denders

Yeah, I just found that my Kotare K-4 was in the Nashville, TN Distribution Center on August 7. Normally it then goes to my local PO for delivery. Now, as of August 12 it's in Portland, OR. I did some checking, if you change the first digit in the zip code from a 3 to a 9, that is a Portland area town. So, someone or something decided the zip code on the package started with a 9 instead of a 3.

This was 2nd Place. This was 3rd Place. This was 1st Place. There are more photos to come. I have things to do this evening and tomorrow and most of the next day are travel days.

This is Category 132 1/32 Jet Powered. This was 1st Place. This was 2nd Place. This was 3rd Place. More Photos to come.

I have a new flash device and I'm still learning. Category 131 1/32 Prop Planes This was 2nd Place. This was 3rd Place. This was 1st Place. More photos to come.

Hi Mark, nice to have met you in person. The F-4 looked really good. I didn’t preorder one, but perhaps sometime down the road I may get one. I’ve got a Tamiya C and a Revell G with assorted AM to build first. And all sorts of other kits too.

Okay, some photos. I'll eventually post them all. It's 3PM here, the convention dinner and award presentation is this evening. And we're traveling tomorrow. I've no idea how good the internet will be at that location, so be patient. Next year (2026) is August 5-8 at Ft. Wayne, Indiana and 2027 is Huntsville, Alabama. They have placed the 'Best Of Category' awards this morning. My understanding is they will have a video playing during showing the 1st, 2nd, 3rd awards of each sub-category so the after-dinner show will be shorter, and we can all get our models out of the contest room earlier. I understand that everything has to be gone by midnight. It may be earlier than that and everything includes everything, not just models. Sorry, I didn't see the other Best Of Category winners, my feet said NO!

Thanks, Mike! More Progress. It might be the last progress 'til after NATS. If you're at NATS and see this guy with the P-40 shirt, stop me and say Hi. The shirt has a shark mouth lower on the front and a Flying Tiger on the back.

Yeah, there doesn’t seem to be logical things happening at times. I just watched a package from Chicago go to a PO about 12-15 miles from me and sit there for two days. Then it went to Nashville and then to Fairview. The original tracking said it was going to be delivered on Monday and it kept right on showing that until Wednesday morning when it was loaded for delivery. Things would normally go from Chicago to Nashville and then to Fairview.

A little more progress.

Thanks, folks! Carl, yes, that is just a brace.

Not much of an update, but I'm liking the details that are in this kit. You have to look closely at the instructions at times, and it can be a little fiddly, but I'm liking it.

Thanks for the suggestion, Hubert. Since this is to end up as a gift to someone who won't look that close, I decided to wait and see if the parts arrived. Which they did today. Thank you IBG!

Well, I haven't built anything armor related since I was a teenager. I don't remember exactly what that was, I think it was either a US Halftrack or an M109 Howitzer. So, I've had the itch, but it had to be something I felt like building. I actually won a Russian tank in the raffle at Chattanooga but after talking with someone who had just won some Russian figures, I donated that kit to him. Sorry, I was not into building that kit. Last week SB had some 'Damaged Box' kits on sale, so I bought this kit. And, how fitting, it went from SB in the Kansas City area to Chicago to Dallas to Nashville and then to the local PO for delivery. It normally takes a rather direct path. And since the kit was a damaged box kit, why not add a little. Now to figure out which Olive Drab in the MRP line looks best.

Thanks, Carl, I got awake to an email that was double checking my address and telling me that they would be sending parts.

Soooooo.......... the wheels are done. I tried the Hataka paint straight from the bottle, but for my use it needs to be thinned. Next time. But the problem that I didn't notice 'til this afternoon, one of the engine parts is short-shot. I've sent an email about a replacement part. I'll have to wait and see. So, it's on hold for the time being.

Thanks! It's RLM66, that way the black insignia looks different.

Two more books.

Thanks, Hubert! First step, the wheels. I have the Quickboost wheel set but thought I'd build the kit wheels too. On the left is the kit wheels, on the right is the QuickBoost wheel set. There's a color photo in the Mushroom Yellow Series book which appears to have a circumferential tread pattern. There is also a photo which appears to have been from an original manual which has smooth tread. I'm suspecting that the color photo is from more modern times and is not period correct. The seam line in the tire is way too large to pass off as tread, so would have to be corrected. I'll note that the artwork on the box has the circumferential tread pattern too. I have two other books arriving tomorrow and I'll see what they have in them. I think I'll go with the Quickboost wheel set because the kit wheels will also end up with smooth tread once all the seam is filled and sanded.

Well, now that I said I don't have the book, I went on ebay to see which number in the series it was (#11) and looked on the bookshelf again, there it is. But, it doesn't have any helpful photos similar to the corsair photo. I did find this drawing which you might find interesting.

It seems strange that I don't have one of the P-47 Squadron Walkaround books, but I don't. This is from the F4U Corsair book. The wheel and brake line connection are from the same period.

Well, it has to work in similar fashion to the brakes on you car. The brake cylinder and pads don’t rotate with the wheel and I can’t see any reason to complicate it by going through the axle.

The RFI is here:

A couple of years ago I picked up a Dragon Bf-110D/E kit and a Revell Bf-110C-0/C-7 kit. The goal is a G4 (I have the AIMS conversion), but I wanted to build a 110 of more generic assembly before attempting the G4. So, this was it. I decided on Falck's aircraft and had intended on painting all the markings except the squadron and personal markings. In the end I just used the EagleCals decals for everything. I used various Eduard PE, Aber and Master gun barrels, and the Quickboost exhaust set. The paint is mostly MRP with the use of AK Markers for some small items and touchup. The build log is here: