More progress with a layer of thinned Nato green paint brushed on and after drying and then a clear coat left to dry overnight I cracked on with this today...

Masking with scrap paper and tape and I airbrushed a mixture of dark green with a few drops of Nato black onto the model. I was supervised by Watson who ensured I maintained the strictest standards whilst I also fussed him with due diligence.

This will be left to dry overnight and then a clear coat to protect the paintwork. The plan is to then airbrush the underneath with a pale sky blue with more masking of the green paints. I aim to do some suitable chipping, weathering and salt water marks of a well used aircraft. This particular model will be an example used during the summer of 1940 and by then this aircraft was obsolete and prey to even the slowest of Allied aircraft. So far a pleasant build and as always I am at the enjoyable part for me, painting, weathering, etc...

A quiet and lazy Sunday and I guess the habit of ensuring my Sundays prior to returning to work continues even when I am on leave. 

TTFN.

 Progress so far with the Dornier Flying boat as I applied the plastic putty to the seams yesterday and after leaving it to set for a good twenty four hours I removed the guide tape and sanded it down. Nice and flush with the plastic and ready for the next stage which is fitting the engine superstructure. That will require further filling as there are gaps and I will have to do a search for the plasticard I put away somewhere safe! I may need to cut a small piece to bridge the gap and then fill when that is set. I don't mind because this is modelling. Either repairing the original kit, adding more to a basic kit or scratch building new parts from all sorts including foil, paper, scraps of plastic  or any metal that fulfils the part. I have small drawers full of all sorts rescued from the kitchen, packaging (clear plastic for windows) or work.

I am aiming for an approximation of this but generally happy to build it out of the box as there are some marvellously detailed and realistic builds out there. I would like to put this on a water base but I might practice that with a smaller cheap build where if I get it wrong, it doesn't matter too much. 

Volia! 

I popped back to the table, glued the superstructure in place and the gap isn't as big as I thought. I have glued a small piece of spare plastic in place and added some sprue goo to melt it into place. I'll give it twelve hours and sand down. The small portholes haven't been 'glazed' yet but I have some glue that dries clear and that will do the trick once the first coat of paint is on. 

The last couple of days have been relaxed and having to stay indoors because of lockdown and heavy rain has seen me reading, modelling and listening to music and podcasts. I had to attend to some emails yesterday as a work colleagues contacted me about an issue with a particular patient. That was sorted and I won't be having any contact with work until I return on the 8th February. So I am experiencing the lockdown firsthand as work doesn't feel like lockdown and this morning I was out first thing for a walk and to go shopping. Two days and I needed to get out and it makes me wonder how do people cope with this full time for months on end! I can catch up on a lot over the next week but I'm not sure I would like to do this full time with only an hours outdoors exercise allowed each day. Back to the podcasts and there is darts tonight and a couple of beers as well. I hope you all have a safe and fulfilling weekend.

TTFN.

 Hooray! 

I'm on my hols but sadly going nowhere except local walks and shops although have ID, may travel but just a few miles out of town to look at a couple of local churches. My first day I still woke up for work to my internal alarm clock and got stuck into these...

Two builds on the go with a clear coat on the Lightning and the fuselage of the Dornier now glued together. The latter I finally completed the minimal interior which won't be seen and the aircrew painted. I'll leave both for now as time needed to set and the Dornier will need seams sanded, filled and sanded again to get rid of the seams. The engine is just plonked on top as a lot of filler will be required there and possibly some plastic card as there is a large gap. I think these two builds should keep me busy for the next few days and I am already considering the next build after some recently reading some histories from the second world war. I also have some older builds to complete and these will be next up on the desk...

The figures and the base need to be completed for the Spanish Civil War diorama and there is a small amphibious car for another diorama that is almost complete but the figures need some attention. In many respects the lockdown is ideal for modellers except for those of us who have to work.

This afternoon I plan to put my feet up, drink tea and read books surrounded by cats and leave the worries and cares of work and lockdown behind me for a few glorious hours.

TTFN.

Apart from work which is super busy I have focused on reading and music to keep me sane and balanced in these crazy times. I also received the new paints I ordered so I could crack on with the new build of the Lightning which has had some issues but is making progress. 

The above photo gives an example of what I hope the finished build will look like hence the new paints in different shades of grey plus steel and aluminium which I had originally thought was the correct colours. I try to ensure I have the correct colour schemes for my builds but also using artistic interpretation as well. Painting, weathering, washes, etc...is what gives realism to the finished build and stops it looking like a toy. One consequence of the enforced lockdowns over the past year is that more people are modelling which is good but it has also forced up demand for models and increased prices. 

