Tuesday 28th January 2025

The 00 gauge ROVEX G.W.R. station now has a new roof and side fence. I managed to crack the windscreen of the 1/72 Lockheed Venus MR.1 but luckily I had a spare in the Italeri Lockheed Martin AC-130H Spectre kit so it meant cutting out the surrounding plastic, sanding and dry testing. I do have a Kits World C-130E printed instrument panels which I will use now that the cockpit is opened up.
The Heller C-160 now has four Alison T56 turboprop engines, the nacelles are the ones from the Oz Mods set. All of the windows have been painted acrylic black, guns glued and the fuselage is dry, I have also superglued the wings on as well. I'm going to leave this overnight as there's quite a lot of PSR to do, so I will leave that until my next rest days.

It's Saturday the 1st of February 2025. King's College Hospital has sent me a load of reminders of my appointment tomorrow, they keep referring to a letter but I haven't received any letter from them. It's Radiology Department for an ultrasound scan on my knees.
The weather has turned chilly again, I can cope with the rain and it seems that the tourists in the Westend of London are a lot thinner. It will be great to get back to some PSR on the three current builds later next week.
The portable household steamer is working, I used it on the bathroom chair, sink and one of the walls. The electric cooker around the hobs and it cut through the grease. I will continue to use it in the hard to reach places around my flat.
 I've got a bit of masking to do before I can use the rattle can primer on the shelf queens and I will be placing an order for some heavy duty shelving next payday which will double up as the base for my model railway layout. Got a good stockpile of cardboard boxes which will make up the scenery and templates for the buildings/tunnels.
Just have to wait for February's roster.

Quote from: McColm on February 01, 2025, 02:28:10 PMIt's Saturday the 1st of February 2025. King's College Hospital has sent me a load of reminders of my appointment tomorrow, they keep referring to a letter but I haven't received any letter from them. It's Radiology Department for an ultrasound scan on my knees.

Quite a few of my mates have had phone calls from local hospitals (inc. Kings College) reminding them about appointments which they've never recieved the initial notification of      NHS admin is collapsing in London 

Quote from: NARSES2 on February 02, 2025, 12:13:56 AMNHS admin is collapsing in London 

Not just London, it's gone to pot all over the country.

They're relying on computer systems that just don't work, probably produced by Fujitsu............. 

I get the results next week, the consultant kept asking me if I suffer from back pain and was surprised that I had pneumonia when I was in the intensive care unit. Most of the patients had text messages apart from one who did have a letter and the hospital transport service something that I was denied after being discharged. I can now walk up the hill from Camberwell Green without any problems. In the past I would have caught a bus.

Monday 3rd February 2025

I woke up at 2am today and went back to sleep at 7am. Waking up again at lunchtime, for those of you that live in the London area in the UK and use an Oyster card to travel on the TFL network you can transfer money from your card to a contactless card if it stops working or gets wet/damaged. Takes 48 hours to a maximum of 10 days to complete the transaction depending on the circumstances.

The Lockheed Venus MR.1 (twin C-130) now has scratch built fuselage weapons pylons mounted above the main landing gear and a different switch gear taken from the AC-130H Spectre. The Transall AC-162 Warrior Gunship now has the landing gear glued in place and four  underwing pylons plus the tail parts.
The Pink Panther Track Day car has been glued together and just needs PSR as there's a few gaps.
Passengers/customers that use the ROVEX Dunster Station are very pleased that it has a new roof and the brick work sorted, however there's a bus replacement service as there's no trains running.

Tuesday 4th February 2025

Fixed my wooden bed, originally it's a bunkbed with wooden slats, the slats needed screwing down and one of the bolts that attaches the footboard to the side runners is bent. Luckily I found a dowel when wedged is a tight fit so as long as I don't move the bed too often it's a temporary fix until payday. So I can get a replacement bolt.
After the washing up I constructed the Hornby footbridge bridge from the Platform 9& 3/4s set, which is lacking the base struts ,I can get around this by scratch built ones or upcycle it.
PSR has started with Miliput filler on the current three builds, surplus filler was used on the Pink Panther Track Day car and the 4x4  Jaguar Mk2 V12 Mud Racer.

Having watched a few episodes of Ice Pilots NWT my idea of a four engined C-46 could work with the wings of a DC-4.

Wednesday 5th February 2025

I've gone back to using the Italeri nacelles on the Transall AC-162 Warrior Gunship as they are a better fit than the Oz Mods ones but I will use the rotor blades from the conversion set.
Putting the decals on the cockpit of the Lockheed Venus MR.1 didn't go to plan so I have glued the Italeri cockpit glazing in place and I will add a bit of filler for the gaps, I will paint out the windows.
As for the Shorts Swallow MR.1, sandy and a bit more filler is needed
The Lockheed Cyclone H-HL1 helicopter heavy-lift based on the Lockheed C-130 without the wings has a new main landing gear system which allows the wheels to be raised for the tyres to be changed or if damaged.

Amazingly my Chinese Money plant is still in flower this is almost three months with new stems on their way, quite a lot of new leaves. One side green and the other side red.
 My booked holiday for the end of February and the first week of March has been approved although I don't know where I will be working after the 14th February.
Back to work tomorrow night.

