CH-47A from Trumpeter in 1/35

[LyleW]

I hear ya, Lyle. Arthritis is a bitch to deal with. Do what you can.

Thanks, Tom. And, I don't think there is much you can do to prevent it. I wonder if the arthritis in my hands is from all the typing/coding I did for almost 35 years....who knows.

[Gary Brantley]

I hear you, and feel your pain, too. My hands are a wreck; so many years of cutting sheet-metal with snips, hammering and shaping it as well, then many more years of wielding paint brushes and sandpaper have taken their toll on me. And for more thrills, the arthritis in my fingers has caused what's called a digital mucil cyst to form at the base of my left-hand middle finger nail; it creates a clear gel-like stuff that has simply eaten away the entire center of the nail, from base to tip. Cool stuff!

As a result, I do spend a lot of modeling time dropping things...oh, did I fail to mention that both hands are basically numb all the time? There is that too.

Now, bring on those real tiny PE pieces!

[LyleW]

Sounds like your digits have been through a lot. Sorry for that. Does model building therapy help at all?

[Gary Brantley]

Thanks, Lyle! Ya know, I've been dealing with hand issues since the mid-80s, so I've had time to sort of make adjustments. One of the first things I did was switch shooting hands. It wasn't too good when I couldn't really feel that trigger! I don't know if the model building helps; it doesn't "hurt", but it does feed the frustration at times. I use my little tweezers a lot to pick up stuff...and of course, drop the tweezers a lot.

[LyleW]

Well . . . It is moving along. Either towards completion or the trash can. For what is cost, the fit of many large parts has been horrible. The latest example? The one piece nose/windscreen section. One side fit almost perfectly. The other not so much. Rotors and decals are about all that is left.