Smokey

For those that care to know, I discovered why the rims have the six extra holes, it’s so that either six spoke or eight spoke wheels can be bolted to it. Once you look at the geometry, that becomes perfectly clear.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A compulsive bid that I just happened to win, so I snatched some AM for it. Looks like a sweet kit. 
 

 

Oops, looks like I need more thinner. This is the worst of the lot; I'll try it again but it may need to be stripped, though I certainly hope not. The other assemblies look pretty good, so I'll leave them alone. 
 

 
Size comparison of the Merit '88 parts. This, when finished, will be huge. 
 

In between letting things dry and whatnot, I've been piddling with this. Not exactly what I'd call state of the art, but still, with some care, can be built into a very respectable large scale '88. 
 

Kevin, it is looking great. Thanks for the comparison of the two kits of details you see. Keep up the good work and look forward to seeing it finished.  Dan 

Hello, everyone!  Long time, no post.  After completing the "panzer of the river" dio back in February, I've started a few things but struggled to get anything across the finish line.  Happy (very) to report that this one is done.  It fought me most of the way, but by the time I'd gotten really frustrated with it, I was too far along to pitch it.  That said, I'm more or less happy with the result.  The decals have me fits and you'll see quite a bit of silvering which is just super frustrating.  I opted for decals as I wasn't confident that I would be able to get masks to lay down in the wing corrugations.  Turns out the decals didn't feel like doing it either.  Oh well.
 
I was really geeked about the Devastator kit when it came out, but in my opinion, Trumpeter managed to put out an aggressively mediocre kit.  In that regard, I guess Trumpeter managed to capture not only the form of the real airplane, but it's whole vibe too.  So, kudos to them on that front, I guess. (?)
 
Anyway, the fit was okay in general, but I had it in my head to really detail up the interior, only to find that it's really really spartan.  The whole bomb aimer's area is just pure fantasy and doesn't line up with any of the reference photos in @Dana Bell's recent book.  So, it made it a real challenge to want to try to do any extra detail work on the interior.  I suppose in the end absolutely none of it would be seen anyway, especially with the wings folded, but I would have known.   
 
That said, I did use @airscale's PE and 3D printed products to add detail where I could.  I can't recommend these highly enough and they're almost a requirement in my opinion.  Off the top of my head, I used the interior set, the prop, wheels, gunsight, wing fold, and twin .30 mount.  All fit pretty well without having to do much fiddling with adjacent parts and the added detail was/is lovely.  Thanks @airscale!
 
I ordered the ASK stencil set as the kit-provided stencils are ridiculous.  However, I would also suggest that the ASK set is only slightly less ridiculous as they are rife with spelling errors and their instructions seemingly have you placing them randomly around the airplane.  Weird.  I used the Gold Medal decals for the aircraft markings and, fortunately, they came with stencils and much more plausible placement instructions.  Any issues with them laying down on the model are mine, not theirs.  Highly recommend the Gold Medal set.  
 
Also, if you don't have Dana's recent TBD reference book, just buy it.  It's a fascinating walk through a really weird, esoteric, and utterly mid aircraft.
 
I digress.  This is my rendition of T-14, George Gay's aircraft from VT-8 on the day he became the sole survivor of his group's attack on the Japanese carrier fleet at Midway.  If anyone's not familiar with it, here's a short primer on the whole thing.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VT-8  Enjoy!  
 





























 
 
 
 

All versions were improved in depth. And they now include decals, so the low relief options have been eliminated.
 
We show you a good resolution picture of the fairing version for the Tamiya F-16, with open petals and with the engine off.
 

 
This REAL picture shows how they come out of the laser printer. Without sanding or smoothing anything. This is the quality we are looking for.
 
Javier Povedano
Tecnikit

This book begs the question, can one ever have too many Tiger references? I think not. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Well, Model Maker is making a Mask & Decal set for the "Blue Carbon Warrior"
 

 
/Niels

Just received this, an outstanding book on the German 88mm Flak guns. 
 

Pieces of .010 rod added to represent welds. Coated numerous times with Tamiya cement, they just sort of melt into acceptable welds. While they look a little rough right now, once thoroughly dry and buffed with Scotch-Brite, they'll look just fine. 
 

 
 

new Old Man Blog n. 137 posted on ZM website
https://www.zoukeimura.co.jp/en/sentiment/oyajiblog_137.html
 
it's fully dedicated to Ho 229B release, which is scheduled for August
 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legs (trails) are now more or less completely assembled but still need some minor cleanup of smaller parts. I’m holding off on the gun cleaning rods until I can confirm the color needed.
 

Posted at FB an hour ago

https://www.zoukeimura.co.jp/sentiment/oyajiblog_135.html
 
Ho-229B to be released in summer 2025

 

 

 
 
Ki-100 expected end of 2025 or early 2026

 

 
P-51B/C expected in 2026

 

 
 

as posted on britmodeller https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235154328-135-douglas-sbd-3-4-dauntless-by-border-models-3d-render/
 
 

 

And yet one more for the 1:16 pile.
 

Here is a photo of the 3D printed Cessna A-37B Dragonfly parts in 1/32 scale.

Oh, more goodies. I've had a resurgence of interest in the Concorde and am currently trying to justify a 1:72 kit purchase, so just recently snatched this book.
 

 
I had good reason to finally purchase this great Schiffer book on the K5,...
 

 
and this is that reason. A nice deal with our own LSP_Ray.
 

Hi,
 
I've visited the massive (almost 2500 models registered for competition) show in Moson today.
And I want to share some interesting LSP presented there. I'm not sure if these were discussed here already, as I haven't been here taht often lately.
 
Breguet Bre.693AB2 by mhmodels.cz coming in 1:32 later this year:


 
S.B.S. Model's B-17G nose for HK kits (probably nothing new for most of you):

 
F-4B Phantom II by redpill:
 

 
And LukGraph looking great:

 
I'll put some LSP models from the show into separate post.

Juraj

Well of course not the kind you naughty people were thinking of, no…..a much more “engaging” Ménage à trois
 

 
As a research resource, as an historical reference, as the, dare I offer, ultimate in accurate modelling information the series is without rivals. This picture really hits the nail on the head for my current project:
 

 
There’s so much in the picture to study, to make use of….it’s fabulous. The author, Chris Thomas of course, really knows his stuff about Typhoons, and, ummmm:
 

 
….Tempests! I understand there will be a fourth volume about the Tiffy covering its service till the end of hostilities. All good stuff. 
 

For all my Greek friends form Arta, Larissa, Ioannina, Thessaloniki and Athens
 
This is my latest finished project - HAF TA-7C at 1:32 scale. For base I used trumpeter A-7 E Corsair II model.
It needs a lot of rework - the lower air intake, front wind screen, the canopy, of course - two cockpits, the base of vertical stab, the nose cone.
The AM for this project were: 2 Aires cockpits, Reskit jet nozle, wing pylons, wheels,  Black dog set for avionics , nose, and main gear bays.
The transparent parts are vacuum forms with the shape close to the real thing - you know the trumpeter parts are far from it
For Greek markings and numbers I used home made masks, only  the tech stencils are decals.
So here she is:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Hope you will like her
Thanks as always for stopping by.
Have a nice day and Cheers friends !!!
 

I got to cross off one of my Grail kits from my list today. I made to the LHS to pick up the Echelon Lightning kit that they've had in storage for the last few years. They finally got it priced last week and I promptly bought it. 
 

 
Everything looks to be in great shape. The canopy is a bit yellowed, no surprise but Aerocraft makes a replacement so that's my next stop. 
 
Looks like I can put the Trumpy kit out to pasture now. 
 
Carl