Gigant

Since Wingnut Wings went out of business, and the main hobby dealers no longer stock their kits, I thought I would pick up a kit of theirs while shopping on eBay for other old collectible kits.
 
So I bid on a few kits from one seller, based on my Burns Guide, "PAK-20", and offered fair prices for each.
 
After a short while, I get the notice that I was "out-bid" on two of them, one I did not care about, but the other I decided to look into.
An "alternate bidder", literally bid like 12 times, and drove his bid price up to nearly double!
I told this to a friend of mine, and he told me that it is a common practice on eBay for the seller to have a second account, or a buddy to drive the price up, to see if you will bite like fish.
So then I spot a WnW Bristol Fighter kit, and the guy starts at a fair price, not ridiculously low like some, or high like Rare Plane Detective who was starting out asking $777.00 for a Gotha G IV (of course they got no bids on it).
The next thing I know, I get a notice in my inbox, where the kit's price literally was driven up to nearly 2.5 times the starting price by a single "straw bidder"!
Just to see for myself, I checked on the bidder's history and in all of his history as an eBay member, his total bidding history was 100% on this seller's kits ONLY!
And since I wouldn't bite (I sent him a message telling I was not going to, and he responded by claiming he was not the "straw bidder"). He later that day claimed he sold the kit, and re-listed the SAME KIT later that day at the same starting price!
So I sent him a message telling I would buy it for a fair price, and he literally told me he would not sell it to me for any price.
So I reported him to eBay's service department and was told his refusal to sell at all was in violation of their policy.
The nice thing was is their associate had actual access to his rude message to me, and she duly reported it.

Like I noted above, I did talk on the phone to eBay's representative, and she took her time in noting everything I had to say, where I pointed out the "straw bidder's" questionable history.
As well as fraud, according to the Federal Trade Commission, it is against the law to refuse to sell anything offered to the public to anyone who has the money.

Since Wingnut Wings went out of business, and the main hobby dealers no longer stock their kits, I thought I would pick up a kit of theirs while shopping on eBay for other old collectible kits.
 
So I bid on a few kits from one seller, based on my Burns Guide, "PAK-20", and offered fair prices for each.
 
After a short while, I get the notice that I was "out-bid" on two of them, one I did not care about, but the other I decided to look into.
An "alternate bidder", literally bid like 12 times, and drove his bid price up to nearly double!
I told this to a friend of mine, and he told me that it is a common practice on eBay for the seller to have a second account, or a buddy to drive the price up, to see if you will bite like fish.
So then I spot a WnW Bristol Fighter kit, and the guy starts at a fair price, not ridiculously low like some, or high like Rare Plane Detective who was starting out asking $777.00 for a Gotha G IV (of course they got no bids on it).
The next thing I know, I get a notice in my inbox, where the kit's price literally was driven up to nearly 2.5 times the starting price by a single "straw bidder"!
Just to see for myself, I checked on the bidder's history and in all of his history as an eBay member, his total bidding history was 100% on this seller's kits ONLY!
And since I wouldn't bite (I sent him a message telling I was not going to, and he responded by claiming he was not the "straw bidder"). He later that day claimed he sold the kit, and re-listed the SAME KIT later that day at the same starting price!
So I sent him a message telling I would buy it for a fair price, and he literally told me he would not sell it to me for any price.
So I reported him to eBay's service department and was told his refusal to sell at all was in violation of their policy.
The nice thing was is their associate had actual access to his rude message to me, and she duly reported it.

Since Wingnut Wings went out of business, and the main hobby dealers no longer stock their kits, I thought I would pick up a kit of theirs while shopping on eBay for other old collectible kits.
 
So I bid on a few kits from one seller, based on my Burns Guide, "PAK-20", and offered fair prices for each.
 
After a short while, I get the notice that I was "out-bid" on two of them, one I did not care about, but the other I decided to look into.
An "alternate bidder", literally bid like 12 times, and drove his bid price up to nearly double!
I told this to a friend of mine, and he told me that it is a common practice on eBay for the seller to have a second account, or a buddy to drive the price up, to see if you will bite like fish.
So then I spot a WnW Bristol Fighter kit, and the guy starts at a fair price, not ridiculously low like some, or high like Rare Plane Detective who was starting out asking $777.00 for a Gotha G IV (of course they got no bids on it).
The next thing I know, I get a notice in my inbox, where the kit's price literally was driven up to nearly 2.5 times the starting price by a single "straw bidder"!
Just to see for myself, I checked on the bidder's history and in all of his history as an eBay member, his total bidding history was 100% on this seller's kits ONLY!
And since I wouldn't bite (I sent him a message telling I was not going to, and he responded by claiming he was not the "straw bidder"). He later that day claimed he sold the kit, and re-listed the SAME KIT later that day at the same starting price!
So I sent him a message telling I would buy it for a fair price, and he literally told me he would not sell it to me for any price.
So I reported him to eBay's service department and was told his refusal to sell at all was in violation of their policy.
The nice thing was is their associate had actual access to his rude message to me, and she duly reported it.

