Trumpeter 1:200 Missouri (Teak Deck/Pontos & Trumpeter aftermarket parts and PE)

[foxy]

Hi.

The larger the size, the more detail you have. I have this in 1/350 scale with resin secondry turrets and some very nice PE extra's.

Seems in this scale you will have to go the whole hog and use the railings for the turret, but suggest you leave the railings till you mount the turret, Its only the one turret by your pictures.

With little items like this I spray primer before fitting, 'on the fret'.

Finish painting once mounted on model.

Put some GA in an old lid and use a cocktail stick to fix,' thats my method for small parts'.

We all have diff way's of getting a result.

Hope this helps.

Nice going so far.

Cheers foxy

[rickbcolorado]

Ok, guys, tell me if this is too much information. I have been (still) working on the 16-inch turrets...some notes on the gun barrels. I have all three types, and It would seem the the Pontos have a heft that feels more realistic, but you have to work for it a bit more in one aspect.

When you put the barrel plugs (white) into the barrel's end (grey), they do not fit. I had to machine the barrel hole a bit bigger (used a Dremel 5/64" bit to hollow out the barrel pretty carefully). You really can't trim the plug without affect the perfect circle of the plug.

I am building my version of BB63 for the 1945 WWII surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay, and the photo's I have found showed the plugs were in there at the ceremony. I am further told by a guy who used to drive this ship that the main gun barrels were normally plugged unless they had an expectation of combat, to keep corrosion and water vapor out. After the signing, there was a salvo in Tokyo Bay, but I am told thatthe salvo and flyover was the next day....so I want to keep them plugged.

So I had to drill them....carefully.

In summary, the Hasegawa originals fit best (barrels and plugs), but I wanted to use the Pontos, so I had to (carefully) drill them out a bit more.

I primered the barrels, and then found that the blast bags were too tight (esp, with some primer and paint on the barrels, so I had to (carefully) hollow out the blast bags a bit too....I will touch up the barrels later, but I like to do subassemblies in perfect condition, and then carefully add them to the model--this is one of the last steps in the Hasegawa instructions.

I have not contributed to a list like this before....is this too much information? Do you guys just sort of instinctively know all this stuff, and I am just pointing out obvious stuff? Let me know.

pics follow....

Primer on the bags and barrels (figured with their being either brass or resin, they might need a very light primer coat)

having to drill out the Pontos barrels so the barrel plug would fit.

the plug fits perfectly; now it can be painted flat white separately..they had a black pin right in the center if you are a super detail person)

the blast bags need a bit of sanding so that they wont strip all the primer off the barrels when you install them....

let me know if this is too much information.

Rick

Edited December 26, 2013 by rickbcolorado

[rickbcolorado]

The answer is no.

The wood deck has all the hatchs etc catered for.

All you need to do is lay it over the deck and the raised hatches etc will be eliminated.

Its very easy.

But the size of this ship is not

Have fun Rick.

Cheers foxy

Hey Foxy....have you noticed that the decking can curl up on the edges? For some reason, I had it curl up right at the stern area. Figure a light film of CA will take care of it.

[foxy]

Hi Rick.

Message on its way to hopefully explain.

For a wood deck that curls up, I use a universal glue(UHU) plus clamp it.

Never done a deck as big as 1/200, but in 1/350 it should be the same principle.

Hope this helps

Cheers foxy

[rickbcolorado]

The 16 inch guns....finally!

Had to do a lot of work on the blast bags, and I did not use all the Pontos PE on the top of the turrets....too doggone small for my fingers to manipulate.....not going to be intimidated by those who will use every piece....

the weight of the brass Pontos barrels is a bit unwieldy in trying to pose the guns, and in trying to adjust them to exactly equal elevation, 3-across, or the eacxt spacing horizontally. I did not glue the guns down, either. down. The rings from Pontos (probably too fine to see in my photo) that go between the blast bag and the barrel are really nice.

I am not an expert by any stretch, but I am pleased with the model so far. I am putting the 16 inch assemblies away in a dust free case until they are ready to install....going to try to make some sort of add-on so that they will move around, and can be pointed. Trumpeter, you don't even design them to rotate around?

another one....I used the barrel plugs as was the case on Surrender Day 1945 in Tokyo Harbor

so, I am going back to the sequence in Trumpeter's install manual, but not putting any of the assemblies down on the deck until the last possible moment.

