Dave Hunt

Have you ever seen the damage you can do with a Sodastream that isn't closed properly? Ask me how I know this..... 

Must go, off to see Dad soon after doing a Covid test.

Dave

4 hours ago, simontaylor484 said:

Silly question Dave how difficult would it be to etch the parts you need yourself?. I dont know if it would be worth the setup cost or not but its always an option.

Thanks for the input, Simon, but as you suggest, the setup costs would really make it very expensive. In order to produce the fine detail that the pros achieve takes quite an investment in equipment and time. For the number of plates I use I have concluded that it is more cost effective to go to a professional provider but I always try to supply my own artwork as having it done for you is possibly the most expensive part of the process. 

Dave 

This morning I've tried several makers of etched builders' plates but have drawn nearly as many blanks. Some, like Light Railway Stores, will only do special orders if the outline and size of the plates match ones that they already do, others want a minimum order that I don't need and some will only work from their own artwork, for which they charge a large whack. None of them had anything like Cowans Sheldon plates already in their ranges. Guilplates, however, not only will work from the customer's artwork but already have several Cowans Sheldon plates in their archives so I've sent them my requirements and am waiting for their comeback.

Apart from that, today has been designated cleaning day so I'd better get on with my appointed tasks. Pah! 

Dave

Although I am not a fence, I have been known to hedge round things a bit so I suppose I could be persuaded with bribes of cake. Oops, I'm on a tonnage reduction regime aren't I? Well, maybe we could take a leaf out of the futures market and deal in virtual cake? 

Dave

Morning All from a sunny and warm North Salopshire.

Just a quick visit to wish Flavio alles Gute zum Geburstag and many of 'em.

Have a good day.

Dave

53 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

I asked about the polycarbonate panels and they laughed: About 90% of the people who have their conservatory roof replaced opt to keep the panels for other tasks.  Cold frame lids being a popular second usage.

 

They'd not heard about using them as baseboards but immediately quoted all the positives:  rot free, UV resistant,  lightweight, easy to cut,  and weldable with plastic solvent.

Have you thought about getting them to supply an extra couple of panels that you could hide from prying (I.e., Nyda's) eyes prior to their use for modelling purposes? They sound like good prospects for lightweight baseboards.

Dave

PS if you do that and get caught, it wasn't my idea, OK?

I'm happy to report that my modelling mojo has been found alive and well and has been restored to its rightful place with the result that some productive time was spent in the workshop this afternoon. Progress has been made with the breakdown crane and there is light at the end of that particular tunnel - and it's not the 6. 15 coming the other way either.

On that particular note, the maker's plates in the kit are not of an acceptable standard so I'll be doing some artwork soon with a view to having some etched (including a set for you, Jamie, if you would like some). It was my intention to see if Guilplates would do them but I have heard it said that there are some better sources out there. Do any TNMs have any advice to offer?

Dave

4 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Only one Chinook made it off Atlantic Conveyor: ZA 718 'BN'.  There is a small brass plaque on the back of the centre control console recording this fact and the part she played in Op Corporate.  I parachuted from her on a number of occasions when she was with 7 Sqn at Gutersloh ( Dave! Dave! Have I got the Sqn number correct this time?). 

Well done HH! I'm glad that my little tutorials on Squadron numbers have had some positive results 

Dave

Best of luck with the tests, Mike. 

Looks like another masterpiece in the making.

Dave

In my young days I had a boss of whom it was said, "He always leads from the front - the front of the Mess entrance that is."

Apologies to Bear for not realising that he was usually in the lead.

Dave

The thought has just occurred that where hippos go, bears are often not far behind.........

Dave

The last time we became aware of a creature hanging around outside looking lost and hungry was two years ago when Horace the cat appeared. We decided that we would feed him scraps but nothing further would be done as we didn't want a cat as a pet. Then he started sleeping in the back porch on an old chair so a blanket was put there but we told ourselves that he certainly wasn't coming in the house. Then he managed to sneak into the house a few times and it was decided that was OK as long as he slept outside but when the really cold weather arrived he was allowed to sleep in the utility room. No way, though, was he to be allowed in our bedroom. As I write this, he is peacefully asleep on our bed, has his own blanket on the sofa, eats only the best cat food........

However, adopting a wandering hippo is another matter as turning Hunt Towers into a substitute Muddy Hollow is at best difficult as the property is built on a slope. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that I have also been placed on a tonnage reduction regime so at the moment cake is in short supply and I don't suppose that lettuce leaves are an acceptable substitute?

Anyone want to adopt a hippo and his friend?

Dave

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

Bear did hear reports of said emissions being a prime contributor to Global Warming.  Not to mention rumours of a hole in the ozone layer directly above Telfland....

