The Airfix Spitfire Mk Vb is almost complete, just the usual few paint touch ups and an aerial required and it will be finished. It's pictured here with the Fairey Swordfish and both will require a light grey wash to blend the colours and provide a used appearance to both models. I am enjoying these small quick builds and discovering more about the aircraft and the pilots and crew who flew and supported them.

I still have the two small vehicles to complete although that's mainly the figures that are with them and some weathering. I also now have the schematic for the Caproni Ca 133 as shown below.

I wrote the above a couple of days ago but didn't publish so adding to todays blog. I decided to build another quick build in between some gardening and house chores over the past couple of days.

Another old kit and British aircraft, a Fleet Air Arm aircraft flying from aircraft carriers and still some way to completing this build. A lot cooler today and looking like rain so a morning spent modelling but also resting as some ladder work yesterday plus a walk wiped both Sue and me out. I made up for it by sitting out in the garden and soaking up the much needed sunshine yesterday afternoon. 

Time to fuss the cats and check if it is warm enough to sit out in the garden again this afternoon. It's odd but I have no desire to go out and about this weekend. 

TTFN.

 Thursday and blog day with a full five days off to look forward to. First day off and I have my work laptop open as I write up my mileage expenses and ignore any emails or team calls. Once that was completed I then completed the work pension forms as I plan to claim my current pension. This one won't be much but every little helps until I receive my state pension as I don't plan to return to nursing. Although this past working week was a good one I have decided enough is enough. Having completed that I went for my days off daily walk and I am now enjoying a welcome cup of tea and a very welcome Walnut Whip.  The weather is warm, sunny but with a cool breeze, just right for a gentle stroll.

I have added a clear coat to the Airfix Spitfire build which is now awaiting decals but I didn't use the aftermarket photo etch. I am tempted to use it on the Ventura kit but that is a resin kit and I'm not sure attaching PE to resin will be successful...I might have to buy another cheap Spitfire Mk V!

I dry assembled the resin kit to check out the fit and it has very few parts and necessitates scratch building some parts, a modellers delight. All put away now as I plan to sit out in the garden with the cats and have a very lazy afternoon with no driving, phones, laptops and the constant demands to immediately do something.

TTFN.

 Awake at 05.30 and up and up and at 'em. Breakfast, tea, some modelling done and the gardening for today completed. Grass cut and some dead branches and weeds cleared into the recycling bin. Chat with the neighbour, another cup of tea, computer on and relax...Suitably tired and back just giving the odd twinge so no more for today as the hay fever has also kicked in. Enough hints there to relax and the TENS machine now attached to me. Talking of hay fever, I was reading yesterday about the benefits of nettle tea for alleviating it as well as the benefits of dandelions for health. Interesting and I do have some nettle tea bags in the kitchen.

As can be seen above the RSO Tractor has been built and painted with a clear coat applied. The tracks are dreadful and I have inserted card to hold them in place as super glue is used to hold them to the upper wheels. As I shan't touch the kit now for a day or so I made a start on a new build from the stash, a Mark Vb Spitfire. A cheap and cheerful out of the box build and it will be interesting to compare it with the Mark 1 I made  five years ago. The latter needs repairs as storage during the building works has seen it damaged (Cats!).

I am also doing an inventory of the work I need to do about the house once I have retired. Mainly painting and decorating which we can do at our leisure. A work colleague has already suggested I sign up to the bank so I can work as and when the team needs me and I said it is very unlikely. I suspect my first couple of weeks off will consist of trips to Essex, gardening and walking. I will also be looking at ways to reduce our outgoings which has started already. 

Time for a shower to ensure any pollen has been completely removed and more tea and then I suspect Sue has plans for shopping.

TTFN.

 

Not quite the Holy Grail I have been after for the last three years but close enough. I am like a dog with two tails and a juicy ham bone having received this kit this morning. It is not the Caproni Ca 133 that is the aircraft I really want but the Ca 101 is the  precursor to this it. 

Some interesting colour schemes but I intend to do some in depth research before building this kit. I am in no hurry as I have had the chat with my manager and I will be leaving my job in September. A big step but this week brought it home to me as I ended up having to do some extra hours to deal with some issues and I watched colleagues doing the same. It is getting busier but resources remain much the same. But I'm now on days off and I shall forget work for four days as I have the garden to tackle tomorrow and other assorted chores around the home. 

