Watching planes and a new project starts!

After an early morning of cleaning the house (hope you read this Mrs. Woody) it was off for the last bike ride of August. I had a plan of where I was going but just like most of my plans it changed! I ended up, having climbed a couple of 11% hills (and my legs are still feeling that) at the side of a Royal Air Force base where they do flying training. Today they were flying and a gap in the hedge alongside the base gave me a great view of the planes waiting clearance to takeoff once others had landed and then gracefully taking off. I know nothing of the aircraft that were being used other than they were trainers (Mr. Beecham with his encyclopedic of aircraft will no doubt be able to educate me on this matter) and have a distinct fear of flying but somehow found it fascinating watching what was going on. So much so that 45 minutes went by before I moved on.

Taking advantage of gravity taking me down the previously crawled up hills and a with a following wind WMD HQ was reached far quicker on the return journey then on the outbound one. Mileage wise the 27 miles took my total for this month to 690 with a total for this year of 4220. I have racked a lot of miles, for me anyway, in the last two months with 680 in July so the target of 5200 for the year is looking feasible.

Back at WMD HQ the Italeri Scania cab has been put to one side as I leave it for a few days before looking at the paint issue with a fresher and clearer mind. So what do I do whilst that project is on hold? Well in true Woody style I start another kit! No not an aircraft following my earlier observations, although in true Woody style there are some aircraft kits in my yet to be built collection of kits.

I thought I would complete my trilogy of T34 tanks. I built the Russian WW2 one last year where it represents the tank in its early incarnation, then the Egyptian 1950's one this year which shows the tank as a 'second hand' tank in new ownership. This last model shows the tank in effect repurposed with the chassis being used to mount a new turret with a 122mm artillery gun in it. 

The kit is certainly not as complex as the MiniArt Egyptian version or indeed the Italeri kit of the Russian version where the interior was included. Whether that equates to an easier build is yet to be determined! The kit is well packed and all the sprues are in plastic bags so parts loss is unlikely.

Todays assembly saw so rapid progress for the short time available with the running gear almost in place. Certainly the complexities of the MiniArt kit are not missed by me so far and the one piece hull certainly means it less likely that I will get a twisted hull!  More progress soon unless I am cleaning or watching aircraft with the former more likely than the latter if Mrs. W has any involvement in this matter!