What's on the workbench!

[McColm]

Wednesday 3rd January 2024

The electrician came and went, all good  I have managed to replace the landing gear on the Airfix Sea Knight, its a bit taller and so have the rotor blade holders so that they clear the new AEW resin radome fitted with the swivelling arm known as the Westland Sea Knight AEW.1. I've sanded down most of the rivets along the fuselage. It's awaiting PSR, then the rotor blades will be fitted.

Fish fingers in the air fryer turned out well but I was a bit disappointed with the chips, not quite the same as those from the local Chippy or as good as my potato wedges. I might try adding some oil next time.
The chicken is lovely and moist due to the poking with a fork after putting down with a paper towel before basing with extra virgin oil ,salt and pepper. 200 ° for an hour, turning it over at the halfway point.
The more expensive air fryer has a higher temperature and dual baskets.
The afternoon was interrupted by a delivery from Temu; travel clothes steamer and mini- handheld hoover which I will be using tomorrow.

[Nick]

Mum got an air fryer for Christmas and so far I am impressed. We had pork chops last night - 180C for 15 minutes and they were perfect.
Did bacon for a sandwich on Saturday and it was slightly crispy after 7 minutes.
The chips on Monday were a little underdone after 16 minutes, just put them on again for another 5.

She's now going through the cookbook and looking up recipes online. I'm going to try burgers and potato wedges tomorrow.

[McColm]

Mum got an air fryer for Christmas and so far I am impressed. We had pork chops last night - 180C for 15 minutes and they were perfect.
Did bacon for a sandwich on Saturday and it was slightly crispy after 7 minutes.
The chips on Monday were a little underdone after 16 minutes, just put them on again for another 5.

She's now going through the cookbook and looking up recipes online. I'm going to try burgers and potato wedges tomorrow.

Pre- heat the air fryer for the chips and give them a shake halfway through cooking. 18-20 minutes at 200°.

[McColm]

Sunday 7th January 2024

My little sister Jill has informed me that she had to take one of her greyhounds to the vets after Lulu broke her leg. It turns out Lulu had cancer,a tumor was found and she had to be put down.
The greyhounds came from a shelter they both raced in Ireland.

I didn't get much sleep last night and had to double check what day it is. I had an old fashioned fry-up this morning and will probably go back to sleep this afternoon. Temu the American company that imports from China also dropped off another package. A strip light, miniature desk lamp and a cheap wrist watch. I should have been tired after constructing my new metal framed wardrobe,I have dismantled this twice so far as I thought that I had run out of parts. After a rethink, I now have some leftover parts and everything fits. It also will fit against against the back wall of the cloakroom/closet after I have wired up a lamp. It's very dark in there with the door closed. I once spent about 5 minutes trying to find the door handle to get out!
 I have been watching videos based on the Hogwarts Castle and train sets in layout form. The 3D puzzle of Hogwarts Castle and the Astronomy Tower that I built a few years ago is coming apart in places so a rebuild or a replacement using polystyrene packing and cardboard plus refurbished parts or a combination of the 00 gauge Metcalf Castle might be a better choice. Keeping the two tier plan, then I can utilize the spare parts of my metal framed wardrobe as vertical supports.
The Airfix Boeing UH-46 and the Boeing V-22 Osprey both need PSR which will be done next week.

[McColm]

Monday 8th January 2024

My Chinese Money plant has a few white flowers, according to Google it flowers every three years bringing prosperity and good luck to the owner.
I saw a few snow flurries whilst looking out the window and PSR with the 1/72 Westland Skylark plus the Westland Sea Knight AEW.2.
I still intend a kitbash using the Airfix Lockheed S-3A Viking and Boeing V-22 Osprey this will be called the Woodlark, it seems that the Fairchild-Republic A-10 wings do work well with the Osprey. Maybe a few will be built including one with the turbofan engines above the wings.
Apparently brass cleaners can remove the scratches on the Airfix Quick Build kits when applied with a cotton bud.I also intend to build a few more car/truck kits ultimately a purple Knight bus.
The Hogwarts Castle and grounds changed during the films and so did the 1/24 scale model at Leavesden Studios where they made the Harry Potter films, so based on this information I can alter my 3D puzzle of the larger kit. I was thinking of scratchbuilding one of the bridges and having an underground station entrance to the castle with part of the platform carved into the rocks.
I made some pasta with olive oil for lunch as its a change from the air fryer food.

[McColm]

Wednesday 10th January 2024

I'm feeling very tired after yesterdays walk around the block, I stopped off at one of the local shops for a few items.
Work continues on the 1/72 Westland Skylark aka Navy Lark. I have cut the rear loading ramp sort of 40-60 split with the upper bit glued in the closed position and the lover part in the open position. The hydraulic loading ramp brackets are glued in place and so is the in-flight refuelling probe. Two underwing weapons pylons from the Airfix Harrier GR.9 have been glued to the underside of the wings.
The sanding of the filler/putty has begun.
Meanwhile the Westland Sea Knight AEW.2 has gained an in-flight refuelling probe from the Italeri MH-47E SOA Chinook spare parts along with a few warning sensors and the aerial aray carried on the left side of the fuselage.
 The LEVC TX cab is undergoing a transformation into a camper without the barn doors. The plan will be to remove part of the division screen so the driver can enter the camper via the space where the passenger front seat would have been. A pop-up roof from the Revell VW  T5 has been cut to size, the rear windows will be painted a different colour scheme that might include a woodie style applied.

