Artful69

So ... the standard release ZM Fw-190A-4 kit is up for pre-order ... 11,000yen + taxes Rog

4 Days … Thats how long it took to arrange a replacement part … to be shipped, with tracking, on Friday. Most of that delay time was taken by me not responding to questions asked straight away. If only everyones customer service was this sharp! Rog

A pleasure, guys. The level of detail and the refinement on this Meng kit is truely on another level ... I hope they do more ... like the 1986/87 Williams FW-11 of Nigel Mansell / Nelson Piquet - I don't think the externals of the Honda V6 were any different than those on the McLaren - or the Lotus 99T. The problem is, though - instead of putting all the engine components on their own separate sprues, you can see they've smattered them about the place ... so this engine is pretty much tied to this kit! There are a good number of F1 machines from this era that I'd love to see Meng do though ... The Benetton Ford V8 combo with the 4 colours ... Nigel Mansell / Alain Prost Ferrari ... Micheal Schumacher's first World Championship Benetton etc ... the possibilities are endless. Rog

Returning from taking my mum out for the evening, I had a look at 'Stage 2' of the build instructions - dealing with the transmission and rear suspension area. Although (in theory) there was supposed to be a couple of screws used in the engine block assembly (I didn't bother with them!), this will be the first stage in the build that metal components will be utilised. As you can see in my first post here, all the metal components were in a bag together ... so I opened the bag and began separating the parts - and hit the first snag of the build! ... 3 seemed like an odd number ... This photo of course, is enlarged - but it's very difficult to make out the differences between them without the magnification ... A quick Google search gave me an email for Meng to request spare parts and it was just a matter of finding out what pat number needed replacing ... ... and the winner is - MT-6! ... I sent off the email and within 30 mins or so I got an automated response indicating that they will look into the issue in the next few days ... we'll see how we go! Meanwhile ... I figured I'd get started on 'Stage 2' .... At this point I realised that When D31 and D32 are glued in place it will be awfully difficult to paint the coil-overs (D21 & D22) ... It would have taken a while to get another build section sorted out and it was getting late anyway so I packed up. and left it at this ... Perhaps my next R&R will yield more time? Rog

I was disappointed that I didn't get any spare recreational time on my last R&R break to tackle either this kit or the Beemax Lotus ... Today I made some time available to make a start on this one! ... Hopefully over the next couple of days I'll have more of both. And so ... with the Western Bulldogs and the Gold Coast Suns beating seven shades out of each other in the Football on streaming while I enjoy coffee and some model work ... here is 'Stage 1' of the build ... As stated previously ... the instruction manual feels a lot more 'precise' than the Beemax kit and this assembly looks like it will have a Zoukei-Mura feel to it - lots of detail to have fun on assembly, that will remain hidden afterwards. I won't be painting much until the sub assemblies are all ready to go! Following the layout to this first stage I grab all the relevant sprues ... Following the instructions (which appear far clearer than the Beemax effort) ... I'm amazed at how easy it is to snip the parts off the sprues, clean them up and fit them together. In most cases there is no gap between parts that have a very positive, tight fit - and so I am relying on Tamiya's Extra Thin capillary action to glue the parts. In other cases where test fitted parts yield a small gap after clean up, I'm using my standard Revell cement as a filler ... just as you would for a normal gasket seal! And just like that - two halves of a V6 engine! Moving along ... Putting both halves of the engine together, plus a couple of add-ons ... The next lot of add-on's includes a full clutch assembly ... The instructions invite you to paint all the parts before assembly ... Fat chance! The whole deal will be hidden inside a bell housing when attached to the transmission in 'Step 2' ... Fun and easy to assemble though! ... and very well detailed. Next I snip all the parts required for the next add-on's from the sprues and lay them out to clean and glue ... A small amount of assembly work ... and we're done! So ... First impressions of this build ... This Meng kit is the first I've ever started on from this company ... and if it continues onward in a similar fashion to how it has impressed me so far - it will NOT be the last ... The detail and positive fit of cleaned up components feels very much like Tamiya, Zoukei-Mura or HKM's new A-20G, while the instructions read (and feel) a lot like a ZM assembly also. The difference between this and the Beemax kit are like night and day ... While this thing gives the impression of professional precision, the Beemax feels like an old Matchbox kit in comparisson - and so it also leaves me with a lack of confidence in how the poor fit/finish issues might compound the further into the build it goes. Hopefully more to come before fly out! Rog

