Rainer Hoffmann

Land fill? Jeez, you guys are lucky ... Over here in Germany plastic models are considered toxic waste that has to be disposed of properly. At a premium Cheers Rainer

Sorry, mate, I don't have PayPal myself. Cheers Rainer

Oh, too bad. I didn't have any problems, even though my computer is about 7 years old now ... Cheers Rainer

My favourite free CAD program is fusion 360: https://www.autodesk.com/campaigns/fusion-360-for-hobbyists Many good videos on YT to learn the basics. Only the activation procedure is a bit tedious. You need to open an account with Autodesk but in my humble opinion it's worth it. Cheers Rainer

I hope it's ok to post this here, but I think it's very nice. Cheers Rainer

Ha, you spotted it! But yes, close enough for me. Cheers Rainer

Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Metro-Goldwin-Mayer, 1959 Cheers Rainer

Well, I haven't built a kit in decades ... Waste of money, I fear Cheers Rainer

Yes, that's a proper "salad" indeed. Interesting analysis (I guess, it's part of your dissertation, is it not? ). Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing Super Hornets and Growlers in German camo. Don't hope for too much ... But Jagel would be close enough to home for a short photo trip, so yes, let's hope Cheers Rainer

No, I really don't. I've pretty much lost interest in kits. Scratch building is what I like. Not that I get much done these days ... Cheers Rainer

Well, I have actually 0, null, nada, none in my stash. Oh, wait, that means I don't have a stash, now does it? I never had a stash. As a kid I just bought one kit and built it. Then I bought the next one and built it. Simple as that. And once I started scratch building there was just a stash of styrene sheets, rods, what have you. These days I have added a lot of metall to that stash. Do I intend to build all there is in my stash? Certainly Will I be able to actually do that? Ah, who knows? Cheers Rainer

In my case it's not at all a theme. I need to be fascinated by the shape of the aircraft. Some spark my interest, others are simply not my cup of tea. Often it is a certain picture, taken from a certain angle and I'm hooked. I remember seeing an in-flight shot of the first YF-16 (in that famous red, blue and white scheme) in a German aviation magazine (Flug Revue) back in 1975 and I knew I had to build a model. So I scratched one in the odd scale of 1:96 ... I am mostly interested in post war jets but there are some noticable exeptions like the Super Connie, the Hawkeye or the Bronco and some helos. Now actually modelling them is a slightly different story. Back in the olden days when I actually finished my builds I even did some mainstrem WWII subjects (Bf 109 and Spitfire, who would have thought ...). These days I'm still hoping to one day finish my LSP Viggen. One can hope, can we not? Cheers Rainer

I was searching my files for some pictures and came across this one: It's a 1:48 Hasegawa kit dating back to, I believe, 1981 or 82. Back then my favourite model magazine had a yearly photo contest and my picture of that F-16 won first prize. Note, that I hadn't even heard about weathering. That model is squeaky clean. Also note: no Photoshop involved The boom was scratch built. Cheers Rainer

Yes, indeed. As much as I like the Hornet/Growler, I'm not at all convinced that we will ever see them in Luftwaffe camo.

Nope. Too expensive ;-) But anyway, I guess when this Covid thing will be over there will be no money left to buy fancy fighter aircraft ... Cheers Rainer

Yes, indeed. That would be nice.

Well, but they are meant to replace the Tornados. It seems they want to order another 45 Eurofighters as well. Rainer

Imagine a Growler in Norm 72 camo ... Just saying. Cheers Rainer

Well, I did understand that. It was also meant as humour when I said that the JG-71 had just converted from the F-4F to the Eurofighter. That was 7 (seven) years ago. And now the Luftwaffe wants to replace a 40 year old fighter with a 38 year old fighter ;-) Cheers Rainer

A, well, I don't think the JG-71 "Richthofen" will get any Growlers. They just converted from the Phantom to the Eurofighter ... Cheers Rainer

Dear fellow modellers, the rumours that Germany is buying 45 FA-18s (including some Growlers) are becoming more and more frequent. German Defence Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK) has just confirmed such considerations. If this deal is approved I hope to see those FA-18s in an interesting camo scheme. Well, one can hope, now can we? Cheers Rainer

Hi Ben, a graphics tablet such as the Bamboo line by Wacom is mainly used for free-hand drawing. For tracing bitmaps and fuselage cheat lines you don't need a graphics tablet. A mouse will be fine. However, you need to be familiar with Bezier curves for what you have in mind. Hope this helps. Cheers Rainer

Sorry, Iain, can't help you there. But if you could get hold of such drawings I would be interested myself. When I prepared a drawing of an L-1049 G back in ... oh, I don't remember ... those cowlings gave me a headache. I just could not get them right. Cheers Rainer

Thanks a lot for your dedication to LSP, Kev. I hope you'll be around here in the future as a modeller if not as an administrator. Cheers Rainer

Your memory is correct. With the wings fully forward during take off and landing the fixed pylons were toed in by 10 degrees. With the wings in the cruise setting (26 degrees) they were parallel to the aircraft centerline. Imagine the drag during take off considering that the FB-111A was, let's say, a bit underpowered ... Cheers Rainer