today is the 45th anniversary of our first manned mission to land on the moon. An incredible accomplishment and one our country should be proud of.  So here's to Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins and all others who made that journey possible!

Yes, a big toast and salute!   

Ken

Quite an accomplishment considering the technology available then. Your smart phone has way more computing power than what was used to guide them to the moon back then. I heard thee LEM had three computers and they all overloaded and shut down on landing.

Mike: Zimmerit looks fine to me and the faces are good- yeah they're a pain to paint.

Thanks for the head's up on the moon landing, I had no idea. Yeah those computers were something else. I read about the whole Apollo 13 accident and how they were trying to salvage a few watts of power out of the batteries. Some of it came though in the movie- it's amazing how much of this was done with such insane tiny tolerances.

Thanks for the kind words on the Elefant; it was a nice build. Not too complicated and I learned quite a bit while researching. It was a fantastic defensive weapon which could withstand just about anything the allies could field against it. The frontal armor was impervious to pretty much any thing short of the Soviet SU- 152; that's if the Elefant's crew didn't spot them first! But of course Hitler wanted them used as offensive weapons where their weak power plant and transmissions caused them to suffer accordingly.

Ken,

Thanks for the tip!  I have received the Aries parts, all I can say is that at this point I'm very impressed with the detail in the parts and secondly I'm extremely hesitant in getting started with working on them.  This will be my first venture working with resin parts, as well as my first experience in using aftermarket parts for a kit.  This is definately going to be a learning venture for me so I plan on taking lots of time to make sure i dont mess them up.

jelliott523

Ken,

Thanks for the tip!  I have received the Aries parts, all I can say is that at this point I'm very impressed with the detail in the parts and secondly I'm extremely hesitant in getting started with working on them.  This will be my first venture working with resin parts, as well as my first experience in using aftermarket parts for a kit.  This is definately going to be a learning venture for me so I plan on taking lots of time to make sure i dont mess them up.

Yes it is amazing the amount of detail that Aires puts into those!

Here is a link that gives general tips for working with resin:

http://www.scalemodelguide.com/construction/techniques/working-with-resin-parts/ 

I can tell you now that you will need magnification and a very fine paint brush to paint the details!  My favorite is the Donegan OptiVISOR Headband Magnifier.  You can find them at many retail outlets.  For the paint brush, I just recently found this:

http://store.spruebrothers.com/product_p/amwbrush01.htm 

You will have to learn how to use it.  The brush is so small, the paint will dry on it fairly fast.

Ken

What a day this has been!

It starts out with the fact that I was feeling down, because Mom would have turned 84 today. I asked to get off early because I wanted to go to the cemetery. Before I could leave though. I get a call from Visa credit card services to verify some suspicious charges to my debit account. It seems there were two declined charges to my account for over 800 dollars made at King Soopers, which is a large local food grocer! I went to my desk and signing on to my account, found there was a $200 charge made against my account at Chipolte's. I have never eaten there in my life! Aren't they like Mexican fast food? How do you spend 200 bucks there? I had to call card services to cancel my card and report fraud, and order a new card! I paid $10 bucks to have it within 2-4 days, otherwise, it could have been a week or more!! I could have had it expressed to me for $40, but really?

Then it gets better! I try to cash a check to get me by, but because I never use the checks locally, no one will give me cash! I can only write a check for the purchase amount only! Well, that won't put gas in my tank, which I need to get to work! Now I need to go to the bank in the morning to get cash to get by until my card arrives! It's also sucks that I am out $200 bucks until the bank settles the claim! I hope I'm not out because of the debit card, but I think I am covered because it was a Visa transaction

I did manage to make it to the cemetery before it got dark and real ****r about that, is that I intended to stop and get some flowers to leave at the grave! Thanks a--hole, where ever you are for making this such a great day! May you rot in hell!

Ouch Jim, that blows! Guess I'm lucky to have never had any problems with the credit card though I don't use the thing much except to order stuff online.

At least you did get to your mom's grave. And you did get your card number changed so hopefully it won't happen again.

Holy cow Jim, what a day from hell. I can't even tell you how bad I feel for you; like pouring salt in a wound. I just went through a similar problem with my card being used by some dirtbag in Indiana. I was up for the 500 and apparently some joker got my info and charged 300.00 at a strip club as well as over 200 at a bar. Try explaining that to your girlfriend! Luckily the bank notified me and took care of it. I only hope the police found him.

Hello guys.

I did get the card cancelled and a new one is on the way. I just hate not having easy access to my own account.

One thing I learned when I worked in retail, it that it's not easy to catch these guys and in many cases with the small time operators, not likely the card people would choose to prosecute. They would look at the cost of time spent pursuing something like this and just writing it off. It's something the thieves know and exploit.

I would just be happy getting my $200 back!

jimbot58

What a day this has been!

It starts out with the fact that I was feeling down, because Mom would have turned 84 today. I asked to get off early because I wanted to go to the cemetery. Before I could leave though. I get a call from Visa credit card services to verify some suspicious charges to my debit account. It seems there were two declined charges to my account for over 800 dollars made at King Soopers, which is a large local food grocer! I went to my desk and signing on to my account, found there was a $200 charge made against my account at Chipolte's. I have never eaten there in my life! Aren't they like Mexican fast food? How do you spend 200 bucks there? I had to call card services to cancel my card and report fraud, and order a new card! I paid $10 bucks to have it within 2-4 days, otherwise, it could have been a week or more!! I could have had it expressed to me for $40, but really?

