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Hi everyone and thanks for all the best wishes during the regeneration of this 'shelf of display model doom' lol. At times I felt more like a glass bottle ship modeller but it is done now and a big thank you to Andy for his own build which helped inspire me and also to David E Brown whose brains I picked on numerous occasions. Thanks also to the great publication Captured Eagles Vol 1 which contains the clearest Mistel 3 / Ju 88 G-10 photos I have ever seen. Paints were Mr Paint range - with their RLM 76 diluted with 50% white to achieve a late war cobalt reduced RLM 76. Conversion / decals - my AIMS set Other AIMS products - Ju 88 A-1 Essential PE, Tail wheel Bay PE, Main Gear bay test shot PE, Ju 88 External Manufacturing Plates decals Non AIMS products - HGW Ju 88 seat belts Problems during build - Bad back, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel, Covid 19 and pneumonia - Oh sorry you mean with the build..... things needing filler only and if using what Mr Paint call an undocumented 'RLM 76 Grunblau' again I would give it a monotone RLM 02 undercoat to add strength / depth to this very weak colour regardless of what it truly is called or was in real life. During the build I purchased the Flugzug for the Mistel 2 from Luftachieve and saw the cable for the explosive charge on the back support rod was in a pale colour. When I did my Mistel 2 I had just said ok it must be yellow but this time I asked D.E Brown and he supplied me with the colour chart for the different voltages the Luftwaffe used. All I needed then was to see in the Flugzug that the fuse at the base and top of the rod was 24 volts and I had my answer - 'Violet'. If you have any questions I will do what I can to help. thanks again and best wishes, John

Well after a very long break from the bench and LSP, I'm back for another build, this time a German aircraft, haven't done one in a long time so here we go.

Hello all. News for "January" are on our webshop finaly. Please welcome to www.kopeckyscalemodels.com 32023 F-15E Upgrade set 32024 F-15 Modern Airbrake 32025 F-15 610 gallons fuel tanks (2pcs) 32027 F-15 Modern wheels

I went to the Shizuoka show a few times and I got the chance to meet a number of manufacturers. At least two told me that they were baffled by the prevailing "bad atmosphere" in LSP (I mean "large scale aircraft models" in general and not this forum specifically). Any new LSP model is instantly met with bad press, loud protests and endless lists of models that should have been done instead. This happens a little in scale 1/48 (but not as much) and it does not happen at all in 1/72. There is a saying in Romanian: "Nemulțumitului i se ia darul". (The thankless gets no gifts) We constantly berate manufacturers for giving us models and then we wonder why they stop? THAT is why 1/72 is thriving and 1/32 is withering. There is a clear correlation! Radu

Been plodding along the last 2 weeks....got the de-icer boots painted, the wing walk stripes applied, the decals in place, a sludge wash applied, the exhausts stains done (and redone, and redone...), and some chipping applied. With a little luck she may get on her gear this weekend! :) Gil

well, since I really don't want to confront the ribs of the wings, I wasted some time with the propeller. on its own it is not hideous, but the hub is nothing short of basic, being a mere connection of styrene for the blades. in addition, the spinner is not the right one for the Mk.III, but no problem here, just slice it. however, before doing irreparable damage, I thermoformed a spare one, just to be on the safe side. then I replaced the axis with a section of brass tube compatible with the one inserted in the engine, and with the magic sculpt I built the central part from scratch, totally lacking in the box. I then added the coupling flanges and the propeller pitch counterweight system. all very much as it comes, because the spinner will cover everything. the only partially visible part will be the rear, where I put the bolt heads on the flanges. then on I tried an alu coat with spray can. I don't know how is stable and resistant at the next passages, but it cut drastically the paint session time! well, time to go to work on the wing. but why don't have a little talk about the camo instead? the only two photos available of the model I plan to make, MA * J serial V9673, show only the port side. from which few things are evident: the short spinner, the closed cowl flaps, the extended flaps and slats, the white-colored ladder rungs on the tread, the camo pattern, the mascot and the mission symbols on the fuselage. also the squadron letters, MA, are not evident, altough the J and the serial are well visible. from the pilot of this machine, as well as squadron commander and author of the book "we landed by moonlight", present in the group photo (the second from left) we learn that the machines, which were delivered to the squadron modified for specific tasks completely painted in black, were repainted in the upper part with the colors used by mosquitoes employed in the intruder role, that is dark green and medium sea gray. slightly better on these few evidences, I hypothesized a camo with this pattern, forgive the paucity of the graphic rendering Beyond the lack of desire to work on the wing, I think it is necessary to establish how to paint the model before proceeding with the final assembly, which will take place in steps: first I want to have the landing gear well glued, and only then will I proceed to connect the wing to its place. maybe I'll take some time to calmly evaluate the camouflage pattern, I'm not in hurry. meanwhile, any idea, information, suggestion will be welcome! cheers, Paolo.

