Happy Easter! Yes, I have had my religious chocolate egg although saving some for tomorrow.

A busy week for a retired person despite my back playing up with the garden tidied up and grass finally cut, new gate ordered (made to measure) and will be fitted in a few weeks time and car booked in for its MOT next week. As rain often stopped play but we had one really good day which allowed me to cut the grass, it allowed me more modelling time. It is colder than usual and we generally get mists and fogs during the late summer / autumn but the foghorn was going yesterday and it was misty again early this morning. Despite earmarking a couple of models for the table I started on this one instead...

After the shenanigans with the last few builds I opted for a larger scale and the simple Tamiya kit of the M4A3 Sherman 105. Tamiya have a reputation for being easy to assemble and having a good fit of parts. I also wanted to practice my figure painting skills again.

The flash wipes out the painted faces so I will continue to work on applying shades and highlights. All of this is now clear coated and once dried, I will apply decals and then continue with the washes, weathering and the figures faces. I used an old lolly stick cut to size and with a wash on for the front shelf. 

I did buy a new kit...Note the paw!

An Airspeed Oxford trainer aircraft in 1/72 scale at a very good price. A rare kit and as it transpired and as can be seen from the photograph, a very good price. Free! I opened the box and the wings are missing but there are two sets of fuselages. After a brief communication with the seller via email he refunded me as I now have to find wings for the kit or make my own wings. I luckily found another kit by the same company although it is a later model. When that arrives I will have three aircraft to build, one set of wings as a guide and I intend to make the wings for two of the aircraft but if the later model has different wings, I will buy an extremely cheap old East European kit of the aircraft and use those as moulds / guides for the sculpted wings. Proper modelling although with the extras I haven't really saved any money! But it will be something I can really get my teeth into / tear my hair out and become a gibbering wreck.

BW spoke in a comment about me saving money as a consequence of my reduced mileage and she was spot on. I drive about ten miles a week or less some weeks. I last filled up with petrol following my Mum's funeral which was two months ago. I am hoping the MOT next week goes smoothly and I intend to go out more when the good weather arrives. I still have a planned trip to East Kirkby for the Lancaster and Mosquito taxying this year plus trips out to East Yorkshire and the coast for the sunshine and paddling in the sea. We would be better off with a smaller car but second hand prices remain high and given the nonsense about ULEZ schemes and electric vehicles I don't see that changing any time soon.  I miss cycling but given my hip, knee and back problems I can no longer cycle. A Recumbent bicycle would be feasible but the roads are far too dangerous to use one of them as motorists struggle to see upright cyclists let alone a recumbent. I do like the look of the recumbent trikes and if the green policies of the next shower of managerial incompetents continue with their policies the roads might be safer to use one of them...apart from the silent electric vehicles running one over! 

TTFN.

 Spring is still happening but colder than usual and plenty of rain, all pointing to a cold, wet Easter which seems to have snuck up on me. Being retired I tend to lose track of time and I don't really observe the bank holidays. It is lovely to be in this position and just adjust to the seasons without the added calendar dates.

Two models of the Henschel HS 123 biplane with one completed and the second as a work in progress. In the photo below they look to be a similar size but perspective...

However...

The completed version is 1/72 scale and the WIP is 1/48 scale and two kits I enjoyed building. An interesting aircraft as it was obsolete by 1939 but used in the invasion of Poland as well as France and Belgium. The airplanes were then mothballed but then used in the Balkans and Russia, proving more successful compared to the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, a more modern aircraft. The Luftwaffe had to scour dumps and old wrecks for spare parts for the aircraft by 1943 because of the demands to continue using it. Britain used the Gladiator and Swordfish until the end of the war, both obsolete biplanes but they did the job they were made for and quite successfully. 

I also built the Flakvierling 37 for the planned diorama and paint has been brushed on but this photo is pre-painting and I am considering the outline of a diorama for the builds. Painting stopped this morning as Sherlock settled himself on the table to allow me to worship him.

