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Jan. 8th, 2015 09:04 pmNot much in the world I feel like posting about, so this is an archived picture from Tampa Bay Online/The Tampa Tribune of the ship Jose Gasparilla at the Gasparilla Invasion.
A Favorite Factoid
Nov. 14th, 2014 01:01 pmFrom a book I found years ago in the Carson Newman University library on the history of privateering in America...
How the prize money was divided among the crew of a Revolution/Napoleonic-era ship:
15% -- The Captain, who might be obliged to pay his superiors in his fleet
10% -- split between the Captain's Lieutenants and the Sailing Master
10% -- split among the Marine officers, the Surgeon, the Purser, the Boatswain, the Gunner, the Carpenter, the Masters' Mates and the Chaplain
15% -- split among the Midshipmen, the Surgeon's Mates, the Captain's Clerk, the Schoolmaster, the Boatswain's Mates, the Steward, the Sailmaker, the Master-At-Arms, the Armourer and the Coxswain
15% -- split among the Gunner's Yeomen, the Boatswain's Yeomen, the Quartermasters, the Quarter Gunner, the Coopers, the Sailmaker's Mates, the Sergeants and Corporals of the Marines, the Drummer, the Fifer, and the Petty Officers
35% -- split among the Seamen, the Marines and the Boys
More Carrier Noise
Mar. 17th, 2013 04:00 pmNow I have eight different patterns loaded for the eight aircraft carrier models I want to reverse-engineer. Of course, my main two limitations in this endeavour will be funding and patience...with the next one being working space.
Useless Otaku Fact
Jan. 8th, 2013 01:26 amThe Revoltech Evangelion EVA Unit action figures are 1/570 scale, the same as some of Revell/Revell-Germany's ship models, including:
* Bismark/Tirpitz
* Queen Mary
* Titanic
* USS Saratoga (postwar, pre-nuclear power, aircraft carrier)
* King George V
* Prince of Wales...
* Bismark/Tirpitz
* Queen Mary
* Titanic
* USS Saratoga (postwar, pre-nuclear power, aircraft carrier)
* King George V
* Prince of Wales...
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Adventures In Mad Science
Dec. 21st, 2012 06:26 pm* Because my brother got me a smartphone to replace my flip-phone this week, I felt I had to return the favor and find a toy for him. I'll tell you all about it after I give it to him.
* Because my brother got me a smartphone to replace my flip-phone this week, I'm trying to figure out how to use it. So far, I'm way behind it and the whole touchscreen nonsense is somewhat counterintuitive to me.
* Because my brother got me a smartphone to replace my flip-phone this week, I went through Precious's soundfiles (and made some new ones by using a decompiler to loot soundtracks from .SWF files I downloaded over the years) in an ongoing attempt to generate ringtones. I still only partly know what I'm doing.
* In my travels to procure the toy for my brother, I saw a late-model Audi sedan outside Strange--the interior comprehensively burnt out. I started brainstorming hot rod ideas almost immediately.
* Still dabbling with reverse-engineering old Eastern-bloc paper models of aircraft carrier ships into much larger mixed-media models. I have seven downloaded patterns of a planned eight...but my internal math estimates that each "plate" in the scale I'm working with means $10 in materials. So I'll need funding of one form or another.
* Because my brother got me a smartphone to replace my flip-phone this week, I'm trying to figure out how to use it. So far, I'm way behind it and the whole touchscreen nonsense is somewhat counterintuitive to me.
* Because my brother got me a smartphone to replace my flip-phone this week, I went through Precious's soundfiles (and made some new ones by using a decompiler to loot soundtracks from .SWF files I downloaded over the years) in an ongoing attempt to generate ringtones. I still only partly know what I'm doing.
* In my travels to procure the toy for my brother, I saw a late-model Audi sedan outside Strange--the interior comprehensively burnt out. I started brainstorming hot rod ideas almost immediately.
