James Fitzjames

Is the SEF revival in the pipeline, or is it just there to be revived? I would find the former pretty exciting...

AFAIK hessian camo would only be applied once over the water: a response to having a big square turret sticking up above Normandy hedgerows. Same with the 'Normandy Cowl' over the exhausts on the Bachmann model. Must say I'm pretty disappointed: Warflat itself is a nice model, but the tank is pretty dreadful for the price

Curses, didn't realise the info I was looking at covered Warwells as well Thanks for keeping me right. Looks like a repaint will be required, then

Received 'Khaki Drab' Bachmann Warflat today. The correct terminology for the colour is actually 'Olive Drab' (British Olive Drab S.C.C. No.15 was created to match US Olive Drab, so that Lend-Lease vehicles didn't have to be repainted) introduced mid-April 1944. Compared to a swatch of the actual colour, Bachmann have got it absolutely spot on. I note Bachmann are also producing Warflats in Postwar 'WD Bronze Green' (actually deep Bronze Green), for 1955 onwards, so, given that Warflat liveries appear to have adhered to British Army colour schemes, would it be safe to assume that those produced in 1943 would have been painted S.C.C. No. 2 (brown), and those produced pre-1942 in Khaki Green G3?

Another side to the RTR v Kit debate is the manner in which RTR products are released. 'Fast or last' now seems to be the order of the day. I understand fully manufacturers not wishing to be left with stock they can't sell, but there always now seems to be an imperative to order or pre-order some RTR item, which eats into budgets otherwise available for kits. For example, I need several members of a particular loco class only available as a, hard to source, kit. My plan was to buy one kit a month to facilitate this, but, one kit into this plan, a required RTR release meant that my money had to go there instead, for fear of 'missing the boat'. I should add that I am having to start again from absolute scratch, so the option to kitbuild everything is not one I can entertain realistically.

As a former resident of Merthyr, that sky is absolutely bang on

You're obviously not grim enough about your modelling Rivet counters will be rivet counters whatever sphere they operate in; now there's humorless! Having been on the receiving end, such creatures never seem to let evidence get in the way of pure opinion. Shame about FFR: I used to love a nice set of TUUAMs

One just has to look at other modelling disciplines, that don't have the equivalent of RTR/RTP, to give the lie to the notion of po-faced automatons grinding out a cheerless hobby by striving for authenticity. In my experience, military and aircraft types are usually quite jolly types and everything they do involves modelling!

Prototype for everything: there's a wonderful photo of washing hung out on the boundary fence at Fort William, extending for about 50 metres, with an NBR C class belching stour all over it...

Regulations stated that all permanent (not Temporary or Acting) Regular Army Officers retained their rank. Others had to be granted the privilege. The use of rank in civvy life was left to the individual's 'conscience' and 'sense of propriety' (so no snotty Subalterns!)

Never in the Guards (we had two pairs of Ammo boots as 'best anyway). When you're dealing with individuals who can not only spot a bit of microscopic fluff, but determine whether its state was idle or active ('idle' lost you your name), imagine what they'd have inferred from a whole toecap!

Not wishing to drag this extraordinary thread back to an earlier point (says he, about to do just that), I have to convey my thanks for its inspiration and motivation. Without going into detail, I have experienced some of the situational and psychological difficulties Tony and other posters were brave enough to outline recently, with an unhealthy dose of active service-acquired PTSD thrown in for good measure. Nobody without experience could possibly envisage being afraid of something they enjoy doing, but this has been true for me, aided and abetted by the modern 'comfort zone' of viewing, reading about and engaging with the hobby, without ever having to actually indulge beyond acquisition (from scratch, since years of work have been vindictively eradicated, but that's another story). Last night, I put scalpel to kit wagon floor and scraped. Then I filed. It was good. Given the stunning skills and work on display on this thread, this might appear to be laughably insignificant, but, it represents my first step on a (very weathered-looking) ladder, and the door of Last Chance Saloon slamming shut. If I had not read the foregoing posts, I doubt that scalpel would ever have been wielded again. So, thank you all for your inspiration, and Tony and co., for their bravery.

Tony, Thank you very much for applying your impressive ‘squiggle’ to my copy of your superb Modelling the East Coast Main Line at the Glasgow show, and for your sage advice regarding my K1/1 quandary. Jamie