Back to the Mountains of Madness - Part 1 Complete!

[thorfinn]

46 minutes ago, billn53 said:

One problem with this kit: the landing gear braces, which are sandwiched between the bottom of the passenger floor and the top of the fuselage belly, are weak. This is because Airfix reduced the thickness of the struts where they pass through the fuselage side, creating a potential failure point. I've already broken one strut, which I fixed using plastic weld. Now I'm taking great care avoid putting weight on the struts until the landing gear is complete.

I'm glad it wasn't just me. I ended up either breaking or flexing mine several times...didn't really 'set' the angle (with the aid of some wicked-in CA) until it came time to set the engine nacelles.

First-rate work, there, Bill...can't wait to see it come together!

19 minutes ago, billn53 said:

... the nightmare, plastic column of fetid black iridescence oozed tightly onward through its fifteen-foot sinus, gathering unholy speed and driving before it a spiral, rethickening cloud of the pallid abyss vapor. It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster than any subway train—a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming as pustules of greenish light all over the tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its kind had swept so evilly free of all litter. Still came that eldritch, mocking cry—"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"  

I once read a literary criticism that opined that Lovecraft's prose didn't so much evoke horror, as describe it.

But I defy anyone to imagine hearing that 'eldritch mocking cry' of "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!", and not get a weird chill down your spine!  /|\(;,;)/|\

Edited November 25, 2018 by thorfinn

[Rob G]

I've tried Lovecraft. Dreadful stuff, even given the genre (and I've read a bit of King). Dense, overwrought descriptions and period phrasing that the years have not been kind to, all of which makes it difficult to read- see the above extract for an example (not to boast, but I read well; I read Asimov and Clarke (and Doc Smith ) at 12 yo). Period literature can be great, witness P.G. Wodehouse, but Lovecraft is just... too much effort for this non-believer (horror just doesn't float my boat)  to bother with.

 

Great modelling though!

[Learstang]

5 hours ago, Rob G said:

I've tried Lovecraft. Dreadful stuff, even given the genre (and I've read a bit of King). Dense, overwrought descriptions and period phrasing that the years have not been kind to, all of which makes it difficult to read- see the above extract for an example (not to boast, but I read well; I read Asimov and Clarke (and Doc Smith ) at 12 yo). Period literature can be great, witness P.G. Wodehouse, but Lovecraft is just... too much effort for this non-believer (horror just doesn't float my boat)  to bother with.

 

Great modelling though!

 

To each his own, mate, but it sounds like you just might be on the wrong thread.

 

Jason

[CedB]

Scary! (The story, not the build)

 

More great work Bill, you're doing this old kit proud.

[bigbadbadge]

Great work on this lovely old kit.  Interior looks amazing with your reworked seats.  I built one of these this year and found it very enjoyable.  

Can't wait to see the engines completed.

Keep up the good work

All the best 

Chris 

[Kallisti]

Lovecraft's prose is is a class of its own! Its difficult to read without wincing at the strangled phrasing and florid descriptions. August Derleth was even worse! That said, there is a particular pleasure in reading this guff that sets it apart from other authors. However I draw the line at the Dreamlands stories, those are just silly

[Steve Coombs]

Didn't the original Miskatonic expedition use Dorniers?

Never mind, a return to Antarctica could have used Fords.

Splendid work so far!

[Kitchen Modeller]

It’s been awhile since I’ve read lovecraft but there was a period when I was young when I became quite obsessed and read everything I could get my hands on. He stays with you in a profound way. Definitely a acquired taste. Looking forward to the upcoming movie they’re doing - about time I say 😃. This diorama is looking great so far - great work on the interior. 

[Michou]

Some suitable background music,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnG8nOK7nqM

 

Mike

[billn53]

43 minutes ago, Steve Coombs said:

Didn't the original Miskatonic expedition use Dorniers?

Never mind, a return to Antarctica could have used Fords.

 

The Byrd Antarctic Expedition of 1928-29 was the first overflight of the Antarctic, using a Ford Trimotor. A good video on this expedition can be seen here:

 

 

 

Lovecraft may have gotten the idea of using Dorniers from the Amundsen and Ellsworth Arctic Expedition 1925:

 

 

 

But it could just as easily have been a Fokker trimotor, which in 1926 first flew over the North Pole:

 

 

 

🙂

 

 

[Steve Coombs]

2 hours ago, billn53 said:

 

Lovecraft may have gotten the idea of using Dorniers from the Amundsen and Ellsworth Arctic Expedition 1925:

 

But it could just as easily have been a Fokker trimotor, which in 1926 first flew over the North Pole:

Quote

Four large Dornier aëroplanes, designed especially for the tremendous altitude flying necessary on the antarctic plateau and with added fuel-warming and quick-starting devices worked out by Pabodie, could transport our entire expedition from a base at the edge of the great ice barrier to various suitable inland points, and from these points a sufficient quota of dogs would serve us.

The story is set in late 1930, and the aircraft are single-engined. Could have been uprated versions of the Dornier Merkur!

 

No matter, the title is Back to the Mountains of Madness, so the later Starkweather-Moore expedition may have used different aircraft. Nobody heeded Danforth's breakdown!

[billn53]

Tomorrow I'm off on another set of business trips, first to Los Angeles and the week after to Boston. I'll be home over the weekend, and hope to find time then to do more work on my Trimotor. Until then, here's the results of today's efforts.

 

Good news, bad news.

 

I spent some more time sanding and polishing the canopy to make it as clear as possible. As you can see below, my efforts paid off:

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the kit's clear plastic is very brittle, and a stress crack developed in the left-side window:

 

 

 

My spare canopy (from a second Trimotor kit I bought just for situations like this) looks even worse!

