A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: A REPAIRED CAR AND PLENTY OF AERONAUTICAL RESEARCH!

17th February 2026

Started the day off reflecting on the football last night. It was a long night not just in terms of the travelling time (we never arrive home from night games much before midnight), the need to calm down often making sleep a little more difficult than it might normally be!

Having done that I set about work, whilst waiting for my car to be repaired and the call come in, to pick it up. Over Christmas I stupidly reversed into a very low sign that I missed seeing on the camera, punching a hole into the rear bumper. Needing to be fixed and not seeing it as a worthwhile insurance claim, the repair was done locally at our expense, punching an equally large £1000 hole into our finances. Thankfully, the repair has now been done to a very high standard, so the car is back to its best. Live and learn from a very expensive lesson.

In other news, my Meteor FR.9 is now fully assembled and ready for painting. I must say that I’m taken by how large the model is, replicating as it does a fairly sizeable aircraft. I always assumed that these early jets were relatively small, but the Meteor rather puts paid to that notion! That being so, it’s a fair expanse of real estate that is going to need a considerable amount of paint to compete to my satisfaction.

Speaking of paint, I’ve spent much of today nailing down the colour scheme that I hope to finish the model in. Though I plan to use some of the decals in the kit, I’ll be replicating a different camouflage scheme, mine having the PRU Blue flowing up the sides of the fuselage and nacelles. I really like that colour, so want to show it off a little more on this model. I’m also planning to paint it in the lighter colours of Light Slate Grey and Medium Sea Grey which will create a nice contrast with the blue. It will also allow the creation of something a little different from the 208 Squadron machine in the kit, with little more than a change of codes.

So a busy day that has seen some real progress on the Meteor. With the first half of my build now done I can write it up before starting work on something new for Marcus. His next build will be the new Tamiya 1/48 Leopard 2A7 which I’m very much looking forward to. Their range of 1/48 military vehicles are some of my favourite kits, so it will be fun to once again dive into another box of goodies and see what I can come up with.

See you tomorrow.