DocRob

Looking great Phil, love that 'busy' appearance, love it. Cheers Rob

True, we will be part of future petrochemichals and are determined for the ever (maybe not) lasting circle. Personally I don't see an end to our hobby during my lifespan, even though it seems to last for some decades , stash is full beyond my composting and meanwhile there are enough temptations with new and existing kits. The market for the companies is not too shabby in the moment. Hobbyists in their second half of existence tend to spend a lot in kits and AM. I think, that money per kit with added AM seriously increased over the last decades. Twenty years ago nearly nobody would have spent let's say 300 Euros for a 1/32 Mossie with all the galore. The Hobby is changeing with only us 'old guys' buying, there is a tendency in following marketing leads like Star Wars and of course Gundam and Anime related stuff mostly for the younger ones. First tendencies of slow deterioration of the LS-Market may can be seen in less mass kits from mass companies in the market. Maybe stashes are overcrowded with the usual suspects, but the specialists provide us with exotic stuff like never before. Among other hobbies, I have another one which is really petrochemical related, it's vinyls. I have some thousand and still buy new and old stuff. The more than once buried black disk is resurrected and the only physical recording medium with raising market shares. Of course, it's not mass market, but vinyl found it's niche and is more alive than at any time in the last twenty years, even with all the streaming. Even younger people get attracted, because vinyl is hip and on the other hand is retro in a positive way. No digital rights management, just the needle and the vinyl, and its adaptable to the modern world via USB port. Why I state this should be obvious, there are lots of chances to develop modelling into the future. That future might not be the umpteenth 109 K4 with a scratch on the left side of the canopy and 0,2 bar less tyre pressure in it's left wheel. The biggest challenge of the market will be, how the mayor companies will react to those changes to attract younger people or even women. To me the modelling future is bright, as I'm not bound on historical correct scale reproduction. Don't get me wrong, I like to build my P-47 or FW-190, but I enjoy to look for other modelling horizons, be it steam punk, sci-fi, or whatever will attract my ever searching mind . Cheers Rob

Hi Martin, just finished that book a week ago. https://www.amazon.com/SAS-Nazi-Hunters-Damien-Lewis/dp/1787477894 Interesting read and fits your choice. The mentioned Jeeps where used in the Vosges mountains by the SAS in September 1944. The were parachuted along the men and equipment. Actually I was thinking SAS Jeep too, but as I have everything to equip them for the desert, I decided against. Cheers Rob

Wow, Lozenge is looking bueno. your Pfalz is progressing rapidly, despite the cold. Suerte mi Amigo, health to you, like we say here in Spain. Cheers Rob

I have to admit, at first, I was not totally thrilled about that GB. To many projects pointing in completely different directions. But while browsing through my stash I found some candidates. I had to scratch some as too far fetched for the theme, or arriving too late on the scene and of course found some of the usual suspect like a 1/24 Typhoon or a Tamiya Mossie. There are some FW190, but these are reserved for other projects. These two (not together), added with a little base and figures are my choices for now. Cheers Rob

Nice save with the Jaws. The painted one looks definitely better than the decal, lots of work to get there, but the result looks great. Cheers Rob

Enjoy your time there, must be a nice place to be. Never visited the Azores, but have been on Madeira, a place I really liked, despite being to crowded. My westmost Canarian Island home shares a lot with some places on the Azores I guess, It is full of wild, mostly undisturbed nature, it's not crowded and the Tuna is fresh from the sea. Greetings fro Europes south western point Cheers Rob

Welcome to LSM Gary. Your Lib is a nice first entry here being very L of LSM . Love your NMF and the finish in general. The lower turret seems to be a possible substitute for lots of nose weight . It is good to see one actually build after all the ranting and yours look very good. Cheers Rob

Wow, clean and lean. Your F4 looks great, the finish is perfect. What do you mean by painted stencils, freehand or masks? Cheers Rob

Hehe, that's what I thought, but wrote it anyway Cheers Rob

Tough one, but interesting and very tempting. I'm looking forward to your build. I guess you know the SWS Concept Notes from Zoukei Moura. There are some detail pics of the very same airframe included, along with scale drawings and of course some WIP-pics Cheers Rob

Now there's a beauty. Love the paintjob and finish. Another strong point of your builds is the perfect presentation and skilled photography. Cheers Rob

Thanx sieben, very appreciated Cheers Rob

Nice, HGW or not, I'm buckled in . Cheers Rob

Please do share, I will follow, because I like these Eindeckers and soon have to get me one. Cheers Rob

Like it a lot. Nice finish and rigging. BTW, which line are you using and what kind of buckles? Cheers Rob

If we keep it open for another two years, I may get in with a F8 . Cheers Rob

Hi Phil, I like your build and the additions look good and add character. Right now I read a book about SAS actions in the Vosges mountains and they deploy airdropped Jeeps there. Be sure, that after a while not two of them looked alike. The freedom with armor building lies in lots of modifications in the field or on your bench , which likewise would be historical correct or fit your imagination, it's up to you. Keep it coming with your inspirational build. Cheers Rob

I did a lot of test fitting with the Komet, and I may have done something not overly perfect, but I think you know how it is, when a kit is starting to get on your nerves. It accumulates in my case and the the pleasure of building starts to be a question of will. Anyhow, it's not a bad kit all around, if you want to show all the innards, there are only some minor issues to solve, like the slightly too protruding wing connections to the fuselage. Detail is nice and mostly crisp. If you want her closed up, you should test fit a lot and get rid of all the unseen parts in the fuselage like ammunition chutes and maybe even the bulkheads. You should emphasis on the contour of the fuselage parts primarily and then decide about the inner parts. Cheers Rob

Hehe , there seem to be some parallels between the mentioned kits. I built the TA-152 a while ago and to button everything up properly proved to be tough. Both kits have a lot of fuselage parts, wing roots, cowlings and panels to align and it sure is easier to leave everything open and visible, but both planes have a design, I want to be presented entirely and undisturbed. There are fine builds of both planes like you mentioned, and some are even closed up. It seems possible and maybe some of the issues with both kits are my fault. This (I know, it's not a Komet, but the name fits) is from Chino and Nervenklau means something like 'steal my nerves' This one is a little self motivator also from Chino and this time it is a Komet (Like a flea, but strong) Cheers Rob

Hola Senhores, not a good sign for an own WIP to have to use the search function to find it . I needed some time to swear in German, English and Spanish and rant away about the time I wasted with the Komet. After all that time of contemplation, I decided to try to assemble the main components of the 163. With a considerable amount of raw force, I tried to align everything as good as possible. The pictures shows, where that got me after some coarse grinding and destroying lots of surface detail. I'm still not sure if I will continue as there will be a lot of filling, sanding and rescribing needed with a still suboptimal outcome, but I didn't want to give up easily either. Decision time Cheers Rob

C'mon, it's not that bad, in fact I like the result and it inspired me to finally get me a Mig-31. Your Mig is looking badass as it should. On the other hand I can totally understand the way you feel, aren't we always our hardest critiques ourselves. Some builds are just not like we had hoped for, but mostly it is more like a bad taste in the end than facts, it's bad mojo. Others will see that with different angles of view and are not mojo effected. Your Bat cries for prey and that's the way it should be. Cheers Rob

Welcome to the world of the Large Scale Crazies, sieben. Your P-51 looks gorgeous. I like the NMF and detailing in the pit and wheel wells. Cheers Rob

Teaser for the future Tamiya presentation Cheers Rob

Nice work, that's quite a lot of internal rigging to be made as a contrary to the wing rigging.