Artful69

Well ... It's THAT time of the the year again ... Happy Birthday to me!! Looking at my short term budget ... and my "To Get" list, I hit a few snags ... A lot of what I want isn't yet out on the market ... (HK Models B-17 and Lancaster etc) Of those that are and where I'm going to purchase them from, I have to wait for a couple of newer releases before ordering (Fly's Mk.I Hurricanes) to save on shipping charges. So ... Fetching items from the USA is quite expensive (sarcastic understatement intentional), given the exchange rate and shipping charges. Even so, I've built up quite a few bonus dollars with Sprue Bothers on earlier purchases. Not many of these around in decent locations (price-wise) ... I've wanted one for ages (being a night fighter and all) so I snapped up this one: I had to get this one - I'd heard about it while Masters were still being designed (Thanks to some inside intel) ... super excited ... I was going to wait for the A-20 Havoc and get them at the same time to save on shipping ... but ... stuff that! High-Tech or no-tech! ... I almost passed this one by, mainly thanks to the hype that just dragged on ... and on ... and on ... for years ... but the mouldings looked so nice ... so, yep, this one too: Looking down the barrel at the last $50 (AUD) ... I grabbed this one - Straight Outta Hong Kong. At a smidge over $41 (including shipping) these Trumpeter kits go together very nicely, are reasonably well detailed and offer excellent bang-for-buck. As usual, there's nothing out of sorts that some minor surgery and a weeny bit of AM won't fix: More in the coming months. Rog

For your convenience a discussion thread on Magic Tracks found on Armorama: http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=137496&page=1 and a tutorial ... via YouTube (if you can handle the dramatic background music!!) - gives you a good view of what you'll be dealing with. Rog

Asuka Models (formerly Taska) series are said to be the best 1/35 Shermans out there - sharpest details and more accurate than the Dragon offerings ... though what the issues are, I'm not at all sure. Now ... if we were talking Panzers, I might be able to help! If you're worried about dodgy individual tracks but not millimetre-perfect accuracy ... Try to locate an older manufactured (second hand) Dragon Smart Kit. They contain Magic Tracks which are pretty much snap-together individual links. They (besides the range Dragon offered) was what made Dragon kits immensely popular for a while ... The most easy to install individual track links ever!! Of course they switched to DS (much more detailed rubber bands) which aren't that bad and can still provide a decent result ... but not as good as Magic Track IMO, of course Rog

Great in-box review once again James ... While I'll admit that I expended a great deal of sarcasm on SH, with the time they've taken to get this product to market post-announcement (seriously, I thought the second coming was going to happen before we'd see this one on the shelves!!!) ... I'll also declare that the end result seems spectacular so far. So ... thanks to you, we have a good display of detail - photos are fantastic!! ... and through Doogs, a brief look at how it shapes up going together ... The jury seems to be out, still, on accuracy issues (i.e. "Intake-gate"), but I'm sure that sort of detailed analysis will appear shortly from those in the know ... along with the usual comments from the slash-and-burners. in respect to the "intake-gate" controversy, the difference is so subtle, I actually had to look about 10 times at the photographs to see what they were on about ... If that's the only 'real' issue picked ... this ones a huge winner from SH. I hope they continue with this sort of product quality level in future releases. Rog

Box art for the Mk.IId ... The Mk.Ia and Mk.1a 'Trop' ... nice!! https://www.facebook.com/1fly814/photos/a.420940228112462.1073741827.420937871446031/486261538246997/?type=3&theater https://www.facebook.com/1fly814/photos/pcb.498837326989418/498836993656118/?type=3&theater https://www.facebook.com/1fly814/photos/pcb.498837326989418/498837080322776/?type=3&theater Rog

Nice work! ... My kit is the stash ... I'm hoping that someone will master a U4 gun pack for it!! Rog

This is making me all warm and fuzzy for 1/32 Do.17z (swoon) ... sorry to hear about your decal woes ... staying with, going AM or masking? Rog

It is if it fits together well ... I'll wait and see what the reviews look like. You'd have to think it will be superb - it's been 5-6 years in the making!! Rog

lol Mike! ... I guess you'd be a wee bit sad too, if the sum total of your life's worth was to pilot a bomb on a one way mission. Rog

Opps Mike! ... edited to include date reference ... next year meaning 2017 - just in case you were wondering when I actually got that email!! Rog

This is an email response I received on 17/03/2016 to another question ... which was dodged ... "Mr. Roger XXXXXXXXX You made me really happy with this email of yours. We'll keep doing our best for the future too and create awesome kits that might meet your expectations. F4 Phantom will follow the Do 335. The Fw 190, which is currently under development, will be ready for next year. Hideyuki Shigeta Zoukei-mura" .... I hope that answers everybody's question?? Rog

I like this "8 Ball" idea also!! ... I've been waiting for OD variant - so many more colourful possibilities. I kind of agree ... unless you have a personal connection (like JimD) with the Belle ... it's very "cliché" it'll be popular, of course - so markings should help sell the kit ... but I'll probably stay away from Belle markings also. Rog

I'd take a Sunderland ... Nick and I were joking about one a couple of years back, comparing photos of vac form parts against something else (maybe the B.17G??). All I remember was - It was freaking huge!! Rog

Yes Cees!! I already have that one on the shelf ... I acquired it about 6 months before the new tool Revell Mk.IIa. For some weird reason when I posted this thread, I thought that there were newer and older tooling of the spitfires by Hasegawa (just like the Fw.190-D9) ... But it seems that there's just the one (with variations) ... I may, yet, take the punt! Rog

Nice build Peter ... I have no problem with raised panel lines if the detail is fine enough (and it looks to be from your photos). A lot of modern kits tend to suffer from over-detailing in the panel and rivet department. My main concerns are the accuracy, fit/finish of the kit and availability of AM. That takes care of the AM question then! ... Accuracy doesn't seem too bad - although Thierry's 'tweek list' seems to call for a bit of modification to get it up to scratch. Speaking of scratch, I hate scratch building - adding pre-moulded AM: no problem ... but scratch stuff I am incapable of. Extra detailing via AM ... no problem ... no scratch building though ... and no re-scribing! (although as mentioned above - raised panel lines don't bother me too much, sometimes they can look better to my eye than recessed ones on a finished bird. ------------------------------ The essential bit for me is - I don't want to open the box and find another kit like the Hasegawa Bf.109E ... I fought that kit solidly for about 2 weeks and then gave up and binned it. For all the criticism it got, I preferred the Trumpeter!! Rog

Best boxart for the Do.335 yet! ... *Sigh!* still the wrong Dornier for me though ... will someone cough up a 17.z? Rog

Hi all ... Does anyone have any insight into the two Hasegawa Spitfire kits 08132 (a Mk.Vb) and 08160 (a Mk.Vb Trop)? ... Apart from decals/paint/marking options (As I intend to use different ones) - are there any known 'issues' or areas of concern? The kits have come up for sale cheapish, through a Japanese supplier, and I'm wondering if they are worth the $$ Rog

How about the 50mm bordkannone U4 gun pack to fit the HpH 410 ??? Rog

Nice review Jeroen ... does nothing to abate my cravings for the BoB 'missing link' ... It is at the very top of my wish list ... so I agree with you James. Not at all sure Revell will end up doing one now, though. If you remember, the Ju88 and the He111 were the last of the projects completed (or at least too far gone to be stopped!!) under the old leadership/company owners at Revell. Everything else released since has been ... well ... frankly, no where near the same standard (He.219, Mk.II Spit etc) ... Don't get me wrong - for the price point on offer, they've been decent - but more to the standard Trumpeter are famous for (enough said, I think) ... The most recent release of the Fw.190F-8 seems to harken back to those earlier days. Even so ... I still can't see Revell going anywhere near a Do.17z ... I'd say we'd have a better chance of Fly, HpH or even HK pulling one out of the bag before Revell ... Extremely disappointing ... and I've pretty much given up hope of ever seeing one. Rog

Great ... now all we need is a decent new tool accurate Spitfire Mk.I ... Rog

Apparently it's on their radar though! ... Future kit, along with The II.a and II.d Rog

Lol Cees ... I've only just, in the last 2-3 weeks, dispensed with the tail end of Whooping Cough - they don't call it the "100 day cough" for nothing! ... It was more than annoying! Also, because I'm back at work now, I've had very little recreational time. The project has been nagging at the back of my mind quite regularly though ... I started to reorganise things around here yesterday ... So I think I'll be organising some preliminaries up to the Easter weekend and then immerse myself into it more fully during that. Rog

Hi all ... The latest Zoukei-Mura Old Man Blog post in English is up! ... http://www.zoukeimur...jiblog_075.html The Blog focuses mainly on the new Do.335A release ... but has bits of interesting chatter about some display items ... A replica Bf.109 Prop and spinner - and a real tailwheel, as well as an FW.190 Spinner and prop ... among them. Most curious is this statement ... "You cannot see it in this picture but besides these two, just behind the Zoukei-mura boys, there is also a propeller from the British Spitfire, so be careful! Moreover that propeller is made with hard wood and has a thick paint leant on. Later, when time will come to talk about the Spitfire, I will show it to you." I'm not usually one to get into speculation ... BUT ... in this case ... My questions are: Is this post only about collecting these various items? ... OR perhaps, just maybe, possibly ... is he looking at doing an SWS Spit at some point?! ... the line: "Later, when time will come to talk about the Spitfire, I will show it to you." ... seems like it could point in that direction If so ... I really, really, REALLY hope it's the earlier versions that Tamiya haven't covered!! Of course there's the Bf.109 stuff as well ... I don't know whether he'd be getting into that market - but since Tamiya haven't (yet) ... there could be an opportunity for the elusive "Definitive 109" Rog

Dunno about the Raiden ... But my ZM Mustang took about the same timeframe to build as the Tamiya - maybe a day or two more ... I'd say parts count would be about the same(ish). Rog

Seriously? ... Do we know that for a fact it is a Trumpeter kit? ... If so, it would be a boon for Trumpy, eh? ... ... "And here's one Trumpeter prepared for us earlier!" ... Classic! Rog