I’ve been building a wooden model ship for a few months, here above is the current state. It’s taken quite a while to get to this point, probably six months worth of odd evenings. I’ve shelved it for a while as didn’t want to start the rigging for a bit. Here’s an album in imgur of the a buildlog if interested. HMS Albatross – Constructo Model Kit
Tamiya 1/48 F4U-1D Corsair
So I needed a hobby whilst job hunting and found a decent local hobby store in Sydney. I ended up buying my first model kit since I was a kid, probably in about 14 years. Having some spending money made me able to buy the right gear to have a decent go at it, whereas when I was a kid I had no money for paint, decent brushes etc. So here’s the result:
Foshy, walking LeJog, 1033miles
I came across a blog by a chap called Foshy, who walked Lands End to John o’Groats. I’ve often thought of cycling it, but never toyed with the idea of walking it, although it does sound a great idea, reading his daily post was pretty cool. Have a butchers: http://foshy.co.uk/
Why did I buy a DJI F450 Quadcopter?
So apparently I jumped head first into the quadcopter world by building this weapon. It’s not a drone, if anything it’s a UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) but that sounds bollocks too. It’s a quadcopter, it’s got four rotors and is piloted by me, with a transmitter and sometimes I wear video goggles so I can fly it in first person view (FPV) depending on the situation. So the finished product, a DJI (yes they make Phantoms) F450 on my walking backpack with RayBans for scale.
Scotland’s Majestic Munros
Driving back home from Scotland is always a bit depressing, not only due to the 700 mile drive but I hate to leave the place. As we headed down the A82 a couple of days after Christmas, the snow having only landed the previous night, I had a great view up to Meall a’ Bhuiridh on the right at 1108m and Creise (1100m) over the moor. Two munros looking magnificent in the morning sun. Even my shitty iphone camera managed to take a decent picture of them in the distance. Scotland is such an incredible place. Picture taken from here.
Buildlog with DJI F450 Flamewheel Naza V2 and a stock Turnigy 9x Transmitter
It took me a fair while to get my 450 airborne with not knowing anything about the hobby and did a lot of research. The whole process wasn’t listed anywhere with the items I used, so thought I’d write a buildlog of my process, perhaps it would help someone else.
Turnigy 9x Stick Calibration
First thing to do when you’ve got a new transmitter is to calibrate the sticks. Very easy to do on the 9x, although it’s not particularly well-known. Just follow these easy steps.
Turnigy 9X Switch Error / Beeping
So you’ve bought yourself a Turnigy 9X transmitter, turn this shiny device on and you are presented by an annoying beeping noise and “Switch Error” and first thing you do his hit google. It’s not broken, it’s just telling you that it needs the switches all moved to the off position. Move all the switches upwards and away from you (this doesn’t include the sticks), and hey presto, no more annoying noise. Something I found out rather quickly!
Make a Half Dollar Silver Ring
I was surfing Reddit as I often am when I came across a guy who had posted a thread about a ring that his father had made from an American half dollar coin. I often find myself with nothing to do and this piqued my interest. After some googling I found that all pre 1965 American large coins were made from solid silver, or thereabouts, and these are easy to turn into a ring. So at that point I jumped on eBay and bought myself a Half Dollar coin, a 1958 Ben Franklin coin to be exact for £7 delivered, bargain! A bit of further searching and it would appear I could flog it to the yanks for about $40 if I could be bothered, I couldn’t, so ring making commenced.