In which I attempt to dispel the blahs of winter with some good old blue skies and summer sunshine.
Today is Monday. Let’s do Blue.
No, I’m not feeling blue. But I woke with this tune on my mind, particularly this version, played on instruments available in the 1930s. And I recall some requests for a Blue feature. So, here’s some suitably weird music to set the scene for today’s selection of scale models:
As I write this, it has been a warm night here in Australia. Only six o’clock, and it is already 19C. Yesterday they said we were going for a top of 38 (100F); today they seem to have downgraded that to 33. Still warm enough to be an Inside Day. Well, mostly Inside. We’ll see.
I hear cockatoos and corellas in the distance. Hopefully they’ll stay there; their harsh screeches are best heard from afar. Cockatoos are more social in that they’ll drop in for a visit to show off; one local visitor almost sounds like he’s saying Hello. But they’re very destructive, snipping twigs off trees (just to hear the fruit fall?), leaving bite-marks on the handrails on the veranda. Corellas just fly over in their hundreds, and roost in the trees at the end of my street. They’re ugly, and deafening at nightfall, but they’re local. And protected.
I woke to the sound of duelling quails. Well, maybe not duelling; maybe it’s more of a call-and-response thing between the two aviaries. I can hear the difference; the nearer birds finish their trill with an ascending sequence (F-G), while the further ones descend (F-E). I wonder what that means? Might look that up later. (Quail calls, meaning; quail psychology……)
And now there’s a freight train crossing the plain, very slowly. From the sound of the engine, it’s heavily laden. Grain, most likely. It’s that time of year, and our line only carries freight traffic, and only has a few trains a week.
More usually I wake to the sound of geese. Now there’s a really discordant bird. A very penetrating call, especially now while the goose is sitting on eggs, and the gander is doing guard duty – which he takes very seriously. But they do keep the crows away from the chooks’ eggs. They’re supposed to lay in the nesting boxes, but have you ever tried reasoning with a chook?
At the moment the sky is a pale grey-blue. Excuse me, I’ll go do those morning chores.
Summer skies await me. While I have been rambling on at my keyboard the sun has come up. It’s not past the windbreak behind the orchard, that’ll be a few hours yet. But there’s certainly light enough for anything I might need to do outside: let the birds out, feed them, give them fresh water. And I must remember to set the sprinkler on the fruit trees for later today. The apricots will be a week away yet, not early like last year (we checked the trees last night), but a few early apples have been falling off the trees. While some have beak marks, I think the trees are in need of a good soaking.
Our orchard is something of a botanical disaster area. Or refugee camp? As well as the usual lemon tree all Aussie houses used to grow, we have a citrus grove by the back door (lime, mandarin, orange), and stone fruit (apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines), as well as pears and apples in the orchard. Oh, and a fig. We had friends with a nursery, and kind of offered a home to any unwanted/unsold fruit tree. This is the result. Before my mother passed away, she used to rave about the lovely apples they grew on the farm when she was a girl: so, in memory of her we located the varieties she loved, now heritage apples. So, alongside the more usual Granny Smith we have Pomme de Neige, Northern Spy and Pitmaston Pine Apple. Good luck finding them at your local fruit shop.
Did I mention the mulberry tree? They’re incredibly slow to grow. It’s been there for twenty years and just coming up to 1.7 metres. It might fruit in time for our great-great-grandchildren to enjoy some. Or maybe not.
It’s mid-morning now. The day may not live up to the promised forecast. It’s reached the mid-twenties, not as high as I would have expected if we were in for a real scorcher. But the sky has definitely got a bit more colour into it, more of a bluer blue, so to speak.
Time to put the water on for the apple trees. I’m sure the chooks will be happy to cool off too, and the ducks will be ecstatic.
Lunchtime, 32 degrees. It’s been a quiet morning mostly inside. Attending to some correspondence online, doing a bit of writing (not just this), taking a basket of washing out. A magpie warbled at me from the gum tree by the gate, where a cockatoo sat on a branch happily cracking gumnuts. He paused to screech at me. I prefer the magpie.
I pulled a few handfuls of weeds while I was out doing the water; they gained a suitably snarky-sounding response from the gander. Not his favourite flavour, y’see. It’s a quiet day; not much sound of traffic on the main road 150 metres away through the trees, not much to disturb the peace of this little sanctuary.
Mid-afternoon now, and it’s reached 35 degrees. That looks like being our top for the day. I gave the trees another session of watering, much to the delight of the ducks who seem to have had a mud-bath. Ah well, they can wash off in the trough. Time to go and check for mail, and bring the rubbish bins in. Now I can shelter inside for a few hours.