Apropos the weather, he is curled up tightly fast asleep in the chair beside me having been caught out in one of the heavy rain showers. I had planned a trip out today to one of my favourite places only to discover it is still closed for various works. I also discovered it is holiday time for the ankle biters and I really cannot abide precious parents and noisy kids. I guess it is part of the decompression from nearly forty years of work in psychiatry but I no longer like noise or conflict. Sue loves real crime programmes and some of them I like but the violent ones or involving abuse of children I avoid, I can't be doing with it anymore. I'm aware some of it as possible PTSD reaction but I really do enjoy the peace and quiet and, more importantly, to be left alone. This could well be a phase and at some stage I will emerge from it and want to do other things...I don't know. Given the current international news and the slow creep towards war by greedy evil people I want to enjoy the peace and quiet as long as it lasts. 

TTFN.

 Spring appears to be dipping in and out as the weather is colder and wet with heavy showers over the last couple of days. It's to be expected and it has afforded me time to focus on the Tiger build.

The Tiger 1 is completed although photographs as usual show spots where paint is required or the washes are too heavy or look odd and I will amend those areas.

The figures need a matt coat to take the shine off but it is to all intents and purposes completed. I had a kit lined up for the next build but there is another one in the stash which has caught my eye. I had ordered a flak gun for a diorama for the Tiger but it still hasn't arrived and a reference book I ordered for a WW1 aircraft is now two weeks overdue. We're receiving the usual junk mail but I don't know about packages via Royal Mail.

I am holding off starting a new build as having looked at the weather tomorrow I want to get out in the garden. I find I am drawn to the modelling table like a moth to a flame and other things like gardening get pushed down my to do list. The forecast is for some sun tomorrow which I would like to make the most of despite hay fever symptoms having already kicked in. It is just a general tidy up of the garden and I have already weeded the raised bed and planted some chilli seeds in a small tub indoors.The builders who fixed my neighbours fence came, worked and have gone without pricing up my gate although I had said I would like them to do this. Hey ho! I will contact another workman next week or even look at buying a bespoke one and fitting it myself. Sue doesn't want me to do the latter because of my current poor health and exacerbating it. 

Time for a cuppa.

TTFN.

 I think Spring has arrived! Sunshine on and off throughout the day, flowers have emerged, mild temperature and birds singing plus the cats in the garden for much of the day. We were worried about Sherlock as he was very sleepy and off his food this morning but he has since perked up. He is an auld fella so I guess we can expect days like this. 

A very quick build out of the box and it was quick as I started it yesterday and I finished it today whilst nipping out to the garden during the paint drying sessions. 

Not 100% OOB as I had to scratch build the triangular supports in the engine and given very little can be seen in the cockpit I decided to leave that as is. With the Tiger just awaiting paints, decals and weathering I have to consider what my next build will be. I will stick with armoured vehicles for now as I have my eyes on one particular kit in the stash. A small but unusual vehicle...

TTFN.

 A peaceful Sunday so far with no banging, hammering or heavy traffic. The only spoiler was the moron shouting outside at 1 a.m. which continued on and off for the next hour. Alcohol and possibly drugs related, I don't know. Sue informed me that a decomposed body was found in one of the flats down our road earlier this week which is horrifying and very sad, that the person was dead for some time and no one knew. There are a lot of rental flats down here now as buy to let landlords move in and buy up properties converting them to flats or multi occupancy houses. As people either move out via one way or another the properties are bought, tarted up and let out. We know fewer and fewer people as neighbours as time moves on. Speaking of time moving on, I found a you tube channel where the guy buys old cine film and restores them. He has some video footage of old Hornsey Carnival footage from the late sixties and the seventies and I watched some of these for nostalgia sake. Blow me down,  a few seconds from the 1972 carnival and there I am. I am eleven years old and participating in the carnival parade alongside fellow Scouts. I checked several times and yes, it is me with Sue agreeing the same. I was perplexed initially as I cannot recall this at all but we had put on a stage production of Calamity Jane and I think this might have something to do with it. 

