Tiger331
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Posts posted by Tiger331
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I lived and worked in Italy for three years and have 'intimate' knowledge of the postal system there and how it works (or doesn't from time to time). Since then, I have regularly shipped parcels to Italy from Norway, Estonia and the UK. I have to say it can be a bit hit and miss. I've also had some unfortunate experiences with timewasters from Italy on that well known auction site and other instances with items going 'missing'. On one particular occasion the buyer went through the whole process, claimed his money back and then left me positive feedback including confirmation of receipt of the item (Oops !). Needless to say, I never got my money back. So, what am I saying here ?. Well, my recommendation is to insist on only shipping items where a signature is required (to both guarantee delivery or a return to you and avoid any claims for 'missing items'). Since the buyer has to foot the bill they may not be so inclined but if they are genuine and actually want the item they will most probably accept the additional cost this entails. As Jan pointed out, it is also a good idea to obtain the buyers telephone number - the street/residence numbering system in Italy can be quite haphazard in places so, to give the postmen their due, it is not always easy to locate a specific address. It's not all dire - I have some regular buyers who pay on time and provide the right information to get packages to them quickly and efficiently. I should also add that I experience similar issues with France, Spain and Portugal too.
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On 11/10/2020 at 6:59 PM, Matthew1974 said:
The mistake with the wing root is not something that would particularly bother me about a kit, but I appreciate the opinions of others on the subject. It is nice to see Bronco using relatively recent PRC history to promote modeling and thus hopefully draw new folks into the hobby. I spent many years in both the Republic of Korea and Japan over a 25 year period and as the middle class grew, so too did the interest in our hobby. Given the PRC’s immense population and ever growing middle class one can hope that our hobby will grow accordingly!
Wholeheartedly agree !. Life's too short to allow a few armchair 'experts' (who have yet to actually see the kit in the flesh) sway me on any decision to buy this kit. It looks nicer than the Tamiya or Trumpeter renditions and eliminates the issues with the split fuselage concept, for those of us who just want to make a nice looking MiG-15 without too much fuss. I have no doubt that Eduard will finally come along and issue a superior 1:48 scale kit along the lines of their lovely little 1:72 scale but when will that be ?. I'll live with the minor inaccuracies (IMHO) and go ahead and buy one of these meantime.
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Great portrayal of the 'Iron Tadpole'.........right out of 'Flight of the Intruder'.
I have a couple of Hobbyboss A-6s in the stash so I will read your build thread with interest.
Well Done, Sir !
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NOTHING wrong with that, Nesdu. A great build and mighty impressive given it is your debut. If I am not mistaken you have portrayed a Beau' from the Dallachy Wing on the North East Coast of Scotland so there would be no issue with the weathering. Those aircraft took quite a battering, whether on the ground or in the air, en route to the Norwegian Coast (mainly). Contemporary photos provide some great coverage and clearly show heavy weathering.
A cracking start and welcome to BM.....Look forward to seeing more of your work !
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3 hours ago, junglierating said:
Good stuff hope you have a big house.
Just wish the dope shop ( the real one) would put ROYAL AIR FARCE above the cheat line....it just doesnt look right ....only my opinion though...i dont like Boris J Voyager...a lotvof people do ....anyway BZ
Glad to see that someone else shares my misgivings about the huge ROYAL AIR FORCE Logo on an otherwise very smart looking aircraft. I simply don't get the rationale behind it when you compare it with the likes of the (standard) Voyager.
Still my gripe takes nothing away from my admiration for an excellent and well presented model, Rob.
Well Done, Sir !
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Great shots, Tony. Thanks for posting......"Hurry up and wait".....great phrase, very apt and one I can associate with. Still never really understood you guys and this fixation with jumping out of perfectly serviceable aeroplanes !.
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Tony,
Picking this up late after a week away from home. Looking good, so far. A quick check through my logbook confirms that I have operated in over half the RAF fleet but simply cannot remember the definitive colours for the cockpit (seats in particular) although pale (faded) yellow in the early days for the seat cushions looks/sounds familiar. If it has not already been covered in this thread, I believe Jan has done a quick check to see if the Brengun resin flap set can be fettled to fit the Zvedza kit and evidently it can without too much work - That's good since I have a set which I thought was going to be redundant.
