I hope you are all managing to keep safe and well and that in that in some small way having a hobby to fall back on is helping you maintain your sanity through what feels like an eternity of lock downs and restrictions. For me, the importance of hanging in there and continuing to abide by rules until the vaccine is rolled out was sharply underlined when over the Christmas holidays I received the dreadful news that former Model Boats Editor Paul Freshney had lost his life just weeks after having contracted the COVID virus. Paul should have had many happy years of retirement ahead of him and my heart goes out to his wife. Rose, and the rest of his family. Overleaf, you will find a touching tribute to him penned by long term contributor and one of his close personal friends, Colin Bishop. Although I didn't know Paul as well as Colin, over the years as fellow editors we would often chat on the phone or exchange emails and he really was a truly lovely man: admirably pragmatic and super organised but also delightfully witty. Always genuinely supportive of others, on learning I'd been brought on board as editor of Model Boats, he immediately rang to wish me well and let me know I could call on him should I need and help and advice going forward. Knowing how much of himself he'd invested in the magazine over the years, and how much its continued success meant to him, he couldn't have been more kind. But, then, I'm sure everyone who knew Paul will have fond memories of him, including, of course, our designer, Richard Dyer.
So, it's been with flag at half-mast we've completed this issue, ever conscious of trying to honour and live up to Paul's exacting standards. As well as Glynn Guest's splendid free plan and supporting feature, we've got loads of inspirational and informative feature length articles for you, along with some exciting industry announcements, reviews, a not to be missed prize draw courtesy of Das Werk and a truly salute worthy selection of completed projects the Your Models section. Unfortunately, we've not been able to squeeze in any of your letters this month, but please keep them coming as we'll be running as many as we can pack into the next edition.
Enjoy your read! Lindsey