Grant Hutchison's Blog, page 41

Sidlaws: The Balshando Hill Expedition

Balshando Hill (NO 278355, 266m) 6.7 kilometres 140 metres of ascent So, Balshando Hill was a bit of a puzzle to me. It’s a bald-topped mound surrounded by a ring of forestry with the charming name of Naiad Wood—a Greek mythological reference that’s unusual hereabouts. And around Naiad Wood there’s a ring of farmland. But … Continue reading Sidlaws: The Balshando Hill Expedition →

Hasegawa 1/48 Hawker Hurricane IIC: Part 1

By way of a break from the slow building of my Saturn V, this one is an attempt to model one of the aircraft my father flew during the Second World War. It’s going to be Hurricane LB545, stationed with 135 Squadron RAF at Minneriya, Ceylon, in August 1944.  It’ll be a reconstruction, rather than … Continue reading Hasegawa 1/48 Hawker Hurricane IIC: Part 1 →

Serendipity

sɛrɛnˈdɪpɪtɪ serendipity: The faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident. Also, the fact or an instance of such a discovery People like the word serendipity—there’s something cheerful and unexpected about that “-dipity” ending which makes them want to say it or write it, and so its original meaning has gradually eroded away. The … Continue reading Serendipity →

Coriolis

When I was a solitary, bespectacled and distinctly oikotropic child growing up in Dundee, I was fascinated by the little roundabout, like the one pictured above, in the play area of my local park. While my compatriots were trying their best to kill or maim themselves by using the swings, the slide and the witch’s … Continue reading Coriolis →

Sidlaws: Blacklaw Hill & West Mains Hill

Another two-parter. These two outliers sit either side of the A923 just east of the point where it passes through the main ridge of the Sidlaws at Tullybaccart. Blacklaw Hill (NO 288344, 284m) 7.4 kilometres 200 metres of ascent Well, this first one is a fine example of what happens if you just look at … Continue reading Sidlaws: Blacklaw Hill & West Mains Hill →

Ginge Fullen: Sic Diximus

Within 500m I was stopped by an Army patrol. To cut a long story short, I was stopped three more times by the Army and twice by the Police in the space of the next hour. I fobbed them off each time. Two policemen followed me back to the hotel. My local guide Menpong arrived … Continue reading Ginge Fullen: Sic Diximus →

Perihelion: Part 1

pɛrɪˈhiːlɪən perihelion: that point in the orbit of a planet, comet or other body at which it is closest to the sun Not to be confused with the parhelion, which I wrote about last month. Today (4 January 2017), the Earth is at perihelion, its closest to the sun, a mere 98% of its average … Continue reading Perihelion: Part 1 →

Revell 1/96 Saturn V: Spacecraft/Lunar Module Adapter & Instrument Unit

Having complete RealSpace Models’ Block II Command/Service Module (CSM), I’ve moved on to the Spacecraft Lunar Module Adapter (SLA) provided in the Revell kit. The SLA was a fairing that contained the Lunar Module (LM), and supported the CSM. It was composed of two sections, the upper and lower SLA, which sat on top of … Continue reading Revell 1/96 Saturn V: Spacecraft/Lunar Module Adapter & Instrument Unit →

Yuletide

ˈjuːltaɪd Yuletide: The Christmas season Yule is a bit of an etymological orphan. The origins of the word are obscure, but it seems to have been the name of a twelve-day pagan winter festival, celebrated among the ancient speakers of the Germanic language family, and called jól in Old Norse. As with many other pagan … Continue reading Yuletide →

Sidlaws: King’s Seat and Buttergask via Round Law

Round Law (NO 232337, 257m) King’s Seat (NO 230330, 377m) Buttergask Hill (NO 230340, 307m) 9 kilometres 330 metres ascent This was a couple of hours of exploration, looking for a route to King’s Seat and Buttergask Hill that doesn’t involve traversing this section of ridge from either the Dunsinane end or the Gask end … Continue reading Sidlaws: King’s Seat and Buttergask via Round Law →