Well, the last couple of days at work has been stressful!

The short version:

A. More workload for me as I take on some additional responsibilities! I'm the best qualified to do these things, yada, yada, yada! Yeah, thanks.

B: Company goals haven't been met, so a choice between layoffs or cuts in hours-my hours were cut back to 35. The upside? If layoffs happen, I am on the 'safe' list. Thanks again.

C. My annual performance review: Above average rating, 4% increase.

More work, a raise, and hours cut. How the hell I am supposed to feel, I don't know.

Today is my birthday, and all I think of is how much I miss the one person I wish I could spend it with....

Hey Jim, that sucks. I guess as you said you still do have a job though. Hope things look up at least some in the future. Things seem to be tough all over.

Hi Jim, I can only echo what Cliff said about the economy in general. Seems as though this recession is never ending. Not sure anything can be done other than wait it out. My car just crapped out on me this morning so no work today or tomorrow for me. Would be fine except it also means no money. There goes my rainy day/ modeling funds!!!

Yeah other than the economy the rotten weather has me down in the dumps. Normally I'm a autumn/winter sort of person but gee friggin' whiz- enough already!!!

Good luck on your car Mike, I'm still waiting on the body shop to get the parts together to fix mine.

jimbot58

Well, the last couple of days at work has been stressful!

The short version:

A. More workload for me as I take on some additional responsibilities! I'm the best qualified to do these things, yada, yada, yada! Yeah, thanks.

B: Company goals haven't been met, so a choice between layoffs or cuts in hours-my hours were cut back to 35. The upside? If layoffs happen, I am on the 'safe' list. Thanks again.

C. My annual performance review: Above average rating, 4% increase.

More work, a raise, and hours cut. How the hell I am supposed to feel, I don't know.

Today is my birthday, and all I think of is how much I miss the one person I wish I could spend it with....

Well Jim, first things first.  First of all, Happy Birthday!!!   

I hope it turns out to be the best one yet!

I guess you just have to look at the rest of the news in a brighter light.  You may have your hours cut, but you are making more money for the hours you are working!  Much better than having to work more hours for less pay!  And you don't have to worry about getting laid off!  So all in all, not too bad!

Ken

mikeymize

Hi Jim, I can only echo what Cliff said about the economy in general. Seems as though this recession is never ending. Not sure anything can be done other than wait it out. My car just crapped out on me this morning so no work today or tomorrow for me. Would be fine except it also means no money. There goes my rainy day/ modeling funds!!!

Hi Mike,

Total bummer about your car.  I think this super cold weather and large amount of snow has added to their  wear and tear.  I hope it gets fixed for a reasonable price!

Ken

Gamera

Yeah other than the economy the rotten weather has me down in the dumps. Normally I'm a autumn/winter sort of person but gee friggin' whiz- enough already!!!

Good luck on your car Mike, I'm still waiting on the body shop to get the parts together to fix mine.

I agree with you Cliff!  I am so ready for the warm weather to start.  On the few days when we get to hit our normal high, we feel like we are getting a heat wave!  We had 2 inches of snow yesterday and this morning's low temperature was 15 degrees.  We are on the rebound now, it is getting a little warmer, but it is supposed to cool back down next week.  And they announced on the news this evening that April is going to continue being cooler than normal.  Great!

Good luck on getting your car fixed Cliff, I hope it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg!

Ken

Hey all!

Thanks for the birthday wish. All I'll say is that it's over and done with.

Worked on the 101 today (yesterday)

Opened up the intakes that are under the belly for cooling the afterburners. I'm actually a little further along, but I don't have an updated pic.

Masked and painted the canopy. I am using MM FS16473 which, according to a post by Berny (thanks Berny) it is a match for what was called "ADC Gray" I also did the windscreen, but it came out messed up. Fortunately, it had already been through the ol' Future dip, so a short soak in window cleaner removed the paint and all. It's been re-dipped and drying now.

The kit has the option of having the flaps lowered or closed. I couldn't quite figure where to locate them in the open position (vague instructions again and no positive locators). I decided to close them. I soon found that a lot of surgery was needed.

Here's the before:

And the after with much of that detail removed:

Before and after of the flap panels. I had to remove much of the detail there as well, not to mention that I had to sand the edges down as the part was slightly larger than the opening.

Finally fits into the opening-you can still see it's still a little longer than it should be. I still need to square it up a bit as well. Still that's not the only problem....

Aaaaah!!!!! The trailing edges of the wings are very thick and out of scale, and don't come close to matching the flap!

