Tools and productivity

I like cooking, but I hate washing pots, pans, and dishes. Same thing applies to airbrush. While dishes can stay in the sink until I have the motivation to wash them, I must clean the airbrush right the way or risk having the nozzle clogged. And with just a single airbrush, I have to clean it before I can spray with a different color. But the time I am done cleaning, my motivation to spray is usually gone.

Today, the problem is partially solved. I got a second airbrush, an Iwata Neo. It's a relatively cheap airbrush, but it is quite similar to the Iwata Eclipse that I've been using. Some reviewers said that it is not as durable, but the way that I am using them, it probably will last a long time.

Also bought some quick release connector so I can switch between the 2 easily. I immediately started spraying the FW29. If it wasn't because I ran out of semi gloss black paint, I would have finished painting all the black colored parts.

So, at least for today, my productivity improved. Let's see how long this motivation can last.

Latecome becomes the fast finisher?

Taking shape. May be the Lotus will be completed ahead of the Williams. Who knows?

Food coma's impact on productivity

I should have done these yesterday. But after dinner last night, food coma hit and I passed out at 8:30pm. So this evening, all the brake ducts were done, the two exhaust manifolds cleaned up and holes opened up. Next up would be the mirrors, wheels and the rear wing.

The wheels that came with the kit were cast white metal ones. I am going to use a set of turned aluminum wheel from Tameo, which should look better that the cast ones

Back on track

If it was not because of the accident, this would have happened a couple of weeks ago. I just sprayed white primer over the body, now I am just waiting for it to dry thoroughly, the check to make sure it is good enough to get the real paint.

When you see tulips on Michigan Avenue, you know spring is here in Chicago. In a couple of days, all the tulips should be blooming. This little patch is the only one where they bloomed.

Now, I am going back to work on the Lotus.

Black or Red?

Reference photos are important when building model cars. For the championship winning cars, it is usually not a problem, since there are a lot of photographs around and it is fairly easy to google them. Problems arise when the cars are not the front runners. Such as this Lotus 107.

While the photo and instruction sheet from Tameo indicated that the seat is black in color, the 1/20 Tamiya kit and some photo that I found on the internet shows that it is red.

Is it black? Or is it red?

With patience, one can grind a steel column down to a needle

The title is the chinese idiom that pretty much means "Where there is a will, there is a way". But this afternoon, I found myself almost like grinding down a steel column into a needle.

Ok, it is a brass rod, not a steel column. And I was trying to make a tiny rectangular block with holes in it, not a needle.

Why? It was because I was not too happy with the shift linkage I made yesterday. That little glob of solder just does not look quite right. So I made up my mind this afternoon to correct that. Scratch build from a brass rod.

Without a drill press and a milling machine, only with a couple of needle files and a pin-vise with a 0.02" drill bit to make the piece was a real test of my patience. But it turned out to look ok. So much with building things out of the box. Now, what else should I make from scratch? May be the steering wheel and the dash... What's wrong with me?

Every F1 race in Asia should be a night race

Watching F1 at 2am is hazardous to health. I was at the workbench to stay awake. 

I just love the look of the F1 cars in the early 90's before the high nose. The front wing is much easier to deal with.

I was going to just build the Lotus out of the box, but a flat gear lever is just wrong. So I built a linkage.

Sanded down the putty. Going to spray another coat of primer tomorrow if I have the motivation.

Kind of a productive day

For the Lotus, both left and right, front and back suspension arms were fitted to the body and the front wing is almost together.

It is still a waiting game for the Williams. Since the 2 front vertical pylons were also broken off, I need to put putty to fill some gaps. Good thing that I will be out of town for a week, the putty should be all cured by the time I come back.

Weather is so nice and warm today, I went out for a walk and found some new sculptures installed in Millenium Park.

F#%k! It happened again

Honestly, why the hell did aerodynamicist come up with this type of front wing in 2007? After the surfacer dried, I was sanding the nose and the upper front wing element attachment point. And "Oh Crap!" 

Glue it back again. I'll let it sit for a couple of days. I need some time to get over the trauma. May be I should just stick with F1 cars from the 90's or sportscar

Lent sacrifice

This week is the Holy Week, the last week of Lent. So I gave up procrastinating and worked on the 2 cars. A coat of metal primer and a coat of surfacer on the FW29.

And test fit the left suspension on the Lotus 107. So much for tonight.

Gain some, lose some

Gain some: Got this new spray booth

Lose some: Dropped the body on the floor, broke a whole bunch of stuff, now I have to redo the front wing again.

Lesson learned: shit happens, just suck it up and deal with it.

Excuses

While I thought I was going to spray primer and was getting things ready, I found I probably should assemble some of the parts together before spraying. And I found that there are 2 vertical uprights in the middle that supports the rear wing.

Normally, I attach a nut to the base to mount the car to the display case. This time I got lazy, got myself a hand tap and cut some threads to the white metal. It's not ideal since white metal is so soft and the threads may get stripped. But then I felt that's too much work to grind drill and attach the nut. I can always find myself some excuses.

For the other tiny little piece, they're already on toothpicks or got "clipped". Since I have to use oil to tap the holes, the base needed some rinsing to get rid of the oil before painting. Now I am waiting for it to dry.

Feeling guilty

It's been 2 months since I worked on the Williams FW29. I have been having too much fun with the Lotus and have been abandoning the Williams. So, this evening, out of guilt, I added the 2 upright support to the base.

Next step, get everything ready for a coat of primer.

Rehabilitation

Since I have been away from the workbench for quite some time, I pretty much have forgotten where I was on the 2 projects. I found myself staring at all the pieces and have no clue what to do. So, tonight I put myself in model building rehab, get myself back to work. First I picked up the file and grind the Tameo Kits logo off the bottom of the Lotus.

After all, the real car did not have the words "Tameo Kits" on its bottom. Now the bottom is smooth and flat.

Then I opened up a whole bunch of holes and added a mounting nut.

Also drilled open all the suspension mounting holes, mirror mounting holes, antenna hole and pitot tube holes on the body.

And I also got more references and reading materials.

End of an era

It is ironic that as a supply chain consultant, I often question my client's inventory management decision, while on the personal side I have been making all these questionable purchases. Last week I saw another increase in inventory: Tameo Red Bull RB10.

On the real car front, I finally said Good Bye to my long time partner, my very reliable Subaru Legacy GT wagon. Too many miles on the clock (over 200k), while it still can get me from point A to point B and still works really well on slippery roads, the engine is a bit tired. Thank you for getting me through harsh New England and Midwest winters.