Whoa boy!! ... I hope so!! ... They were taking scans near a Spey Phantom II and a Bf 109.E also. ... and with all that - the externals need to be re-scribed to pretty it up enough to make MM gear worth the exercise. A new tooled Beau is well past the due date ... AND the big plus is - you can (like with a basic A-20 airframe) get several versions for minimal alteration of the main shape which minimises additional cost in tooling. As long as it's accurate, MM components can be fit to either provide extra detail or corrections to internal errors (if present). This would be the big hope! ... fully detailed engines ... a range of interchangeable components - Thimble radome, underwing rockets, torpedo etc ... I'd buy at least 2 or 3! ... And yet it seems to happen all the time Peter! ... Look at what happened to the Hobby Boss A-26 and B-24 ... Wing location, shape and dihedral should be pretty basic items to get right (even if panel lines are out!), one would think! ... I really hope this one comes to fruition ... Rog

Carl ... Thanks for picking up on my shortfalls - you're more than welcome to add anything you think I've missed!! ... The post is open and if anything comes to mind, from anyone, they can add it in here! ... I didn't add Andy's M10 / Achilles kits in here because I honestly thought they were 2024 releases (2023 announced). The big surprise for me was Trumpeters late Tiger.1 ... didn't hear a thing!! Rog

A few of weeks or so ago Ern asked me to cover 2023 in retrospect … the year that was. The below result is in no way comprehensive and represents what has stood out to me in particular … and has taken several weeks to put together, trying to fit it in with work and rest. We’ve had a lot of people around (supposedly those in the know) who - for at least the decade and a half that I’ve been back into plastic modeling – have reported that modelling is steadily on the decline … especially in large scales. But … I’ve been saying for a number of years now … that the evidence is to the contrary and that modelling (in all scales) … but most especially in large scale - and despite the plethora of ‘nay-sayers’… is not only alive and well, but positively thriving! … Even during times of economic downturn. 2023 alone should prove that this theory is correct! I look through my list of known incoming releases from January and marvel at the amount of ’32, ’35 and ’16 scale action (especially the latter!) … that we’ve seen this year. Some of this stuff may vary a little on timing with what you have experienced in your locality … Deliveries to Australia are sometimes delayed by a few months over other countries. To kick off … Zoukei-Mura … Got it’s regular boxing of the Bf.109G-14 out. For a while, a few of the ‘Limited edition’ Eric Hartmann 10th anniversary celebration ones were still around to buy – but as soon as the ‘regular’ boxing was released for the much higher pricing, the limited editions were snapped up fairly quickly!! … Finally we got the first Fw-190! … The discounted and limited edition collectable – pre-order only - Fw-190A-4 … Although we’re still waiting on the regular boxing (Stores - or friend shops – were wise enough to participate in the pre-order so there’s still a number of these boxings available via retail for now). For those interested in their ‘48th stuff the Phantom II G ‘Wild Weasel’ was released also. Kotare managed to start distribution of their 32 scale Mk.Ia (Mid) Spitfire … Following it up with a limited edition ‘Brian Lane’ boxing. These guys, being the artists formally associated with Wingnut Wings, were expected to produce great things … and they have not disappointed! The way that they have engineered the assembly of the kit attests to their knowledge of it – ensuring that joins occur along panel lines to avoid clean up work of seams in places they shouldn’t be, later on. Infinity (the new HPH injection moulding brand) was a bit of a disappointment … Not in the sense of it’s product quality … which continued to improve – and the 1/32 Aichi D3A Type 99 Val was, by all accounts, the best kit yet. With everyone eagerly anticipating the 1/32 Nakajima B5N2 Kate to add to their collection … Infinity announced closure of it’s business and prospective sale of it’s current moulds and designs. It appears that there was no takers and so HPH has