CDW

Very nice!

Those are gonna be awesome in 1:35 scale. Can't wait to see them.

All I can tell ya is, I been there done that and got the Tee shirt. With flying models, we very bit of weight matters. A lot. Try hats why there is “contest balsa”. It’s the lightest weight stuff. Modelers bring sensitive gram weight postal scales to choose their sheet balsa for flying models. Like I said, if it’s a shelf sitter, it won’t matter a bit, but with flying models, weight is a huge deal.

Only two I know of are, one from Hobbycraft and a harder-to-find one from Fisher Models in resin, cast metal and photo etch. Both are 1:32 scale. A dear price for the Fisher Model, around 300 - 500 dollars, and the Hobbycraft one often goes for 100 - 200 dollars. The Hobbycraft kit needs a lot of help. Both have been OOP for a long time. I bid on a Fisher Models one from a guy in Germany but got outbid. Not interested in one for $200+. Will wait until one comes out from Asia which is bound to happen sooner or later. Surprised Trumpeter hasn't already done one in 1:32 really.

Merry Christmas all! Gonna be a cold one this year in NA

Great-looking base for your subjects. Reminds me of when I was knee-deep in wet clay mud, how it stuck to clothing and boots and felt like my legs weighed a ton. On tracked vehicles, it's a constant battle to keep the buildup of mud removed from tracks and running gear. It will actually make the tracks derail from the road wheels and drive sprockets.

I've had similar results on my clear canopy when using lacquer paint. I think it's because I had too much reducer added and it blead through the tape, not under the edges. At least that's the only reason I could think of why it happened.

Great looking model Denis. She's going to be a beauty when you're finished with her. I wanted to introduce you guys to a vendor who laser cuts old balsa kits that have been long out of production. It's called Aero-Werks, a division of DPC Models, Ltd. A decade ago, a good friend and R/C scale model flying buddy got me hooked on building and flying "micro-scale" R/C aircraft. For decades, I had built and flown large scale R/C models, but this modern age had produced R/C equipment in micro-scale and made possible the conversion of these old balsa kits into flying R/C scale models. For many, they will have no interest in flying R/C, but for the guy who likes to build static scale models, this is the place to go (Aero-werks) to get that old kit you remember from way back when, without spending stupid prices on Ebay to buy an original. The only downside, there are no vacuform parts included, no decals, and in some cases but not all, no plans. It only includes the shaped balsa parts, laser cut. You the builder provide your own balsa stringers, usually 1/16 inch ones. Canute mentioned using basswood instead of balsa for a stronger model, and that is fine for a static build, but only choose the very lightest balsa you can find for building a flying scale model. Every gram of weight counts and wing loading is a huge deal when building a flying model. Anyway, here is the link for the website. If nothing else, you will drool at the selection of old WW1 flying models you can purchase at a small cost each. Some have not been seen in decades. Aero-werkes (aerowerkes.com)

Thanks! That's certainly much better. No minimum order required, but the 45 degree elbows are not in stock right now. I'll probably be better off having HobbyTown order them for me for the time being.

I was disappointed to find out my regular web suppliers don't carry the Plastruct elbows. Plastruct website requires a $25 minimum order, with a $15 shipping fee. After taxes, it's close to $50 for a dozen or so elbows. I'm going to ask my local Hobby Town to order the elbows with their next resupply order. I think the packages of elbows retail for around $4 each pack of a half dozen.

I ordered this 1:32 Trumpeter Bf-109 E3 thinking it was an old release from Trumpeter’s early days. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box to see a much more modern tooling. Actually I believe it’s going to be a great kit. Box shows a copyright date of 2019. Very favorable pricing. I got this delivered from Amazon for less than $50. Mmm ow I want to order a later variant to see if that’s a new tool as well.

The dog ate my distributor caps. Fur real! 😀 Actually, he chewed on them a bit. But how the heck can you get mad when you see a face like this looking back at you?

Awesome livery! Are there any operable examples of these busses still running in Europe? Did you see them when you were a youngster?

Really enjoy seeing interesting subjects like this. First time I've ever seen one.

Very nice. I like that a lot!

What a cool little kit Alan! Nice choice.

Sounds like the Salvation Army. 😁

Thanks for that! I never knew they made/sold elbows. Never saw them in a brick-and-mortar store. I thought about gentle heat and bending of solid rod, but that's rather hot-or-miss in previous experience. As many time or more, I wound up with deformed elbows that were not very appealing. With a third hand, I could probably do an acceptable job using a heat gun and some appropriate size metal tubing to form the 90's. Getting the bends in the right place at the correct angles will be a whole lot easier with a 2-part putty, I think. Those Plastruct elbows could work a trick, though.

At this point I'm thinking about rolling out some Milliput in the correct diameter, shaping the correct bends to replace the rubber hose. The rubber hose is wrong on several counts, not the least of which, it doesn't clear the radiator/water pump fan. Need to get my exhaust system in place then experiment with the 2-part putty.

Don’t know why it took me so long to discover this kit was out there. It’s been around for a while but I never noticed it. I’m sort of fond of sea planes.

There are six spark plugs on each side of the heads. Only the outer six on each head are visible. The inner plug wiring will take off from the distributor caps in that general direction but remain unseen from there. On the real RR, the inner wiring ran through a tube on each side.

While the distributors and spark plugs are prominent at this scale, I’ll go ahead and fashion some spark plug wiring. A dozen spark plug wires on each cylinder head for this V-12!

The kit provides some funky-looking rubber tubing that connects to the front of each exhaust manifold, then gets routed to discharge under the frame. Not sure exactly what the purpose of this would have been in RL, and it looks odd to me. Going to find something that looks better than the rubber hose and replace it. But would still like to know what it was for…then it dawned on me, it’s part of the exhaust system, connecting the manifolds to the exhaust pipe! Maybe I will just paint the rubber hose once it’s all connected together.

I’ve been piddling a little each day on the RR, but the spirit is weak for this one for some odd reason. Having motivational issues. 😀

It’s inspiration for a diorama