Mr T

Thanks for the very kind comments. Possibly the big advantage of the Mach2 kit is that it is injection moulded with a good thickness of plastic. The plastic itself is fairly hard, if a little brittle. The Argosy is not light, especially once the nose weights are in. So far it has given me a lot of pleasure, if tempered with a bit of frustration. The RugRat Andover looks a challenge as in mine there is a huge mismatch between the rear fuselage halves that will require the use of a saw to fix. The wheels may also be a bit too large, but not sure about that. Never thought I would see Argosy and negligee in the same sentence. I am now seriously distracted

I think the time I first bought an Airfix Magazine when I was 12 in 1966, was when modelling became more 'serious'. I started buying proper aircraft books shortly afterwards, I was hooked. Mrs T reckons all men's hobbies are grown up toys. She might be right.

Yes. I didn't make myself clear. I was thinking in more general terms of scratch built models being on a par with the best of kits plus all the bits

Not so sure, it was the ability of early hominids to pass on information and work with others as a group that enabled humans to develop. A single early hominid, no matter how competitive with his peers would be unlikely to survive, at least until the development of weapons that had a longer reach than the arm. Australopithecines seem to have been a favourite of early leopards judging by the fossil evidence. Competition is all very well, and it has positive effects, but it also has some very negative ones.

I had a Micra, a pre Renault one, good little car, eventually the Engine Control Unit went on it and a new one would cost four times the car was the worth. Its replacement? A Skoda Citigo. Gets me from A to B cheaply and no road tax.

I think one issue is that, as in all things, people have different needs. Some modellers like to enter competitions, I haven't for nearly forty years because it doesn't rock my boat. If that what they like, fair enough, but it doesn't mean we all have to model or whatever we do as relaxation to win something. I was appalled by the story of the model club in Belfast as that seems to suck any enjoyment right out of a hobby. If you are worrying about having to produce a model that must win to remain in what is effectively a clique, you are heading into some pretty dodgy mental health territory. My hobby is important to me as it has helped me weather some pretty bad storms, and helps keep me going, but it is not the only thing going on in my life.

That is an interesting comment re IPMS. At SMW, scratch built models regularly win, and quite a few are to be found in competition and on Branch tables In the eighties, I did get the impression that there were some modellers who regarded themselves as an 'elite', and I have seen some comments on various sites that were quite dismissive of others efforts. I think there are always people who either see a hobby or pastime as a way to make easy money (and I don't mean the army of dedicated people who spend a lot time and effort to make our hobby more enjoyable) or see it as an opportunity to show how much 'better' they are. Me, I build models because I am interested in the subject matter and I enjoy it. I realise you are referring to across the pond. They do seem to take themselves very seriously from what I gather.

Note also the North Star in the background, and in the first photo, a Firefly T2 Interesting that the 'wartime' colours had survived for so long. It does look very tatty, I wonder if it was still flying.

A trip to Halifax netted a Mikro Mir preorder of the DH Swallow. A bit pricey for a small kit, but at least there are cockpit masks and I got a discount. A check against the plans in 'British Experimental Jet Aircraft' by Barrie Hygate show a pretty good match to the kit parts. Surface detail looks OK and I didn't have any flash on the my copy. It depicts TG283 or 306, rather than VW120 with the lowered canopy and extended nose. Pleased with it.

I would have thought Lakenheath is pretty full once all the squadrons based there are up to strength. Not sure what state Alconbury is in these days. I bet they wished they had hung on to Bentwaters. If they want something quick, there is always Leeming, which is pretty empty these days. Only the Qatari? Hawks and a few Tutors. It is also near the North Sea and Northern England/Borders playgrounds that the F15Es seem to like.

Thanks, the Argosy is probably best described as 'rugged'. I was torn between which colour scheme to use, but given that realistically I will only build one Argosy I went for the early scheme. I have a RugRat Andover that is going to be in the Light Stone/Dark Earth scheme. I think the days of imagining building multiples of big kits are virtually over for me, if I want to get done a lot of kits I still want to build. My rule for Group Builds is to only build stuff from the stash or something I would have bought anyway. It's not a bad kit, provided you don't mind cleaning parts up and are patient.

Thanks very much for your kind comments. I was surprised by how well the kit has gone together, and how much I have enjoyed it, although I want it finished now. Thank you, although the camera flatters the model. Now I am adding aerials etc, the finish is not so pristine. Still, in real life they were fairly hard worked! I have got it on its undercarriage now and most of the aerials have been added at least once. I realised the other day that the props had not had their black de-icer strips added to the blade leading edges and so that is the current job. Another photo or two in a couple of days when some touching up if paintwork has been done.

Looks very nice, picked one up yesterday. It seems to match the plans in Barrie Hygates book on British experimental jets pretty well.

Hi Kev, I would be interested in a set of the Argosy and Britannia wheels. The Argosy is currently in the Big and British GB and your wheels would really set it off. Martin

That looks very tempting, the stash is never going to get any smaller!