Artful69

... Awwww no it ain't!! ... lol ... the 88A-4 is an awesome kit ... that ones a future build for me though! Rog

My ongoing search for some of the rarer kits (in Australia at least), has me heading out over the boarders (in cyberspace) quite regularly ... While grabbing the new Revell Erla from my UK supplier, I also grabbed the Trumpeter Bf109G-2 Trop ... very difficult to find in Australia ... Not wanting to start a mud flinging match about accuracy - It is probably accurate to say that Trumpeters G-2 series is their best 109 out ... and, for mine, pretty accurate overall (in comparission to the E series or the early G-6 they do) ... At about the same time my Japanese supplier has a few Hasegawa kits in "alternative boxing" ... a couple that I wanted in particular ... but he also had the 109F-2 Trop which is starting to get a little harder to find around the place (at least in "brand new" guise AND with the Marseille figurine!) My favourite ace ... Heinz Bar ... I had already found one of these ... but since this guy had another going cheaper ... why not?? ... Another in my "Top Five" is Josef Priller ... a specially boxed FW190 in Priller makings?!?! ... I didn't know it existed!!! ... Yes please!! ... And another couple of "alternative boxing kits" ... a Bf109G-14 from JG5, plus a sweet looking Dora from JG4 ... Rog

Good question! ... I haven't had chance to examine the sprues in detail yet ... the sprue bags had experienced a fair bit of rub and some puncture marks where the plastic parts where sharp in those areas ... the kit may very well be buildable! ... It might sound anal ... but it's the sort of kit that I would be expecting to find being 20 years old on e-bay (ie: second hand and not having a good life!) ... At least I know I couldn't sell it onward if I needed to ... I told them that I could live with the Trumpeter kit as the condition isn't really all that bad at all ... Since I indended to purchase another 109G Erla at some point, I've pushed that forward ... bought and paid for that - including the postage I would have normally paid ... They will be sending the replacement along with that one Rog

A couple of weeks ago I placed an order with my UK based supplier ... Revell kits are easier for me to buy from there because A) They have the new kits out for retail before most other suppliers I know, B ) Their prices are very good ... AND I don't have to pay VAT (being located in Australia), C) the total cost, including postage is usually cheaper than buying the kit from the 'Local' guys out here ... and ... D) it's delivered to my front door! ... Every now and then this supplier has a stock of kits that, for what ever reason, I can't get my hands on elsewhere ... Such was this order ... A 1/32 Trumpeter Bf109G-2 Trop ... and the all new Revell Bf109G-10 Erla. Eagerly anticipating their arrival ... I was absolutely gutted when I arrived home to this earlier this afternoon The happy ending is in the response from the supplier Having bought quite a few kits etc from them ... I sent these photo's via email ... and made a call to the UK ... within half an hour the supplier confirmed the replacement kit for the Revell would be sent ASAP - in better protected packaging! Thanks Danielle and Nick @ Model Hobbies ... always a pleasure ... especially when the sewerage hits the propulsion device!! Regards Rog

lol ... I can't quite remember my first kit ... It might have been a 1/72 Spitfire ... I do know that seeing Battle of Britain on the TV, in colour when I was about 7-9yo set off the urge ... that and reading Commando comics ... during the late 70's I think ... when the local newsagent sold just about everything in a large store. He had a large selection of Matchbox kits (aside from Revell and Airfix ... but the grey was boring and I liked the triple coloured plastic on offer with the Matchbox gear). The boxes looked more modern ... and the little plastic window showed you the sprues inside ... there were many built before I got a handle on painting ... Spitfire, 109, Fw190, Walrus, Corsair, Mosquito, Lancaster, B-17 ... but by far my favorite build was a A-20 Havoc - I knew the kite through one of my favorite Commando comic stories. When I started back up a few years ago ... I snapped it up in with another couple of 1/32 kits I saw on e-bay ... not as much fun the second time around - too small! lol I always remember walking through that newsagents' isles ... and gawking at the 'huge' sized boxes of 1/32 scale kits ... one of which was a Bf109E-3 ... I dreamt of having the pocket money to buy it one day ... and then my interests were taken elsewhere eventually ... I've always been tempted to buy one whenever I see it on e-bay ... but the newer tooled stuff is much better detailed ... Rog

Heya Nige ... Glad to see you kept on going with this one! ... My skills won't cut it so I'm sticking with OOB + some AM brass and photo etch ... But I always enjoy watching what those with a greater skill set and better eye than me can achieve ... at least you can put all that reviewed Eduard gear to use now! Rog

Heya Nick ... Yes ... HKM have a few other distributers worldwide (including Spruebothers!) ... I bought my HKM kits from Frontline Hobbies, based over east here - at $320.00 AUD for the B-17 and $170.00 AUD for the Mitchell (about 176.00 GBP and 94.00 GBP respectively) ... I wouldn't have normally bothered with that one - but with it being discontinued, it may just work out to be an investment?? ... Anyhoo, I asked them about ANY metal landing gear - they knew of none, whereas Spruebrothers had some (AM), but a chat with them over the phone revealed no knowledge of any Branded HKM gear ... so it was off to PCM ... Like I said the moulded nose weight included with the gear in the Mitchell set, sold that one for me. I've seen some of the PCM kit prices online from UK distributers (Model Hobbies is my Go-To shop!) ... and you are right ... they are ridiculous there! ... I only buy either Revell kits ... or rare Dragon/Trumpeter kits from there or Europe ... also the occasional Miniart/Masterbox/ limited run resin kits etc. At about $64.00 AUD (from USD) plus postage, they are just shy of the cost of a Hasegawa kit at retail here (I go to either Japan or Hong Kong for those). Ahhh the Sea Fury ... I spoke to Paul OTP before I ordered ... he seemed to think that the gear was the same design for the Tempest ... but not of course, for the Typhoon. There have been 'aye's' and 'nay's' all over the show from the galleries everywhere ... but on the whole, I think the 'aye's' have it! ... lol I suppose I'll see if I've wasted my cash when I come to build the kit - looking to be about two years away with all the other stuff on the go ATM. 3 G-6's Revell/Trumpeter/Hasegawa will take me a while as I scramble for AM/PE etc during the builds Rog

