HMS Dido (Ikara Leander) 1979 - [WAFU’s away match]

[Chewbacca]

On 12/07/2020 at 11:27, CedB said:

My gurus have guided me into running some Klear/Aqua Gloss down the edges of well burnished tape with a fine brush.

Works for me (and them).

Don't worry about nasty edges - if you apply just enough (oh ha ha) it'll be fine.

Just keep the Micromesh handy.

HTH

Some one else said that to me a few years ago and I tried it doing the boot topping on a 1/600 Airfix TIGER.  Problem I found was that as I lifted the masking tape, the Klear lifted significant chucks of the boot topping with it.  I suspect it was simply me putting on too much Klear.

 

On 21/07/2020 at 21:34, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

All RN frigates & above had laundries run by Hong Kong Chinese in the Cold War era - the contracts were very highly sought-after, because they could make a lot of money.  The recent documentary about Big Betty suggests they still have Chinese laundrymen even now, but I might be wrong about that.

 

They're a mix now of Chinese and former Ghurkas, all run I understand by one UK based company rather than the Hong Kong family dynasties pre-1997.  I understand that the former Ghurkas, though perfectly adequate,  make far better infantrymen than laundrymen compared to the excellent service that the Kong Kong Chinese used to provide.

 

On 23/07/2020 at 21:16, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

As promised, today’s episode features micro-Waspy goodness.  Another lovely job from Peter Hall, once painted this should look excellent.  Hard to photograph with auto-focus iPhone.  Note the flot canisters assembled but not yet fitted below; I think they’re candidates for some tiny soldering onto their brass brackets, or they’re just going to be too fragile.  Final picture with standard Swann-Morton No.11 for scale.

 

Actually these shots don’t do full justice to Peter’s work; the moulded detail round the engine remarkable for the scale - just hope my detail work with hairy brush can do it justice!

 

More soon

 

Crisp

I was just thinking to myself that the detail on this is better than Fujimi manage in 1/48 scale in the base kit.  I love those flot bag clamshells.

 

I was going to comment, don't forget to put the wheels in the correct onboard configuration, then I read that you're putting it in Fly One so they are in the right configuration!

 

Absolutely first class work on this Crisp.  As I come to the end of my BULOLO and Wasp builds, I am very tempted to try one of Peter's 1/350 resin kits next.  I've got 5 in the stash.

 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

11 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

They're a mix now of Chinese and former Ghurkas, all run I understand by one UK based company rather than the Hong Kong family dynasties pre-1997.  I understand that the former Ghurkas, though perfectly adequate,  make far better infantrymen than laundrymen compared to the excellent service that the Kong Kong Chinese used to provide.I

Ah, but did the Hong Kong dynasties pass on the secret button-smashing machines?  Mind you, the thought of asking a bloke with a Kukri why all the buttons on my shirt came back shattered from the laundry...  Perhaps best left.

[andrewa]

The game's afoot!

...a couple of qualifications first though...    this is a shelf queen for a good year or two between build and finish so can't recall everything I did at the time, so may either miss bits, or claim credit for Pete Hall's hard work in places...  also, Ajax was my plan, Dido may have had subtle differences.... while I'm fairly good with obscure names for bits of ships, may not get them all right, or even know what they are... and this close I can see exactly where the paint wasn't quite right!

 

Ikara Zareaba:

 

Staboard side

Triangular web between Zareba and bridge front, just below flying bridge

Air-conditioning box just aft of hatch is bulkier than mastered

Conical/trinagular vent on launcher housing, just aft of forward ladder (I think the master has one modelled on the portside, not staboard, should be both.

Think I might have added handrails somewhere.

 

Deck:

Deflector/coaming behind launcher cover

Collapsable RAS davit on deck

I think I did something with the large locker and the long hatch (missile loading?) on deck - can't recall what though.

 

Portside:

Triangular web between Zareba and bridge front, just below flying bridge

Triangular web between zareba and deck, just aft of the RAS platform

Vent just behind that

Small hatch in deck just forward of the superstructure.

I might have done something with the deck lights (small triangles on the bulkheads) here and there - possibly one on the bridge front?

 

 

 

 

 

Foremast/signal deck:

 

Platforms under ESM antenna

2x RU lockers and spare barrel/cleaning kit? locker for Bofor

Not in shot, but there would be flag lockers inside the coaming (can't remember if they were in the master or not)

Electrical panel and cover? on rear face of the mast

(Don't miss the glass in the hatches to the flying bridge like I did!)

