DocRob

Hola friends of distinguished modelling, I started a new build recently, as I somehow like aircrafts, which were constructed in the pre war era, an era representing important changes in plane design. There is the transition to the single wing, full metal construction or the retractable undercarriage, to name only a few. I chose the fine IBG kit along some AM, like a Yahu dashboard, brass barrels and Venturi horn, resin wheels and some pre colored PE seatbelts. I will not bore you with an in depth building report, because there are some and I think, it's a fine kit from what I saw until now, with just some difficulties, I will point out. Another reason, why I choose the PZL is, I want to experiment with the paintjob. The idea is to brush paint the whole plane with oil colors, which I hope will give the snort brown / light blue grey scheme a little live with accentuation. The plane is ideal for such a task, as it's a monoplane, where all the surfaces seem to be in reach with a brush and there is no complicated camo, as the fuselage is completely covered in this ugly brown color. The cooling ring in front of the cowling will be no exception, as I plan to use metal waxes to depict the weathered copper. So far for the plans . I started the construction with the engine and cockpit parts which are added with a relatively high amount of supplied PE, which you have to use, because there is no plastic substitute included. Attachment points are sometimes very small and together with the mediocre manual, the placement and alignment of the parts is not that easy. The painting instructions also leave a lot to be desired, as they show for example with only one color printed picture, how the complete cockpit is colored, not very clear. I was expecting a somewhat faster build, but you have to go step by step here. I like to paint small sub assemblies or single parts for detailing prior to assemble the whole thing. This will not work in case of the fragile cockpit framing and I have to paint larger sub assemblies, than I feel comfortable with. This is where I am in the moment. All PE is kit supplied, the only extra work I did was to drill the front center frame with a 0,5 mm bit for more realism. Cheers Rob

It's ICM plastic for a Z-1,-2, -3, -5 along with color PE, masks, resin wheels and floating devices and decals for eight markings. I ordered one yesterday together with the Brassin gun set. Cheers Rob

Your Yak looks great and no traces to be seen on the pics of the obstacles you had to solve. Some years ago, I built a 48 scale Yak-3 from Eduard and never liked the result, it looked boring, partly because of the camo scheme, I thought by the time. Now, seeing yours with the fine weathering on, I realize, that I just failed with mine . Cheers Rob

Very nice, I have a soft spot for sailing vessels, specially smaller ships in larger scale. The wooden deck takes her to another level and the extra rigging looks very realistic. Cheers Rob

All the best Harv, we are waiting for you returning to the bench. Cheers Rob

I somehow like the shape of the Do-17 as a crossover from pre war design, to the rushed more modern types. Yours is looking great with the camo and overall appearance. Like Gazza, I think 1/48 is a great scale for these twin birds, Ah, you put the last piece of 'want' into me, I will buy an Eduard 'Kampfstift' Do-17 soon, as I nearly did umpteen times. Cheers Rob

Thanks Peter, but it will not be my next build. I started an ICM PZL 11 in 1/32 and have a have build Arado 234 waiting for me to continue and there is a 'what if' project in my head and the Kai Phantom is looming on the shelf and maybe another bike, ... So many choices. Maybe the Monkey is a nice in between buil, when I get frustrated with one of the others, it looks like a fast and simple voyage. Cheers Rob

After my recent fun generating Ducati big bike build, I decided on something considerable smaller of Japanese origin this time. I was not sure if I want to build the Honda Monkey 50 in 1/6 or this modern 125 version in 1/12, but decided for the latter, because it will be pimped a little. Cheers Rob

Indeed a nice start on the Viggen. I hope you will do her in splinter camo. Always liked it more on a Viggen than NMF. The Draken though, I prefer in NMF, cant't tell why. Cheers Rob

I'm sad to hear, that you are not continuing after so much precious work done, Peter. On the other hand, it's a hobby and it should be fun and not a permanent struggle. It feels great to beat a subpar kit into a nice result, but I can understand, that it takes resources and power off you, you sometimes don't want to spend for whatever reason. Maybe there is a better timeframe to continue with the Tempest. Don't feel too bad about it, browse your stash for a satisfactory build and have FUN. Cheers Rob

As we learned lately there are some riveters around here and now a wingnutter . Your PE work looks great Gaz, I love the clasps and other tiny details. I hope you don't knock them off while masking and painting. Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter and Steve, yesterday we had our first tiny encounter with the volcano as the wind turned southbound we got the ugly breath of the eruption, causing an acid taste in the mouth and some headaches. Nothing serious compared to the tragedy unfolding. Volcano scientists claim that the eruption will last between 24 and 84 days, but they were wrong with the predicted time of the eruption too, so I take it's just an educated guess. Cheers Rob

