Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[pengbuzz]

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.

[pengbuzz]

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!

[Thom]

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!

[pengbuzz]

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 Wednesday at 06:47 PM by pengbuzz

[Papa Rat]

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...

♥️

[Big s]

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

[derex3592]

That's a KEEPER right there!!! 💕

[Thom]

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

[pengbuzz]

  

13 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

♥️

My sentiments exactly!!

 

12 hours ago, Big s said:

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

I'm very careful of that, Big s! She had a rough upbringing and life before I met her, and I'm the only one she ever felt safe around.  I understand her hurts, and she understands mine (mental and physical); we take care of each other.  

 

9 hours ago, derex3592 said:

That's a KEEPER right there!!! 💕

Definitely.  

  

8 hours ago, Thom said:

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

Well, I just did the "pick-through", and was able to salvage the cockpit and pilots (badly damaged, but repairable) the OMS and Main Engine bells, and of course, the satellites in the bay (they weren't in the shuttle when it fell).

Really, I just need decals. But all the ones I saw on eBay are stupid expensive (and I just need the basic sheet that came with the kit!)

And yeah; she is a treasure!! I hugged her so hard she yelped!  She managed to not only locate a kit, but the exact same version ("Young Astronaut"s from the 80's!)!!

So with that, I plan on doing this kit; only this time I'm hand-carving the tiles by hand, and doing the thermal blankets one-by-one in masking tape!

I might even do the individual tile numbers. O.O

Stay tuned...

 

Edited yesterday at 08:51 AM by pengbuzz

[MechTech]

@pengbuzz That's AWESOME man! Thank God for your wife and finding an ORIGINAL 80's kit! I remember that kit too - pretty cool! It's also great you got your starship nacelles sorted out too! Things are looking up! - MT

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, MechTech said:

@pengbuzz That's AWESOME man! Thank God for your wife and finding an ORIGINAL 80's kit! I remember that kit too - pretty cool! It's also great you got your starship nacelles sorted out too! Things are looking up! - MT

Yeah! She told me a little bit ago she went on eBay, tracked down the exact same version and bought it, then when it came in yesterday, she hid it until she could surprise me with it!

Sneaky wife!