gwana
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Posts posted by gwana
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1 hour ago, MikeC said:
Quite simply cost. If it's in the kit, it adds to the price. So why not leave it to the aftermarket, so those who don't want it don't have to pay for it? Of course, take that argument to its extreme and you'd end up with a 1950s-standard set of basic parts and have to rely on aftermarket for things like cockpits, but there's a balance - question is where is it?
Why not both? Eduard already does it. Armor manufacturers offer a "basic" kit, as well as their own branded add-on packs with extra detail. They can design the whole thing keeping the engine sprue and/or gun bay sprue separate. Sell upgrade packs (at a premium), then after a while bring out a Special Edition with those sprues in the box.
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I have a sudden urge to blaspheme. In a good way. Incredible.
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On 9/8/2021 at 7:46 AM, Archer Fine Transfers said:
Three words - Self Etching Primer.
Run, don't walk to your nearest auto-parts store.
This, all day long. Ace Hardware even has actual zinc chromate etching primer in green and yellow. I just wouldn't recommend decanting it and using it in your airbrush.
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2 hours ago, John1 said:
That kit looks amazing. I truly hope it makes it into production. I'll never own one, it's just way too big, but I'd love to see a few built up here on LSP.
My only concern would be on the economics involved. It's not like there are a million scale modelers who would purchase this kit, it's only a very, very small subset due to cost and size constraints. Then factor in that the HK kit has now been out for quite some time. I have to wonder how many Lanc enthusiasts who have the HK kit already would run about and purchase yet another 32nd scale Lanc? Just seems like it would be a major loss maker for any company (except WNW, which didn't seem to worry about their P&L).
If the current holder of the moulds has minimal investment in R&D (let's speculate WNW had paid for a majority of mould-making costs before they went bust), then it only seems like good business that *someone* tries to get a return on all of this work. What's the point of acquiring the moulds otherwise? Or (speculation) let's say they were partnering with Meng or another Chinese venture to do the actual sprue pops. Meng, et al retain ownership of the moulds because WNW either sold them off or failed to pay them off. Now what? Melt them down? Put them in a warehouse like Raiders of the Lost Ark? Or invest just a little more in instructions, boxing, and decals and put in on shelves. It only makes sense to produce this model if it was 98% complete anyway.
- Mr.T, Paul in Napier, Anthony in NZ and 2 others
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9 hours ago, Phartycr0c said:
at least we know where the remaining stock is going! LSP'ERs!
This may be the root of the problem. We all have dreams about kits we'd like to do "some day". But there are 3 on the bench and (how many?!) in the stash. So I don't really need to buy that one kit that's sorta interesting right now. They're big, they're expensive, and I need to store them. Oh, they're going under? HOARD ALL THE KITS!!!
Now, some of us just collect the kits themselves as part of the hobby, but those who build more... sequentially might just wait, since they can pick one up any time. Everything is in stock on the internet until it isn't. So all the wholesalers buy a big run when the kit first pops, and if it's not a super hit, they will sit on that stock for some time. Meanwhile, the manufacturer produces nothing since the wholesalers aren't ordering. Not being able to get containers across the Pacific for the better part of a year didn't help anyone financially, either.
I imagine the vast majority of folks who got into, or back into the hobby during the pandemic, did not jump into >$100 large-scale kits with super detail and that require weeks or more to build. Even pre-Covid, the market for a 1/32 Lancaster was a niche within a niche.
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Probably an engineering detail to avoid a bunch of wing seams needing work in the area of the gun ports. I've done several kits where that part is a tough fit or the seams don't quite line up because the upper and lower wings weren't exactly right. They have to mold the gun port section separately to get the holes decent anyway, so might as well get the whole leading edge in 1 piece and make the seam in an actual panel line.
- D.B. Andrus and MikeMaben
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What are you thinning with? X-22 will dry in mid-air if you use an alcohol-based thinner. Clear or any gloss really needs a retarder or something like Mr. Color Leveling Thinner to stay wet long enough to self-level. Otherwise you're spraying dust. You may also be too far away. I try to be no more than 3-4" away with good overlap.
I'd get some flat styrene sheet and experiment with your base and different techniques.
