HubertB

Magneto, Unlike many other modelling forums, the tone here is pretty much laid back and tolerant. And I have never seen any such thing as « bigotry » on LSM. You are the one who has come with rash statements, complaining that a new kit is not torn to pieces and not described as the PoS you claim it is. You are the one that feels compelled to answer each one telling you in one way or another to adopt a different attitude by making further statements one the verge of derision and snickering. You are the one that makes multiple posts with each a link to the same unique thread ... I think you should think about your expectations relating to what a modelling forum should be: 1) Not everyone, reviewers included, is an expert in every field and every modelled subject 2) Box-opening reviews are what they are: they show what is inside. This alone, with good photographs, and decent text, requires some work from the author, that deserves some respect 3) Receiving free kits for review is a common practice. It does not imply that the reviewer is corrupt or dishonest. There are some reviewers around here who are « attaboys » who will claim how great any kit is, just for the sake of keeping a steady flow of free kits - and the flow can be significant, sometimes many kits a week. But this is not what I have seen from James here. 4) Many self-professed experts are just that: self-professed, but not necessarily with the real substance to back the claim. Finding out who is what is as difficult on forums as in real life. 5) Modelling is a hobby: it is a source of relaxation and fun, mostly. You do not need to be a forum member to practice modelling and build kits. If you add being a forum member to you modelling time, it is to find additional pleasure in sharing and learning, in finding kindred spirits, in making friends with identical interests. Well, at least, this is what I am looking for. True, some just relish in finding another place to boast their ego, to catch a fight, to assert their dominance over the others, to find a surrogate way of expressing a power they don’t have in real life. When a modelling forum gets too many of those, it’s becoming hell for everyone, members flee if the trolls aren’t banned, and the said forum becomes yet another - virtual - fighting ring for a bunch of old frustrated boys ... You can find both types of forums on the net. Just pick which one you prefer ... 6) It is only when a kit is being built, and the experience shared, including the identification of errors and inaccuracies if the builder is knowledgeable and passionate enough to research the subject, that others get a real feeling of what they could expect from building - as opposed to owning - the kit. But then, even this can be misleading. I have seen too many « unbuildable » or « fatally flawed » statements made by some builders, which in the end were just a reflection of the ineptitude of the builder ... 7) if it goes without saying, it is still better saying - and repeating - it : not everything you see on the net is true, whatever your inclinations and beliefs are ... So, I think you should take a step back, a deep breath, a glass of whatever your favorite brew is, and rethink about how your attitude could have come across to other members here on LSM. If you see nothing wrong or worth of criticism, fine with you, But, hopefully, the rest of LSM members will remain what they are: relaxed, friendly, laid back, and fun. Which is why they are here rather than on other forums. Again, you can choose where and how you want to spend your time on a modelling forum. Hubert

My Akatombo landed home whilst I was away in the last two weeks ! Hubert

After reviving the LSP 1/32 scale, Trumpeter are steadily developing a range of large ships in what is the only acceptable scale for those ( IMHO) : 1/200. They deserve praise for that, even if they completely screwed the bow-rake angle of the forthcoming Titanic. Hubert

Absolutely outstanding detailing work ! Can I ask a nitpicking, ultimate-rivet-counter, question : shouldn’t the valve rocker arms be at different angles, reflecting the respective cycles of each cylinder ? (Not that anybody is going to notice, but ... ) Hubert

Another « must buy » for me as well, that will sadly depreciate my Silver Wings one in the stash. Hubert

John Wilkes bought the former ID models masters. Whilst his range has some common types with the Combat one, they are still different businesses to my (admittedly not very recent) knowledge. Good luck with the contact attempts. Hubert

And the double gun triggers, and the bullet hole in the armoured windscreen Hubert

Beware, Dale. You can probably fit your bed in the HPH 1/48 B-52, but not the drums and the stash. I’d keep my flat if I were you Hubert

1 inch = 2,54 cm 1 foot = 12 inches = 30,48 cm Unless, of course, you want to convince your wife that 6 inches and 12 inches are the same Hubert

You want a straightforward (and friendly, of course ) answer ? Yes ! Hubert

Most excellent ! I can but dream of when WnW will apply their magic to a Spad XIII or Breguet XIV Hubert

Sad news, yet he will keep us laughing for a very very very long time. What more could he have expected (besides the Spanish Inquisition) ? Hubert

