Good Grief - it's September already!

After the rather manic effort of getting the little Polikarpov PO-2 (Polly) built, flown, judged and winning (thanks Pete) , it was obviously time to get back onto a major project. No lack of them - they were hanging around on the ceiling, all silently calling "me next, me next...." Alas, their cries were in vain and I decided to get the big SPAD almost flyable (just some aileron servos to fit) and then get back to my favourite - the big Anson. I'd really only got together most of the parts to build the beast - from sticks of 1/8 X 1/16 spruce for miles of stringers, to 2 choices of motors (32 and 46 sized) ESCs etc. Plus miles of lightweight 1/16 balsa. So no excuses, I started back on 'Annie' with a vengeance.
The build thread gives all the gory details but mostly deals in the trial and tribulations and is not a real blow-by-blow build thread as few folk will be building one and the couple that started off seem to have disappeared - hopefully they will return.
The thread is here: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show....php?t=1817579

The Anson has given me many challenges along its short life - fillets, glass fibre work, a really difficult (for me) airframe, that undercarriage, old plan interpretation etc, etc! But it is progressing! As I celebrated my 70th year, I wondered whether my methodology was working and I guess the fact I can 'churn' out models fairly quickly (the Po-2 took around 3 months) means a few things are working! Firstly, the workshop. Not big but moderately organised to suit my work style. Tools most used within easy reach, parts and materials stored and accessible, work-height and bench to suit me - you get the picture. I also force myself to tidy up about once a week or after each major phase of building - for me that's essential.

But I suspect, given that I've only been building rc planes for less than 10 years, my major success has been in problem-solving. Although my past working lives have been centred around diagnosing problems, designing and resolving, difficulties encountered in model-building have started to take on a pattern!
When a problem, real or potential, occurs, I take a step back, consider all sorts of alternative approaches, and then sit on it for a while. Eventually (usually after thinking about before going to sleep) a possible (or sometimes - impossible) solution pops up for consideration. No longer do I find just charging in and doing the first thing that comes to mind satisfactory. Without a long background of modelling experience, I find this forum, various books and periodicals plus chats with like-minded souls, will usually supply an answer. Spending time, money and most of all - effort, on a doomed approach is no longer an option (if I can avoid it!). If it starts to seem wrong, I stop and reconsider - even to the extent of removing it all and starting again! I've found the desired result is often achieved faster by starting again, or spending more time researching than it is by trying to make do with a flawed first attempt.
Enough waffle - next I'll chat about research and references. Essential stuff in scale modelling.