HubertB

For those looking for a late Felixstowe, I am open to offers. See 6) in my ad : It’s coming out of Europe though, so the shipping is the usual major PITA Hubert

Last time I flew to Berlin, it was in Tempelhof, in the early 90s ... Goes to show I’m getting old ! Hubert

Wouldn’t this make a cool diorama in 1/32 (the DC-3 AND the Ju-52) ? (Yeeah, I know ..l please don’t tell me about the space requirements, you spoils ...) Hubert

After all the (self-generated and self-inflicted) hype, I have to say it is a bit of an anti-climax ( the analogy that comes to my mind is that we went to the theater for a Hollywood cliff-hanger blockbuster, to find it was in the end a verbose French « Art et Essai » film) ... Still, let’s hope it generates plenty of cash, to support other HKM projects ... And, btw, in as much as I would love (and buy) a 1/32 Ju-52, I have some doubts whether HKM would be able to recoup their design and tooling investment In such a kit ... Hubert

The Tante Ju has been announced for some time (hmmmm..... a civilian Ju ! Yummy ) by HKM. But it is apparently not the mystery release by HKM, supposed to arrive this month. Our resident mods with close ties to HKM are apparently in the know but can’t tell yet Hubert

Soon, Peter, soon . Now that I think I have secured the future of my business for the next 12 to 18 months, I should have a freer mind to allow me to sit at the bench ... Hubert

Let me second everyone else's comments on longer shipping times. Sometimes, or in some countries, the organisation of the sorting centers in Post Offices has been completely wrecked by the necessities of social distancing and sanitary precautions. Point in case is the French Postal system, where an ordinary mail (not even talking of a parcel) can take any time between 2 weeks and ... never arriving (ask me how I know !) I have ordered stuff from Ukraine, and the delays have been looooooooong lately. Not that I got worried. None of this is essential, and my stash has me busy for 150 years even before I grow it up ... On the other hand, I sent parcels to Canada recently, from Portugal. The reputation of both Canadian and Portuguese Post Office is not very high, AFAIK. Yet, the parcels arrived amazingly swiftly given the initial reputation and the current circumstances. Finally, when something is Air mailed, remember that you have not seen many flights anywhere in the world lately. Karim must have had some extra bench hours of late (where are the results of all this extra time, my friend ?) Just my Hubert

I would be happy, without any restraint. Good job ! If I was the pilot, I'd be seriously worried about this fly. She's huuuuuuge ! Hubert

Apologies if I misread your statement there was no vaccine on polio. You’re right, vaccines are there to trigger early immune response to the real virus when the body is attacked. In today’s world, a virus must cause enough Social disruption or cause enough deaths or crippling sequels to warrant the cost of researching a vaccine. Why is why we have vaccines - or research for them, like in the case of HIV - for lethal or incapacitating virus-triggered epidemics. I’d venture that developing a vaccine for SARS-Cov-2 has been demonstrated economically necessary and valid, which does not mean the research will necessarily succeed... I’ll rest my case here about further comments. It seems the topic has become a far too sensitive and divisive political subject in the US for me to make comments from my European perspective, agreed on that. And, even if we have perceived differences of opinion, I still consider all of you my friends, so no quotes needed Hubert

So sorry for you and Joy, my friend. My sincere condolences to both of you and the rest pf your family. Hubert

There is plenty to say about the comments above by our American friends, but not now ... The hour is just a bit late for an European Just a quick link to show that some states, like Florida, are NOT currently in the « 1300/day » average, but largely above... And uncontrolled or without mitigation measures, the R factor of the SARS-Cov-2 (the virus involved in the Covid-19 pandemic) is 3, which means an infected person will contaminate 3 others in average. The purpose of all mitigation measures, like wearing masks or social distancing, or quarantine for infected people, is to bring the R below 1. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ Hubert PS: btw, THERE IS a vaccine for polio, and has been one for decades. Which is why it’s not anymore the crippling disease it used to be 50 years ago.

