HubertB

Mmmmh, John, and how come ? … Hubert

Beautiful ! Hubert

Well, she fought you, but you prevailed in the end, and in a masterful way. You can be proud of your achievement, Gary. And, by my standards, 5 months is lightning fast ! Again, well done 👍 ! Hubert

Excellent fix, as one could expect from a talented modeller like you 👍 ! Hubert

What they said 👍 ! Hubert

Well, any smart businessman would know THIS is a subject that provides the recipe to print money by truckloads … TWO of the modelling industry’s top-sellers but ONE mold only 🤩 ! Yeahh, I know … I am a business genius : whom do you think Elon, Bill, Jeff and Mark learned their trade from 😎 ? Hubert

Get well soon John ! Glad it turned out OK for you. Hubert

Gotta say that, in as much as I don’t really fancy the splinter camo, the shape of the Viggen is certainly not only impressive, but quite handsome, in my eyes, at least. Of course, it pales against the pure sexiness of the Draken, but still one of the best-looking of this generation. Nice work, Mark 👍 ! Hubert

Get well soon, my friend ! Hubert

Great work, Craig ! Hubert

I already hate the standard flies that come buzzing when I am sitting in one lounge chair, so I really would not relish one the size of an eagle … Hubert

That's because what you are seeing is an -a, not a -c version. The -c was significantly different, with, among changes, the dorsal spine, a taller fin and rudder, an engine the thrust-line of which was lowered by 30 cms, a higher position of the seat in the cockpit (the two latter mods to improve pilot's vision), a different engine, a larger cwoling, etc... I love your experiments with oil paint. Learning a lot with this ! Hubert. PS: I have to ask .... Is it done yet ?

The more I see your work, the less I regret jumping on board Great job. I hope I will be half as good as you with mine, Mark. Hubert

The engine shown is more likely a Pegasus than a Mercury (assuming the prop is prototypical, 3-bladed ones were fitted to the -24, not the -11) and the designs evolved over time anyway. As I mentioned, the « blob » on the front is a kind of pressure monitoring device. It was standard on the Bristol Jupiter and its derivatives like the Mercury. It was also used by Gnome and Rhone, who first produced Jupiters under licence, than went their own way, but reused some engineering features of Bristol engines. It was certainly present on the G&R Mistral 9 which I designed when Marcin and I wrongly assumed, for a few days, that the Paris Air show 1932 P-11 c prototype had a Mistral fitted rather than a Mercury. Hubert PS: … and the spark plugs show on the sides of the Bitzkrieg cylinders

The glossy appearance in Krakow is a recent repainting. Here are the ones I took back in 2011. Btw, I had forgotten I took a pic of the engine next to it. Although the color of the crankcase and pushrods' casings is anything but prototypical, you can see the ignition wires running from the plugs on the sides (remembering I had those would have saved me a looooong internet search for my own P-11c). HTH Hubert

Don’t worry too much about the ignition wiring, Rob. My P-11 is stalled because of my AMS on just the ignition wires ( but it’s just a lame excuse, because I could finish it anytime now). They run from the sides of the cylinders to the base of the intake manifold, on the rear of the engine, and will be barely visible behind the engine fairing, through the aperture of the cowling. Only the experten (like me) will know. Hubert

Very nice, Rob. and I confirm that this is not the ignition harness. On these engines, the spark plugs (two per cylinder) were located on the side - left and right when wiewed from the front - of each cylinder. Hubert

As I said, I do not mind anyone using analogies with other totalitarian regimes (and I know this strikes a chord with you particularly, Martin) to decry what is happening in their own countries. My point is that the Shoah is just consubstantial with the Nazi regime. Because of this, it was not just another totalitarian regime. Which is why I reacted to this specific comparison. To be blunt, that some people (and I am referring to what I saw in France) could dare to write that being denied the access to a restaurant or shopping mall because they refused a vaccination jab was like wearing a yellow star is simply outrageous: I think you will all agree that such restrictions do not put them on equal footing with the victims of the Shoah. I advocated for restraint in comparisons, not silencing your criticisms. Word have a meaning, in the end. Hubert

