Spyderman_uk

Bringing things back to thread!

Today was amusing and disappointing at the same time!

I ordered a couple of models a few days back and they arrived today.

The main kit was a U Boat, U60. Second kit was a tug, Lucky XI. The other was really just a package filler to justify the postage, or so I thought!

I remember having this tug as a youngster and it giving me many happy hours of playtime in the bath. I'm sure the one from my youth was an Airfix kit.

What I expected was a U Boat kit that would measure about 6 - 8 inches long probably in a box measuring maybe 12x3 inches. The tug I expected to be between 4 - 6 inches long in a box about 4x7 inches.

What arrived was as I said, disappointing and amusing.

The U Boat box was 10" x 7" and the Tug box was 14" x 8". Not too bad so far!
Inside the Sub box, right down in the bottom corner was a tiny little plastic bag containing the kit. You could have put twenty kits in the box and they still would have rattled!
The Sub measures 4" long. Even on the sprue it is less than 5" long.
As a contrast the tug is about 9" long and the sprue bag at least fills the box.

Ok, the size of the Sub, 1:400, I should have realized would be tiny, but I wanted a model to the same scale as another ship to put in a small diorama, and I never worked out what it might be. But what a waste of packaging!
Have you tried matching kits together for a display? Why do they make things down to a standard size instead of a standard scale?
I now need a British Destroyer or Corvette in 1:400 scale that is not a waterline model.

The Tug was meant to be for my son, but is a little too advanced for him just yet. He is already getting the bug!He is busy assembling an army of Trolls and Goblins from Lord Of The Rings and doing a damn good job of painting them!

GEEDUBBYA

Howdy Terry,


try here: S q u a d r o n . c o m - Cookie with 4 results for british ships 1:400 scale or here:
http://www.squadron.com/SearchResults.asp?offset=0 with 45 results for 1:400 scale ships. This company, "Squadron" is in Texas in the states but they do ship world wide. Maybe they will have something you 'll like.

have a good day,

Greg

Spyderman_uk

Cheers Greg, tenacious as ever!

It looks like Most of those !:400 scale models are made by Mirage Hobby. I would like to avoid them if possible as it is Mirage that make the Sub I have and I am not too impressed with the assembly of it. There are no locating pips to aid alignment. If the larger kits are anything like this then it would be a nightmare assembling.

Has anyone built any Mirage hobby kits?

alan2525

I bought a new bench grinder and needed to make a larger plate for the top. I had a big old chunk of 3/8" steel plate and cut it up with an angle grinder with a cutting disk (I bought three for 1.99 each from Do It All) Happily cut out the plate with most of two of them and then picked it up awkwardly as I was avoiding the sharp edge on the side I'd just cut, but then the plate slid along my finger with the side I'd previously cut...I grabbed a roll of dressing from the First Aid Box and couldn't find the scissors so had the whole roll flopping around with a big bloodstained mass of bandage around my finger...

...then one of the pupils comes in and asks if they can use some particular tool, not even an "are you ok Sir - that looks like a lot of blood?"

Then I cut a piece of wood to fit on top so it has some extra space for a water pot and some aftermarket grinder rests. So this afternoon the grinder rests arrive and I find I made the thing too small by about 100mm as the rests are about twice as big as I'd imagined them in the picture!

The next job was making my loco boiler, for some reason after marking out with marking blue, scribing a centre line with a height gauge, fitting the vice down to the pillar drill, centre punching and then drilling with a centre drill and finally the correct size drill, i still end up with two holes pointing out at crazily different angles from the top...and then to finish off my carefully flanged boiler ends end in disaster as I can't seem to get my silver solder to flow so it looks like it's been splattered out from the tail end of a pigeon after it ate a few vindaloos the night before....

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alan2525

I had a little road rage encounter today...

I was driving along and a people carrier in the left turn lane, tried to undertake me going around a roundabout, and then tailgated me for a bit. A little later it tried to overtake on the red tarmac chevrons down the middle of the road, but had to hang back as another car was signalling to pull out infront...then...again he took the left turn lane and tried to undertake me again...

...a bit later around another roundabout -junction for the M11 at Harlow he tried to drive his car into the side of mine and shared my lane for about 50 metres or so he was in the wrong lane. So at the lights I stop, he stops behind me and gets out...

he was some old guy, in his very late 60's or early 70's. He was wearing a shirt and tie and had his glasses on a little band hung around his neck too. He gets out and walks up to my car. Bangs on my window and tries to open the door. I'd locked my door as I didn't really feel like having a fight with an old guy and making him have a heart attack or a stroke or something and then getting a criminal record for it!

So I say - "What was that all about?"

He replies..."I think you know - get out of the car"

So I say "No"

And drive off with him thumping my car window - as the lights had already changed to green and he was left there standing in the middle of the roundabout holding up all the other cars like a prize winning numpty!

You don't really expect people of an age who ought to know better to behave like 9 year olds though, If he'd have been a tattooed, brick s**t house transit van driver or something, but not some little old guy who's probably driving back from a trip to the garden centre! :P

I'm not heavily built, but I'm pretty tall...I think I could have taken him out if it was a real grudge match :P

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jspitza

Sounds like he's off his meds!! Hats off to you though for staying cool and thinking through the situation. You just don't know people these days......

alan2525

It was rather funny watching him in my rearview mirror standing in the road with raised fists muttering "Drat - Drat - and Double Drat!!!" to himself like dick dastardly!

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