Edited December 28, 2013 by rickbcolorado

[Ken Stenzenko]

I like your progress so far. I have two of them that I am currently building both with the Pontos sets. I have completely sanded both my hulls smooth to take out any imperfections and replaced the metal prop shafts with brass rod to a more correct diameter. What they supply in the kit is to small in diameter. To answer your question regarding the separate front piece for the hull. This is due to keeping the box dimensions down as if the box was any larger it would not be possible to send it through any of the worlds postal systems. It is all about sales etc of course. The Pontos set is beautiful and will really dress the kit up. Trumpeter have more ships planned in 1/200 scale: HMS Hood, HMS KGV. Tirpitz, USS Enterprise CV-6, and best of all an Essex class in 1/200 scale! Can't wait for that one! I look forward to seeing more as you progress.

[mick]

great work

[rickbcolorado]

great work

I will post some photos of the subassemblies...still waiting for Pontos for my 40mm barrels, which were missing from the order (Kim!).....right now, the day job is calling....but the holidays were a wonderful time to just get some of this done.

Rick

[foxy]

Great work Rick.

At that scale I would put the pin colour on the barrel plugs, more detail the better.

Cheers foxy

[rickbcolorado]

Great work Rick.

At that scale I would put the pin colour on the barrel plugs, more detail the better.

Cheers foxy

yeah....they are pretty bright......going to spot black those pins......

[rickbcolorado]

I like your progress so far. I have two of them that I am currently building both with the Pontos sets. I have completely sanded both my hulls smooth to take out any imperfections and replaced the metal prop shafts with brass rod to a more correct diameter. What they supply in the kit is to small in diameter. To answer your question regarding the separate front piece for the hull. This is due to keeping the box dimensions down as if the box was any larger it would not be possible to send it through any of the worlds postal systems. It is all about sales etc of course. The Pontos set is beautiful and will really dress the kit up. Trumpeter have more ships planned in 1/200 scale: HMS Hood, HMS KGV. Tirpitz, USS Enterprise CV-6, and best of all an Essex class in 1/200 scale! Can't wait for that one! I look forward to seeing more as you progress.

Ken:

I have worked in 1:350 for most ships, and found it fine, but I'm just not that good a precise modeler, and need more patience. For some reason, the 1:200 scale is a bit easier, even if the $$$ is more. I want to go to the Arizona in 1:200 next (Trumpeter has that, right?) but only if Pontos has the wood deck overlays....IMHO, that is a serious game-changer--trying to mask different color strips to simulate wood on a plastic deck never quite got it for me, but the Pontos stuff is simply awesome. I am going back and forth on the Pontos v. the Trumpeter PE....the Trumpeter is really well prepared, with plastic peel-of on either side, so things don't fly away....the Pontos seems more precise, but the build sequences are a bit more masked, and figuring out how to put them together takes a bit of intuition (maybe it's just my brain)....it would be great to get high-res photos of the sheets they give, so you could load them on a high-res monitor, zoom in, and understand the folding sequences a bit more. Maybe that's just me.

take care....I am in that phase of building a lot of smaller sub-assemblies....not exciting, but it's a chance to improve (sometimes i guild the PE from Trumpeter first, then go to Pontos...sometimes not....

will take some pictures this weekend.....coming back home after a long week on the road.

Rick

[Shar2]

Pontos isn't the only game in town as both Artwox and Mk1 Design/KA do wooden decks and Mk1 also etch/resin/turned brass for the Arizona. In fact the Mk1 stuff is just as good as Pontos if not slightly better IMHO.

[rickbcolorado]

thanks, Dave....good to know.....feel like such a rookie at the NFL All Star game.....learning a ton from this list serve.

[BlackMax12]

Hi Rick

How's the project coming?

I finally got the Pontos main wooden deck installed and all of the myriad vents and gun shields painted and installed and now ready to tackle the superstructure. Note to self, if I ever build another one of these please install all of the waterways around the main deck BEFORE gluing the chocks in place. Otherwise lots of cutting and fitting to work around the chocks.

I also built one of the Pontos catapults just as an aside and that's fun (not) but it sure looks pretty. Trying to swear off of coffee before I start the aircraft crane as that looks even worse.

Regards,

Lloyd

[rickbcolorado]

Folks:

Been away for a while, but I have been busy. I have the 40mm gun assemblies all done, with all the PE attached, but I have yet to receive the barrels fro Pontos that did not come with my initial order in early December.

