Swimming freely

Well, its quite weird today. First, its still the fasting month and second, the school holidays have just started. This means, there were hardly any other children at the swimming pool. Kristine's teacher has more time with her while Kaelynn.... well, has more time to herself.

But surprisingly, in the baby pool, with the absense of most children, all the Daddies took over. They were happily playing with their kids except me. Yep, I forgot my swimming trunks.....

Kaelynn submerging by herself.
She was playing in the water,
trying to go 'under', something
which I tried to get her to do for
ages.

Later on, the girls had their favourite Kuey Teow.
I had to take this shot because they both look so
well, nice/weird/synchronised/cute (take your pick)

The Bakugan

OK. I did it again. As I was coming back from the customer, I passed by the same shop and got these little things for RM2.00 each. And I still do not understand why it costs about RM20.00 or so for one of these. All I know is that you roll these little buggers onto a card and then it pops up ala Transformers. I got two, one for each girls.....

These little balls are about 1.5 inch and they look fragile

The clever thing is, there is a small magnet under
the toy. It acts as a release mechanism. As soon as
the little magnet meets metal, it will pull itself to it
and as a result, the action unlocks the mechanism.

And here it is! I just used my thumbdrive's metal
shield which activates the toy. Hmmm.... little guy.

Actually, the little guy is the most 'secure' Bakugan
of all. The blue one is crap. It is using only a small
flimsy square to hold every thing together. Which
makes it very 'unstable'.

Starfleet Assembly Manual 4

Finally, I've gotten it scanned. Its a 1982 book which details how you can make the AMT/ERTL 1/537 plastic kit of the Starship Enterprise NCC-1701/A look more accurate. And this was the time before Internet and Photo-etch parts. When it came out, it was THE book for anyone looking to turn their crap into something much palatable to the eyes.

When I was in the UK, the book was always sold out and until one day, in my first Con in Sheffield, I found the book and boy, its like reading CineFex (in its early days, la) where all the secrets and techniques are opened to you. everything is in there, from the electronics to sanding smooth the surface to even scratch building out the details.

But alas, it was also very daunting for a kid like me whose idea of paining a model kit involves using only a brush, even for a military tank. And also, I guess this is also the start of me buying stuff and shelving it away after doing bits of it, and hoping to return in the near future.

And so, 60 pages and 101MB later, its all digitized.

So, Brucie, baby, you want or not?

Overhear

Kaelynn: Mom.....
Kaelynn: Mooooom!
Grandma: You should go to Mommy and not call Mommy to come here!
Kaelynn: If I call you, can?
Grandma: .......

Lighting an AV98-2 cage

Just some time ago, I got this remarkable 1/35scale Patlabor for a very good price. Its so good, if I tell you, you won't even believe it. And since I know you won't believe it, I am not going to tell you. Wahahahahahahah......

Anyway, what really attracted me was that this kit has the infamous "Patlamp flash Unit", which is actually a fancy word for LED flasher. But what really made the difference is that they designed the LED system to emulate a revolving beacon light, something which is not easy to do from a mass production point of view. And so, despite cutting some corners, it really works.

Another point I would like to highlight is that at 1/35 scale, the model is quite tall, maybe about almost to 1 feet but I am not sure. Anyway, this is a Master grade version from Bandai which is quite detailed. Just looking at the instruction sheet, it seemed as if all the internal mechanism has been designed to move in tandem when you open a cover, etc. Apart from all this, my main aim for this model is to light it up. Since the Patlamp system is already in there, I do not have to worry about the red beacons. But for reality's sake, the yellow lamps next to them at the shoulder pad and also at the waist, might need to be lighted up as well. However, there is nothing much on the internet to show if they are lit all the time or just for show.

But I have another plan for this model.....

And so, finally, after staring at it for years at toy shops
and watching them disappear, I finally have one. But
this AV-98 Ingram is #2, piloted by that trigger-happy
shortie. I wanted #1 which was piloted by Noa Izumi.
Then again, its in my hands, why be choosy?

This is the Patlamp Flash Unit, which is run by a
3.0v 2032 battery. I have to figure out how to do
the wiring so that it can be externally powered.
This is because when I put in additional LEDs into
the model, the 2032 battery won't last long and I
hate unscrewing the screws to change the battery.

This is the front console where I suppose, the
pilot is getting the feedback from. And so, it has
to be lit. But I am not sure if I want it to be just
lit permanently or let it flicker. I have to look
for a White LED with a size as similar to the red
one above. Then I would have to either drill out
the hole or scratchbuild a console with fronsted
lens. And this console is about 8mm or less.

Then there are the side walls in the cage. It would
be a nice idea to light it up as well but there is one
problem........

On the other side of the wall, are 'U-shapes' where another
plastic part slides in and out when you move the cockpit
or chest cover. So this means I would have to carefully
make out the square holes for the LEDs and stick it flush
and not into the wall. But I would have to cheat a little
by placing a 1mm frosted transparent over them to
diffused the light better, that is, if I can find a DVD for
this as this model came out from their third Movie.

Just looking at that fat shortie in the cage wants
to inspire me to do this kit. But I have to look for
the DVD first in case I make a mistake of putting
too much lights.

Imagine if the whole cockpit is lit and also flickering.......