Bidding on your own EBay auctions to drive up the price is or has been viewed as fraud. A few years ago, some sellers engaged in that practice were prosecuted. I would suggest you report your suspicions to EBay— not that that’ll do anything...
Bill M.

Because of vision issues, I had to "button it up" for a while, but soon I will do the rigging as the "finishing touch".
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
I figure on rigging it when I do the Laird's Super Solution racer.
 
Tom

I did have issues with buying a kit off eBay once, it was advertised as new, but it came to me missing the clear sprue and the cockpit and engine had already been sloppily glued together.  The seller was super apologetic and gracious, he had bought the kit from a consignment sale being told everything was unstarted.
 
 
 
Matt 

When I sell kits on EBay, I photograph every individual sprue, the decals sheet, PE & the instruction manual front. I know some people try it on, but I have previously told them to go ahead & complain to EBay, and that I would send them photos of the contents as it was when it left my house. That shuts them up & they suddenly find the "missing" parts.
It's absolutely correct that EBay is biased towards the customer, that's one of the reasons I like using it to buy modelling supplies. BUT, as a seller, it's easy to get burned by unscrupulous, deceptive buyers, who say they never received a kit, or it had bits missing, or was damaged. Hence the photos & every single item being sent recorded delivery. Since doing that, I've never had an issue. 

We've probably all been there. I recall that years ago I sold off a completely intact 1:32 Fw 190D-9 kit to a guy on feebay. He soon reported that it was "missing" several pieces, and asked that I make good on it. Despite my own stated policy of no returns unless item is not as described (which was perhaps poor phrasing), feebay made me refund him 100% + shipping. I received back a partial kit that was then utterly worthless to me or anyone else.
 
There's really no reason to expect parts and/or service from the individual seller. Assuming feebay policies still heavily favor the buyer, sellers are usually the ones left hanging in the wind, not the other way around.

Ah, that makes more sense!

I don't get it. Are you suggesting that someone with a highly valuable model kit in their stash, which they've already paid for, should sacrifice it because some other random modeller has cocked theirs up? Unless you're asking for spare parts/decals which they don't need for the version they're building, why on earth would anyone do that?   

Hi
Interesting thoughts. 
I think it’s very uncertain if another company will re-issue these kits hence the speculation. Some people are making a quick buck others have to sell during these times. Maybe they’re selling high and buying high, who knows. But these kits were always relatively expensive now they are in Tulip fever territory. You may see their likes again...or not. 
 
Enjoy whichever kit you start. The CSM Nieuport is very nice too.
 

Hey welcome back Tom  Good to see you're still kickin'.
What to build ?  Flip a coin !

In my experience, the WNW customer/ modeler base has been the best source of parts and decals.

I gathered what he was saying, in regards to individual sellers online, is "caveat emptor". Buyer beware. I've seen similar things happen, (and currently are happening), in the model railroad community. When a company folds for whatever reason, the opportunists will sell what they have at inflated prices, "as is/no return" hoping for quick cash. The lack of a company behind those sales, is lack of any customer support. Of course this sort of situation happens all over online auction sites, not just to models. 
 
I took it as more of a "been there, done that" sort of post. 
 
That being said, one thing I've noticed and loved about my years on this site especially, is the willingness to help each other. Many times I've seen someone request for info on a missing item, just to have another member jump in willing to send an extra, or a kit part they hadn't used for whatever reason. 
 
Personally, I do have a WnW Albatross that I need to repair a strut I broke and am hoping to pick up a few more similar kits, but will be patient enough to wait and see. 
 
A good example of a similar situation on the model railroad side, is the current situation with MTH shutting down. 
 
 
 
 

Sorry about being away for so long.
Honestly, with the COVID-19 compounding our personal health issues, as well as our family's basic supply problems, I have been very busy with domestic needs/decisions, etc., with little or no time for scale modeling.
But, having been introduced to scale modeling over 60 years, ago, I have seen a thing or two come and go. 
 
