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

[TheChronicOne]

Great job on those Tri-Star engines Brad. 

They come to life with the decals on, don't they?

Totally!! And boy was I glad.... I didn't do a very good job painting them. And another thing.... the decals look different on the model than on the sheet. They look like they should be too dark (talking about the ones on the pylons, and same for the stuff that goes on the wings) but they're semi-transparent and look great on the silver paint. Seems as if they were designed to work regardless of how close the shade of paint is. My silver isn't quite what it should be, but the transfers work anyway! Nazca for the win...  I've had nothing but success with Nazca decals.

[TheChronicOne]

Great job on those Tri-Star engines Brad. 

They come to life with the decals on, don't they?

Totally agree with both of those statements 

+1! 

'Valon' is looking good, too.

To all our astonishment.       Thanks!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

[DogfighterZen]

Great job on those Tri-Star engines Brad. 

They come to life with the decals on, don't they?

Totally agree with both of those statements 

+1! 

'Valon' is looking good, too.

To all our astonishment.       Thanks!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

I guess my mind is just too locked on the real Viper's look cause i was having a hard time seeing the mix in my mind's eye and i was also pleasantly surprised to see how good it looks.  It seemed to me that the T-38's long forward section would be too big but you've made it fit like it was originally designed that way.

[TheChronicOne]

Thank you! Weird how it worked out.... it didn't turn out how I envisioned.      In my mind it was going to be longer in the nose but the way I cut it put the stuff back into the fuselage and I think it works better this way for real world reasons and it looks just fine.  I think if I were to have moved the nose and stuff more forward to match the vision in my head it would have required a lot more work to bash together.

Second coat of primer goes on today and if all looks well I'm probably going to go ahead and get the top painted white BECAUSE I HAVE TO SEE WHAT IT WILL LOOK LIKE.

Meanwhile, that Duplicolor primer I used on this thing is OUTSTANDING. It's one of the cans of stuff I bought at the Ollie's overstock discount store for $2. In the stores where it's sold, it goes for about $8. What I'm getting at is that I like the stuff so damn much I'm making a trip today to get at least 5-6 more cans of it. Hell I might just grab 10. Not like the stuff has some sort of shelf life, right?

I got a few more transfers onto the Tristar engines last night but I wasn't as motivated as the day before and only barely managed to make progress but.... progress is progress.

[TheChronicOne]

It's amazing what some peaceful "down time" can do. Half a year ago I struggled to find 5 minutes of time to work on model stuff a week and now I've found time to work on new things and even old stalled things.    Many things have happened since then to help matters not the least of which is finally having time off from work.

(more on this below my long winded disclosure ahead)

Unfortunately one thing that has given me ample time off lately is the contract for care of the new high dollar shopping center is on hold. I was told by the landscaping company I contract with that the contract they have with the property management hasn't been signed yet.    There's a new property manager and I'm not impressed but that's not really relevant. Either way, it's not my fault and the people I contract with are also not at fault and are just waiting. So.... no use in getting upset about it. My worry is that the upper echelon is considering some alternative in which case my gig evaporates. We're now nearly two weeks into the new year and no resolution. I stopped service on the 4th after I was told to go on standby and here it is a week and a half later. GOOD news is that I went out there and did surveillance and trash is everywhere.... so that means I haven't been replaced yet. 

SO ANYWAY....   F-16... T-16  .... T-47.,... whatever 'n the hell it's called.....  had more white paint applied yesterday and I still have some areas that need to be sanded. In short, I'm stuck in PSR for the time being but I'm finding other things to do. Still no luck finding transfers for it, either, but I DO have a set of NASA stuff I can use if need be. I've also started working on fuel tanks. The two little area-rule ones that go on the wing tips and also drop tanks. This thing will have plenty fuel.    I almost want to throw some conformal (is that right) spine tanks on it, too, then the damn thing could go cross country in full afterburner (not really but it would be one hell of an increase over a Stock F-16 or T-38).



I've also done more work on the 737. I sanded down and re-primed the belly and now I believe I can start masking to get all the "Stuff" painted on. It's a combination of NMF and some anti-corrosion grey. Panels and swoops and ovals and all kinds of crap.  Not knowing how to do this is what brought things to a halt last time around but now I know what I want to do and it should actually be pretty easy. I'm trying to leave the primer showing for those grey parts but I fear it's too far off from the actual shade so I might be brush painting a more proper color on. No biggie.

I started a Klingon Bird of Prey last night. I have the old three piece Adversary Set and I'm what-iffing them all buy making them all federation ships. I've already done the Ferengi.



I ordered a bunch of decals the other night and it's just a matter of painting and gluing until they get here.

Now for some random stuff.


OOPS!

Check this out... some good ol' test-liners:



Lastly... I saw some leggings for sale on the FB market place and snagged the picture because......    looks like a pretty neat camo pattern to me.



So that's that!

[Rick Lowe]

That's an interesting cam pattern, huh.
Have you seen this:
https://www.camopedia.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

I think the Valon would look good in NASA markings - sorta like the next gen of their T-38s, maybe?

Hope the work situation resolves itself to your benefit.

The cartoon is truer than most of us would like to think of/remember... drop something, try to 'catch' it with your foot and see it punted off into the distance... 

[TheChronicOne]

I've been to camopedia but it's been a couple years so it's time to head back for a re-fresher!   