I can thin the wings a bit, but not as much as I would like without having to rescribe all those panel lines! And I will need to fill and shape the flap to get a profile to match. I already thinned the wing to the left of the flap a bit.

Not sure what happened on this Out-Of-Box build, but it's not going that way.

Good luck on the car as well, Cliff. I assume you are like many of us, and it's your only ride? Hope it isn't too $$$$$$ much.

Jim

jimbot58

Hey all!

Thanks for the birthday wish. All I'll say is that it's over and done with.

Worked on the 101 today (yesterday)

Opened up the intakes that are under the belly for cooling the afterburners. I'm actually a little further along, but I don't have an updated pic.

Masked and painted the canopy. I am using MM FS16473 which, according to a post by Berny (thanks Berny) it is a match for what was called "ADC Gray" I also did the windscreen, but it came out messed up. Fortunately, it had already been through the ol' Future dip, so a short soak in window cleaner removed the paint and all. It's been re-dipped and drying now.

The kit has the option of having the flaps lowered or closed. I couldn't quite figure where to locate them in the open position (vague instructions again and no positive locators). I decided to close them. I soon found that a lot of surgery was needed.

Here's the before:

And the after with much of that detail removed:

Before and after of the flap panels. I had to remove much of the detail there as well, not to mention that I had to sand the edges down as the part was slightly larger than the opening.

Finally fits into the opening-you can still see it's still a little longer than it should be. I still need to square it up a bit as well. Still that's not the only problem....

Aaaaah!!!!! The trailing edges of the wings are very thick and out of scale, and don't come close to matching the flap!

I can thin the wings a bit, but not as much as I would like without having to rescribe all those panel lines! And I will need to fill and shape the flap to get a profile to match. I already thinned the wing to the left of the flap a bit.

Not sure what happened on this Out-Of-Box build, but it's not going that way.

Good luck on the car as well, Cliff. I assume you are like many of us, and it's your only ride? Hope it isn't too $$$$$$ much.

Jim

Wow Jim, that is a lot of work for an "Out-Of-the-Box" build!  And again that is so surprising that it is a Revell kit.  But you are doing a great job of "fixing" it!     

Ken

Hey Jim, again that looks great- you're doing a serious overhaul on that old kit! Somehow it seems the 'right-outta-da-box' build tend to creep into something more...

And yeah, I'm driving my dad's truck right now which isn't too big a problem for him since he still has the car but I'm still looking forward to getting my car back. I'm thinking about buying an older model truck for use as a - I think the term is 'weatherbeater?' to drive in bad weather.

Hello all, just a quick update on my progress, sorry no pictures.  I am still waiting on Hasegawa to send me the replacement fuselage for the F-4G, I contacted them again earlier this week to see what the status is.  They advise that the order has been processed and they are just waiting for the part to be shipped from the manufacturing center in Japan.

In the meantime, I have started work on the Hasegawa F-16D Version 6 in 1/48.  It going together very nicely.  Maybe i can get some photos of it posted in the next few days.

All of the projects that I've seen are looking great!

jelliott523

Hello all, just a quick update on my progress, sorry no pictures.  I am still waiting on Hasegawa to send me the replacement fuselage for the F-4G, I contacted them again earlier this week to see what the status is.  They advise that the order has been processed and they are just waiting for the part to be shipped from the manufacturing center in Japan.

In the meantime, I have started work on the Hasegawa F-16D Version 6 in 1/48.  It going together very nicely.  Maybe i can get some photos of it posted in the next few days.

All of the projects that I've seen are looking great!

Hi Jelliott523,

I understand how frustrating that must be waiting for that part.  Hopefully it will show up soon.  Since it is coming from Japan, that will most likely take a few weeks.

Ken

Lots of work going into that Jim, doing a great job.

Thanks all. Today seems like I'm not getting anything done. Right now, my project is: cleaning up the computer area, AKA: WHERE THE HECK IS THE USB CABLE  FOR THE GARMIN?!!!!!!

Well, I didn't find it, but actually found one that will work. (I have other cables that fit, but seem to only charge it, not allow access to the files in it or apply upgrades!)

In the meantime, does anybody need a stack of text books about using an operating system called Microsoft ME?

How about a stack of 3.5" floppy disks? I want to dispose of them, but some are labeled as "2002 Taxes" and etc. I will have to physically destroy them as I have no slot on my current PC.

I did work a little on carving and sanding down that flap. Sorry, no pic.

Jim

P.S. Garmin won't update as I don't have enough memory on it and need an Micro SD card! GRRRRRR!

Hey Jim would you trade those 3.5 diskettes for some 5.25 floppies???

I think some of them are still formatted for the Commodore 64...

