Artful69

I've already posted pics ... somewhere ... but I'll include some on Saturday / Sunday when I start my builds if you like?? Rog

Added another I forgot ... 5 boxes from 4 retailers lol Rog

So ... I arrived home yesterday after my morning flight ... and a night shift of 12 hours ... I was pretty spent but stuck my head into the hobby room to see what sort of shape it's in before commencing the build threads ... not too shabby and should only take a couple of hours to sort out ... I took some very necessary sleep ... and then headed off to the post office later to collect some parcels 🚚 The good news is that everything I'd ordered had arrived - apart from a late order on Thursday last week ... which is due to arrive early next week ... I've been meaning to get some individual style track links to replace the crappy DS things Dragon started putting into its kits a while back ... Going through my Dragon collection there was quite a number of Pz.III / IV chassis'd vehicles with those things in there ... so I put in an order with BNA Modelworld (a local supplier of stock to rival most ... and certainly with RFM track link kits!!) We have .... One kit for early and one kit for late Tigers (Fortunately All the others in the stash are either paint mules or had Magic Track supplied) and also the Jagdpanther (when I can get around to slotting a build date for it) A couple of "Late Production" sets ... RFM divide these tracks into early and late ... when in reality there's early, mid and late with a couple of variations in between ... VERY early track designs for panzer III and IV's used a 38cm wide track - all my early war variants requiring these have magic track already supplied (I think ??) ... Thankfully, the reality is - that only the biggest differences are likely to be observed in this sort of scale ... and these tracks cover them ... the "Late Production" ones below (they've used that term VERY loosely) use a solid guide horn and have cleats for aiding grip at the surface contact points. The "Early Production" tracks shown below are the type without cleats ... and have a hollow guide horn. Another couple of items were grabbed at the same time ... a photo etch cutter (very necessary!) and this excellent looking little device called a track loader - which may be very handy considering all the track work I'm likely to be doing!! ... I'll let you know how it goes! I wanted another Panther D ... and having acquired one of these Takom kits previously after doing the research - I figured it was too much of a pain to try one of the other brands for comparison (it might have been interesting - but at least I'll be dealing with exactly the same issues on this kit - should there be any). Once I did my research (previously) ... I found that locating one was the problem! ... There were about 3 or 4 available ex-China - a last resort and one in the UK, via e-Bay - customer service was excellent but I paid for it ... This time I found one locally available (if you call over east 'locally') and a quick phone call confirmed stock was actually available ... and so - delivered at less than half the price of the previous one ($220+ vs $100) ... A while back Dragon started releasing some combo kits ... I have one with a smaller halftrack and mid war 105mm artillery piece ... there's one around with a mid sized halftrack and a 150mm gun but I can't find it anywhere ... and then there is this beauty ... a mid sized halftrack with an 88mm FlaK 😍 ... ex France via e-Bay and paying some overs but awesome!! The shop owner was very helpful ... in combining postage for the kit below included ... I could have had 3 more kits for the same postage ... but there was only perhaps one more that I would have taken - maybe. Back when I started some of the original research - Steve supplied some order of battle info for Citadel - and some further research provided an Ausf.M (wading muffler on rear) with a flame thrower attachment was used by the GD Division in the south ... I thought it might make an interesting addition. I have 2 Border "early" Tiger kits ... I wanted 3 early Tigers ... I have both a Dragon and an RFM "Whittman" early Tiger ... but both would take some modification to make them NON-Whittman Tigers ... and I was contemplating a side by side build early in the planning stage ... I still might ... but I decided to grab another Border kit in case I can't be arsed when the time comes. I picked up this one from one of the local suppliers ... who finally got their stock in. I might need another StuG.III ... I haven't decide whether to use my Tamiya kit for a StuH.42 yet. So I got this as a stand by. Recently I've been seeing a lot of recovery vehicles advertised ... I know they've been in existence in 1/35 for years ... but there seems to have been a greater focus on repair and recovery equipment lately ... and this is one example ... the trailer is designed for a Panzer or StuG - III or IV. Ok so the markings say El Alamein but I have an idea for this one in a much earlier setting ... just gotta get my variant dates right - It may be the wrong one but if so I'll just shelve it for another time ... by far the nicest looking British tank of the war for mine. Have been waiting for one of these to come out in 1/32 for ages ... back when I was a kid, reading Commando comics, one of my favourite stories was about a pilot with a tendency to crash everything he flew (not though incompetence either!) ... He was assigned to a squadron operating these and flew just about every variation made ... I absolutely loved the design and wished that the ministry had taken more of an interest in the heavy fighter. Thats all for now ... Tomorrow I'll be clearing out the hobby room in preparation and getting the ute serviced Rog *** EDIT *** Forgot to pop this one on ... a second order over east - because the move to SP artillery was emphasised at Kursk ... this one came as a pleasant surprise because it has Magic Track included besides the DS crap ... ... Ok ... that's it now lol Rog

