Nocoolname

It’s the classic British topic. We can skirt around any other topic but seem programmed to dive straight into the weather, though I think this was traditionally due to it being generally miserable. But, depending on who’s talking, we’re now on to our ‘third’ heatwave this year. In modelling terms, I started in Feb/early March with freezing hands in my conservatory (they had literally turned blue) trying to lay down the paint and then gloss coats for my Eagle Transporter. Now, trying to assemble electronics for my Bird of Prey, Starfury Mk 1 and Viper Mk 2 before zapping all of these plus 2 Eagles and a Hawk with paint, I’m literally melting. A third of my plants have died, the others seem to be thriving. I even have wheat growing in my garden. How did that happen? The weather is definitely weird.

Especially if what you’re buying is a fish! 😉🤦

Those pictures are amazing!! May I ask what camera/lens arranged you have and also what settings you chose? I’ve been trying my hand at wildlife photography for the past year but still struggle to get even half decent results.

Plant based tomatoes. Who’d have thunk it. 🤔

Like model making it’s ’re-learning’ after a gap that’s a real pain. I did actually manage to do some good soldering about 7 years ago, unfortunately the part I used to solder was unsuitable, but the bond itself was good. I somehow lost the knowledge and the knack, like other aspects of model making. I really hate getting old and addled. 😡

There are lots of changes going on, some good, many more less so, depending whether you’re on the buyer or seller side of the coin (I’ve been both). As a seller, despite initial concerns I’ve found the simplified postage to be useful at least in the sense that I don’t have to pay the postage up front anymore. It still doesn’t use the grade of service I used to use by default (tracked ‘and’ signed for - mainly due to my experience as a buyer of having non-signed for items ‘delivered’ to a doorstep/back yard/other street (delete as applicable) but the few things I’ve sold recently have gone through ok. The postage approach can be a pain because their email QR codes give minimal information so not having an idetic memory I can find myself standing at the Post Office counter trying to check which label goes with which parcel - never a problem when I managed it myself, but again, I don’t have to pay the postage up front which remains a bonus. The biggest problem I have with this is the limitation in the carriers available and despite their suggestions to the contrary, the inability to request an exemption from simple postage for certain things. This has meant I have been unable to list kits that exceed the 61cm range accepted by Royal Mail unless I choose the other option (Evri). In the past I would have used ParcelForce but there is no such option now. I ditched international purchases and sales a while back as they had already become a pain long before the recent changes. The payment delay as well as the changes in payment processes have been a real grind though I can understand why they were introduced. Effectively, people behaving badly driving the need for changes that inconvenience the honest. But the thing that continues to infuriate me as a seller is how poorly non payment is treated with the inability to provide negative feedback the cherry on the cake. On my last round of sales, 50% of winning bidders just didn’t bother paying. Not even a message with a reason or even excuse. eBay’s so called sanctions appear to have no public profile, so I can’t see publicly if a bidder has failed to pay. I’ve gone as far as having things wrapped and ready only to have to unwrap again after waiting a ridiculous 4 days. I always felt that buyers thought that packing material grew on a ‘free packing material tree’ rather than something I’m having to fork out for but I’m wondering if eBay imagine the same? Needless to say my listings as a private seller have absolutely plummeted this year. It is really getting to the point that the hassle is outweighing the returns. It really seems that eBay is just geared towards business sellers now 😔

Thanks for that. Yea I’m not a fan of Amazon either but I’ve popped that in the basket just in case. There’s a good old fashioned proper independent hardware store in town that generally cater for every aspect of DIY so I’m going to pop there first and see if they have an equivalent to this. If not, I’ll go the Amazon route. Thanks again!

Thanks @szeregowy @speedy @Andrew Jones @jenko @Casey and @dnl42 for the advice. Quick question about flux - is there any specific type I need, any specific ingredient or formula? For instance I’ve found a pot of water soluble, lead free, non acid and zinc chloride free paste at my local Screwfix. Would this suffice? Thanks folks!

Thanks. I did get a hang of tinning the tip but everything afterwards went sideways. I take note of ‘flux, flux and more flux’ and will pick up a pack of flux paste in the week. I need a break from this after a long day yesterday that came to nought so I’m off to the beach tomorrow instead and will dive back into this Thursday and Friday with a lot of cleaning of the parts then practice with flux and solder. Cheers for now!

Thanks both. I think I was using cheap plain lead free solder that came with my old soldering iron years ago. I’ve been out and picked up a reel of LF with a rosin flux core to try first before reaching for flux paste also. I still have the battery holders that failed to solder along with a ton of switches with connection points so will use these to practice on. I’m also going to see if I can buy pre-wired switches just in case, or at least to get these two builds over the line. I’ve plenty more lighting kits to come so if I don’t apply what I learn to the immediate few I will get the chance with future kits.

Hi folks, looking for some guidance and advice from those who have experience of succesfully assembling lighting kits. Despite practicing I just can’t seem to get the hang of soldering, in particular, wires to connecting points such as on battery holders and switches. I can just about solder wires together and have followed the guidance I’ve been able to find, such as tinning the target parts, but it’s just not working for soldering wires to connection parts and I’m struggling to understand where I am going wrong. I can struggle a bit with keeping my hands perfectly still and have struggled to create the right jig to support parts while I hold the iron and solder. I thought I had cracked it earlier, finally finishing up a lighting kit by attaching the connecting wires to the battery holder after several attempts. But as well as being really difficult to lay down the solder didn’t hold and the wires eventually broke off. On a second kit I was working that had a pre-wired battery holder it all unravelled when trying to solder wires to a switch. The solder either beads and falls off or just won’t melt at all. Holding the iron to the target part to heat and the solder to the part does nothing. If I’m lucky I’ll get a few clumps of solder beads that stay together for a while but are not robust. Am I missing some key kit? Is it just my technique and if so, is there anywhere I can get some good instruction (I’ve tried to follow the few useful videos I could find (and tolerate) on YouTube). Would really appreciate guidance and advice from anyone with good experience of such matters. Thanks Nocool

Oooooo… I’ve literally just started on mine…. well… sort of, I’ve started on the Arboretum parts that were rescued along with other parts from an older kit that I managed to stuff up about 15 years ago (I picked that, if you could believe it, as my first kit to return to the hobby - that didn’t work out well but I now have a box of spares 😂). I had always planned to try and do this kit ‘properly’ after getting a few other builds under my belt and preordered the reissue above which now sits ready under the desk. I also bought the fully pre-wired and assembled lighting kit from Trekmodeller along with AM extras from Paragrafix, Greenstrawberry and Aztek Dummy. It’s a mahoosive kit but I think it’ll look great when displayed between the 1/350 Kronos One (I’m building my Enterprise as the ‘A’ from ST VI) and the Bird of Prey which is currently a daily WIP. Good luck with it! 👍

No you’re thinking of the River Spey

Indeed, River Avon for a start (the River River 🤔)

“Pilot” please set course zero zero seven and select package for deployment… ”AI… would you prefer a toll free course? Also we have multiple deployment packages available from our ‘sponsors’, please select the one that suits your budget 🥴