Robban

Thanks walrus! Weight estimates for dinosaurus changes all the time, but I believe the latest estimates for T. rex is between 7-8 tons. Despite having hollow bones(like birds) that's alot of mass to carry around. A strolling T. rex would have been an awesome sight! Update! Neckbones fixed, and the modified tail is attached.

Thanks guys!

Hi Doug! I'm glad you like it! No, I haven't lengthened the tail yet. I've been wondering about how I'm going to make these vertebra. I think, I'll cut out vertebra shaped pieces from a plastic arc, and go from there, building them up with plastic taken from mold forms of other kits, or maybe I can make them out of wood? I'll probably go with the first option!

Hi guys! I don't know if this is the right forum, but I guess the T. rex is more of a figure than an airplane or sci-fi? Well, I finally started to put this thing together. This resin skeleton is a re-cast of the long unavaliable Tamiya T. rex skeleton. The recast is a very roughly molded kit. I have never done so much cleaning before in my life. But, if you want to build a T. rex skeleton in 1/20 scale, this is your only option. What is left for me to do on this kit is to lengthen the tail by about 10 cm, for some reason it's 10 vertebra short. I also need to add som bones underneath the neck. These neck bones are so badly casted I have to make new ones from scratch. The same goes for the gastralia basket. My biggest modification on this kit was done on the skull. Tyrannosaurus rex's skull differed from most other carnivorous dinosaurs in that its eyes faced forward. The kit captured this quite well, but the kit has a bony ridge on each side of the skull that is far too large, this also made the eyes sit too far apart. So, I reduced the size of the ridges, and sawed away a piece on top of the skull, creating a gap. I soaked the skull in hot water and pushed the skull together at the top, making the top of the skull more pointy, and the eyes ended up closer to each other. I also lengthened the skull and lower jaw by about 0.5mm. This gave the skull the familiar concave nose ridge. If built as depicted on the box the rex will have a slightly upright pose. I wanted the back to be more horizontal. This gave me a slight problem in how to position the legs and feet. I found a pose in the end that I'm happy with. It looks like the T. rex is just about to rush forward and bite into its prey! Cool! Anyways, here it is in its current state.

Awesome Hawks Andy!

Yeah, the nozzle is a resin replacement. It's originally intended for the Italeri JAS39 Gripen 1/48 kit, but it was too small. Strangely enough it fits nicely on the Tigershark. It's yet to be painted. I also need to add antennas.

Beautiful pictures! Thanks Tigger! However, I need pics or info on the A version Rafale. This beauty! http://www.airliners.net/photo/France---Na...le-A/1268635/L/ http://www.airliners.net/photo/Dassault-Rafale-A/1055953/L/ Observe on this pic that only the middle left elevon i dropped.

I'm working on the Heller 1:48 Rafale A. I've done some serious modifications to it. Well I had to considering the extremely errouneous shape of the forward fuselage and belly. I also want to add some life into it by dropping the elevons. Now, the elevons are divided into three sections. If they drop how do they drop? Does each one have a different angle? Or do they even drop at all? Most pics of the Rafale A parked(at airshows) shows the elevons in the "up" position. Can anyone help me with this one? //Robert

Thanks guys! @Plutten No, it's not tinted, perhaps it the yellow light from the lamp? It's slightly polished though. Here's a pic taken outside. Giving a more realistic colour to the canopy(and the rest of the kit).

I like it! Good job so far!

Nice one! I have one of those, unbuilt somewhere. An old Monogram kit.

Here's a small update.

Oh, my... That looks fantastic!

Thanks Duncan! I'm glad you like it!

Before the Gripen was chosen as Swedens main fighter jet, there were three other contenders. The F-16, the F/A-18 and the F-20. Of the these three the F-20 was the least favourable, the F-16 came second. I bought this model probably 15 years ago, and it's been sitting in a cupboard for at least 10 years. I took it out a few days ago and gave it quick job with the airbrush, added some decals and this was the result. Unfortunatelly, I haven't been able to locate the landing gear yet, but I'll find them eventually. Now I'm gonna dirty it up a bit. Hope you guys like it.

