Non-bilateral gynandromorph Cecropia Moth.

This is, I believe, a non bilateral gynandromorph Cecropia Moth. What that means is, It has features of both sexes in one individual. This moth eclosed about 2 weeks ago, of which I first thought was a normal male. But it started acting odd, doing things a normal male OR female Cecropia would not do. It was gyrating its abdomen in circular movement, and I thought it was injured or something. Later on it did it again, and this time I really looked at "him", and my eyes grew open wide. Here, its abdomen was the size of a females abdomen, even after his wings were fully dried and hardened. I went to get it out of the emergence cage, and turned him over. That is when my eyes could not believe what I was seeing. He opened his anal claspers to reveal dual sex organs, both an ovipositor, and directly below that, a reduced penis. The last time I saw that was in a gynandromorph Luna Moth I raised back around 2003. Aberration that does not happen very often, but it does happen. This specimen is proof of that...

Notre-Dame Cathedral 1972 "Pizza Box Model", Revisited...

Because of recent events in Paris with the devastating fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral, I thought it would be a good time to do some refurbishing work on my old 1972 model. It is like the real building in dire need for some maintenance/ repair and enhancing work. The way the model was, it is still the way I completed it in '72. It has  silverfish damage that needs to be addressed. I was 14 when I built this, but I am now almost 62. I feel this is my last chance to solidify this model one last time before I pass on...

This will be an ongoing project, and as I make progress I'll add new pictures, here.

As you can see, I have painted the roof and repainted the spire. I have also added cut bamboo skewers to the outside edges of the flying buttresses to simulate the spires that were incorporated on them on the actual building.

 More later as I make progress, mostly refreshing the window and door details on the old model

This picture shows the model with the new  south side transept spires in place. They are more proportionately correct than the old ones were. This would be the view one would have of the cathedral if you were on the Seine River looking back at it. Note now that all the window details have been highlighted with a No. 2 lead pencil to make them stand out more.

 This is the view of the north side with the new transept spires in place there.

This is a before photo showing the old and incorrectly proportioned transept spires.

What you are looking at here is the demolition debris of the 47 year old transept spires which I made at the time out of acid based typewriter paper. They were so brittle with age that they literally crumbled in my hands when I removed them from the model building. Also in this picture is a spare new transept spire along with an extra spire tower tube sheet that I did not need to use and fold up into a tube as I only needed to make 4 of these, and I did enough to produce 6. I did make 5 complete ones, though.

Replacing the North and South transept spires alleviates almost all the serious silverfish damage the model did have, There is some minor silverfish damage to what I now call my incorrectly installed transept wings, but nothing serious that would affect the structural integrity of them , or the model as a whole. Anyway, I have been thinking about removing these as the actual building never had them. The view of the photo I used showed these what I thought were attached, they way I did with the model, are actually completely detached parsonage buildings.  They way they are actually positioned, they will not fit on the existing posterboard baseplate the model is built on. The transept facades actually have doors located there, instead.

R-34 scale model project isolated image pic.

This photo brings out the most detail of the overall model, and is pretty much a pictorial summary of the project.

Jim.

All balsa wood construction scratch built 1959 Cadillac coupe from November of 1975.

 Here is a model that I have not paid any attention to for years and years. To tell you the truth, I kind of forgot that I still have this thing. It is kept in a really dark and secluded spot in my hobby room. It dates all the way back to the same year I got my 5 speed Schwinn Corvette bicycle, only in the fall of that year, right before I turned 18.

Series sixty-two 1959 Cadillac coupe is a scratch built model that I made in November of 1975 entirely out of hand shaped balsa wood, except of course for the window "glass". I was a senior in high school when I made this. I did it because at the time, there were no model kits of this car available, and I wanted one. Plus the fact by that time, 1959 Cadillacs were considered to be just old junk, and not worth anything by the general public. So I drew up plans for it, based on some pictures of a 1959 Cadillac that was sitting in front of the Goodwill building on N. Plum Street in Lancaster, and a coupe picture I found in a magazine. When I was done with it, I took it in to my high school, and showed it to my industrial arts teacher, and he really thought it was neat. It is approximately 1/22 scale, about 10 + inches long.

Jim.

R-34 scale model project... Completely done and on display; April 21, 2014!!

I finally completed all work on the R-34 airship model, today, about 2 years and 3 months after I cut out the keels for the thing.I actually was not working on it steadily most of that time because of some bad health issues I had to deal with along the way. Now that the model is done, any subsequent pictures that are taken of the model will go in this final post of this subject. It is completed 5 years and 3 months ahead of the 100th anniversary of this historic vessel of the air's double trans Atlantic flight which took place in July of 1919.

In the above picture, you will notice the upward horizontal cant or dihedral angle of the horizontal fins on this model. This is correct, and not a mistake, as the actual ship had this feature. It provided extra aerodynamic lift for the tail as the ship was moving through the air to supplement the static lift of the hydrogen gas in the  gas cells in the ship. Picture below shows this feature in the actual ship.

 Above, what my model looks like in a Sepia tone style photo that looks like it was taken in 1919.

Same image in normal color with brightness and contrast adjusted.

Jim.

R-34 scale model project... Completed, but a few more minor steps to do yet.

Completed!! After two years of dealing with it, here is a first sneak peak picture of my R-34 model still sitting in it's work cradle right after I finished the color graphic paint work and decaling work. What looks like is black on the nose and tail, as well as the rudders, is actually a medium dark blue. I could not match the decals up to that detail. A minor glitch in my eyes. This first picture was taken in not very good light, and it makes this color differentiation look worse than it is.After I have the model top dull clear coated, I will get better pictures of it after it is hanging up. For now, you guys are seeing it first, right here in these pics, the results of my two year study and work on the model of this historic airship, which in my eyes is one of the most beautiful airships that was ever built. That is why I wanted a model of it.

These two pictures (immediately above) shows the model right after the final top clear coat was applied to the thing, today, April 20, 2014.

Completed R-34 cars before I installed them on the model last week, April 13th. The control car is 1-1/2" long. They are made completely out of hand shaped block balsa wood. The "radiators" are just tiny squares of acid free printer paper that I painted black. That holds for the windows and door openings as well.

(Above) A first portrait picture of the freshly completed and hung R-34 next to the same scale Shenandoah model in my hobby room/ mini airship museum. I will post more pictures of the completed model in it's own separate wrap up post in this blog, later. But for now, enjoy this picture of the two ships of Zachary Lansdowne, together.

Jim.

R-34 scale model project... Almost there, but not quite.

Here are some teaser pictures for now. Yesterday and today, I finished all the detail work to the cars, made and attached the propellers, and permanently glued the cars to the ship. Now that remains to be done is the rudder and elevator flap as well as nose and tail cone "Bullseye" red white and blue paint work, and the decals. After that it can be sealed and called done.

Jim.