Artful69

F*&% Me!! Rog

1/32 - Do.17z BoB markings (to go with everything else BoB) 1/35 - IM German early war B-Bridge pontoon set up ... barges, ramps, planking etc. 1/48 (huh? what's this?) ... not Large Scale ... so I'll slot in a 1/200 Graff Spee and/or Scharnhorst to go with my Bismark. Rog

Oh ... stop it with the teasing, Martin!! ... I'm drooling on the keyboard!! Maybe HKM could be conned into one ... along with a Do.17z ... They're designing a Ju.52 after all! Rog

Got an email from one of the local major online retailers in Australia ... It's up for preorder (or at least the 'J' is) with stock expected end October/November. Price will be $290 AUD drive away with local shipping included (because it's over a $99 purchase) ... This beats the original release price on the HKM B-17G by about $20 AUD which was some years back. Even if a couple of small correction or detail sets are needed it's looking like VERY decent value for money! Rog

I, for one, have been keeping an eye on HKM's remarkable release line up since before the first B-25 arrived. This Lancaster was penciled into that release schedule way back then and I've been waiting, patiently, for it's arrival ever since. The companies progression since then has been quite impressive. I appreciate that they've taken another couple of years since the first mockups at Telford to respond to feedback and correct a lot of the more obvious shape errors ... and I know they wanted to try the oil canning thing from the discussions that came about afterward ... but I agree - there's a point where plastic has to hit the shelves - and if there's a minority who get so triggered by a lack of that kind of surface texture that they refuse to purchase the kit ... well there is a much cheaper vac formed kit out there for them ... and good luck with that! I have 2 of them slated for acquisition on my purchase list ... and one of Grahams (Iconicair) conversions. Rog

The movie 'Downfall' is remembered more for the 'Hitler Rant's memes' than anything else ... An odd case ... and one that probably should have an award. Rog

Guys ... thanks for the input ... my week got busy about 2 hours after I posted this ... I'll be doing some shopping on the weekend! ... Danny - I know what you mean and I'll expound on this further on the weekend Cheers and thanks again guys! Rog

Hi all Some time ago I remember someone posting a thread on some cheap(er) airbrushes. They were knockoffs of a major brand (I can’t remember if it was Iwata or Badger or something else) and all I remember is that they were serviceable and the parts were actually interchangeable with the major brand they were copying. im in need of a new set up with lines, connectors and a couple of airbrushes. Can anyone either point me in the direction of the thread in question or the knockoff brand that was reviewed?? TIA Rog :)

Late to the party I know ... Great idea James - a bare bones build review illustrating fit and finish really assists with buy vs burn decisions! Many months ago I took a break from collecting various "Panzer kits" ... the majority of which are Dragon ... to start grabbing some accessories. I've noticed these 'newer' companies producing King Tiger, Tiger and Panther kits ... (Meng, Takom and Rye F.M. etc) Dragon used to be pretty much the gold standard - so any idea how do all of these companies compare on the departments of * Accuracy * Detail * Engineering * Fit * Finish? Also I heard somewhere that Dragon had started a new approach to tracks (moving away from DS) ... any news? Again, Nice work and great concept here! Rog

Great review Jim ... and a lovely looking kit ... why someone hasn't popped out a 1/32 kit yet, I don't understand. Rog

Thanks for posting this James .... Getting in the market for another Panther and saw this was released!! Nice, detailed review, Rog

Well ... for an update ... there's been a change ... The GT Resin venture went south ... pretty much at the same time that John (AIMS) decided to jump in. AIMS are now producing a Bf.110.F, G-2 and G-4 conversion ... all the work is done and sets are good to be ordered ... with the first 20 being made up as I write this. These sets are proving to be very successful, commercially ... which, given the subject matter, I always knew they would. However, the queue is getting longer by the day and at last count 75+ sets are on order. If this is your thing ... the construction thread and order details can be found here: http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=70279 Rog

No ... It's not the one I started up tried to get moving for about 2-3 years ... GT Resin wants to give it a bash ... ETA 4-5 months? http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=70239&page=1 Rog

Surely you're joking Oz' ... ??? $9 is a steal ... even without shipping being included in the price ... I would've pulled the trigger and on-sold them at double or more. The F-8 is pretty decent - and probably better than the Hase' kit... and the G-6 is no worse than the Hase' or the Trumpy kits - in that they all have their fair degree of errors and WTF moments. At any rate ... at $9 a pop - that is serious bang-for-buck!! ... Rog

A long, long wait - but the Special Hobby Tempest is some nice work James! ... Is that the kit with the resin Sabre? Rog

SCORE!!!! Rog

A couple of weeks ago I was performing some Timber Pest Inspections to a series of units in a retirement village here. You meet a lot of very interesting people with interesting backgrounds and stories. I once met an elderly German chap who had an old DB A/C engine in his large workshop (it was a 1 acre block with a truck shed out the back) - turns out he used to be a field mechanic! On this occasion I had the pleasure of meeting one William (Bill) Utting ... a Lancaster pilot from 460 Squadron who completed 36 missions before wars end without loss of any of his crew. I asked him if he didn't mind me taking a few snaps of the pictures in his 'study' room to use as a reference for his 'bird' so I could build it when the HK Lancaster came out (hopefully later this year). Pic's below! The last one isn't his kite (D-Dog) ... he said he can't remember which Lanc it was - it might have been G-George (the one brought back to Aus and stashed in a museum over east. His wife, who was also quite chatty, was a WAAAF stationed at Pearse Air Base during the 1940's ... When I Looked up the Lanc online (via Google) I came up with some conflicting information. There's a story about the Maxton brothers who were both crew for D-Dog - one being the pilot ... So ... I delved into the records a little more ... There's a a photo of them both holding a picture of the "Pluto" artwork in later years ... so the artwork was on the A/C before Bill's crew had the Lanc ... The end result of the searching - Maxton's Crew flew 30 Op's in D-Dog ... and then Bill's crew took over the A/C to fly Op's during the period in the photo above. I'm going to have to find someone who can manufacture the Decals, I think!! Rog