Move the aerial bases to the aft end of the liferaft platforms

Tiny binoculars for the lookout positions!

Spurnwaters/tripyouuponadarknightatsea around the edge of the deckhouse

Biggest one, but quite easy is the set of cable conduits between the satcom house and the antennas - I just used .20 square evergreenv strip trimmed to size once fitted and set

 

 

 

 

Rigging:

I know this is still to come, but I think it took me a while to work it out

 

 

 

 

I'll pick up with the the rest later...

 

 

 

 

[andrewa]

Also,  if you haven't encountered them yet, Posca paint markers (https://www.posca.com/en-uk/) are brilliant for some of the details like the nav lights, wooden toppings, rubber seals on the life rafts etc.

[Chris Hewitt]

43 minutes ago, andrewa said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the attention to detail,makes the model really stand out,interesting about these paint markers ,must have a nosey at the link .Cheers

Edited July 26, 2020 by Chris Hewitt

[Terry1954]

Have to agree with Chris. Attention to detail certainly lifts these models to a much more life-like level. Very nice Leander indeed @andrewa. Is there a link to see more pictures?

 

Terry

[andrewa]

Part 2:

 

 

 

 

Funnel and waist

Funnel:

Sirens on funnel (I think I sliced some inner insulation from ethernet or phone cable)

Hatch on funnel rear face

Rack of oxy/acetelene? cylinders on staboardside - and a couple in the same location on the port side

Couple of other trunks/hatches on the starboard face

I think you've already got the hand/foot rails around the top of the funnel

 

Waist:

Winding drums for the davits (can't remember what the kit did there)

Another view of the antenna bases relocated to the rear of the liferaft racks

Also another view of the rigging

And better view of the rear face of the foremast

(and wonky whaler)

 

 

 

 

Mainmast

Hand and foot rails

hatch and porch? over on front face

Oval opening both sides, platform and inclined ladder from hanger roof to port, ladder only to starboard (4.5" Leanders had platform both sides)

 

Hanger - 

I added a few discs and strips to make the light bar? across the hanger face a more 3D look.  GPI is just slightly hollowed out with a disc of plastic glued in to look the part. 

Posca markers are really good for little details like the markings on the Sea Cat bases

 

 

 

 

 

Quarter deck and stern

 

I think you have the recessed hawsehole in the stern to the side of the VDS well.

Make sure to include a horribly silvered draught marks decal for true authenticity!

Raised blocks (tackle?) at rear of flight deck and near stern

davit operators console

Capstan aft aft of limbo well

Netting at forward end of limbo well

petrol canister rack and decoys (you have these spotted)

Small cable reels near back end of flight deck netting

Railings around limbo deck don't follow the deck edge on the starboard  side

3 electrical? panels just aft of the limbo well (just small pieces of plasticard with smaller pieces stuck to them)

 

Finally a couple of vague recollections - but I can't recall what the problem and solution were:

Something about the railings, companionways and flight deck netting didn't add up for me - I think something was shorter/longer than I needed it to be so had to fix an issue (could well have been my fault)

I reshaped my chaff launcher mountings quite a lot to get them and the railings to fit, but can't remember the details of why I thought that was needed.

I think I started with the VDS cable reels on deck, then ended up with them on the forward bulkhead of the well - no recall on why that happened though -maybe I found a photo.

As Pete calls out the areas of netting on the hager roof changed from ship to ship.

Mixture of fixed and collapsable railings throughout the ship - I tried to show the difference by painting the wire ones a dk grey colour

 

I can't think of anything else  but shout if you'd like me to elaborate on any of the specifics.  At least none of it adds up to major surgery!

 

A

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[andrewa]

17 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

Have to agree with Chris. Attention to detail certainly lifts these models to a much more life-like level. Very nice Leander indeed @andrewa. Is there a link to see more pictures?

 

Terry

Not posted yet - I've got 2 Leanders and a Tribal that I'm going to put into a harbour wall scene when I get motivated

[Chris Hewitt]

Hi Andrewa

                 What good looking ships the Leanders were,use see them coming into Gib(old man was in the service 29yrs) when was a teenager,pity I didn't have a good camera, these are couple of photos my Dad took and only found then couple of years ago. Then the tv series Warship got series 1&2 ,there some excellent film on the Leanders at sea. Question which Posca paint markers do you use,been looking at the PC-1MR or the 0.7–1 MM EXTRA-FINE TIP ? can,t make my mind up which one to buy. 