You are a machine, Mike ! Not only is your work outstanding, but the speed at which you achieve it is simply mind-boggling ! And this one is another proof of your talent. (Extremely) Well done ! Hubert

This one I believe .... and here is the proof Hubert

Paypal acts as a ordinary merchant when debiting your credit card. If you are buying in a foreign currency, they do the conversion (and make money from it, btw) and debit your card in your account currency. Hubert

So, you’re not only hoarding kit boxes, but kit decals as well ? Me, I seldom have doubles (well, maybe 2 or 3, or 4, or ... ), but I have plenty of singles, enough to last me until they launch the Enterprise (the NCC-1701 version ) Hubert

To be clear with the piracy issues with CAF Model, they never copied anyone elses’s kits. Their kits seem designed « at home ». But they were using and reproducing extensively all the books and drawings published by ANCRE, without any formal agreement of the publisher to make use of these for a commercial purpose, nor, of course, any licensing contract. And you are right: it’s good to see people admitting their mistakes and taking action to correct them. So kudos to Tom of CAF Models for that. Unfortunately, there are a lot of unscrupulous and cynical bastards out there who answer you to « f#!&k off » when confronted As for a SG-38 WIP, I’ll do one, but not before I start - and finish - a WIP on Fisher’s Cutlass, as asked by popular demand (Harv IS popular here, isn’t he ? ) Hubert

Aaaaaaaarghhhh ! Why the abominatious (cool invention, isn’t it ? ) scale ? I have never seen a helo kit near armor, on forums or at shows ... I am still wondering why some people insist on the commonality factor between helos and armour kits ... Apart from that, an « interesting » aircraft Hubert

Just got the last (missing from the box initially) component of an interesting little kit ... But first, a couple of stories behind this acquisition : as you might know, our administratot here, James H, is also the administrator of another modelling forum dedicated to ship models : Model Ship World, at the following link : https://modelshipworld.com/ This is an outstanding modelling forum, with a huge (34 471 members as of this writing) and active membership. And with a wealth of talent hardly imaginable displayed at almost every thread. If I had to pick one as an example, I'd choose this one, by a Czech lady, Doris, who does a PAPER model of a 74-cannons ship : https://modelshipworld.com/topic/15981-hms-royal-katherine-1664-by-doris-155-card/ But brosing through the build threads there, of both kits and scratchbuilt models is juts as mind numbling ... The site is not all about period ships, whose rigging will make any WnW British subject look like an amusing distraction, and wooden models. Plastic kits are welcome, as are wooden ship kits of all types and eras. The forum merged some time ago with the NRG organisation, NRG standing for Nautical Research Guild, which devotes itself more to the historical part of ships. So there is another prominent administrator there, Chuck Passaro, who, besisdes his NRG responsibilities, is also a talented modeller and kit producer under the Syren brand. If I mention them, it is because Chuck and James have taken a very strong stance against piracy and Intellectual Property theft. In our plastic world where cutting a steel mold entails a significant expense, we seldom realise that a wooden-ship kit is basically a set of flat plywodd sheets, with the parts die- or laser-cut, some wood strips, and drawings and instructions. They are in essence very easy to copy, and a vast number of companies, mostly - but far from exclusively - of Chinese origin have taken on the copying of established manufacturers' kits. Having no research and no development cost, it is easy for them to significantly undercut the original's price, all the more so if they go for cheap, poor quality, materials. Sometimes, they do not even bother to erase the original manufacturer's name on the plans or instructions ! The same issue arises with drawings and books. There are a few publishers of books and drawings relating to some ships' monographs, and their work is often the result of hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of labor. Here again, if an unscrupulous manufacturer uses these drawings without permission of paying a licensing fee, the author is just robbed of his hard work... So MSW have taken the position of a) establishing a list of companies dubbed as pirates for copying others'kits or using stolen IP material, and b) banning these manufacturers' products from being published or shown in build threads on MSW. I have to say this position is not shared by all modelling sites, especially an Europen-run one, whose name shall remain untold, just not to promote them ... In the meantime, Chuck is working actively to reconcile the "pirates" and the legitimate manufacturers, and to convince the pirates to take a different stance, and amend their behaviour by stopping the sale of pirated kits, or concluding licensing agreements. When one of these manufacturers change their attitude and decide in good faith to enter such talks, the ban is lifted on MSW. One such manufacturer is a Chinese company called CAF Models, who is in active discussions with ANCRE, a French publisher of renown monographs, to stop using their drawings without a license agreement. In the meantime, CAF models have suspended the advertising of the contentious models on their website, to show their goodwill. So a few weeks ago, I read on MSW about the lifting of the ban of CAF Models, and went to visit their website, to find a little gem hidden in one page... This is where I want to tell a second story. I am, as some very well know, a fan of exotic and non-camoed subjects. Hence I very often end up with sometimes obscure resin kits. One subject in particular is very interesting to me, in that it is a model of a glider, which is also the aircraft on which probably most of the Luftwaffe aces learned their trade : the SG-38 glider. HPH have a resin model of the SG-38, and, of course I bought one. It is a very nice kit in appearance, with one drawback however: the wing is solid resin, when the 1:1 glider was a delicate assembly of wooden frames and translucent linen wings. I have been wondering fo ages how I could reproduce the diaphane look of the SG-38 wing by painting, and did not feel very confident in my ability to reproduce this unique look by paint alone. Enters CAF Model website. And I found there a 1/32 kit of the SG-38, in wood and brass ! The whole structure is reproduced in thin plywood. In fact, there is no covering of the wing at all, but then this is easily solved with silk paper, which will have the translucent appearance of unpainted doped linen, just as I wanted ! So this is just what I got : two small carboard boxes, containing a 1/32 wooden kit of the SG-38. One contains the key components, whilst the second contains a base and pedestal, and a resin "pilot". The content is made up of some thin plywood plates, with the various parts laser-cut, plus some additional wood dowels and brass rods, and a small PE fret. And this is finally completed by a set of printed step-by-step instructions and a large A3 sheet plan of the SG-38. So I am a very happy camper now ! And, btw, my original box was missing the "C" plywodd plate with wing ribs. I got in touch with Tom, CAF Models' owner, and he sent me the missing part in no time. So not only an original subject, but a great service from CAF Models as well ! Hubert