* Still dabbling with reverse-engineering old Eastern-bloc paper models of aircraft carrier ships into much larger mixed-media models. I have seven downloaded patterns of a planned eight...but my internal math estimates that each "plate" in the scale I'm working with means $10 in materials. So I'll need funding of one form or another.
SPACE: 1969
Jun. 2nd, 2012 09:29 pm
The Orion ship design, as rendered for the companion book to Carl Sagan's Cosmos TV series. If I built it as a 1/72nd scale model, the result would be over six feet long.
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Nerdity Zeroes In On Target--Again
May. 22nd, 2012 11:33 am
It isn't so much the movie itself but the fact that the studio threw it into a threat-rich theater environment, with The Avengers and The Hunger Games still playing. Maybe if they had waited a week or two?
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http://www.thepetitionsite.com/535/467/666/save-the-love-boat/
These earnest souls are attempting to rescue the internationally famous Pacific Princess from the shipbreakers. They're trying to get 10,000 signatures on the petition.
These earnest souls are attempting to rescue the internationally famous Pacific Princess from the shipbreakers. They're trying to get 10,000 signatures on the petition.
My Own Private Carrier Battle Force
Jan. 4th, 2012 04:21 pmOne of my "someday" projects was a 1/72nd scale aircraft carrier model based on the Colossus--class paper model from Poland. Well, it turned out that another company also made a carrier model--the nuclear-powered Enterprise, as she looked after her mid-life refitting. So I downloaded that model as well. Of course, I have a titanic task if I try to upscale it to 1/72...800 legal-size pages of printout! (As opposed to a mere 270 for Colossus!)
On Wikipedia's entry for the Enterprise, it said that five other ships in the class were planned before the design was superseded in favor of the Nimitz-class, which was much more efficient. Still, that sparked a "What If?" question in my mind...what would be the names of such ships if they had been built? I did a little research, but really couldn't find a good answer as such. Instead, I looked to my own life for my own naval names. Specifically, I looked at where I went to school and their concepts for mascots.
* USS Thames. My first school was United Scioto in Chilicothe, Ohio. Their mascot is the Sherman Tank (yes, their football team is the Tanks!); naming a ship for General Sherman was possible. But the Shawnee Indian chief Tecumseh was from the area too, and he was defeated at the Battle of the Thames.
* USS Fort LeBeouf. Waterford, Pennsylvania. LeBeouf was the site of a battle in the French & Indian War that was important in the career of George Washington.
* USS Lancer and USS Trojan. Deer Lakes district, Pennsylvania; and Saint Petersburg College, Florida, respectively. Good names for Revolution-era ships, but never actually used by the U.S. Navy.
* USS Bald Eagle. Springstead in Spring Hill, Florida. At the time, the Royal Navy had ships named HMS Eagle, so specifying it as "Bald Eagle" made sense to avoid possible confusion in fleet maneuvers.
http://www.awiatsea.com/Privateers.html
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/index.html
On Wikipedia's entry for the Enterprise, it said that five other ships in the class were planned before the design was superseded in favor of the Nimitz-class, which was much more efficient. Still, that sparked a "What If?" question in my mind...what would be the names of such ships if they had been built? I did a little research, but really couldn't find a good answer as such. Instead, I looked to my own life for my own naval names. Specifically, I looked at where I went to school and their concepts for mascots.
* USS Thames. My first school was United Scioto in Chilicothe, Ohio. Their mascot is the Sherman Tank (yes, their football team is the Tanks!); naming a ship for General Sherman was possible. But the Shawnee Indian chief Tecumseh was from the area too, and he was defeated at the Battle of the Thames.
* USS Fort LeBeouf. Waterford, Pennsylvania. LeBeouf was the site of a battle in the French & Indian War that was important in the career of George Washington.
* USS Lancer and USS Trojan. Deer Lakes district, Pennsylvania; and Saint Petersburg College, Florida, respectively. Good names for Revolution-era ships, but never actually used by the U.S. Navy.
