This is wonderfully characterised by the origin story of what used to be the national racing colour of British drivers: British Racing Green.
It's an interesting story alright. From what I recall the original Britsih racing green was much lighter. Also if I remember correctly Ireland's national colour is actually blue(which was France's racing team colour, QV the various Bugatti's of the 1920's). The green is a later notion. Red was Italy, of course. Then later advertising on race cars first rolled out by Lotus(Chapman was always the boyo for extracting a crust) turning them into high speed billboards killed the national colours, though Mercedes has flirted with their national colour silver on occasion. They were originally white, but changed to silver. Japan took white with red accents to reflect their rising sun flag. Honda's Type R road cars were originally all white with red badges to reflect the first Grand Prix win by them wearing their national colours. These days they're more likely to be red or black as white isn't a fashionable colour of late. Then again these days they're heavier than the base models so...
My son is starting to get proficient enough to do his own designs for a 3D printer.
He has created base plate to make one of the swords from his favourite animé, Attack on Titan.
3d is my main hobbie using blender 2 years now
heres a few recent projects id one in blender
I may have mentioned before, I'm a bit of a motorsport nut. I love the stories of derring do, technological wizardy and mercurial talent.
But, there are also some mad stories from the early years when some people still weren't sure that things with wheels and engines were actually going to catch on.
This is a photo from around 1900 of Blanche Cole née Vernon & her husband Grenville Cole (professor of Geology at the Royal College of Science for Ireland) seated beside two lady's bicycles. Both Grenville and their female friend on the left appear to be getting ready for an anticipated shower of rain.
I'm currently writing an online article about a book of essays they published in 1902 about cycle-tours they did together from the year of their marriage (1895) to the end of the 19th century.
She was a member of a branch of the Vernon family of Clontarf Castle but she was born and reared in Mount Merrion where her father appears to have been a land agent or superintendent on the Pembroke Estate.
@Thirdfox I'll be sending you my '22 itinerary and you can work your magic 😉
My input is very much dedicated to selecting the destination and the deal. The planning while we are there is usually left to the Mrs but next year I really do fancy a spread sheet 😉 but no Chichen Itza! Too many yanks 😂
It's a crowdfunded piece and apparently some people have been waiting for 5 years before it got out to them... Apparently the keyboards are supposed to be shipping out by the end of the year. So once it comes I'll let you know how it works out.
Though currently with my M122 having macro keys programmed on the side are quite useful too (saves typing out Sólás out every time with the fadas).
I think I'm quite similar in that the research is half the fun of something new. MsThirdfox says I would make a great travel agent - I love researching and planning holidays according to needs/budgets - and for me it' almost half the fun of the holiday itself - by the end all that's left if to go on it - but I've already vicariously experienced it through the research into events.
There's even planned "no plans" time to account for wanting to explore unexpected things... Otherwise MsThirdfox knows she just needs to bring herself and I'll generally have the week or two planned out between activity days, rest days, travel days... I imagine that might sound horrendous to some - but excel spreadsheet holidays where you have a good idea of activities (paragliding at X location, snorkelling by Y o'clock at Z location, dinner at W scenic beach) can really be quite fun to know that you've got things planned up ahead. Like experiencing a package holiday twice, once for planning/research and once doing the activity itself :D
Had missed that post at the time with how bad notifications are now on the site. That's some beast of a keyboard! Worth it over the Unicomp for you?
I'm blaming you for showing me Chyrosran22! Had been thinking of building a desktop the last year or so. Haven't had one in over 15 years just using laptops in that time. The graphics card shortage and general price increases put that on the long finger. Was keeping an eye and had trackers set up on graphic cards and try snag one close to RRP but ended getting bargain prebuilt Lenovo i5 10400, 16gb Ram, 512gb M2 drive and a GTX 1660 Super for €329! Long term plan is still to take the Graphics card out and build something. I'm used to laptop keyboards but the one that came with the Lenovo really was a POS.
Was just planning on a Cherry Mx keyboard of some description. But then I went down the rabbit hole. Far to much time spent reading on r/MechanicalKeyboards and looking at youtube. Went from to budget Gateron Brown boards to Blue. Started looking at higher end boards and reading far to much about switches.
