Synfig

Yesterday I read and article on about.com Linux about a program I had never heard of before called Synfig. Synfig is an animation program so I knew right away I wanted to try synfig. I hoped there was a synfig version for windows OS. There were 4 .exes to download for windows.

I downloaded the 4 .exes for windows and then got confused because I had looked at the synfig documentation and it talked about installing mingw and other stuff for windows so I downloaded Mingw and msys, but could not get msys installed because of an error, so in desperation I ran the 4 windows .exe and then realised I had wasted a few hours downloading mingw and msys and should have tried running the 4 .exes first. At least I got Synfig to work that is all that matters to me.

So after I got Synfig installed I stated the program up and it worked, Wow I was so relieved that it worked. I did not have time to use Synfig last night so I shut it down. This morning I went to the Synfig website and tried the beginner tutorial, using synfig was not to hard. I want to do all the tutorials on the synfig website so I can learn how to use the program.

Drawing

Another hobby I have is drawing. I have been drawing every day for over a year. I don't remember when I first wanted to draw, probably 15 or 20 years ago. I never drew much before a year ago because I would draw and what ended up on the paper would be pretty bad so I thought I did not have any talent. So I did not practice drawing.

I know now what I wish I knew 15 years ago, if you want to get good at something you have to practice, practice, practice. I don't think I am a good artist, but at least I am doing something I enjoy and that is all that matters. I may never be any good at drawing, but that's OK.

More Radio Control

I did not know anything about RCs when I got my RCs and I don't know much about RCs now. I had one little booklet with pictures of RCs and one issue of radio control car action when I got the hornet. I think the hawk and hornet came with manuals, but I never bothered to read them. I charged the battery and drove the vehicles without knowing what maintenance I should be doing.

The battery pack I got to use with my hornet got wrecked or for some other reason did not work anymore so I got another battery pack for my vehicles that was used and it still works today. I bought the used battery because it was cheaper than a new battery. I am surprised either battery lasted very long because I would run the battery down and recharge it with my charger without letting it cool down which is bad for the battery.

One thing I did not like about the Radio controlled vehicles was that the transmitter took eight AA batteries. I know I could have gotten rechargeable AA batteries, but I got regular AA batteries and it always seemed like a waste. I wanted to convert the transmitters to be able to use a battery pack, but never knew how to do the conversion.

TRAXXAS HAWK RC truck

My other RC vehicle is a Traxxas HAWK. I think I got the hawk a few years after the hornet, but I can't remember. I wanted to get the Lunch Box, but I got the hawk instead because the store was out of the lunch box and I could not wait to get another RC. I got it ready to run although I could have gotten it as a kit to build also. I wish I had gotten the kit and built the hawk myself.

I always wanted a transmitter with a steering wheel so I got one when I bought the hawk. I always wanted a electronic speed control so I got one for the Hawk. At the time getting an electronic speed control made perfect sense, but looking back I wonder why I got it. I only drove the hawk in the driveway so why get the electronic speed control. The decision makes no sense at all. The mechanical speed control would have been fine for how I used the hawk. I should mention I got the electronic speed control after I had the hawk for awhile.

Another thing I did that makes no sense now, I took apart the transmitter. I don't remember how much of the transmitter I took apart. Why I took it apart I do not know, but at least I got it back together and I am sure it works now. Taking apart the transmitter was a bad idea.

I like the hawk although I have not used it for awhile. A battery powered truck is fine, but some day I want to get a gas powered monster truck. Driving a monster truck I am sure would be great fun and I have always wanted a gas powered RC.

The Hornet 1/10 scale

Another hobby I have is Radio Controlled vehicles. I have not driven my RC's for a while although I still have both of them. The RC I want to talk about today is The Hornet. I have had it for 17 years. I think it sill works, but I have not tried using it yet.

I remember when I got the Hornet I probably wanted a Lunch Box which is a van with big wheels or an RC 12 instead of the Hornet, but the store probably did no have those two RC's so I got the Hornet. I also got a transmitter and a battery and a battery charger so I could drive the Hornet.

The Hornet came as a kit that had to be assembled before I could use it, but I did not assemble it, my dad did. I wish I had the patience at that time to assemble it myself but I didn't. I have never assembled and RC kit myself, but I think it would be fun to do. The assembly probably took a day or two for my dad and I am sure I used the Hornet right after he finished putting it together.

The RC has needed a few repairs:

1. The mechanical speed control had to be replaced once, but I am not sure how the original speed control broke.



2. The wires on the electric motor have had to be soldered a few times because they came loose.

Vim

One program that I have wanted to learn since I got the cygwin c/c++ compiler is vim. I think the idea of a text editor where I can use keys on the keyboard to edit rather than using the mouse is pretty amazing. I have not used vim much at all, but some day I hope to learn how to use the program to write source code.

