Ben Brown

Thanks for writing this tutorial. Also, that DH.2 is stunning! Ben

I have some of his 1/48 F-4 exhausts and landing gear. I really like the quality and detail. The gear struts aren’t as detailed as Detail & Wonder’s, but they’re still pretty nice. If you’re not aware, he’s based in China, so…. Ben

According to the googles, it's a quote from the horror movie It. Ben

Back in the ‘80s, they did more than fold the rotors. I took these at Kinston, NC when they brought it in to lift a new air conditioning unit to the roof of the local hospital. So, who’s up for scratch building a 1/35 Guppy to go with the ICM kit? Ben

Trumpeter’s treatment of the entire F-100 series in all three scales is… unfortunate. Ben

Very cool project!! Ben

Are those gear struts from Detail & Wonder? I used them on my build and was very impressed. I had to shorten that stub or brace at the top of each main gear strut so it would slide all the way into the wing. It looks like you had to do the same? I managed to lose all but two of the tie down loops. Ben

Looking great! Ben

Wow, cool project! I love the Dash-8. Great airplane! Ben

The kit intakes work pretty well. I kept popping the seams on the outboard sides when I was sanding the filler because the thin plastic kept flexing. I ended up temporarily gluing some styrene strip to the outside to stiffen things up and then removed it once I finished the seams. There isn’t enough room to just leave the reinforcements in place. Ben

These Z-M F-4 kits are great! I recently finished an E a couple of months ago and really enjoyed it. The only place I needed more than a touch of Mr Surfacer was on the panel that makes up the fuselage spine. I had to put a 0.30 strip of styrene on one end and then the part fit like a glove. Ben

Beautiful build, Sasha! This is the first new kit in a while that I’ve been genuinely excited about. Ben

Reith was working on a 3D printed correction to replace his original resin one and the kit was such a mess, he went ahead and started designing a complete 3D printed kit. Last time I checked, it was nearing completion. If he does put it into production, it will definitely be one of those “shut up and take my money” kits for me. Ben

I started out at age 5 or so, just gluing parts together, and gradually progressed to more and complex stuff as I got older. By the time I was an adult, I was pretty focused on getting seams filled and the paint just right. Then I discovered aftermarket parts and went down that rabbit hole for a many years, chopping up kits, replacing cockpits, and such. The one kit I can point to that actually made a major change to the direction of my modeling was the Trumpeter F-100D. I was a little too enthusiastic about the subject at the time, and I was determined to fix all of the kit's multitude of problems. That whole exercise burned me out on airplane models and F-100s for several years. When I started building airplanes again, my attitude became, "[Forget] it, I'm just adding a resin seat and decals and that's it." It's made the hobby far more relaxing for me, like it used to be. I'll still go a little crazy, occasionally, like with Zoukei-Mura's 1/48 F-4 kits, but but for the most part, a seat and decals is all most most of my builds really need. Ben

How do the two nozzles compare to the kit nozzles, lengthwise? I seem to recall the kit nozzles are a few mm too long. Ben