popeye the sailor

I've read in the past where folks have thickened the bulwarks, to give a better representation. build projects of the Revell 'Connie' are the most common example. it worked well in your favor........glad to see that you have a truly wonderful representation here as well...great looking model shaping up here some have substituted the eye bolts and blocks for metal and wood.......are you going to do that as well?

doing a great job OC...........and you were so worried about rigging yard looks really good too

wow Yves!.......that quite a kit! your progress thus far looks awesome! look'in forward in seeing more

..some pretty daunting work there Danny.........way too many twists and turns! looks really good

choosing not to apply a second coat right way is good advice. repainting too soon can reactivate the original coat and cause a host of problems....streaks, ghosting, and paint wrinkling {if you've ever seen this...it's horrible}. at least you got to spend some time at the table......models appear in due time looks very nice.

thanks CDW....the test is complete now.........now to wait till her next appointment to see what they found. she is doing fine now.......for what has my eggs frying.......dealers! my son bought a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe from the local dealer. it is a used car......looks good, but it shows how lax they are in their process of selling cars. he bought it a little less than a year ago.......inspected and all. I've done the rear brakes...he did the fuel sensors {proud of him for that.....they were in the tank}. we've also replaced a couple other EVAP sensors....I was amazed to find that the intake snorkel hose had no clamp on it! he's done the battery and exhaust work to it as well..........to me it seems this vehicle has needed more work that necessary, coming from a dealer. if they took the car in as a trade in, shouldn't they have checked and replaced some of this stuff? the best is yet to come......his recent inspection failed due to a control arm bushing coming apart, and left stabilizer link. I did the work....not having the press for the bushing, I opted to replace the entire control arm. check out Rock Auto . com...amazing prices! I used to be an automotive state inspector......after seeing what they failed......all I can say...is I wouldn't have failed it for it.....the bushing rubber separation was not severe, and I don't view stabilizer links to be an inspection item. while I was replacing the control arm.......I noticed something that was!.......how about the front brakes you retards! the bottom slider for the caliper was frozen on both sides....I freed them up, but the caliper is a dual piston affair, the bottom piston on the left side was frozen as well. so the end game was a left side caliper and pads.....rotors were fine in my view....there was hardly any rust ringing, decreasing the pad contact. I was B.S.! especially when he also told me that they said they have no record of a timing belt replacement and a weeping radiator hose! I understand they have a 21 point check on the cars they bring in, but he was there for an inspection.....not an oil change! too bad that he just bought the P.O.C. .........I suggested he get rid of the albatross needless to say, I didn't get to do much on the model. today is a rainy day..........should get some table time today. thanks J and CDW for the kind comments .......and thanks to all who hit the like button!

hi folks thought I'd get further along.....but it was not the case yesterday. I believe there is the three valve system on this one......have to check the instructions. I've seen that model around Mark....I think that I will put that one on my 'future' list I may do something with this.......I just think that it would be an interesting bit of detail

look'in good J!

the other half of your comment lies here J........I've had ups........and then the big d o w n here is a shot of her after adding the lift kit the body sits where it should. I painted aluminum in the headlight buckets. the drive belt, fan, and radiator was added. note that the lift kit is installed.... the real kicker didn't come until all was dry. I did the dry fit......and to my horror, I found that the rear of the body would not sit flat on the frame! the generator of the drive belt is holding the body {fender}, while the front of the lift kit {the two pieces I glued to the frame}, is resting on the two pieces of cross member that I had added earlier. these two areas are causing the body to be in a fulcrum situation, and catapulting the rear of the body into the air. there is no way to get the body flush with the frame! I failed to take a picture of this......I think I was in a state of shock.....so the first thing I thought of was to remove those two pieces of wood on the frame. I thought about notching the driver side fender, to allow for the generator, but I felt it might not look right. a problem still persists though, because when I put the body back on, the exhaust manifolds hit on both sides of the fire wall, so I can't move it forward. I will have to make an adjustment there. one more day of work.......Tuesday, I take the admiral to the second part of her Dr visit. they are performing a test on her Thyroid gland. I took the day off.......I will resume on her them

