Gondor's Grumblings

[Gondor]

I got home from Inverness just after midday today. I have spent the rest of today catching up on some things and relaxing. Saw my cat outside and he was quite happy to come in, have a snack and then to sleep on top of me, which encouraged me to nap for a couple of hours. No model making has been done at all other than to unpack a kit I bought on eBay, which I had directed to my local post office. I am not back at work until Wednesday, so I hope to catch up a bit with the P.8 builds.

Gondor

[Rick Lowe]

Again, Quality Time with your Furry Overlord... what's not to like? 

[Gondor]

I have come to a decision about the Fairey ER.103C's markings. It will be a 92 Squadron machine, pre camouflage so shiny, but not as shiny as Stuarts build.

Gondor

[Gondor]

Starting to get into panic mode. It's only five months until Telford!!!!

The list of things I want to finish by then is getting longer and longer. I have the two P.8's as my main priority at the moment, followed by the C.150 and a Polish aircraft that I haven't looked at my build references to say what it is, but basically it's a predecessor to the P.Z.L. P23.
A newcomer is a P.1121, seeing that Stuart is going to be working on some 3D versions, I thought I had better get my skates on and build one of the versions I have in mind. A thread will appear by the end of today, Sunday, so you might have seen that before reading this, maybe not.
Those are the things I plan to concentrate on, five models and five months, what could possibly go wrong 

Gondor

[Gondor]

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted anything here, so I thought I would do a quick rundown of where I am, other than sitting at my computer 

The two P.8's are making slow progress. I should have the wings on both of them and hopefully on their legs as well over the weekend. The P.1121 is mostly still in the planning/evolving stage, but I am also hoping to make progress with that over the weekend. I really need to get the edges sanded back so that openings and alterations to the airframe can be made to "Navalise" it. A lot of the work will involve cutting up parts of the fuselage, partly so I can insert the new cockpit, but I think the fuselage needs to be shortened a little as well. The drawings that I have been provided with will be a real help with these. I am probably creating a rod for my own back by wanting to add all the bells and whistles to this. Although the radome folds back on itself, I will have it removed so that the refuelling probe can be extended, it happens to be on the same side that the radome folds back against. Even if I only opened the radome to 90^o from its normal position, the drawing shows the refuelling probe will not be able to open fully. So the end result is turning into a sort of exhibition-style display, which is more work on top of all the extra stuff I am doing to the basic kit anyway     

On Saturday the 6th of September, I will be attending my first company social event, I started with them eight years ago, and nothing has been organised that I have been remotely interested in has been organised to make me want to travel over thirty miles from my home until now. Castle Semple Centre, Lochlip Road, Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, PA12 4EA  is the location, and the activities will be rotated between 3 activities, 1 hour each: Kayaking, Bell Boating, and Bushcraft. I hope the last is where you point at a low green covered twig and say Bush! or something like that. I have done Kayaking when I was in Cornwall with the RAF, half my lifetime ago. The Bell Boating sounds interesting as well. I plan to take several changes of clothing, including footwear and a couple of large towels, just to be on the safe side, although I hope to stay reasonably dry.

Gondor

[Rheged]

Kayaking and bell boating sound fun, but excessively  moist.  Bushcraft??  I suggest a quick scan through your old copy of "Scouting for Boys"  might be in order.   However it turns out, family Rheged wish you an enjoyable and entertaining  day. Your choice of  accessories for the occasion seem  most appropriate and extremely sensible.

[Gondor]

Kayaking and bell boating sound fun, but excessively  moist.  Bushcraft??  I suggest a quick scan through your old copy of "Scouting for Boys"  might be in order.   However it turns out, family Rheged wish you an enjoyable and entertaining  day. Your choice of  accessories for the occasion seem  most appropriate and extremely sensible.

An additional idea that I have just checked to see if it works, is to leave the fob that opens and closes the car doors in the car. This is possible due to there being a key that slides inside the fob, which can open the driver's door. So I will be able to have access to the car without the electronic fob getting wet. If I also wear swimming trunks rather than normal underwater, that solves another potential problem.
I had heard that "Scouting for Boys" was illegal, or certainly frowned upon.

Gondor

[zenrat]

Any kayaking instructor worth their salt will ensure all their pupils capsize at least once per session.
I say this as a former kayaking instructor.

[Rheged]

Any kayaking instructor worth their salt will ensure all their pupils capsize at least once per session.
I say this as a former kayaking instructor.

50 years ago, I could demonstrate a so called "Eskimo Roll" in a kayak, as well as how to safely exit from an inverted canoe with a proper spray deck.  Now, I'm pretty sure   that sort  of behaviour is well behind me.

[Rick Lowe]

Any kayaking instructor worth their salt will ensure all their pupils capsize at least once per session.
I say this as a former kayaking instructor.

50 years ago, I could demonstrate a so called "Eskimo Roll" in a kayak, as well as how to safely exit from an inverted canoe with a proper spray deck.  Now, I'm pretty sure   that sort  of behaviour is well behind me.

Yep; AIUI, they teach you how to get (or they get you) into trouble, so you can get yourself out of it again.

Anywhoos, hope you have a great time.

[Gondor]

Anywhoos, hope you have a great time.

So do I. It's a couple of weeks away, plenty of time to get cold feet as it were 

[Gondor]

I'm a Star Trek fan, I grew up with James T. Kirk commanding the U.S.S. Enterprise once a week. Later, I managed to watch all the other original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. After that, I was downloading Enterprise because the UK was not getting each episode until after the U.S.. That was fun, trying to download each episode all those years ago, and then trying to find a decent set of artwork to turn into covers and disc centres for each episode. Now, I have boxed sets of each of these series as well as all the films, including the Kelvin timeline ones. Now I have started to watch "Strange New Worlds" and I am enjoying it. I have only watched three episodes of the first season so far, but I am liking it so far. I'm still not keen on the general look which came in with the Kelvin films, but now I am feeling better about it than I was with the films. I mean, come on! When do they have concrete floors and plastic strip doors on a Starship? I still have to finish season three of Discovery, but that can wait, I'm following Captain Pike and that sexy First Officer of his 

[scooter]

I'm a Star Trek fan, I grew up with James T. Kirk commanding the U.S.S. Enterprise once a week. Later, I managed to watch all the other original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. After that, I was downloading Enterprise because the UK was not getting each episode until after the U.S.. That was fun, trying to download each episode all those years ago, and then trying to find a decent set of artwork to turn into covers and disc centres for each episode. Now, I have boxed sets of each of these series as well as all the films, including the Kelvin timeline ones. Now I have started to watch "Strange New Worlds" and I am enjoying it. I have only watched three episodes of the first season so far, but I am liking it so far. I'm still not keen on the general look which came in with the Kelvin films, but now I am feeling better about it than I was with the films. I mean, come on! When do they have concrete floors and plastic strip doors on a Starship? I still have to finish season three of Discovery, but that can wait, I'm following Captain Pike and that sexy First Officer of his 

I would also recommend Lower Decks.  Yes, its animated in the Rick and Morty style, but it maintains the spirit of Trek, just in 30 minutes.  Plus, there's a crossover with SNW in Season 2; and the artwork on DVD/BD covers parodies the TMP era movie posters.

[Gondor]

I forgot about that series. I have watched some of that, got lost as to which episode I was on. I have seen the other cartoon spin-off, the one with the Protostar in it.

[The Rat]

I have seen the other cartoon spin-off, the one with the Protostar in it.

Prodigy. To me, it has a rather Star Wars feel to it, not sure why. But quite enjoyable.