Aviation Archive. Legends. These bubble-wrapped models are real charmers (AFTER you get them off their stands!), and can be displayed sitting on their permanently extended gear without fear of a collapse.

[SLAP!] Get a hold of yourself! Right in the middle of taking pictures I noticed a little white speck on the port-side wing-root seam, and, taking out my trusty Avon makeup brush (no, its for cleaning!), tried to whisk the offending spot away...then, DISASTER!! It wasn't a piece of lint, but a loose bit of paint, and another eighth of an inch of paint pealed away...my wonderful hunk of Douglas Bader ironmongery, lovingly kept all these years in that smelly wood cabinet (I think the wood must have grown in some South East Asia swamp), now marred forever!

I realized almost immediately that I had to get some sense of proportion; a moment like in the movies when the General (Admiral) slaps the Colonel (Captain) and yells, "Get a hold of yourself you (fill in the blank, or pick from the following: coward, blubbering idiot, fool, diecast collector)". Then (mind wandering) wondering, if I had my druthers, who would I pick to do the noble deed? My wife? No, I've been married 44 years, and that alone might be enough to get me knocked on my keister for a good long stay.

However, after some thought, I decided that instead of a Slap, I'll just wait for a Copy (at three times the cost of the old one, of course).