Lack of Respect

[QuarterMaster]

Those shop classes formed the basis for my career in the USCG as a Damage Controlman - I did welding, plumbing & pipefitting, building construction, hull repair, firefighting and stood watch in the engine room.

Semper Paratus!

Go Team CG!!

[Larry Kuntz]

Chips,
How interesting. I went to a vocational high school here in Rochester, NY called Edison Technical and Vocational High School, shortened to Edison Tech. We had an exploratory program in our first year that put you through wood and metal, electrical, textile, graphic arts, automotive, to name some I can remember (that was 50 years ago). From there I started at the U of R on a co-op program in my senior year, and I'm still there, 50 years this past February. Short time off for military service, Army, repair and calibration of electronic equipment at STRATCOM Fort Huachuca, AZ.

[chips]

I think the venue at which we display our models plays a part in the reactions we get.

About 10 years ago, when I was an active member of the local model boat club, we displayed some of our models at the Boating & Fishing Festival. The event was partly sponsored by the City of Cleveland; Ohio Fish & Wildlife; and the Lake Erie Marine Trade Association. The event was held at a city park near the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We were able to run our boats in the lake. The Cleveland Model Boat Club had a wide range of interests: sail & go fast power boats being the majority; scale boats the minority. Most of the models on display were scale boat. My display fleet consisted of: USS HAMMERHEAD, a GATO class fleet sub; an 80' Elco PT Boat; a German S-boat; a tug; and a mahogany runabout. One young man visiting the show noticed my E-boat and started asking questions: "Is that a navy ship?" Yes, I responded, and asked him if he knew which navy. "Look for the flag" I said. He saw the German WWII Naval Ensign and replied "It belongs to the Aryan Nation."

Later that year, we were displaying some more models at the Lakeside Wooden Boat Show held at the Lakeside Chautauqua facility near Sandusky, OH. I took most of my mahogany runabouts. A couple of teenage girls stopped to look at the models, and actually noticed the fire extinguisher inside one of my models.

At a couple of venues, I put a business card near the models. Sometimes the card reads "Pleas don't touch the models. They have been treated with Oxidane." Other cards substitute Oxidane with DiHydrogen Monoxide or Hydrogen Hydroxide. SOmetimes the parents actually read the cards and grab their kids hands before they touch the models. When they ask what the chemical is, I take a sip from my water bottle and mention how good it is.

[bigdave]

I love the business card idea.
They should be supplied at all boat meets. BD

[chips]

I'll bring some to the May 21st run.

[warpatroller]

thanks guys for the comments.

We are definitely the minority. We must have a certain type of brain, that is not commonly found. Problem solving is at the core of what we do. I think as an education system (New South Wales System) we have struggled with teaching problem solving, kids often want instant results and if it don't come immediately then they've lost interest.

I have always found it curious as to why large numbers of people find certain things interesting and not others. I struggle to watch sport, almost any sport and yet this draws in the masses. The rest of the family love soccer. I go along but am often sitting in the stand thinking about a model making problem.
It's often people who are sports fans that have ridiculed what I do.

david h

I have to solve problems constantly all day long, day after day, at my job. So, on the weekends I don't really want to spend what little free time I have, solving more problems.. But, I like submarines.. There in lies the dilemma. In regards to RC Subs, I have become more of a kit "collector".. Because every kit I have, has some sort of problem with it, that needs to be solved, before it gets anywhere near a body of water. I am also a perfectionist, which makes the process even more complicated, in my case.

I seem to be drawn to vintage models, and kits, which usually have out dated components and their own unique blend of problems and shortcomings. For example, I foolishly bought a vintage 80s speedboat kit, because I liked its looks, fully knowing it is kind of an ABS plastic-hulled piece of junk, with plastic tubes for propshaft bushings that don't fit inside the included stuffing tube.. It has many more problems too, that is just the beginning! For a few dollars more I could have bought a modern RTR speedboat made in China..

I could purchase a RTR submarine (two times I came close to doing it), but I don't think it would be very satisfying, to plop a boat in the water that I didn't assemble/build or work on.. When I do walk by a lake, I say to myself, it would be nice to get one of my kits in the water.. Then I go back to the kits, encounter the problems again, then put them back on the closet shelf, saying I'll deal with it another time.. As it becomes a chore, and no one is paying me to get my kits in the water.. If I hold on to them I'll have plenty of projects for when I am retired lol.

I'm a computer programmer, so my problem solving at my job is different than working with real world objects, that require specific physical tools (many of which I don't own) and learned skills to use them effectively. I replaced my kitchen faucet no problem, with no leaks, but getting the subs running, not so easy haha.. So I slowly am learning the tool stuff, like lathes etc. I think I am an anomaly on the forum. Because I don't actively run any model subs at all and drop in here sporadically. I do like checking out the ones that you guys make though..

[hardrock]

You just might be the average forum member. Nothing is perfect and everything can be improved upon and that's what makes this hobby so great. The simplest tweek can be profoundly satisfying. Everything has a crack in it - that's how the light gets in. If you do this for your own satisfaction, you will be rewarded - if you do it for recognition, you're in the wrong game. You'll get more love and respect if you buy a dog!

[tommydeen]

that is for sure....

[Davidh]

Hello all,

I took one of my subs to school today.

I told year eight after doing aeronautics in our mandatory technology class that I would show them what else I would build. Took my mike class (project 685) and put it into the room before class and had some year 10's follow me in asking questions. It was a good show and tell for about 10 minutes before the start of their classes. Most were amazed that you could make a sub RC and the inevitable question about camera's also came up. I don't know if anyone else has found this but I have never been asked 'what class of sub is it?'

So I showed year 8 and got some really good response. Tried to explain too them that there is more to Industrial Arts and woodwork and metal work that just making pencil boxes and candlelabra..

I was also told by colleagues that I should take the contract for the new subs and save the government some money. What I could do with 50 billion....


Dave H

[thor]

Great job!