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Everything posted by Quiet Mike
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Thanks Chris. I've talked her out of selling it several times over the years. But this time we both realised she just didn't enjoy riding it anymore. Just because we've had it since 1996 isn't really a good excuse for hanging onto it, when it's sat under a sheet not being used for years. A local military vehicle enthusiast who is just coming up to retirement has taken it on. A few of his mucka's have got wartime DR bikes and he wants to join in the fun with them. No regrets! We've got the same dilemma with the Kombi ... We've had that 20 years, and my wife uses it way more than me now. She'd really like something more modern and convenient ... (the Kombi is 65 years old!) I just can't bring myself to let it go. Heart ruling the head! Of course the bottom has dropped out of the market now, I should have sold it 5 years ago! Maybe if the market picks up again ...
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The postman has been! I've been hankering after a Fokker D7 for a little while. This turned up on ebay at a reasonable price. I now have the dilemma of what to do with such a vintage kit. (1957) I know from my very limited experience that old die stamped balsa kits are way more fiddly than modern laser cut ones. I might as well save the original materials and build one from scratch using copies of the original plans. Also, I'd like to investigate printing my own lozenge camouflage onto tissue paper. Guillows Fokker DVII by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Fokker DVII by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Fokker DVII by Mike, on Flickr A plus is this is a much smaller scale than the Nieuport or Camel I've built, so the box takes up little room on the shelf 👍 Normal service will be resumed shortly, but I have had a build request from my wife, she bought the Tamiya BSA M20! We sold hers recently, after nearly 30 years of ownership. She had just fallen out of love with riding a vintage motorcycle on todays badly maintained roads the last couple of years. Also modern drivers are pretty cutthroat and have no understanding or respect for classic vehicles. The money has already been spent on a holiday to Australia later in the year for our 25th. She want's to take the model as a reminder of what helped pay for our holiday of a lifetime. 😎 Susie on her BSA M20 by Mike, on Flickr
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Well saved Tom, looking splendid now, and we'd never know! I find it strange how brutally hard we are on ourselves when we make simple mistakes, yet so readily forgive others when they make them? Looking forward to the next update, hopefully mishap free!
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Well progress is at best glacial, but I do manage to sit down at the worbench, very occasionally! As before, I can't use the old trope "life is sooo busy at the moment!". Plenty of opportunity but just not the motivation. I have managed to do some fun stuff since the last update though. A visit with my old bike gang chums to the Pendon Museum was fascinating. I knew absolutely nothing about the place before we went, I was just told it was something to do with model railways. Well, 'model railway' doesn't even come close to describing this place, a mecca for people interested in recording social history of rural life 100 years ago. As well as recording long lost buildings authenticaly in miniature, you can also see the people who lived in them, and hear some of their stories, from the volunteers. I can't recommend this place highly enough. I'm not a train enthusiast, but this isn't really a model railway, is a snapshot of rural life 100 rears ago, and trains are just part of that landscape. Visit to the excellent Pendon Museum by Mike, on Flickr And another old bike gang jaunt was to Farnborough, to check out the avaition heritage and also the museum there. The museum is free too! Worth a look in, there are some amazing exhibits inside. It's a proper 'old school' museum, that I think particularly appeals to old middle aged grumps like me. Basingstoke Canel ride to Farnborough Air Museum by Mike, on Flickr Basingstoke Canel ride to Farnborough Air Museum by Mike, on Flickr Back to the workbench, the Albatros had been sitting with a base coat of plywood coloured oil paint for a few weeks, waiting for me to pluck up the courage to attempt some wood grain effects in contasting colours. I was home alone at the BH Easter weekend and decided to bite the bullet. I had watched a couple of good youtube vids, and also bookmarked some good reference photos to use as guidence. On the real thing, the effect is very subtle, so my attempt was going to exagerate that slightly. Hopefully I would get the balance right for the scale. I went over yellow ochre base with burnt sienna mainly, but I had a few paints on my tray was was pretty slapdash with it. As it was my first go (I know, I know ... paint mules are there for a reason!) I used a few methods, starting with a knackered bristly brush and sort of dry brushing the grain on, then I used the smallest brush I own and painted the grain on. This ended up my prefered method. I then went over the paint with a flat dry brush, like Goldilocks porrige, not too bristly, not too soft, to blend in the effect. I am quite happy with the results so far. I'm not sure what to do next though! A coat of varnish wouldn't hurt. I'm also tempted to maybe apply a thinned coat of Tamiya clear orange, but I definitely will test that theory first. On the whole, it's great fun working in oils, they are very forgiving. My only drawback was that my handling practices aren't the best, and I often rubbed the soft paint away on exposed areas. Attempting a wood grain effect for the plywood fuselage by Mike, on Flickr Anyway, the good news is I'm still enjoying the build, even if the workbench sessions are infrequent. **Compressor Update - a new pressure safety valve seems to have done the trick 🤞 Cheap fix 👍
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Picked this up at the air museum in Farnborough recently, for 50p. Very well written, and a good account by a sgt pilot of the work done by very worn out Wellingtons in Burma.
