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If you want to find a rare Tamiya Sherman, look for their re-boxing of the Asuka Easy Eight kit. They threw in a set of figures and charged less than Asuka did for the same kit. Tamiya also released the Asuka Firefly in a similar package. Carl

Fantastic job on the decals. They look great and nice to hear you didn't have too many issues with them. I've just tried putting some on my Valkyrie and both Mr Mark Softer and Solvaset weren't doing a thing so I went to the my weapon of last resort- Tamiya X20A.

Looks good there Martin. Hopefully the dog doesn't eat the seat covers.

The Cavalier Mustang conversion that I ordered from the Ukraine was shipped March 27 and arrived today if that helps give you an approximation.

Harv, go for it. The set is very impressive. It also gets rid of having to build the Tamiya Merlin so should make for a straightforward build.

I got a package in the mail today from the Ukraine.

It'll be one for me too. I've been waiting for this variant since it was announced.

The Shizuoka show finally happened this year. ZM showed off the Hs-129 with the big stonkin' cannon. No release date yet but at least it's coming. They also had a mock up of some little known plane called an FW190. Haven't heard of that type before. The F-4G in 1/48 looks to be ready soon. For other news, check out Hobby Dengeki. https://hobby.dengeki.com/hobby-shizuoka/

One of my favourites.

Peter, great to see you back at the bench. That's a fantastic recovery and glad to hear you persevered through it. I try to use masks as much as possible too. Unfortunately I don't think anyone does them for the Martini Porsche paint job. Decals have often been my arch enemy. Scale Motorsport does some very incredible carbon decal sets but they can be a real pain to apply. You basically paint the body shell semi-gloss black and then everything is a decal. Carl

The Valkyrie is starting to look like a plane. The FAST pack is almost done too.

Thanks Mark! I've never built a vac kit, still on the to-do list for one day. There's a new company doing vac and 3D printed kits and have a 1/48 B-2 coming out soon. Carl

Great job on the MiG Ernie. The camo came out beautifully. And DN are great to deal with. They'll do custom masks for a very reasonable price if you ask them. I've ordered several custom sets from them. Carl

Looks much nicer with all the marketing material removed. I've got Fox shocks on my mountain bikes so those are always a good sign.

Nice! Imagine trying to do the digital camo on that kit...

Wow, who makes that?

That looks great too John. Thanks for sharing. Carl

A nice pair of builds there John. Especially when you consider the kit isn't a shake and bake one but requires some fighting and cursing to build. I can't recall if you've done the T-33 yet as that would be an obvious one to add next. Carl

Thanks Martin! There's a couple kits that have been released of the original version of his ship. Fine Molds did one in 1/72 and MPC did one as well, not sure of the scale. You'd have to open up a lot of panels in either case to get the hot rod look.

They do have a passing resemblance don't they?

I started on the detail painting of the Valkyrie. Lots of masking was involved.

Great Hobbies has one at their Ottawa store. If you order it online they'll ship it out but may take a bit longer. The price is in CAD too so may be cheaper after conversion. https://www.greathobbies.com/productinfo/?prod_id=BRN35010SP Carl

Working on a bunch of subassemblies for the Valkyrie. Haven't gotten to the detail painting yet but almost there. A quick mock up to see what it'll look like.

Hey Peter, glad to see you back. Even better to hear that the reno work is almost done and you've got time to spend at the bench. This is an unexpected subject but I'm looking forward to what you do with it. I've only ever built one airliner, the Minicraft 737 that I put Simpsons markings on. I still have it somewhere at my parents' house. Carl

Hobby Search has a bunch posted, usually Japanese kits. https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/ Scalemates often has instructions posted as well. https://www.scalemates.com/ Carl