I also bought some beers I hadn't tried before and this was amongst them...

At £4.00 a can and 9% abv it is not a session beer and to be treated with respect but my word, it is a fantastic beer and one I will buy again. Looking at their website and they have some interesting beers I would like to try but it has also sparked my interest in possibly trying some home brewing again which I plan to do later this year. I am back at work for two days next week and I then have twelve days off so I will look at ordering some beers for collection from my very local brewery. They only deliver on large orders but I can order and pay on line and then collect in person. I had a mini cask over the Xmas holidays which certainly added to the Xmas cheer but this time I will order some bottles or cans instead as I try a mixed case of beers. Having said that there is also the Message in a Bottle shop where I have more choice but I can also head back to Morrisons where I bought these recent beers and there is an excellent selection of Yorkshire and other beers and it is cheaper! Choices choices...What I am really looking forward to is having nearly two weeks off and having a complete break from work and the incessant demands made on me. I can then test the boundaries as to what is meant by taking exercise locally when I go out for my walks with my camera in hand. There are a couple of churches I want to visit and they are several miles away so this could be interesting but I am determined to visit them. But as a nurse out on community visits taking a well deserved break with my ID badge ready for perusal and visiting an isolated church with no other people around I should be ok. We'll see...

TTFN.

 Somewhat battered and tired this weekend from a busy week at work so my focus this weekend is modelling, listening to music and podcasts. I cancelled the sky sports package as soulless empty football stadiums and little else of interest finally prompted me to do this. It took me thirty minutes as the virgin media website doesn't provide any option to do this and the lengthy phone call I suspect is deliberately designed to make it difficult for customers to make changes that result in paying out less money! But it's done and it is one unnecessary thing to pay out for. I would like to get rid of the TV, cancel the TV licence and use the computer for anything on-line I choose to watch. Sue doesn't want to get rid of the TV so that will have to stay.

The Lightning will be a build depicting an aircraft from 11 RAF Squadron based at Binbrook during the seventies / eighties. Binbrook is just down the road from us and is no longer an airforce base having been converted to an industrial estate. There is one Lightning there which is being restored by this group of enthusiasts although there is another group based in Leicester also restoring a Lightning.

I also have the Dornier Do G flying boat on the table and I will work slowly on that build as my focus will be on the Cold War group build.

Quick progress so far in the past twenty four hours until a small piece of the fuselage snapped off! My clumsiness as I dry fitted the wings and the broken piece just would not fit back. I have thin plasticard that I can cut and shape to fit but could I find it...So a small shaped piece from my spares box and sprue goo brushed on to melt it into place. Once set I will carefully sand it down and then re-scribe the panel lines. Gaps filled with sprue goo and the seams of the fuselage halves also filled with the same and sanded back until the seams have gone.

Another reason is the photograph below (Courtesy Neville Sissons) of Squadron Leader George Butler DSO DFC who was with 11 Squadron in Burma and was a local man in Grimsby and Laceby. I am thinking of a future build of the Hurricane below and displaying this alongside the Lightning. His mother was Norwegian hence the badge on the Hurricane.

I hope all is well with you folks during these trying times and I intend to quietly enjoy the remainder of a delightfully lazy Sunday.

TTFN.

 The first week of 2021 done and it was somewhat surreal at work. The lockdown is once again seeing a reduction in seeing people as we have to phone them instead, saving any face to face contact for urgent / crisis presentations. Happily, our interim manager has suggested we make the decisions based on clinical need and risk so we can still see many people but not all. Caseloads have increased and we are very busy with demands for the service increasing. We have no idea what the future holds apart from more work with fewer resources. At least we have jobs and are in demand for the time being.

Vaccines are also being rolled out for the community teams and by Monday I should think three of my colleagues and the older adults team will have had their vaccines. The rest of us are waiting as all slots had been taken but I am more than happy to wait and ensure that if I have to have the vaccine, it will be the Astra Zeneca Oxford one.  We'll see how that pans out but as I have a couple of allergies and a history of asthma which certainly means I won't have the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. What isn't explained is why once vaccinated we have to continue wearing masks. We don't wear them before or after flu jabs and the flu kills people, especially the elderly / those with serious health problems. I know there is a second vaccine jab which will be administered twelve weeks later contrary to the advice of the vaccine companies. I'm aware that the vaccines might not provide protection against infection but the same applies to the flu jab. I guess it is up to individuals to choose whether to vaccinate or not.

