Artful69

Well ... there's a slight delay in this post ... Largely because I was a VERY unhappy chappy for a few days. I went to the Pre-start meeting as planned ... and made a few fine tuning suggestions as planned. And then we got to the electrical schematic ... single bayonet light fittings. I had specifically asked for LED down-lights to be installed during the quote process ... end result is that no lights will be fitted to most rooms ... instead there will be a junction box fitted inside the roof cavity in each of those particular rooms so that I can pay an electrician to come and install down-lights for me ... great. Let's just say that my attitude throughout the next 5 hours (during which I was not offered coffee or tea, a snack ... or even water!) probably sucked. As a result - I might be changing a few of these selections around ... I wasn't really focused. External selection for the front facia of the building. Dark grey window treatments (a good contrast - yet not as harsh as a outright black!) ... Single course red brick for the bottom 7 courses, with a light grey render from the top of those to the roofline ... a medium blue/grey (more grey really) corrugated roof, guttering and downpipes ... The steel verandah posts, front door and garage sectional door will also be this colour ... (no blues available in the range though). The rest of the external walls (rear and sides) will be in this limestone coloured double course brick ... Paving will be in this light grey (silver) ... Internal fittings ... The stone bench tops (not pictured) is a white colour with a grey marbled effect ... while the cabinets will have a white / grey woodgrain ... Main area tiling will be the bigger 600 x 600 medium grey ... with the lighter mottled 300 x 300 tile installed to the wet areas ... I am taking the premium underlay for the carpeted areas ... with a grey carpet. I explained that I wanted to work with grey's and blues ... not much around in the blue department (but that makes wall paint selection easy!). There was, however, this tile 200 x 400 (which will be the wall tile in the wet areas) and it has very light blue/grey lines running through it - so a good transition. All tapware and fittings will be brushed nickel ... And this is the vertical blind selection Waiting on formal bank approval (probably another week) - and then settlement on the land. Rog

Ok ... super surprised that this hasn't made it on here yet, but ... Due in late March apparently? Rog

I think they were referring to purchasing second hand ones off the USA ... the argument being that the F22 is still a far superior performer than anything anyone else can put in the air and will be for years to come. We could get more bang for our buck, in theory. Rog

Our defence force experts here in Aus are taking pot shots at the government ... They reckon we should be buying F-22s instead of F-35s Rog

This sounds all very familiar 🤔 ... Very nasty and spiteful accusations, it appears. I'm not banned - but apparently I'm responsible for the decisions of others also ... had a very nasty PM sent my way and decided to limit my involvement there moving forward. The name of this "Mod" ... does it, by some chance, start with a K?? Rog

A few weeks ago I had Metro's call me up and advise that a few of the kits I was chasing had arrived. So I placed my order and collected this from the post office yesterday ... A few quick slices of the knife and the box came apart ... not exactly inspiring confidence in the packaging!! The latest Zoukei-Mura 1/32 scale kit had arrived ... but the latest 1/48 F-4 Phantom II kit hasn't. Still I had decided to grab the 1st three 1/48 kits made to round out the collection ... Funnily enough, the 1st two in 1/48 are the same as the first two in 1/32 ... The J7W1 and the Ta-152.H-1 ... While, for whatever reason, the Horten Ho-229 made the cut for the 3rd 48th kit made ... Of course the 1/32 kit that I was waiting on is the Hs.129B-3 ... with the big gun! ... It means I can toss out my resin kit of the same ... sans Schatton Modelblau turned brass barrel, which will be repurposed for this kit ... I wonder if we'll get another Bf.109G kit next ... or we'll get the first of the Fw.190A's?? ... either way ZM has a smart release schedule - 1 super detailed, expensive kit per year, it seems ... so it won't smash my new "paying-of-a-mortgage-tightened" budget! ... Speaking of Bf.109s ... Revell's new G2/4 boxing just arrived also ... I believe I saw written somewhere that the original CAD / sprue layout / moulding design of the latest tooled 109's was based around this particular kit and not around the G-6 or Erla G-10 ... which is why they ended up as error ridden as they were - not enough attention was paid to the "adjustments". How accurate this information is, I have no idea ... But considering that reviews, for the most part, seem to indicate that this one is about where it should be in terms of accuracy, it would also seem to imply that the story has some merit. I'm really waiting for a couple of 1/16 Panzers to make an appearance at the store ... but there's more than one or two kits on backorder 😏 heh heh!! Rog

Ok ... So ... build contracts arrived yesterday lunchtime ... via email, for DocuSign. I only got a quick glance at them this morning ... 91 pages ... a witness is required, which I wasn't notified about. Can't be bothered with it all this morning ... probably look at them later today and work out what to do ... Rog

