DocRob

Wow, Peter, the level of detail, you show is amazing. I wouldn´t worry too much about the panels and how they fit. This thing is not built for Mach 2 speed, there were other design margins enforced. Cheers Rob

Looks promising with the Prym, PW. It almost looks like steel with the light color. Glad you jumped first into the pond and I can follow up with my first British WWI plane. Cheers Rob

At the moment there is only the 87 edition available from Salvino´s, Peter. It seems, Monogram made an `84 Vintage NASCAR – Salvinos JR Models Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter, I get bored very easily with repetitions, so for me changing subjects, scales and materials is a must to keep on. As most times, I have a picture in my head, how everything should look in the end, let´s wait, if I can fulfill that. There still is a maybe option with the planned dio in form of a sinister looking Neuspotter, but no details as of yet . It´s a bit of a shame to park the Cobra, but on the other hand, time is spars at the moment and the Cobra needs full attention. Cheers Rob

Well, it´s about time to actually do something with my planned Kampfanzug. I built up arms and legs and parts of the body, which is only fit loosely, to determine, how to fit the extremities for later positioning. The fit of the kit is very good so far and the limbs are connected via vinyl elements to keep everything moveable. I got two different left hands to choose from, but found this one perfect, to hold the squeezed empty PE-bottle. I have to plan the painting of the interior and figure - ahem - the rest of it, to be precise and started to mask the side windows, which unfortunately have tobe mounted at a very early stage. That said, many parts are intersecting and depending on the right sequence to be build in. The outer side of the windows is protruding, so I adhered a double layer of Tamiya kabuki tape onto it, sharpened the contour with a fingernail and cout around with a fresh blade. One layer was left on the outside, the other went onto the inside of the opposite pane and vice versa. Inside and outside masking done. Cheers Rob

Good, that the printing of the landing gear worked this time with the reinforcement inserted. Thank you for the detailed description of your printing process. I may have to look into that myself. It´s not that I´m completely out of the dark, as I produced 3D animations in Lightwave, when I was young. I had a "real" 486 processor by this time and rendering the results took weeks. I learned to design 3D objects then, but there was no need for accuracy, it only had to look good. Cheers Rob

Sorry Chris, I meant the `72 Charger, that is the one I have. Cheers Rob

Not for the short sighted pilot or frosted canopies. Cheers Rob

Well Chris, the parts are actually plastic, but real metal plated. Looks better then most chromed plastic, somehow deeper and more chrome like, less toyish. My second Salvino´s kit is the Petty Charger from 1970 in STP livery. I believe the kits are a bit cheaper on your side of the pond or direct from Salvino´s. Cheers Rob

Thanks a ton PW, I will give it a try, as real matte finish is hard to achieve. For gloss, I have other trusty options, but this will help a lot. Cheers Rob

Sorry for the detour, Chris. Is this the stuff you are using, PW? How do you thin it for the airbrush? This varnish seems to be really interesting, if it is really dead flat. Galeria Acrylic - Matt Varnish – Winsor & Newton EU (winsornewton.com) Cheers Rob

Nice extra detailing, Mike, bummer that there is only a very small canopy above for peeks. Cheers Rob

These engine look super cool Peter. All the detail made to pop due to your painting style. Can´t wait to digest your weathering efforts. Cheers Rob

Fantastic result as always Mike, Finish and figure are spot on. My only micro critic is about the flare pistol. I guess, nobody would have left it there barely balanced. Cheers Rob

If it´s Tamiya, why shouldn´t you, Paul . Cheers Rob

You seem to be a bit on a roll with tank suspensions lately, Carl. Looking good and seems to be a nicely detailed kit. Cheers Rob

I was not satisfied with my other sand related objects. A Do-17 in desret outfit, yawn, LRDG Jeep, a little better, but still yawn and then I found the MaschinenKrieger. There will be a lot of weathering involved and maybe some new techniques as well. Firs, I have to build a huge 1/12 garage for the Daytona Cobra, which will be paused during the MaK build. I may be able to build two kits at the same time, but not a demanding one like the Cobra which occupies my whole bench with tons of parts and tools. Well, the AM producers are not what they were before. I could find the squeezed bottles only in 1/16 or 1/24 not in my projects 1/20scale . Earnestly, like you, I was astonished that something like this even existed. The bottles are produced by MAIM, which I believe is a subsidiary of the German online vendor Sockelshop.de. Cheers Rob

I like the matte version better, Chris. Matte finish seems to be a problem with some products. Careful stirring and shaking is always necessary, as the matting ingredients tend to pile up at the bottom of the jar. I never got more matte than semi matte with Tamiya LP clears. Pledge with 25% of Tamiya flat base added will do the job. On the heavily macroed canopy pic, there are some tiny color residues visible. Most times it´s very easy to clean these with a wooden tooth pick. Cheers Rob

I use the Pledge straight from the bottle, no need to thin the stuff, Chris. You can add Tamiya Flat Base, to the degree you want to have the flat look, but never more than 30%. With more, you will have a candy cotton effect. Cheers Rob

What a cool 1/1 LARGE scale project Ernie. Keep us unknowns in the loop, please, as this is really fascinating. It´s quite a different task to thoroughly restore that airframe. Its your life depending on the work you do. Cheers Rob

I have another one, a Richard Petty 1972 Dodge Charger. Browsing through the sprues shows a promising quality and there are some encouraging build logs out there. I guess, the greatest difficulty will be the body painting, which in both cases is two color, bordered by pinstripe decals, which need to be used as templates for masking. If I understood right, all the Salvino´s kits are limited to 500 items each, but of course, there are a couple of variants for the same chassis, from different years and with different sponsor decals. Some of their kits are based on older kits, but the ones I own are new tool by Salvino´s Cheers Rob

I hope so, Carl Cheers Rob

Well señhores, while some of you are already finished with your builds, I´m still contemplating about what to contribute. I browsed through my stash, before my Berlin trip and found only a few tempting subjects. Needless to say, I was not very thrilled about the sandbox thing, firstly. Then I had an idea, pulling the 1/20 Wave kit of a Ma.K Panzer Kampf Anzug Friedrich out of the shelf. This will be a little dio with the Friedrich´s operator literally having bitten the dust or sand to be more specific. In Berlin, I bought some tiny but welcomed additions for the small scenery, including some squeezed water bottles and 3D printed skulls, which will add to the morbid scenery. Cheers Rob

Back from my Berlin trip and my first visit to LHS there, I brought back a large array of AM for different kits and stuff for some projects, I have in mind. These are for a long planned under water dio, including a resin steam punk submarine a jetty and lots of fishes and sea live along some figures in 1/35. I first slept in the rancid Circus Circus Hotel in las Vegas and as "good" memories never vanish, I chose the Salvino´s Monte Carlo as a reminder. I somehow like the old Nascar´s and the Salvino´s kit seem to be of decent quality with outstanding decals. Fun fact, the chrome plated parts are real meatal plated, heavy and magnetic. Cheers Rob

Catching up with your log after my vacancies, Peter. The interior looks brilliant and having the fuselage closed, you achieved a milestone. The kit seems to be a good one, capturing the busy look of the heli. Makes me want to start my Cobra kit (The helicopter, not the car ), but this has to wait. Cheers Rob