A break from blogging as real life sadly intervened and our friend and neighbour passed away last week. One of the loveliest people I have ever known and a very sad loss. I didn't feel like blogging and with all the other dreadful news I decided to step away from social media for a while, apart from the cat videos.

I have continued with the build of three kits currently on the desk with the above Sopwith Tabloid slowly coming together.

It was the kit that had already been started and it needed some finagling before I could crack on with the build. Some paints brushed on, aluminium (Tamiya) and a buff colour (AK Interactive WW1 paints) and much of the rigging glued in place as well as the undercarriage. This model depicts an aircraft from October 1914 when it was used to bomb Germany. No weapons apart from personal firearms and small bombs thrown over the sides! The Sopwith Camel in Polish livery and the Cant Z.1007 have an oil dot wash on them which I will blend in for weathering effects as well as add more depth. I will then do an oil pin wash in specific areas to bring them out. The two WW1 aircraft are 1/48th scale and the Cant is 1/72nd scale.

This morning I sat out in the garden with a mug of coffee and observed Maisie trying to stalk the above pigeon. Her stalking initially comprised of chittering and meowing at the pigeon from the chair beside me before a slow crawl towards him. Bless her, she got half way and then gave up, choosing to wander disconsolately indoors. Yesterday we also saw the largest moth we have ever seen and at first we thought it was a bat as it was clinging to the wall. On closer inspection I realised it was a moth and after some research it was a large Privet Hawk Moth. I saw it again today and we have had lots of butterflies today. Mainly Cabbage Whites, Holly Blues and Tortoiseshells but not many bees. It has been a dreadful summer for bees and butterflies, very worrying.

Otherwise  my days have been spent lazing about in the garden, soaking up the sunshine and reading in between modelling stints. A friend visited us for a catch up yesterday and gave us some shocking news which I won't be repeating save to say one can never judge from appearances alone.

As it might be cooler now in the garden I am off to soak up more sunshine.

TTFN.

I am still unable to upload photos using the Mac but it works on the iPad and I believe there is something on the Mac stopping it but I can't find out what it is. I shall continue to search for the answer when the weather changes as I am not going to waste opportunities to be out in the sun.

 

 I have reached the stage of applying paint to the two builds on the table with the Cant Z.1007 being airbrushed olive green on the upper surfaces and the Sopwith Camel having clear doped linen brush painted to the lower surfaces. 

The airbrushed paint was Tamiya which goes down well but is terrible for brush painting although I have brush painted many models using their paints thinned down with water with varying results. I added some white paint to the mix after the first coat to add a faded look to some of the panels. The Camel I brushed on AK water based paints, again slightly thinned with water and applied with a good broad brush. I will see how it turns out as I might add a second thinned coat.

Sherlock’s buddy making his daily visit, I have named him Cholmondeley (pronounced Chumley!) although Sue has named him a nuisance. Happily, he appears to be in good shape and has a home nearby and he only ventures into our garden to sit with our three cats. They are currently freaked out by building work next door and will undoubtedly blame us for the noise. 

Back to the models as I put them away and turn up my music, a Mellotron mix on Spotify which has lots of late sixties and early seventies prog rock and psychedelia. I just need some joss sticks and crushed velvet purple flares to set the scene.

TTFN.

 A dreadful night as a result of eating something that disagreed with me so an easier day today as plans to go out changed to staying at home. Sunny and warm so lazing in the garden or modelling was my preference.

A quick OOB build whilst the paint is drying on the Cant Z 1007 and this is the simplest kit I have ever built. Not too many parts, quick and easy assembly and the top wing is dry fitted and taped in place to allow the cemented struts to maintain the correct position.

Some paint brushed on but with the choice of several colour schemes that might change. There is also an after market kit included for the machine guns, all of this for less than a fiver! Once painted I will rig it before adding the upper wing, trying a new approach to rigging.

All in all a lazy day but I will go out tomorrow, possibly to a local seaside resort as there is a model shop there which was never open on the days I was there. I shall go and check it out as well as a couple of charity shops.

TTFN

It has taken me a few days to sort out blogger because it would not upload photos despite me trying out everything that was suggested by google and t’internet. This is a test to see if it works although I am doing this on the iPad. We shall see…

 Progress this morning on the Cant Z.1007 bis  but it is slow going because the weather has been warm with a couple of sunny days. I even managed to get some essential guttering work completed but I still have the front of the house to do but the lower gutter is higher up. I will get a man in to clear and examine the upper guttering as I am too old and knackered to go clambering around at heights. So some weeding, grass cutting and lots of sitting out enjoying the warm weather. Only downside…Foghorn Lil who lives several doors up and can be hear a mile away screaming at her kids. But, it’s summer and hopefully the attraction of the seaside will intervene.

TTFN.

 Today has been extremely wet with lots of rain up until now followed by it becoming very humid. I had a late night trying to get the smallest cat back in as the little bugger has absolutely no skills at surviving outdoors. Mindy is coming up to eight years of age but she is still very small for an adult cat, Hence a lie in this morning although I still feel very tired and under the weather. I was informed by a work colleague that covid is again rearing its ugly head and they are considering masking again. I am glad to be out of there as I refused to mask in the office the last time around because it is a psychological tool only. 

Given the current dreadful weather I cracked on with a few of the recent builds and repairs of some older completed kits. We did a major 'spring clean' of the house yesterday with hoovering, dusting and cleaning which probably contributed to my tiredness today. Some of the aircraft models were damaged and needed some parts to be repaired although one kit is currently in a dozen various pieces and will need major work. It is also one of my favourite builds, a Fiat CR 32 biplane and it is a mess.

