DocRob

Great tutorial, and you are lucky, that the HGW's worked so good for you. I had lots of problems with these last week, which almost ruined my actual Hellcat build. I did everything according to the manual (or like you described) and had lots of wet transfer lifts, while removing the carrier film very carefully. If the stay on, like on my prop too, they look great, but to my eye, the product does not have reliable results, specially the larger wet transfers, like the cat fangs and eyes were problematic. The stars and bars and small stencils worked better. I switched to decaling then. I tattooed my Mig-31 with myriads of stencils and had only little lift probs, but on two different occasions, the wet transfers were not usable or to put it positively, they are for the friends of heavy chipping . Cheers Rob

I was aware of this set, but will not spend that kind of dough . I will decide later, if the Porsche will be build oob or will receive some extra goodies. I thought about a road car conversion too, but I think the 934 would have been a better base for that and then there is this intriguing Martini scheme. Cheers Rob

Yes, that one too. I only built a smaller version of the Constitution at the time and can't remember which company made it. I didn't paint the black plastic, but the white stripes were brush painted and the lower hull received some Humbrol copper enamel by brush as well. Happy times. Cheers Rob

Today, I freed our postwoman from a heavy burden, which was partly inflicted, by at least some of you. I will not particular raise my finger in the direction of a guy, whose name begins with m and ends with ark , who has shown some incredible 1/12 car stuff here lately. But that's only part of the story. When I was twelve, the Tamiya Jägermeister Porsche came out and led to my nose being permanently flattened against the glass front of the LHS, but there was no way, I could afford the kit by the time. As I'm not especially a car guy, the interest faded after some years a bit, but never completely, but I missed all the later releases of the kit too. Now I found the Tamiya 1/12 Porsches re-released with added PE for a decent price, which couldn't have been much more, than it was in Deutsch Marks by the time, so what to do? Exactly, buy one, but I have an enormous dislike of Jägermeister, so I chose the Martini 935, which suits me, being a cocktail aficionado much better, especially the extra dry variant. And then it was here, it's a very huge box and opening it, feels a bit like Christmas, it is packed full of quality stuff. On first fast inspection, I wouldn't have thought, that the kit is only merely a decade younger than me. If you are not totally bored about me blabbing, I share my theme based personal anthem with you. Remember, the Reverend is always right Reverend Horton Heat - It's Martini Time Cheers Rob

That's a fierce piece of armor. The paintjob looks great. Can't wait to see the beast with tracks on. Your build and Carls remark reminded me, that there is a Churchill AVRE sleeping in my stash. Cheers Rob

Das ist der Hammer Gaz, . It's hard to pick out well made details in this overall beautiful result. That maybe sums it up, everything fits together, representing a stunning Albatros, with a beautiful and uncommon scheme. Cheers Rob

Masking is better than reworking and the best is PAINTING, so close now, Kai. Your subassemblies look gorgeous and the Mirage will be a stunner soon. I had once a slight clouding effect with Mr. Masking Sol Neo on a canopy which I gave a Future bath before. The masking fluid was on the canopy for some weeks. Now I tried the water based Mr. Masking fluid and have to see how this worked out on my Hellcat canopy. It's a bit thinner compared to NEO and a bit less smelly. You know exactly, when you have used a certain word, like rework, too often while posting, when exactly these letters on the keyboard are broken . Cheers Rob

I second that, you can never have enough stability with these fragile airframes. Nice work with the brass as always, Mike. Cheers Rob

Muchas Gracias Amigos, there are some scratches here and there and some paint damages to repair, but it seems the Hellcat will be finished soon. The hardest part was, that a pure pleasure build was spoilt in an unexpected way. I still cannot believe, how god these HGW wet transfers adhere only a millimeter distanced from where I pulled the transfer loose while removing the carrier film with the utmost carefulness. Cheers Rob

That wood interior looks great, and the detail on the IP is exceptional. Will you add levers to the switches on the left side? I used some lead wire on my build, which I flattened with pliers. It's a great kit and I'm sure you will the build. Cheers Rob

The Hellcat is save for the moment and was not converted to real flying duties. After calming down a little yesterday, I partly scratched the residues of the HGW wet transfers away. Interestingly the parts which were still on the Hellcat adhered pretty strong. I carefully applied the eyes and mouth over these parts. This was made more difficult, because I had to cut the eye decals, to have the cowling panels removable. Luckily, I found some 3's in my decal stash, which meant I could depict the plane I intended. Today I had some only partly funny hours with the stencils. They were not so far from a E-4 Phantom by the time . Cheers Rob

No need to be sorry, I just wanted to point out, that I'm not that kind of idiot to leave such a prominent fingerprint, but idiot enough, to not flatten out the 3D print structure . Seriously, on the finished model the cowling panels will be removed, to have a better look at the Brassin engine. I only wanted to have the panels painted and decaled correctly, that's why they 're on. Cheers Rob

Indeed, that's what I call a cluttered bench . I prefer the old school vernier calipers too, the digital ones suggest an accuracy, which they don't really have. BTW, I recognize the fuselage halves among all the clutter. I have mine pulled out too, to play a little through the drying times of my Hellcat build. I won't build a very special version of the PZL like you, but plan a different approach with the paintjob, using only oil colors and metal waxes for the finish, 95% airbrush free. Let's see how this works out. Cheers Rob

