One Ceremony After Another

The awards ceremony concluded, the troops and civilians are released to their usual job duties.

Sarge, nobody in the Engineers answers the phone, they are all at the awards ceremony. Why all the urgency? Why do we have all the extra security on any way? How cares if a bulldozer sits here for a couple days?

We got all the extra men on duty for security. There is a Top Secret visitor visiting the base, haven't you heard the news?

Sarge, if it was Top Secret, how would I have heard the news?

The base in on special lock up, for one very good reason. We got machine guns and armored cars and streets blocked off for a very important person who is going to visit the base. That's why everything is locked up tight as a drum. That's why I don't want no bulldozer here at the north gate.

As one awards ceremony ends, another formation begins with a benediction from the base chaplain.

Himmler's Crusade

Remember the first Indiana Jones movie where the Nazis were fighting Indiana's girlfriend in her bar in Tibet? Were there all that many Nazi's in Tibet before WWII? Were they looking for secret amulets to lead them to the Lost Ark of the Covenant? Did they carry submachine guns and dress in leather overcoats?

This new book by Christopher Hale, HIMMLERS'S CRUSADE, The Nazi Expedition to Find the Origins of the Aryan Race, 2006, Castle Books, New Jersey, will give you those answers.
The short version is there were five Nazi's in Tibet and they were mostly looking for birds, sheep, grain seeds, and measuring the magnetosphere and the people who lived there. It is an exciting adventure story, one filled with spies, and intrigue and eventually war and death.

There are some good wargame scenarios in the book. The various British Empire officials that they encountered often tried to keep the Germans out of India and Tibet. They carried a few bolt action hunting rifles, but what if they carried better weapons and actually had to fight the British? They had large caravans of several different kinds of animals carrying tons of gear and food. They also considered plans to wage guerrilla warfare during World War Two as a way to keep British troops defending India. Check it out.

Award Ceremony From Hell

Okay, call the base Engineers. They use bulldozers. They must have ordered one and it just got dropped off here for some reason. I bet that's it. Yes, I am sure they will take it off our hands.

"...and so in recognition of the fine work done here by a great patriot and lover of freedom..."

"...a great scientist that we can all respect and admire for his magnificent work up to today..."

"Dr. I it is my great privilege to present you with this award today."

"Thank you, but what I really want is enough men to do the job and a bulldozer!"

A near audible sigh of relief falls over the several hundred men drawn up in this company to witness this event. Standing around while someone makes a very generic and boring speech to give another award to someone who has a drawer full of them can be very trying. At least it was not a hot day.

MPC slot and ring hand figures, with a few from Carzol and a few others. Armored car by Tim Mee.

Even More Sticky Stuff

Epoxy glues are two part glues, with a resin and a hardener. The two parts are mixed together and then applied like regular glue. I take a small square of heavy duty aluminum foil and mix the glue on that using large tooth picks or BBQ skewers. I usually squirt two equal amounts about the size of a small coin and mix them together. The resin is very clear and the hardener is a little cloudy. When mixed there is a subtle color change. Apply with a toothpick, a sturdy one.

This is a five minute epoxy, meaning it typically will stay usable for about five minutes. Longer if it is colder, shorter if is it hotter. Expoy is very good for soft metal kits and resin kits. It gap fills well, especially if you wait for four minutes before applying. Both surfaces should be a little bit rough for best adhesion, even just a tiny brush with a fine sandpaper is fine. It holds very well and I also us it to fill air bubble holes in resin models.

There are many brands, and many price ranges and they all work a bit differently. Most cure slower than five minutes, 20, 30 or even 60 minutes being typical, but I find when model building I want the parts to join quickly so I can go on to the next one.

GOO from Walthers is sold at model railroad stores. It is a very strong rubber cement. It will hold soft plastic figures reasonably well for years but is it a brick brown color and looks bad unless the glue and figure are painted over. It is cheap and very sticky, so it grips very well. This also works pretty well for larger resin parts. Goo can be used as a contact cement, put a bit on both parts, press them together, pull them apart, wait 30 seconds and then press them together exactly as you want them because they are not coming apart again easily! Very good for large metal or resin parts that you want stuck together without much holding.

Insta-cure, odorless, gap filling super glue is very helpful. It is very good for small resin parts and very good for soft plastic figure conversions that are made of plastic that does not glue with regular model glue. Gap filling helps to fill in spaces between to parts that don't match up well. Odorless is nice because I hate the smell of superglues.

While the tube was purchased at Brookhurst Hobbies, in Garden Grove, CA is is actually distributed by another company that re-marks the package. Bob Smith Industries has a great website that will tell you more about superglues than you ever want to know.

The rumor is that the superglues made for plastic use an activator made of N-Heptane to prepare the surface and then a regular formula superglue can affix the two plastic parts. I purchased some Bestine solvent at an art supply store and used it with my superglue on plastic and it worked fine. Simply paint on the odorless, colorless, clear, very flammable N-Heptane on both parts, using a cheap brush, in the spot to be glued. Then apply the superglue as normal. Seems to work fine. It is way cheaper than the special plastic glue.

As with all these glues, read the directions, heed the precautions, wear eye protection, get plenty of ventilation and be careful of fire, pets and little kids. Finally keep this hobby prayer in mind when working with glue: What has just been joined, let no man put asunder.