discus

People selling hobby kits and accessories in the USA to a world-wide market need to consider this:   The US used to be the world leader in mail order sales - you are no longer the world  leader!   Your country's postal charges are insane!!!   For example, I wanted I to buy a decal sheet for a kit I'm building:  Assuming the retailer has a good moral compass, how on earth can you justify a postage charge of US$32 to Australia?   It's a flat f#@king sheet that fits into a business envelope!! - Why $32 from the west coast?   I just bought the same decal sheet from Hannants in London and it cost me less in total than the US postage rate alone - something to consider for people wanting to buy accessories for their kits!!!   Just say'n...

Last week, I asked Eduard a specific question via e-mail, about 1/32 scale.
My question was,"are you planning to produce 1/32 P-51B in the near future, after 1/48 scale?"
According to their answer, they do not have such plans at the moment.
We need to entertain ourselves with the ugly toys we have

I'm regularly reading that. This is true but limiting the logic to basic economics is an error when there is another elephant in the room: modellers demography! Our hobby is aging and the renewal of the population has a very bad rate except in a very limited number of western countries and European brands do not really sell in China. This is important as a new product will not be bought by many 'new' customers. It is targeted to the same population than the prior one we already have in the stash and that will be possibly difficult to surpass... So, yes, the availability of existing competing products has an obvious impact on profitability. I can give you ten examples of cases of releases I did not get or just purchased one kit of the range because I already have multiple copies of that topic in my stash. I know all my friends are doing the same and typically this applies to "topics that sell"...

We already got THREE correct and different Mk.IX! Even if any Spit sells, I'm not convinced they will sell tons of them. Do not forget when they released their 1/32 Emil (Me 109 sell as well!), there was no good available kit and they did not look thrilled by the sales...

The Hyperscale form now has Ask Eduard section and Validimr Sulc responded to an inquiry about 1/32 contenders.  He confirmed that 1/32 is in consideration and said the the most likely candidates are the Fw 190 A, Bf 109G, and Spitfire IX...
 
" But realistically, if we have to go to 1/32, it'll be a Fw 190 A or a Bf 109G or a Spitfire, and quite possibly it'll be a Spitfire, because we actually have a finished design for a Spitfire Mk.IX that we didn't release  about 15 years ago, because Tamiya released it first. So the quickest way to get a new 1/32 kit from Eduardo is to modify the old Spitfire Mk.IX design to current parameters and standards and we're done. " 

The Witch "rejuvenation" is completed.
 

 
Better photos  coming soon...

Some more progress.
 
In the end I decided to try the decals for the white scheme and it turn out fine. The white decals are thick enough to cover well on top of the red.
It was not easy to place since the htp is already in place so I had to cut the decal in several pieces to adjust it. I did some touch up of the white paint with a small brush.
 

 
 
The propeller is finished. not perfect but I'll leave it as it is since the best is the ennemy of the good.
It is the eduard resin part for the revell P-51. Very nicely casted. I sanded the leading edge of the blades to have the specific Strega shape.
I used the Green Stuff Worl Chrome. the airbrush variant was not available so I used the handbursh version of the product deluted 50/50 with alcool 90° to spray it. It turned out quite nice.
 
 
After a failed test with the vallejo metal varnish, I found out that VMS varnishes are also water based. The test was satisfactory. We loose just a bit of the shine of the chrome but not so much (you can see the reflection on the spinner.) So I used it to protect the chrome parts. If unprotected this chrome paint will be subject to finger prints from the slightest touch...
 

 

We are almost there :
 
After two coats of Vallejo Polyurethane glosss varnish : it's time for the final touch :
 
Landing gear installation.

 
And the canopy... That was not a fun part.. I hate vacuform so much....
It's a leftover from my September Fury built so not really made for a P-51 conversion... It was difficult to cut it to the right size and adjust it. But with some patience, I managed to have something more or less convincing.

 
Built completed !
I'll do better photos with the lightbox and a proper camera someday.


 
 

Progress of the day:
 
Decals are set on Dago:
I used the sheet from Draw decals, they are great. Actually they drastically improved in quality since I used then ten years ago when I built Strega.
 



 
On the other side of the bench, some progress on Strega as well :
 
I rework the radiator air intake : remove the original one from kit that was way too small and replaced it by the normal P-51 intake from the revell kit I used for Dago and added some bits of plastic card here and there.
 

 
It's not fully accurate but way better than the previous one...
 

