Archimedes

Endstrength: Not enough.

Decloaking after many weeks away… There are a couple of fairly well known colour photos photos of the production line at Woodford in 1943 which appear to indicate that the area behind the cockpit was painted in whichever camouflage scheme that particular airframe was allocated. From what I understand, the assembly process was to paint the fuselage pieces (front and rear) before assembly. These were done in black plus camouflage colours and then the canopy was added. That’s not a definitive view but holds water when one thinks of how quickly the factory was knocking these things out. I’m away from home right now so can’t access the book they are in which is ‘The Royal Airforce of WWII in Colour’ by Roger Freeman. Does anyone have it? Kind regards, Paul

Hello there! It’s not you - my inbox is full. I’ll do some pruning…

Nice bit ‘o’ work there Max! Kind regards, Paul

As the de minimis rule has been revoked I am very glad I shifted my Kotare K4 delivery to a UK address. I’ll take my chances coming back across the pond…

Now THAT is a great model. Bravo. Kind regards, Paul

Happy Birthday Mr!!! You are one of the major reasons that LSP is one of my favourite model related spaces on t’internet. So keep the models and the birthdays coming Sir! Most of all, I hope you have a great day! Kind regards, Paul

What he said. 🙂

The floatplane, the helicopter, the ship….. 😍😍😍😍😍 Wow. I already thought Soya was fantastic in your hands but the the two aircraft are simply amazing. (Sweeps cap off and bows head in respect). Kind regards, Paul

Don’t know what they will do. As usual, I am not guessing, but I’ll buy whatever they choose, for the experience of building a nicely engineered kit and maybe looking into an aircraft that I’m not so familiar with and to support a company that is working hard to create accurate and well designed kits. Right now, I’m salivating at the prospect of the K-4 (an aircraft I never really had much interest in before now) but even more with the upcoming Hurricane. Kind regards, Paul

Thinking of importing kits and not the broader sweep of imports and tariffs: I've had a note from Kotare regarding my order. Apparently, the US de minimis limit for small packages worth less than $800.00 will continue to apply and thus, as things stand, individual kits or small numbers of them, will not be subject to the 145% tariff if manufactured in China when entering the USA. The de minimis rule appears reduce impact on individual buyers, but the tariff impact looks like it will remain for businesses like Andy's Hobby Headquarters, Sprue Brothers and manufacturers like Model Monkey (which reminds me I need to order a Beaufighter TFX cockpit set from them.... Kind regards, Paul

Economic data shows that China exports somewhere between 12 -14% of its total exports to the USA per annum. If the current situation does go longer term (and I recognise your assessment is probably a fair take on the outcome), a drop in exports to the USA will hurt China but it is not fatal to them. In other words, they may be able to tolerate the tariffs for far longer than the USA may be likely to. I am deeply saddened to read all of that. I think Model Monkey is doing stellar work and I hope your company can weather this. Kind regards, Paul

Given the post about Corgi product, I can only imagine it will be the same for Kotare and every other manufacturer who makes kits (or anything else) in China. That is the end of me buying any further kits in the USA. I have plenty that I already possess that will keep me amused. I am sure I am not alone in that view. Kind regards, Paul

I honestly don't know what will happen. So, maybe you are right. Things change daily. The tariffs as defined today are that it appears that it is the original place of manufacture that drives the U.S. tariff rate. So, if I am asked to pay 145% on top of the $109.00 I paid for the kit, or it will be sent back to New Zealand, I will not pay that because that would total a further $167.05. I'll send Mr Alexander a polite note telling him Kotare can keep my $109.00 because I want Kotare to do really well and, when they receive the returned kit they can resell it elsewhere to cover off the costs Kotare will have no doubt incurred on the postage. Kind regards, Paul

I have one on pre-order so have dodged that particular bullet this time. Thanks for the heads-up however. Kind regards, Paul