Team Nor'Easter

Scotaidh · Post by **Scotaidh** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 6:45 pm

Anyone? Beuhler?

ignatz · Post by **ignatz** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:48 pm

Nothing coming in yet.

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:43 pm

Sorry. Lots going on with my parents. The box is labeled, and I just need to get it to the post office.

Had a hearing last week, and I'm now officially my dad's legal guardian.

ignatz · Post by **ignatz** » Wed Sep 30, 2015 10:59 am

No prob. Glad you're cutting through all the red tape so you can take care of your dad.

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 11:09 pm

And I had to put my mom into geriatric psych treatment on Sunday afternoon, so this hasn't been a stellar week.

Holy frack, I need a vacation. Which is why, in 36 hours, I'll be in Orlando with my wife and kids for a week.

Package is shipping today (Friday) when I pick up the mail from our P.O. box. I'll PM you with the Priority Mail tracking number. It should be in your hands by next week Tuesday or Wednesday.

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Fri Oct 02, 2015 7:57 pm

Shipped, and being delivered on Monday.

ignatz · Post by **ignatz** » Sun Oct 04, 2015 10:01 pm

Thanks Rich.

Best wishes to you and your family. Enjoy the break!

ignatz · Post by **ignatz** » Thu Oct 08, 2015 1:21 am

Bacqatcha has arrived! It looks great so far!

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Thu Oct 08, 2015 9:31 am

Glad it's there safely. I gotta finish work on the canopy for Lake Effect after I get home. We're in Orlando for a few more days.

Scotaidh · Post by **Scotaidh** » Wed Nov 11, 2015 4:39 pm

Anything?

Scotaidh · Post by **Scotaidh** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 3:17 pm

Ignatz - anything?

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Thu Nov 26, 2015 10:28 pm

Digging out from under five kits on the bench that I started back during the summer. Once the bench is clear, it's on to the Lake Effect. Parts are all sketched out and rough-cut.

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:42 pm

Working on fitting the sides of the canopy to the curvature of the hull. Once I get the lower edges where I want them, I'll start working on the top sections, then the front panel. I have to lower the sides to bring them into line with the existing surrounding parts. I'm using the Snowspeeder aft canopy section as a starting point, and extending outward from there.

The sides angle outward from the centerline, like the Snowspeeder canopy does, but I'm going to put a slight bend in the top of the canopy, so the forward section will slant downward slightly rather than being flat all the way across (think of Hawk's fighter from Buck Rogers). The front panel will be slanted, like the 'Speeder's, but with more of a flare to deal with the hull curve.

I'm going to try to make the canopy removable, so someone else can add interior detailing, like instrument panels and so on. I'll probably hide brass pins on the inner sections of the canopy, with corresponding holes in the upper hull. I thought about putting in a hinge, but it would be a bear to fit properly. And, with the curve in the hull, it wouldn't ever really "close", so it would pop up along the leading edge. Or, if I can find something that would work, I may try magnets.

Right now I'm just working out the bare sheet plastic parts. The Lake Effect looks like it has a big A-Frame snow dam on top of it. Once I cut down the sides and fit the top and front panels, I'll work on cutting out the canopy framework and add in the clear sections for the glass.

I'll try to get photos posted this weekend.

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:59 pm

Question for Da Team: How are we planning the cockpit layout on this thing?

I've got all the canopy parts cut and fitted, and I'm about to start work on the window sections, but need some input on crew seating. It's a tandem cockpit, so which is it:

F-14 Style: Pilot in front seat, weapons officer in the rear seat

- - OR - -

AH-64 Apache Style: Gunner in the front seat, pilot in the rear seat

Who sits where is gonna determine things like window sizes and cockpit framing.

Thanks!

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:57 pm

Continuing work on the canopy. I hope to have it done by next weekend.

Who's next in line to receive this kit to work on it? And where are with the Bacqatcha?

I will be going to WonderFest this year. I booked my room at HoJo's last weekend, so I'll be heading down to Kentucky with Cydonia on June 2.

Anything that's going to WF should probably be shipped no later than May 16th. That'll get it here before the Memorial Day holiday on May 30.