literally anything SBY 2199 or 2202 is awesome in my estimation ... Rog

Gaz - I'll gladly put a few of my Has 190's on the market ... After ZM releases their kits!! 🤣 I honestly don't get where this "Not another 109" rant keeps coming from (not that Ern was doing or suggesting that at all) ... but the moaner's ALWAYS come out of the woodwork to express their "valuable" opinion on why they're upset with the announcement ... FFS!! How many '32 scale kits of the type are actually out there?? ... And while I personally wouldn't go as far as saying that the '32 scale 109's out there are "shit" ... I understand WHY Gaz came to that conclusion ... And anyone complaining that ZM kits are over engineered should take a look at the latest Revell offerings (landing gear anyone?). Take us back 7+ years ago and I would have been a little more skeptical if ZM had announced either of these types ... but the difference between THIS company and their contemporaries is their constant and persistent striving to do better with every single release ... The latest couple of designs (Ki-45 and Hs.129) are amazing in terms of presentation, fit, finish and detail ... and I haven't heard ANY whinging about accuracy out there either ... If there was ANY company that I would trust to provide an accurate Bf109.G it would be this one ... or Tamiya ... Tamiya fan-boys would select Tamiya in preference - but I'm a fan of the ZM style now. Rog

... or even 109's Rog

Still planning to ... have been stuck doing routine stuff on my 7 days leave to date ... Aiming to start some assembly work when next in Perth on R&R ... Rog

I like collecting the Classics series ... It looks like being a great reference book ... I have a Resin multimedia kit by HPH (ZM haven't made one - although it would be the sort of esoteric subject they would be likely to have a go at in the future) ... I haven't attempted the resin kit yet as the skill set feels to be a bit beyond me and I have a MASSIVE AFV project underway ... Rog

My favourite Chassis ... wish it was a III.L, M or N ... but will enjoy the StuG life 😎 Rog

In the words of Top Cat ... "D - Rool, D - Rool" Rog

New Classics book arrived ... Rog

Ok ... time for another pop quiz on tracks ... specifically German / WWII / Which tracks for which vehicle ... Sooooooo (Grace Randolph) ... I was hunting through available sets on the local online store ... There are sets for early, mid and late for Pz.III / IV ... early and late for Panther / Tiger etc ... It's confusing to say the least!! 🤯 ... can someone enlighten me as to which tracks apply to which Ausf of which vehicle?? My main concern is not super historical accuracy (you'd have to be looking REALLY hard at a 35th scale model to notice a particular pattern on a track when so much else is going on around it) ... I want to get tracks that fit the particular kit I'm getting ... Has anyone thought to make a list that particular tracks should be suited to? Cheers Rog

I'm up for the 1/200 Bismarck ... and the Scharnhorst ... But what would REALLY get me going is any of the 3 Deutschland Class Heavy Cruisers in 1/200!! Rog :)

Heya … The answer to that question is twofold … Firstly … It’s impractical as the check in luggage is 12Kg only and I don’t want my stash getting busted up inside the luggage. Secondly … as much as I’ve been time poor on my R&R days … I’m SUPER time poor at work … a typical day shift is as follows: 4.30 Alarm - wake up, prep day bag, dress 5.00 Walk to diner - have breakfast … collect and pack lunch 5.45 Office - Breathalyser, Clock on, handover from night shift. 6.00 - 17.45 daily work schedule 18.00 Clock off and head to dinner 18.45 Head back to room … any social emails, notifications and personal budgeting work 19.30 Shower organise gear for next day 20.00 Bed with a book … set alarms … lights out at 20.30-45 next 13 days … repeat with variations to fly in or fly out day obviously night shift runs similar but the times are the opposite way around. Rog :)