I had forgotten about those NASA Talons! You're right, that would make this project make more sense all of a sudden and now I feel a lot better about the alternate paint scheme. Hell, I suppose I can just go ahead with the idea. I need to dry fit the decals to make sure they will actually fit but if so I'll just go on ahead with the NASA livery.

I forgot to mention the other day, anyway, that as a compromise I went ahead and bought the decals I wanted for this one to use on one of my 1/48 scale Talons. Two Talons and one other prop plane given to me as a gift decades ago (CS-199 Israeli knife, really cool kit!) are the only things I have left in 1/48 so that tells a bit of a story about how much I like Talons. So, basically, this means I get to have my cake and eat it, too I suppose.

[Rick Lowe]

It certainly does! Glad I could help. 

I converted a 109 to a Mule back in the day - well, I put the nose of a cr@ppy Mule kit onto a better 109 kit - and actually managed to finish the thing. Interesting plane, and I like the irony of it all too!

[TheChronicOne]

Too right! Fascinating plane and history. The whole story of the formation of IAF is one of the most interesting and entertaining ones, as well. IT's no wonder of wonders that they're one of my favorite air forces.


Many different odds and ends of work done on the T-16 thing and the BoP as well. Painting and stuff. Blah blah blah.       I'm doing a bunch of different things at once so it's hard to gather my thoughts. I've been testing paints, gathering paints, painting with paints, checking decals, opening packages, moving model kits, wet sanding, etc. Also.... contemplating. I'm wondering about starting a 727-100 with USPS markings. 

[Rick Lowe]

Forward progress is still forward progress, even if they're small steps. 
And contemplation never hurts - it can stop you having to redo, or reglue, or toss and start again... I Know This Now...

[TheChronicOne]

Oh no!! WACK!  ()  I got this in the email today:

"Brad, they have hired a janitorial company to maintain the buildings. I really appreciate the work you have done for me, and I am hopeful we can work together again. What services do you offer so I can use you as a subcontractor again in the future?"

  Well there goes that thing! Up in smoke. No more trash gig. I'm not going to be too salty about it because it was a sweet deal while it lasted and things are often out of my control. At some point this will probably wreck my mood, but for now I'm not going to exacerbate the problem by including self-inflicted mental anguish to the dilemma. I've been enjoying my time off and now the "thrill of the hunt" is back when it comes to finding winter time money and that offers its own rewards. I have ideas already! Spring is fast approaching anyway so it's not the end of the world.

As far as projects: I've been busy with this crap and other things the last couple of days and not much has been done with the models. I did manage a bit of painting on the Klingon Turd of Prey, though!  I plan to be back at it tomorrow..  judging from how tedious it was just to paint a few panels I imagine it's going to take a couple days at least so I better get started. 

[Rick Lowe]

Well, that's annoying.

Nice, though that he's willing to keep you in mind for other stuff, and hopefully it will come to something.

And as I keep saying to people, no work= more modelling time (or more likely work around the house, but it is what it is)

Stay sane

[Pellson]

Oh no!! WACK!  ()  I got this in the email today:

"Brad, they have hired a janitorial company to maintain the buildings. I really appreciate the work you have done for me, and I am hopeful we can work together again. What services do you offer so I can use you as a subcontractor again in the future?"

  Well there goes that thing! Up in smoke. No more trash gig. I'm not going to be too salty about it because it was a sweet deal while it lasted and things are often out of my control. At some point this will probably wreck my mood, but for now I'm not going to exacerbate the problem by including self-inflicted mental anguish to the dilemma. I've been enjoying my time off and now the "thrill of the hunt" is back when it comes to finding winter time money and that offers its own rewards. I have ideas already! Spring is fast approaching anyway so it's not the end of the world.

As far as projects: I've been busy with this crap and other things the last couple of days and not much has been done with the models. I did manage a bit of painting on the Klingon Turd of Prey, though!  I plan to be back at it tomorrow..  judging from how tedious it was just to paint a few panels I imagine it's going to take a couple days at least so I better get started. 

Sorry to hear that, mate, but I hope you'll be able to find something even better as you move on. As someone wrote to me: "When things are most uncertain, every opportunity is open"

[zenrat]

That's a shame to hear Brad C.  But your attitude is great.  Stay positive and see what comes along.

[TheChronicOne]

Well, that's annoying.

Nice, though that he's willing to keep you in mind for other stuff, and hopefully it will come to something.

And as I keep saying to people, no work= more modelling time (or more likely work around the house, but it is what it is)

Stay sane

That's the ticket, bruh! I'm going to accentuate the positive. I've already plans to expand the business anyway but ... it's pressure washing and that's not the most ideal thing to be doing in winter time BUT I could expedite this and start advertising for it pretty soon and just try to work around the weather. Other plans including perhaps advertising to/contacting local businesses to see if I can offer service doing the same thing I was out at the shopping center. Something interesting might pop up in the local job markets, too. Two sweetest gigs I ever had were found by randomly checking craigslist. Wasn't even really looking for anything, per se, but just happened to spot a listing right up my alley so.... chances are it'll happen again. LONG TERM........   I think I'll be fine right up until winter again 10 months from now so I have that long to get something figured out. I also have some money saved back in the bank.

And yeah you damn right I'm about to get some models whipped up and proceed with my house projects.