AlexN

Neat .

Pop! Can't top hendie's post above so I'm not going to even try! All eyes on deck! I think I've got the 'Grand Phoenix' squirrelled away somewhere (Airfix 46/47 kiit+resin stuff+Aeromaster(???) transfers). Which adds to the interest, for me. While I try to stick floats on a wobblychopter and also try to avoid thinking about my own wretched Seafire 'experiment'. Gurgle croak. Cheers, Alex.

Ditto wot they all said, Crisp. The AccrursèdSeafire dealt my micro-modelling a severe blow from which it hasn't quite recovered, so I fully empathise. Like you, I've got a (hopefully) restorative kit out of the cache - a somewhat more mainstream kit (at a larger scale to boot), for the Floatplane GB. Also like everyone else, I'm looking forward to seeing what you decide to do as a 'sabbatical' . Cheers, Alex.

Interesting comparison - the typically restrained and more-appropriate-to-scale surface detailing of the Hasegawa kit is really evident compared with Italeri's Marianas subduction zones. An all-too-common fad at the moment - looking at you, Airfix! Having said that, the Sunderland looks to be a good kit to get one's grubby little paws on, too! Cheers, Alex.

Nice work, CC

Hello Simon, not completely given up on the Seafire: "not dead, just resting". So to speak. Probably. Trying to pluck up enough courage to deal with the mess that I made of F11. I see that you have very wisely left yours alomst entirely (but not quite) alone! Just been looking at the Spit-on-floats above, and I can't help thinking, "why do that to such a beautiful piece of engineering and aerodynamic design?" Because they could? Because they wanted to see how much drag they could induce before the design cracked? (Actually, the Seafire really did push the design to breaking point - literally.) But I'm enjoying your build - very satisfying. Cheers, the alex. is enjoying it too - you can tell by his wiggly beak

So that's where the term 'hatching' came from. I always wondered... Thank you, Yer Baronship . I've caught up now, you will be sad to hear ...

Baaa, says . I found him lurking out the back, suspiciously close to the herb garden, Hmmm...I got my eye on ewe, mate... The thing that I used to love about OS X was its UNIX base (BSD, I think, from memory). And I am a BIG UNIX fan. I've got the MacPorts subsystem installed, and have downloaded and built quite a number of useful and interesting apps (not the least of with is the GIMP).Generally it's just a matter of typing in 'sudo port -fv install <whatever-yer-interested-in> and it builds - as long as some kind person has fixed up the configure/build files. I've had to wrangle the top-level build '.configure' files (gee - I've forgotten quite a bit about it - must do some brushing up) by hand on a few occasions - 'Blender' was the hardest - but generally it's pretty simple. And voilà, access to a huge pool of scientific applications. BUT - I've just found that the accursèd latest system updated has nuked my 'ports' set up. I am not amused. And I got pretty ticked off as scientist when Apple terminated the distributed compute X-grid environment a few years ago. Now its games games games and iOS and watch and useless text processing and falling behind with the Web standards which Jobs pushed (html5) and blah blah blah and they can get stuffed as far as I'm concerned. As I've said, I have a very reliable iMac, even though it's a creaking old mid-2010 model. And I have a large investment in MacOS software. But... Almost needless to say, my CNC setup runs on an 80 GB SSD running on Ubuntu Linux, and an old old version of LinuxCNC, which I must update. It does NOT run on the Mac. There aren't the old 'legacy' ports such as the old 25-pin 'printer port', which us old-fashioned cheapskates use to talk to stepper-driver breakout boards. LPT ports went long ago in Mac-land, along with SCSI buses (cost) and the very useful and quick FireWire (stupidity). Ouch - more stuff that I need to brush back up on - it's been almost four years since I mothballed the nearly-finished system when we moved house, suburb, city... I did beta-test the Mac version of Rhino for a while, but I couldn't find a useful-enough program to convert stuff to G-Code that would run on the Mac as well (although an Inkscape module came close), and in the end decided that it wasn't worth the money that I couldn't afford to purchase a Rhino licence, sadly. which reminds me that I have an orphaned gear-reduction 'design' for my mill's nascent 4th axis that I really need to find a way of having a look at (I can't remember all of it, simple though it was). Unless it went west with last years total hard disk obliteration, in which case I will have to start almost from scratch). Sorry, I've started to ramble and again. And also show off - never a good sign. I could start up on the parlous state of the 'internet' in this neck of the woods, too, but I'd really better not. So, where were we? Oh, yes. sorry Rob, I'm not too good at picking up on other people's irony and humour, although I am more than happy to dish it out myself . As to gas lamps and buggy whips - if we get nuked back to the stop age again, buggies and gaslights will seem like the most impossible-to-reach high-tech imaginable. Forget about computers and the internet - and models and stuff. And I could have spent the time that I have ranting, on working on my oboe reeds, or the Alouette, or... Cheers, Alex. says "Baaa-aaa" again. I think his wiggly beak has detected the herb garden again. Not on yer nellie, sheep! Note: I had forgotten that I had deleted the 'XCode' developer environment from my disk, and installed macOS 'Sierra', so it's no wonder that macports wouldn't work! Ooops! that'll teach me to rant and rant and !

