csavaglio

This will be my last post for the foreseeable future. I'm not leaving because I'm disgusted, feel wronged, or my feelings are hurt. Yes, there are certain members that I don't care for and grate on me, but not enough to warrant me leaving on their own. I'm leaving because I feel that this forum has gone in a different direction than myself. It's become far too serious with the rivet counting (which is fine, to a point, when constructive), manufacturer bashing, and the overall "mood" and feel of the forum. I work with NASA doing orbit operations on spacecraft. I have an extremely stressful job that requires far more attention to detail than any rivet counting done here. That said, the last thing I want is make my past time as intense. My intent was not to ask anyone to change, although I think it got people pretty vocal about what they think is wrong around here. Simply put, we've grown apart. This is a hobby, so there's no need to stick around a place where you have vastly differing ideas and opinions. When I got here, I enjoyed it because most of us had similar ideas on the spirit of the hobby. Now, we simply do not, so I'm moving along. Chris

Guys, let me just clear some stuff up. This has nothing to do with just a few topics that slid downhill. It has to do with the overall feel of the forum and environment. I don't feel like my own opinions were attacked (much) and I don't think I'm being oversensitive about things....anyone that's ever met me in real life can back me up on that. I have just been getting more and more frustrated with the direction the forum has gone.

Iain, I never considered your posts anything but constructive and helpful. Your goal was to make a more accurate model by actually fixing them and that's a good thing. It's the guys who go around damning a kit (many of whom don't even own the kit they're damning or defending), that have gotten out of hand. I had a whole long post written, but decided not to send it. I don't really feel the need to explain myself further. From the posts, it seems like most of the guys understand where I'm coming from. Really, I just want to distance myself from the poison pills that have surfaced and are making me dislike the hobby. 99% of the guys here and none of the moderators are part of the problem. But, as usual, it's the loudest, most obnoxious 1% that ruin things for the rest of us. I will miss most of the guys here, but there are enough things that have soured me to it, that I don't want to be a part of it. If any of you guys run into me at a contest or wherever, still say hey and we can grab a beer, but I need to go back to enjoying the hobby for what it's supposed to be. Maybe later down the road, I'll come back, but I'd rather distance myself from the negativity. Chris

This is it for me. With the addition of several new members who have upset what used to be a balanced and open forum, along with the absurd rivet counting that the recent batch of kits has brought, there's no way I want to be a part of this group any longer. This forum has devolved into the "other" forum that many refer to with distaste. This forum has been helpful over the years, but lately has been more and more frustrating, with many threads breaking down into micrometer measuring nonsense and how no kit is worth it because it's not perfect. This is exactly why many of us left the other forums. What I'm saying is that this place isn't fun any longer and takes itself and the hobby far too serious now. And because it is sucking the fun out of what is supposed to be an enjoyable past time, I want no part of it. C

I would use the resin gun bodies and mate them up with some Master brass careless. The guns look a whole lot better than the kit ones.....no sink marks for starters. I picked up an Aires gun set....4 guns....to put in the waist and nose where the breaches will be very visible.

Having seen what Eduard's been doing with their Brassin line, I have no doubt it'll all be very impressive. My only concern will be how much coin they're going to want for it. Pure guess, but I'd think the MGs will be in the $20-30 range with each engine set costing aroun $50...... that's just a guess though based on what previous sets have cost. Time will tell..... Chris

Did the B/C models come with the shrouds from the factory too or was it just for the D's? Dan, I've seen period photos of crate engines in maintenance scenes (and museum engines) with simple metal block off plates bolted where the exhausts would be.....not one plate accross all the ports, but one plate for each port. I can't recall what color the period ones were, but the ones I've typically seen in museums were red, as I recall. Chris

Good lord, Jeff. I'm glad you're ok. Cars are replaceable, people aren't. Don't be a stranger, bro. I haven't heard from you in forever. Chris

I'm also not really sure what to be answering here, but I'll throw in my 2 cents (with today's dollar, that's not worth much). Personally, on the rare occasion I model an exposed engine, I model it as it would look with the real panel removed, i.e., like the photo above with the exhausts in place. I'm a car guy and have worked on my fair share of engines. When cylinder heads have no exhaust, the ports aren't blocked off like you typically see in models, they're open and you can see the valve stems. Leaving the exhaust ports flashed over without detail would be the same to me as leaving exhaust tips solid or not drilling out a gun barrel. As far as Mustangs go, if I recall, some aircraft didn't have the shroud installed at all, some had it, and some had it removed later on.

Speaking of the devil, I got an email for Squadron's current sale....the Mig-15 is marked down to $14 and the Mig-17 is $11........ The good thing about the Mig-15 is that there are some good decal sheets out there for it and you should still be able to get the corrected vac canopy.

The Mig-15 topic got me wondering since other expressed other kits that fit worse. I don't usually post gossipy, open ended question topics, but I'd love to know what kits to avoid like the plague...... What the worst fitting kits you've ever had the pleasure of building/aborting? C

What 1/32 can you buy all day long brand new from retailers for 17 bucks (scale hobbyist and others......)? You get what you pay for. Scribed detail is very heavy and inconsistent, detail is soft and iffy in a lot places (well, anywhere there should be detail), the windscreen shape and framing is completely made up (they added an entire pane of plexiglass!!!!), and worst of all, I can't think of a single kit in any scale or genre that has worse fit. Yes, oh yes, it is truly awful. Ask any of us poor souls who built it. That said, going by the amount of hours required / cost of the kit ratio, it really can't be beat. Heck what other kit can you spend $11 on (if you search around a little) and spend endless hours curled up in the corner of your hobby room questioning where there's a god? I'll put it this way, I've aquired 4 or 5 of the Mig-15/17 kits over the years.....I got one at a local kit auction for 5 bucks that had no less than 3 complete kits in the box..... and I still picked up a Horizon vacuform Mig-15 with the thought that it'd be easier to build. Chris

Yeah, I stopped bothering to even list ebay items with overseas shipping available anymore. Too many complaints about the cost of shipping ever since the big hikes in postal prices the last 2 years. It does work both ways, though.....when I was doing a lot of odd ball 1/48 WWI stuff 6 or 7 years ago, a lot of the products came out of Europe. I ordered one time from Hannants and was horrified at the shipping cost.....$40-50 to ship a couple small resin kits. C

Hopefully it hasn't been mentioned yet, but in the new Eduard newsletter, they're releasing fabric versions of their seatbelts this month (old news, I think) and for December, a Brassin MG set and 4 Brassin engine sets....one unique set for each engine/cowl. It was mentioned that there would be a BigSin set that includes all 4 engines (why on Earth would anyone only use 1 aftermarket engine.....). It was also mentioned that there would be 2 BigEd sets for the PE. Just a guess, but I would figure on separate exterior and interior BigEd sets. For those among us who haven't spent enough money on their B-17, there you go.... The Brassin stuff is usually pretty reasonable, but I'm guessing those engines are gonna add up. I'll have to see if they're worth picking up when the pricing gets finalized. Chris

Don't let them discourage you. Its a truly awful kit, but with a lot of work, a corrected squadron canopy,AMS or Black Box cockpit, it can be done. Just be prepared by keeping a lot of dollars handy for the swear jar. He's right in that the HC boxes have decent and interesting decals. The plastic is the same though. Chris