DocRob

How to loose friends . If you haven´t anyone anymore, you can post your troubles in the Car thread and we will help debating . The ejection seats are looking good, Carl. Cheers Rob

I would be in, as I have the same kit, but seemingly different plans with it. Mine will be a hillclimber with this KMP conversion. Cheers Rob

I finished the chain, which almost finished me beforehand . It was a challenge and test of patience and I would wish a resin chain for future bike kits. Building the four strings of chain into the jig proved to be not a big problem, but connecting these strings proved very difficult. In the process of trying, I broke the chain on another place, true nightmare, because it was already flat bolted by that time. After a lot of trying and careful sanding, I glued the link together with CA. After I somehow assembled the full length of the chain miraculously, I didn´t had it in me to join the chain without a jig and glued it to the sprocket, as it´s not supposed to turn in any case. The good news, the chain link count in the manual is exactly correct, a thing rarely seen with tank tracks in kits. The side of the fenders looks terribly on the pics, but that must be the lighting. Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter, Tamiya´s bikes are very good kits and finely detailed, specially the elater ones, like the Ducati, I built some years ago. The MFH bikes are way ahead of that, not only detail wise, but the weight of the metal makes it feel more real. Cheers Rob

Thank you Carl, I never made the ping test with the spokes, but for a kit, the wheels are pretty sturdy. I never spoked more than single ones into my bicycles wheels and centered everything again. The Crocker bein my first full spoking job, I can´t tell about the layout other than claiming, I followed the manual step by step. Cheers Rob

Thank you Hubert, I will continue tomorrow, as I have a terrible hey fewer today and a sneeze at the wrong moment... . The chain is only missing the seals and some grease . Cheers Rob

Today, I assembled more than half of the chain. Again the design by MFH helps a lot, but the work is eye straining and tedious. The last links felt more difficult, a clear sign of fatigue. Thirty chain white metal chain axles, connected by a cast sprue will be set into a pre drilled jig. Then you add the intersecting PE links, which are luckily only adhesive fixed to the foil and dosen´t need to be cut from the PE fret. When one side is finished, the heads of the bolts are pressed flat with a pair of pliers. One side done: The chain will be flipped over in the jig and the second side gets mounted like the first. Here are both sides done. Then you cut the white metal sprue away with a sharp nipper and you have 30links made. The last pic shows two sets of 30 joined together in the jig. Cheers Rob

Thank you Mike, the only downside with the wheels was, I couldn´t polish them, which was my initial plan. It was just too difficult to do so with all the little bumps, where the spokes holes are. Cheers Rob

Not close to the real thing at all Peter, the tyres are massive rubber and the inflating valves have no function . Other than that, detail of the kit is outstanding. The assemblage of the wheels was documented well in the manual, luckily. Now on to the next obstacle, I´m not looking too much optimistic onto, the chain, which consists of myriads of PE parts, and white metal cast axles, which need to be flattened individually . I hope the good kit design will prevail through this chapter. Cheers Rob

Congratulations to a very nice build of a very strange vehicle. There is lots of details to pleas the eye and the added cargo makes a nice contrast. Cheers Rob

Wow, delicate PE work, tedious, but will add a lot of realism to the kit. Cheers Rob

One of the ugliest planes ever to my eye, Peter, but when I saw the kit, I was interested, as I have a soft spot for weird designs. There is no form follows function with this one, it´s pure function. I hope the kit is as good as it looks promising on the sprues. Have fun with it. Cheers Rob

Great work Chris and I hear you about stenciling, have been there too and that caused a jet hiatus with me. The added Reskit racks and missiles look fantastic, way better than their plastic counterparts. Good to hear, that Top Notch masks are good to work with, but bummer with the sizing. I have some sets as well and will check them closely, when I start these builds. Cheers Rob

Looking good, Carl and quite profitable to have a look into the toolbox once in a while . Is the paintjob borrowed from the anime? I would have thought something more flashy would suit the futuristic design better. Anyhow, the Plus-Eagle came out splendid and it´s good to have a good story about no stenciling. Cheers Rob