Thank you for your kind comment and your suggestion, Rob - but change to the real devil, Google? ("Don't be Evil" - whatever happened to that!) But something to consider if I finally lose it and, for example, take to the ipad with one of my two 2-kg lump hammers, as I keep threatening to do. It's not my imagination, then, that iChoons gets worse with every release (and I dread major version numbers). Come back, Scott Forstall, all is forgiven - and in any case he was just a convenient scapegoat. It has all been down hill since then (and the death of Steve, of course). And as for M$, well...I would be instantly banned for ever and ever, Amen, if I said what I fink o' dem. I have some of the former, and a lot of the latter, so I will experiment. Thank you for your suggestion, too. No more time to do anything today, been running Dad's Taxi Service this arvo, so no more modelling or practising either for that matter, and the latter is FAR more urgent with a difficult concert coming up on Sunday. Rehearsal this evening, so maybe tomorrow. It was in fact a bit unusual that I could squeeze the stuff in that I did this morning, in any case. See my comment to Rob above (grumble grumble). Why they are doing - or not doing - what they're (not) doing beggars the imagination - it certainly gives believe a good trot around the block, and as for a view-point based on a quite reasonable knowledge of computers... Thank you for your kind words too, Tony. I shall scuttle back under my rock for the time being . Cheers, the alex. <-- not someone who needs to - or indeed could - scuttle under a rock...

Good grief! What wiv you and Ced, I'm suffering from severe dizziness - my, er, 'balance' is never very good at the best o' times >froth froth, foam foam< - and I can't keep up, puff puff. No, I DID NOT say "keep it up" you degenerate weasels . only up to page three so I will have to rewind somewhat(!). I dare say that it's currently looking as good - or at least as interesting - as it is where I am currently at (the bottom [OI!] of page two). Cheers, Dr Weirdo <-- not a weirdo

Where's the Welly? Did it suddenly turn into the well-known floatplane version? >snigger< Looking forward to its eventual return in its less-well-known wheeled version. Cheers, Alex. <-- not a floatplane - or a Wellibomber...