The Wellington (1/72 scale) is now completed apart from the usual aerial and another wash to tone down some of the weather streaking.

The IAR 80 (1/48 scale) has been completed and both will be shelved once I have made some space for them.

I didn't start on the Italian Cant Z1007, instead it's a IMAM Romeo 37 bis, an Italian reconnaissance biplane and this is a difficult build. There are no instructions! Instead, I have looked at photos and instructions for other kits on-line and there are few parts to this but...the resin is awful, the struts and engine are metal parts and there was no interior apart from two seats. I scratched out some interior parts including seat belts. I also scratch built some glazing for the side windows but the window underneath will be painted in as there is no gap for glazing. I have used black flexi glue to cement the cockpit in, added some spare plastic filler for the substantial gap at the back and scratch built a machine gun support. All very basic, lots of carving and sanding required and once the various cements have dried I will sand some more. I also drilled out the holes further for the wing struts. All in all a satisfying build so far but it will present ongoing difficulties which I have to admit I quite relish the challenge. The photo below shows what it should look like.

Interestingly, a crashed aircraft was found in Afghanistan by the Italian army out there during the recent war and shipped back to Italy and restored. It had been used by the Afghan airforce during the forties. 

I also took the opportunity to add some paint to the figures for the desert drama diorama with the two Italian and one German (Really a WW1 British tank man!) figures having the first colours brush painted on. I will add thinned layers plus highlights and shadows over the course of time. I still have to work out building a palm tree and I will go through my spares boxes for this plus make palm fronds from paper / card. It might look good from a distance!

TTFN.

I have come to the conclusion that the weather this year is simply nuts. Yesterday, weeding with Sue in the garden and then sitting out in the hot sun, although it was very breezy. Overnight and for much of today it poured with rain and it was cold. Now stopped and although cloudy, the sun is attempting to break through.The second part of weeding now cancelled until we have a drier day. As ever, when the weather is bad I crack on with the modelling.

The Wellington now ready for a further clear coat and decals before a light weathering to complete it. It should be completed by Monday and I have the next kit lined up...

This Italian kit of an Italian aircraft is about fifty years old as far as the moulds go. The box has certainly seen better days and having looked up the price to buy this now I was suitably shocked as I got it fairly cheaply some time ago. I guess rarity as it is no longer made and there is a demand for Italian aircraft models. I will start this at some point next week although I would like to model it as one of the aircraft that was based in Belgium in 1940 and participated in raids on Britain. Alcione is apparently Italian for Kingfisher.

As an old kit the instructions are very simple and confined to one page with an exploded diagram of fitting parts. I like these old kits and the challenge of building them to achieve a good result. I live in hope of popping into a charity shop and finding a load of kits for sale but I never do find any. As per usual, if the weather is good next week this will be built slowly over a few weeks as I will make the most of any sunshine. 

TTFN.

 Well, it's all over bar the recriminations from various parties and the gloating of the winners. I sat up until 1 a.m. and retired to bed as sleep overtook me. Let's see how it pans out over the next five years...

More progress on the Wellington with clear parts glued in and props dry fitted. Several small parts still needed and then further paints and clear coats. A great build with a good fit of parts although I haven't yet applied the decals and hopefully they are just as good as the rest of the kit.

This should take me a few more days to complete and I am now considering the next build. As BW has said, I am glad of this hobby as a distraction from the craziness out there. I am also again listening to Inspector McLevy which is available on you tube, a series I discovered a few years ago on BBC Radio 4 extra. I also have his self penned book somewhere about the various crimes he investigated as a police inspector in Edinburgh. I can thoroughly recommend both the audio series and the book. Brian Cox is the actor playing McLevy and he also played the original Hannibal Lector as well as being a Shakespearian actor. Jean Brash, the keeper of a Bawdy House is played by Siobhan Redmond, an actress I have a great fondness for and I met on one occasion many years ago. 

The aircraft model put away safe from furry paws and I am hoping the sun comes out this afternoon so I can spend some time in the garden.

TTFN.

 Another typical British summers day...chucking it down with rain. Even the cats are staying indoors although Maisie and Mindy sat out for a while staring longingly at a Song Thrush.

At least I believe it is a Song Thrush as I didn't have my glasses on and the mobile photo through the kitchen window was taken as I tried not to frighten the bird away. I identified it and then I checked on the RSPB bird identifier for confirmation. Lovely to see it as apart from the ubiquitous pigeons and hearing the crows and seagulls, there has been a distinct lack of birds. We saw various Blue and Coal Tits earlier in the spring and we also see a couple of Magpies but only the one Robin and one Sparrow. The bats have been seen on a couple of evenings. Snails and slugs in abundance but also few insects apart from the few hot days we had recently. 

The Wellington has had the camouflage  green and earth colours brush painted on with two thinned coats of Tamiya paints. The above photograph is in natural light as the use of flash light and then the table lights I used proved to be over bright and garish when viewed as digital images. Now clear coated and safely put away from inquisitive felines. A slow build but I am allowing plenty of drying time between coats. I will then glue in the rest of the glass and the last of some small parts before applying the decals.

Voting tomorrow and I will turn out despite my initial thoughts of giving it a miss. Our largely absent and totally useless Tory MP will be ousted but sadly an equally useless and clueless Labour one will take her place. I wonder if she knows what a woman is or if she requires a male MP / leader to tell her the answer? I used to sit up and watch the election results come in but I won't bother this time round as I generally avoid mainstream news and political programmes. I am surprised to see so many prospective MP's for Gaza which despite my efforts, I cannot find on the electoral map.

TTFN.