Quiet Mike

I'll give this build a follow Chris! Taking notes as I have have one in the stash too (unsurprisingly ... 😉 ) All the chassis work you're putting in is intimately familiar to me ... I can smell the singed flesh from welding sparks as I type.

I can HEAR these photos Johnny, and they are 100% Theremin 👽

Now summer is well and truly here bench tme has dropped off considerably, sorry! Not even the intermission build is being touched! As another minor distraction, and I can't remember what triggered this, I finally restored my old X-Wing from back in the day. I have many fond memories playing with this as a kid in the early eighties, then my kids played with it 20 years later. I had lost the canopy a long long time ago, but strangely all the 4 guns survived. The stickers were toast, and the white plastic was horribly faded and yellow. The replacement canopy is a 3D print found on ebay. Same for the stickers, which were excellent. I restored the plastic by giving a good clean then covering it with peroxide hair lightening cream, the '40 Vol' stuff, and then putting it in a zip lock bag in the sun for a couple of days. Worked suprisingly well. Now I need to find somewhere to show it off again ... (And I'm going to give my Whampa the same peroxide treatment when I find him!) X-Wing resto by Mike, on Flickr X-Wing resto by Mike, on Flickr X-Wing resto by Mike, on Flickr X-Wing resto by Mike, on Flickr X-Wing resto by Mike, on Flickr The broken wing was repaired with one of those hot gun stapler things you use to repair plastic bumpers and trim with. Worked really well. I'm now looking for other broken plastic things to repair, to justify getting it! I've no idea when normal service will be resumed. Got a couple of French trips lined up in quick succession ...

While we were queueing in the village to get in, I did see a few people park up there and then walk the last kilometre or so in. Knowing what I know now, they definitely had the right idea! I do have a classic vehicle, but didn't fancy driving it all the way up. Apparently getting out of the their own car park was a lot easier. Nick Mason Open House by Mike, on Flickr Carnage 😂 Nick Mason Open House by Mike, on Flickr

I went yesterday for a birthday treat, stunning house and grounds, and an amazing car collection. My wife is a motorsport marshal and has met Mr Mason a few times, says he is a real gent and very down to earth. We had better weather, but the downside was we got stuck in the car park as the parking stewards couldn't handle the numbers of cars leaving. We were sat going nowhere in a queue, and could see no movement anywhere in the large field, for over an hour. Took another half hour to crawl out once the stewards had sorted themselves out. It was quite frankly a fiasco and did put a dampener on the day. I upload some sunny photos in a bit!

Thanks chaps, it is getting there! I've currently been a bit liberal filling gaps with sprue glue. I've found it works wonders spread thinly, but big dollops take an age to dry. I've tried filling big gaps with it but am pushing it a little outside of it's comfort zone. Currently still working on all the little windows, as they are all oversize and need whittling to fit properly. A laborius and not photogenic task. Another weekend, another jumble ... Last Saturday I blagged a lift with some chums to Beaulieu Autojumble for a mooch around. Got a couple of bargains, mainly bicycle related. This didn't come home with me, but piqued my interest enough to photograph it. Beaulieu Spring Jumble by Mike, on Flickr Same for this box, full of heavy old spanners. I loved it. Lee on the Solent was a RNAS Flying boat station 😎 Beaulieu Spring Jumble by Mike, on Flickr This however did come home with me. A bargain at £5! Imperial Airways bottle opener by Mike, on Flickr Imperial Airways bottle opener by Mike, on Flickr And in other (cycling) adventures ... watching a VE Day Convoy a couple of weeks ago. Fantastic weather for it. Very heavy on the USA vehicles, great if you like Jeeps and Weapons Carriers. Bringing up the rear of the convoy was a fleet of US Police patrol cars, all with lights and sirens blaring, which was out of place and very bizarre! VE Day Ride by Mike, on Flickr VE Day Ride by Mike, on Flickr

I've been watching progress from the wings Tomas, it's been a great build, your attention to detail has been fantastic to watch, congrats!

Fuselage half assembled, with a quick test fit to illustrate the obvious coming hurdle to cross ... MB-200 interlude by Mike, on Flickr Then out with the razor saw! I'm hoping this works ... MB-200 interlude by Mike, on Flickr After a coat of grey/green, the nose chopped side is glued and clamped on. MB-200 interlude by Mike, on Flickr A few more cuts, and the front window frames are in. The top and bottom frames are different heights, so not just a case of flipping the part upside down. Also, the nose roof was popped on top, and it is slightly wider than the sides, so some not unexpected fettling may be in order down the line. MB-200 interlude by Mike, on Flickr MB-200 interlude by Mike, on Flickr None of the little windows have been placed yet. I have test fitted one nose window, and it took a good twenty minutes of sanding the edges to get a good fit, as it was oversize. They are a flush fit, they dont have a generous ridge around them like old matchbox kits.