evening all thanks for stopping by got some more done on the P40 - first up the 3D printed chin intake arrived (thanks Tim!) so cleaned it up, added the fillets I needed that I couldn't do in 3D and painted alclad duralumin. I wanted to paint it even though it would need filler and sanding as if I was careful the inner faces where it meets the green intake parts would be undisturbed and save a tricky masking job later.. ..then it was added and faired in with P38... the stage pictured is adding a raised rim all the way around what in reality is a casting so I can butt sheet litho up to it when I skin it.. the rim is created by adding dymo tape and filling up to it's level.. ..then finished off and painted for later... ..then moved on to creating the cockpit sidewalls.. ..there is a lot going on here...I started by making sheet parts to fit - lots of bending & shaping to get them to sit naturally in the open cockpit area. then brass sections were added to keep them straight and a sheet of balsa CA'd to this to basically keep the sides in a jig so they can be worked, but preserve their shape.. ..for the coaming I vacformed from plan sections, though I cut it too short so had to make two parts.. ..then that lot was all faired in but keeping free where the parts will break away from the fuselage, and the windshield opening cut away.. ..the sidewalls were carefully broken away and the inner faces treated prior to skinning with litho.. ..the datum line and the station positions were marked while on the model so they are true.. ..those same datum marks were traced onto tape and the tape used to mark the positions on the new inner skin.. ..then the main longeron, some stringers and the fuselage stations were added - problem here was the formers were from drawings and they didn't match the sidewalls too well so a bit of fettling was needed - there are still some gaps, but it is what it is.. ..and they are a nice neat fit into the fuselage and are open and accessible in the jigs for detailing.. ..now about 5,000 bits need to be made to go on them.. TTFN Peter

Today I remembered Emil. The 219th is a priority, but the 109E-1 should already be finished ...

Without Hasegawa’s essential, pioneering contributions the 1/32 aircraft landscape would look very different today, certainly quite a bit smaller and less diverse. Along with Revell, they were big kit standard bearers long before others joined the party. They proved it was a viable niche within a niche. If Hasegawa has called it a night, they’ll have earned their rest many, many times over. They owe us nothing. As always, it never hurts to directly ask manufacturers questions about their plans. Sometimes they provide answers. Absent information from Hasegawa about their intentions for the 1/32 aircraft line, we’re all just reading tea leaves and entrails with a splash of confirmation bias. Cheers, Adam

So I have not forgotten about this build, I have been ill with the dreaded Rona virus so things have taken a back seat. I have managed to get a few things to either help me or to use as a basis for this build. The plan is still to do mostly scratch or 3D printed parts but it does help to have something to help get started.

Very frankly Radu, I already heard that but I'm not fully convinced by what is looking more like a posterior way to justify their business policy decisions rather than reality. I already wrote it in another thread but top quality and good communication result in sales as we are now in a world where offering can drive the demand ! Look at the WnW model that sold boat loads of 'models that do not sell': a phrase related to WW1 LSP that I read I do not know how many times before their initial releases! There are people moaning about ANY kit release in any scale but finally the quality is what is prevailing! One exemple: companies like Trumpeter or KH have been bashed for decades but even if I'm praising their decision to release LS kits, they had too often the following features: expensive, not that easy to build, inaccurate, awful instructions, not inspiring box tops, etc. Very frankly, if we had more competitors with better quality I'm not convinced they would have sold so many kits. Blaming customers or prospects is really a lame way to justify a lack of foresighting, quality and relevant marketing...