[McColm]

Friday 12th January 2024

I've got the twingen-screws, I couldn't stand up straight yesterday but with the frozen fish fingers pack it's getting better with compression.
No whiffery as I have run out of glue so it's been watching movies and NCIS New Orleans season 2 and a lot of sleep. Plus reading other people's articles.[
My Chinese money plant has white flowers.

[McColm]

Tuesday 16th January 2024

No snow today but my back pain is starting to ease and I can almost stand upright although walking requires a slight lean forwards. I've managed to make it to the hobby room, where I have painted the 1/72 Westland Navy Lark/Skylark in Revell acrylic Sea Green and black matt paint. The camouflage pattern is pure fiction, and yes it wasn't my first choice. I did try and sand down the other three paint schemes. The cockpit canopy is also painted matt black to hide the coinage that makes up the nose weight.
As for the Westland Sea Knight AEW.2, just sanding. No colour scheme has been selected yet.
Memo to self, I need more paints and decals.
Sanding continues on the Convair EB-62 Peacehaven AEW.1 flying boat and the Mermaid Class hovercraft. I did consider changing the rotors on the Lockheed Cardinal CH.1 but I'm sticking with the ones from the 1/72 Boeing V-22 Osprey.

[McColm]

Wednesday 17th January 2024

A productive day ,paint applied to the Westland Sea Knight AEW.2 and I have taken the decision to replace the rotor blades with those from the HobbyBoss Boeing V-22 Osprey which caused a bit of damage to the front.
On the Westland Navy Lark USNAVY and Swedish decals have been applied.


From the back

[McColm]

Friday 19th January 2024

 I managed to do a little bit of food shopping this morning, brr it was freezing-2°C dry and sunny. My back doesn't ache as much but they say walking is good for a bad back, so its Turkey meatballs with roast vegetables this evening.
It's only been two weeks since my last shop and some of the prices have increased, a window box with some vegetables or herbs might be useful.
 Last night I did a bit of work on the Westland Sea Knight AEW.3, filled in some gaps and had a bit of filler/putty left over. This was used on the Convair EP-62 Peacehaven AEW.1,  Mermaid Class hovercraft and the BAe Sky Fox AEW.1. The Sky Fox is based on the BAe 146 1/72 desktop model with turboprops from another desktop model, the Grumman Hawkeye rotodome and now a resin hose & drogue refuelling tank with a drop fuel tank on the other wings Which looks great on a large wooden display stand.
I've also discovered that I have some fine masking tape which is almost the same colour as the Westland Navy Lark Sea Green. This will be ideal for the cockpit canopy.
 One advantage of recovering from four pulmonary embolisms is that my fingers are getting stronger from playing online games. I've almost got 200 cars in my garage with Asphalt 8. 75% of which have never heard of before and about 10 that I have driven in the RW when I was a Trade Plate Driver back in 2010.
It's ironic that the place I used to work is on the opposite side of the road to my kitchen window. No excuse for being late alas the site has changed hands and reperposed into studio office space.

[McColm]

Now that the novelty of owning an air fryer has warn off, I can suggest that using one is down to controlling the temperature. The interior reminds me of a kettle but it's limited to what it can do. It won't replace the microwave or the conventional oven (due to mobility issues I haven't been able to use my electric oven but use the hob and microwave).
For cooking meat, roasting vegetables and making toast it's much quicker but when it comes to the humble potato that's where the other kitchen appliances have the upper hand.
Baked potatoes take 10 minutes in the microwave compared to an hour in the air fryer, I don't have the dual pan version or the expensive version. Yes you do need the extraction fan on when using oil.
Another irritating feature if you haven't got a digital version is the timer it's not very accurate after 10 minutes and you can't dial it back if you make a mistake. Just got to let it run down even when unplugged.
Cleaning is very straightforward, you need to wash out the pan and basket every time you use it. I use parchment paper as a liner but a paper towel works just as good. Just remember to give a shake or turn over the food that you are cooking halfway through. Well if you don't it just sticks to the surface.
 On the workbench I have run out of glue, paint is running out but my finner grade wet & dry papers are plentiful.
Still no mystery pallet from Temu or socket set from Screwfix and when I send them an email it comes back address unknown, it's the email address that they used to contact me on.
 The mini-hoover works well, I haven't tired the travel clothes steamer yet something to do this weekend.

