Some motivation pics for ALF18 and others

[yvesff]

Congradulations to all for their very nice builds and stories. Me and a good modelling buddy just recently finished CF-104s I just thought I would post them for motivational purposes !

This is my friend's Tiger, 2 years in the making (he is a slow builder), very nice results, took 2nd place at Torcan earlier this summer in Toronto.

And this is my build finished last year

[phantom]

Both are way beyond my builds, Great job on them both!

[Tomcat Fan]

Great Zippers...

[ALF18]

Beautiful work; thanks for posting. Not sure if they will motivate me much - they are much better than I can do!

ALF

[Emvar]

Beautiful work; thanks for posting. Not sure if they will motivate me much - they are much better than I can do!

ALF

But your work is much better than mine...... and I'm thinking of pulling a dual out of the stash to work on...... I just finished a repaint and decal session in 1/144th scale CF-104 which has been sitting on my bench because my motivation has been lacking. Don't cut yourself too short there..... some of us don't say too much but are 'inspired' if you know what I mean. I am pleased with my out come and I hope my client enjoys it.

will post pics of it finished in a couple of days.

Keep up the good work.

Emil

[ALF18]

But your work is much better than mine...... and I'm thinking of pulling a dual out of the stash to work on...... I just finished a repaint and decal session in 1/144th scale CF-104 which has been sitting on my bench because my motivation has been lacking. Don't cut yourself too short there..... some of us don't say too much but are 'inspired' if you know what I mean. I am pleased with my out come and I hope my client enjoys it.

will post pics of it finished in a couple of days.

Keep up the good work.

Emil

Emil

Roger that! I was sorta half joking - but some guys on here are truly out of my league!

ALF

[Tilt]

Skill levels aside, it's what you get from the hobby really. If you can stand back and admire your work as it adorns a shelf (or wherever), and feel a sense of accomplishment - then you're doing it right.

Btw.....sweet photos in this thread.

[Flyboyf18]

You've been an instructor so you know that a few (maybe very few) guys or gals are born with a silver control column in their mouth. Other guys or gals have to work at becoming a good pilot. Your modelling looks real good, just so long as you learn with every model built and from the folks here on ARC. I've been building for years and still learning little tricks from other modellers and websites! It takes a bit of practice to get good at an EFATO, there aren't many pilots that can ace that first time round!! This is hobby to have fun, if it starts to get stressful then you need another hobby.

[yvesff]

ALF18,

I would trade all my modelling skills in a hearthbeat if I could have had just some of the experiences you have had in your life!

keep up the good work with your build.

[Emvar]

ALF18,

I would trade all my modelling skills in a hearthbeat if I could have had just some of the experiences you have had in your life!

keep up the good work with your build.

Amen... Brother Amen...

[ALF18]

You've been an instructor so you know that a few (maybe very few) guys or gals are born with a silver control column in their mouth. Other guys or gals have to work at becoming a good pilot. Your modelling looks real good, just so long as you learn with every model built and from the folks here on ARC. I've been building for years and still learning little tricks from other modellers and websites! It takes a bit of practice to get good at an EFATO, there aren't many pilots that can ace that first time round!! This is hobby to have fun, if it starts to get stressful then you need another hobby.

Totally agree with your approach. I do try to improve, but sometimes I get impatient or don't feel like spending the extra time or money to do it perfectly. That's why it will always be a hobby for me. I have had some enlightening exchanges with other modelers here on ARC about commission builds and about real or perceived pressure to get things exactly right; he and I agreed that it sucks all the fun out of it.

"Boost check, change check, rich, hot, both..." good example about the Engine Failure After TakeOff. Some people have amazing talents, and thankfully we all don't have the same interests or talents.

ALF

[ALF18]

ALF18,

I would trade all my modelling skills in a hearthbeat if I could have had just some of the experiences you have had in your life!

keep up the good work with your build.

