Grant H

The Sea King-king, is at it again! With all the AM, and a great kit, this will be an amazing model. Best of luck with your 3rd, fully loaded, Sea King, Laurie!

Well, very best wishes for the cataract surgery. Should be a doodle... Remember when eye surgery was a big deal? VERY busy here- everyone wants to travel, and I've built a bit of a reputation, so lots of dogs. Also, housemate is in and out of hospital, (infection/diabetes) And, you may remember, I have been "off the bench" for the better part of a 18 months. Covid refugees still in possession of my bench- cave. So other priorities... But, I'm glad I caught the beginning of this build, I will be checking back on your progress. Can't wait to see how you populate that interior.

Another lovely, post-war design, Laurie And yes, some nice detail outside, but you have your work cut out, making that interior believable! She will look great in-flight!

Mind those clueless passengers wandering around all those propellers. Will look forward to your Dart progress!

Thanks for the heads up, More great work, Laurie I am always amazed at the quality and finish you can get out of "questionable" kits. That local airport ramp is getting very busy and eclectic!

Another fine effort, Laurie The windscreen looked rough, glad to see you still working your magic on the plastic. Your usual, meticulous work, on these rough old chestnuts! Glad you and Pauline, and the rest of the islands are doing well. I have been stalled in the model building lately, lots of spring projects/chores and dogs to take up my time. Will be checking back to see how your Islander turns out.

More nice progress, Laurie. You have to be one of PJ's most reliable customers... Mind you, I need a half dozen figures from them as well...

Another fascinating offering, Laurie And up to your usual standards. Some lovely surface detail... It's good to see you building a kit that needs little in the way of modifying/fixing/creating. It has to be a nice break from the Mach 2 kits on the tarmac.

Another fine example, up to your usual standard, Laurie! A poor kit, wrestled into proper shape. That is one of the most ungainly looking aircraft I have ever seen, a real-life egg-plane, indeed.

End of July, my garage burned down, a huge trauma, and a royal pain in the bottom. So, once I can get contractors to build me a new garage. I will be refilling my lost stash of kits and aftermarket bits.. But other than that, I'm back at the bench after several months of housing Covid-sheltering, relatives. Making (very) slow, but satisfying progress on my F-16XL... I hope your hand is feeling better, and please give my regards to Pauline.

Lots of progress and a couple setbacks... Sorry to hear of the injury, and the loss of the Rapide. Best of luck finding a kit that suffices. Love the power carts and stairs, Laurie It's the little details that make a dio! And the Dakota is coming along nicely! Cheers from NorCal!

I have 2 E's to build, and none in the stash... 713 (Yeager's last AF ride), and an ALCM chase plane, both of which, I worked, in another life. But the one I really want is the RF-4C (744)- My favorite F-4 My pic-1982 said to be the fastest F-4 (fastest nose, gloss paint, no pylons/tanks, and tweaked engines. I have the brand new, yet to be released, set of Caracal "F-4 "Edwards Test Phantoms"" (CD48162) decals are on backorder at Hannants (coming soon). So come on Z-M, get me, at least, an E that I can spend some money on!

Scale modelling doesn't get any better. The money and, even the time expended, don't come close to paying for this wonderful illusion. MAGIC! Congratulations, Andrew! And thanks for sharing it with us...

Yes, thank you, very much. Like I said, I knew what I knew from my, very limited, (read low-ranking) perspective. It is great to hear these higher level/rank, details. It adds depth to my memories.

Thanks for your recollections of the ALCM missions, I knew what they were doing, but didn't know several of the details. A couple of things, from my memory, which is not perfect: I don't recall any RF-4Es at Edwards I also don't recall working on a "D" model. My recollection was the ALCM planes were F-4E (ex-thunderbirds- the odd, T-bird equipment being LF-ADF (for some unknown reason)) The test pilot school flew the YF-4E - 713, RF-4C 744, T-38s (which were also used as targets for various planes being tested). My friend got an "Incentive flight" to re-enlist. He flew, back seat in a Talon, as a target for an F-15, and took my camera with him. With a female, major, test pilot. She had to be one of the first women at the test pilot school. There was one (gloss-grey) F-4C, loaded with orange prototype equipment. And a few T/A-37s to train pilots in spin recovery.