Clunkmeister

Oh man, that looks GREAT, Peter. It’s awesome to finally have an ACCURATE early Curtiss Hawk in our scale. I’ve built Hasegawa P-40s and SH Radial engine Hawks, aand this will perfectly fill that gap.

I stay far away from casinos. The women flock to me. I actually thought I was good looking until I figured out they were coin operated women just like the coin operated slot machines. Ahem.

I’m hurt, traumatized, offended, and anything else that applies. 🤣

I’m offended! Morally outraged! Hurt! Scarred for life! Where’s my safe space?

No I haven’t. So far, it’s pretty straight forward. The Air Boss asked both streams to cross each other, with the fighters passing in front of the bombers. The P-63 pilot lost situational awareness and never saw the B-17. That’s what the prelim reports say, at least. Hopefully there isn’t a leap to drastic and draconian rule making. In my personal opinion, there were way too many airplanes in way too small a space. When you add in showlines, and mix different performance levels of aircraft, it’s a recipe for the unexpected.

TR is destroyed. They’ll source another, but from where, I have no idea. Most likely an old firebomber airframe, but even they are getting tougher to find.

Hard to say. I saw that as well, and the consensus is that the P-63 somehow got too far behind the Mustangs and was trying to catch up. Hence his blistering speed. I was a always under the impression that bombers stayed AAF 500 ft, and fighters stayed at 1000 ft. As far as how the P-63 got so badly out of position, we’ll never know now, unless the Air Boss told him to step on it to get back in formation. That’ll come out soon enough I expect. Hindsight is always 20/20, and like you said, fingers are pointing everywhere. As for us here in Texas, we lost a State Treasure in Texas Raiders. Several of us have committed long term to the refurbishment of another Fort, and it’s going to be needed. The fighters might be the cool draw for many, but the bombers pay the bills with their goodwill tours, school walk through, and ride programs. Without the bombers running, CAF would never be able to afford what it does.

That’s why I didn’t take action. The smack down is the last resort, and I refuse to go there unless absolutely needed. But in the heart of LSM, let’s self moderate. Makes my job easier. 🤣

Remember, another option is to purchase the kit in the winner’s Economic Zone. Shipping is cheaper, and it’d avoid all import taxes, duties, and “just because we can” add-on fees.

Guys… Please. NO MORE! I hid the political post and others that quoted it. Let’s have this a onetime thing. Thanks again!

All Mods can participate. I don’t because I run it and do the drawing. Appearances and all….

Your a mean one, Mr Gri, I mean Scott. The kit is actually pretty decent, IF you take your time. I’m actually in the middle of a 3 Mustang build comparison that’ll eventually be a feature. Revell, ZM, and Tamiya, and all three have their warts.

She’s starting to excite me in a lot of ways, now. Details being applied, and it’s getting nicer and nicer as we go along. The slats are now more or less scale size and thickness, and actually fit the wings now. I also slimmed the crap out of the blocks of plastic they give you to Mount the slats on. Milliput is my friend, here.

Yes, we’re gonna start on the first day of 2023, Jan 1. We pushed the start date back 1 month. Get Christmas out of the way first, and bring in the New Year with some fun. I’ll be doing a Lukgraph floatplane.

It’s certainly a “one step at a time” situation, Peter. The easy way is to assemble the kit, throw on a killer paint job, put it in the display case, and squint every time you look at it. But for as big as this model is, it’s a little thing compared to Grumman’s Big Turkey.

Hey Hubert. I personally have zero issues at all with books, as long as they’re not dog eared, coffee stained cast offs that would otherwise be binned. I’m not trying to come across as all materialistic, but to avoid previous pitfalls of previous years where someone “won” another person’s bin filler. The ones who did this were NOT our regular bunch, by the way.

A word to the wise. The kit exhaust faIrings are an absolute work of fiction. You have three choices as a builder: build a fictional model that looks kinda like a Helldiver, scratchbuild some and use blackened brass tubing as exhaust pipes, or use the 3D printed Resin2Detail parts. Scratchbuilding them would be a rather simple job, however I decided to try the new Resin2Detail exhaust correction parts. These parts are absolutely exquisite and are a massive improvement over the misshapen blobs provided in the kit, but beware; trouble lurks ahead. The rear fairings on these are paper thin. So thin that even looking at them wrong might cause them to shatter, so, before removing the parts from their runners, run some thick CA inside the rear areas of these and hit it with Zip Kicker or equivalent. Then and only then, snip them from their supports. Also, the slats are meant to be displayed open, and as supplied, are nowhere even close to being able to be modeled closed. They’re molded clunky and with thick cross sections, plus, they’re way, way too deep, as in about 1/4” too deep. I spent a good half hour manufacturing plastic dust as I thinned out and sanded them to fit. I will install them open, but I’m not sure that’s correct for these aircraft. I assume that they are the Messerschmitt modified standard of the Handley Page style that float free on rollers, all counterbalanced and move based only on aerodynamic need. The picture is of the modified slats. A bit of time spent on these two areas now will go a long way toward enhancing the look of the finished model.

Thanks, Chrus. (Couldn’t resist). Such a unique name and all 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I hate having to put the restrictions on, but last year, a few members had a couple valid complaints with one or two folks riding in, contributing nothing, and leaving with a bunch of high $$ stuff. Along with that, taxes have gotten insane in Europe, so cards might be a more viable outcome there to lessen the reach of the taxman. It’s one of the better ideas that I brought with me from LSP, the only difference being is that I exempt myself. Heck, I have too much crap as it is! LOL. Oh, and I never mentioned before, but it’s GREAT to have you here and joining in with us mad jokers and builders. Some guys here are regular build factories. Not like me… one a year seems to be my output.

