HubertB

I am not using eBay that much now, mostly because my stash is more than built-up ☺️, but because international shipping costs have made the whole affait less interesting. This said, when I am bidding on an item I want, I just enter the highest price I am willing to pay, at any time in the auction, and then just let it run its course. Ebay will automatically display a higher bid until your maximum if someone else is proposing a higher price than the one currently displayed. And the first one to have proposed the same bid will win, btw. To avoid the smart a&#es that bid in the last second, I avoid bidding a round amount, and will bid with a price ending in .01, or .51 or .76, etc. If you loose to a last-minute bidding war, then, with this system, so be it. You went as far as you were ready to go. This said, I have sometimes realized I wanted an item more than I initially thought, and then placed a second, higher bid. When the max of my first bid is reached, eBay then switches to the next one. Hubert

So a vapourware company releasing a vapourware kit from another company ? What’s the launch date : April 1st ? Or simultaneously with the Trumpeter 1/32 TBD Devastator 🙃 ? Hubert

It’s amazing that kits of such price leave so much room for improvement. I used to think that Pocher were the ultimate auto kits… Not so much now … But you are making a tremendous job out of it ! Hubert

It seems like the desperate answer of an harassed boss trying to find people who want to work. The current Covid-19 breakout has a tremendous impact on the number of people allowed to work, because of the measures. I read that some 10% of the Portuguese population is asked to stay at home, either because they are infected or because they are a contact case. And, in some countries with a very developed welfare state, like France, that went overboard with the Covid issues, many people have found out they were better off staying at home than going to work. It’s particularly true for areas like restaurants or low-paid industry jobs. I have not the issue, fortunately, but many businesses I know are just desperate … Hubert

I cannot but add on to what Rob said. No primer will really adhere to the chrome. You risk some flaking of the paint very quickly. The best solution is to strip off the chrome completely (a bath in oven cleaner containing caustic sauda would do the trick), then spray everything with black (a rattle can will do well enough), mask off the rims, spray the spokes in whatever color is appropriate, and use a chrome pen for the rims afterwards. I concur on Molotov pens, but think I have seen equivalents in DYI stores. I wish you welcome here and all the best for your build. Hubert

Maybe not a big issue if this a crashed aircraft ... The engine mountings may have taken some beating and twisting in the crash process anyway, resulting in a crooked engine ... Love the detailing and finish Hubert

Well, we have already bought a new piece of land in another area of Portugal, and will get yet another house built there (for which I have already drawn the plans, like the one we sold). Let’s say we created enough value with the first one that I could divert some funds to the car And in the meantime, moving soon to a rented house until the new one is finished … Hubert

Exatamente ! Hubert

Let’s be realistic, Gary. At my age, and with my shape, girls like that will need more than a Ford Fiesta to find me charming 😁 ! Hubert

7-speed PDK automatic gearbox … About as far from the old-style automatic gearbox on American cars as a F-35 from the Wright Flyer Hubert

Yes, a Cayman 981 GTS from 2015. Still with an athmospheric 3.4 litres flat-6. No turbo, no silly 4-cylinders like with the 718 that followed. And the GTS has the the special switch that goes with the « sport » exhaust. The sound is just unbelievable. After all, if you own a Porsche, it’s as much to listen to it than to look at it, isn’t it ? Hubert PS: just to avoid any misinterpretation, the modern Porsche engines with a turbo are just fantastic pieces of engineering, and thanks to the turbo, are incredibly fuel-efficient for their performance, just as they meet the stringent Euro6 norm. But the turbo is an effective muffler that has to a degree « castrated » some of the sound character of the flat-6.

A few years ago, I had this one : Then, I needed cash to buy a piece of land, on which to build my future house, so I sold it. Fast forward by 4 years, and we sold, very well, the house that was built on the said piece of land… So I bought a new key-holder …. …. And, btw, just came back home from a 800 kms trip in Spain with the car that goes around the key-holder. Me a happy camper tonight Hubert

Another stunner. Love it ! Hubert

It's galloping in France ATM. From a doc in emergencies in Paris' hospitals : "70 % of patients in ICU are not vaccinated. Of the 30 % vaccinated, 2/3 are suffering from an immune system deficit, so the vaccine is less likely to be effective on them... And we have no time to chase whether the remaining 1/3 of vaccinated people in ICU have not simply presented a phony vax pass." I know where my camp is, and got my booster, like almost everyone in Portugal. Hubert

See ? Smart Little Shit … Hubert

On the other hand, Birkenstocks are OK in Mexico, but pretty useless in one meter of snow … so, not a totally silly choice 😏 Hubert

Just catching up with your build. Fantastic attention to details, and stunning result 👍 ! Hubert

Didn’t the guy behind Adriatic models mention that « the deck » - I assume this is actually the cabin ceiling - was represented too low by almost 7 mm by Fly ? Hubert

Even if it’s produced the way Ernie described, a glass of Jack Daniels still beats hands down its equivalent in bleach to fight Covid … Just my Hubert PS: great news to read that you’ve overcome the worst of the virus, buddy.

