Tnarg

He said "Porco Rosso". Please, Pretty Please, with Sugar on Top. Tnarg

They gave us two clues. I don't recognize the planes, but I see fabric and some sort of grommet (not Wallace) as well as something that looks like rib tape, but doesn't really match that completely. I think they enjoyed our puzzling out the next kit when they worked at their previous company, so they are doing it to us again. Thanks for some more fun, Tnarg

I asked them for a change of address and they replied that they were back to work at least half time, expanding their production and will give an update at the end of June. Patience is a hard thing, but they seem to be moving ahead. As I am preparing a move, I am downsizing (say it ain't so), but this is a grail kit for me, so I wait with great anticipation. My friend Dale suggested that I stop worrying about the difference between the number of kits in the stash and the number of kits that I actually start working on (forget the rate of finishing anything). "Just enjoy taking them out and drooling over them", was his exact quote. Tnarg

Looking at that beautiful box art makes me hope that they included the ladder. Yes, my name is Grant and I am a detailaholic. Tnarg

Miss Santa is just a pin up... like Dottie Mae. She is cute, but I really worry about frostbite with those bare legs on a cold day in the snow. "Pippi" or rather the unnamed female "conscript" tech on page 87 of "Modern Combat Aircraft 21 Saab Viggen" by Robert F. Dorr actually appears to know what she is doing. We need a few good figures for this aircraft, even though it could stand alone with possibly the best camouflage paint scheme in existence. Me, I am just pleased that we finally have a Viggen in 1/32. Tnarg

I hope that Reedoak could find a way to create a sitting female technician (with those long braids coming out of her hat) as in one of the early Viggen books... She reminded me of Pippi Longstocking, but she was making that most powerful jet go as fast as it should, just like Pippi made everything fun in her book. Me, I am lucky to be a boring little "Tommy". Tnarg

Which color schemes are included? I can see an Italian example with the horse insignia (Baracca's) plus that other one with crossed something.... Tnarg OK, sorry I didn't check the website link... Ruffo di Calabria, Guynemer and an RFC machine flown by JD Hewett. Aftermarket decals should give us many, many more.

I don't have the Gemini, but have the Horizon Mercury capsules and launchers. They do an Atlas and a Redstone, plus the military and several early satellite versions in injection molded plastic with good detail. I wish they would release a Titan booster in injection, but Real Space Models and even Anigrand sell resin ones. You can find quite a few X-20 kits out there, but I like the 3D printed one I found on ebay from a guy in the UK. I'd like to put that one on a Titan booster or several versions of one. It didn't fly, but I sure fantasized about that as a kid and even carved a wooden model of it. That pilot wouldn't have been described as "SPAM in a can" as some said about Mercury. You could probably build a rocket garden starting with the V-2 and maybe even a kit of Goddard's rocket all in the small 1/72 scale... reasonably small except for when you try to build Apollo, Shuttle stack or maybe the Russian versions of Soyuz or the N-1 moon rocket... (not too likely to get that kit). We just can't place these in the same shelf with our 1/32 scale aircraft and see them in the same scale. Oh well, but if your interests go to fantasy, you can put Battlestar or Trek or Star Wars models next to them and fill up any shelf you want in 1/72. Tnarg

and hopefully tigers and angels... (although my stash has too many already, but wait... can there be too many tigers and angels?) Tnarg

Hoping to see that crocodile and dragon decorated aircraft. A Lithuanian one could be interesting too.... but that white cross insignia would be simple and not require a decal. Thanks for keeping some interesting aircraft coming. Tnarg

I will miss his perspective on life. He always had a drive to try something new and didn't let "life" stop him. Hoping you find joy in the next life Dale. Tnarg

It seems that if they included a few extra parts like the exhaust and the coolers you might be able to build the cowling closed up and still have the engine on display separately. That would be really nice if possible, but they would need to get the extra parts on the sprues. Tnarg

You modified a 50's concept into something which fits right in to the reality of spaceflight as of a few decades ago. I greatly admire your creative energy. Just amazing. Tnarg

Model construction isn't completely dead in the aftermath of video games, but it sure is a lot less widespread than back in the day. My younger grandson and I put together the Gojira monster kit that was 16 inches tall, with destruction in the diorama and he was thrilled with that. My older grandson really struggled with some of the Revell kits of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's cars. Too many fiddly bits in the suspension and details that were equally difficult for us to build back in the day. I guess we didn't mind the glue stains and limited paint, did we? Decals? Don't need no stinkin' decals. Thanks for the memories. Just remembering having lots of fun, Tnarg

There are a lot of wonderful books on Austro-Hungarian aircraft. Peter Grosz wrote the big one: "Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War One" and Dr. Martin O'Connor wrote "Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1914-1918". Both of these men are no longer with us, and we don't get to read Peter Grosz' second volume on the Naval Aircraft. Other good books are in German. Keimel's "Osterreich's Luftfahrzeuge", Peter Schupita's "Die k.u.k. Seeflieger" and three authors did a good book with profiles " Die Flugzeuge der k.u.k. Luftfahrtruppe und Seeflieger 1914-1918". A more recent profile of Gottfried Banfield went to two volumes and told a bit about his experiences and the opposing fighters on the Allied sides. Boris Ciglic wrote a great book on "Seaplanes of Bocche" which has a lot of history and photos of that part of their forces. There are quite a few Datafiles and some Osprey books on Austro Hungarian Aviation. If you need ISBN numbers, let me know. Unfortunately, some of these are not inexpensive references. Tnarg