 
After hours of puttying and sanding and a layer of Mr surface 1500 : the surface is still not great but that will do...

 
Brand new propeller from Eduard to replace the old one. I reworked the blades tip and leading edge to give them the typical shape.
 

 
 

Gloss varnish is drying on Dago.
 
Meanwhile....
Refurbishing has started for Strega. I'll put a brand new prop (you can see it below).
This is the old heritage aviation model.
 

Everything was resprayed properly :
 

 
And the prop is ready. I used Green Stuff World chrome. It's the best chrome paint I've seen so far. the only dowside I see is that it is strongly recommended not to varnish them to lot loose the shine... but they are not protected and it could be a problem in time or while manipulating the parts.

 
I usually use Vallejo Metal Colors like here on the inner side of the landing gear doors but their chrome is not as shinny...
 

 

Fuselage conversion is complete...
 
Lots of putty and sanding...
 
 
 

 
 
another part of an aux fuel tank (from a Skyraider I think) was recycled here...


 
Overall cote of Mr Surfacer 1500


 
On to the paintshop now...
 
 

The cockpit. I did not put too much effort as I will keep the canopy close and there will be not much to see. It is not representative of the real one but that's good enough.
Instrument decals are from Anyz and the seat belts are Eduard PE. The seat comes from the heritage Aviation kit I used for Strega. There was two of them... lucky me.
 

 
I also modified the ventral air intake. On the racers it is longer and there's no gap with the wing (It should also be a bit more flat but that was way to much changes so I kept it like this)
I used a P-47 aux fuel tank (the flat type) for the shape. I was more or less the right size and shape.
 

 
Dago Red has some sort of winglets, I made them from a photoetched panel leftover from a previous kit.
 

Next step : building the modified fuselage using styrene sticks
 

 
After a lot of cutting and glueing...
 

 
Lots of putty and sanding awaiting to happen...
 
I also filled in the panel lines on the wings
 

 

I'll use the decals from Draw Decals.
 
I don't know if it will be as fun as painting voodoo was with its green/yellow/purple/checkered livery.... that was a hell of a job, especially as I was still using handbrushes then... (the checkered part was in decals )
 
My racing hangar so far :
Strega (1/32 Heritage aviation Models) . I actually plan to refurbish it after I'm finish with Dago as this one suffered during my recent move)

 
Red Baron : awesome model by Paul Fisher (1/32)

 
Special Hobby in the wrong scale (1/48

 
September fury (1/32 Hobbysomething with specific parts (prop and spinner, wheels, canopy and engine cowls) kindly provided by Paul fisher.

 
Voodoo (1/32 Heritage)

 
 
Caudron C460 (williams Bros 1/32) It's a very small airplane (about half the size of a P-51...)
That particular plane actually won the national air races in 1936 flown by a French pilote (Michel Detroyat)
 

 
 
 

Hello
 
Here is a quick WIP of a project I started some times ago.
 
The goal is to represent Dago Red
https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:P-51D_Mustang_Dago_Red.jpg
 
I built Voodoo and Strega few years ago from the Heritage aviation models kit but since it is not available anymore, I'll do that the hard way, starting from the Revell P-51D model.... (cutting bits and pieces from the Tamyia kit was not an option... )
 
 
First, unpack the saw and start the surgery:
The hatched part will be removed.
 

 

 
While we are at it, I also cut the wing tips (these racers have a reduced wing span. Also some of them have a reduce span on the horizontal stabilizer but for Dago, it seems it had both versions so I kept the original stapbilizer)
 

 
And remove the guns
 

 
 
So far so good...
 

As much as I welcome new blood in our scale, if they do come back in to 1/32 with anything even close to their old Bf109 they will likely be laughed at, and even scaling up their 1/48 stuff just won't fly in my book.
 
They make pretty looking kits but I think that Eduard's engineering choices in 1/48 - given they are meant to be at the forefront of the hobby - are often not great, often really poor... watching a few YouTube vids of very good modellers building some of their new kits and they are saying things along the lines of "well, the fit and engineering is nowhere near Arma Hobby, but it's still ok". 
 
If Eduard were a new outfit, they maybe get a pass, but they've been going for years now; that they have been outstripped by a complete newbie like Arma speaks volumes.
 
Whether they like it or not they are going to be judged against Tamiya and now Kotare... they better get ready for some brutal honesty, but I seem to recall that they tended not to like that...

Hello
 
Here is my latest built (completed some times ago actually...)
 
