cbk57

I have been working on a Tamiya Spitfire IX for the last couple months going really slowly because I just could not settle down and focus on one model or modeling. All of a sudden last weekend I realized I could assemble the fuselage and cockpit, move on to the tail and wings and really move this towards final assembly. But with two engines, a gun and bomb bay, a foreword machine gun bay and the two person cockpit in the Mosquito, I would still be working on the front pilot section parts. I loved the Mosquito kit but I felt like it was too much.

I had a Mosquito and sold it, I think there is a point with LSPs that they become too LSP. When you get multiple detailed engines and so on it becomes a real beast. I cannot imagine ever building a 1/32 B-17 or Lancaster. I think of the Tamiya kits in terms of sub assemblies and that Mosquito had a bunch of major ones that were intricate and increadibly detailed. A builder like Wolf could easily spend two years on a subject like that. I heard a great podcast with Mike Rinladi and he won:t touch 1/32 for his books because it becomes at least a 1 year commitment for him to do a single kit.

What strikes me is a comment that retail on this will be over $100.00. That says to me that cost for tamiya to produce airplane kits to their standard are really going up. This may be a big factor on why we are not seeing more 1/32. Unfortunately this may be revealing why we may not see more for some time.

The F-14 seems to be increadibly popular, look up on ebay F-14 build, run an advanced search on the sold listings. People will pay quite a lot for a well built F-14 in 1/48. I kind of think because of Top Gun still, this is a plane people love and want in their collection. I have to qualify the above a bit, a few months ago, there were some really high end sales for built 1/48 f-14, now I am not seeing them, there are some nice builds out of Europe but I don:t know how long they have been up or sales price. I was following some auctions on built f-14s that were going near 1,000.00 here in

I generally don:t pay retail for Tamiya kits personally. I look for sale or a deal. I purchased a package deal today to get the 1/12 Ferrari 641/2. It had a bunch of extras with it and I essentially got a free kit. If I sold the extras I could get more than what I paid for the whole thing. I kind of want it to build, it has been one I have been looking for and the “perfect parts” set that came with it are hard to come by as the guy that made them died 10 or 15 years ago. My current build is a Spitfire IX that started out life in my collection as a bundle deal for a Spitfire

The Tamiya announcement of a 1/48 f-4 would be much more exciting but for the recent releases from ZM. However, I will be more inclined to go for the Tamiya kit as I know it won:t include all the unneeded internal engine detail and some of those bits that I don:t care about. I personally am not unhappy to see this. The 240Z is a nice addition also, and really long over due, they did it 1/12 but for some reason not in 1/24. Also even Hasegawa who and others who have done the 240z only did it as a curbside. So a modern kit here will be well received. I suspect it will be a huge seller for

How do you know if the fuel tank should be in there? I have wondered that, and was it the same fuel tank or was it larger based upon the airframe shape?

Andy from Andys hhq posted a video yesterday that the lacquer paints are inbound. Sounds like we might get those in the US in the next few weeks.

I have built the Mk ix a couple times and considered making a MK XVI with the high back. You can usually get specific parts trees on ebay and the various instructions are posted on line so you can purchase the parts to make a conversion, however I think the best economics would be to trade an 8 for a 9.

Very exciting news to me that Tamiya is announcing something on the 25th. I just am a big Tamiya fan and always hopeful about their next release, LSP or not. I also hope they do a 1/48 J and or L.

Last of the Mohicans sound track is probably my all time favorite. I like it so much that at various times over the last 20 years, I have purchased the soundtrack upwards of 3 times and have listened to it probably hundreds of times. For one thing it is one of my all time favorite workout tracks. I often would listen to it in the winter working out on a bike while watching old editions of the Tour De France. However, John Williams; Star Wars is right up there also. Could not resist the Star Wars one, is it any less fictional than some “War Movies”?

I don:t love Amazon, I use them, don:t love them. Unless you want to buy something that is an every day item they in my opinion they are not a great source. Specialty items, models and other things, to me look like Wild West under the guise of a retailer and it can be very ambiguous where something is coming from or when it will arrive. I was looking for a color of tamiya paint recently and I could see the parties holding it were not direct sellers, I wondered when or if I would ever get my purchase if I ordered through Amazon. Specifically I was considering ordering a couple jars of Tamiy

One more point, if WNW had chosen not to build one of its more obscure subjects and chose to do a P-40B, this cad with no label as to who is doing would look a lot like something WNW would have done. Especially when you compare to their plans for the lancaster. It certainly is interesting, look foreword to the execution.

I see one thing that matters, cockpit floor is the wing, so we should not have the short cockpit problem. I like the engine detail, i see all the detail in the fuselage, that will be nice for a few people, I would not personally use any of it other than the fuel tank and maybe the frame formers just to help it all go together. I hope they get this on the market soon, I have been wanting this for a long time. P-40b is a personal favorite. I like the comprehensive engine detail, however if the cowlings are not removable I would not be using it. To me I only want a detailed engine if I can t

Personally I hate 1/24 F-1 kits. A F-1 car is much better in 1/20. Tamiya should have done all their race cars in 1/20 in my opinion. However their 1/24 kits are so nice, I build one now and then. I do not make constant scale a priority though. It is a somewhat surprising concept to me that I am learning about from others who thin it important to them.