No Man But Ajax May Vanquish Ajax (1/72 Airfix Spitfire Vc)

[2996 Victor]

So sorry to hear that, sending you all kind thoughts.

 

Mark

[(ex)Sgtrafman]

All the best buddy.

 

Iain

[CedB]

Sad news PC. Our thought are with you.

[opus999]

Sorry to hear this... take care.

[Jackson Duvalier]

Saddened to hear this, Edward.  

[rob85]

Really sorry to hear this Edward, hope you and the family are ok. It’s hard I’ve been through it too, but I think it’s more common that it’s made out to be... not that that makes it easier for you. 
 

Rob

[Heather Kay]

In situations like this I always feel I should say something, but can never find the right words. I then, usually, remain silent - which can sometimes come across as worse than saying the wrong thing.

 

Thinking of you, over there, across The Pond. Take care. 

[825]

Sorry to hear this PC, my thoughts are with you and your family. As Heather says it can be difficult to find the right words to say but take heart that many here are with you, albeit virtually. Look after yourself and the family, and keep safe. 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Hard to better what Heather has just said, so not going to try.  
 

Thinking of you 

[Procopius]

Goodness me, what a long time it's been. A lot has happened. I got a Martini-Henry rifle and have been learning how to reload for it. This has been a resounding, albeit rather expensive success. I have not blown myself up.

 

 

As you can see, I've also put on quite a bit of weight. That's the hell-times we're living in now. On the plus side, if the Zulus attack, I'm as ready as I'll ever be, and heavily incentivized to win the fight, since I certainly'm in no condition to run away.

 

Mrs P got pregnant again and we lost the baby again, so it's been a bit rough on that front, but perhaps it's for the best, as we're both pushing forty pretty hard now and as I'm so fed up with my own children that I'm thinking of visiting the fate that Cronus reserved for his own fractious offspring upon them. 

 

I regret to say I haven't had much time for modelling, or rather haven't made much time for it of late. I've just been exhausted, I have no time to read (and the research is one of my favourite parts), because I'm always home with my children, and there seems to be some confusion over whether or not I'm a professional with a full-time job or merely a convenient free babysitter who can take over whenever Parent A is feeling like a nap, usually around bathtime, where the loud screaming of my hellspawn synergizes with my acoustically perfect bathroom to generate migraines of truly astonishing intensity. 

 

At any rate, I managed to find some time this evening to get a little work done on this:

 

 

Canopy is now on.

 

I also wanted to try and replicate the fuel filler cap, and I think I may have hit upon the absolute worst way to do this:

 

 

I used a 1.6mm punch to punch out a tiny piece of plasticard (for the record, the filler cap should be 2.1mm but I don't have a 2.1mm punch).

 

Then I applied it to the model, where it stands far too proud:

 

 

 

I am not certain further sanding has improved it:

 

 

 

Anyway, how are all of you? What did I miss?

 

 

 

 

[stevehnz]

Nothing really mate, it has been as boring as buggery here without you.

Actually, that is unfair, the usual culprits, yourself excluded, have produced lengthy & amusing threads, we've had a fair influx of new members which means we seldom see Mike as he is too busy approving them. The GB calendar is going gang busters this year, a lot of great builds happening. We're on the fifteenth thread of the four word story. Midwinter has passed down  under so summer is on its way again which means girls in tiny shorts season is approaching again, oops, I forgot, they never stopped for winter bless them. My youngest has been at uni this year which has made the house quieter, now if I could just get the older two to move out, it'd be bliss.  The Aussies are doing their level best to reinfect us with Covid again, maybe this time they've succeeded. 

And some other stuff. Take care Edward, I envy you your MH, have long wanted one, have an MH actioned 12 gauge, that's quite cool.

Cheers,

Steve.

[Jackson Duvalier]

1 hour ago, Procopius said:

On the plus side, if the Zulus attack, I'm as ready as I'll ever be, and heavily incentivized to win the fight, since I certainly'm in no condition to run away.