Yes, it’s a target for the aircrafts ! I’m sure the mods can move it to the right area. This said, very nice work, although, as is my habit for aircraft as well - just my very private idiosyncrasy - I prefer these in their civilian colors, with plenty of red . Well done ! Hubert

That’s exactly my point, and the difference is just too big to pass, at least IMHO, for hardware. On the other hand, for figures, it’s not so much of an issue. It even makes for a more interesting and realistic rendering, again IMHO, if you mix 1/32 (54 mm) and 1/35 scale figures around a 1/32 plane. Hubert

It depends wether you think a 10 % difference is important. I know some people for whom size matters Hubert

Which goes to show how much wearing a mask is so important, to keep the others safe from you. As Australia seems to have things pretty much under control, you’re most likely safe, at least I sincerely hope so. But not wearing a mask in high-infection areas is criminally selfish, doubly so, plus unbelievably dumb, if it is for some kind of political posturing ... Hubert

Scrap steel is negotiated between $ 100 and 150 Per metric ton (at least last time I checked, which is admittedly some time ago). The molds are worth a lot more as working tools than scrap metal. Hubert

Not forgotten, still lying on the bench I am of a frame of mind that usually puts modelling AFTER all other considerations, unfortunately ... With a business at - 45 / - 50 % since mid-March, thanks to the Covid-19 economic slump, my mind has not been much into modelling for a few weeks ... It will come back, one day, I’m sure... Hubert

That the -17 ? Hubert

Beautiful work ! These earth-movers really make for interesting modelling subjects Hubert

Ok. I stand corrected on the tank type. My apologies for the wrong information. Hubert

Airfix had 1/600, Heller 1/400, Hasegawa 1/450, Revell had anything between 1/96 and 1/540, and there were the odds and ends of Lindberg, Aurora , Renwall. I remember a friend of my father had scratchbuilt a fleet in 1/500. His son is today a respected (French) author of historical books on ships. So, yes there was no standard at the time, as far as plastic models were concerned. But paper models had already standardised on 1/250 for the largest battlewagons, and sometimes 1/200 for ships like destroyers. The « historic » scales by Airfix and Heller were wiped out by Tamiya’s 1/350, and their subsequent followers. And 1/700, half of 1/350, overtook 1/600. All arithmetically linked to a box-size tank kit. Good marketing by Tamiya and a testament of their strength on the market. But they could have done 1/300 just as easily. I personally believe the « right » scale for big ships is 1/200. They have a real presence. Trumpeter revived 1/32, and they are also getting it right for ships now IMHO. Just my two cents, of course Hubert

Tamiya’s first tank kit, a Tiger (of course, some Nazi stuff, what else ?) was more like battery- and box-sized. Later, they found out that the scale was close to 1/35, so they carried on with it for the following kits, and it became a (frustrating) standard At least 1/32 was based on the weird Imperial fraction ratios... To compound the nightmare, they then « invented » 1/350 scale - 10 times smaller, in one dimension, so 1000 times smaller volume-wise - for ship models. And now, some smart @#&&es thought helicopters should be 1/35 to be consistent with armor kits, although I have yet to see a diorama mixing a helo with some armor or even soft-skinned vehicles As you can guess, I am a great fan of Tamiya San’s abomination Hubert

Very nice one Harv ! And congrats on finishing it so fast ! If I may, the tracks look a bit too clean when you went to town on weathering the hull and wheel-train. Hubert

Happy B’day+1, Ernie ! (and whatever « special » you do with Joy that day is none of our business ... ) Hubert

Before we speculate whether this kit, or others, are legitimately produced, let’s remember a few facts: - Molds, aka toolings, are generally produced by a specialised company, and paid for by the ultimate user. They belong to this end user, as long as they have been duly, and completely, accepted by the end user after trials, and paid for in full. Only when the tooling has been paid for, after acceptance trials, by the end user, is property of said tooling transferred to the end user. I remember reading somewhere that the Pegasus 1/32 Spirit of St Louis was never released because the Korean mold-maker and Pegasus were in conflict and the final payment never made. Maybe it’s just another urban legend, but it illustrates my point. I also believe the B-25 story is in the same vein. - When injection-molding is subcontracted, the tooling belongs to whomever paid for it. Sometimes, end users subcontract injection and ask the injecter to pre-finance the tooling, and recoup its cost in the cost-per-part until the nth production run. A contractual agreement, between the two parties, will settle who will be the end owner of the tooling and after how many parts. Until the contractual terms are reached, the toolings belong to whom paid for it, then the ownership might be transferred. - WnW have announced they were going to dispose of their assets. So, there are plenty of legitimate or legal reasons why Meng might have ended-up with WnW’s Dr-1 tooling, without going into « unlawful-Chinese » speculations. As pointed above by Carl, we just are not privvy with the details. Just my Hubert