What's on the workbench!

[McColm]

Friday 9th May 2025

I'm on standby mode, checked the roster and I'm not on duty until Monday the 26th which is a night shift on double time as its a Public Holiday.
Glue and filler has arrived, didn't get much sleep last night as the A206 is being resurfaced. The stretch between Charlton Station and Stoneleigh Retail Park.
So work has started on the 1/72 Hasegawa Kawanishi H8K2 Emily flying boat, its an old kit and certain parts don't fit. I came up with the idea to use turboprop engines and blank over the gun positions. New nose and rear cones from the spares boxes. I'm having trouble with the wings, the fuselage has a few gaps in it but it's glued together and it will have a V-tail.
 Some of these flying boats were used for transport and although there's no examples left a few were captured. One serving as a coral reef.
If SJMcColm Engineering Ltd got there hands on one they would have used it for carrying cargo or staff members.  Engines would have been changed due to the lack of spare parts and the interior refurbished.

Fade to grey
The Tamiya grey primer rattle can has been applied to the 1/50 two seater Eurofighter Typhoon, the one with the conformal fuel tanks. Looks like more PSR is needed.
The 1/72 Handley Page-Martin Megestic MR.3 has had the underside sprayed and the 1/72 Lockheed Sledge FRA-1 has had the topside sprayed.
The 1/72 Martin Marina AEW.9 needs PSR, looking a bit rough in places.

June is looking good for me workwise, with plenty of security officers on leave, tinkering time on the workbench. New power tools for me and new furniture!

[Nick]

Good to hear you're getting the extra shifts with the summer season coming up. Do you get paid for being on standby?

[McColm]

Good to hear you're getting the extra shifts with the summer season coming up. Do you get paid for being on standby?

No I don't, those days of pitching up at the control room office and waiting for work are long gone. I mean most people book their holiday leave in advance which gets approved. I'm the holiday cover officer surely someone must have checked the dates before approving mine.
Well we are in for some good weather up in London next week, I hope that's the same down in Penryn, Cornwall. There's the pyramid not quite the same as the Egyptian ones, a couple of castles and the beaches.
The bus service isn't as frequent as TFL but on some trips its cheaper with the option of a return ticket.

[McColm]

Monday 12th May 2025

The weekend was spent using fine grade Milliput filler and getting in a right mess when sanding.
Most of the filler was applied to the 1/72 SJMcColm Engineering Ltd Sea Queen flying boat aka Kawanishi H8K2 Emily.
The Boeing ERB-56B Vigilance now changed to the Boeing ERB-56C Vigilance due to an upgrade of a pair of wind-generators to boost the electric supply and a pair of jamming wingtip pods taken from the Su-47B Electronic Buzzard.
The Handley Page-Martin Magestic is now a R.4 flying boat.
Whilst filler was applied to the Shorts Sea Lion MR.2.
The Transall Skyguardian AEW.1 now isn't a tail-sitter anymore as I added a pair of wheels under the rear fuselage. Sanding took place, 95% of the original Swedish Air Force paint scheme is intact.
The Curtis-Wright Condor IV AC-1A is still undergoing transformation, it has a pair of waist-high guns, upper turret and trainable guns on the front of the fuselage. It has been fitted with the AN/APS-20 radar and cooling system taken from the Airfix Avro Shackleton MR.2 kit . Filler applied around the engines, flaps added and a successful test flight.
The 1/24 Batmissile has had a bit of filler applied and gained a roof fin.
PSR continues on the resin 1/50 --two-seater Eurofighter Sea Typhoon.

A little bit of tinkering will be done today with prep for my train journey on Thursday down to Penryn, Falmouth Cornwall. I hope that the car boot is still being held at the rugby club on Sunday and that the model shop in Truro is still there .

[McColm]

Wednesday 14th May 2025

I have just received a letter notifying me that I have been selected for jury service starting on Monday 7th July at Thamesmead Crown Court.

Bag is almost packed for tomorrow's departure. Bus to Woolwich Arsenal Underground Station, Elizabeth Line to Paddington Station.
My brother in law is picking me up from Penmere Station.
I've walked from Penmere Station to my mum's house before, once you've conquered the steep incline it's down hill all the way, under the railway bridge, dogleg and twenty minutes later I was greeted by a couple of greyhounds.

[NARSES2]

Wednesday 14th May 2025

I have just received a letter notifying me that I have been selected for jury service starting on Monday 7th July at Thamesmead Crown Court.

Could be interesting, could be boring, could be that you don't even get selected. Never been called myself, but know a fair few who have.