So that's probably my main hobby researching the sh!t out of things when I want something new! Same with nearly everything, TV, speakers, headphones or any gadget I decide I need! Was part of what sent me down the rabbit hole when I wandered into this forum I can get a bit obsessed! Main interest though is cycling which I haven't had much time for the last few years but do want to get back training properly for. Motorcycles which I spent most of my 20's on and Fishing which I spent a good bit of my teenage years at are two I always say I will get back to some day. What I do have time for that I still do is listening to music and still love to watch movies when the kids will go to bed early enough and get off the TV. That was part of the reason for getting the PC. It's given me my own space to stick on headphones and listen to music, watch movies and tv series. Still need to get a amplifier/DAC to use a pair of old bookshelf speakers with the PC which is another maze of research I've wandered into!
Very nearly ended up getting the Unicomp Model M, if the new Mini M was available I may have gone for it. The full size is a little big for the desk space I have though. Was hard decide though as I have little experience with mechanical keyboards. Shops here mostly only have boards with Red liner switches on display with the odd Razer green or Logitech Blue clicky and pawing demo models at the moment is kind of frowned upon!
In the end going going for a hot swappable barebones keyboard seemed an good option. Didn't end up costing too much as the board was a 30% off nearly new Amazon warehouse deal. GMMK TKL Board, Kaihl Box Pink Switches and Tai-Hao PBT switches. Like building things and putting this together seemed just like Lego (Which is another hobby I got back into when my kids did!) Finding good UK ISO PBT keycaps was actually one of the more time consuming choices. Most of the market is for ANSI unless you go custom GMK group buys which is silly money with delivery in 2022 or later!
Possibly should have got a set of switches to try but all the reviews seemed to rate the Pinks highly some even comparing them to being the nearest MX style switch to a buckling spring in feel. Two weeks now and I really like it tactility is great, switches are smooth, keycaps feel great and it's solid with no wobble. Might be a little loud for others in the room but I like the clack out of it! Do sort of miss the numpad its the only part of the keyboard I can touch type on properly but I don't need it much at home. I'll probably still pick up a Unicomp as some stage as I'll set up the Lenovo for the kids when I take the graphics card out and build a new PC.
Starting to realize I have a thing for blue. 5 of my watches have blue on them somewhere! Trying to decide on next purchase black SKX007 is still preferred option but it's over priced now really. I can get a Seiko Turtle for same money and I keep getting drawn to the blue models. Have tried on two Turtles recently Pepsi Padi and I really liked the Save the Ocean version in the flesh.
My son is currently 3D printing a Mark I Viper from the original BSG series.
He is also doing a slice on a model of the Galactica to make it easier to print.
I have the ear bent off of Italeri for that one but, it's out of production. I think they also retailed under "Dreamwings" moniker They also have a 1:100 Pak-FA that is very well made.
The original price of the Italeri version was @€18 and they are now changing hands for up to €100. There are some in the €35 range in Italy on eBay with €20+ shipping. If I could find a seller that a range of what I'm after? I'd certainly buy quickly. Very desirable and well modelled.
I keep up with their emails and check at least once a week. I picked up their J10 via an Italian reseller and have him on the hunt for more for me. Their Gripen and tbh all of their Chinese and russian stuff are on my hunting list.
There is a German eBay seller and a couple of Italian and Polish lads that have some of the bits at reasonable pricing but far too rarely.
Ray in DiecastModels4U in Galway is always willing to try and find bits too but Brexit really has made a dent in what he can lay hands on recently.
**Edited to add**
Forgot to say LD, if you want links to those eBay sellers just throw me a PM, happy to share them.
@banie01 That is lovely.
I'd love to get a nice die cast of the Berkut.
Love prototypes, me.
Not the best photos 😉 but this is a model I've being trying to find in diecast for quite a while.
It's a Chengdu J20 in 1:144 , smaller than my usual preferred scale but given the trouble I had finding it at a reasonable price? I'll take it.
I also picked up an Italeri Chengdu J10 in 1:72 that's bumping up my PLAAF contingent 😉
I really am out of space for any more now tho...
Just started reading a signed copy of this, maybe some diesel heads on here will be able to put 2+2 together🚳
I actually found Ghost Riders to be the most interesting of the three. Won't give away spoilers but I had known about the events in the other two.
Ghost Riders was something I wasn't aware had happened, like what the monuments men did only for.... Well it's on the cover;) Watch Mark Feltons videos and was interested to try his books. Anyone interested in them, send me a PM
I haven't read any of Mark Felton's stuff as of yet. I keep meaning to get his book on the Kenpeitai just haven't gotten around to it just yet.
