Good evening all,

Finally I'm back online and back at the bench.  Although I still have an unfinished project to crack on with and add to on here (the Polish bomber thing) I thought I'd start something else to do alongside to stop me getting bored and frustrated with just the one kit then losing interest completely for while- anybody else tend to do that?

Anyhow, I had a rummage through the kits and decided on the Messerschmitt Bolkow-Blohm BK.117 helicopter by Matchbox/Revell.  One of a job lot I took off Kiteman's hands on a previous visit, it was something a little different for me to get back into it again.

After giving the parts a wash in warm soapy water, assembly commenced.  As you would expect, it's a fairly basic kit as far as 1988 standards go but I intend to build it straight from the box anyway, just to hone my modelling skills.  It only cost DM5.99 anyhow back in the day.

Moulded in 2 colours and with some sink marks and ejector pin marks to be dealt with, I'm glad to say those things no longer scare me - in fact I quite look forward to them as to me it's all part of modelling.  I dread the day when I can tip the parts out of the box and they fall out and assemble themselves!!!

I've largely ignored the actual shades for the interior that Matchbox/Revell quote, instead going with what I fancied and what looks good enough to me.  I'm going to be more concerned with making a decent job of it rather than every shade and rivet being correct.  I settled on the Japanese variant in white rather than the German ADAC yellow.  Small differences to the aft cabin are also evident.

What quickly became apparent was that there are no locating pins/holes on any of the mating surfaces of the fuselage and engine pod halves so when I get that far, it'll be softly softly, catchee monkey (said with a Japanese accent of course).  To date and over this weekend, I have managed to get some ejector pin marks ground away and sanded off, the interior painted and assembled (with just a little touching up required which is always evident once you've taken and looked at photographs of it) and the rotors painted.

As far as the build goes, it should come together quite quickly once I get the major components ready to go and have done plenty of forward planning and dry fitting as the engineering of the kit itself is not spectacular - nonetheless I relish the challenge.  Hopefully, there will be more to report soon, watch this space...

Dear all,

After hearing about Cottingham man, Ted Fullerton on Radio Humberside who, after chatting with a ex-army lad and barman at his local pub, became a bit of a celebrity via social media (full story at http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/raf-veteran-ted-fullerton-a-facebook-sensation-at-95/story-29572946-detail/story.html) I dropped them a line telling them of another 95 year old, also an ex-wartime aircraft engineer, also living in the East Riding of Yorkshire and also called Ted - but this one was in the Luftwaffe not the RAF - would they be interested in meeting him, possibly doing a complementary interview and maybe even arranging a get together between the 2 veterans, they said "YES", they would certainly get something sorted.

Of course, most of you met Ted Winkler when he came to one of our meetings last year and although he hasn't been out and about much lately, Chris Arundel popped to see him earlier today and spent a couple of hours chatting to him about his life and recording some stuff for an interview.

The resulting interview(s) will most likely be on the Radio Humberside Carl and Lizzie breakfast show on Monday morning.  I'll post the link on here once it's been aired so those who aren't able to listen to it live can catch it on iplayer.  Updates on further events if they happen will also follow.

Pretty amazing odds for this type of coincidence happening, particularly if you think at the rate they are decreasing with each passing day now!

As it's time for the children to go (back) to school after the summer holidays, it seems entirely appropriate for me to wish you all a very merry Christmas!

As a club, we attended the subject show yesterday.  I am also a member of the HVSC (Hull Veterans' Support Centre) Model Club and so was involved in the set up and running of the show.  I was also able to give Brid a head start in the set up by having our tables covered at the show set up the  night before, allowing the rest of the crew a little Sunday lie in.   Being a member of 2 clubs befits my duel personality.

