Wumm

Hi Mike (and welcome), I'll bite... A freewheeling beam axle on a tandem setup is called a pusher axle if at the front, or a tag axle if at the rear of the drive wheels. It allows a very slight reduction in the turning circle, but the main advantages are better stability and a smoother ride over a single drive axle, but without the added weight and complexity of a dual drive bogie with it's second differential and set of axle shafts. Beam axles these days can also usually be lifted up from the road surface, saving wear on those tyres when the vehicle isn't carrying a load. Modern Prime Movers with this setup can also pneumatically vary the pressure from the free wheels to the driven wheels for better traction. Dual drive would be more advantageous for cross country or long haul tasks, where maintaing constant speeds over long periods compensates for the extra weight and fuel used. While I don't drive the Prime Movers at work, the next one's down that I occasionally drive have this system where the rear wheels can be lifted. But we have this arrangement... "Don't mess with my settings" (and always bring it back fuelled up). So your young driver might have been in someone else's rig, or maybe had just never been shown the differences. Make sense Jeff, Ron? S

Gawd... That's a bit intricate Gaz!

At the current exchange rate; just shy of $57 Au, so with shipping and Tax I estimate around the $100 mark once it arrives Down Under (given that the Meng Komet kit is $85 at a local store here.) Still quite a bargain, considering the WNW Albatros I last spied here was going for $149. This is probably more of a factor in the WNW demise than people realise... A Company based at the bottom of the Globe, relying on supply from half a World away, structuring their business model around a foreign currency, and then shipping to a Customer base largely back on the other side of the Globe. S

And how! This is the intersection... With his direction of travel, remembering we drive on the Goofy side here. He had a helper beside him, and would have needed him too; because he would have needed to reverse up a hill, on an angle, on a blind corner into the path of oncoming traffic! This also highlights the problem nowadays... There are no bridge heights marked on Google maps. A street directory or GPS with his height restriction added in would have warned him, and saved him half an hour and everyone else a lot of grief. S

Or an Aquarium Store. S

Also guys, Remember to plan your route (unlike this guy...)

Hey Harv, FWIW, I found that the Aires drop-in wheel well for these kits didn't actually fit... There's also a lot of excess resin to remove from the casting block on the back side of it, so it's a lot of work to get it into the kit. The details are great, and it eliminates the sink marks in the kit part, but possibly not worth the effort as it will only really be seen once the model is turned over. HTH, S

Bum... What a fizzer! S

That seems right to me Danny, The transaxle should then attach under the centre of the leaf springs. S

(Used without permission for the purposes of discussion. *Other brands are available.)

The purpose of the radius rods is to keep the axle centred within the chassis. It looks like it should sit underneath the centre part between the springs, and go down and slightly outwards to meet the axle. Is there a notch or attachment somewhere on the front face of the transmission housing, out towards where the wheel attaches? S

*Thinks - Some really great ideas here... *Goes - To local IKEA with a plan to compare Detolf with Malsjö and other cabinets, with Wife in tow... *Returns - With Liatorp side table for some inexplicable reason, and budget for the month blown. How does this happen?

Thanks for that Nick... Kicking myself for not getting their spark plug and lead sets first time around. Now also unavailable to Au for the time being. Bum!

That is actually the A5/U11 prototype, W.Nr 151303 'RG+ZA. The U11 was tested with the Mk 103 30mm cannons. The U12 looked like this... One of the two test airframes, W.Nr 151813 'BH+CC'. Note the double 20mm barrels in the pod. S

