DocRob

...and there seems to be a civilian version planned. Cheers Rob

Thank you Gary, building the masts was fun, but more time consuming than thought, it's only some rods, ... . With the figures, I be interested too . Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter, and you are absolutely right about these additional projects around the house. We had a master plan, last year, it was a remade of the roofs, preparing and repainting of the outer walls of the houses and now it was interior painting and doors and windows. The next projects will be smaller, at least time wise, some carpenter work outside to substitute some rotten beams and a photovoltaic system with batteries onto the roof and the batteries will heat my cave in wintertime and even mor important, dry the air a bit. The Duchess will develop slow, I guess, I prepare myself well for the following steps, taking my time. Rigging is completely new to me and I will do it right, at least right enough. Summer on the other hand has a lot of distractions, so bench time is shrinking, but I'm willing to pull through with the DoK. If doing otherwise, the officers will let me keelhaul soon. Cheers Rob

Finally some progress, with the renovation of the hose and different other activities in the books. First a vanity shot with all the mast parts in place. These are not glued yet, as I plan to only add the lower segments first for easier rigging. But the next step will be painting the mast platforms and their surroundings black and to add the wooldings (ropes slung around the masts at different height levels). But the picture is not only for vanity reasons, it's meant to be self motivational as of now, my work on DoK is supervised. The Gentlemen Pellew and Hornblower have arrived my dock. They are made from Vanguard Models and are already primed. Their first job will be to fell victim to my desolate figure painting skills. I'm not decided, if I use oil- or acrylic colors or a mix of both. This will be challenging as the gents are in 64 scale, not exactly my go to scale for figure painting. As a reward, they brought a set of pear blocks for my HMS Sphinx kit with them. Cheers Rob

The ME-BF109 G14 seems to hit the shelves soon. I've seen the kit as preorder item on some shop pages Luckily not my cup of tea, geez, 105€ for the kit and there is no resin or PE included. Cheers Rob

Hi Peter, this should be right down your alley. CMK makes some detailed resin wheels for the mentioned plane. With that hub, I think you can't resist. Cheers Rob

Love it Ernie, the digi-camo looks great and a bit of weathering will blend it a bit. Cheers Rob

Twenty days would have been the amount of time, I would have spent thinking where to put the spent shells . Awesome and convincing display Gary. The winter atmosphere is only lacking the fog plums in front of the faces from breathing. I can only raise my virtual hat to such a speedy and in all aspects great dio. Cheers Rob

Great build Carl, the yellow rocket develops beautifully in your hands. I really like the material mix, Tamiya has chosen for the kit. Cheers Rob

Welcome to LSM Kev and thank you for showing us your build. There was a lot of talk around the Lanc specifically and Border in general, so it's good to see this beauty being build at last. Your work looks great and it's really a shame, that so much of the inner detail will be hidden. I thought about building one as only a half plane, leaving away the second fuselage half. But then, I came back to sanity and followed my old rule, not to build planes larger than twin engine ones in large scale. As an afterthought, I have to rise my hat to the PR branch of Border, This relatively new company hit the net with lot of speculations about the Lanc's situation and topped everything with their 35 scale issues. They have only three planes in their portfolio, but are spoken about like a big fish . Good or not, that's for us to decide. Cheers Rob

, didn't know there is one in large scale. I will buy a Border Stuka soon (too?) Cheers Rob

Maybe a 'Schmiss', not uncommon for German officers of the time. A Schmiss is a scar caused by a sword in a strongly regulated duel, with blinded eyes, which was typical for conservative students associations. Cheers Rob

Your Mustang looks absolutely gorgeous Kevin. I really like the shaded panels. Obviously the Trump P-51 can't be that bad, or at least, you mastered the kit perfectly. Cheers Rob

Amazing little bottle rocket. I missed some updates (no idea how, given the color of the thingy) and whoops, it's almost done. You're building almost as fast as the real thing. I like the multi material mix of the kit, which would be on my wish list in it's non neon version, if there will be a re release. Cheers Rob

I like the figures a lot Gary, macro shots can be cruel, but I can't see fails with your guys. I also love the problem solving with the tarpaulin covering the shells. That made me smile. Cheers Rob

There were some boxings with additional PE and goodies available from Tamiya. Some where indeed limited editions and some were made as an addition to address some problem areas with older kits. My stash tells otherwise, but I'm not a hoarder. Things I buy are for use, being it rare kits, rare vinyl records or whatever. If it achieves a high value, it's good to know for me, but of no real importance, as I don't sell stuff. Cheers Rob

Figures start to look the part, Gary. Working with different shades, very much attracts the eye. You've put yourself in a bad spot with the repetitive work on the shells. I probably would have gone AM, if there exist any. Cheers Rob

I have the boxing of the mysterious German 3 ton truck in stash, which comes with an Aber PE set and clear acetate for the windows and dashboard. The Aber set includes the Opel Blitz logo embossed. Cheers Rob

I don't care if it's 1/35 or 1/32 when I really want to build it. Border is not the first company to do it, there are some helis around. I'm considering buying their Ju-87, as I believe it's the best kit in 'large scale' in the moment. The only let down is fitting aftermarket and figures, which is not an issue for me with the Stuka. To put some oil into the fire, I'm waiting for some of the usual armor suspects to release a 1/32 scale tank range . ZM did a Kettenkrad, without a huge outcry, if I remember right. Cheers Rob

If you think, I'm dancing around rigging as long as I can, you're absolutely right . I decided to start with the bowsprit, there are no ratlines at least. The wooden parts and fittings are glued on and varnished, but the bowsprit itself is not glued in place, as rigging is simpler separated from the hull. I found, I need to pad a piece of plank under the bowsprit, to get the angle right enough to accept the figurehead. I also added the anchor cable and fitted it around the winch and through the holes in the hull. Cheers Rob

I'm officially jealous Peter, not only for the perfect presentation of your progress, but even more, that you have a full crew at hand, only for preparing priming . The engine and plumbing looks absolutely great, makes me want to build one as well. Cheers Rob

Muchas gracias hombres, you will not have to wait for too long. Mayor works including all the interior painting will be done today, then tomorrow, reshuffeling stuff back to normality and then it's doors and windows to paint for our contractor. Even last week, I managed to do some things, so lets see. Cheers Rob

I remember you being followed by a submarine kit somehow Carl, mysteries, mysteries, ...

Thanks Peter, on to the rigging, but not before I weathered our actual heat wave and the painter has finished his work in our houses and I don't have to move everything everywhere. Cheers Rob

All the mast parts are done, except for the fittings. Some sections have delicate shapes, where you have to ponder a while for the best approach to get it done. Finally work was faster and better, as some routine started to develop. I also altere the layout of my machines on their base board for better handling and faster measuring. Now I have to think about how to add the masts, completely assembled as in the manual or building them up section per section for possibly easier rigging. Cheers Rob