It’s up early. Enjoy!

Weekly Newsletter

A very mixed bag yesterday and it seems it’s going to be that way for a while. Good!  

The Star Deatroyer’s base is coming along well. This un-screws from the base so the model can be shipped. I can’t begin to imagine shipping this model on the base.

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I opened the second mold in a series of molds to make this T51 copper pristine as possible. I cast up a test body to see what still needs to be done and there’s a bit more. But it came out excellent.

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The sub is now pretty worked out in my mind and starting to shape up well for me. It took a bit of adjusting and head scratching but next week I should be able to frame up the bow and stern.

While working on the lighting for the Star Destroyer I realized quickly that with all the LEDs I had built up over all the long years of doing this stuff I didn’t have a single bright blue LED.

I got on the phone right away and called one of my favorite people in the world. Randy Nuebert of VooDoo effects. The last thing I wanted to do was get on the net and search for LED’s or order them from someone I did know. I like to support my local businesses, friends, and hobby shops. Last resort is Amazon in China.

Randy answered with his usual happy voice and said “how can I help you?” I told him the model and he knew in an instant exactly what I needed and why. Next week I’ll have the blue lights, more 220 ohm resistors and a selection of warm white lights to simulate those incandescent lights used in those old models back in the 70’s. 
He also advised me not to overlight the model as so many do these days. Don’t make them too bright either. The idea here is to make the model appear as it did in the film.

It was just great to talk to him. He’s one of the good guys and the very best.
I did a little work with placing fiber optics and making holes in the engine bells for the lighting. What I need to do before I go any further is make a base and set this model up with the microphone jack and brass pole. That’s today’s project.

I worked on the sub a bit and did a test sheet of styrene on the hull. This is going to work.
Then I put some time in on the slot car body making yet another mold on the master. From this mold I’ll make a car body to test. I’ll make another use to open up the scribed holes in it for the exhaust, seat, nose intake, gas caps and so on. I’ll add anything I missed to this body and then make another mold for production.

Mark Helmick brought a bunch of Laser Blast parts for the action figure guns and the parts for the slot car body. I’ll be molding the slot car parts next week and making production runs on them along with the bodies.
Still to do are the exhaust pipes, gas caps, and the wind screen. A lot of work goes into making a miniature car.

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I managed to paint everything on the Star Destroyer yesterday basic white. The primer I was using took forever to dry and by the end of the day it was still tacky. This no doubt was a result of the damp conditions we are experiencing. The fog was down to the ground and drizzled all day. We live by the ocean, both our home and the studio.
Today it should be dry enough to start some weathering and get those engines lighted up.

The sub I spent a lot of time with at home on the PC figuring out those formers or cross sections provided by the plans I have. they were difficult to discern but in the end I sussed them out well and was able to print the sections out and cut them from styrene.

A test paper sheeting showed me that when sheets with styrene today I’ll have a nice bow section.
I also put some time in on the slot car body kit master. My friend Mark Helmick 3D printed the steering wheel, seat, dashboard, and mirrors for the car I will later mold and make from resin.
It was quite a day. A lot got done.

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This went up pretty quick. The box with the exception of the few parts you see sitting out is empty. These parts will be painted separately before they are installed and set up for lighting.

Today the hull gets painted white and the weathering starts. Then the long haul of drilling 100s of little holes and placing fiber optics begins. Lighting the engine bells. Installing the microphone jack for the base. Making the base itself.

Nice build, nice kit.

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After 36 years of being an AMA member(academy of model aeronautics)  I will not renew this year. Between all the bad politics, letting us down with the drone invasion and more…I’m done. This hobby has been regulated to death. It now requires a basic knowledge of aviation test before you can buy an RC airplane from the local hobby shop. You have to join the FAA and place numbers on your planes. 
Our airplanes have been classified as drones. That’s a big mistake. They are airplanes.We have altitude restrictions. No more sanctioned fields will be created after this year. And the list goes on. Oh and I fogot about our being required soon to have transponders in our model planes, report to the local tower through a phone app and get permission to fly from them.

For about 80 bucks a year I get insurance that only covers me at AMA sanctioned fields and events. Even then in an accident they only cover about a third of the costs. You need homeowners insurance for the rest. What if you don’t own a home?

You get a cheap paper card. An Ok magazine and a pat on the back for being a member.

Our beloved scale model airplanes are now drones and we are considered a nuisance by ever “Karen” out there. The AMA didn’t do much to protect us from that.

I fly at local parks, deserts, cliffs on the coast and other  natural locations with my silent RC gliders. They don’t pollute or cause any harm to the environment. Same with the airplanes. They are electrically driven props planes. Rc jets? Also electric. so they are very quiet. No annoying gas engine noise that could be heard for miles anymore.

Their insurance doesn’t cover me in these locations. You just fly safe. If there’s a lot of public traffic at any of these locations I just don’t fly thinking only of their safety.
So why do I need the AMA? I don’t. Not anymore.

I’m joining the SCCA instead. The Sports Car Club of America. I’m saving for a bucket list old sports car. A Triumph Spitefire to be exact. An enjoy friendly vintage car races at the local tracks in CA. Like Luguna Sacca.

https://www.scca.com/

For my 85 bucks a year I can do this! It’s been on my bucket list for a very long time!