Month: February 2023

And it turns out it’s an ink, not a paint. That explains why no amount of adding white paint, and the lightest flesh tone paint you have to it, seems to make no difference at all. Of course it’s runny, if you’re starting from essentially what is coloured water. So, in essence, I might have just buggered the lot of my model kit build by layering on uber wet ink. Damnit. Double damn it. We will know more once it dries and I can remove all of my masking. Goes on lovely, but pools and drips like a MF’r. Oops. Hopefully I haven’t ruined several hours of painstaking painting from the last week. Fingers crossed I did a better job of masking, so the runs won’t kill my paint job!

If it all looks ok, the next step is several coats of gloss varnish to seal in and protect my paint. Or, if I feel like it, a few more panels can get picked out and high lighted with additional colours. Plus the hand canon needs to be painted black in the few spots it has rubbed off. Also, the inside bells of all the thrusters need to be painted yellow too. I thought that would tie them all together nicely. Chrome/gun metal outside, and yellow on the interiors. Really putting some effort into this build. Oh, and I’ve almost forgotten, the canopy needs to be painted aswell. And the cockpit details painted in too. That could be another hour or two alone. Hopefully it will all come together as something I can be proud of, rather than buried at the back of a shelf in shame.

The USAF colour scheme for my VF-1 Valkyrie is finally starting to show some promise. I have the main colours blocked in, and have begun the time vampire task of masking and painting smaller and smaller details. I’m not going to go crazy, but I do want to add some detail to the paint job by switching up colours on the panels etc… given that last Friday my airbrush was dead, and I was certain I’d have to shelve this until March, I am way ahead, and in line to finish by March(ish). I am waiting on some decal setter fluid, and panel link ink, so that portion of the build is on hold until those come in. So taking my time with painting isn’t an issue. As I can not move forward into panel lining, and decal setting, until those two products actually arrive. So a win for me now. No pressure not to spend extra hours fine tuning my masking techniques. When in doubt mask off more than you think, to protect against overspray!

Had several emails come in around midnight, so I know what my morning projects are for today. I hope to get some time to mix up a batch of yellow paint in order to keep the paint train rolling! Otherwise I won’t paint again until Monday, unless Monday is mental too. Good thing is my new air compressor is way quieter than the last one. Offers a bit more control once you get used to the gun mechanics.

Welcome to Friday! You’ve made it this far, yet again. Congratulations! We still have a busy day ahead. Valentine’s Day is next Tuesday, coming up quickly. And the following Monday is a holiday. Family Day for those of us in Ontario, Canada. Usually a bitterly cold weekend deep into February. We’re not going to travel to Ottawa, so we can find something fun to do closer to home. Maybe a movie in a real theater for a change? A different mall to wander around? Air Riderz or some kind of indoor fun park type thing? Who knows.

Waking up from a terrible nights sleep with a sore neck and a head ache that makes you want to vomit. Nice. The throat is still playing around with being either wretched or just annoyingly noticeable. Ear is not quite right still, and now my nose is runny too. Add the cough in and I’ve got my self a real life fiesta! Lovely.

So that was my 7:00am, and then it took multiple tries to get a sock on my foot, and I thought to myself, aloud. This isn’t my day. That’s cool. I can take one for the team. Yesterday was pretty good. Did some work. Did some painting on my model kit. Assembled a new tool in the garage, then spent some time lining up the materials I have on hand in case the Urn order actually materializes. Did a bunch of reading, and spent some time standing in the sunshine while it was 7°C yesterday afternoon. It was delightful. The cough was a hassle, but otherwise, a lovely, well rounded day. Today? Yeah not so much. Raining, with some freezing rain mixed in. Blah grey sky outside. And a touchy neck with matching head ache. Yeah. Not my tempo.

In other news my eldest brother has once again made Team Canada for the Invictus Games 2023. He’s off to Germany come September to compete for Canada as a wounded veteran of our Canadian Military. You can catch his news appearance from last night here:

https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/mobile/video?binId=1.1777487

I do have some paid work to dig into this morning, but I’m just waiting to see if my appetite makes a come back before I log in. The cough & cold medicine does a number on my insides after a day or two, so I’m seeing if it’ll settle enough to let me eat something. Had a glass of juice which went down smoothly, but no desire for a meal as of yet. I have some time, so no rush.