I remember when back in the '60's Adams, an excellent mold maker, fell out with Revell and decided to take the molds made for them, and market several top-quality scale U.S. armor kits under their own name.
Now that WnW has gone "ker-plunk", their Chinese mold-maker source has put out what was to be an excellent Fokker Triplane kit in 1/32, if not under their own label like Adams, someone they are already adjusted to dealing with in their own country.
Frankly, having built many of the kits in either 1/48th or a larger scale, I viewed WnW, being dedicated to a single large, and sometimes cumbersome scale ("Honey, where can I put my finished Gotha G IV?"), as a higher-priced anomaly.
 
Being an old Fokker Triplane fan, I decided to go ahead and buy the Meng Fokker Triplane, (along with a Special Hobby Nieuport 11) and I like it! 
 
I am aware of the spell that WnW cast on the large scale modelling community, but I still had trouble getting past the price tag. Now I understand, that unlike many others, when you bought a WnW kit, you had a very kit-builder friendly company behind the contents of the box.
 
So I took it, that the high price kept the people employed who would generously send me spare decal sheets, etc. The extra price meant excellent customer service!
But now that all you get is the kit as-is in the box, with no potential for replacement of messed-up decals or lost parts, it is interesting how individual kit hoarders are trying to gouge the unsuspecting on both ebay and Amazon. I see kits that have been opened being sold at new list prices, unopened kits being sold at prices inflated from their original MSRP list prices, all being sold from home-grown "cottage industry" sellers. Meanwhile they are failing to mention that there is not any sort of manufacturer "safety net", and when "push-comes to shove", will the individuals operating out of their houses selling through these virtual market places be willing to sacrifice a complete kit to resolve any customer service issues?
From my experience in buying stuff through these medias, I seriously doubt it.
 
This is like buying a Westinghouse washing machine kept in storage at its' MSRP, as though the company even existed anymore.
 
When you consider the exhaustive "witch-hunt" required for getting any basic customer service for OOP kits, like broken or lost parts or factory decals for these as they need replacement; to even pay half of the former list price barely makes sense.
 
With any luck, perhaps Meng, or better still, some European kit maker like Roden or Eduard will pick up the molds and re-issue them for us, adding a nice 1/32 scale line to their others.
 
Now I gotta decide whether to do the triplane or the Special Hobby Nieuport 11 first.

Sorry about being away for so long.
Honestly, with the COVID-19 compounding our personal health issues, as well as our family's basic supply problems, I have been very busy with domestic needs/decisions, etc., with little or no time for scale modeling.
But, having been introduced to scale modeling over 60 years, ago, I have seen a thing or two come and go. 
 
I remember when back in the '60's Adams, an excellent mold maker, fell out with Revell and decided to take the molds made for them, and market several top-quality scale U.S. armor kits under their own name.
Now that WnW has gone "ker-plunk", their Chinese mold-maker source has put out what was to be an excellent Fokker Triplane kit in 1/32, if not under their own label like Adams, someone they are already adjusted to dealing with in their own country.
Frankly, having built many of the kits in either 1/48th or a larger scale, I viewed WnW, being dedicated to a single large, and sometimes cumbersome scale ("Honey, where can I put my finished Gotha G IV?"), as a higher-priced anomaly.
 
Being an old Fokker Triplane fan, I decided to go ahead and buy the Meng Fokker Triplane, (along with a Special Hobby Nieuport 11) and I like it! 
 
I am aware of the spell that WnW cast on the large scale modelling community, but I still had trouble getting past the price tag. Now I understand, that unlike many others, when you bought a WnW kit, you had a very kit-builder friendly company behind the contents of the box.
 
So I took it, that the high price kept the people employed who would generously send me spare decal sheets, etc. The extra price meant excellent customer service!
But now that all you get is the kit as-is in the box, with no potential for replacement of messed-up decals or lost parts, it is interesting how individual kit hoarders are trying to gouge the unsuspecting on both ebay and Amazon. I see kits that have been opened being sold at new list prices, unopened kits being sold at prices inflated from their original MSRP list prices, all being sold from home-grown "cottage industry" sellers. Meanwhile they are failing to mention that there is not any sort of manufacturer "safety net", and when "push-comes to shove", will the individuals operating out of their houses selling through these virtual market places be willing to sacrifice a complete kit to resolve any customer service issues?
From my experience in buying stuff through these medias, I seriously doubt it.
 
