A thing I didn’t expect to see. It’s an Iguanodon (Victorian reconstruction) one of the Crystal Palace dinosaurs.

OK, @six18sfoundry.bsky.social , you have my attention, I think we need to hear more, please!

Tonight’s entertainment: Theodore Drew III: “Mother says I'm a throwback to my great-grandfather. He was a pirate.” Regi Allen: “Honest?” Theodore Drew III: “No, a pirate.”

Bonjour #histscalemodels ! Now that #HeaviesGB has concluded, I would like to propose a new group build for 2026. I floated the idea a while back and people seemed interested, so here we go: #BastilleBuild will run from May 1st to July 14th! Details in comments or at bastille.videospectre.net

#histscalemodels group build concluded. Have a great holidays season, we will do something similar again in 2026 to make the coummunity come together.

Formal photos of the completed model. Thanks to @jaaaagirr.bsky.social for leading the project, and all the other contributions to see - good luck to everyone else racing to the finish line of #HeaviesGB in #histscalemodels ! If there's interest I can share some build photos and saga, say the word!

Well, with an hour and a half to go (local time) and a BIG push to the end, it's DONE*. The Focke Wulf Fw 200 airliner prototype D-ACON, as on the 24 hour non-stop flight from Flugplatz Berlin-Staaken, Germany, to Floyd Bennett Field, New York, USA, 10-11 August 1938. #HeaviesGB in #histscalemodels

Did you miss me? Current status. It was a silver monster, then a lumpy blue monster (masking tape) now a shiny black lumpy monster, but I'm surprisingly pleased to be here - nearing the end of the build and (fingers crossed) the end of #HeaviesGB in #histscalemodels, thanks, @jaaaagirr.bsky.social!

Tonight’s entertainment brought to you by a ‘working’ ‘nun’ and a p.i. Punctuation deliberate.

Richard Overy and Lord Russell at KCL History department.

8 Hrs to Aviation Cultures Spotlight on Logbooks and AvDocs! Join us free, online on Zoom to join our distinguished international speakers, followed by the rare opportunity to ask questions of the experts. Full details aviationcultures.org/spotlights/l...

Good long form read.

I'll be there - after all, I co-organised it. But it you're interested in aviation history, how it's created, researched and examined, the maybe you should be too. After all we've made it free, online, and accessible, because we think it should be. See you there!

Cleared that up. Archivists. Be nice, they know where the bodies are buried.

Not just you, the internet's worse. NB: You aren't powerless, you can adapt and overcome. Your actions are important. As elsewhere, making thoughtful smart choices is work, but make a crucial difference. (Bonus dog on the internet New Yorker cartoon too...) theconversation.com/the-internet...

Very proud of what @avculturesconf.bsky.social team have achieved. It's 2 sessions this weekend, but packed in there are world class experts ready to share their expertise AND answer YOUR questions, free. I can't quite believe what we've got! Full details on the website, shares & visits v welcome!

* And extra points if you can tell us about something YOU put in a logbook. (Or better still, left out!) You can DM us in confidence, this account isn’t monitored by any retro aviation authorities (probably). -JDK

Logbook oddities? We’re interested. What’s the strangest, funniest or most unexpected thing that you’ve found* in an aviation logbook? We’ll be talking ‘Logbooks & Avdocs’ in our next Spotlight event, free, online, in just over a month. Can you tease us with an odd fact first? -JDK

Monday Movie Magic: "...you're wanted for murder on every front page in America. Don't be so modest." - "I told you. It's a nice face."

The three 1/72 Sea Furies are done! A big “Thank You!” to @jdkightly.bsky.social for his generous assistance with decals, without which these would be back in the stash waiting. I still shudder that Airfix released this kit given its limitations, even compared to Hornby Era designs. #histscalemodels

The Met Opera’s season ad shows people being transfixed by gorgeous singing in different places in New York. This commenter is very angry: what if the wrong sort of people show up? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Going to be worth your time! @danellin.bsky.social shares great research.

The Royal Australian Air Force base, RAAF Point Cook, in Victoria, has a rare (possibly unique) pre-WWII aircraft gun butt building. The modern image was taken on a base tour while the great period shot shows one of the RAAF's Hawker Demon fighters using it. Any other pre-WWII aircraft gun butts?

I rather like this one. No filters, no tweaks, no processing, straight from the camera. Tocumwal airshow practice, take off, 100 Squadron RAAF CAC Mustang current serial A100-170. (Formerly VH-SVU, A68-170, painted as A68-750.)

Big News! The Toronto Society of Architects is now doing architecture boat tours! I got to ride along for the first one this weekend. Details at torontosocietyofarchitects.ca/events/

There’s a lot of work between displays, most of it not nearly as noticeable as this engine run by Mustang VH-BOB. You can fly in this Mustang, see mustangjoyflights.com.au or come to the Tocumwal Airshow tomorrow and watch the display with two other Mustangs and more: www.tocumwalairshow.com.au

if you want to understand tailoring, you only need to watch mid-century movies, when actors were dressed by tailors, not brands. in the 1944 film cover girl, gene kelly's suit drapes beautifully, moving with him, not against him. collar stays on his neck, even as he dances.