It's all relative, I guess, Martinn. Finished up the wheel well. This is what I have been holding back from doing. Now that this is done I can now assemble and paint. Locking hook is 4mm tall. Spring is 4mm also. Thank you for looking and liking. Sincerely, Mark

Thanks for looking in! I've added the last few pieces (for now) to the dirty bird and am calling it completed and finally off the SOD. If I can do the same with the Flanker it'll be a red circled month! So, some "finished" images as it sits today, striving for mediocrity; Thanks for looking

Well, it's been more than a year since I wrote this post: And this required more patience than I then expected, but here they are: The kits feature DML/CyberHobby plastic (including both types of canopy) and Cartograf-printed decals, each for 3 marking options, plus stencils for one machine. Hobby 2000 will start shipping them to shops tomorrow.

This looks like a very interesting and promising film about the attack on the Gestapo Headquarters in Copenhagen. A tragic story. Operation Carthage, March 21,1945 Richard

Some guys are waiting for the ‘buildable’ kit, unaware that old age and senility are lurking around the door. Git it while you can, folks!

Thanks for the picture Carl and comments Alain and K2! Looks like a very different approach thy have taken and I'm guessing no alternative plastic inserts to fall back on? Only reason I'm asking is I pre ordered the E-7 today. I used Tamiya masking tape and a mix of Archer resin decals on my Eduard E kit. Not sure how that idea would work adhering to soft vinyl? Regards. Andy

Yes, I think this is going to be a pretty heavy model. Aside from the weight I've added so far around the cockpit, I plan on adding more to the fuel tanks in the front of the wings. My plan is to build the model as much as possible without the front engine, see how it sits, then add only what I need to the front engine to make it sit on it's nose wheel properly. I already have a weighted front engine radiator, too. But for that to happen, I actually have to sit down at the model bench and get on with it, which is something I haven't done since my last update. I did pick up this build just after new year, and the first thing I did was break one of the front guns. So I put it down again. Fear not. This model is not residing on my shelf of doom, and I've actually made a little progress over the last week. Not only do you have to have some mojo to do a project, you have to have your head in the game too. I've wanted to make the canopies open on this kit, and I think I've cracked the front canopy. You can see a silver mark on the image above which marks the right end of the part that I need to remove to get my hinge in place. On previous builds, I normally make a D hinge, but for this model I think that's too clumsy. So I've made a variation which will sit against the right inner cockpit wall and the necessary space will be made using a small cut out in the right side fuselage half. The hinge will be directly below the unaltered canopy. So I mounted a length of 1mm brass tube in a slightly longer length of U shaped stock, then inserted a length of 0.5mm brass wire through this and bent it to shape so that it fits tightly inside the canopy interior frame. This was then glued into place with Micro Kristal Klear and left to set. The U stock and brass tube have been filed flat on what will be the outer side so that it fits flush to the fuselage side. That's the plan, anyway. Where the wire is glued will later be painted RLM66 to match the rest of the interior. My next step was to get the front cockpit left and right consoles finished, and add the left canopy eject lever, then quickly glue the innards to the left side fuselage half so I don't go and bust off all the console detail. Here's all the levers and taps added to the consoles. Left side: Right side: (or what little you can see of that side.....) Here's that assembly in place on the left fuselage half. The white paint you can see in my "ballasted area" is a tell tale as I've had fitment issues with the right fuselage half. This has helped me make adjustments to my ballast and the aforementioned half. The right side was taped into pace to help with alignment. There's a lot to get wrong with this. Once dried in place, I added the engine and rear radiator assembly, which contains fuselage frames and the rear prop shaft. I think it was easier doing this in two steps as I may well have needed five hands to manoeuver all this into place in one go. I wasn't going to add the red bottles below the engine, but looking at it sealed up, I think these may be visible through the rear engine cowlings later even though I'll be closing up the bomb bay area, so they're in place now. Here's another view. This is where I am at the moment. My next step will be to make the adjustment to the right fuselage half to facilitate the canopy operation, close up the fuselage then add the front canopy. At that point, the instructions say to get on with the wings, but I'm still debating if I'm going to do that or finish off the fuselage so I don't go and bust something else. The rear cockpit is very exposed!! More soon, I hope. Cheers, Michael

Hi all, Here's the shots of the completed model. Thanks for your comments and support - appreciated. 'Wingnut Wings' Salmson 2-A2 from WW1. This model represents Salmson 2-A2, Serial No:381 of Escadrille SAL 28 during 1918. The fully detailed build log is here: https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/91249-132nd-scale-salmson-2-a2/ As usual a fully detailed build log, in Adobe PDF format, will be available to download from my site (link in signature). Go to gallery 3 and just click on the PDF icon. Mike

I think if you take a look at the 1/24 Airfix spitfire thread, you'll see just how much it's being bashed even before it's released. So personally i think Radu has a valid point. Some people bang on about accuracy far too much. Believe it or not. some people actually like just building kits that look in the 'ball park' of what it's meant to be. Novel i know, but it's true.