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Great build, love the colour scheme too.
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1/48th Boeing B-52H Stratofortress (Sanger vacuform)
Quiet Mike replied to tomprobert's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Amazing! You really are making it hard for those of us who say 'big is not better' ... 😳 😂 -
I'm 50, so my parents are the boomers, and my grandparents great aunts and uncles the wartime generation. (All the Great War generation had pretty much gone by the time I turned up) I was always interested in their wartime stories and tales, as a young nipper. I quickly realised, those closer to the sharper end of things talked the least. Also, I wish I'd talked more with grandmothers and great aunts about their time in the factories and Land Army. My parents generation didn't seem to be interested, at least not until much later, when a lot of them had passed away. Family interest seems to skip a generation?
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Halfway through Quartered Safe Out Here, by George MacDonald Fraser. (Famous for his Flashman series of books, but I'm afraid I only know these from their racy Frank Frazetta covers) I can't put it down, it is brilliant and frank account of his war as a young soldier in Burma near the end of the War. A fascinating extra for any of you interested in old English dialects, George writes what his comrades say phonetically. As most of them are Cumbrian, this is a real treat, especially for this Southerner.
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Another highly recommended book on the Italian Front (I had a Grandfather and a Great Uncle who served there, and knew Naples well) is Naples '44 by Norman Lewis. Not only where the Itlalians mistreated by the retreating German troops ... Accounts of what the French colonial troops did is absolutely sickening. It is a heartbreaking read. Even though I prefer personal accounts, James Holland is very good. This is on my list.
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Early Hurricane I, fabric covered wing
Quiet Mike replied to Tomas Enerdal's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Lovely attention to detail on this build. -
Welcome Joe, don't sweat it! Pictures look fine. No idea how you got the 'hidden' bit though 😂 Nice build 👍
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1:72 Fairey Barracuda Mk.II *FINISHED*
Quiet Mike replied to Dunny's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Good progress Roger. I'll follow if I may! I remember on one of my local cycle rides seeing some sort of excavation going on just off the shoreline in Lee-on-the-Solent. Turns out they were raising the remains of one of these. https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/our-work/rare-fairey-barracuda-aircraft-wreck-virtual-reality#main-content- 81 replies
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1/72 Dallachy Beaufighter TF.X - Finished
Quiet Mike replied to bigbadbadge's topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
A beautiful Beau Chris, love the rough around the edges of a well used workhorse look you've achieved 👏 Spot on. -
Their Supermarine S5 had several mistakes to trip up the unwary as well. Just one example was the instructions had the cockpit 180 degrees out! It won't put me off buying the S6B, but the price seems to have gone up significantly from the S5 a couple of years ago.
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An exemplary build 👏
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Are there any knowledgeable compressor folks out there? I'm having issues with mine. I inherited it off an old school buddy a long time ago when he emigrated, and we had it at art school 30 years ago. I am afraid I know nothing about them. I'm not even sure what model this is?! Last time I used it I noticed the room smelt 'oily', and noticed the pressure valve was leaking. It wasn't hitting its optimum pressure, and cutting the motor off. I'd like to get it sorted if I can. I'm not sure I can just fit a new pressure valve, even if I knew where to find one. It seems to be a specialist job. Compressor woes by Mike, on Flickr Compressor woes … by Mike, on Flickr
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1:72 De Havilland Mosquito B.XVI
Quiet Mike replied to Dunny's topic in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
Beautiful build Roger!