I have joined a Cold War model group build on fb and I have had to order another kit as I have no kits in that era. I wasn't going to bother but surprisingly Sue encouraged me to search for and buy a kit.  There is a   BAC Lightning F3 aircraft model winging its way to me. In the meantime I have continued with the Dornier Do G flying boat that I had started but put aside some weeks ago before building the Stuart Honey.

This will be built out of the box and will be an on-going build alongside the group build of the Lightning. Hopefully I can use the table for modelling as the cats have taken a liking to sleeping on it and take a keen interest in the modelling process. Not a good idea as glues, paints, small plastic or metal pieces and cats don't mix well.

In other news but related to my comment about work above, Sue and I went for a long walk through town today. I had to post a test sample to the bowel cancer centre and yes, I have reached that magic age where you are requested to literally post shit! So we combined that with the walk and how depressing. Empty shops and pubs boarded up and closed for good. The local mall empty and as a generally soulless place at the best of times, it even lacked that ambience. Poundland was open and I guess that might be a good indication of the future post virus / media panic. Beggars sitting in shop doorways, social distancing signs and footprints / arrows everywhere. Unless I have to, that will be my last visit to the mall for a long time. I must attend to a lentil curry I am cooking and there is a bottle of Mango Gin that needs my attention this evening.

TTFN.

 I found an interesting film I wasn't aware of and absolutely loved it. Why? This is where I grew up and was home for many years during the sixties, seventies and eighties. I actually grew up in Hornsey about half a mile away but so many memories flooding back just watching this. The accents, wonderful...that's what I sound like, that's my voice.

Beneath the Clock Tower

It is odd seeing what Crouch End is like now as much has changed but so much remains from years before. Once this nonsense is over I fully intend to spend a few days in London revisiting my old manor.

TTFN.

I decided to have a look at the builds I completed this year starting with this...

 

The Stuart Honey just about pops in as most of the build was done last year. Fifteen builds which given the demands on my time is reasonable. I had deliberately slowed my build rate down and aimed for a more considered approach.

TTFN.

      Happy New Year! 

Hopefully a better year ahead for us all although my opening to the new year consisted of clearing up where the smallest cat missed the litter tray! I sincerely hope this is not a harbinger of things to come. She's been somewhat naughty in that she was in the bedroom the other night so we left the door open to allow her to get to her litter tray. We don't ordinarily allow the cats in the bedroom at night because they wake us up at all hours for attention. Mindy clambered on top of us and then she decided to pee all over Sue. All hell broke loose! Cat flying off down the stairs pursued by Sue shouting at her, bedding changed but both of us wide awake and it must have showed because at work someone commented I looked very rough. However, all now settled and serene and the holiday 'celebrations' now done and dusted. Again, I am just glad to have a few days off before I return to working in an area that is lock downed in Tier 4. I'll find out what that means for face to face visits but I think we will be back to telephone contacts only except for urgent or crisis visits. Happily we get to define urgent according to clinical need and most of my caseload has had urgent visits. One excellent start to the new year is that the troublesome party who returned to the team walked out again yesterday, for reasons so far unknown. With another colleague leaving after next week we are again very short staffed. I guess my desire to move to part time working will be on hold for some time to come but I am ok with that. Based on the past year who knows what this coming year holds for us so I'll happily plod on with my work.

This is the progress so far on the M3 Stuart Honey and it took some extra work as the large decals would not sit right. I masked off the areas and painted in the red and white markings. Clear coated them and then this morning I touched up the camouflage areas where the white paint leaked into. I finally brush painted a matt coat all over including the figure and that is now drying off. There is some chipping but I kept it to a minimum. I decided to leave the oil paints off and I will opt for using pastels to represent dust and sand but I do have the oil pin wash to do to accentuate the rivets and recesses. I am pleased with it so far and I would like to put it in a diorama but space is the issue and one I will have to address this coming year. There are umpteen completed builds on shelves around the house but with the cats using some of the shelves I am running out of space. My plan is once the damp course is completed and we redecorate, I can build some new shelves in and place the builds there. I did shock Sue when I stated the joy of this hobby is the building and display only plays a small part for me as the completed builds are essentially worthless to most people.

All in all a quiet and peaceful holiday and I am looking forward to a quiet weekend before I return to the shenanigans next week.I hope you all have a happy and safe new year.

TTFN.