Long Weekend Goals

The office is shutting down at noon today, followed by four days off! In my perfect little dream world, it will go something like this:

1. This afternoon: Pick up a few items on the Christmas shopping list, get some fine beer for tomorrow's repast, wash the truck, get a haircut.
2. Tonight: Crash on the couch and watch Captain America, which according to Netflix is in the mail and should arrive today.
3. Thursday: Haul the wife, kids and grandma to my parents for much overeating. Probably little else will get accomplished.
4. Friday: Finish raking the leaves, put up the Christmas lights. (Hey, it's supposed to be in the upper 50s!)
5. Saturday-Sunday: I really need to get back to working on the Mustang. I need to clean the oil pan, get the timing cover on, get the oil pan on, and start work on the valves. I'd love to get the head back on, but we'll see.

And I'd also like to work on my AJ Foyt Oldsmobile, my '64 Watson and start my '55 Kurtis-Kraft. And paint minis!?! Oh, and I have a batch of stout I want to get brewed up and going in the keg.

Alas, the wife wants to rearrange the living room and the kids' playroom, so I'm sure that will be a priority. And I'm sure other things will come up. Odds of getting just one thing on that list done: 25:1.

I'll report back next week. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Proofreading Karma

A couple posts back I had a little fun with a kit manufacturer's misspelling of "USS Enterpise" on a Star Trek kit. And wouldn't you know it, I come in to work today only to have an error of my own pointed out. On a corporate holiday card (nothing says happy holidays like an ecard from a battery manufacturer!) I neglected to add a space between "brightand".

Fortunately it was just a draft layout and didn't go out to any "valued customers," but still. Karma, she's a nasty one.

Buckle Your Seat Belts

Well, we're certainly entering a busy time of year.

There was the Santa parade Saturday that got the kids fired up, then a family birthday thing yesterday. Now Thanksgiving is already Thursday, and then the whirlwind that always is December.

Hopefully I can get some hobby activities in there somewhere. You'd think this would be the time of year to rest, wouldn't you? Ha!

I did bottle a batch of beer Saturday (a week later than planned), and also worked some on a couple of race cars, specifically getting the seat belts more or less together, hence the title of this post. On my '64 Watson, I had done it twice already, but still wasn't happy with it. I think I like it now. And last night/this morning I did the harness for my '86 Olds. These aren't 100% accurate recreations, but as representations with the fiddly photo etch bits and masking tape, I think they will do quite well, thank you. I need to get some photos maybe this week...

Fast Friday: 1986 Indy 500 Winner

Before 2011 winds to a close, let's take a look back 25 years in Indy 500 history.

That year was memorable for a number of reasons, not the least of which was it was deemed "The Greatest Spectacle in Raining" after days of rain pushed the race back from its traditional Memorial Day weekend date to the following Saturday. I remember making the return 300 mile trip, and it was as nice a day as you could want for a race. And it ended up a thriller, with Bobby Rahal winning the closest 1-2-3 finish in race history to that point.

This model represents Rahal's winning 1986 March Cosworth. It is based on the AMT '86 March kit based on Al Unser's 1987 winning effort. Not many modifications are necessary to make it a true '86 - fill in the hole on the side of the cowl, add the airscoop at the back, adjust the rear wing strut and make some bigger winglets on the rear wing.

As is usual in model building, not everyone agrees on the color. Some say straight up Tamiya works best for Budweiser red, but I mixed my own from Testors enamel, mostly gloss red, with some dark red thrown in to deepen it just a bit. I'm happy with the result. Decals are of the usual excellent quality delivered by Indycals. One of my favorites!

Proofreading at Starfleet?

Disclaimer: See the blog post at Model Kit Review that inspired this one here.

Part of my job involves proofreading. Believe me, it's not as easy as it sounds, and so I have great compassion for the poor fellow whose job it was to proofread something when errors are pointed out.

