The Night Believes it is Endless (1/72 Lysander III)

[dogsbody]

Oh yes! Do get an AC unit. I got one installed back in '93. Though it gets damned cold up here in the winter, it gets damned hot in the summer. High 30'sC is not unknown.

 

Just remember to tarp in the outside unit during the winter to prevent fin damage due to ice and snow buildup.

 

 

 

Chris

[dogsbody]

1 minute ago, AdrianMF said:

Shame about the oil tank but well done for extracting it without damage. I'm 4000 miles away from my copy of the kit so I don't know, but would it be worth drilling into the centre section spars to add wire stubs to support the wings? it looks a bit butt-jointy to me and I can't tell from online pictures of the instructions how secure the join will be.

 

Please bear in mind that on a UK forum, telling us your house is built in 1921 will most likely evoke "Oooh hark at him - living in something all modern".  In all my adult life l have yet to live in a house built after 1900 (or be warm in winter).

 

Regards,

Adrian 

 

I know what you mean. I grew up in a house that was built in 1888. My sister still lives there. The house my mother grew up in was built in the early 1760's.

 

 

Chris

[Procopius]

4 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

Shame about the oil tank but well done for extracting it without damage. I'm 4000 miles away from my copy of the kit so I don't know, but would it be worth drilling into the centre section spars to add wire stubs to support the wings? it looks a bit butt-jointy to me and I can't tell from online pictures of the instructions how secure the join will be.

I think it should be okay. The wings fit snugly into the clear parts, based on my test-fits, and of course there are also the big v-struts to hopefully anchor them. Also, I'm absolutely crap at drilling into things to add stubs. But stay tuned for my sheepish post where I throw myself into absurd contortions to get the wings to stay on!

 

9 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

Please bear in mind that on a UK forum, telling us your house was built in 1921 will most likely evoke "Oooh hark at him - living in something all modern".  In all my adult life l have yet to live in a house built after 1900 (or to be warm in winter).

Yes, well, everything burned down here a while back. (In fact, the town I live in largely grew up around the garrison established after the fire to protect the property of the wealthy folks who lived in the city's northern suburbs.) Also, and I say this with love, the temperature range in the United Kingdom year-round can easily be experienced in toto in a single week, if not a day. Our winters are colder, infinitely colder than yours, and our summers more hellish. However, my home currently is pretty big by UK standards, and I'm conscious of the absurd amount of space Americans take up. 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

1 hour ago, Procopius said:

possible membership in a homeowners' association (fascists),

Oh how true that statement is Edward... I belong to the Stepford wives association where even our Screen doors have to be identical. 

[CedB]

Good news on the house front PC! 

I know nothing of the US Legal system but it sounds much better than our 'nothing's certain until contracts are exchanged' and that can take weeks, if not months.

 

If we're calling dibs on space for any future visits please may I have the room with the en suite? Oh, and a balcony please. Minibar optional  

 

2 hours ago, Procopius said:

However, my home currently is pretty big by UK standards, and I'm conscious of the absurd amount of space Americans take up.

Well I admire your housing standards - space to live is important IMHO.

In the UK we seem to continue the 'class based' Castle, Manor, or Cottage scheme and most new houses are smaller than most US garages.

That's what you get for letting building companies control the market (is that too political? Sorry mods)

 

We do have a pretty moderate climate though so chin up Brits  

[keefr22]

2 hours ago, CedB said:

most new houses are smaller than most US garages.

That's what you get for letting building companies control the market

 

The fact we have a rather smaller country doesn't help either Ced....!!

 

We have a house built in the late 1970's and still aren't warm in the winter even with a brand new boiler....

 

Shame about the oil tank PC, can you not file & sand it down some more rather than starting anew?

 

Keith

[Terry1954]

Very late to this party PC, and I have few excuses except perhaps having been recently made a grandfather (for the sixth time) as well as visits to two 92 year old Mothers-In-Law (if you have not experienced divorce be warned, you don't necessarily lose the In-Laws!). Much travelling is therefore being done at the moment. Those of you who recall lunch time discussions at the FAA museum, will be clear on the statistical likelihood of such a young dashing chap like me having already reached a sixth grandchild of course, but I digress ...............

 

I have spent some time this morning catching up on BM generally and this thread specifically, and I am most impressed with the back story and the excellent modelling I am seeing unfold.

 

Am now following closely!

 

Terry

[perdu]

 

I didnt see that one a'comin' Edward, Scale Creep caught you where I least expected with the lovely oil tank

 

I am sure the new version will be just as good looking

[Brandy]

10 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

 

Please bear in mind that on a UK forum, telling us your house was built in 1921 will most likely evoke "Oooh hark at him - living in something all modern".  In all my adult life l have yet to live in a house built after 1900 (or to be warm in winter).

 

Regards,

Adrian 

My sister's house in Guernsey had the new bit added in the 1700's. The main structure was built around 1280.

 

Ian

[Space Ranger]

10 hours ago, Procopius said:

Also, and I say this with love, the temperature range in the United Kingdom year-round can easily be experienced in toto in a single week, if not a day.

