HubertB

Too bad this one got the best of you, John. Looking at your pics, I feel you were not that far away from success, with a few plastic shims maybe ? Anyway, I’ll be in my chair for your next build. Hubert

Agreed : very nice ! Hubert

I thought you were going for a lemon or a banana 😂 ! Hubert

Not only are your models great, but your figures deserve the same « wow » ! Hubert

Well, to answer Peter's unanimous demand, I found some pics of the time ...I still have to find the drawings, though... It's totally scratchbuilt. Missing are the pics of the scratchbuilt Hispano and of the 4-bladed prop I carved ;). I hope you like it. Hubert

Well, there was a Spitfire with a beer keg … more interesting IMHO Hubert

I am with Rob here. Very nice, but we are getting so used to weathered armour, that a little weathering (or « dusting », probably more appropriate in this area of the world) would greatly enhance your very nice build. Hubert

Gotta say the main plus about the Matchbox Lysander is that it’s 1/32 … But then that’s about all Hubert

Testors reboxed the old 1/48 Hawk Hubert

Wow ! Hubert

Lemme check … I know I scanned my drawings of the nose for Mike Swinburn … Hubert

Very nice Lizzie, Phil. One of my fondest memories of the builds of my youth was the venerable 1/48 Hawk Lizzie. This one certainly beats it hands down . One day, maybe, I’ll feel like the 1/32 Matchbox deserves my attention. There is a striped yellow and black target tug scheme that makes me dream. But I would sooooooo much prefer a new mold 1/32 Lizzie … Hubert

Thanks guys. Sometimes, as it looks at me from the top shelf, I have got an itch to restart it. But then I think I should redo the wings, as I now feel the ribs are too pronounced, and let the itch pass… I even bought, and later resold, the WNW kit with an idea that maybe … I actually felt quite proud that I got the shapes « right », at least comparing my scratchbuilt effort to WNW’s kit… Or maybe they used the same base drawings as I did, and this would bust a myth that their research was outstanding … You should have seen my drawings, on an A3 sheet, drawn with technical pens 🙄 … Hubert

I found out quickly that, for almost the same budget as a Proxxon machine, I could get some real metal machining lathes or mills, Made in China. The lathe I bought has, surprisingly for the budget, a really very very small concentric error … And it can even handle steel … Hubert PS edit: what I mean by "very very small" is about 15 micrometer concentric error. Not bad for a less than 1 000 € lathe. And good enough for any modelling purpose ...

Those floats remind me of my Shelf of Doom queen. An Aichi Hansa (a HB W29, built under licence in Japan, with a Hispano engine), that I started in 2008, before WingNut Wings existed . It’s still waiting for me to finish it … Hubert