folded Infinity back into the parent organisation. For those waiting on the Kate it was announced shortly afterward that the injection moulds created to date would still be utilised – but now in conjunction with resin moulded parts to complete the model (as per HPH standard kit assembly) … we’ll now have to wait to sometime in 2024 to see how this arrangement works out! Most of the Hong Kong or Chinese based Manufacturers had a stunning run in the 2023 year … Hong Kong Models … have released one of the major items on my 1/32 bucket list … The Douglas A-20G Havoc. I would have been happy with a ‘near enough’ example … given that the A-20 is not exactly trying to emulate the super-model’esque lines of a Supermarine Spitfire or DeHavilland Mosquito! Instead we were treated to what appears to me, in all 5 categories (Engineering, Detail, Fit, Finish, Accuracy) to be the best kit HKM have ever produced! … The reviewer from the International hobby store I buy from here says it’s the best 32scale kit – period. While I’m always sceptical of sweeping statements – he does have a point for it to be in the conversation, most definitely. The A-20 J/K is due out early in 2024 … nuff said! Trumpeter finally ... after a decade of false announcements ... got a 1/32 TBD Devastator to market! Both Takom and Meng got an AH-64 out in the (now, for helicopters) traditional 35th scale … In Takom’s usual style … 2 or more variant boxings have hit the shelves. Both have produced a number of other kits in 2023 but Meng have also decided to make a foray into large scale F1 – blindsiding everyone I think … In 1/12 scale they have released a McLaren (Honda) Mp4/4 … one of the most successful F1 cars to ever be produced – driven by 2 of the sports best drivers: Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna … These kits have had excellent reviews posted to date! Italeri … not to be outdone - fielded a 1/12 version of the F1 version before it: The McLaren (TAG Porsche) MP4/2B driven by Alain Prost and Keke Rosberg … So it would seem that 1/12 F1 is making something of a comeback! Italeri meanwhile, have not been idle in the 1/32 aircraft department either, with the Macchi MC-202 hitting the shelves … and more promised for the future. Reviews for both releases so far have been good. Border have continued with their esoteric releases in 35th scale … aircraft. Reviews to date have been mixed for the majority of their releases … Their Pz.IV’s in 1/35 were incredibly good … while their Tiger.I ‘early’ was a little off in some of the details and instruction book. Takom have continued smashing out 1/35 armour with multiple releases and it seems, with multiple announcements, it won’t be slowing down in 2024 either. Dragon are back! ... They have released a couple of new 1/35 kits … BUT the big news here is that they’ve stopped including the failed experiment of crappy DS tracks … they’ve re-released a bucket load of older kits with the standard swath of ‘inclusions’ that we came to know and love (PE, Metal barrels etc), finally adding back in the Magic Track link arrangement for their tanks that worked so well. They are still expensive when compared directly with their fellow Manufacturers (Meng, Takom etc) but while the others can be hit and miss, with Dragon you know you’re nearly always getting an accurate scale representation, along with good detail levels, positive fit and finish. Airfix’s Spitfire Mk.IXc in 1/24 finally got out for distribution to mostly good reviews also. In 1/16 scale: · Gecko Models got their Panzer II Ausf.F out, while their Ausf.B was delayed. · Takom put out an M50A1 · New tooled Tiger.1’s came from Andy’s Hobby Headquarters (Early), Hobby Boss (Early) and Trumpeter (Late) · Trumpeter also delivered a ‘late’ version of their JagdPanther, a ‘late’ version of their StuG.III and a Sd.Kfz.251 Ausf.D halftrack. · Hobby Boss re-released the Panda Hobby Pz.38(t) with a full interior added! · Freedom Model released a Kettengrad · Das Werk put out a Sd.Kfz.251 Ausf.D halftrack and a Winterketten version of their ‘early’ StuG.III · A ton of conversions and figurines have also been released in 1/16 As you can see, even though I’ve probably left out a TON of large scale stuff, there was a wonderfully huge amount of new releases to select from in 2023 … 2024 promises to be even better! Rog