Living dangerously close to the Muddy Hollow (15 miles or so) we have learned that when rumblings from the south are detected, if the wind is from that direction it is wise to keep all the doors and windows closed until the noxious cloud has passed over. 

Dave

Good morning from another part of North Hipposhire where it is also raining, hence we are having a long, lazy lie-in (good alliteration or what?). We went to see Dad yesterday and he is certainly improving; with a Zimmer frame he can now walk a good 25 yards, which is a quantum leap since he went into the care home a few weeks ago. At this rate I can see him getting back home in a month or so but counting chickens etc.

I'm also hoping that my modelling mojo is returning and that in the absence of good weather I may get the chance to exercise it this afternoon. I hope that another half dozen sessions will see the breakdown crane finished and I can then get on with the match wagon.

Have a good Sunday people.

Dave 

As well as employing chemical warfare on the weeds I have an electric thingie that blows superheated air on them and shrivels them up. It's good for large, single weeds but it takes about ten seconds to get rid of each one so with rows of the bl**dy things in some of the paviour joints it would take too long to do the whole job that way. Hence resorting to glyphosate juice. However, Jill is getting a bit vociferous about me using 'those chemicals' in the environs so I may well try salt and see if that works.

Dave

17 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Wot's cake?

 

Ah, more for the rest of us then (unless PB scoffs the lot).

Dave

I see that HH is showing signs of ageing, I.e., repeating himself. I hope he doesn't forget how to get out of the Muddy Hollow or, heaven forbid, consume cake!

Today we feel well enough to visit Dad so we've just done Covid tests and are both clear. Hooray! After visiting we may go for a walk by the river in Shrewsbury, it being a nice day and all.

Tatty bye people.

Dave

43 minutes ago, simontaylor484 said:

The only time I have ever had Drambuie was either neat or in Scotch to make the taste more palatable to me 

Isn't Drambuie and scotch called a snakebite?

I once had a bottle of Drambuie break inside a packed suitcase when going away on a detachment. The first two days were mainly spent doing laundry.

G'night everybody.

Dave

10 hours ago, Happy Hippo said:

Peace has descended on the Hippodrome one more.

 

This afternoon I will clean up the dried Playdoh from the conservatory floor and put away all the garden toys.

At least Playdoh and garden toys can be cleared up in a day. Although peace also descended on Hunt Towers yesterday, our grandson developed a cold the day he arrived last week and guess what? Jill and I have had colds for the last few days. Rats! We were planning on visiting Dad tomorrow but if we are still snuffling that may be on hold - we shall see. 

Today I undertook chemical warfare on the weeds in our paths and driveway that just love the gaps in between paviours. The jungle juice needs six hours after application without being rained on so Sod's law decreed that the window cleaner arrived just as I finished. He was sent away and asked to return next week. Then the new kitchen water heater went pffft and became a kitchen cold water tap again. Double rats!

Fortunately, amid all this the latest MRJ landed on the doormat (well, figuratively speaking as we have a post box but you get the drift) so I spent a happy couple of hours this evening delving into its pages and, mindful of the sage advice from our Charente correspondent, accompanied that with a glass of Tamnavulin. I think I detect drifting on the breeze a renewed stirring of the modelling mojo as a result. Only time will tell.

As Ken Dodd used to put it, tatty-bye folks.

Dave

Thanks Jamie. As Monty Python would have it, "And now for something completely different." 

I need to get on with some writing anyway so perhaps that will do.

Cheers

Dave

I've started suffering from reduced mojo. Yesterday evening I went down to the workshop to do yet more work on the breakdown crane I'm building only to find myself thinking, "I'm getting fed up with this. It's dragging on and every time I solve one problem another one rears its head." Hence it occurred that maybe changing to something else would be a good idea but I just couldn't be bothered so after wasting a couple of hours achieving nothing I gave it up and watched something mindless on the haunted fish tank. I don't know if other TNMs ever suffer from the same thing but I hate it when it happens.

Ah, well, there's weeds to be attacked, shopping to be shopped and other chores awaiting so maybe I'll feel better after they're all done.

Sorry to be a wet blanket. Moan over.

Dave

Reminds me of the story (possibly apocryphal but no matter) that during the Cold War the CIA hatched a plan to distribute huge amounts of extra large condoms labelled 'For US Forces personnel. Size small/medium' to soviet countries in order to lower morale there. Even for the CIA it was a bit too far out of left field though and as far as I know it never happened.

Dave

1 hour ago, Happy Hippo said:

Is it a Midland Railway Loco?  The numbers too long for anything off the GWR.

As Neddy Seagoon would say, "Hand back your OBE." The same criteria applied to both Midland and GWR locomotives as neither had more than four figure numbers.

Tut, tut.

Dave

I take it that it isn't supposed to be out of focus and not on the rails then? Just asking as modern 'art' can be difficult to comprehend unless you have the instructions.

Dave