HubertB

Green, like a Laird ? Hubert

I think I have already bought - if not yet received - all my « to-buy » kits of the year … Still somewhere in the Great Logistics Chain is my TBD … Having waited 17 years, what are a few days more ? Of course, that assumes I won’t be « surprised » by some new resin kit 🤞 Hubert

My review was just a single « wow ! » 🤣 I need to do a proper one, with pics, but I had some health issues which dragged me down last week … Hubert

Good looking engine 👍 ! Hubert

Just missing a few !!!!!!!!! at the end, Martin hubert

Wow, John. Two weeks from start to RFI ! Is this your record ? And the result is usually excellent ! Hubert, feeling dizzy just trying to follow your pace.

So you went from panting to wagging your tail ? Inquiring minds want to know … Hubert PS : (just could not avoid the practical joke. I read your very good review )

Thank you Ernie. It looks more like a Val than any other 1/32 alternative, and a good one at that Hubert

Rog, Since I took it that it was my post that triggered yours, I have hesitated to reply, to avoid fueling conflict. However, I have pondered this through, and thought I shoudl try to express views in a more structured way, which hopefully will enlighten everyone. A. Politics « Politics » is understood in two ways, with one I'd dub of a higher level than the other. - As defined by Greek philosophers – Socrates, Aristote and Plato – politics refers to the all the elements that organise a « city » (in the Greek sense of the word) or more generally to the elements that organise the interactions between the different members of a human group : it defines the structure, the means of action, the workings (theoretical, methodological, practical), the internal relationships of this group of humans – and external relationships with other groups -, and the aims of this group over time. They had different views about the best form of politics, but the philosophers named above all agreed that the essence of politics was to act for the greater good of the community, exercising its actions towards an ideal of « good ». In this definition, politics permeate our lives, both collectively and individually, and there is nothing really wrong about thinking about them, or expressing your thoughts, even in a modelling forum, IMHO. - the more common modern acception of the word « politics » is about the way the power to rule the group is exercised, the fights for acquiring this power, for gaining prevalence of an individual's, or of a sub-group's, ideas, for obtaining a public representation of these ideas. There can be different views, of course, and not all will have the same balance between the goals of achieving the greater common good, and the goals of promoting individuals' interests. This is where there should be forums to express these views, but definitely NOT on a modelling forum. B. Democracy I feel it is important to explicit what democracy stands for in our modern societies, as it will enlighten the perception of the Ukraine/Russia situation. Democracy is – literally – the « Power of the People ». In Greek cities, it was exercised directly, each citizen participating to the politics of the city by expressing his vote about the best course of action. This concept still exists today, and is very lively in certain parts of the world, but the growth of the size of the groups has led to a reflection about the most efficient way for the people to express this power. Democracy has been theorised after the Middle Ages, by other philosophers like Montesquieu, Montaigne, Locke, to name the most prominent. First and foremost in a democracy is the Law, a written text that defines the way the group wants to organise itself, to organise the relationships between its members, to manage the power, exercise it, and the ways to best represent, durably, the will of the People. There is no democracy without this Law, aka Constitution. Second is the way the group organises itself to delegate the collective power of the People to a chosen group of individuals. Third is the reflection about the different types of power that exist in a society, and it was summed up as 3 difefrent powers : 1. The judicial power that rules and enforces the relationships between individuals, by being the custodian of the Law. 2. The legislative power is elected by the citizens to represent their views, and to translate these into evolutions, or enlargments, of the Law. 3. The executive power has a delegation, by the elected representants of the People, to effectively manage the way the society operates, to define and put in place the collective means by which the collective goals can be achieved, to collect the resources with which this will will be put into action. Fourth, the aim of a democracy is to act of the greater good, and as such, it is essential to have checks and balances that are all aimed at avoiding Tiranny (back to Greek times …). Thus the separation of powers is a fundamental of democracy, and more specifically the judicial power should remain independant of the legislative and executive powers, and the legislative power put in place the necessary controls to verify that the executive power acts according to the will of the People. C. Ukraine vs Russia : politics and democracy You have expressed, more than once, the view that we should send both parties back-to-back, that they share a split responsibility in the conflict, that we do not have an absolute good on one side, and absolute evil on the other side. I'll expedite the Russian case quickly : there is no discussion that current Russia is NOT a democracy, starting with the lack of sepration of powers, the confiscation of a major share of common resources by a small oligarchy, the – litteral – elimination of dissenting opinions, the suppression of means for the people to learn about any other opinion than the one expressed by the executive power, and finally the disregard of the law, including the one that rules the relationships between different countries. As for Ukraine, I'll focus