A quick post as a cancelled visit this afternoon freed me up to get home earlier than expected although shopping for the feline army then waylaid me. As an aside, Sainsbury are experiencing a shortage of own brand cat food. An unexpected side effect of covid, Brexit or aliens? Whiskers and other brands including Aldi own premium brand which they love is filling their tums plus proper meat in the form of sliced chicken, ham and tinned tuna. Pampered little buglers!

I bought this as I simply like the look of it and it has some things dear to my heart.

It's by Jo Cox who is the mother of Tom Cox, one of my favourite authors and it was a toss up between this print or one of the Green Man.

I have been busy with models and I have put in an odd hour here and there some evenings after work to reduce my stress and relax.

That is the Messerschmitt Me 410 but I also ordered a new replacement vacuform canopy as the kit one is simply dreadful. Over sized and the wrong shape entirely. A fresh sharp blade should see the new one readied after I have carefully painted it. Once that is done and the decals applied, I shall clear coat again and apply some washes and that's it finished. I like this aircraft and the Mosquito as they are similar looking. I haven't built a Mosquito but it's on my to do list for a future date but I am abstaining from buying any more kits for now as the garden and the house need my attention. 

Yesterday I made a start on the Fokker D XXI by dry fitting it, gluing some assemblies and preparing for the next stage of assembly. It is a tiny kit of few parts and is again one of those cheap kits I hope to transform via painting and weathering. I will build this one as a Finnish aircraft with the winter skis attached.

But today was glorious with lots of sunshine, 21˚ C and lots of people out walking as I drove between visits. Sadly no time to gaze at the sea at Mablethorpe or to paddle my feet! Perhaps next week when I am out there again. The sun and light has certainly perked my spirits up.

TTFN.

 

The dangers when cats and models meet...it rarely ends well for the model! This Stirling was placed in a quiet spot on its own causing no harm to any occasional passing soul and this is the picture Sue texted to me whilst I was at work.

Repairs later that same day but there are a few small pieces missing. The positive from this is that this will now be used as a training mule for experiments with painting and I shall have to buy a replacement kit, possibly a better one! That's one of the latest deliveries in the background.

This is the other delivery and both were cheap as chips with the Fokker D XXI on my to buy list for a long time. An old kit with very worn decals and the box was just about held together with ancient sellotape. The Messerschmitt ME 109 G12 I had never heard of and as a two seat trainer aircraft with an unusual canopy I just had to have it. These might be the builds for the Easter period  as they should be straightforward although the Me 109 has a vacuform canopy which I have never worked with before and a lot of tiny photo etched brass parts. More on that when I come to build it. I am currently working on the Messerschmitt 410 as a very quick out of the box build as it's a cheap kit and lets me practice my brush building skills.

All in all a delightful escape form the madness of pandemics, riots, the economic shitstorm that is coming and the real possibility of sanctions against those who refuse the vaccines that apparently don't protect one yet allow one to still acquire the virus and spread it to vulnerable people who aren't protected despite having received the vaccine? Plus the plans to vaccinate children who aren't at risk of serious harm or death from the virus with the unknown consequences of serious side effects. There are three of us in my team who have refused the vaccine and if we are removed from our posts which has been hinted at I suspect the team will collapse as we are so few in numbers.  Almost eighty patients to reallocate and a waiting list of over a hundred people for allocation to a team member plus the growing list of people awaiting assessment. That 500 million pounds  promised by the government is too little and too late and is a PR exercise by a government that has destroyed the economy. The interesting times we live in are about to become more interesting. Take care folks.

TTFN.

 A quieter weekend then I had anticipated as my back is again playing up. I decided to potter about and slowly ease it out plus some more time at the modelling table. 

Some of the builds I had put to one side for small dioramas and I can now catch up with. The issue is again one of space to display them and I might have to use the empty 'cat' shelves now that the milder weather is here and they will spend more time outdoors.

Unfortunately they don't seem to have received that message as they are sleeping in odd places around the house, usually where we want to sit!