not according to the three stooges

it's been said that fish is good brain food........I agree I should have eaten a whale a whole different tail of moby proportion. where's a good Moe slap when you need one! I'd have been back sooner, but I caught up on a couple of episodes that I missed. where was I?.........oh yes....the continuation of my crazy zany log on this half baked project of mine. well......I took myself up on the idea of raising the body......3/16ths should be plenty. this will enable me to move the body forward, so the fenders aren't touching the rear tires. you get a small peek at the rear differential. there was a bit of trouble assembling the rear.....I ended up cementing the rear tires {they don't move}. under the body, I added the two last pieces of cross members. they will be painted when dry. the seat is now painted...... ...and began to put the finishing touches on the radiator. I started to paint the fire wall, but I felt I should add the instrument box and the other parts first. next was to do the rear wall of the body......don't know why I put it off this long. I did correct one of the moldings......it wasn't pretty. one other is a bit off......but I didn't correct it. what I experienced with the one I did correct, was what I expected would happen if I had tried it on the one I goofed up on earlier in the build. I still need to do some hardware for the doors. the fenders are painted now........I used a brush on them. I may go over them again. there is some ghosting here and there.......tell tale strokes. as long as you don't get too close up, it appears fine. here are a couple of shots of the second attempt to assemble the differential......I forgot to rearrange the photo lineup.......I usually do. once this had set enough, it was touched up and the rear tires were reinstalled {I didn't get that far before the trouble began}. it was here that I found that the metal shaft was too short. so, before any problems could resurface, glue was applied to the hole in the rim and the tire was slid in place, flipping it over in the same movement. there it sat for the time being to dry. during the drying time, the seat was cemented in place, and the headlights were installed and painted. the rest will be done later. when the chassis was able to be worked on again, the exhaust manifolds were added and the wood additions were painted.. the drive belt is being painted by this time......and the other parts for the interior were being fleshed out. two holes were drilled through the floor board for the steering column and pedals. the emergency brake lever is also in the works. the fire wall has also been painted........it's waiting on the detail touch ups and the glass. I will see how all this plays out, as to whether or not I can complete the steering linkage. I'm getting close to the dry fit I've been waiting for

I did a search and they sell racing rims.........so I did a search on quick change differentials.....they were also there. so they are quite prominent in the racing industry. I had to flatten the back of the differential to do it, but as mentioned, painted up ...it looks the part. we just got back from shopping..........I sized down all the pictures and was about to do the update.......now the admiral wants to eat <>sigh<> so.......not wanting to oppose the Vatican ⛪......called out and ordered two Haddock plates {the food costs extra} ba-da-bum! be back in a bit e

...and the instructions started......"and now we come to the step that your not going to like!" it would be interesting if they also came with a boring meter symbol beside each step. you'd see it often with ship kits........especially when it comes to the ratlines and rope coils I've never had a kit that had it's own disclaimer in it. you know you have to add that bit of detail........why they'd strip you down to novice, and you'll end up building snap tites can't let that get by you! still look'in good J........cleaned up and final paint, the landing gear will look great! oh and while your modding the trapeze, what is that thing that's sticking through the canopy....a sight glass? if it's not in your kit, you may as well add that too. very cool!

thanks Ron for reiterating what Ken said....I must have missed it. brass knobs...........well that's bland thanks good sirs.....brass they shall be

that's the problem CDW.........I don't have much in the way of spare parts. there may be a couple of things I'll have to back away from. didn't take into consideration how compact this little critter would become. there's an update coming painted up, the rear end looks more the part Mark. that tiny bit of detail won't get by me thanks J.......coming out better than I thought it would. who would have thought that the admiral would have agreed with me on this?!?! wonders never cease!

....so much that set this clipper apart from all the others every time I look in, I'm amazed by the wonderful work you've done........so neat and clean. that wouldn't be me.......that's for sure sure I'd miss something!

your making progress Mark....that's what counts the parts look good!

launchers look'in great........very nice progress!

she's look'in sweet OC..........the rigging is coming along well

she's look'in great Sam.......as everyone has said......I wouldn't change a thing! while it may seem an eternity work'in on the model, you can be certain, that when you are finally finished, your gonna have one superb look'in model to display nicely done!

thanks for look'in Ken yes, there are several knobs {valve shut offs} that are on the face of the boiler. wondering if there is any sort of color designation as to what function they serve. I think it would be a neat bit of detail if they did. I was look'in for a word for the cab....helm and pilot house are already taken booth seemed like just as good a term as any there is a tarp that when unrolled, covers the doorway. it's plastic........I was going to roll up some cloth and replace it....might make it look better perhaps {my luck...maybe not}. thanks also for the bits of information.......I don't know much about trains, and any info on them is good....big help! thanks OC........there's a museum quality train in this box somewhere....still look'in for it I'll settle for a half decent one! thanks for the good word!

