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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

In the Buff

smitty44

By smitty44
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Clunkmeister

Clunkmeister

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16 minutes ago, IainMackayDall said:

Has anyone produced a 1/32 B-29, other than scratch builds? and Yes a B-58 would be a dream. Personally as a "Pom" ( Aussie for British ) I'd love to build a 1/32 Avro Vulcan or Handley-Page Victor.. But then someone will have to invent a large rotating stacker display shelf.

Ha!  I can see a rotating stacked display shelf in my mind. A conveyor belt/escalator affair.

Yes, all the V bombers. Don’t forget the gorgeous Vickers Valiant, my favorite of the three.

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HubertB

HubertB

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11 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Smitty, as excited as I am that HPH is looking at more big kits, I can say that for me at least, it's a bridge too far.  And this from a guy who'd buy anything, as long as it's huge and awesome.  I appreciate the big BUFF, but not enough to shell out 1300 Euros for one. Plus having to display a model with a 6ft wingspread would be the true definition of insanity.

I heard by the wayside that the C-47 is not selling well for HPH and they consider it a commercial failure, which really surprises me, as I have personally bought more than enough copies of that kit to do me for 100 years.  The noise and rejoicing surrounding the announcement of that kit brought was absolutely deafening, and I would have expected that they'd easily sell 350 copies in a couple months. So I'm shocked by their admission, and have a much greater appreciation of why a kitmaker is cautious and tends to discount the hollerings of folks like us when deciding what to produce. In other words, we now have a concrete example of why we keep getting 109s.   I theose who committed online to buying a C-47 actually followed through, they'd have sold an easy 500 copies by now.

I was (and still am) one of the guys jumping around at the idea of a 1/32 DC-3 ...

But, in all my posts about this kit, here or on LSP, I always wrote two conditions :

1) I wanted a DC-3, not a C-47 ... I know the difference was sometimes small (to summarise, mainly the cargo door and the extreme rear end without the glider hook) and that most post-WWII civilian DC-3s were in fact ex-C 47s, but, still, I was disappointed to see the kit only offered the option for boring olive drab military versions ...

2) Above all, I expected a price point in the range of the former Catalina. i.e. 600 €, VAT included for us Europeans. I braced myself for this cash-out. But, at something like 750 € with VAT, it was just 20% above my expectations, and psychologically priced-out for me ...

I know the internet has extended beyond dreams the capacity to sell items even in small quantities, but a business can still price itself into a teeny weeny niche ... HPH did it for me with the C-47 kit :(

As for the Buff, if you want one in large scale, you can find one for less than 50 € as a paper model (as well as a Tu-95). A lot of work, but then HPH kits are not shake-and-bake either ...

And finally, I’d greedily jump on a B-58 (even though I already have the paper kit) IF the price point was right, i.e. significantly less than the C-47 ...

Hubert

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Clunkmeister

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Hubert, I, like you wanted a DC-3. I can live with the C-47 because most of the freighter I knew were ex C-47s, and most were unmodified other than gutting the interior.

To me, a REAL DC-3 has all you mentioned, plus Wright single row engines, which means a much different look. And I didn’t  just want a DC-3, I wanted a DST, but beggars can’t be choosers, and as a DC-3, I could scratch the DST differences. Different window arrangement, door on starboard side, skylights for berths, etc.  Plus those Wright engines. A HUGE difference can be seen in the pics.

I think you can find a dealer to sell it to you for less than MSRP.  I bought mine for under $600.00 after taxes, etc.  That’s a bit over €500.00.

Let me know if I can help. I spend a small fortune on HPH, maybe I might have a favor due from my dealer. :)

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HubertB

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The Wright engines are no big deal. There is a representation by Vector, which has only a "small" glitch, in that the crankcase has an uneven distribution of the cylinders, to make room for an inaccurate representation of the oil crankcase ... But I have designed an accurate center crankcase for the R-1820, and can 3D-print it. Ditto for the cowlings, which I would need to design, but that is an easy shape compared to a finned cylinder for a radial engine ;) ...

I could probably design and print internal seats for a civilian conversion as well - and then think about the waste of time and energy a civilian which hides the internal ribbing means for the HPH kit ...

Just remains to find the "right" price. I have not had that chance so far ...

Hubert

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crazypoet

crazypoet

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5 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Hubert, I, like you wanted a DC-3. I can live with the C-47 because most of the freighter I knew were ex C-47s, and most were unmodified other than gutting the interior.

To me, a REAL DC-3 has all you mentioned, plus Wright single row engines, which means a much different look. And I didn’t  just want a DC-3, I wanted a DST, but beggars can’t be choosers, and as a DC-3, I could scratch the DST differences. Different window arrangement, door on starboard side, skylights for berths, etc.  Plus those Wright engines. A HUGE difference can be seen in the pics.

I think you can find a dealer to sell it to you for less than MSRP.  I bought mine for under $600.00 after taxes, etc.  That’s a bit over €500.00.

Let me know if I can help. I spend a small fortune on HPH, maybe I might have a favor due from my dealer. :)

822DDD1F-6D2E-4536-A104-6CF8310A8FE2.jpeg

Nice 1/32 DC3 at DeAgostini/ModelSpace - but as with all their kits, they are a wee bit “proud” of the product

still, i’ve seen people do some *very* nice builds off this kit.

https://www.model-space.com/us/build-douglas-dc3.html

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HubertB

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18 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

 And this from a guy who'd buy anything, as long as it's huge and awesome.

Hushhhhh ... don’t tell anyone else, but I have seen on Scalemates today that the Japanese guy behind « ONE MAN Models » has upscaled his 1/72 SaRo Princess to 1/48... Now, this is talking « huge and awesome » :)

Hubert

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HubertB

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58 minutes ago, crazypoet said:

Nice 1/32 DC3 at DeAgostini/ModelSpace - but as with all their kits, they are a wee bit “proud” of the product

still, i’ve seen people do some *very* nice builds off this kit.

https://www.model-space.com/us/build-douglas-dc3.html

If HpH’s C-47 is already too expensive, then the De Agostini’s DC-3 is .... what ?

Hubert

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ScottsGT

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11 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Scott, I paid less than 600 for my C-47. Talk to Greg, he can hook you up.  I can pick it up from his house and arrange most advantageous shipping at my office. 

Stop it!! Yer killin' me here!  Did you see my last post in the "My Other Hobby" thread?  Now I'm saving up for a GSL Phoenix can for the front of it.   After that dust settles, maybe.... But a big Vietnam era Spooky has always intrigued me. 

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harv

harv

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11 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Scott, I paid less than 600 for my C-47. Talk to Greg, he can hook you up.  I can pick it up from his house and arrange most advantageous shipping at my office. 

And what about a B52D ?.......harv

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Clunkmeister

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4 hours ago, ScottsGT said:

Stop it!! Yer killin' me here!  Did you see my last post in the "My Other Hobby" thread?  Now I'm saving up for a GSL Phoenix can for the front of it.   After that dust settles, maybe.... But a big Vietnam era Spooky has always intrigued me. 

Scott you KNOW I've got THAT sickness, too.   I just SBR'd a Henry Mare's Leg in 357, but no can for it.  A buddy built a sweet little subsonic 300 blackout on an AKM frame with a can, and that thing got my blood pumping.  All you hear is the cyclic noise and a clang a half second later. I'll be filling out paperwork this weekend......

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