Clunkmeister

Yes, my friend, my picture taking ability leaves much to be desired, but I do try to get the point across. I’m extremely happy with how this kit is coming together so far, with the only real hiccup for me being the utter lack of close up historical reference out there. Most close up pics seem to be of the CAF bird, which has been crashed and rebuilt from rubble so many times that it rivals a T-6 in its mish mash of parts mixture…

That’s because it’s broken. And a trashed engine. Pretty much destined for the scrap heap.

Looks like a single rifle bullet brought him down. Well placed shot, (ok, a really lucky shot) right in the ignition system.

Gefreiter Michel doesn’t look all that happy about the shortness of his budding combat career. But I’m sure he’ll later feel quite relieved that it allowed him to get out of a losing war with nothing more than a bump on the head. A broken magneto is a pretty sure fire way to end your patrol early.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the open bomb bay kit adds more to this model than even the open gunner position. At least when it comes to detail. The parts provided in this kit are lifted straight out of the HPH resin Helldiver kit, and are truly gorgeous parts.

What a difference one little piece makes. The front root rib ahead of the spar. It’s nice to be able to look into the bomb bay and see actual wing structure rather than just open space. Next I’ll fix my ham handedness and repair the main spar carry through

Thinking on that now. Let’s allow the dust to settle on the Ukraine GB, say a month or so? Then jump in. So I’m going to say we’ll go with the “Wet” theme, that’ll give ship and armor guys a good theme as well. So start planning your builds, take some before pictures, I’ll give a leeway of 25% complete, that’ll give a few SOD sitters a chance to get stalled projects dusted off. Now I know NOBODY’S gonna “cheat” and start early, right? 😂😂😂 Just make sure y’all take “before” pics. So let’s do a tentative start date of Nov 1 to run 6 months. Finishing April 30, 2023.

Sometimes, we tend to outsmart ourselves.. Like I just did. Both wings, top and bottom, fit perfectly, to each other and to the fuselage. On the second wing half, I tried for the “perfect fit” on the top half at the root, and did a very slight bit of sanding to achieve that but failed to take into account the alignment problems that’ll pop up when placing the lower half, which has a lip molded on, to slide into the fuselage. OOOOOOOOOPS! So, of course now the lower wing half is slightly too long, and I have to shorten it slightly, without losing the positive lock lip on the root edge. So, out comes the #11 and I start scraping the lip, trying to pull the bottom half it. 20 minutes, and piles of shavings later, I got it. I even managed to only gouge the surface once Moral: don’t get cocky building a short run kit. Instead, take what you have and fill any gaps with Plasticard and Milliput.

Here are our accessory wing root ribs that come with the open bomb bay kit. The interior of the wing is visible through the bomb bay and I thought I’d go the extra strip of cutting the lightening holes open. They’ll be quite visible through the bomb bay and will add much to the look.

Notice the extra helping of CA in critical locations. No locator pins, just good old butt joints 😇

I’ve always thought 6 months, simply because that’s how most other sites do it and it seemed to be an effective compromise. The key to me is regimented. A complaint I received upon starting the Ukraine GB was that previous LSM Group Builds had no real timeline and were ongoing forever. I’ve attempted to change that. I closed out old GBs and gave this one a set time, with the possibility of an extension depending on participation. I extended Ukraine till Sept 30th to allow those stragglers to finish up. There are a couple pieces of armor that are done except for slapping on the mud and grime, so I’ll just let it go to month end then close it out. If y’all want longer or shorter down the road, let me know. One reason I have only done one GB is, simply put, the lack of staff. We all work. We’re busy, and sometimes it’s hard to run our businesses and the site, all while maintaining a happy wife and family. We’ve added a couple Mods to help with the day to day monitoring, so hopefully we’ll be Golden. Take a DEEP breath, Ernie! 🤣 The “Wet Works” theme sounds mighty interesting to me. So does the “First 20 years of jets” and “The first to accomplish” theme…. I remember the Japanese GB on LSP. That was a very successful GB, as was their Vietnam War GB. With HPH-Infinity due to release their Val and Kate kits very soon, a Japanese theme might be interesting as well. Just remember, we’re here to make this entire site better for YOU, so if you think of something, stayeth thou not mute.