Evening. Or maybe I should view this as late afternoon. We have such long days in summer. I’ve put the animals to bed; the ducks take themselves to their cage when they see me coming, but I need to round up the chooks. These hot days they seem to like sheltering in their pen, but there is one silky bantam who just won’t co-operate, and hides behind the pear tree. I’m too sore to persevere, so I ask my daughter to help. I’ll go out and water the garden in the morning when I’m not so tired.
Bedtime. Darkness falls, but I have already pulled the blinds. The sky is turning from a very deep blue to what seems to me to be black. Plenty of stars to see out here; no doubt there would be more if I was out in the bush, but there’s not too much competition from streetlights in my little town.
And now I lay me down to sleep…..
So many pretty cars there .
I love blue but not metallics .
Thank you for sharing and have a nice Summer .
-Nate
Thanks Nate.
It may have been a prior comment of yours about liking blue that sent me off huntilg blue models for today’s piece. But oh dear – most of my blues today were metallics. Sorry about that! Not that I knew. Most of the nice blues I have tend to be metallics or pearls, now that I think about it.
Here’s another solid blue for you.
Peter: Blue is my favorite colour, so naturally the Caprice, Charger, and Satellite were my favorites! The music was weirdly hypnotic, but I could do without the vocals, LOL!! 🙂
Thanks Moparman. Weirdly hypnotic describes that music well. My son showed me the clip and it stuck in my mind ever since!
Caprice, Charger and Satellite your favourites, eh – all strong medium to dark metallics. Here’s a blue Duster for you!
I’ll have the Satellite and the Duster please, in my favourite colour of blue.
Wonderful,writing. Thank you. And the models aren’t bad 😀. My favorite is perhaps the T-Bird; not a generation I’m a fan of, but the right-hand drive makes it interesting. Here on the Central Coast of California, not much in the way of winter blues. I think the temperatures hit 70° F yesterday, over 20 C. Our backyard orange is in full fruit and the lemons are getting close. No buds yet on the fig or our two newly planted apple trees, but some greens and herbs are ready for harvest.
Thanks dman. You know, I wasn’t sure about this piece, whether it was a bit fanciful for CC. But Rich had no qualms, just asked for captions to tie the pictures in a bit more tightly to the theme.
The RHD conversion on the T-bird was dead easy, with the instruments being on a separate chrome piece the same shape as the glove box lid. Most conversions are a lot harder, and I don’t even try attempting them.
Interesting finding out where in the US you guys are, and how the climate varies. We hit the low 30s C/90s F yesterday, probably a bit warmer today. The apricots are in (I wrote this three weeks ago), plums and peaches look pretty close.
Thanks Peter, This did a good job of helping my Monday blues.
We were just talking about blue cars here this weekend. I’m planning to order seat covers for one of our cars (which… like everything else these days is silver w/ a gray interior) – and I’m going to order blue covers. I like blue, and for quite a while I’ve thought that it’s the best color for a car’s interior, since it’s calming and pleasant looking. So I’ll go w/ blue seat covers, and de-grayify our lives a bit.
I like blue for an exterior color too; in my opinion, it looks good on most cars. My favorite here is the Hudson, and I think the ’62 Chrysler would come in a close second. On both, the color complements the cars’ interesting lines.
Incidentally, the only reason I know what a “chook” is – is because I’m a fan of Australian country music, and I’ve come across that term before and have looked it up. As far as I know, it’s not a term used in the US at all. But until now, I assumed the term applied just to chickens, and not to other fowl.
Glad I was able to dispel the Monday Blues for you, Eric!
Chook does apply just to chickens – but as we have ten of them compared to three ducks and two geese, I tend to use it as a catch-all term. That’s not normal Aussie usage, more me being lazy!
It’s interesting about that Chrysler – I would have built that about 45-50 years ago, when I had a much smaller range of paints, just Humbrol enamels to brush on. Yet a few people have said that was a favourite in today’s lot. That’s kind of surprising for such an old build. The Hudson I quite understand!
Thanks for the clarification on the chooks!
No worries. I’m sure I’ve referred to chooks before, so I figured many of my readers had picked up enough Aussie ‘culture’ to know what I was going on about! For people who speak a common language, we sure have our differences. Sometimes another country’s English catches me out too. 🙂
A lovely write-up. We also try to live pretty close to nature, with a garden and some fruit trees in Eugene, and a 7 acre place in Port Orford of which we have tamed about one acre, the rest being best to keep naturalized. Hearing (and seeing) the surf on the beach down below adds a key element.