Well, still riding the high of a few days away revisiting the battlefields of France and Flanders with some old Chumrades. (yours truly far left) Highlights were the Vimy Ridge Memorial, which is breathtaking. A very moving experience, even over the clamour and excitment of coachloads of teenage schoolkids. We also revisited the underground quarries at Arras, the Fort de Seclin near Lille, Capt Albert Balls crash site at Annoeullin, the Dixmude trench of death, the Wipers Times brewery ... same again next year hopefully! Gentleman's Excursion to France and Flanders by Mike, on Flickr Interlude from the vac-form Southampton by Mike, on Flickr Interlude from the vac-form Southampton by Mike, on Flickr This fine Spring weather has brought bench time down significantly. As the vac-form was starting to drag it's heels I've put it to one side while I treat one of these kits I bought at the car boot as a sort of palatte cleanser to get the mojo back. I just need a simple kit that falls together as a bit of light relief, even though it's against my *strict 'one kit at a time' priciples. (*limited space - messy builder) Anyway, that 'new kit' feeling hadn't even worn off when I realised something wasn't quite right when I was trying to test fit the fuselage halfs together on this flying shed. With everything broken off the sprue and in freezer bags it was more like a jogsaw puzzle than a kit, but luckily I like jigsaws. I'd got the cockpit peices together, then the hull bulkheads. But something was very off with the fuselage halves though. It was a bit of a slap in the face when I realised I had two right hand sides, and no left hand sides! 🤪 Glad I'd only paid £3! I'm now trying to figure out how best to proceed ... It is only flat plastic after all. The tricky part is just the curved nose section. A few cuts will need to be made, but I think it can be made to work. All the interior detail has been sanded and scraped smooth, and the external ribbed detail removed. Now the inside will become the outsde. I think thin stretched sprue can replicated the new ribs. 🤞 Interlude from the vac-form Southampton by Mike, on Flickr I think it's a really clunky looking machine, but I like it. I'll see if there is a more intersting colour scheme going than the uniform green. I'm aiming for an 'out of the bag' quick (for me) build.

Beautiful detail work Johnny, this kit really pops. That rigging is 👌

I swear your are the 'Ant-Man' of the modelling world William, I can think of no other explanation for acheiving such detail in this scale 🫡 A beautiful build of a very smart looking racer.

The Southampton still ticks over, but has slowed somewhat from it's previous heady glacial pace. Lower main planes are now in primer, and the tail is in the process of being attached to the hull via various plastic and brass tubes. The thought of making all the interplane struts and engine mounts fills me apprehension and probably has a lot to do with the build progressing like a spider stuck in wet paint. Hopefully I will be at a point where progress is worthy of photographing soon 🤞 Things I have photographed of late though, Goodwood Members Meeting! I was lucky and got my wifes complimentary ticket. (She's on the radios in Race Control. Marshals don't get paid to work there, but do get a complimentary ticket) Highlight for me as usual was the Edwardian Racers. I thought it would be good to turn up on my own 100 year old racer, but alas Goodwood have a strict 'no bicycles' policy and they wouldn't allow it inside. Boo to GW officialdom! I had to leave it outside tied ot a fence 😤 Click the image to see the vid and turn the volume up 🔊 GW MM82 by Mike, on Flickr Goodwood MM82 by Mike, on Flickr Susie doing her best to charm Duncan into letting her ride in the passenger seat of 'The Beast'! One day ... Goodwood MM82 by Mike, on Flickr And bringing this back to modelling, I did my first car boot of the year yesterday. As usual I cycle over, it's 'only' 6 miles. Alas I hit a pothole leaving that was big enough to puncture my rear tyre, and I was carrying zero tools or spares. I'd also not had any breakfast as I thought I'd be back before 9 ... I eventually got back just before 11, very hungry and gasping for a cuppa after a not so easy 6 mile walk home! 🫖 Pickings were slim, but there was a nice lady with a big plastic storage box chock full of methodically unboxed and bagged up kits. I spent a very happy ten minutes sifting through them all and picked out a couple that tickled my fancy. At £3 each I refused to leave empty handed! I chose one small bag with no instructions, but a mid century monoplane in dark grey plastic, 1/72, with two sheets of PE and some large lumps of resin aftermarket. I bought it out of curiosity more than anything. The other helpfully had three side profiles from the box lid cut out and included, and the instructions! This was the ungainly looking Aero MB.200. I liked that the KP kit looked like a wrinkly tin shed in the bag, with it's flat boxy sides and wings. So there may be a short intermission while I make this! The other 'unknown' kit turned out to be an Airfix Helldiver of 1968 vintage. Maybe I should have brought home the Matchbox Beaufighter too? And the Matchbox FW190 ... 🤔

Such a striking camouflage pattern, excellently executed!

Darn, I was the underbidder on this. Only a cheeky start price bid so I'd need to be very lucky. The 1/72 Short S23 Empire flying boat for half the RRP. I'd love a more affordable option though. I'm surprised there isn't an injection molded version out there. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/396411244445?mkevt=1&plmtId=1110100101&mesgId=4001&mkpid=0&emsid=enull.m161499.l174139&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid&bu=43179844524&trkId=2bcb66e7-2191-357d-8b30-a9d5c427ce19&cnvId=a7fb74a1-c76a-4a5d-81a4-a4efd73d9c0c&osub=-1~1&crd=20250413030206&segname&recoId=396411244445&recoPos=1

I was recently in Freo, having a guided tour by a very old mate who's made Western Australia his home. (Another head hunted Essex copper!) When we passed a second hand bookstall it reminded me of an Australian book I'd been after for a couple of decades, ever since Ray Mears championed it as one of the greatest books on wilderness survival he had ever read. They knew the book well but didn't have a copy in stock. 24 hours in Freo with Basher by Mike, on Flickr 24 hours in Freo with Basher by Mike, on Flickr 24 hours in Freo with Basher by Mike, on Flickr 24 hours in Freo with Basher by Mike, on Flickr As if one massive second hand bookshop wasn't enough for Freo, we then passed another! This time I was in luck. The owner thought he may have one copy left ... he disappeared out the back for a good five minutes before returning with copy! It was a lot more than I usually spend on a book (add a nought ... 😱) but Susie came to the rescue and realised this would be the ideal Christmas present. Whispering Wind by Mike, on Flickr Whispering Wind by Mike, on Flickr I am very pleased to report it more than exceeded expectations! Thanks for the tip Ray, and thanks Susie x Whispering Wind, Syd Kyle-Little by Mike, on Flickr