DocRob

WNW is the cherry on the pie for sure, Mike. But there are others like Roden (mediocre) and foremost Copper State Model, which are nearly (if not) the same quality level as WNW. The manuals are even better to me, as they show the rigging much better and they are priced reasonably. A Fokker Triplane would be a good choice, equal which breed, because it has very simple rigging and that's what you should look for first thing. That qualifies German single seaters, because of the simple rigging and no flat wire was used. Another cheap German single seater would be Micro Mir Fokker D.VIII. The kit is not very good, but with some extra work it can be made a gem. There are also great 1/48 kits out there in high quality like the CSM offerings or some Eduard kits, especially the newer molds, not a bad starting point. Before starting you should think about a proper rigging method, as there are several with their pros and cons. Cheers Rob

Very nice result, your Spitfire looks fantastic and your log was mouth watering, as I now want one. Cheers Rob

Not as bad as Carl, but I lost the compete PE for my Fore Schnellboot along the metal barrels, clear parts and decals in November. We had a bad rain there and water was seeping in and mushed up the S-boat box. I evacuated the sprues and manual and put the PE onto another stashed box and forgot about it after the incident. Reshuffling my stash some days later, I put some other boxes onto the one and the PE was lost forever, or at least so long, that the USS Arizona was the substitute contribution to the GB. After Arizona was done and I was about to buy a new Schnellboot kit, I found the stuff. Cheers Rob

And that from the man, who sometimes is followed by LS U-boat kits. You are a strange fellow, Carl . Cheers Rob

That's good news, Kevin. The Tempest is coming together with no issues. I'm eager to build my MK. VI soon in BMF, so your build log will be a great template. Cheers Rob

Seems to be the crankcase, which is off, I guess it's separate from the cylinders. Are you sure, the sprues are identical? Cheers Rob

Impressive craftmanship and attention to detail. I envy your patience for going through all this, fantastic. Cheers Rob

This is clearly a winner, what a cool design, it must transport rocket fuel . Cheers Rob

I just had a peek into the box, and yes it's not a big plane, I would have thought, it must be the size of the 1/48 Caudron, being a two seater, but nope. Cheers Rob

Thanks Kevin, the Caudron is small in 1/48, but today I received the even tinier 1/72 Gee Bee shown above. It's only the color, which helps finding it in the display case . Cheers Rob

The camo is made with a set of HGW wet transfers, dedicated for the KI-61. Applying was not without difficulties, but spraying would have been also PITA Cheers Rob

With all the huge boxes above, I have only a small one to show. After I built my first full resin kit, the French Caudron C.561 racer recently, today I received among other stuff this tiny race horse in 1/72 scale also from SBS. It depicts the last version of the Gee Bee racers in goblin green . I added flat PE rigging wires, also from SBS, which are not included into the kit. Only yesterday, I've seen the perfect complementary for a little scene in green and red. I will have to buy that one too. It's made by Brengun. Cheers Rob

I went through your town on the way from New Orleans to Pensacola some years ago. Nice place. Almost forgot, Mississippi has a coastline to the sea. Cheers Rob

I had the same issues with the blade falling out, despite having the magnet. I was a bit unnerved and didn't use the cutter for a while. Some weeks ago, I gave it another try and it worked very good, somehow. I adjusted the preload for cutting 0,5 mm styrene and later again adjusted for Kabuki, I cut the masks for the Arado's wheels without the blade falling out. I can't describe what has changed, maybe the adjustment spring is a bit pre-twisted now and held the blade in place without hindering the rotation. Cheers Rob

Very nice result. I like the non blue, non yellow wing scheme a lot. I wish, I could lay my hands one one of these kits. Cheers Rob

Like the others said, great paintjob and weathering. Welcome to the forum by the way. Cheers Rob

Nice progress Bill, the cockpit looks great and busy. Firing the 'Schräge Musik' must be deafening. Cheers Rob

Nice Phil, sand blasted to the right amount I'd say. The running gear looks great and I like the non painted areas around the insignia. Cheers Rob

Nice loot Carl, you know, that there is a set of vinyl adhesive masks out there for the disc pattern, maybe a bit handier to work with. Extra dots for DPC-35 an DPC-48. Please select scale in checkbox - Uschi van der Rosten Carpet Decals (uschivdr.com) (just scroll down a bit) Cheers Rob

You put yourself in a situation, denders, but I will follow your interesting project. Having just finished my first 1/350 ship with loads of PE, I know for sure I will never attempt something in 1/700 other then the Death Star. Cheers Rob

Interesting method Mike, I hope the contrast will not be to stark. Cheers Rob

Thank you amigos, I like the effect of multi-black-colored wheels a lot. I rarely use pure black for planes and armor, but varying shades look more real to my eye. I will show more of the rocket packs soon. They are painted in matte aluminum and wait for the stenciling to be finished, when the masks arrive. I will replicate the trigger line for the parachute as well, after adding it. Cheers Rob

I had to look up Norfolk Island, phew, this is pretty isolated and small. Only about ten percent of the area of my tiny island, though more inhabitants per square mile, if there is a full one . Now at almost sixty, I enjoy life here and I wouldn't leave my island, even if I had to give up modeling. Luckily that's not the case, kits and AM takes some time to get here, but chemicals are the problem. Living isolated changes the approach, spending way more time to find ways, to get things transported to your place, but I mostly found possibilities. To me it's not only about modeling, my other hobbies are demanding too. Vinyls, hifi, rare cocktail ingredients, sports equipment like surf boards or mountainbikes can be tricky, but like I said, there are ways, sometimes unfortunately not very comfortable or pricey. In younger years, I enjoyed the urban live of Berlin with all it's virtues and vices and wouldn't have thought about living on an isolated island. Now it's different, I enjoy living near the ocean, having multiple possibilities for outdoor sports and activities, nearly no crime here, friendly people around, quietness where I live, we own a dog now, a no no for me in Berlin and it's only a very cheap flight of about half an hour to Tenerife, where you get a lot of goods and medical care, but no modelling stuff. In a way, you have to be carved for this type of living, there were people arriving here to stay forever, leaving after two weeks, no joking. It's a question of personality. My wife absolutely enjoys living here and wouldn't like to go back to Berlin or anywhere else, but she has to visit there way more often than me. Cheers Rob

Nice start, seemed to be a decent kit, although some extra work will be needed, I guess. Cheers Rob

Still no masks at hand, spring can be awful here. It's the worst weather of the year, normally and every second day is a holiday, so no working customs, no working mail. Meanwhile, I painted the wheels with my usual workflow, spraying the hubs first, in this case semi matte black, then mask the hubs and spray the tires. Here I used Nato Black as a base and then sprayed the flanks with some drops of Field Blue in the Nato black. Last step are pigments in a concrete tone rubbed in for enhancing contrasts and simulating abrasion and dirt. Some details were picked out by brush on the hubs. The kit wheels look especially good, it's strange, how different the quality of the plastic parts are in this kit. Next were the parachute packs for the Ratos jets. I sprayed everything in RLM 22, masked the belts off and used Buff for the remainder. The ropes were painted by brush and then I rubbed in some concrete pigments. Cheers Rob