Artful69

Don't we all ... lol 😆 Rog

Infinity Val release ... details below ... From a personal point of view ... I'll grab the slightly overpriced kit and grab any accessories I deem necessary, elsewhere. Meaning maybe Master barrels and Yahu instruments ... Look, I understand that by the nature of the company (small & short run type injection moulded), ANY product is going to come out expensive in comparison to say, Revell. That is ... If they want to make any return on their product at all. It's the nature of the market that they've entered. Which means a very particular sort of product selection - because price will isolate you otherwise. You need something that a lot of people have wanted for a while, but none of the majors have taken a punt on - and done accurately (at least externally) ... Very difficult to do! For example ... what if they had selected a Spitfire Mk.Ia? ... or an A6M2b Zero? ... or a Bf.109G (any variant, now that ZM is committed) ... You cannot charge the same or even a similar amount as the others, because product comparison at that level will kill you. I don't think anyone will disagree that Kotare, Tamiya or ZM will produce a MUCH better (accurate) and detailed product in direct comparison ... and if you're not so accuracy conscious, Revell etc are cheaper. On the other hand, with this type of selection ... They are the only Val in town (in big scale) ... And most people who have an interest in that particular subject style, will be ok forking out the additional cash to grab one ... Infinity will be thanking their lucky stars that Border's Kate is only in 35th though!

About the size of a DH Mosquito ... just a bit chunkier. Rog

Much, much better! I was going to suggest Fly Hurricane AM - as they are dimensionally accurate ... But Martin beat me to it!! Looking good Ern! Rog

Mine's on its way Ron! I've seen Andy's video's - everything from the early test shot to the full production kit. It's definitely an early Tiger ... But ... Since I refuse to build anything SS related, It won't be Wittmann's! It'll probably be built as a Kursk Tiger ... maybe from 505 or something. Rog

Yes exactly! .... Zimmerit was applied at the factory only - not replaced or applied in the field ... so it's a pretty solid identifier on the period of vehicle you are looking at. SO ... unless your museum curator gets a bit of 'creative licence' going with some 'After Market' Zimmerit, the vehicle can correctly be identified as a late G or H. Which, will be identified by certain other variant amendments at factory fit out level. The mesh side skirts are a different story. Although the mesh was introduced along with other weight saving / cost saving / production time saving measures attributed to the J variant - it was not just a factory application ... solid skirts were no longer produced. I'm sure you've seen various photos of vehicles with solid skirts in the field ... some with various parts missing, having been shot off in combat or otherwise lost or destroyed and removed. Some crews elected to remove them altogether - enjoying the benefits of faster speeds and manoeuvrability that the weight shedding provided - thus you will see photos of the frames on the vehicles without the skirts. Other crews wanted the skirts replaced, but the only option available was the mesh variety ... and so you can find photo's of StuG III's and even Panzer III Ausf.N's with mesh skirting panels replacing blown off solid affairs! TLDR ... mesh skirting means more than likely a J - but check other factory fitted components to make sure ... Rog

You might be right about the Ausf.H bit ... IIRC Zimmerit was phased into production at the latter end of the G production - and all throughout H production and phased out before the J production ... not all late Pz.IV late G's or H's had zimmerit though, so references need to be checked ... but at least you can, with a fair margin of safety, say that any J was not going to have it applied ... a rear shot of the museum tank would be a telltale - what kind of exhaust muffler set up is there? ... Late Js dropped the rearmost return roller as part of the production simplification process also - as noted on the B & W photo above. Rog

As is typical ... lovely work John! I have a couple of these in the stash ... Found the Vector Resin stuff and the barrels ... Are there any AM exhausts and wheels made for these things? Also nice that the thread has sparked offshoot discussions on the early Mustangs - very informative. I wonder where the moulds for these kits disappeared to? There has to be enough demand out there by now to warrant a fresh re-pop, surely? Rog

Anyone thinking the hobby was dying in larger scale is really not looking at the bigger picture ... we have announcements of new tool kits arriving daily - weekly Just on Scalemates looking for a kit product number for order and came across this in the suggestions column ... So it looks like Gecko are following up from their Ausf.F release ... Good work!! ... I wonder if they'll do similar to Takom and release a Marder II or a Wespe, using the same chassis? Meanwhile I think I found a short barrel solution to my 1/16 Pz.Kpfw IV Ausf.F want ... It's designed for the Heng Long RC kit ... But I should be able to make it work for the Trumpeter 1/16 Ausf.F2 kit. Rog