Currently reading "Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world" and a little "work" related reading on the side is "The Elliot Wave Principle" and that has me off digging out historical price data and back-testing. Boring and I'm slowly becoming convinced I have bloody ADHD 😂
just got ghost riders delivered to me during the week, looking forward to reading, which of the three did you find the most interesting?
Finally got around to finishing off reading some good books by Mark Felton
Would be happy to give them to anyone interested in a bit of WW2 history....as long as An Post doesn't end up sending them to Japan!
I like that Wibbs! There's a guy I came across on insta who does some amazing weathering and paint work mainly on tanks and ground gear but he does a little bit of everything and shares info on his techniques in the comments
Definitely not an obsession but I enjoy reading through the old Abercrombie & Fitch catalogues. The way things are described over a century ago is really interesting, and they really were the top supplier of outdoor goods.
Example of watches:
Or rifle sights:
Or canoes:
Here's the one I did make last year. One of the "new" tips I picked up was to use oil paints to add subtle effects in shading and the like.
Sitting on an actual ammunition crate for the shells that were used in the anti tank version.
I use it as a coffee table and wine rack/box. Swords into ploughshares an' that.
Haven't built a model since the 60s. When I was a kid we'd get Airfix ones like Lancaster bombers around Christmas and a couple of months later after they were missing a prop or two would set fire to them in the back garden.
I hear that. Back when the first lockdown hit a mate of mine into the whole model making thing dropped a couple of kits over for me and gave me a few links to youtubers and the like. Bloody hell, some of them are scarily talented. I did note after many decades of being away from that sorta thing that tanks and armoured vehicles are way more popular than when I was a kid. Back then it was pretty much all aircraft. I suppose tanks allow for more weathering and ageing as aircraft are generally much cleaner. Though WW2 stuff could get pretty weathered, particularly the German stuff, as they were more likely to be operating under duress in environments like Russia and their fuel was pretty crappy. The exhaust soot is a lot more pronounced on the German stuff.
One of these days I might seek out one of those Stuka kits and do it up like a tank model, fecked up. Well they were kinda tanks of the air so...
I follow a couple of accounts on Twitter, and there is a Japanese genius who does aging, wear, rust, smoke, and other detail that is just breathtaking
I'm proud when I can get the pilot painted so he looks like, well, a pilot!
Thanks LD, it is always nice to finish out a good one. The aerial rigging is one of my pet peeves with pre1950's builds and generally I hate it 😤 but on some models the wire really does set off the entire build.
It's been quite a while now since I've actually really lain into a great build I must keep an eye out. I probably have @ 25/30 kit build and 70+ diecast and laziness has me leaning more to diecast lately. A good diecast, some paint and a decal kit can really give some variety too over the usual shop bought finish.
Enjoy your next few builds, Harrier in particular is fun and the bf109 was one of my 1st. The early framed canopy was a Bollox to paint 😂
Be sure to share a pic or 2 when done too.
Wow, that is some build.
Fantastic.
Love a good model kit.
My boys got me a BF-109 and a Harrier GR.3 for Christmas. Very relaxing.
I think any and all of the models I've posted here to date have been of the Diecast variety. So today I'm going to share a little of the kit-built one.
To keep Wibbs and any other plane and history nerds happy 😉 I've added a bit of info re: the markings and the kit itself.
This is a Revell 1:32 kit and is a detailed build IMO. If memory serves it is an ME110C7 variant and is painted to represent a Barbarossa era aircraft of ZerstorerGeschwader 1 on the Eastern Front in Late '41, early 1942.
Yes...
Yes they are!
The truth really is out there....
The possibilities for the 'UFO Community' are endless.
In a previous professional role, I was a tech evangelist particularly for mobile and cloud and that said.
I still sometimes find myself blown away by how far and how fast things have moved. Take photo editing, realtime video filters and image processing. From needing dedicated workstations, to needing expensive software and learning to use it, to Insta and Snapchat filters along with quick edit tools on a phone that are accessible and simple.
If I think of what was involved in image manipulation even 5yrs ago, let alone 20 compared to now? I am blown away tbh. That it can do video in real-time too, on your phone...
Is staggering! Anyway I was playing with my planes 😝 and here's a before and after edit from my phone using just the gallery tools that took all of 6 minutes.
Quick and dirty, but now I am going to have a serious play around 😁😂😂
All whilst telling Grace I'm doing the inventory she wanted 😉👍
That will be the plan but I bet you’ll spend the time planning your next watch …
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://wb.vanillicon.com/v2/bed6f1d088326d5eb21c0139847332c7.svg)