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Memories. When I was a kid, my local hobby shop was on 3 levels. The basement had seven HO and 1/24 scale slot car tracks - drag and circuits - that you could rent by the hour. I think the longest circuit was over 200'. Plus they had games like air hockey and foosball. It was a sensation when Asteroids came out and they got one. There were lines to play after school.
The middle level had an amazing assortment of die-cast in display cases. I don't remember much NASCAR, but more fantasy stuff and the supercars of the time. James Bond cars with working ejector seat and pop-out machine guns, all sorts of scale construction equipment, lots of military - from tanks and other armor to Napoleon's troops and cannons. The other side of that floor was mostly model railroad and slot car items, plus a couple of aisles of dollhouse and crafty stuff.
Upstairs was models. Balsa models, plastic models, wooden ships, monsters, everything. Completed kits hung from the ceiling. The beginnings of mainstream RC stuff, but the radio equipment was horribly expensive and the planes were mostly Balsa and tissue. One corner had sporting goods.
They changed it up a few times before I moved away - got rid of the slot car tracks and put in more arcade games, and the model section got smaller and smaller as RC and sporting goods got more popular. "Hobby" became a rich-man's sport; rather than 50 customers each dropping $8.95 on a model kit and supplies, they'd wait for one guy to spend $400 on a radio and servos, only to crash his plane and never come back.
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Another technique that works for me is to paint the whole thing tire color, mask to the wheel as close as possible and paint the wheel color. Then make an oil wash similar to your tire color and apply it right at the line where the wheel and tire meet. It will capillary around the perimeter and pretty much hide any overspray. You may have to repeat the wash a couple of times.
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Most of the time I've paid extra to get a USPS 'tracking' number, it shows zero updates until after it's delivered. Pretty pointless. Either that or 'Scanned at USPS facility' about a dozen times over the course of a day and then nothing.
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Just speaking to the engine kit itself I'll say this: Given the chance to do it again, I'd probably just download the Eduard instructions and use them to superdetail the Tamiya engine. Much of the Eduard detail is extra plumbing that they expect you to supply via lead wire. The engine block, oil pan, valve covers, etc were not all that much better than Tamiya's plastic parts - in fact the Tamiya intake manifold is superior so I used it on the Eduard engines. All the major stuff is already there on Tamiya's engine, it just needs to be connected with hoses and wires.
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The same engine sprues are used in both Tamiya kits, so if it fits in the Mosquito, it should fit in the Spitfire.
That said, the biggest problem with the Eduard engines is that they're detailed - but they're the wrong engines for most WWII aircraft - including the Tamiya kit they're meant for. The engines they depict are the Merlin XX, which were mostly in the Lancaster, possibly some early prototype Mosquitoes, and the MkII Spit IIRC. The Mosquito used the Merlin 25 mostly, which is visibly different than the XX offered by the Eduard kit. It's a quibble, but it's like getting a modern Camaro model with a 1990's LT1 engine in it. Sure, it's a V-12, but it's the wrong block, wrong supercharger, wrong magnetos, wrong ignition system, and the wrong cooling system. But it sure looks nice! I have the set, and I'm working on making them into 25's for my Mossie.
Tamiya's Merlin seems to be purposefully vague - it's missing most of the details that define the variants. They just supply a few different superchargers.
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On 3/8/2019 at 3:36 PM, Troy Molitor said:
Certainly a long way to go on this build. I know Kermit owns a few DB 605’s. He has them displayed in one of his hangars. Another interesting point towards the end of the video there is a segment on a built up fuselage. Is this Kermit’s fuselage? Interesting to follow this one. The on going Bf 108 restoration is really interesting if you get a chance to watch the 108 being dismantled.
Great stuff here. Thanks for sharing.
Troy
The impression I got from the vid was that Kermit bought all the stuff from the guy who was there explaining it, and at the end he invited the guy to come up with a proposal to keep working on it on Kermit's behalf. I think the fuselage is probably part of that, now commissioned by Kermit, effectively. It lets the guy continue with his passion, funded by Kermit.