BTW: Dunno if I mentioned before that I'd stalled out on the two choppers because of the matte coat going down white and frosty? Well I brushed some Future on them and it cleared right up- but then I ended up stuck with large drops of dried Future all over the bottoms. Nothing seems to want to remove the stuff including Windex which is supposed to take it off. Well, the Windex is supposed to work due to the ammonia in it, so I said today what the heck and brushed on straight ammonia right outta the bottle figuring it would take the paint and everything off. Well, it removed the Future and left the paint clean and fine!!! Wish I'd tried this months ago!!!!

Gamera

Hey Jim would you trade those 3.5 diskettes for some 5.25 floppies???

I think some of them are still formatted for the Commodore 64...

BTW: Dunno if I mentioned before that I'd stalled out on the two choppers because of the matte coat going down white and frosty? Well I brushed some Future on them and it cleared right up- but then I ended up stuck with large drops of dried Future all over the bottoms. Nothing seems to want to remove the stuff including Windex which is supposed to take it off. Well, the Windex is supposed to work due to the ammonia in it, so I said today what the heck and brushed on straight ammonia right outta the bottle figuring it would take the paint and everything off. Well, it removed the Future and left the paint clean and fine!!! Wish I'd tried this months ago!!!!

Do you still have the C64? I've heard they still have their fans and are sought by collectors.

Just imagine a system with 64k of ram..... I've only got 5GB on my measly little system!

I remember dreaming of owning a C64.... I didn't have a clue what I would do with it, but I wanted one!

Glad to hear about the Future/ammonia outcome. I always wondered if that would work without dissolving the kit into a pile of goo! Was the Windex you used labeled as "With Ammonia D!"? Some formulations they offer do not have it.

Are you going to try something else for a clear coat? I haven't had the best of luck with them either. My only attempt with Future sprayed on didn't go so well, and I always seem to have trouble with the lacquer finish-I always end up polishing it out as I get a pebbled finish.

Jim

Lol Jim, yeah I had a C-64 way back, burnt out in '92 or so and I got my first PC- a 486DX66. I've thought about picking one up on Ebay but not sure I'd ever use it these days.

You know I'm not sure if the Windex I used had ammonia in it or not, maybe that was the problem? The last couple of models I mixed about 70% matte with 30% gloss and it seems to have stopped the frosting problem. As I said I dunno what happened - I've only seen it before when I flooded it on, I misted it these times and it still frosted. I'm not sure what adding the gloss does but it seems to halt it though.

I was a late starter for my first system. My first system was an HP XL754 with a PIII 850 MHz processor back in '00 or '01. It was pretty decent at the time other that the fact that it had ME installed. It was a few months before the P4's came out. I think I had to reinstall the operating system 3 or 4 times.

Jim: At least you missed MS-Dos... ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!! I remember it seemed I had a different boot floppy for every other piece of software I had. Meddling around with Config and System files and mucking about with EMS and XMS memory... when I first started using Win98 it was a breath of fresh air. I've had my issues but I don't ever want to go back to the bad ol' days!  

Gamera

Jim: At least you missed MS-Dos... ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!! I remember it seemed I had a different boot floppy for every other piece of software I had. Meddling around with Config and System files and mucking about with EMS and XMS memory... when I first started using Win98 it was a breath of fresh air. I've had my issues but I don't ever want to go back to the bad ol' days!  

Seems I remember hearing horror stories about that. I heard that playing a simple game could mean having a stack of floppies in front of you that you would have to change constantly.

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH! I say as well! Just finished my 2013 taxes and it was a PITA for a simple return! I had two W-2's because of the company changing ownership and all that. Plus it asked questions about about the small cash inheritance I received back in 2012. (Online tax service I use) Plus there is a city head tax for the privilege to have the honor of working in the fine city of Denver!

There are also questions about the Trust and income from that. I know it's going to be a nightmare when I ever get to settle Mom's estate. Contrary to the advise from friends, I plan to hire an accountant to work all that out-there's no way I can do that on my own!

Maybe I can sit with the model for a brief time this evening......

Jim

P.S. Yes there are some refunds due. Meager, but better than nothing, or having to pay!

Jim; Good luck with that! I always take all my stuff to a guy and get him to do my taxes. I could probably do it myself but I'm not sure it's worth the frustration!

Did finally get the chance to work on the 101 with mixed results. Tried to do a bit of painting, but the airbrush Gods were not favoring me tonight. The brand new bottle of Aircraft Gray I bought did not seem to want to thin correctly and spray, plus the airbrush was mis behaving as well, and ended up needing a tear-down and cleaning. The parts I was trying to paint went into a Simple Green bath for stripping.... The bottle of paint ended in the bin. I have an old bottle I have been using, and it worked fine. I just thought a new bottle would be nice, but thanks to Testors usual inconsistency......