For the software, I use Solidworks, but it is an expensive professional software. I'd recommend without hesitation Fusion 360. The licence is free for students and hobbyists. Although not strictly necessary, you should look at the curing station by Anycubic (talk about a poisoned gift ). It washes the parts from the uncured resin and then cures them under UV. Maybe as a second investment when you feel like you master it well enough. If the weight of the parcel is OK I'll try to include some resin so that you can start playing Hubert PS: Pm me your address ...

Well, maybe. Since early December, life has been a bit hectic, and it's going to get even worse in the forthcoming weeks, as we have sold our house and have to move to another rented one in a month, whilst we soon start the building project of another house ... In all honesty, you may well receive your printer before you receive the sipnner, Martin. Hubert

And the lucky winner should have bought a Lotto ticket from his former employer, methink 😂 ! Sorry for the others, but I had only one to give away, HoHoHo ! Hubert

Some random thoughts on this issue, and having lived through some of the past turmoil on LSP, hopefully with some hindsight. 1) A forum like this one, also accessible at no cost to members, is still a private venture. Just as I expect people to behave in a civilised manner when in my house, I find it normal that some rules apply wherever I am invited, be it for free or as a paying guest. Abiding to these rules is common courtesy, and if you refuse to, you must be ready to live with the consequences of your own behaviour. Rules in a private area are not necessarily censorship. They are just that, rules, defined by whomever owns the place. 2) Although generally imagined as such, there is no such thing as absolutely free speech. Well, yes, if you are alone in the wild, you can shout out whatever you want and only the bees and trees will hear this, and most probably will not take offense. In a society, there are forms to use to express one's ideas, and even in ths most liberal context, sometimes what you say will not be acceptable to others, and you will have to answer some consequences, if only just contradiction. 3) Words fly away, writings stay. When you want to express your opinions, and are entitled to do so, il’s a no-brainer to realise that writing has a more permanent nature than sound waves fading in the distance and time. Besides, I can spontaneously say things, in a split-second, in the heat of the moment, that do not really stand the test of typing them down, even more so if your dactylography skills are average, and your typing definitely not as fast as light ... 4) "With absolute freedom comes absolute responsibility". Not from me, but from Sartre (in the context of WWII French Resistance, btw). Express what you want, if the society allows it, but accept the responsibility that goes with it, including the one of having others telling you they disagree, or your words are unacceptable for them. 5) If you claim the right to be "abrasive" in your relations and words to others, don't moan if they say they are hurt or it itches, and do expect some retaliation from those with thinner skins... 6) Writing down insults and foul language has even more consequences than expressing in a polite way ideas or opinions others disagree with. 7) IMHO, thread drift is consubstantial with forums, just like babble is with a conversation between people. Some like it, others don't ... What I know is that most often thread drift dies away, just like babble vanishes into thin air. I personally do not mind other people intervening in a thread with inputs that seem drifting away form the core of the thread. Very often, I have learned something in the process. But then, I have also worked for years in a business where the owners did actually think that when someone read a paper on someone else's desk, when they were not initially destined to received the said paper, it was a good thing in the end, because it could prompt new ideas, and healthy debates, and the whole business could ultimately benefit from this. Needless to say they were actively looking for ways to overcome the privacy and "security" inherant with emails ... Because of the above, I would never think about asking the admins to remove a post in one of my threads, but it does not mean I do not understand an opposite approach from another forum member. In the specific case of the removed post that started all this, I felt the post itself was pretty inocuous, but on the other end, I was myself tempted to comment on the seemingly wrong canopy - because I did not remember having ever seen such a canopy on the prototype aircraft - of the "Red Baron" on the box cover. So I was about to initiate a thread drift that had nothing to do with "Bardahl Special", and everything with "Red Baron" ... Just my Hubert

Participating in the draw is no big deal, Martin . You know you want to. When I buy a Lotto ticket, I always hope to win the MegaMillions’ draw. It’s not happened to me so far, but some have actually won Hubert

Welcome. I’ll close the list tomorrow morning at 09:00 GMT, and will draw the winner during the day. Hubert