On the question of the lower fuselage protective coating, IIRC the first versions started to be introduced in the 1983-85 timespan. I see that XV195 features in one of your 'photospreads'. By the time I completed a memorable 'Red Flag' sortie in this aircraft (in 1985) it had been refinished in the Dark Grey/Green wraparound scheme with the black protective panel on the lower fuselage and the Astrodome retrofitted to allow ALM1 to act as an observer with two GIBs (Guys in the Back) doing the same out of the two paradoors (with individual restraint harnesses fitted and the doors having cargo nets fitted to provide an additional degree of comfort).....happy days.
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A couple of years ago the 1:48 scale examples (especially the single-seat variant) were commanding quite high prices on auction sites since they were difficult to find after a bit of a hiatus in production. Revell then re-issued the kit with 'Bronze Tiger' decals for a Luftwaffe machine and I think they have (or are about) to do another re-issue with other Luftwaffe special markings. The plastic is the same though and in any case you will need to make modifications to do an accurate RAF machine (nothing too serious though IIRC). Bottom line, don't pay premium prices (as others did previously) since they are more readily available these days (in relative terms).
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8 hours ago, MrB17 said:
Thanks @Truro Model Builder. Unfortunately there are 3 types, and the one not included, is the one used on early K’s and some country’s E’s and early H’s. Although as pointed out to me by @Tiger331, modifying the longer modern one in the kit would not be that difficult. Only the Canadian E’s and early H’s had a CPI (crash position indicator) recessed into the top of the extension (beaver tail), a little extra work, but not too difficult. @Scooby is currently digging up the dimensions of the CPI and looking for a good photo. If anyone has a good close up photo of the top of the Canadian CC-130 beaver tail, with the bright orange CPI installed, that would be greatly appreciated. The first photo shows the CPI sitting flush in the beaver tail on CC-130E 130328, our last E model. The second photo is a good indication of what the beaver tail actually looks like, although this is a Chilean Herk, it’s the same style as many C-130A’s, E’s, early H’s, and K’s.
Great Work, MrB17. Thanks for digging these two photos up. As you say, the beaver tail saga is just that.....a Saga, so everyone will need to check their references for a particular aircraft very carefully. I have a Canadian Armed Forces camouflaged C-130H on my shortlist but I must say that I am very tempted by the scheme shown above. IIRC, 26 Decals are looking to upscale their great 1:144 decal sheet to allow us all to seriously consider this particular option !. I also feel sure that we will be treated to a myriad of other decal sheets once the manufacturers latch on to just how popular this new Zvedza kit has already become.
Again, thanks for sharing.
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54 minutes ago, Truro Model Builder said:
Having opened my C-130 this evening (
) I can confirm that both types of tail extension are included.
Agreed......but as others have stated, neither of these apply to the RAF C-130s (or many of the others). I have had a look through my old copy of the Modern Combat Aircraft series on the C-130 Hercules (since this book contains many photos of the C-130Hs as they just enter service with various Air Arms). As I suspected, modellers will have to check their references very carefully since there is quite a bit of variance. Of note, it would appear that quite a few of the civilian and military stretched C-130H-30s (but NOT the RAF C.Mk.3s) had the short tail and given that Zvedza appear to be looking at producing the C-130H-30 in the future (see my previous post), I am just wondering if some confusion crept in with the provision of the short tailcone. Many of the early export C-130Hs appear to have the shorter cone but not all of those with the longer tailcone had the squared off tips to house DAS.
OK......a 'quick' check of some photos suggests to me that the Oklahoma ANG and Polish Air Force aircraft can be completed using the longer tailcone (Parts H47/48 at Stage 35). The ROKAF and JASDF aircraft appear to have a much shorter tailcone but I'm not sure that is as short as that portrayed with Parts H50/51, which also lack any of the DAS fitted to at least the latter aircraft. The latter parts appear to cater for a much earlier variant of the C-130 (C-130A/B ?) or the aforementioned C-130H-30 stretched version.
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By the looks of it, another beauty from Zvedza hot on the heels of their sublime 1:72 C-130h Hercules.....I must admit that the single-seat Il-2 is not one of my favourite aircraft although that box art will definitely help this kit to sell. I also thought it would be difficult to follow on the heels of the Accurate Miniatures and Tamiya two-place variants but now I'm not so sure. I think Zvedza are going to be on another winner with this one.
Keep 'em coming, I say !
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8 minutes ago, MrB17 said:
Something I noticed about the kit options, is the two styles of tail extensions (beaver tail/platypus). I can’t seem to find any photos of RAF C-130K’s using the US style shorter rounded extension (platypus). CAF/RCAF and RAF earlier Herk’s as well as other some other countries, used the longer extension (beaver tail). The longer one in the kit is the more modern type, seen on late H’s and J’s. The earlier beaver tail option is not included in the kit. A resin aftermarket beaver tail would be nice, if anyone is looking into it.