I am not a big complainer, and I absolutely am in love with the Pontos PE, but I feel like I have to set up a brand new account, order another complete set of PE, just to get the 40mm barrels that I never received. If this were a small $$, maybe I would be more patient, but i have been waiting almost three full months on this. I travel on business to Korea a few times a year, so maybe i have to come there myself to buy them

Has anyone else faced a similar experience? Not wanting to throw anyone under the bus here, but I have sent Kim from Pontos 6-7 e-mails, pleading, begging, flattering, frustrating, and finally, just concluding that this does not matter to the company. I had already cut the plastic barrels off the parts in anticipation of the brass barrels needing to be glued on, so i am facing the prospect of having the glue them back on and trudge on.

i had a sense of how this would proceed, and each sub-assembly would be sequenced, and I wanted to get all the guns right before moving onto the deck and superstructure components--just kind of anal that way--so I am a bit frustrated and have lost some time now. Anyone else building this is a different sequencing, it would be good to share a way forward for me....I hate to make my beef with Pontos public, and I have given Kim warning for about three weeks that this was coming.

Sad. One upset customer+social media=a real blot on your reputation.

In my job, if I would have ignored a customer for this long, I would be called to account by my management. Or if my shipping department could not send a part in almost three month's time, I would get a different shipping department....or just ship the whole damn new one to the customer--it's called good will...and it's a fragile thing with a new customer.

I'll have some photo's of what I have been up to soon....sorry for my rant, and it will be on my FB and Twitter accounts, too.....

Rick

[Gisbod]

Hello Rick,

Don't let it get you down on the build though - we all want to see updates!

I've just got a 1/350 Pontos set (PoW) and am super impressed by the quality - great photos in the instructions, but it does all seem a little haphazard and no real sequence to follow or tie in with the kit instructions - but I guess that's just being picky

I'm thinking about getting everything painted on the deck first prior to the wood going on, I can't quite see from the pictures is that what you did? If so, is there any issue about it adhering to a painted surface?

Looking great though, I'm sorely tempted by 1/200, but am a little daunted by the size and what the heck would I do with it afterwards...

Regards

Guy

[rickbcolorado]

Guy:

I think you are right, Guy, about the painting sequence. I heard elsewhere in the chats on this one that the stuff should be all painted as sub-assemblies first, then glued down on the deck. I have not heard about any problems with adherence to the deck....there are a lot of pre-drilled hoes on the wooden Pontos deck, so I am not worrying about that....I did have to put some more glue on parts of the deck that curled up, but not big deal.....I have not glued the deck down into the hull yet, I figure that may be reserved until rigging and such....any thoughts on this by others building this bad boy?

As far as the Pontos PE is concerned, most of the time, I am such an inexperienced modeler that I tend to blame myself for problems (and I have more than my share)...so i am slogging along with the Pontos PE (I put each piece in a numbered plastic bad with the number sequences written in large letters, so it helps me sort through the stuff)....i did get their PDF's set on a large flat screen PC monitor so I can see them enlarged--very helpful. Given the fragility of some of the parts, I so wish they would have added one more extra part to a series of parts, because it's happened more than a few times that I lose one in cutting, or it gets horribly bent (the ladders, the turret PE on the 40's is really delicate), and then you end up missing one PE part....can't blame them, but it seems so easy to add one or two extras to these sets....

I specifically put linoleum tile on the flooring of my hobby room when I had it built so I could not have to deal with "the rug monster" and lost PE, but maybe my eyes are just getting old, you can lose PE on a tile floor, too

pics to come

Rick

Edited February 14, 2014 by rickbcolorado

[Alan P]

I have not glued the deck down into the hull yet, I figure that may be reserved until rigging and such....any thoughts on this by others building this bad boy?

I just read this again, I think you are saying that you are attaching parts to wood deck before actually sticking it to the hull, is that correct?

I usually paint the hull and fixed deck fittings (the ones molded on the kit deck) then stick the wood deck straight on the hull. In the meantime, I build all the superstructure components as sub assemblies, prime and paint all the deck fittings separately, then it's easy to add them all to the hull/wood deck without compromising the wood deck further by painting anything.

If I've misunderstood what you were saying, I apologise, (it doesn't look like the case from your photos)! I hope what I've written will help in any case!