I was on the move yesterday, so could not answer to you. But I want to now. And I am sorry, but I will hold my ground that comparing the way your governments treat « anti-vaxxers » and « anti-maskers » with Nazi Germany is pushing the comparison too far. The Nazi regime was totalitarian and - violently - did not tolerate political opposition, that’s granted. But what made it particularly and uniquely odious is that it targeted a group of people, not because of their actions and political stance, but because they belonged to a certain ethnic group, displayed the physical traits of what we would call nowadays a certain genotype, followed a certain religion and exhibited a certain ancestral culture. None of this was a choice: they were born this way, and belonged to a community of siblings. Yet, because of this, they were bullied, ostracized, persecuted, restricted or even denied of their rights, their belongings were vandalised or confiscated, they were arrested, deported to « konzentrationslager » where they were treated as subhumans, and finally mass-slaughtered in the gas-chambers and their bodies cremated in the ovens of the « Endlösung » camps. If you are nowadays a Huighur in PRC, you can compare your situation to Nazi Germany. But not, to my knowledge, if you are a citizen of the US, Canada or Australia. So, to me, using this analogy is scandalous because it is belittling ultimately, by bringing what you face to the same level as the Shoah, the atrocity of what millions of people endured under the Nazi regime. So, if you think your government is today heavy-handed on some of their citizens’ beliefs or convictions, you can draw comparisons as much as you want to other totalitarian regimes, like the Soviet rule from Lenin to Gorbatchev, the Chinese Communist Party hold on China, the theocracy in Iran, Mr Putin’s Russia where being a political opponent earns you Novishok-peppered underpants, just to name a few, without saying this is like Nazi Germany. I will not even discuss whether the hype about anti-vaccination and anti-mask is justified. But I will end up with my personal experience of living in Portugal, even if I am French. As you may know, Portugal endured a dictatorial regime for more than 50 years. Even though this regime finally fell almost 50 years ago, this period has left profound impressions on the psyche and some behaviours of the Portuguese people, even to this day. I can not say whether this is also an aftermath of the dictature, but, to my eyes, the Portuguese people also display a unique attachment to solidarity, and the responsibility of each to contribute to the good of the whole. And I very often get the feeling, with my previous French experience, that the government generally displays an attitude where they consider their citizens responsible grown-up adults, and talks to them and let them live their lives accordingly. For instance, very early in the pandemic, I heard the Portuguese President call to the responsibility of citizens to accept the restrictions, because they all knew that the Portuguese health system would not be able to cope with a major health crisis. Which is probably why the country is now in the top 3 in the world in terms of Covid-19 vaccination, with close to 85 % of its population fully vaccinated. And, as of yesterday, has lifted most restrictions (but for the mask mandate in closed public spaces, and outside when social-distancing is not possible). I have lived though two extremely long and severe lockdowns in Portugal. The restrictions were progressively lifted this summer but you had, until yesterday, to present you vaccination certificate to get into a restaurant, for instance. Yet, throughout all these times, I have never heard a Portuguese complain that the rules imposed were « returning us to Salazar times » Just my two cents. Hubert

Great progress, Rob. Some comments about the engine, if I may. First, what you describe as « the ignition ring » is in fact a kind of pressure monitoring. It was typical of Bristol engines of that time, and, incidentally, of G&R engines, which were initially i spired by the Jupiter, which G&R built under licence. Second, the engine was less monochromatic than you have painted it. The reduction gear crankcase, the pushrods’ casings (there were two pushrods, one behind another, for admission and exhaust, aligned on the center of each cylinder, and encased in a fairing which is what you see) and the casings of the valve arms, at the head of the cylinder, were black enameled. Finally, the intake manifold was aluminium with a black center pipe. Admittedly, most of the engine will not be visible, but maybe you’ll want to add some touches of color. Hubert

Sorry to say this is a totally wrong and irrelevant comparison. Some "free spirits" in France went as far as using the Jewish yellow star with a "no vaccine" stamp on it. Needless to say it did not go very well, and rightly so, with the remaining survivors of the Holocaust. A bit of restraint in comparisons seems advisable here, gentlemen. Hubert

Ditto for me, and with Kai on the comments ! Hubert

Excellent, Gary ! Hubert

Happy borthday + 3, Maru ! wow, what a program you have been through ! Enjoy all of it. Sicily is a great place to go, btw Hubert

Nice start. For a resin - and resin shrinks somewhat, whichever you choose - and multimaterial kit (for instance the tail section is printed, not molded), the fit is not bad at all 👍. Hubert