And to you, David. Perhaps we could meet up at some point over the Christmas period? Would be great.

Thanks, John. I wish I had the time to do more remedial work on her and get the old girl up to scratch, but she’s put up such a fight I fear the thrill has gone. No more does my pulse quicken at the thought of spending time with her, nor does my mind drift toward thoughts of how to best find and elevate her form. Alas my head is turned by younger, sleeker models (literally) and thoughts turn to not to rotor blades, but the graceful sweep of an elliptical wing or the elegant curve of a laminar fuselage. Love is fickle. But we’ll have good memories...

Looking better with some paint on it David, I don't think I'll get around to building mine !

Wow, a dog of a helicopter followed by a dog of a kit. Seems fitting, but you David ,will master this beast, I'm sure of it. Well I'm pretty sure, maybe kind of sure, I mean it could happen. Maybe. What's the old Chinese proverb, "a thousand mile journey begins with a single step." Heck you're more than half way there.

Don’t bet on it, Tom. The party in charge really have no idea whatsoever what they are doing, and that’s not a cliche - they really are in panic mode with no plan. My best guess is the PM will get ousted, we’ll have more chaos, and we’ll move further and further from any sense of order for a long time. We’ll see. But I think after all those years mending and building relationships in Europe, this is insane.

Stephen, you are crazy like a fox.

Anyway, I’m in real danger of finishing this helo - two consecutive days at the bench these days is like winning the lotto.

Touched up the camo, and painted the underside. Stuck on the wheels, and thinking of attaching the exhausts (hollow tubing; the kit detail here was just shocking). Masked off the canopy (classic old airfix, canopy in two parts split with a seam right up the middle). She’s looking better, and I think after some weathering and a bit of shine, she might scrub up pretty ok.

May not be marriage material, but you got to dance with the girl you bring to the party, no?

You are correct, Stephen. It’s close to impossible to think of a situation where a modern manufacturer would produce a Belvedere (thankfully, some may say) and Airfix do deserve credit for making this kit. For me, when thinking of A project for this Group Build (thanks @yellow10 ), I wanted to make something that was a little different and symbolised the innovation and diversity of the RAF.

I still think there’s a certain attraction to her.