Arrived home on Wednesday afternoon ... Completely knackered after a 2 week night shift. I have, now, to hand ... my first copy of the working drawings ... along with ticking off on the consolidation process during the last couple of weeks, for the small outstanding debts I had. I'm just waiting on building contracts now ... which apparently are taking a while due to technical problems within a government department. Hopefully they come through soon because I cannot attend pre-start, until they are signed - and currently, my pre-start is booked for Tuesday!! Rog

Yep ... That's about what I thought ... tooling is usually the PoNR for a kit release. We saw too much hard plastic (including canopies) for them to quit ... I think the Val and Kate will be solid earners for them too ... The A6M2b is STILL a solid earner for Tamiya and most builders would like the carrier 'triple' in their collection. Rog

Happy New Year!! Rog

Thanks for all the hard work organising this ... again! ... and again - thank you for all the generosity of the community! Rog

When magical reindeers just aren’t gonna cut it …. Rog oh!!, and… Merry Christmas everyone!!

lol ... I didn't post this until after I saw your's ... all good - as Ern has merged the thread and I can still edit my list as we move forward. Great minds think alike Rog

As the Title says ... are these any good ... does anyone know if they address the undersized problem in the Tamiya 1/32 kits?? https://www.kopeckyscalemodels.com/product-page/32034-f-4-e-e-g-j-s-phantom-ii-exhaust-nozzles And why the re-designed tail?? https://www.kopeckyscalemodels.com/product-page/32035-e-e-g-j-s-phantom-ii-tail Rog

Along with my Tamiya Zero ... and a certain Trumpeter kit (I won't mention lest I scare it off!!) ... I'll be be about ready for Midway ... If I can get those Thatch decals for the Wildcat 🙄 Rog

Hi all ... A couple of days ago I messaged @Clunkmeister about how successful the pinned thread on LSM modelling announcements for 2022 had been - and that maybe we should start a new pinned thread for 2023. Ern agreed that it was a good idea ... and so what I was to do for the next couple of days involved scrolling through the complete 2022 thread and listing all the current announcements for this first post. It seems @Fran and I think along the same lines - as he launched a thread less than 12 hours after my discussion with Ern!! ... These will be merged. To simplify ... I have only included LSM announcements (1/35 and up) ... That is in no-way a definitive list parameter moving forward ... there were a few 1/48 announcements listed in the last thread (and smaller scales too) - and all of them were interesting! ... The list below will fall under several Titles ... "LATE" announced as a 2022 release but delayed for some reason. "ANNOUNCED" as a 2023 release, but not yet out for retail "RELEASED" as in any previously announced (or "surprise MF!" kit) that has now hit the retail sector (in 2023) "FUTURE" as a projected 2024 release. As such, I will expect the edit this post throughout the year ahead, as more kits make it to retail ... but nothing will hit the last 2 categories until next year, obviously! LATE ... * Airfix - 1/24 Spitfire Mk.IXc * Andy's Model Headquarters - 1/16 M4A3 'Easy' 8 Sherman * Beemax - 1/12 Lotus/Honda 99T * Border Model - 1/35 B5N2 'Kate' * Copper State Models - 1/32 Bristol Scout c * Gallery Models, Heller, MonoChrome, Trumpeter (yes, all 4, same boxing!!) - 1/16 Pz.Kpfw III Ausf.J / L / M * Gecko Model - 1/16 Pz.Kpfw II Ausf.F * GWH - 1/32 P-40B 'Pearl Harbour' * ICM - 1/35 CH-54 Tarhe * ICM - 1/32 Yak-9T (kit not due in Australia until late January 2023 ... showing for retail in other locations?? - First I've heard!!) * Infinity Model - 1/32 D3A1 'Val' * Infinity Model - 1/32 B5N2 'Kate' * Italeri - 1/32 Macchi C.202 Folgore * Kotare - 1/32 Spitfire Mk.1a (Mid) * Miniart - 1/35 Pz.Kpfw IV Ausf.H & Kfz.70 w/crew & Dio set * Revell - 1/32 Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIb * Trumpeter - 1/32 TBD-1 Devastator (🙄 yeah, I know! - but it was announced at a model show so I HAVE to include it! ... at least its a little more than vapourware now) ANNOUNCED ... * Andy's Model Headquarters - 1/16 Pz.Kpfw Tiger.1 Ausf.E (Early) 3 in 1 * Border Model - 1/35 Fw.190 (details are still sketchy on variant ... some are saying F.6 while others say F.8) * DBMK - 1/32 Hawker Sea Fury * Halberd Models - 1/32 Curtis SC-1 Seahawk * Hobby 2000 - 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf.110D (Dragon re-pop) * Hobby 2000 - 1/32 Messerschmitt Bf.110E (Dragon re-pop) * Hong Kong Model - 1/32 Douglas A-20G 'Havoc' * Infinity Model - 1/32 Messerschmitt Me.410 * Infinity Model - 1/32 Z-37A Chelak * Infinity Model - 1/32 Westland Wyvern * Infinity Model - 1/32 Bristol Beaufighter TF.X * Kotare - 1/32 Spitfire Mk.Va * Meng Model - 1/35 AH-64D 'Apache' * Plus Model - 1/35 M-16 Austro - Daimler 'C-Zug' * Revell - 1/32 Gloster Meteor F.3 * Takom - 1/35 AH-64D 'Longbow' * Takom - 1/35 AH-64E 'Guardian' * Takom - 1/35 Mi-28N 'Night Hunter' * VFS - 1/32 SR-71A 'Blackbird' If anyone can find anything I've missed ... or to add ... or advise of change in status (ie - kit in stock - physically!! - at the local HS) just list them below and I'll update this reference as often as I can! Cheers Rog

