Spitfire

I always knew that my family had serious heart problems, my grandad died at 64 and my dad died at 65 so I always planned to retire early to have some "me time". I worked for Shell from the age of 16 until I retired and they were great employers, I always worked in oil refineries and in operations, first in the UK, then in Thailand and then in Australia. The last two jobs were a bit intense and took up a lot of time and effort so I made up my mind that I would grab early retirement when the time came, so rather than signing up for another stint in Australia I came home to the UK. The ruling was that if there was not a job at my grade open for me when I came home I could opt for voluntary severance, which I did, it was a nerve wracking time, I loved my job, loved working for the company, but knew that health wise carrying on with the stress was not an option. So after a years "gardening" leave, I left and have never looked back since, that was in 2005 (age 53), despite looking after myself health wise, eating sensibly and exercising daily I still had a heart attack in 2015 but rapidly recovered from it. I still cycle every day and the family keep me busy doing all sorts of jobs for them, we go on lots of holidays, I still ride my motorbike, build models and have really appreciated the 16 years I have enjoyed since leaving work. Highly recommended Cheers Dennis

Despite not using much in the way of aftermarket my two recent buys prompted me to splash out a bit, the Whirlwind because I have waited so long for one and want to do it justice, and the Helldiver because it looks like it will need some help. So I have been visiting Hannants site and these have found their way into my study. And just in case And while I was there I spotted this. Cheers Dennis

All the best Cheers Dennis

Thank you Martin, it's appreciated. Cheers Dennis

Thank you, yes the Tempest does look formidable, I cheated and used HGW Wet Transfers, worked a treat, only lost two and no silvering. Cheers Dennis

Thank you, it was a struggle but worth it in the end. Cheers Dennis

My just finished PCM Hawker Tempest. Cheers Dennis

I am impressed by your perseverance and having just completed a PCM Hawker Typhoon I know how you feel, it's back to modelling basics, test fit sand, test fit sand keep repeating then fill, sand, repeat. But the feeling of satisfaction at the end makes it all worthwhile. Cheers Dennis

The house is in no danger of falling over just yet, up in the attic I have around 200 kits, I sold 100 a few years back to trim things back a mite but even so there are many kits in there that I will not build, in the total is 34 1/48 kits that I will definately not build but I could not be bothered selling them. I built up a large stash to see me through retirement and the habit has stuck, but luckily it has slowed down as my interest has narrowed over the years, 1/32 scale, WW2 and my favourite subjects are RAF/FAA, Italian, French and Japanese subjects, I came late to the latter but already had the kits in the stash. As there are not many releases in these categories I am buying less and less as the years go by, I also used the money from the sale of kits to buy some Tamiya super kits. Cheers Dennis.

This is looking really good, a lot more detailed than my 1/32 scale resin Aeropoxy build which at the time was the only game in town if you wanted a Yak 3. I also have the Special Hobby kit in the stash so will be interested in how it turns out. Cheers Dennis

After 10 years working overseas we came home at last, our house was still fully equipped so I knew it would be a bit frantic so we set about the house. In preparation for the shipping container arriving (four weeks) from Australia I fully boarded out the loft and the house contents were carefully checked over, the family and local charity shops were presented with a lot of items deemed to be duplicates or no longer liked/needed. With a lot of clutter out of the way painting and decorating were the order of the day. One spare bedroom was rigged up as a model room/study in anticipation of the arrival of my modelling gear, another bedroom was cleared. The shipping container arrived and each carton was checked and either went in the loft or the spare bedroom, the latter being items needed immediately, which included my PC and modelling gear. Then with the immediate items sorted the loft was either cleared or items were left in there for storage, again charity shops friend and families became the recipients of items deemed to be excess to requirements. Surprisingly it all went well, though we will not be repeating the process. Cheers Dennis

Looks great to me, the Typhoon is a favourite of mine. Cheers Dennis

Looking good, I have just used the HGW wet transfers on my PCM Tempest and they are easy to use and work great, vastly superior to decals, for me as I am useless with decals. Cheers Dennis

Very smart Cheers Den

Nice recovery, it's very satisfying when you can pull one off like that. Cheers Dennis

Fantastic news, what a relief for you and your family. Cheers Dennis

This is looking very promising, must speed up my two ongoing builds to get to mine, though I was planning a USN trio, must make my mind up. Cheers Dennis

That looks good, seat belts are not my favourite part of a build, I like the idea of taping the belts to the mat will have to try that one, Cheers Dennis

Impressive stuff, especially the cockpit switches that you mentioned, I built this subject a very long time ago from the Revell kit, yours so far is light years better. Cheers Dennis

I did not realise that this kit was so bad, I have built the SH P-39 and found it to be a bit fiddley in places but not a bad build. So when the KH P-39 came out I thought why not, I could build a soviet operated P-39, so when I saw one at a good price I bought one. So in light of the negative comments on this kit I will follow this build and use this as a training guide to the KH kit. Cheers Dennis

Sadly for me that is the case, however my wallet is very happy. Cheers Dennis

As usual I will be building the Helldiver OOB unless something is really off, and I'm sorry but it will be a while before I build it, I only build 3 kits a year and the theme this year is RAF WW2. The Whirlwind is one of my "Holy Grail" kits and before I touch it I want to see how the experts handle it, so again it will be a while before I start it. Cheers Dennis

It would be nice to see it finished, I set out to build a dogfight double once, a Nate and a Buffalo, I finished the Nate but never started the Buffalo which is a shame as I do have s soft spot for it. Cheers Dennis

Just arrived, probably the last kits I will buy this year, unless someone comes out with a 1/32 scale Defiant, Skua or Fulmar. Cheers Dennis

Looking forward to getting mine, you are spurring me on to start mine as soon as I get it. Cheers Dennis