BlrwestSiR

It really does seem that way doesn't it? I had some pics up of the stash earlier this year after my reorganization but just in case:

Some fantastic looking builds here so far. It's not hard to see the love and effort out into them. For me, I think it's my Spitfire FR IX. Being pink, it definitely stands out and people are often surprised by its colour. Carl

Truly stunning. How long did it take to do all the rivets? Not sure I want to know. Carl

It looks absolutely fantastic so far. Can't wait to see what you do with the figures. Carl

I got a bit more done. The bogies are now completed. I also checked my reference photos to determine the correct drive sprocket. RFM gives you three options. I then started on the tracks for the hull. I'm using the Dragon ones as I have more than enough of them and they have to be glued together anyways. There's a total of 37 links per side for the applique armour not including the front hull. So this could take a bit.

So true Rob. Canadian Sherman crews had just about any and everything on their tanks. They definitely weren't as neat and tidy as the boxart one.

Looks fantastic Rob. Keep it up! Carl

I wonder if they're zinc. I have a couple sets of Tiger tracks made by Karaya and they're zinc. The odd bit of flash but very clean otherwise. I don't think they make them anymore. Carl

Or possibly someone got the scale conversion wrong on the shrink ray and they decided to just release it.

Some would call that the vacation stash. Me, I think it's a very focused one. Mine is all over the map. I mean I have Nascar stock cars in mine, nevermind a '59 Cadillac...

Nice to see this Mark. Is it the One Man Models kit? Carl

Meng has announced a 1/24 Fokker Triplane. https://aeroscale.net/news/large-scale-fokker-triplane I wonder if this is an upscaled version of their 1/32 kit?

I stopped by my LHS as they're open for curbside service today and used the gift card my wife gave me for Christmas. I keep running of storage space for paints and had been looking for more of the paint racks made by Ammo. I found some online but the shipping costs effectively doubled their price. I called the LHS to see if they could get them. They said they had a couple of each in stock! They're weren't listed yet on the website and I was the only person who had asked about them. I bought a pair of the Tamiya/Mr Color/AK Real Color size and after some thought, one of the Ammo/Vallejo ones. I decided I had had enough of my boys' idea of putting the paint away when they're done: These are some of the best paint racks in terms of space efficiency, capacity and value (shipping notwithstanding) in my opinion. Still can't believe I have six already and they're effectively full. Carl

Jeroen, are the pins brass? And where did you get them from? If you asked me 30 years ago, I could've told you what the box said but now all I can remember is 3 something. The lighthouse says China on it. Carl

You're just motoring along nicely there Cees. I like that that you started at the stern and are working your way forward. Carl

Just saw this. Fantastic build and diorama.

Well, Martin is Canadian...

I ordered some AM for my Scammell. I also had some more SBY2202 ships arrive.

Wow, they look painted on. I'm always impressed by folks who can get decals to behave.

I will often tape the metal ruler I have to the model. This keeps it in place and I don't have my fingers in the way. Also, are you using light passes with the scriber or doing a single heavy pass? Doing multiple light passes gives you better control if you're not doing that already. Otherwise, lasers? Carl

The thinner baseplates do look much better than your first effort. Can't wait to see more. Carl

Ok, so I'm planning to do a Firefly from the Governor General Horse Guards, 5 Canadian Armoured Division. Say that 5 times fast. Anyways, the big reason is that the Division's tanks seems to pretty much be covered in spare track links as applique armour. And they're Canadian. One result of the extra track is the increased weight of the tanks. To alleviate this, they mostly had the extended end links or duckbills fitted. This helped reduce the ground pressure of the tank. Upon closer inspection of the duckbills, I found there are two styles. One is flat and the other is curly. I've got plenty of the flat ones. The curly ones I have from an old Dragon kit but they're a bit thick. Bronco makes a set but I'm not sure they're compatible with the kit tracks. Which brings up another potential issue. Shermans have a crazy number of different types of tracks. The kit tracks are T62 ones. Although not wrong for a Firefly, it looks like I need T54E1 tracks for my tank. Fortunately (or not as we shall see) I have a couple sets of those. Modelkasten makes some of the most detailed track links you'll find in plastic. The unfortunate bit is the number of pieces each link is. Here's the sprues to make up 4 links. Yup, 9 parts per link. But they have enough articulation to make a yoga master cry "Uncle!". The kit ones are 4 parts per link and RFM gives you a jig to do 6 links at a time. To either, I'd have to add the duckbills. I'm thinking I'll get the Bronco duckbills, thankfully they're in stock at a nearby shop. If they work on the kit tracks, I'll use them there. If not, 9 X 82 links per side X 2 tracks per tank = ugh....

Well, in the original series the SBY Yamato is built within the wreck of the IJN one. So there are some visual similarities above the waterline. Fujimi has been releasing various kits of the Yamato superstructure in 1/200. They have a turret too with the full magazine storage below it. I wonder if they could be used to update the old Nichimo kit?

Thanks @mark31. They're doing some nice modern kits of popular subjects and filling in some blanks too. Thanks @DocRob! No, I should have called it Step 0.1!

Thanks @Kaireckstadt! So far it's goes together really well, very similar to an Asuka/Tasca Sherman kit. I've built a number of those already. I wanted to get the Fehrmann Tiger kit but built the Dragon one a couple years ago. Here's a link that may be helpful for you. It's a correction list for the kit. http://tiger1.info/models/products-page/RM5005 I'm mostly model at night. The boys are in bed then and I usually have a few hours to myself then. Thanks @Bomber_County! It's only the idler wheels that have separate rims. So the bogies themselves will still need masking and painting.