MikeC

Oh yes! The F9F-8P is certainly not what you'd call pretty, but full of character and thus attractive. And can be done in gull grey/white.

That is so. And my apologies, I get carried away being a clever Richard sometimes, but I think it is important to know the correct terminology, it can save a lot of confusion sometimes.

Sorry, no. The term "all-moving tailplane" (or stabilator) refers to the set-up where generally there are no separate elevators, the whole tailplane acts as an elevator. The F-86 started out with a conventional set-up on the A, then later moved to the all-moving tailplane. You can tell which it is as the fairing at the base of the Sabre's fin is very small on the early models, and grew larger to contain the mechanisms, hydraulics, etc for the all-moving version. Given time, and if you insist, I can look it up in Duncan Curtis' excellent book and give you chapter and verse, but I'm downstairs and that's upstairs in the "man-cave" . But the point is, a set-up where the tailplane moves to provide trim, but not control, is not "all-moving". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabilator

Not quite. The 109 still had separate elevators that worked as such and controlled the aircraft in pitch. The tailplane incidence was only movable within a short range, more of a trim device. Iirc the RE8 had the same facility in WW1.

Don't see why not. Firstly, for anything else of that era with a C-2 seat, the same as in the 104, they are clearly going to work, as the harness is part of the seat, not the airframe, for obvious reasons. I'm no expert on US bang seats, but there must be something else, one of the other Century series perhaps. Secondly, a seat harness is a seat harness; chances are it could be adapted if there are any obvious differences, but (whisper it) so long as it looks convincing, who's going to know but you? Now off to set up the anti-torches and anti-pitchforks defences ...

I missed the start of this one. It looks really good.

Yep, concur. Not only that, but when I built my D/K kit as an Iwo Jima-based VLR Pony, I saved the F-6D parts to use on my "vanilla" D to make an F-6D, unless I also used the K bits and make an F-6K.

In order: We did indeed meet at Telford. Happy days. Maybe next year I'll venture back. You're welcome, I hope both you and Chris had a good one. I'm doing OK, thanks, in the circumstances. I don't want to hijack the thread, so will leave it at that.

How likely is it that two LSP members I've had the privilege of meeting have a birthday on the same day? Many happy returns to both of you.

Well done Steve, thats wonderful, and not an aircraft you often see modelled.

OK here Kev (my local time 11:43A).

I managed to get out and do something normal today - I went to a model show at Biggleswade (Bedfordshire, UK), which is about 15-20 minutes from me. It wasn't a very big show, but I did buy an Airfix 1/48 (sorry) Spitfire 22/24, a kit which represents their pinnacle imo. There weren't many LSPs at all represented there, all I managed to spot were these two beautiful Phantoms on different stands, both from the Tamiya kit. No idea who built them, if I had they'd both get a big shout-out. Enjoy.

One other thing - she was very proud of "her" trench and islands.

Thanks my friend: one has to really, I suppose. Thanks to everyone else too for your support, it means a lot. She had a rather high pain threshold, and with hindsight had clearly been in a great deal of pain for a long time, but had never admitted it. She was severely anaemic, had no balance, and slept a lot, all of which was a consequence of this filthy disease. Two days before, she was still exercising her wit. Picture a junior doctor (who btw was wonderful, I bet he will go far in the profession) kneeling by her bed, trying to find a vein to stick yet another needle in the back of her left hand: she just looked him in the eye as much as she could, and said, "I didn't know you cared, but I'm married already." And could have added "He's the one standing in the corner over there." Wonder what she said to St Peter when she got there ... But I still have a large part of her around as my lovely step-daughter is literally just up the road, which makes it easier; and mine are rallying round as well - for example my daughter just jumped in the car on Sunday and came for the day, a two-hour drive on a mixture of roads, certainly not motorway (aka freeway/autobahn/etc) all the way. And as I said, thanks to you all too.

Mariana was always very supportive of my "little hobby"; for many years she came along to Scale Modelworld with me; there were other couples in our little hotel party, so she had some girlfriends to hit Telford shopping Centre with on Saturday morning, before she spent the rest of the show looking round (with and sometimes without me) and minding the IPMS Avon and later Recce SIG stand. She had a very good knowledge of aviation and World War II history. As for chick-flicks or romcoms, no way - she enjoyed a good war film just as much as I do. Those she liked are too numerous to mention, but her particular favourites included The Longest Day, which inspired our first overseas holiday together, to visit the Normandy beaches, and Tora Tora Tora. She also had a wicked lightning-quick sense of humour. One of my particular favourites is a bit politically incorrect these days, but I hope it's acceptable. The scenario is a cold November morning: I open the door to go out to work, turn back and say "There's a nip in the air today*." "Oh!" says she, "Does that mean it's Zero degrees?" She was a half Czech, half East End (of London) mix with a fiery temper when roused, but she was a very kind person, very warm hearted and full of love. I'm going to miss her. SMW 2011: iirc photo by Stephen Lucas. *For those unfamiliar, a vernacular expression meaning "it's rather cold".