Merry Christmas 2015!

I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a thoroughly Merry Christmas! 

Also, an update. I've had the first surgery done in early December, but the doc decided to delay the second one til mid-January. So I'll be a little longer in recovery than I anticipated. The pacemaker / defibrillator has been implanted, but some adjustment needs to be done - one of the leads didn't plant correctly, which has necessitated the second round - and if it is anything like last time, I won't be able to use my left arm for about 2 weeks after the procedure. 

I do have some modelling projects lined up for when I am fully functional: a Platz X-47, the Airfix ragwing Hurricane, and two Eurofighters that will be using anniversary markings from a couple of different Xtradecal sheets. This is addition to what must be a dozen stalled projects that mostly require paint. So I'll be facing down my personal nemesis, the airbrush, most likely in February. Somewhat akin to high noon here in the 72 Land corral. 

A missing dictator

Since Falke asked the question, I decided it was probably a good opportunity to let you know something about what has been going on here lately.

Your benevolent dictator here in 72Land has been struck down in the last few months - since just about the time of the Seattle Show in April - by a series of health issues. Cardiac issues, a cancer scare, and a huge load of abdominal fluid that resulted from the cardiac issues. Literally in a row as the summer and fall progressed.

In fact I am going into the hospital on Wed (12-9) for a procedure, followed by another one on the following Wed (12-16). Then there will be some recuperation of course. I have not so much as picked up a bottle of glue or much plastic in nearly the last year, so there is literally nothing to report on that front. As you would expect, me being a modeller, that doesn't mean I haven't bought a few kits and decals in the meantime! 

I hope to feel rejuvenated enough in mid January or so to kickstart my hobby enthusiasm, and then channel that into the blog. So I hope to rejoin the blogosphere sometime in early 2016. So stay tuned; I hope you haven't seen the last of me yet! 

Thanks - Kevin Callahan

2015 IPMS-Seattle Spring Show (part 4)

One last selection of photos from the show. 

One of Airfix's new crop of excellent early-war releases, the Do-17

A Ju-88 night fighter

There were a small number of what-if creations on display, an area of interest to me

Another one for the 1:72 armor guys, this time a modern German tank transporter

And finally, I suppose by law and tradition I must at least display one Bf-109. At least it is a desert version, always a favorite of mine

As before, I invite you to take a look at my Photobucket album with the photos of 1:72 items from the Spring Show. The link has been in the last couple of blog posts. 

Yikes, now I'm going to have to come up with some regular modelling activity to post about! 

2015 IPMS-Seattle Spring Show (part 3)

Additional photos from the event on 4-25.

MiG-21 Analog (Modelsvit kit perhaps)

First completed Hasegawa V-22 that I have seen

What was billed as an accurized 737, which presumably started out life as an Aurora kit

A Phoenix Type A from Joystick vacs

A crossover between aerospace and armor: an A9 under tow

I'll probably stitch together another selection of photos, but if you would like to take a look at the entire gallery, here is the link again: 2015 Seattle Spring Show

2015 IPMS-Seattle Spring Show (part 2)

Here are some more photos from the recent Seattle show. 

First, one of a number of ragwing Hurricanes. Seems that Airfix might have a hit on their hands. 

Another recent Airfix kit, the Lightning.

One of two C-54s at the show. Likely the owner wanted to get it seen before the Revell kit arrived.

The DML kit of the DeHav Sea Vixen.

One for the armor fellows: a nice little AA gun.

More later. 

2015 IPMS-Seattle Spring Show (part 1)

It would appear that the legends of my demise might be a bit premature. Though I haven't been doing much in the way of blog posting - or modelling for that matter - I am at least still breathing. Any day, as they say, above ground is a good day.

Though I am suffering from a bit of an Enthusiasm Gap at present when it comes to making models, I've also been rather busy this winter with a thorough house refresh. New roof, windows, interior paint, and a complete new wood floor to replace the ancient carpets. Add that to some temp work at King County Elections and a badly infected tooth and it has been a spring for the record books.

So what has caused this sneaky return? An annual event that typically wakes up even the modelling moles of the Great Northwest: the 2015 IPMS-Seattle Spring Show. Held, as it has been for the last decade, at the Renton Community Center, we got some proper weather for the event. Not cold enough to threaten snow, not warm enough to send everyone to the beach. And we've had both in past years.

Overall numbers seemed to be pretty consistent with prior years. Around 800+ entries, two vendor rooms, and a fairly crowded show floor. Areas that seemed to be especially active were Gundam figures and dioramas. My own personal interest, 1:72 aircraft, was in terms of numbers pretty average compared to previous shows. But I have to say that while build quality was high, type selection was, to be charitable, less than adventurous. I suppose if you are going to compete in a show it makes sense to start off with an already excellent mainstream injection molded kit. But I'll admit that I do have a weakness for the ones that throw that convention out and produce their magic with a vac or resin or at least a less over-displayed type.

The ragwing Hurricane seems to have been a hit with contest modellers. It is nice to see what is reportedly a popular kit actually getting built. There were 2 C-54s, clearly people wanting to get their vac or conversion creations in the public eye before the Revell kit arrives. And the "modelfying" category this year was a 1:72 A-10, which produced some interesting entries.

For the next few days I'll be posting sets of models that attracted my interest. They are entirely subjective; I make no claim that these were the best models on display. The entire set of photos that I took, as in previous years, is stored on Photobucket. They can be accessed at: http://s958.photobucket.com/user/a172ndguy/library/2015%20IPMS-Seattle%20Spring%20Show

Congratulations to the show organizers at IPMS-Seattle for another excellent day out.

We'll start with a vac Zeppelin-Staaken

A T-45 in CONA markings

A twin Warthog from the "modelfying" competition

A DC-3 in Alaska Airlines markings, one of which used to be displayed outside of the Museum of Flight here in Seattle

And here are a trio of views of the show floor around noon

More later.

Super Bowl 49

As a Seattle-area resident since 1985....

#worstcallever

A proper start

After vanishing for months after my festival of whining last summer, I was all prepared to burst back on the scene with a new series of blog entries once we made it to the new year. And almost as soon as the calender clicked over and I began to get serious about the upcoming work -- I had a computer meltdown. Yes, I will own up to it being self-inflicted. One glass of iced tea too close to the laptop, and you can fill in the blanks yourself. The problem was that the laptop keyboard gave up the ghost, and decided it would be best to input random keystrokes instead of what I intended to input. Granted, I use an external keyboard and mouse - never really liked laptops but SWMBO does - but once the input actually gets to the motherboard you're hosed. 

So off to the repair shop I went. The procedure was actually fairly simple: some minor cleaning and a disconnect between the laptop keyboard and the motherboard. But the shop was still dealing with a holiday upsurge in business and it took 3 or 4 days to work my way through the queue. 

So I took a short journey to the 1970s, before we had all these wonderful computer items to squander our time. Sort of like when our power goes out, but at least there were lights on and I could turn on the stereo. But no blogs, no forums, no email, no commerce. You'd think that would be a perfect time to catch up with my modelling tasks, wouldn't you? Yes, a wonderful time. Ahem. 

But even if my workbench remained uncontaminated by the presence of in progress models, I did at least give some thought to my next series of projects. Most are just getting back up to speed with things that are already in motion (some Spitfires, P-1106, Ju-87, B-26) but one new project was inspired by a decal sheet I picked up sometime in the fall. Here is a hint.