DocRob Posted February 19 Posted February 19 Today, I received a car and some car build supplies from Spotmodel. Besides being always reliable, they have the best packaging in the modeling world. The Lancia Stratos is one of my favorite cars and I didn´t own a single kit of it. I pondered about the new 1/12 Italeri release, but it´s Italeri.... When I saw the Hasegawa 1/24 Stratos in Rally Acropolis livery, I was sold and had to buy it. I added some extras, like Reji PE parts, decals from Studio 27, because Hasegawa only included the blue borders for the orange arrows and I´m to lazy, to mask all of it and very thin green tinted clear acetate windows from decalcas, which give the possibility, to show the side windows half open. Some random stuff, like Zero lacquer clear coat, which is fantastic, some texturized Zero paints for gearboxes and brakes and not to forget Tamiya´s fantastic lacquer gloss and semi gloss black jars. I also added some Tamiya masking fluid, let´s see, how good that is and some tiny sponges to apply polishing paste. Seatbelts and intake funnels for my Lotus Type 88 from MFH , some USCP 3D printed engine parts for my 1/24 Ferrari GTO and Falcon Models radiators, to substitute the kit parts of Tamiya´s 1/20 Lotus Type 79. The detail of the printed radiators is fantastic, you can read through the fine mesh of the radiators, if you like. Cheers Rob 9
BlrwestSiR Posted February 20 Posted February 20 Great choice Rob. There's a 3D printed engine designed for the Hasegawa kit but it requires a bit of cutting. I've always been a big fan of the Stratos myself. I have a few in the stash including both the Doyusha and recent Italeri ones in 1/12. The Italeri isn't as bad as it's being made out to be. Not perfect but not a hot mess either. 3
DocRob Posted February 20 Posted February 20 1 hour ago, BlrwestSiR said: Great choice Rob. There's a 3D printed engine designed for the Hasegawa kit but it requires a bit of cutting. I´ve seen the GPmodelling engine, but plan to keep it relatively simple with this build. Only some PE where needed and the thinner and tinted Decalcas acetate windows will be used. The rear should be closed, but I have to inspect the kit a bit further to definitely decide. Cheers Rob 3
BlrwestSiR Posted February 21 Posted February 21 Nice selection Mark. The Detail and Wonder gear sets are really impressive. I have a couple of different ones from them all they've all been excellent.
ScottsGT Posted February 24 Posted February 24 Sprue order. 3 days late thanks to the USPS. Was supposed to be Friday. Stuck in Philly with no movement until Saturday evening. I started looking at Eduard masks and found a lot have been discontinued or just cannot be found. These are for the B-25H and the A-20 J/K. I found a set for the B-25J on eBay from Australia. Should be here tomorrow. Everyone speaks highly of the Tamiya TS-80 so I thought I’d give it a try. 4
ScottsGT Posted March 3 Posted March 3 Eduard masks for the B-25 J arrived from Australia. Packed safely with one packing peanut! And a set of decals I’ve been eyeing for a while now from Sprue. They went out of stock and I got notified back in stock and immediately ordered a set. I think I now officially have more F-16 decal options than kits. 3
BlrwestSiR Posted March 3 Posted March 3 1 hour ago, ScottsGT said: I think I now officially have more F-16 decal options than kits. That's SOP for me. I don't know how many sets I have for the F-16 even though I only have 4 kits in 1/32. Nevermind F-4 and F-14 decals. Those are even worse but at least are in 1/48 so I stand a chance of having the space for them if I actually bought a kit for each set. 3
Count0 Posted March 4 Posted March 4 On 2/19/2025 at 12:25 PM, DocRob said: Besides being always reliable, they have the best packaging in the modeling world. Yes. Spotmodel is the best, really. Never have I had an item arrive damaged, other than maybe a bent corner on a book. 2
Count0 Posted March 4 Posted March 4 My latest additions. 1/35 Borders PZ.IV L/70 Tamiya 1/48 Stuart 1/32 Horten Twins 6 1
belugawhaleman Posted March 6 Posted March 6 My Plaza Japan order arrived.... Some surprise items I've been looking for: From Tamiya, some older kits; their Centaur C.S. Mk.IV (35232) in 1/35. I wasn't aware that this one ever existed ! This was released back in 1999. This one has the glueable tracks, so is this a re-relaese? Also from Tamiya, their Semovente M40 (35294). This is an updated version of their original kit released in 2008 including link & length tracks, new figures (2),photo-etch, and other new parts. This is not the Italeri rebox that came out later. I've been looking for this one. From Pit Road , their Crossley Armored Car model 25 in 1/35 (213-0015) purchased from the British, These were used by the Japanese in China in the 1930's. Looks like a nice kit, This new boxing adds rubber tires Check out YouTube channel PANZER insight for lots of archival videos of Military Vehicles including the Vickers Crossley Type 87 - 25 in Japanese service. Very cool ! Also; some pre-cut masks in "squiggle pattern" from Dspiae. From Copper State Models, set of resin replacement grousers for CSM's Ehrhardt kit. The kits styrene parts have large attachment points around their circumference that I didn't want to deal with. I also got from Aber, a metal barrel for the Semovente Kit. I also got another Hasegawa "Egg Girl" resin figure kit in 1/12. 4