This is like buying a Westinghouse washing machine kept in storage at its' MSRP, as though the company even existed anymore.
 
When you consider the exhaustive "witch-hunt" required for getting any basic customer service for OOP kits, like broken or lost parts or factory decals for these as they need replacement; to even pay half of the former list price barely makes sense.
 
With any luck, perhaps Meng, or better still, some European kit maker like Roden or Eduard will pick up the molds and re-issue them for us, adding a nice 1/32 scale line to their others.
 
Now I gotta decide whether to do the triplane or the Special Hobby Nieuport 11 first.

Sorry about being away for so long.
Honestly, with the COVID-19 compounding our personal health issues, as well as our family's basic supply problems, I have been very busy with domestic needs/decisions, etc., with little or no time for scale modeling.
But, having been introduced to scale modeling over 60 years, ago, I have seen a thing or two come and go. 
 
I remember when back in the '60's Adams, an excellent mold maker, fell out with Revell and decided to take the molds made for them, and market several top-quality scale U.S. armor kits under their own name.
Now that WnW has gone "ker-plunk", their Chinese mold-maker source has put out what was to be an excellent Fokker Triplane kit in 1/32, if not under their own label like Adams, someone they are already adjusted to dealing with in their own country.
Frankly, having built many of the kits in either 1/48th or a larger scale, I viewed WnW, being dedicated to a single large, and sometimes cumbersome scale ("Honey, where can I put my finished Gotha G IV?"), as a higher-priced anomaly.
 
Being an old Fokker Triplane fan, I decided to go ahead and buy the Meng Fokker Triplane, (along with a Special Hobby Nieuport 11) and I like it! 
 
I am aware of the spell that WnW cast on the large scale modelling community, but I still had trouble getting past the price tag. Now I understand, that unlike many others, when you bought a WnW kit, you had a very kit-builder friendly company behind the contents of the box.
 
So I took it, that the high price kept the people employed who would generously send me spare decal sheets, etc. The extra price meant excellent customer service!
But now that all you get is the kit as-is in the box, with no potential for replacement of messed-up decals or lost parts, it is interesting how individual kit hoarders are trying to gouge the unsuspecting on both ebay and Amazon. I see kits that have been opened being sold at new list prices, unopened kits being sold at prices inflated from their original MSRP list prices, all being sold from home-grown "cottage industry" sellers. Meanwhile they are failing to mention that there is not any sort of manufacturer "safety net", and when "push-comes to shove", will the individuals operating out of their houses selling through these virtual market places be willing to sacrifice a complete kit to resolve any customer service issues?
From my experience in buying stuff through these medias, I seriously doubt it.
 
This is like buying a Westinghouse washing machine kept in storage at its' MSRP, as though the company even existed anymore.
 
When you consider the exhaustive "witch-hunt" required for getting any basic customer service for OOP kits, like broken or lost parts or factory decals for these as they need replacement; to even pay half of the former list price barely makes sense.
 
With any luck, perhaps Meng, or better still, some European kit maker like Roden or Eduard will pick up the molds and re-issue them for us, adding a nice 1/32 scale line to their others.
 
Now I gotta decide whether to do the triplane or the Special Hobby Nieuport 11 first.

Excellent job working with the old Roden kits and their accuracy issues!

Hi Guy's - After finishing the 'skeletal' Fokker Dr.I - I've been working on a Fokker 'dreidekker' triple...
 
Three of Jagdstaffel 11 (Richthofen's) 'triplanes'  - They will later become part of a diorama counterpart for the '74th Squadron' S.e.5a.
 

 
Fokker Dr.I's 477/17 - 502/17 - 588/17. I've taken some 'artistic' liberty's in displaying all three 'Fokker's with early German Crosses.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
A little list of what was done to 'fix' the Roden Fokker Triplanes...
 
External corrections:
Tailplane contur corrected
Depression in stabilzer's removed
Front decking corrrected with filler holes
Gun blast protection plates
Fuel tank and filler caps
Engine push rods and spark plugs and wire
Engine access hatch - scratched
Inspection window in upper wing moved
Viewable ZAK stamp and Werk nr.
Axle wing corrected
Wheel openings detailed
Rib tape added to all wings
 

 
Internal corrections:
Machine gun boxes scratched
Fuselage plywood sections scratched
Pilots seat reworked with seat cushion
Bulkhead reworked with string
Linen cover for shoulder belts
Machine gun and throttle cables
Map case scratched
Internal rigging
Magneto + instruments
Fuel pump
 
Aftermarket parts:
Aviattic rudder
Aviattic cowling
Eduard photo etch set
Eduard Linen stiching
 
Rigging:
Monofilament fishing line for the rigging
Infini Black Aero Rigging for control cables
0,12 mm steel wire for eyelets
0,5 mm brass tube
 
Painting:
Fokker bleached linen (homebrew)
Fokker Turquoise  Tamiya XF-23
Streaking camouflage: Windsor & Newton Oil.
Raw Umber Green shade.
Richthofen 'red' - Vallejo Cavalry Brown.
 
