Uncle Pete

Noisy, too... Those four Merlins cranking away right up your nose wouldn't really be commensurate with hearing the sound track of the in-flight movie!

Here at the North Wales Home for Retired Rock n Roll Maniacs there isn't much to do except pinch the nurse's bottom... And he's getting fed up with it so I built a few models. Rather than give each one a dedicated slot I figured I'd only knock one deserving guy off the front page instead of three. First out of the box was an Italeri F 100. As I remember not a terribly interesting kit to build but enough to keep me amused for a while. Everything straight out of the box, paint colours carefully selected from a brand called "What I had kicking about". Decals were a bit on the thick side. The yellow one round the intake gave me no end of aggro. If I remember correctly the dangly bits were a bit of a bear to align... And I'm not sure why an Air Force plane would have a tailhook but the plan said put it on so I put it on. Anyway, there she is, for better or worse. Next up we have a creaky old British classic, the Hunter. A plane dear to my heart as it was the first fast jet I ever saw at an air show when my dad took me to Biggin Hill in 1962. This was Revell and an enjoyable build. Plenty of cheat pins in all the right places so I could get things aligned nicely. I love their big, glossy, detailed instruction booklets, too. I've just remembered I didn't install the pitot yet. For the final painting and decalling it was already a minefield of sticky-outy bits and I knew an inch of needle-thin plastic poking out of a wingtip had no chance of surviving the ordeal. Once again the paint was carefully selected from the set of what I had and the subset of what I think would make it look proper 'ard. Third up was a rather disappointing kit. Can't remember the brand but it wasn't one of the big boys. It's an F 117. Only about half a dozen major parts, not enough cheat pins so alignment of half-shells was quite challenging and as much detail as the real thing, that is, none. So after putting it together I had this... Whoops... Sorry... That's a kipper... Looks just like a Stealth Fighter, though, eh? Here she is... I made nose art for it but, of course, it doesn't show over the black so until I can figure out how to paint a precise circle of white exactly the right size it only exists on paper... Like my cats, it's black and impossible to photograph... I'd made and already shown off a whiffer. I call it the Handley Page Liverpool, a passenger version of the Halifax dedicated to the wife and her Scouse heritage. After putting it in the cabinet, it occurred to me there were no jetways in the 50s so I needed a set of stairs and a boarding bus. The stairs I whacked together out of plastic card and the bus was an Opel Blitz and I can't remember the brand. I'd have preferred a Leyland or some other British make but it was the only suitable vehicle I could find in 1:72. I do remember it was an absolute pig to put together, though. Thanks for visiting my display cabinet and help yourself to a cup of tea. Milk and sugar are on the shelf above the cups.

Great work, great setting.

Yowza! Really nice. Out of curiosity, did the aforementioned "skip bombing" predate the Dambusters?

Nice build. But it looks like something out of an aeronautical engineer's nightmares!

Now I feel bad about putting my builds in and getting in the way of the good stuff! Trouble is, this is the only place I can show my models to like-minded people... My friends and family tend to remember important appointments when I select "photos" on my phone. I periodically run down the RFI thread and toss handfuls of "likes" but I know I'm missing some killer builds. I don't bother with the WIP stuff usually... The techniques described are invariably far too advanced for my ten magic thumbs. Hats off and a big salute to the admin team... None of them will ever have to buy their own pint in my local pub.

As any of you who have seen my builds already know, I consider myself (and quite rightly) "The Eternal Newbie" despite having a couple of years and 20-odd (some odder than others) models behind me. I'll never be Adam Savage as long as my bum points downward, my "Age of Dog : Novelty of Tricks" ratio is not favourable and I appreciate the non-competitive "We're all here to help each other" attitude, not to mention the indulgent pat on the head I get from the experts. When I put in a RFI I always feel like I'm pulling out a penny whistle and playing Three Blind Mice in front of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I know I can't impress but I do like to share a laugh. I know nothing of the injection moulding process and have often wondered why they put the extra nubbin (I think it's called a gate?) on the "other" side of small parts. It's not attached to the rest of the sprue and doesn't seem to pertain to anything. Can anybody fill me in? Gloss white is an instrument of Satan. Sometimes it appears the manufacturer has made things deliberately tricky... Do they do that to make life more interesting for us or is there an economic or engineering reason? For example, the two parts of an aircraft wheel come in two sides when it strikes me they could just as easily make it as a rim and a tyre thus simplifying the painting. Don't put your coffee next to the mug of water you're soaking your decals in. My wife thinks I'm nuts... Does yours? Acrylic vs enamel paints using brushes... What's the preference? I like enamels because they brush on more smoothly and give me time to work but I also like to get the model finished without waiting a couple of days between coats so I'm soldiering on with acrylics. Is there some kind of accelerant available for enamels that can be applied after brushing on so they set more quickly? Having retired from 40 years in the music profession that requires constant practice just to stay employed I'm reluctant to attempt airbrushing. (See:- "Old Dog, New Tricks"). Is it me or is the build sequence patently out of order on some kits? Sometimes the plans call for what seems like impossible moves. I need more cheat pegs... Alignment is not my friend! I find the Hannants online catalogue to be completely un-navigable. Is there some kind of secret decoder ring? I'm pretty sure some of you guys are making models for TV and movies... Which one of you guys takes credit for the farmer's Land Rover in Shaun the Sheep? The models in that show are spectacular. (I should mention I only watch it with my grandkids. It's a lie, of course, the missus and I love the show!) Thanks in advance for any insight you may give me. Advice, however, would probably be futile. (See:-Old Dog etc) I've recently beaten confessions out of a couple of American jets so now it's time to research the Plonk family tree to see if S/L A.C. Plonk has an American cousin who might have flown them. Perhaps he was given a stealth fighter but he can't find the blasted thing...

Very cool. Looks like the old girl has been rode hard and put away wet a few times.

wunderschönen! (Don't try to respond in German... I only know a couple of other words and they're the ones that would get my face slapped by a fraulein!)

Pose it in flight! (teehee). Lovely job, by the way.

Nice. One of the things I love about this site... I get to see beautifully built models of planes I've never heard of.

Very nice indeed. If you don't mind me asking, what's the deal with the glasshouse? Canopy open or closed... Does the kit come like that or did you have to create a working hinge? (Not that I'd try anything like that myself... As a certified bodger I'm happy if my models come out with the right number of wings).

Well, there WAS the time I thought the coffee was very weak before realising I had taken a swig of the water I was soaking decals in. (And I WISH I was kidding!)

Nice job. I'm more casual than most about modelling... If the colour isn't quite right, who cares? As long as it looks good... And it does! (I gotta get me one o' those puppies in 72... Won't even take up much space in my cabinet).