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Great Navy Hornet (and others) Weathering Ref Shot


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On 3/1/2019 at 10:24 PM, GW8345 said:

Back in the day we could break the rules and the only thing happened is someone yelled at you, today, you break the rules and you are likely going to be standing tall in front of the Skipper.

 

Times have changed, if we were in today and did the crap we did back then, we'd be in front of the Skipper before the lunch time.

 

Hell, I remember climbing all over a bird without my cranial on, now a days, if your feet leave the deck one millimeter you better have your cranial on and strapped or someone is going to report you to safety before you know it.

 

Again, times have changed, the days of breaking the rules like we use to are long gone.

 

I've been working for the railroad for the last 31 years. Through most of my career, first as a brakeman, then conductor, and now engineer (for the last 25 years), it was about getting the job done safely and efficiently. About eight years back the "safety" people took control of the operations over the operational department.  Long story short, in those eight years the safety clowns have effectively handcuffed and shackeled us to the point that its very difficult to get anything done in a timely manner.

 

Ten years ago a good yard crew could switch out a 100 car train in 4 hours. Now with the new safety rules it takes us about 8 hours to switch out 25 cars. That's an 800% reduction in efficiency, and no doubt, an 800% increase in costs. So now the company is coming to our union crying poor and telling us that we need to take a 30% pay cut because they can't make money. Our stance is to tell them to "go pound sand". Their mismanagement got them into this, and now they want us to take the hit. Not going to happen... So now they come out and test us constantly on our safety rules, trying to find a reason to fire us, then stand around scratching their heads wondering why not much is getting done.

 

The Class 1 railroads in the US (Union Pacific, BNSF,  CSXT & Norfolk Southern) all did the safety overkill thing too for several years. Recently though, they've figured out that they are in fact a transportation company, and they do make their money by actually transporting cargo, not by being safe to the exclusion of everything else. Starting last year they've gone through and cut hundreds of management jobs, mostly in their safety departments. They also cut out a lot of the redundant and time consuming work rules, and are well on their way to working safely and efficiently again. Not my employer though.... they keep going the opposite direction. I keep waiting for the day that they tell me to sit at the break room table for the next 8 hours, and don't move, and DON'T GET HURT!

 

Don't get me wrong, safety is important. We all want to go home. Unfortunately, at least with my employer, it's been taken to a whole other level of stupidity. No joke, they could write a two paragraph rule on how to safely operate a paper clip! I once told my assistant GM that their "Safety Culture" that they're so proud of is a freakin' cult. That didn't go over so well... heh heh ;0) Fred K.

 

 

Edited by f5guy
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I don't want to turn this thread into something other than awesome airplane pictures.  But as someone who does safety for a living, I felt I needed to defend my position.  First off, I will say that I all companies view safety differently.   I totally understand and try to see both sides of the coin.  A mentor of mine said to me once, "Without production there is no need for safety, but without safety there would be no production". 

With that being said, you have to understand why companies have to have safety programs and personnel.  For years employees did stuff without regard for safety, got hurt and then decided that it was the company's fault and sued.  Worker's Compensation is a big business and cost companies millions of dollars a year.  The average employee does not always see and understand the true cost of injuries in the work place.  Injuries can cost the company 4 to 8 times more than what you think when you start to factor in all the hidden costs.  For example we had an employee twist his ankle on the job.  He has spent nearly a month "recovering".  So far his doctor bills have been close to 5K, but start to figure in all the other cost, my time dealing with paper work, our HR department, having to find a replacement for this employee etc...  It begins to add up fast.  This will end up costing us close to 20K by time it's done. 

Don't even get me started on the employees who want to "screw" the system that fake injuries or claim they happen at work when they didn't.

I know many safety people who are way over the top, who act like cops and such.  I don't like them, they give us good safety people a bad name.  I try to always talk to our SMEs and employees and try to figure out a solution that best fits both parties.  

I guess what I am trying to say is don't blame safety folks, blame lawyers, folks who try to abuse the system, and our sue happy society...   

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"Hey...Hey...you can't put Future on my aircraft....what are you thinking?  Go get me a bucket of panel line wash and a red line marker ASAP."

 

191123-N-BD352-025.JPG

 

 

"Oh would you look at this.  They used the wrong type instrument panel for their Hornet.  What were they thinking??  Amateurs."

 

191225-N-AD724-1007.jpg

 

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Since this thread also permits non-modern subjects, I figured I'd toss in a few examples from my current project - the Korean War F-51D Mustang.   These aircraft used to be the pride of the US during WW2.  By Korea, they were nothing more than disposable bomb trucks and it showed:

 

GqucJHc.jpg

 

Korea-F-51.jpg

 

th?id=OIP.6BeMrcOFTVj1VjinjLhY1QHaHa&pid

 

Doesn't get much grungier than those birds...

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On 12/11/2019 at 12:10 AM, Collin said:

We jet modelers continue to search for that magic halo effect on canopies. I tried a bunch of methods on a recent Prowler build, all fell short. 

 

Cheers

Collin

I just find a Tamiya F-16 block 25 into my unbuild stock at home and I'm so surprise that the capny has this magic halo effect same sandingand removing  the middle modeling line.

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On 1/15/2020 at 7:13 AM, Collin said:

"Nickel Up" *(see starboard wing)!!

 

That's a neat, small detail. I wonder if they all have them. At first I thought they forgot the "C", but in doing some research, the callsign is spelled NIKEL. 

Edited by Darren Roberts
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12 hours ago, Darren Roberts said:

 

That's a neat, small detail. I wonder if they all have them. At first I thought they forgot the "C", but in doing some research, the callsign is spelled NIKEL. 

 

For the uninitiated, what is the significance of the "Nikel" call sign?

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15 hours ago, Mstor said:

 

For the uninitiated, what is the significance of the "Nikel" call sign?

 

Its VFA-211's radio call sign.

Each squadron has one, like -103 is Victory, -105 is Canyon, etc...

 

-Gregg

Edited by GreyGhost
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See, that's what happens when you don't let your enamel primer completely set before putting a coat of acrylic paint over it (or is it visa versa). The rest of the model looks OK. :whistle:

Edited by Mstor
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