That sounds like Texas lately. Freezing (or near) at night, high 60s-low 70s (°F) in the daytime. M'lady's gladiolas are already starting to bloom!

[dogsbody]

3 hours ago, Space Ranger said:

That sounds like Texas lately. Freezing (or near) at night, high 60s-low 70s (°F) in the daytime. M'lady's gladiolas are already starting to bloom!

What would you do if your daytime high was -28C? It has warmed up here in the last couple days. It's now 11:45am and the temperature is up to a balmy -15C.

 

 

 

Chris

[John Laidlaw]

Great news on the house, PC - fingers are crossed for you from north of the border.

 

Lovely work, as usual, on the model. The Lysander is a favourite, so I'm keen to see what your conclusions are when complete.

[Navy Bird]

19 hours ago, Procopius said:

Hopefully, Ced, Bill, and Cookie will be able to visit now

 

Be careful what you wish for! I'm going to the Indy 500 in May, and that's not too far from Chi-town.  

 

16 hours ago, CedB said:

If we're calling dibs on space for any future visits please may I have the room with the en suite? Oh, and a balcony please. Minibar optional

 

I can sleep in my Jeep parked out front. It's not a problem, since my back is already shot - I can't really hurt it any more.

 

13 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

I have few excuses except perhaps having been recently made a grandfather (for the sixth time) as well as visits to two 92 year old Mothers-In-Law (if you have not experienced divorce be warned, you don't necessarily lose the In-Laws!). Much travelling is therefore being done at the moment. Those of you who recall lunch time discussions at the FAA museum, will be clear on the statistical likelihood of such a young dashing chap like me having already reached a sixth grandchild of course, but I digress ...............

 

Congrats on grandkid number 6!! Please remember, though, that none of your progeny need inherit any of your estate. Spend it all and have a good time!

 

Hmm...lunch at the FAA museum. I vaguely remember that? Did I have hardtack and rum?

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Procopius]

4 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

 

Be careful what you wish for! I'm going to the Indy 500 in May, and that's not too far from Chi-town.  

Don't threaten me with a good time.

 

4 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

I can sleep in my Jeep parked out front. It's not a problem, since my back is already shot - I can't really hurt it any more.

My parents spent most of my childhood on the brink of divorce (they celebrate their 42nd wedding anniversary this year), and after a particularly venomous spat on a family road trip to Maine, my mom slept on the bench seat of the Dodge Caravan on the same assumption while we enjoyed the dubious comforts of a motel. Oh boy was she ever wrong on how much worse her back could get!

 

13 hours ago, limeypilot said:

My sister's house in Guernsey had the new bit added in the 1700's. The main structure was built around 1280.

Mrs P was equal parts horrified and impressed by this factoid. 

 

Today was a federal holiday to commemorate Rev Martin Luther King Jr, which meant that Winston and I had the day off, but Mrs P and Grant, both at her school, did not, though chatter suggests the leadership there are beginning to realize they can no longer get away with ignoring the day in the present century, given what I can only assume they must regard as an adverse conclusion to our Civil War.

 

So I spent the morning with the Win-Pin, who ventured into the grotto and received my favourite model, the silver Eduard Spitfire XVI that I built last year but which lost a cannon and a landing gear leg during one of our house showings. (mutter mutter.) 

 

 

He seemed pleased, as you can see by his expression, which is probably the only thing that's kept him from being left in a truck stop hundreds of miles from home.

 

Anyway, after polishing off The Witcher with Mrs P (and I've never felt great about my body, not even when I could run ten miles flat out in the morning like it was nothing, which now seems like another life, for a different person, but hearing Mrs P exhale sharply every time she sees Henry Cavill's absurdly muscular trunk has brought me to new lows of self-loathing), I ventured into the grotto.

 

I opted to use a bomb left over from the Hasegawa B-24J Liberator I built...oh...before Winston was born, I think, oh happy time when I got to sleep on days off, indeed, when having a day off meant something, anything at all, so from about five years ago. I trimmed it to fit, and I think it will answer nicely:

 

 

Based on the photos in the MMP book, the tank (which, incidentally, started as an extra fuel tank and was modified into an extra oil tank, which explains a lot) is approximately cylindrical, so this might actually be even better than my initial stab at it.

 

I packed the tank full of Miliput, not my favourite modelling product (my hitherto-unopened box of it was purchased, a receipt inside revealed, in 2015), but the one which I think would work best:

 

 

We can sand it down after it dries.

 

I also got to work on puzzling out the control surfaces. 

 

 

See the top one? These two parts are glued together to form the ailerons, but the sprue attachment points carry on to the (flimsy) surface of the aileron itself. When I attempted to trim it down with a scalpel blade, the tip of the aileron broke off and shot off into the ether. Amazingly, I was able to find it and even more amazingly, reattach it. But a scary moment. 

