My thoughts and what's on the workbench.

[McColm]

Monday 12th August 2024

It's hot today, there's a NHS health warning and they are asking that the curtains are drawn with doors and windows kept closed to cool the rooms down. Unfortunately I don't have any curtains in my flat although the cheap personal fan bought off TEMU works really well and I also have a handheld fan as a backup.
Supplies are running low,  no glue but enough filler for moderate PSR, as for my 00 gauge model railway layout I definitely need a second locomotive and some more track. The miniature Hogwarts Express which has the four houses with four separate four wheeled carriages and a goods van to carry the luggage requires a longer platform. A few more track extention packs will be needed.
I'm experiencing problems with the Imgur app it doesn't seem to want to load my photos straight away, keeps coming back with an error message.
On the rummaging front I have found the fuselage halves of a 1/72 RAH-66 Commache helicopter so a possible whiff, I think another clear out is needed.
All of my builds are passed the 'what was I thinking when I started this ' to the point of 'it will look good when it's finished ', I still don't know what it's supposed to be or the purpose. Besides I can always change the backstory.

[McColm]

Wednesday 14th August 2024

I had to pop into the college today for some administrative paperwork, on the way home I saw several LEVC taxis. There is a campervan version being sold but I've only seen photos of the preproduction which was sold and no one so far has posted a review on YouTube. Which got me thinking what about a motorhome conversion. The donor vehicle would only need the front end, with a rear chassis welded to widen the rear axle.
As there's no pickup van in the range a pod could be carried at the rear, I'll have to convert the Airfix Quick Build model kit with some plastic card to build my own until I can turn this idea into a RW reality.
Now if they did a long wheelbase van then the problem would be solved,  although there's a nine seater in the range but I don't know if that's available in the UK.

Turning to the workbench,  I found some orange acrylic paint which I have applied on the BAC Excalibur,  Lockheed F-35XL and the Westland CV.1 (Rotodyne rear fuselage with the Mil-24 twin seater cockpit and Boeing V-22 wings, tail, sponsons plus engines. More decals have been found. Hopefully three more builds will be finished.
I have an idea for displaying some of my smaller builds based on a fairground ride, the construction should use up most of the spare plastic and parts. A chance to make some resin casts. Just have to do a bit of research and formulate a plan.

Just when I thought Universal Studios had milked the best of the Harry Potter series, they are going to build "The Ministry for Magic". Using the sets from the Fantastic Beasts and where to find them series, Paris in the 1920s.

[McColm]

Saturday 17th August 2024

I now have eight builds that are nearing completion, nine if I include the BAC Thunderbolt II which just needed a touch up.
These are:
1/144 Hovercraft
1/72 Marsh Harrier  (undercarriage on one of the legs needs regluing)
1/72 Widow Cranky
1/72 Excalibur
1/72 Su-47 two seater
1/72 F-22 Delta wing aka BAe Swift
1/72 Fairey Rotodyne II aka Nightingale

The 1/72 An-2 Sea Colt is painted in the temporary 'Desert Storm ' colour and is worn in certain places, decals have yet to be sought.
Which leaves twenty, three of which just need to be tweaked whilst the rest definitely need primer.
The Airfix LEVC taxi pickup will be recycled into a motorhome. The 1/24 Rolls-Royce Phantom Menace will be stripped for parts, I hope to buy another kit and modify it.
There's five die-cast restoration projects as well.

[McColm]

Sunday 18th August 2024

Another rummage in the paint box has revealed some red paint so naturally I set about painting a 00 gauge Hornby LSWR 0-4-0 locomotive bright red.I should have taken the body off before painting but I left the LSWR and the surround in the tan colour.It fits in with my mini-Hogwarts Castle.I do have a name plate that fits on the front.
I also painted Hornby R502-010 it's the booking hall building that can be used as a large station. The canopy and end boards, I've left the doors in the brown plastic. The station halt/waiting shelter has also been painted but it looks


I've also been descaling the kettle using malt vinegar,it really works. I'm pleased with the end results of my builds,a bit of colour and the wrong decals. They're whiffs,if it's straight out of the box build, then they have to be correct .

With kit prices going up, it's time to go back to using balsa or soft woods and carve the fuselage, the other features can be added from the spares or incomplete model kits which are within my budget.

[McColm]

Due to the high cost of the Hornby Hogsmeade Station I'm creating my own. The arch I think came from a Bachmann set sold separately on eBay, the others are secondhand Hornby station buildings. The small station building will become the cafe. I just need the platform, fencing, goods yard depot and signpost.

[McColm]

Thursday 22nd August 2024

Feeling tired today and I can't believe that I've finished 10 builds, four for the Group Build and the others with a few tweaks. The weather has changed light rain with gusty winds best stay indoors for the next two days.
So it's just the RAF Launch and the Avro Griffin 'Black Sabbath 'that needs a bit of attention along with a bit of glue for the cockpit canopies plus Klear for the windows on the hovercraft. That's another 8 over September, PSR still continues on four, I don't think that I will be using the two pack black filler again it's far too messy when sanding. I'm running out of shelving space another couple of racks.
If I can get paint on most of my Shelf Queens through using a rattle can that should see me through to December, the urge is not to buy any model kits just decals and paint. Knowing me I will probably break this pledge in November looking for parts for the Jaguar Coupe.