Settle down Jay!! It's done. OK, it is with great pleasure that I can post this progress. A great victory for sure, with failure threatening until the very end. First let me show you the bullet-proof glass and gunsight reflector. US fighter aircraft of WW2 all had 1.5 inch thick bullet proof glass either behind the windshield or incorporated into the windshield. If the windshield was curved, as the Corsair's is, then the bullet-proof glass was a separate item behind the windshield. Like this: 1.5 inches scales to .08 inch for 1/18. All I have for transparent sheet material is 0.03, 0.015, and 0.010 inch thick acryl. First I tried cementing two .03 inch pieces to a .015 inch piece, which disbonded after grinding the periphery. So I went with plan B and just used two pieces of .01 inch sheet separated by a frame of .06 inch plastic strip. And here it is: I tried and tried to keep that little sucker clean, but it still has some stuff on it I cannot clear. Took me all day to do that one detail. The reflector glass was easier - just 0.015 inch clear acryl with some edge members glued on. Here it is with the bullet-proof glass: Now it was time for installation onto the coaming and windshield frame. It was a struggle. I am certain that in the Vought factory (and Goodyear) the glass and it's supports were tooled up to control tolerances. Something I don't have the luxury of doing. Anyway I "fettled" (an Airscale term I learned) with it and eventually got a satisfactory fit. Here: See what I meant when I stated a couple posts back that the coaming is just full of stuff? OK, that was a victory of sorts. But now was the time to glue in the windshield glass. I gave up on .015 inch thick sheet - it was stiff enough that it began to craze when contour was forced into it. But the 0.010 inch thick stuff did no such thing, so that is what I used. First, its periphery had to be just about spot on, which it was. That was accomplished by putting masking tape over the original windshield, marking the edges, removing the tape and replacing on clear plastic sheet, and using scissors to cut. Some minimal sanding of edges, and voila! Second, bonding it to the frames without smearing anything was required. So with infinite patience that is what I did, with medium thickness CA glue. I am so pleased with the result that I will give you huge thumbnails - here: Big victory. Of course, the windshield is not going to look complete until the exterior retainers are installed, which will cover up the seams. Ordinarily I'd do that next, but I am not going to tolerate the fuselage skin panels as you see them. So now it is time to do some skinning, something I have never done before. Gulp. Has to happen before the windshield retainers are installed. A couple weeks ago, in anticipation of this, I stopped by the local hobby shop and purchased a "mule" from their discount pile of old models: Actually this is kind of a cool model....but I digress. This poor beast is going to receive some 0.004 inch thick annealed aluminum sheet skin panels here and there. Done badly at first. Hopefully I can develop enough skill to apply to the Corsair with some assurance of success. It's either that, or the firewall. I guess I'll make up my mind in the next day or two, and you will see next post. Thanks again for looking in.

After a very long time, the Hog had some attention last night. Ordinance: Some gray application:

Time to get the fuselage together this was pre prepared by sanding an angle on the mating surface of both halves effectively creating a V shape once joined with Tamiya green glue this was then filled with VMS black super glue, this should give a nice smooth seam that will not ghost in a couple of weeks The rudder had quite a bit of work done to it extending the trim tab as it is bigger on the FM-2 as well as moving the top hinge point up and filling the old one Lastly the a new piece of ribbing was added using strip plasti card, the right hand side has worked well but the left side need sanding back just a little to match the existing ribbing

I do not like bi-planes! Too many wings, and the rigging is a stuff of nightmares!!! Then along comes ICM's superb Gladiator. I have always had a soft spot for this aeroplane, despite it being a bi-plane. An absolute joy to build with no fit issues at all! Everything went together perfectly. I used some aftermarket seatbelts, and the decals are from AIMS. The chequerboard on the top wing disintegrated when I tried to apply it, so I had to paint it on. For the overall aluminium dope finish I used Tamiya's flat aluminium. The rigging was done with flower arranging wire. It was pulled and stretched taught before being cut to length and superglued into place. Thanks for looking Angelo.

