HubertB

More figures, with some intresting comparisons. I am trying to add a US pilot to my Fisher Ryan STM display. I have found some US Navy pilots, or re-found as I had forgotten I had a Reedoak US Navy pilot. THE US Navy uniform may be a bit different from the US Army Air Corps one, but it has been dificult to find a period US AAC pilot figure. From left to right, a headless - for the time being - pilot which I think comes from the "Aces" ICM set, and is more likely 1/35, the Reedoak US Navy pilot, and a Red Dog US Navy pilot. Of first note is the difference in size. A male figure in 1/32 should be 54 mm high, that is roughly 1.70 meter tall, about average. The painted one is more likely 52 with its head, so that is 1.66 meter tall, the Reedoak is 55 mm with the head gear, so that is 1.76 meter tall, and the Red Dog one is 59 mm high, which puts in the higher end of the male population at 1.89 meter. Very possible variations in real life - I am myself as tall as the Red Dog pilot, but it is suprising to find 54mm/1:32 figures with such diffedrences. The difference in the level of detail is also very noticeable. Reedoak uses a unique technology of scanning real people in a real gear, and then Hi-res 3D-printing them. The finesse and realism of details is largely superior to the other two. The Red Dog pilot, as the ICM "Ace", have probably been 3D-designed, but ICM cut steel to produce an injection-molded kit, and Red Dog molded resin to produce their pilot. In this case, Reedoak wins hands down (provided I can do justice to the quality of the figure). The Reedoak pilot has been prepped by painting in black than spraying white in the direction of "sunlight" to enhance the relief. Altough a bit idiosyncratic in that it has a radio gear (when the STM had no radio) and is US Navy rather than US Army Air Corps, this is the one I will display next to my STM. Hubert

I’m not here to judge, but to commiserate: I know what it’s like Ernie. As we grow older, eye / hand coordination becomes a lot tougher, alas 🥴! Hubert, the stabbing-in-the-back friend 😇 !

My first ever kit was probably a Heller Cadet sailing ship … Near impossible to find, probably, and not sure I’d want to. This theme idea would probably lead to many 1/72 subjects as well. Even if LSM is pretty ecumenical, it’s probably a bit far from the site’s main focus. As for « records », I’d be in, but it is probably a bit restrictive (even if my stash has quite a number of record-holders, but then my stash is full of resin kits and obscure subjects 🤣) Hubert

Good to see you and your work. Great stuff ! Please post more of it. 3D design can be a great time-eater. I am very often caught between the « why not design and print this part ? » or « why not scratchbuilding it the old way ? » dilemma, knowing that the 3D design would always be better. But, for the time being, my hesitancy has always been about re-climbing the learning curve of 3D design. This said, I have recently finished setting-up my man-cave annex : all my machines, including the 3D printers are operational ! And what a pleasure to have the paint booth ready at any time ! So I may soon follow your path (again) Cheers Hubert

I absolutely LOVE the transparency effect you have achieved on the wings. That’s a real inspiration for when I dare to tackle some of my WWI kits. Hubert

Great pics and, visibly, great show. Thanks for posting. As a side note (to even an ongoing grudge 🤣 🙄) maybe there were few helos because they are (mostly) in the « wrong » scale ? Hubert

To cut tube and rods, I use a cutting disc in my drill (the one on the pedestal with a flexible shaft and foot control). Of course, they break easily under any kind of side load, but you can buy them by the dozen at a dirt-cheap price… Hubert

Needless to say I love the racers’ idea Hubert

Your MFH builds got me seriously tempted by their 917, either in their livery as your Fujimi kit, or as the spectacular Le Mans 71 long tails … The 917 vs 512 is the duel that got me sold to Posrche in my youth. (Apart from a 365 Daytona) I was never since a fan of Ferraris. But I am up to my 3d Porsche Hubert

It really depends on the jets … I’d say early jets, up the late 60s, are still manageable in 1/32. After that, they become really hefty for most. This said, I still regret selling off my F-105 D to Fran, some days, and I’d jump on a 1/32 B-58 in a (split) heartbeat Hubert

AMK kits are generally very good, and this one is no exception. It is, however, not without some shape issues, and to be fair, would have been considered a new standard, had not the Tamiya kit been released at the same time. Like with the Zoukei-mura 1/32 Mustang, the Tamiya kit has completely eclipsed the competition. The AMK MiG 31 is said to be the refernce for this airframe, in this scale. Hubert

