Postby MalcolmDouglasPorter » January 22nd, 2015, 11:57 am
I joined the LMA about six months ago as it occurred to me that I need a hobby to keep me going. I don’t wish to bore the pants off of you, but from 2006 to 2008 I underwent chemotherapy and RT with many other things being done to me to beat lung cancer and metastatic carcinoma in my bones, not easy to deal with and very unpleasant! Since May 2008, when the treatment finished, my life had been very difficult, dealing with the effects of the treatment, the cancer, by then, being the least of the problems. It is only in the last 18 months or so that I have been able to get my head round things reasonably well, and it occurred to me that I should revive my boyhood hobby of model aeroplanes and started to think about what I would like to do. To cut a long story short, I started out by considering a large Spitfire kit (you probably know the one I am talking about?), building it as a MkV and painting it in the colours of 129 Sqn (DV-G perhaps). I had been a member of 129 ATC before joining up in 1961. The potential cost of this project had an effect on my decision not to go there and so looked at ideas based on my life’s experiences, and the thought of the Beverley loomed large (no pun intended). I had flown as PAX in these when serving in the Middle East in the mid 60’s (84 Sqn) and had many dealings with them loading and unloading cargoes. So that was it, the idea of a large scale Beverley was firmly set in my head and set about looking for info to make some drawings. Somewhere during the process of producing the drawings, I joined the LMA, not really knowing what I was doing and feeling a bit sheepish having seen the standard of models at East Kirkby when visiting JJ.
The concept for the Beverley was to be my own design. I was aware of the other excellent efforts previously made, but clearly had my own ideas of how it should be done, and as cheaply as possible. I am 69 years old in early February, and as you would expect, have no mortgage etc to worry about, but I do not have a fabulous disposable income, so need to be careful regarding spending the money and this is the reason why I have chosen to do my own design and scratch building this model. The whole thing is based on a limited understanding of aerodynamics that I gleaned during my 15 years in the RAF, and my knowledge of model making from boyhood and early manhood, plus what I could learn as I go on. Since my previous forays into this hobby, ideas, technology and materials have raced past me, so this alone has given me lots to do, simply catching up! I do have a very comprehensive collection of hand tools that I have used for many projects over the years (not model making).
None of this is about being in any particular “league”, or seeking glorification, it is about doing something fulfilling in my retirement, but I have to say that I am amazed at the general interest this project has gained from my posts in the forum. I really must thank those of you who have taken the time to comment, and some who have given me advice about various things, all very welcome. Most importantly, the encouragement to carry on with a project that I honestly thought no one would care for very much.
So for me, the LMA is about mixing with like minded people and sharing the enjoyment of making and flying large model aeroplanes, either out of a box or out of someone’s head. Some people like making small models?