Continuing my current obsession with NMF , alcad et all , more filthy aluminium adventures in 1950's jet world . Hobby Boss's F84F in 1/48 , literally fell together , nice engraving and panel lines, apparently more accurate shape than Kinetics offering . Even the cockpit as half ok , with some PE belts thrown in . Gotta thank Max @mozart for his words on encouragement a while back to buy a Silhouette , as it seemed a lot of outlay to risk to me, especially as I'm not great on computers anymore . So...... this model is 80% masked as well. Woot - I can now scratch and sand the markings to my hearts content and goodbye sneaky shiny decals, glossing and microsol ripping up my paint .....mostly . Laters PW

In case you dont have one. $79.99 IFM3201 1:32 Infinity Models SB2C-4 Helldiver - Sprue Brothers Models LLC

I had a quick look at some of the previous posts on this forum where people have been negative. You can count the contributors to these using your fingers - a tiny, unmeasurable and insignificant fraction of the buying market. I seriously doubt that negative or critical comments made by a handful of people on hobby forums has any impact on any commercial organisation decision making unless it directly impacts on the sales of their products. If companies no longer sell products it's because they aren't getting the expected level of sales or because they can see the long term view of the market and decide to focus elsewhere. It feels a bit of an over estimate of the influence of online forums, I suspect the only people who take any notice about comments on forums are those people with the opposite opinion. Unless, as said earlier, sales are impacted adversely. It's all about money at the end of the day, perhaps we should start to buy more kits and spend less time online

I think that 'LSP people do nothing but complain but 1/72 modellers are totally silent' is, frankly, nonsense. Firstly, I suspect that most modellers dabble in all scales - are we seriously suggesting that a modeller will complain like hell about a 1/32 kit, yet the same guy will say nothing about errors on a 1/72 kit? Secondly, you only have to spend a few minutes in other modelling forums to see that all scales have their fair share of kit-bashing (usually from the self-proclaimed 'experts'). 1/72 will always do better than 1/32, because it's cheaper to produce, cheaper to sell, and easier for the average modeller to build, store, and display.

Sometimes, as we all know, non model tasks pull is away. This one is close enough to modeling that i figured id post it. i was moving something in our garage and found an LED light that i picked up as a pair and never used the second one. As i get older, i have discovered how much light i need to see small stuff. I figured i could hang it directly over the modeling bench, but, ideally, i would need two for my L shaped workspace. I could not find a matching light, but did discover that these new low power LEDs can be daisy chained together so they all work off a single switch. I did a bunch of research, and learned that most of these are kade in China, and have a maddening mix of about 60% 4 and 5 star reviews and the rest 1 or 2 star reviews. I finally decided to read a bunch of non sponsored “best shoplights for 2022” type articles in established websites like popular mechanics. I settled on this set from Amazon, they were embarrassingly cheap. They are also ridiculously light, consisting only of two light plastic tubes that look like florescent tubes, and small housings at each end. light is difficult to photograph, and i am no photographer, but here are some shots showing the old setup and light level. the old setup, conventional two tube, four foot floros. Probably 20 years old. Plenty of light over the counter, almost none over the model work area to the right. heres one trying to show the lack of usable light at the model bench isnt really helped by the overheads, as its the same with them off. heres mid replacement, one new next to one old in that “did i just screw up?” Question that occurs to me during such projects. the new fixtures seem much whiter and subjectively brighter than the old ones. They sit higher than the other ones, but the light at work level seems as bright as before. here are a few showing the full install. Im not wild about the loose cords, i will tack them up this weekend. nice, bright area with no noticeable shadows, lots of light in the work area. Back to the T bolt. Sharp eyed viewers will note that big blue box in the right foreground, thats a Christmas present—HK’s DO 335B, patiently waiting in the growing cue.

Good points actually. I'll add, what do you need for inspections? annuals for a plane and what for a car? how do you pre-flight something that was driven on the street all day? I don't think that's going to work well in winter.... And the big question, when and how do you rotate the tires?