TTFN

n.b. I did a count and I am on my seventeenth kit build so far this year which has surprised me. I am aware that modelling is an escape for me and in light of the current state of the world, it might explain the number built so far.

 I tried to watch eurovision last night, the festival of barely mediocre and usually camp music but the corporate takeover has pretty much destroyed it. The fun, humour and often whacky show that it once was is now bland and boring. It had been heading in that general direction for many years but by the sixth song I put my head phones on and listened to King Crimson followed by other Prog Rock classics and Mellotron goodness. I shan't say any more about the programme other than the dichotomy between the propaganda for Ukraine by national broadcasters across Europe during the programme and various European governments doing the opposite...Ahem, France and Germany! Forked tongues indeed and irrespective of one's own views on the war, it is rank hypocrisy. 

Please excuse the poor photo but taken from inside the kitchen and at a distance with my mobile phone. There are usually the two Magpies, one on watch as one takes the food and we are trying to work out where they are nesting. I just missed capturing the Blue Tits which flew off when the Magpies appeared. A day of hopefully dry weather but I shall leave the grass cutting until next week as part of the No Mow May.

I have started on a new build and not one I had originally planned to do next. But I looked at my stash and opted for a tracked vehicle which I am considering adding to a previous build as part of a diorama. It is a vehicle I have long wanted to model and I discovered why this was cheap...missing parts! Cue scratch building some small parts as replacements and judicious application of mud and dirt will also help to cover that up. I am enjoying a lazy day before my return to work and a pot of fresh brewed coffee and fresh home made bread has helped set up a good day. Feeling quite positive and hopefully it is the same for you folks.

TTFN.

n.b. I just discovered this channel following a recommendation from another channel I follow. It shows much of the area I cover for work and gives an idea of the area.

 Following Scoakat's lead we have started 'baking' again...the bread maker sadly no longer worked as it no longer mixes and we also checked the use by dates on the bread mixes and all were use before 2022! A new bread maker ordered and I bought some flour and yeast, used the French bread setting and voila! Yes, I had a slice after allowing several minutes to cool down.

Very tasty with butter, great texture and although slightly paler than I like it turned out well. As this was baking I attended to the Swordfish build, adding rigging using stretched sprue and then applying the decals with Sherlock supervising me.

This is the Revell build as shown on the box art with beside it a second Swordfish model by Matchbox. Pretty much the same kit mould but I have after market decals for another build.

I have a choice of colour scheme and markings from the late 1930's through to 1945.  A cheap purchase and more practice for rigging for the larger kits I plan to build later this year.

I received the latest kit I had ordered last week and apart from one specific kit I have bid on I have deleted my to buy list. The specific kit is an extremely rare model that is no longer in production, a Caproni Ca 101 but it might be I can convert it to a Caproni Ca 133. The latter model is also very rare and I have seen one advertised but the price is crazy and even I have a limit. I have a fall back plan as there is someone selling a scale plan for the Ca 133 and I could use that to build a complete model from scratch using whatever materials I have to hand and that really does appeal to me.

Regarding work, I return next Monday but I had a chat with my manager yesterday and I have informed her I am retiring this year. I explained my health concerns have led me to this decision and we will discuss it further next week. I haven't decided when I will go but next weeks discussion might clarify that. I do feel apprehensive about this decision but I also now feel relieved, that a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I will be 63 this year and if I am lucky, I might have fifteen or so years left on this revolving ball and I would like to enjoy those years in relatively good health without the stresses and strains of working in a failing system. I can also focus on family and friends and help out the local cat charities if I choose to do so. 

Now for tea and another slice of home baked bread.

TTFN.

 A combination of rest, pain relief and gentle exercises has helped ease my back pain although my left knee has come out in sympathy. I have been watching some physiotherapy videos on t'internet, especially for knees and help for walking. I don't know why I didn't do this before because there is lots of useful information out there. Weather permitting, I will be out walking this afternoon after yesterdays thunderstorm and downpours including hail put a stop to any walking out. Watching out of the window and I realised I must clear out the guttering although birds have been removing much of the detritus there.

I finally completed the Type O 'Pete' observation seaplane this morning as I was up with the lark and I now find early morning is the best time for modelling.