XBLite programming language

Yet another programming language I have installed on my computer is the XBLite programming language which I found at programmers heaven. I have not used the XBLite compiler much. I would not mind learning the programming language, but I do not have the time to learn it right now. It looks like it might be fun though so maybe some day I will get around to trying XBLite.

Space shuttle model

The pictures are of a space shuttle model I put together a long time ago. I remember I put it together the same day I got the model kit. It was a skill level one model that snapped together and that is why I put the model together so fast. I did not paint the model before I assembled it. The paint was put on some time later and I did not do a good job of painting it.

The shuttle is missing the wheels. I don't know where the wheels are, they are probably laying around some were because I don't think I through them away. The model looks to be in good shape considering I have not taken care of it.

Plane model

The picture on the right is a plane model I put together. Well at least it's what is left of a model I put together. I'm not sure what kind of plane it is because I have not found the box yet. The model kit was I think skill level 2.

The model is missing the wheels, the propeller the cockpit windshield and most of the pieces that were in the cockpit. I remember the model kit had little metal pieces that I had to glue into the cockpit. I used Elmer's glue for the little metal pieces and was nervous while gluing them into the cockpit of the aeroplane, but I got them glued in fine.

I think the model looks OK, but what a shame I let it get ruined. I don't know if I will be able to find the missing pieces and put the model back together. I wish I woud have taken better care of it.

Austin Powers

Today I think I'll write about 3 of my favorite moves, the austin powers movies. I think the first two austin powers movies were ok, but the third austin powers movie austin powers goldmember is my favorite. I think it's the best austin powers movie.

I liked goldmember because of the 1970's disco parts of the movie which I thought were cool. I love disco music although I don't know the names of any of the singers who made disco music except for Donna Summer, and the beegees. I also like the clothes from that era, yep I love pant suits and platform shoes. I don't know much about clothing so I hope all the things I mentioned above are from the disco era. I can't think of anything else to write about the movie so this post is done.

Lisp programming langauge

Another programming language I have tried is Lisp. I wanted to read the book practical common lisp so I downloaded Lisp in a box and started reading the book, but Lisp in a box uses Emacs so I thought I needed to learn how to use Emacs and I only wanted to learn lisp so I got frustrated and stopped learning lisp after a few days. I want to try and learn common lisp again someday. And also learning how to use emacs would be fun too.

My favorite car model The General Lee

The pictures are of my favorite car model the general Lee a 1969 dodge charger from the T.V show The Dukes of hazzard. The front wheels are not on the model because I smashed the model a little, by accident. I cut the trunk lid off because I tried to make a fancy trunk with a nice interior and opening trunk lid, but it did not work out. Making a trunk is harder than I thought I would have been.

I think the decals look nice. I am proud of how the decals turned out, because I did not think I'd get them on the car without ruining them. I am not good at putting decals on models, but I wanted to do a good job because the general Lee kit had nice decals to put on the car. I also used Elmer's glue to glue the windows on the model.

I do not remember how long it took me to put the model kit together, but it probably took a month or two. I like the way the model turned out and I had fun putting it together.

scale modeling continued

More about scale modeling. I also had putty for scale models. I know I used the putty once, but I don't know what for. I think getting the putty was a waste. That wraps up all the scale modeling tools I have because I can't think of any other tools I have.

I enjoyed the scale modeling hobby, but I probably quit the hobby because I got frustrated that I could not create a great scale model with opening doors and trunks and spark plug wires and a great paint job with perfect decals.

I was also thinking maybe scale modeling is to expensive and that is another reason why I quit, but then I though it's not that expensive, 10 to 15 dollars for a plastic model kit and may be 15 to 20 dollars for some paint and glue its a cheap hobby compared to some others. Writing about scale models makes me want to build one.

plastic scale models continued

Some more scale model tool talk today. I had sand paper that I wanted to use between coats of paint when spay painting my models. I probably did use the sand paper for that purpose, but I don't think the sand paper helped my paint jobs. I believe I also had a tack rag to use after I sanded the coat of paint to get all the loose debris off the model.

I wanted to do some custom stuff to my models so I had a little saw, small knives, and sheets of plastic. I used the saw to cut the doors open and also make trunks open on cars. The doors and trunks opened, but I needed to make hinges. I did not make good hinges. Cutting parts out did not work well. I'd rather buy models where the doors open that would be a lot less work.

I used the knives to cut the parts for the model from the numbered plastic, I think they are called trees they come on. I wanted to use the plastic sheets to put flatbeds on trucks. I don't think the flat beds turned of good, but at least I had fun making the flatbeds.