Hey guys, thanks for all the words of encouragement! I have been going over all those parts diagrams all morning and comparing them to the few pics I have of the rear engine area (sadly, all from below), and I'm pretty sure I've figured out most of them, especially those big oil hoses that are so prominent. With this "new" info, I'm pretty sure I can do a decent job of detailing the rear area after all without making a mess. No more whining like a big baby, so hold that scalpel nurse, I'm going in! Cheers, Chuck

I was seriously thinking of switching to 1/24 classic cars, trucks and large scale women. However, the Tunnan, Hurricane, Val and Yak are sufficient distraction. Tony

[Excuse me, just sweeping the cobwebs away from this thread] Some progress: I re-did the grey undercoat, then sprayed white where the invasion stripes, nose band and national insignia will go. Having masked those out with the masks I cut and oodles of Tamiya tape ... ... I sprayed some X1 gloss black where the silver (wings) and NM will go. Since then I've sprayed and masked the O/D anti-glare panel, and done the lacquered areas of the wings with X11 silver. Next job, my patent I-don't-use-metallisers natural metal.

Thank you again, one and all, the nice responses and encouragement has really pushed me through some of the previous blocks (like the MLG and exhausts!) that have stopped me on this big girl putting her on the SOD. Not this time! Ive actually got a surprising amount of rekindled passion for her again, as two out of 3 of the last very big hurdles have been not fully sorted yet, but are well on their way to getting sorted. Great news as that spells good news for a finished 1/32nd scale F7F at some point in the not too distant future. The props are well on their way to getting fully painted with only wet stencils to go. Back to primer then some DSB, then mask off the prop boss and get some aluminum shot on the base: All 36 exhaust stacks are now finished! The stacks were completed, then given a finish sanding, then some primer and and some further refinement then the final steps were, a light layer of Mr. Surfacer 1500 black, some MRP super flat back followed by a rub down with some Mig pigments graphite, then some layers of mig pigments rust in the bends of the stacks then a shot of MRP Navy white on the tips, and some MRP soot/exhaust to tame the bright white and finally a layer of MRP flat overall. The rust/orange tones dont show that well in the photos, but more so IRL. None of it really will be seen anyway after the cowls are on, but hey-ho here we are: Right after I got those done a ballast in one of my overhead bench lights went out. Boo! Its very noticeable when working so will have to look on line to see if I can match up a new ballast and get the full light complement back: Now it was time to move onto the MLG since I have the foam masking removed for the exhausts. I started by re-aligning the angle of the main wire running inside the MLG to fit the outer triangle supports that control how much splay outward the gear actually has. This dimension is critical to me, as the model looks very odd if the gear are splayed too far out to each side. This can also cause the Tigercat to sit too nose high which I really want to avoid. Another issue this can cause is that the MLG axles do not light up perpendicular to the ground, which would cause the tires to do the same, which I also really wanted to avoid. First job up was to get the outer triangle side support distances figured out and bend the main wire up top just a smidgen to get them to line up and seat nicely into the engine mount bases I had made and glued on w/JB Weld previously: Then I had to check the alignment with the rear main articulating support to see how the overall look and angles were. Things seemed like they were lining up quite well: I even put on the other side MLG to see if the forward rake was the same. Its not, but its also not that far off, so I have left some adjustment ability in the system for just such and event: With things lining up surprisingly well I went ahead and decided to knock out boxing in the top of the MLG and get that end squared away since I had removed that resin part when I modified the HpH gear to use SS oleos. It all looked great, and the new boxed in bases for the MLG I made even helped stiffen up the connection to help when I get ready to actually glue things in. As soon as I realized all the happy thoughts I was having, I heard myself mention out loud how well things were going! My heart sank and I felt the need to QUINTUPLE check all my measurements and angles at that point, as those feelings and things "going so well" were NOT normal for this build. Sure as *&%#@! I put the MLG on in its intended place with the outer triangle side supports in place and placed the big girl right side up to see how the angles of the axles in relation to the ground were. Boooooo! It looked like she was standing on her heels with her toes pointed up in the air. This would have left the MLG tires to rest on the inner edges of the tire and not flat at all. It also looked WAY too raked out, and not at all like it should be. I had a sit on it, and a surprisingly (comparatively) easy solution came to me. I just had to extend the outer side supports and then bend the MLG internal wire just a tad to accommodate. This would effectively reduce the outer rake of the gear and hopefully get the MLG axles perpendicular with the ground. It was hella scary as these two parts are fairly critical, but I took one of Radus razor saws to the top of both and used a piece of square styrene in between the cut. After adjusting the hardened steel wire at the top, I broke one of the bases, but got it repaired. You can see here the inserted chunk that extends the outer side supports: This was coated in CA, then sanded and shaped, then primed. In the end after correcting the wire up top, this put the MLG more or less perpendicular with the ground: All for today lads, but Im back at it tonight! inching ever closer.......... Cheers!