 The venue was the small sports hall of St Mary's Academy on Cranbrook Avenue, Hull.  Spacious, well lit and with very good toilet and catering facilities, ample parking and ease of access for loading/unloading, it had everything needed for a good model show.  The venue staff were very helpful and accommodating not least because the event was to support the HVSC which is a charitable organisation set up and run by ex-armed forces personnel (nowadays somewhat obscenely referred to as "Veterans", a term for which I do not particularly care) to provide help and support to other ex-armed forces personnel suffering either mentally or physically.  The model club is part of that support as it provides occupational therapy to those suffering in some way or another - although of course not all the members have a physical or mental issue.

The deputy Lord Mayor of Hull Councillor John Hewitt opened the event and it was also attended by The Hon. Mrs. E. Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Lord-Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire and a few hangers on including Alan Johnson MP.  All took a keen interest in the models and JH told us of his model Cutty Sark which he built and put too close to the fire to dry out.  It promptly melted. 

Attendance by clubs and traders was good - there were 11 clubs (although 1 was a no-show) and 9 traders, all of whom had more space than was originally allocated on the joining instructions and there was a huge amount of space between the stands.  The only "let down" of the day was the lack of public through the door - I don't have a head count but it was in double figures only.  Although it made for a very quiet day, to take the positives from it, the clubs exhibiting lost nothing as they had the chance to do plenty of socialising with other clubs and buy plenty of wares from the traders.  The traders were also not upset as they had all sold enough (thanks to the exhibitors!) to at least cover the costs of attending.  Also, due to the low attendance by the public, all were offered half their money back - but most refused and said they would come again next year anyway.  In the words of most of them, "you win some you lose some".  To my knowledge, all the clubs and traders said they would return next year.

The low attendance was put down to a combination of 3 major sporting events being scheduled (tennis, motor racing and football), 2 local-ish air shows, a day of decent weather and it being the start of the holiday season.  I have only really just joined this club and so wasn't involved in the organisation of the show early enough to comment on the promotion and publication of it but was flattered to be called upon constantly throughout the day for guidance due to my experience with the Brid shows so hopefully, using Brid as a template and a more structured "committee", next year's show will be better attended by the public.

As a club, Brid walked away with 3 prizes.  Tony B got a first for his "Russian Battleship" in the "naval" category and John Cook took third and first with a couple of his tractors for the "civilian" prize.

Thanks to Tony B, John Cook, Peter Dobbs and Joe Olmo for representing Bridlington and Wolds Scale Model Club - and me I suppose as I had some models on our table as well as theirs.

I'm trying to learn a new skill with each new kit I build so the next project will be converting raised panel lines into recessed ones.  I have the tool for that but there are some panels that also have rivet details and so I wouldn't mind a recommendation on which manufacturer has the best tool for the job.  After looking at a few other forums, the RB Productions Rivet-R seems to be well thought of - it's simply an insert for the exacto handle with different wheels for different spacing and the selling point appears to be that it can get into awkward areas due to it's size.  Has anyone got any experience with this thing or if not what alternatives are there?

Ah, now then.  I watch very little TV and am completely oblivious to the faces, names and personalities of today's celebrities - if indeed modern role models HAVE personalities!  Most of my viewing is therefore either recommendations or stuff I stumble across by accident.  "Our World War" is one of the latter.  A "Tense combat drama series revealing experiences of British soldiers in World War One," it has based on actual reports, diaries, interviews and accounts.  Typically well made by the BBC, the action is interspersed with modern style IR overhead footage showing the deployment of troops to better understand the tactics and 'helmet cam' footage on occasion, both of which take a little getting used to.  Anyhow, I have watched the first episode and thoroughly enjoyed it so can recommend it to all.  The first 3 episodes are available on the BBC iplayer at the following link
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p022wq5k/our-world-war-1-the-first-day

No, not the song by British heavy metal vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, from his 1981 album Diary of a Madman which reached number sixteen on the UK Singles Chart and number two on the U.S. Top Rock Tracks chart in 1982, this is in reference to the nacreous clouds over UK at the moment.  Has anybody else noticed them?

Formed in the stratosphere and made of ice crystals, they are very seldom seen in the sky above this country, but they are kicking about at the minute.  Best time to see them is dawn.  These pictures were taken over Withernsea looking SE between 0738 and 0747 this morning.




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