Procopius

I have a very sunny disposition, everyone says so.

Good lord, that was fast.

They look to be vinyl masks, which have an unfortunate tendency to shrink over time.

Winston has inherited his mother's disease of dangerously high self-esteem, though the universe is doing its best to do to him what it did to me and squeeze every last drop out of him.

No progress last night, as this smug creature is difficult at night, and her mother is showing signs of cracking, eg suspiciously long showers, trips to the WC that require the car, etc. and I'm consequently a little too drained to feel my hands will be sufficiently steady. HMS Hood did arrive for the boys the other day, and last night, to give them something to do, I suggested they get a start on it. It's a very elderly Airfix kit, and so dad provided some aid and some modelling tips, but much of it was done with tube glue and sellotape to hold recalcitrant parts together, proper vintage modelling style. I thought about playing some Heath/Wilson exchanges for them to get the full effect, but stayed my hand. Grant and Win both built, but Win is older and by far more adroit, so I had to give a lot of my aid to Grant with the hull, while Win handled the 15" turrets. Fortunately I know a little something about warships, so was able to field their questions with ease, and later heard Grant proudly informing Mrs P that "This is the Hood." Win, who has a lot of me in him, suggested we get all the ships from the Bismark hunt in 1/600 to go with Hood (of course given how rarely Airfix reissues the damned things, this could get pricey), particularly Rodney and King George V. For his bedtime story, after we read a chapter of the interminable Duet, which Mrs P hates (hard to blame her, it's a virtually tensionless story, and Chopin is of zero interest to children with as little musical ability as ours), he had me tell him the story of the Sinking of the Bismark. We may read C S Forester's short novel on it next, though Grant, who does not like blood, has opted out. This morning, Win got up at the crack of dawn and added the funnels and upper decking/lower superstructure, but Grant's allergies are exacerbated by tube glue, so construction is temporarily halted until some of that non-toxic citrus glue can wind its way here.

I seem to recall learning the "thin the bejesus out of the wing" trick from one of your prior builds. I've always done it, and it really helps the look, but made the SH Meatbox enough of a chore that I look forward to the Airfix. It is nice to see even the Great One can sand off a trim tab or two in his zeal.

I confess to having been unaware, but I'm sure this is probably not the first time it's been said -- I've just been distracted by children.

"Modelers who work in 1:72nd scale often complain, and loudly at that, that we neglect them. I’m sorry for that. I confess that we are first and foremost a 48th scale manufacturer with a soft spot for the legacy of the old Monogram kits, but even so, we do have a segment of our plans dedicated to your scale. " -- Info Eduard for November (emphasis mine)

In response to an email inquiry to Sword, it appears that these kits will be re-issued next year.

I don't think one need apologize for going slightly off-topic in a thread ostensibly about a P-40 which has already featured a built Wessex and the Firestreak missile.

Are...are you offering to be my dad? I accept. Can I come stay with you now, pop?

Wait, where can this be obtained?!?

Excited to see this come together.

As dad patiently explained to his children, were it truly dad's kit, he would have bought the fuselage/tail extension plug from Freightdog, and maybe some etch.

Apropos of nothing, I came across this inadvertently truthful ad for Firestreak today: It's missing the sun.

I should clarify that Grant performed only supervisory tasks, e.g. complaining that I was taking too long to build his helicopter. Grant routinely knocks over full glasses of liquid if they are placed within five yards of him, so does not get access to glue. He and Win were very interested in the Wessex, which all agree has a pleasing shape. I had one of those. You really should never sell any kits, I know now, you'll always regret it. Just live in a house made uninhabitable by piles of boxes of kits, no family because they abandoned you, just modelling and solitude. Sounds pretty good.

Yes, there seem to be lots of photos of their Kittyhawk IIIs -- and of course the unfortunate Flight Sergeant Copping's Kittyhawk Ia -- about, but not many to speak of from earlier. So weird that they, in the midst of a catastrophic retreat, while suffering unimaginable losses to try and save the army, failed to take any photos that would aid me specifically eighty years on. Greatest generation? Inconsiderate generation, more like!