Wednesday 12th February 2025

My back ache has now gone and PSR continues on the three current builds, two are very close to having grey primer applied with a rattle can. The Warrior is undergoing a few cosmetic changes.
I have scrapped the Shorts Seal MR.1 but I might buy the 1/144 Ekranoplan model kit at a later date along with the 1/24 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud aka Phantom Mence which is another rebuild.
As to the other 22 shelf queens a few changes will need to be made or recycled for parts. Having photos of these builds means that I can recreate them at a later date with improvements.
The change of liveries to the Triang Midland Blue Pullman 00 gauge still continues as I have sourced some adhesive decals for the Northern Belle, I just need a pair of dummy power cars to add to my collection. It appears that I'm not the only one who has changed the livery.

On Friday I will find out what my rota is for the rest of February as my holiday leave request has been accepted for the end of the month and the first week of March. Well I booked them when I was working the other roster, they are now my rest days.

Thursday 13th February 2025

I have just received my work roster for February and it looks like I will be staying a bit longer at the London Headquarters of the Coca-Cola Group working on nights.

I did get an idea for the 1/72 Boeing B-29 to turn it into something similar to the Chinese KJ-1 AEW & C testbed as it seems that I will be buying a few more Heller C-160 model kits. Well I can use the engines to create the turboprops and use some of my spare parts in the build. Whereas an ASW version would look good in the RAF period colours of the Avro Shackleton.
As far as I'm aware the C-160 was never used in the AEW role but a pair of turbofans wouldn't look too out of place, even four ( two Lockheed S-3 Viking kits as I'm going to need them for spare parts for my current builds).

Monday 17th February 2025

It's the early hours of Monday morning and all is still in the Westend of London, I think that I've done really well with the kick-start to my stash of 2025. I can build that 1/24 Ford Capri that I always promised myself in the form of the Caprise or convertible. The two series one Ford Mustang are an additional bonus. I even managed to get the Sabaru Legacy in plastic although the seller says that there's a scratch in the windscreen which has been there since new, it might possibly polish out otherwise its a kitbash project.
The Hasegawa Lockheed P-3C and the Mach2 Breguet Br.1150 Atlantic both are bargains even though the Mach2 kit will be the donor for the Revell Atlantic. The HS.748 Erieye AEW could be changed to a MPA using the leftover parts and the Atlantic using the Erieye. As for the Lockheed EC-121L Warning Star this could receive the turboprop engines off the C-130 with a different search radar fitted on the fuselage. The Emily flying boat looks in very good condition a RAF Coastal Command colours as suggested by PR.19 Kit ages ago would definitely turn a few heads. As for the Shorts Sandringham a few C-130 parts.
I should be receiving my first ever Lima HST train set, track and a controller. The Northern Belle adhesive decals do work as I have used them before but I think this time I will use primer first and then apply them.

I don't know what's happening in March regarding work but I'm planning a visit down to Falmouth Cornwall in May to visit my mum and my little sister. I hope that GWR has improved the seats in standard class.

Quote from: McColm on February 16, 2025, 06:13:37 PMI hope that GWR has improved the seats in standard class.

They haven't done ANYthing with them sadly, and they're not that much better in First either! The 'Department for Transport' specified them of course, and they all go everywhere by Government car................

Arrived today Revell glue, Hornby Platform 9  & 3/4- the footbridge is broken but luckily I have a spare and the Lima HST Intercity train set. Doesn't look too bad. I will remove the bodyshells and give them a clean. The previous owner has put some weight in the dummy power car but not in any of the coaches.
I'm expecting deliveries all this week.
It seems as if I need to buy a couple of the Airfix BAe Nimrod MR.1/MR.2 model kits to balance my maritime patrol aircraft theme.

Wednesday 19th February 2025

I've been distracted so I have started on the 1/24 Academy Ford Capri RS3100. I removed the roof and cut out the front windscreen. Then set about altering the long-range fuel tanks by trimming the fuel/ventilation caps and supergluing the holes with a piece of plastic card. Whilst this was drying I added the rear bumper. This was put to one side when the Mach2 Breguet Br.1150 Atlantic model kit was delivered. The parts from the kit have been fitted to the 3D printed resin BAe.748 'Andover' renamed Coastguarder III  MR.1, parts fitted so far are the M.A.D. boom, ECM pod, retractable radar and the upper communications trunking along the fuselage along with the cockpit canopy glazing.
 More interruptions by the postman and a look at the Ravensburger 3D plastic jigsaw puzzle  The Great Hall which is part of the Hogwarts Castle complex. This differs from the Warerabbit kit which has foam parts and very confusing building instructions. The Ravensburger model has numbered parts with rigid plastic structural guides so less chances of the roof collapsing. It also looks like the Ho scale although there's just two models The Great Hall and the Astronomy Tower. I have bought both and will use my card 3D printed Hogwarts Castle model as a reference. I don't have the space to start the construction and I will need a table to work with the various components.
 More cooking and another Chicken stew this time without any onions.