So when I get a chuckle out of an obvious error, it is a knowing chuckle rather than a conveyance of any sense of superiority. Lord knows I've made my share of mistakes. "Gleen" instead of green in a tradeshow banner, anyone? At least that one did get caught before it went to the printer. Whew.

Anyway, I did indeed get a good chuckle out of this one. I'm sure the proofreader has been condemned to proofing Klingon dictionaries for the rest of his career. (Yes, I'm aware it is the fault of some poor soul at AMT, not Starfleet.)

By the way, part of today's work agenda for me includes proofreading some automotive adhesive sell sheets. In Chinese. Keep in mind I don't speak a word of Chinese. All I can do is make sure what is in the word doc appears in the final layout. It may as well be in Klingon. And you wonder why things you read from China are in such fractured English? I like to think there is some poor fellow in China trying to do what I do, only in reverse.

On the Nightstand: Mayflower

With everything else going on, my reading time the last several years has been curtailed. Still, I like to read, and try to find time at the end of each day to make it through a few pages. But it takes me far longer than it used to to actually finish a book!

At the moment, I am working on Nathaniel Philbrick's "Mayflower." Not a bad book overall, but a rather misleading title. The book actually covers a much broader period than the Pilgrims settling in Plymouth, extending to explore the settlement of additional colonies, the personalities and politics involved, and ultimately King Philip's War.

And let's just say, at least according to Philbrick, things didn't go as they did as we were taught in school, or how it was portrayed by the Peanuts gang.

Not surprising, really, when you consider these are humans, after all, with all the inherent flaws despite their puritanical belief system. (And Puritans were actually not the same as Pilgrims, apparently. Still not sure I can briefly explain the difference, but they are different.) For example, Miles Standish comes off as more of a classic Napoleonic complex character rather than a heroic leader. A bit brash and impulsive, he is certainly driven to make a name for himself. And Squanto, whew. Far from the compassionate savior of the Pilgrims, he comes off as quite the conniving little bastard, playing the settlers and Indians against each other for his own political gain. I think it's only natural we romanticize our forebears, and highlighting the good in people can be inspirational, but it's also interesting to roll the curtain back a bit to take a closer look at what may be the most romanticized event in American history.

From a gaming perspective, I was hoping to be inspired to perhaps think about starting some King Philip's War gaming. Well, hoping may be too strong a word, as I certainly don't need anything else on my plate right now. And the book does present some interesting scenario opportunities, with fairly detailed descriptions of several battles following an examination of causes of the war, the "lining up of sides" as it were, etc. But for now, I think I will have to keep that project on the back burner.

All in all, while some accusations in reviews of the book being "Indians good, English bad" are warranted, it does provide a fairly thorough overview of a period I knew fairly little about in a single volume.  And with Thanksgiving just around the corner, it's a timely read, as well. Of course, I'll probably never be able to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner again without commenting on the fact that eating turkeys wasn't the only thing some of the English were doing with turkeys... And that's all I'll say about that for the moment.

148th Pennsylvania

Mini painting has sort of been placed on the backburner the last few weeks. In addition to other projects (some model cars) working their way to the forefront, other life projects have also moved up. Rake the leaves, for one. Getting busier at work, for another.

But for today, here is another one of those ACW units I was talking about a few weeks ago. This one shall be known as the 148th Pennsylvania, because that's one of the flags I had, not so much for any pure historical context. Still, I think it looks good.

Once again, Dixon minis. But I have a confession to make on paint. I have apparently been having a series of premature senior moments, and have failed to accurately present how I paint Union uniforms. My preferred method for the coats is Floquil Dark Blue, drybrushed with Testors intermediate blue. I can't believe I haven't mentioned Floquil previously. My approach to pants is also a bit different than my norm, as I use a Apple Barn or whatever it is called hobby acrylics sky blue from Michael's. That sometimes takes two coats over the primer to get the precise coverage I want, then I wash it with the aforementioned Floquil Dark Blue, and sometimes highlight with the Testors Intermediate Blue again.

So there you have it! More Yankees!