Heya Nick ... ok ... 1/ The PCM FW-190's ... This is a while back now (the price reduction) ... When I bought the 1st two in July-August last year (along with the Tempest and a couple of Pz.II.Ausf L's) they were $69.95 USD each ... The ones in the post above, I bought in late October at $54.95 USD each (current reduced price) after Ken posted a notice on either the LSP site or to my email ... 2/ The HKM Landing gear ... The only metal landing gear I had prior to this, is the brass stuff that Paul Fisher does for his Sea Fury ... Since I wanted one of his resin canopies for the MDC Typhoon I grabbed a couple ... and I grabbed the landing gear for the PCM Tempest while I was at it. So unfortunately I have no other comparission for you ... sorry!!! ... The HKM stuff (sold through PCM only unfortunately), seems quite decent and sufficient enough for my needs (at least it seems as decent as the kit gear if not better) and with the added moulded nose weight for the B-25 - that sort of sealed the deal - especially since I was getting another two FW190's. If you like ... I can take some more close up snaps on the work bench and email them to you?? Cheers Rog

Heya Nick! I'm now into a 7 day shift at work ... I'll endeavour to get onto it in the next few days ... and give you a more detailed heads up then Rog

Building a Junk-ers Dave?

I made a few more kit/AM purchases to close out last year … done during the frantic running around to organise the purchase of a car… Firstly … PCM reduced prices on their FW-190’s … my modelling skills not being awesome, I decided to grab a couple of extras for the stash – just in case I muck the others up in the build. Next … a couple of Hasegawa Bf109’s … an F-2 and another G-6. … and a couple of Stukas … A (not-so-easy-to-get) “Night” version in there. … A couple of alternative boxing Hasegawa FW190’s (also getting to be on the hard-to-find-list now!) – An A-6 “Galland” and a “A-7” of my favourite ace - Heinz Baer. … Not knowing if or when the new tool Revell Mk.II Spit will be released … I grabbed a copy of the older (but not so bad) one … as well a Hasegawa Storch. … Having bought the HKM kits for the B-25 and B-17 … I figured I might get some sturdier landing gear for these beasts … So while I was grabbing those PCM FW-190’s, I decided to grab the HKM branded stuff at the same time. More gear on the way … Rog

Yep ... thought thats what it might be ... though potentially dangerous, they rarely ever are - just realy bloody annoying and slow down searches somewhat!! Rog

Not here either Ralph ... Have you downloaded anything at all in the last 24 hours ... or visited unsecure websites? ... I remember downloading the odd app for my comp a while back ... things like video players etc ...and picking up a few 'unwanted' guests along the way ... a couple of weird suggestive toolbars along the way ... one of the nasties came when I downloaded the Translation Buddy toolbar ... annoying but can be diffused. Rog

Awww patience Kev ... you still have a resin Tiffy to build yet ... I've got both the 88's ... but no AM yet ... love the review - gives me a much better idea of what I'm getting for myself when I do! Rog

Paul Fisher is doing some mods currently ... http://www.fishermodels.com/index.html ... http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=48212&page=1 ... I believe, at present, we have scheduled ... Corrected engine nacelles for the F-4 ... a conversion set for F-8 ... and I believe a WWII F-3 conversion set is also on the way ... As for cockpit resin, brass, masking etc etc I have no idea ... but if is usual work is anything to go by - what he does make is AWESOME ... I bought a couple of resin canopies from him and a set of brass undercarriage (Sea Fury parts) for my MDC Typhoon and PCM Tempest. Rog

Happy Birthday mate!!

It doesn't have to win any competitions to make anyone think it is any better than it is ... but I think it sure would!! ... that is an awesome build Stick it on a dio of grass ... and photograph with sky in the background - you'd be hard pushed to think it was anything other than real Rog.

Love it ... I have the latest "Revegawa" one in the stash (via a fellow LSPer a few months back) ... but looking forward to the new edition ... your creation certainly whets the appetite!!! ... Very nice work! Rog

It looks realy good I think!! ... I can't do any better - and in a lot of cases, quite a bit worse!! I think it looks the proper "Clunky Junkers" ... Solid, but not streamlined (It ain't a Messerschmitt or FW-190 you know!). Rog

Ahhh my favourite Chassis ... The Mk.III ... and one of my favorite variants too! ... Great build ... love the camo - it took me numerous tries on a paint mule to get that one right!!! This is the sort of main battle tank Guderian would have wished for in 1939/40 Isn't the mantlet missing its fontal armour plate though? ... did it drop off, or did you elect not to install it? Rog

Do-17z Ju-52 (Transport circa 1940) Boulton Paul Defiant Vickers Wellington (Circa 1940) Bristol Beaufighter (Multiple variants) Fairey Battle Rog

My 1st vote would go to the ZM Uhu Rog

... Maybe like the Oscars ... The 'Best Of' type awards for different categories with the big banana going to the overall LSPOTY (Large Scale Product Of The Year) ... Some Ideas ... * 1/32-35 Figurines. * 1-32 IM Kits * 1/32 Resin Kits * 1/35 IM Armour * 1/35 Resin * 1/32-35 Other (other medium) * 1/32-35 AM Rog

A couple more arrivals ... Rog

Well ... I thought I was done with 1/24 after my Airfix Mossie ... apparently not, come June 2014?!? Rog