HubertB

I consider my unfinished design vastly superior to KH’s one ( in case you wonder, « modest » is my third nickname ), although totally unfit for an IM process. It can only show on a high range 3D- printer. In this work, I have certainly developed a detailed knowledge of Scintilla magnetos and Stromberg carburetors Hubert

Well, I have had a R-985 in design for quite some time. I stopped and stumbled on the design of the cylinder head cooling fins ... Maybe I should resume my work on this one, although the availability fo the KH Kingfisher kits made it a less urgent requirement ... It was dimensionally designed in 1/32, but could be scaled up to 1/16 easily in a split second on a 3D-printer setup, especially with the level of detail I incorporated ... This is where I stalled :

Super project , and very generous from Mike ! Now I’m officially jealous ! Hubert

These MFH kits are really impressive. If I was ready to commit to such an amount for a kit (knowing very well that in reality I scatter - at least - this amount across multiple kits in one year ), I confess I’d hesitate between a HpH DC-3 (NOT C-47) and a big scale MFH kit of my all-time favourite racing car, the mighty Porsche 917 ... Hubert

it’s a more logical and prosaic explanation ... but the mental picture was certainly .... hmmm .... dare I say « poetic » ? Hubert

My stepdaughter has built two of those already, and is currently living in one of them (was there not 4 hours ago). Not my idea of comfort, but I have to say it’s a very smart build and you get all basic amenities within 14 sqm and 3500 kgs. Definitely very ingenious designs, well isolated btw, easy to warm in winter, albeit a bit warm in hot summers. Hubert

... with full crew, of course Hubert

True that ! As the scale gives you details roughly 3.4 times bigger than 1/48, you can pack a lot more detail, and add-on your own ad nauseam ! Ask me how I know Hubert

All of you guys confessing their sinful inclinations ... shame on you ! But karma has a sweet revenge : as you are not getting any younger each day, you will soon see (well, actually, maybe not « see » ) that your eyesight is not consistent with these diminutive models .... (sardonic laughter ) Hubert

One has a red nose, and not the other... I actually expected the size difference to be greater, especially as the MiG-31 is not an especially small aircraft ... Hubert

Happy 37th, John ! Hubert

I am assuming you meant « Kangoo » rather than « Kangaroo », Rob... Anyway, a Kangoo is not a car, just some wheeled « thingy » ... And for those from far-off shores, here is what a Kangoo looks like : Hubert

You mean you have exhausted your stash in 10,393 days ? Now that was an amateur’s stash Mine would last at least 50% more ... Hubert

What’s wrong with liters/100 kms ? You guys from the Empire have such weird units, with those multiples and fractions on top. Soon, one guy will say ‘let’s do a model in 1 inch to 6 feet scale ... or better still 3/8 of an inch to a foot ‘ Hubert

She’s beautiful ! And that prop was really worth the wait . Hubert

I have to disagree with you, guys. Even if you enter a high amount early in the process, you are not « showing your hand » , as the bids that will appear will not be your maximum price, but the ones a few cents above competitor’s bids. Your maximum amount will only be reached if competitors are getting near it ... And if you are outbid, even a few days before the auction’s end, so be it. You were not ready to pay a higher price anyway, just like Gazzas pointed out for the auction he was following ... Just my (anyone wants to propose ... ? ) Hubert

Whilst it is unavoidable if you want to sustain intensive agriculture, this stuff is dangerous if wrongly manipulated, or stored in unsafe conditions, like with possible contaminations of oil, fuel, etc. Which is why most countries have very strict safety rules Imposed on companies stocking them. And the bigger the stock, the tighter the rules. And, btw, It will not burn or explode with an « ordinary » flame. It needs a very high temperature trigger to explode. In Beirut, it seems it was a stock seized 6 years ago, stored there waiting for further notice. But, alas, the dereliction of the country and its structures has made it impossible to dispose off this hazard properly. And there is wide speculation that the primary explosion was one of fireworks, or a cache of explosives Hubert

The answer to your first question is yes, there can be a reserve price set by the seller, but the buyers don’t know about it. Some people make it a game to bid in the last minute. To avoid this trap, I always do as Bill said: I enter a bid with MY maximum possible price. The Ebay system will increment the last bid (in your case the first one) by a fixed amount. IIRC the increment is determined by the starting bid price, usually for kits, by 50 cents, then by $ 1 above a certain threshold. The system will keep incrementing the bids against the « last-minute snipers » up to your maximum bid. And, btw, for two identical amounts, the earliest one will win, this being judged by the time your bid was submitted. Some bidding wars end up being just pissing contests between alpha-males, to the point of nonsense. To set YOUR maximum possible price look for similar items with a « Buy It Now » price. Entering your bid with your maximum price is the best way to avoid the temptation of this courtyard last-minute brawls One last tip : people tend to bid in round numbers, or with multiple of 5 for the decimals (like $ 10.55). Making your maximum bid with an extra cent can sometimes yield a win (like 25.01, or 30.66) HTH Hubert

I certainly wish everyone here all the best, and it’s good to know that Karim’s family has not been hurt, at least physically. I have seen the videos, and the blast is just unbelievable. It is said that some 2 750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, stored there for the last 6 years, blew off. In September 2001, the Toulouse explosion involved 300 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, and the damage and death toll was hard to recover from. Lebanon sure did not need more chaos Hubert

Another beautiful build, John ! Well done ! Hubert PS : and I still prefer the Spit with elliptical wing-tips

Great renderings ! When do you think we will see a full kit ? Hubt

Nice and original build ! FWIW, MEK works great on ABS. Hubert

Break ! Break ! There’s flak hidden in the middle of the targets ! Hubert

Speaking of the devil ... Look what arrived this morning in the mailbox ! Hubert

That's what my wife is telling me also ... I wonder why Does "reassigning with smaller kits" count as downsizing the stash ? Help me with the terminology, guys. ! Hubert PS: I gave away/sold some 13 boxes, and am up 5 ... I am still good on my target. If you want to help me more :