* USS Bald Eagle. Springstead in Spring Hill, Florida. At the time, the Royal Navy had ships named HMS Eagle, so specifying it as "Bald Eagle" made sense to avoid possible confusion in fleet maneuvers.
http://www.awiatsea.com/Privateers.html
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/index.html
Come Together, Right Now!--Over Me...
Sep. 17th, 2011 04:59 pmOn Facebook I "Like" the Giveaway Of The Day--free software downloads. Among the offers this past week: RonyaSoft's Poster Printer, which I'm playing with. I'm not so much interested in posters as such, tho' that looks fun...I'm blowing up paper models. And so far, it looks like the RonyaSoft program is going to save me both effort and money, by cutting down the number of pages I'd need to print to get the same results.
I haven't decided which model to start with. Tho' that 1/72nd scale Colossus-class aircraft carrier project is the most tempting!
I haven't decided which model to start with. Tho' that 1/72nd scale Colossus-class aircraft carrier project is the most tempting!
A Wish For Wil
May. 15th, 2011 08:59 pmIt came from seeing THIS FLOWCHART...
And the way the maker of the flowchart split Trekkies into those who liked Wil Wheaton and those who didn't.
I know there probably isn't any new Trek TV series on the horizon, but what if there were? Just thinking aloud.
I'd want a series where Wil isn't necessarily playing Wesley Crusher, of course. I'd rather see him play a new character. He'd be the Captain of a smaller starship, a frigate or destroyer. His ship would be part of a squadron in a sector of the Federation's interior, doing Starfleet's grunt work (search-and-rescue, convoy escort, hunting down pirates and smugglers--and of course those multitudes of operational drills, wargames, and training missions). Unlike TOS and TNG, there wouldn't be much exploration or encounters with new species...there would, however, be opportunities to tidy up the dozens of narrative loose threads left behind by all the previous series. (That alone could fill out several seasons of episodes!)
And the way the maker of the flowchart split Trekkies into those who liked Wil Wheaton and those who didn't.
I know there probably isn't any new Trek TV series on the horizon, but what if there were? Just thinking aloud.
I'd want a series where Wil isn't necessarily playing Wesley Crusher, of course. I'd rather see him play a new character. He'd be the Captain of a smaller starship, a frigate or destroyer. His ship would be part of a squadron in a sector of the Federation's interior, doing Starfleet's grunt work (search-and-rescue, convoy escort, hunting down pirates and smugglers--and of course those multitudes of operational drills, wargames, and training missions). Unlike TOS and TNG, there wouldn't be much exploration or encounters with new species...there would, however, be opportunities to tidy up the dozens of narrative loose threads left behind by all the previous series. (That alone could fill out several seasons of episodes!)
Writer's Block: Behind the wheel
May. 11th, 2011 12:27 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
The Emaan had the right idea with their Glomaar hover carriers. It's an all-in-one caravan vehicle, with a factory/repair shop, sleeping berths, kitchen and dining halls, indoor tennis court, jacuzzi, and loads of other technical goodies. (The anime Super Dimensional Century Orguss, if you haven't guessed.)
The Emaan had the right idea with their Glomaar hover carriers. It's an all-in-one caravan vehicle, with a factory/repair shop, sleeping berths, kitchen and dining halls, indoor tennis court, jacuzzi, and loads of other technical goodies. (The anime Super Dimensional Century Orguss, if you haven't guessed.)
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HMS Ark Royal
Mar. 26th, 2011 12:03 am
( Now Decommissioned )Word is there is a chance of this ship becoming a museum piece in London--or possibly a working on-the-Thames helipad!
Reality Checks & Weight Balances
Aug. 30th, 2010 06:55 pmWhile I was bored with not being able to adequately contact the outside world, I did a bunch of brainstorming. Tend to do that along with my research addiction.
Anyway, I have, on my hard drive, the digitized files for many of those wonderful Maly Modelarz Polish paper models, of which I've spoken before here. I have one for a Colossus-class aircraft carrier from the WW2 era. With it set to print at "regular size", the resulting model would only take nine sheets of paper or cardboard, and scale to about 1/350.
