CANicoll

THANK YOU gents!! Carl, Gary, Scott, Martin. Much appreciated. Not as well done as I would have liked, and I do want to get back to it and work on some weathering, but for now that will have to wait.

I appreciate all of the comments and sharing, guys. Thank you. Like Tim, I have unfortunately seen the other side of the quality of life. At the other site, my avatar was a picture of Ralph Minker, pilot of the 447th BG B-17G Blue Hen Chick, tail 4338719 out of Rattlesden, England. Once he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's I started meeting him every Friday morning for coffee at a Starbucks a block and a half from his home to get him out and talk and exercise his brain. We did that for seven years until he had to go into memory care. I'd still stop by every week, but by then he could no longer speak or walk so I'd just talk to him for a while. I was there when he passed. In High School my friend's father, an Air Force officer, contracted bone cancer. The last time I saw him I don't think he weighed 75 pounds. Both of these examples made me very cognizant of the fragility of life and having a quality of life. So I really do appreciate everyone's stories. Thank you! (BTW, doing much better now. The plumbing is primarily working I'm happy to say, just have to see if the medicine does the trick. Takes about 30 days for full effect.)

Now that made me really laugh! Thanks Hubert!

Sasha, Beautifully done! Excellent job on the black paint - perfect! Chris

Thank you Kevin! Its Vallejo's Black Primer actually. Sprays beautifully and is a different sheen than the Vallejo Black Acrylic. Blends perfectly too on touch-ups. Chris

Thanks Mike and Rob, Rob, agreed and when I'm feeling better I want to revisit the weathering. Right now I just don't have the stamina (or attention span) to do it right. Stay tuned! Chris

Thank you Peter! Now I just have to figure out how to fit it into the display case. 🙂

Now to go find that kit! Thanks Peter!

This was a terrific and very interesting group build with so many different builds going on. The Catalina was a challenging build, using the Belcher Bits resin tail to correct the shape of the tail and rudder. For an old kit, the detail is really impressive, and the fit pretty good as well. The inclusion of figures helps with the interest, and the modification of some spares-kit figures to replace the waist figure I hope adds to the interest. Looking for downed crewmen was an important task for the Cats. Thanks everyone for the support and comments! Homage to the Hells Angels of the Flying Tigers.

Thank guys! This week's medical issues have taken a lot out of me, so for now, going to put a cap on the build. Still have some good weathering to do, but that will have to come later. I appreciate the support! Learned a lot doing this build, but I also know there are places I should have done better. Arrgh. But it was a fun build and this was a terrific GB! Ok, stay tuned for pics.

Took advantage of the need to be fairly sedentary to attach the main antenna under the wings, and spray some exhaust stains. Here was the model for exhaust stains: Extended the exhaust stains onto the tail planes per the photograph. Added the rust-painted exhaust stacks, which are far too bright, so have subsequently toned them down with some brown chalk (after this picture) Fingers crossed, have not YET knocked off the underwing antenna, so far... One more to attach, a small underwing antenna, which I have knocked off twice so far, before even getting it completely attached. Ugh. Getting there! Chris

Tim, You bet! UGH!! Of course, the alternative isn't fantastic either...

I'm blaming Doc Rob!! 🙂

Echoing Peter's comments. Using Bob's Buckles was brilliant and maybe the only way to get that done. I'd almost say don't worry about the pictures - to the eye this looks PERFECT. The intricacy of the rigging is what captures the eye's attention, as well as the other deck details. It is really fun to see your builds as I would never attempt anything like this (but the torpedo boat is capturing my attention!).

Bit of a setback yesterday. Went into work (shipping auto parts) for four hours which means four hours on my feet walking back and forth - albeit more slowly than usual and not picking up anything heavy (like brake rotors or calipers). There are only two of us doing shipping and the other guy had to go to a funeral for a friend who committed suicide (at 22. Sad). I thought I'd go in for a few hours, ship the small stuff, and help get caught up (since we don't work weekends). I really did take it easy and slow. It was nice to get out of the condo for a while with beautiful weather outside. I didn't notice until two hours after I left work, when I emptied the catheter bag, but some internal bleeding started. Ugh. Doc smacked me for being on my feet that long, said lots of blood in the urine, (the color of dark Iced Tea - huge warning sign) but no sign of infection. Probably a reaction to the catheter. Drink lots of water and if it continues - back to the ER. Last night there was a small (6mmx2mm) blood clot in the catheter bag so hopefully that was it. Everything looks back to normal this morning. Whew. I need to finish the Catalina to clear off the bench for my next build so I have a good reason to sit (relatively) still for longer stretches.

