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

[TheChronicOne]

Back at this mess again. I went back clear to February 03 and checked out a larger store. "amodels" and they sell tons of stuff..........    They are based in Deerfield, IL according to what I found on eBay just now and this mystery package is from Des Plaines, IL. Get this.... they're only about 10 miles away from each other so this is the strongest lead I have yet. Although, I swear I remember that when I ordered the kit from them in February they sent along an invoice with it.

Applying more putty to the Tristar. Going to try to sand on the Caravelle and Aardvark.

[DogfighterZen]

I think you're doing the right thing by trying to sort it out. Never been in that situation but i have once received a refund for a kit that wasn't delivered in the expected time period but when the kit was delivered a week later, i contacted the seller and asked him for the invoice again so i could pay for what i got. I know some will say "stupid" but that's not my way of doing things, especially when the seller was a serious guy and refunded me as soon as the estimated delivery date went by and i was still waiting for the kit.
Funny fact about this story is that the kit i'm talking about is now in your stash, my friend... all i can say is that it came from Moscow, Russia!! 

[TheChronicOne]

MiG Fun!! I love that and the other kit... they're in my special stack behind me of stuff I want quick access to.

Good on you for seeking out that invoice and paying up anyway. I'm doing all I can to find the owner of this one.  There could be some ill-feelings brewing somewhere and I'd hate to see that. I can imagine it now, "Hey, where's my Lanc?"  "Well, we mailed it out..... "   I sent a message to Amodels but it might be awhile before I hear back. For, now I've suspended my efforts to swill beer and work on MY kits. 

On that note........   I've finally, today, after a long while, decided to try wet sanding. I've been wanting to for along while but always seem to forget. Well, not today!!! And..... all I have to say is...... I'll never go back!  This is the snazziest poo-poo ever. Cuts down on the dust 100%. Nice to not have to hold my breath at times waiting on the fan to exhaust it out the window. Also, the FEEL of it is magnificent!! It's so nice feeling, it just feels like it's working 5X better than dry. Lastly, the sand paper doesn't foul nearly as quickly. Going to save money this way.

'Bout gear up to mask this F-111 canopy. I dipped in Future already and got my tape and blade out. All I need now is to prep up with some nice Chronic and get busy. 

[TheChronicOne]

I've managed some actual, decent progress on the F-111 and it has now jumped ahead of some of the other builds as far as how close to paint it is. PSR and more PSR then I primed it. I also masked the canopy. Threw LEGO airport guy and the TET bottle in there. Need to start adding a banana for scale reference as well.

[NARSES2]

but when the kit was delivered a week later, i contacted the seller and asked him for the invoice again so i could pay for what i got. I know some will say "stupid" but that's not my way of doing things, especially when the seller was a serious guy and refunded me as soon as the estimated delivery date went by and i was still waiting for the kit.

That's not being stupid it's being decent. Well done sir 

[DogfighterZen]

Migs are cool...   Way to go with the wet sanding, when there's a lot of sanding to be done, it's the best. I did it on the F-16W's DSI intake made out of Tamiya putty and it was the best solution to avoid breathing it all in. That F-111 looks smooth...

but when the kit was delivered a week later, i contacted the seller and asked him for the invoice again so i could pay for what i got. I know some will say "stupid" but that's not my way of doing things, especially when the seller was a serious guy and refunded me as soon as the estimated delivery date went by and i was still waiting for the kit.

That's not being stupid it's being decent. Well done sir 

Thanks, Chris. I could've easily gone the other way and just keep both the kit and the money but it's just not me. I believe in honesty and respect so that's how i try to live my life. Anyway, would 21,50€ make me poorer? That money had been destined for that anyway, i'd paid for it once gladly before so, to me, it was the right thing to do.

[TheChronicOne]

"No joy" today, man. I decided to flip the script completely and do something different so I got myself and a housebound friend of mine away from both of our homes for some leisure time. Other than errands, shopping, and work, I haven't left my house for the express intent to simply enjoy myself since some time in 2015. (weak!  )  We went out on Ft. Sill and drove around and looked at the large collection of artillery, anti-aircraft, and ballistic pieces they have in the outdoor Artillery Park portion of the base museum then we invaded the bowling alley for lunch & a few games of Magic: The Gathering. ( sweet)

I'm working on other things, as well, to shake things up. Now that my back is much better I've been feeling the cabin fever. It's easy to just be here all the time when it was too excruciating to walk, but now....   Well, things are starting to become reptitive and it's rotting my brain. I need to stoke some of my other neglected hobbies such as the aforementioned MTG,....  and others such as video games and leaving my house.

Just trying to look after my mental health. I've been in a rut for awhile and it's starting to effect my mood. 

