Don't give him any more ideas guys, you know what he's like!😂- thinks,- 'mind you, we could keep him going for years'😁😂 I'm amazed at the tiny details and the finishing of them. Going great Martin!
JB

Great job Steve, you would have to be very happy with the result! Guess it's going to be a while now till we see a video, due to the plague!
JB

Clever looking rig Graham, tricky action to get right!
JB

Excellent work on the chair! very nice

Re - It's the Ersatz coffee and Schnapps that does it JB 🙊
Oh no sir! not painting the base driveway stones with a model brush, or polishing the brass nail heads in the barracks floors with Brasso again ?!😴
JB

Looking forward to the video Steve. Excellent work and all done in a very short time.
JB

Up to 283 confirmed cases of the C-Bot today, and going gangbusters! Fortunately, no one's carked it yet😊 Rather quiet at the mo,- all in our bunkers. Birds are confused and not making a sound,- normally the Minahs are squawking all day,- not a peep,- Weird!😐 It's like 'Zombies, Dawn Of The Dead' and you are waiting for a hoard to appear down the main road! Or like the old NZ film 'The Quiet Earth'.
JB

Didn't their mothers teach them to make their beds Martin? scruffy lot!😁 Great work as usual!
JB

Excellent work, starting to look the part !
JB

Have had a couple of Cressidas and Corollas Doug. Have the blue 90 Cressida 3L (300,000km) and the white 88 Corolla AE92 1.6 liftback (owned for 16 yrs -208,000kms) at present. Had an 83 Cressida 2L (green) back in 93. Good old cars from the time Toyota made decent cars. Have a 2005 Mazda Axella 1.5 -Jap import- got off ex, needing a few things doing, (she bought a new Hyundai) Mazda is nowhere near as smooth as the old Corolla! Worked for Toyota for 20yrs -hence the Toyotas (bought the Corolla from work at 80,000km ) barely a problem in 16yrs,-just wear and tear.

Is the Verso the UK or German version? not a bad wagon, quite useful space. Only reason I've kept the Corolla is that there is nothing with the same space (without going big)all later Corollas have less useful space, noisier and rougher riding. It's been my 'truck' for years. Cressida is the tow car and weekend armchair cruiser (old mans' car, - but has near 200hp😁).
JB

Same info I found Doug, I was thinking of the actual spelling of Cressida (Chryseis Cresseid,-Cressida) probably Anglicized by Chaucer/Shakespeare.? I've noticed that sometimes when you type a word into google it will not find anything, but if you eventually track it down, the next time you type it in, it's there. Have found that with numerous things -(MTB49 was one I spent years looking for, (for my model) and eventually found a photo buried in a UK model mouldings site, Now all I have to do is type in MTB49 and up it comes,- strange how the internet works! Perhaps once someone views it for the first time inside a site, it opens it to the general internet, -don't know!!??? modern teknolology!
JB

Not bad Doug, but it sort of looks like it's passing wind😂 (either that or it's demonstrating Hans Von Ohains' jet engine😁

JB

Marmite, Vegemite, we're not racist down here Doug but our Okker cousins black gold is just a bit different. both are just as popular. Funny when the tourists try it, most just don't get the taste experience😐😮☹️. Ever try either in hot water for a winter drink,? very nice!

Wonder why they didn't call it Carolla virus, (maybe petals don't cut it?) mind you it has a Toyota car name - (Crown) Another useless fact is the name Cressida (another Toyota name) is a name bastardized gradually from the Greek chrysos (gold, golden) then further by Shakespeare for his play Cressida and Troilus (Cressida being a Trojan tart (whos' father was a defector to the Greeks) hooked up with a Trojan prince, as usual, didn't end well.

Took me ages to find the origin of Cressida so how on earth the Japs found this is beyond me! Nothing remotely to do with their culture! Bet Wills didn't know the name he came up with would end up on a Jap car,- (probably wouldn't have even known what a Japanese person was) I have a Cressida and a Corolla, should I be worried?
JB

"Left right, Left right, Halt, 'Teeanhut, Caps off" stand corrected Doug, couldn't think of the correct term, (bwain fade)- was trying to be sensitively, politically correct 😂 wasn't sure if anyone was watching, (computers have ears!😉😂) It wasn't a bad looking flag but the thinking behind it was the problem!
JB

Over 189 cases of 'Toyota car virus' so far, (jump of 47 cases today) Lockdown at 1 minute to marmite went, well and all's quiet (very) on the 'Southern front'. 16 have come through it ok & so far, no deaths yet😊😊 fingers crossed!! Might haul out the bike tomorrow if fine and take a few pics around, (at least we can still do that, and go walkies by ourselves (or our 'bubble buddies')
Unfortunately we are not allowed to go boat fishing, which in some ways is a bit silly, as if you are by yourself, not far offshore you are pretty much further away from people than you would be at home. (using the excuse that coastguard might have to rescue you (same for trampers) Should have started this 3 weeks ago, (due to the 2 week incubation period, and tourists who were still being allowed in) but with plonkers in charge they are just panicking now and doing an almost blanket ban. Needs a bit of refining to be sensible otherwise people will soon get frustrated.