OK. Well, plastic carnage today - out with the mini-Dexters . Chop chop, slice, crunch... Ooo-er, I just made myself feel slightly sick . This is a bit of a long post, so consider yerselves duly warned... Some snaps. By the way, NEVER believe Apple's timers on MacOS - they are ALWAYS WRONG. I tried using their risible 'Photos' iMac app (much better named 'Slideshows', I think) since it has a handy 'share to Flickr' function that I thought I'd test, silly me. Like the same 'Photos' app in the Yiphone, it also doesn't allow snaps to be added to more than one album. Then again, the new Flickr uploader probably doesn't - there's a lot of stuff that it doesn't do that the old Firefox 3-based one did/does (and which I still use) that the new one doesn't. Urk. . Apple and Flickr both need a good swift sharp kick up their respective bottoms, but what's the use of complaining, eh? Hte so far haven't listened to my shinging on multiple crash reports (in the hundreds) for WebQuit/Suckfari. If the iMac hardware weren't so bullet-proof, I'd be off to Linux like a shot. Actually I do have a link in my bookmarks that shows how to install Linux on an iMac - I must re-investigate. OK, over. For the time being. Let's see if 'Photos' has uploaded my snaps to Flickr yet... No, well, that's not a surprise. Maybe some time for another rant then . Grrr. How about the soapbox, then? Ah, snaps uploaded. But wait - opening 'Photos' on the iMac prevented the rest of the snaps that I had taken this morning from being uploaded to the cloud, aaargh!!! Good grief. It seems that I need to close Photos and wait. Or just be patient: something that I am particularly bad at. I ended up uploading the rest of the snaps one at a time via the phone - uploading them in batches either doesn't work or the order gets scrambled. Computers are so sueful and ay so much time. Oh dear, oh dear, I was so cross with the various electronic transfer not-operations that I forgot my preamble. Here it is: I started off the session by measuring various bits of the floats and cabin module (as it pleases ne to call it - since it really is a distinct and separate part of the airframe. But not at all like the detachable Luna Module . I have some float ratios to work with as a result, plus a tentative (vertical) estimate of a scaling factor to take the float sizes on the printout to the 1/32 scale dimensions required for this model. To get a better idea of the length of the model's cabin module (as opposed to the photo's), I start hacking off parts from their runners. I mistakenly adjourned to upload the snaps taken during the process to the internet, and that's where things remain at the moment... (I love that emoticon - like most of the original ones, its clearly drawn and very expressive of the emotion that it represents, unlike the weird and sentimetalised things from version 4 . And so very apt.) Roit, 'ere's wot snaps wot we got, kids: 1. RB Productions' 'micro saw' etched fret. Very conveneint way of producing things like this, and quite sharp, too. Apologies for the not-very-David-Hamilton-vaseline-smeared-camera-lens effect RB Productions&#x27; &#x27;micro saw&#x27; etched fret by Alex1N, on Flickr 2. One of the two heavier-duty micro saw blades from the fret, installed in a craft knife handle. The other one is...? RBP&#x27;s &#x27;heavy-duty&#x27; micro saw blade installed in a craft knife handle by Alex1N, on Flickr 3. A snap of the slot extension that I milled yesterday. For your enjoyment. Enjoy! (Or else! ;). This is the first piece of milling that I've done for over four years, so I decided to choose a nice simple task: extending the slot in a part for the Tony Jeffree leadscrew additions to the Taig lathe. Simple, easy - and relaxing! Yet another snap of the slot extension that I milled yesterday by Alex1N, on Flickr OK, enough of the procrastinating and pencil sharpening, alex, there might be people spending the little recreational time that they have looking at your idiot thread. 4. Alouette II back seat part. I found this when looking over the parts frames this morning. I had a look for the supporting frame on the parts frames, but not apparent - maybe there's a parts frame not included in this particular kit that has it on it. So that will need to be scratch built. Since this appears be be canvas (or the synthetic equivalent) accomodation, the seat bottoms could well be replaced with distressed plastic card. Hmmm... Alouette II back seat part by Alex1N, on Flickr 5. Alouette II back seats part - flash-lit snap. Top half visible in this snap - the flashless snap shows the bottom half. Note that this kit has a lot of finely moulded textural detail such as seen here Alouette II back seats part - flash-lit snap by Alex1N, on Flickr 6. Rear side of the back seats part - they look like hard steel plate from this side! Rear side of the back seats part by Alex1N, on Flickr 7. Snippet of parts layout from the instructions booklet, showing the 'not-for-use' back seats. Shut up there in the back, or you'll all get out and