Fifer54

Saw this on a recent trip to Edinburgh!:

Eerm, Guys, you know how I said that was it for 2024? Well, when I was reviewing my activity on Farcebook, I found 3 models that I'd posted on there, that had never been uploaded to my PhotoHost! So here they are: Some vintage Heller with their 1/72 Morane-Saulnier MS406 and some vintage FROG, their 1/72 Percival Proctor Also in 1/72, we finish with the Airfix Boulton Paul Defiant- the one that's not old enough to be vintage. but too old now to call "new tooling" And that really is all, folks!

I've actually finished another one! This is definitely, positively absolutely the last for this year- the next one on the bench won't be finished until I get the right paint for it, which means a visit to the LHS. I was pleasantly surprised to find what an easy build the Airfix 1/72 Fairey Fulmar is: See you all next year!

OOoops, missed a couple! I didn't notice until I took a look at the model shelves that there were 2 models I hadn't recorded! Eduard's lovely little Junkers Ju52/3m was a fun build: The Airfix "Vintage Classic" Brewster Buffalo allowed me to indulge my interest in the US "equivalent colors" for RAF camouflage early in WW2, finishing the model in a scheme put forward by Paul Lucas in his well-known "Colour Conundrum" articles in SAM. Here's the Buffalo in (my interpretation of) its delivery scheme: Thanks for the kind comments to those who left them.

It's been a few years since I published a yearbook here- just couldn't be ars didn't have the motivation. I remain a careless and impatient kit assembler, and I've still not got to grips with the airbrush, and I'm still struggling with finishing clear coats! 31 completed this year, and here they are, in the order they were recorded with my photo host. Mostly 1/72, with a few cars in other scales and a couple of forays into 1/144- in my last yearbook, I spoke about how a move to 1/48 had helped my mojo, but that didn't last long, 1/48 was less forgiving, so I went back to 1/72. So, firstly, Hawk's vintage Supermarine Swift: Followed on the bench by Academy's Curtiss P-40B, in a AVG scheme: More vintage kitting with a FROG Gloster/Whittle E.28/39: Next was vintage Airfix, the current release of their Westland Whirlwind helo: The vintage theme was maintained with a FROG Gloster Javelin (with a corrected nosecone): More Gloster, with the HobbyBoss Gladiator: An Airfix Messerschmitt Bf109E came next: More vintage Airfix, their 1/32 Ford Escort Mk.1: Then vintage Heller, in the shape of their Caudron-Renault 714: And then their Me262B-1a/U1 Nachtjaeger: Then Italeri's recent Macchi-Castoldi MC.205 Veltro: Back to vintage FROG with a DH.103 Hornet: Airfix's Hawker Tempest came next: Then this yea's only 1/25 scale car, the old SMER Talbot-Lago GP car: FROG's Bristol Blenheim Mk.1 came next: Vintage Airfix again, the Triumph Herald 1200: Heller's 1/100 NASA Lunar Module followed: And their Command/Service module as well: Next was the old Humbrol Harrier trainer: Vintage Airfix again, the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver: And their "Vintage Classic" Bond Bug: And the Saunders-Roe SRN.1 ACV An ancient Revell Curtiss Hawk 75 (P-36) also: And an equally ancient Airfix Avro 504K: A SMER Spitfire Mk. HF.VI, which apeared to be a Heller Mk.V with an extra sprue of Mk.VI bits! Revell's Boeing-Vertol Ch-47D Chinook in 1/144 was a fun little build: A Novo Bleriot XI was an abomination of a kit which fought me all the way: This next caused some surprise- The Curtiss Tomahawk sprues came out of an Airfix starter set for a Folland Gnat! Complete with Gnat instructions and decals. Plans were found online, and aftermarket decals resulted in a Hawk 81 of the Turkish Airforce: Again vintage Airfix, this time their Bristol Bloodhound: The year's first what-if resulted from an accident- I dropped a part-built 1/144 Roden Convair B-36, and totally destroyed the undercarriage! Repairs weren't possible (too much damage to the landing gear), so a gear-up model ensued, and I used some imagination to create a RAF maritime patroller, the Convair Kraken MR.2 in a scheme borrowed from a Shackleton!: My last completed model so far this year is another what-if- built from the Xtrakit, it's an in-service (in an extended WW2 in the pacific) Saunders-Roe SR/A.1, the jet flying boat fighter: That's all so far, and with only a part-completed Airfix Me410 on the bench, waiting for aftermarket paint masks in the mail, I don't see any more being finished, but if there are, I'll let you know . . .

