1983 E Cleanup

[7981GS]

The updates are slow coming. Here's one - the wheels are back from the powder coater. He did a really good job. His "near chrome" is a tad lighter and brighter than the factory, but its more than close enough for me.

More than close enough for me too!
Send them here ASAP!

Eric

 

[bonanzadave]

More than close enough for me too!
Send them here ASAP!

Nice Tomcat

 

[still_bluenoser]

Looking really good Mike!

 

[Guest]

Nice Tomcat

Yeah the cat isn't bad. Came with the flimsiest landing gear I've ever seen. Thank God for aftermarket. I wanted to get the Hornet and Falcon that match, but they're nuts for pricing.

Here's more of the 1/18 stuff

 

[7981GS]

You just might enjoy this year's Reno Air Races.

(^^^ not this one, it is the one that crashed last year. )

You could see those planes not only on static display but also racing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXmEkKuBPxE


The winner of that race, his race plane and Goldie...

Eric

 

[Guest]

I can only sit and drool! Oh and the planes ain't bad either.

I considered myself fortunate to visit Pearl last year and was blown away to be so close to history.

And all the footage in the world doesn't convey true size until you see it up close and personal.

 

[Guest]

And a shot of 2 (out of 5 at that time) survivors of Pearl. There usually was a third but he was ill that day.

 

[7981GS]

Sorry for the

But, I thought that you would enjoy these.


Stock Bearcat...

Factory (rare) Racing version...

 

[SVSooke]

Ahh those are Vought F4U Corsairs

This is a F8F Bearcat.

 

[Homie]

You are a master of turning turds into diamonds! Everything looks great! When do you think you will have Project 1100E completed and on the road? More importantly, since it seems that the build is the juice for you, how long after you finish it will it be up for sale? I got first dibs!

 

[cowboyup3371]

Very pretty work

 

[Redneck]

Damn all those models look spiffy, I see now why you are such a stickler for details with models you have to be. The other thing I have to say is you have way to much free time...lol. I can't imagine more than one or two projects at a time not being in the military and my little princess constantly demanding my attention.

Paul

 

[Guest]

Damn all those models look spiffy, I see now why you are such a stickler for details with models you have to be. The other thing I have to say is you have way to much free time...lol. I can't imagine more than one or two projects at a time not being in the military and my little princess constantly demanding my attention.

Paul

My 3 little princes and 1 princess are now 23 to 30 and none at home. You'll love it when your turn shows up - almost like being retired. And when I'm at sea I can have up to 12 hours a day to twiddle my thumbs. I read nearly every book and watched too many movies over the years. So I got back into something that eats hours up quickly while at sea. And my "Hunny Do" list at a minimum as she is resting in the quiet of the house, post-kids. But as long as there are parts to keep momentum going, I go. The drag is I hate stopping once underway. This is why I try to do part by part when it comes apart. Its when it starts to go together that I really hate to stop. By then another project has amassed parts and over to it I go.
Still trying to locate a set of decent fork legs locally.

 

[Guest]

Not much on the home front the past while. The Bridgestones did come in and I got those mounted. However I don't have the bearings yet so no balancing nor completing the basic wheel assemblies. So maybe a picture of the rims with tires? Wow huh?

The only other movement in the was that I got a spare head from the same fellow who sold me the front end. I wanted a guinea pig to play with a grinder and see if I can match some of the porting examples that are posted here and elsewhere.He also tossed in the barrels, pistons, cam chain tensioners, a clutch cover, two oil pans and both handlebar switches. The pistons look serviceable so for something to do I started to clean them up to see what they're really like

The frame and other frame related gloss black powdercoated parts didn't arrive and I haven't heard from the painter about the tank, side covers, fender and cowl. The bad news already came that the painted I wanted is no longer available in Canada. The PC crowd deemed it environmentally unfriendly and gave it the heave ho. I have gotten contraband paint up across the border before, but it too me nearly 3 months and was a heck of a lot of hassles. So I left it in the hands of those that know this stuff and walked away. So what comes out will be all new to me.