Today I received another Martini branded car, which I purchased some weeks ago for a very decent price. It's the good old Tamiya kit, which still looks sharp on the sprues, added with some PE, seat belts and turned aluminum air funnels aaannnddd Cartograph decals, which worked perfectly on my last Ducati build. The surprisingly small box, compared to the Porsche 935 is well stacked and a fun to browse. Cheers Rob

Your engines look great Phil, nice detailing. These German twins do have something, I like, but never managed to buy one. The closest call was the Eduard boxing of the Do-17, maybe... BTW, Eduard has some machine guns made from resin. They seem to be an easy replacement, but are not up to brass barrels like Master. Cheers Rob

Great looking cockpit, Peter, hopefully all will go into the fuselage without too much fuzz. I like the HGW belts, but they are fiddly and the instructions are very bad illustrated. On some sets, I had to narrow the pre-cut straps, which were too wide for the buckles. HGW has great ideas for products, but engineering and realization often leave to desire. I had lots of issues with different products of their line, being it seat belts, wet transfers or the pre cut paper inserts for the interior of my Hansa Brandenburg, which was like being part in a bad joke. Please continue your great work with a nice but by far not perfect kit. Cheers Rob

La Palma seemed to have luck, as there was no instant explosion, but there are now eight places, were there are lava fountains, luckily these are in uninhabited terrain. The lava stream though is flowing downhill towards the ocean, destroying more than a hundred houses on it's way until now and per today will reach the Atlantic, which will cause lots of toxic fumes. Lets hope for more eastern winds. Cheers Rob

Muchas gracias Amigos, for your supportive words. Living in Berlin was safer, only some thunderstorms in the end of summer and some fierce cold nights in wintertime, but here you are closer to nature, which mostly is a true benefit, but can turn into the opposite like now. We had an eruption south of my island in the sea in 2011. Southern parts of the island were evacuated by this time and there were a lot of earthquakes accompanying the eruption. The fishermen were forbidden to fish in these areas for a year, but now a decade after, nature is even more vivid and versatile than before in these areas. I can imagine the nerve shattering noise of the eruption, when I'm able to hear the murmur here on my island. Normally I can't even hear the waves up here at 600 m, if they are smaller than lets say 4 m. Cheers Rob

Thank you for your supportive words, George, Mark and Phil, living here on a tiny island is always more nature bound, than living in a large city. There are storms, rain, the dryness of the Kalima, you get used to live with that and you can prepare yourself up to a certain level. Volcano eruptions are somewhat different, there is no avoiding, preparing or solution, you have to sit it out, nothing stops the lava, except the sea. I hope the best for the people of La Palma. The scientist claim that the eruption can be a case of days or months, not very precise. Cheers Rob

Thank you for your kind words my friend. In the moment we are not affected on my island, other than a slight distant rumble in the night, but this makes the sensation even stranger with that eruption happening only maybe 60-70 km to the north. Until now, no people were harmed, but 100 houses are destroyed and there are evacuations ongoing for about 5000 people. Everybody living on the Canary islands knows about the risk of possible eruptions, but there were no land based ones since 50 years. It makes you feel small for sure. Cheers Rob

I'm touched, as of yesterday afternoon, I saw a big cloud over La Palma from my living room, which was caused by the eruption of a volcano on La Palma, the most north west island of the Canarias archipelago. There was a warning raised since mid of last week, but all the scientists said, they don't believe in a eruption soon. So far for the prognosis. Peoples houses are burning, where the inhabitants had their morning cafe yesterday, like we had ours today, it is kind of unreal. All my wishes go to the people of La Palma, who have lost their homes and hope, the volcano will quiten soon. Canary Islands: Volcano erupts on La Palma destroying several homes | News | DW | 19.09.2021 View from my living room, soon after the first eruption

I never sanded for weathering effects, but it seems to work great. Love the dedication to details, like the different wear on the overpainted sealing. Cheers Rob

Thank you Phil, I had the same sensation, I was pondering about this and that and suddenly the Duc was ready. Almost a bit too fast for my liking. Cheers Rob

Thank you Mark, can't wait for the next bike build, but I'm not sure which. There are not a lot of bike kits out there, I do like in real life. I have two candidates, let's see. Cheers Rob

Thank you Gaz, I questioned my decision about not gloss coating the Duc more than once. In the end, I build for the moment, after a build is done, I rarely look at a kit again, except maybe for remembering, how I did things. Secondly, modern bikes normally have the decor applied as stickers, which are overcoated with clear coat. The borders of the stickers normally show a tiny bit, which is exactly the effect I was looking for and it's minimal. There was no weathering planned, but it would be definitely interesting to give a bike like that an after race look. Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter, I had lots of fun with the Duc and it will not be the last bike I will build. I learned a lot and was really excited about, how a different subject asks for a totally different approach from other types of kits. Exactly what I was looking for, a great distraction. Cheers Rob