Car Show

Meanwhile, at the Portland Art Museum "Shape of Speed" exhibit...

 

Empty

 

What does a grey parrot eat?

 Harlan's lunch...

Harlan

 

Pea Face

 

Ed's got peas on his face.

Olive

 

Morning Chin-Ups

 

Parrot TV

 

Iris

 

Dollhouse

Whew, upstairs hallway done... This thing is a lot of work for not terribly impressive results. Oh well, it'll get done anyway.

Album here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/N79EQ4ysxuJaEA9r9

Ed

The air has cleared today up and Ed and Olive can get outside!

Nice Outside in PDX

 

Play Day

 

Lookit my red tail!

 

Pocher Alfa Romeo Completed! Part 21

Over 2 years in the making, but the Pocher Alfa Romeo (rhymes with torture) project was recently completed.

The kit comes with light bulbs for the headlights, which naturally do not fit by the way. I updated these with LEDs.

The ignition key on the dash operates the lights. A coin battery is staffed in the back where the tool kit normally goes. I don't think I will bother assembling the tools kit.

One of the notoriously incorrect components of this kit is this faring over the spare wheels. It does not come anywhere close to fitting.

I altered it in several ways quite a bit. I am not happy with the result, but I came close.

Polished and waxed, my paint job looks pretty good on the completed model. It's also not 100% what I'd like, but it's OK.

Many parts of this model are rather crude. But the overall effect is good. The Italian glove leather really punches it up.

I've been asked if I would every build another Pocher.

No.

I am however really glad to have found and constructed this model that was somewhat of a myth in my childhood. Here it is... and it looks pretty good.

It is possible using the many high quality aftermarket parts available for classic Pocher kits to create a car that looks extremely realistic. I fact I have seen photos of Pochers that are indistinguishable for real cars, at least in the photos.

My goal though was to do the best I could with the kit as-is, out of the box, as much as possible. This Pocher looks like the kit was intended to look.

I did purchase the LEDs though, and the steel leaf springs. The LEDs are a reasonable and simple improvement. I concluded the steel suspension necessary when I read that the provided plastic parts do not support the weight of the finished car.

There are some flaws. There are a lot of flaws, some of which are mine, and many others are "designed in" to this kit. But I am very happy that I did manage to overcome most of the kit's worst flaws. My hood fits for example, and I did it without moving the engine back.

See the entire album for this project there. Read more about this project here.

Parked in a glass fronted bookcase now... It fits just about perfectly.

The complete album for this project is here. See all my posts on Pocher models here.

For more on scale models, look here.

DIY Aviary for Parrots

Our birds needed a walk-in, outdoor aviary for the summer.

We looked at many available options available, but there was always a shortcoming. It's hard to find something suitable for cockatiels as while as the larger grey parrot. In addition, a double, safety, entrance is a must-have. And we don't have much room.

The only way to get everything we needed in an aviary was to build one.

The aviary is constructed of panels made of simple 1x1 pine, primed and painted. The steel mesh is by far the most expensive part. It is 1" by 1/2", 16 gauge, "galvanized after weld" (GAW). It was a special order, shipped, from a US manufacturer. 16 gauge is just heavy enough for a medium size bird, like Harlan. The wire spacing is small enough to be safe for Ed and Olive. The GAW construction assures a strong bond with no loose zinc. It was hard to find this stuff.

The use of any galvanized mesh may be controversial. The alternative would be stainless steel, which would have doubled the cost easily, and that would be prohibitive for an aviary of this size.

Zinc is poisonous for bird in quantities. But to be harmed, they have to actually ingest it. And this is unlikely. After a lot of research on the materials others have used, I believe that this high quality GAW mesh is safe, if carefully prepared.

We scrubbed (and I mean scrubbed) each section with a solution of water, vinegar and a small amount of non-toxic soap, and after construction went over the entire thing with a heavy wire brush attached to a power drill.

The aviary is designed using separate panels. These go together using hanging bolts and nuts. The idea is that the entire thing can be disassembled and brought indoors in the winter.

It was a lot of extra work, and materials, to build it this way, but it was worth it. It has the additional advantage in that the panels are arranged to that the edges of the mesh are secured inside where the panels come together; away from the birds.

I should also mention that the mesh is inside each frame (bird-side as it were). The birds can not get to the wood.

The ariary is 7 feet tall, setup on a new pad of level pavers. Under the pavers is sand, gravel and a layer of weed barrier. In retrospect, that was the easy part.

It took a solid two weekends, and a few other days to complete all the parts.

This picture shows the double door.

We used one large and expensive java wood perch, and several other smaller perches here and there.

One nice thing about the wood frame is that (stainless) hanger bolts can be placed anywhere, the support perches and toys as needed.

Here's Ed trying out the great outdoors on opening day.

Olive loves to get some sun on her wings.

Harlan approved...

From now on, it's just not summer without parrots eating blackberries outside in the sun on a nice day.