MikeR

A lot of it will be down to shipping costs - I've heard plenty of evidence that logistics chains everywhere are under a lot of strain. Mike.

Yeah, saw that too, I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not. Most of that price will no doubt be the cost of shipping it from China and importing into the UK. Mike.

I would say "more than" the Takom offering, but a lot will depend on the importers, shipping etc. Mike.

Sovereign Hobbies has some good info on their website: LINK. IIRC from the Pathe footage showing the handover, the Buchanan and rest were still in the USN pre-war scheme of #5 Standard Navy Gray horizontals, #20 Standard Deck Gray decks, black boot-topping with Norfolk 65-A Antifouling Red underwater. As for Vallejo equivalents, there was a gentleman on Modelwarships.com who complied this list which gives info for not just USN, but RN and others as well: LINK. Mike.

Looks very nice indeed! Mike.

WW1 falls during what's known as the "Pre-Grouping Era" which covers pretty much everything up to 1st January 1923 when the various companies were "Grouped" into four larger ones. One of the attractions of the pre '23 period is the colourfull liveries that the various companies used but a downside is that they could be very ornate - lots of panelling and lining! As your down in the South West have a look at anything related to the Great Western Railway, the London and South Western Railway and the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. LSWR train in the livery used up to the middle of WW1 (it had to simplified due to the effects of the war): S&DJR train: I can't find a suitable period image for the GWR, but it changed it's livery not long before WW1 and stayed more-or-less the same until it became part of British Railways in 1948: Mike.

Not a company name but I have seen a few amusing product descriptions in my time working in supermarket land, both when they go through the till and on the price tickets themselves. I think the best one would be this for a squeaky rubber chicken dog toy: "Latex Poultry". Mike.

Well, I finally had my first jab this past Tuesday. Went to the P&J Live, straight in, no queue and straight back out again in about half an hour. Told I was getting the Pfizer one so I thought "fine, the side effects should be manageable." Errr.... no. Started feeling queasy that night, went to bed and woke up feeling utterly crud! Had to phone in sick and I've spent the last week slowly starting to feel human again! Still feel muzzy headed but it's no where near as bad as it was. Mike.

One to look forward to! The modification to the intake shock cones might be a little tricky, though. That's potentially going to be a pest to tidy up. Mike.

Nice! I was hoping they were going to do an E-1. Mike.

Very nice indeed! Mike.

Yep, sounds like the old Matchbox kit. Another option from the Revell ones would be Italeri as they've re-issued some of the old Esci SdKfz 251's. If you want an unarmoured one Revell's the best bet. Mike.

That's my dad had his jab, no problems except a lengthy queue. I went with him, but stayed in the car as per the guidence whilst he went in. Looks like the local program's using postcode to sequence who comes in as we met a few of the neighbours! He asked which vaccine he was getting and like @Des and @One 48 it was the Pfizer one which he was glad about. If it had been the Oxford/AstraZeneca one he would have refused it based on latest developments. Mike.

Latest news from Hannants, from their e-mail newsletter: Mike.

Looks good! Mike.