I also made the mistake of not ensuring plenty of fresh air as I used mineral thinner and oil paints for the LeO 451 yesterday afternoon and paid the price as I felt very odd during the course of the evening. I will crack on with more of this today but stick with the acrylic paints. The LeO has to be left well alone now as the oils can take a few days to dry out as I didn't leach out the linseed oil itself and it is very wet. I caught two of the cats attempting to lick some of the linseed oil spill on the table which is worrying and I quickly cleaned it up. 

I received my DNA test results back and it came as no surprise to discover I am 99.9% Irish / British but the surprise was the 0.1% Peninsular Arab! No Anglo-Saxon or Viking blood at all and the genetic map showed various parts of the west of Ireland and Dublin with a lot of north west England, London and Tyneside. So I am original British with ancestors waving spears and shouting rude words at the Romans in a Brythonic language. Although the DNA is accurate the results might show a more accurate picture as others take the DNA test in future years but I am happy with the results. I am intrigued by the Peninsular Arab bit but I also have a small amount of Neanderthal in me! If my Dad was alive he would be delighted to know I have no English DNA but when I post the results to farce book I shall await the reactions of my cousins in Ireland. 

TTFN.

 This has become a weekly update as Monday to Friday I am generally busy at work and sadly knackered when I get in. I have today off and I had planned to do some admin work from home to catch up but common sense intervened and the modelling table beckoned me. Maisie rolling around the table and upsetting a cup of coffee put paid to that after an hours painting but it is wonderful to escape for an extra day. 

She spent a good hour grooming to remove the coffee but otherwise unharmed.

The latest build (LeO 451) and I have painted a first coat with three tone camouflage above and light blue below. A clear coat added and left to dry. I will experiment with oil paints for the camouflage and blend it in for a richer colour. The other aircraft is the Breguet 693 which became unstuck and fell to earth necessitating some TLC to repair it. The wheels are missing so a full search required tomorrow under the sofa. That sticky tape has now see two aircraft kiss the earth carpet!

More Maisie as the dedicated Maisie time is paying off and she is more affectionate, trusting and happier to move beyond the places she regards as safe spots and explore the house more. This winter has seen her adopting a preference for the warmth and comforts of indoor living rather than her semi-feral lifestyle.

I also acquired another new book as I am working my way through the to read pile and thoroughly enjoying my books again. As the TV is mediocre at best but otherwise generally rubbish I prefer to play music and read. This looks at pilots in the German Imperial Airforce during World War 1. I have also started watching some gardening you tube videos for vegetable growing as I have ignored the garden over the past eighteen months and I need to get back into it. I will stick with tomatoes, cucumbers and chillies as they are easy for me to grow and I have a lot of experience of those. I have to move the raised bed as I want to keep the Willow tree and I want to plan a garden that is easy to tend to  with raised tubs and large pots as Sue struggles with her health. In good news, my Mum has been offered a sheltered small bungalow and will soon move into it. Hopefully I will get to see her as the lockdown reduces and in her new place.

TTFN.

 

This was the state of play this morning and the build has been set aside for the filler to dry. I have glued the other wing on and I will fill the seam on that side tomorrow. As I add the filler I use a paint brush and add a little water to help it flow into the seam with tape either side to ensure the filler doesn't go elsewhere.  Once both are fully dry I'll sand and ensure a smooth and hopefully seamless finish. The glass canopies have been brush painted and I generally scrape the excess paint off, clear coat which protects it and then paint any gaps. It is good to get back to the table today and lose myself in the build as work has been crazier than usual over the past ten days. As the lockdown moves towards some form of denouement, we hope...the auditors, managers and various other bureaucrats emerge from the cracks and dark places to plague the few remaining frontline staff struggling to hold things together. But that and other 'difficulties'  are stories for the future post retirement.

