Archimedes

Yeah! It’s been a long time hasn’t it? That pesky feature of life ‘work’ gets in the way more often than one would like so, finally I have some progress to report, namely; mounting the cabane struts. 1974 kit engineering gave us modellers two truly heinous, out-of-scale mounts for the cabane struts on this kit and, as shown above; they had to go. How to mount the cabane struts then? A butt joint and relying on tube glue simply would not do. So, after careful measurement I drilled out two holes on each side where the base of the cabane struts would be mounted. I then cut some short lengths of 0.75 mm brass rod (sourced from from Albion Alloys) and made them fast with epoxy. I drilled out matching holes in the base of each cabane strut and dry fitted them: So, now I have the cabane struts which are aligned and with reliable and strong mounting points on each side. I have begun carving and sanding the covers for the rear struts on each side which I am fashioning out of pieces of sprue. In addition to the covers there are several things to do before final mounting of the struts with epoxy: I need to drill out holes for the fuel line and breather pipe that go up to the fuel tank as well as holes for the rigging that sits in front of the windscreen. But, I am glad to have made some progress again! Bye for now. Kind regards, Paul

To @Sabrejet’s point: Sopwith called it the ‘Land Clerget Tractor’ hence the LCT reference. But like the Sopwith Scout which became the ‘Pup’ the nickname has stuck. Whatever anyone wants to call it, I am glad there is a kit of it. Kind regards, Paul

That is a really beautifully completed Jungmann! Well done! Kind regards, Paul

Looking forward to seeing the builds of these! Such a good-looking airframe. kind regards, Paul

Sopwith LCT and an Avro 504? Sign me up! Kind regards, Paul P.S. See what I did there @Sabrejet?

Aye - one can but hope Max! I’d add a Chippie to that list too… Trainers are totally glamourous and sexy. Cheers Paul

Outstanding Mike! Neat as ever. There is a Halberstadt CL.IV in the National Air and space museum which I always admire when I go. I was lays mildly irritated that WnW didn’t do the CL.IV but, the Cl.II is actually the better looking airframe. I do like the markings you have chosen. I have to agree with Kevin: the speed you build at and with such quality and attention to detail puts the rest of us tortoises to shame! Keep it up! Kind regards, Paul

Interesting and welcome announcement from ICM in addition to the Hs123; note the top right corner from their catalogue A brace and a half of training biplanes in one box! Hopefully this might represent something of a saving over buying all 3 kits separately. Kind regards, Paul

I’m just looking at the kits as a nice surprise when it arrives. There is plenty to keep me busy in the meantime. Kind regards, Paul

And as @mozart indicated - decent drawings of it are available. Kind regards, Paul

Plus 1 on the GA singles

HI Max This is exceptionally good work on this airframe and I was thrilled to see that you picked G-ANFM; the Tiger always looks good in yellow! This is a really nice view on rigging also so thank you for the insights! I really liked your windscreen solution and may steal that particular idea for G-AIVW. You are so close to the finish line on this one! Kind regards, Paul

Phenomenal! Clearly the scout is a modern interpretation of a Demoiselle. Great scratchbuild! Kind regards, Paul

Hi Max, I’ll attempt an answer. 1. If the company are well-heeled they could LIDAR scan an extant airframe.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidar 2. If the company are not well heeled or there is no existing airframe to scan then they could use a technique called photogrammetry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photogrammetry So it is possible to get a reliable set of data from photos if one has enough of them. 3. Measure a real airframe using the old-fashioned methods of having a datum and taking measurements from there. Although the measurements will be specific to that single airframe they will be better than any drawing! Kind regards, Paul

The Halberstadt is a handsome machine and one I am sure you will do justice to Mike. Both the quality and the speed of your builds constantly impress! Kind regards, Paul

It’s a fair point re the Z-M Fw 190s. They were first announced back in 2014! Kind regards, Paul

I’d rather anyone produce 1/32 vehicles. Kind regards, Paul

HI All The indefatigable Homebee on Britmodeller has spotted that Border are launching the Focke-Wulf Fw190 A6 in 2023: Interesting to see this. it will be good for dioramas! Best regards, Paul

I have been following this thread for a while and I am really enjoying the diversity of views. I have come to several conclusions: 1. This really IS the golden age of LSP modelling: the range of what is on offer is increasing every year. 2. It is the range of materials and manufacturing techniques that have led to the explosion of what is possible: Slide Molding in IM, Photo etching, Resin casting and now 3D printing all provide a greater range of what is possible for the manufacturers and have certainly made them bolder. Who ever thought we’d have the host of WWI airframes in 1/32 available to us that WnW/CSM/Roden/Lukgraph as well as the interwar aircraft that Silverwings offer? Who imagined that One Man Model would emerge and produce 3D printed kits of such esoteric subjects as the Short Scylla? Who thought JetMads would emerge to give us the Viggen and other great subjects? 3. The diversity of what switches us on as modellers is as broad as the range of kits on offer to us: Some build multiple kits at the same time, thers doggedly work on just one subject until it is done. Others are not completer finishers at all (and that is just fine). Some need to work from Uber-kits and others will bring a less polished kit up to standard and others like Tom Probert @tomprobertor Max Williams @mozart are happy to dive right into a vacform. Still others have even greater confidence and skill to scratchbuild (yes Mike @sandbagger I am talking about you!). 4. I don’t understand some of the aversion to resin; It can offer far more detail and enables some manufacturers to give us subjects we never thought we would see in our lifetimes (Thank you @LukGraph for pretty much everything you have ever issued). Yes it can have health risks if one is completely irresponsible when sanding it and huffing dust but that is in our hands. 5. Buying kits and building them are two separate hobbies that run at entirely different speeds: for many of us the rate of buying kits far outstrips our ability to keep pace building them (who doesn’t have even a vestigial ‘stash’ of at least a couple of kits eh? ). My surmise is that many of us are driven by the anxiety of a kit going out of production and never getting hold of it again; the manufacturers play on this anxiety; viz Border Model and their comments on the molds breaking down so there ‘may not be another run…’). But thankfully we do buy kits we’ll probably never build, however well intentioned we may be, because if we did not buy as many as we do, the industry probably would be far less diverse in its offerings. So yes: how lucky we are! Kind regards Paul

Yes I would be interested. It is a good idea. Other good ideas are… 1/32 AEC Matador (both truck and fuel tanker) 1/32 Austin K2Y 1/32 Opel Blitz 1/32 Bedford MWD 1/32 Crossley Tender 1/32 Hucks starter 1/32 Queen Mary trailer 1/32 Deuce and a half (and tanker version) and a whole host of other vehicles one could find around airfields in the conflicts of the 20th century. Kind regards, Paul

Thanks Kent! I did not know the Brooklands Museum had built a replica! I’ll need to visit next time I am over there. Much obliged Kind regards, Paul

The thud you heard was the sound of my jaw hitting the floor! So impressed at you scratch-building the Sopwith Baby. I fully agree with others that this is an entirely overlooked airframe in 1/32. Which drawings of the Schneider did you use Kent? Kind regards, Paul

I like the top of your list! Der Riesenflugzeug was the one WWI multi-engine airframe that even WNW were not mad enough to contemplate…. It would make their Gotha G.IV look tiny by comparison. Sadly I suspect the only time we’ll se one in 1/32 will be if someone is willing to scratch build one. Kind regards Paul

https://spruebrothers.com/lightning-deals/ $59.99.

Fantastic Tom! What a neat finish and of such a rarely built (and challenging) kit! Hats off to you Sir! Best regards, Paul