Yes........well spotted. I must admit that I did not pick this up on my initial review of the kit contents. TBH I don't think it would take much to modify the longer tail option provided in the kit, removing the squared off section with DAS and replacing it with some plasticard/putty and a couple of nav lights......then again, I'm sure Freightdog or Quickboost will oblige us relatively quickly.
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20 hours ago, fatalbert said:
I have seen a post on fb that shows a very strange aerofoil section on the wings,any chance you could post a picture on here.
I'll see if I can post something......I must say, it looks good to me and Jen (who is obviously an expert on the real thing having maintained them for many years) has also mentioned this in one of her posts on this thread.
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3 hours ago, Stephen said:
I notice that the kit is #1 at Hannants.
I see that they have now sold out.......the kit was in for less than a week.
I returned to my LMS yesterday to buy my second copy. For obvious reasons, their most popular sellers tend to be for Russian AFVs and aircraft so they are slightly bemused with the sudden interest in the C-130 kit......I was not the only one buying. I have little doubt the price of the kit had much to do with it....It really is fantastic value over here.
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I finally managed to get some time this evening to do a bit of dry fitting of the major components. Looks very promising. My concerns regarding the forward fuselage inserts were unfounded....they fit like a glove. The 'mainspar' wing section fit to the fuselage is also sublime.....the engineering on this kit is very impressive so far . The mainplane arrangement does seem to address the weakness with the other C-130 kits but I will still investigate the feasibility of fitting an additional plasticard spar to add extra strength.
I will, however, have to find a suitably sized observation radome to fit over the forward escape hatch in order to reproduce that found on XV195 when I rode that bird on a memorable Red Flag sortie back in 1985.
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6 hours ago, tonyot said:
That is a shame Jan,...... hopfully Xtradecal will re release their RAF Hercules stencil and national marking sheet for a grey and green Herk then?
Cheers mate
Tony
Tony,
I feel sure Xtradecal will do a re-print or perhaps even do a new sheet which includes RAF C-130 markings in general including the walkway lines. It would be nice if they could do some of the early C-130s with Unit Crests before the centralized pooling of aircraft at Lyneham became the norm.
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I dug out this old photo taken by my late father at RAF Luqa, Malta circa 1976-77. I think it provides some nice inspiration for a diorama since Zvedza have provided us with a very nice basis, with a detailed crew door and main cargo ramp. It also provides some good reference for the aerial arrangements on early RAF C-130s before all of the post-Falklands Conflict modifications came in after 1982 and onwards.
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3 hours ago, robc said:
Just had my delivery from Tiger Hobbies (well packaged by the way as always), and what a thing of beauty it is.
Can't believe it's 50+ years since I picked that Airfix series 3 box up as an 11 year old from Woolworths.
thanks again Zvezda
Regards
Yep.....great memories.....I'm not sure when Airfix first issued the kit but I can clearly remember receiving one as a gift when I was around 14 years old and living in Cyprus. Soon after, we were pitched right into the centre of the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus in July 1974 and RAF Hercules were a regular sight at Kingsfield Airstrip, transporting stranded British tourists from the Eastern end of the Island to RAF Akrotiri, where they were then flown back to the UK on Britannias, VC-10s, and chartered 707s. Seeing the Fat Alberts flying over our house really spurred me on to complete my model in the Dark Earth/MidStone and Black colour scheme of the time. I loved that kit but the Zvedza is a 'whole new ball game', which of course it should be given its a new generation kit.
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17 hours ago, 71chally said:
Great review @Tiger331, at £50 the kit would still be a superb buy, but given that I have seen it listed at £36 makes it outstanding value.
I can't wait to actually have one in front of me.
A closer, overnight, study of the kit suggests that I missed a couple of things off my original review which don't appear to have been covered elsewhere. The first, and most significant, is that the kit instructions for this first issue call for the modeller to cut substantial lengths off the two upper cargo bay panels (Parts H21 at Stage 10b and H20 at Stage 20) and part of the forward section of the cargo bay overhead equipment rack (Part H19 at Stage 16) which clearly indicates that Zvedza are planning to market the 'stretched' C-130H-30 (C.Mk.3) sometime in the future. This particular variant has seen service with several Air Arms with interesting colour schemes/markings so we should be in for another treat and, of course, it also means that RAF fans should be able to complete a C.Mk.3 without resorting to considerable surgery. The other, more minor, omission concerns the flight deck crew. There are, of course, only three figures included when quite a few air arms operated with four flight deck crew (Pilot/Co-Pilot, Navigator and Flight Engineer) plus 1 or 2 Loadmasters depending on the size/nature of the load. I already plan to make more than one of these so I will rob a figure from one kit and reproduce the Loadie from a standing figure.