I’d take a 1/32 Pe-2 in a New York minute, as they say. But it is far from a forgotten Russian aircraft ... Hubert

Why, if it is forgotten ? Hubert

Amazing, and spectacular, even with (or maybe because of) its small size. Hubert

What a stunning build and result for this diminutive kit ! Enjoyed following this one very much. Hubert

Yes, of course. I did not mention it, but there is no way you could expect to find 25- meters long planks, especially in the Scotland of the 20s. The ship hulls used spliced planks. Only these were fastened to frames which were a lot denser than a kit’s far-apart (scale-wise) bulkheads. So, splicing « planks » on a kit hull is in fact more prototypical Hubert

Hello Dan, First, welcome to the forum. I confess it’s been sometime since I tackled a PoB (planks-on-bulkheads) wooden ship kit, but I am not that surprised that you have to splice the planks. It is quite common in my - admittedly limited - experience. For a ship of this shape, the suggestion anyway is probably to fill the voids between the bulkheads with soft wood (like balsa) blocks, properly sanded to conform to the bulkheads’ shape, and thus ensure you have a smooth flowing curve to support the hull planking strips. These blocks are not supplied in the kit either, but it is a common practice in kit-building, as generally the bulkheads are too far apart to ensure these smooth curves. If you do so, the splicing of the hull planks will be easier : I would still recommend that you have the splice joints on the bulkheads, and alternate the splices so they are not all aligned on the same bulkhead. This kit supplies a set of walnut strips for a second layer of planking, and James’ review mentions they are very homogeneous in colour, so the splices should not be very visible, all the more so as the wooden (as opposed to painted) part of the hull displays 4 rubbing strakes, which will further contribute to visually « blending » the splices... What I am leading to is that the splicing of the strips should not be a big deal, at least visually, and not unexpected on a kit. The woods in Amati kits are generally high quality, the design of the kit by Chris Watton is a guarantee of a well-researched kit, and of a great finished result. I believe you have done an excellent purchase with this one, even though I recognise this is not helping as a comment, if you expected continuous strips for the hull planking. The alternative is to buy longer wood strips. But this is not only expensive, adding to the cost of the kit, and you will loose some wood, as the strips you may find will generally be 1 meter long. And finally, James’ review, whilst not explicitly mentioning the « splicing issue », clearly states the kit is 700 mm long by 470 mm wide, and the strips 600 mm long. So the splicing is inferred, if not explicited. I, for one, will look forward to follow your build log of Fifie here. Hubert