Surfacing

[whartung]

I saw all the Dogfights episodes (thought the last ones they were struggling to make interesting) and I just found a copy of Dark Blue World(Czech expatriates fighting in the Battle of Britain) for less than 80 bucks. Even my kids love that movie.

Yea, but I think the animation and such was all pretty exciting.

Here's the one I've been keeping tabs on and waiting for: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpA6TC0T_Lw

Oh, hell yes! Finally a movie to look forward to that should out before the Hobbit.

Looks pretty accurate - I was dubious about the 262 jet kills in the trailer until I looked it up and found that two of the Tuskegee pilots shot down 2 262's in one mission. Pretty Sierra Hotel, those guys!

"Everything I learned about history, I learned from wargames." I recall in the board game, I think, "Luftwaffe", the 262's basically a) chewed up bombers, but b) the bombers couldn't shoot back! lol

Everything I heard was that the 262s were mostly destroyed on the ground. The wiki article on them is interesting.

For the Type S I'll just take the dimensions out of Traders and Gunboats and build the canon version rather than my own. I might build one of my designs (the Type S(k) Deep Survey Scout) later since that is what the players are using right now.

So if I build it to 1/72nd it ought to be approx 110cm long, at 1/144 it'll be around 35cm long. I'll make the basic form out of balsa sheet and blocks, then skin it with thin styrene so I can scribe panel lines, hatches, and windows. Various bumps and blades for antennas, and naturally the turret.

If I paint it the same way as I'm experimenting ways to painf my Leif Ericson then I'll paint the thing will metallizer lacquers to get different metal shades down, then very lightly mist a light gray/white on so the metal effect still shows through, but the overall impression is of white painted metal. So far the effect works out pretty well. I'll box in the bridge and have some old helicopter pilots I have as crew.

Sounds awesome, can't wait to see it.

 

[sabredog]

The sow is in 4 weeks - after that I'll get started on the scout ship while finishing the Lief Ericson. I got some pipe that I was going to use for my girls' rat cage but now that I'm looking at it it is starting to look like a cutter...

 

[sabredog]

Everything I heard was that the 262s were mostly destroyed on the ground. The wiki article on them is interesting.

Most were, but the problem the 262 pilots had was that they had to slow down to have enough time to make an effective pass on the B-17's - that gave fighters enough time to get a shot of at them if they were in the right place. I guess the two Tuskegee pilots were since they both shot one down that same day.

i lke what Chuck Yeager said about the 262 when asked after he shot one down while it was making its final approach to its landing field (the Germans had specially painted - bright red and white striped undersides - FW-190 D9's providing overwatch for these sort of thing): "The first time I saw a German jet fighter I shot it down."

Spoken like a true fighter jock!

 

[sabredog]

And I must say its good to be back - good exercise for the gray cells and a good break from the day to day crap, not to mention my classes. I forgot how much fun all this is.

 

[Dragoner]

It is a welcome break (just getting out of Macroeconomics then Psychology).

 

[sabredog]

Just statistics/probabilities and more (can never get enough) philosophy right now. Next up will be the fun stuff in systems management. Coding, business ethics, etc.. Vast change from my prior career but since I intend to go into the systems security end of it I'll just be hunting different kinds of bad guys is all.

 

[sabredog]

Back from the model show

I just got back from the regional model show for the West Coast - unbelievable competition! Just indescribable how many models there were and the quality.

Anyway, my youngest, Sarah (she of the mean critters in the Bestiary) took her first model (an egg plane F-16 making its first flight out of its nest) and won 2nd Place in Juniors (under 18yo). Not to shabby for a first time kit in a semi-national competition.

I took a couple of planes but the one I was banking on won the Best WW2 Soviet Aircraft Subject - which was what I was gunning for with my battered but defiant little MiG-3. Za Rodinu!

