Mr T

I looked at it at Telford, but to be honest, not sure about it, I have the Contrail kit and it is on the never ending build list.

Nice build, the 1980 kit is not bad, although a bit deficient in detail these days. I used one to build a Lincoln with the old DB conversion about four/five years ago

So far as I am aware, there has never been an injection moulded kit of the Lerwick, even Valom have ignored it so far. There is/was a resin kit from Blackbird Models, not cheap. Will watch your build with interest.

Not long got back from the show, thoroughly enjoyed myself, no kits bought, just some paints and brushes and a couple of reduced books now in the custody of Mrs T until three weeks today. Met a couple of BM'ers and ex Sheffield branch members. Congratulations and thanks to the organisers for a good show.

The Xtrakit Meteor was produced by MPM for Hannants. The fuselage to wing joint is not brilliant and the wings themselves have a very blunt leading edge section and the trailing edges on my example I built was quite thick. JR, the Xtrakit NF is the old Matchbox kit with new decals. The new SH kit looks a lot better.

Look a a very nice little kit, reminds of SBS kits which are also of very good quality

Very nice build of a pretty ancient kit, I did one for the Frog group build last year and so can appreciate the effort you put into the model

Nic looking Mossie and I like the finish. The canopies are fun on the Hasegawa kits.

My guess is that Sunday is more popular nowadays is that a) venues are easier to book for Sundays and b) it suits people's domestic arrangements better. When I was a lad nothing happened on a Sunday apart from being sent to Sunday School and either relatives coming to visit or visting them and so the only upside was the food and oh the tedium of having to listen to relatives talking about boring things (to a small boy anyway) with the odd bit of casual racism and homophobia thrown in for good measure.

Nothing wrong in building old kits, I buy kits with the intention of building them, not to keep them pristine or as investments, although if that is what people want to do, fair enough and I am glad that there are collectors who are keeping an archive for the future. Last year I built ex Frog kits of the Hotspur glider and Bristol 138 for the Frog Group Build. They are the only kits available in 1/72nd scale and scrubbed up well.

Thanks everyone again for all the likes and comments. I am a bit overwhelmed by them as I have never had as much response to a model and I am obviously chuffed to bits at the reception the Shack has received. The MR1 has been on the 'to do' list for a while, I even started the Contrail kit many moons ago, but only got as far as cutting the fuselage out before work took up more time. Thanks again. Martin

The reason I am buying more oranges is that last years is gone worse luck as it was one of the better batches I have made. Problem with preserve making is that you never know what will happen. Some of last years was lost as some jars fell over and it leaked and because the seal breached it went mouldy. Now I know that a previous PM would have just scraped the top off, but from a food safety perspective that will not do. Had to take about an inch (2.54cm for our metric readers) off the top of each jar and threat was reboiled and put into new jars. First time this has ever happened, but apparently it can. Back on topic bought some Albion Alloy 0.2mm nickel silver rod for a future project. Wanted some 0.1mm, but not in stock and might be too thin anyway.

My wife presented me with a Christmas present she had found in her wardrobe and had forgotten about. A CD of Jean Michel-Jarre 'Equinox Infinity'. Best thing is, I bought it, and then gave it to Mrs T and forgot about it! Also enough seville oranges for two batches of marmalade and a litre of Seville Orange gin. Gin made and being left to mature and one lot of shred soaking for making up tomorrow. The rest in the freezer until later in the year.

Thanks Ian, just out of interest is that your current cat as your avatar, because it is the spitting image of Wilf our rehomed lost cat.

Hi Tony, thanks for the comment. By and large it was not too bad, I do not build big planes that often and I think it took me a while to adjust. The basic kit seems sound enough, the only real issues were around the undercarriage bays which need some care to get right and the long seam on the fuselage top. I found the wings and fuselage were quite flexible until everything was joined up as the plastic is non too thick or stiff. The conversion parts were a bit of a mixed bag. The solid resin for the blunt tail was OK, but the clear nose took some work and was too narrow in width but a bit too deep. I made a cut with a razor saw along the bottom of the nose just below the floor that sorted the latter and failing with Miliput took care of the width issue. The nose radome needs sanding to fit the provided opening but worked OK. I stuck the new nose and tail on with epoxy as it seems to stand handling and fills well and does not fog clear bits. The fit issue I had may not be the same for everyone as it was a big piece of clear resin and resin can do funny things as it cures. The Swift I built last year had avirtually perfect fit of most parts. The kit has a lot of parts and takes a lot of room when building, but I am now largely pleased with it.