Thanks Chris

Very Interesting visitor . 

 

 

 

 

 

[andrewa]

@Chris Hewitt some interesting photos there - looks like a Whitby class in a couple of them - including the interesting red- leaded gun house, batch one County class and someone's satellite tracking ship - US I presume as she's that close in to the harbour

[andrewa]

I've got a bunch of the posca pens - there's not a massive difference in the nib size for the two smaller pen sizes - I use both - but smaller is better for detail stuff, they are best used where you have a moulded feature - that needs to be contrasting colour.  I've got a couple of the grey colours as well - 'grey' is useful for creating a little contrast with the leatherwork grey - for electronics/ antenna and canvas covers,  they have good coverage, dry matt and are pretty resistant to varnish/weathering.  By the looks of it I used the pens for the danbouys and petrol can racks on Ajax

 

It's also worth looking at 'Gundam markers' (amazon). I've got a green and red that come up glossy metallic which work well for navigation lights.  

[Chris Hewitt]

40 minutes ago, andrewa said:

@Chris Hewitt some interesting photos there - looks like a Whitby class in a couple of them - including the interesting red- leaded gun house, batch one County class and someone's satellite tracking ship - US I presume as she's that close in to the harbour

The satellite tracking ship ,was the USSR Yuri Gagarin,I watched her anchored just outside the harbour ,it was interesting seeing the crew around the town. Seeing the enemy close up.Building one, about halfway through.so much P.E. Thanks for in information on the markers. 

 

[andrewa]

Crikey - is that etch on the back face of the antenna?

[Chewbacca]

Hard to believe that that's 1/350.  I've seen 1/96 scale with less detail.  That is superb, especially the aerial arrays.  How did you do them?  Wire, stretched sprue or something like Uschi Van Der Rosten? 

 

Also, thanks for the link to the Tosca pens.  They look good/

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

9 hours ago, andrewa said:

I should have said that my main references for this build are:

a) a single photo I have of me standing on the jetty in Fremantle with Dido in the background (looking about 10 years old) - funny, but not helpful really

b) Jecobin plans of Ikara Leander (Euryalus)

c) 'Modern Combat Ships No 1: Leander Class' by Cdr Chris Myer - published 1984 

d) Warship No 02 Frigate HMS Leander by Jantinus Mulder (some excellent detail shots of Leander herself post-Ikara conversion)

e) the splendid "Cold War Fleet" by Clive & Sue Taylor, published last year - clear, large format B&W photos of pretty much every 1960s-80s RN ship

 

Ikara Zarebra:

 

Starboard side

Triangular web between Zarebra and bridge front, just below flying bridge This seems to have been fitted (for aerodynamic reasons?) to some but not all: Galatea, Aurora, Naiad & Arethusa definitely had it; Leander, Euryalus & Ajax definitely didn't, at least in the photos I have; frustratingly I have pics of Dido without (as Dido) and with (as Southland, her later RNZN guise).  So I am not fitting it!

Air-conditioning box just aft of hatch is bulkier than mastered

Conical/triangular vent on launcher housing, just aft of forward ladder (I think the master has one modelled on the portside, not starboard, should be both. - It's not a vent, it is the DIESO attachment point for RAS (L); the brass cover into which you plug the hose faced aft.  I was confident that I had added this at some point, but it's clearly not there now!  Not sure I will try again...

Think I might have added handrails somewhere.

 

Deck:

Deflector/coaming behind launcher cover - Again, this seems to vary from ship to ship, though I also wonder whether it was linked to the "pram hood" cover for the Ikara Zarebra; most shots of ships with the cover open show it clearly; several with the cover closed appear not to have it.  My cover is closed, so I am leaving it off; I am guessing that it came up as the pram hood opened, to give a bit more blast protection to the bridge.  That’s my story, anyway, and I am sticking to it,.

Collapsable RAS davit on deck - Already added

I think I did something with the large locker and the long hatch (missile loading?) on deck - can't recall what though.