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Great video, but I hardly think it counts as a '109 in a crate'. No fuselage, engine, or wings, and 90% of the sheet metal they have is repopped. It's a good start to a 109 restoration kit and I appreciate the work and passion, but it's not a broken down 109 in a box. It's a number plate and a bunch of hardware. It would kind of be like having a VIN, a bumper and an ashtray and claiming you had a '69 Shelby Mustang.
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Try the Mr Color Leveling thinner (lacquer thinner) . Totally changed my outcome with Tamiya acrylics. With X20 thinner they seem to dry as soon as they leave the airbrush. Even the Tamiya retarder didn't help me too much with alcohol-based thinners. The Mr. Color thinned paint seems to atomize better. Still, with a .25mm needle you may still have trouble with acrylics depending on the color. Pigment particles vary in sizes. I generally spray a .35 or even a .5 for primers. Tamiya metallics don't seem to work at all with my .35. My .18 SOTAR will barely spray acrylics at all. Maybe an 80/20 mix and mist coats. Lacquers are no problem.
I've also found that using the REGDAB needle juice cuts down on tip dry. I put a few drops in the cup when I'm done for the day and spray it through, coating the needle.
Edit: Just looked at your picture. Try polishing your needle! Get some auto scratch remover and a rag, put a drop on the rag and spin the needle on it. Gets rid of micro-pits and really can help with tip dry. The needle on my Badger 105 was junk before I polished it.
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I have a set of earthtone pastels that I got from <gasp> Hobby Lobby, and my lovely GF picked up a set of ladies' eye shadow from Walmart for a buck that has some spectacular metallic colors. It's had some stunning effects on my copper piping for my Mossie project. Many of the modeling pigments are used in makeup and soap.
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Read the full review and I like it. All kits have shortcomings, and pointing them out is the whole point of a review, I don't see you trash-talking the kit at all. Personally I'm going to wait for the WnW kit to drop before I make a decision, but I'd much rather see a "No BS" review than some glowing praise just because there's a lot of plastic in the box. I'm not too personally invested in how precisely a model conforms to a specific real-world specimen - I'm more interested in the engineering of the kit and how much enjoyment I'll get out of it. I want to see sink marks, ejector pins, seams (or lack thereof). Crisp or soft edges (the engines on this one and HK's Mossie do not impress me, for example).
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If you get hit flying a low level strike mission, you probably won't have time to consider popping a hatch anywhere. "We're hit!" ~splash~
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My dad used to do maintenance and training on the Hellcat in WWII. Master Sergeant USMC. He had a balsa and paper model that he did up with all sorts of realistic controls and had it as a control-line flying model before R/C was practical. He really had some stories on these and the Corsairs and I'm sure he'd appreciate this kit. Sadly he's long gone.
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I try to rationalize it with paint. If I'm going to load up the airbrush with RLM66 anyway, might as well have 3 cockpits ready for paint and not just one.
Too bad it never works out that way...
- Out2gtcha, MikeC and Southern Bandit
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The reason I've stuck with traditional oils so far is the relative ease in fixing screw-ups over acrylic base. I can detail paint or weather with oils and if I mess up a quick swab with spirits will remove it and not disturb the base. Don't know how this would go with water-mix ones.
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22 minutes ago, Trak-Tor said:
7 projects?
Where are the pictures?
Juraj
I have a buried thread in WIP for my Mosquito, but it's stalled for a few reasons - one of which is I keep starting new ones. The other reason is the &^%$#@ fiddly Eduard resin engine set. I'll try to update (and find my camera)
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On 10/23/2018 at 8:34 PM, The Dude said:
Good times for us 1/32 builders, I would have never guessed when I started building 1/32 scale back in the late 80's or early 90's that we would ever see a single 1/32 4 engine bomber let alone 3! Bring it on, my bench awaits the HK and WnW Lanc kits!
That's not my garage, that's a scale model of the Lancaster assembly plant...
1/32 Lancaster Build on FB
in LSP Discussion
Posted
I thought the scuttlebutt when WNW closed up was that there was some controversy over Sir PJ's whimsical ventures being investigated for possible money-laundering or tax fraud or some other financial... questions. Never heard any outcome from that.