 

I stepped away from the modelling bench earlier this year when it looked like the media was going to kickstart the 2021 Riot Season early; those mealie bags and biscuit boxes aren't going to form a wall around the kraal all by themselves, you know, and I wanted to make sure there were plenty of screwdrivers on hand. I don't envy the situation in Chicago.  

 

For antiquarian reasons, I'm somewhat jealous of your Martini-Henry, but should it become necessary to quell an uprising I'd prefer something modern and magazine-fed.  I've never reloaded any black powder cartridges though I've gotten pretty good at turning out consistent rounds for my precision rifle; hand loading is another expensive and time-consuming hobby in itself but probably the way to go if one wishes to shoot much .577.

 

Do you like the Osprey FAK?  I've got one in the same spot on my own plate carrier and it's my favourite of the many I've tried; MOD got that one right.

 

Your Spit is coming together well; I can't wait to see how she turns out.  I've forgotten how (or whether) I addressed the fuel cap issue.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Jackson Duvalier
linky goodness

[Cookenbacher]

Sorry to hear it's been such a trying year for the Family Procopius, but never underestimate the therapeutic powers of a Spitfire build.

[John Laidlaw]

Good to see you, PC! Sorry about the trials and tribulations and hope things improve for you soon.

[Procopius]

12 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

 

I stepped away from the modelling bench earlier this year when it looked like the media was going to kickstart the 2021 Riot Season early; those mealie bags and biscuit boxes aren't going to form a wall around the kraal all by themselves, you know, and I wanted to make sure there were plenty of screwdrivers on hand. I don't envy the situation in Chicago.  

Never fear, I live fairly north of the city in a swanky suburb run by professionally concerned soccer moms, and the violent crime rate (as opposed to property crime rate -- lots of poorly-driven Mercedes to steal or key) is exceptionally low, about a quarter of the statewide average. I haven't even set foot in Chicago since March of last year. At some point I'll need to go back to my office, if only to get the Airfix Victor.

 

12 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

 

For antiquarian reasons, I'm somewhat jealous of your Martini-Henry, but should it become necessary to quell an uprising I'd prefer something modern and magazine-fed.  I've never reloaded any black powder cartridges though I've gotten pretty good at turning out consistent rounds for my precision rifle; hand loading is another expensive and time-consuming hobby in itself but probably the way to go if one wishes to shoot much .577.

 

It is indeed the only way to go, unless you care to spend something like $150 for ten rounds on the rare instances when they're available, which I don't. I do have some more modern stuff as well -- I took up reloading to ensure a steady supply of .303 and 38/200 ammunition for my Lee-Enfield and Enfield No2 MkI*, but the pandemic intervened and I've mostly spent the past year loading about a thousand rounds of 223. Right now my current project is finding a load that plays nice with my new Walther PDP.

 

12 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

Do you like the Osprey FAK?  I've got one in the same spot on my own plate carrier and it's my favourite of the many I've tried; MOD got that one right.

 

I enjoy wearing the Osprey in a general sense, because I appreciate that I will never, in ten million years, need to wear level IV armour plate, and if I do, my plan has always been to die the moment I'm even slightly inconvenienced. That said, I also have a Ferro FCPC which works more than a little bit better with my Hesco plates, with a Haley D3CR micro and a dangler pouch attached to it. I think for ease of access I prefer that, but the Osprey is definitely more sturdy and lets me carry six magazines as opposed to three, the better to blast my hated foe, the dreaded paper targets, with.

 

14 hours ago, stevehnz said:

The Aussies are doing their level best to reinfect us with Covid again, maybe this time they've succeeded. 

 

 

You've been pretty fortunate so far on a national level, have you not? 

[AliGauld]

Glad to see you back with your usual high quality prose and work but truly sorry to hear about the rough times.

I sincerely hope you get through them intact.