[Gondor]

I have been called up twice and selected once. Very boring case, which was cut short. The sandwiches we had for lunch were ok 

Gondor

[McColm]

My mum was called up for jury service back in the 1990s.
I have the loss of earnings chart as my employer won't pay me, it's less than the minimum wage and I can bring my own food and drink. I can claim for this as well as my travel fares.

[McColm]

Thursday 15th May 2025

I'm on holiday so I thought catching a bus to Woolwich Arsenal and taking the packed train on the Elizabeth Line to Paddington Station.
I arrived two hours early and boy was I in for a surprise, the forecourts have changed, new seating and loads of places to eat.
Platform 11 was tucked away in a corner as the mad scramble for passengers heading towards Penzance for the 12:05pm service. J carriage was packed, standing room only. I had managed to grab a table seat sitting backwards, the usual you are sitting in my booked seat shuffling begins.
The GWR train must be diesel-electric and makes a whistling sound on the tight corners of the track. Gone are the days of comfortable seats and a buffet car. I had a leg-stretch at Exeter St David's. I knew that there was a reason for sitting backwards as I could see the white horse on the hillside just before Taunton.
The carriage was almost empty as it approached Plymouth and a few more stops it would be Truro.
This is where my niece passed me by and I had to introduce myself. We took the packed train down to Penmere where we were collected by her dad and got a lift to his house. My mum has a granny flat next door.
From a gloomy looking London to bright sunshine reaching 20°C, a lot of things have changed since I was last there.

[PR19_Kit]

The GWR train must be diesel-electric and makes a whistling sound on the tight corners of the track. Gone are the days of comfortable seats and a buffet car.

Those Class 800s are both diesel and electric. They run on 25 kV under the wires as far west as Newbury or so, and then switch to diesel power for the rest of the run westward. The wheel squeal is characteristic of Hitachi designed bogies, they should have taken more notice of the work we did at the BR Tech Centre in the 70s!

Those seats were specified by some clown in the Department of Transport, who probably never travels by train as he goes everywhere in his Government supplied limo!

[NARSES2]

Paddington, along with a fair few of the London termini have seen a lot of upgrades over the last few years. I didn't recognise St P last time I went.

And before anyone complains, a fair few of the stations I travel to outside of the capital have been upgraded as well    Newcastle in particular has a really nice pub on the forecourt   

[PR19_Kit]

St P is a DISASTER if you're not travelling on Eurostar to Europe.

For some bizarre reason the Midland Main Line trains, run by EMR, now start from the far end of the original train shed, which means passengers have to walk the entire length of the old station to board a train! Convenient it isn't. 

[McColm]

Friday 16th May 2025

It seems as though everytime I visit Falmouth I'm dragged into a barber's shop for a haircut. I bought lunch at Rows a Cornish pastie for me and a sausage roll for mum, drinks were purchased at the Poundland store, found an empty bench by the waterfront watching the ferry and water taxis. I finished lunch off with an ice cream. Then a stroll along the high street. Quite a few shops have closed, bought and turned into flats.
Didn't make it as far as the Maritime museum turned around and walked to the Moor before catching a bus, then the long walk home.
Falmouth has its own eco system so it can be chilly first thing but stays warm well into the evening. Bright and sunny today.
Got a trip lined up for Truro tomorrow.

[NARSES2]

St P is a DISASTER if you're not travelling on Eurostar to Europe.

For some bizarre reason the Midland Main Line trains, run by EMR, now start from the far end of the original train shed, which means passengers have to walk the entire length of the old station to board a train! Convenient it isn't. 

Must admit I've not travelled from St P (other than the Thameslink platforms) since I retired and stopped going to Sheffield regularly. I just walk through it to get to KX. Will be going through the Eurostar part next month, so can comment more after that.

[McColm]

Saturday 17th May 2025

Feeling a bit tired after the walk in Falmouth,  the weather is a lot colder dropping down to 13°C  still dry and sunny in places.
Did some household chores, up the ladder clearing the guttering. Found out that my little sister has the first stages of cancer in the pancreas and its spread to her liver. She's on medication and will be going for chemotherapy sessions. She's had cancer before and that was cured with chemotherapy but this time it's a bit more serious.
I can't even give her a cuddle as the pain hurts too much. So I have been catching up on the gossip and giving encouragement.
Her garden has many layers of vegetation with a babbling brook at the end of it. The bridge is made from wooden pallets which leads into a woodland area which also has a stream. This stream eventually leads into Swanpool, then out into the sea.
Nap time before the evening meal.