DocRob

That looks amazing Sasha, the added detail brings the plane to live. Cheers Rob

Nice work on the Halbkette Phil. Lots of detail and I'm peeking at your staged painting approach. Dragon instructions, well, they are a test sometimes. i hate these blue gray painting instructions, that's so 80's. The prices for Dragon kits are raising more than with other companies. I haven't bought Dragon for a while, but have many in stash. I think not one of them was a full price purchase, albeit new. Dragon kits often are available for a reduced price. Cheers Rob

Looking very good Gary. Using Extra Thin for PE sounds interesting, I will definitely try this out. Cheers Rob

That looks gorgeous Carl, I love these North Atlantic schemes. Good that the wings are removable, other ways freehanding the camo could be inflicted by hitting a shelf with a wingtip. Cheers Rob

Thanks Carl, I know about all these, but I feel myself not ready for a MFH kit and if I am, i guess it will be an vintage Alfa with spokes. I hope for a Tamiya reissue of the MP4/6, because I'm not willing to pay the crazy prizes for the kit. Top Studio sets are indeed super detailed, so maybe some of them will be considered, but not all, having a price tag of 400 Euro for the all inclusive set. Cheers Rob

For the nightmare you described Peter, it doesn't look too bad on the pics. It will be hard to mix the color right I guess. In all it's a very attractive livery and a pain too hear about your issues. Scalemates claims that they are new, ageing can be ruled out, it seems. Other than you, I hate decaling, as so much can go wrong so late in the build, I think I would have binned the kit. I hope you follow up with your bravery and finish this beautiful plane, no matter what. Cheers Rob

Awesome progress on the Comet, Gus, I really like the bits and pieces on the back of the tank. Nice job on painting these. Cheers Rob

It will hopefully turn out carvel planked, at least that's the idea. The hull will be sanded smooth and painted from the outside. Cheers Rob

Nice and smooth Carl, can't wait for the camo. Cheers Rob

Beautiful little plane you made there. You're absolutely right, not a lot of bench space needed for these. Cheers Rob

Today, I continued with the 18ft cutter, which is indeed very tiny. I beveled the spars with a sanding stick and applied the first planks. The manual recommends wood glue for the task, I think because the MDF spars will be torn out later. I decided to use CA on the bow and the last two pearwood spars and wood glue for the rest. The planks were first glued into the slot with CA-glue. I used my plank bending pliers cautiously for a little pre bending and twisted the plank between my fingers, which seems to soften them a bit. After the CA on the bow cured, I glued the plank onto the rest of the spars. The next planks will be tapered and beveled, but I wanted one full plank first. Meanwhile, I used the curing times to test, if the appropriate yarns fit through the deadeyes, which they luckily did after a little cleanup with a 0,5 mm drill bit and applying some wood glue on to the end of the yarn. Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter, even the steadies sealegs get shaky sometimes, but all seems manageable. The planks are made of 0,6 mm pearwood, laser cut and maybe 3 mm wide. Cheers Rob

Today, this beauty arrived. It's a reedition of the Tamiya Renault RE20, which originally appeared 1981 on the market. My edition has Cartograph decals and luckily there is no tobacco ad missing, cause there were none. No decals for the tire markings are included, but they are engraved on the rubber tires, same as with the Brabham kit. Plastic looks fine in the box. I'm not the biggest fan of these turbo charged monsters, but these LS Tamiya kits are too good to let them pass. They will release two more Tyrells soon, one is the six wheeler. I'm eagerly waiting for a re edition of a McLaren MP4, 5 or 6 in 1/12. The second hand prices for these are crazy. Cheers Rob

I've heard, the Tyrell six wheeler is about to be re released soon in 1/12. Sorry Peter for the OT. We should start something own for the Tamiya 1/12 kits. Tamiya: Model car kit 1/12 scale - Tyrrell Ford P34 Tyrrell Racing Team sponsored by ELF #3, 4 - Jody Scheckter (ZA), Patrick Depailler (FR) - FIA Formula 1 World Championship 1976 (ref. TAM12036) | SpotModel as well as the Tyrell Ford 003 Tamiya: Model car kit 1/12 scale - Tyrrell Ford 003 Tyrrell Racing Team sponsored by ELF #11 - Sir John Young 'Jackie' Stewart (GB) - Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix 1971 (ref. TAM12054) | SpotModel Cheers Rob

