Mr T

I don't think they are crummy at all. Yes, some people do some pretty amazing models and I impressed by their skills. I model to suit me and I am generally happy with what I produce. Building kits is my hobby and I do it to a standard that gets stuff built and does not stress me. Don't sell yourself short, lots of others will do that if you let them (a lesson I wish I had learnt earlier in life)

Very nice build and in the scheme I remember seeing in the 80's, which suited it well. I have one on the stash and sounds an interesting build.

Not seen that before. At the time never that keen on Kate Bush, but more recently she has grown on me, though I always thought she was a very attractive looking woman.

A trip to Dave at Halifax Modellers World this morning netted some paint and packs of No11 Swann Morton blades and also a back ordered AZ Hornet F.1. First examination shows a neatly moulded kit with good detail, and some mould lines that will need cleaning up, but well within the competence of most modellers I would have thought. Wing trailing edges look as if they might need some work, but that seems to be the case with a lot of kits. The instructions give credit to some good sources and also to Britmodeller! I can see this kit moving up the build order.

Just picked up the Hornet F.1 I had on order and it looks a very nice kit. Looking at the runners, it lloks as if no provision has been made for the FAA variants. Is there any likelihood of the F.20 and NF21, presumably there would be a new wing and fuselage runner? I hope the F.3 has a Church Fenton based option (19 and 41 Sqns) I live not that far from there. Thanks for the interesting subjects.

Very sorry to hear the news, I remember him from my occasional visits to Sheffield IPMS meetings after I moved to Leeds as well as the Nationals/SMW. He was filling me about the branch not that long ago. BTW and off topic, the guy to the right of Andy in the photo was my best man 30 years ago.

Getting to grips with this kit now. The fuselage is cleaned up with only minor bits of refilling to do and the somewhat bare kit supplied rotor heads have had some detailing work on them. I have drilled holes for grab handles to be added later in the build and fashioned a fairing on the starboard side that seems unique to the Canadian machines. Paint on soon all being well!

Issues of mental health, infirmity or learning disability in many forms aside, I think there is a fundamental issue here. We live in a society that has a legal system based on rights and obligations (Common law) and it strikes me that a large chunk of society , be they individuals or organisations tend to be very keen on the 'rights' but would rather forget about the 'obligation' bit. As an ex nurse and lecturing in healtcare law and ethics as part of my old day job, this is something that I used to think about a lot.

The other alternative (and preferable in my view) is not to go near the site.

Reads like a poorly translated press release and virtually unreadable as so many adverts in the piece.

Thanks for the comments everyone, I turned out better than I thought it might, even if not as good as I would really have wanted it.

Not necessarily, the test build is from a few shots off the mould to check that it works and highlight any issues. Given the problems with Covid that India (plastic) are facing, plus Italy (decals) plus UK (box and instructions), it is no surprise that the kit is delayed. You have only have to go to the supermarket to realise how much the supply chain is under stress.

1/72nd scale Extratech Sud Aviation Allouette II, XR232, Middle Wallop, 1964. This is my second entry to this Group Build and uses the Extratech kit that appeared in 1998. The kit is made up from resin parts and a vacformed canopy with most of the fuselage structure in etched brass that requires a lot of folding and with minimal joining surfaces. XR232 was manufactured in 1961 and still survives, being on display at the Museum of Army Flying at Middle Wallop. A bit of a challenge, but I am glad it is out of the stash and on the finished shelf. A link to the WIP is below

The kit is now finished and I have just put in the gallery. Not the most straightforward of builds, I think due to the age of the kit when resin and PE design was less sophisticated than it is now, but very satisfying to build. I have not seen many built (in fact I think I have seen only one that had a lot of the brass replaced by tube) and it is not a kit for the novice.

A bit more progress with the Retriever. The first go at dealing with the join line on the fuselage. The whole of the joint has had a layer of Miliput which has been sanded down to something that looks smooth but a coat of primer I am sure will prove otherwise. Assembled the rotor blades to their very small hub. One was OK, but the other had an issue in that I had managed to put one blade on the wrong way round. Nothing a bit of brass wire and superglue will not cure. This is going to be a fun project. You can see a fair bit of Miliput on the join, it is the same all the way round.