BiggTim

Another really nice one! Very cool indeed! Tim

Wow, you did a GREAT job on that old kit!! Always loved that funny looking bird!!

That's exactly what I did on my 1:16 DVII build some years back. Worked great!

Thanks, but no, I have that photo. It's the contents of the bag at the top of the picture that I can't find any record of. I can make out a few of the parts, but not all of them.

I'm trying to put together a T-33 cockpit (former AMS #32051) set for a customer, but once again, I don't have good photos of the small parts included in the set. I know most of it, but not all the small stuff. Does anyone have a set they can take some pics of with all the parts laid out for me? Thanks ! Tim

Ouch, but nice save. If that had happened to me, I would have binned it and printed another one..... And you're right, most standard SLA resin is pretty tough, but brittle like polycarbonate - when it goes, it just explodes! Tim

That is a tough one for sure. I might suggest trying to find a canopy from another kit, like Hasegawa, and see if it fits better? Or maybe find an aftermarket canopy? Good luck, and I look forward to seeing how you fix it. Tim

I know it may not matter to many of you, but I lost a good old friend this past weekend, at the age of 100. He was a veteran of the USAAC in WW2, served with the 474th FG, 428th FS, as an assistant crew chief working on P-38 Lightings. He was fantastic human being, and a good friend, and I will miss him. Archie Lee Stuck. He is the reason I love P-38s so much. Tim

You suck, Kev!! I have at least 3...in 10 years.

I love the discussion that subject always generates!! I have been a draftsman (now 3D modeler) for pushing 35 years, so dealing with scale is, quite literally, a part of my daily life. It's fun to suck other people into my world..... Tim

HAHA!! I am just having fun with this, but since you asked....1:35 is more of a bastard scale than any other scale except, perhaps, HO (1:87) because it does not correlate to virtually any other scale. For instance, most popular model scales have equivalents in architectural scale: 1:12 equates to 1" = 1 foot 1:16 equates to 3/4" = 1 foot 1:24 equates to 1/2" = 1 foot 1:48 equates to 1/4" = 1 foot 1:32 equates to 3/8" = 1 foot If you don't like imperial, then 1:35 doesn't even equate to any engineering or metric scale that I am aware of, so where did it come from? (Please note, I am just stirring the pot purely for fun! I value everyone's opinions on the subject and say "build what you like and have fun". More power to any company that keeps good kits coming!! Whether these are good kits or not, I cannot say) Tim

I wasn't even going down the scale road. But since you opened the can, I will NEVER build a plane in 1:35 scale. It's a bastard scale that should never have existed in the first place. I'll put up with it for armor, but only because I have little choice. There...happy now?

Uh, yes....but not in Chinese.

The poles and walls are not created by the software. Many people design everything, supports and all, in their model and then print it directly on the build plate without software generated supports, or add some manually placed supports within the software. Those poles serve two purposes, IMO. 1. When you SLA print small diameter things vertically, or small things in general, there isn't a lot of surface area touching the film at the bottom of the resin vat. In order to work, there actually has to be some adhesion to the film at each layer. Ever hear that quiet POP or thunk sound when the plate raises up? That's the piece pulling off the film. If it doesn't have enough resistance, the print will fail. The poles add surface area to increase adhesion. 2. They also help protect the prints during storage or shipping. The print in your photo was almost certainly built entirely in the model, then printed directly on the plate - note the slight deformity along the bottom edge. That happens a lot when printing on the plate. If you want to design the "tree style" supports in your model, I believe you can take the part into the slicing software, generate your supports, then save it out as an STL file. Then import it back into Fusion 360 and build the poles and walls before the final export to print. I personally have not done this yet, but have read about it. I hope this makes sense, and is of help. Tim

1. P-38 Lightning (big surprise to anyone who knows me) 2. F-4 Phantom 3. P-51 Mustang Honorable mention: Any Spitfire