hi, today some steps ahead in the finishing of the engine: after a coat of black primer that should have highlighted some defects that I have not seen, and which are quite visible here, if only I had uploaded the photos to the pc before... I gave way to Alclad2. working with the star of the cylinders glued to the ring was a half curse, but I was more afraid of having to glue these parts after having colored them. for the first time I used AK extreme metallic colors, in this case bronze. excellent results, I must say. then I have further enriched it with shades of burnt iron Alclad, and I plan to insist further with smoke Tamiya, later on. then I placed the further details previously prepared: pushrod covers; engine block-exaust ring support arms; oil radiators air intakes. with an old, stripped brush I scratched off the primer from the brass bolts, and with ecoline I accentuated the shadows of the cooling blades of the cylinders. I then added the carters between the cylinders visible in some photos. if on the one hand they make the engine area less deep, on the other they guarantee that nothing can be seen in the rear, where there is indeed nothing. oh well, I have placed a little something, just in case... spark plugs with relative wiring, injection manifolds, tappets and relative carters. all recycled stuff: the collectors are welding wire with flanges of heat-shrink sheath advanced by the exhaust sleeves, the ring that supports them (which I need as a thickness to obtain the right longitudinal distance of the engine-canopy assembly with respect to the fuselage) is a section of conduit for exposed electrical systems. all painted without particular care, so - in fact - will remain buried in the back room. and in the end the big question: does it still accommodates within the hood, after all these changes, additions and tortures? so it seems... ...and the whole speaks decently with the fuselage? here too, it seems ok. to tell the truth there are some imperfections, but I plan to solve these as I advance. I have to say that even though it was challenging and far from perfect, completing this phase has enjoyed me a lot. and, since I had the airbrush in hand, I did a test of the two colors of the upper camo: Tamiya XF 81 and 83. in the next steps I have to solve the wing's ribs problem, then on it should be a downhill trip. cheers, Paolo.

hi all, thank you all, this time I must say that it was not easy at all, to get me out of this chapter (which is not finished yet, of course). after defining and gluing the sleeves into the front ring as per the last session, I coated back them with their rubber sheath and with a segment of heat shrink tubing to increase the sense of depth and detail. then I began to worry about further details, like the support arms that go from the engine block to the ring, at the same time marking the position of the countless bolts that characterize the visible part of the engine. studying the photos to reproduce the air intakes of the oil radiators, I realized an error, visible in the photo below: the sleeves are the same for 7 of the 9 cylinders, but 2 of these, straddling the exhaust, have a sleeve for one that insists on the manifold itself. darn. moreover, they have a completely different shape from the others, and are also set back from the ring. so? Could I pretende to ignore that issue? Yes of course. I did it? obviously not. luckily I had printed two rings, so that I put aside the first one, in which I had set 18 pieces of iron with two components glue, and I started from scratch with the second one. I was not very happy with the unscheduled. it's okay that modeling is suffering, but here it is striving for martyrdom! anyway, let's say that now it is more or less good, so with a new exhaust manifold in magic sculpt and 18 new sleeves in place, I get back to the front details. the alu air intakes of the radiators seemed too small to me, so I replaced them with copper ones. here the external part of the collector looks gigantic, but it still needs to be corrected with files. what I needed was a solid rear end to match the original muffler, all the way to something like this: there is still a lot to do, but at least now I have a base to build on. once the gluing of the iron wire sleeves in the ring was dry, I coated them as for the first ring, and I added a finite but still high number of photo-etched bolts to the crankcase. to give as much shape as possible to the originals, I added copper wires to the air intakes of the radiators, using them as a structure for further grouting and definition of the volumes. as I am writing, phase 2 is drying up: collector-cylinder gluing. once this is complete, I will be able to start with the colors, barring complications. cheers, Paolo.

