jarndice wrote:Roy I have been following the Cromwell build since day one and I look at and think NO definitely not for me
Far too much like free thinking,
I need someone to hold my hand, which is why while my builds don't have much of HENG LONG or TAIGEN left when I have finished the build I was always working around a silhouette,
Whereas your having to envision the overall picture of what YOU are trying to achieve in your mind and that is one or perhaps two paces further than I think I could go,
And then you said something that chimed ,
How your even dreaming about the build,
For years I have used sleep as a time to solve problems, Just get a nub of the problem in your mind DONT DWELL on it, and just go to sleep and it is amazing how often I see a solution that had never occurred to me before.
I worked out how to make a working Magnetic quick release for a Tiger 1 in my sleep and it works,
Anther time I was trying to work out how to fit the "MATO"Metal Rear Plate to a Taigen Tiger 1 which it was never designed to fit, even Dave (Forgebear) warned me it would not fit But I was so fed up with the Plastic tabs on the original plates shearing with so much use I figured a Metal one was the answer,
Off to bed and Et Voila I awoke certain that I knew how to do it and IT WORKS,
I have always been a great advocate of Sleep
Its just nice when you can justify it.
I love how we accept the encroaching of things like 3D Printing with such a blasé attitude,
When they first came out people were saying great I can build my own Tank and then realism cut in, But I don't think those days are as remote as we were warned they were.
Technology when it is both too complex and too expensive almost routinely finds a way to make itself cheaper and more user friendly, Here's hoping.
Shaun.
Thanks for the mature, and hard-won insights, Shaun
Curiously, like you I've found that 'programming' a problem into the old grey matter before hitting the sack can have the welcome, and surprising benefit
..of a workable solution appearing, and waiting patiently on fringe of consciousness, just as you yawn, stretch, and resurface..the following morning (Or week, if it's been that exhausting one!)
Personally, I've also had my best musical ideas that way (though some might beg to differ
..); but getting them down on paper, onto the tape recorder, or the guitar can have them vanish like elusive spirits, unless they're 'fixed' (like photo negatives) immediately.
While much of this is just friendly forum banter- and I like nothing better- there's a slightly more serious side to my apparent whingeing about having so many pleasant things to do, and tech things to explore. I often wonder how forum members
- especially those with jobs, young families, and the usual things in the 'daily grind', manage to find the time to build amazing models. I saw a display of static tank interiors (tank anatomical 3d models), cannons, gun pit diorama etc. in the Swiss Military museum a couple of years ago, upstairs from the real armour exhibits, and was blown away
by the skills, and (possibly obsessive) dedication involved in producing them (
http://www.festungsmuseum.ch ).
Well, I've also seen plenty of examples of superb quality builds and enhancements here too. Where they find the time remains a mystery, and an open question : ...even though we jest about the OCD symptoms manifest in certain contributors
My 'daily grind' since December 2015, has been one of bone on bone. After surgery for a seriously broken right ankle (both main bones + dislocation), where my 'pedal extremity' (to quote Fats Waller
) was flapping around like a useless castor, I spent most of 2016, and have spent much of this year graduating from wheelchair, to crutches, then to walking sticks..much as in the 'ascent of man'. In the process of overburdening my left leg, with the duties of the right, i also acquired not one
but
two ingrowing toenails on my left foot (never have been known to do things by halves!!).
I now have a meccano set in my right ankle, severe muscle loss, and gouty looking dressings on my left foot where they nails have been removed. Apart from that..life is marvellous! Ok, I'm not looking for sympathy (really not), but just trying to explain why- superficially at least-with two Tamiyas, and a printer) I should be jumping for joy. But the fact is, I can't jump at all
Now I have a massive backlog of domestic jobs to tackle, being totally immersed in model building has come at an inconvenient time; added to which there's the lure of the tempting Tamiyas. On the plus side, maybe I could print myself a new walking stick with the 3D tech ...
Here's the full 3D package:
- 3d for me..
and assembled (only took an hour, luckily..and the woman assembling it on the accompanying video had really nice hands..):
- Dimensions new..
Now, trying to find a space for it next to my Mac is another challenge.
Meantime, the Cromwell's waiting for attention..and so is the dog...
- Cromwell..wart and all
Hmm .. this thread really belongs in three other categories now, ah well.
The 'Homework' is already piling up 
and, with the very best of intentions, my son has really repatriated me back to school again- without being aware of it.! I can deal with one compulsion at a time, but managing three (and a fourth that's way more than assembling plasticard, Shaun 
The only comfort to be drawn from this self-imposed descent into technological torture, is that I'm not alone on that path...or perhaps, that mechanical minefield 
and you being at the true home of the Water of Life it should be filling you with the unrestricted vigour of a Celtic supporter 