 

Portside:

Triangular web between Zarebra and bridge front, just below flying bridge 

Triangular web between zarebra and deck, just aft of the RAS platform - Similar to other triangular web: some had this, others didn't (or maybe they were added in light of experience over time).  Not doing it for Dido.

Vent just behind that  - I have added the vents on the side of the Ikara handling room, which is I think what you mean (these were blow-off plates in case of explosion and are clearly marked with red danger signs)

Small hatch in deck just forward of the superstructure.

I might have done something with the deck lights (small triangles on the bulkheads) here and there - possibly one on the bridge front? Thought about this and decided not to bother

 

Foremast/signal deck:

 

Platforms under ESM antenna - Not all hulls had them, though most did; they’re more ECM gear, and electronic warfare stuff seems to change almost by the week on these Cold War ships.  I cannot find clear evidence either way for Dido.

2x RU lockers and spare barrel/cleaning kit? locker for Bofor - Some had one locker, some 2 - the Euryalus plans (backed up by photos) show 1, and that's what I have gone for

Not in shot, but there would be flag lockers inside the coaming (can't remember if they were in the master or not) - there would, but God knows where & there isn't room to fit them!

Electrical panel and cover? on rear face of the mast

(Don't miss the glass in the hatches to the flying bridge like I did!) - Good call!  Will paint.

Move the aerial bases to the aft end of the liferaft platforms - Done

Tiny binoculars for the lookout positions! - Planned but not yet done; I have also knocked off both 10" signal projectors at some point, though the pedestals are still there.  I have spares.

Spurnwaters/tripyouuponadarknightatsea around the edge of the deckhouse - I have added the one on the bridge roof, but had missed the lower version, so thanks.  Wood, so prominent (at least in the era I am depicting; the Mulder book photos were taken post-Falklands, when everything had been painted grey!)

Biggest one, but quite easy is the set of cable conduits between the satcom house and the antennas - I just used .20 square evergreenv strip trimmed to size once fitted and set - Planned but not yet done; they stand proud of the mast so I wanted to be sure to get good paint behind.

 

 

Rigging:

I know this is still to come, but I think it took me a while to work it out Thanks; the Jacobin plans are pretty good on this, but your photo is really useful!  And you have added the central aerial Johnson, and thus probably tipped the balance for me, since not clear how I’d rig it otherwise

 

 

 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

7 hours ago, andrewa said:

Funnel:

Sirens on funnel (I think I sliced some inner insulation from ethernet or phone cable) - Hadn't done those, but should be OK to add once the black cap painted (not as deep on Dido as your Ajax, since AJ was flotilla leader and thus had the funnel mark).  I am 90% sure Dido was 1st Frigate Squadron in 1979, but cannot find conclusive proof - she will have a 1 on the funnel sides.

Hatch on funnel rear face - Missed that too - may or may not do it

Rack of oxy/acetelene? cylinders on staboardside - and a couple in the same location on the port side There is quite a lot of busy-ness in this area (e.g. also wood stowage for damage control purposes, so could easily be welding and/or cutting gases, as you say).  I will add some stuff but probably not absolutely everything.  I do have some lovely L'Arsenal gas cylinders somewhere (I recently used one of them in Ark), so they should work a treat.

Couple of other trunks/hatches on the starboard face

I think you've already got the hand/foot rails around the top of the funnel - I have; giving me nightmares for how to mask the black funnel cap as a result...

 

Waist:

Winding drums for the davits (can't remember what the kit did there) - Haven't really looked at the davits yet (but thanks again for the warning about wonky boats)

Another view of the antenna bases relocated to the rear of the liferaft racks Done

 

Mainmast

Hand and foot rails

hatch and porch? over on front face

Oval opening both sides, platform and inclined ladder from hanger roof to port, ladder only to starboard (4.5" Leanders had platform both sides) -  I missed this until too late, so will probably paint it instead.  The fit obviously varied, as Jecobin & Mulder show a door to port, oval opening starboard.  From a photo in Mulder, looks like it was used as a Bosun’s store - large rattan fenders, cordage etc.

 

Hangar - 

I added a few discs and strips to make the light bar? [yes, that's what it is; horizon bar] across the hangar face a more 3D look.  GPI is just slightly hollowed out with a disc of plastic glued in to look the part. It looks very convincing, though, so I will probably copy shamelessly.  The deck lights I will round out with some liquid glass (see my Ark build for use in aerial insulators).  Also there were angled conical deck lights under the galleries either side of the hangar door; these should be easy to add since the separate piece for the hangar roof is not yet glued in place.