Annnnnd for late next year ... Apparently Revell are releasing an F3 Meteor (The only reason I didn't pull the trigger on the HK offering was that it wasn't an F3) ... I'm generally wanting either WWII aircraft or RAAF (any era) ... an F8 would have fit the bill for RAAF, but I'm more than happy for it to be WWII active. Rog

If I had to caption this dio it would be: ** Achtung!! Achtung!! - Fighters please be airborne and prepared for imminent attack!! ** (Pilot to ground crew assistant) - "Bloody neighbours cat coming in over the back fence again!!" Rog :)

Lol We use this one … Rog

Ok … It’s a little harder to do this year with the home loan thing going on … but count me in with a Gift of $100 AUD (approximately, given international exchange rates - but will round up to the nearest domestic whole dollar / pound) to anywhere … I’d love to give a kit, but shipping is pretty much criminal these days! Rog

Ok so … an update … nothing pictorial yet, but an update to the preliminaries … I just signed off on the Brokers application forms and the Stat Dec for the Government Guarantee … This little piece of COVID stimulation saves me having to pay LMI (Lenders Mortgage Insurance) … it’s an amount you pay to the bank (drawn from loan proceeds) to insure THEM against default - if your loan constitutes more than 80% of the property value. On the size of this deal - it would amount to $15K+. Anyways … this lot will get me “pre-approval” in principal from the bank … next steps are: * Building Contracts (needed by the bank for formal approval) - before Christmas * Debt consolidation and satellite account closures - As soon as building contracts are signed * Formal loan approval and contract signing - approximately 2 weeks after all documents submitted. * Settlement (on the land) - approximately 2 weeks after home loan docs signed. * Slab down - approximately 3 weeks after settlement. Im hoping to get a photo next to the “sold” sticker on the lot number sign once the settlement happens. Rog

Slow production from closed down businesses (during the panicdemic!) plus high demand pulls prices up across the world. Low disposable incomes (generally) mean the higher costs can’t be mitigated. Result - inflationary pressures on the market. Instead of just letting production ramp back up to meet demand, the government, in its infinite wisdom, decides to “combat” inflation by widening the gap that created it!! Tax the crap outta everybody and raise interest rates!! … another “Let’s Go Brandon” moment brought to you by globalist elites!! Rog

This is the shiz, Gaz!! 👍 Rog

For those of you who don’t know … This will be making an appearance early next year … I’m looking forward to it! Theres been a couple of negative comments about it by the so-called experts (or narcissistic “blow hards” as I call them) - trying to steal everyone’s joy … They might be right in their assessment of errors - but with their attitude - they can shove it! Other than this, you have 3 options in this scale: - The OOP Tamiya kit … From what I understand from reviews and the like - is the choice option … if you also chose divorce or a 3rd mortgage! - Heng Long has a similar option … initially much cheaper, just with a (mostly) metallic medium as a base … By the time you buy enough detail to fit it out, though - you’ll be wishing for a Tamiya … - Hobby Boss … very reasonably priced (and the option I took) … The kit suffers from some suspect details and a general confusion on which Tiger it wants to be (Early, Mid, Late etc). Still a good base to work from though! What we’ve looked for - for a while in this scale, is a more-or-less accurate Tiger at a reasonable price, with satisfactorily supplied in-box basic detail, while providing the builder with options for extra detail from the purveyors of AM - while being easy enough to “correct” any (god forbid) minor errors for the rivet counters. From what I’ve seen on You Tube - this will more than fit the bill at $150 USD. Rog