Jonners

As I once pointed out to a nav colleague, on every Final Nav Test through my training I was also doing the flying! (Remember - banter is inevitable!)

Great model - the smoke grenades are a nice touch!

Hand painted! Wow, that's a bit good, Chris

Sounds very familiar! Been there myself, back there now. There are plenty of previous threads asking the same question and with plenty of good advice. FWIW, I agree with Heather. Wait it out and the interest will return, though if you're anything like me then those part-built kits still may not appeal! I reached one of my periodic interest/mojo failures a few months ago and, instead of prepping yet another plastic shelf queen, I decided to try something completely different that I had been contemplating for a while. I'm now about 60% into a scratchbuilt 1/12 wooden tip cart made using deadfall ash, brass/tin and a vintage Picador Pup hobby lathe system. Here's an 'in-progress' pic: I'm thoroughly enjoying it (when life allows me to squeeze a bit of modelling in) and I've suddenly found myself keen to get stuck into another plastic model again. Above all, don't stress! Jon

Ah, yes, apples. The folk museum at which I volunteer has just held an apple juicing event using the many varieties of apples growing in its superb orchard. I scrumped a couple of Jupiters and a Lane's Prince Albert (I think) cooker while they were still on the tree and have planted some pips in tubs; with luck they'll 'take' and I'll be able to transfer them into my garden for future culinary enjoyment! Jon

Absolutely brilliant, Al, bordering on genius. I'll have to make a return visit to Coningsby and see your work 'in the flesh' sometime soon. Jon

This will be interesting, Ian, especially as I have the old Contrail 3-in-1 vacform waiting for its turn, almost certainly starting with a Mk III. I have the SAM issue with the useful vacform kit Mk 3 build article and Peter Green plans, but I'm sceptical about their accuracy. I understand that the rear of the aft outer struts latched into the leading edges of the tailplanes when the wings were folded, but an arc drawn from the aft strut using the aft end of the wing break / fold line as the pivot point falls well short of the tailplane making this impossible if the plans are accurate. How do they compare with the Whalley and Bishop plans? Jon

Very nice Chippies indeed. I'm another one who watched that video many times before donning bum chute, silver bonedome and stinky facemask for a Chippie flight. We used to think that Cdt John Andrews was pretty unlucky to have a forced landing and a bale-out...thanks for sharing it! We even did a skit of the video at our ATC squadron's annual party, where I took the part of John Andrews and the pilot was played by my fellow cadet Dave. We even played the video earlier in the evening, so that the families would 'get it'. Happy days! (Dave went on to be a 9 AEF Chippie pilot himself for a while after completing his METS course before becoming a highly-regarded RAF C-130 pilot and losing his life when he was shot down over Iraq. The best of men.) Jon

Hi John, That's another superb result. Your Modelbrouwers build log is very interesting and informative (even with my very poor Dutch!), so thanks for including that link. It has given me a few ideas to consider for a future scratchbuilding project that I'm considering, especially the one-piece wooden wing covered in aluminium foil. Jon

Hiya Mark, I've just read through this thread from the top and it's fantastic. The model looks amazing and I'm in awe of your paintwork. The SE5a will look superb when it's finished; Mrs Mark.au should be very pleased. Selling the stripy Stearman (another superb model) was definitely a tactical error, though... Jon

Another Fuad masterpiece. Superb.

Deliberately turning my back on plastic modelling projects that always seem to hit a mojo-dissolving impasse (there are currently 4 or 5 in various states of disinterested procrastination) and giving this a go instead: 1:12 horse-drawn tip / Scotch cart made from plans using deadfall oak and ash scavenged during dog walks and cut using my vintage Picador Pup hobby lathe system. metalwork will mostly be from brass. I've never done anything like this before, and it will take a while, but mojo is fully restored. Unfortunately I have to cut the grass and paint a wall before I sit down to work on it again, but that's life! Jon

Love it - can't beat a civilian DC-3 / C-47. Really nice job. The decals are very nicely done and the three models together look superb. Jon

Nice one. The paint finish looks great. I also have one of these, although it's a 1:1 scale later 'facelift' version in Chilli Red...and I absolutely love it! Jon

Wow, another epic! I reckon the finished model will have a wingspan of about 3 feet. You'll be needing your own hangar...