DocRob

Another gem for the display shelf, Kevin. Cheers Rob

We have 35 degrees Celsius and a storm out there. No airbrushing at the moment. Humidity, which is normally between 70% and 90% dropped to 15% Cheers Rob

I'm no expert on flat rigging, but I'm pretty sure, the orientation of the wires is in the direction of the airflow, to give maximum stability with minimal drag. Looking at pictures on page one of your thread, seem to underline that, but it' hard to spot. I never used PE flat rigging, but will do on my 1/72 Gee Bee racer soon. I often read, the problem with PE rigging is temperature driven expansion, which logically increases with the length of the wire. I feel save enough for my 1/72 racer. PRYM of Germany makes a flat elastic white thread, which could be used as well. I have some, but have to admit, I never used it. If I'm right, EZ-Line also carries flat elastic thread. Cheers Rob

The completion of your Halbkette, nearly skipped by me as time is a bit sparse at the moment, Phil. I really like what you did with painting and weathering and yes, these open topped vehicles can be a challenge to paint. Cheers Rob

Wow, another detail outburst. I have to raise my hat to your abilities, be it scratch building or painting, absolutely jaw dropping. Colors looking great, though I'm with Peter about the AK real colors. They spray absolutely fantastic, thinned with about two thirds of leveling thinner. I never had consistent results with AK acrylics, but never tried the 3rd generation ones, you tested. Cheers Rob

Your decaling looks perfect, masking would have been risky, with the corrugated metal surface. I built the 1/32 PZL and found the IBG decals very good to work with. Cheers Rob

The XVI looks fantastic, Kevin, nice work with the camo and decaling. I have to of these in my stash, my only Spitfires. One will be in NMF, one in camo and I have all the Brassin stuff for one. Cheers Rob

Hard to imagine, how you accomplished the great progress and bug hunting with the Tomcat given the lawn issues you had . Our huge garden is more like a jungle, needs a lot of work too, but you can hide a lot and our grass part isn't anywhere near a golf lawn, but a paradise for our dog. Cheers Rob

I was never a devoted fan of car racing in general but the formula one attracted me a bit in the 80's, but the actual F1 scene is downright boring to me as well. Supporting systems for everything, why not sparing the drivers and put in artificial intelligence, at least that would be a technical challenge. Many of the past drivers wer icons, like you mentioned and it was fun to follow them a bit. The Renault RE20 to me in the time was the first nail in the coffin of F1 with it's tiny 1,5 liter engine, turbo blasted to nirvana, but it was effective. It lacked the esthetics of other cars like many MCLaren's, some Ferraris and Lotus cars. Speaking about icons. I would welcome a decent 1/12 kit from a Lancia Stratos, one of my favorite cars, beside the Ciroen DS and my Jeep. Cheers Rob

It's hard to believe, these kits are about 40 years old and may are ahead of modern Italeri kits, Peter. Preparation is the key, like you mentioned, as the finish of car models is the goal to accomplish. I'm still not decided about de-chroming or not. I've never done it before and the plating doesn't look to bad. On the rear wing, there are lots of rivets all over, which I don't want to loose or replicate. Luckily, I have some time left to make the decision. Cheers Rob

Thank you Mark, I will take my time with this one, it's a summer build and has to share my attention with other activities. These old Tamiya kits are a solid base for a bright spot to delight the showcase. Cheers Rob

Muchas gracias mi amigo, After all the abuse, I did to the canopy glazing during the years of building the Arado, I'm really satisfied, that there are only minor blemishes to see. A shabby canopy would have made the Arado a bin diver, as this is clearly the focal point. Luckily, I got spared, but removing the masks in the end let my fingers tremble. Cheers Rob

However great your pain is about the oob-approach. It looks like a Devastator to me and a fine one btw. Cheers Rob

Thank you Mike, the Arado was a bit like a thorn in the foot, it hurt as long as it was not finished somehow. Now I'm glad the Nachtigall is done and looks at least decent. Cheers Rob

It's newish for me too, Phil, but I have a the 1/24 Ford GT II and a 1/12 Ducati Panigale under my belt. Building and painting sequence is quite different from planes and armor and I have to study the manual closely to find my own approach. The Ducati was a bit similar with building it from the inside to the outside and the inside is not a mere cockpit. I choose the Renault out of my brief 1/12 stash, because I never liked the Turbo philosophy a lot. Tiny engines superblown, but somehow this weird machine appeals to me. Cheers Rob

...and now to something completely different. While choosing my actual summer build, I opened a lot of stashed boxes lately and got stuck with the large colorful ones. I have three of the old Tamiya 1/12 car kits and the Renault was picked over the Porsche 935 and the Brabham BT44, because I liked it less than the others. Large scale car modeling is new to me, so if I disappoint myself, the damage is easier to cope with. I wanted to have this kit, even if I disliked these turbo testosteroned mini engines, as the Renault looks like a gentle Frankenstein in formula one standards. The yellow and white paintjob does enough of a job, to conceal that a bit, The kit dates back to 1981 and this is clearly visible, while inspecting the parts. There is flash, parting lines, burr and crude looking parts. This kit for sure is not up to standards of modern Tamiya kits and needs some extra attention. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't look like a bad kit, but I guess, there will be some unwanted surprises hidden on the sprues. The ancient kit received PE for grills and brake disks and decals printed by Cartograph. First, I cleaned the main body parts and this was not done in a blast. It took some hours with the blade, chisel and sanding sticks to get rid off the multiple burrs all around. I want to paint the body parts early, that in case of failure, the expense in time and effort wouldn't be too great. The rear wing base construction is a four part U-shaped affair, which I guess should be flush all over. To reach that goal, there will be needed a lot of filler, as you can see on the picture. Another decision to make son, is about the chromed parts for the wings and rims. The provided chrome doesn't look too bad, but I will compare it with photos of the real thing and decide then, if I strip and repaint these parts. Cheers Rob

Wow, the cat is a stunner and a winner . The good thing on these easy going Tamiya kits, you can fully concentrate on painting and weathering and here is where your bird shines, Gus. Cheers Rob

Nice progress Gary, I always use a drop of something like tan in the white and maybe two drops of Nato black in the black to reduce the super harsh contrasts a bit. Works perfectly for me. Cheers Rob

Thanks Ernie, I have to confess, I'm actually a bit proud to have pulled through with the build. It was not the easiest one, but motivating nonetheless. I always wanted a Nachtigall for my shelf, done now, check mark . Cheers Rob

Thanks Gary, the antler antennas are from a Master set made in brass. The kit ones are not shabby, but the Master set is much finer and a bit more robust on such a prominent place. Cheers Rob

Congratulations guys and a big thank you to Ernie for being so generous and also managing the GB so well. Cheers Rob

The result looks absolutely fantastic, but your processual planning seems to be a bit on the weak side, or was that only to have an excuse to miss the deadline of the GB, Hubert? I can feel all the pain you went through and my nerves wouldn't have kept up with it, I guess. Cheers Rob

Looking great Carl, but will it be finished in time? Are you going 24h for the rest? Cheers Rob

What a nice break from the usual planes Peter. I think, we need more cars and bikes here for a change. Your Thunderbird's underskirts look wonderful. BTW, I started a car kit myself yesterday. Cheers Rob