So it has now been a few months since I was fired by Guideline Publications and while the first couple of months were a worrying time, I have now turned a corner and the future looks very bright indeed.

I did not realise how much of myself I sacrificed for Scale Aircraft Modelling magazine in my tenure as editor, although this is what probably made my bitterness as my atrocious treatment by Guideline Publications all that more acute.

I had reason to go over some of my older articles in the past week and realised that I used to be pretty decent at this modelling lark, so I have decided not to put myself in the position where I rush my builds in order to meet a deadline ever again.

With all due respect and much gratitude to Steve Elliot (who amazed me with his professionalism and wisdom) and Andy Evans, I decided that I would not take on a role as a staff modeller with Model Aircraft Monthly. As positive as the experience in working with Andy was, I found myself rushing to meet deadlines and my models suffered as a result. I did not want to put Andy in a position where he was waiting on articles from me, so I thought it better to go back to how I used to build models and submit them to editors when they are done.

The end result is that I am finding myself enjoying building models much more now and I am actually finding some time to do some pattern work for MasterCasters; something I have long neglected. Considering this has been a tidy little business for me for over ten years now, I should really pay better attention to it. MasterCasters has carried us through some tough times and to keep it a vibrant and relevant business, I need to continue to add new patterns to the range.

With Alclad II, thanks to Rob and Howard Bunn, both of whom have shown great faith in my abilities, I have the opportunity to further expand my business horizons and help these two fine chaps develop Alclad as well. This is a venture I am enthusiastically entering into as I know it has a great future and each of us will benefit from my input.