Al

Edited February 15, 2014 by PHaTNesS

[BlackMax12]

Rick

I think you need to glue the plastic deck with the installed wooden deck to the hull or you will have a terrible time glueing the waterways in place and lining up the chocks where they fit. Don't do like I did and glue the chocks to the hull edge and then try to fit the waterways. Rather glue the waterways in place and they are marked where the chocks fit so you save a lot of cutting and fitting. I don't see how you can fit these parts properly, especially lining the chocks up with the hull edge if you don't have the main plastic deck glued to the hull.

Just my thoughts, you may be able to make it work with no problems.

Kim has fallen off the edge of the world as I'm waiting to hear about the advanced Missouri set so I don't have to build the 40mm and possibly 20mm guns as he has mentioned resin replacements several times. I'm starting to get a little frustrated but I suppose I can start on masts, fire controls, inclined ladders and railings. Still months from completing this animal.

Regards,

Lloyd

[rickbcolorado]

Rick

I think you need to glue the plastic deck with the installed wooden deck to the hull or you will have a terrible time glueing the waterways in place and lining up the chocks where they fit. Don't do like I did and glue the chocks to the hull edge and then try to fit the waterways. Rather glue the waterways in place and they are marked where the chocks fit so you save a lot of cutting and fitting. I don't see how you can fit these parts properly, especially lining the chocks up with the hull edge if you don't have the main plastic deck glued to the hull.

Just my thoughts, you may be able to make it work with no problems.

Kim has fallen off the edge of the world as I'm waiting to hear about the advanced Missouri set so I don't have to build the 40mm and possibly 20mm guns as he has mentioned resin replacements several times. I'm starting to get a little frustrated but I suppose I can start on masts, fire controls, inclined ladders and railings. Still months from completing this animal.

Regards,

Lloyd

Lloyd:

Yeah, sooner or later the deck has to go on, and I think you are right. I did not even know that Pontos was planning some resin parts. Having an alternative to these smaller assemblies might be nice, but I can't wait much longer, either.

I finally got my barrels yesterday from Korea, exactly one day after I posted my frustrated rant on the turn-around. Always works that way. I felt bad about Kim, but maybe he is dealing with things that we just aren't informed about. I thought it was so cool that we almost had our own "inside man" with his participation here. Maybe some beanhead boss has him doing more "productive" stuff like not helping out his best customers and market influencers

Again, i will have some pics soon on the larger guns I have been working on.

thanks for all the good advice here. I feel like we are travelling in uncharted waters here, and having the collective wisdom of some real pros is incredibly helpful. Anytime you guys are in Colorado Springs, I owe you your favorite adult beverage (you may have to get your legal herb somewhere else, since I do some work with the government that would not allow me to help you out in that way

Have a great day--its a nice Sunday in Colorado (highs in the 60's F), and I'm looking forward to getting some work done on Big Mo after a nice hike with my wife and the Shelties....always get lots of "release time" for modeling from the missus AFTER taking care of things on the home front.

Best,

Rick

[BlackMax12]

Hi Rick

Here's another little tip I came up with.

If you fit the plastic main deck in place and just insert the anchors you may notice that the hawse holes are so huge that you can see right through the bow of the ship from one side to the other past the anchors. Not natural as I'm sure there must have been bulkheads or something behind the anchors or even chutes the anchors rode in, something to block the view. (and keep the water out of course)

I contemplated trying to make chutes and then just gave up and glued a piece of black plastic from an old CD case vertically inside the bow so I couldn't see across from one hawse hole to the other. Trimmed it so the deck fits down normally and the anchors fit in their normal stowed location and another Trumpeter omission fixed up.

Tried to come up with a way to attach something to the bottom of the 16" turrets so they would rotate but now that the main deck is glued down the only way would be to cut holes in the bottom of the hull under turrets 1 & 3 and attach something like that. Not going to happen now I guess as it's all fixed to a pine board with four 1/2" standoffs and all of the bracing I have super-glued inside the hull to support them. It would be easy to rotate turret 2 yet as the superstructure isn't glued down but that would look dumb. Guess they don't rotate, but neither do the 5" or the 40mm so it doesn't matter that much.

Tried to take some pictures but I'm not a photographer, my camera sucks at close ups and I don't know how to attach pictures as they seem to be way too big.

As an aside I would love to accept your invitation but I am in a 4 cycle chemotherapy session right now which will go to mid-April then surgery coming up for a bladder removal and possibly a kidney down the road. Trying to plug away on the ship as a distraction but it's hard to concentrate. Easy to make a goof and hours to fix it. For example my first teak deck became permanently super glued to my desk when I spilt an open bottle of CA over it when I was trimming some of the little holes with an exacto and not paying attention. Had to buy another deck set from Brandon at Freetime. Just about scrapped the whole project as I'm into it for well over CDN $1200 and may never finish it.