Yesterday was a wonderful day, sunny but a cold wind and good for an early morning walk which also led to early morning shopping. My plans made for gardening and then shelved as showers and same again this morning intervened. As ever, time for the current model build...

The Tiger is built apart from some tools and other accessories to be attached to it. They have been brush painted and will be attached once I have airbrushed the tank with an appropriate camouflage scheme. It will go into a small basic diorama but I would like to include a scratch built tree plus some of the already assembled and painted figures.

I have a choice of figures and a couple of diorama scenarios in mind but this will depend on what bases I have available and as usual how much display space I have. I haven't yet cleared out the back bedroom and that has to be done to free up space. No 1 son has offered to help as he has a larger car. I also have a chap calling to price up the back gate and my cars MOT is due. It's odd, I have lots of time but I resent having to get these very necessary things completed which doesn't make sense at all! 

TTFN.

 An early morning start today although the first time I woke up was at 05.30 when several large Clangers were dropped over several minutes at the work site across the road. I wasn't happy but I was soon back to sleep for another hour and then up. I restarted my morning constitutional walks today with the added objective of seeing what it is they are doing over there. Floating pontoons on the river, large cranes and earth movers and lots of very large steel sheets, the sheet piles that are being banged in. I don't think we will see the swans nesting at that spot any time soon. I didn't take any photos as I was fussing an excitable water spaniel with his elderly owner as we observed the goings on.

I finally have the floats cemented to the fuselage of the Albatros W 4 and it is a mess with the struts shorter than they should be but now they are attached, I will leave well alone. I will complete the rigging later this week and after a wash I will call it done. 

The Tiger 1 continues as a work in progress with various sub-assemblies completed and again, paints to be airbrushed and then to complete the assembly. One major issue trying to fit the top to the body which saw much cutting and sanding before it was flush. The offending part then fell out when I turned the main body over and as it cannot be seen, I left it out. 

I also completed the figures for the planned diorama when I realised I hadn't bought the flak gun for the figures. Yes folks, I have had to order a model flak gun so I have bought a new model! Mea culpa. The little seated figure in the old cheese box is one I cobbled together from spare parts (Shades of Mary Shelley!) as I had used one of the figures elsewhere. Where, I don't know as the flak figures have been in the stash for years and I had this diorama in mind all that time. I might still change my mind as the tank I originally planned for the diorama is still in the stash and is one of the first kits I bought several years ago. This is a late model Tiger, circa 1944 - 45 and the flak figures are more early WW2 but some more research required. By the last year of the war German armour had a lot of flak guns as the allies pretty much had air superiority and the Germans had all sorts of mismatched military units including cobbled together Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine units fighting as infantry plus, young teenagers fighting with the Hitler youth and as flak crews. Evil people using children and old men as the last resort.

I don't watch much TV apart from old comedy programmes with MASH being one of my current favourites but, I do watch you tube videos. The usual paranormal lunacy that I enjoy but also research for any modelling projects, history and modelling videos. The latter I enjoy but Sue has pointed out I get a gleam in my eyes as I then look up the kits they are building and one certainly caught my attention from a review. The Caudron G III which is modelled in this case in 1/32 scale but there is also a G IV which is a two engined bomber which was used by a variety of countries including the Italians who would fly them over the Alps to attack the Austro-Hungarians. *

What I find fascinating is the aftermath of WW1 as empires broke up and various conflicts continued. I have several history books looking at this period as it wasn't just nationalism as new states emerged from the empires breaking up but also a conflict against Bolshevism as it was known at that time. An example is that of Germany where right wing Freikorps with support from the state fought against German Soviets but also attempted to keep the Russians and Poles out as well as take over parts of the baltic states. The latter included one of the Freikorps fighting against the Lithuanians to reimpose an Imperial Germany. This harked back to the history and the mythology of the Teutonic knights of the middle ages. That toxic mix of nationalism, looking for scapegoats (Slavs, Jews and Bolsheviks), a belief in betrayal of the 'stab in the back' and a refusal to accept reality. An ideal toxic soup which allowed the rise of an Austrian dauber of paints and other assorted riff raff to gain power. I used to believe it could never happen again...What many people don't know is that the allies had troops in Russia supporting the Whites fighting against the Reds including US and British troops during 1919. 

