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Arrived this week through the post: Mit Erfolg zum Goethe-Zertifikat : Ubungs- und Testbuch C2: GDS mit CD (a training book and CD for my C2 Prüfung, which I'll make by the end of June) Eduard PE set 73283 for the Trumpeter Hawker Sea Fury FB.II 1/72 Cheers Jaime

Latest additions to the stash: Trumpeter 1/72 MiG-29UB Trumpeter 1/72 Su-24M Trumpeter 1/72 Hawker Sea Fury Italeri 1/72 B-58 Hustler FineMolds 1/72 Messerschmitt Me 410 A-1/V-1 and also a new addition to my library: Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece All the kits and the book look excellent. Cheers Jaime

Hi Tony, Thanks for the reference on Historicism. It's now in my book wishlist Regarding Imagined Communities, I've already finished it. I can really recommend it as it's an excellent work on the subject of Nationalism and deserves its status of classic. I especially liked the non-European-centred approach and the clear description of the four waves of Nationalism (American/Latin American, European "populist" Nationalism, European "official" and later imperialistic Nationalism and the last Nationalist wave of the decolonisation, ironically formatted along the colonial borders and mind sets put in place by the former colonial powers). We'd all be spared a lot of trouble if we kept in mind how recent in History the concept of "Nation" is. I'm now reading Europe in the High Middle Ages, by William Chester Jordan. Though I'm still in the early pages, it's already proving to be an engrossing read. Cheers Jaime

A few new books received this week: Europe in the High Middle Ages, by William Chester Jordan The Shortest History of Germany, by James Hawes A Short History of Western Ideology: A Critical Account, by Rolf Petri (but in a Portuguese translation) História Política Contemporânea: Portugal 1808-2000 (a book about Portuguese Political History in the XIX and XX centuries. Seems to be available only in Portuguese) Cheers Jaime

Hi Pete, I built a Dornier Do-24 for the original edition of this GB and had the same problem. In the end I opted for Tamiya's XF-26 and XF-27 for RLM 72 and 73, respectively (I found these correspondences it a colour chart). They're not close to each other but looked good compared to the kit's instructions. You can see how it looks here. Cheers Jaime

I built the updated version of this kit in the first edition of the GB (finished it long after the GB ended, though). You can take a look at the results here if you're interested. The WIP is here. Cheers Jaime

Hi Terry, thank you very much for your very kind words and interest! The level of detail you mention is the result of using Eduard's PE set for this kit. I must confess I'm a bit obsessed with super-detailing, so I always throw PE, resin or whatever available after-market bits at a kit. The resulting added complication is also one of the main reasons for my builds taking so long... Cheers Jaime

Thank you Ced! The German course is in its last level and semester. I managed to pass in the C1 level exam in February and am now in the C2 level. The last exam is in late June. It doesn't get any easier and we're now using the language at a very sophisticated level. Cheers Jaime

Hi again, I finally got time to post the latest work done on this build, though it was done mid-March and I haven't done any more work since. So, first I finished preparing the small parts for painting. One of the inter-wing struts had a pitot tube, which is poorly represented in plastic and must be replaced by a PE part (No.20 in the PE fret): IMAG6164 The PE part bent to shape: IMAG6165 The plastic stub was cut off and the PE part glued in place: IMAG6166 Finally, here are all struts and small parts ready for painting: IMAG6167 Next, I noticed that the cockpit interior would be visible through the underside opening on the nose piece, through which the exhausts pass: IMAG6163 A picture of the real thing (from the walkarounds here in BM) shows that there was a bulkhead separating the cockpit from the engine, painted interior green: http://www.britmodeller.com/walkarounds/aircraft/tigermoth/G-ANKT/k2585%2016.jpg So, I decided to make a bulkhead from plasticard. I started by drawing the external profile of the nose cover on paper: IMAG6168 The paper profile was cut off with scissors and adjusted to fit the front opening of the fuselage: IMAG6169 This was used as a template to make the bulkhead from plasticard, which is here shown in a test fit: IMAG6170 It must be painted interior green and glued in place. Next, I took care of the tail fin. I read in my references that the rudder always turned left when the aircraft was unattended on the ground. So, I decided to cut the rudder off the fin and put it in the correct position for added realism. I started with the tail fin part: IMAG6171 and cut off the rudder using a micro-saw: IMAG6172 I also removed the small stubs representing the control horns of the rudder, as they will be replaced by PE parts. Before cutting them off I marked their position with small cuts on the inner edge of the rudder: IMAG6175 Here's the rudder ready for application of the PE parts: IMAG6176 The control horns of the tail plane will also be replaced by PE parts and must be removed. Here I had already removed one: IMAG6173 To allow the installation of the PE control horns, small 0,3mm holes were drilled on the tail plane: IMAG6174 That's as far as I managed to progress recently. I haven't managed to do any additional work, as my German course takes precedence. Thanks for looking. Jaime

