Yesterday was cut short by hair cuts, taking one of our dogs to the vet and other domestic choirs and this happens because we have lives that demand our attention. It can be frustrating at times but I always try to let it go and realize that all one can do is the very best they can. 

I managed to get some time with Bryan’s Battlestar which I did enjoy. Being upstairs in the art-model room is nice and warm and cozy. 

I did spend some time in the bay working on model rocket parts too. I got an order from Balsa Machining for my rocket kit supplies, hair from Burman Industries for my mask orders and today more rocket body tubes placing all my ducks in a row to complete my orders.

Today I have another dental appointment but luckily they are only 5 mins. from our studio and the visit is a short one today. Still yesterday I was thinking to myself (as I stood over my P-51), I’ll have an uninterrupted day tomorrow. Then the phone rang and my dentist asked me to come in for a test fitting. I’m having my teeth adjusted.

I’m thinking of just turning my phone off for Thursday and Friday in blind for no further interruptions. 

And the other thing I run into sometimes is this. “You’re 70 now. You just play with models and monsters. You should be retired now. Most normal people are by now.” 

In some people’s perspective (they being well meaning), intrude. It’s much like being a child again. People just don’t take you seriously. There’s little one can do about it except let it roll off and put one foot in front of the other. And proceed with a smile on your face. But these are some of the things that we seniors face.

I did break time at the end of the day and covered the intake on the Mustang. I swear I’ll finish this plane by next week.

There’s not enough time in the day it would seem. The studio is busy. Orders are coming in and I’m trying to stay ahead of them. I spent most of the day just casting parts and pouring rubber for masks.

I tried my best to get upstairs to the model building department with little luck. It’s warm up there and I have a nice plastic model to build for a customer. 

In the bay it was in the low 50’s. A freezer for us California folks and it’s been this way since Oct of last year. And this in no way is typical for us here in Ventura. I am damn tired of it as I sit here writing in a sweater.

As always I give myself one hour of basket weaving time at the end of the day. As they say, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy”.

So I got a bit more covering done on this big Mustang. I swear I’ll have this monster of a radio controlled airplane done soon. I miss the smaller stuff.

Good day yesterday. And today? Vet appointment, hair cut, and then I’ll get to work a bit but not as much as I’d like too. It seems these days it’s getting more difficult to just work straight through a day. There’s always appointments, meetings, phone calls, visitors, and more. But I surrendered some time ago and embraced the busy vibe our studio attracts. It’s all good.

Thank you all for the continued support, for your orders and projects.

Things are getting a little busy again around the studio. We have orders coming in for Rockets, masks, and even a model build.

Making a new mold of the X-15 nose cone master. I have sold so many X-15’s I’ve gone through 2 molds.

And a spread of pictures from the customer model build of the Battlestar Galactica from the original series.

I did my end of the day basket weaving to unwind by covering a bit more of the big P-51 Mustang. I need to finish it and get it off the big table to make room for the incoming. 

Today we are preparing for tomorrow’s shoot of, “A Conversation with my Father”. We shoot Saturday. It’s a 1 day shoot with 15 pages. This time everything is in camera and no visual effects. A good story with a twist at the end.

Our next film will be sci-fi but again this one will be mostly shot all in the camera except for the end shot effects. I am growing tired of doing the visual effects and I’m looking for someone to help out on the next film. It’s enough to write, produce, direct, and edit. More on that later.

I opened the Mac mold yesterday without any troubles. Cleaned it out and ordered 1630 resin from Burman’s which will arrive this morning. I’ll be casting the first Mac Tonight today. It’s all going very well.

After nearly finishing the Mac Tonight mold I actually had some time to work on the Mustang. I started the hard process of covering the plane with monokote. The tail section is the most difficult because of the way they have you assemble the tail you can’t cover the pieces first before assembly. Once I get past the tail it should be easier. 

I also made mounts to screw down the canopy for removal. Eventually I’ll make some cockpit details for the plane. I’m not going all out because this is a sport scale plane to be flown, not to enter contests.

The Mac Tonight mold has the second side of the silicone poured and cured. Today I will mother mold the second half with more epoxy fiberglass and the mold is finished.

Monday I’ll open the mold and clean it out. Tuesday I’ll cast the first one. 

I also managed to make the sunglasses molds so Monday I’ll be able to cast up the parts. Sand them smooth and vacuum form a set of sunglasses.

Part 4 of making this bust and how the mold was made will be posted this weekend.

I got this model kit in the mail yesterday from an old friend, supporter, and customer. He has asked me to do the build for him. It’s been awhile since I have been asked to build a model for anyone. Usually my price to build is too high for most when there are so many amature modelers doing it for pennies on the dollar these days.

I’ll be doing the usual build log of this model of the TOS Battlestar Galactica. 

I was given this Guillows F4U Corsair by Dave of Smith Brothers a while ago where it sat under my bench until more recently when I got it out and started picking at it in moments of down time. Much of the fuselage and center wing had been built and built well. However over the many years of storage by the previous owners it had suffered many blows and the parts were broken and some missing.

Because Guillows kit plans are so comprehensive in showing all the parts on the plans I was able to fabricate new parts and put the fuse and center section back to good condition.

This plane will have a 30 inch span and will be powered by an electric motor. It will be radio controlled. I’ve always loved the bent wing Corsair. A true legend among the fighter planes of WW2 and Korea. “Devotion”, a great movie, had a lot to do with motivating me to get back to this project.

Meanwhile the work on the Mac Tonight mold continues and by Friday it will be done and I’ll be able to make part 4 in the series of videos that shows you how I made the mold.

I started the hardest part of the mold making process for the Mac Tonight sculpture yesterday. Laying up the clay walls to separate the eventual two halves of the mold. Then laying up the silicone rubber. Today I’ll be making the epoxy fiberglass mother mold. That will sit for a day to set up and tomorrow I’ll do the back halve with more silicone and another epoxy fiberglass mother mold.

I should finish the mold by Friday and Monday it will get opened and the first resin casting of the Mac bust made.

Sounds like a story. Well it is. I finished the Mac sculpture and I’m going to start the mold today. Mary and I also got the new hood properly installed to it’s hinges yesterday too. Good day.