On a lighter note, the bloody cats are again fussy regarding their food and bizarrely their current preference is for dried food. With the gradual move into Spring, Maisie has taken to guarding the bird seed we leave out for the birds in her attempts to catch one. This includes rolling in the seeds itself which is a behaviour I have never seen before in a cat! I shall look that one up.

TTFN.

* Sadly, I won't be buying the kits as I have more than enough requiring my attention.

 The leurgy is lingering and especially noticeable early evenings for some reason but I just adapt and carry on as it's a nuisance now, more so than anything serious.We have the default British weather, rain and more rain but it tends to be drier here on the east coast compared to the West where they really have a lot of rain.

In modelling updates, I have made more progress on the Tiger tracks and they are now glued in and ready for the next lot of paint and washes. The great thing about tank models is that there is never enough mud, dirt and dust to cover any minor errors. Time consuming and the tiny guide horns on the tracks are easily knocked off but I am time rich so not a problem.

The Albatros W 4 seaplane is almost complete with some rigging left to do, some paint touch ups,  washes and weathering.

The rigging has been difficult and alternating between this and the tracks for short stints only has kept me sane as both can be very frustrating.

Two of the struts are skewiff but as this is a model of a new trial aircraft back in 1916 I will leave that in  and look at it as lessons learned for the next biplane build. I have a dozen biplanes in the stash, mainly WW1 and I have several reference books for future builds. I will complete the base for the Albatros to make the 'water' look more realistic and I might need to add a pilot as I realised the water streaking shows an aircraft in motion. 

TTFN.

Bugger! I knocked a box onto the build and crushed the undercarriage.

Repairs made it worse so I removed the undercarriage, cut all the rigging off and cut new struts to size from unused syringe needles. New holes drilled and CA glue applied, this will take a while as it remains quite fragile but I am annoyed at my clumsiness.

When did hoovering and clearing out rubbish become such a tiring chore? It must be another delight of ageing as I needed a shower and a much needed sit down and tea after only half an hour of hoovering. I also dismantled some old bits and pieces to fit tidily into the recycling bins saving the various screws and bolts as one does. They may come in useful at a future date although regards it as accumulating unnecessary rubbish. I find these days I pace myself, do tasks in 15 minute chunks and after a couple of these chunks I am wiped out! This leurgy has gone but coughing fits after any exertion leaves me wiped out. Sue is still recovering from the 'covid / not covid / buggered if we know what it really is but try seeing a GP about it only to be told take two paracetamol and plenty of fluids and rest from the receptionists' line.

Update: Started the above yesterday but distracted by real life so continuing with it today. I had planned to go out today but WTF, I am full of cold again!  Eating healthily, little alcohol, multivitamins and added zinc and magnesium but still it happens...or is it the same leurgy come back to haunt me. C'est une maladie est merde. Visited by No.1 son and a welcome catch up this morning plus a discussion about managing condensation as their flat has that problem. A quick update on the current builds...

The Albatros W4 is now at the rigging stage and this will be a slow job over the next couple of days as the black flexi CA glue does not set quickly but it is very solid once it is set. I have used an old Brie cheese box as a base with a seascape painted on. This will be added to once the aircraft is completed as a small diorama. In the background is the ongoing tracks build for the Tiger and again it requires time for the glue to set. Patience as always required...Time to soak myself in Olbas Oil.

TTFN.

 The difficult part of building a biplane model is upon me and aligning the wings having drilled out the holes for the struts is a delicate procedure. I have glued the centre struts and taped the wings to keep it all in situ, put away for safekeeping for now. The outer struts are positioned but I will leave cementing them in place until tomorrow. Patience is necessary for modelling generally but especially for biplanes and rigging. The latter will come once I have added a wash and weathering to the wings. The wings had to be drilled out and I superglued some cut down staples to ensure the wings attached to the fuselage securely. As it came in the box, the wings would never have remained attached and would have collapsed as soon as one looked at it let alone touched it. Seams were filled and I will ensure the work there is covered by further painting.

