Evolution

Listening to: 10,000 Maniacs-Our time in Eden, and Bruce Springsteen-Nebraska

Look to the skies
This comet chasing lark is proving very frustrating. Three nights in a row now I have been in the right places to see something rare and cool, and each time cloud has appeared in exactly the wrong place.....

Over the hill
Can't think of many better things to do on a Friday than take a day of annual leave to go over to Masterton and watch pilots practicing their display routines for an airshow. A road runs past the end of the runway (outside the airfield boundary) which I thought would be an ideal observation point. And lo it proved. Air displays are oriented along a line parallel to where the crowd is. By being at the end of the runway I was at one end of the display line, which meant often there were planes flying directly toward me and whizzing over my head. When I go to the show proper on Saturday safety rules won't allow aircraft to overfly the crowd. This unusual position meant I could get some cool photos from not normally obtainable angles for an amateur. If they come off (the curse of film...one day I'll have a digital SLR).
So a hunch I'd had from seeing that spot at a previous airshow paid off in spades. Even Fishy put up with it for a couple of hours without getting bored.

Evolution
Posting a picture of my latest plastic creation inspired me to dig out my first:



An Airfix Spitfire, the traditional first kit for many a modeller.

My father brought it back from a trip to England in 1982, along with a companion Messerschmitt-109. Neither are in their original colour schemes, both being repainted in the mid eighties.

The Spitfire went together first. A few years later it suffered dramatic damage in an accident. You might be able to see where the wing was glued back on (this was in the days when if something didn't fit I just added more glue). Both of the models had their tailplanes removed fairly early on, as as a five year old I just didn't like them. Propellor blades would have vanished fairly early as well, fragile items like that not being able to withstand the rigours of hand flown aerial combat.

By 1986 I had started to show signs that I had a clue. This is a Matchbox Spitfire that has at least the right colours painted on (even if the thickness varies), with a visible attempt to follow the instructions.

In 1993 I remade the original Spitfire building the same kit to show what it should look like (spot the differences).