HubertB

Whatever you choose Mark, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you go on Modelshipworld and read the beginners’ advices there. Even more important - compulsory IMHO - is to read the « banned manufacturers » article on the kit section. There are unfortunately a lot of pirates in this business, mostly from the Far East, who unashamedly copy the work of others, like Chris Watton’s. Better not give them some of our hard-earned cash. And some websites devoted to the hobby unfortunately support this piracy, which has none of the charm of « Pirates of the Carribean ». Hubert

I still don’t understand why Border went for 1/35 rather than 1/32… For those who think the size difference is inconsequential, a 1/35 kit occupies only 76 % of the volume of the same 1/32 one … Hubert

No specific experience on this set, John, but a VERY positive one on their Saab J-29 detail sets. Plus an outstanding customer service. In short, I am now sold and a fan of Resin2detail ! Hubert

Thank you Peter. No, the loss is more annoying than difficult to scratch a replacement … Hubert

Could you say this place is a tad windy ? Hubert

Well, I think I can call the undercart done, painted, weathered and grimed... Not so with the main floor, where I stalled my painting efforts pending regluing some parts which had gone unglued, and replacing at least one part which has chosen to pursue her life with the carpet monster rather than staying with the rest of the family ... Using airbrushed MRP tire black, dope linen, red oxide primer, exhaust soot, plus some washes from AK, Mig and Tamiya, and finally some Molotov chrome, I think I pretty much nailed the look I wanted for the undercart, and feel pretty smug about it. Well, tell me what you think and if I can still do some things different. I'll let the pics speak for themselves. Hubert

With all the issues you went through, she looks purdy 👍 ! Hubert

I don’t know if this thinner spill turned out a blessing in disguise, or it’s sheer talent (I’d lean towards that latter option ), but it’s looking great as a war-weary workhorse … Maybe the fuselage roundels could do with being dirtier, in line with the rest ? Hubert

I am with Rob: not too bad looking considering what you describe. It's going to be a very neat kit when you are over, actually. Ad for decals, I wonder whether, when the manufacturer is unknown, it should not be a policy to spray some decal varnish first, just to be sure the decals will not shatter the way you describe ... Anyway, looking forward to see the finished bird Hubert

One more update, with an experiment, you will see Last time I mentioned some paint would soon be necessary. The undersides will need some paint, which prompted me to skip the phases of the cabin construction on the instruction sheet, and jump to the undercart. This way, I can go painting and weathering the whole undersides in one go So I have assembled the complex undercart, with engines and wheels, and the braking system. The sprues are progressively getting more empty ... ... and the undercart mated (but not glued yet) to the main floor : And viewed from above ... 😎 Time for primer now, at least to check if there are outstanding seams to fill and sand (knowing I have to reson myself constantly that not many times will the tramcar be rotated upside down to see its bottoms, so chasing the tiniest seam is not a vital necessity, at least in the spirit with which I am building this one ;). The bottoms are black in theory, but IRL they soon turn out into a mixture of dirty blacks, browns, and rusty shades. Which is where I thought a reddish background could be interesting before spraying these colors, where rust will predominate. Enter Tamiya pink primer in a rattle can. It's actually a great background color for red and chrome yellow wings. Hopefully it will be useful as well for the brownish/blackish/rusty underside. I hope you guys have you sunglasses nearby 😂 😎, especially with the blue background for the pics: That's all for now. I have to reglue some parts which got loose (and the eagle-eyed among you can spot them). Hubert

I had never realized the T-28 could be THAT fast 😂 ! Another very nice build, John 👍 Hubert

Looking very good Mike . I'm enjoying your build, as all others. Hubert

Frankly, even the British and French worst designs of the 30’s were beauty pageant winners compared to this … contraption 🤮 Which does not detract from your work, Carl Hubert