I have the three books below for my current reading and I have just finished the Bomber Harris biography. I bought it very cheap on-line, in fact the postage was more than the book! My main reason was to picture Harris himself as there has been the usual confected controversy over the years regarding the bombing campaign with lots of misquotes and mythology built up around it. A good book and very informative. Would I have liked him? I don't know as the man himself was likeable but he had a horrible and dreadful job to do and he pursued it with a singular purpose. I think it is right to question the bombing campaign using the facts and figures but I have little time for emotive armchair apologists who have the benefit of hindsight. War is a hateful, dirty and terrible thing and I hope we can avoid any further conflicts but sadly some of humanity never learns.

It is raining again, showery and definitely a day to stay indoors as some of them are heavy. Having said that it is quite mild, just a shame I can't carry on with the garden. There will be other days and looking at the forecast I should be able to get stuck in this coming weekend.

TTFN.

 A good morning with an hour spent in the garden whilst the sun shone. The raised bed once again cleared of cat faeces (little buggers!), some of the compost bin added to the bed and a bag of composted soil on top of that. All covered up to prevent any further feline invasions (Good luck with that!). I left the pile of branches as there might be some wildlife in there (bees) and it can wait another week or so. I will also leave the grass another couple of weeks although it is now rapidly growing. It really does feel like Spring is just around the corner but we still have cold nights and lots of wind and rain. Winter hasn't yet released its grip on us. A chat with neighbours and putting the world to rights plus the chap who will be repairing their wall will call on us about our gate.

Back to the modelling table as the rain came down and working on the slow build of the Albatros W 4 float plane.

After masking the ribbing on the wings I airbrushed some linen coloured paint on followed by a second coat of a wooden deck tan colour. The addition of the wing struts cemented in and now left to set solidly well away from my clumsy fingers and the cats.

A slow and careful build with attention to getting it right and enjoying the process of the build. The Tiger is also slowly progressing with one track assembled and glued in, the other dry fitted to ensure a good fit. 

It's now six months since I retired and I am enjoying the slow, relaxed pace of life. Spring should keep me busy with the garden and modelling will continue. I am still considering some sort of voluntary work but it might be I help out one of the unofficial cat rescues which does not require tons of paperwork and other associated nonsense. Mind you, we received a letter today about the building of the new youth centre across the road and our peace and quiet is about to be shattered by driven sheet piling work starting tomorrow. Nice of them to let us know so late in the day...

TTFN.

 I finally got the out of the box quick build of the F9F Panther finished this morning despite the usual feline interventions.

I am not overly happy with it as I managed to butcher the aftermarket canopy that was supplied with the kit but it will do for now as I can brush paint some darker blue on the canopy. I airbrushed the mix of blue (90%) and nato black (10%) and I brush painted the aluminium.

I will place it beside the F 80 Shooting Star I built last month as one of the early jets. I still have the last of the oil paint to apply to the Lancaster and the Tiger build is a work in progress with the umpteen tiny pieces of the tracks. I'm taking a break from that before I lose my marbles as well as several of the tiny pieces. 

The weather remains extremely wet, cold and blowy with the last dregs of winter reminding us that Spring might be close but isn't here yet. As for the news...words fail me. They have been showing repeats of the rise of the Nazis on one of the channels each evening along with the rise of Stalin and the Great Patriotic War on another channel. Politicians and media types really don't do history, do they. Never mind, we are being slowly nudged towards the next major war and I look forward to my part as Private Godfrey in the new Dad's Army. It's either that or a radioactive shadow on a town centre wall! As an optimist regarding the future I have bought some seeds for the garden, Night Stocks as I like the scent and once we finally have a dry day I intend to tidy up the garden again. We'll plan some garden centre trips out, obligatory for the retired, to look at what other plants are available. We do have some diffs coming up but the last Snowdrop is no longer there.

TTFN.