HubertB

In the meantime, Heller have become a German-owned company, and the new management seem keen on relaunching the brand. Maybe this explains that … Hubert

B#!&%y inflation 😡 ! Hubert

Count me in ! I need at least two of those. How much, shipped to Portugal ? Hubert

You kitty, me Lion ... Hubert PS: Did you you know that farts smell so that deaf people can also benefit from them ...

It’s an Australian Sea King … you know they walk upside down, down under 🙃 ? Hubert

Sorry to read you have been beaten by this egg-beater, Peter. Oh well, it was the wrong scale anyway, and it had no wings, which are two reasons enough to have no regrets, IMHO 😉 … You still have time to find a nice kit on which to apply your magic. And you got much better and more important news this week, so , with hindsight, you can say it was a great week overall … Hubert

Love that Honda with its clockwork engine : 12 cylinders for 1.5 liter ….. Hubert

Noce progress, Kriss. Regarding the engine, AFAIK, the pushrods’ fairings, the head covers and the reduction gear crankcase were black-enamelled on the Bristol Mercury … Hubert

I’d never have bet that the original kit could turn out so beautifully. It’s a fantastic tribute to your skills, and a lesson for all of us ! Well done, Kriss 👍 Hubert

Wow ! Now, THAT is a spectacular scheme ! I like it a lot ! (Did you notice the slight asymetry in the wing root / orange fuselage / walkway area between the right and left sides ?) This could almost push me in the « buyers » camp Hubert PS : I think your orange demarcation line is not the right side compared to the left one : missing a few mm outboard.

Ahh. You know what, I’d have bought a Tamiya 1/32 TBD in a heartbeat. Ditto for for a glass-nosed Mossie…But I am in the « non-significance » percentile of Tamiya’s market researchers. Hence why I have spent a lot more with each of Special Hobby, Kittykawk, Fisher or HpH (or even Trumpeter) than I will ever with Tamiya … This said, your build is top notch, Phil 👍 ! Hubert

Thanks guys. I am really enjoying doing this type of detailing. Although I know I should be like Johnb, i.e. focus on an impeccable painting (but I am not sure I could ever equal his proficiency at this work) with minimal extra-detailing, as most viewers will never know nor see what went into this detailing, I just can’t help trying to reproduce the technical details in scale … That’s an approach that does not help reduce the stash quickly though 😂. Rob, you’re right. If any of the mods read this, can you please move this thread to the WiP forum (when you have the time) ? Hubert

Wow ! Hubert

Indeed, great improvement 👍 ! Hubert

Ok. In spite of the GB being finished, I keep making progress on this one … The last weeks have been spent, working on and - mostly - off, on populating the front landing gear well. With the Cutlass high stance, there is a chance that some of it will be visible, and the truth is that the well was pretty full. In passing, you can find a lot of walkaround pics on the Cutlass, most of them of the Cutlass in the National Museum of Naval Aviation. They are very useful, but beware, a number of elements have been removed from this museum item. In this respect, the pics of the Cutlass under restoration a few years ago, help fill-in - literally - the voids left on NMNA Cutlass. The front LG well is crammed with hydraulic lines, and mechanical linkage rods. Fisher has represented only a very small portion of this - as they readily admit on the instructions - and you can - as I did - spend a lot of time adding details. I used some wire, of 0.4 mm diameter, to represent the hydraulic lines. Being a copper wire, it’s stiff enough to represent the hydraulic lines of the original, and be bent whilst keeping its shape. To represent the various connectors of the lines, I have used pieces of 1 mm square rod, 0.8 mm hex rod. Drilling those with a 0.4 mm drill to pass the wire through it is fun, and requires a steady hand . I am quite pleased that I used only one bit for this, and managed not to break it 🤪 ! Anyway, here is what I started with … As I mentioned previously, the ram represented in the well , which is the ram operating the landing gear doors on the original, is a bit too long, and requires shortening : Then I added progressively the various bits, pieces, wires, tods, etc. to try to represent the original. Fisher provides some PE parts to dress up the well, btw, like the dials of some pressure gauges, which could be consulted by the but not the maintenance crew, but not the means to fit them in the well. So I also made some additional parts in brass sheet, either to support the dials, or to represent the frame supporting some of the linkage rods. Here is what I have ended up with tonight. Now for some paint to blend everything together … I still need to add, when the gear leg is in place, the final bit of piping for the compressed air of the wheels turbine, and the brake piping on the leg. I will not do as much detailing on the main landing gear wells, which will not be visible. Just add some of the prominent pipes one can see on the original. I hope you like it. Some more pics to come when I have made progress. Hubert PS edit: replaced yesterday’s pics with sharper ones I took this morning …

Good-looking Mossie, Kevin 👍 ! These glass-nosed Mosquitoes were definitely the best-looking ones. And, strangely enough, the all-blue scheme alleviates some of the funky shape of the wing leading edge over the radiator intake … Like it a lot ! Hubert

Although they seem worth inordinate amounts of money nowadays, I actually think the best tribute to Paul is to build them. As for the specific Fisher stash, I think Ernie’s makes all of us look like amateur midgets … Hubert

IT’S HERE ! After 17 years, I could finally lay my hands on a 1/32 TBD Devastator ! It’s basic, but the basics are good, and a good base for improvements, starting with integrating the Airscale set (but not the folding wings one, as I do not like folded wings). I need to finish my Cutlass first, lest it returns on the SOD for another 6 years, but I can see a TBD build in a very near future Hubert

Exercise : find the oxymoron in the above expression. Hubert

Where is this talked-on drone delivery when you need it 🤬 ? Hubert

The T-28 is in the top-list of KH kits, and builds nicely OOB. John got a kit where the parts have been demolded too early, and still hot. Tough luck, I agree ... But it says something about abysmally poor QC procedures, not the kit design per se (like for instance the nose area of the F-86 D) Hubert

Peter's (Airscale) set is a lot more than just the IP and side consoles. It's detailing and accurizing a lot of the areas treated with minimal detail by Trumpeter... (and for the record, yes, I helped Peter by providing documentation on the TBD, so I may be a bit biased , but the essence of Airscale's set is still what I describe) Hubert

I fully agree. I was just teasing Phil. It’s a different story however with the Mk IV and its glss nose … Hubert

Yes. One (the STM / PT-20), which is shown n the gallery here, and the Cutlass is under way … Compared to other resin kits, they are « la crème de la crème », with great surface detailing, very little pour stubs to cut off, and generally good fitting (knowing resin is a product that can shrink up to 3 % when curing) : in short, they are - essentially - a dream to build, and compare well to most injection-molded kits in the overall building experience. As for my stash, it’s currently palletised, so no way I can take a pic, sorry. Here is my list: - Skyray - Cougar - F9F-8 T Twogar - Ryan PT-22 - Red Baron - Bell X1-E - F9F-5 Panther Plus the two tiny biplanes (Pitts S2 and Eagle) that Fisher re-released. I really regret not taking the plunge on the F9F-2 and the two Sea Fury racers, Miss Merced and September Fury. Hubert

That’s the plan. I have the Cutlass under way … And two of my last 5 builds are Fisher’s … (That’s 9 left to go ) Hubert