pigsty

As I understand it those bombs didn't have a contact fuse, or they would have detonated on the surface. The fuses - three of them, there's redundancy for you - were timed to go off once it had reached the intended depth.

This is what's puzzling me. Those big MC bombs were designed to topple structures not with direct blast but by creating an underground shock wave and a socking great cavern. Yet there's a tower not far from the water's edge that seems not to have wobbled at all. I wonder if the explosive only part-detonated, or had deteriorated so much that it couldn't produce more than a small fraction of the original design effect.

There's another version of that: An Australian, an Irishman and a Cornishman are in a bar. They're staring at another man sitting on his own at a table in the corner. He's so familiar, and not recognising him is driving them mad. They stare and stare, until suddenly the Irishman twigs: "My God, it's Jesus!" Sure enough, it is Jesus, nursing a pint. Thrilled, they send him over a pint of Guinness, a pint of Fosters and a pint of bitter. Jesus accepts the drinks, smiles over at the three men, and drinks the pints slowly, one after another. After he's finished the drinks,

That's a lot of effort just to flush a few snipe out of hiding, isn't it?

^^ That's quite odd, because I've thinned Humbrol paint with it and it was fine. In fact it's rescued a couple of tins that I thought were beyond help. Wish I had the foggiest idea what goes on sometimes ...

The trouble with this is that they preferred alliteration. Vickers would have been in a spot of bother - the next biggest town after the ones they'd already used was probably Ventnor.

Brands packaged for modelling are over-priced, true; but so are brands for artists. I'm using Bartoline Premium Odourless White Spirit; it's been a while, but it can't have cost me more than six quid for two litres.

An old report from TASS: Yesterday the Soviet Foreign Minister and the United States Ambassador ran a race of three times round Red Square. The Soviet Foreign Minister came second, while the United States Ambassador came last but one.

Beginning to wish I hadn't asked - or it would have been easier to ask to be shown anything that didn't need fixing ... Very handy reference shots there, thanks for those.

Here’s the old Esci Mirage F1, built from the Italeri CR/CT boxing but finished as a Mirage F1EE of the Ejercito del Aire. It’s a decent kit, all-engraved and well shaped, though poorly detailed in the undercarriage bays and the cockpit. It mostly goes together nicely. The wings sit at the right angle with very little work, the intake centrebodies are very sharp, and the radome fits well. The undercarriage is a fairly good representation of the complex real thing, and it’s refreshingly easy to get all six wheels to touch the deck. On the other hand: t

Thank you all. That's an awful lot of work to correct the old thing, more than I can manage. Odd that the likes of NeOmega haven't dealt with it more thoroughly, but that'll save me a few bob, at least. I think I'll just press on as it is - the old principle of it looks more like a Badger than anything else will have to do.

Nearly time to start a new kit, and this time it will be Trumpeter's 1/72 Tu-16K. Any building tips and gen on pitfalls will be gratefully received - but first, a few odd questions of my own. I have the NeOmega intake mouths - a must, as the kit has a peculiar straight edge on the inboard side. But they came with no instructions and I can't find any on their website, so I'm not sure where to cut off the kit parts and replace them with the resin. I'd ask for a copy of the instructions but on past experience it will look like something that fits inside a Christmas cracker and cons

Attenuate: you had brunch Binge: where Sean Connery putsh hizh washte Comatose: tidying up very hairy feet

Viable: through a cow Warble: that’s my cow! Amenable: a tight-fisted cow

Shamelessly borrowing this one: Here's an exercise for people who are out of shape. Begin with a five-pound potato bag in each hand. Extend your arms straight out from your sides, hold them there for a full minute, and then relax. After a few weeks, move up to ten-pound potato bags. Then try 50-pound potato bags, and eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-pound potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. Once you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.