Posca markers are really good for little details like the markings on the Sea Cat bases - Not come across them before, but have now ordered some!  They seem to be made by the same people as my fantastic Uni pencil (onto which I was put by @The Baron, and which gives me daily pleasure); if they're half as good as the pencil, they will be brilliant

 

Quarter deck and stern

I think you have the recessed hawsehole in the stern to the side of the VDS well.  It was actually a viewing port (I assume to allow monitoring of the VDS body during launch and/or cable when deployed - it was notoriously tricky to use properly because the 'yellow submarine' sonar body tended to wobble about), and there were two; one facing aft and angled, the other facing forward into the well.  I've added the aft-facing one but not the other - almost impossible to see with the VDS rigged anyway, and I decided I risked making a right mess of the port wall of the well for little gain.

Make sure to include a horribly silvered draught marks decal for true authenticity! Of course!  Did Ajax's really go all the way to the deck edge?  Most shots seem to show them stop roughly level with the propellor guard.  If the water came anywhere near the flight deck level, she was sinking and didn’t need draught marks to tell the XO!

Raised blocks (tackle?) at rear of flight deck and near stern - Again, there's quite a lot of 'stuff' in this area, but the exact configuration seems to vary from ship to ship (& probably from week to week, since much of it wasn't bolted down).  I will try to add enough to make it look authentically busy, but not go nuts.

davit operators console - Good spot (I assume you mean the 182 davit).  Once you've seen it, it's blooming obvious!  And it's just a rectangular pedestal thing.

Capstan aft of limbo well - I already had this one planned but not yet added (needed to get the green deck painted first)

Netting at forward end of limbo well - Only netting in some cases; more common (judging by photos, though they are not conclusive since some are post Limbo removal and some with it still fitted) seems to be dropped guardrails.  On the grounds that nets would have fouled the mortar and my Dido will have a mortar, I will be adding dropped guardrails (lengths of grey rod plus some thin black wire on the deck!)

petrol canister rack and decoys (you have these spotted) - included in Pete's PE

Small cable reels near back end of flight deck netting -  not sure where you mean, but see above about making it look busy

Railings around limbo deck don't follow the deck edge on the starboard  side - See above re railings / nets etc.

3 electrical? panels just aft of the limbo well (just small pieces of plasticard with smaller pieces stuck to them) - I'll see whether my back end is looking busy enough with a paint punt / Gemini etc.

 

Finally a couple of vague recollections - but I can't recall what the problem and solution were:

Something about the railings, companionways and flight deck netting didn't add up for me - I think something was shorter/longer than I needed it to be so had to fix an issue (could well have been my fault) Noted - thanks for warning!

I reshaped my chaff launcher mountings quite a lot to get them and the railings to fit, but can't remember the details of why I thought that was needed. Ditto

I think I started with the VDS cable reels on deck, then ended up with them on the forward bulkhead of the well - no recall on why that happened though - maybe I found a photo. 'Cold War Fleet' has a really good shot of Galatea from above which agrees with the Jecobin Euryalus, so I have gone with that configuration; two reels on deck which are rigged to the arms of the VDS gantry, plus one on the for'd wall of the well which carried the signal cable to/from the sonar body itself

As Pete calls out the areas of netting on the hangar roof changed from ship to ship. They did and (inevitably) I have nothing clear for Dido, but I've found a good shot of Southland with a mixture of central nets on each side and railing on the corners.  On the grounds that this is the less evolved version and the Kiwis would not have back-dated to that, I am assuming Dido had this arrangement

Mixture of fixed and collapsable railings throughout the ship - I tried to show the difference by painting the wire ones a dk grey colour - and very effective it is.

 

I can't think of anything else  but shout if you'd like me to elaborate on any of the specifics.  At least none of it adds up to major surgery!

 

Hugely helpful as ever; thanks a lot.  Nothing too horrible there, I think.

 

The only thing I reckon you might have missed is on the starboard quarter, where there seems to have been a launching chute for the XBT (expendable bathy-thermograph, used to measure temperature vs depth - completely vital in a ship with a VDS).  It looks like a single trouser leg hanging over the railings on the quarter.