 

[Dragoner]

Nice looking VVS warbird, Lavochkins are my favorites, but maybe because they were so tough. Ever check out the wings palette site? I use it for the game icons I have made:

http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/f/336/1/6#23

Didn't read your post about school. I'm taking a full load this semester, it's tough, Applied Science of Business, some classes are cake, but my Financial Acounting and Business Ethics are the worst, accounting is averaging a six page paper a week.

Isn't it fun? I can't wait to be back at work, I was just drooling over a project manager job on LaSalle up in Chicago.

 

[sabredog]

Oh yeah, I use that site and another called Red Banner http://www.redbanner.co.uk

- it has some really interesting info on the lacquers used and the "official" camo templates and colors. Always an adventure figuring out VVS colors!

Yes, I frequently fly the La-5FN (my favorite) with my online squadron - not so tough, but fast and can turn inside a Gustav in no time - just have to watch the engine temps since it had the engine for 7 model but lacked the cowling cooling fan system and volume. Gets hot fast if you don't watch the mix and supercharger, too.

But seriously, yes, I have one each of a Lavochkin 5N, 5FN, and 7. Plus at least one each of all the VVS planes from WW2. Just love the plucky little buggers for some reason. Oh, and a few "Kobras" are in the stash, too: two N-1's and a Q-5. One of the N's will be this Pokryshkin's White-100, and the other Dol'nikov's White 01 from the 100GIAP. The Q-5 is for Filitov's mount.

But these little MiG's have a lot of appeal: they look so racy and all with the cranked wings and streamlining - too bad they used the same engines as the IL2 or they would have started cranking out the vastly improved MiG-3U...but the IL2 was too important so it was back to the Yaks Comrades!

Oh, and I have all those, too, with the notable exception of Lilya Litvyak's Yak markings. I'll have to Photoshop those.

 

[sabredog]

Oh, yes, and work....middle of '13 I ought to have my BS depending on how many "extras" I decide to pick up along the way with my core classes (CISCO, etc...that sort of thing - already got my COMP TIA A+)...then it's (please God?) back to work.

Meantime I re-united with my little brother last week after a separation of nearly 20 years due to familial issues and we have set up an LLC and are looking to start up a hardware/software business. He's good with SQL and on the server side - I am the computer-whisperer and can handle the hardware/Windows/Linux end. I've built water-cooled and computer-based home theater systems (including my own)..... Soooo, since I've been building and maintaining computers for friends and relatives for years as a hobby its time to try to see if it'll pay. Custom enthusiast and small business systems at a reasonable price.

And I have my networking (personal networking that is - I go shooting and fishing with friends at Intel who are in upper management in the FABs for tool and calibrations) going on that we (my Intel pals and I alike) are hoping will pay off when the new FAB comes online sometime late next year. So there's some small rays of hope finally peeking out.

And after today, with the time I had with my girl, and reflecting on all this it feels dammm good to be alive!

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Excellent!

 

[Dragoner]

Oh yeah, I use that site and another called Red Banner http://www.redbanner.co.uk

- it has some really interesting info on the lacquers used and the "official" camo templates and colors. Always an adventure figuring out VVS colors!

Yes, I frequently fly the La-5FN (my favorite) with my online squadron - not so tough, but fast and can turn inside a Gustav in no time - just have to watch the engine temps since it had the engine for 7 model but lacked the cowling cooling fan system and volume. Gets hot fast if you don't watch the mix and supercharger, too.

But seriously, yes, I have one each of a Lavochkin 5N, 5FN, and 7. Plus at least one each of all the VVS planes from WW2. Just love the plucky little buggers for some reason. Oh, and a few "Kobras" are in the stash, too: two N-1's and a Q-5. One of the N's will be this Pokryshkin's White-100, and the other Dol'nikov's White 01 from the 100GIAP. The Q-5 is for Filitov's mount.

But these little MiG's have a lot of appeal: they look so racy and all with the cranked wings and streamlining - too bad they used the same engines as the IL2 or they would have started cranking out the vastly improved MiG-3U...but the IL2 was too important so it was back to the Yaks Comrades!

