SprueMan

"Now that my modelling sanity has returned" he says and proceeds to scratch build a pre-war biplane and (because why not) a portion of a warship in 1/72. It's madness, Ted! Terrific work so far!

Ah, I see! Many thanks. The translator does not always do its magic. Yes lets see what happens. Hopefully there will be a site that will have the models in stock / normal preorder soon.

1/12 version also announced: https://weibo.com/n/方盒模型 Sadly, I cannot link to pictures from Weibo. Also, it appears the pre-orders are accepted at the 3G Shanghai model show: https://weibo.com/n/上海3G模型

The Japanese company Ebbro, a producer of rare 1/24 cars (such as the Citroen vans and 2CV) as well as a small but important line of 1/20 F1 cars has filed for bankruptcy in March this year. The company looked to have been under water for some time as neither the models promised five years ago (Tyrrell 005 and 006) were ever released, nor did the company re-release any of their already sold out items. Tamiya used to be the main F1 car producer in 1/20 and when they stopped Fujimi picked up the mantle with a string of mostly modern Ferrari cars after which Ebbro picked up from them to release a short line of very important historic Lotus cars, but after this there does not appear anyone ready to fill the shoes. Sadly, as their models are such a niche it does not appear that the moulds for their models will be picked up by any other manufacturer. It is, I suppose, similar to Wingnuts moulds not being bought by anyone - the margins are simply too low on small runs of models in particular when the research costs so much (as in the case of Wingnuts) or there are licencing costs to pay as well (as in the case of F1 cars) It is important that while there is a resurgence of our hobby with many Chinese companies releasing aircraft and armour faster than any modeller can build them and just as many East European boutique manufacturers making short run models and detail kits just as fast, its not all equal. Be happy with what you got.

So, being carefully optimistic, a company has announced a new F1 in 1/20 ...in plastic! The last time an F1 car was released in 1/20th was the Tamiya SF70h of 2018. So, if this happens (the grapewine says the announcement is to coincide with the Chinese Grand Prix) then it will be something to look forward to indeed. Yes, I realise it is not a Ferrari or RedBull but anything in plastic in 1/20 is worth buying. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/funbox-kick-sauber-c44--1549330

I would put these two in the mix: The others are a string of compounded errors that lead to the crash, but there are a few that were caused by a single and idiotic failure of the most basic level: The Russian jet that crashed because the pilot made a bet that he could land a plane flying blind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_6502 Or the one in which the pilots let kids attempt to "fly" the plane (which in effect they did) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_593 Are what I think of.

I would say there is more to it. Apart from radar and radar stealth, there is also infra red, heat signature etc. which can be used to track a plane, all of which are better than the naked eye. One of the piece d'resistance of the F-35 is the fusing of all sensors like radar, RWR and a full view infrared (distributed aperture system) that is projected directly into the pilots augmented reality headset. The rumoured visibility of the DAS IR system is to be +100miles in good weather and it can track missiles 800miles away, officially. An American general has said that (current) stealth might be defeated in 10-15 years, but then someone will just make a better stealth. Lasers are now being tested in effect against drones and missiles. It will not be long before they will be small enough to be pit on an airplane, powered by an onboard APU. Lasers that are housed in a small continuously stabilised head pivoting in all aspects are going to be much more efficient than a simple gun that is bore sighted only to the plane's axis. Faster, more accurate and cheaper. Also, loyal wingmen like the Valkyrie and Ghost bat are being developed already that will make the fighter pilot a ...pilot... of drones swarming around his plane. I could well imagine the 6th generation "fighter" to be a big mothership of a plane sending swarms of its missile or laser armed drones out hundreds of kilometres out to shoot and fight while staying in the safe zone behind the enemy's drones and their missiles. Sadly, I do not think "romantic" dogfights are going to make a return

Well, in my completely unqualified opinion we might see a complete change in the 6th generation as the requirement for vertical stabilisers goes away as there will be lot less need for air combat with long range missiles, drones and even lasers and we will end up with a different selection of flying wings. Vertical surfaces are not good for stealth.

It cannot This version is the early version with the straight line vertical stabiliser and rudder. When LOT took over the machines purchased by the "Aerolloyd" (later name "Aerolot"), they continued first to use the original markings and scheme (the one included in the kit) with identifications starting with "P-PALx" (where x is A to N) The LOT logo on the tailplane appeared only when the vertical and rudder was replaced and the engines were upgraded in the years 1927 to 1930 and the planes received the identifications starting with SP-AAx (where the x could be A,B,C,D,H,L,T,J,W,U) The basic scheme was the same throughout their lifetime in Poland with aluminium overall and black underside of the wing and fuselage. As included in the kit. The Polish Junkers F.13 were all sold in 1936 in lieu of a Junkers Ju52m and were then used for many years in Canada after that.

I remember a few years back when Tamiya started (re started?) their line of 1/48 kits, some of the reviewers were quite possitive about the scale as it made the subject smaller, but did not have detrimental effect on quality. The new models were just not not enough to convince the established modelers to swap as the 1/35 range already offered such a high variaty of kits and other brands did not follow Tamiya. The scale condundrum is a bit of a bugbear for me. F1 cars are in 1/20 but other race cars are in 1/24 road cars and trucks are in either 1/24 or 1/25 Armour is in 1/35 but aircraft are in 1/32 Small armour can be in either 1/72 but also in 1/76 ships and space craft are in any random scale the train guys in Europe think the O scale is 1/43.5 (what?) but the tracks for that scale are in 1/48 Its such an illogical mess its best not to think about it.

SBS models has a new resin model of the same plane: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/sbs-model-sbs7003-havilland-dh88-comet--945615 It might be a better alternative to the ancient Airfix kit and decals...

Very nice build. Good work on the paintwork and the scheme.

It will be their first model in a long time, IIRC. From what I heard, it will be made from steel moulds, so a proper model and not a short run project. Italian, Greek and Polish markings.. not bad.

Looks great. I liked that movie, even though it is not a feel good movie. I loved that straight cut gear whine in the various scenes. Unlike today when all cars have a completely unrealistic sound that sounds nothing like the original engines, in that movie you could even the (correct) gears.

It's CHRIST ON A MOTORBIKE by now! Amazing work. It just needs some nose weight

That is not a Ślepak, though.

You say it like it is a bad thing It's tempting. The 33 did not win any event but it was the last and fastest flying boat of the entire competition.

Yes, but perhaps not so popular as a Lancaster etc. But we can hope

Super Hobby also seems to have gotten a stash of new-old-stock kits if anyone is interested: https://www.super-hobby.co.uk/manufacturers/Kittyhawk.html Lets hope for more I wonder if this is really new old stock, or if Zimi-model has decided that the old brand name is better and has acquired it? (and is thus launching the models under the old name) - perhaps someone is in the know?

At 1/48 A SAAB A340 would be ca. 40 by 40cm... That is a big plane. But with Erieye you say.... 🤔

It looks like an Aliexpress version of the KF-21 No, in seriousness. Realistically, all 5th generation fighters are going to use the principles of the F-22/F-35. It has shown itself to work well in terms of both flight dynamics and stealth. What is more interesting is what goes inside the planes of tehnology Sensors, radar and computers are going to set all of these planes apart and I think the various SU-57, KF-21, Happy Funky Dragon Chinese fighter are far behind the F-35.

This is just about incredible! Fantastic work

Thanks for the info Nick! How did you find the propeller if the kit compared to the real one? The chord seems massive (?)

It is. Its certainly one of those kits where you have to keep your wits about you when building it. Both in terms of the construction but also references.... It's all buildable, but it's a challenge. Like policing the village in Hot Fuzz.