BlrwestSiR

Really great progress Rob. I think I reinforced the main gear on my build but the traditional way of just using a metal rod. The nose gear on mine was partly scratched as the kit one didn't look like the one in the Kagero book.

Yup, Tamiya Gun Metal. It's the first time I've tried warming up the can in a hot water bath. What a difference.

Gojira makes a return engagement. The weather has been just about perfect for spray painting outdoors so I got her done. Might have her finished this week.

Thanks Kevin! The Kamizukuri belts are my go to belts when I need something fairly common. One reason is the cost as they're much cheaper than HGW belts. One of my favourite aspects of them is they have carefully arranged the buckles on the frets so that you can lace them up without removing them first. This makes it much easier to handle them. The ones in the pic are a Sutton harness but gives you an idea of what I mean. You have to paint them yourself so that could be a bonus. The biggest downside is the buckles are made from plastic so you have to be a bit more careful. They don't have the detailed printing that the HGW ones have on them either. They also make a basic line where the belts are paper like the RB ones. Lastly, they have some of the best instructions for how to put them together, including a lacing diagram showing what belt goes where and how it threads through which buckle. Hope that helps. Carl

Phew, I was worried you'd break out a roller.

X 3!

I finished up the belts last night. Nearly used the wrong buckles but was able to fix my mistake. With the belts done, I installed the seats. I have some more small details left but the cockpit is almost done.

On an 11' model, I can see using latex paint and even a Wagner power sprayer. I certainly wouldn't want to airbrush something that big. Plus I think the Enterprise filming model was made from wood so latex again would make sense. Maybe check out Starshipmodeler.com and see what they suggest. When I had the 1/350 Refit, my plan was to do the base in white and do the Aztecing in pearl. Never got around to it and sold it. Carl

Thanks everyone!

Have a good one Harv!

On a Saturday that looked pretty much like this one (clear skies and sunny, not crazy warm) 10 years ago, Susan did the craziest thing. She said "I do" when asked if she would take me as her husband. I didn't have a choice according to my mom.  3 homes, 1 major renovation, 5 cars, more bikes than I can count, 3 cats, 1 dog and most importantly, 2 crazy boys later, we're still together. We still haven't killed each other, involuntarily or otherwise. So happy 10th anniversary my Love. Looking forward to many more. Carl

Thanks Rob. I thought I'd be clever and skip the Eduard PE for the Ta 152 and picked up the RB one instead. Well, that's a complete cockpit with individual bezels so I may have leapt from the frying pan into the fire. Thanks Dennis!

Same here. My eyes aren't up to it any more. I'm still amazed that I did try to paint tiny details years ago. My mom found a miniature I painted at least 25 years ago and dropped it off recently. I still can't believe I painted the eyes on this guy.

Got some more of the cockpit done. If you don't want to see scary brush painting, avert your eyes The IP is a combination of the PE bits and some brush painting. I also did the same on the left side of the radio operator's position. I then gave everything a wash using Vallejo black shade wash. Here's the basic cockpit tub all done. Next up were the seatbelts. I use the ones made by Kamizukuri. So far, I've got the shoulder belts done for both seats. Onto the lap belts shortly.

The Tundra is the one Toyota makes to compete with the full size American pickups. It's a beast. The Taco goes up against the Ford Ranger which I think is available in Australia, certainly in the UK and Europe. For a Hilux, I'd love one of these: totally impractical for where I live but nonetheless what I'd want. They're built by Arctic Trucks.

Ok, wasn't sure if they changed the name. We only get the Tacoma here in North America which is a completely different vehicle from the Hilux.

Got a pair of them too. They're beautiful kits but easy to burn out on.

I don't think it's necessarily wrong. There's two blisters in the kit. One is smaller than the other. The larger one has a pair of holes in it. The Dambusters Lancs and some standard Lancs used the bulged one but without the holes. The Iconicair one gives you that option. I'm looking forward to getting my pair of them.

I got the radio panel mostly done. Here's the stock panel. I then scraped off most of the moulded on detail and added my repainted PE bits. The PE definitely had that textured look Rob mentioned. I checked a more recent set for the ZM Do335 and it doesn't have that effect and the colour is a better match too.

Nice model Danny. Something different. I never did try building one of those kits. Anyone got a Rubber Duck to go with it? Always liked the look of that Mack truck all in black. Carl

Looks like a nice ute Gaz. So is that called a Hilux too or something else? Carl

Looks good with the tracks on Harv. Carl

Nice work Tony! And great info Ernie on the plane.

I've only ever had one HpH kit and it wasn't courageous enough to try building it. Can't wait to see more. Carl

The Ta-152 was one of their first kits and I've read about the iffy fit on it in places. I have their revised version of it in the stash so we'll see if it's any better. I've only built one other ZM kit which was the A-1H Skyraider. Thanks Rog! I do like their kits.