walk! Snippet of parts layout showing the &#x27;not-for-use&#x27; back seats by Alex1N, on Flickr 8. Alouette II cabin module base part Alouette II cabin module base part by Alex1N, on Flickr 9. Alouette II clear parts frame. They are lovely and clear - and thin :). They will need very careful glueing, however. It's a great pity that Gator's Grip isn't available in Orstrilia - and of course the outrageous US freight charges prevent me from getting the stuff straight from the source. Quick-setup epoxy for this, I think Alouette II clear parts frame by Alex1N, on Flickr 10. Main not-clear cabin module parts liberated from their runners, snip snippety snip-snip, snip-snip. I used a sharp pair of mini-snips and a single-edged razor blade for this, rather than the RBP micro-saw Main not-clear cabin module parts liberated from their runners by Alex1N, on Flickr 11. Rear cabin module wall, rear face. Still on its runners. The, er, 'frontispiece' for the cabin module (CM) can be seen above it Rear cabin module wall, rear face by Alex1N, on Flickr 12. Cockpit floor part, sitting on the CM base part, after a quick trim with the single-edged razor blade. Apologies for the poor focus - again Cockpit floor part, sitting on the CM base part by Alex1N, on Flickr 13. CM base and floor viewed from the underside, showing some detail on the bottom side of the floor plate. Neat . And so there should be - it is 1/32 scale, after all CM base and floor viewed from the underside by Alex1N, on Flickr 14. Most of the not-clear cockpit module structural parts 'test-fitted'. They are seen here leaning up against a cassette of 15 mm Tamiya Tape for support and encouragement Not-clear cockpit module structural parts test-fitted by Alex1N, on Flickr 15. Not-clear CM parts viewed from the (port) side. Depsite my telling the phone camera where to focus - repeatedly - it went on its own merry way . Maybe I was too close for the puir wee thingie... the general idea can be seen quite clearly (for a certain value of 'clearly'), at any rate Not-clear CM parts viewed from the (port) side by Alex1N, on Flickr 16. Control console parts on runner segments, after chopping them off the frames with a pair of snips Control console parts on runner segments by Alex1N, on Flickr 17. Control console parts, including the lower front cabin module part, removed from their runners. I think that I used the RBP micro saw on these occasions. Another thing that I don't like about dark green polystyrene is its hard, brittle nature Control console parts by Alex1N, on Flickr OK, that's enough fun and enjoyment, children: now here's a little lesson/sermon for you all to swaller: 18. Sprue scar on the moulding runners. The actual sprue itself is the channel where the hot, liquid moulding material (in this case polystyrene) is injected (or otherwise introduced, e.g., poured) into the mould. Since it is closest the the pouring/injecting nozzle, it is the last part to cool, and is obviously still labile at the point where the nozzle is removed, and also at the time that the part ejected from the mould. Because this bit is also the area under the greatest pressure, there is bound to be some seepage between the mould/die plates here Sprue scar on the moulding runners by Alex1N, on Flickr 19. Another sprue scar: note the flash (see preceding caption) Another sprue scar by Alex1N, on Flickr 20. No sprue scar on the clear parts frame, probably because it was chopped off at some point after the injection process - otherwise there would be no way for the polystyrene to get where it needed to be. Judging by the clean fracture point on the RH side of the snap, it would have been done with something very sharp, when cold (and after being ejected?) No sprue scar on the clear parts frame by Alex1N, on Flickr This model also has its own album on Flickr, but I am in too much of a grump to dig up the link, so I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader, should he or she wish. Speaking of 'shes' - not so many left on BM since they either upped and left or got themselves banned. It's great shame, since there weren't that many to start with, and now there are even fewer . A bit of a long post, but then, I haven't been contributing to BM in any real sense for quite some time, so it was owing. Goodness me, but I'm in a bad mood - and things started off so sunny and nice and cheerful. It's amazing how quickly and effectively a digital interface can destroy one's happiness. It makes one wonder why one bothers, quite honestly. You could ask why I didn't simply upload the snaps from the phone to the computer via a cable. well, I have had annoying experiences linking phones with iTunes (which happens automatically whenever the phone is plugged in via a USB port), and I try to avoid doing that as much as possible. More later - if I can calm myself down sufficiently to go back to it with a chance of not wrecking things. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, breathe... Cheers, Alex. <-- not in a bad mood, but then again, he very rarely is

