At the Club's meeting on 12th November, we were entertained with a talk on "Half a Century of Plastic Surgery" from our member, Mike Gething. Some of us thought it was going to be all about straightening noses and enhancing beauty. But no; His tools told us that this surgeon worked on plastic and not on human models.

HALF A CENTURY OF PLASTIC SURGERY

It all started in 1957 when Mike's Dad brought home a model kit ,made by Revell, for the Boeing B47 bomber which they worked on together.

Revell B47 Kit

Mike started buying and making models himself in 1960 and has been a member of the International Plastic Modellers' Society for many years. He has made hundreds of models, both from kits and by developing his own modifications to adapt a kit model to his particular needs – in service weapon loads, extra fuel storage and service colour schemes for example. Included in his collection is one for the Spitfire; Mike has modelled 22 Spitfire marques, including the final production F.24. This is an on-going project and Mike has plans to build the remaining 5 to complete the genre.

Club members all remember the late Bill Lucas, our centenarian, post war Olympian. Bill was a Squadron Leader in WW2 and was a Mosquito pilot. To help Bill celebrate his 100th birthday, Mike made for him a Mosquito that was a replica, down to the correct markings, of Bill's own aircraft.

Bill's Mosquito

Mike and Bill with Bill's Mosquito.

It is with much nostalgic sadness that many of us remember the demise of TSR2 and the destruction of drawings, jigs, all existing parts and anything that could have been used to re-create the aircraft. Mike's current project is to create a model, not the white prototype we all remember, but as it would have looked as a developed service aeroplane. This has meant adapting existing model kits with his own, purpose built additions to create the operational reality.

TSR2 – as we would have hoped to see her in service.

This talk was a 'story well told' in Mike's entertaining and knowledgeable style and the Club's fulsome appreciation was 'Zoomed' in the usual manner.