DocRob

The interior looks super bueno Hubert. Worn and comfy like an old glove with lots of details and different materials on show, always a highlight on era planes to me. Shame that not much will remain visible. You may like to think about, removing some panel/cloth on the fuselage sides for better insight. The hunchbacked desert mule looks also good. Spot metering is the key for showing the modulation better. Cheers Rob

I have different kinds, but none is an all out recommendation. My most used are the Mr. Hobby Sol or Sol Neo. The latter is thinner and water based, if I remember it right. For canopies in addition with Kabuki masks, I prefer the thicker Sol. I also tried the Abteilung 502 blue masking fluid, which comes in a larger bottle and is similar to Mr. Hobby. I once tried to do an outlined camo with it, where the fluid was brush applied for the thin borders of the camo, which unfortunately didn´t work. Worst of all is Microscale Micromask, which spreads well, is relatively thin, but absolutely terrible to remove. I once masked the cylinders of a Corsair engine and spent hours cleaning the stuff. I can´t live without liquid masks, but I try to use them as seldom as possible. One little dot in the wrong place means drying time and redoing it. Cheers Rob

This is all looking very good Peter, despite the issues you had. That no PE is supplied for the mesh screens is a shortcoming, indeed. If the supplied PE is too rigid and made from brass, you can anneal it with a candle or a lighter. Heat it until there is a blue hue visible on the brass, not more. This erases the tensions in the crystalline structure of the brass and bending becomes easier afterwards. Cheers Rob

I do miss the strong stuff, because it is really hard to find decent decaf´s. I had to search and try a lot, until I found a few good ones. My high blood pressure came instantly without warning three years ago. It was hard to adapt that fast from old habits, like my beloved very strong roasts. I have to take my blood pressure medication, which sucks, but besides, I actually have no health issues. The machine is indeed a really nice one and I like it a lot. The only weak point is the power switch, which I had to change once and this one seems to be on the end of it´s lifespan as well. No big deal, I always have a spare one at hand. I wouldn´t like to miss a perfect brewed and prepared cappuccino in the morning with fresh ground coffee. I don´t drink huge amounts of coffee, but the two per day really count. Cheers Rob

Excuse me for not digesting all mentioned parameters, Hubert. I had no idea, what it takes to get decent printed results and you only described the slicing process. I know the feeling, when you thought you did everything right, but no success, but I guess, the thorough way you do it is more than a bit of pioneering. I like your wooden framing, but if you want to let it look less uniform, you can always add some matted or semi matte clear tones in orange or yellow shades or rub in some brown pigments. Cheers Rob

I wonder, if the Whirlwind got some Godzilla legs as UC or some catio parts added . How do you keep track of all your started builds, Carl? Cheers Rob

I also like the metal finish, correct or not, Kevin. When I build mine, it will be NMF too. Cheers Rob

Bummer with the ban, Carl, I have the same situation since years and some weeks ago, I was about to smuggle a can of TS-44 into my flight baggage from Berlin, because there is no substitute for this color to find and it has to match some car decals. I didn´t do it in the end and have to mix now. Cheers Rob

This is my coffee machine, since my trusty Rancillio Silvia passed away two years ago. It´s a Rocket Appartemento with two boiling circuits, one for coffee and one for steam, so no waiting time for cappuccino. I buy excellent coffees, where ever I can get them, but drink mostly a very good Colombian decaf, roasted by Barcomi´s Berlin. It´s a sacrifice to my blood pressure, but one, which is easily made, because the coffee is excellent. Cheers Rob

Well, no pictures of my masking fetish, sadly, but some exemplary wheels, which were painted in multiple shades of black for my MIG-31 build. Cheers Rob

I´m a bit dogmatic when it comes to tires. I mostly substitute them for resin ones, if available and I airbrush them with multiple shades of near black from my trusty Lifecolor set. I usually cut my own masks, but that might be a fetish thing with me. I just believe, a black tire never looks the same black all over, so no alternative for me. Cheers Rob

Looking good, nice drybrushing to enhance the contrast FA. Cheers Rob

Nice Carl, never heard the term catio before, but it fits. We got a cat in out garden regularly since some days. It is from neighbors, but seems to like our garden better. Since our dog has passed away in August, he´s taking over now. Cheers Rob