Scotaidh · Post by **Scotaidh** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:45 pm

Lonewolf wrote:Continuing work on the canopy. I hope to have it done by next weekend.

Who's next in line to receive this kit to work on it? And where are with the Bacqatcha?

I will be going to WonderFest this year. I booked my room at HoJo's last weekend, so I'll be heading down to Kentucky with Cydonia on June 2.

Anything that's going to WF should probably be shipped no later than May 16th. That'll get it here before the Memorial Day holiday on May 30.

Actually, Lonewolf, you're the end of the list.

I think you should take whatever time is left before WF to finish the Lake Effect.

Any sign of the Baqatcha?

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:53 pm

If folks want another crack at it, we've got time. As long as it gets back to me by mid-May for any final work, I say let's send it around again.

What say you?

Scotaidh · Post by **Scotaidh** » Sat Jan 23, 2016 4:39 pm

Lonewolf wrote:If folks want another crack at it, we've got time. As long as it gets back to me by mid-May for any final work, I say let's send it around again.

What say you?

I vote No. It's not that I don't have any faith in you guys, it's that I'm suspicious of Life. Last year it smacked us all pretty good, to the effect that we couldn't make the WF deadline. I don't want to give Murphy a second crack at us, that's all.

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:16 pm

If someone else could finish the Bacqatcha that would be great. I'm also working on my own entries for WonderFest, with multiple kits plus a base I have to assemble. I can finish off the Lake Effect, but I won't have time to work on a seventh kit and be able to finish it.

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Sat Mar 05, 2016 1:45 am

Any word on the Baqcatcha? I'm on model #3 of a five-kit build for WF, but I'll work the Lake Effect in as time allows.

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Sun May 29, 2016 8:33 pm

Finished my entry into the WF contest, and I'm back to working on the Lake Effect. She's in light gray primer outside right now, drying as we speak. I got the cockpit canopy framing cut out earlier and I just glued the last piece in place (front panel, two side panels, one top panel).

I've got the hole drilled in the bottom of the ship for the stand. I'm gonna use clear acrylic rod and a rectangular wooden base from Michael's. Gonna have to see what I can go with as a color scheme for that. I'm thinking plain black with maybe some gold edging.

I'm gonna do the best I can on this, given I've got four days until I leave for WonderFest. I'm dealing with five houses right now. I'm taking care of my parents' home about an hour away, trying to finalize the sale of a condo they've owned for 10 years, plus dealing with roof/carport repairs to their summer cottage (four hours away). We're also in the process ourselves of finalizing the purchase of a new home (waiting on the FHA appraisal report) so we can start boxing stuff up and getting out of the modular we've lived in for 17 years. Add in working full-time and having two daughters in middle school/high school that start summer break in two weeks . . . .

So . . . there WILL DEFINITELY BE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION at WonderFest!

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Mon Jun 06, 2016 7:42 pm

Lake Effect was completed on Friday night and was on display in the contest room at WonderFest on Saturday and Sunday.

I got a couple of photos and will get those posted as soon as I get a chance. It's "back to work" tomorrow and I've got a bunch of catching up to do after being gone since last Wednesday afternoon.

Scotaidh · Post by **Scotaidh** » Sat Jun 25, 2016 12:35 pm

So - anyone have any pictures of the completed Traveling Models?

Also, what of their fate - who has them in custody?

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Tue Jul 05, 2016 9:34 pm

Here are the two photos I have of The Lake Effect on display.

Photo 1
Photo 2

I didn't have time to add cockpit detailing, so I ended up putting in clear acetate windows and then putting about six coats of Tamiya Clear Smoke on them, followed by another half-dozen coats of Future to level out the windows.

Scotaidh · Post by **Scotaidh** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 4:39 pm

Any word on the Baqcatcha?

Scotaidh · Post by **Scotaidh** » Wed Feb 22, 2017 4:38 pm

Well - she's here - the Lake Effect was a-waiting me when I got home from work! I was very excited to see that big ol' box at my door!

Lonewolf even included the base he made for it.

