Pete F

I had an 'out of the blue' seizure last year and surrendered my driving licence for six months as per the consultant's instructions. When my wife informed the insurance company and removed me from the insurance, leaving just her, she was told it now cost more. She got a little upset with the insurance company and they changed their mind. I told her it was because she no longer had the steadying hand of a man on the wheel and referred her to the Harry Enfield sketch (available on you tube), 'woman know your place'. It contains useful diagrams showing how woman absorb knowledge differently from men. She got a little upset with me and I changed my mind.

Having considered the matter I agree. I accept your point and take back my comment about good faith.

As they have stopped trading then I doubt there is any point. Done in good faith IMHO.

From the latest workbench: "before moving on to feature all the new tooling additions to the 2024 range in more detail over the next few months. By the time we have covered everything, we'll be ready for range launch 2025 - how time flies when you're an Airfix modeller!". That sounded a bit forced. Does that mean they are releasing a Hawks Miller HM-1? Almost certainly not but it is harmless fun looking for double meanings in their announcements. But it would look nice in 1/48.

It was an excellent short film. Perfect for Christmas. I don't know how easy this is but is it possible to determine what version of Mosquito it was?

I agree. I have enjoyed a couple of things he has done but in general I think he is very overrated.

I really like this - it takes me back in time. How did you do the blackened windows? - they look very effective.

I agree with most of this and your overall view is similar to mine. I do have to disagree about the nuclear bomb however. The Germans were a long, long way from any realistic atomic bomb. In fact they weren't effectively researching it as they had realised how difficult it would have been. Manhattan took an enormous amount of the economy and scientific expertise of the free world to even get it to the starting blocks. There is no way the Germans would have managed this. I think in our modern retrospective we underestimate the problems that were solved back then. I suspect without the war we would still now be only just getting towards nuclear fission. Look at the slow progress of fusion as a power source. Sorry to divert from the build. I am excited to see how the 190 ends up.

I've just watched the first one on your recommendation and it was very good. I remember it from my childhood but, as with lots of these television series, I was too young to properly appreciate it at the time. It came across more like a drama documentary which really suited the subject. It was educational as well. I now know when I can exercise 'hot pursuit'. The Leander's were really icons of that time. Would be nice if someone made a decent model of them. I wonder if Airfix will ever rerelease their version - they are going for exorbitant amounts on ebay.

If you are ever travelling north, the Model Shop in the Old Cinema in Malton is probably the best in the area now. The website shows what is available but it is worth a stop off if nearby. https://www.worldwideshoppingmall.com As an aside the model shop in Pickering seems to be permanently closed as from four or five weeks ago. Sad - as it had a reasonable range of tools etc.

My personal choice would be for a vector drawing application like Illustrator as opposed to a bitmap graphic application like Photoshop. With vector graphics you can draw at any scale and resize with ease. There are lots of free ones available, probably the most fully featured one being Inkscape. The price of free software is that it can be a bit less user friendly than some of the commercial options. This isn't always the case as Adobe Illustrator is both expensive and has a steep initial leaning curve. I do a fair amount of vector illustration and almost exclusively use Affinity Designer 2 these days. It is an excellent tool but you do have to pay for it. As the project you are proposing sounds fairly straight forward I would google 'free vector drawing software' for your operating system (eg Windows or Mac) and pick something to try out.

Check for mouse droppings first. Old houses especially are very hard to make mouse proof and mice, voles etc may come in during the cold weather. Another thing to be aware of is condensation. An insulated loft, even if it is waterproof, may suffer from condensation when the weather dramatically changes from cold to warm - such as happened this winter. A small amount of water will then drip inside from the roof for a short time. I would therefore still store kits in sealed plastic containers such as really useful boxes or similar.

I have the same airbrush and I always strip it and clean after a session. I have never had the problem you describe which I suspect is because I never oil the nozzle. I can't think of a logical reason to do so. The tolerance is so tight it isn't needed. Try spraying without the oil and see what happens. Oil and airbrushes is quite a delicate subject. Apart from a tiny amount of lubrication to the air valve I wouldn't let oil near any of mine.

Following your excellent build and then mentions of books reminded me of one of my favourites back in the 1970s. Thunder and Lightnings by Jan Mark. Even though it is a children's book I was inspired to read it again and surprised that I still enjoyed it. It encapsulates being a school kid in England at that time and the sadness surrounding the Lightnings being phased out. If you haven't read it before It might be fun for you or your family. I know you can get it on Kindle but not sure how available a real copy would be in your part of the world. Keep up the good work.

Upstairs Downstairs in Sandown is an excellent model shop. I always visit when on the Island. The postage rates from their online site are usually pretty good too. The guy that runs it is slightly mad but that just adds to the experience.

Excellent paint job - as asked above - I am curious as to what you used.

I can't speak for the current versions but I bought some enamel Mig washes about ten years ago and they were unusable after about five or six years. The pigments had dropped into a layer that was so compact nothing would budge it. In contrast my Vallajo Model Air paints from 15 years ago are as good as new. I should add that this hasn't stopped me buying such products - I just have a realistic expectation of their shelf life.

Arma Models 1/72 Hurricanes are excellent kits. They build well, are widely available and you have a good choice of aircraft. If you choose to splash out and get the expert set you get photoetch and masks. They look the part when built.

I'm not sure that this is anything to do with the type of paint. I have had the same thing occasionally happen with Tamiya Acrylic, Tamiya Lacqour, Vallajo Model Air and Mig Ammo Acrylic. The randomness* makes me think it is more something to do with the particular decals, the adhesive film they use and how it reacts to the gloss coat and/or fixing solution. Water softness/acidity might be another factor. *obviously not really random - maths bods always used to tell me off for using this term.

I don't think any sort of washing is going to do any good as I believe this is a chemical reaction in the surface of the paint/decal fix/gloss coat etc. That is why leaving it may help as the reaction seems to reverse itself eventually. In other words there is nothing to wash.

How long have you left it? I find that a couple of days can make it fade away.

I sometimes get this and I believe it is a reaction between the gloss coat I use (Future) and either water or the decal solution, or both. It occurs with both acrylic and lacquer paint. I do find that if it is left for a few days without attention it will disappear unless it is beneath the decal itself. From bitter experience I found that trying to clean it was the worst possible thing to do as it only made it worse or sometimes permanent. In any case a coat of Future usually clears it completely - again unless it is beneath the decal. It does not always happen and I can't seem to find a consistent set of circumstances when it will. However in general when I steer away from decal solutions and just use Future it only occurs rarely. You can get the effect of a decal solution just using diluted Future unless the decals are very thick. It has always intrigued me and I wonder if anyone knows what might be going on. My water supply is soft and very slightly on the acidic scale (not by much) so maybe that has something to do with it.

Good point. They moved two wing guns close into the fuselage didn't they. I presume they shot though the prop?

Nice build BTW. I really like what you've done with this little kit.

True but moving the landing gear mechanism close in to the fuselage gave them more space in the wing to play with. I assume this was enable better weapons systems but maybe they improved the wing profile? Interested to know. The Spit followed the same design with the same drawbacks/advantages.