Clunkmeister

Haha, I’m sure many will do so, Carl. Me, I ain’t skeert. I’ll try the PE. LOL As far as huge complaints about the kit, well we here complaints pretty much every time a highly anticipated short run or low pressure molded kit is released. It’s just a fact of life. I like HPH, and I like this kit. I think we had better be aware that they’re watching sales of this kit very closely. If sales don’t match the demand, then I think we can kiss the Val, A-20, Vampire, and L-39 goodbye b

And the cockpit is wide open for the detail hounds. There is plenty of room for improvement here, although the kit pit is serviceable enough for many, especially if the hood is slid shut. An Eduard, CMK, ResKit, or Aires cockpit will really make this thing pop. Or,….. super detail the kit part yourself.

I’d say there is one weak spot, and one very weak spot in the kit. The engine, simply put, to me, looks almost devoid of detail. It’s a pretty big disappointment to me. A resin replacement will go a LONG way to help it there. There are plenty of good, high quality super detailed resin Wright R2600s out there. A quick look on eBay finds plenty from the various well known Eastern European AM companies. The flaps? Well, you have a lot of drilling ahead of you, or, better yet, build the PE parts, which are lifted right out of the resin kit. Be warned though. The PE flaps has caused multiple modelers to go cross eyed and start mumbling to himself, me included. They are not for the faint of heart. This is not some shake and bake kit. But it seems decent enough and should build up into a very respectable model of the Beast.

Just a bit of a peek. Here’s the two fuselage sides, side by each. There is a distinctive LOSS of detail and depth with the styrene edition.

I’m finishing up the review, y’all. I’m just not real good with Microsoft Word. My Mac finally bit the big one last month… Funny with this kit, in so many ways, I just prefer the resin kit better. I find resin more adaptable, but with styrene, you have fewer options. I’m not sure on the wisdom of adapting a resin design to styrene, because you do lose some of that minute detail that makes resin so amazing. I’m thinking I may build one quickly, straight as issued, OOB on here, just to see how it goes together. My real want is a folded wing bird with the rear gun deployed and the bomb bay open. I have the AM parts for that, so…

A 1:1 scale Auster-Taylorcraft? What engine are you using, Anthony? Lycoming, Continental, or Gypsy? Is it a civilian aircraft or the greenhouse military version? The British produced Austers were one unique looking light plane.

I thought I had a brainstorm for a minute, thinking of the IBG PZL P.11c kit, but alas, that used the Mercury, this used the Pegasus. Drat!

Tom, like I told Cees with his project, this is simply stunning beyond words. The two of you inspire me and have taught me so very much in regards to the actual simplicity of scratchbuilding once you get past the mental block and have a good set of drawings. A large scale Sterling and Sunderland, at the same time, on a model forum…. I can’t think of too many placed that happens at. Just flawless work.

Cees, between you and Tom, you truly drop my jaw. Tom mentioned a possible issue with the thrust line changing when modifying the wing camber. I seem to recall Iain having serious issues with that same thing on his Liberator wing modification project. Have you determined anything yet? I’m truly fascinated by this entire thing, as I’m doing something similar with a form and scratchbuilding, but on a much smaller scale,.. a 1/32 Fokker Super Universal. Between the two of you and your clinics on these pages, you’ve both improved my scratchbuilding 50 fold, and I’m not exaggerating one bit on that. I found you just need to get past that mental block and understand that it’s just plastic and one hopes we have somewhat higher brain function than it has. I stand absolutely amazed, Sir, and I mean every bit of that.

Now that looks sweet! I love the unusual scheme, John! Stunning work, as usual. I have one stalled out on the SOD as well, (story of my life), a remnant from a long finished Korean War GB in my distant past. I’m trying to make my way through the SOD, finishing up dormant builds, and one of these days/months/years/decades? Who knows

The front office is one area where you can go to town. The greenhouse is HUGE and details, or lack thereof, will show plainly.

Maybe grab one out of a Tamiya P-51? They come with both seats anyway.

Over here, Phil, hot rodding is in most American kid’s blood. Don’t ask me why, but maybe the wide open spaces, the hundreds or thousands of miles between cities,.. automobiles, and by extension, Hot Rodding are a part of every young kid’s psyche. Making your automobile look crazy wild and fast is just a part of growing up here. I can’t explain it, it just “is”. And Canada has it even worse than the USA. Small prairie towns have groups of people who drag old junk cars out of Farmer Joe’s back forty and spend silly time, effort, and money making them into something special (at least to them). Massive V8 engines in places where a wheezing 4 or 6 cylinder hand crank engine once lived, body modifications like lowering the roof height, and making it unique, if not a rolling death trap. People actually take 1920s vintage Ford Model T roadsters, remove everything but the body tub, and shoehorn in a 500 cubic inch, supercharged, 900 horsepower engine, just to prove they can. Then they chrome everything bolted to it. Finally they actually drive these things Same with motorcycles. The same independent and wanting to be free attitude made Harley Davidson what it is today. That’s not just a motorcycle, it’s a Harley, and it’s so, so much different. A culture thing. I hope I can get you over here sometime. Seeing rural small town America will either get your imagination running wild, or you shaking your head in disbelief. Think of it like Britain’s ties to the sea and seafaring. No matter what, Britons are an historical seafaring people and it is, through culture, a part of every child’s upbringing. North America is the same with the sea, except that in the interior, it’s wheeled transportation that catches the minds of the youngsters Maybe I need to a thesis on it or something. Craziness.