Then I was carrying the ship, some other stuff and an Exacto #11 knife and trying to turn on a light with an elbow and dropped the Exacto vertically into my bare foot. Stuck vertically into the bone and when stupid me pulled it out instead of leaving it there until the EMS came I lost at least a liter of blood. Cut a vein and the thing pumped like Niagara Falls. The EMS guys got it stopped and hauled me to Emergency for stitches. Next two days were spent shampooing carpets and listening to the better half saying how can you be so stupid, I've warned you about those little knives for 40 years? Interesting life I've been leading the last 4-5 months as I've been limping around for the last 2 weeks plus going to the hospital every second day for CT Scans, blood tests and chemo then spent 4 hours up there last night with chest pains, dizzyness, loss of vision (how do I finish this thing if I can't see?) and when I finally got to bed at 4AM I have been useless at modelling for today. This getting older and more mature isn't all it's cracked up to be but the alternative is worse I guess.

Enough rambling

Right now it is a distraction and will keep plugging along as long as I can. Got the hull finished, the 16" turrets, the hundreds of 0.3mm holes drilled in the superstructure and maybe half if those teensy grab irons installed, the bridge finished and starting on either the second catapult, the aircraft crane or the funnels/masts jungle. Can't hardly wait for the fire control directors as that looks like a nightmare too. Pontos supplied a whole whack of portholes and covers and a bunch of open and closed watertight doors so I'm thinking of scraping off some of the molded on stuff on the lower level of the superstructure and replacing it. I'll have to count to make sure there are enough doors and I wonder if it will look goofy if only one level has the PE added. Too many ideas and too little time.

Regards and take care,

Lloyd

[AgentG]

If I may, how about some reference photos. I took these in late 1975 or early 1976 when I was stationed in Bremerton Washington. Missouri was mothballed but accessible to the public. This is how she looked at the end of Viet Nam.

The dome shapes are part of the mothballing process.

G

[rickbcolorado]

If I may, how about some reference photos. I took these in late 1975 or early 1976 when I was stationed in Bremerton Washington. Missouri was mothballed but accessible to the public. This is how she looked at the end of Viet Nam.

The dome shapes are part of the mothballing process.

G

thanks, AgentG....this is helpful.

[rickbcolorado]

Hi Rick

Here's another little tip I came up with.

If you fit the plastic main deck in place and just insert the anchors you may notice that the hawse holes are so huge that you can see right through the bow of the ship from one side to the other past the anchors. Not natural as I'm sure there must have been bulkheads or something behind the anchors or even chutes the anchors rode in, something to block the view. (and keep the water out of course)

I contemplated trying to make chutes and then just gave up and glued a piece of black plastic from an old CD case vertically inside the bow so I couldn't see across from one hawse hole to the other. Trimmed it so the deck fits down normally and the anchors fit in their normal stowed location and another Trumpeter omission fixed up.

Tried to come up with a way to attach something to the bottom of the 16" turrets so they would rotate but now that the main deck is glued down the only way would be to cut holes in the bottom of the hull under turrets 1 & 3 and attach something like that. Not going to happen now I guess as it's all fixed to a pine board with four 1/2" standoffs and all of the bracing I have super-glued inside the hull to support them. It would be easy to rotate turret 2 yet as the superstructure isn't glued down but that would look dumb. Guess they don't rotate, but neither do the 5" or the 40mm so it doesn't matter that much.

Tried to take some pictures but I'm not a photographer, my camera sucks at close ups and I don't know how to attach pictures as they seem to be way too big.

As an aside I would love to accept your invitation but I am in a 4 cycle chemotherapy session right now which will go to mid-April then surgery coming up for a bladder removal and possibly a kidney down the road. Trying to plug away on the ship as a distraction but it's hard to concentrate. Easy to make a goof and hours to fix it. For example my first teak deck became permanently super glued to my desk when I spilt an open bottle of CA over it when I was trimming some of the little holes with an exacto and not paying attention. Had to buy another deck set from Brandon at Freetime. Just about scrapped the whole project as I'm into it for well over CDN $1200 and may never finish it.