[McColm]

Monday 22nd January 2024

I didn't get around to trying out the clothes steamer over the weekend, instead I had a go at making vegetable soup from scratch. It needs to be thickened with some flour but is still very tasty.
The high winds on Sunday evening blew a couple of windows open, I thought that I had battened down everything obviously not. The Internet was poor but YouTube still works. Monday morning was spent switching the router off, then back on again. Everything is back online. I tried to do a bit of tidying up and moping the floors, felt tired so back on the workbench the Westland Sea Knight now has a few more parts from the Italeri MH-47E, with the Mermaid Class hovercraft receiving some grey paint, 75% coverage .Ran out of paint.
Thoughts turned to the 1960s GB,I've got a resin bodyshell of a Ford Capri Mk1. Just needs the rest of the parts, I haven't seen a plastic 1/24 Ford Cortina kit but Revell does the Ford Mustang maybe this can be stripped for parts or even a kitbash as the Ford Capri model kits are expensive.
I'll probably build something completely different, Jaguar E-type coupe panel van!

[McColm]

Friday 26th January 2024

 It appears to me that the 1960s GB has opened a portal to some of my unfinished builds that I started when I joined this site. With age comes experience so second time around I should have learnt from my mistakes and be able to make (the same mistakes as before) a better model. Take the Revell 1/72 Breguet Br.1150 Atlantic kit, yes it's expensive if you buy the original one but the Italian Eagle which uses the same parts and has two decal sheets is a lot cheaper. The Mach2 kit fluctuates, the only advantage being the wing construction in fitting it to the fuselage. Unfortunately the two kits aren't compatible, because I have tried this before. The Mach2 model is a lot smaller in comparison.
So a four engined version is doable using a combination of engines something that was suggested for the Air Ministry, they changed their mind and went for the HS Nimrod MR.1.
Could I use a Lockheed P-3 Orion as the donor kit, I'd only need the centre section. A twin engine Orion is that a whiff?
Breakfast, I'll come back later.
The Atlantic idea is on hold as I have bought the Airfix 1/72 Mil Mi-24 A/D model kit. This allows me to build both versions; fronts and separate tail rotors. As there was a proposal for a naval version but none were built this gives me an idea. I have always thought that the Royal Navy could have bought a few, built underlicence with different avionics or the British Army based on the D variant.
Another idea is to use the Airfix Fairey Rotodyne, as the cockpit floor tapers the tandem seating layout could be added. There's plenty of Hind kits to choose from so a few whiffs could be built which suits my budget.

I think Hornby has stopped producing the 00 gauge Hogwarts Express train sets, I know its not an accurate reflection of the Olton Hall steam locomotive and the DDC model with the light in the wrong place and dodgy front name plate doesn't do it justice.  The early Castle Class sets have rocketed in price, as with the Bachmann set. Which leaves two options: the Bradford Exchange  Hogwarts Express Train Collection or buy a Hall Class locomotive and paint it red. The larger scales are catered for. Got to wait until I return to work or win the lottery.

[McColm]

Sunday 28th January 2024

It would appear to me that the C USB cable acts as a fast charger for my mobile phone and tablets, as to the Chinese built tablet it's cheap and has a few issues with it but serves the purpose for watching movies and playing online games.
The weekend has proven fruitful in ebay purchases; Airfix Fairey Rotodyne with a spare fuselage,  Airfix Mil Mi-24 A/D kit,  Hornby Junior Paddington train set and Hornby Junior Express set (no track, buildings,  trees and track accessories).
There seems to be a lot of the Hornby Junior battery powered train sets available, the RRP was £39.99 when new although Hornby did repackage this as Lima and Jouef for the European market, even going as far as to put a motor in the power car but kept the other features so you still can't use any of the Hornby rolling stock with the D/EMU (got dummy pantograph on the roof). Cheap and nasty but suitable for what I wanted.
One of them will become my version of the updated Hogwarts Express and the other a Pullman tribute that's if I don't dismantle it, then use the Dapol Kitmaster Deltic bodyshell(s) plus other carriages or freight.
 I also managed two food shopping trips one on Saturday and the other on Sunday (Sunday was to get some of the things I needed but couldn't get on Saturday).
Well it will be February soon so I can buy myself a few pairs of tracksuit bottoms, one dedicated to gym wear and the other for going out. The one I have at the moment will be used as casual wear around the flat.

[McColm]

Monday 29th January 2024

The 1/72 ESCI Boeing HV-22 Osprey has separate sponsors and bench seats which means that the parts from the Airfix Fairey Rotodyne can be used, which should be arriving sometime this week.
I'm feeling very tired after my food shopping over the weekend, it does pay dividends buying better grade fish fingers. Iceland home brand uses Pollock, Birds Eye uses Cod although expensive in comparison tastes a lot better and doesn't stick to the pan as much. Roast vegetables even taste better.
A bit more research is required.

After lunch I was looking on eBay for 00 gauge locomotive name plates and came across the Blue Pullman. You can now get the decals to restore the power car, dummy power car and coaches. It's not quite the same for the cream and brown Pullman carriages, yes you can get the different names and the brown decals but the cream is a bit harder to find.
I know I'm going to have to buy another Hornby Junior Paddington/Express train set or one off Temu which comes with cross over track so I can create a figure of eight, it also means that the platforms are going to be a bit longer or appear to be longer.
Asphalt 8 the online racing game has developed the Delorean DMC Light their own version of the DMC. I was planning my own using parts from a Lotus which could replace the engine and side windows.