frothingillbellows

The original problem was with Wingnut Wings. It’s their sprue design and moulds. They were used to having only a few tiny simple bits of glass for all their WWI kits. They had no experience with complex glass and were over ambitious to what could be done with huge sprues, large number of parts and very thin glass to get closer to true scale. Border I guess were unwilling to re-manufacture the sprue moulds. It would have cost them a lot of money to tidy up all the unrefined parts especially since they did not have any of the original designs and would have start from scratch to redo them. By all reports Border paid a lot of money for a huge kit with fringe appeal. We should be thankful that they managed to get it out even if not perfect.

For those who have bought the Border Lancaster and contemplating the nose kit, Kits-World has released a canopy/wheels paint masking set and are soon releasing a 3D printed cockpit detail set as well. These look like welcome AM additions to assist building these very complex kits. https://www.kitsworld.co.uk/index.php?GOTO=926&PICFILE=926&STKNR=926&STRH=&ORDN=&RNZ=463346&THISVIEWMODE=2&SUPPLIER=&FINDRETR=&WIDENET=&CATEGORY=9&SUB=5&VWW=1&VANCE=99 https://www.kitsworld.co.uk/index.php?GOTO=3392&PICFILE=3392&STKNR=3392&STRH=&ORDN=&RNZ=450191&THISVIEWMODE=2&SUPPLIER=&FINDRETR=&WIDENET=&CATEGORY=6&SUB=2&VWW=1&VANCE=99

I agree with you about the painting. Further in the old days other than unstable pigments the oils and resins in paint tended to “yellow” the finish when fully cured and exposed to the elements over time. That’s why old finishes usually appear warmer whilst newer paints appear colder. Colour matching was not as precise as today as is quality control. No two batches of paint were ever exactly the same shade. I learned the hard way when the company I worked for painted an old large cinema that had kalsomine wall that soaked in a huge amount of paint. We could not get a batch large enough to do the whole job in one go. We requested the paint manufacturer to be extra careful with mixing the colour in the batches. As we painted behind scaffolding we could not see the result until it was removed. When the scaffolding was removed there was a patch work of different shades of cream. It was a nightmare to correct. Sometimes I wonder that some modellers are too fussy and angst too much over paint shades and colour charts. Modern pigments as well may not replicate the right look of old pigments that are no longer in use or age the same way. To me If it’s close enough it’s usually good enough.

The Erla BF-109G-6 looks fantastic but appears a little too “lovingly crafted” like almost in pre war showroom condition. I believe hasty war time production with mostly unskilled skilled labour would not have showed consistent fine finishing and painting like this. I used to own some prewar German Mauser rifles as well as some later production wartime examples. The prewar examples were beautifully made and finished whilst the war time examples were absolute garbage in comparison. The build quality was terrible though they did work as they should. Still though can’t blame the restorers for putting so much love into the project.

Available for pre order 6/8/22 to 19/9/22. Delivery scheduled for late October. https://www.zoukeimura.co.jp/en/products/sws19_henschel_hs129_b-3.html

There was a limited edition pre order of the Hartman Bf 109. They are all gone. One or two may end up up on Ebay. I image the first retail release will happen later in the year. Even the official Zoukei Mura Volks store don’t have any left.

Recent Ebay prices shows around AU$900-$1000 for the Gotha G.IV and they appear to be selling well at those prices.

Interesting that clear parts of the Lancaster are sub optimal is some ways and not to Wingnut standards as the the rest of the plastic is. Wingnut Wings would have had little experience with clear parts as WW1 planes had none or a very few simple pieces. The Lancaster clear pieces and sprues are very complicated and large. Other experienced model companies would have likely avoided production designs that caused seam lines to appear. Obviously Wingnut Wings never got around to develop them to the level of their quality standards before they abandoned the project and business.

Agree, but Border Model is a small company with a limited portfolio in a crowded armour market. The Lancaster has certainly made the model world take note. They seem to have knack for generating publicity. We have seen it with the public Facebook rebuttals of Peter Jackson’s legal challenge and raising eyebrows with 1/35 airplane kits. Soon they will release a model of Chinese main battle tank PLAZTZ99A. Nothing too remarkable but the box art shows the tank parked under the Golden Gate Bridge in California which has caused a stir in social media and from geo political commentators as it alludes to a Chinese invasion of the US. Kind of provocative in the current geo political environment. Border tongue in cheek call it a fantasy future scenario where China is helping the US fight off aliens that have attacked the US. https://www.themodellingnews.com/2022/02/preview-border-models-new-135th-scale.html

If they manage just to break even or lose a little, I imagine the publicity generated in the model world for their brand is more than adequate compensation. Very few had ever heard of them a year ago and now the Lancaster and their other kits are widely discussed. I have even seen one of their armour kits featured on Reddit and Twitter in a political topic which has nothing to do with modelling.

