vince14

We bought the -B because of the Royal Navy, who campaigned heavily for them as justification for the Queen Elizabeth carriers. The problem is the RN is still fighting the last war (in its case the Falklands conflict), plus the 'Senior Service' is deeply upset that it takes a backseat to the RAF on both national defence and power projection. They even lobby witin the MoD for the RAF to be disbanded and the role of air defence to be completely taken over by the Navy! So we now have a fleet of two carriers which are deeply compromised (no capability for CATOBAR), along with a fleet of deeply compromised -B's. The Navy wants to take control of the entire F-35 fleet, and swap the order for the -As to be -Bs instead. Oh, and they're also upset that the -A will give the RAF a nuclear capability, something which the Admirals think is the God-given right of the Navy. You can't beat a bit of inter-service rivalry!

I feel the same about the upcoming Gothaforce Fokker D.VII - yes, it looks like it's going to be the next level of what's possible for a 3D printed kit but they're going to be selling for as much (if not more) as the WNW D.VII goes for on eBay and, to echo your point, surely everyone who really wants a 1/32 D.VII already has one by now?

Where are you getting $400 from? The most expensive Nieuport 28 set (comes with the original Roden kit, plus the decals, plus the 3D printed upgrades) comes to about $160.

They're reasonably accurate for their age, but they're not in the same league as WNW kits - you're going to need to apply some modelling skills to them. The decals are always the weakest parts of their kits, with a tendency to shatter or tear when trying to apply them. Aviattic have just released a new decal set and a 3D printed upgrade set for the Roden Nieuport 28 (https://www.aviattic.co.uk/132-nieuport-28c1.html), which is well worth considering if you want to try a Roden kit. He's also done the same for their recent Sopwith Strutter kit (https://www.aviattic.co.uk/132-sopwith-1--12-strutter.html).

Are you sure that's Samoan? Because it sounds like you're trying to summon Cuthulu...🐙

I’m presuming the Magister decals are now in the same place as the Scaleworx Mirage F.1…

Given that they sell a single 3D printed F-104 exhaust in 1/32 for $100, I think you might need a second mortgage to afford the Mirage IV…

I build for me, and I pretty much don't care what anyone else thinks I should or shouldn't use to enjoy my hobby.

You're wasting your time. None of the main LLMs (such as ChatGPT) use the likes of Facebook as a source of data, precisely because it's so unreliable. It's a common misconception that AI just presents you with any old nonsense it finds from anywhere on the internet. Ask ChatGPT about how accurate the 1/32 Kotare Spitfire I is and it will start by searching through modelling websites like LSP, IPMS, Hyperscale and more for answers before casting a wider net. In fact, for research the best use of LLMs is to ask specific questions and then see what sources it's used to come up with those answers. I find it frequently digs up good sources of information that I'd never heard of before. LLMs can give weird answers right now because they are still in their infancy. It's important to note that they don't currently understand or interpret questions in the same way that humans do. Give it five to ten years though and we'll all be using the likes of ChatGPT for research, because it'll be as accurate as doing all of your own research in a fraction of the time.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but do any UK members of a certain age have a copy of 'Fly Fishing' by J. R. Hartley?

All three crewmen on the B-58 faced forwards, so we'd have to see the video itself to make an assessment on what this guy was up to.

What scale were you looking at for the Saudi Lightnings? Aircraft in Plastic makes them in 1/32 (although he's currently not able to print as his printer has malfunctioned), and in 1/72 there's this DP Casper sheet if you can find one anywhere.

Quinta are still widely available because they are, on paper, located in Khazakstan. Like a lot of Russian companies Quinta have 'moved' there in the last couple of years to avoid the sanctions, despite still being fully located in Russia.

I’ll be coming from the UK to Indianapolis for the 500 in May, if you tell me exactly what you need I could bring it with me and ship it from inside the US.

I'd leave the anemometer off - I've looked at hundreds of Fokker Dr.I photos over the years, and I think I've only ever seen a couple that had an anemometer.

Mine should be with me on Friday..!

From the very few available period photos of operational Thai Bearcats it would appear that the tiger's head is orange and the wings are yellow (they are a distinctly different shade to the white band on the rear fuselage, which would seem to rule out white wings). There doesn't seem to be a definitive answer on the star. The Bearcat in the Thai Air Force Museum has a light blue star, but whether that's an accurate reflection of an operational Bearcat or not is unknown. Siam Scale Decals (based in Thailand, so you would think they have access to information we don't) only deepen the mystery, as their decal sheet instructions have the star in gold, but on the decal sheet itself they're in light blue...

DP Casper do a set in 1/48 that includes a Jordanian Hunter, you could try getting that and upscaling: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/DPC48012?result-token=7NYLL

Placed the order for mine...I'll have to put some WNW kits up for sale to pay for it though!

As someone who was also burnt by the Scaleworx Mirage, I wouldn't say that Profil24 are a 'no-name' outfit - they've been around for years. They're a low volume producer of resin Le Mans cars but they occasionally produce the odd aircraft kit as well.

Interesting, Profil24 does a lot of good quality Le Mans cars so it'll be interesting to see how they cope with a 1/32 Shag.

Aviattic are going to be producing a range of 1/72 WWI kits, starting with the Sopwith Pup and Triplane. They'll be 3D printed and should be the definitive models of these aircraft in 1/72. If sales go well Richard is planning on further 1/72 releases - there's some indication that they'll only be available (initially, at least) to subscribers of the Aviattic Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/c/aviattic), so if you're interested it might be worth signing up - you can get up to 20% off all Aviattic products. Richard's also planning to release full makings decal sheets for the WNW Pup and Triplane kits, plus an upgrade set (including 3D printed parts and full decal sheets) for the Roden 1/32 Nieuport 28 as well.

Yep, sad to say but I think we've all been ripped off. Frankly I don't really care now what his issues were, or how much of a 'good guy' people say he is. To take our money and then go radio silent for two years makes him nothing more than a common thief in my books.