Oh, and I have all those, too, with the notable exception of Lilya Litvyak's Yak markings. I'll have to Photoshop those.

One thing the internet is amazing for is to track down photos and other plates that one would have to have a thousand books for, and the kind of books which aren't cheap either. In PG2, the La-5FN and La-7 are awesome except for their low ammo capacity, one has to watch so it gets back to the airfield to reload. Those models are awesome, my icons are small, I try to pack as much detail I can; I still look at building actual models, I just don't have the room anymore.

Oh, yes, and work....middle of '13 I ought to have my BS depending on how many "extras" I decide to pick up along the way with my core classes (CISCO, etc...that sort of thing - already got my COMP TIA A+)...then it's (please God?) back to work.

Meantime I re-united with my little brother last week after a separation of nearly 20 years due to familial issues and we have set up an LLC and are looking to start up a hardware/software business. He's good with SQL and on the server side - I am the computer-whisperer and can handle the hardware/Windows/Linux end. I've built water-cooled and computer-based home theater systems (including my own)..... Soooo, since I've been building and maintaining computers for friends and relatives for years as a hobby its time to try to see if it'll pay. Custom enthusiast and small business systems at a reasonable price.

And I have my networking (personal networking that is - I go shooting and fishing with friends at Intel who are in upper management in the FABs for tool and calibrations) going on that we (my Intel pals and I alike) are hoping will pay off when the new FAB comes online sometime late next year. So there's some small rays of hope finally peeking out.

And after today, with the time I had with my girl, and reflecting on all this it feels dammm good to be alive!

That is good to hear, I'm really just feeling burnt out. I'm going to try to double up on school to get it over with, but the constriction industry is still slow due to the economy, but with a degree in business, I will be more employable, my engineering degree is rather useless now and my history degree was always useless. The industry should pick up sooner or later with the economy, either that or look overseas.

Small business is a good way to make your own money, partners can be a bit of a drag though, even at 50-50 arguments over money can erupt. Good to be in touch with family though, maybe that can make the difference.

 

[sabredog]

Yeah, I have a biology degree - worthless unless I get a masters and even then it would have to be onwards to a teaching certification. So its worthless now, not that I was using it anyway. I have enough other classwork t opick up a couple of Associates' but they would be in law administration or management - so I converted what i could and burned up all but a couple of my electives and Humanities for the Computer Management Information Systems BS. That just left 1 1/2 years left of core coursework to complete it + any side bets like the extra systems certifications.

For now its all just numbers on paper, though, but I'm hoping the economy will be better by then - and I keep networking. I know the burnout - believe me, after the events of this year I am sooooo burnt out. But I'm starting to recharge. The models help.

As does IL2 1946 - which is what I play online in my virtual squadron: 58th American Volunteer Group flying in support of the Russians (I mean, jeez, how could we even try to compare to the Flying Tigers so we stowed away on some lend-lease planes and banished ourselves to Siberia.) as the "WannaBees" Here's the patch I drew for our P-39's and other fighters (I tried to make it look "Disneyesque" like the Tigers' was:

And here I lead a raid on the German docks over the Crimea in my A-20 "Wild Ride" - on the other side of my A-20 it says next to the turret - "My other plane is a Cobra" in Cyrillic:

You oughta check it out - we are always looking for more bullet-magnets, er, - wing men!

Oh, and the models in real life - I know the problem! I have boxes packed solid under the bed, in the closets, drawers packed with resin, photoetch, and decals....glad I bought all that before i was unemployed or I wouldn't have any to build now. As it is I'm in the same boat and since I do 1/48 scale i am just about out of space and i only have 12 on display. The last 8 I built last year were all sold as commissions and a couple more for presents for guys at the Sheriff's Office who were good friends. Now I'll make some for me and with my daughter.

Probably starting with Wartnung's Type S idea.

