HubertB

This one was built as part of a friendly challenge with my buddies with whom we used to meet once a month and have a good dinner and talk kits. For the Christmas dinner, we had chosen a "Matchobox challenge" theme. The idea being to build one of the kits we bought and built as kids or teenagers. The theme was triggered by one in the group being offered to buy the collection of one elderly gentleman. I chose one of their best : the Boeing P-12E. The key reason is that you cannot have too many yellow-winged It was good fun. As per my usual (bad) habits, I detailed the cockpit . It is already very often a futile exercise in 1/32, but in 1/72, this is totally preposterous The rigging was done using Uschi Van der Rosten's "ultrafine" elastic wire. I hope you will like this one. Hubert

This is another of my completed builds : the beautiful resin kit in 1/32 of the Ryan ST-M / PT-20, by Fisher. As usual with Paul Fisher's kits, the quality and fit are outstanding, and I had a blast building this one. Sticking to my old super-detailing syndrome, I redid the Menasco engine and the details of the cockpit. Not much can be seen in the end, but "I know it's here" This kit was an opportunity to try foiling the fuselage. Foiling is not as difficult as you imagine, provided you use the proper glue, and there is no better alternative than Microscale's Metal Foil Adhesive. The glue comes fairly thick in its bottle, but can be diluted to a thinner consistency without losing its properties. I used alcohol to thin it. Some have even tried spraying it, successfully, but I did not dare try this method and risk clogging my airbrush. Finally, whilst Microscale advises putting glue on the foil, I found it easier to brush the glue on the panel to be foiled : it allowed me to put glue just where I wanted it, and thus avoided having to cut and lift unwanted foil that has adhered to some other part of the airframe. In this case, the difficulty came from the raised rivets. I was not sure the foil would conform easily around them. It worked pretty well in the end. I used cheap, therefore thin, kitchen alu foil. With hindsight, thicker foil is probably better as it stretches better when burnished, without risking tearing it. Rivets lost in the sanding of some joints were restored with Archer rivets. The wires are round 0.3 mm monofilament. Not quite authentic, as the original ones were streamlined wires, but I had then not found flat monofilament. Fisher provides flat rigging in the form of PE, but even he advises not to use PE as it is too sensitive to temperature variations, and will sag. Tensioning the monofilament is done by passing an incandescent toothpick in its vicinity. You will see the wire tension itself. Be careful with the distance : a little too close, and the wire will melt and snap. The markings were painted for the numbers, and I used the kit decals on the wings and tail. I was weary of having decals with a big carrier film on alu foil. Finally, the base is a home-made one, using a cheap A4 picture frame with some painted-on foamed cardboard inserted. "Earth" on the side of the tarmac is pigments sprinkled on white PVA glue smeared on the cardboard. Now, on to the pics : Hubert

Nice work. This is also a trip down nostalgia lane for me, although I did not go beyond the Airfix 1/72 kit, size-wise... A small comment : what you call fuel lines are in fact the ignition wires, connected to the spark plugs. There were two spark plugs per cylinder, so, on the R-3350, that makes 72 wires overall Hubert

HpH announce that the first 15 boxes of the C-47 kit will be available at Telford ... http://www.hphmodels.cz/hph/ Me, will be waiting for the DC-3 without the cargo door ... and some funds to afford it Hubert

Absolutely gorgeous ! Well done. Hubert

This is one of my (few) builds. And it is actually the last one I completed ... in 2016 The kit is an old Air Craft vacuform that I fetched on eBay some 10 years ago. It is a very good kit of a rare bird : the Nieuport Sesquiplan, which beat the world speed record in 1921, being the first aircraft to fly above the "magic" (at that time) 200 mph threshold. Although a vacform, this is a very good kit, having been formed in female molds, with precisely-formed parts and a great fit overall. The actual informations about the subject are few and sparse, so I had to use plausible guesses when I wanted to go to town on detailing the cokpit. All of this for the glory of the sport, as not much can be seen in the diminutive cockpit opening (14 mm dia). The prop was hand-carved in laminated wood (not as daunting as you imagine) and the markings are either home-made decals or custom masks drawn and cut on my Silhouette cutter. Finally, I was inspired by a pic in "The Speed Seekers" book, so tried to emulate this pic with a modified Preiser 1/32 figure to represent its pilot Sadi Lecointe, who was one of the great post-war « flying knights » heroes of the time, at least in France. I hope you will like it. Hubert

Great result. A smashing return to the hobby ! Hubert

Well that this one was banned is understandable ... That the ad agency creative team had one rail too many before they came up with this is also understandable (not to say normal) ... But what I don’t understand is that someone in the Ford marketing team 1) agreed on the synopsis, 2) agreed to pay for the film, and 3) agreed on the finished film ... This is more than one rail too many ... Hubert

How good is the « Canadian Pofile » book on the Canuck ? Have you any pics of the inside pages you could share ? Hubert

The problem is you can spend 2 HK Lancasters worth of Archer rivets if you want to reproduce the raised rivets of the 1:1 SBD ... Hubert

Beautiful. This forthcoming Airscale panel looks the bees knees Hubert

Great job ! Getting there, and it pomises to be spectacular. Btw, as a « tool-addict » who has always professed he needed the « right tool for the right job » ( oh, the strength of self-delusion) what you have achieved is all the more spectacular when I see your bench. Hubert

Yes, at the bottom of the site main page. See the « non-LSM reviews and builds » Hubert

I’ll send you a PM when I’m back home in Portugal. I don’t want to pollute this site with expressions of what I am feeling about what’s going on over there ... Take care, mate. Hubert

I think I recognise this man on your avatar ... Glad to see you around, Dale. Hubert

You mean ... you did not see the humour of the last 12 years, best summed up as « We get all the big fat bonuses, and you loose your house, your savings, and your government is baling us out, many times and increasing taxes in consequence ( but we bought a new Porsche, a new Rolex, and a new house in Rhode Island) » Too bad, this was so funny, we are running in a new sequel, soon and fast Hubert

Very subtle oil canning effects ... Well done ! Hubert, feeling cheeky ...

Think I read somewhare that it was « Falsy ». Can’t remember where, though .... Hubert

Methink that between a P-51 A and a P-47, you should choose a Tamiya Corsair, John ... Just my Hubert

This keeps getting better and better ... Hubert

Great subject, Martin .... Now about that Mig 15, He-111, B-25, La-7, .... Hubert

+1 for Tamiya rattle can primers, which can be decanted for airbrushing if need be. I have never seen a black one, and don’t believe there is any, but, on the other hand there is a pink one which is great under red or yellow paint ... Hubert PS: in all honesty, though, I have not (yet) tried other brands of primer. My output is just too low for that ...

I am just quoting LM and the Pentagon’s claims ... Should be true, considering you could buy the whole Phantom fleet with less than 10 F-35s ... Hubert

It could not have happened with F-35s, « because the F-35 does not get into the ennemy’s gun-firing range : he sees and destroys the foe before that ... » Hubert

Will follow this one with interest. As for the comments on another forum, it is fascinating to watch mob phenomena. Since the annoucement of the WnW release in one year (or more) from now, comments about the HK kit have evolved from enthusiasm to bad-faith trashing. I suppose it is human nature to judge comparatively (and in this case, the comparison is between real stuff vs 3D renderings) rather than in absolute terms the merits of products . Anyway, from your review pics and considering your talent, I am sure your end result will be outstanding Hubert