 

Cheers,

Alistair 

[stevehnz]

1 hour ago, Procopius said:

You've been pretty fortunate so far on a national level, have you not? 

Very much so, but we shouldn't take it for granted, things have worked well for us so far, I'd kind of like to keep it that way.

Steve.

[Dandie Dinmont]

I’m really sorry to hear about you and your family’s recent troubles and hope things are looking brighter for you all soon. I am however delighted to see you back providing the highly entertaining prose that played a large part in luring me into BM’s embrace. Congratulations on your sartorial elegance in the video. It’s not everyone who can carry off a solar topee but you manage it with aplomb. 
 

Craig. 

[Jackson Duvalier]

Sensible, civilised responses all round, Procopius.  Are you sure personal armour won't be reassuring when time comes to make the Thunder Run through post-apocalyptic Chicagoland to retrieve the Victor from the ruins of what was once your office?  It's an Airfix after all.  Wouldn't want it to fall into unappreciative hands, they might try to paint it with Testors.  

.  

11 hours ago, Procopius said:

my plan has always been to die the moment I'm even slightly inconvenienced.

 

Surely at the moment of truth you could at least sputter some indignant words.  Play up!  and play the game!  

 

 

11 hours ago, Procopius said:

the better to blast my hated foe, the dreaded paper targets, with.

 

Aye, forever at your feet, or at your throat them targets is.  Best to apply Rule .303 early and often.

 

Anyway, how's the Spit coming?  Are you done yet?  Can we see it?

 

[Stew Dapple]

Really good to see you back mate, and even better to see you're back at the bench  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[2996 Victor]

Great to see you back, Edward! I'll just echo, if I may, what everyone else has said, and say how sorry I am to hear of your recent family traumas - no words can truly express those emotions and so I can only add that we're all here for you in our small way and we wish you and yours all good things for the future.

 

Take it easy!

 

Cheers,

Mark

[AdrianMF]

Welcome back Edward. Sorry to hear that you and Mrs P have had such a hard time of late. 
 

The Spitfire is looking splendid. I need to go back to the start of the thread to remember what colour scheme you have chosen!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[rob85]

Great to see you back at it, nice work on the fuel Cap, I can’t think of a better way to do it but that’s not saying much.

 

sorry to hear your woes, I hope you are both ok and can imagine it’s not fun with two tiny people when your working from home. I couldn’t do it so well done for not killing everyone. I was furloughed for three months so fortunately wasn’t working but being stuck in a house and home schooling turned me a little nuts… especially as it wasn’t the subjects I wanted to teach. Feel for you mate! Try and keep modelling it helps.

 

Rob

[Navy Bird]

Welcome back buddy, I've missed you tremendously!! We all have. Truly sorry for your current issues, it makes my situation look like child's play. I just had back surgery Number 10 on Wednesday last. This one was a doozy, fusing four levels and five vertebrae T10 to L2. Have a look at the human spine online and check it out – I am now fused all the way from T10 to S1 (tailbone). Distance wise, it looks to be over half of my spine. Solid bone, and lots of screws, plates, and rods. Aye-aye-aye. Biggest surgery I’ve ever had.

 

So I’m a bit of a hurting turkey right now. Obviously I won’t be able to go out of the house, but I’m still kicking and anxious to get back at it. The surgery took five and a half hours, but the doctor believes that this will be the last one and that my spine is now stabilized so no further problems should occur.   

 

The surgery interrupted my latest project, the old Matchbox PB4Y-2 which should look nice sitting next to the old Revell PB4Y-1. I have a pile of resin aftermarket, and I'm working on the cowlings made by Cobra. The kit cowlings are trash, and the resin replacements have some casting flaws, so a member of our local club will try to make copies of the one good one I have. Fingers crossed.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. Don't ask me to swing a golf club.

[stevehnz]

Glad you came through OK Bill, doesn't sound like fun though.   I'll be keen to see the PB4Y-2 back on the bench, no pressure though, get yourself right first.  

Steve.