lasermonkey

Also an FS 595b fandeck. I already have a 595b ring binder, but the fandeck is that bit more portable. I’ve been after one for a while and the very few I have seen always gone for much more. This was fifteen quid. Result! A bid on a couple of perfect* germanium transistors was successful. These will be used for fuzz pedals. *The thing with fuzz pedals is that you can’t just whack a few transistors in there and expect it to work properly. Even with silicon transistors, you need to make sure the current gain (or hfe) is in the right range for the position in the circuit. With germanium you also have to factor in the leakage current. With certain fuzz pedals the circuit may rely on either leaky or non- leaky transistors, depending on the pedal. In the case of the Tonebender Mk III/IV and Buzzaround, the last transistor needs to be quite leaky (around 400uA-600uA) and have a gain of around 100-130 (130-150 for a Buzzaround) and finding one can be incredibly frustrating unless someone has already gone to the effort of measuring them for you! These two were perfect for a Buzzaround, one of my favourite fuzz pedals, so I’m very happy with that.

An Academy A-10A and a Hasegawa (newer tool) F-4 off that eBay for fifteen quid the pair, posted. Both 1/72, obvs. I’ve bought from the seller before, so I have a certain optimism that everything will be ok. The version of F-4 wasn’t stated, but to be honest, for the money, I’m not really bothered. I mean, Phantoms are super, aren’t they?

Sally B just flew right over my house, heading toward Duxford. I’m guessing it was around 2000ft or less.

A few more old Airfix enamel paints for the collection. I need just three colours now (G12 Copper, M8 Duck Egg Blue and M16 Vellum) for a complete set.

A Chipmunk in Portuguese colours and Sally B (B-17G).

Two Spitfires and two Hurricanes in very loose formation, probably from the BBMF, heading to the flypast. Later, a Catalina flew over, relatively low and making a proper racket!

Mine too, sadly. I'm not sure what the intended outcome was, but I took Philip Larkin's advice and never had kids.

Now, that's nice!

I found two articles from Hyperscale which deal with the Fw 190's undercarriage stance, which you can find here and here. Hopefully there's enough info to get it right. Sorry I wasn't in time for your build, but if you do decide to build another '190, it might be worth bookmarking. Cheers, Mark.

Generally speaking, not many. Because my main area of interest is local aviation (i.e. East Anglian) I usually have to buy a whole sheet for a single subject. I consider myself lucky if I get two, though the have been occasions where I have done pretty well out of it. It’s a bit irritating, but probably serves me right for being so fussy. I’ll sell the partly used decal sheets on, once I have used the bits I need. What *does* annoy me is when you buy a decal sheet with the intention of doing several subjects, only to be foiled by the lack of sufficient decals. For example, the Xtradecal sheet on No. 74 Squadron gives you options for an Phantom FGR.2 and a choice of F-4J(UK)s, but only enough tiger’s head markings to do one or the other. Considering the small size of these markings, it’s inexcusable that they didn’t include both. It’s not like you can get them anywhere else. I also recently bought a decal sheet for my Airfix MiG-17Fs. On it are two Egyptian machines, but only enough roundels for one. I would like to do both, but will have to buy another set of decals to do them, as again, where else can you get Egyptian roundels? I feel pretty cheated with that one.

If i remember correctly, there was a thread on Hyperscale some time ago which dealt with the Dora's landing gear angles. I think it was Roy Sutherland* who came up with a method using visual cues. At the time I built loads of langnase 190s and became quite adept at eyeballing it. I very much doubt whether I could now though! Something in the back of my mind is nagging at me that to get the forward rake, if you look at the model from directly above, the wheels should be *just* protruding beyond the wing (i.e. "touching") , if that makes sense. Please check first though! * don't quote me on that, and apologies to Roy if it wasn't.