Some more information on your subject Harv... 410266 was an A5 variant built at AGO Oshersleben factory around June 1943. This was at the end of the production run as AGO very soon switched to the A6 variant. Note the small red circle on the cowling... This indicates that this airframe was fitted with injection boost, trialled on the A5/U8 variant which went on to become the G2 Jabo-Rei fighter bomber, which also had the outer wing guns deleted. The early boosted motors had an extra fuel injector (3) spraying C3 fuel directly into both air intakes (8) for short bursts, separate from the fuel already injecting into the cylinders. This became standard on the BMW801 motor later in 1944. 410266 is pictured in the first week of October 1943. It shows 5 victory bars on the rudder; which places it sometime between Hondt's 5th victory on October 2, and when it was lost on the 8th of that month after ramming B-17F 42-3386 "Marie Helena" during the Bremen raid. It had been fitted with the underwing U12 twin gun setup, which is different from the Eduard gun packs you have unfortunately. These are available from Eagle Editions: The ammunition for this system sits inside the wing where the outer wing guns would usually go. These are probably the main factors in choosing this gun pack on this particular airframe... Already deleted wing guns, and extra boost to counter the added weight and drag of the extra guns. This makes her an A5/U12 variant, officially changed to an R1 from A6 production onwards. Apart from the two development machines, a few of these were distributed to JG 1 and JG 11 towards the end of 1943. There is also a belief that the yellow tail band would not have been in use before the start of 1944. Eagle Editions show it on their decals, however Eduard on their 1/48 kit have not. It is hard to tell from the one available photo, but I tend to agree with Eduard on this one, as I cannot find any examples of JG 11 yellow bands in 1943. There are a few small changes in hatches etc between the A5 and A8, but we can discuss as your build progresses. HTH, S

Was kind of hoping they'd upscale their 1/48th Me 410 kit instead... S

Aires have an Fw190 inboard cannon set for the Hasegawa kits (2025), which include the wing covers as well as the guns and bays. These also have very nice internal details. Aires also include these parts in their Super set for the '190 D. S

I wear a mask while making deliveries to Nursing Homes or Medical facilities for this very reason. It's both an extra level of protection for vulnerable people at these places, and a visual cue for people's confidence. I tend not to wear it everywhere as I find it restricts my breathing, and fogs up my glasses... This latter part is probably a good indication of how effective it actually is as a barrier method. Restaurants and Pubs are gradually opening here. We ate out two weekends ago; the place was quiet with only 20 people allowed but that suits us anyway. Professional Sports is back, with the two major Football codes operating and Soccer back within the next month. The extra Unemployment benefits arranged by the Federal Government are due to run out in September; this factor alone is probably causing more stress to the Public than the fear of the Virus. Sporadic cases spring up from time to time, but are mostly from people returning to the Country from overseas. S

Nice modulation to break up the basic camo Nick. And good to see you here again. Steve

Nice tutorial, More please!

Blimey Phil, It only took 5 years to restore Windsor Castle after the fire! You poor Beggar... I'm having to patch up the door jambs and back-fill with plaster to make repairs here because they don't make the mouldings in that style anymore. But everything in your place would need to be bespoke after 7 centuries. A labour of love, and/or a right pain in the Bum. S

Finished at 10 minutes to 4? Just in time for a spot of Tea!

Gear stick length is very much a comfort thing... You want it as short as practical, but also as close to the wheel as possible. Too low and you'll be reaching and kill your upper back muscles; too high and your seating position too relaxed, and the pressure all goes on your lumbar region. The more travel in the stick also adds to your reaction time. You need to stay sharp and anticipate everything that might go wrong... "How low is that power line? There's a rise ahead so I need to keep momentum. Is that Corolla going to cut me off at the lights? Go wide and watch the back end doesn't clip the traffic light as I turn. Where did that Moped go?" Your Dude looks really cool in the Cab but it's not really practical. Kind of like massive handlebars on a Chopper. And if he keeps his hand on the knob all day like this, he's probably going to wear out the gear selector fork or the clutch collar.

Their trailers are made in New Zealand accordingly to their website Iain... https://www.houseremovals.com.au/equipment/ Although this set-up seems to be a trailer on top of another trailer. I only stopped to have a gawp for 5 minutes or so, I like to send photos of the unusual ones to my Wife as she usually only gets to see them as a bare shell as they pass through the factory. It's not noticeable in the photo but there's quite a downward slope from right to left as looking at the cab. Certainly earning their money on this job.

Not to mention, also turn grey over time. S