It is the HKM 1/48 B-17G. A pleasant built.
Addons :
Eduard PE for the inside + space for the cockpit
Eduard Brassin exhaust pipes, turbochargers and wheels
Eduard bronze landing gears
Master gun barrels
Superscale Decals
 
It is my first kit painted with an airbrush... I used Tamyia paints.
 
Sorry for the poor quality of the picts, I had to take them with my phone as the model is way too big for the lighting box.
 











 
 
 

It’s no more the internet than the traditional brick-and-mortar store unable to deal with the myriad extra-niched accessories on the market nowadays.
It started with special decals, then resin add-ons, ready-painted cockpits, ready-cut canopy masks, … Add to that the current trend of 3D designers trying to make a fast buck. How many of these a shop owner should stock to satisfy an ever-needing customer?  
Why model shops are closing all over the world? Look no further.

If you are building this kit, you may have already found this out.  Part C19, which is the main floor for the cockpit area and behind is "bent" or warped as it comes in the kit.  The front of the part is bent down slightly.  When you attempt to fit the part to the sidewalls you will find that the fit is off due to the portion of the part that is bend slightly down.   Due to the design of the kit the fit of the sidewalls is IMO critical to the overall appearance and fit and finish.  There is a long slot on each part of the main sidewalls where C19 is supposed to go and that slot is straight not bent forwards at the front.  
 
I did not catch this on my current build and thus am having to figure out a way to build it so I can get good glue fit around the front sides of C19.  It would have been easy enough to put the part in warm/hot water and bend it back to straight, however now with all the various cockpit parts glued in and painted its too late for that on this kit.  
 
Dry fitting C19 to the right sidewall, the back fits perfectly, front is off just a bit so when gluing this pay particular attention to the fit.  It's similar to the Ta-152 design which also IMO had some fit issues.  
 
Just wanted to pass this on as the fix is very easy if done before you start building the cockpit. 
 
Paul 
 

Just saw this, I have stuck a note in the box to remind me when I start the kit.

I built the navy version of the ZM kit. I loved it so much thatn when finished I went right away for the AF version.
 
The only difficulty to me is the complexe but clever wing folding mechanism (if you want to keep the possibility to fold/unfold the wings)
There is an additional piece of instruction on ZM website.
 
Appart from that, it was a joy to build.
 

The flight line with Strega... (same kit with decals from Draw Decals)


and Red Baron (from Fisher Models)

Hello,
 
Here is the highly modified P-51 "Voodoo" winner of the 2013 and 2014 Reno air race.
I had the chance to see those beast in action in 2010.

 
The kit is from Heritage Aviation. I already used it few years ago to do "Strega".

 
I built this one for a friendly contest dedicated to racers on a french forum.
 
I used some decals from Red Pegasus, prop blades from Quickboost, some bits and pieces remaining from the Tamyia P-51.
I also tested the seat belts in fabric from Eduard.
Painted as usual: brush and humbrol enamels.
 
I'll put some pics of the built later.
 





 

Hello,

Few months ago, I poster that picture in "Make the others jealous" tread. I don't think many were jealous but some of you told me I was crazy and that I wouldn't survive it....


 
Well.... I survived !!! OK it is not my best looking built ever but anyway, I am happy I managed to finish it and turn it into a decent result.
 
So I had a lot aftermarket stuff to try improving the beast.:
- Resin landing gear bays (Aires)
- Resin wheels (Barracuda)
- Photoetch for the cockpit (Eduard)
- Fabric harness (???)
- New decals (Flevo)
- white metal landing gear legs (Scale A/C conversion) (That I eventually did not used as they were too ugly and the metal is not stiff enough to bear the weigh of the plane)
- resin 500 pounders (Eduard)

I will not say again all that was already said about the non quality of this kit. The only thing is that I do not understand that no other brand produced a decent F4u-4. I am not necessarily thinking about Tamyia here (although I hope...) but Hasagawa or even Special Hobby (given the quality of their recent Tempest) should think about it seriously.
 
So it took several months, a lot of patience and energy, lots of putty and sanding.
Especially, the inside of the wings were sanded until I was almost trough to fit the resing L/G bays.
Paint is a mis of 015, 068, 021 and 022. (I found it on an other forum and looks nice)
I did not wanted a dirty korean war corsair but rather a clean airshow warbird.
I just had a juice of aluminium to highlight some of the rivets on the engine cowls
 
And that's it.











 
Cheers
Olivier