Ivan Ivanovich

No drama whatsoever. So far, the "Axis 2.0" has been working like a clockwork and we're enjoyably exhausted and happy. We even lost weight over the Xmas holidays - an absolute first! "Eustress" at its best. LOL

The Wetapunga? Soooooo cute!

Retro this: Pony #3: 1968 Mustang GT 428 (7.0L) Cobra Jet, currently being restored to original condition. Much to my personal dismay, the very first Pony not being rebuild/restored or modded by myself. I hope the CJ is going to be finished before March 2019. If not, "Christchurch, we have a problem".

Gentlemen, I wish you a merry, peaceful and blessed Christmas season and a happy and healthy New Year. We'll read again next year. (And don't break anything!) Cheers, "Ivan"

Bad ol' putty tat! As a fellow scale modeller and former (enthusiastic) cat owner I can perfectly relate to this. Been there, done that... Cats are adorable a**holes. Keep calm, om mani padme hum and start over again.

That is one nice haul.

The road surface will remain virtually intact. The tracks have rubber pads. All you've got to do will be scraping off burnt rubber and tatters of smelly undergarment from the asphalt.

Tanks in general are particularly well suited to scare tailgaters out of their wits. During an emergency stop from 60 km/h to 0 km/h, a Leo 2 requires a stopping distance of 17 metres. Good enough to throroughly impress even hardboiled tailgaters.

No problem at full speed (unthrottled)...

47.6L displacement appr. 218L/100km (Canola oil or waste frying fat will also do. Simply ask your local fast food franchisee, and Bob's your uncle) RAL 9006/RAL 9007 exterior colour optional (but I can arrange they throw in the floormats for free) Fancy a test drive?

I must admit (quite reluctantly) the "Highland Green" becomes that Capri surprisingly well... <giggle> "68 RETRO" </giggle>

Sneak preview... Pic taken near "Kennedys Bush". Autumn 2014. P.S. T minus two days...

@DannyVM Completely off topic. But any progress on your MuG-23? Purely motivational:

Once refurbished, KMW grants you a 15.000km warranty. That's a heck of a mileage for a tank. Those kids grow up sooooo quickly... Handling is almost as easy as driving a bumper car. Perfect for novice drivers. No parking worries whatsover. Parking space is where you make it.

You're welcome. The wheel bays as well as the refueling probe are "no-brainers". Go with the F-8J cockpit/detail set. The Aires F-8E/H cockpit has the early, oblique-mounted radar azimuth indicator plus the earlier MK F5 ejection seat - different animal.

Governors Bay, Christchurch.

I guess I'm lucky then. There's a radiology/PET/CT/MRI department only 10 minutes from my future office and 35 minutes from where we'll be living. But you're right. The PET infrastructure in NZ is by no means as developed and dense as we're used to it in Germany, UK, France, etc.

Baltersweiler, Germany, Saturday morning: 1.40 EUR/litre (95 octane super petrol/premium gasoline). Per litre. Including 0.85 EUR taxes (PRT/VAT). 1.40 EUR 1.58 USD 1.25 GBP 2.20 AUD 2.32 NZD

Addendum: As mentioned earlier, the Aires Detail Set comes with the early afterburner/nozzle installation. Available separately under Cat.Nr. 2094 In order to build a post-1979 Aéronavale Crouze, you'd need the later, revised instalation which is also available from Aires: Cat.Nr. 2127 Cockpit: The ejection seat (Martin Baker MK F7) from the Aires set is good as is for a French Navy F-8P. One of the measures carried out during the "Prolongé" upgrade was replacing the original MK F5(F) with an MK F7(F) seat. F-8P instrument panel: (only highlighting the most visible F-8P upgrade features - a fairly different animal when compared with an F-8E/J instrument panel) The LHS/RHS By purchasing the "big" Aires detail set, you'll end up, technically speaking, with an incorrect afterburner/nozzle assembly and a cockpit that has evolved significantly from the original F-8J layout towards the ultimate F-8P configuration. Purchasing another (for a P) correct nozzle/afterburner set will increase your bill accordingly. So I'd say it's perfectly up to make a decision as to how AMS-prone you are, what level of "accuracy" you may be striving for or how eager to get into some scratchbuilding here and there to "super" the baseline Aires cockpit. (Must have/Je m'en fous/Mon cul) You decide. HTH

Your projected decal option is in fact depicting the ultimate and extensively upgraded version of the F-8E(FN) - the F-8P. You'd have to replicate the t-shaped VHF antenna, the dorsal and ventral IFF antennae as well as the rather prominent vertical tail SHERLOC RWR and lateral VOR/ILS aerials from scratch. Not overly complex structures and fairly easy to replicate with strip styrene, rods, sprue, etc. I've got to dig up a cockpit of an F-8P from one my hard drives. The overall layout differs slightly from the original one, mainly due to the GPS and SHERLOC related indicators and controls. The redesigned afterburners started being retrofitted to Aéronavale Cruzes beginning from 1979. The Aires set in your original post comprises the early AB design with the "five-spoke" flameholder. The revised design featured only four "spokes" and a new nozzle petal pattern. Post-1979 F-8E(FN) / F-8P nozzle: F-8P cockpit pics to follow...

Seems like a common trend in many countries. The same for too many young Germans - they just don't want their hands to get dirty. Old German folk: "Real work ennobles." Young German folk: "Thanks, but I'd rather be a commoner."

Thanks, Martin. Much appreciated. Glad I can blend in with pretty much any surrounding or form of vegetation.

I can recall a good many discussions with friends and locals about the "academic brain drain" or loss of skilled labourers. A business partner and very close friend of mine who emigrated from Germany a decade ago, has had his own fair share of brain drain. A few years ago, he had huge problems to hire qualified staff. Even when offered identical wages, they preferred to cross the ditch from east to west and declined the job offer accordingly. The grass seems always greener on the other side. But if going abroad/crossing the ditch is the only way for trained and motivated people to make a decent/better living, who am I to blame them?

During my 18 trips to NZ since 1992, I too observed that travelling to NZ is indeed a bit like travelling back in time. But I love it just like that. And yes, many of my long-time Kiwi friends are constantly complaining "how dear everything is". Same here in Germany, by the way. During my very first trips to NZ, I was constantly wondering why some food prices were fluctuating that heavily from one week to another... NZ is different. And that's a good thing. Period. In the overall picture, and when being viewed from a German perspective, the overall living costs in NZ and Germany are fairly comparable. But it's true, you shouldn't go to NZ for a cheaper living. It's a wonderful country with wonderful people, and we decided NZ will be the perfect place "to do the next step". Both in business and in life per se. I hate to say it, but I've never been to Australia...