jcredfer

Simply Irony squared...

..... Not unless you managed to pop a cork on the front end of the bullet. Speaking as ret'd military: that idea isn't high on the training list. Regards Julian

Wrong!! Perfect combination - eye perfectly sited to aim along the horn. Regards Julian

Those Balsa & tissue aeroplanes are such a "light delight", which have you started on? J

I really must get a grip and get over to Pendon, I must get over the age related homeostasis. It would be good to see you again, too. I would like to see the pub, in Long Wittenham, is that the one which you showed in detail a while back? Regards Julian

You have been very busy and with much success, too. So many delightful developments to see, I agree about soldering, it is so much about a set process and quality ingredients. Aged shaker hands are no big assistance either, although not for youngsters like yourself. I note you have been to Pendon, and have made a resolution to go there soon, there is so much to be seen and learned there. Lots of lovely developments you have show there, and delighted to see them. regards Julian

A Servo would be a lovely active solution, and reversible, back down the cliff, a nice challenge. To be honest, I would be very content with a couple of climbers working out their next move, whilst I worked out how to paint what they were climbing. Regards Julian

I am so glad to see you back, I have very much missed your posts and not to mention concern as to how you were faring. Your experiences are amongst the least pleasant that life has to offer and your firm resolve to do what is right is a resounding credit to you. Your modelling skills haven't diminished either, all credit to your persistence to see it all through. Much respect. Looking forward to more enlightening posts. Regards Julian PS. Cliff climbers, very cliche - and one I love, just perfect action, which can freeze for as long as one might wish.

Oh yes totally so, his claim to Normandy was executed with ruthless bloodletting and not just from his direction. Interestingly, once he had the Crown, he started {I do mean started!!} the process of negotiations with the rest of Barons who came here with him. He also thought that Salisbury {Old Sarum today} was such a good central place to rule from, that he turned the fortified {earthworks} settlement into a full blown Castle and the church joined in with a massive Cathedral. It was a central seat for Kings for C100 years to come. Both have long since been raided for the Stonework of their walls, but the foundations are still there. Given when they were built, they were very impressive structures. Great achievements, at an amazing price in blood. I have to have great respect for his ability to obtain the information he needed to keep others in order and deal with their intended actions. The book on him is over 300 pages and each page grips the attention, amazing times, rather an understatement! Still glad to be born, not then! Regards Julian

I have read 2 very informative books recently, by incredibly well versed Historians. Both were rockin' reads, full of wondefully researched detail and the reasons behind the politics of the time. William, himself was still Duke of Normandy and remained so until his death, hence the beginning of the Norman Empire. The family infighting was absolutely dreadful and continued long after his demise. It was still going on by the time of Edward I, who was also Duke of Aquitaine, which caused another conflict when the French King tried to strip it from him [King Philip ??} and took an army to retrieve it, successfully. Interesting detail included Edward going to meet with Philip, where protocol caused a number of interesting documents to be written, at the time, on protocol, surrounding a French King meeting with an English King - who was also one of the French King's Dukes. {That would be difficult enough in many of today's circumstances, let alone back then where precidence was all and enough to get you chopped up!}... ...and so much more!! I'm pretty glad to be alive, not then!! Regards Julian

Only to be expected, the French have always claimed that the English have waged wars against them and used the excuse to fling all sorts of other insults. They are, however, not at all good at reading their History books. As far as I'm aware, a French Prince, accompanied by many French Barons landed in England in 1066 and gave King Harold one in the eye. After this event the FRENCH{!} Prince and his FRENCH{!} Barons argued and waged war on THEIR Continental relatives, with their descendants continueing to do so for hundreds of years. The English didn't wage war on the French at all, but they did get paid to attend the fueds as foot soldiers - and very good at it they were, too! Regards Julian PS. Napoleon started the wars around the Continent before getting a Wellington up his backside. We definitely didn't start that one.

