The Engine Kit Is Almost Finished. . .

Between toy soldiers and model car engines during the last ten days or so, things have been kind of busy here in Zum Stollenkeller Mk II.

The Young Master and I just finished installing the distributor, the spark plugs, and adjusted everything into synch on his engine kit started on Father's Day (June 17). It works! If all goes well, we can finish the final few steps tomorrow and fire it up with additional AA batteries. Then, it's on to the Smithsonian jet engine kit. Stand back and hold on to your hats for that one!

-- Stokes

P.S.

The Young Master and I finished the last few steps on his engine kit Thursday evening before bedtime reading, and it works like a charm. The drive shaft works the pistons and exhaust valves plus other parts, and the four "sparkplugs" (little yellow fairy lights) also light up in synch to the exhaust valves opening and closing. Easily the most complicated kit yours truly has even assembled, but the two of us managed it, and the Young Master learned a bit about patience and perseverance (following several mistakes by ol' Dad in the assembly of key parts) as well as how internal combustion engines actually work. Good fun, and we next have our collective sights set on the jet engine kit for late July once he returns from his annual maternal grandparent visit mid-month.

Comments

Pierre le Poilu said…

Your lad's growing - love the orange shirt

4:39 AM

Presenting the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere!!!

Here they are, with the rearmost nine figures still drying, three squadrons of the Anspach-Bayreuth Kuirassiere, now in the service of the Grand Duchy of Stollen. And now, it's onto that artillery!

And It's the End of September!!!

Saxony's Ploetz Cuirassiers, an illustration lifted from the Kronoskaf website, which has thus far guided my spectacularly glacial painting of 30 28mm Eureka Saxon cuirassiers purchased all the way back in October 2016. A gray, cool Saturday here in Mid-Michigan with rain in the forecast. The Grand Duchess is away at a conference, so it's just "The Boys" here at home. The Young Master (almost 15) has retreated to his room for something or other following breakfast while I have stolen back down here to Zum Stollenkeller (masquerading as my office) with a second mug of coffee and both cats comfortably ensconced nearby. Enjoying the late morning and still in my pajamas! Not much planned for today beyond designing a couple of promotional flyers for workshops my department is presenting (small parties we will throw?) in October and November. With maybe a bit of on the next podcast script. More important, I am toying with the idea of returning for an hour or...

Happy September 2nd!!!

T his weekend, the question of what, precisely, constitutes an "imagination" came up in an online forum of which I am a part. To be fair, the issue originates from further afield in a Facebook group that I am not a member of, but I weighed in with my own view. The following was in response to the question posed yesterday (Sunday) morning by an exasperated member of my own rather more gentlemanly town square, who had been met with a strident response to information he shared about his (admirable) hobby activities on said FB group. Here is, more or less, what I wrote: To my mind, the concept of imagi-nation(s) is a broad one. It can range from historical refights or what-if scenarios/battles/campaigns between armies of a particular era, to completely made up combatants operating in a quasi-historical setting, to the rather generic red and blue forces of the Prussian Kriegspiel that examine a particular tactical problem, task, or exercise. ...

The Grand Duchy of Stollen

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