HubertB

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

Maybe I’m wrong (and I am far from a Spitfire expert), but I thought the seat was bakelite (a thermoset plastic, like the one used on the old -fixed- telephones), not plywood. Hubert

Well, it seems like HPH is not happy with the sales results of their Infinity IM kits, compared to the amount of work it implies for them, especially for a 4-people operation, and are thinking the Val might be their last one, not even bothering with releasing the Kate. That would be a shame, really. This said, I have bought plenty of HPH kits, but was not interested by the Helldiver nor the Vampire. Maybe they’d have sold more if they had chosen a subject with a Swastika. But the issue is also that they got a lot of flak for the quality of the Helldiver, and many people have started bashing Infinity without even seeing the Helldiver kit (which can be built in a great replica, as John and Ernie have demonstrated here). 1/32 aviation is already a niche per se. So a lot of 1/32 kits are a niche within a niche (and I am a buyer of niches within niches, therefore I am a resin-kits buyer). Choosing the right subject is a challenge in itself, and it’s easy to derail a business with a glitch in image or product choice. But we need to encourage the initiatives, and behaving like spoilt children is not always the best way to support the risk-taking of businesses. I am not necessarily a fan of the Val (or of any WWII fighter or bomber), but may buy one if it’s a way to encourage Infnity. Hubert

Great start Peter. Knowing how unhappy I am with my Fisher Cutlass cockpit, which, viewed with maximum magnification, is not as I dreamed it would be, I am really jealous of the incredible results you get using Quinta sets. Hubert

It looks like a blown-up GWH TBD (which I sold some time ago, because it was 1/48). Wich is frankly good news, IMHO. Hubert PS: and it was first announced in 2005 … How time flies 😂

Looks really business-like 👍! Hubert

Wow ! The last one is incredibly realistic ! What scale is it ? 😁 Hubert

Oups ! My mistake for mixing up a Val and a Kate. Thank you for correcting me The major issue with resin is that it shrinks, and the shrinkage is not necessarily consistent between batches of the same resin. Plus the silicone molds degrade over use. That’s an issue you do not have, or not as acute, with polystyrene, although short-run molds are far less resistant than the large-runs steel ones … Hubert

The « French blue » was an elusive color, but I agree that the blue used on racing Bugattis is too light for the Caudron. I think Williams Bros got it right on their 450 kit. I would want to check but the box is currently burried in the middle of the palet of boxes waiting for the next house move … Hubert PS: have you checked the Air Blue Caudron Simoun in the Musée de l’Air ? It might have the right blue (although the Musée de l’Air is not necessarily known for its historically accurate restorations)

As long as SWMBO does not say WTF ? …. Hubert

I have no idea, honestly, but, were I to look for some, I’d go scouring Shapeways as a possible source … Sorry I can’t be more helpful. Hubert

Great shed 👍 ! And thanks for reminding me this existed (and that I have the Plastruct catalogue in the shelves). Now, knowing the Ford Trimotor corrugated skin had a 30 mm spacing between two « waves », I need to find which sheet would be closer for this need ! Hubert

I am happy with what I see. AM producers will have a feast with this one ! Hubert

I think the answer to this one is two-fold: 1) the corrugation of the TBD wing is actually a series of parallel « ridges ». Different from tje « wave » section of the skins you found on the Junkers or Ford Trimotor. Not very easy to reproduce if you are scratching it, but with CAD, and then CNC milling of spark-erosion electrodes, very doable ..’ 2) the process HPH use is fairly hand-made, scratching masters, and detailing the skin with PE panels, from which they produced molds in silicone for resin kits. This process is almost incompatible with the rendering of the corrugations of either the skins of the TBD or a « Tante Ju ». When I was thinking of scratching a TBD, I would have designed the wings using CAD, and 3D-printed it. My TBD is pre-ordered with AviationMegastore, and I cannot wait to receive it . Hubert

It looks like Lukgraph will release a 1/32 (and /48) Potez XXV …. Hubert

I remember reading on French forums that the most likely interior color was light grey. The 460 replica is aluminium. HTH Hubert