HubertB

I’d check the Archer site for this kind of (armor) markings. For the parts themselves, I’m sure that you can find some in armor AM offers. Hubert

I’d say plastic ... Hubert

I’m a bit like you, Ryan, Must be linked to my modelling culture and past. I never flinch facing a difficult assembly, and quite the contrary tend to yawn when it’s too easy. Add to that the choice of subject, which is very often too mainstream for my tastes (at least for Tamiya, not WnW who created a new modelling model and market), and I end up with a lot of Special Hobby, or resin kits, and few, if any, Tamiya. Hubert

Hubert

I can hear the choir of unfinished kits singing a capella « You’re so weak, Martin... » Hbert

I think this report of the public exhibition in Shizuoka, published on The Modelling News, gives a good idea of what the Japanese modelling market is all about (besides the talent everywhere) https://www.themodellingnews.com/2019/05/58th-shizuoka-hobby-show-2019-modelling.html# Hubert

Not for me to say anymore, Jeff ... It’s a big chunk of resin though ... I’d expect a price point between, say, a Fisher jet or a HPH Walrus, or more than a HK twin, and less than a four-engined one ... Before seeing the master, I was thinking of a price between 135-150 €. Not sure I’d have made any profit at this price, after I saw the (complex) masters ... Hubert

There is always the possibility to adapt the Dumas 1/32 Brooklyn tug to a LT-5 tug, but then, it may be difficult to complete in the time frame (don’t ask me how this idea came to me ) Hubert

At the risk of appearing to sow dissent here (hang on, maybe that’s really what I am doing ), I am not disappointed, because I am not that interested with Tamiya new releases (you know, single seats - but for the Mossie -, heavily-camoed WWII fighters, yaaaawwwwnnnn ), even though I recognise they are truly outstanding kits... Being a weird-subjects’ scratchbuilder at heart, at a definite procrastinator when to comes to painting, I am not that keen on easy-to-assemble-with-almost-no-filling-just-need-to-do-a-proper-painting-job kits. I was disappointed when HpH chose to release a C-47 rather than a DC-3, and at at a price point, with VAT, above my self-imposed (already very understanding) budget limit, I was disappointed when ICM released an O-2 rather than a Cessna 337, or when Trumpeter’s much awaited TBD turned into vaporware, but not when Tamiya San failed to release another WWII single-seater (my bet is still - since 2014 - on a 109 G-6, btw, which I got right so far, but for the scale). And I agree we are very lucky to have so many new 1/32 subjects available in-between new releases by Tamiya . Just to finish and cheer you up, some of you may know I initiated the development of a 1/32 DH-89 Dragon Rapide resin kit. Life choices and other constraints have held me from bringing the project to fruition for quite some time. You may be pleased to know that I have just struck a deal with a very competent resin-kits’ manufacturer to take over the masters, and finally release this kit. Isn’t LS modellers’ life wonderful in our times ? Hubert

It looks like you did your mold vertical, from tip of the blade to root of the blade. For a long and thin part like this one, I believe it is probably more efficient to do the mold « horizontal », with a big casting block along the leading or trailing edge. Thus any trapped bubbles have less way to do to escape from the viscous resin. I have also read that having your mix cup high above the mold, to thin down the fillet of resin flowing down into the mold, has the effect of removing some of the bubbles trapped in the mixing process. Hubert

Making great progress, Ernie Hubert

Hey, I have seen this movie ... So, who is the Alien, and who is knitting around here ? Hubert

... or using the old ID vac form, whose shape is most likely dubious ... Hubert PS : thanks to Westland, there was a civilian-registered Whirlwind for a short period of time after WWII. which gives me a good reason to buy the kit, without breaking my « no camo » self-inflicted rule

It takes less than 3 hours to drive around Flores, which is roughly 15 x 10 kms ... This said, it’s absolutely enjoyable if you like wild, preserved nature, flowers, birds, volcanoes and waterfalls . Fairly different from Ibiza, as an island Hubert

The profile shape can be appreciated from a front quarter angle as well, but it is true that the « issue » comparing the kit and the real aircrafts happen aft of the main spar, and is a result, on the 1:1 aicrafts, of the profile as well as of the incidence. It’s true as well that the Davis profile can appear very clearly like on this pic : ... and not so much on other pics, like this one : And finally, the following pic illustrates both the visible Davis profile from front quarter (IMHO) and the cowling shapes variations you rightly mention. I am not trying to be an « armchair » expert, btw, just sharing feelings about my memory of what a B-24 « looks like », compared to the kit. I reiterate my sincere admiration for you to have completed the kit, in a truly masterful way. Cheers. Hubert

No, I’m on the North American plate, west of the Mid-Atlantic ridge. Legally still Europe, though ... H7bert

Arrived this morning, for one week vacation, in Europe’s westernmost town ... Exactly mid-way between Lisbon and Newfoundland... This is my view for the next 7 evenings ... If you get on your toes, you might glimpse the Statue of Liberty, 3 600 kms from here Hubert PS : the town is called Fajā Grande, on the west coast of Flores Island, one of the Azores islands.

Welcome to LSM Gary. Your Liberator looks really good, and the amount of work you have put in it shows clearly. Like others, I feel that the seams in the turrets do not show that much, and the polishing you have done was really worth it. This said, and it is in no way to belittle what you have achieved, because you did with what the kit supplied, the shape of the wing at its root appears really off, whichever way you look at it. And, maybe its emphasized by the red band, but there is something not quite right to my eyes in the shape of the engine cowlings. Hubert

Happy B’day, Karim ! We miss you here, buddy Hubert

The Mars is such a beautiful airframe. Even though massive, it looks incredibly graceful, and even nimble Tha ks for posting this one, Jeff. Hubert

It’s all the more remarkable as they have just one day to perform all these repairs Hubert

You can even fit a B-24 in the theme, or a WnW kit with a rotary engine ... just sayin' Hubert

Themes have got to be general enough to attract different entries. Even when the much awaited Tamiya P-51 came out with a lot of hype, a P-51 GB was not interesting enough for significant participation... I'd venture the same would apply to a Fw-190 GB. "Overlord" could be one theme, all the more so if you authorise targets (aka tanks or armour) on top of the aircrafts. Other options could be based around the engine type ("Just jets", or "Radial engines", or "Water-cooled", or a theme imposing a color in the finish (like black, or red, or blue, or yellow, etc.). People participate in GB for the fun of it, if the theme does not constraint them to tackle a specific kit, or scheme. Give them the freedom to fit their choice of subject within the GB theme. Just my Hubert

The "civilian" GB on LSP was a complete flop, participation-wise ... Unfortunately (IMHO°, most modellers seem to want their models bristling with guns and bombs Hubert

Me 2 ...