Hey Gaz ... I've really been time poor for the first 2 R&R swings ... BUT!! - I did get a chance to check out the Border Tiger kits today ... I don't know who posted those pics you showed me originally ... but those must be from the first (and stopped) production run ... Border had problems with its first set of moulds, so it stopped production of the kit ... made some adjustments and re started production at a later date ... which is why the product has taken some extra time to get back to market and why supply has been so slow. I don't have time right now to take some pics of what is in my kit boxes ... but I can tell you the moulding is super crisp, highly detailed ... with no sink marks, flash, dags or blemishes ... I cannot attest to ejector pin marks - yet! ... While Davey Byrden was having his rant at me about how 3rd rate the kit is (in his opinion), he alluded to some fit issues experienced by a "well known" You Tube model builder ... Again - I cannot gainsay this particular argument as I have not proceeded that far ... but I would hazard a guess that the modeller concerned has received one of the first run kits made with the dodgy moulds. We shall see ... I'm hoping to get 2-3 solid days in when I get back at the end of the next 2 weeks (leaving tomorrow) Cheers ... and thanks for the heads up Rog

ok Gaz I get your point buddy … but A/ I now own the models so whatever is in - or not in - the box is mine to deal with now … B/ what can I do about it 100s of kilometres away from them while working?? … And most importantly … C/ when I do get back to them in 2 weeks from now - what do you suggest I do about it exactly?!? The above comments might sound a little harsh or like I’m annoyed but I’ve had a running battle trying to deal Davey Byrden’s constant poo-poo-ing and negativity which approaches levels that would send the average modeller suicidal. Providing the tracks go together as indicated and your Joe-average modeller can fix any issues that may present themselves in assembly … the kit is accurate enough for what I need it for … much cheaper and less complex than it’s Dragon counterpart - with a better track assembly type (now that Dragon are using those crappy DS tracks) and with more “extras” included in the box .., If Dragon hadn’t dropped the ball by removing the Premium kits from the market - I would suffer the additional expense and and count the additional attention to accuracy as a bonus. I looked at the video review on Andy’s Model Headquarters … there didn’t seem to be any manufacturing issues there - just a few whinging Dragon fanboys like Davey in the comments … but I will flick through the box when I get home before I start my Pz.III build thread and see if there’s any issues. Cheers Rog

Well Gaz … I’m a few hundred kilometres away from the kits now … but I guess I’ll find out about any issues when I start building them … it’s still looking to be a much easier task than building the dragon kit!! Rog

So ... I finished my first 2 weeks away at work ... It was night shift ... got back a week ago tomorrow and started organising the house and budget ... didn't get any time in for model work ... but I did go to the post office to collect a package that arrived ... The first kit is a Dragon double ... What I really wanted was the one with the FlaK 88mm ... but this one will do until I can locate the one I'm after ... The next couple are the first 2 kits of the Border Model "Early" type Tiger 1 ... I've seen mixed reviews and viewpoints on this ... With it's simplified assembly layout, yet crisp detail, it seems to be the pick of those available - especially for the Citadel Dio ... I'm hoping that when I arrive home in 2 weeks from this next swing I can get cracking on my WIP ... Until then ... Rog

I think it mentions in the blog that the main reason for the extended delay on delivering the Fw-190's is getting some of the complex and subtle curves right in the design process ... I think what you're seeing are initial rough test moulds or 3D prints to see how the design software translates to physical form ... They still have quite a way to go, apparently. The Bf.109-G is a much newer addition to the production queue ... So to see it at the stage that it is - is quite surprising! ... Just a pity they are starting with the G14 first ... I would have loved to have seen the G6 ... but apparently that will be along in due course I didn't know about BMW power egg on the Revell kit!!! ... Was that corrected by the Eduard Brassin kit - do you know?? Absolutely! Me 3 !!! ... I don't care about whether the extra bits are locked away on completion ... it's FUN to assemble this stuff ... sure - earlier kits needed a little extra care when assembling, but the persistence by ZM of this assembly method has created their very own niche market ... and their latest offerings are Tamiya-like in quality. I don't know if the Basic version has actually been dropped, Peter ... They are showing details of where they are up to in the production/design of the series ... no specifics are mentioned on the kit releases in this blog - so they may very well be sticking with the original plans ... or they may have received a bunch of negative feedback on their original "Basics" series intention ... Who knows ... either way I'm in! Rog