A few weeks ago I finished reading "Factfulness", by Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Roennlund and Ola Rosling. Proved to be an excellent read and can be highly recommended. In fact, I think it should be compulsory reading for everyone. Since then, I've been reading Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Communities", which is the well-known classic study on the origins and development of Nationalism. It is a masterwork of erudition and provides an extremely interesting reading for anyone adept at Political and Social History. Cheers Jaime

Purchases done in March and April. Aircraft modelling books: Valiant Wings Airframe Album No.2 second edition - The Hawker Sea Fury Valiant Wings Airframe Album No.10 - The Me 163 Komet Valiant Wings Airframe Album No.11 - The Fieseler Fi 156 Valiant Wings Airframe & Miniature No.12 - The Supermarine Spitfire Part I Other books: Imagined Communities, by Benedict Anderson (The well known classic about the origins and development of Nationalism. I'm now more than half way through and it is excellent) Why Nations Fail, by Daron Acemoglu and  James A. Robinson 1001 Nights Vol. 1 (Portuguese translation from the original Arabic sources) Aftermarket and consumables: Brengun BRL72018 1/72 Hawker Typhoon Air Intake Mesh for Academy kits Master AM-72036 1/72 Pitot tube, etc for F-4 Phantom II long nose versions Aires 7294 resin cockpit for Hasegawa F-4G 1/72 Eduard SS318 photo etch set: cockpit interior for Hasegawa B-24J 1/72 Tamiya 6mm and 10mm tape refills and also a new smartphone: a HTC U12+ Despite the initial bad reviews due to the use of pressure sensors in place of normal on/off and volume buttons, this smartphone with the latest firmware update works very well and even the Edge Sense 2 functions work well after some adjustment of the pressure sensitivity (they also can be very handy). Of course, being a 9 month old high-end model, it is very quick and powerful. Cheers Jaime

I've seen the film a few weeks ago, before the Oscars ceremony, and fully enjoyed it. I found the recreation of the recording of Bohemian Rapsody and the Live Aid performance particularly brilliant. I still remember watching their performance in Live Aid on TV as a youngster. Cheers Jaime

As the previous topic reached the maximum of 40 pages, I thought I should start a continuation topic. So, today I received a new book, which had been suggested by @FalkeEins: Jonathan Littell's "The Kindly Ones", but in a Portuguese translation. At almost 900 pages and considering the theme of the book, it should be heavy reading in all respects. Cheers Jaime

Thanks Stuart! Much appreciated! Cheers Jaime

Chris, Rob, Ian, Thank you very much for your kind words regarding the build and the best wishes for my future exam Really much appreciated. The fit tolerances around the cockpit and also for the bottom wing are really tight. As I said, I had to sand and file a lot to manage to close the fuselage and glue the wing in place. It seems that even the thin layers of primer and paint contributed to the fit problems. The next steps will be taking care of the seams and applying some external PE bits. Cheers Jaime