I got lucky a few days ago, and ended up with some shots of this relatively new addition to the Swedish armed Forces. They wondered who the h-ll I was. I told them I was just another geek, and they calmed down. They weren't carrying any sensitive equipment anyways. I'm not so much into helicopters, but I hope these can be appreciated by others.

Thanks so much, Houston!

I made this one for my younger brother. It's rather cool looking, isn't it?

Well, the generation game is confusing as different countries has different views on the subject. In Russia the MiG-29 and Su-27 are considered 4th gen fighters, and in the US the F-16 and F/A-18 and so on are also considered to be of the 4th generation. In Swedens way of looking at it, these aircraft all belong to the 3rd generation, similar to the Viggen. The Draken was second, the Tunnan was 1st generation, and now Gripen is the 4th generation. Here's how they separate the generations. 1st generation Includes early jet driven warplanes, such as the Vampire, MiG-15, F-86 and the J29. 2nd generation are jet fighter aircraft were weapons integration and avionic systems was being introduced. This generation involves the MiG-21, F-5 Freedom Fighter, F-4 Phantom, 32 Lansen and J35 Draken 3rd generation are supersonic fighter aircraft with an infrastructure based on separate digital systems, who takes great advantage of computers to achieve functionality. Aircrafts included in this generation are for example the MiG-29, Su-27, F-15, F-16, F-18, Mirage 2000 and the Viggen. 4th generation are supersonic aircrafts with a digitally constructed infrastructure, with fully integrated computerized systems, which uses a common computerbase with a standardized interface. This means that sensors, weapons, control surfaces, control organs, displays and so on can be used as information suppliers and information carriers; offering in theory an infinite number of combinations in which to create the systemfunctions desired. The only limit are the laws of physics and the human being. Included in this generation are, the F-22, F-35, the Rafale, the Eurofighter and the Gripen. The principle structure creates a very high development potential, and has the ability to fully take advantage of future advancements in sensors, weapons and computers and so on. The 4th gen fighter remains young over time. New system functions can be created when there is a need for it, depending on the tactical demands, and the technical development. For 3rd generation aircraft the limit lies in their infrastructure and their separate systems, which only allows for a limited ability to take advantage of newer technology. And so they grow older day by day. The above is just one way of looking at it. Some countries likes to divide the generations up in 4th, 4+, 4.5, 5th and so on. It's only confusing IMO, then there should be aircraft belonging to the 4.64453328944931 generation as well? Most of the time its propaganda and it's also a marketing tool. I remember reading a Lockheed Martin add on the F-16. It said, the only 4th generation fighter with a generation of experience. So, IMO, if you think the Eurofighter will be just another kill for the F-22 and F-35, I believe you might be up for rude awakening.

Thanks Andrew! Please, save away!

Very nice looking La-5 indeed!

Thanks guys! Here's what I did to correct the radome shape. And the erroneous shape of the IRST pod. Love that double delta!

... on how it looks right now. I'm a slow builder so the updates will be few and far apart I'm afraid. I've decided to build an F-1 version. It's identical to the F-2 version apart from that it lacks an IRST nose pod. There were some fit issues. I'm mostly refering to the canon parts. Some filler was needed here. The fit of the tail section is ok though, Hasegawa hasn't done anything wrong here, it's actually supposed to look like that. The nose shape(radome) is slighty off, but some sanding and filling fixed that, no problem. The intakes are slightly too pinched at the edges, but I'm gonna leave them unchanged, too much work. They look good enough. The control surfaces were cut off and placed at a drooping angle. The operation was quite easy to do, but some care was needed when cutting out the balance weights. Now for the pics! The ejection seat, drop tanks, control surfaces and tail section is not glued yet.

Awesome! I love the Lightning! I'm tangling with one myself! Not the easiest build, but I'm not too fond chake and bake kits anyway! Keep up the good work!

What a great looking aircraft! Your build looks really good! I'm looking to forward seeing it finished!