This is the only untainted video clip from the movie I can find ... Unfortunately it lacks the subtitles - AND the preceding minute or so where, as usual, the volleyball team come up with a 'unique' solution to deal with a problem where the opposition is OP ... the result is what you see here! Rog

The first time I saw one of these was on "Girls und Panzer - Der Film" ... The relationship between Mika and her crew from Continuation Academy is very similar to that of Darjeeling and her crew from St Gloriana's Academy ... Because of her obscure sayings, her crew think she's a weirdo!! 🤣 She used it as the ultimate Troll Cannon in the movie ... One of the best/funniest 5 minute animated clips I've seen! Every time I see one of these ... anywhere ... I have the Sakkijarven Polka playing in my head! Rog

Interesting question/note!! ... I don't recall seeing any physical masking material/guide in the kit - apart from the painting instructions ... I'll have another look when I get back ... there may be a mask set available, but the Marlboro pattern looks simplistic enough that I may be able to get away with tape and paper ... I'll definitely keep this in mind though! lol ... I'm actually disappointed that I didn't get another full day with the Beemax kit before fly out day. On the one hand FIFO is a good job type ... free food, my own air-conditioned room with ensuite, wifi etc ... you work 12 hour days and do laundry a couple of days during the 14 day stay ... and then when you get your 7 days off ... they are all in a row. Unfortunately, there's just a lot been going on at present outside of work. It should calm down a bit over the next couple of months, but it means a slow start to the builds. Rog

If you're following the build thread I started for the Lotus 99T, you'll already have the rundown on Ayrton Senna (who was driving for Lotus from 1985-87) and Honda, who supplied engines to both Williams and Lotus during the 1987 season. Although Lotus was hampered in 1987 by a engine with one year old technology (adapted to current regulations) and an active suspension with the usual teething problems that exist when introducing new tech to F1, they managed to see Ayrton Senna to 3rd place in the World Drivers Championship and were guaranteed current engines for 1988 after Honda ended their restrictive partnership with Williams at the end of 1987 in favour of McLaren from 1988. Irrespective of the gains made by Lotus ... Alain Prost managed to convince Ron Dennis (McLaren team manager) to get Ayrton Senna to switch to McLaren in 1988. His replacement at Lotus was to be Nelson Piquet. Ironically, it was in 1987 that Nelson Piquet won his third and final World Drivers Championship driving for Williams / Honda while they took out the Constructors Championship for the second consecutive year also. 1988 was a season like no other before it in F1 ... Alain Prost - a seasoned veteran of F1 ... won the 1986 World Drivers Championship (and his second consecutive one) by only 2 points when his McLaren (running an underpowered TAG Porsche V6 compared to the awesome Honda unit run by Williams) won the last race of the season in Australia ... Thanks to Nigel Mansell, who while leading the race, screwed the pooch in the most spectacular fashion ... blowing a rear tyre on the main straight. Mansell was advised to pit for tyres during the race, but feared he would drop too many spots to win the title. Ayrton Senna had proven over 3 seasons with Lotus that he was no average driver ... McLaren ... a renowned constructor and Honda ... producing the most powerful engine in F1 at the time that was also near bulletproof ... ... What we got was ... the perfect storm! McLaren won 15 out of 16 races that season. Ferrari won one (in Italy) - because the McLarens had retired. 10 of those races were 1-2 finishes and McLaren won the Constructors Championship by a whopping 134 points (199) over second placed Ferrari (65) ... In an oddity Arton Senna won his first world championship by virtue of 1 more first placed race (8) than Prost (7) ... and even though Prost was by far the more consistent of the two with 7 second placed finishes (to Sennas 3) points were decided across the best 11 race placings in a drivers season (out of 16) rather than his cumulative total (which would have seen Prost win by 11 points) The Car was voted by a selection of F1 experts to be the best F1 car in the sport at one point ... This sort of voting however, I find to be highly subjective and speculative, as decision parameters may vary in importance from voter to voter and year to year ... For example ... How do you compare Ferrari's dominance with the Schumacher / Barrichello combination? Nevertheless ... the combination for 1988 ended up being absolutely outstanding. The kit ... Unlike the Beemax kit, the box is smaller in both length and width ... but is quite deep! Also ... unlike the Beemax kit ... The instructions look spectacular ... emphasis on the 'look' bit, because I haven't started on assembly yet ... you'll need to wait about 2-3 weeks before that starts happening ... and I can compare assembly to the Beemax kit (on my next RnR from work). The thick box contains a LOT of sprues ... all of them, excepting a red brake light and clear windscreen are in that wonderful modellers grey plastic. The instructions are divided up into sub assemblies ... and here is where they have a more Zoukei-Mura like feel to them than the Beemax kit ... There is a title page advising you what section of the kit will be built according to that set of instructions and what parts will be used ... AND how to find them on the sprue. They are also in colour. As you can see from this brief perusal of the first section of instructions, there is a lot more parts to this assembly than the Beemax kit I just hope Fit and Finish are as good as the instructions. A part of the sprue layout below Paint ... I'll probably just go off Tamiya colours of the same paint descriptions as they don't have an exact call out ... OR ... maybe look up the Tamiya instructions for the 1/20 version of this kit. Another page of the parts in the box ... Decal sheet B, C and D are weird looking ... they basically get stuck onto various panels 🤷‍♂️ Peel and stick cloth seatbelts ... something different! ... the 2 little chrome rectangles are the wing mirror lenses ... The Lotus kit has stencils for airbrush work on the Good Year tyres I think ... I don't like the idea of decals on rubber! Nice grey plastic ✅ ... Firmer rubber tyres ✅ ... less screws ✅ ... Jury's out on the metal suspension parts though We'll see what happens when I return home and start building! Rog

