HubertB

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

Vallejo is TOTALLY incompatible with Mr Levelling Thinner. The only viable thinner with Vallejo is ... water. Ask me how I know ( cleaning black goo in an airbrush for a few hours is not fun, believe me ) Hubert

Excellent ! Hubert

I was rather thinking that with such a concentration of handsome men, why don’t we have more ladies on this site than Tinder ? (Well, OK Ernie, maybe not for you, old chap ) Hubert

Beautiful build ! Hubert

Whilst not a graphic designer by trade, I only got rid of my Staedtler drawing table in the last house move ... Still has the Rotrings however. I am still an old school thinker when it comes to computer graphics, though. Which is why I am utterly lost with softwares like Blender ... WOT ? You do not start with dimensions and tolerances ? Hubert

Absolutely gorgeous build and finish ! ! Hubert

Thank you for the interest and following along. Much appreciated. Well, progress. I have sprayed some primer on the parts that will be silver later. Having read so many positive comments about them, I ordered and received last mont some MRP paints. So this was the opportunity to try the black primer I had ordered. Let me summarize my feelings about these paints after this session : wow ! I am sold ! Everything you have read is true, and even more ! They spray beautifully, directly out of the pot, without thinning, and the result is incredibly fine and smooth. Me a VERY happy camper ! Some pics to show the results. Everything is black, so the contrast is not that great (now, THAT is an understatement), but you will get an idea (and my pics suck anyway ) And the last bit, the cockpit frame : By the way, on the first pic, don't do as I did. Read the instructions first, and do not glue the visit panels BEFORE the guns have been put in place. They are inserted from the outside, through the openings ! Hubert

+1 for Uschi. he has a "Special ships' rigging" elastic thread that is 0.03 mm. You just need tweezers that can really grasp such tiny thread, good magnification, a steady hand (avoid coffee or other stuff like that) and tons of patience. It can really stretch a lot. And it takes CA very well, even for minute contact points. I used the "fine" (bigger than the ship's rigging sruff) version on the venerable 1/72 Matchbox Boeing P-12E. (And, btw, I will NEVER again do a 1/72 biplane !). EZ line, although flat, is just to big for the scale. HTH Hubert

Made some small progress last week: The cockpit has been assembled, adding details like the throttle pushrods, the bomb release cables, the oxygen hose that will connect to the regulator panel on the right side, the brakes cables, a hose that goes from the pump on the left propbably to the fuel tank, and a cable from the long handle on the left. The pushrods are a bit on the heavy side, but will look the part when everything is closed. Ditto for the oxygen hose, probably. At least it will be visible . It is "free-floating" now, but, when the cockpit frame is inserted in-situ, it will come to butt on the bottom of the oxygen regulator auxiliary panel. Now for some comparison shots. I bought the Bitskrieg AM, including the oil radiator, the engine cover and propeller, a new cowling, machines guns, etc. On the pics, the dark grey parts are the kit's ones (on the left), and the light grey ones the Bitskrieg ones. The oil radiator is a real plus, the machine guns are also finer. The engine is finer in resin,but may actually be too close to scale fidelity on the lower cylinder fins. It certainly calls for delicate painting and enhancing. The propeller boss is a better, as is the propeller which has lost the sharp edges of the kit's parts near their root. The cowling is finer as well. All in all, in total fairness, apart from the oil radiator, the gains with the resin parts are real but mostly only to a trained eye,for additions that are almost as costly as the original kit. So it's up to you to decide whether you want them. On this last pic, with the Bitskrieg MG and cowling, you can also see the kit's IP and radio. The IBG kit offers you two choices for the IP decals: preprinted with instrument faces, or just the white lettering, in which case you have to paint the dials yourself. The white lettering looks slightly finer (for as far as I can judge on the - white - decal paper background, so I decided to try them, especially as the P-11c had characteristic dials, three with a burgundy red face, and one with a bright red background. I will probably end up using a bit of both on the decal sheet. To ensure an optimum contrast, I have prepainted the IP and radio in Tamiya rattle-can white primer. The dial faces have been covered with kabuki mask paper punched with my old (trusty and rusty) Punch n' Die set, before spraying everything in almost-black dark grey. Btw, Yahu offers a much improved compass but it is also unbelievably fiddly. The jury is still out whether I will use it. On the other hand, I will most certainly use the paper belts, as opposed to the kits's PE ones. And a last pic to loop back to the first post : the assembled Cooper State Models step ladder, that will allow peering eyes to look at the pilot's office . With safety rails added, of course . That's all for now. I will probably splash some paint on all these parts during the course of next week. Hubert

I'll play as well. Here is me, this morning, courtesy of the Mac's Photo booth. Proof that I am a (wannabe) modeller is behinf me, with the bench ... And to prove further that I am a modeller, the same, with the permanently screwed-on Optivisor ... Hubert