[McColm]

Sunday 25th August 2024

I found some paint it's not PR Blue but it's close enough for me as I used it on one of the Hornby four wheeled GWR carriages for my mini-Hogwarts Express. It's been applied with a brush all over the 1/72 Avro Shackleton MR.7 turbojet. I've also applied some of the decals for the South African Air Force along with the RAF decals from a very old Shackleton MR.3.
The aircraft was on a goodwill trip to South Africa and took part in a maritime exercise the RAF team was called The Zombies and the South African team Funny Freak. ( Nose art on either side of the front fuselage). I think that the decals are in the correct places as I have referred to the instruction sheet but had to make it up on the V-tail.
The model has been patched up in places and could have been sanded smooth but I'm contributing this to battle damage. ( Memo to self don't use too much filler in one place.)
I did attempt a white upper fuselage roof freehand but it didn't look right, so I painted over it. I'll wait untill tomorrow to do the touch ups.

[McColm]

Tuesday 27th August 2024

The 1/72 Convair Peacehaven AEW flying boat has been cut down to size,  something a bit more manageable. It didn't go to plain, ending up with the middle section complete. I got a good workout and a blister on my index finger from the sawing. I have spent about two-three hours sending and filing the remainder.
In between that the Airfix running gear of the Merchant class locomotive model kit will fit with a bit of persuading underneath the A4 bodyshell, however there's room for another pair of wheels or four wheels under the tender. So another kit will be required.

My medication has arrived,  which bright spark redesigned the box! That's another thing, you used to be able to unscrew the lid of a bottle of water or cold drink and now it doesn't come off, just stays at the side making it awkward to take a mouth full. Paper straws get soggy.

[NARSES2]

My medication has arrived,  which bright spark redesigned the box! That's another thing, you used to be able to unscrew the lid of a bottle of water or cold drink and now it doesn't come off, just stays at the side making it awkward to take a mouth full. Paper straws get soggy.

There was a piece on Breakfast TV the other day about this. I think the entire country, apart from the idiots in packaging who came up with it, are up in arms about it. It was quite amusing listening to the marketing people trying to justify it. 

[PR19_Kit]

They say it's to cut down on the amount of micro plastic particles that end up in the ocean, bit explain quite how their crazy bottle caps actually do that.

[McColm]

Wednesday 28th August 2024

The 1/72 Convair Peacehaven AEW is no longer, I've scrapped it. Stripped of all it's parts. The idea was sound but it was too big even in the condensed rendering plus I had nowhere to display it in it's full potential. All is not lost as I intend to build another one in a much smaller scale.
Crew members will be used on most of my other builds and once my supplies arrive sometime this week I can get a few more finished.

I've been dry fitting parts on my next project the Vickers Wisley C.1, a four engined transport version of the Wellington..it's odd that the alternative parts fit, some without gaps or any trimming. Having read a few experiences with other whiffers things start going wrong when glue is applied.

[McColm]

My mini-Hogwarts/Dovetown Station which is in the mock up stage will be getting another Hornby R501-010 59880 (country station building). The one I have will be made over to look like a cafe whilst the other will be a newspaper shop . Seems silly but I have never put the two separate buildings together side-by-side, just makes the station look a bit grander.

[McColm]

Sunday 1st September 2024

The 1/72 Vickers Wisley Mark X has turned out rather well, the Fairey Rotordyne II has now got the stairs and the upper section of the front passenger door both glued in place, just the cockpit to sort out on both builds.
The BAe Marsh Harrier has got a new canopy and so has the Su-47B ECR. I have found the original canopies for the F-22/Swift and F-35B/Widow Cranky.
The BAC Excalibur T.1 is undergoing canopy fitting where as the Black Sabbath has had the Tamiya X-18 semi-gloss black acrylic paint only applied to the upper fuselage, decals have been painted around them.
The Boeing Waddington FASS AEW now has the turbofan engines. The Martin Marina MR.7 has been converted to the AEW.8.
The new paints will be used to finish off the RAF Launch and the Triumph kit.
 Been a busy day.

[McColm]

Monday 2nd September 2024

I had a meeting with my Universal Credit Work Coach and she suggested that I do a three day I.T. course in Eltham but first I need to collect a laptop which I can keep.
As a treat I had the all day breakfast with a pot of tea in the Woolwich Arsenal Wimpy. This meal reminded me of the breakfast that used to be served in the Little Chef restaurants,  the tea cups must be a smaller size as I managed to get three cups of tea when in the past it was two and a half.
On the way home it started to rain but felt rather muggy on the bus.
After a bit of food shopping  I started to finish the 1/72 Avro-Lockheed Griffin MR.1/PR-11A aka Black Sabbath  (Shackleton fuselage ,wings and engines with the nose and rear parts of the Neptune) painted in semi-gloss black similar to the Lockheed P-3As flown by the C.I.A.
The Vickers Wisley Mark X now has the radome from the Avro Shackleton AEW.2,this will be painted as it came from the Martin Marina MR.7 which is now the AEW. 8, gaps are being filled in with some spare parts.
PSR in the fitting of the cockpit canopy on the BAC Excalibur T.1 and Su-47 ECR plus the BAe Marsh Harrier continues.
The main station building/booking hall now has a canopy on both sides.

[McColm]

Tuesday 10th September 2024

I've been reading a few reviews for the Playfix/VEB 1/72 Be-6 Madge flying boat and with all the improvements needed to produce something decent I thought I'd do a conversion into the Be-12 Mail.
There are 1/72 Be-12 Mail kits and I did try to build one but it proved too difficult for me, I think another Whiffer had a few problems with theirs as well.
The Be-6 kits are made from brittle white plastic, if my memory serves me Revell did a repackaged model.
Using some of my spare parts I think that I can build something that will resemble the Be-12.

A few more 1/24 car kits will be needed or broken ones/missing parts so I can finish off the current builds.

One shelf remains with six builds to finish plus nine that I'm tinkering with, I've still got to come up with suitable paint schemes.