I'm cooking up a mounting rod to connect the base and the Lake Effect. 1/4" stainless steel tubing seems to fit both the hole in the wooden base and the one in the model. Once that's in place, she'll soar over my television, next to Grathar's Hammer.

They seem to be of a scale, actually - how serendipitous is that?

Thank-you, Prince of Styrene!
Thank-you, Ignatz!
Thank-you,Gundamhead!
Thank-you, Lonewolf!

Despite truly staggering quantities of Life being dumped on some of you, she got built and made it to WF on time. That alone makes her special - but wait! There's more!

She's asymmetrical enough to appeal without being over the top - I love that.

You guys do great work. I'm truly honoured to be in your company.

Y'know, this Traveling Model Challenge may not have been as big as the first one, but - it is so very cool to look at the Lake Effect and know that it embodies the work of very skilled and imaginative model-makers who are also friends.

And that, I think, is Cool beyond reckoning.

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:19 pm

Glad she made it there in one piece.

Be sure to post some photos. With moving and everything else that was going on in the second half of last year, I never had a chance to do a proper photo shoot session.

This was a lot of fun and something I'd be interested in doing again sometime . . . . once I dig out from the pile of "real life" I'm under right now.

BTW . . . . any update on the Baqcatcha? I haven't heard anything about her since October 2015. If nobody wants her, ship her back to me and I'll finish the build and paint.

Scotaidh · Post by **Scotaidh** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 6:33 pm

Lonewolf wrote:Glad she made it there in one piece.

Be sure to post some photos. With moving and everything else that was going on in the second half of last year, I never had a chance to do a proper photo shoot session.

This was a lot of fun and something I'd be interested in doing again sometime . . . . once I dig out from the pile of "real life" I'm under right now.

BTW . . . . any update on the Baqcatcha? I haven't heard anything about her since October 2015. If nobody wants her, ship her back to me and I'll finish the build and paint.

I will post some pictures, as soon as I get some new batteries for my camera. Seems a certain young person at my house needed some batteries for her Wii ...

The single mounting post has failed, so I am therefore falling back on my usual three lengths of hanger wire, with one end of each embedded in the base and the other end generously coated with silicone cement. The wires come out of the base at about 60 degrees, and are roughly 120 degrees apart horizontally. I then bend them to the perfect angles to achieve the pose desired.

The Baqcatcha is another loose end that needs resolving.

Who's got her?
What's her status? If whomever it is that has her wants to keep her, that's fine, I guess, so long as you let us know.

Scotaidh · Post by **Scotaidh** » Sun Feb 26, 2017 8:02 am

Ignatz just PMd me, and I want to tell everyone (some of) what I told him.

IMHO, at this point there's no deadline at all, just the fun of working on the model, so I say let's make it all about having no regrets, yes?

And, if the Bacqatcha gets to WF this year, great. If not - meh. We still had fun, and there's always next year.

Ignatz (and everyone else on the team), you're not done with her, I say hang onto her and get done what you wanted to have done - although, she does need to travel at some point.

If any of you wanted to do more with her but couldn't because of time constraints - those are gone now, so it you want another shot at her we can make that happen.

Ah, I can see it now - the Perpetually Peripatetic Model, constantly circling the North East US, ever growing and getting larger, sprouting conning towers, secondary / tertiary hulls, weapons pods, sensor arrays, hangar zones, launch tubes, recovery decks, bio-domes, and the like until we can no longer support the shipping costs.

We might have to change her name to PMM Topsey - not planned, just "grow-ed".

At the end of the day, this is our hobby and hobbies are supposed to make you feel good.

Well - that's how I see it. Thoughts, comments, snarky remarks?

Lonewolf · Post by **Lonewolf** » Sun Feb 26, 2017 2:08 pm

Ignatz sent me a PM and he's got my new address, so she'll be heading my way. Depending on when she arrives, I'll do my best to "git 'er done!" and get her to WonderFest in June.

If I don't get her finished for this year, then she's not going to make it there with me in 2018. That's a "no go" year for me, as my eldest daughter's high school graduation will most likely be that same weekend. Otherwise, someone else will have to step up and assume the "delivery responsibilities".