A very quick and easy build of an Airfix Hurricane Mk.1 in Belgian livery circa May 1940. I built and brush painted the kit as a break from the ongoing saga of the broken undercarriage of the 1/32 Bücker Bü 131D which has again been repaired. I might have to buy some thin brass rods to replace the somewhat weak plastic undercarriage. It’s irritating because I have attached the rigging to one Wing but unable to proceed  any further until this is sorted. I also started a 1/72 Spitfire, a model of the last operational sortie Spitfire from April 1954; A photo reconnaissance Mk.19 used in Malaya.

This is the current state of play and yes, those are the instructions. Ventura / Tasman / JAYS models are New Zealand companies with JAYS models now flying the flag for ‘garage’ short run kits which are basic but require a lot of modelling skills and patience. I thoroughly enjoy building them despite or because of the extra work required during the build process. 

As I write this with the build set aside it is raining but not too cold outside. I have the back door open to allow the cats in and out because there is some noisy building work going on at a neighbouring property which sends them running for home. Otherwise a quiet Sunday here in the slow lane after a late night watching ‘The Blue Lamp’ with Dirk Bogarde and Jack Warner. It’s the first time I have watched the movie and it is fascinating to see London in 1950.Having watched that and the original ‘The Ladykillers’ with a stellar cast the other night, I am catching up on the classic British black and white movies from the fifties.

TTFN.

 This is a test to see if I can upload photos and guess what? I cannot upload photos!! I am at a loss as to what is going on because I seem to solve the problem and then it returns. I shall investigate again but today will mainly be looking at the last of my small pension pots and sorting that out. I have six months until I receive my state pension and I can also apply for a free pensioner bus pass which still makes me chuckle. How did I get this old! 

Speaking of which, I watched ‘Seven up’ over the last couple of days with the ‘Seventy up’ episodes and the final episodes. For those who don’t know it, Seven up started with a group of seven year old children back in 1964 and every seven years they would be filmed and a discussion had about how their lives had progressed. I have to admit I was moved to tears watching last nights episode. As an experiment it was fascinating but also applying it to one’s own life makes for some reflection and brought home a couple of revelations to me which I shan’t be going into here. 

Otherwise, it is a dull autumnal day with showers but the back door is open allowing the kitties ingress and egress although Winnie, No.1 sons smallest cat generally disappears for the day to escape the attentions of Mindy who continues her campaign of bullying and harassment of her. From her tracker we can see she has a favourite spot where the birds, squirrels and we assume the rats are. With the nights drawing in we are already seeing a change in their behaviour but it is still quite mild.  Once the cold weather arrives they will spend more time indoors glued to various radiators!

TTFN.

Update: Now it works!

A model kit I have long wanted and today it finally arrived. I found a model shop in Kent of all places that sells Japanese model kits at very reasonable prices without having to pay ridiculous prices. Not only very cheap but free P&P plus a complementary packet of Haribo sweets as well and a voucher for future purchases. 

Of the several kits in various build stages, three of them are completed or very near completion. I finally finished rigging the Breguet Br.14 (on the little stand) and it is clear coated awaiting decals. The other two in the photo (Oxford Airspeed and Phönix DIII biplane) are done. The other photo shows the 1/32 scale Bücker Bü 131D but I have twice broken the undercarriage whilst rigging it. So each day I spend five minutes to complete repairs and add rigging and then I leave well alone! 

The Boulton Paul Defiant is also nearing completion with weathering and paint touch ups required plus the photo etch brass radar equipment to be added. The latter I might leave off as it is fiddly, easy to break and apart those knowledgeable about the night fighter version, no one will know the difference.

I plan to complete all of these before considering what next to build although there is a Matilda Mk.II in 1/35 scale which I had started and then boxed away whilst I researched the back history and colour schemes. I haven’t yet decided on a major winter build as the last few days have been warm, sunny and I spent them in the garden. Grass cut today and some weeding done so some semblance of order is noticeable. What used to take me ten minutes now takes twenty followed by a rest!

After chasing around google to try and resolve the issue of uploading photos to the blog I find today that I can do so. Mind you, I thought I had cracked it previously and google again refused to do so. I think it is a cookies issue but who knows.  Hopefully it is now resolved and I can start posting again.

TTFN.
 

 After a week of the plague in the house with No.1 son catching a horrible cold and then Sue and I succumbing to it. Mine has almost gone although yesterday’s grass cutting added a dusting of hay fever to the recipe and Sue’s cold is still lingering. 

The grass is a lovely verdant colour after the rain of the past ten days and the weather is cooler, decidedly chilly in the mornings. One ‘bonus’ of back pain is that some mornings I am up very early and I usually have the back door open for the cats as I enjoy a cup of tea, pain relief and the Tens machine to get me moving…it takes a while! I have certainly noticed the change in the seasons. I managed to cut the grass yesterday with feline supervision and my plan is to weed and clear the garden beds, pots and raised bed over the next two weeks for a clean start. We discussed methods of making the garden easier to manage for two oldies who are gradually falling to bits. Luckily the garden isn’t that big and I enjoy being out in it. Our two oldest cats, Sherlock and Maisie have slowed down and prefer to stay in the garden or next door, not going too far away so I shall create some aids for them to climb up onto the walls and fence. Poor old moggies, it’s hard watching them grow old.

I am still having trouble uploading pictures to the blog hence the lack of entries lately. I suspect goo gle is attempting to nudge me towards using their platform instead of my usual one. I have six model builds in various stages but having the cold meant I had to abstain from airbrushing paint onto the builds. The latest one was a ‘gift’ from a vlogger I follow whose group I am a member of. It’s a German Bücker Bü 131D training aircraft, a two seater biplane and this one has skis instead of wheels. I bought aftermarket figures, rigging points and seats with attached seatbelts as it is in 1/32 scale and I really want to do it justice. It’s made by ICM, a Ukrainian model company that continues to produce some of the best kits on the market despite the Russian efforts to destroy the country and people. Astonishing really. 

Otherwise not much has changed here but today my thoughts go out to those victims of 9/11.

TTFN.