Then it gets better! I try to cash a check to get me by, but because I never use the checks locally, no one will give me cash! I can only write a check for the purchase amount only! Well, that won't put gas in my tank, which I need to get to work! Now I need to go to the bank in the morning to get cash to get by until my card arrives! It's also sucks that I am out $200 bucks until the bank settles the claim! I hope I'm not out because of the debit card, but I think I am covered because it was a Visa transaction

I did manage to make it to the cemetery before it got dark and real ****r about that, is that I intended to stop and get some flowers to leave at the grave! Thanks a--hole, where ever you are for making this such a great day! May you rot in hell!

That really sucks Jim!  I hope you do get your money back.  And I hope that they do catch who ever it was that ripped you off.

We had a Mexican restaurant here in town that had an employee (or employees) that were copying people's debit card information that customers were using.  I believe they did catch those thieves.

There needs to be a better way of using credit and debit cards that makes it harder for thieves to gain access to them.  I for one use PayPal for almost all of my online transactions.  That way I am not directly using my debit card.

Ken

Yes, I use PayPal too whenever possible- so far I haven't had any problems with them.

Son Of Medicine Man

jimbot58

What a day this has been!

It starts out with the fact that I was feeling down, because Mom would have turned 84 today. I asked to get off early because I wanted to go to the cemetery. Before I could leave though. I get a call from Visa credit card services to verify some suspicious charges to my debit account. It seems there were two declined charges to my account for over 800 dollars made at King Soopers, which is a large local food grocer! I went to my desk and signing on to my account, found there was a $200 charge made against my account at Chipolte's. I have never eaten there in my life! Aren't they like Mexican fast food? How do you spend 200 bucks there? I had to call card services to cancel my card and report fraud, and order a new card! I paid $10 bucks to have it within 2-4 days, otherwise, it could have been a week or more!! I could have had it expressed to me for $40, but really?

Then it gets better! I try to cash a check to get me by, but because I never use the checks locally, no one will give me cash! I can only write a check for the purchase amount only! Well, that won't put gas in my tank, which I need to get to work! Now I need to go to the bank in the morning to get cash to get by until my card arrives! It's also sucks that I am out $200 bucks until the bank settles the claim! I hope I'm not out because of the debit card, but I think I am covered because it was a Visa transaction

I did manage to make it to the cemetery before it got dark and real ****r about that, is that I intended to stop and get some flowers to leave at the grave! Thanks a--hole, where ever you are for making this such a great day! May you rot in hell!

That really sucks Jim!  I hope you do get your money back.  And I hope that they do catch who ever it was that ripped you off.

We had a Mexican restaurant here in town that had an employee (or employees) that were copying people's debit card information that customers were using.  I believe they did catch those thieves.

There needs to be a better way of using credit and debit cards that makes it harder for thieves to gain access to them.  I for one use PayPal for almost all of my online transactions.  That way I am not directly using my debit card.

Ken

There is a safer card coming, most of Europe has already adopted it. Has an embedded chip in it, and requires the use of a PIN. The US is lagging on adopting it, and has to convert it by August of 2015.

Fat lot of good that does me right now......

Hi Everyone,

My latest acquisition:

 Finally available here in the U.S.

Ken

Pretty cool Ken!

Just a quick update on my WIP...  I have put the F-4G on hold for a little bit until I get some other things put in order (obtaining decals for the 190th FS out of Gowen Field here in Idaho).  Other than that I have also been working on a Hasegawa 1/48 F-16D.  I am in the painting stages right now and hope to be posting some photos this evening when I get home from work to show the progress.

As for the F-4G, I have received the Aries cockpit and have started getting the additional tools and supplies I need to work with that.  I purchased a cheap airbrush to practice with; its okay, but I'm wondering if I shouldn't have paid a little more for a better quality brush and bigger, adjustable compressor. As for the decals I'm looking for, I'm thinking I may just have to resurrect my old ink-jet printer and make my own decals.  It sounds tedious; however, I'm thinking that may be my only option.

I'll get those photos added tonight, hopefully.  It will be my first attempt at adding photos to the forum.

Jelliott: Sounds cool! I'm not sure you really need a super nice airbrush and compressor unless you're doing complex paint schemes like German and Japanese inkblots and mottling. On something you're going to spray one colour and then mask and spray the next any airbrush should work. And there's no reason you can't have more than one airbrush, I use old reliable for simple jobs and the new more expensive one for detail work.

Jelliot, I wouldn't put a whole lot of importance on the cost of the airbrush as much as I would the type. The minimum I would recommend would be anything that features an internal mix: you get a much finer spray than you would an external. Single action is fine, and double action can be a bit tricky to get used to.

I started out with Badger's 350 which is an external mix, then "upgraded" to an internal mix, double action airbrush. When I quote "upgrade", I paid 10 bucks (on sale) for Harbor Freight's offering. They have about doubled in price now, but I found it to be a good value. I have completed a half dozen kits with it, (not to mention stalled projects) and well, not to toot my own horn, you can see what I was able to do with it. As far as double action: I pretty much adjust the needle to get the spray I want and use it as a single action.

My biggest complaint with it is, the color cup sucks. I use a couple of Badger 350 cups with it as they work at a better angle and siphon the paint better. If anyone was to purchase one of Harbor Freight brushes, I would recommend fining a badger cup to go with it.

Jim