DocRob

Many moons ago, I built the Birdcage Corsair as my first plane build re-entering the hobby and added the Brassin engine with a PE wiring harness, which was not so much easier to make look right. I pre-painted it in clear orange, which had the flexibility not to break while bending, but it always looked too flat for me. The benefit is, to have the cables at the right length along their connectors for each two cables. Cheers Rob

Still in checking mode . I like to be prepared, when it comes to detailing, so I made a test with the Anyz spark plug and Anyz braided line. The thread is a bit on the thick side and the plugs seem a bit oversized too, but I may use them anyway, as many pictures of the real thing show the braided ignition wiring. The butt ends of the spark plugs have a diameter of 1mm, too big to drill into the spots onto the cylinders, so I cut them flush and glued them on. Cheers Rob

Nice work on the engine Mike. I have only the Copper State Model Dolphin in 48 scale in stash. I took a pic from the manual to show their interpretation of colors for the engine. Cheers Rob

The designers of the Corsair made it a little easier for us modelers to show off, with recognizing, there had to be cooling involved. Most of the detail can be seen from the front side, so ignition wiring and spark plugs are not completely wasted. The designer of the FW 190 (was it Tank?) was not so generous to us modelers with his fan cowling obscuring the front view. Cheers Rob

Thank you telepatu, you should give the Tamiya Corsair a chance, it's one of the best engineered and designed kits, I ever had in my hands. Concerning hobby stores in Berlin, my old home town, I can recommend two, I have visited during my trip. I had no time to look for others or see, if old ones still exist. Werken Spielen Schenken in Steglitz has been there forever. As a teen, I bought kits there and they are still there. The shop ( modelling is in the basement) is a bit crammed, but there are lots of plastic kits and some wooden kits. They have a special area for railroad modelling. They don't sell online. Startseite - Werken Spielen Schenken in Berlin (werken-spielen-schenken.de) The other one is Berliner Zinnfiguren. They do have a lot of plastic modelling but are specialized into figures, paints and literature. In the moment you can only visit the front room, where only some plastic models are, but you can ask for everything. They do sell online through their shop, which is a good orientation to see what's available. You can reserve goods via phone or mail and pick them up when you are in Berlin. That's what I did. Berliner Zinnfiguren | Home page | Berliner Zinnfiguren - Online Shop Hope that helps Cheers Rob

These Bardahl racers look indeed special John. The P-51 is such a nice airframe and the racer livery make them look speedy. Nice work with the gloss white finish, where I may have added some panel wash for enhancing the rivets, like in your firs pic of the real thing. Cheers Rob

Long time no progress. I was in my old hometown of Berlin for some time and brought a dose of covid back from there, so bench time is limited through lame brainess because of the f***ing virus. I cleaned all the engine and exhaust parts and try to figure how to paint them best. there will be a lot of masking necessary. I built the Brassin engine many moons ago and there were single cylinders to add to the core. I would have preferred that from the Tamiya kit too. I also noticed, that Tamiya skipped the black metal fairings around the cylinders, which can be seen on the pic of the real thing. The Brassin engine had the fairings present. I'm planning to add ignition wiring and spark plugs from Anyz. Generally, I tend to build the Corsair with one wing folded and the other in flight position, what do you think about that? Cheers Rob All is unglued, it's only a mockup picture. Level of detail is great for a non-resin engine. Here is the real thing with the black fairings visible.

That's a cool looking finish Carl, more pics please when done. Cheers Rob

Looking great Phil, the Panzer I looks like 72 scale compared to the Halbkette. Cheers Rob

The better the kit design and engineering, the uglier the subject. This seems to be a near perfect kit of one of the un-sexiest flying things ever made. Not for my stash unfortunately, as much as I like to have a snap fit kit. Cheers Rob

Nice and clean build, maybe a bit too clean for my liking, but that's just me. The Valentine looks interesting in Russian livery even without a red star. Cheers Rob

Very nice and convincing finish. The riveting enhances the look especially on the black cowling. I also like the slight shine in the black cowling, which gives it a more 'metallic' appearance. Cheers Rob

Don't know, if it was mentioned here, but Border seems to develop a detailed kit of the FW-190 A6 in 35 scale . Bashing time . Cheers Rob The Modelling News: Preview: More details of Border Model's Fw 190A6 in 35th scale...