On to the wheels, which proved easier to build than thought, luckily. It took two days to assemble them, but the second went together much faster, which keeps me hopeful for the five wire wheels of my recently purchased Ferrari kit. Some words of advice, if you plan to build a MHF motorcycle: - Check the rims and the building jig for perfect flatness. In my case, all were warped a bit, due to sanding and polishing the wheels. - Drill the holes for the spokes angled, as shown in the manual and indicated through the cast or you will have difficulties to thread in the spoke nipples. - Don´t use your best nippers for the spokes. The material is VERY hard and left dents even in my hardened tools. First spokes, aligned to the vent hole, one from under and one from above. All spokes need to be bent further and cut short on the bent side. First quarter of spokes is mounted per manual, then the spoke nipples were added from the outside and secured with CA One side finished, I then cut the protruding spoke ends, flipped the part in the jig and on with the second half. MFH chose to print their manual slightly larger than the real thing, unfortunately. One wheel ready, except for shortening the protruding ends. You can see, how the nipples fit into the rim´s holes. The front wheel is done: And the rear wheel followed "short" after , really not too hard to do, but you should work with concentration to prevent from mistakes: Cheers Rob

Thank you Martin, it´s definitely a new building experience, but a very exciting one. Motivation is the grease to successful modeling and this is very much the case here. Cheers Rob

Thank you Jeff, but I thought it would be harder to build a MFH motorbike. In fact, I had much more difficult projects, like the USS Arizona. The great design of the kits helps to get everything right. I´m more than astonished, that I have managed through more than half of the build in less than a month and mostly without big hick ups and had a lot of fun and motivation. Don´t sell your truck building short Jeff, every kind of modeling has it´s challenges and your finished kits are fantastic. Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter, it starts to look like a bike now and the finish is nice. The Crocker could be one of the rare kits, which makes it into my living area. The engineering is really superb on MFH´s side with only some little errors in the manual. Cheers Rob

The Yard Office looks fantastic Peter. Your brother will be proud to have it as a part of his railroad. Nothing better than a motivational build, whatever it is to regain the good modeling vibes. Thank you for showing something different here. I took mental notes for when my first wood and plaster kit looms. Cheers Rob

The Crocker starts to look like a bike now, with the rear fender attached. Primarily, I gave the fenders clear coat a polish with Tamiya´s polishing compounds. A bit of dust and fingerprints remain visible for the moment, as these are work in progress pics. To align all the struts, a positioning peg and a screw for mounting the rear fender was a bit fiddly, but in the end, it worked out. I added the rivets and taillight and started with the wheel hubs. Spoking is next . Cheers Rob

The itch has started Jeff, you may convince me to start a truck project sooner or later. Fascinating technical creatures they are and the start of your build looks fantastic with the added detail. You should try Alclad chrome or AK´s Extreme Metal, which is a tad less shiny but not at all bad. Polished aluminum is also an option. It´s not that hard, just strip the chrome, remove the seams, spray it high gloss black (I recommend Tamiya LP-1 and never use the AK black base for Extreme Metals, as it will stay tacky forever) and then on with the chrome in very thin layers, building up the shine, until the blackness of the base barely vanishes. Never flood the stuff. Glad your engine purchase with SpotModel worked out, it´s my trusty vendor, when it comes to car modeling and the best packaging model shop ever. Cheers Rob

Fantastic Peter, first, that you found your mojo back and second, enrichen our forum with something new. The walls and windows look fantastic and I take mental notes, as I have some plaster cast dio buildings in my stash. I will follow close and hope for many happy hours to follow for you during the build. Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter for your thoughts and experiences on clear coating. Over on MSW two resourceful members said, the cotton candy effect is a cause of not enough thinner. They use a 1 part to 3 part mixing ratio or even more thinner. I tend to see it the same way after my experiences yesterday. Clear gloss needs more thinner than other colors. The results look fine now with the Mr. Color GX-100, I may even get away without polishing. I recently ordered some jars of Zero Paints 1k lacquer gloss clear and I really like to see, how this works out. The AK 1k stuff was promoted in the following video : I have to say, I was heavily shocked about the terrible result. How could they promote their stuff with this video. I always wear a good respirator mask and work in my booth, when spraying and tend to vent the room for at least an hour, before continuing to work there. Cheers Rob

Wrong question to me, Jeff. It´s a modeling site and sometimes you have to generate some interest while showing something different. Be the advocate of your niche of the hobby. I can only add, I posted many strange subjects here, some where widely followed others less. With your quality truck building and weathering and your live time experience with the subject, it´s exciting for me to watch your trucks and other kits grow. To me, posting a WIP is not only giving, it´s also taking, in form of background information, or input about techniques or skills needed and I was rarely disappointed. Like Hubert said . Cheers Rob

I can understand your feelings Peter, as I had a working mate and friend back in Berlin, who was live time Corvette addicted. He owned every Corvette model ever made and sometimes, I accompanied him to his club buddies. One of them owned an old firefighter house, where the complete basement was his Corvette garage now. You could even use the old climbing poles, to slide down into the garage. Fascinating cars they are. Cheers Rob