HubertB

I do not know this seemingly new company Border, but they seem managed by a marketing « genius » ... 1) a Me-109 G-6 ...yaaaaaawnnnnn 2) a Ju-87 G ... yaaaaaawnnnnn agaiiiiinnn But then , wait, in 1/35 scale ! Frankly, I doubt you will see many dios with either Axis or Allied hardware, just like I have yet to see many dios with 1/35 helicos and armour. What a waste of resources and money Hubert

Great build of the infamous « lawn dart » ! Congratulations Hubert

Happy New Year to everyone here ! And a more special wish for those (including you, Phil) who have suffered more from this rotten 2020. May 2021 bring you a reprieve from the hardships you have endured, Hubert

Thank you to all for your generous gifts, and to Ernie for organising and Joy for being the « Hand of Fate ». Merry Chrstmas to all again. Hubert

Reminds me of my car sometimes ! Well done Hubert

Deep into cooking for tonight and tomorrow ... Not yet Christmas here on the southwestern shores of the European continent, but Patricia and I wish all my friends here and their families a merry Chrstmas (in small contingent, I guess). There were a few good news in 2020 amidst doom and gloom. Let’s hope 2021 will see the proportions reversed, and that the year end festivities will all bring you back all pumped and full of positive energy ! Enjoy these moments. Hubert

Very neat and lovely build. Congratulations ! As for taking time to complete a kit, 5 years is not bad compared to my standard. I have on the shelf, still waiting to be finished, a scratchbuilt 1/32 Aichi Hansa. What is a Aichi Hansa, you may ask ? It is a Hansa-Brandenburg W. 29, licence-built in Japan in the 20s, motorised with a Hispano 300 hp V8. I started it in 2008, before Wing nut Wings even existed and way before they released a kit of the w29. WnW is now defunct, and I still have to complete my version of the Hansa ! Hubert

Agree on the box art. I remember my teenage days, when the box art alone could make me want to buy a kit ... Hubert

Loving this . it may be a simple parallax issue with the close-up shot, but the the IP looks slightly skewed, with the right side slightly forward compared to the left. Hubert

Well, having a business serving all types of industrial customers, It’s been affected seriously by the overall slump... Some customers have been deeply hit, but others have benefited from the events. One of them is in manufacturing medical devices (like vials, syringes, etc ... ). They are among the winners of the year, would you believe it ? In September they decided to give the volumes of their factory in Hungary, on top of the French one. They are now my #1 customer, btw ... And another one belongs to a Canadian group who have decided to transfer the production of their British factory to their French one, thus increasing the volumes for me. Thank you Mr Johnson ! So, all in all, my business will finish the year down 17.3 % (I had some - 50 % during the spring lockdown) but, unexpectedly, I have a 2.6 % growth for the last quarter, compared to the last pre-Covid 19 quarter of 2019 ! Hubert

Ok. How and where do you want to be shot ? Nice and clean or painful and slow ? (I am myself not too sure about what’s the most appropriate retribution ) Hubert

Ther were actually quite a number of interesting new kits this year (at least to my eyes), which consecrated the emergence of Central Europe players: Injection molded : IBG's PZL ICM's PT-13/PT-17 series, Fiat CR-32, and now, just before Christmas, the Tiger Moth ! Roden Pt-17 Eduard Bf-108 Mikro Mir Miles Magister Dora Wings Dewoitine D-500/D-510 Resin : Lukgraph Dh-89 Dragon Rapide and Hawker Nimrod Silver Wings Tiger Moth If, like me, you are into interwar, trainers, civilians, I'd say this was the best ever year ! Hubert

I am with Ernie on the PZL... But I'd like to throw in as well the DH-89 Dragon Rapide from Lukgraph in the resin category. All Ernie said about the PZL P11c, only in resin. Hubert

Fourded ! Those of us who can give will do, but there is no obligation for any entrant to do so. This is just a way to have fun and share, even more so in dire times. And if anyone feels it is not right for someone to benefit from the draw without giving, may I suggest this someone has some introspective thinking about his values (and no, Jeff, this is not a criticism of your thinking. I understand it very well. But there is no reason to be shy about willing to participate, and refusing to do so because your current situation is less « flourishing » than one year ago. We are all in the same boat on this one). Hubert

Yes, more gifts than participants. Can I enter twice, like Mike S, and get 3 gifts (at least) ? Hubert the greedy

Beautiful work with "Fifie" ! Hubert

Not a shake-and-bake build, Gaz, but the result is really worth it. Hubert

Well Santa me just dropped the (impressive) Lukgraph Hawker Nimrod ... And Santa her was ahead of schedule to deliver a Motocaddy M1, to carry effortlessly the clubs on the slopes of the local golf course Hubert

Actually, the film that shows the Merlin being starved in negative G, then overflowed, is of a Hurricane, not Spitfire Hubert

Ex.cep.tio.nal ! Hubert

Here is my stash ... Admittedly not as big as Ernie's, especially on the WnW front... And like Ernie, not many mainstream manufacturers (you'll notice only one Tamiya), not many WWII either. But plenty of resin, oddball subjects and even some vacs. Almost 100 % in 1/32. And some ships ... And a last comment: there is a bit of clever dissimulation there: the shelves are 60 cm deep, so some boxes are hidden by the first row. I counted about 110 boxes. Too bad I decided to delay my retirement by two years, "thanks" to the Covid-19 slump And in case you are wondering , the shelf below the kits is full of Mrs' Xmas decoration boxes (but for the first one which holds my golfing shoes and miscellani ) And of course, a wine cabinet at the end of the row . I am French after all Hubert

+ 1 ! Hubert

Well, the cockpit has been painted. Some touch-ups to do, especially the red spots for the various knobs that were in this colour. The basis is white aluminium. The reliefs have been accented with some Tamiya black and brown "Panel Line accent color. I am shooting the pics with my iPhone, it's hard to get the wole subject in focus, and the colors true ... Need to fetch that digital camera as soon as I remember where I put it in the move .... Progressed on the engine as well. This is the Bitskrieg engine. The balck base has been drybrushed with Humbrol flat alumimium, then the reliefs accented as the cockpit with Tamiyablack and brown accent line color. Some touch-ups still to do ... I hope you like it. Hubert

I would not assume the stick is offset with a jumpseat on the right side. It probably looks like that just because it is pushed left in this particular pic. The upper tubular structure would otherwise make it nearly impossible to move the stick symmetrically from left to right. Plus it is only in the mid-30's that the one-pilot operations for commercial flights were ruled-out by the ancestor of the FAA. The 2-men cockpit came into life as a standard with the Ford Trimotor IIRC. Hubert

It actually took quite a search to find that the thinner for Vallejo was water. It's not written anywhere on the container (or in too fine print to be noticeable anyway) and the information is not even that easy-to-find on Vallejo's website ) Hubert