nmayhew

i think the difference with the Lanc is that looked ground-breakingly different / better than a) any other Lanc (yes I know there was 'just' the HKM in 1/32), but also b) arguably better than *any* other aircraft kit in any scale, ever; the cockpit looked (and still looks) like you have the best Aires resin detail set for sidewalls etc, and it's all injection moulded, and we know the engineering was at the time the best in the business being ex-WNW I'm no Phantom SME, so I just look at surface detail, and if the first word that comes into my head is 'Italeri', then Houston we have a problem; in addition, I'm still seeing drop tanks moulded in halves, sprue attachment points on the surface of the part that 'shows' and therefore needs clean up etc, rather than hidden on the back side etc (I realise most companies still persist with this) I think unless the final model's finish is significantly better than what we have seen so far then this will have an extremely narrow audience I build almost exclusively WWII armour and aircraft in 1/35 and 1/32, but if - for instance - Kotare did a Phantom (and it's the Vietnam B as well as Brit later models for me) then I would jump at one; this however has little appeal

it would seem their quality control matches their research...

hey guys just mulling G-6s and G-14s and whether to flog my Zoukei-mura Hartmann G-14 and came back to this review... STILL one of the best reviews ever, even with most of the photos missing I hope @Mikester you got over your health issues and @Matt_ your presence here and at LSP is greatly missed, hope you are well. Happy 2025 and happy modelling

just revisited a thread on BritModeller and a Czech member there said it definitely will *not* be 2025 - he quoted Mr Sulc saying as much I think - so we are looking / hoping for 2026 I guess... or that the Zoukei-mura will beat them to it?

is that directed at me? 363FG for Big Mac Junior and Virginia; 354FG for Bonnie B

as much as i want more (good) kits in this scale, i can see that for a given amount of resource, you are going to make more money in 1/72 and 1/48 than you are in 1/32... 1/32 is a much smaller market, and a MUCH tougher crowd; stuff you can get away with in 1/48 just doesn't fly in 1/32. so once you consider this, it's quite a big jump for Eduard I just hope they have been looking at Tamiya and especially Kotare - who have really raised the bar in terms of engineering and fit - rather than thinking they can get away with just scaling up their own stuff from 1/48. I have seen enough builds of their P-51s in 1/48 to know that's not just good enough in manscale. I have zero interest in adding shims in wingroots and teeny weeny locating joints for main landing gear. on the other hand, commercially it makes sense in that there is no decent kit of this marque and - if comments translate into sales - it's the one variant of the one plane that everyone has been clamouring for in this scale I wish them well with it and if it's decent will probably be in for a couple - finally get to do these birds which flew just a couple of miles from me... I wonder if someone makes a 1/32 oast house lol?

Spent most of the day tweaking these masks in silhouette studio…getting there!

Glad you are persevering! And I’d love that file for the Love Bug too if you can share (I have a cutter).

Apologies if I have missed the obvious, but the review fails to mention perhaps the crucial differences that this release has compared to the original G?? If I am not mistaken, this kit allows one to model - to use a non-technical term - an “early G” yes? In other words, whilst it has the chin turret, it has the early tail gunner position and - crucially - waist gunner windows which are in line and not staggered as in later models. So for the first time, you can model “A Bit O’ Lace” right?? I have not reviewed the sprues, nor am I a B-17 expert, so would appreciate those more knowledgeable than myself confirming / refuting the above. Cheers Nick

Hang in there Harv Here’s me on holiday in Austria in the Summer - our favourite holiday destination

This is on my bench right now, but shortly to be leaving it as it’s basically done. I’ll try to get some better shots in the near future. Needs small mat coat around insulators on aerial wires and where the wire meets the fuselage but otherwise I’m f*cking done with this! after building one (my first) Trumpeter kit my thoughts are a) I will be building the Revell one as my next early G, and not sure I will build another Trumpy 109 and b) *this* is why you build Tamiya!! (And Kotare)

PS if you f8ck any bit up, just wipe with Sansodor and start again; MRP paints are impervious to it;

Hey guys thanks for the kind words I think I have done some how to’s on here in WIP for my P-40 (search ‘Neville Duke’ and I’m sure it will come up) but very quickly … firstly and most importantly there’s no voodoo - you just need to be willing to give stuff a go, and not let yourself be convinced “I prefer my models with that clean look” when really it’s because you are a bit scared - I know because I was that person for years lol primed with MFS1500 Black; all paints are MRP; I use spatter templates where surfaces are flat enough and if fiddly compound curves will airbrush lots of little mottle randomly in various colours to build up depth; check Doogs Models YouTube for Blackbasing technique if you are not familiar oils should go on full or semi matt; if on gloss you’ll just be pushing them round and it will be a mess i don’t use oil dot technique; afaik that’s just random dots of random colour; I try to think about what weathering will occur and where. I don’t use pin wash - certainly not as slather it all over in every panel line etc and wipe off excess approach; that’s a bit clumsy and just makes things look even more like a model in my view; some do like the look, but it’s not for me. Check out Mike Rinaldi on YouTube - his short technique vids, not the 3hr live streams - too much waffle on those - he is THE MASTER and originator of OPR afaik for armour, check John Spud Murphy on Facebook - lots of great guys but he has lots of simple mini bits of how to and technique anyway… oils are on cardboard but I do dive straight in; I have Sansodor in a small palette by side; you can get away with just a few brushes - a couple of smallish ones (but can be a 2), just with a nice point, and maybe a bigger filbert type oils on cardboard are kept in a tin - fridge them ideally - and they will keep for a week plus; dab some Sansodor on them to revive if they start to get too dry work light to dark colours tiny amount of thinner and dab into oil paint (here I differ from MR - follow him not me, but since people asked…), take most of paint off on paper towel; apply to model; then with clean brush with a tiny TINY amount of thinner, work the oil to where you want and blend; then with bigger fry brush continue the blend; then if you want multiple colours over same area, USE HAIR DRIER - just cheap sh*t travel one - quick blow and then good to go again for a more industrial strength protection I spray MRP clear which dries in seconds and then can go at same area with any aggression necessary for spatter I will use Mac valve and maybe brush flick - have yet to get round to that hope this is of use; happy Sunday

Trumpeter’s 109 G-2 (1/32 of course)… a reminder of just how good Tamiya (and Kotare now) are; definitely in the ‘looks like a…to me’ category but hey ho. just starting oils topside; bottom is mostly complete apart from spatter marks.

Thanks Gazza! On reflection i am with you on there not being a third colour on the spinner. As to the RLM70 / Russian paint thing - that does indeed sound eminently plausible; at least some of the JG54 birds show a dark colour that really is very dark indeed. Progress is currently paused whilst i order new wheels - the ResKit early Gs were lovely but a pain to remove the resin from inside the tyre - on the last chunk of the second wheel i goofed and sliced the tyre...instantly f*cked. I am ordering a second set, and also the Eduard set which i think are single resin piece, so no ballsing around matching hubs to tyres; I swear the next aircraft build i do i am doing the wheels first, just to get that sh*t over and done with.