Also: page check of the 111 Squadron ORB for 25 January - 5 February 1965, to see if it has information on which Lightnings and pilots took part in Churchill's funeral flypast. And, pre-prdered three books by Kristan Stoddart that have been available only as extremely expensive academic specialty publications, but which appear to be coming to reasonably-priced paperback editions: Losing an Empire and Finding a Role: Britain, the USA, NATO and Nuclear Weapons, 1964-70 The Sword and the Shield: Britain, America, NATO and Nuclear Weapons, 1970-1976 Facing Down the Soviet Union: Britain, the USA, NATO and Nuclear Weapons, 1976-1983

So before the Reaving of 2020, I actually did have one, and the resin update set. In my quest to get ZK-series serials for a Meteor-armed Typhoon, I did get the Hannants sheet with the markings again, so...maybe!

I actually saw one up close at the airshow in Oshkosh a few years ago. It was big, grey. Follow me for more modellers' notes.

Subsequently, I learned Air-Graphics allegedly produce them and sell them via their website -- I've ordered two sets, hopefully they make it to me.

I would be quite content to fail my way into the results you obtain.

My dad and I are not close, but I have to confess, as I grow older, I hear him speak with my voice to my children quite often, and I have a lot more sympathy for how tired he must have been all the time with four children. Also, weird side note, I just read a children's book to the boys that was set in Victorian Wales with a main character named Seren! Like all Americans, I am dead certain that I can do excellent approximations of virtually any regional accent of the British Isles, but even I couldn't tell myself I was coming remotely close to nailing a Welsh accent (unlike their mother, who reads in a halting monotone, as if the North Vietnamese had ordered her to host storytime after bringing down her Skyhawk, I do all the voices when I read, and I have lived to regret it). In other news, something exciting showed up today at Manse Procopius, having evaded suicide drones (always a good sign when your aspiring world power's best offensive weapon has to be begged off repressive third world countries), T-62s, and bewildered conscripts, and heaven knows what else. It looks very nice in the box, but don't they all? Just waiting on someone to make UK decals for her. (I believe Air-Graphics is reboxing 50 kits with RAF decals, but I'm not sure if they'll sell them separate, firstly, and secondly, I'm always a little nervous ordering from them.) Grant's Wessex has survived another day, which is amazing, since watching Grant move is like watching an octopus being electrocuted. He's the floppiest human being I've ever seen, and if a doctor told me he in fact had no bones, I would barely be surprised, and then only because he's headbutted me and I saw other galaxies. Grant really likes decals, and really hates waiting to put them on. I tried to barter with Winston for the other Wessex, which, you will recall, was really meant for me anyway, but it ended with him compromising by taking the Airfix Red Arrows Hawk I offered and retaining the Wessex. I am not a good negotiator. Also arriving today for him and Grant to build was the old Airfix 1/600 HMS Hood, which I figured would be basic enough that the boys could get into it with the loan of some tools. Maybe he will forget about the Wessex. (He won't.) And in other other news, decals are on. There aren't really many: national markings, squadron codes, serials, and I think five stencils, the Special Hobby kit not being graced with an overabundance of them. The DK Decals tend to stick where they land, so it was a bit nerve-wracking, but they're all on in more or less the right places. Next we need to seal them in and add that weird white area on the spine. I really wish I could find the photo they used as a reference, but no joy so far.

For once I hope not 1/72, as the aircraft is presently more than adequately represented by the excellent Arma kits, and a new 1/72 release from Airfix would do little more than deprive me of an opportunity for an irresponsible impulse buy.

I'm quite keen on seeing how the new Meteor goes together, and I do love 74 Squadron, so I'll be keeping an eye on this build, I think! You may have more luck sharing the photos from your site by right clicking on them, selecting "Copy Image Address", and then putting the resultant URL in your post -- the forum should automatically resolve them into images, like so: EDIT: Or not.