An update as I am now on days off from work and I can relax which includes having time to read and write blogs and catch up on podcasts. There is also four nights of darts on TV from the European championship which started yesterday. I also caught up with my on-going build of the model Bf 110...

Here is the recent application of the 'grass' to the diorama base and vehicles in situ. Followed by the figures painted up and the diorama approximately 90% complete,

I have the figures to complete as well as some weathering to the aircraft, an aerial and a matt coat to remove the shine from them all and there is a trolley to add to the diorama. I also started eyeing up my next build but then remembered there is one already started which I intend for another planned diorama (To the left of the plane in the second photo). All of this put aside as Sherlock decided his need for a comfy bed on the table was greater than my need to model! Talking of cats, I was awakened at an early hour by the cats making noise outside the bathroom one morning. I looked out and spotted Mindy in a standoff with a small silver tabby which had casually wandered into the house. We have since found him wandering around the house and he belongs to nearby neighbour and the cats name is Jerry...We have also been offered a kitten as a work colleague discovered her cat is pregnant and if it turns out this is the case, we can have one at a future date. Mindy is very lively and sadly Sherlock is a grumpy old fella and Maisie dislikes her and she wants to play.

Brief paws (Ouch!)...

He is back in and I grabbed a photo opportunity of young Jerry. Just out of the photo is two small unhappy felines as Maisie and Mindy are both glowering at the interloper. He does look young but I'm not sure how old he is and his owner is happy for him to wander into our house so long as he doesn't try to re-home himself here. On with a relaxing weekend and I hope it is the same for all of you.

TTFN.

 Progress thus far on the Bf 110 with the aircraft built and most of the airbrushing completed. It is ready for the decals, a further clear coat and then the washes and weathering. A lengthy build but one I wanted to do some justice to but there is a lot of decals and I have been putting this off as there are a lot of tiny decals. I will be working on the figures and the diorama and this will be completed over the next month. Much of this will depend on my work situation as I am waiting to have my changed hours confirmed once the new manager is settled in. There is also the wider context with the revolving door political situation with a new month, a new chancellor and now a new PM! I now have no idea what will happen next other than life is becoming increasingly difficult for many people. But for MH services, short staffed and and already struggling to deal with the increased demand for services it will get worse.  We just carry on at work, at home whilst this shambles is unfolding and the trickle down effect doesn't bring money but certainly brings a lot of crap for people.

Updated: I wrote the above twice over the past week but chose not to post as I have been exhausted, a combination of work and I assume post viral fatigue.

I put some work in today on the decals and some paint touch ups and gluing on the small pieces that had fallen off.

I have the swastikas to apply to the tail and then a wash but for now the clear coat is drying on the upper surface and a coat applied to the lower surface possibly tomorrow. I am pleased with this build and an enjoyable one and I shall work on the diorama next. The kit below arrived in the post this morning, an unusual vehicle which has wheels for road use and tracks for cross country and completely new to me. I hummed and ahhed whether to buy it and it was Sue who suggested I do as the new 1/16 scale Tiger 1 tank that is currently on offer I decided to refrain from buying. For the price of the one larger scale tank I could buy three or four 1/35 scale models!

I also finally grabbed a photo of the three miscreants relaxed and sleeping in the same room and in close proximity to each other, a very rare event. Winter must be coming!

In other news, I have never known so many people laid low by dreadful colds, flu like symptoms and chest infections but no positive LFT's when tested. Sue was ill for a week with a high fever and flu; I was unwell for a few days and several people at work off sick, family and friends are sick. Hence the extreme tiredness with early nights and struggling to stay awake each evening. I have talked with my new manager and she will look at which three days I will work, hopefully from December as I move towards my eventual retirement. Hopefully all is well wherever you are and ignore the media, our government might be a shambles but for us it is still business as usual until the lights do go out!

TTFN.

 

A quick update as this book arrived and it is a hefty tome that has travelled a long way looking at the old library stamp on the page ends. 

It wasn't quite what I expected as I hadn't realised it was a hard back which I am pleased about but, it is volume one of a three volume set! I might* have to buy the next two volumes to complete the set. This will make for light reading and fun interpretations of the stories on a winters evening. Happily, I take it all with a pinch of salt but some people are very serious about the subject and get quite heated about what is a work of fiction...a bit like many of those religious stories that cause so much trouble.

TTFN.

*Very likely will buy!

 The last of the birthday presents arrived apart from an Annotated Sherlock Holmes book which is somewhere in transit.

The armoured car is a 1/35 model of that used by the South African forces in East Africa and then later used more widely by the allies in North Africa and elsewhere. I have been after one for ages and having missed out on bidding for a cheap resin model of this because I was at work, I decided to use the birthday money to buy one. The ground crew are for the diorama of the Bf 110 as no figures came with the kit. I have looked for a model of Sherlock Holmes and they are out there and it might be a future build for me.

TTFN.

A quick update and some birthday presents arriving late in the post as the postal workers are having one and two day strikes. My mum sent me a cheque with instructions to buy models, books or whisky so I opted for a couple of models and books. There is one more kit to arrive plus some figures for the Bf 110 diorama and for the above kit (Another Ukrainian kit). But today it has been raining, absolutely tipping it down which is perfect modelling weather.

This was the progress so far on the Bf 110 with a light grey airbrushed on top and it has been drying over the last couple of days ready for a protective clear coat and then the dark grey-green camouflage on top. 

Whilst I was waiting for the grey-green camouflage to dry I made a start on another kit, initially with a view to adding it to the diorama until I realised it is in 1/35 scale and not 1/48. It is a fiddly kit to build and has some tiny parts for each sub-assembly. The airbrush was stripped down and cleaned twice, before and after airbrushing the paint on and it is now nice and shiny instead of the mess in the picture. Twenty minutes of cleaning the airbrush for five minutes use!

A Lorraine 37L, a French tracked vehicle which the Germans used as support vehicles and in this case, towing a gun. I have a plan to add it to another diorama which I shall give some thought to.

My mum has again been in hospital and she expressed her anger about the NHS as she has had bloods taken on several occasions over the past few weeks and various health staff unsure why the results are coming back skew whiff. She explained several times about the recent radiotherapy and the penny finally dropped but the health care professionals she was talking to would not admit they had not looked at her health history notes! Over the last few weeks as a consequence of the blood results she was prescribed iron supplements that made her unwell and she refused to take them. They have now admitted she is not anaemic. There is a real sense that things are falling apart in the NHS and I can well understand my mum telling the doctors to leave her alone. I think this is one of the reasons why she sent the cheque with a card saying 'Spend it on whatever you like and enjoy life.' 

I didn't cash the cheque until yesterday as she has been battling with the DWP again as for the second time they had stopped her pension. She only became aware two weeks ago and discovered payments had stopped in February! She is unable to go out alone so she doesn't check her bank account at the branch and she won't use on-line services, hell she won't use computers at all. She contacted her MP Priti Patel...still no response and the CAB but it was finally sorted this week. Again, another system falling to pieces and I suspect lockdowns, working from home, useless IT, elderly now seen as superfluous in society, etc... I have to admit I was so angry as this shouldn't happen at all, let alone twice! I have nothing but contempt and hatred for all politicians whatever colour rosette they wear. Lying, greedy, stupid, thieving bastards all of them and they are dragging us ever closer to a needless war. I'll stop there as I do feel a rant coming on and I must think of my blood pressure. I shall spend some mindfulness time with the cats plus a welcome cup of tea.

TTFN.