Well, we had, courtesy of some uninspired advertising people, the Renault 14 « The Pear »

There are a number of different issues mentioned here : 1) Shipping costs. I own (for a few more weeks) a company, and what we charge to our customers for logistics is meant to cover the costs, which it barely does, when I look at our yearly balance sheets. Yet we charge about 15/16 € per shipment, for parcels which weigh between a few grams and a few kilograms (the smallest part we sell weighs 4 centigrams, yet it is a precision-machined part). We tend to forget the miraculous aspect of modern-day logistics, where a parcel can leave a point one day, and arrive a few thousand kilometers away the next day, having in-between made about three or four stops in different hubs and sub-hubs. All of this for the price of two (or one, in certain places) mojitos … Nothing really to complain about … 2) Postal costs : we enter a different issue here. In any country, it is part of the mission of a Post Office to be able to deliver a mail or parcel to ANY point of the said country. And we still expect the Post Office to live on its mission. Whereas this is a costly obligation, because it implies large staffing just to be able to cover the physically huge network of adresses. But physical mail has dwindled to very little in the last 30 years, thanks to new technologies. Whatever costs are not covered by stamps, is paid for by taxpayers, or by postage’s costs of parcels. These have frankly become outrageous nowadays, and the Post Offices are pricing themselves out of the logistics market, when they still HAVE to have the organization implied by their mission. A catch 22 situation, but I personally see no way out of it. Only the times when I bought kits on eBay in the US are gone … 3) Availability of items. The benefit of internet is that it has allowed access to items most of us would not have dreamt of a few decades ago. But it goes with an hyper-segmentation of the markets, and to a shift from a few mass-produced items to a multitude of small production runs. This is against the logic of improving production costs by spreading fixed costs and R&D costs over a large quantity of the same item. This pushes complexity costs, and induces potentially high stock costs, and a significant cash-out to finance those. Consequence: companies run small volumes of production to be certain to sell all of it quickly, and distributors will have to spread their bets on so many items that they will order minimum quantities as well, with the risk of not being able to satisfy all demands … It is a well-known rule that the margin requirement of a distributor are in direct relation to the number of references held in stock. Hence the low prices of the hard discounters, and the high ones of the big department stores … My conclusions: - we live a in a great time, that overall has proven an incredible benefit for modellers, by giving them access to items they could not dream of in their youth, and helping them to improve their skills, and achieve results once belonging to the great masters only. - this however goes with potential frustrations generated by the mismatch between our expectations and the availability of items to fulfill those expectations - but, there is always the last resort solution of scratchbuilding the improvements we let AM manufacturers offer us. This said, I will never be able to match the quality and scale fidelity of a Quinta set, for instance - considering all of the above, like Scott suggested, be on alert so that we do not miss the narrow window when a kit will still be in stock, and the AM producers have finished releasing the items for this kit, and then jump on everything without remorse End of the pontificating lecturing 🤪 Hubert

Thanks for the comments, Rob. I bought some time ago the « figure painting techniques FAQ » by Kirill Kanaev, published by AK Interactive. All the theoretical knowledge is there, it’s just an issue of turning it into practice, and educating my hand and brain to translate the practice into a regular habit. I have extracted the book from my library, and got back to re-read it (it’s not an instant read, as it is a hefty and heavy one). One issue is certainly that I am still reluctant to apply the stark shades you can see on the great figures. One thing I tried with these figures is to use acrylics, rather than oil paint. It is the technique used by the great specialist Marion Ball, and what she achieves is outstanding. She uses additive thin, heavy diluted, layers, and that manages to achieve the shadows sought after for great figures … I was probably just not patient enough to dilute each successive layer more than I did … Well, we learn from our mistakes, don’t we ? One thing I am convinced about is that mastering figure painting to the point of « good » (not « great ») figures, is adding a very useful palette to the array of modelling skills for veryone, and not only for armour builders. Hubert

Hi Peter, I agree, but sometimes it hurts seeing your work in macro, and dropping from "masterpiece" to "barely pasable" 🤣 Hubert

Very nice "yoghurt pot" (the 500 nickname in France) ! Hubert

Better for the "inside" part of the back of the cockpit. But - and I have not checked pics of the specific aircraft yet , so bear with me - the "outside may have been black for the VX-4 aircrafts in grey / white livery. Hubert