Three ducks showed up for the first time ever in our little pond, but they didn’t stay long, as the plastic liner doesn’t offer the kind of mushy bank with grasses and such that ducks like.
And a fishing boat ship-wrecked on the beach down below our place, after its lobster traps got caught up in its propeller. We walked down to see it, and a salvage/clean-up crew was just getting ready to dispose of it. That they did with great efficiency; four days later it was totally gone, having been cut up and hauled away.
And we had exceptionally low tides this week, which allowed us to walk much further out on the sand than ever before, exposing rocks covered with star fish, mussels, barnacles and other sea life.
So that’s how we dispel our winter blues.
I thought you’d appreciate this one, Paul.
When the kids were young we had a duck pond, but it was just a hole in the ground which we kept topped up with water. Ducks being the messy feeders they are, that hole spread over a wider and wider area! Nowadays I just have a two-metre long poly trough; when I dump that out to clean it the ducks go wild with the muddy water. We’ve had a few visiting ducks over the years; the Indian Runner stayed and broadened our gene pool, while the Muscovy didn’t fit in, and was moved on.
Having grown up near the sea, I can appreciate what you say about Port Orford.
I love these posts. I put together tons of models when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s. They’re not great- I’m no artist- but they line my man-cave walls where the books should be. I can’t wait to get back into doing them; I’ve been adding to my unbuilt collection since I was in college, so that’s another wall in my cave. Do people use that rub-off paper chrome stuff, or do people try to paint it by hand with silver Tester’s paint?
Whose models are these?
Thanks Paul.
Usually what we do for chrome these days is use adhesive-backed foil. I’ve been using the Bare-Metal brand since about ’90, but a Japanese friend sent me some by Hasegawa (not exported) which may prove better. I discuss the use of it here: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/miniatures-toys/cc-in-scale-how-does-he-do-it-the-model-making-process/
There’s also chrome marker-style pens (eg. Molotow). The result does look very realistic, and they’re very useful for dash details and script badges, but I find the tips tend to clog, and they’re awfully expensive for the amount of use you get. When I do use silver paint, my favourite would be the Japanese Mr. Hobby H8 aqueous acrylic.
Whose models? They’re all mine. If I ever show one that someone else has built (I haven’t yet), I’ll be sure to give credit. I’m like that.
I love New Order. That rendition gave me goosebumps. It will be re-shared. That saw-looking thing – was that the precursor to the theramin??
It sounds as warm in your part of Australia as it is cold here in Chicago. Literally zero degrees Fahrenheit (-17C).
And now for the feature presentation – the cars and ideas. I’ve realized for a while now, Peter, that it’s a pointless exercise for me to try to pick favorites out of a cornucopia of beautifully built models of desirable cars. ’76 Ford Gran Torino; ’74 Satellite Sebring; ’70 Caprice… I love all of them.
And now I feel like taking some of my other diecast models out of the closet and playing with them while I watch a ’70s detective show. Yes. That sounds like a great way to spend part of my Martin Luther King, Jr. Day off from work.
That ‘saw looking thing’ was indeed a real cut-wood-type saw – I have a friend who does a mean rendition of Danny Boy on the saw! Mind you, he has a degree in Music, and has a special saw he keeps only for playing, but still…..
I take it you saw the theramin there? First time I saw that clip I did a bit of research on some of the instruments used. I’d heard of the theramin before, and watched some YouTube clips, but never seen one played in a band.
Minus 17C. Joseph, the coldest I have ever known was -7C or 19 American. We might get below freezing a few times a winter, but that’s at night or early morning. Coldest daytime temp I can recall here was 6C/43F. That’ll probably seem like paradise to a boy from Flint!
Have a great day.
Exquisite models as ever. Our T230 Celica is in midnight blue, one of 5% of the total production. Love is Blue by Paul Mauriat anyone? Stay safe everyone
Thanks Ed. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a blue T230. Mind you, they’re not exactly common in any colour, especially out here.
A splendid piece of writing, sir! We readers always focus on your modeling and pictures, but clearly your talents are multi-faceted.
As for these, it’s hard to choose a favorite. I think blue looks good on most cars, and, given the choice, would be a color that would always be among my two or three favorites, depending on the specific hue. Of these, I have already complemented your Gran Torino, and the 1959 Imperial is similarly exquisitely detailed and finished a in flattering two-tone color scheme. What I liked best would be a tie between the Hudson and the 1962 Chrysler, the latter of which reminds me of my grandfather’s 1961 Chrysler New Yorker, only his had a red leather interior.
Thanks again for sharing your work with us.
