ccoyle

Superb trick for the steps!

Great job on the track links and weathering the blade! Tracks are the particular reason why I have never attempted any armor builds in card stock. 😬

Welcome, Dave. Scales vary widely amongst kit manufacturers, but we can nonetheless make some generalizations. First, for wooden kits in particular, larger scales are easier to work with, because often a lot of parts shaping is needed, unlike in a plastic kit. The dividing line between "large" and "small" scales is somewhat subjective, but I'd say that 1/64 and up (remembering that smaller numbers = larger scales) is large, while 1/72 and smaller are considered small. Anything equal to or smaller than 1/192 is considered miniature in the wooden world (though that would be considered large for a plastic kit). Common kit scales include 1/48, 1/64, 1/72, and 1/96. Some manufacturers stick pretty much to one scale (e.g. Vanguard Models produces kits in 1/64), others can be all over the scale map. Some manufacturers have, at one time or another right down into the present day, produced kits in what are called "box scales," i.e. a kit produced in a scale that will allow it to fit into a certain-sized box; this is how we wind up with kits in weird scales like 1/51. Cutters, like Lady Nelson, are good first kits, just be advised that some manufacturers have really stepped up their instructions-writing game in recent years, if instructions are something that is important to you. Chris Watton, who designed the Amati kit, has produced a similar kit of Alert for his own company, Vanguard Models, and the instructions are incrementally better than in the older kit. Either, though, will produce a great finished model. Cheers!

I agree. Long ago, when I wrote a review of KK's first Po-2 kit, I mentioned that KK appeared to be a real player in the card model industry. Their production values are first-rate, with excellent printing and plenty of diagrams. Their kits are a step down from Halinski in terms of detail, but that just makes them a touch easier to complete for the average builder, while still being plenty challenging. The only knock I have against them (a minor one) is that they do not offer kit-specific molded canopies for their designs. I like them enough to have recently snapped up three more of their kits! P.S. I haven't posted an update over the past few days because of the ongoing work with the upper fuselage skin. Unlike most fuselages, which are built as a series of conic sections, the upper skin in this kit is a single piece, and there are a number of cockpit elements that must be built and attached to it before it is glued to the frames.

That makes sense, now that I think back on the coasters I have known. EDIT: After checking out the specs sheet for PankaDisc, it reinforces what I wrote elsewhere about double-checking the thickness of card parts laminated onto frames -- the thickness tolerance on the manufactured board is +/- 5%.

@0Seahorse might know the answer. Tomek, what do you guys call the material that is used for laser-cut frames in card model kits? The closest thing I can come up with in English is mat board, but I don't that is actually what it is.

It's Kartonowa Kolekcja's second issue. Makes a very nice completed model, but I don't know when (or even if) I'll get around to it. The problem with collecting (hoarding?) kits is that I now always have lots of options for next builds. It's simultaneously a blessing and a curse. 😬 Here's the kit cover. And a finished example.

I just received an A6M2 kit in the mail yesterday. Card model, though.

Welcome aboard! The true test of a great wife is if she still thinks your models are special when you have run out of display space in your home. Hopefully that day is still a long ways off for you! Cheers!

Both exceptionally nice-looking subjects. Congrats to you and James -- what a great team!

I think dimes were smaller back when I worked in 1/72 scale. 🤔

Not what's known as fiberboard in the U.S., which is made out of wood fiber instead of wood pulp.

Some nice molded detail there for 1/72 scale.

We all gotta start somewhere! Not plywood -- some kind of cardboard. I'm not sure what we would call it on this side of the pond. It's made out of layers of fiber, like card stock, but not as dense. And yes, all necessary edge coloring has been done to this point.

Some more progress. First, a shot of the cockpit interior, which will never be this visible again after this. Next, the completed fuselage framing. And finally, the first exterior skin is applied. See if you can spot the doubled parts. Next up will be the upper fuselage skins, which will be quite a bit trickier. Cheers!

I picked up a few items, but I really had to exercise some self-control.

Hey, gang. One of the long-time members at Paper Modelers recently passed away, and another member is selling off his collection of ~800 printed kits. That's right -- 800 kits, and at significantly reduced prices compared to what you would normally spend. There is something there for everyone who might be looking to hoard a few extra models, or perhaps dip a toe into the card modeling waters: ships, planes, vehicles, and buildings. Lots of really good stuff -- check it out! http://www.papermodelers.com/forum/marketplace/48666-rjm-paper-model-estate-sale.html

I've never used the pins supplied in kits. I use push pins (the kind with plastic heads). I also pre-drill the holes to eliminate splitting and use a tack hammer to drive the pins.

Welcome, Pierre! The information you are looking for can be found by clicking here and here. I look forward to seeing your work!

I'm adding my belated congratulations as well. Nice work!

Bored? Hardly! I am constantly amazed by what some of my fellow modelers can reproduce in miniature.

Yep, and I'm sure that the process produces the same issues with tolerance when card is the medium. Happily, as I have written about elsewhere, the nature of card stock, i.e. multiple layers of paper fiber, makes it relatively easy to remove material when necessary. I love interwar biplanes and sport planes. A designer could spend a lifetime solely designing kits of all the aircraft that used the Gipsy series of engines. I have a Stampe-Vertongen SV.4 in my stash and briefly toyed with the idea of doing another 2-for-1 build featuring it and the DH.82. Cheers!

Construction begins with cockpit framing. One lesson I've learned over the years (and have had regularly, sometimes painfully, reinforced) is that laser-cut frames are not a cure-all -- one can't simply throw them together and expect everything to turn out right. In this instance (as often happens), it proved necessary to trim away most of the plain card structural parts, leaving only the colored portions to laminate onto the laser-cut bits, in order to maintain the correct thickness of the finished parts. Even then, some of the tabs needed to be thinned by having a layer of paper fibers cut away, so that the tabs would fit easily into their slots. Before gluing in the bulkheads, I opted to add the optional doubling parts to create more 3D-looking control levers -- an extra 11 parts.

If you have any hobby shops near you (rare these days, I know), you can check to see if they carry milled lumber. Look for shops that cater to model railroaders and the RC plane crowd.

I have found that Aleen's Clear Gel Tacky Glue has a longer set time than regular white Tacky Glue. This comes in handy when you need to glue surfaces that need to be adjusted as you work. I used it on the cowling and spinner on my recent Ki-43 build; each is made up of concentric rings that need to be nudged around a bit as the glue sets. White glue sets too fast for this, and CA is too messy for the job. With the Gel Clear, I achieved some of the nicest ring structures I have yet done.