belugawhaleman

Yup, that's the one. Also sunk the Italian ships at Taranto.

Some more items from Plaza Japan...... First from Tamiya it's their; Type 16 MCV C5 w/winch (35383) in 1/35. I also got the metal barrel for this kit (12686). I've been looking at this kit for a awhile but was put off by the price and need to purchase the metal barrel. The cost at Plaza being much less than US suppliers made it possible. Also, got Tamiya's 1/48 Fairey Swordfish Mk.II (61099). This kit sells for $ 86.00 US at Sprue Brothers......just $ 22.00 at Plaza. Last; two Tomytec "Little Armory" gun kits in 1/12 scale. Their AKMS & AKMSU type (LAO79) and their Bren MK.I light machine gun (LASWO4) these are nice little kits that don't cost much.

Nice work! I've been eyeing Italeri's 1/12 kit of this subject. Cool iconic, historic, little vehicle. A bit pricy, the Italeri offering, and I'm not really experienced in gloss auto finishes, I still would like to give the kit a try. Like what I'm seeing! Thanks; Paul

Well, I've picked up some good tips from ths thread. In my case it was moisture, but I learned about over thinning and low pressure causes. I normally thin 50/50 Tamiya acrylic and levelling thinner and spray at about 15 psi. This , I find works well with Tamiya x-22. I sometimes go up a little pressure with the clear when I add a touch more thinner. Chris, thanks for the info on MRP. I'm thinking of using MRP for a figure build simply because of the color ranges offered. Also I like the airbrush ready thing and that the paints are semi-gloss. Thanks all Paul

I had the same problem recently....turned out to be moisture in the airbrush hose. It was a humid day. The water trap had just a bit but the hose had more. This was also causing paint to build up around the nozzle. I knew the needle and nozzle were fine. I disconnected the airbrush and quick connect from the hose and let the compressor run freely for a while....problem solved. It's probably not a bad idea to do this after each session. Later I turned the AC on to drop the humidity and continued painting. The splurting was very frustrating but the model turned out fine.

Yes, I've been following the restoration of this thing by Mr. Hewes on YouTube since the beginning. Cool stuff! Joe Hewes apparently lives the life I dreamed of since I was about 14.....Lucky devil! A life devoted to Tanks!

Thanks Fran for the review. Looks like an excellent little kit!

Well, while waiting for some paint for my Tamiya MK. IV, I started this FV4005 from Amusing Hobby..... Anyway, not totally "amused " by this kit. While not a bad kit I did experience some fit issues and questionable engineering. Definitely not Tamiya. Nevertheless, I think it's a fun subject of an example of cold war silliness. Its failure did lead to the development and adoption of anti-tank missiles. Anyway, my paint came today and I'm going to finish my Tamiya Mk. IV this coming week. Not really important post considering the events of today, but I decided to post anyway.

Going to be a great build!

A great looking model !

Some items from Plaza Japan........ First, from Tamiya, their Fieseler Fi156C Storch (61100) in 1/48. This kit has been on my list for some time, but I was always put of by the price....Plaza had it for much less....$25.42 U.S.. Next, Tamiya's Aichi M6A1 Seiran (61054) in 1/48 scale. I have been looking for this one for a while.....an interesting subject. Last; three firearm kits in 1/12 scale from the Tomytec "little Armory" Series. These are detailed little models of famous guns that were used by characters (girls) in some sort of Japanese animated series. One picture on a box showed the girl with animal ears........and having a tail....weird! Anyway the guns I got are: 1. 1918 Browning Automatic Rifle 2. Arisaka type 38 rifle 3. Japanese type 100 submachine gun. They are each nicely detailed models that allow for options during building up. For example, the Arisaka rifle allows the builder to chose from having the bolt open or closed with the sliding receiver cover on or off the rifle. Having owned a Type 38 Arisaka I can say the detail is pretty good, they even throw in a 5 round charger clip. Anyway, some fun items.

I've used Friuls on my last three builds I think they're great. They have become more available here than they were in the past and in they last months I've purchased a bunch for the kits in my stash. Most recently I bought some for the type 95 Japanese tank.......Man, those links are small! I found that my little Dspiae rotary tool thing speeds up drilling the tracks. I have an adapter thing for this that allows it to take small bits. I have yet to figure out a fast way to cut the wires to length....I've been cutting them to length as I go.

Well done Rob!

Nice! Are those Friulmodel tracks?

More on the Tamiya Mk. IV........ Assembly is mostly done. Assembled the tracks today in no time ! Probably the easiest to assemble tracks out there; just "click" together and I think they look good...needing no cleanup at all. 87 links per side, but I may add another link to ease assembly. We'll see. Not sure how to paint these tracks yet. The instructions call out XF-84, Tamiya's "Dark Iron". I think I'll use Tamiya's lacquer for this.....I think it's more durable. Also on the ditching beam I used a razor saw to add some wood grain effect. We'll see how convincing that looks after painting.

Nice work Hubert !. Very nice workplace as well!

Similar to the AMX 50b wheel set up...

Might as well run it as the engineering is pretty good. The motor is tiny yet it produces a surprising amount of torque through gearing. It's also not very intrusive only a small switch on the bottom giving it away. Some parts that the instructions say to glue with rubber cement to facilitate easy removal for maintenance I will glue permanently. I will leave one of the sponsons removable for battery change and the track tensioner covers removable. I see myself running it probably for a bit and then no more after I get bored with it! Everything runs so smoothly that it would be a shame not to run it least once. Anyway, here's where I am today; finished Wheels ..54 of them. One wheel type required 30 each had 2 parts. The other wheel type required 24 each with 4 parts each, but everything Worked out well. Here's what it looks like now.

Yup, Cadex 980C. I also added a Kestrel carbon fork as the aluminum one it came with was a bit flexible! I also have a Trek 1420 from 1993.....Still use that one

Years ago I bought the first carbon frame bicycle by Giant. I think it was around '89 or 1990 or thereabouts. Still have it in the attic. I did some tours with it. Afterwards (late '90s) I did some upgrades. New Shimano 105sc group with STI shifters, and ceramic rims with titanium spokes. After these upgrades I kind of lost interest in cycling. It now sits , a museum piece, in Mom's attic, still in superb condition.

In this case I bought the masks for two kits that are still on the way from Japan ! Upon ordering these kits I immediately ordered the sets from the Brothers Sprue fearing they might not be available when the kits arrived.

Yes. The resin cures with the application of ultraviolet light...quickly. I've been playing around with it lately. I have used it to make lenses for model headlights that are not molded in clear and I'm going to see if I could use it as an adhesive for aircraft canopies. I use a small UV flashlight by Dspiae to rapidly cure the resin.

Have you tried UV light curing resin?

Looking great! I was wondering what you were going to do about the fountain water.

Today some items.... First, from Friulmodel; a set of tracks. Their ATL-151 Type 95 "HA-GO". These track links are tiny! For the equally tiny Finemolds type 95 Japanese tank to replace the vinyl kit tracks. Second; two masking sets from Eduard for the Tamiya Seiran (EDUEX 168) and The Tamiya Fi 156 Storch kit (EDUEX240). Third; from Italeri, their Autoblinda AB 41 (No. 6591). in 1/35. I also got some 12" x 12" self-adhesive vinyl sheets in matte black by ORACAL (XOO3CP9G7T). I use these along with my circle cutter to make masks when it's wheel painting time.