If you told me today was Friday I would believe you, but no, sadly, today is only Thursday. A somewhat relaxed week this week, in retrospect. Trying to manage my time between non paid projects a bit better this year. Get some reading in, model kit building, sculpting, painting, guitar, and wood working into the mix. Takes some planning. The weather, atleast this deep into winter will dictate what I can and can not do in a day. Sometimes it’s easier to plug in and jam on the guitar, than it is to go measure, cut, and hand work a bunch of hard wood pieces. The path of least resistance towards one of my many hobbies on any given day or week seems to work the best. With such a sunny day yesterday, it really was great to get out in the shop and tinker for an hour or so. Doesn’t take much to satisfy a creative itch. And on that bomb shell, I’ll bid you adieu. Ciao Bella!

Not that 420, it’s not April twentieth, nor is it 4:20pm. The day has yet to go up in smoke, rather just another day on the writing journey. Day four hundred twenty to be exact. I keep meaning to have something extraordinary to do for days like this, but then those thoughts and ideas come head to head with reality, and I need to put my focus, and energies elsewhere. But I’m not a travel blog, nor a tech blog, nor do I do reviews of movies/games/tools either, so I haven’t a clue as to what would best exemplify “extraordinary” for writing in my case. I can hardly skip town for a wistful romp somewhere just to write about it. Nor would I make a major purchase just to give myself a basis for *content*. I’m a rambler. An inane, day to day, beige, suburban work from home dad kind of guy. I don’t discuss intimate details here, but I have covered Crohn’s disease a few times, and my hearing loss. But that’s not what brings in the readers. It was the collection of short stories that was driving growth here, and I’ve felt a bit tapped out on written creativity as of late. Reading was helping to rekindle that need to tell a story about what I wanted to hear, see, feel and do. It just hasn’t manifested as action – yet.

I wonder if work will slow down at all for a few days, or if we are going to run full tilt into Spring, then Summer at this pace? Who knows? I sure don’t.

One week until Valentine’s day, so get your finger on the pulse, and get ahead of the rush. Or don’t, up to you. I’m just sat here having breakfast making marijuana jokes, so what do I know.

My left ear is still a dull throbbing ache, so I have that to look forward to today. The ear drops help a bit, but no major shift either way. Towards getting better and going away, or rupturing, oozing out, and then going away. I’d just like it to choose, and get on with it. The waffling of will it, won’t it, annoys me to no end. Do the *thing*, and piss off!

Getting a jump on priming my model when the compressor gave iut. Felt a bit hot, so hoping it was just a safety shut down to cool off rather than, say, ruining the whole damn thing. Best case, as it was, as about 30 seconds later the work started pouring in, and I’ve been going all morning without breakfast. Time now for lunch! I got’sta eat!

Some new projects, some old projects, and some items that just won’t die! A good mix for a Monday morning. Plus my Daddy duties of laundry, tidying up, vacuuming, and refueling the vehicle for this afternoon’s extra curriculars. Sorting out uniforms, active wear, and making beds, fixing lunches, and school drop offs. It has been a bit of a blur today. Not to mention the ear infection my youngest passed along to me this weekend, with a minor cough, to round out my morning. It’ll hurt like a bitch until it ruptures, then the oozing, weeping mess will feel oh! so much better afterwards. Can’t wait. Feels right now as though I have gauze in my ear, and what was impaired to begin with is even quieter now. Fun times.

Looks like an early February thaw, or a pre-thaw going on these next couple days. What a messed up winter this has been. Glad my kid managed to get out on the slopes to enjoy snowboarding even with this winter being all out of whack.

Just finishing up lunch, and then back in for edits & change requests until late afternoon hits. Ciao Bella!

**I have an update!** yeah I pooched it. The compressor is kaput. Dead. Died. Deader’n a door nail. This complicates matters. A choice is to be made. I now need a new airbrush compressor, and possibly a matching set of guns with which to use said compressor. Some of these brand have proprietary connections to their hoses. So… damn. Not what I wanted for my Monday. Or any day for that matter. I finally had it up and working properly. Painted some models, miniatures, and sculpted ceramic busts, and plop. Dead. Decisions need to be made. And quick, spring approaches rapidly!