And finally on Wednesday I leave on the briny blue for at least a month so nothing will happen there. So this will be the last update until mid July or so. I'm hoping by then at least the frame lot and tank lot are done.

 

[steve murdoch]

Offshore rig or fisherman?

 

[Nessism]

Enjoying the thread. You sir are a CRAFTSMAN! Very nice work.

Keep going....

 

[Guest]

Offshore rig or fisherman?

Hydrographer - I make navigation charts. I'm on the East Coast so from the US border to the Arctic of the Atlantic Ocean is where we survey. We've been downsizing the last 15 years or so and now our current flagship vessel only carries 2 launches.

The mothership Matthew - she carries a Simrad 710 sounding system.

And the two Matthew launches - Plover and Pipit. Mine is the Plover in the foreground with the tribute to R.T. Smith and the rest of the AVG wearing the standard shark's mouth and eyes. Every winter they paint her over during the routine maintenance and every spring I've got to put it back on.

For those that want to know the Pipit has a Simrad dual head EM3002 system and the Plover now has a Simrad EM2040 system. 10 times water depth. You sit in 10 metres and I can see 100 metres of the bottom.

And an image I collected in the Plover. The Penguin Islands on the south coast of Newfoundland. This area is about 1.5 square miles. The darkest blue on the edges is around 350 metres in depth and it goes up to drying near the islands, which are the black holes. This took me less than a day to complete.

And a picture of cox'un Alf and myself playing with a berg.

 

[steve murdoch]

What a fascinating job that must be.
Probably some danger at times?
I have a niece who is a vet a couple hours from Gander and she sends pics of icebergs like they are no big deal. Well maybe not to her.

 

[Guest]

What a fascinating job that must be.
Probably some danger at times?

If there are any here that can remember there was a time GPS was some NASA geek's wet dream. All our positioning systems were land based and we required at least three shore stations to position the ship or launches. Four is better and 5 was unheard of. So prior to building the stations we had to survey them in to know their position so we could then position the launch. Not bad putting in control marks on some nice beach in the summer, but most of the time it was putting them in the Arctic on some God forbidden Hell Hole. We are trained to kill polar bears - first hint - do not shoot them in the head when they are running for you - most times the shell bounces off. If you can get the heart you'll drop 'em like a switch. Nice in theory, I'e seen them catch and ear walrus and seals and they don't give a **** either about human flesh. All the same, you walk you game. And given that the distances in the Arctic between stations is huge, usually to the absolute positioning system's accuracy ( 20 miles). So you get dumped off a 206 Jet Ranger from the ship on top of some highest peak of nothingness with survey gear, thermos of coffee and a 30.06 and a box of shells. And then the chopper goes 20 miles away and dumps the next and then closes a triangle ond drops off a third. That's the most efficient way to walk control over a large distance everyone taking angles and distances and leapfrogging via chopper down some coastline. You're completely open to the bears. And all they do is to walk around and thin out whatever they come across. And that chopper is a LONG way away when you need it. I've seen them coming in my direction, but from some distance, we've chased them in the chopper, but I've never had a one to one up close and personal with one. There's always the stories and some are true. Even prior to chopper the teams were dropped off ashore by dory and had to walk all the gear up. I did it as a green kid. Two car batteries, several pieces of 2x4, a set of survey legs, and/or a Telerometer or theodolite. Jump ashore with that **** and then up the highest hill. But I never had to do that in the Arctic. One Arctic team many years ago consisted of 6 guys was dropped off by three dories or Zodiacs and not minutes later the boats were recalled by an emergency on the beach radioed in from the ship. Anyway five guys were gone and the last was badly mauled - within 20 minutes maybe half an hour? The beach was clear when they were dropped off. That bugger was hiding and ****ed off.

 

[steve murdoch]

The danger i was thinking about was being on the sea during storms, hadn't thought about the wildlife.
The same niece now in Nfld. also spent time in James Bay doing bird studies. I have a great pic somewhere of her sitting on a Yammie with a rifle slung over her shoulder. They had also received training for bear protection.