“Nice” … is very much a relative term when dealing with Trumpeter kits! Rog

lol Martin 😆... Actually ... Googles locator is off slightly - as tends to happen with recent additions to the maps ... lot 833 (soon to be number 29) is further north and about 3 lots back from the corner turning left ... Funnily enough, my lightning tracker app has a much more recent satellite photo where you can see a number of complete houses and a few more in various stages of completion. Rog

Ok … On the 8th of February 2023 … I became the proud owner of a plot of land … Rog

You forgot the ensuing life or death cat fight out in the parking lot! 🤣 Rog

No facepalm 🤦‍♂️ reaction button 👎 Rog

I was JUST going to go with the whole spy balloon thing - Trumpeter’s team now have the correct dimensions to design one lol 😆 Though they’ll still mess it up somehow! Beat me to it!! Rog

Maybe old news for some? But Tamiya’s 2023 new tool LSM’s … … and another Border Model LSM release … Rog

Trumpeters effort a bit dodgy?? 🤔 Rog

An Update ... I flew home on Wednesday last week after my usual 2 weeks away at work ... and thanks to a set of botched home loan documents, a hefty PreStart cost estimate quote, some documentation to complete - which had to be posted ... and some settlement issues, I had my R&R mapped out to do some significant sorting work. Then came the call from my manager about 3 hours after arriving home - Please cut your R&R short and come back on the Monday ... So I had to fly back to work early! .. Even so ... I Posted the important documents off on Friday ✅ ... Got the corrected Home Loan documents on the Monday a couple of hours after I arrived back on site - signed and sent off ✅. Settlement is arranged for the 8th of Feb ✅ ... which gives me about a week or so to go through the PreStart quote and mark questions etc ✅ ... Next stop ... Land Settlement! Rog

It's quite simple ... It's taxation used to add value to the politicians wallets!! Rog

It’s amazing, isn’t it, just how diverse our hobby is … my favourite part of modelling by far, is assembly … like putting together a puzzle. I build everything closed up too … it tends to hide my painting errors. Decal application is not my strong suit either! My first couple of weathering attempts were disastrous - to the point of putting me off completely … so now I do the factory fresh look with paintwork and pray I don’t stuff that up - funnily enough I don’t seem to have that issue with Armour or AFVs in general. Anyway, Basic or SWS, I will grab any ZM kit on the release schedule - the style of assembly is interesting enough and the kit represents an accurate scale model when completed. Rog

The Fw.190 series will (apparently) consist of kits in the standard SWS format and a new configuration called the “Basic” series. Back in the early days of ZM … when a LOT of feedback was coming through … enough people were whining about the parts count and complexity of the kits that they decided to try a new approach … Of course, there have been a few delays in the development of the Fw.190 - it was announced long before the reveal of the Ki.45 or the Henchel or the Bf.109 … OR … it might just be that these kits were being developed in the background long before the announcement of the Fw.190. No idea! Either way this is the one and only time that we have seen this format referred to by them. Certainly, none of the more recent offerings are anything other than the SWS we have come to know and love. While the exact details are still not fully known (we’ve seen some preliminary CAD work), the idea behind the basic series is to have “enough” detail for the modeller to display, while substantially reducing the parts count and thereby the RRP to the customer. as for the kits themselves … A-3 Basic A-4 SWS A-5 to A-7 Basic A-8 and A-9 SWS Rog

“Music I listen to” covers so many genres, it would take forever to list the artists. One of my favourite bands through my late teens and twenties is Iron Maiden. I hadn’t really seen a band come into existence since them that is as “tight” as they are … until I saw a Japanese all girl group call Band Maid a couple of years back (these girls are THAT good) … I have them playing in the background around most of my activities now … … unless I’m sorting out the stash room - then I have Mission Impossible playing! Rog

What model/year of scooby?? My Aussie charger had a 340 with a 4bbl Edelbrock 650 … took off like greyhound after a furry!! The ultimate conversion!! … and here we are converting 1/32 scale models. Rog

Carl … Downlights are simply lights that are recessed into the ceiling so that they sit close to flush with it as opposed to hanging. They used to be predominantly, Halogen … but since LEDs have become widespread, use less power and generate less heat, they are the go-to mostly now. Yes … it took me a couple of days to get over it … but I’m just going to move on now. Well there’s the rub … I started the whole conversation about buying months ago … at which point recessed LED’s were mentioned as a required inclusion amongst a host of other things. I must admit, I dropped the ball here - I probably should have scrutinised everything against a check list at every stage … but when I get to drawing version number 20, it all gets a bit muddlesome. TBH most people get downlights fitted after the fact here … it’s much cheaper to go to the electrician directly anyway. Rog