Still no heart emotion ... so I take it that's a neg ... Aren't we all Gaz ... aren't we all ... ... dictator ... what happened to freedom of speech?!?! ... Boooooooo - i'm gonna go trashing stuff (other people's of course, never mine!!) and lighting fires to everything, in protest while crying like a 2 year old ... (insert middle-finger salute here ). ... I mean that's what people do these days, right? ... Rog

Swoon ... The colour is sweet too These are the times I wish there was a 'heart' icon as well as 'thumbs up' icon in the 'likes' button ... can we actually do that Ern? Anyway ... out here ... even our more modern rides are becoming classics REALLY fast ... Theres something weird going on here, with the used car market ... I bought my stock standard 2015 Holden Manual SS Ute in October 2019 ... with 28100 Kms on the clock ... for $34999 - PLUS Gov't charges transfer and licensing ... Now I could sell the same vehicle (the mods done since bought don't actually add value here really) for about $45000+ with an extra 8-9000Kms done! Rog

Me either ... I'll honestly pull the trigger on anything by ZM in 1/32 ... but I'm REALLY hoping we get THE definitive Bf.109G ... their skills in model making have increased exponentially since the first couple of kits ... they're coming on par with Tamiya now ... Rog

https://www.zoukeimura.co.jp/en/sentiment/oyajiblog_113.html?fbclid=IwAR1TOHAQ63x5s7uB23SjbxVKKN4Yr9hfZ30nZGObjZU93pgdZoNPlOrMWIE Enjoy! Rog

Lovely ... My introductory years to F1 ... I remember Lotus turfed the Renault engine (a masterpeice at the time) for the newer Honda unit later - when the Japanese were at the peek of their Motor Engineering prime ... I have memories of Murray Walker's voice in commentary working up to the threshold of pain ... "Ayrton Senna, spinning ... spinning!!" "... and into the pits comes Alain Prost ... Now his time here will be VERY interesting considering the bungled tyre change of Keke Rosberg earlier ... lets hope McLaren has this sorted out now" ... Nigel Mansell staying out too many laps in his Williams - trying to win the Championship at the Australian GP, when he should have pitted for tyres ... the rears blew in what is now and Iconic piece of racing footage "... and look at that!!! ... that is Nigel Mansell and the car absolutely shattered, he's fighting for control" ... Satoru Nakajima with race cam in the Lotus Honda, showing how spectacular an exploding turbo impeller can be ... I remember thinking that the pit stops were boring until they brought back refuelling ... Anyway ... Nice work Mark ... I'm REALLY glad you have the old cigarette advertising plastered on there ... like the successor to the 98-T, the 99-T wouldn't be the same without the old Camel logos plastered all over the yellow ... Rog

well ... you know how these things go ... It all started with my favourite Chassis - the Pz.III Ausf.L or M ... and wanting to build a worthy dio for it ... then there was a couple of Dragon model kits that I nabbed with what appears to be a shield style coat of arms. A Pz.III Ausf.M, an N and a PZ.IV Ausf.G ... all 2nd Panzer ... all Citadel ... add to that a Photo of a Platoon of Pz.III.M's on the march and the idea was born ... Of course I wanted to do a Panther, Tiger and Ferdinand ... problem is ... different parts of the battlefield!! ... 2nd Panzer was in the north and rubbing shoulders with Ferdinands and the already experienced Pz.Abt 505 Tigers ... while the Panthers were in the south. Sooo it will be a split ... and since one of the most famed and photographed units of the Heeres was GroßDeutchland division (or GD) operating in the south with the only Panthers available - Pz.Abt's 51 and 52 of Panzer Regiment 39 - that will be the subject of the other dio ... Now I say diorama NOT vignette ... because a vignette to me is like a single item style subject ... whereas a dio (to me anyway) covers a broader subject matter. Rog