Aah yes, Sea Kings, thank you. As to the supposed max altitude Argi Missiles were meant to fly at, said Royal would be be far better qualified to make informed comment than most of the rest of us. I hesitate to imagine how close to his altimeter indication those missiles went. He would, certainly have been informed about being higher than 30 ft. A further backup to his comment would be the missiles that preferred his Royal 'copter at higher altitudes than the vessel they were launched at. I doubt Argi missiles were so loyal to their cause as to be politically modified. Regards Julian

I seem to remember that one such anti-ship missile decoy involved one of the Royal family sitting in his Wessex[?] between the missile and ship, such that the missile would lock to the Wessex. The Royal pilot would then climb, so the missile trajectory was well above the target ship. At some chicken point the Collective would get max lift, late enough so the missile couldn't manoeuvre quickly enough to follow the Wessex and deflected high enough to be unable to descend quickly enough to hit the ship. Said Royal Prince is apparently still around, so apparently were the ships that were targeted. Perhaps it doesn't do to play chicken with the Royals. Regards Julian

Certainly agree about role, they used to be very fast and manoeuvrable, with suitable tasks according. Well named as an encounter with a 4 decker, would be responded with "Frigate, I'm off!!". Julian

The main one is to ask about your Insurance, Gas Electricity,,, etc and then tell you it needs renewing, updating, or a refund. They try to get you to pay online, with your card details, or, in the case of a refund, get your Bank number and account number. Next thing... goodbye to lots of your money. Regards Julian

All that is of little problem compared to the shaking hands, so lots of BluTak, as well as the clamp and both hands on the Iron, so the Zigs on one hand counter the Zags on the other. I have a slightly larger board to solder up, so I thought I would have a practice on a few of these. They are only £1.50 each and, being separate, any errors would be easier to spot on individual boards. Regards Julian

Now, that's a bit more light on the idea... Never soldered anything quite that small, ummm... A couple more to do, yet. Julian

Turntable... ?? I was rather hoping to throw some light on the topic and thought these might help... Regards Julian

Salisbury Model Centre will take any model out of the box before handing it over, as a matter of course. He will even ask if you would like to see it running on the shop layout. NB. He will, of course, leave it in the box if requested to do so. Regards Julian

I really like the alleyway, very clever addition of depth. Regards Julian

Brilliant picture, it captures the mood wonderfully. I don't suppose you'd like to re-lay a 6 x 4 roundy?? ... Hat Coat, staggers to the door! Regards Julian

Temporary wiring was used to test the TT motors, which has now been replaced. The Decoder is now permantely soldered in, as are the TT Bridge power connections and a Resistor, Capaciter Filter [the little blue job on the Well floor] added to the TT Bridge connections, to safeguard against spikes which may be formed as the Bridge Rail contacts slide round to change the polarity of the Bridge rails. The power supply connects through a screw type choccy block connector, attached to the brass arm [right side in the picture]; all the remaining connections are soldered to connectors fixed to the Motor Unit. It is now possible to remove the Motor Unit in it's entirety, leaving the DCC power wire input soldered to the TT Bridge, in the centre of the Well. {NB. The polarity change is needed as when the loco drives onto the TT Bridge, the left-hand side of the loco will be on a positive supply rail, but when rotated through the 180 deg, the left-hand side of the loco will be facing the opposite [negative charge] rail. But you all knew that didn't you.} Topside looks like this and and rotates very quietly indeed. LMR 2-8-0 Austerity got a celebtatory turn, just to be sure and check the TT Bridge rail connections. Actually, it got several... Sshhh!!! Regards Julian

Nope, I don't think he did it out of any sense of naivety... but much as your second comment, save I would add bullying, Julian

No. But then, I wouldn't have ordered whalemeat in the first place. Just another simple lack of awareness from Clarkson. Regards Julian

Indeed so, I'm well aware of means to introduce acceleration and deceleration, after a single accessory selection and have a full set of DCC Concepts details on how, thanks to Richard. However, the bridge will still go at a set speed, regardless of load. All of which has nothing to do with the point that Indexing was not like the methods the full size turntables used. Just to be clear, Indexing doesn't replicate how the full size ones were and still are operated, but if you want to spend time and money Indexing, rule No. 1 applies, enjoy. Regards Julian