Mr T

It was not a bad cut and I bled freely due to the mild anticoagulant I am on post stroke, which helps clean stuff out. Once cleaned it just needed a plaster for a day or so and is now healed. In the UK for a bad cut you would go to Accident and Emergency (of which I had recent experience with a nose bleed. sorted but weird as the sister in A&E and the staff nurse on the ward remembered me as I had taught them when they were students, and the consultant on the ward knew me from my days as an ENT Charge nurse) or a Walk In clinic where a Nurse Practitioner would have sorted it. I seem to recall that cyanoacrylates were originally developed for sticking skin together in plastic surgery, in areas where stitching is not wanted as it can leave scars. Using garlic juice as a glue is interesting, but possibly smelly. i have just cut some garlic gloves up to go in a marinade for the Beef Stroganoff I am making for tea and it is noticeable downstairs.

I wondered that looking at the AEW2 and MR3 kits, but when. Going to do Airfix and conversion as at 65 suddenly realised I am not going to be around forever and so many kits I want to build.

Ed Deeley was a memorable person. Always ready to have chat at shows. His shop was pretty good, although I only visited it 2 or 3 times. Thanks for the comment as well

My next build is likely to be a Shackleton with the Alleycat MR1 conversion, although a Canadian Starfighter beckons

Back from jollies and some more progress. Wings have been added and the fit was surprisingly good with only one area of major filling, which might be down to me rather than the conversion set. The fin and rudder have been added and this was more problematic as I thought I had cut the kit parts off where the instructions indicated, but have a gap. not difficult to sort out with some plastic strip, but annoying none the less. Some filling and fettling will be required. The nose was also added last night and the top part appears to be slightly wider than the bottom. There was enough room around the nose undercarriage bay to fit some weight and I think I have enough.. I am leaving the tailplanes off until I am happy with the fin and rear fuselage join., I know I am asking for trouble if they are added now. The reddish mark on the rear fuselage is blood. I managed to catch myself with a No 11 Swann-Morton blade. Fortunately as it was so so sharp, the cut will heal by first intention and I am no longer on Rivroxaban after the. PE

Back from a short holiday in the Ardennes and a funeral and work continues on the 138. Paint work is more or less finished, although I am not entirely happy with the metal panel around the nose. i really wanted a bit more contrast, but calling it sorted now. Masking was fun, I was trying to work how to get the curvy demarcation sorted then realised that i have a tool for the job in the shape of an OFLA circle cutter I bought from ED Models about 1988. That some wide masking tape and flexible Tamiya masking tape seem to have sort of worked. since the photo was taken several coats of gloss varnish have been added and decalling will start tonight. Feeling I am getting somewhere with this kit after 41 years

On Tuesday, coming back up the A1 saw a WWII era Studebaker 6X6 lorry in US colours. Yesterday on the M1 North of Nottingham a late fifties VW Karman Ghia and on the back of a truck a 66 plated Morgan in red

In Dinant this afternoon, a grey Citroën Traction Avant, not sure of the exact model, coincidentally watched an old Maigret last night on my IPod.

On the A1 yesterday a blue G reg Triumph Herald, haven't seen one in ages, Presumably as most have rusted through around the front end. As a bonus, near Duxford on the M11, the Blenheim flew over

I am at home now most days and rarely need a list for any jobs. One thing about fending for myself from when I left home, none of the cooking etc is difficult, in fact I enjoy baking, preserve making etc. I am writing this from a hotel in the Ardennes and on my guard for unexpected armoured attacks.

The build will be on hold for a few days as outlined in my Frog group build thread for the Bristol 138A. In the meantime, during the intermission tasty (!) drinks and snacks are available in the foyer, including Mr C.M.O.T. Dibblers' famous 'Sausage in a Bun' as sold in Sator Square, Ankh Morpork.

Paint on and demasked. Some touching up will be required. Disappointed that the Tamiya Chrome Silver and the Vallejo White Aluminum turned out to be almost the same shade. Photos to follow as currently near Canterbury before getting on a ferry tomorrow for Calais and a few days in France and Belgium. Mrs T and I booked it on the spur of the moment this morning.

Nicely done. I built a frog kit with DB conversion kits about 25 years ago. I have the Fly kit and the WIP will be useful

Now has a coat of black on top, that will need to be re done in places as showed up a couple of imperfections that I had missed. Tamiya sprayed on really well, I pleased to say.

Thanks for your faith in my abilities, TBH I am expecting the gaps as resin shrinkage varies. The resin bits I have so far added have not been bad. I reckon building a few Magna kits have helped. Satisfying builds, but need some effort.

Some more progress with the Swift. a lot of the detail painting for the undercarriage has been done, a job I do not like to leave to the end as bits can usually be down at odds times in the build. Both upper wings have been added to the cut down lower wing. fir was not perfect, but I did not expect it to be and is good where it matters in that the control surfaces fit well. There is a slight gap where along the bottom wing which has been dealt with and there will be a gap at the wing root at the leading edge. this may be down to my original cutting. The fuselage is together now. there is a seem line where the two halves come together, it seems to be inherent in the kit as it was there before I did anything cutting wise. Possibly it is due the damage I understand the mould suffered when the kit went into production. That is what filler is there to deal with. I have added the new rear fuselage and it is a reasonable fit. Once the fuselage has been fettled, the wing will go on. I am leaving the nose until I have a better idea of how much weight will be needed A trial fit of the wing has revealed a potential problem with the depth of the resin wing as it does not appear to line up with wing root on the fuselage.

More progress with the Bristol after a busy week or so. Canopy is on and masked and airframe primed and sanded etc.. Ready now for the topcoat of black, that I think will be Tamiya semi gloss as Tamiya paints seem to spray well with their own thinners from my previous limited experience. some scratchbuilding of small details has been necessary and the pipe4s fro the supercharger that are blobs on the side of the nose have been removed and will be replaced with some thick copper wire out of the inside of some TV coax aerial lead I found at my mums. The original pipes seem to be copper and so no painting required. wheels, engine and undercarriage legs also painted up ready.

Coming on well now, I have done a bit more to mine and putting some photos up today.

Amazing, shows how good the aerodynamic design of the aircraft was. Brings back a lot of memories of Finningley airshows etc.

Very nice piece of work there. My dad and I used to watch UFO back in the seventies when I came back to live with him for a short while after uni. I think he only watched for the female crew of the Moonbase

Going by its two predecessors, I am not holding out much hope.

Lovely pics, I went about three years ago. Some good exhibits on top of what you put up. An interesting museum. The railway stuff is good as well, including an HO scale model of the Anhalter Banhof which is run most weekends and is a work in progress. The station was bombed in 1944 and then destroyed in the fighting around the centre of Berlin in 1945. The entrance to the museum has the Cessna 172 that Mathias Rust landed near the Kremlin in 1987. We stayed opposite the remains of the station, which have been tided up.

Thanks Dave, it has been a bit of a roller-coaster year so far. Started off recovering from a pulmonary embolism and then mum died at end of March followed shortly by a next door neighbour we got on well with since we moved in in 1996. Been sorting mums house out as we basically have to sell to meet the terms of the will and a nosebleed that put me in hospital and then my cousin dying, it has not been good year. Still house goes on Friday and starting to sort out LPA stuff. Did a bit of work to Swift last night and hopefully some more before we go on holiday in just over a weeks time

Whirlykits might have some. They do a very tasty resin kit, but lots of pennies.

Between Leitholm and Kelso yesterday, a open top Triumph TR7 and a late 50's/early 60's Austin Healey, both in British Racing Green. Not seen a TR7 for a while. Last time up here and always used to spot something so😞