A-6A Intruder VA-165 Trumpeter 1:32 This time on a black background and I hope the photos will be of better quality.

Hi Everyone, Last year I made the concrete decision that there would be no more builds without figures and a base. Consequently, my production rate has dropped while my other skills may have made slight improvements. 1./Ergänzungs-Zerstörergruppe Værløse was a temporary unit set up in Denmark for the creation of a Gruppe of NJG 3. It began with a veteran Gruppe from ZG 76 and was fleshed out with new pilots. The nose art is part mask, part decal. And the Stammkenzeichen are masks cut on my Silhouette Portrait. Thanks for looking.

@Pastor John And the Ju88 G6 updates too?.... sorry just hoping in advance lol

Alan they will be available again soon

It would be a good deal if the kit went together without a gigantic fight.... pass.

Not hurt, more mildly pi$$ed off me thinks. "Let's go where we receive praise and kindness and make money, not where the ungrateful apes are whooping and swinging from the rafters" sort of thing. They laugh, take a shot of sake, and okay the car kit and 1/24 women figurines in 1960s outfits. If the Japanese, through new firms like Fine Moulds, want dinky detailed kits of aircraft that's what we're going to be offered. The Chinese are going big-big-bigger but 1/18 is just too big. But there still exist six or more manufacturers producing new tool 1/32 scale kits, three of them in Eastern Europe, which is pretty good going. Tony

Lovely details Mark

Mine!

So happy today i got to knock 2 kits off my bucket list! plus the HS129 has the HUGE 75 cannon !!!

A bit delay on this project but I had my home designed decals printed but was not entirely happy with these..... Made a new design for the decals and now this new design is to be printed and also drawn and added some stencils: so in progress!

Tan paint. One of the greens next.

Now we're getting somewhere.....the initial painting is done! Base coated the tops and bottoms (painting the fuselage and wings separately) with Tamiya rattle can OD and Neutral Gray. The masking for the demarcation lines was done with Tamiya tape, rolled up lengthwise; with the big areas behind it masked off with blue painter's tape. I then spent most of this afternoon airbrushing MM 34086 OD and Neutral Gray to touch up the camo edges; followed by lightening both paints to get slightly lighter colors for post shading; which was then followed by a light misting of the original colors to tone down the post shading. A second, lighter OD color from Tamiya was used for the fabric covered ailerons, elevators, and rudder; and they were counter shaded in the same manner. There's still quite a ways to go on the finish with general weathering, panel line emphasis, chipping, and exhaust stains all yet to be done. But that's for next week! Getting there....slowly but surely! Gil

To start the new year I can post that the fuselage is now together! The fit of the halves was good to marginal, as can be expected with a large kit with a LOT of interior detail that has to fit inside precisely to get a good fit. Some sections fit pretty well with a "normal" seam, while other sections left 1/16-1/8in gaps. All of the seams were filled with gel superglue and immediately sanded smooth. The separate top section was also worked on, as the client wants it to remain removable. The windshield and side glass parts were cemented in place (EXCELLENT fit for those!) and some trimming and sanding done to get the best "loose" fit when placed on the fuselage. There's still a ways to go to get ready for the tail planes and wings to be added, but at least this may be the first true step towards "finishing this project! You can see that I had to shave the pilot (and copilot's) shoulders to help better the fit of the top fuselage section... The bottom seams are worse than the top seams, with gaps from 1/16-1/8in most of the way. This may simply be due to all of the interior parts that have to fit precisely (or else), or perhaps due to builder's error (or both). Still, not totally unexpected and nothing an experienced seam filler can't handle. Feels good to take a big step forward! Gil

Been a few weeks as the figures gave me some fits....like I figured they would! However, this is the end result.....over all as planned except for moving the top turret guy to the waist area because he'd interfere with the fit and ease of taking the top section of the fuselage on and off. Overall, I'm pleased....these are the first figures I've tried to "seriously" paint in a decade or more; though I'm sure more experienced painters will cringe a bit! By the way, the ball turret is just siting in position....next step is to close her up and start sanding seams! Gil