So I worked on those flaps instead and about have them sized up and ready. Just a few adjustments and I can mount them. Just need them just so perfect....

By the way, I'm not eating that tub of margerine! It holds water for wet sanding!

I also worked on a side project: I built a motor powered paint mixer years ago, using a "C" battery holder, electric motor, and a switch from Radio Shack. The mixer paddle itself is nothing more than a paper clip. I know I could buy one ready made for about 10 bucks, but where's the fun in that? Anyway, the switch broke sometime back and needed to be replaced. Some soldering and epoxy, and it is restored to working status. I can put up the toothpicks now.

I know it's not pretty, but it does work!

jimbot58

Thanks all. Today seems like I'm not getting anything done. Right now, my project is: cleaning up the computer area, AKA: WHERE THE HECK IS THE USB CABLE  FOR THE GARMIN?!!!!!!

Well, I didn't find it, but actually found one that will work. (I have other cables that fit, but seem to only charge it, not allow access to the files in it or apply upgrades!)

In the meantime, does anybody need a stack of text books about using an operating system called Microsoft ME?

How about a stack of 3.5" floppy disks? I want to dispose of them, but some are labeled as "2002 Taxes" and etc. I will have to physically destroy them as I have no slot on my current PC.

I did work a little on carving and sanding down that flap. Sorry, no pic.

Jim

P.S. Garmin won't update as I don't have enough memory on it and need an Micro SD card! GRRRRRR!

I am the same way Jim, I have a bunch of old 3.5" floppy disks, and some old PCs I need to get rid of.  Seems like it was not that long ago (7 years to be exact) when I was using these.  Of course that is prehistoric when we are talking about computers.  I need to take their hard drives out and dispose of them.  Then take all of those disks to a shredder.

Ken

Gamera

Hey Jim would you trade those 3.5 diskettes for some 5.25 floppies???

I think some of them are still formatted for the Commodore 64...

BTW: Dunno if I mentioned before that I'd stalled out on the two choppers because of the matte coat going down white and frosty? Well I brushed some Future on them and it cleared right up- but then I ended up stuck with large drops of dried Future all over the bottoms. Nothing seems to want to remove the stuff including Windex which is supposed to take it off. Well, the Windex is supposed to work due to the ammonia in it, so I said today what the heck and brushed on straight ammonia right outta the bottle figuring it would take the paint and everything off. Well, it removed the Future and left the paint clean and fine!!! Wish I'd tried this months ago!!!!

That is great news Cliff!!  I am so happy for you!  That had to be a great feeling.  Finally something working your way!

Ken

Gamera

Jim: At least you missed MS-Dos... ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!! I remember it seemed I had a different boot floppy for every other piece of software I had. Meddling around with Config and System files and mucking about with EMS and XMS memory... when I first started using Win98 it was a breath of fresh air. I've had my issues but I don't ever want to go back to the bad ol' days!  

I cut my teeth on MS-DOS version 3.3!  That was back in 1985.  My first computer was a 80-286 with a 30 MB hard drive!  The drive was bigger than what that version of DOS could handle.  So I had to use a Seagate utility that would partition the drive into 2 drives.  I later upgraded the RAM from the standard 640 KB with the additional 384 KB expanded memory!  Zoom zoom!

I think I have that PC still laying in my Mom's basement!

Ken

jimbot58

Gamera

Jim: At least you missed MS-Dos... ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!! I remember it seemed I had a different boot floppy for every other piece of software I had. Meddling around with Config and System files and mucking about with EMS and XMS memory... when I first started using Win98 it was a breath of fresh air. I've had my issues but I don't ever want to go back to the bad ol' days!  

Seems I remember hearing horror stories about that. I heard that playing a simple game could mean having a stack of floppies in front of you that you would have to change constantly.

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH! I say as well! Just finished my 2013 taxes and it was a PITA for a simple return! I had two W-2's because of the company changing ownership and all that. Plus it asked questions about about the small cash inheritance I received back in 2012. (Online tax service I use) Plus there is a city head tax for the privilege to have the honor of working in the fine city of Denver!

There are also questions about the Trust and income from that. I know it's going to be a nightmare when I ever get to settle Mom's estate. Contrary to the advise from friends, I plan to hire an accountant to work all that out-there's no way I can do that on my own!

Maybe I can sit with the model for a brief time this evening......