Beautiful ‘Vette ! Congrats to your son for a job VERY well done 👍 ! Hubert

Agreed ! Hubert

+1 ! Beautiful rendering, and in 1/72 furthermore ! Hubert

Lovely work, Rob Hubert

The link Martin provided explains it all in detail. To simplify it in layman’s terms you have three types of ropes on each gun carriage, two which are taut when the gun is stowed, and one loose, the breech rope, which retains the cannon recoiling from being fired, hence its large diameter. The taut line at the rear of the carriage, which you have shown, is to haul the gun back to load it with powder and cannonball. Then you have two side lines, taut as well, to haul back the carriage against the gunwale. The tension is balanced with the rear line, thus holding the cannon in place when the ship is rolling. In short, you can simplify the appearance, but cannot make the economy of the side rigging hauling the carriage towards the gunwale Hubert

Thank you Peter. I have to say I have not enjoyed myself so much during modelling for at least 5 decades Hubert

Time for a much needed update... As a general comment, I can understand John's (Mister G) comment about being overwhelmed by the number of tiny parts. The kit IS finicky, with plenty of small parts. The issue is not so much the number and size of parts, as the limitations of the molding process, where you end up for each part with a lot of sprue gates, which require careful, time-consuming, cleaning of the remaining "pips", and where it is especially complex when a squarish sprue gate meets a rounded section part. Another comment is that you must forget about any macho temptation to do away with instructions ... Read them once, twice, thrice, and then again a fourth time ... Although many parts seem identical and symmetrical along the X and Y axis, a significant number are in fact handed, with a notch, or pip, or recess molding here or there. If you do not pay attention, I can safely bet that you will get at least a few parts reversed . Ask me how I can be sure of having a winning bet 😁 ! This said, and knowing a bit about this field, I am VERY impressed with the mold cutting, the engineering, the quality of the design, and with such a complex kit, the overall fit. Well, at least so far...as I have read some reviews complaining about the fit. My only gripe is that, whilst understandable, the choice of symmetrical parts to minimise the number of original sprues can sometimes create issues. I hit such an issue with the main floor parts. Rather than mold the floor as one part, Miniarthave molded two halves, that abutt in the middle, with a very thin contact line. In my previous post, I said I had chosen to glue these two parts together early, in order to fill and sand any gaps. But, sure enough, my two halves soon decided that, if not going for an outright divorce, separate bedrooms were of the order of the day This called for a radical solution to ensure a better match. I scraped the middle floor "planks" with a chisel : ...and then glued some 20x40 thou strips, that would cover the whole middle section of the floor : Now I had a much larger gluing surface, and I could be sure that my two floor halves would stay together ! Time to start "dressing up"the bottoms of the car As designed, the central beams under the entry / driver's platform do not touch it along their whole length. Not very sensible form a mechanical point of view, IMHO The issue comes from the the two notches in the transverse beam, that rest on the two angled beams on the outside. That's an easy correction: On the left, above my thumb, the larger and deeper notch, on the right, the notch as designed by Miniart. When I said some parts were small and needed cleaning of the sprue gates, the inevitable consequence is that you can sometime struggle to hold the said parts. Typically, the small axis that is the shaft of the brake command decided to try a ballistic trajectory on its way to meeting the carpet monster 😂 ! But a small piece of rod was an easy replacement (the white vertical rod on the picture) ... Aaand fast forward to today, after a few hours of cleaning the parts separated from the sprues. I have finished stage 9 of the building, that deals with (a part of) the bottom of the car: You can see the puttying of the central seam and of the injection pin marks, dealt with courtesy of Tamiya putty ... I have also assembled the two benches of the main cabin, as you can see ... Adn seen from above, with the said benches loosely placed in situ. This shows the new central planking made with strips. Missing from my update are the pics of some passengers, which I have started assembling. I think I am now reaching the time to start spmasing some paint on this. TAFN Hubert

Given the … « munchy » … nature of one of the dogs, maybe a stainless steel cover, or better yet, some ERA, would be more appropriate ? Just my Hubert

She’s a real beauty, Peter. A timeless shape and design, still exciting to look at 50+ years after. Equalled only by the 917 Hubert

Another faster-than-light stunning build, John ! Hubert.

Very nice build on a not-too-easy kit (talk about an understatement ). If the B-58 looked like it was doing Mach 2 on the ground, the B-70 was doing warp 0.7 Hubert

Have you tried HPH’s epoxy resin ? Whilst slower setting than CA, it’s excellent on resin. Hubert