John, I’m putting a review together right now. I had one ready for Jim, but my Mac took a dump and now I’m on Word redoing the entire thing. Tried to save it on my iPad, but it just doesn’t have the capability. so, hopefully this weekend. I will tell you this, though. I think people are being a bit tough on the kit. I did the prerequisite trial tape together test, a d the fit is decent enough. The kit builds up OOB into a ready for flight SB2C-4 with gun stowed, bomb bays closed, and wings extended. Building THAT way looks fairly straightforward. Ill also say that the add-on kits are lifted directly out of the HPH resin Helldiver kit. Look, all I can say is that some of the other, more “dramatic” corners of the large scale blogosphere tend to thrive on hyperbole and big, neon flashing drama lights, and I’ve always tried to take that with a grain of salt. I’ll 100% guarantee you that this kit is quite nicely done and will build up fine straight OOB. The kit is the HPH Helldiver kit, simplified and re engineered for styrene. The beauty is that they offer you kits to go as far as you wish to super feature the thing out, and there is plenty of space and lank canvas there for those who wish to go all AMS on it. I hold out great hope for Infinity. I nope they look at the most obvious of their current HPH kits and give us a really, really, REALLY nice L-39. That kit, I expect will sell like proverbial hot cakes. I don’t thing there’s more than 2 or 3 countries in the entire world that doesn’t fly some version of the L-39, they’re literally everywhere. Plus, it’s one drop dead sexy design. That kit would be a real money maker.

Cees, I’m late to the party, but so far this seems to be looking mighty promising. The Whirlwind has always been one of those models that seem to gets thrown out there on various sits during the inevitable “What do you want to see in 1/32…” threads. I wasn’t one of the guys to drop everything and run out waving a fist load of £££ in the air when Hannants got some, but the Helldiver was that kit, and ordering it gave me incentive to piggy back a fixed gear Hawk, some FAA rockets, and the Whirlwind on my order. So, I’ll be watching closely. Like you said, it looks like typical Special Hobby, which has come so, so far from those early days of CMK. The detail looks, for the most part, true to scale, if a touch heavy, and what you’ve shown us so far looks super promising. I’m wrapping up a SH Brewster F2A-2 now, and three concurrent P-51s, Nd next for me will be the big Helldiver. So we all get to play short fun magician and wizard for awhile. I really do usually enjoy SH kits, they’re enough of a challenge to make you think, but not so bad as to nail you go the wall as a few resin kits will if you get a bit sideways.

Oh Good Grief. Here we go again. I’m so incredibly sick of this crap. Now they’re talking “delta” variants, etc, and as far as I’m concerned, I’m just going to live my life and whatever happens, happens. model building is a good pastime, I also have my old cars and the restoration of of them, and it’s a good time to get serious about flying again. All semi solo pastimes and to heck with the various governments and their stupid rules. Do we run and hide, or do we just proceed through life, not quaking at every shadow that passes by?

Agree there. Tread lightly, my friend. The entire “implant” thing is just this side of being a bit far fetched to me. but, we’re in it for the long haul…. Too late to back out now.

How is it looking for international travel? Canadians, Brits, Germans, Dutch, Poles, French, Japanese? I see the Czechs have it all figured out, because all the big Czech and Hungarian vendors will be there, ready to gladly sell us every last thing we can afford or have room for in our bags. Is there a quarantine from the EU? The Czech Republic is a member of the EU and I can’t believe Special Hobby/CMP, Eduard and such would willingly sit in quarantine. Not sure on Hungary, but they have vendors listed as attending.

As of right this moment, I’m facing a dilemma. My shop has FINALLY come out of its Wuhan Depression, and we’re now going gangbusters. Part of me doesn’t want to upset the apple cart with a prolonged absence, but it’s still a month away, so we’ll see. Second, I had emergency dental surgery yesterday after I went in to have a sudden toothache investigated and fixed. The doc found infection adjacent to the root where I had had a previous root canal performed 5 years ago. It didn’t show up on X-rays, but a CT scan finally located it. So, out came the tooth (my first ever) which bothered me way more than it should have. I take pride in having the same teeth the Good Lord gave me. Then, they did a bone graft in preparation for an implant. Right now, I’m bloody miserable, and although I love my dentist, I’m real close to cussing’ the day she was born. I’m sure y’all have had teeth out and all kinds of dental work performed, but I freakin’ hate this. Feeling a gaping hole between two teeth bothers me waaaaay more than it has any right to. Anyway, I’ve now popped a fever and am on some sort of antibiotic cocktail which seems to be helping. All this while dealing with my loving wife who’s been crippled up by Lupus. Here’s to hoping for some resolution within a month. It’ll be 3-4 months for the bone grafts to take hold, and then some screw that looks for all the world like a 1/8 scale wheel stud gets screwed in place, followed by 3-4 more months of a screw sticking out of my jaw. Maybe I out to just have 3 or 4 more pulled and move to Arkansas or Maine? Ok, I’ll say it, maybe even Wrexham? 🤣 I’d fit right in. My offhand smack at the Welch hehehe So the next few weeks will tell a story let’s see what happens.

Martin will be joining in with his in progress Brewster.

Oh cool, a 56 Plymouth.

Hmm. This IS a daily site, so I’ll be have, as I need to do given my apparent lofty title here, BUT, I’ll state the obvious in saying that sometimes, there is no truth in advertising. That south end looks suspiciously swollen to me. A closer inspection by those more qualified may be in order.

Just got mine today as well, along with the AM. I’ll take some pics tomorrow, and do a cursory comparison the resin kit. A quick look has me feeling happy.

Winnie, thanks for the review. Feel free to do a few more These sets are absolutely amazing. Of course I have this kit in my stash, but I have absolutely NO reference material on the Wessex/H-34, and when you add in the Guesstructions that FLY provides, I'm left firmly in the dark. I'm hoping to be able to add a folded rotor system to mine, along with much of this, and I may have the makings of a semi doable build... Ernie

Good grief...... WOW!!! Flawless work as usual, Wolf