Jim

P.S. Yes there are some refunds due. Meager, but better than nothing, or having to pay!

That is something I still need to do.  Taxes.  We always end up paying, that is why I haven't started yet.  Every year I have payroll increase the amount they are taking out, and every year we still have to pay more!

Ken

jimbot58

Did finally get the chance to work on the 101 with mixed results. Tried to do a bit of painting, but the airbrush Gods were not favoring me tonight. The brand new bottle of Aircraft Gray I bought did not seem to want to thin correctly and spray, plus the airbrush was mis behaving as well, and ended up needing a tear-down and cleaning. The parts I was trying to paint went into a Simple Green bath for stripping.... The bottle of paint ended in the bin. I have an old bottle I have been using, and it worked fine. I just thought a new bottle would be nice, but thanks to Testors usual inconsistency......

So I worked on those flaps instead and about have them sized up and ready. Just a few adjustments and I can mount them. Just need them just so perfect....

By the way, I'm not eating that tub of margerine! It holds water for wet sanding!

I also worked on a side project: I built a motor powered paint mixer years ago, using a "C" battery holder, electric motor, and a switch from Radio Shack. The mixer paddle itself is nothing more than a paper clip. I know I could buy one ready made for about 10 bucks, but where's the fun in that? Anyway, the switch broke sometime back and needed to be replaced. Some soldering and epoxy, and it is restored to working status. I can put up the toothpicks now.

I know it's not pretty, but it does work!

The Voodoo is looking really nice Jim!   

Sorry to hear about your paint problems.  And by the way, that paint mixer looks awesome!

Ken

Jim: Looks good! And neat paint mixer there, no need to be pretty since it's going to get paint splattered on it anyway!

Ken: Wow, MS-DOS 3.3. As said I was still using my C-64 back then.

Funny story I read some time back on how Commodore founder and CEO Jack Tramiel screwed over Bill Gates when he negotiated to pick up a version of Microsoft BASIC back when the first home computer the Commodore PET came out in the late '70s. Tramiel paid a one time payment to use the BASIC version instead of a royalty for each copy. Gates figured it wasn't a big deal since Commodore would have to buy a new version sooner or later. Commodore then went and put that same version of MS BASIC on every PET, Vic-20, and C-64, over fifty million computers over almost ten years.  Gates NEVER sold anyone anything with a one time flat fee ever again!

Gamera

Jim: Looks good! And neat paint mixer there, no need to be pretty since it's going to get paint splattered on it anyway!

Ken: Wow, MS-DOS 3.3. As said I was still using my C-64 back then.

Funny story I read some time back on how Commodore founder and CEO Jack Tramiel screwed over Bill Gates when he negotiated to pick up a version of Microsoft BASIC back when the first home computer the Commodore PET came out in the late '70s. Tramiel paid a one time payment to use the BASIC version instead of a royalty for each copy. Gates figured it wasn't a big deal since Commodore would have to buy a new version sooner or later. Commodore then went and put that same version of MS BASIC on every PET, Vic-20, and C-64, over fifty million computers over almost ten years.  Gates NEVER sold anyone anything with a one time flat fee ever again!

Wasn't there a story that Apple actually came up with the 'Windows' concept or some parts of it? Apple tried to sue but lost? I seem to remember watching some program one night.

A bit of WIP tonight.

Cementing up the after-burners-I had to work carefully to actually preserve the seams down the center. The photos I have seen of the 1:1 version, there is a visible seam showing on the cans. I applied the cement carefully and did not squeeze, so I wouldn't force out that bead of molten plastic.

The nozzles are not cemented yet, just being used to hold everything in alignment. I need to tweak the fit on the lower one.

Interestingly enough, I was trying to find a photo to illustrate, and ran across this. It's the same squadron my kit is modeling. with a different tail number. I'm printing this one out for my own reference. I just hope my project can come close to looking like this....

Hard to see in this photo, but it looks like a row of rivets follows that seam. Don't think I want to go to that level.

Here's the photo I was looking for. Hmmmm...there is an offset seam on the nozzle. Might have to try and scribe one......

I'm printing this one out too for reference.

Seems like when you search for images, you get a lot of other people's model builds and museum pieces that the burner cans have been replaced with fakes. Some are decent and some look....fake!

Ken, here is a website for you:

VOODOO!

Lastly, repainting the inside gear doors. As before, I'm using the Testors Dark Red in the little square bottles. It's a gloss, but I will tone it down a bit with some dullcoat as it looks too shiny right now. Glossy is good for now as the masking film sticks pretty good when I go to do (the voodoo, that I do) on the outside of the doors

Jim