on the period since the fall of the USSR (in which, by the way, Russia ratified the borders of Ukraine and recognised their sovereignty). There is no denying that from 1991 to Maidan, Ukraine was a failing democracy, copying its practices on that of Russia, and having an oligarchy effectively ruling the country to best serve its own interests. The most worrying was the complete lack of independance, and furthermore the absolute corruption, of the judicial system. By history of the USSR, and before that of Russia, Ukraine was struggling to shake the influence of Russia, and the intervention, more or less covertly, of Russia in Ukrainian politics. In 2014, Maidan was a breaking point : the Ukrainian people finally started to shake the yoke of its neighbour, and express they wanted a different future than the one imposed by Russia. They truly made a mistake then by pushing the cursor a bit too far, trying to promulgate a law that banned Russian as an official second langage in the country. This gave Poutin the excuse the « come to the rescue » of the « Russian people », in fact russian-speaking people, by triggering a serie of civilian unrests in the Eastern parts of Ukraine, and in Crimea, and finally setting-up a military intervention in both Donbass and Crimea, in total disrespect of international law and of the 1991 treaties. Hitler did not do differently when he went to the « rescue » of the « Deutsches Volk » , effectively annexing Austria, and invading the Sudete area of Tchequoslovaquia, then complaining about the supposed suffering of Dantzig isolated in Polish territory (and I do not forget the French pacifist's slogan "who wants to die for Dantzig ?")… By February 2022, Ukraine was still anything like a model democracy. Zelinsky was elected in what was basically a cock-fight between oligarchs (his camp owning the most powerful Ukrainian TV channel), and surfing on a created image – via a TV show - of an « ideal » politician fighting the established corruption of the political classes. But he had failed to make a significant progress towards the standards of democracy as we expect them in Europe, in the US, or Australia. And Putin never accepted the snub inflicted by Maidan, and was therefore unwilling to progress any of the peace talks about Donbass or Crimea. D. The 2022 war Whatever we think of the Ukrainian politics by 24/02/2022, a number of facts are irrefutable : 1) Russia started an invasion war of a neighboring country, expecting to draw it back in its sphere of influence 2) In doing so, Russia not only disregarded international laws, but also the will of the Ukrainian people. 3) The war has been conducted in a most brutal way, here again disregarding any moral principles, and respect for the civilian population. 4) As a result of this war : more than 11 million Ukrainian people have been displaced, of which 8 million outside of their country Ukrainian direct civil deaths are evaluated at more than 21 000 to date, an estimate of 80 000 war crimes have been allegedly commited by occupying Russian troops, including forced deportation of thousands of children, and the systematic use of rape as a "psychological" weapon an estimate of $138 billion worth of damage has been inflicted to Ukrainian infrastructures, including 150 000 residential buildings, 3000 schools, 300 hospitals … Ukrainian GDP fell by more than 35 %. More importantly, the war has triggered a significant crop decrease of the country, and an even stronger drop of its grain exports, leading to a global food crisis. An estimate of Ukrainian military casualties (killed or wounded) gives a number as high as 125/130 000, of wich 12 % are KIA. In the meantime, Russia has also suffered from the consequences of its agression thousands and thousands of military equipment have been destroyed, representing a cost of billions upon billions of dollars military casulaties are estimated at a staggering 170/200 000 (which is about 75 % of the force initially committed to the invasion), of which some 45 000 KIA. The Russian GDP has shrunk by 2 to3 %, Not that much, as it proved more resilient than some expected, and the sanctions were mostly aimed at the militaro-industrial capacities of the country, and holding assets fo the oligarchs supporting the regime. However, a part of the world is learning to do without Russian raw materials, which is not a good omen for the future of this country. In this respect, I do not think that sending both countries back-to-back in the responsibility chain is a fair assessment of the situation and events. The thoughts that sprung to my mind when I read this were « Pilatus washing his hands (of an internal Jewish issue) », or the words of Arnaud Amaury, a Cistercian abbot, papal legate, during the Albigeois Crusade « Kill them all, and God will recognise His ! ». The numbers show an indisproportionate amount of suffering for the Ukrainian people, compared to that of the Russian people. That's just my immediate reaction, of course, and you remain perfectly entitled to your opinion. I am also irritated when I read there is no reason the Russian people should suffer, or the « Mom and Pop » businesses of Russia should be affected. In the current political status of Russia, a change of policy can only happen if the Russian people say « enough ! ». I dare say that they need some more suffering to really start questioning to official propaganda and reacting. As a reminder, the « Mothers' movement », that forced the pull-out of Aghanistan by USSR, was started by the 15 000 deads of the conflict (in 10 years). When will the Russian mothers say « Stop ! » to Putin ? As for buying a Russian-made product during the conflict, we are back to the core of Politics, in the most noble sense of the word : « As a member of a greater community, called Humanity, should I choose a small action for – hopefully - the greater good of Humanity in the long term, or should I just focus on the personal short-term satisfaction of a great-looking cockpit in a 1/32 scale-model ? » End of the essay Hubert