As long as you are doing something (kayaking, boating, cycling sailing etc) by yourself and can keep away from people, I don't see a problem. They are allowing people to walk as long as they follow the 2m spacing precaution, so what's the difference. Horseface is threatening Police and Army and inviting people to dob in anyone they think is not obeying to the police (you can imagine the strain on the cops trying to keep up with narky neighbours!)

Feel a bit sorry for them as they will be flat out trying to stop the inevitable burglaries from stalled building sites etc. One young chap ( a NZ carpentry apprentice of the year has just had his van and around $6000 worth of tools stolen, (some were his prize and some were gifts) so it's started already! Lots of new building round here so the maggots will be crawling round the area at night, nicking anything that's not nailed down, (pretty easy for them to see the cops and security coming, as they will be the only ones on the road!). A security firm has been swamped by requests for building site work and will have to find 300 plus, extra staff.

Let the games begin! keep safe.
JB

Hope you enjoyed the politically correct Kriegsmarine ensign on the stack Doug ?😉😁
JB

Re - Servo operated contact switches - I use small servos and simple contact switches

First tug I built in the late 60s used a set of modified car points for the motor stop/start. Not many ESCs in those days. Used an O.S Cougar 2 channel 27mhz TX. I use a twin M/S latching relay with a micro servo (wiring setup from Graham) for the smoke/air pump in my ST, works perfectly and is quite compact. You could do some interesting things with a 360deg servo as well. As you mentioned Joe, -very cheap switches!
JB

Thanks, appreciate the comment.
JB

Thanks for the kind comment, built a lot from memory and a few pics and photos of the original.
JB

Re - "No shipwrecks, nobody drownin',
Bet the patrons enjoyed the show Doug, did you get any German humor thrown your way?
Got to be one of the nicest ponds around. Do they put all the ducks in dry dock when they empty it?
JB

RE- This is the site of my disastrous very first attempt at model boat building
At least you picked a very posh place to sink Peter!
JB

Very nice indeed!
JB

NZ in lockdown from Wed night for one month. No unnecessary travel, most shops and businesses closed (except a few with special conditions ) supermarkets, vets and chemists will stay open. We can go for walks by ourselves (oh deep joy!) and watch garbage on TV (luxury!,- we used to dream of watching garbage on TV!). Many will be working from home, and others who can't will get wage and business assistance from govt. Would say better late than never but unfortunately it's not.☹️ Should have been done weeks ago.

We now have around 100 confirmed cases (most from visitors) but now 2 from community transfer (hence the code 4 -shut the door move) At least the traffic noise will subside for a while (I'm on a main road into our beach suburb and the dust and general pollution has increased 100x in the last 10 yrs from traffic increase due to housing expansion) and my lungs might get a break😁 Thank goodness for internet and happy modelers around the world, at least we'll have something to stop us going stir crazy. Imagine people with no hobbies!

Supermarkets' best selling products will be beer and wine as the bottle shops will be closed! It's now official party time in NZ from Wed and I think also the sales of NZ 'green' will go through the roof, and zombies will be roaming the streets😂 Police and army will be enforcing the rules while this is on so it will be an interesting month (or 2 or 3 or------?)
Take care every one, don your masks, gloves and wellies and sit back in your armchairs and enjoy the show.
JB

Fantastic as usual Martin, great work! Could you make a mistake so we can rag you please😂
JB

Looks very nice on the water, looking forward to a video if that's possible.
JB

Re - I have a couple of friends on holiday just now in NZ.
Probably safer here Graham, and if they are up North round Auckland for winter, there's no snow, not that cold, very little air pollution ( just lots of rain sometimes) and I'm sure they won't be too stuck for a hand if needs be. Plenty of space here and not that many people.😊 and now nobody else can come in for a while. Lucky they're not stuck in Italy!
JB

Re Hi All - it struck me that the Model Boat community might be hit hardest of all
Quite true Peter and regarding the smoking thing, smoked myself for years but gave up about 15 yrs ago when the arms started going numb😁 I'd hate to think what would happen if you suddenly could have your young pre-smoking lungs back, - it would probably kill you! All ex or current smokers, asthma sufferers etc as you say, should be extra careful.