Ah, a slow roller am I and never watched Top Gear. I guess you can build him as I believe there is a Simpson helmet included. But there is also a classic 80ies helmet and an Alain Prost head included. Cheers Rob

Thanks Gary, but what's a stig? My C-ed brain is too dizzy to catch the meaning . Cheers Rob

Nice progress with the 109 Gary, I have to say, I decided against riveting on some builds and raise my hat to your courage. It seems manageable, so maybe,.... I liked the figure option one better, the others look so depressed with their hunched appearance. The Bravo 6 photographer would have been my choice, as I thought more than once about buying one. Cheers Rob

Wow Peter, only some days away and disaster struck. You put so much effort into the beautiful Whirlwind, it's a shame to see it has been binned. I can understand your reaction, as some kits just push you over the line. I binned kits too, but I always try to calm down, before doing so and try to find a solution, like showing the bird with retracted LG in flight,... There are kits, which are bad / delicate in some ways and some of them trigger my appetite to finish them, like in my case the MikroMir Fokker D.VIII or the Fly Arado 234, which is an on and off shelf queen, but I desire to finish it and then there are kits, which are utterly frustrating Time is too precious to deal with these, maybe there will be something useful recycled from your Whirlwind. This said, I have several Special Hobby kits in my stash and I hope the best, as SH has some really interesting subjects in their portfolio. Cheers Rob

I'm back from my Berlin trip and need some rest from my trip, phew, so many things to do, not a lot of sleep and lots of goods to buy. Model wise, there was only little, as we already had 80kg's of luggage, but it was great to visit some of the still existing hobby shops. I bought a Berlin related figure set in 35 scale from Scale 75 and a 1/72 set of resin figures for my possible Schnellboot S-38 entry for the 'wet' group build. The 1/20 resin driver figures are for my McLaren MP4/2 (Alain Prost) and the second for a Lotus. Unfortunately the umbrella of the Lotus driver wasn't in the package. Another thing, I imported unluckily was the plague. Yesterday a test confirmed, I got the big C and have symptoms of a mediocre flu, f***. Cheers Rob

I had to do it, these Tamiya kits have their own attraction in their near perfectness. I added Brassin wheels, Quinta interior details and Ammo belts from KitsWorld. I will do a NMF P-51 with this and I really like Blondy from the box or Petie 2nd also provided. How does the provided decals perform, has anybody used them? Cheers Rob

How many Gary, there is no way to chicken out 🤣. Cheers Rob

Sorry to hear about your decal probs Phil. Weathering might enhance the issue, setteling in the cracks. I believe, 1ManArmy has a set of masks for markings AND stencils in their portfolio. Cheers Rob

And I thought these early P-40's had only the ring and bead gunsight, but what do I know . Cheers Rob

Muchas gracias amigos, it will be the first time back to my old hometown of Berlin since four years. I will feel like a tourist there, I guess. It will not be only fun though, some family business and other demanding things to do, but I will visit one or two LHS's, something, I have not on my island. Cheers Rob

Great build and setting Martin. To many Z's for my liking, but you explained the chosen scheme. Cheers Rob

I closed the fuselage, after inserting the finalized cockpit and rear framing. For better alignment of the front structural parts, I glued them to one side of the fuselage and dry fitted the other half and let the glue cure over night, perfect alignment. I know, the headrest should be black, but I preferred brown, at least for the moment. That's it for the next two weeks from my side, I'm going on vacation and take only the phone with me. So don't wonder if there may be some occasional likes, but no comments. Cheers Rob