So what if I wanted a model to scale with the majority of the model aircraft I build? 1/72nd scale? To enlargen the sheet five times (350 รท 72 = 4.861, rounded to 5), I could split each sheet into twenty-five proportional pieces (5X5) making the total model 225 sheets of printout. And the model that would be built from these sheets would be...10 feet long!
With Paul Francis' shop nearby, this concept isn't outside the realm of possibility as such. It's just not particularly practicable, especially with the start of school imminent and other things coming along to occupy my mind and time.
Anyway, I have, on my hard drive, the digitized files for many of those wonderful Maly Modelarz Polish paper models, of which I've spoken before here. I have one for a Colossus-class aircraft carrier from the WW2 era. With it set to print at "regular size", the resulting model would only take nine sheets of paper or cardboard, and scale to about 1/350.
So what if I wanted a model to scale with the majority of the model aircraft I build? 1/72nd scale? To enlargen the sheet five times (350 รท 72 = 4.861, rounded to 5), I could split each sheet into twenty-five proportional pieces (5X5) making the total model 225 sheets of printout. And the model that would be built from these sheets would be...10 feet long!
With Paul Francis' shop nearby, this concept isn't outside the realm of possibility as such. It's just not particularly practicable, especially with the start of school imminent and other things coming along to occupy my mind and time.
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Facts Of Varying Uselessness
Jul. 19th, 2010 11:42 pmLast year It Was Revealed In The Press--And On My LJ that a large number of cargo ships were anchored, idle, in the Singapore Straits. Out of curiosity tonight, I looked for them on Google Earth...still there, strung between Singapore Harbor and Sungai Rengit and likely elsewhere in the area. Didn't bother to count them but there seemed to be a few score of them. Dunno how recent the aerial pictures are, but the fact that they are still sitting there means we're still a long way from recovering the global economy.
* * *
General Admission to the upcoming Jefferson County Fair is $12. Except for the night of Tuesday, August 3rd, when it is only $10.
* * *
My buddy Paul "salvaged" signage from the now-closed Jefferson City Blockbuster Video location today. Now Kermit The Frog from the Children's Department is at a place of honor above his jukebox. Dunno what he's going to do with the other pieces he got.
* * *
Rather Manor now has air conditioning. Dad got a window unit for the living room over the weekend. We aren't using it a lot, tho'.
* * *
I removed someone from my Friends on Facebook because they said something really stupid and politically divisive, and I didn't feel like they were worth me reading their other posts. I expect I'll be doing things like that a lot this year.
The Primary in Tennessee is in a week and the attack ads are flooding the TV. I won't be voting because all the races being decided are for THAT OTHER PARTY. I hate living in a one-party state.
* * *
I never realized how much I missed the Sumo coverage on NHK's News (from Japan, of course!). The PBS World station airs NHK at 5PM weekdays, and this week the Nagoya Basho is getting really interesting.
* * *
General Admission to the upcoming Jefferson County Fair is $12. Except for the night of Tuesday, August 3rd, when it is only $10.
* * *
My buddy Paul "salvaged" signage from the now-closed Jefferson City Blockbuster Video location today. Now Kermit The Frog from the Children's Department is at a place of honor above his jukebox. Dunno what he's going to do with the other pieces he got.
* * *
Rather Manor now has air conditioning. Dad got a window unit for the living room over the weekend. We aren't using it a lot, tho'.
* * *
I removed someone from my Friends on Facebook because they said something really stupid and politically divisive, and I didn't feel like they were worth me reading their other posts. I expect I'll be doing things like that a lot this year.
The Primary in Tennessee is in a week and the attack ads are flooding the TV. I won't be voting because all the races being decided are for THAT OTHER PARTY. I hate living in a one-party state.
* * *
I never realized how much I missed the Sumo coverage on NHK's News (from Japan, of course!). The PBS World station airs NHK at 5PM weekdays, and this week the Nagoya Basho is getting really interesting.