But the Thursday commute into work was another level of experience and one I do not want to repeat. It has been a tad windy over the last few days and during the first part of my commute there was debris flying around during the bigger gusts. About eleven miles into my journey coming out of a small village on the main road a large tree suddenly fell across the road in front of me. I immediately sped up and swerved to the left simultaneously and drove through / under the tree. There was no time for anything else as the tree was suddenly there on top of me. I pulled over twenty yards down the road and became aware the car behind me had done the same although he drove past me and pulled over in front of me. We both got out to look back at the tree blocking the road and then at each other and both of us shocked at what had happened. Drivers on the other side of the road checked we were ok and all of us said the same thing. How the hell had we gone through it? I continued with my journey but forced myself to drive slowly because I was boosted with an adrenaline rush and when I arrived at work I was certainly very wired and excited. 

I checked the car and not a scratch, very little debris attached apart from some fir leaves around the front grill and lights. I told people at work but it was only when another colleague who lives in the village stated the road was blocked by a huge tree and police in attendance that it dawned on my colleagues how lucky I was. I agree, my guardian angel was looking out for me. I know I reacted very quickly but I am still questioning how I got through. I assume that speeding up and swerving I avoided the main part but I fully expected to slam into the tree. By the afternoon the adrenaline had worn off and I was extremely tired, I ached all over and sleep was very much disturbed that night. I checked out the area and saw the tree yesterday morning and it had been sawn up into large chunks and left on the verge but stopping to look at it made me realise how lucky I am. It also amuses me that I could have been a casualty as the result of what we regard as a generally static object when it is other motorists on the road whom I am generally wary of. 

'Gone but definitely Fir gotten' engraved on the stone!

My worries at work were put into perspective and suddenly they no longer appear that important. That a matter of a couple of seconds could have seen me seriously injured or killed gives a lot of food for thought and I have been tired since the incident but quite cheerful, with Sue pointing out this morning I was whistling various tunes! Mind you, I had enjoyed a couple of G & T's last night.

Hopefully all is well with you folks and please be careful out there. 

TTFN.

 Sue is not very well following the injection, with flu like symptoms and she is very lethargic. She is hoping this will pass in a couple of days and today I received my invite for the jab. I put all the details in as required and I apparently do not exist. It is the issue over the wrong date of birth the NHS has for me in its records and I have to attend the GP surgery with either my birth certificate or my passport! I have no desire to have the jab and this minor obstacle hasn't exactly encouraged me to go for it. I will pop into the surgery at some point to address this as it will one day be an issue although they are not allowing us in the surgery currently!

Progress on the Messerschmitt 163 A with a thin layer of light grey paint which showed where on the seams required further filler. I had used sprue goo, sanded and painted but the seams needed some filler. Once thoroughly dried I will sand and paint again and I have an old tin lid I will use as a base for a small diorama, Not many parts and some of those are photo etched brass parts particularly for the trolley wheels. Small, fiddly and require the use of superglue and of course that is when Sherlock turned up. I will finish this later in the week as I am back at work tomorrow and little time for modelling.

TTFN.

We went for a longer walk today as I accompanied Sue for her vaccine which took several minutes only. She had the Astra Zeneca jab and so far she feels ok. We both overdid the walk as we realised we needed shopping as well so added that extra to the distance we covered. We are both tired and as Sue reminded me she is almost a pensioner now she is over 65 but not able to collect her pension until November.

AS you can see from the above I am running out of shelf space and the other cabinets are also full apart from a couple of empty shelves which the cats use. I also have other odd shelves with models occupying them although I had to recently repair three models after discovering one of the cats had sat on them. But I have now tried out another approach...

Extremely sticky double sided tape which I have attached to the planes and applied to the side of this cabinet. The tape can carry a good load so these should be safe as they aren't very heavy. I am considering putting up some new shelves above the model table but with a lip from which kits can be stuck to and displayed. The only concern is that the cats will be curious to investigate any new sleeping places. As can be seen below Watson is sleeping on the table today and the small window recess usually has one cat in residence.

I have placed some of my stash under the table along with a variety of other 'stuff' stored out of site / out of mind! Time to tidy it up and clear some of the rubbish out.

TTFN.