Same here! I used Veteranus last year in a stash cull due to a change in modelling direction, and found the "payout" I got was more than double what Kingkit offered me. I did have to wait a couple of weeks until "my" kits reached their turn in the auction, then another week (or so) until all the buyers coughed up, but I was well pleased with the result.

There are no road signs to that village! The local council stopped replacing them when they were (inevitably) stolen. Only the notice board outside the church identifies it as "Tw*tt Church". Oh, and the memorial plaque for HMS Tern . . .

I have before me as I write this, the instruction booklet for the Eduard Spitfire HF.VIII, which claims Gunze H33 "Russet" to be an appropriate finish

No, it's local accents

nuts, bolts and washers

I won't be renewing my membership. I feel I have received very little from my membership. And as a thank you for my loyalty, they then offer me an opportunity to spend £90 on a (admittedly superb) kit, that I wouldn't buy anyway- not my scale/too big a model- if they'd offered 25% off across the range, even as a "one-off, single purchase" deal, I might have been interested, but at that price, I think most of the "takers" will be those who would have bought one at full price anyway- and Airfix know this. About a month ago, out of the blue, Hornby sent me a copy of their Hornby club's The Collector magazine- does this indicate some confusion (or complacency) about memberships at Hornby?

Britmodeller massive. Meanwhile back

calling Orson, "Shazbot", licking

"That's no moon" said

not looking for those

I saw a car being driven by a sheep in a swimsuit. It was a Lamb Bikini . . .

SWMBO has used a mobility scooter for several years now. She currently has 2 scooters, one a lightweight 3-wheeled "transportable" that dismantles to fit in the car boot for use away from home, and a big 4-wheeler for local use. If your mother-in-law needs a scooter to fit in the car boot, there are folding scooters, or dismantling scooters. Folding ones can be seriously small when collapsed (think airline overhead locker bag!), but lifting such a scooter into a car boot may require some muscle! SWMBO's "boot scooter" dismantles into chassis (with folding steering column), seat, basket and battery box. I find that all components are reasonably light for lifting, but the dismantled scooter takes up rather more space than a "folder". However it be recharged by removing the battery box and bringing that into the house! The "big" scooter is much more comfortable (and capable!), with a "Captain's chair" seat, adjustable steering column, bigger shopping basket, etc., but is. of course much heavier. Ramps are required for bringing it indoors, or even for storage in a shed or outbuilding- it's too heavy to lift over kerbs. It has a range of (allegedly) 16 miles, but in hilly Oldham SWMBO does suffer from range anxiety! The battery on this one is NOT (easily) removable, so it must be charged in situ, which may be an issue- we have to charge it outside our front door in a communal hallway (block of lowrise flats), although we do have a shed to store it, but without power! Some "top end" scooters are fitted with suspension, others not, some have pneumatic tyres, others solid. Solid tyres are often described as "puncture-proof" in scooter descriptions. Folding armrests and a seat that swivels sideways for easier mounting and dismounting are things to think about. If the prices asked for secondhand scooters seem high, don't scare yourself by looking at new ones! The "mobility shops" that sell new scooters often have used ones for sale as well, Keep looking at secondhand ads, it may seem morbid but "bereavement sales" can yield a bargain scooter! To survey the market, the Motability website has details of many scooters, also google "mobility scooter" to find scooter sales websites, these can give you an idea of what to look for- I thought a nice automatic-folder would suit SWMBO very nicely until I saw on a sales website that I'd have to lift around 25Kg (in one lump!) into the boot- not a vast weight, but enough to put me off . . . I hope this has been helpful, I've rambled on a bit(!), maybe it has given you some points to think about, Good luck finding the right scooter for your Mum-in-law.

That's how these sorts of image links have always worked for me, but I tried Bentwaters81tfw's "right click, open in new tab" method, and that worked! Every day's a school day . . .

goujons in a white

served in half a

of all ranks and

The data-mining "telemetry" in Win10 can be controlled. There is free software from O&O software called ShutUp10. Find out more here. Obviously, one can't really tell how well it works unless you can do a before & after comparison . . .

Interestingly, after seeing this I tried it out, (DuckDuckGo search, Firefox 89/Win10). and although the scam pharmacy appears in the search results, the links lead to the ObscureCo website (or a facsimile thereof!) Reading his "the company" page, it seems Chris Buchholz definitely has a sense of humour. Is this actually him 'avin' a laugh?

Yet another: What's the difference between roast beef and pea soup? Anyone can roast beef . . .

What a great question!