drat!..........I was hoping to have an interesting picture at the end of this update! oh...well.......next time this after noon, since I did practically nothing yesterday, I started to chip away at some of the modifications that need to get done. I still am surprised at how much I got done. for starters.....I needed to do something about the rear differential. it would be unthinkable, to have a rip roaring V8, to be turning the gears in a rear end, that was cutting edge before I was a gleam in me mother's eye not having a up to date rear end to shove under this soda popper, I guess I'll have to modify the one I have still a bit shy in the spare parts dept., I have these diamond looking parts from something or another, that might do the trick in extending the housing.. I've already shortened the drive shaft and bars, and reoriented the spring. all around the edges of this add on, I've filled it in....so painted, it will look better. I also cut out more material from the engine well. this will also make it a bit easier to install the fire wall. I can fill the open area back in if I need to, once the engine and exhaust is in place. the steering is another issue........it won't work the way it was intended. I will have to change it. first, the extra part of the steering linkage was removed from the tie rod part. then, it was cleaned up and painted aluminum. in fitting the engine, I also noted that the way I left the mounts jutting out on both sides of the frame, might be in the way of the exhaust. these two areas were trimmed flush with the frame and touched up. the fan and drive belt is added to the engine to get an idea how close to the radiator the fan would be. using the front suspension as a guide, I can now get an idea of how far back the assembly will need to sit. I'm judging...about 1/4 of an inch....to be safe, mind you...... taking some 1/32 basswood, I cut a strip in the way I can make use of the wood grain flexibility....and I wet it down. once set long enough..........not long.........it was dried off till it was just damp. then it was super glued around the opening, starting from the height of the tabs that can be seen........on both sides. a face was added to the addition, after it was sanded and trimmed to fit the body. it then went through another round of sanding, finishing off with fine paper to smooth it out. the preliminary fit looks.......not too bad. perhaps a bit more touching up. now I can cut that extra wood out of there, finishing the tunnel. that I did soon after. a dry fit revealed that I will need to sand in an indention into the underside of the floor. the transmission rises above the frame, so I will need to remove material to clear it. I can't show you a picture of the dry fit for this reason...bummer. one thing I can do, is add 1/16 to the frame.......I may have to anyway.........but try not to jack 'er up too much though, it will spoil the looks. knowing where the engine will sit.......it was cemented in place, waiting on the newly painted rear end {still in the process at the moment} to lift the rear up, so I can fit the body. now to find the right sprue to make the exhaust.........this rig is scream'in for side pipes! too bad I don't have 'em

keen to note that the camo on all of them is the same....very interesting. quite a project you have there.....it will be a pleasure to watch

not having done any more to her, I guess this would be a good time to post an update. the pony truck is in place, after a serious game of tug 'o war, as I tried to spread the frame away from the boiler to fit the bottom smoke box floor. I ultimately had to break free the front cross member, so I could get it on top of the frame rails. the plate was cemented in place in two sessions.......first to the frame, and then to the smoke box. her it is being cemented to the frame rails. you can see the front cross member broken free on the right side. the reverse gear actuator rod was next to add......it was painted and set aside until now. I wanted to wait till I could do a good amount of assembly. the walkways that run along both sides of the boiler as painted and ready as well. ...hard to see, I know......it runs along the boiler, back to the engineer's booth. the head light is finished, waiting to be added. by this time, I could cement the smoke box floor to the box, and finish the assembly there. after it was done, the cross member was cemented back in place. once cleaned up, the cylinder / valve chests can be installed. they are in the paint booth at the moment. the wheels for the pony truck and the tender trucks have also been given the first step of their paint job. the reverse actuator lever was added to the rod, and connected to the gear assembly. it was hard to see where exactly it went, but once I saw how it fit, it was added fairly easily. the iron work on the walkways need to be done still........they are on the underside of each side. once done and dry, they were added as well. I wanted to add the engineer's booth floor, but I still need to paint the floor part. seeing that it had wood grain, it was a safe bet to paint it a wood color. the boiler door was also added to the boiler face. here is a good question..........on the shut offs and valve knobs.........do they have any specific color denotation? red for emergency.........green or blue for other purposes? if not...should they be silver or brass.......or just plain black? I started to paint the sand dome and stream dome too........more on her soon

the long black train..........used in old songs of the south and some country songs, as a mode of travel when they die. there are also songs about ghost trains, as well as one truck driver hit 'Phantom 309'.. wrong?!?!?! no........noth'in wrong......the log's not dead. in fact, I've done a few things to her....I'll have an update by this eve'nin....hopefully, I'll have a bit more progress to report as well.