Alan R

Hi Kallisti, That was the technical college that we hooked up to in 1971! We had a Type 28 teletype in the school classroom and an acoustic coupler to send our BASIC programs to the tech college, then they would run the programs. On Fridays, we wold walk from school to the college, it wasn't that far as far as I can remember, then we would spend the afternoon writing simple programs and wasting loads of graph paper Still coding 50 years on... Ah, memories... Cheers, Alan.

Ditto! More years that I can remember. I was just a child then.... Built the Revell re-pop for an office friend, some years later (2008, I think ?) Bit of a beast, if I recall.... Cheers, Alan.

Hi Rich, I am getting on a bit myself. I was born before the space race even really got started. However, fortunately for me, I went to a school that had a advanced thinking Maths Teacher who had arranged a deal with our local technical college so that we could play with their Elliot 803 computer. About the size of the average barn! Hence, I started with this modern computer stuff at the tender age of 16 in 1971. I have seen so many changes, that if I thought about it too much, my brain would probably try to escape to another universe! Computers, and the internet are only scary if you let them! So, keep going. I am in awe of the skills you are showing here. In comparison, I am just an average jobbing modeller! Keep posting, I love what you are doing. Cheers, Alan.

I had the Frog Cortina way back as a kid as a Christmas present. Long gone unfortunately. I still had one of the hub-caps in my spares box until relatively recently... A fairly simple kit, if I recall... Cheers, Alan.

How about some kind of rusty red, with a lot of rust marks and streaks... Cheers, Alan.

Ah headlights! A friend of mine had a mark 1 Focus and to change the passenger side headlight it was recommended to remove the entire wing! What a design bummer! My 2012 Focus was much easier. Two cross-head bolds on the top, the whole assembly pops out and the headlight is easily accessible, no wounds, just a bit of dust on your hands... Cheers, Alan.

On Saturday afternoon in North Bristol. Goodness knows how many supercars including: Aston Martin of some late vintage (DB11?) Lamborghini Murcialago, AMG Merc Too many Porkers to count, MacLarens galore They were all congregating at the Aerospace Museum for what looks like some kind of run. No pictures, I was driving the other way... Cheers, Alan.

Hi Ian, That seems a good idea. I must admit, of all the subscription services I am paying for, Disney+ is the one I use the most. There are so many films and TV shows that I want to watch. What with Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar I feel that's well worth the ticket. I think if I suggested that we get Apple TV as well, my wife would probably not speak to me again ... ever! Maybe it will come out on Blu-ray eventually... Cheers, Alan.

Well, if it's Star Wars, then "Imperial" is about right ... Cheers, Alan.

I saw the trailer on IMDB the other day. From what I can see, and I hope I am wrong, is that they have turned a galacto-political set of stories into a Star Wars type action movie. There seem too many explosions, etc. The other bummer for me is that it's Apple TV. I already have Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. Yet another subscription service just seems a bit of a joke! Shame. Cheers, Alan.

I have a Tamiya P34 part built on my bench. It's the earlier boxing prior to the First National City sponsorship. I must summon up the energy to get it finished! Cheers, Alan.

That's one very narrow lane! Not dissimilar to the road out of the Langdales to Blea Tarn! Barely wider that the car and incredibly steep and windy... Good model as well. Like it! Cheers, Alan.

I'll stash that in my list of techniques. I always get leakage under the masking tape! Alan.

Looking good! Yellow paint is always a pain to get coverage with. I recently messed up (a bit) the yellow paint on my Tamiya 300ZX Turbo. I'm not sure whether I can be bothered to mask the thing up to add extra yellow. Bonnet is good old yellow, the wings look like mustard yellow! Too much grey primer still showing through... I have the same problem on another model I'm working on as well. Same dilemma... Oh well... Cheers, Alan.

Hi Spiny, I disliked the chroming of the discs as well. I bunged mine in caustic soda for a couple of hours. That did the trick. The chrome is really thick and obscures the detail. I always paint them Matt black first, then the various metal colours after that. It’s a trick I learned from Warhammer figure modellers. Yours is looking good, by the way. Cheers, Alan,

Over the last week on holiday in the Lake District. In Ambleside, two Morgans, one virtually brand new. In Windermere, a Lamborghini Hurracan in lime green and a new Alpine in french blue. As expected, numerous Landies, including the new Defender. Too many Porsches to count. Cheers, Alan

I wonder what the recoil would do to the crew when that thing fires!? Lovely work! Cheers, Alan.

I love the way the cockpit rotates. I can imagine that if this was real, the bearings and motors would need constant maintenance, else you'd get a very space-sick pilot! Love it! Cheers, Alan.

I shall be watching this with interest, as I am interested in getting the Fujimi 250 GTO at some point Cheers, Alan.

I used to notice that on good ole 625 lines on the Beeb way back in the day! Didn't spoil my enjoyment though... Cheers, Alan.

I'm an old git (66+ and counting) and mostly use metric measurements these days. I remember all the measurements we used at school in physics and maths were SI units, so I got used to measuring in metric from a relatively young age. Cheers, Alan.

I love this! I might just have a go myself ... soon. (Too many models on the go at the moment ) Cheers, Alan.

Stunning! Alan.

Found it on the Toolstation website - 3 quid for 50m x 24mm Cheers, Alan.

Hi Andy, I think this is the right approach. If you are happy, who should get upset. This is a hobby, and we do it for fun and relaxation after all. I'm never picky about the exact shade, either. As long as I get a good finish, with the right level of shine, I'm happy. Cheers, Alan.