I see others are going well with #HeaviesGB in #histscalemodels. Hmmm. Here not so much. How DID I end up with this weird clamped ‘thing’ in the middle of a plastic kit?! Definitely in the ‘trough’ stage with this project. Off to the www.tocumwalairshow.com.au and it’ll ALL look better next week.

Something for the weekend. Clearing out the camera bag for this weekend’s Tocumwal Airshow (NSW Aus), it looks like the current high viz is from the last one! See you there? If not follow along online. www.tocumwalairshow.com.au

Aeroplane Monthly magazine is out in the UK, with my latest Database (No 21!) on the Vickers Wellesley, a remarkable, under represented aircraft. Here's a lovely cartoon of it which wasn't going to be used, and a (hint) link to the website if you'd like a copy! shop.keypublishing.com/products/aer...

Art review! This time we''ll be looking at 'De boerendans' (the farmer's or peasant's dance) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, from c. 1567. I love Pieter's art & of course I love art that depicts an era generally still considered to be bland, dark & horrid, as also being a bit fun.

Sometimes we’re unsatisfied with a thing we made because when it only existed in our head, we saw all the things it could have been and when it’s done we know all the things that it isn’t, but we can’t see the way it expands into a million new things when someone else unpacks it in their head. 🖊️🦑

My WIP is about a magical bookshop (where you'll always find the book you need, even if it's not the one you're looking for) and I got @greenleejw.bsky.social to draw me up a floorplan to help with vibe. #amwriting #booksky #fantasyromance

It was day 31 #DrawingAugust & #DrawingAugust2025. I got a few quick figure sketches in. Not from life and all open for improvement, but v happy with them overall. I’d’ve loved to have got more done in the month, but I’m v pleased to have done as much as I did too. Should do more, here’s hoping.

All ready to start the #HeaviesGB in #histscalemodels. My nomination is the 1991 Revell Focke Wulf Fw 200 civil version. Bit of a story behind the idea, we may get to soon. In the meantime, here’s the start shot. Note aftermarket decals. Planning! (Some plastic has been fettled and glued since…)

49 years ago, NBC debuted an ambitious new TV show very loosely based on Pappy Boyington's memoir Baa Baa Black Sheep. Stephen Chapis has spent years compiling the stories of the show for his new book, and we chat to him about it this week! 📺 youtu.be/PjMihUVPSR4 🎧 theaviation.show/115-poor-lit...

Big thanks to @jdkightly.bsky.social for helping me out with decals to let me finish my Airfix Boomerang and Pioneer2 Sea Fury. I finished the Hasegawa Zero at the same time. Also a relief to discover I do, in fact, have room to display these and the P-40s!

Day 19 & 20 of #DrawingAugust & #DrawingAugust2025. A photo of a couple of dudes chatting taken on 2 Aug in N Melbourne, drawn yesterday. I was v pleased w the guy in the puffa jacket, decided to have another go today. Didn’t like the solid line which had worked, so tried the scratch lines again.

1. The philosophy of science sometimes gets an unearned reputation as a purely academic exercise that offers little by way of concrete tools for advancing research. This is wrong. And today, as we grapple with how AI is changing the nature of scientific activity, it's desperately wrong.

Thank you, v interesting! I wasn't aware of Messerschmitt sewing machines, another post-war diversification from war-losing weaponry (and slave labour). collection.motat.nz/objects/1211... I recently learned 'Messerschmitt' is basically 'Cutler' anyway, as it translates as 'Knife maker'.

OK, obvs too hard. Clue: The first is a Messerschmitt. The second, heavy four engine bomber, is from Piaggio…

Wow, NO guesses? I thought there were some sharp AvHistory people here...

Aviation History Trivia. What's a connection between these two? The answer is related to a ratio. Feel free to answer cryptically, so others can play. Will reply tomorrow.

Day 17 of #DrawingAugust & #DrawingAugust2025. Started with a de Chirico colonnade that morphed into a bridge. An exercise in perspective, a bit messed up.

Well that’s my ‘I didn’t know that’ fact today.

Day 16 of #DrawingAugust & #DrawingAugust2025. A quick sketch of some classic still life pots - no ‘colouring in’. Hard to start, as always but worth doing!

I have a new! question for textiles people because I woke up last night in the middle of the night thinking about the fabric that spread through Europe after taking off in the Spanish colonial world that’s black when seen in most lights but iridescent in motion because of double weave iirc?

Same technology they use to keep cereal crispy in ice cream. Everyday there is more and more scientific evidence ice cream is good for you.

Years in retail in London and other city centres. Had a book signing with the other Kray brother one time, funnily enough. He's wrong. Do not. Been in some nasty situations with shoplifters inc holding the trouser cuff of one who'd jumped out of a first floor window. Threatened with 'HIV' needles.

Progressing today’s #DrawingAugust & #DrawingAugust2025. Effort. It’s getting a bit more solid, a bit more believably real. The pushing the golden rule of thirds stuff about hasn’t quite clicked, but it’s still OK. But then, in a way I also like the previous version. What do you think?