Cheers: Kent
 
 
 
 

And how about a complete WWII USN PAC flight deck crew:

That F4F kit made me a "believer" for Trumpeter's 1/32 WWII USN kits.
 
As I mentioned on another string, I frankly found it a better build then an Accurate Miniatures' TBF.
 
As for the undercarriage colors, judging by the museum photos, I would use a mix of metallic (that might be a chromed piston rod) and gray upper with gray lower bracing:
 

G'day Guys,
 
Well I'm doing something I've tried for a long time not to do; have two build logs going at once. The difference, aside from them being 2 different versions of the B-17 (I have 3 all up), is that for a while, this build will exist mainly as a virtual one. With so much discussion about the shape of the nose and what HK did or didn't get right, I've decided to embark on a quest to see if I can come up with a decent rendition that has the right "look." 
 
My aim here is NOT to produce an aftermarket correction set to go on sale to the masses, more so to investigate where the lines of the kit differ from that of the factory drawings, and mainly centred around the nose. It's my intention to produce a 3D printed replacement section that is a blend between actual dimensions and kit ones in order to make the thing work. There will be compromises; as I have said, I'm trying to recreate the "look" of the B-17. The reason I am initially keeping this as a "virtual-ish" build for now is that I want to keep progressing with the C, but this will provide the groundwork for what will eventually become an F and an E build, but with most of the hard work already done here.
 
Think of this for now as more of a study.......Hopefully you can join me on my journey!
 
Phase 1 - Establishing the reference

Ok guys, no surprises here. The HK kit in all its glory. Unfortunately with the way the kit is constructed, in order to establish a proper datum point for reference, I need to do some dissection. Think back to my early C model days, it gets gory here!
 

Most discussion so far has been centred around the incorrect shape of the #3 bulkhead. Unfortunately as I have discovered, correcting the #3 is not the end of the story. I had always had suspicion that not only was the bottom nose profile off, I also suspect that the profile is wrong when viewed from above. If you study pics of a real Fort, the HK version always looks a bit too fat for my liking. To me the best place to start is the #4 bulkhead, as at least I can reference any changes to the cockpit from here too. Despite the #4 bulkhead actually being on a receding angle in the real thing, the HK part is installed at 90 degrees. I'm not going to lose sleep over that, and in any case I need the shape at the #4 as my master reference dimensions to allow the new nose to graft hopefully seamlessly onto the existing fuselage......
 

Next up I scaled and traced the outline of the E/F nose profile for comparison in Rhino.
 

I then traced the outline of the HK fuselage, shown here in blue. I overlayed the factory drawing and this is what I got..... As you can see, it's not only the top, but also a large portion of the bottom which is oversized (agreeing with my original suspicions). I'm not entirely sure about the overall length, as this really has to do with where you take the datum point to be on the #4 bulkhead, but in any case, it would really only be a mm or two longer at most.
 
In order to be able to match up any new sections I make with the existing fuselage, matching my work to the #4 bulkhead for size will be critical. This is where I am deviating a little from strict dimensional accuracy - remember the priority here is "the look." When I scaled up the factory drawing to the match the kit, this is what I got....
 

 
Looks like the kit nose cone will be about 0.8mm too tall, so I'll have that challenge to look at when I get to it, and I get the feeling it may be out on profile too, but my next update will address that.
 
I haven't had a look from the top down yet, and I suspect that similar to what I saw with the underside profile, the kit will be too fat. I get the feeling that the nose of the real thing tapers a lot further back than the #3 where HK have it, but we'll soon see.....
 
Anyway this has been a lot of fun so far, and something I've been going to do for ages. I certainly hope this answers some questions for a lot of you out there.....
 
Cheers!
 
Craig
 
 

I finally got my Trumpeter 1/32 P-47D Thunderbolt Razorback today from Squadron.com via FedEx:
 

I finally got my Trumpeter 1/32 P-47D Thunderbolt Razorback today from Squadron.com via FedEx: