DocRob

Thanks Paul, unlike you, I have no special connection to the Skyline other than it's looks, but I share your feelings about a long lasting affair with an old car. I owned an old Mercedes back in Berlin and when we left many years ago, our son kept it as his ride. Now, after over thirty trouble free years, it didn't pass the technical check and will be sold, which makes me a bit sad. Cheers Rob

Some fast stuff, reached my recently neglected bench. I saw this one lately and had to buy it, The kit seems to be a simple build and I added some Speed 8 Green metallic from Number Five colors. I couldn't say no to this Manga styled BMW. Again a simple kit, but these are hard to find for a reasonable price. I bought it fairly priced, brand new and found the decaling manual nearly as content heavy as the building manual. I have another version of the BMW Z4 from Fujimi (which will sport a Michel Vaillant livery) and this has seat belts and masks for spraying the windows included. I can use the masks for both and added some seatbelts for this one. Cheers Rob

I bought a Dspaie nipper some years ago to substitute my old Tamiya cutter, which lost a tooth on one blade. I was not very satisfied with the Dspaie. It cuts well, but tends to stick into the plastic. I added two different Tamiya nippers later and liked them better. They are more versatile and robust to my eye. The cutting residue of the sprue is about the same. I use the Dspaie very rarely, only if parts leave not enough space between them and the sprue. Cheers Rob

Your cockpit looks extremely good Peter. Better or not as the Tamiya Spit is not the question, as Tamiya doesn't have a MK I. Enjoy your build and pleas show us your usual magic, even weathered . Cheers Rob

Crisp and clean, Peter. Another showcase of your fabulous abilities. Somehow your finished kits show a definite unique style, let's say they are petresque . Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter and Martin, the bleeding nose and burning eyes, because of air dryness persists here and so my lack of modelling urge. I jump into the ocean in the morning to cool down and the rest of the day is a lazy affair, hiding in the shadows whenever possible. Summer heat is normal here, but normally it cools off in the night Not this time and it's not summer anymore . It seems, the weather will stay like this for at least another week. The next update will be in awhile, as I won't show some blocks and pre rigging on every single spar and bore you out. Cheers Rob

PE can be delicate and with parts like yours, everything is about the sequence, as not to corner yourself, bending in a wrong process. There are only right angles, except one; I may have used only a pair of bending tweezers to get the contour right and skip the jig. Anyway, the result counts and your light guard looks good. Cheers Rob

Indeed your Whirlwind came out really nice, Kevin. The paintjob looks great and I can feel your satisfaction, having mastered this short run beauty. I hope you leg and back are well. Not the greatest thing in the world, to be run over by a car. All the best. Cheers Rob

Your painting is flawless Phil, I don't know, how you achieve this super clean look, which is one of your trade marks. Can't wait to see the Fury with all the markings on. We have the absolute opposite weather situation here, it's very hot and super dry, since over a week and it will last for another week at last. Creeping from shadow to shadow is the best way to handle this, as the nights are equally hot, very untypical. Cheers Rob

Since more than a week, we have 35° C in the day- and more than 30° C in the nighttime and in between some days of storm, so watering the garden and Siestas in the shadow are the way to go. The humidity is about 15%, which dries nose, eyes and brain and the weather will stay at least for another week like this, phew . Modelling wise, I made only little progress with the DoK and only managed to prepare one spar with lifts, footrests and other fittings. I should emphasize a bit more on the knots, as my basic household knotting isn't up to the game. I will simplify, but not too much. I will pre rig all the spars next, followed by the pre rigging of the masts, but it will take some time and maybe a tiny in between build . Cheers Rob

Nice and good tip with the LT to cure te silvering. Cheers Rob

Looking relatively good and maybe the only choice instead of spraying Alclad or Extreme Metals, because the rods are very thin for foiling. Just yesterday, a pack of this foil arrived here. I'm eager to see, how it works compared to BMF. Cheers Rob

Does it really work Phil? I had the Molotow chrome pens and they worked only in recesses, like the headlights of my Ford GT II build. On landing gear oleos, they completely failed. If the AK pens are better, I would give them a try. Cheers Rob

Like Carl said, it's 1/24 and seems to be a kit design first in 1987. I don't like the obsessive tobacco ad ban on kits in general, but with this kit it's especially bad. On close inspection the purple color of the tobacco ad decals don't match these of the kit decals. How everything fitted with the Zero Paints purple, I have not tested yet. There is another 'non controversial' Castrol version made by Hasegawa of the XJR-9. They only pollute the environment with oil drilling and refining, never mind. I have 1/20 McLaren MP's and a JPS Lotus 79 in stash, but with these, I have complete decal sheets and therefore no color issues. Cheers Rob

The Jaguar XJR-8 arrived today. I had to wait a bit to find one of the kits with my suppliers. The kit itself is simple without engine and some flash, but nothing to worry about. This one will be about finish, either decal or masked and airbrushed with the fitting Zero Paints. I had to add the tobacco sponsor decals, as they are not included . Cheers Rob

I can't seem to find building time lately. Nonetheless, I added all the wooden fittings to the yards, glued the PE footrest holders in with CA and inserted brass rods for pinning the yards to the masts. Then all was sprayed matte black. Cheers Rob

Thank you Gary, it feels good to continue with the DoK. Cheers Rob

Fantastic result, like always Dave, congratulations. Cheers Rob

Good that you have one, Martin . Cheers Rob

Thank you Gary, not like your foiling, but damn close for an airbrushed finish . Cheers Rob

Long time no see and there is a reason for it, RIGGING. I built some WNW biplanes over the years and found the rigging difficult but manageable, but this is something completely different, this is frightening and I don't know, how the talented builders over on MSW manage to rig their ships to perfection. BUT, I will not give up, I will try to finish the Duchess of Kingston as good as I can, but I can tell you, never in my modeling career I felt so lost. Luckily there are many good build threads on MSW, which helped me during the earlier stages of the build and will help with the rigging too. This is where I restarted, Hull and decorations are complete, all masts and yards are prepared: Then I started rigging, adding several blocks and deadeyes to the bowsprit and yard. The process is complicated and my seizing looks terrible in places. CA glue for securing my simple knots is the savior. The bowsprit and yard are not permanently attached to the hull, as I want the maximum possible freedom of movement as long as possible. I will continue to pre-rig all the masts, before adding them to the hull. Cheers Rob

That's the case here too, but the main problem seems to be the distribution chain for spare parts. The big players are only allowed to use their designated suppliers and if these don't have the parts needed, it's waiting time. My friend has a small workshop and I hope, he can solve the problems with the united force of mechanics on our island, with the large company failing, I completely lost my confidence in them. Cheers Rob

Thank you Hubert and Phil, after some experiments, I 'd say, Tamiya LP-1 gloss black and Alclad chrome or polished aluminum are a dream team. @Bomber_County Before you consider respraying your P-51, be aware, that no masking should be done onto the polished aluminum and be careful with hot decal solutions. Cheers Rob

Dentists wet dream Cheers Rob