It's not a fingerprint, its some print structure from the Brassin cowling, but I had the same amount of damage on the front cowling ring, wich was gloss prepared plastic, without any blemishes. It's as you and Carl mentioned, the product is not reliable and therefore to avoid. Cheers Rob

Indeed fantastic Gaz, enjoy the view, unblocked by the upper wing. Later some of the detail will be hidden in eternal shadow. Cheers Rob

I feel your pain, having for the moment ruined my 48 scale Hellcat with HGW's wet transfers. My result was more or less the same, 20% of the transfers were lifted by the carrier film, uncool . The inventory pic looks like a magazine shot, great. Cheers Rob

Your Beaufighter is a beauty, sporting a nice paintjob and weathering. I have thought about buying a Tamiya Beau lots of times, but have skipped it, because I hope that someone will develop a decent one in 32 scale. Cheers Rob

Hola Amigos, today I'm deeply frustrated and nearly made my Hellcat a lawndart. Again it was a HGW product which failed to deliver. I get more and more annoyed by their partly useless products. It started with the unusable wooden paper parts, terrible seatbelts (normally they are good), unbelivable fragile wooden decals for the Hansa Brandenburg, unfitting vinyl masks, ... For the Hellcat, I had a set of wet transfers for the markings and stencils and after applying everything according to the manual, it looked like this, when I removed the carrier film. This was supposed to be a three, on the other side the wet transfer lifted completely. Luckily the large Stars and Bars and some other wet transfers stayed intact and if they do they look like tattooed on. I have used HGW wet transfers on my MIG-31 build where they were fragile but manageable. The preparation process was the same, it shouldn't be a rookie error. I 'm not sure what to do about it. I have the Cartograph decals for the Hellcat, but it's a different plane they depict. I have to clean the complete nose for re-decaling and then I have to strip some other wet transfer to change the plane. Cheers Rob

I got my first shot of Pfizer one and a half week ago. Yes, they are fast on my tiny island with the vacuna. They even started with the 40's to 50's group this week, me belonging into the group of the 50's to 60's. I felt a little weak in the afternoon and on the next day, it was like somebody smacked me on to the arm lightly and that was it. Only one of many others getting the injection, felt bad for two days with some fever and cold symptoms. It's strange that the Spaniards on my island seem to just take the injection as soon as possible. It's the foreigners here, which hesitate, foremost the Germans and the Dutch, where everybody is soooo special (starts with the food, you wouldn't believe, what can possibly be harmful to your body ) and self centered and some other things which accumulate to what Hubert said. I'm not negating the risk of post reactions, even dramatic ones in some cases, but for my thinking it's about being a part of an intact society, to protect others and help to not spread the desease anymore. Ayyyy, what's itching there in my arm. They lousy implanted that brain control chip ------- STRG-ALT-DEL . Sorry, had to be said. Cheers Rob

Welcome to the forum hakann. Your Panzerhaubitze looks very different and interesting. I think, I saw a picture of the Schalke one somewhere and had to smile. Cheers Rob

I use a digital kitchen scale for an approximate nose weight. If you slip on the wings and stick in the undercarriage or lay something under the wings, where the struts will be, you can weigh the tail and add a bit extra for security and minor components which will later be added. Cheers Rob

This is a smooth looking bird, now sporting a smooth coat of primer. I can't wait to see the Cheetah in it's colorful paintjob. Cheers Rob

Hi Kai, you're welcome. Normally I glue a tiny eyelet (made by thin wire or casted from Gaspatch) into pre drilled holes first. Then I take the tube (aluminum or brass off an inner diameter of 0,3 mm, outer diameter of 0,5 mm with a length of 3 mm or 5 mm) and thread the fishing line (Maxima Chameleon with 0,12 mm diameter) first through the tube, then through the eyelet and again in the opposite direction through the tube again. The second pass through the tube is a bit fiddly and it's necessary to clean the tube's holes out properly with a 0,3 mm drill. The fiddle pays off, because when you tauten the fishing line in the end, it's almost self securing. With a drop of CA the line is finalized. You can buy pre cut tubes from Bob's Buckles, or cut them yourself from Albion Alloy tubes. I have used aluminum tubes from Bob, but these are no more available. Now I use brass, which I blacken chemically. The fishing line (it's the 2LB variant) is available at the big A for example and I use it, because with it's brownish color, it fits great to most of the models. The benefit of this laborious method is, that the rigging itself makes the biplane model stronger and more rigid. Cheers Rob

Awesome start, the cockpit is looking great with all the added detail. With the paintjob you created a little gem. Cheers Rob

I have one, but never used it for my biplanes, because I found it easier to rig the upper wing completely without being attached and after attaching the upper wing the more fiddly part starts only on the lower wing. I second the thoughts of Gaz, it's best to work on a dummy for the first time. You have to find the method wich suits you best. For 32 scale elastic rigging was not my option for different reasons. I prefer metal tube with an inner diameter of 0,3 mm and loop a fishing line through which has a diameter of 0,12 mm. This setup is almost self securing and enhances the models rigidity. For 48 scale, I have used bot, fishing line and elastic thread with PE fittings. Cheers Rob