This is a seaplane mid 1940's based on the Japanese homeland although I notice the wheeled cart still requires a couple of paint dabs here and there. I also need to attach an aerial.

Suitably weathered but not overly so and the rigging is stretched sprue. I use a lighter to apply heat and stretch the sprue as long and as thin as possible whilst maintaining pressure as I pull the sprue. Far easier than thread and can be measured and cut to size as well as placed using ordinary glues. Some people use guitar strings but there is no shortage of suitable plastic sprues in each kit.

I now need to find shelf space for this build and I am still awaiting the new decals for the Swordfish but I am now considering my next build. It will be a choice between another Japanese aircraft but I also have a Mosquito lined up which will be a major build over the next few weeks. I already have the ground crew figures for that build apart from a pilot and navigator. But I'm hoping the weather will improve and I can get out and about as I have had five days stuck indoors, so any new build might be postponed for now. Let's see if the rain lets up for today.

TTFN.

 All I can say is bugger and thrice bugger!

My back has been playing up for a while now with sciatica plaguing me down my left leg and lower left back. Pain relief, the TENS machine and gentle exercise seemed to ease it and I just accept it as part of growing old. Sunday I stepped out into the garden to fetch the cats in when I felt my back 'go'. Laid up since then, comfy only in the modelling chair and last night I caved in and took cocodamol to ensure I had some sleep and I have phoned in sick. Sadly, I now think I am becoming too knackered to do my job anymore as the driving and home visits is impacting on my back and knees and perhaps it is time to consider a proper retirement. I did a back of an envelope calculation regarding retirement as I have just under four years to the state pension and current savings plus my current NHS pension with a tough approach to spending might see us alright until then. I guess what has crystallised my thinking about this is the realisation that my health is more important than continuing to knock myself out doing a job which I no longer enjoy. I had planned to do some walking during these recent days off, to visit some old churches and once again I had to cancel those plans. Mind you, unpredictable heavy rain showers also contributed to that decision as being wet and in pain wasn't a tempting proposition!

I managed to brush paint the 'Pete' yesterday, just doing several minutes at a time and I applied a clear coat and finally attached the upper wing. I'll leave it now for a day or two until this has eased up, rest up properly and try some gentle short walks out. It will need further coats of paint and some chipping with aluminium paint on the areas where crew climbed up or stood to attend to the aircraft.

I watched a video of a Japanese modeller build a version of this aircraft from another manufacturer and his precise attention to detail, incredible patience and almost OCD exactness of achieving perfection was astonishing to watch. An excellent build but it also reminded me that I am unlikely to go to the lengths some modellers do although retirement would see me having the time to do that...Nah, still very unlikely. I do watch some modelling videos, particularly the painting ones as many useful tips and suggestions arise from them. Time for more tea and a fuss of the house tigers.

TTFN.

Latest build Pete

Trying out a test video...

 Coronation day and to be honest, I have little interest in it although I have turned on BBC radio 3 for the music. As for loudly declaiming an oath to the royal oaf...no chance. An odd week with two bank holidays in a row and having to cram three days work into two days so very busy at work. I will hypocritically enjoy my extra bank holiday Monday and I have to admit I enjoy my days off and there is a gradual resentment creeping in each week when I return to work. For me it is a good sign as it shows I am on the right path to eventual retirement.

No gardening today as the garden is drying out and with 'No mow May' I have a perfect excuse to leave the grass alone for another week. Lots of Bluebells and other assorted blue flowers thriving in the garden. The auld fella Sherlock is supervising proceedings preparatory to his second breakfast!

However, modelling continues and another build is now on the table.

Yesterdays progress as I dived in and ignored all the shenanigans going on in the world.

The first coats of camouflage brush painted on as the wings glued in and now left to set. There will be rigging when I find the elasticated thread I bought last year and a further coat of paints and weathering will be added once the aftermarket decals arrive. I have bid on evil bay for another cheap Swordfish kit so that I can add a second aircraft model in a different livery. The other two recent builds completed apart from some weathering and I have to consider a diorama for the little Fiat.

My mum is settled at home and regular phone calls to keep an eye on things although my sister and brother pop in most days to help her. I am planning on going down in June and possibly for more than a couple of days  as I can add the odd annual leave days to my regular days off, the joy of part time working. My mum doesn't like going out too far so we'll look at what can be done locally bearing in mind how frail she now is. 

TTFN.