Wavy Navy

Thank you all for your words of welcome. Such a pleasant change from the trolling and general nastiness that pervade certain photography forums I have had dealings with over the years. Removals arrive today. With the bulk of my modelling tools and supplies. Hooray! 🙏😂. Just ordered a spray booth online from that terrific retailer, The Airbrush Company, who, in my experience, can do no wrong 👍

Strange Old World Innit? Now that I am no longer gainfully employed (6 weeks into retirement, thank all the gods - not before time!) it is high time to resurrect a passion for scale modelling. I don’t have the legs for the other sort. It was 1960s Airfix that helped to engender a passion for aviation hence a career spanning 52 years in a variety of flight operations jobs, including a period of 30 years as a Fleet Air Arm WAFU in the RN and RNR. That, perhaps, might explain my enthusiasm for nautical aviation. The stash of ships and aircraft is taking up rather a lot of space which I’m repackaging to reduce volume. Assembly should keep me busy for a while. As a returnee, what absolutely blows me away is the modelling technology and support systems that exist today. The models themselves, the tools, the adhesives, the paints and airbrushes, international delivery (albeit, currently suffering a tad from supply chain shortages) the interweb and the ability for enthusiasts to share, are just amazing. What a change from the good old 60s. I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess…….just moving with the times and reflecting the huge advances in technology in general. My first solo was 8 hours after Neil Armstrong strutted his stuff on The Moon. Elastic bands, duct tape and WD40 were pretty cool stuff in those days. Slide rules ruled. You could take a car apart and put it back together again by reference to a Haynes manual. Hey ho. Anyway, folks, I am really looking forward to tapping into the collective wisdom of the 30,000 or so members of Britmodeller. I am something of a newbie and would be most grateful for any steers that the group may be able to provide. I’m starting with Hasegawa’s 1/350 AKAGI plus most of the PE. Hmmmm. Rather a challenge. Plus Trumpeter’s 1/350 HMS HOOD. 2 weeks of Thai quarantine were very helpful for research. Then KGV / POW / DREADNOUGHT / YAMATO / Swordfish / 2 versions of the Sopwith Camel…… When am I going to get the time to go diving? Ha! Cheers for now and thanks for listening. Mike in Thailand