As fun as it was it ended in extreme violence. Not sure what that says about me, but the job was a bit of all right. Using a VR headset to inspect machined parts to see if they met the tolerances of the final client. But using oddly low tech methods in a high tech VR world. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, I just sort of rode it out as it was happening, like I knew what I was doing. And somehow – it ends in bone breaking violence. Weird huh? Yeah. I’d say so. Maybe I’ve been watching too much Click Spring and Inheritance Machining on YouTube lately. Though where the spine breaking violence slots in, I’m not sure. I have been taking medication for a niggling sore throat the last two days, so I’ll chalk it up to the medicine. I mean, I watch more than those two channels that deal with manual machining, but I don’t typically dream about it. That was a random surprise even to me.

Speaking of dreams, if I ever came into any real money I would, without losing a beat, upgrade my tiny drill press, to a slightly larger mill/drill, so that I could cut slots, and flats on wood, and maybe fix smaller metal brackets when I get around to building larger dining room tables. I have a whole fantasy plan for slightly better equipment for my shop, if ever we win, or create some form of life altering wealth. Nothing too crazy. I think I could accomplish my dream tool horde for around 12k, possibly less if I go used, so not *extreme*, but certainly extravagant. A new larger band saw, a new sliding double compound mitre saw, a larger air compressor, the mill/drill machine (possibly a lathe combo kit?), with collets, tooling and clamps & a vice (see how that escalates!) A new planer, a spray gun with water catch valve, an arbor press, a metal pan break, and possibly a small bench top English wheel. And with anything cash left over, I’d look at getting a 2ft square welding/assembly table, with drilled & tapped holes for jigs, and clamps etc… yeah, I have given it extensive thought. Also a wood rack to attach to a wall in order to lift my wood off the floor, and out of the way. If I had the means, a properly insulated, and finished space with heating and exhaust would be welcomed as well. But tools first, then later on, the space fixes if even needed.

Well, yeah the space needs more power outlets, on at least three walls, the doors should be insulated, maybe some tongue and groove pine walls, so I can hang directly off the pine rather than having to find studs, for all but the heaviest of items, like the materials rack. I would add more, and better quality lighting, and some form of an exhaust fan, for dust/fumes. And maybe a flat and smooth epoxy floor too? It’s all a dream, so go for it. Then I could make myself custom storage for everything, and eliminate any extra tables, carts, surfaces that eat up space, and no longer serve a purpose. It’s a whole thing. But remember, in this fantasy, we (the family) have created, or fallen ass first into generational wealth, so the kids futures are taken care of, same with their potential children, and we are just bettering our current situation to suit our future needs.

I love the idea of exposing my kids to all sorts of things so that they don’t feel like their only option is a crummy office job, where you vie for office manager, data entry clerk, or secretary. Do you want to fix helicopter engines? Build motor bikes, become a plumber or electrician? Vet tech or pipe fitter, then go for it. Try it out at home with pops, a.k.a *ME*, and see what takes your fancy! Car mechanic? Great, we have cars, fix ours for us! Ha. Oh to dream a little dream of…

So that’s where we are today, writing streak – day four hundred sixteen. Is it just me or am I getting worse at written communication? The reader numbers are way, way down as of late. Is the quality shot? Am I being confusing? No, I think it is because I repeat myself so much. Not a whole lot of new and exciting things going on around here. I suppose I can only matter on about the weather, work, and my hobbies so much before it all runs together, as just more of the same. Oh well.

Here we are on another Friday elementary school PA Day. And I’m feeling a little off health wise. Slightly sore throat, maybe – sorta. No temperature, nor any other ailments. So… could be nothing. I do feel a touch phlegmy, but with waking up with such a dry mouth/throat, that is to be expected if history is to be believed. So what’s next? Two rambunctious kids at home, incredibly cold weather outside, work emails are about to start poring in, I can feel it in my bones.

On the bright side, the sun, she is a shining today! I can even see some blue in the sky through the windows. Will my kids forget that I was going to take them to go wander another mall today? No, no they will not. It was the first thing my youngest said to me, before a hello, or good morning daddy. To which I replied, Oh minus 21! Not going outdoors today, brrrrr. To which they asked if we could go on either Saturday or Sunday, and I said – yeah sure, I guess so. So… there’s that sorted.

I don’t want to leave the house because both the NyQuil and the DayQuil lay my innards to ruin, and I’d like to be at home when that plague hits me hard today. Ugh. The count down to armageddon is ticking.