Egilman

Actually Craig, I got it in a dusty old corner of a model shop sitting there looking forlorn... Not a subject a lot of people are interested in..... It's been out there for a while, since 2009 I believe... It's actually a very good kit, simple and straightforward, it will test your assembly skills..... I give it an 8.5 out of 10...

Thank you Nick, an interesting piece of work, lotsa parts for not really much gun.... but the detail is incredible for such a small piece... A well designed kit... It's gives the option of setting it up in firing mode or travel mode, I'm going to try and get a shot in firing mode before I finish it in traveling mode for the Willys MB that's going to be hauling it... But that for later today...

Step three complete... Carriage mated to the Box Trail... Another dozen parts added... 24 parts in 3 1/2 inches by 1/2 inch.... Fiddly isn't the word for it.... Axle and Tires next, then final assembly..... Onward...

Second step done..... The end box trail, spade and lunett... (lunett = hitch) This is 12 tiny fiddly parts , and also measures about 1.75 inches long.... Next up, the carriage...

First step done.... The Barrel assembly, believe it or not that is eleven parts...... (measures 1.75 inches long) Onward.....

Hi all, a little diversion here to give me something to do while awaiting parts to arrive for Blue Jay Four..... The 75mm pack howitzer is a mobile, general purpose, field artillery piece. It is manually operated, single loaded, and uses fixed and semifixed ammunition. It is used for either direct or indirect fire and can be elevated to high angles to deliver plunging fire on a target. It was a versatile artillery piece. It came in three versions, the most common one seen, is the M8 carriage. (for the airborne forces) The pre-war vintage M1 had a "box trail" and wooden wheels and was design to be pulled by a cavalry horse or the artillery crew over friendly ground. Or, it could be broken down to be packed onto six mules for moving in rough terrain, as in the Pacific and China-Burma-India theaters and mountainous Italy. The Airborne version, which became the standard version, was the M1 box trail design with rubber wheels for jeep transport. It could be apportioned into seven "paracrates" and dropped from the skies with paratroopers, or come in on glider and transport planes. It could also be broken down into pack for mule carrying into mountainous terrain. (hence it's name "pack" howitzer) It weighed 1,339 pounds, had a range of 9,600 yards, and a crew of four could manage a prolonged rate of fire of three rounds per minute. (standard crew was 8 men) The M1A1 Pack Howitzer was phased out at the end of WWII, replaced by the 57mm and 75mm recoilless rifles. They saw service all round the world, most prevalent in Italy with the 10th Mountain Division and in the Burma-India-China theater. They also served with distinction with the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions from Normandy thru Market Garden and US marines as a light landing gun. (as you can see in the box art, Mt Suribachi, Iwo Jima in the background) I"m intending to build this as a standard issued piece and will add it's Prime Mover (Willys MB) when it's done.... The parts: Front and back side of the main sprue...... Details, yes that is a metal end tube to represent the barrel and straight tread tires for it's WWII appearance.... The casting is excellent and precise as you can see..... This shouldn't take too long.... EG

Beautiful Job! .... the second to the last of the Super Shermans..... Maybe someday you'll do an Isherman.... (M-51 -w- 105mm gun) it's bigger brother.... They would look nice sitting on the shelf next to each other...

Well, The decals arrived today from Victory Models.... Two sheets, the left sheet have the marking for every F-104C and larger right sheet has the unit markings & serial numbers for the individual aircraft.... the 479th Wings aircraft at one point in it's history were some pretty colorful aircraft, but unfortunately that was discontinued after a very short while so all those gorgeous markings are not going to be used... What would have been better is if the kit decals had carried some variations for individual aircraft instead of just one very very specific colorful bird... But also, I have parts on the way again, this time most of the parts are coming from Florida, (the wheels from Ukraine, ugh) but when they get here I will be able to start right up.... Until then brothers...

Looks nice Lou... That's one big baby.... Figured out where your going to build the hangar yet?

The Tiger is nice Brother, Mom is special.... :-)

I sincerely hope your mother is doing fine......

Yeah, for me coming from the other direction it's a 45 minute trip to Renton for the only model shop in the South Puget Sound area.... Which is closed for the duration btw..... We of course have the Hobby Lobby in Lakewood also, which is cfd as well... there is nothing down here open... Someone has an open Model Shop? THAT LUCKY DOG!!!!! {chuckle}

That's a beautiful update set and in injected styrene to boot! it will make any 1/48th scale builder very very happy accurizing their 1/4 scale manned missile... That being said, unfortunately my 3/8th scale manned missile will have to suffer along with resin unfortunately...... Thanks for the link brother I"m sure it will give another Zipper "G" modeler exactly what they need to build a real beauty...

Just to give an idea as to the size of this bird in 1/32nd scale..... Just the bare fuselage is 16.5 inches long, with the nose and aerospike probably 20 and a half inches long.... This is why the discussion on PE and resin details makes a difference...... the larger the model the more relevant it becomes.... EG

I do something similar for big planes on trikes... but in consideration I use non hardening modeling clay for the weight. It can be packed into whatever space you got with no need for hot glueing weights... and there is also the old standby of a screw through the base into the nosewheel...

No the last two lines are Klingon, not enough is known of the vulcan language to get a proper handle on it... (but I can get around in it) Dothraki? I don't think anyone can get a handle on that.... I"ll admit, I"m a trekkie, but not a crazy trekkie, there is a difference...

I hope you were in time Denis, at least 2 and a half, I would shade closer to three...

The bottom part is.... {chuckle}

Your never late brother, just delayed... I agree with your take on the state of modeling, I think it's for the better as long as you stay within the reasonable with your expectations... (although there are some modelers I follow that make me think like I'm still a beginner) Thank you Denis, you always have a chair at one of my builds... vImuSHa' 'e' loDnI'wI' cha' je toH! Qapla'!!!

There used to be some debate about the Italieri/Hasegawa F-104's, but the newer ones in the last two or so years are all supposedly new tooling... And the consensus of opinion is the Italieri are the better ones..... That's why there is a plethora of AM for them and not so much for the Hase's....

Well we have been talking about modern American military hardware and some of the history of how we got to where we are..... and I believe that the F-111 is apropos to such..... We are focusing on the F-104 here and it's magical like attributes. But any aircraft built since has the 104 to thank for it's abilities.... There wouldn't have been an F-4 much less an F-111 without the F-104...... I appreciate the respect my friend... No deflection/interruption that I can see, Carry on... EG

You know, sitting here, following along in the background lurking, I have to consciously stop the thought of reaching for my tool box when I see stuff like this, Ratchets, sockets and wrenches will not help in this endeavour.... I"m at a loss for words so rather than become a broken record, I'll lurk and drool in private...... Very impressive...

Well said Ken, and a sage piece of advice....

You did an outstanding job on the invasion stripes! No matter the aircraft, they make the camouflage stand out even more.... It takes a lot of patience to get them straight... Beautiful Job Carl.... (very impressed)

Where's my pin? Anyone seen my pin? I need it to deflate this huge ballooning ego here... {chuckle} That is one heck of a compliment Harley, given the level of knowledge and experience around here, I hope I can live up to it.... (being nothing more than a plastic hacker is hard work) It is greatly appreciated.... Welcome aboard and I sincerely hope I don't let the newcomers down.... Thank you....