Fantastic job with the stringback, PW. You have to look very closely, to detect, it´s 48 scale. Glad the Prym rigging worked out. Cheers Rob

This very unusual camo came out great, Chris. I also think, that your weathering did the job perfectly. BTW, I guess, the name of the plane should be "Ellen". It looks like it´s written in old German handwriting. Cheers Rob

Sounds to me like a perfect canvas to don one in dabbing and the other in hairspray or multi layer hairspray technique, Paul. Cheers Rob

That seems to be a nice kit and something different for sure, Peter. I remember the fun you had with your last railroad building project. One of these days, I have to build something like this too. My father had a huge HO train diorama in the cellar of our house. It was about 150 square meters and he was building it forever, but never finished it. I never liked his approach of sparse details and huge amounts of trains and always asked him, if I could high detail only one square meter of it to my standards, but that never materialized. Cheers Rob

Thank you Paul, I´m sure the dabbling technique can be used on tractors, etc. The scale shouldn´t be too small, but 1/24 must be perfect. The MaK kits from Hasegawa and Wave are cheap in Japan, that´s where I ordered most. The apron, well, I actually never missed it . Cheers Rob

Your 109 looks absolutely fantastic, Chris. I like the chalked and slightly toned down appearance a lot. I used chalks often with earlier builds and liked the "steerable" effect. The only downside, the chalk emphasized the borders of the carrier film slightly on the Balkenkreuze of the fuselage side. Cheers Rob

Fantastic as always Mike. I am eagerly awaiting the rigging phase, as I have a Fe.2b in my stash and more than once, I wanted to start, but shied away, because of the rigging. Cheers Rob

Thank you for posting, PW, I knew most of the pictures from their Airfix boxes and they are instant classics. The Zero and the Helldiver, I can´t remember, but I had the B-29 in my clumsy fingers and made a blob of plastic out of the kit . Cheers Rob

You are absolutely right PW, I would be long out of the hobby, if there weren´t new challenges all the time. Sometimes, there is only an idea, about how a certain subject should look in the end as a guideline. The process is then developed according. I once build a 1/32 scale PZL P.11, only to see, if it is possible to paint a plane kit convincing only with brush and oil colors. Cheers Rob

Yup, he has seen some action, therefore the need to patch him up a bit. Cheers Rob

Thank you Mike. Like you, I always try to keep an open eye on new techniques, here in the forum or on YT or other places. I then try to adapt these techniques to my liking and abilities. I don´t like to be dogmatic about what skills I use to achieve a certain result, meaning, the result is important and somehow, I have to reach that goal. I always have a picture of a finished project in my head and that is my goal, no matter what. Certainly some projects are a bit to ambitious and stall or need to be altered, but that´s part of the game. I built my Duchess of Kingston wooden sailing boat sans rigging and also found, that many learned techniques from plastic modeling helped a lot, but the ultimate necessity is a quality approach, no matter what kind of modeling I do. Fantasy objects help to free yourself from to many fixed aspects and help widen the view, I ever found. What you said about building up thin layers, specially with figures is absolutely right, but I found it very hard to do it right with figures. The culprits are first me and my clumsiness, sometimes blotchy results with acrylics, which doesn´t blend like I want and with oils it´s a whole different game. One reason, the above shown AmmoKnight isn´t finished, is the figure, I planned to go with it. I tried my best to paint her up, but wasn´t satisfied. The welder girl was supposed to have welded the heart shaped patch onto the torn AmmoKnight, but this has to wait, till my skills are up to it. Cheers Rob

What Peter said about the spice of life, is absolutely true. I really like to learn something new with every build and to challenge myself somehow. I even started modeling projects, only as a canvas for a new technique. My first build out of the vague Ma.K universe (shown below) was only to learn a new technique of painting for example. The color on this Kampfanzug was only dabbed onto the suit in many layers to achieve a deep and uneven paintjob, with the weathering included. I could never build only planes or the umpteenth Tiger tank and yes, sometimes I first shy away from a demanding new project, but at a certain point of progress, normally the flow sets in and I enjoy the build. In so far Chris, I build what I want, without limits, I couldn´t really enjoy the hobby without that free spirit. Cheers Rob