 

Crisp

 

 

[Chris Hewitt]

2 hours ago, andrewa said:

Crikey - is that etch on the back face of the antenna?

Its 1/700 and the etching went in easily ,the dishes had grooves so the etching just fell into place and used fishing line because it had a  natural curvature to go round the dish. 

Edited July 26, 2020 by Chris Hewitt

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

By the way, great Gib photos, Chris; thanks for sharing.  Take you right back!

 

That DLG seems to be carrying out flying ops alongside with a Wessex 1; very unusual (& they only had HAS1s for a relatively short time)

[Dancona]

Dear Crispin, I was wondering what the overall plan was for your masterpiece, will you be mounting it in a sea base, and if so will you be adding figures ?

 

If so, does that mean we will all have the chance to play "spot the Crisp" ? 😃

 

Cheers

 

David

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Sea base, yes; personally I far prefer ship models in their element, which is also why I have built her waterline (the kit does provide the lower hull if you want it).

 

Likely to a fairly simple one where the sea is relatively calm - I’m already committed to a ‘roughers’ one for Ark.  Also a few figures, but not many - and definitely no 1/350 Crisp; you’ll have to assume that I am chained to the chart table at the back of the bridge, as I invariably was when at sea in Dido.  After all, at the time I was a 19-year-old Midshipman whose ability to distinguish posterior from elbow was intermittent at best!

 

Post-Dido, next ship likely to be Broadsword, which probably will have a Mini-Me on the flight deck.

[Terry1954]

21 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

e) the splendid "Cold War Fleet" by Clive & Sue Taylor, published last year - clear, large format B&W photos of pretty much every 1960s-80s RN ship

 

My wife bought me that last year as a gift. A splendid book indeed and IMHO a must have for Cold War RN enthusiasts.

 

Your threads are always an excellent point of reference and learning for me. HMS Charybdis, Seawolf/Exocet conversion is in my future as I have the Jecobin plans, and a desire to acquire further excellent examples of Peter Halls superb kits, but if ever I do contemplate an Ikara Leander, your interactions with Andrew In posts  #265 and #266 are a superb source of further detailed information!

 

A 1/350 Crisp ........... the mind boggles.

 

Terry

 

 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

I always thought the Seawolf Leanders were the best looking of the conversions; the originals were splendid & balanced-looking - purposeful... but the Ikaras, Exocets & (especially) Towed-Array conversions had looks only a Mother could love, however capable they were.  But the Seawolf conversion was sufficiently radical - having to remove all that top weight to cope with 967/968 at the masthead - that the clean lines were restored, even enhanced.

 

Plus I watched HMS Andromeda zap a brave but oblivious Argentine A4 Pilot into the next world with a Seawolf just outside San Carlos Water in May 1982.  An extraordinary sight that is etched on my memory, and since the A4 appeared to be  heading for Fearless at the time, one that raised my morale considerably.   Always had a soft spot for Andromeda ever since!

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

To anyone who lives with 100 miles of Salisbury, an apology.

 

I couldn't sleep last night, for some reason, so instead of tossing & turning wide awake in my bed, I went downstairs to do sone gentle modelling.  A bit of detail painting.  
 

All went well until c.2 a.m., when I was opening one of those Vallejo ‘dropper’ bottles to get a few drops of mahogany colour to detail the bridge wings.  It needed a little squeeze to encourage a few more drops...

 

...and the whole top of the bottle shot off, along with a large portion of the contents.  And of course Dido was just nearby, waiting for me to add more paint.
 

“Oh dear!”, I said (or words to that effect.  Sorry for waking you all up.

 

I decided to leave well alone until things had dried a bit, rather than smear things around yet more in a panic - and this morning some gentle sanding has restored my confidence that all will be well after a bit of remedial painting on the starboard side, flight deck and mortar well.

But it was not a good moment, as I am sure you can imagine...

 

I’m away all day, so more later in the week

 

Crisp the Nocturnal Expletive Generator

[FlyingSpanner]

Oh man, that sucks!

 

Fortunate that the damage is not too great

[Terry1954]

Oh dear. Not part of the plan of course. Those sorts of moments have happened to us all I'm sure, me for certain. Let's hope patience and careful restoration can make good. 

 

It's about 40 plus miles as the Crisp yells crow flies down to here, and I was certain I heard something...............

 

Good luck with the fix. A man of your caliber and all that...........

 

Terry