bevelduc

I've already built the HPH Sea Hornet and Hornet and I personally I cannot wait!  I think it's the most beautiful aircraft that I've seen IMHO!!!

I've already built the HPH Sea Hornet and Hornet and I personally I cannot wait!  I think it's the most beautiful aircraft that I've seen IMHO!!!

Thank you!

just a heads up ......
 
Lucky models have 25%off all kits over US$190 plus $20 fixed sea freight
 
That makes kit AU$680 (US$480) plus freight
 
https://doc.luckymodel.com/NL220609-1258/newsletter.htm

I think model companies must bang their head against the wall wondering what decisions to take in respect of "to rivet or not to rivet' on a new kit. Put them on and people complain about size, placement, realism etc and if they don't, then the inevitable chorus goes up from the other side of  - "I'm going to have to use/buy a riveting wheel now to put all the rivets in that 'X' company should have included..blah blah"
 
As Lydgate famously said - "You can please.......!
 
Gary
 

Thanks must go to Aerocraft Models, I can now carry on with my Trumpy Lightning. 
 
The canopies are super clear, the resin parts are a unexpected bonus 
 
Great service with a good delivery of 10days from UK to Australia
 
I'll get my lightning back on the bench as soon as i finish my latest project
 
Thanks again Ali for saving this build 
 
These photos have also shown the huge step i have around the gun port....now where's my filler


 

Hi everyone, thanks for the outpouring of support. Lots of pain today but less shock. Anyway my wife wants to try and learn all the filing and sorting and packing in the hope of being able to keep going a little longer with me just supervising. Likewise SBS have offered to do much more of my casting - they had already started this as most of you know due to my struggling to continue for 15 months now -  but they are willing to do much more. I must now be a backseat driver and wait on other people's timescales and if it becomes obvious in the next few months that this is unworkable then I will look at where that leaves me but as things stand I am just physically incapable of carrying on with any part of AIMS. The hardest part is not the hobby but the health - knowing it is going to get worse not better. Typing is hard so if I do not answer a question please do not think me rude, all the best to you,
J

The plane I built for this Group Build represents a BF-109G-4/R6 flown by Ober Leutnant Rohwer of 2/JG 3 based at Monchen-Gladbach in the summer of 1943.  It is unusual for a G-4 in that it still has the open tail wheel and the camouflage pattern and colours are an earlier F type.  It bears the pilot's personal marking just below the left side of the canopy (which looks to my eye to be a bit rude ), and the Kiel badge on the right side, together with JG 3's unit badge on both sides of the engine cowling.
 
I've come across an interesting article recently quoting various pilots who survived operations at the time, and they make for some very interesting reading.  The comments would seem to confirm my belief that the 109G was past it's best and the only reason that so many Gustavs were made is because of the overwhelming need for fighters in the face of the Allied onslaught.  One of the best things about the 109 was that it was easy and quick to build, and it could fly higher than the BMW powered FW-190's.  It was lethal in experienced hands, but those experienced hands were declining rapidly in numbers by this time.  That it had to continue in service points more to the failures of the ME-209 and ME-309 projects, but as Gustav production continued, the flying qualities of the plane became harder and harder to deal with.  Let us remember that the 109 had a high wing loading at the very start.  The plane was designed to be flown by well trained men, and Luftwaffe training in 1939 and 1940 was superb and it was never an easy plane to fly.  But as the war progressed, the weight of the 109 increased, further impacting it's handling.  Adding more power gave a better top speed and rate of climb, as well as the ability to add extra guns, but the 109G now became much harder to fly.  The 109E had a much better roll rate than the G series, and the ailerons would seize up at speeds much over 300mph.  Added to which was a cockpit so cramped and a control column movement with only 4 inches each way in the rolling plane, pilots found rolling almost impossible, if not actually impossible at these speeds.  Pilots mostly hated the under wing cannons as the reduced speed and roll rate and the 30mm cannons needed against the Eighth Air Force bombers had a very slow rate of fire so manoevering to hit a target became harder.  Further, the ever heavier prop blades needed to soak up the extra power made handling your 109 harder still.  That might not have been such a problem if it had been possible to add extra blades as with the Spitfire, but as the engine controlled when the guns fired through the prop disk, adding more blades would have slowed down an already slow rate of fire.  Most pilots dreaded running into Mustangs in their "Kanonenboots" as escaping one on your tail was almost impossible in those circumstances as the only manoeuvers the pilot could countenance were in the vertical plane.  Yet Germany needed all the fighters it could get from 1943, so Gustav had to remain in production as to disturb the production lines would have dealt their aerial defense a fatal blow. 
 
So if you're still with me after that diatribe,  here's the extra pictures.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
That's it for now.  One final word on the model, which went together quite well.  The biggest issues were to do with the aftermarket Airies cockpit which I wanted to include to boost the detail of the kit, but was perhaps not a good choice.  It was readily available, just like the Gustav .  I'm aware that the kit has some fairly typical Trumpeter inaccuracies but it does go together well and was a kit I enjoyed building.  And, it made me think a bit more about my airbrushing, so a bit of a learning exercise too.
 
On to the next project.
 
 
Cheers,
Michael

All these planned AM bits for an already massively expensive kit just makes me laugh. Thought this kit was supposed to be perfection itself. 

About time! 

About time! 

About time! 

I think I may have met her in a club down in old Soho, the champagne tasted like cherry cola ...

What a lovely model!!

How about the DH-103 Hornet!!!!

How about the DH-103 Hornet!!!!

I'm looking for this sprue x 2.  I'm converting a Ju-88 and need this part. Any helps would be appericated

I’m building their B2 right now and it was a bit of a pig to go together. I do want to do a C3 at some point. Supposedly Zoukei Mura are working on an Ar 234. I’m hoping they do a C3 so I can do it with all the internals showing!

Of course you can use them.
Only 0.2% of the community know about the innumerable different variations in Liberators or care that a pitot tube is in the wrong place or the framing on the tail turret is incorrect for that individual model.
The majority of the community are happy to have a 1/32 Liberator its a pity your glass is fully empty outlook pops up to tell people what they cant do and we are all wrong and Hobbyboss are to be blamed for not including another half box of optional parts.
You cant be serious can you?..oh thats right you just dont like Trumpeter/Hobbyboss..
You just cant help yourself to criticize a Trumpeter/Hobbyboss kit for missing the 8 extra sprues it would take to satisfy you increasing the price massively however you failed to criticize HK Models for missing the 2 parts for the two major Lancaster canopy variations..how surprising.
Everyone knows Liberators had more variations than you can point a stick at and most will be happy to see some AM stuff to fill the gap of the huge variations. Many dont care...
But please the company you represent failed to include 2 parts that are a massive omission on the Lancaster which is double the price so how about you worry about HK Models mistakes first before you heap criticism on another manufacturer.
Glass houses et al...
 

This is the kind of model's that makes me want to quit! Beautiful job!!!!

I can't wait Toryu!!

I can't wait Toryu!!

Did you have the ACL done? I have the same looking scar that you do.

https://corsairlada.rajce.idnes.cz/Ki-100_Ib#imga4f1cd9ezik6zj.jpg

I got three Bf-110! This way I'll be able to do three AIMS Bf-110G conversions!