Datguy's Diverse Distractions

So the shoulder story continues.  I have not really regained any function in my arm north of the elbow and with the pain, lack of motility, etc., modeling progress has been glacial. Fortunately, alcohol - usually bourbon ( Bower Hill  of Louisville, Mr. Knights should be pleased to know) - has proved an effective way to augment my evening analgesia without moving up to narcotics. It is a genuinely fine Bourbon but it has not in any way assisted my productivity.  Sleep is pretty sparse these days too, and only really possible with a little bit of narcotic dosing at bedtime. In the meantime, my MRI came back reading like a horror film script with quaint little phrases like, " full-thickness, complete tears ," " edema and irregularity ," and " degenerative fraying ."  Surgery is coming up this Monday, and I anticipate a couple of weeks of rocky times during recovery. I have already cut back on my time at the office and have been working from home when pos...

I've often joked in my modeling reports about challenges and setbacks, like unexpected Navy football games or the lack of the proper wine pairings, but this time I am facing a new kind of setback and I don't quite know what to do about it. "The Boys" have played a prominent role in many of my reports, and have now become a main character in today's story.  Rowan, whom we call "little dog," is a full-energy 4 year-old, 65 pound, male Irish Setter.  In the background of the photo is Sully (formally styled as Suleiman the Magnificent ); a 6-year-old, 120 pound Anatolian Shepherd Dog. Napping in the Royal Apartments Sully is the leader of the pack, and like his eponymous forebear, considers himself ruler of a vast domain. Much to the consternation of the royal bodyguards and Keepers of the Exchequer, he loves to explore said domain on long private jaunts which universally begin with an incompletely latched gate or door.   Inspecting the domain. (A...

I made progress on several projects this weekend, assisted by an Indians blow-out loss that occurred early this afternoon, along with very limited work and domestic responsibilities. For the task of diminishing my Shelf of Doom, my Italeri AU-1 now has nearly all its decals in place, along with the ever-challenging Corsair undercarriage. Panel line enhancement had been done previously with artists oils over a Future gloss coat.  The prop is also now painted up, but yet to be mounted.  The gear doors and some detail painting are next up. I provided a little love to my erstwhile Fathers' Day blitz-build Mustang in RAF reconnaissance colors as well.  I sprayed it with Xtracrylix PRU Blue, which was an absolutely gorgeous paint to work with.  It's a tad dark for 1/72 perhaps, but, hey, these were freshly painted for 541 Sqn in June 1944 and I'll be showing full invasion stripes, so pristine paint is not out of the question.  I did rebuild the prop, finding t...

Every fall the Huntsville Plastic Modelers Society hosts a model show and competition.  There are a couple of twists this year. First, because of conflicts over the space, they were forced to move the show to the last weekend of August.  Now those of you familiar with Alabama will know that August is NOT fall here, especially so when Crimson Tide football does not begin until September.  (I'll have to check to be sure, but I believe our Fall is legislated to officially begin four hours prior to the opening kickoff of the first game in the University of Alabama's football schedule). Second, in a break from past years and most shows, the folks at HPMS are not offering any special theme awards this year.  Last year, upon the 40th anniversary of the show, they had a special award for models first kitted before 1976.  I brought some real clunkers, including a DeHavilland Sea Venom and a pair of P-47s, all originally from Frog molds. Since there is no show t...

Over the years, I've shared bits and pieces of things that fascinate me through ancient technologies like print articles, old technologies like e-mail and newsgroups (remember rec.models.scale?), and more recent, but still mature technologies like Facebook and web forums. Recently, Photobucket turned the world of those web forum communities upside down by blocking 3rd party sharing of images.   Around the same time, certain of my kinfolk asked if my serial e-mail posts on building a model airplane served the function of blogging, and I realized that they did.   I believe she (ahem..., I mean, that kin person) may have been prodding me to get with the times, or at least a little closer to them So,if what I was doing was already a blog of sorts, and I needed web space for sharing images, I might as well have an "official" blog. And here we are!  Let's see how this works, OK?