 

[Dragoner]

Same for me, a masters and a teachers cert and I could then teach, which wouldn't be great money, my mother was a teacher and I already was making twice what she was making before I was laid off. Once the economy picks up, it will be fine again, I was under educated for what I was doing anyways, it's good to be getting this stuff under my belt. It's hard cramming all this new knowledge in my crusty old brain.

I have seen IL2 1946 stuff around, looks fun, though I don't have the time, mostly on computer games is I waste some time on civ3c. Nice graphic for the squadron, American and Italian aircraft had the best personal markings of the war. Maybe if I get some time I'll check it out.

 

[sabredog]

There are plenty of Italian planes, too. They are pretty zoomy but I refer the Russian and US planes. If you can fly those and win you are Sierra Hotel in anything else!

If you ever decide to give it a try just lemme know and I'll show the ropes.

 

[sabredog]

A friend of mine who attended the show just sent me this picture he took of me and my daughter Sarah with our prizes. In case anyone wondered what we look like - here we are:

 

[Dragoner]

Looks like you and your daughter had a good day there.

 

[sabredog]

Yes, we did - though I was about ready to drop by this time since I'd been up all night finishing up my kits for display. Dang finicky judges.

Now I'm taking a well-deserved hiatus and running my first session of my Traveller campaign this Sunday after a long break of far too many months. Since several of us involved have our own games we run (2 versions of D&D, Star Wars <shudder>, and my Traveller game) we are going to just round robin our games and homes to host so we can hopefully get a session in at least once a week - but it'll more likely be every other week.

So since its been so long that I have been able to run what I had going I'm considering letting the players choose to continue it or just reboot with new characters and run a new campaign I've had waiting in the wings that I'll just add the current story arc to as history to build the second new campaign on.

That's what I intended to do anyway, but with all the interruptions of my crazy life, among others, I think it'd take too long. I'd rather just fast-forward to the next stage and let fill in the players on what this arc was - told as if all went according (more or less) to plan, barring all the things that they wouldn't have known anyway and just telling the tale from their perspective. It's grand stuff with the balance of the infant Terran Empire in the balance and I think at this stage they might just appreciate hearing the story and then getting on with some simpler, "low-level" old-fashioned Traveller.

It's just too hard to get back into the tangled web of political intrigue, noble treachery, alien spies, and rescue their noble patron who's been set up for treason before he and his sister end up shot by finding the exculpatory evidence of the alien plot. (Whew!)

 

[Dragoner]

You look about as I feel, six page financial account homework yesterday, twelve page wednesday, test monday, business law test monday, business ethics test last week, macroeconomic quiz yesterday (what's the price elasticity of demand formula again?), waiting on some disks I ordered, broke as hell...ah just having a vodka tonic and trying to unwind. trying to get my study group to think strategically is herding wild cats.

I'd love to work on some trav, like my fulani sector, though I don't think I'll have time to run an online game this semester, maybe play. Playtested my Hungarian Rhapsody campaign a bit yesterday (Hungary in WW2 '44-'45), made all the vehicle icons for that one, should work to get it done sometimes before I die....

shoot

 

[sabredog]

There is a brief lull in the action with my classes this week and with nothing else to fill it with other than the eternal job search - which is getting worse all the time - and burnt out on models I figured Traveller might do to keep my mind occupied. Its starting to feel more like playing at Traveller, though, than playing Traveller...but that's something we've all done at some point or another and why MTU is as it is. There's always a new animal or eco-web idea to flesh out, or widget idea, - it feels like there's a book in there somewhere but who has the time?

Pity I don't drink much - a vodka might do me some good right about now.

BTW: I just blast my way through Hungary (from one side or other) with SPWAW, it already has icons and after years of modding the stats to correct them (like taking all the guns away form the truck drivers so the computer won't use them like AFV's, and making sure a 150mm HE round shot from an infantry gun will at least kill one of the 10-20 guys in a 50m hex) it runs smoothly and I have epic battles. Currently my plucky Independent Tank Regiment is chasing the Germans West with my new 34-85's. Urrah!