It seems as smooth as any WW2 bomber’s radial installation would be. Cowl flaps certainly interrupt airflow. I’m doing a bit more research right now. To me, something seems slightly “off”

Our Christmas raffle went over well the last four years, but we are going to tweak a few things to make it more fair and to attempt to calm down those who only come here to snipe some prizes at Christmas. So, I’ve made a few changes to the rules and once again, will attempt to keep it simple. So here is rundown of rules so everyone is refreshed and aware. 1. Anyone who wants to enter to win may do so, IF, they are an Active Member of LSM as of right now. Dec 01, 2022, 2110 hrs CST 2. Active Member is defined as anyone who has contributed to LSM by posting 20 posts to LSM within the last calender year. I though again of making it a WIP requirement, but decided again to nix that idea. The whole idea here is to promote a feeling of Christmas Spirit, get people posting more, and hopefully bring a better ending to 2022. So let’s make this fun! This in obviously not directed at those who have recently come here from LSP, Hyperscale, or wherever, if you’re new, you’re welcome to enter 3. Enrolling: Entering the raffle is easy. Just post "I'm in" and I'll mark you down. I’m going to change one rule: To be eligible for the gift raffle, you need to contribute. If you DON’T contribute to the raffle with a gift, your name will NOT be included in the regular gift drawings, but you WILL still be eligible for the Grand Prize. 4. Gifts: I’m not going to make this mandatory, but I will recommend a contribution of a new kit with a value over $30.00 USD, and under, say, $120.00. That gives a huge range of ideas. From Hasegawa to Revell, to Tamiya. If you give a kit from stash, that’s cool, but let’s make sure it’s not a busted up old stash Queen from 1967 with a smashed box and yellowed decals. The whole idea here is to have everyone get something nice. The LSM Grand Prize will be one brand new 1/32 new, unopened JetMads Saab Viggen kit. Yes, it’s more than 120, but I make the roolz and this will be THE one and only Grand Prize 5. Impropriety: To avoid any sense of impropriety, I am going to ask that all people who feel led to contribute gifts to please verify your gifts as listed correctly. If I list it wrong, please let me know so I can correct it in time. Anything LSM related is good in my book. Aircraft, AFVs, SciFi, Ships, are all OK. It makes my job easier when it comes to keeping track of who gave and won what. 6. More Impropriety: As the organizer and overseer of this operation, once again, I will again give, but will NOT be eligible for any gift drawings. 7. Winning is great. Giving is an awesome thing. 8. But remember, if you offer a gift, you're responsible for getting it to the winner. 8a. If shipping is outrageous, giver can substitute a gift card of similar value to the winner so he can source it locally. In the EU, for sample, Duties, Taxes, Brokerage, and VAT for items shipped from the US are astronomical for someone on a tight income in the EU. So consider for, say, a Brit, sourcing a gift card from Hannants. In the EU? One of the big German, Czech, or Polish model houses might be a good choice . If that isn’t an option, contact me and I’ll arrange to help with shipping and VAT charges as I can. 9. Gift givers and winners are to contact each other in a timely manner and winner must provide shipping information so the giver can get the package in the mail. 10. This is a fun Christmas Raffle, guys. If you pledge a gift, please make every effort to get it out in a timely fashion. 11. I will attempt to update the prize list and the names of those who entered the raffle on a daily basis. If there's more entrants than gifts, not everyone will receive a gift. If there's more gifts than entrants, then some will get more than one. 12. Drawing: Christmas Day in the USA, because that's where I live, and I work the day before, so the Aussies and the Kiwis gotta wait an extra day. Sorry guys! Grand Prize this year will consist of a JetMads SAAB Viggen kit, an absolutely unique and iSTUNNING model. I have the kit in my possession now, and it is part of the Second and final run of 500 Viggen kits. This will be the one and only Grand Prize awarded. Grand Prize will be drawn from all names submitted, after the regular draw has been completed. The Viggen is offered as a simple THANK YOU for helping make LSM one of the buildingest? and by far one of the most welcoming and friendly Modeling Sites on the Internet. Pretty normal stuff, eh? I think this oughta be a fun thing and I really hope everyone has a good time with this! Ernie PS: if you won a prize last year and have not received it, please PM me on LSM and I will look into it. ALSO: One cheaper way of sending a gift is to purchase the gift once you know who won, at a model shop, distributor, or supplier, INSIDE the economic zone of the winner. This almost always turns out better for the giver, and is always MUCH better for the receiver. (No customs and duty). Thoughts

A STEP? Like essplain yourself, Esse.

Yeah it’s hard to say. Everything is so open to suggestion as the fit is vague and you have to dye a all it. Plus with the cooling gills open, it’s tough to say.

Since I took those pics, I thought maybe the cowl was a touch bit low, so I moved it up just a smidgen. This is it now. Thoughts?

Carl, the the thing about these kits is that it makes you remember that first and foremost, we’re model builders, not just kit assemblers. Many of these short run kits are a real challenge, but nothing so crazy that can’t be built with simple patience and determination. As long as you know what you’re getting into, then you’re ready and able to meet it head on. This kit wouldn’t be half as bad if I hadn’t cut it all up and rebuilt a good portion of it. Gaps? So what: deal with them. Out of alignment? Oh well: fix it. But the shape is accurate and all the rest is gravy.

So far, I can highly recommend this model to anyone who wants a large scale Helldiver. The build has been fun so far, and as long as you go into it expecting a short run kit with certain pitfalls that need to be overcome, you won’t regret it. Bo, it’s not a shake the box, or even an intermediate modeler’s build, but if someone takes their time, you’ll at least get this far. 😀 There are plenty of build tips online, and each new build, this one included, finds another workaround.