 

 

 

I also tried to vacuform a new canopy, but I wasn't happy with the result and decided to live with the crack. On a positive note, the way I plan to situate the plane in my diorama will have the flawed side facing away from the viewer.

 

Next, I masked and painted the canopy. Because all of the frames are straight lines, this was tedious but straightforward. I then painted the canopy, first with the same light gray as for my cockpit, and then with matte aluminum. I decided to try AK Interactive's "Xtreme Metal" enamel -- I've heard good things about it and my first impression bears that out. Best I can describe it, is it looks just like the back (dull) side of aluminum foil.

 

   

 

Last but not least, I added a few little details... such as a light over the passenger window (I only did this for the window that shows through the entry door); the promised oil filler tube for the center engine; and a few items on the bulkhead behind the pilots' seats (that little black handle over the doorway is the elevator trim crank, I learned).

 

   

 

That's all until I'm back from travel.

 

 

Edited November 26, 2018 by billn53

[billn53]

One last set of pics before I head off on my business trip. I didn't want the canopy masking to sit all week, in fear it would be a pain to remove after so long. So, here's what the canopy looks like now. (The wing center section is simply sitting in place, it hasn't been glued yet and isn't in its final position)

 

   

 

   

 

And yes, the co-pilot's extracurricular reading material can be clearly seen!

 

 

[TheBaron]

You keep mentioning that you have to go away on these  'business trips'.

You're fooling none of the experts on here you know: it's clear that you have to return periodically to your own dark realm in order to re-energize.

Wonderfully evocative work.

Bravo!

[Kitchen Modeller]

Love the reading material - such a great idea - if this level of detail is a taste of what’s to come... I’m excited. 

[Learstang]

21 hours ago, TheBaron said:

You keep mentioning that you have to go away on these  'business trips'.

You're fooling none of the experts on here you know: it's clear that you have to return periodically to your own dark realm in order to re-energize.

Wonderfully evocative work.

Bravo!

 

I think you mean he has to return to the eldritch dimension from whence he came, like the Mi-Go. Or perhaps he helps with the flute-playing for the blind idiot god Azathoth.

 

Regards,

 

Jason (H.P. Lovecraft aficionado)

[Marklo]

I've read some Lovecraft short stories, they were good but I found them vaguely disturbing. I'm not much of a horror fan, I do like Brian Lumley but otherwise tend towards Sci Fi, Fantasy, History or Science. I do read a lot of books, up to 48 so far this year (I track them on good reads)

 

Loving the build so far, particularly given the quality of the starting kit.

[Brandy]

Could you remove the left side of the canopy with a micro saw and use the spare to replace it,  getting the best if both parts? 

 

Ian

[Troy Smith]

On 25/11/2018 at 11:08, Michou said:

Some suitable background music

 

Mike

here''s one for @Beard

 

One of the odder Lovecraft related records is Rudimentary Peni - cacophony LP,  RP were one the best British Anarcho punk bands, did two  eps and LP, and then dissapeared for 5 years  when they released Cacophony in 1988.  which is a concept LP about H.P Lovecraft,  

Legend at the time said the singer had either gone bonkers, or had cancer, and had spent the time reading too much lovecraft,  though I have not researched this further.   It was odd then, and having it on now, it is no less strange...

this sums up Lovecraft rather amusingly

Twitch by RP

Quote

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, heaven knows, had a talent for writing which was of no means proportion: only what he did with this talent was a shame, and a caution and an eldritch horror. If he'd only gotten the hell out of his aunties' attic and obtained a job with the federal writer's project of the WPA, he could have turned out guidebooks that would have been classics and joys to read forever. Only he stayed up there muffled up to the tip of his long gaunt New England chin against the cold which lay more in his heart than in his thermometer, living on 19 cents worth of beans a day, rewriting (for pennies) the crappy manuscripts of writers whose complete illiteracy would have been a boon to all mankind -ah, but life is a boon- and producing ghastly, grisly, ghoulish, and horrifying works of his own as well -of maneating things which foraged in graveyards, of human/beastie crosses which grew beastlier and beastlier as they grew older, of gibbering Shoggoths and Elder beings which smelt real bad and were always trying to break through thresholds and take over; rugous, squamous, amorphous nasties abbetted by thin, gaunt New England eccentrics who dwelt in attics and who were eventually never seen or heard from again. Serve them damn well right, I say. In short, Howard was a twitch, boys and girls, and that's all there is to it.

 

the above is at 21.00,  

apologies for the digression....

 

[Beard]

1 hour ago, Troy Smith said:

Legend at the time said the singer had either gone bonkers, or had cancer, and had spent the time reading too much lovecraft,  though I have not researched this further.

I think Blinko has spent time in a psychiatric hospital and they stopped performing around the time the bass-player was diagnosed (wrongly, apparently) with cancer.

I'm sure I've got one of their Crass releases somewhere...

[Kallisti]

I think somehow this is very appropriate for the coming time of year

 

 

 

[Martian]

The stress crack doesn't look anything like as bad as I feared now that the canopy framing is done. I don't think most people will pick up on it.

 

Martian 👽

[rob Lyttle]

3 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

apologies for the digression....

😲

[billn53]

4 hours ago, limeypilot said:

Could you remove the left side of the canopy with a micro saw and use the spare to replace it,  getting the best if both parts? 

 

Ian

I seriously considered this, but feared botching the job & making things look worse then they already are. 

[Andwil]

3 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

The stress crack doesn't look anything like as bad as I feared now that the canopy framing is done. I don't think most people will pick up on it.

 

Martian 👽

Seems to be quite a lot of stress cracks in this thread 🥳

 

AW