Yves, Emvar

If I didn't have such a big ex-jet-jock ego, I might be embarrassed...

Seriously, though, I am very aware of how lucky I was to be able to pursue my dream, and to experience it to the fullest. Now that I'm out of the hands-on real flying, I miss it, but am very grateful that I got a chance to do it. Flying is something that many people find inspiring, and those who get to do it are very lucky. Fighter aviation is richly rewarding and exciting, but it is also an unforgiving and tough milieu. It takes a combination of luck (being born with good health, hand-eye coordination, etc), hard work, and even some measure of random chance in being exposed to the opportunity and having a window where it was possible. From contact with many people, I have come to appreciate just how much some people would give a lot just to taste it. Just yesterday I was having supper at a charity golf tournament, seated with another foursome of businessmen. We all introduced ourselves, and were again surprised at the reaction when the other guys found out that our foursome was composed of two former CF-18 pilots (me and a guy who test flies business jets now), and two current ones (a guy who will be deploying to Afghanistan in a few weeks for the second time, and another who flies actively as a reservist and works for me as an instructor in the simulators). We had arrived at the table after chatting with the current Wing Commander from Bagotville, a couple Air Canada pilots who used to fly Hornets with us, and had sort of forgotten how the vast majority of the people at the tournament had no concept of what it was like to be in that business.

At the same tournament, the guest of honour was a hockey legend (Guy Lafleur); he and I had been talking about how there are some dreams that not everyone can live.

Bottom line for me is that I find places like that tournament and here on ARC to be very fun to hang out. Respectful and informative exchanges, a chance to get a glimpse into things that fascinate us... that's what it's all about.

Thanks to both of you for your sentiments. I never take it for granted.

As I said to FlyboyF18, there are many people with many different talents in this world. Some are naturals when it comes to modeling, some excel at hockey, and some were destined to fly. I enjoy this hobby, but I am a realist and understand that while I can strive to be better, it still remains a hobby, and if it stops being fun then I'm not doing it right. This group build has been a lot of fun - something about the Starfighter seems to inspire whimsy more than other subjects I've been involved with lately.

Thanks again for the motivation!

ALF

[Flyboyf18]

Luck and keep at it, that's the way to approach modelling, and life really.

I wanted to fly when I was a young'un so part way thru hi school I went to the local recruiting center and asked about Military College and being a pilot. Well, the Sgt. there gave me a half assed eye test and stated you can't be a pilot your vision is no good. I was crushed. Anyway to cut the story short I got into College, but couldn't keep my head on the subject, it kept drifting into the clouds. When I left there short of graduation my Dad almost blew a gasket but I had already been to the recruiting center and was pretty well lined up to join as an aviation tech!!! That really calmed him down, he had been a Lab Assistant in WWII.

So going thru recruitment and basic training everyone kept asking why haven't you gone thru to be an Officer. Well the answer in the back of my head was, "If I can't fly then why bother!!" Got to my first base (Portage La Prairie) and my Capt. pretty much pushed me towards the Officer training plan. OK, leaving out some junk, got into training went to Comox for On Job Training then back to Portage for basic flight training. Just about all of the guys I had been working with on the ground crew were still there, double the pressure had to impress them and my instructor. Got thru this and on to Moose Jaw. Here I had a brand new instructor. He had trouble determining what I was doing wrong on my landings (prior to my solo check) and I got behind the 8 ball and was washed out, crushed again!

Put my name in for Navigator Training and got it! Completed it and had my Dad pin on my wings at the Grad Parade!!!! That was the greatest event in my life!! Well ended up going to Sea King world and they were having problems in their training cell, half of us failed the course. I fought it and got retained as a NAV. Went to the Argus world of ASW and the converted to the Aurora, spent 3 years at a desk then got sent to The Test Unit in Cold Lake!