Generally, when we westerners think about science fiction in video media ... most will tend to relate to the 'Big 3' - Star Trek ... Star Wars ... and Battlestar Galactica. Of course there are the various peripheral TV series ... Babylon 5 was a hit ... Farscape ... and a favourite of mine - the cancelled TV show - Firefly. Star Trek's original series started up in 1966 and ran for 3 seasons ... the animated series ran in 1973-1974 ... I mention this only because my favourite SF series first came on air in 1974 ... and Star Trek is the only major SF series that precedes it. Of course there are others, such as Doctor Who ... but I'm referring to series that are almost solely futuristic / space orientated ... The favourite that I speak of Space Battleship Yamato ... a multilayered 'space opera' produced in anime ... 26 episodes long at about 30mins per episode. The plot (set in 2199) is awesome ... the characters are multidimensional ... and although some of the sequences stretch belief and defy the laws of physics - in reality, no more so than many other western based SF or fantasy genre movies or series. The music score is also terrific. Sequels came and went ... and movies ... all before Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. The Americans got hold of the series under licence ... and because of the politically correctness of the period, changed the 'war sensitive' names of characters and vessels - and removed a couple of episodes. It came out as 'Star Blazers' ... and that, as a kid, is how I first came across it. I didn't realise how badly the Americans had stuffed it all up until I got to see the original, in Japanese audio, with English subtitles. After a live action flick made in 2010 (in Japan) ... which was largely unsuccessful due to the overly cramped and convoluted nature of ramming a 13 hour 'epic' story into 2 hours, they decided to re-make the original series. Released in 2012, Space Battleship Yamato 2199 uses updated animation techniques ... A few small things have been changed along the way ... some characters have been gender swapped very cleverly (e.g. Akira Yamamoto), omitted or expanded to create a richer feel to the storyline ... After seeing Vaughns build of the Bandai kit based on the Yamato from the 2012 remake ... I was inspired to grab it at some point ... The delay in release of the HK Models Lancaster has given me the perfect excuse opportunity ... At 1/500 scale it's over 660mm long and will make an impressive display! One of my favourite sequences in the series is the launch scene for the attack on the Gamilas advance base on Pluto ... where the ship based fighters are launched from the hangar deck. The kit has a few extras but you need to get the expansion pack in order to fit the hanger deck ... or keep it as a separate display ... Im unsure whether there are other 1/72 scale shipborne craft besides the below offerings ... but if I can find them, I'd love to get a larger scale 'Seagull' and Type 100 2 seater reconnaissance craft to go with them. Melda Deitz's distictive ruby red Gamilian Czvarke ... is also a desired kit! Tactical officer Susumo Kodai's Cosmo Zero (alpha 1) Ensign fighter pilot Akira 'Rei' Yamamoto's Cosmo Zero (alpha 2) Lieutenant Saburo Kato's Cosmo Falcon (Flight Leader) Ensign Hiroki Shinohara's Cosmo Falcon (Flight 2IC) Looking forward to seeing the next series - Yamato 2202 Rog

Rog

Pity it isn't 1/32 eh? ... Any particular reason it's advertising the 'other place' in the top RH corner? Rog

Loving those cannon wing blisters! (heavy sarcasm) ... I thought they were supped to be flatter, wider and more teardrop like?? Rog

Steve ... I know who it was that I sent the kits to ... I just didn't feel it was appropriate to name you directly in a public forum, no matter how I felt. I think that its a fair enough comment, without being nasty or spiteful, to say that I don't know how long ago it was that I sent the kits to you - nearly two years?? ... and although your review promise was never under pressure of a 'timeframe for delivery' I'm thinking that we're well past a reasonable time for it now (we probably were 6 months ago or more), even given mitigating circumstances causing delay ... I think that's a fair enough comment?? (again without malice). The kits were sent as a gift, with no conditions - just an expectation that you would do as you promised ... returning them at this point would be offering an insult as well as a broken promise - so in keeping with civility - no thank you!! ... So how about you just fulfil the promise and complete your comparison? That would be infinitely more satisfying ... and useful. Rog

Me too ... there's a plethora of errors carried over from the Mk.IIa kit ... plus a bunch of new ones for good measure. For those who have a habit of bashing Trumpeter kits - Take note! ... At least they come in a better box! Given the cost of the kit in Australia (or to buy one O/S and get it here), plus the time, effort and skill level required to correct this kit, plus the cost of the AM required ... I think the Tamiya kit is a MUCH better proposition ... it'll cost less cash, puss and pain!! The Fw.190 looks half decent ... but I've got no real idea how bad that one is error-wise. I handed off a Revell F.8 kit, along with the Hasegawa version for a comparison review, paid for postage also ... to see how the newer Revell kit stacked up. It never materialised (save a bunch of excuses early on) ... Rog