THIS is a GREAT idea. Because it opens up the entire LSM realm to possibilities. Yes, we’re mostly aircraft modelers, but some guys build armor, others build ships, or an Apollo capsule splashing down, or what have you. I LIKE IT!

Dennis, I’ve built a couple of those as well. I specifically mentioned the ragging version because of the techniques needed to preserve the wing root detail…. I think this kit is easier in many ways: no, none of the main cockpit bulkheads fit, but all the main airframe components fit flawlessly.

Absolutely awesome! I’ve always loved the big, hulking Stirling, and I’ll be following this one very closely! If I ever decide to build a large vac kit, the Stirling will be the one I build.

This is EXACTLY why, unless it’s an aircraft I know well, I hate being the first guy to build one. 🤣. I tend to do what Peter did. But nice save, Peter, and flawless recovery!

It’ll be great to see you work your magic again, Gazz. Having built a couple Hasegawa 109s, I’m amazed at how ZM has managed to put 400 pieces into what must be one of the most basic high performance airplanes ever to fly. A 109 just ain’t that complicated. Pulling up a chair….

RIP Your Majesty! A true example of selfless Service, Grace, and Love of Country. You are the only Monarch I knew and Served under, may you Rest In Peace!

Welcome, Scott! Good to have you here. The Wildcat/Martlet series is always a winner in any scale or version, a d I’m thinking yours will be true to form. AMS, eh? Stage lV? Is that it? Man, you gotta get more anal! Break out the razor saws and Dremel, how about pin vices, RB Riveters, and all the other RB tools, and lastly, let’s see some RTV and casting resin! Trust me, you’re in good company around this place. 🤣 We ALL get a bit carried away every now and then…

Flawless work so far, Harald. I haven’t really looked at my kit yet, having already built the HK Lancaster which is amazing in its own right, but maybe sometime this winter?

I think putting the bars on the standard NZ roundels was a smart move. You don’t know how many red-blue colorblind gunners there were out there…. 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

Peter, in their defense, they took a kit designed from the outset as a resin model, and backed it out to IM construction. The reversed engineered the resin kit, so yeah, some stuff is a bit vague. I don’t mind, because I like to “work for it” a bit. Others, maybe not so much, but HPH kits have always been for more experienced modelers. If you can build a PCM Fw 190C, or rag wing Hurricane, you can build this

I’ve heard all kinds of horror stories about the wing to fuselage joint. First, the top half is a total butt joint. No tabs, nothing. The bottom half slots in.. but the airfoil on the wing won’t quite be perfect to the fuselage so you’ll need to fill it, so instead, install the top half first, starting at the front, and use Ca. 1/4” at a time, with Zip Kicker, and make tour way along the wing, forcing it to conform. Once it’s in place and you’re happy with the fit, install strips of styrene on the inside of the joint to strengthen it, and Ca the crap out the support spar. After that, the bottom literally drops on and it will have NO gap at the wing root between the halves. The perfect fit is there, you just gotta work for it.

Another thing that would be well served with an AM piece: wheel wells. The kit construction is tedious, and every single piece must be modified to fit.

No kidding. If there ever was a group of kits where the Chinese manufacturer snatched away and tossed away the the greatness built in by the designers and researchers, it is Kitty Hawk. Their closest to perfection in the props was the T-6 and T-28, but they still got shoved down by the Chinese. Even Floyd Werner and his team of researchers could only do so much for Kitty Hawk. Their Sikorsky S-60 series and Little Birds are absolutely the best helicopter kits ever produced by anyone, anywhere, but the overseas production idiots still screwed the instructions and decals. Those Helicopters, Floyd Werner, and Glen Coleman should have secured the future of that company. But instead they just prolonged the inevitable. I mean, a 1/48 UH-1D? Really? Sigh….. Now, ICM is gonna take the spot that should have been Kitty Hawks.