I was going to say that the kits feels reminiscent of a Tamiya 1/20 F1 kit (I've built a few of those) ... but it's too early in the build for a direct comparison. When I get my next look at it I will see how well the rest of the engine goes together and if the imprecise parts fit doesn't throw the rest out. I just hope that the rest of the instructions don't run too far astray of the actual plastic either! Heya Rob ... Yes I understand Beemax has a McLaren MP4/4 scheduled ... BUT ... my gut feel here is the opposite conclusion. The Beemax kit feels just a little unrefined at present - early days yet, I know! Thanks for the reference title ... I will keep it in mind but will try to source any reference pics I need through Google ... at least initially. I haven't built any of Meng's 1/35 kits yet - and when it came time to choose a Panther Ausf.D Kit I narrowed it down to 8 kits, by 6 manufacturers, then down to 2 - Takom and Meng ... I chose the Takom kit, mainly because of the link and length track assembly and the full interior detail giving me more display options for only 25% more in price. Reviews of the Meng kit, however were very good and that seems to run true for most of their kits. I ordered the Meng kit the same day I ordered the Lotus - so I had already decided on it before your post ... but only pulled the trigger on it then, because it was reduced in price through a local dealer at 20% off. The Meng kit will also have a build thread attached so we'll be comparing the two manufacturers as we go along No problems ... I hope I can do it justice! *** NOTE: I didn't get to attack the kit any further over the last few days ... I'm helping my GF process her visa ... and I've been trying to work on the 2023 year review for Ern', among other chores ... I fly out to work tomorrow and I should be able to have a solid crack in a couple of weeks when I return! *** Rog

Agreed! Always interesting dio pieces, these. Especially when you factor in crew, discarded shell casings, camouflage etc Rog

Hi all ... The second part of my recent order arrived at the post office this morning, so I went to collect it. It's the new Meng 1/12 1998 McLaren MP4/4 Formula 1 car Of course, as usual, there will be no tobacco sponsorship logos in the kit so these needed to be ordered separately in order to get an accurate display model when complete ... By the time I got around to ordering - the store where I bought the Camel decals for the Lotus was out of stock of Marlboro decals for the McLaren so I had to Google some to suit ... fortunately there's a local hobby store that had some after market ones - Unfortunately ... they were more expensive. At least they came with gummy bears though ... so there's that! As with the Beemax Lotus, I will be doing a build thread on this one. I hope to get the 'in-box' look and review done this evening ... but my week off has been a bit busy! I fly back to work tomorrow. Rog