I spent 5 years here, got stick time in the F-18, F-5, T-Bird, Tutor, Musketeer, Kiowa and Twin Huey, oh and the T-38 and F-4, woohoo, an F-4!! The flying was great did 2 Mach runs in the Hornet, did some low level in the F-5 and showed our Unit Boss (full Colonel) that I could do a greater than 90 degree turn in the bird at low level, also got into a practice session for one of the F-18 Sqns that was going to Willy Tell! We were in an F-5 and playing the enemy with a bunch of other F-5s a real furball, if you have seen Top Gun I was doing my best re-enactment of Goose checking our six and trying to spot those darned F-18s, we didn't get shot down but also didn't get of those pesky Hornets! As I have said in a previous post on this group my Boss taught me to hover the Kiowa and I have been with a pilot in a float equipped Kiowa and we landed on a lake, way cool!!

As ALF says flying is an amazing experience I was lucky to have had the chance to do all this but I also had to do a bit of fighting to get where I ended up.

Luck and persistence.

If you want something keep at it!!

As mentioned modelling is a hobby and can be extremely rewarding. I have done a commission build and probably will not do any more, the stress of working to a deadline was a bit much. If I have a problem or get too impatient with a model I like to put it down and do something else or pick up a less challenging kit. When you are working to a deadline this is hard to do. The model I built was actually for DND (my employer at the time) and ended up in one of their travelling road shows, it got busted (wings fell off when the case was dropped) and they asked me to fix it. Well they had re-attached the wings with 5 minute epoxy, I was able to peel this off and no paint came up, I put a brass rod in the wings and got it back together. It went back to DND and I last saw it at the RCAF Museum in Trenton, it's the 48th Mynarski Lanc, so if you happen to be there you say I know who built that.

Keep at it, stop if things become too much and come back to it later, stress can kill so just avoid it.

I tell everyone who comes to one of our club displays, Always have fun when modelling!!

[AX 365]

Two very nice 104s there. I'm impressed.

How did you shoot in the tournament, ALF? Nothing like a game of cow pasture pool to elevate the blood pressure and expand your *^$%* vocabulary. At least that's how I feel after a game of whack - f***!

[ALF18]

Two very nice 104s there. I'm impressed.

How did you shoot in the tournament, ALF? Nothing like a game of cow pasture pool to elevate the blood pressure and expand your *^$%* vocabulary. At least that's how I feel after a game of whack - f***!

Mike

Our team finished at 1 under par. It was 'best ball', so if at least one of us made a good shot, we all got to shoot from the best position. Once in a while, it was even my shot that was the best! And always at opportune times - on the hole where the longest tee shot won a baseball cap, yours truly got lucky and won the cap!

I don't get stressed about golf. I have averaged 1 game per year (museum tournament) for the past 3 years. Before that, I think I've played a total of 10 games (lifetime).

We had a great time, telling war stories, laughing at our muffed shots, and racing the carts while trying to avoid visible damage to them. Give me a month of days like that, and my blood pressure would be so low that the doctor would tell me to lie down to avoid passing out.

Serious golfing is too stressful. That's why I haven't taken it up. Some of the biggest laughs of the day were the result of a running joke. Early on, a guy in the foursome ahead gave us a lecture about waiting until they were far enough ahead before we shot - seems we scared him when one of my errant tee shots almost beaned him. Oops... The former Hornet squadron commander who played with us listened gravely, nodded wisely, sympathised with him about how scared he must have been, then turned around and rolled his eyes at us - it was all we could do not to bust out laughing. Every new hole after that, we pushed the first guy to shoot early, and gave him tips about the wind and where to aim to hit the serious guy ahead of us.

Tournaments like that are just plain FUN! Nobody asked us for our score at the end, and we didn't care either.

ALF

[Flyboyf18]

Yeah just love Sqn best ball tourneys!! I had to complain at one of ours in Cool Pool, the longest drive marker was only about 18 inches tall and the water in the pond where my screamer went was over 3 feet!?!?!!!