To all those Europeans, Canadians, Japanese, Russians, Iranians, Chinese, Indians, Africans and Latin Americans who are e-mailing their American friends about their joy at having “America back,” now that Obama is in, I just have one thing to say: “Show me the money!”

I do hope he doesn’t expect Britain to pass any folding across the pond…

I’ve always thought a good drama documentary, called ‘The Canon Fighter’ Starting around the mid 30’s and continuing through to the end of the war, about Westland’s chief designer Teddy Petter and his designs for the Lysander, Whirlwind and Welkin would be good…

PP, yep it’s pants…

This is one of the best: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOxKwuByDRg&feature=related

Or should it be this…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Uv08nyAr4I&feature=related

When I renew my car lease every few years they usually offer me free ‘flat’ colours. Plain red, blue or white normally, black is apparently more expensive because (they say) it requires an extra coat. Metallics are more expensive too, that said they did give me a free metallic choice last time I took a new vehicle from them.

Very few cars nowerdays are sprayed with a direct gloss finish (A straight colour of white, red, blue etc… You know if you have one as the colour will show on the cloth as you polish.) Black has for along time always cost more, but this is something left over from God knows how many years when an extra coat was applied to enhance the depht of gloss.

But black now is no different from any other colour, as all finishes are 2 stage finishes, meaning a coloured solvent/waterbased basecoat, over sprayed with a two-pack lacquered top coat. And apart from 3 stage pearlescents or custom paint finishes all cost exactly the same… 😉 So if anyone says different their talking… :rolleyes:

And on a slightly different tack, don’t think metallic paint needs a “special” wax, all your polishing is the lacquer, not the basecoat colour underneath and as I said before all colours now are Clear/base any wax will do… 😉

Well, white seems to be in fashion, but you must also remember that for most manufacturers (Ford for sure), white is the only “color” where you don’t pay extra. (sometimes, black too).

Red adds a little, and the metallic paints usually add something like 500€..

Not that I’d get a white one, except if I bought an utilitarian vehicle (delivery truck, … ). But I digress.

I can never understand how manufactures can charge extra for their colours… :confused:

I have a small bodyshop and there is no difference in the price I have to pay for any of the standard colours I use to refinish damaged vehicles, be it for a metallic or straight finish. It’s just a rip off!

You might be thinking of Matchbox cars, IIRC their first model was a tractor.

Help! Why do I know this stuff…can someone make me an official English schoolboy anorak?

Sorry Mr Boyle you are not qualified for a full anorak yet, maybe a duffel coat would suit you… 😉

Google is your friend… 😉

Airfix was founded in 1939 by Nicholas Kove, a refugee from Hungary who originally manufactured rubber inflated toys. The name Airfix was chosen because part of the process involved fixing air into products. Kove also believed that all successful companies should have their names at the beginning of business directories and consequently the name Airfix was born. After WWII he switched to producing plastic combs, and was the first manufacturer to introduce an injection moulding machine.

In the late 1940s Airfix was approached by Harry Ferguson (the tractor manufacturer) to make a cheap model of one of his tractors that could be used by his sales team as a promotional tool. At first there were problems making the model, so it was decided to make it in a series of parts then to be assembled by a team of skilled workers.

This ready-built tractor proved to be popular and Ferguson allowed Airfix to produce them as toys and sell them under the Airfix name. It soon became obvious that more tractors could be sold if they were cheaper, and to achieve this they sold the kits unmade with instructions. This proved to be successful and shortly after Woolworths approached Airfix suggesting that by using a more stable polystyrene plastic and poly bags with a card header, it would meet the Woolworths retail price of 2 shillings. The small scale Golden Hind was launched in 1952. Woolworths buyers than began to ask for more subjects, then soon after Airfix began to produced a wider range of polybagged model kits – the all famous Spitfire model appearing from 1953.