So, the kit price is within the realm of a (large) 1/32 single-engined subject. And the AM may not be needed in the end. Whilst the price + AM looks steep, let’s face it, we can all spend more on AM than on the original kit price. Only this time the manufacturer of the kit is selling the AM, which may create a psychological issue for some … Ernie, as far as the oil canning is concerned, I need to check if I can find good quality pics of the era. What I know is that the A6M skin thickness increased by 75 % (from 0.2 mm to 0.35 mm) from the -2 to the -5. The Japanese were constructing lightweight in the late 30s / early 40s, although the practice may have been different between Mitsubishi and Aichi. Hubert

Amazing ! Hubert

Ouch ! 😖 Hubert

Thank you for Andreyi ! Hubert

As you have been here for some time, it’s not really a « welcome », but I look forward to see more of your contributions on LSM, Neil. As for the reason you have parted ways with LSP, not only am I 120 % with you, but I have read some appallingly stupid or outrageous reactions since you last post. That people can dub any type of criticism of - or negative stance against - current Russia as « politics » is an unbelievable lack of insight and of citizen’s conscience, or cowardice, or both, as In Munich times. And to equate the suffering of Ukrainians with the alleged one of Russians people is indecent to say the least. Quinta Studio products are truly fantastic, no question about that. But I cannot, in conscience, buy any of them as long as the Russian unlawful agression of Ukraine goes on. I know other members take a different view, however. Hubert

I need to gather my energy to write a review of the Seahawk kit, but I can give you my first impression about this one, and it’s best summed-up with one word: WOW ! The quality of the castings, of the detailing, of the engraving, is simply outstanding. We are in Fisher or Lukgraph territory here, gentlemen, no less. And to think this is achieved whilst suffering Orcs’ bombings and power grid cuts makes my admiration even greater for what Andreyi has done. When I see people on LSP equating the suffering of the Ukrainian people with the one of the Russian people, saying that not buying from a Russian company is « politics » (as if this is the same kind of politics as comparing two US Presidents), I am going to utter a very « political » statement here: just support Halberd Models. It’s not only a good citizen’s gesture, but even more one of the smartest modelling choices nowadays. Hubert

Actually, if anyone ever entertained the feeling of « let’s get wet », it must be the crews of this raid taking off from the Hornet … Appropriate for the GB, I’d say … Hubert

It’s a great looking AZ, Rob, with a very attractive scheme. I admire your skills at taming the PE in this scale. For me, 1/350 is just too small (although I would probably be trying to superdetail a 1/200 version with just as fiddly small bits 😂, so it’s just in the mind that I reject 1/350 … - but you cannot beat the presence of a 1/200 major vessel) Well done, and congrats on finishing this one ! Hubert

Ahhhh... But "Once you have crossed the lines, there are no more limits" Hubert

Well, as I mentioned in my first post where I mentioned « bakelite », I am far from an expert on Spitfires. So, I was wrong about Bakelite, and thanks for correcting me, Dennis. I will go to bed a bit less stupid and more knowledgeable tonight. Hubert

It’s a tendency I see more and more on English-speaking forums, from native English- or American- speakers, to write with gross spelling mistakes. And it can’t be just the #!& »% spell-check that’s playing its (im)practical jokes …. This is, however, far from the total illiteracy I can now read on French-speaking forums : the level of respect of French syntax is worse than appalling, and makes me constantly wonder how some of these people could ever get an A-level or Bachelor degree. It’s one of the key reasons - with an unchecked stream of trolls’ « contributions » - why I stopped participating in French modelling forums. I just wanted to rewrite some of these idiots’ posts in 36-font red capital letters, just to point out the unbelievable number of syntax mistakes in the original post. Really bad for my blood-pressure … Hubert

Went to the Post Office to fetch a parcel arrived last week from Ukraine … There were two boxes inside Hubert

I like the easy access to the engine of the red-and-black Tatra 👍 ! Hubert

It’s still used on domestic appliances. Its main interest is that it can withstand (moderate) heat without deformation, unlike most modern polymers. It sets at around 170° C in the molding process (where you press-mold bakelite sheets or powder). Hubert

Bakelite is, with acetate and celluloid, one of the oldest forms of plastic. Unlike many modern plastics, bakelite is thermoset, i.e. once « cooked » it keeps its shape for ever. Polystyrene for instance is thermo-reversible: it is shaped by being molded at high temperature, but heating it again will melt it and the shape will disappear. So, bakelite it was . Bakelite is mostly black, by the addition of carbon powder (like the old telephone sets), but can be other colors, like white. On the Spitfire, it was a red-brown color. Hubert

They used 3D-printing, but the details were a bit soft, or to be more precise, with insufficient relief. And, after my first cockpit suffered some cat munching, the second one I got was clearly showing the age of the molds. But to be fair, the issue is more that I am struggling to produce an interesting contrast, because the whole area is black on black. And I am watching it with high expectations, and a even higher magnification, where my work looks bland to my eyes. IRL, the switches are 0.2 mm in diameter, and the knobs 0.5 mm: this is really small, and Quinta just manage to make their details look crisp with just the trifle of overscale rendition that make them look good in the end. My handiwork is just not as crisp as the technology used by Quinta. Hubert