My ex boat anchor is an agency RN, and is at present stationed at the Auckland Airport covid 19 Boarder Health Protection And Control section, and recently had to go onto a packed plane from overseas (Argentina I think) in full space gear, to check all the passengers. Scary job to have to do and good on her for taking it on (gets paid $50/hr, free airport parking and meals).

Re hand sanitizer,(which is not soap)- apparently soap is just as good or better if properly used and a group here have found that Vodka and aloe Vera together is pretty good (and you can drink it as well😂). Time to get the old copper out and start boiling up some Lye soap😁 that'l kill anything! (most younger people probably have never heard of it) Can't see what's wrong with diluted washing detergent, (I keep a spray bottle in the car, works fine) Lots of old remedys will probably pop up if things get too bad.

The virus is not airborne so as long as you keep away from people, wear gloves,masks (around groups), wash hands after handling public stuff (remember EFTPOS machines, on checkouts etc, real filthy, probably never cleaned!, same as bank machines etc) and don't go out unnecessarily you're probably pretty safe. The more we talk about it, the more we will remember to be cautious, (as long as we don't get paranoid😁) Remember 6ft spacing around the boat ponds😊.
JB

"Now hear this" (or news from the anti podes)
Lockdown in NZ as of last night, at least 2 weeks too late, but horseface reckons she's doing a great job!!🐴?? as we say here YEEEEEAH RIGHT! Sounded like a party political broadcast tonight, see if she puts a scarf on for this one ! Shelves getting stripped here as well, felt like a sandwich for tea tonight but no bread (second day running) might have to camp out to get in early. Supermarkets aren't stocking during the day now (worker health and safety). Many appliance stores have sold out of freezers as the rich hoarders needed something to put their loot in, (hope they get a power cut.👍👍👍😂)

Had to laugh as I went down the completely bare bread and noodle isles (plus soap, flour, panadol and cough medicines etc) because there is only so much you can hoard before you run out, and when you go to get more, - guess what, DUH.! There's still heaps of stock so I can't understand the mentality. Neighbor said he can always go to his mates farm where they have plenty of cows to eat,- mind you, if things get too bad there might be a lot of sheep and cow rustling going on! Bad enough already with the Indians being partial to the roadside rural lawnmowers (goats on a long wire runner) outside peoples properties. Most have now disappeared since a big influx of Fijian Indians and Asians a few years ago, hardly see one these days, (they do make a very nice curry😁)

Thought I might buy some paper face masks at the mega hardware store, - that whole big section completely stripped bare,- (even the $200 + industrial chemical masks!? SOME PEOPLE,😂 unbelievable the way some people think! Any hoo, just have to see what happens and dress for the occasion, (so to speak) Air NZ is now in the poo and has just been given a big handout (50 odd big planes to park up, - regionals still going) 500+ staff might be looking for work. The airline might be going to odd overseas places not normally serviced, to rescue stranded Kiwis, but that's just an idea at the moment.

Not to worry, if we can find a way to turn s..t into sunshine we'll all be just fine. Everyone suit up and take care.!😊
JB

Just 'bruised'my wallet Doug, doing some discretionary grocery shopping, pre virus getting going here and the panic buying starting in earnest. Never seen so many trolleys bulging at the seams in a supermarket ever. Being a small country of around 4 kk we are probably going to get whacked pretty hard, as 1/3 of the pop is ancient (and I'm getting there slowly😁) Already got 20 supposedly confirmed with Chinbola already and we've just sent some newly arrived tourists home for not following the self isolating rule, dick heads. That's the sort of thing that could cause some one to die.

One good thing is, if the supermarkets run out, at least I have a choice of small boats to go fishing in (that's if the fish aren't staying indoors😊) The 2 trusty British Seagulls I have might get a bit of use wot! bit worried as they only have another 100yrs of use left between them😁!
Have a 15hp Chinese rice burner Yamaha copy as well, but trust the 50yr old Seagulls more. She'll be an interesting year that's for sure, and I don't think the virus will stop till it's done the rounds and people build up a bit of immunity. Hopefully it wont be too bad, but with winter and flu season coming on I'm not too optimistic!

They haven't mentioned how many people the flu killed world wide last year (1672 in UK last season, - 26,000 people in the UK were either killed or seriously injured and 1770 killed in vehicle crashes. 61,000 flu deaths in the US last year,- 500 in NZ last year, sort of puts it into context at the moment.

I'l be off to buy a few gross of masks tomorrow, already got my sack of garlic and vitamin c so should be good to go😁 No point worrying too much, just everyone be careful and stay away from any walking dead and crowds. Masks and plastic gloves look like being the new fashion accessories for 2020. 😎 Wearing my gloves and mask while typing this as recommended by admin😁
JB

Doug, previous post duly edited to save contusion.
JB