Oh well. The Airfix Mossie which I just received is going back for a refund. Frame G, which has all the cockpit parts, amongst others, is missing. If you're going to describe a kit as being complete (and having been checked!), it's inexcusable for an entire frame to be missing. That's one of the downsides of having to use eBay, as there seems to be an inordinate number of imbeciles on there. I'll get my money back, but I'd much rather my time not have been wasted. That was also probably my one chance of getting the Airfix Mossie at an affordable price.

My wife asked me to stop singing Wonderwall. I said maybe……

I have successfully used water to thin Polly S (and Aeromaster) acrylics. The Aeromaster paints specified distilled water as a thinner, though tap water works well too. These paints were the same formula. I found that they spray very well indeed and are the only acrylics I still use. Thin to the consistency of semi-skimmed milk and you should be good to go. IMHO these were by far the best acrylic paints and it’s such a shame they were discontinued.

That sounds depressingly familiar!

An Airfix 1/72 Mosquito (the new one) for a reasonable price off eBay and a Zvezda Ka-27P for a fiver, posted. Also the best chips I’ve ever tasted (from Seahawks, Leiston).

The poet John Donne lived in the house next door to mine during the latter part of his life. The village lower school is named after him. In the churchyard opposite my house lie the remains of Flying Officer Alan Dunn Hopkin. Just after midnight on 10th July 1940, No. 59 Squadron, based at Thorney Island, sent a few Blenheim IVs on armed reconnaissance over France. Two of these had their radios go u/s and became lost on the return leg. Hopkin’s Blenheim exploded over Cardiff around 3am, possibly as the result of friendly fire. He and his crew must have been amongst the first casualties of the Battle Of Britain.

Having stumbled across a Heller 1/72 Noratlas on eBay for just £12.50 posted, I decided it would be rude not to. I’ve been hankering for a Noratlas for a while now. I understand it’s not the easiest kit to build, but it’s not like there’s any alternatives.

My favourite fuzz is a tweaked clone of the Monolith Oracle. It’s a Tonebender Mk 1.5/Fuzz Face derivative with very high gain germanium transistors and a modified Big Muff tonestack. Perfect for doom/stoner tones and on bass you can pluck a string and it just sustains forever! I named that fuzz the Flower Of Evil after the Electric Wizard song.

Some “perfectly ripe” kiwi fruits that were in fact nothing of the sort. One was actually liquid under the skin and the other three too far gone. I hate wasting food, but I I’m also ridiculously fussy. Not a winning combo, I’ll admit.

If you have it, Humbrol 149 isn’t a million miles away from Dull Dark Green.

A Spitfire with clipped wings in the distance, so probably Shuttleworth’s Mk Vc AR501 plus a very unusual visitor: a P-36. That was a nice surprise.

Blood Drive by ASG. No, I'm not a rocker by any stretch of the imagination. I'm far too much of a self-conscious, sensitive indie kid (albeit a 56 year old one). And ASG are considered Southern Rock, which makes me think of Lynyrd Skynyrd and, therefore, repels me. But, on Blood Drive at least, it veers from dumb punk to introspective, melodic rock, and I can get onboard with that. There's also a hint of earlier Sabbath in places and speaking of, I followed with Master Of Reality. Which is obviously about Stevia. ;-) Sabbath was the first band I became obsessed with. It's music for outsiders. As someone who never really felt like they fitted in anywhere, they spoke to me in a way that no other band I'd heard at the time did. Subsequently, the music I gravitated towards tended to be dark and/or melancholy. Think The Cure, Joy Division, Radiohead, etc. Tony Iommi is the reason I picked up the guitar. You'd never think so if you heard me, as I'm very much in the post-punk/dream pop mould, but occasionally, I'll pick up my tuned down to C# SG and murder a few Sabbath tunes.

A Special Hobby 1/72 Kittyhawk Ia. Creative Models are doing them for £13.50 delivered on eBay, which I think is pretty reasonable. I've always had a soft spot for the Kittyhawk.

Gorgeous! I absolutely love that colour too.