Scott, I'm pretty sure he owned/owns Fundekals with at least one partner (maybe).

Rob, awesome work. You need to do a master-class for us on working with tiny PE, bending PE, etc. I see all of that PE and my sphincter tightens. Chris Holy , batman! Those are clothes pins under the two-sided tape! wow...

Thanks John! Feeling better. Chris

Gary, Just an amazing build! I'll be going back and looking at your pictures time and time again as there is so much detail to see. Beautifully done! Chris

I've used a few of his decals and +1 on the quality and research. Also met him a few times and in person he was ok with me, but I could see where he could and would be ascerbic. Online, could be a real terror - hence getting banned from nearly every online platform he's joined.

Thanks Iain. What was so hard was being in the hospital, having the IV in, but not getting 5 min of a doctors time to get the meds ordered. The problem was two critical cases happened right at that time - two strokes I think - which are so much more time critical. I survived. Just checked the 18 pages of release notes from the hospital visit, including four pages of test results. Does not look like a PSA test was performed so will definitely ask about that on Tuesday. Thanks, as I would not have thought to ask. Having a had a huge change in medical insurance I have not followed up as I used to with appropriate doctors visits. I had just started getting things back in order (got new eye glasses ordered) and was looking for a primary care doc when this happened. The good news is hopefully I've found a urologist which is literally around the corner from me. You bet, but you follow your advice too, I know you do. I do appreciate being able to share what is going on in my life with the fine folks here, and hear back from so many people. And share in their lives too.

Guy, Fantastic build! What a beauty!

Hey Scott, Probable culprit is the prostate. Was good 2 years ago (or was it 3?) but things may have tightened up. I'm on medication to hopefully loosen that up (Flowmax, of all things. ). I thought it might be stones blocking, but when they inserted the catheter, they didn't feel anything. They left the catheter in for a week to let the prostate settle down. Seems like prostates don't take kindly to having catheters shoved up there. No kidding! Sucks about your wife and your son. Ugh. And the attitude that your problems were your fault - I hate that. My former wife was the same way. Sad. Hang in there! Chris

Most of us on LSM are people of a certain age, mostly men (sorry Maru) so we have similar maladies. Some of you may relate to my experience today. Bad night last night, up every hour, could not empty my bladder. Finally got up for work, had a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee. Pain wasn't really in my lower back, as has been the case in the past with my kidney stones. More in the front - bladder. Debated calling the doc or going to the ER, thought maybe moving around a bit (like at work) would help. Got to work and after an hour it was apparent this wasn't getting any better. Worse, my bladder felt even tighter. Headed home to see about going to the Emergency Room - normally a 15 minute drive. Not one but TWO accidents made that a 45 minute, excruciating drive. Debated on calling an ambulance, instead tried to find a friend to take me. That cost another 25 minutes. Finally get to the ER, pain definitely increasing, got signed in. Within 15 minutes I could not stand or walk. STILL took 90 minutes to get to an ER room and meds, which sounds horrible (much like the sounds I was making by then), but TWO people 'coded' so that took precedence (as it should). One was a stroke victim. Finally, some pain meds, a catheter and the miracle of an empty bladder - all 1200ml (most men's bladders hold 700ml). Most painful thing I've ever experienced. I thought it was kidney stones even though I knew if felt different. I almost took a pain pill (I have some serious pills from the Kidney stones) and went to sleep. Had I done that, it is possible my bladder might have burst. Then who would get all the kits in the stash? What a waste! How many stupid decisions did I make on this one event? Too many, and not to be dramatic, but it could have killed me. Seriously - please take YOUR health seriously, folks. PS : With the catheter, I now have a 'pee bag' taped to my leg. Which means I don't need to run to the bathroom to pee unless the bag fills up. So more uninterrupted bench time. Hoping to finish the Catalina this week. Win win!! (But it really wasn't worth the pain!) Chris

Finally got back to the bench. Just too much going on but nice to get some build time. Handling this thing is an exercise in patience. It is tail heavy, and the wingspan is very long so turning it requires patience and watching out to see what is going to get hit. Engines and the fuel tank vents are dry fitted at the moment. SO MUCH DUST!! The waist figures are in place, looking out for down pilots. Painted the antennas so mounting them and installing the exhaust pipes is next. Then some weathering, finally!