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After a very barren 2023 on the workbench, where I just couldn't get my act together and get in the right headspace to sit down and model for a few hours of an evening, I decided to scratch the balsa itch again, that's never far under my skin. I finished the ancient Matchbox Dornier at the very start of the year, and despite an accident at the final hurdle, recovered it and was really happy with the finished result. An Eduard Albatros III got started late summer, but never got off the ground. It's still on the bench waiting for me to get the shot of enthusiasm to continue. That's the only plastic kit started in 12 months! Why I couldn't enjoy hobby I love so much is beyond me, who knows what goes on in our heads though! I usually only build one kit at a time. I know not everyones cup of tea, but for an undisciplined builder like me it's really the only way to go. With these desperate measures I deciced to break that self enforced rule though. I very occasionally build balsa kits. Started when a good pal who helps me keep my Kombi on the road was buying some RC parts in the States, and saw a Guillows Nieuport in the bargain bucket bin, and thought it was up my street. I really enjoyed the whole build process, but the scale of these things just put me off building another. Then last year I spotted the DH Puss Moth @bigbadbadge made a lovely job of, and looked for one in a more forgiving scale to build for my clumsy fingers and eyes. No go, but hang on - West Wings do a flying balsa kit! That search sent me off on a balsa kit rabbit hole! While I was waiting for this discontinued kit to surface at an affordable price, the Camel popped up, and here we are. Built for display, and more or less out of the box, although I was always thinking how much I'd like to super detail one of these. The big Guillows kits are like a basic little kit scaled up, rather than the real thing, scaled down, if you know what I mean. I've seen better detailed pilots in 1/72 scale. But that's not the point with it, I just had fun for the several weeks it took over the kitchen table, and it reminded me what I love about building again. I did think if balsa kits are allowed on here? They don't really fit in? Anyway, forgive me, hopefully normal service will resume shortly. Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr Guillows Sopwith Camel by Mike, on Flickr

G'day all Little bit miffed, I thought I had started posting this early in the year, can't find any trace of it. Long story short . . I bought this Guillows Supermarine Spitfire kit a few years ago from a gent in the US who claimed it was purchased some 30 odd years prior. So earlier this year I decided to give it a go [haven't done a flying model in 25 years], opened the box and to my horror was covered in a thick layer of white powder and my first thought given this was an international purchase was, "Bugger! Anthrax". Fortunately that proved to not be the case . . . not unless these days anthrax comes in a saw dust scented variety . . I can only deduce that the balsa had degenerated over the years [being knocked about probably didn't help]. A quick inspection proved that some of the panels were too weak to work with so I had to re-cut them. Anyway assembly was rather quick Now unfortunately I don't have any of the photos I originally took for the steps past this point [seem to have misplaced the files] Another long story short, I was determined to make this a flying model, unfortunately that didn't happen. The rubber band motor was not strong enough to make it vibrate let alone travel across the table. And given that I had well glued the cowling into place with enough lead to balance the CofG properly, I figured it was too late to motorise it. So, I decided to fill in the formers with soft balsa offcuts, fill in the gaps with wood putty and sand smooth. As you can see, nicely balanced . . on the corner of my monitor My concept now is to stain and polish it before I add decals and additional features . . this should leave a clear distinction between wood and plastic, plus the original kits skeleton is highly visible. Part of the additions is to include a proper undercarriage complete with extended landing gear. Still have a bit of work to do, the plastic components that come with the kit leave a lot to be desired in terms of detail. I have been researching what the different radiator and cooling tubes look like and along with the prop decided on doing a mark V [ish] model. Currently awaiting the arrival of some ebay aquired enhancements to arrive.