If the limited release of 1500 kits sells well, I would bet those versions will be released as well including perhaps a cockpit version. I ditched my plans for a HKM B17 and ordered the Border Lancaster kit. This is after I ordered, cancelled and reordered again after much deliberation. This kit was a tough decision. It’s like buying an expensive wildly impractical supercar.

I had an XB GT as well. It looked good but emasculated by all the anti pollution gear. The XA was the last of the true Ford Aussie muscle cars. Great memories of those cars as well. They needed a lot of TLC to keep in good shape. Rust was a killer for them.

I used to own one of the only two factory custom built Ford XA GT’s. They were custom built for Australia’s biggest Ford dealer and his wife. I had his one. They had all the trimmings possible including one off custom paint job. I bought it for $3000 and sold it for the same a couple of years later and thought I had done real well. Wish I kept it. Worth a fortune now. Back on topic Border Model have announced the Lancaster project is completed now on Facebook.

I imag I imagine many kits would have never have existed if it were not for stashers. Not many of these larger awkward esoteric models would see the light of day if only those who intend to build bought them. In a way a stash subsidises the industry to manufacture a wider range of subjects that otherwise would never exist as well as making the models available to actual builders.

I cant see the point of criticising the ZM 109 because is not like all the other 109’s. Why should ZM build a hollow shell kit that everyone else has already produced? They are offering some unique modelling interpretations to whoever wants them. ZM should be universally celebrated for expanding the boundaries of the hobby.

Yes best to stay of politics. It is what it is. In a similar vein, it is illegal to sell merchandise in Australia using the word ANZAC unless used specifically to fund raise for veterans causes. I noticed a couple of years ago ICM sold WWI military T model Ford kits using the ANZAC term. For a while they were discretely sold over here without too much publicity or advertising. I believe any imports with unapproved use of the ANZAC moniker are supposed to be seized by customs. Not sure if that is the case now as they still for sale in Australia.

There can’t be no lawsuit at this stage because the models are not released yet and WW has to provide to a court evidence that their IP is being infringed. No court will stop sales on a mere allegation alone without evidence. That can’t be done until the kits and instructions are in the public domain. If there is any IP theft it would be most obvious in the instructions where details can be compared for infringements. Border have been careful to note that they had no WW documentation, plans, drawings or instructions when they obtained the molds and reversed engineered anything that could be IP related. It would be hard to prove that the IP infringement exists in the actual plastic parts as the molds and any imbedded IP had been abandoned by WW it appears and forfeited to the manufacturer. At this stage it’s just a bluff to scare off distributors and sellers. These are not the type of businesses that can afford the threat of expensive court cases. Whilst IP laws have been tightened up considerably in China, I imagine WW will have a hard time convincing their courts since they haven’t been allegedly paying their bills and acting in good faith. Border have indicated that their initial run is nearly sold out. I doubt any court can apply retrospective judgement on a distributor for buying and selling the kits in good faith before anything is proven. The judgement will be on the kit manufacturer if IP laws have been breached and that has to be in China. This is my opinion anyway.

Back for sale on Border Model Aliexpress shop as well for sale by the usual Chinese Ebay sellers.

I also found an Image of Dame Satan II just before returning to the US to become a training plane. It clearly shadows that no modifications had been made in its service history to add cheek guns.

Thank you Dennis for your kind offer as well as for the very informative information from yourself and others. I live in Australia. As I said before I would like to make this model in 1/32 scale but with all the modification necessary I have to debate if I have the skills to do all the modifications required. Certainly looks like more complicated than I expected and will have do more research.I mostly build wooden ships and now getting back into plastic building. I also note that there is also a blister of some kind above the nose as in the later G models but not clear if the same.

Thanks that might be a way to go. Either way removing the flared larger cheek gun window might be tricky but adding a nose turret to an F nose could be less of a problem.

Just to clarify. The HKM early with the cheek guns is 1/48. I’m just trying to find a suitable model. This particular plane didn’t have the modifications done.

The Boeing B17G Early by HKM is not the earliest version. Are there any other kits available of the earliest version, the model without the cheek guns? I would like to build one preferably in large scale as I have an original patched A2 crew jacket of the one pictured above and would like to build it. Thanks very much.

If 1 in a 1,000,000 Chinese bought a kit there would be only a handful left to leave the country. Not in any way likely but if demand is hyped up they will be thinly spread around the world.

That could be the case but the cease and desist letter clearly stated the lawyers represent Wingnut Wings and its principal Peter Jackson. It would cost a fortune to take distributors to court in many countries all over the world. There would be the need to engage specialist lawyers in each country as well. Either this is just a bluff or someone has the financial clout to see it through. I doubt there is any money left in the company for the bean counters to dip into.