Then I was carrying the ship, some other stuff and an Exacto #11 knife and trying to turn on a light with an elbow and dropped the Exacto vertically into my bare foot. Stuck vertically into the bone and when stupid me pulled it out instead of leaving it there until the EMS came I lost at least a liter of blood. Cut a vein and the thing pumped like Niagara Falls. The EMS guys got it stopped and hauled me to Emergency for stitches. Next two days were spent shampooing carpets and listening to the better half saying how can you be so stupid, I've warned you about those little knives for 40 years? Interesting life I've been leading the last 4-5 months as I've been limping around for the last 2 weeks plus going to the hospital every second day for CT Scans, blood tests and chemo then spent 4 hours up there last night with chest pains, dizzyness, loss of vision (how do I finish this thing if I can't see?) and when I finally got to bed at 4AM I have been useless at modelling for today. This getting older and more mature isn't all it's cracked up to be but the alternative is worse I guess.

Enough rambling

Right now it is a distraction and will keep plugging along as long as I can. Got the hull finished, the 16" turrets, the hundreds of 0.3mm holes drilled in the superstructure and maybe half if those teensy grab irons installed, the bridge finished and starting on either the second catapult, the aircraft crane or the funnels/masts jungle. Can't hardly wait for the fire control directors as that looks like a nightmare too. Pontos supplied a whole whack of portholes and covers and a bunch of open and closed watertight doors so I'm thinking of scraping off some of the molded on stuff on the lower level of the superstructure and replacing it. I'll have to count to make sure there are enough doors and I wonder if it will look goofy if only one level has the PE added. Too many ideas and too little time.

Regards and take care,

Lloyd

Dear Lloyd:

Thank you for your time and thoughtfulness in your recent post. Must say that most of my accidents with sharp knives have happened in the kitchen rather than the hobby room, but the ones I have suffered while modeling usually involve CA and the thumb-forefinger interface. That depiction of your xacto "hara-kiri" through the foot was absolutely frightening! Not sure I will ever forget that when carrying stuff to the paint room for spraying....maybe leave an exacto in each room.

I very much appreciate your candid sharing of the health challenges you are facing with your chemotherapy. Makes my bitching about some missing PE from Korea look really whiny. I too find solace and relief from life's stresses by visiting the hobby room, but never facing the kinds of challenges you are facing. Not sure if you are a man of prayer or not, but I am also a deacon in the Catholic Church, and this Sunday when I preach (all three services), I will lead our parish in prayer for "Lloyd, my modelling buddy", for the difficulties you are facing. Hope you feel the love of family and friends--even ones who have only known you through this e-mail--during this time of testing. You will have thousands of people in Black Forest, Colorado, sending up some hope and prayer to the Grand Modeler in that hobby room in the sky (when we finally have time to build all those kits Hang in there, buddy!

Thanks for the tip on the hawse holes in the hull---I will find some baffling to separate the two spaces so there won't be that "see-through" effect.

Strange that Trumpeter went through all the drama to have the barrels movable, and yet did nothing on making the 16" able to rotate. I am going to use some sort of tab that I will glue at a 90 degree angle to the shaft so that they will rotate. Even the kiddie models (the ones I have a lot of experience building) can rotate.

take care, and keep in touch...I know you are in the thoughts of many at this time.

Best,

Rick (don't call me "Rev.") Bauer

[BlackMax12]

Rick

Thanks for the kind words and thoughts.

My Xacto knives are now cork-tip equipped. That is jammed in a big cork and only removed when I actually need to use them. Wife dreamed up that and it works and they also don't roll off the table.

Wish I had started the teensy little bits like the fire control radars and masts sooner as they would be out of the way now and the big rough tough stuff like hulls and decks which I can see and handle now would be lots easier.

Maybe I can just label it as " Missouri fitting out 1944" and whatever gets added for the small detail stuff gets added, if not, the builders haven't gotten that far yet.

Family has been fantastic with brothers and sister's and my 85 year old Mom all of whom are down near Ottawa Ontario while I am out in Alberta have been e-mailing almost every day and phoning at least weekly. I haven't seen them or rarely even talked to some of them for years so it's wonderful how things can pull together in a crisis. My son and daughter and six grand kids are great and even though the littler peoples don't understand what's wrong with grampa it's nice to see them.

Can't stop rambling again this morning, must be the drugs so I'll just go sit in the hobby room and CA my fingers together again trying to build little radar gizmo things, haha. Amazing how many layers of skin you still have on fingers and thumbs after you peel the top layer off.

Take care,

Lloyd