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25 minutes ago, LN-KEH said:
With Zvezda kits previously been released by Revell and possibly other brands as well, I expect to see several boxings of C-130s next year.
I totally agree......Given that Zvedza have really done their homework with the accuracy, production and pricing of their 'baseline' kit, I can see this kit (and its inevitable derivatives) probably being their all-time best seller in time. It has been a real puzzle to me that Revell did not produce a modern tooling of the Hercules, given their previous C-160 Transall, C-54 Skymaster and A400M kits but now that Zvedza have done all of the expensive work with R&D, tooling etc I suspect Revell will look to marketing their own edition of the kit in due course, or maybe they will wait until one of the more esoteric variants is developed (AC-130 or HH-130, for example). Who knows ?....All that is certain is that Zvedza have a real winner on their hands and well deserved
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25 minutes ago, Stilwell said:
For anyone considering the JASDF option in the kit, the Hasegawa 1:200 C-130H “JASDF Gray Scheme” kits lists the colours as:
A (Underside): 115 (50%) + 308 (50%)
B (Topside Lightest): 337 (70%) + 308 (20%) + 5 (10%)
C (Topside Darkest): 305 (60%) + 308 (30%) + 5 (10%)
D (Topside Medium): 306
While the Aoshima 1:144 Kawasaki C-2 kit, which carries the same scheme, list them colours as:
Underside: C338 (90%) + C307 (10%) + C80 (a little)
Topside Lightest: C338 (70%) + C307 (30%) + C80 (a little)
Topside Darkest: C337 (70%) + C305 (30%) + C80 (a little)
Topside Medium: C337 + C80 (a little)
Those colours being:
338 LIGHT GRAY FS36495
337 GRAYISH BLUE FS35237
308 GRAY FS36375
307 GRAY FS26320
306 GRAY FS36270
305 GRAY FS36118
115 RLM65LIGHT BLUE
80 COBALT BLUE
5 BLUE
The ”C” prefix denoting the Mr Color Lacquer based paint range; the equivalent Mr Hobby Aqueous acrylic paint having the prefix “H”.
Jonathan.
Jonathan,
Many thanks for this.........most useful since JASDF colours can be difficult to work out normally......and I am attracted to that colour scheme
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Having picked up my first copy last evening I have now finally had a chance to examine the contents.........one word......OUTSTANDING !
This is, by a long shot, the best kit of a C-130 I have seen and we must now all, very reluctantly, accept that our carefully nurtured Airfix, Esci and Italeri kits (along with all of the myriad of improvement/conversion sets) probably need to be consigned to the 'collectors corner'. Zvedza are No.1 in this particular modellers chart for 2020 having released kits of two of my favourite subjects (the other is the Mil Mi-24 Hind). If, in the highly unlikely, event that they were to issue a 1:48 Blackburn Buccaneer, SEPECAT Jaguar or Dassault Mirage F.1C between now and 31 December, they would probably stay No.1 for the next 10 years !!. Anyway, I digress.
The medium grey and clear plastic, presented on eight and one runner respectively, is superbly detailed and moulded. The panel lines are very finely rendered so care will need to be taken at the painting stage. As always, construction starts with the cockpit and this part of the kit is extremely well detailed, although rather like the Mil Mi-24 kit, Zvedza have opted for decals to replicate instrument panels, dials, circuit breakers etc. I have little doubt this will look very effective in the smaller scale cockpit where there is not very much in the way of visual access (unlike the Mil Mi-24 Hind, which came in for a bit of criticism for this approach to replicating cockpit instrumentation). I also have little doubt that Quinta will quickly follow with a set of their 3D instrument panel decals too. The bench seat 'rest area' behind the crew stations is very faithfully reproduced and, as has been covered elsewhere, the crew figures are sublime given that they are all different too (and no flying helmets either, which is accurate for most 'trash hauling' operators !). The rest of the interior is also nicely rendered although I have no doubt the superdetailers will be looking for the release of some improvement sets in due course. I have an old Flightpath set somewhere and hope to be able to utilise the photo-etched floor panels to better replicate that on the original RAF version. There is certainly plenty of 'furniture' provided with which to dress up the cargo hold and ramp area although the RAF style latrine is noticeably absent. All in all it looks as if a nice cockpit/cargo area can be built straight from the box. There are several options for the fuselage sponsons to cater for the slight differences between operators. My only concern at this stage with the fuselage are the seperate inserts to cater for differing access door arrangements, although my previous experience with Zvedza kits would suggest they will be OK and need the minimum of cleanup.