 

The flaps themselves are also on:

 

 

I suppose it's nice they're separate parts, but since the slats are fixed and would never be up while the flaps are down, it's just provided a head start for the people who enjoy making life harder for themselves while doing nothing for honest plodders like myself. 

 

I also started applying a little filler. So far, surprisingly little has been needed, either because I've been careful, or because, as someone else suggested here, part of the problem is this was designed in CAD/CAM and all fits perfectly there, and any issues we've seen so far are from the unwelcome intrusion of Clausewitzian friction into the mix.

 

 

I used PPP on the gap along the cockpit side, and Mr Dissolved Putty on that supremely unfortunate join line just ahead of the tailplane. 

 

I also started on the landing gear, which are a little complex, but nothing I can't handle, but forgot to get any good pictures.

 

 

 

[perdu]

I see you have found a use for old and abandoned models...

 

Lizzie is looking v.good PC

[CedB]

Seconded!

 

I keep looking at those belts sagging over the seat back -very nice  

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

3 hours ago, Procopius said:

...I can only assume they must regard as an adverse conclusion to our Civil War.

Not long after I met Mrs WAFU we had lunch with her parents.  Naively I had assumed that our Civil War was pretty much done and dusted over 300 years after its conclusion, but boy was I wrong.  One inattentively positive reference to Oliver Cromwell later...

[Space Ranger]

22 hours ago, dogsbody said:

What would you do if your daytime high was -28C?

Move to a warmer climate!

[Space Ranger]

12 hours ago, Procopius said:

… the unwelcome intrusion of Clausewitzian friction into the mix.

A new entry in Ye Olde Modeler's Lexicon.

[Procopius]

Welp, we found out how much we'll have after closing fees and suchlike with the house and...not much. We're scaling back our already modest ambitions. Disappointing. Mrs P is maintaining a level of optimism possible only because she doesn't fully understand the situation, which I think she finds helpful somehow?

 

In good, no, great news, tonight I discovered a film I've long sought out, the obscure no-budgeter Galaxy Destroyer from 1987, is available on Amazon Prime. Since you possibly can't see the page in the UK, here's a trailer for this majestic lad, this absolute unit:

 

 

This movie was made with no money,  a lot of heart, and tongue planted firmly in its cheek. I absolutely love it. I can hardly wait for Mrs P and the kids to go out of town again; the moment they do, I'll order some cheap pizza, fire up the TV, and watch this and the sequel(!!!). 

 

Anyway, I watched it tonight as I plugged away on the Lysander. 

 

The miliput was sanded smooth:

 

 

The mounting holes in the underbelly plate, where the auxiliary fuel tank will connect (mention of which is totally omitted in the instructions) were drilled out:

 

 

I also got both spats 90% assembled:

 

 

 

I also got some paint on the oil tank, so hopefully it should soon be ready to fit. Then we can close up the cockpit at last!

 

 

 

 

[AdrianMF]

Galaxy Destroyer looks awesome! Lysander's looking good too.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Procopius]

3 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

Galaxy Destroyer looks awesome!

It is. Imagine my delight to discover that a 2k restoration and double blu-ray set has been released by Vinegar Syndrome. It's ordered already.

[Moggy]

On 21/01/2020 at 09:33, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Not long after I met Mrs WAFU we had lunch with her parents.  Naively I had assumed that our Civil War was pretty much done and dusted over 300 years after its conclusion, but boy was I wrong.  One inattentively positive reference to Oliver Cromwell later...

Regarding most people who are still refighting conflicts decisively ended hundred years or more ago:

 

 

Most of them live divorced from reality (at least regarding history)

 

Cheers, Moggy

 

 

[wombat]

I’ll never understand why Dora gave the physically impossible option of flaps down without slats.

 

my House is 1930s. Perusing the records I found the original owner was killed in the war (royal artillery, date coincides with crossing the Rhine though that may be coincidence) and his widow was here until the 90s. One of these days I’ll check out old electoral rolls to see if there might have been children, but as David St Hubbins once said, “too much jeffing perspective”

[Procopius]

5 hours ago, wombat said:

I’ll never understand why Dora gave the physically impossible option of flaps down without slats.

My only thought would be possibly to ensure sufficient thinness of the trailing edge.

 

Canopy glass is partly on now, and the oil tank is installed. I couldn't help myself, and added a bit of superfluous and undocumented detail in the form of a filler cap on the oil tank. Try not to think about how big that filler cap must be in 1/72.

 

 

 

I also dabbed a bit of Tamiya XF-11 chrome silver(? I think) on a torn bit of small sponge to make some chipping on the seat and interior framing, as well as the oil tank. The fuse wires, which added a fair bit of extra effort, are totally invisible.

 

Then it was time to put the gear on.

 

 

In a perfect world, the two gear legs would be one continuous piece (as on the real aircraft) for reasons of alignment, but we don't live in that world. The instructions suggest gear first, then the lower fuselage plate, but you have to tug them out a bit and jam them back in when you do this or it doesn't work. The gear locating tabs don't fit well, but some Revell liquid glue soon sorted them out.