A Slow (Re-) Start...

I've been finding that getting back into a hobby that I have neglected for so long isn't quite as straight-forward as I imagined and it's just not a case of re-finding my enthusiasm.

One of the main hurdles I have had to overcome is simply finding all the modelling gear and paints I had - lots of stuff has either been 'borrowed' or stored (in the infamous 'safe place') or just plain lost! And my work area in my 'man cave' had become a dumping ground for all the household brick-a-brack... I had to excavate my desks from under a small mountain of boxes of junk and Christmas decorations!

So, this re-start has been slower than I would have liked...BUT...I seem to be getting somewhere now.

My first job was to find the selection of paints I had been using for one of my
last projects. Eventually - and much to my relief - I managed it!

One of the greatest worried after neglecting this hobby for so long was the state of my paints collection AND exactly what paints I was using for the several half-finished projects I had.

The good news is that acrylic paints seem to fair quite well after a period of hibernation. Being a old-time modeller I had terrible visions from my long past experiences with 'old school' enamel paints and what they were like if they had been opened and then neglected.

The next issue was a good news and bad news situation. First of all, I managed to locate some of the sets of paints that I was using for a couple of my projects - Huzzah! - BUT then I realised that a another project was one for which I was mixing a specific colour, oh dear!

In the case of the colour mix, I may have made some notes of my colour recipe in a past bog post, but I haven't found that yet. This has made me determined to record my project's progress in even more detail in future so that I can recreate creative modelling techniques again more easily. In fact, it has meant that I have had to reassess my project documentation method and I am considering a fundamental change from mainly photographs to video.

Anyway... Onwards!

So, having found the paints I was using for my little peg light bomber I got my handy portable work tray up and running (as I still haven't cleared enough junk off my attic desk for it to be usable) and I tentatively began to process of working out what needed to be done to the model...

The model was actually very near completion and this makes it a nice 'ice breaker' with which to restart my hobby again. There was some touching up to do and some small jobs - like the above pic of my completing the undercarriage - and, amusingly, I had to begin by giving the model a good dust! 😂

Another tiny chore was to give my aircrew some goggle. Some simple silver coloured 'lenses' would suffice but even this proved a little tricky as my painting confidence has suffered, my hands seem to be a lot shakier AND my eye-sight appears to have deteriorated. Getting older is a pain in the ass.

And, finally (at least for this stage), I had some thinking to do regarding mounting the model. It seems -from what I can remember from two years ago - that I was thinking about adding transparent acrylic stands to my little wooden planes. I had already bought a pack to test and this model was to be a 'proof of concept'.

Unlike my original 'cocktail stick stand' idea - which was a wee bit wobbly and didn't look very good - these purpose built plastic stands are intended for little tabletop aircraft games and really look the part. The only slight issue is that I will have to work out how to attach the connecting socket part...

...Much drilling and super-gluing ensued! 😕😡😉

Well, that's not a bad (re-) start. Next I have to gloss the model in keeping with the rest of my peg models as I like the traditional toy soldier look. Also, it's got me thinking about what I would like to make next, as I love these little cartoon looking aeroplanes. It put's me in mind of a show that I really used to enjoy as a kid...