Oh, there is the 1/6 version from Dragon. M4A3 (105) Howitzer Tank, Dragon 75046 (2013) (scalemates.com) Cheers Rob

Lately we've seen more and more 16 scale kits being build here. A lot of them are produced by Takom, whose Chinese (Japanese) Tankette I built lately. It was an enjoyable experience and I just found on Scalemates, that two more 16 scale kits are supposed to surface this year. The Jeep is made by Takom and the video shows it with engine and figure, nice touch. The other kit is from Andy's Hobby Headquarters and it's still in pre production status. It's a M4A3E8 Sherman in 1/16. Cheers Rob

Than you Peter, I really feel relieved, that I made it to this point of the build, without running into serious trouble. The rigging frightens me a bit, but having mastered the build until here, gives me some well needed confidence. Yesterday I cut the spars from their panels and added the keel of the cutter. The small jig is part of the kit and should help to plank the boat with tiny planks. Let's see, how this will work out. Cheers Rob

Totally OT, other than sporting some yellow, but I know you will like it Peter. The Tamiya 1/12 Renault RE20 became available. Mine is already ordered and somewhere in the mail. Cheers Rob

When the manual shows some totals from different angles and claims 'your ship now should look like this', you know you've achieved something. I have to admit, I'm a bit proud of what I built over the last three month. The kit design and good materials help a lot to lead a relative beginner through the build, as does the fantastic manual and the detailed plans. I added the railings for the aft deck, the ladders between the decks and bulwark pollards. With the exception of the ladders, all were airbrushed matte black before assembly. The side railings were difficult to slot in, as the contour of the railing is curved and the material of the pillars is very thin and brittle. I broke two or three while cleaning up the sandwiched railing parts. Somehow I got them slotted and glued with CA, three pillars at a time and broke only one. After dabbing the sweat from my eyebrows, I made more or less the same pics like in the manual. Now it's time for rigging and giving the masts and yards the correct contours, but maybe I'm distracting myself from this and build a small boat to mount on the main deck. This is not part of the kit, but Chris from Vanguard sells these boats which are build planks on spar-frames, as separate kits. I chose the 18ft cutter for DoK. Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter, I made some little improvements to the kit. like the rigging and other stuff, but what you get is a brilliant kit like it is. The deck details were time consuming, but fun mostly. You can start to imagine walking on the decks of the Duchess of Kingston. Thank you Phil, it's great to have you on board on this fun yachting experience. Cheers Rob

That looks like a perfect finish Peter. The decals will marvel on that surface. BTW: I always liked the LifeColor acrylics. They spray very smooth and issue free. Cheers Rob

Looking great Kevin, but can't help with the Tamiya pastels. I bought three packs lately, but haven't used them since. So naturally, I'm interested in your results and observations. Cheers Rob

Yours is at least rounded a bit, hence the bucket, my JK is only bricks . The design has it's benefits, I rarely need sunglasses, because of the vertical windshield and the car is much cooler inside, than these modern piece of soap formed glass domes. Cheers Rob

Thank you Hubert and Gus, I also had the urge to play a game of snooker, while adding the cannon balls. Not possible on my island though, there are only some lousy pool tables. I thought a lot about how to apply the cannon ball filled triangles and decided to use double sided adhesive tape. Thank you Gary, I thought about some crew members, but haven't found fitting ones. The DoK will be fully masted and rigged, but without sails. There are no sails provided in the kit and I have to admit, mostly cloth sails do not look good and scale wise realistic to my eye. Cheers Rob

Another milestone is accomplished, the deck assemblies were installed completely over the last days. The guns were added, like seen above, now with their cannon ball triangles added and all the belaying pins went into the holes of their banks. I decided against gluing in every single pin, but used some wood varnish instead, brushed on. On to the pics: And some detail shots: Cheers Rob