2012 year-end recap

And so another calendar year comes to its creaking end. Of course we gentlemen of a certain age have noted that the damn things seem to be coming around a great deal quicker than they did when we were waiting for the school year to be over, but that tends to be drowned out in the noise of celebrations of the new year.

I can’t lie; 2012 was a difficult one for me personally. The sour economy kept me from returning to full time work and the resulting budget difficulties just kept getting worse. By now I’m sure my resume is being trashed simply because it has been a while since I’ve been employed. Sort of like the “you need experience / no one will hire you because you have no experience” conundrum of our younger days, though this is more “no one will hire you because no one has hired you”.

But that is why hobbies exist. They provide an escape when the real world wants to stab you in the backside with a pointy stick. That is one reason I model the way I do. I’m never going to be at nationals-competitor level; the occasional second place ribbon at the Seattle show (though admittedly I’ve stopped entering things altogether lately) is as high as I’ll ever get. My dopamine rush comes from completing a model to a competent standard and putting it in the display case with all those hundreds of others to the same scale. This may rate a disdainful sniff from the better sort of modeller (you should see the responses I get when I do something stupid from not paying attention and put a wheel on backwards or something like that), but then, those guys don’t tend to have 420 completed models in their display cases.

So what were the production statistics for the 72 Land Small Aircraft Restoration Production Line in 2012?

44 completed (of those, 23 jets, 21 props)

16 purchased (a net decrease in stash!)

Most of one type: 3 x P-47, 3 x BAe Hawk (and more of both coming in 2013)

Most enjoyable: probably the Valom Brigand of all things, and the three Whifs (P-51, F4U, Go-229)

Most wanted kits that I couldn’t buy: Anigrand Boeing Clipper, AModel Spruce Goose, Revell A400M, SH Douglas B-18, Platt X-47, and that list could go on and on.

Here are the completed models in 2012 and their finish date. BTW, I’m behind a bit on write-ups for finished models, so the last couple on the list will actually appear on the blog in 2013.

Rockwell B-1 Lancer	2/20/2012	Monogram
Boeing B-47 Stratojet	3/6/2012	Hasegawa
DeHav Vampire FB5 (608 Sqdrn RAuxAF)	3/12/2012	Heller
Supermarine Spitfire PR19	3/14/2012	Airfix
Scottish Aviation Bulldog (Birmingham UAS)	3/18/2012	Airfix
Republic P-47D razorback ("Little Butch")	3/20/2012	Tamiya
BAe Hawk T1 (2011 solo)	3/25/2012	Airfix
BAe Hawk T1 (2009 solo)	3/30/2012	Airfix
Republic P-47D bubbletop ("Chief Seattle")	3/31/2012	Tamiya
Messerschmitt Me-262S3	4/14/2012	Special Hobby
Kayaba Katsuodori	4/15/2012	Meng
Vickers Wellesley	4/16/2012	Matchbox
Gen Atom MQ-9 Reaper	4/18/2012	Skunk
Karakorum K-8	4/19/2012	Trumpeter
Messerschmitt Me-262B	4/28/2012	Hasegawa
McD-D F-18 Hornet	4/29/2012	Hasegawa
Messerschmitt P-1099	4/30/2012	Revell
Messerschmitt Bf-109TL	5/1/2012	Planet
Messerschmitt Me-262C	5/3/2012	Academy
Messerschmitt Me-323 Gigant	5/5/2012	Italeri
Grumman F6F3 Hellcat ("Little Nugget" racer)	5/9/2012	Eduard
LTV A-7E Corsair 2 (VA-113 USN)	5/20/2012	Fujimi
BAe Hawk T2 (4 Sqdrn RAF)	5/25/2012	Airfix
Fairey Swordfish (822 NAS, HMS Courageous)	5/26/2012	Airfix
Folland Gnat T1 (Yellowjackets team leader)	5/31/2012	Airfix
Lockheed 12 Electra Junior (British Airways)	6/12/2012	Special Hobby
Horten Ho-7	6/15/2012	Planet
Bristol Brigand  B1	6/21/2012	Valom
Boeing B-50	6/22/2012	Academy
AW Meteor NF11 (256 Sqdrn RAF)	6/27/2012	Matchbox
Lockheed PV-1 Ventura (Free French AF)	7/3/2012	Academy
Lockheed L10 Electra (Northwest Airlines)	7/4/2012	Special Hobby
Martin AM-1 Mauler	7/5/2012	Siga
North Amer FJ-1 Fury	7/7/2012	Siga
North Amer F1J1 Mustang (whif)	10/11/2012	Hasegawa
Vought P-52 Corsair (whif)	10/13/2012	Academy
Horton Go-229 (whif)	10/14/2012	Revell
North Amer FJ-4 Fury	10/30/2012	Emhar
Heinkel He-162 Salamander (2/JG1)	12/9/2012	DML
Republic P-47N	12/15/2012	Sword
Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 (3 Sqdrn RAF)	12/25/2012	Revell
Handley-Page Halifax B2 (416 Sqdrn RCAF)	12/27/2012	Revell
Arado Ar-234	12/30/2012	DML
McDonnell F3H Demon	12/31/2012	Emhar

Each and every one has been featured in the 72 Land blog (or will be shortly), which was one of my commitments when I started this project. Everything I build gets on here, even if it is seriously mediocre.

So here goes my best wishes to all of you for 2013!