pengbuzz Posted Tuesday at 05:33 AM Posted Tuesday at 05:33 AM 12 hours ago, Thom said: Good job on that @Photogirl! Looks fire! As @Big s says @pengbuzz at least the crew is alive and, judging by the guy on the left, enjoying the close call! Thanks Thom! Yeah, I'm trying to make it look like shadowing and not a fire sale! I've always had trouble with sludge washes (no wonder I like X-wing models; they're supposed to look beat up!). Going to do more white drybrushing and detail painting to correct it. This is what I'm going for: This is Astronaut Bruce McCandless II; on the NASA Shuttle Mission STS-41B ( OV-099 Challenge,r Feb 3-11, 1984), he made history as the first astronaut to pilot the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) on the first untethered spacewalk in the history of spaceflight. This photo always resonated with me since they first showed it, but I never knew who the man in the suit was until a few years ago. Let me introduce him: The first picture is of McCandless in the Apollo Program in the 60's, while the second is of him 20 years later for the Space Shuttle missions. In this picture, he was serving as Capsule Communicator ("CAPCOM", main voice communicating to the astronauts aboard the craft ) for the Apollo 11 mission: It took him 20 years, but he finally got to space in the 1980's. As a former Navy pilot, he served aboard USS Forrestal and USS Enterprise (on the latter during the Cuban Missile Crisis), and was an electrical engineer (graduating with a BA in electrical engineering from the Naval Academy, 2nd in his class in 1958. His classmates: NSA Advisor John Poindexter and Sen. John McCain!). There's a ton more info about him at his Wikipedia entry (otherwise I'd be three pages deep talking about him!): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_McCandless_II He was one of the designers of the MMU, and the first one to test it out in space! Sadly, by the time I discovered all of this, Mr. McCandless had passed away (December 21, 2017). I had wanted to meet him, but I missed him by 2 months. This is why it pays to examine the stories behind the things you find pics of or want to model; there are some truly incredible lives waiting to be discovered and read about if you're willing to look. And I want to do a diorama using the figure I modified that replicates the photo of him during his historic spacewalk. Quote
pengbuzz Posted Tuesday at 05:45 AM Posted Tuesday at 05:45 AM On 5/30/2025 at 7:00 PM, Thom said: @pengbuzz Understand the hurt. But, also glad to hear you found the right size spheres for the 22 incher! Huzzah! Yeah; by the way, if anyone needs them for theirs, they sent me a coupe of dozen!!O.o Let me know if anyone needs any! Quote
Thom Posted Tuesday at 01:02 PM Posted Tuesday at 01:02 PM 7 hours ago, pengbuzz said: Yeah; by the way, if anyone needs them for theirs, they sent me a coupe of dozen!!O.o Let me know if anyone needs any! A couple of dozen!? Might be time to make a First Federation ship! A small one, to be sure! Quote
pengbuzz Posted 6 hours ago Posted 6 hours ago (edited) On 6/3/2025 at 9:02 AM, Thom said: A couple of dozen!? Might be time to make a First Federation ship! A small one, to be sure! Right? On another note: last Thursday, I finally broke down and told my wife what happened to my 1/72 Space Shuttle model kit. She said that she "knew something had happened" and I explained to her how I lost control of it and how it shattered. She gave me a hug and told me not to worry about it; but she insisted from now on I spray it outside on the ground floor, and that she would "take care of anyone complaining". I thought that was the end of it. A few minutes ago, I came into the room where my worktable/ computer table is and found this: Spoiler This note was attached to it: Honey, I know what you would say, but I felt REALLY bad about what happened to your model. I bought you this one; let me know if any parts are missing and I'll ask the seller about it (he said it was complete). We had a little extra money this month, so don't worry about the household. PLEASE DON'T ARGUE WITH ME; all I ask is that you build it with everything you've got. Make this the one you always wanted. ❤️ -Wife Trying to find a box of tissues right now... and decals for this. Stay tuned... Edited 5 hours ago by pengbuzz Quote
Papa Rat Posted 5 hours ago Posted 5 hours ago 33 minutes ago, pengbuzz said: Right? On another note: last Thursday, I finally broke down and told my wife what happened to my 1/72 Space Shuttle model kit. She said that she "knew something had happened" and I explained to her how I lost control of it and how it shattered. She gave me a hug and told me not to worry about it; but she insisted from now on I spray it outside on the ground floor, and that she would "take care of anyone complaining". I thought that was the end of it. A few minutes ago, I came into the room where my worktable/ computer table is and found this: Hide contents This note was attached to it: Honey, I know what you would say, but I felt REALLY bad about what happened to your model. I bought you this one; let me know if any parts are missing and I'll ask the seller about it (he said it was complete). We had a little extra money this month, so don't worry about the household. PLEASE DON'T ARGUE WITH ME; all I ask is that you build it with everything you've got. Make this the one you always wanted. ❤️ -Wife Trying to find a box of tissues right now... and decals for this. Stay tuned... ♥️ Quote
Big s Posted 4 hours ago Posted 4 hours ago 1 hour ago, pengbuzz said: Right? On another note: last Thursday, I finally broke down and told my wife what happened to my 1/72 Space Shuttle model kit. She said that she "knew something had happened" and I explained to her how I lost control of it and how it shattered. She gave me a hug and told me not to worry about it; but she insisted from now on I spray it outside on the ground floor, and that she would "take care of anyone complaining". I thought that was the end of it. A few minutes ago, I came into the room where my worktable/ computer table is and found this: Hide contents This note was attached to it: Honey, I know what you would say, but I felt REALLY bad about what happened to your model. I bought you this one; let me know if any parts are missing and I'll ask the seller about it (he said it was complete). We had a little extra money this month, so don't worry about the household. PLEASE DON'T ARGUE WITH ME; all I ask is that you build it with everything you've got. Make this the one you always wanted. ❤️ -Wife Trying to find a box of tissues right now... and decals for this. Stay tuned... She sounds amazing. Glad to hear that she’s got your back. Make sure you don’t do anything to drive her away because she sounds like a keeper for sure Quote
Thom Posted 19 minutes ago Posted 19 minutes ago Your wife is a TREASURE,@pengbuzz! She treats you well, so you must be treating her well, and that is wonderful. And hey, if it's missing parts, you still have the other to pick through. Thom Quote
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