HubertB

Cockpit looks good, Peter 👍 ! Looking more closely at your pics, the seat-belts look realistically thin, not the bloated look of their previous prints. In 1/32, a belt should be about 0.12 mm / 5 thou thick, which is the thickness of a paper sheet. Hubert

Love that truck / Mi-8 👍 ! Hubert

I’ll go French. I still have to choose between two versions. Hubert

Then there is also these :

And, not so long ago, from Mike (Sandbagger) and posted here : Hubert

Not that I have anything against the 109 in the Lybian desert, but there is more to « sandbox » than the WWII MTO. May I suggest that we post inspirational pics in the next days ? Here is my first (small) contribution … Hubert

Quite the contrary … in loaded flight, they are flexing up. Hubert

You mean you … and … Martin … a couple ? (confused) Hubert 😳 🤔 😂🤣😂😉

Well, this is the going price as long as the seller finds a buyer for it … I never bought a kit for investment and future resale. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be butchering my Fisher Cutlass (which is the bottom box pf a significant pile of white boxes of the same manufacturer). But I reckon I have some rare kits, and my stash is probably worth - in total - the price of a (small) entry-market car … But I’ll live long enough to finish them all ! What’s 250 years after all ? Hubert

Not bad at all for a kit that is more likely 60 than 50 years all 👍. At that time, there was no 3D design software, no CNC machining, no spark-erosion machining. Just a hand-made master, and a pantograph to scale it down to the steel mold. One wonders why modern kits with all the tech available are sometimes not able to match these oldies … Thanks for the nostalgia trip Hubert

Gotta say the light blue looks a little weird, IMHO at least … Hubert

+1 ! Hubert

Great work on the landing gear 👍 ! I concur on the greatness of the Albion Alloy tubes and rods. I have a supply of them always available. Just a tip : Tamiya pink primer ( yes, Barbie pink) is a great base for yellow / chrome yellow wings. Hubert

Hubert

Looks good to me: we have the sand, and we have a « subject » Hubert

Maybe too late for the offer, thanks to the jet lag, but you can have my Sparrows, which look good with no warped fins. Just PM me your address and they are yours. Hubert

I still have to find a better alternative to Micro Foil Adhesive, but have not so far. One important thing : Micro Foil adhesive can be thinned (a lot) with alcohol. I then brushed it on the part to be foiled rather than the foil. But, yes, the thicker the foil, the better, when you want to burnish it on compound curves. Hubert

Mine will be sans missiles …but with the pylons. Btw, Fisher has done an excellent work on the Sparrows Mk1, but they had a pointy, straight cone nose. Fisher’s Sparrows have a too rounded nose, if you want to be accurate. Hubert

Need to go back to my references, but, from the dates the Thunderbirds flew them, and the pics I remember, I’d say they were NMF, not silver-painted … Hubert

What I know is the F-105 started with a real NMF, then, as a corrosion guard were painted silver. I do not know for the F-100, or F-86, but would assume it is a likely possibility .. Hubert

Well, as the dice seem cast, and to broaden the spectrum from the expected « Afrika Korps / MTO » subjects, I found this interesting site, with hundreds of pictures from 1919 to the 70s, where sand is really a big component … https://aviation-algerie.com/aviation-algerie/ Just scroll down the list of topics (titled in French). There are literally hundreds of them, each with about 40 pics. And, yes, you can even model a Bréguet 961 « Deux-Ponts » in 1/32 (or 1/48 ), courtesy of « One Man Model » in Japan (although his eBay store does not seem active nowadays) .. HTH to bring some additional inspiration, and, to add ideas, thanks to Mark31, « May the Force be with you » ! Hubert

Isn’t « Sandbox » the right theme then ? Hubert

So Martin, Have you made the choice (although the poll is quite clear ) ? My only remark is about the deadline. 4 months is short, for most of us - and even more for me with a lead time that counts in years rather than months 🤣) Hubert

C’mon, Peter, we know you are an outstanding modeller. No need to post pics of the real A/C landing gear bays and pretend it’s your work . Show us your real work, we’ll be kind to you. I promise … Hubert