Kitbasher's blog: City slicker turned beach bum

[kitbasher]

Good to catch up (as ever) with Nick and Chris at the London Plastic Model Show.  A curious event - it was in London, it was a show and it had models, but I'd put money on there being more die-cast there than plastic!  Still, the catch-up was more important and the lunchtime pie and pint was top notch.

Sadly my 50s GB momentum has diminished - real life gets in the way of everything!  However not a complete stop to modelling stuff - added an extra shelf to my modelling 'wardrobe' in the loft and repaired some minor breakages (mostly the odd wheel) to a few of the 'loft denizens'. 

Actually a little bit of work on my 50s GB builds has occurred:

• Spitfire Tr.18 - some filling of joints and building up of the two-seater resin insert to get it to the right shape.
• Saro 153 - chopping of parts (fin, tailplanes, wings), filling (rudder) and prettying up the bang seat.

Off to Center Parcs with some of the grandkids next week, so no modelling there!  There's a real-world Val and a DoFlug D.3800 to finish when I get back, plus more on the Spit/Saro 153.  Must also crack on with a real-world ICM Polikarpov I-153 before much longer.

[kitbasher]

I know I really didn't need to do it what with a ton of part builds (inc two GB entries to focus on), but I couldn't resist the temptation to make a start on the ICM Polikarpov I-153 that was sent to me a few months ago by my Ukrainian guest's fiancé back in Kyiv.

Strictly OOB RW build.

[kitbasher]

Finally!  It wasn't a trip in a warbird and this was the fourth attempt at getting airborne (the previous three were cancelled due to bad weather), but an hour's flight in a Duxford-based Dragon Rapide G-AKIF (built in 1944 as a dH Dominie) over Central London was an absolute delight.  Originally a joint wedding anniversary present booked last year it ended up a joint birthday present this year.

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[PR19_Kit]

That's utterly BRILLIANT Dave, and what a superb way to celebrate your various 'occasions'. 

What focal length lenses were you using for the pics, or did you take a K95 along with you? 

A Dominie was the first aircraft I ever flew in, sometime in 1957 I think, and I've always had a soft spot for the Dh89 as a result, and I've flown in 2-3 of them since too, maybe even the same one as you. 

[Rheged]

An inspired idea for a present..................I'll be discussing this with  Madame Rheged in the very near future.

[NARSES2]

Absolutely fantastic Dave. Mind you I suppose it was lucky HMS Belfast wasn't having one of her AAA practice days 

[Rheged]

Absolutely fantastic Dave. Mind you I suppose it was lucky HMS Belfast wasn't having one of her AAA practice days 

Have they moved them yet, or are Belfast's main guns still targeted on Scratchwood Services?

[PR19_Kit]

At risk of 'going political', re-aiming them at Sadiq Khan's office might be better...............

[kitbasher]

Absolutely fantastic Dave. Mind you I suppose it was lucky HMS Belfast wasn't having one of her AAA practice days 

Have they moved them yet, or are Belfast's main guns still targeted on Scratchwood Services?

I believe so.

At risk of 'going political', re-aiming them at Sadiq Khan's office might be better...............

Now, now, Kit!

And Kit, as far as my camera was concerned it's a Panasonic Lumix.  Fiddled wih the settings a bit but tbh the best was point and shoot 'Intelligent Auto' although I did take a couple using the 'Scenic' option's 'Glass' option.  Basically point and shoot

Anyway, a good mooch around Duxford, not been for a while and had forgotten what a good place it is - being an active aerodrome adds a lot of atmosphere that the Hendons of this world sadly lack.  Old Warden and Fantasy of Flight in Florida have that added extra.

Top attractions for me included the Corsair IV (what a brute), Victor and CF-100, but there are plenty of treasures there.  Saving pennies for a Tiger Moth trip next.

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[PR19_Kit]

Now, now, Kit!

And Kit, as far as my camera was concerned it's a Panasonic Lumix.  Fiddled wih the settings a bit but tbh the best was point and shoot 'Intelligent Auto' although I did take a couple using the 'Scenic' option's 'Glass' option.  Basically point and shoot

Hehehehe, and thanks for the camera info, the pics are very impressive.

Your pic of the Victor looks JUST like a model diorama. 

[kitbasher]

I thought that too about the Victor pic.  Didn't even have the camera on either 'Toy' or 'Miniature' settings, either.

[zenrat]

Jealous.

Looks like the London skyline has changed since I worked at Waterloo.  Not for the better either.

[NARSES2]

At risk of 'going political', re-aiming them at Sadiq Khan's office might be better...............

Maybe that's why they all moved to the North Bank 

Jealous.

Looks like the London skyline has changed since I worked at Waterloo.  Not for the better either.

I suppose so, but it's been reasonably stable for a few years now, and there's still some nice walks along the river and fascinating places in the City to explore. Mind you a couple of the old markets I remember as working markets are now trendy tourist eating and drinking spots. Now't wrong with that though as at least the pubs haven't changed, just put the prices up ....a lot 

[kitbasher]

Blimey, been a while since I posted here, and to be honest there's not really been very much modelling happening of late.  Well, not whiffery.

Madam Kitbasher volunteers at the local library and kindly volunteered me to produce a couple of items for a forthcoming display concerning flight (natural and man-made) in the Borough.  Must admit I didn't object, as it involved polystyrene, glue, paints, etc.  Refused to build a Concorde model (too much white - aaargh!) but they ripped my arm off when I offered to build a 1/48 Airfix Hurricane I (the current(ish) A05127A) as V6665 RF-J, 303 (Polish) Sqn, RAF Northolt, as flown by Sergeant Tadeusz Andrusakόw when he was shot down and killed (at the age of 19) on 27 September 1940.

A lovely kit, OOB build other than scratch-built Sutton harness and rear view mirror.  Heresy to say this - and as I type I'm bracing myself ready to be pilloried accordingly - but I can see why folk may elect to eventually migrate to 1/48 scale.  I really am tempted to follow up the Hurricane with a 1/48 Airfix Sea Fury and Anson.  Does this mean turning my back on The One True Scale?  Naah.

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Was also roped in to do something with a 'pre-loved' Fairey Firefly 5 that one of the librarians had bought off eBay; I'd assumed it was the Arfix kit but actually it was the Special Hobby effort.

Damaged in transit, I decided to strip the paint and partially rebuild it.  As the undercrriage was trashed in transit it had to be wheels up, and a few lost minor items replaced by scratch-built stuff.  Markings were robbed from an Airfix (A02018 edition) Firefly already in the stash - stencils were a mix of those for the Dutch option with the rest being home made (the generic items being scanned and printed).  Sadly I discovered the hard way that the national markings were very slightly out of register but I'd no alternatives and printer limitations meant I didn't really want to make my own replacements.

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The Special Hobby kit appears to be well-moulded, with fine panel lines and good cockpit detail.  Not a perfect kit by any means - the clear parts don't quite fit properly, the nose contours aren't quite right and there's no carburettor intake detail.  Not isssues with the Airfix kit, of course, but it's major problem is that the fuselage is too narrow.  Never mind, I'll eventually build mine OOB for nostalgia's sake and live with this issue.

Anyway, Telford beckons, time to try and finish off a couple of 'shelf queens' in time for November.

[Pellson]

Lovely builds!