Crikey! Not what you'd hope for a quick away-from home build :(. You seem to be overcoming the problems in fine form though, Pat. Cheers, Alex <-- not a poorly-designed kit

Very interesting aircraft there, Pat. I'm surprised that it was able to fly at all, let alone from Italy to the US and back! And not jost one, but 24 of 'em! Love your Yamaha 1300 - lovely conversion. The only Yamaha that I had was the RD 250, which I sold before I killed myself on it. Also Suzuki TR 185 (nod to Mr Tiger) and two Honda CX 500s (very popular over here now or café racer conversion, apparently). I ended up stripping down the first CX and rebuilding the motor: fun . There were also a couple of othe Hondas and a 'Kwaka' (Kawasaki 100 ag bike (latter was my first bike when I worked on a farm - funnily enough). Looking forward to seeing you tame this recalcitrant beast of a kit! Cheers, Alex.

Gorjuss! Some nifty flying and, er, 'sailing' (motorboating) by the pilot - great landing .

Nifty thinking there, Greg! Out of likes again for some weird reason - has the quota been reduced to 25/day or something equally ridiculous? So I'll just have to assign some virtual 'likes' instead . Nice modelling :). Cheers, Alex. Note: you just got in ahead of me with your last post - but the same really applies to that, too

I know, I know, promises broken yet again . I was completely exhausted after Sunday's outdoor conniptions, which saw me dangling upside down from a rope, like a spider from its line, on a number of occasions. The worst part of it was climbing back out on foot... I am very unfit. So, I ain't dun nuffin' yet. But here's a snap of where I got to in the process o' not doin' nuffin': 1. Cleared workbench. Well, mostly cleared... Cleared workbench by Alex1N, on Flickr Note the printed photo from the Birds and Fings website - it also has some convenient blank space for scribbling measurements and so forth on. More - possibly much - later. Cheers, Alex. [ ] <-- sheep is asleep somewhere...or maybe visiting Percy in Iceland

It certainly looked like a very cold plane to fly in! Brrr! Thank you very much for the links .

About time, Mr Tiger . A very interesting and elegant subject - particularly with the photo of one on the ice! Cheers, Alex. says "Hello!" to Percy and hopes that he is enjoying the literatue festival, and staying out of harn's way

Pop!

I just ran out of 'likes', but I will be following this one! Must have a look on HLJ... . Cheers, Alex.

Yairss - those instructions look revoltingly familiar >gurgle shudder<. I wish you much better luck with yours than I had with that Pavla, Simon (not that you'll need it ). Cheers, Alex.

OK, this Aussie has taken the bait - but not quite in the way that you might expect. I have no opinion on which would be the better version. But the point is moot since I think that you have already chosen the Nederlandische version? Nice choice . Cheers, Alex. PS, how's Percy - and where is he?

Wow...the excellent is now even more excellenter ( ). In my recent burrowings through the collection I came across the Pacific Coast Modles 1/32 C.202 - something for me to look forward to. Looking forward even more to your Veltro, though - very much indeed! Cheers, Alex.

Excellent work as usual Mr Heath . Nice punch set, but my heart sinks every time that I see that something comes from the US: the freight rates to Oz are SO EXORBITANT that the charges are often many times the cost of the item being shipped. If I were wanting to make an (export) economy 'great againTM', I would take a very close look at the US freight cartel. It's well past time that something was done about it. Freight costs are so ridiculous that I intend to make my own punch set once my little lathe and mill are operational again. I've had enough of US freight gougers. The UK and European setups are far more reasonable. End of rant . All that talk by Messrs Tiger and Heath about slow stewing and dumplings have made me drool again. Nothing quite like a nice hot fluffy dumpling, I always say . Looking forward to the next instalment, Mr Heath. Cheers, Alex. <-- not a dumpling...or is it?