GusMac Posted March 12 Posted March 12 With the Mig-21 coming close to the end I was pondering what to do next and thought I'd go for the Infinity Val with all the add-ons which I got from Ernie as the prize for the GB last year. I didn't fancy any of the kit schemes, so the plan is to go for the bottom one here which is an aircraft from the Akagi at Midway. Although the packaging says 1/48 I've measured the meatballs and they definitely are 1/32. Didn't actually notice until I took the photo and there was a sharp intake of breath when I thought I'd ordered the wrong thing or Hannants had screwed up the order but thankfully all is well. 4
Count0 Posted March 12 Posted March 12 Gotha Transport. Wanted this, but wasn't sure it was worth $99.99, which was Sprue Bros discount price. But waiting a few months brought it round to the "Lightning deals" page for half that. No brainer at that point. Not an expert on these, but I am curious if it can be back dated to the original glider version.There are a few parts marked not for use that look like they are for that. 4
Count0 Posted March 12 Posted March 12 My most recent Spotmodel order. Decals for the Tamiya Porsche 911 GTS R3. Narrowed it down to two base colors, so I bought stripes for each, as they were very inexpensive. And a better set of Carbon decals which include the interior/rollbar Wheels, brakes and diffuser/exhaust system for NuNu Porsche 911 RSR LM 2018. Kit wheels and tires are the same at all 4 corners, which is incorrect. So these fix that, though the rears are only a tiny bit bigger now. The rest is just "see want have" and probably unnecessary. 4
Count0 Posted March 12 Posted March 12 1/72 Battroid VF-1S. I love these Valkyrie's. Palmax kit seems really nice but I have yet to build one. 4
Count0 Posted March 12 Posted March 12 X-Plus 1/8 Red Sonia. Another company I really like, but again, have yet to build one of their kits. I read all the Conan books I could get my hands on when I was a teen so this was another obvious must have for me. 4
BlrwestSiR Posted March 14 Posted March 14 Nice variety of items there @Count0. Spot Model is a great place to get stuff for car models. I love the VF-1 Valkyries too. I managed to grab the 1/20 Max Factory Strike Valk when it came out. It's a bit basic but it's 1/20. One day... 3
Count0 Posted March 14 Posted March 14 5 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said: 1/20 Max Factory Strike Valk So I waited, as I do like the strike Valkyries, but I wanted the standard version. It's ridiculously big, even without all the fast-packs and ordnance. 2
belugawhaleman Posted March 15 Posted March 15 Some items.... My Takom Wings Ho 229A in 1/32 scale (32001) came today. looks interesting. I saw a documentary about this aircraft a while back and had some interest on the subject. It's kind of sad to see the condition of the original at the NASM, but I'm glad to hear of its restoration. The kit looks great especially the one-piece slide molded nose...impressive. Also; three of the WAVE special shape diamond files. These are great for figures as well as plastic models I've found and I highly recommend them. As you see in my pictures, one has a loop at the end........never seen that before. Also; from Copper State Models, Some resin artillery shells for their Gruson Fahrpanzer kit. Found a US seller on EBAY that has these accessories for CSM kits. Finally, a set of Friulmodel tracks for the Cromwell tank .(ATL-43) These will be used on the Tamiya Centaur kit I bought recently. 5
Count0 Posted March 15 Posted March 15 3 hours ago, belugawhaleman said: The kit looks great especially the one-piece slide molded nose...impressive. It does. Similar to the ZM kit but without the detail inside the wings. I noticed the slide molded nose also. Very slick. The "B" nose is also slide molded. Curious that ZM is now also preparing a kit version of the "B". 3
BlrwestSiR Posted March 15 Posted March 15 The ZM B nose supposedly is a different shape to the Takom one. It's supposed to be closer to the actual drawings and have a more correct rear cockpit. It'll certainly be better than the original ZM conversion kit for the 2 seater. 2
Count0 Posted March 17 Posted March 17 On 3/15/2025 at 4:40 PM, BlrwestSiR said: It's supposed to be closer to the actual drawings and have a more correct rear cockpit. Which one? ZM or Takom is more accurate? I was never going to buy the ZM add on. I don't trust thin resin castings. I've seen that go south too many times.
HubertB Posted March 17 Posted March 17 1 hour ago, Count0 said: Which one? ZM or Takom is more accurate? I was never going to buy the ZM add on. I don't trust thin resin castings. I've seen that go south too many times. The forthcoming ZM « B », designed by Radu Brinzan … Hubert 1 1
BlrwestSiR Posted March 17 Posted March 17 2 hours ago, Count0 said: Which one? ZM or Takom is more accurate? I was never going to buy the ZM add on. I don't trust thin resin castings. I've seen that go south too many times. As Hubert said, the ZM one is the more accurate. As for the resin one, here's what mine looked like. There was no way to straighten it out completely as much as I tried. I know someone else who had the same set and theirs was even worse. The replacement set that ZM sent wasn't any better. 1
belugawhaleman Posted March 18 Posted March 18 You're talking about the accuracy of the b model right? The nose of the Takom 229a looks correct compared to the NASM example. looks Ok to me. . Anyway, I wasn't interested in the two seat model as there's no existing example. I'm happy with my kit. 1
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