Oops ! It took my latest post to see that the Sesquiplane landing gear legs were more angled outwards that what my kit shows. I had never noticed it before, not that there are many pics of the Sesquiplane to start with. This means the kit’s lower plane has a too short span vs the original aircraft… Oh well, there is no way I am going to modify this now. If you don’t tell anyone, your secret will be well kept with me 🤐 … Hubert PS: And yes, I know the macro photo shows all the defects of my painting of Sadi Lecointe. But a) it looks good from 20 cms with a naked eye, and b) I am not sure my hand will be steady enough to do a much improved rendition …

SOk. I am calling the repaint of Sadi Lecointe done. I feel I achieved a slight improvement over my first attempt, but, working on other figures in parallel, I have come to realise that the main issue is the starting base, a reworked Preiser 1/32 plastic figure. Try as I might, It is difficult to obtain the same level of detail and relief accentuation as with resin figures. Finding a figure of a civilian in a suite and tie is pretty difficult, but after much internet roaming, I found a German site selling 1/32 3D-printed figures. I have ordered a few, and we’ll see if they are better than my starting base for Sadi. Anyway, on to some pics. Sadi repainted and on its own : And in front of his Sesquiplane of the word speed record. Compared to the first paint below : And the new paint in close-up, to emulate the inspirational picture : TBC Hubert

YESSSSS ! Now I can start and finish a twin in this timescale 🙄 ! 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 Hubert

Nice progress, Scott 👍 ! If I may, I think the area behind the cockpit was interior green, not black, even on grey / white Cutlasses. And, btw, Paul Fisher’s research was impeccable on this one. The area surrounding the windscreen was green, not sea-blue as per the Navy painting specs. Hubert

Ouch. AFAIK, Tamiya decals are not considered their forte (I can’t really judge, as I have not touched a Tamiya kit for at least 25 years …). Looking at your pic, you’re probably better off removing the insignia completely. Just my Hubert

Some figures, in an attempt to improve my figure-painting skills (but I am starting from very low ). I love to display my finished models on a simple base, and to add a figure to reinforce to scale impression of the kits. My Nieuport Sesquiplan, showed on the site’s gallery, has thus a figure of Sadi Lecointe. Its pilot of the world speed record of 1923, in an attempt to reproduce a period picture in the Hirsch book on racers. I have always been moderatly happy with the « Sadi Lecointe » figure, kitbashed from a Preiser figure. So it was time, whilst I wait for the boudary-layer vanes of the Cutlass to settle, to try a repaint of the figure. It was stripped with lacquer thinner, and I tried something new : after spraying the figure (plus 5 more) a dark gray overall, I sprayed them with white, but from an angle, to try to emulate the sun lighting coming from an angle above and sideways. My theory is that this should give me a starting base to reproduce the highlights and shadows achieved by the Master figure painters … Sorry for the not-great pics taken with my phone, which seems on top to have a focusing issue. The white and shadows are a result of the painting, not the (poor) lighting of the pics. Anyway, here is a WiP of the figures, taken with my iPad, of Sadi Lecointe, of a US pilot to go with my Fisher Ryan ST-M, and then 4 mechanics that will go with my pair of Gee Bee racers. I found a period photo where the SARA mechanics wore white overalls, so reproducing an « interesting » white is going to be a challenge. I still have to complete the detail paintings and touch-ups (funny how the macro-photography highlights details I thought looked better when viewed with my Optivisor 🥴), but it gives you an idea of what I am aiming for … TBC Hubert

Thanks Rob, I confess it’s a constant personal challenge to choose between my AMS that pushes me to add more and more details, and a realistic view that most of these details are invisible or unnoticeable for 99.9 % of the population, and that I am growing older with a significant stash to reduce, therefore I can less and less afford to spend a lot of time satisfying my AMS … My excuse for the Cutlass is that the nose landing gear bay should be visible with the high stance of the F 7-U. I will spend far less time on the main landing gear bays ( but I’ll still add some details, because I can ). Mind you, adding details is also probably a way of procrastinating before I have to paint the kit, as it’s never been my favorite part of a kit build. But then, seeing Peter’s and John’s builds always reminds me that this where you can get a decent-looking or a great-loooking kit . My Cutlass will be a VA-83 F 7U-3M in NMF, so a challenge in itself … Hubert

Hey Scott, as you’re going for a white and grey scheme, I found an interesting picture that shows a gloss-black painted landing gear. And, while reading the Navy painting instructions, I found that the « non-specular area around windshield » was to be painted « non-specular sea blue lacquer» And, btw, for those tempted to paint the national insigna, those were specified to be « decalcomania » on the painting instructions. HTH Hubert