Thanks William. A stream-of-consciousness style of piece is way out of character for me; my writing outside of CC is usually more SF, fantasy, historical or light-hearted crime fiction or poetry – none of whuch really lend themselves to a CC piece. Hmm, might rethink that… Occasionally I’ll write something serious. Here I just sat down at the keyboard and described my day as it unfolded. As I write this it’s 6am, with the same sound effects but a few degrees cooler, but I’ll have a few medical appointments to take me out of the house, so it’ll be a bit busier. Still, I’ll come home to peace.
Three blue cars on the workbench today, including a ’56 Chrysler.
I love any shade of blue! It’s both happy/uplifting yet calming at the same time. I also happen to love winter. Everything and everyone calms down, the world grinds to a halt, and a sense of quiet peace takes over. Anyway, these models, each and everyone, are exquisite and beautiful in their own way. I really enjoyed thos write-up. Thank you!
And thank you Jonathan. I’m blessed in living on a half-acre block in a small country town. Life is so much more peaceful out here, especially now my working days are past, and I have largely disengaged from the media (no TV or newspapers).
Winter here isn’t cold enough for things to grind to a halt; that’s more likely to happen in summer. At the moment (11am.) it’s 31C/88F; not what we’d call hot, but if it tops 40 things tend to shut down as we shelter. And given the choice, why wouldn’t you?
Glad you liked the models, and the peaceful day I shared with you.
So nice!
The ’59 Ford’s small upper rear lights were backup lamps, hence white, at least on US models, Dad had a ’59 Squire… in gorgeous metallic blue!
Thanks. Good point about the ’59.
Here in Australia that light was amber, and functioned as an indicator, as new regulations had come in that outlawed a flashing red excpet on emergency vehicles. I built this one back in the eighties, and simply followed what I saw on the street. No internet back then, so I didn’t know US ones were different.
Beautiful selection of models here, Peter! I’m also a fan of blue as a car color; I’ve had a total of 4 in variants of the hue, including a VW Rabbit, Volvo 240, Toyota Camry, and currently my 1998 Nissan Frontier (pictured below).
My favorites of yours for color are the Hudson and Gran Torino, but as far as actual examples I’d like for my fantasy garage, I’d take the El Camino and Caprice.
Thank you 210delray.
I was aware that someone had specifically asked me for blue; but now that I’ve done it, I’m rather amused by all the folk who’ve come out and said blue’s their favourite colour! Nice shade on your Nissan: here’s a Ford Splash. I think thisnis the closest I have to your blue.
Thank you, Peter. This was a pleasant way to spend a Blue Monday today and an interesting ramble through your day. It was sunny here in Wales this morning too though the temps never left single figures C, or mid 40ish F. Not that I’m wishing for too much heat! Hmm, a Theramin… getting some Good Vibrations from that.
Quite the range of blues and a nice variety of subjects; hard to choose a favourite, though perhaps that Hot Rod with the chromed bonnet side vents edges it.
I realised I’ve done quite a few of models in blue over the years, including these ones of my own:
And prynhawn da to you, Bernard! No I don’t speak Welsh but I’ve always been interested in languages, and have a smattering of more-or-less useful phrases in several. Along with probably a terrible accent.
We do have the occasional winters day which never reaches double digits, but such cold would be rather unusual for us. 40F is okay; you wouldn’t want our 40C. I don’t want it!
The theramin is such a strange instrument – those few bars from Good Vibrations are probably the only time most folk would have heard one. These days they’d probably use a synthesizer for that sound.
The hot rod you mention is a ’32 Chevy (lost caption; these things happen), which ties in with the 32 degrees I speak of in the next line. I like your blues, my favourite would be the Minx at the back, as I have an old Matchbox one like that.
Great post! It’s no secret that I like blue cars.
Thanks. I kinda got that impression…
Peter,
nice work on the ’59 Ford Retractable with its’ multi-piece body. Does the top go up?
I love the ’58 T-Birds but that model sits unbuilt in my stash because those are ’57 hubcaps and because it’s 1/24 scale I haven’t indentified any suitable replacements.
Cheers
Thanks Dave.
Ah, that’s always the question with that kit, ‘Does the top go up/down?’. The mechanism is so fiddly, and the tolerances so tight by the time you paint it. Short answer: no. I do have another ’59 retrac where the top works (pic taken last year), but I needed the blue one for today’s story.
I’d encourage you to build that T-bird even if the hubcaps are wrong – I’d noticed they were similar but not being familiar with the real thing I just put it down to Ford carrying over a theme. It’s a great kit, all the more so considering the tooling dates back to 1958. I got a surprise when I looked that up – it’s way ahead of what anybody else was doing in the way of kits back then.