One of the major weaknesses with other 1:72 scale C-130 kits is that related to keeping the wings on !. Zvedza appear to have addressed this with a fairly robust centre section although I personally will look to introducing some additional plasticard wing spars for additional strength. The engine nacelles are pretty comprehensive pieces in their own right, with no less than 19 parts making up each one. This is one area where you can see a real difference in quality between this kit and the others, although to be fair to the aforementioned manufacturers, their kits are more than 30 years old so I would expect this to be the case. Other nice touches are the different radomes and tail fairings which, once again, demonstrate Zvedza's attention to detail with this kit. The undercarriage, bays, doors and wheels are all nicely moulded - if I have one criticism with this kit it would be with the mainwheels - I personally think the weighted look has been slightly overdone but it is a personal preference. The ramp area is also very nice too, all providing a great deal of interest, especially if you pose the model with the ramp and para-doors open. The refuelling probe for the RAF options also appears to be accurate although I personally think the trunking that goes along the upper fuselage may be a little slim but I cannot be 100% certain. We are obviously going to see other versions kitted by Zvedza since there are some parts included in the kit that are not applicable to the decal/marking options included in the box. The most obvious are the large DAS fairings now seen on the rear fuselage of some US (and other) C-130s although these parts will come in handy for those wanting to model options from aftermaket decal sheets, most notably the recent release from Xtradecal.
The kit instructions are well laid out and very clear too. I like the full-colour decal placement instructions too. Another area where Zvedza have excelled themselves with this release is related to the decal sheet. Not only do they provide for five very interesting and attractive options but the decals themselves are a significant improvement on those in previous kits (which were already good). Gone is the rather matt finish, to be replaced by high-gloss 'Cartograf' style decals with strong colours and a very comprehensive set of stencilling. I will obviously make the RAF version first but I am also very tempted by the US ANG option portrayed on the box top and the JASDF option with the so-called 'cloud scheme' too.
If you are a fan of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules or military transport aircraft in general or just want to build a big 1:72 scale model then this is the kit for you. I think it is tremendous value for money - granted I have managed to get mine from the LMS for the grand sum of 34 Euros (which probably makes it my 'buy of the year' in terms of cost vs. value) but even at full UK RRP it is well worth the investment.
'Review' sample courtesy of my wallet
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Picked my first kit up earlier on this evening from my LMS. I was pleasantly surprised with the price......had estimated it would probably be around 40-42 Euros based on the prices of their other Zvedza kits. Came in at 34 Euro so I am well pleased. I suspect they will get some repeat business from me.
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On 10/25/2020 at 1:34 AM, Scooby said:
I saw a few cars get transported in the good ole days. And lobster deliveries every Thursday to two specific locations, what fun we had.
There was also a good spot to sleep at the top of the upper ramp door, right by one of the heat ducts. Just make sure the loadie didn’t forget you were there.
I remember it well.......The upper ramp was good but you did always have to worry about the Loadie remembering you were there
. I always found the top of a baggage stack with a 'worm' (service issue sleeping bag) was good too. We were always motivated to build a good stack with some of the softer bags at the top to provide the extra cushioning......only problem then was making sure it wasn't too adjacent to the cabin heating ducts...always easier on the C Mk.3 since the lengthened fuselage made for better heat dissipation anyway.
Looking forward to collecting my first Zvedza kit in person from my LMS tomorrow evening on the way home. I think this first one will be the one I did a memorable Exercise 'Red Flag' sortie in back in '85. We had the observation bubble re-fitted and cargo nets rigged over the rear para doors so the loadmaster and supernumary crew could act as additional observers as the 'guys up in the front' did their best to hug the valley floors and hills evading the 'Red Air' F-5s and F-15s. I had done quite a few TAC demos by then but the Red Flag sorties were a whole different ball game.....Great fun !.
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VAT nightmare incoming
in Chat
Posted
Lived and worked in a non-EU European country for six years. 'Imported/Exported' lots of kits, decals etc over that time period. Sometimes the Customs authorities charged...sometimes they didn't (even if the customs declaration stated the items were over the import limit). It was luck of the draw but then I was living in a country where the LMS was selling Airfix Canberras for £90 and Hasegawa A-4 Skyhawks for £75 so everything was a bonus !.