cbk57

If you can get a good 3d set this would be an ideal answer to the problem I think. The problem I am dealing with now is a set of cast resin seamless intakes. The casting quality in and of itself is very good, however the castings are slightly asymmetric. As such I have two different fit issues going. I know they are not symetrical because when I test fit them one no matter how I fit it was about 1mm off when aligned with the panel lines so If I matched it to the panel lines then it was short 1mm at the top. Also if I fitted it to the side of the plane it left a step between the fusilage and the intake. So I either have 1mm gap or less to the shaped ramp on the fusilage or I have a step between the intake and the fusilage on the outside. I chose to get as tight to the outside as possible and as close to top for the offsized one as possible so I will have to fill a gap between the v shape part and the intake but that should be easier to hide, then I will have to describe the panel lines to match. However with shrinkage and making master molds the old school way getting two perfectly fitting seamless intakes that are identical may be somewhere near impossible. I suspect you need to computer model the masters to get them right and 3d printing would probably give more consistency as to sizing.

I would just say the price of a model kit is not comparable to buying supplies of disinfectant or ammo. If i own a model that is worth a lot of money, I will sell it high and for what it is worth as a rule. Same with my house, and my car. I will take the highest price someone is willing to pay, and when it comes to a model kit, if someone wants more than I will pay I don:t buy. I have bought and sold kits based upon the possibility I will make money on them. In some cases I bought kits because I knew I could make money, in some cases I bought a kit, built it and made money. If I make money on the sale of a kit it subsidizes the purchase of usually another kit. I have of course lost money. I purchased a great deal on our traders board here recently, and sold a valuable and aftermarket kit at a loss to help offset the other purchase. I also sold some very special turned metal parts on another forum that would make you really dislike me as I bought them for a few dollars and sold them for a lot more. I did buy them though with a mind to using them, but wanted the money. However it was something special to me at the same time, I had decided not to use the parts my self and I knew they were worth a lot, but it offset my acquisition. Alas ebay has really changed the whole calculus for me as periodically I sell stuff just because I need money and with them taking 13% of the gross sale including shipping and sales tax, I am better off selling something on this forum and maybe loosing a little money in some cases than taking a risk on ebay fees.

You forgot the Great Wall Hawk 81. Also they are releasing a Pearl Harbor P-40B, awesome kit I am building the Hawk 81 now and it is really well done.

I am as guilty as anyone in Tamiya speculation but it is just not relevant as there are plenty of new 1/32 releases, I have been building the Great Wall 1/32 Hawk, we have the new Kotare kit coming and we are seeing signs of a new high quality f-4 phantom family and that is just three examples, we will be fine if Tamiya never does another 1/32. Now I believe they will but it is a matter of when.

I personally have not used your landing gear sets yet, however if a strong landing gear is needed which I think is warranted in many 1/32 builds the higher price is worth it. Brass gear are generally expensive anyway however I have paid those prices and been happy with the result. For example I have used G-factor brass gear on several occasions and the landing gear when done is stronger than the model. Also Take a Tamiya corsair with a complicated landing gear assembly a good brass set helps simplify the construction as well. I look forward to ordering from you in the future, it would help if your website were easier to search product. I keep you book marked and you are one of the sources I check, I did purchase your F-4C canopy replacement. On my fist time using metal gear I ordered sac gear and it failed, i had to rebuild and built it with G-factor that was the one and only time I used a SAC product. I will definitely pay the higher price for metal gear, I do not intend to build a lancaster but I would think a solid brass set essential and if you are in $500.00 for a border kit $75 bucks for landing gear does not seem outrageous for something that will last and hold the model no problem.

I tend to agree that Tamiya is out of the 1/12 f-1 car business. They are releasing their older kits but have not yet released the Ferrari 641 or FW-14B, they did release the MP4/6 a number of years ago. I don:t think this says anything regarding 1/32 though. I figure they will do some more 1/32 eventually but it may be next year or 10 years. But F-1 too much licensing and they just can:t get the car access anymore so would have to go for an older car if they did an all new 1/12 f-1. Now if they did a all new 1/12 Lotus 49 I would probably hurt myself as I reached for my wallet.

i used a set on the Tamiya corsair and had to replace them because they were worse than the plastic parts. Everyone complains about the larger scale sac part, it mystifies me that they don't fix this. I certainly will not trust them until we see something definitive that they are changing their materials but they have sold the same useless produce for years.

So far all they are sowing is the engine and the foreword fuselage to the back of the cockpit. I could not find more details though and the packaging they are suggesting seems to be just the engine and framing to attach it to the bulkhead so again not sure exactly what they are doing but it is interesting even if it is only going to be part of the plane. At 1/12 I would not be interested in a whole plane.

A company called Ebbro that mostly does Automotive models and die casts(almost all automotive) is showing a partial kit of the Zero at Tamiya Fair, it is 1/12 scale and consists of the engine and perhaps the foreword fuselage. I don't think it is going to be a full kit but not sure what is going on. However the engine looks pretty amazing.

It is a beautiful kit for sure, I won:t ever build one but only because I have had my fill of Mk IX builds. I am not sure anyway Airfix 1/24 is for me so far. I love what they have done but looking at the Typhoon, Hellcat and Spitfire and having seen an exceptionally built hellcat in person they just are not my style. It seems almost compulsory that you leave the engine open and the gun bays open. I just don:t want to be committed to that, I have liked the Tamiya kits for their flexibility you can do one or the other and covert back no problem. Right now I cannot say I will ever buy or build a Airfix 1/24 but they are beutiful kits.

I can:t believe people are even debating this and trying to put down the likely quality of Kotare before the 1st kit hits the market. Maybe none of it will fit together and the whole thing when you put it together will be upside down and filled with filler but I strongly doubt that. It is a little early to judge and normally I would say that it is too early either way but we know the track record of the crew on this project and my expectations are that this will set the bar for the Early Spitfire. I will still give Tamiya the win for the Mk IX even if Kotare does one assuming Kotare does not do an engine but Kotare is going to be superior in most regards to Tamiya when this kit drops.

For me with the Tiger expertise out there, there is no excuse for getting it fundamentally wrong. If it is little stuff like the location of a tool, well anyone can fix that as there are tuns of variation. I built the original Tamiya kits as a teen including the 1/25 tiger. I have great memories of that 1/25 kit even though it is not accurate as the knowledge base has changed massively but that was a fun build except the individual track links snapped together and they were a big painful in the end. I still remember how much my fingers hurt by the time I finished two runs of tracks but that was an early 70s kit and it had really nice working individual links for its age. I don:t care much about interiors as you just don:t see much of it. That kit back then made me want to do tanks with interiors and throughout the 80s and 90s almost no information was available. Now the information is there, the interior kits are out there and after trying one, I learned that a proper interior is not a good thing as it is mostly wasted effort unless you are doing a cutaway or something.

I did not buy anything, I might have purchased a Albatros DV but none were available so I happily spent no money and left them all for others.

I don:t know what you compare to frankly, if Tamiya re-tooled their f-4 to the standard of their 1/48 f-4 but in 1/32 and parts detail as appropriate to 1/32, the kit would I think be more than $200.00. Their 1/48 f-4 is usually $100.00 ish even at some discount.

Exactly, I have the Fundekals Wolfpack sheet, and I could see doing a second C phantom, so I will do the one I have and if something amazing comes along from this in a year or two, I might have another go at it. However with this potential kit on the way, I don:t want to go AIMS and beat myself to death adding details to this old kit.