StreetFightingMan

I figured that would be the case. I might order some stuff to see how long it takes, but I'll probably stick with the somewhat more expensive companies selling their stuff stateside. Thanks!

I've been considering getting a few of HGW's superdetailing sets for some of the Wingnut Wings kits in my stash, and I was surprised to see how low the prices are (in USD) on their site ( http://hgwmodels.cz/en/), and that shipping is also ridiculously low. Because the prices are literally half of what their other distributors are charging, I feel like there might be fineprint or something that I'm missing, especially because they're sending this from Europe, and buying from other countries almost always seems to cost quite a bit. Has anyone on here from the US ordered from them before? The shipping does say it's worldwide, I just feel like there's something I'm missing here. If it turns out to be a really good deal, I'll be ordering ASAP, it just seems to be a little "too good to be true" right now. Thanks!

Well, progress has been slow on the cockpit. As I said, I'm trying more than usual to get it aligned correctly because it's going to be very visible with the large cockpit windows. I also decided to try Model Master Metalizers (non-buffing) for the first time, adding another nervous bit to this build. So far, I love this paint line! I picked non-buffing because I'm trying to simulate metallic paint, not shiny polished aluminum. I think that it looks as good as I expected for my first-time use, and I already know what I'll do differently next time. I painted over a black primer layer of Mr. Surfacer 1500. Since I got two jars of it when it first became available from SprueBrothers, I've been addicted to the stuff. It lays down so cleanly (assuming properly prepped plastic) and doesn't eliminate minute surface detail. I got ahead of myself with the metallic paint and, after I had put down the coat of aluminum, tried mixing a drop of the much darker gun metal to go back and add some accents along the framework of the cockpit. I'll have to investigate that further someday, but I could tell right away that it was going to look too severe and fake, so I quickly stopped and recovered those spots with the original aluminum. It looks a little monotone to me, but I'm mostly happy with it. After the airbrushing, I started detail painting and getting the sides of the cockpit together. I took these pics with my phone, so I didn't get any good close-up shots, but if it looks decent when I'm done weathering painting and weathering it this week, I plan on taking a few pics of the cockpit with my DSLR before closing up the fuselage halves. I have the belts and quite a few details to get done before then, so it will be a little while before my next update. Until then, this is a (poor quality) pic of my progress at the moment. Thanks as always for looking!

Hi Everyone, I'm starting a build of Eduard's nice little Avia B-534. I picked this up at the IPMS National Convention last year, and it's a very nice kit. Unfortunately mine came with some molding errors, and the wings and fuselage halves had some very nasty marks on them. I spent a lot of time sanding to get rid of the marks without damaging the delicate surface detail, and so far I think I've managed to get rid of most of it. If I come across more marks, I'll have to address them. So far I've cleaned up some of the cockpit, assembled some of the fiddly bits, and worked on assembling and aligning the fragile parts for the underside. Because a lot of the interior is visible after the fuselage halves are closed, I'm putting a lot of effort into getting everything just right. I hope to begin priming soon, and will be using Model Master Metalizer for the first time to get the effect of painted aluminum that was applied to the real thing. I've done a lot of test fitting, and I can see there will be a few spots that are difficult to get just right. So far it's been a fun build to plan out, and I hope to have some more substantial updates soon. Thanks for looking!

Wow!!! That looks really great! I love the weathering underneath, that thing really looks like it's been taxiing through the mud.

I'm going, and I'm really really really really really really really excited, haha. I'm sure I'll wear a hat or something that I can tell people to look for.

Great job! Is that all out-of-box?

Congratulations! Great looking Spitfire!

You can get revell instructions as pdfs off of their website.

I picked it up this morning. I've seen some great builds of it. I know a few people have complained about it in the past for petty reasons, but it's supposed to be great, and the included truck is supposed to be a gem. I'm happy with it, I can't wait for it to get here.

The 1/32 Ju-88 is really awesome. That cockpit is visible from just about every angle, so any AM put into it will not be a waste. The kit's detail is already really good, and it's definitely a step up from other Revell kits. I got both the He-111 and the Ju-88 for really low prices last Christmas during two great holiday sales. I'm gonna do something really cool with both of them, I just need to figure out what that is. If you want a close-up pic of a part of either kit, just ask. Otherwise, there are plenty of really good reviews of both kits out there.

It's a really great kit. I have the Promodeler release in the stash (which is the one you linked to) which is EXACTLY the same kit as the one a google search turns up and has better decals. I think the 1/32 Ju-88 might have somewhat better detail in the cockpit, but both are great kits. They're a little "different" than some other 1/32 kits in that they feel a little bit less detailed because of the lack of PE or tiny, tiny detail parts, but they both build up well, from what I hear. And as was mentioned, there's a nice selection of aftermarket stuff available.

That 163 would be great! I also have some pics I've taken of the only surviving 335, but I don't love that plane enough to build one in that scale.

Nice! How's the surface detail at first glance?

Okay, I was gonna post this on SPAR, but that's down, so ignore everything in this pic except for the StuG III Reference. I got it from Squadron last week for when I start my StuG III Ausf. G this summer. It's gonna be my first major interior job, so I'm really excited. The book has a few really great pics, and I didn't pay tons for it, so I'm happy. Just in case anyone is interested in the 1/48 trash (only because SPAR is down ) the other reference is for my other build this summer, a 1/48 Monogram B-26 Marauder. That too will have some interior work, I plan on completely scratchbuilding everything inside of it between the waste-guns and the cockpit. This one has some great pics of the positions I'm gonna be making, and together with the pics I took myself of the interior of the B-26 at the Smithsonian, I feel ready to get to work on it. The decals are all 1/48, and they were picked up during Squadron's $2 decal sale. The F-86 markings are some interesting post-war ones and will eventually make it to my Academy F-86. The two other sheets will be for future Tamiya P-51Bs (after I make Hun Hunter Texas). I don't know what it is, I really love P-51Bs. If Tamiya's 1/32 kit had been a B instead of a D, I would've picked it up in a heartbeat. Anyways, the decals look nice and seem to have nice, well-researched literature. Happy Modeling!