Not that I'm done with this other jive, though!     I can't remember if I mentioned where I left over or not but I think the last thing I did last time was put yet more putty on the Tristar then sprayed some primer on it. It's been out in the 105 degree weather for about 3 days now. This RAPIDLY advances the drying/curing time!    Bad part is the high humidity offsets this a bit but overall it's a lot better than it sitting inside in the "dark" and "cool."


Picture for interest, the latest things to arrive in the mail.


Oh yeah! On that note, still no luck with the FROG Lanc mystery. I found a seller that was only 5-6 miles away from where it was mailed but they got back to me and said they don't know any Lawrence McDonnough from Des Plaines Illinois....     I'm not done yet, though. At this point I kind of don't give two flips what happens; I just can't stand a mystery sometimes. Even if I wind up "losing" a "free" kit I just can't help but want to solve the conundrum!

[Tophe]

With these two "Boing", I am dreaming you will build a twin-fuselage B-7377, yes?

[TheChronicOne]

You know........ that's not a half bad idea.  And with all the nutty stuff they're doing with the 737, we may as well!   


I could get, like....... a couple of the Revell 737-800 and make a twin fuselage, 4 engined airliner. It would be a blast!

[Tophe]

Hurrah for this project! (even if maybe you will never build it actually)

[TheChronicOne]

I think I will try it in the future. Has to be done, now. I just want to make sure I get it right w/ regard to such matters as proper wing structure and stuff... I kind of doubt I could get away with using the kit wings but.... I do happen to have a spare set of C-5 Galaxy wings. 

I can't wait for winter time to get here when I have more time and energy... I have so many projects I want to do.   Seems like every few days I settle on something new I want to build. I've always enjoyed daydreaming about new builds but 90% of the time I pass on them knowing I don't have time but lately I've been telling myself, "Yup, I'm building this one..... " 

[TheChronicOne]

I guess I better start getting better at building.........   

About a month ago I found what appears to be a brand new smarth phone disassembled and laying in the middle of the street. I have tried to no avail to return it to the owner. For awhile I was speaking with some idiot on the messaging system but this person was ^%*^&*Q#% STUPID and I never could seem to get the idea across that who they thought they were talking to lost their phone. I tried again a few days later and now nothing on the phone works....  I don't know how these things work but I think it may have been "Bricked" or something. Like a protocol after the phone is stolen. Well, problem is that has ended my attempts at returning it. Further more, there's a distinct possibility the thing was thrown out into the street on purpose because through reading the messages and stuff this ol' boy was cheating on his partner and she found out and was none too happy. Speculation but who knows! It's as if no one wants the damn thing so guess what? I'm keeping it. This is much familiar with the Lancaster kit mystery. I've tried my best and devoted hours to getting it back to its rightful owner but no luck.

ANYWAYYYYY. 

This means I have a "new" camera. 

Old camera versus new camera:




Looks like I was right all along. Not that I'm still not a lousy photographer, but that about a decade old phone was way past its prime.

[NARSES2]

I can't get to grips with the camera on my phone, and it's not a bad one, so I've gone back to my trusty digital s.l.r. Mind you I can have focusing problems with that - I blame my eyesight 

[TheChronicOne]

Same. It confuses me. I've tried to learn little bits and pieces of it but one big problem other than not knowing how to work the camera is not knowing what exactly is wrong. Even if I knew what all the settings did, if I don't know which way to adjust them they may as well not exist.

Some people can look at a picture and spout off a list of things, "well, the molecule level is off by 4, and there's too many photons in the upper left corner. Then, the haze transfluxer needs to be set to alpha blocking and the mass blaster shift adjuster levels should be . O 5 of the 6th variable of the specific shading of the negative space in the foreground."  OK... I look at MY picture and I say, "Well, this looks like arse."  So....      well...   here we are I guess.   

In other news!!!

Solved the mystery of the Lanc! I should read my mail more often. I finally got around to getting my email read and it turns out my mate Rob in straya drop shipped something to me for forwarding later. ROGER THAT.     So nice to solve a mystery!!  Man, had I read my email about a week ago though this never would have been a mystery. Lesson learned, sometimes it's not good to wait. I've always done that with my mail. I let it pile up then go through it all at once when I time.

In other news... I'm moving forward rapidly on the F-111. I've decided to get on with the show so PSR is done with and I've been finishing off all the painting of the small pieces. I painted the interior as well and now the canopy is ready to be PVA glued on then the actual painting starts. Won't be very long at all and this one will be finished. I decided to delete any pylons or hanging anything from it so that speeds things up considerably and even the transfers aren't going to take long. I don't think there are very many of them nor do the SA aircraft of the era have a ton of visible markings anyway. So....   Actually, I think I might even be done with it tomorrow. We'll see.

[NARSES2]

Glad you found out where the Lanc came from