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Illusive

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  1. Is their ballast estimate of 115g correct or need more/less?
  2. Equally hard to find place for, unless there's a spare room dedicated solely to models, arts-crafts and other stuffs. This reminds me... where am I gonna put my Connie?
  3. You think this is big? This is big. And it ain't the biggest yet. And yes, of course, with how I like weird topics this one's right up my alley. Why else would I know the kit even exists?
  4. Refer to this (https://www.a2asimulations.com/Manuals/FSX/COTS_L049_Pilot's_Manual_FSX.pdf) page 46, left wing. So far the only photo at this angle and enough resolution to capture something smaller than plane itself. "Things" are there, no idea what for as no photo or text so far mentions them.
  5. Come on, you know you want it. Perhaps have it in stash already...
  6. In best TTS Magnus voice: well, I'm not doing that. (TTS stands for "If Emperor had text-to-speech device" Warhammer 40k animation by Bruva Alfabusa). Thought about something a little bit easier and that needs good masks. In fact I will need good masks anyway. Ones that don't let anything seep under them.
  7. In theory I could cast them from lets say aluminium if y'all need some. Wanted to try that for my XB-70 but thought that a) it might be stronger than the model itself and b) not really in the mood to work the kinks out. Turns out plastic is strong enough, so if XB-70 holds up, I think Connie will.
  8. I forgot my usual title... this one's fitting as well changing it later for my own thread tracking purposes. Current title: "This is going to be a Lockheed Constellation C121-A in MATS livery." Edit: from what I understood based on different photos (plans are plans and you have to find them first), which are thankfully pretty abundant in almost every angle that one could dream of, -- we have way too many variations. Sure thing is I'd need to reposition one of windows Heller placed way too close to the other for reasons unknown. If C121-A was a straight conversion from L-749 then it'd have the same structure. Borrowing a bit from Snafu35 thread but without perfectionism included. Therefore @Snafu35 me searching for a) how to make window replacement easier and b) photoetch is your fault
  9. Gently throwing my entry into the GB. Yes, yes, I have KUTA thread that I almost gave up on but at least ADGZ one is done. Not really a fan of Heller, but there are some subjects that I like. Some of them fly, others crawl or ride, perhaps float in some cases. This one happens to fly. Some of you have seen it, others sat in a passenger seat or perhaps quite a bit forward - a pilot seat. Some of you know much more than me about it and someone else might have stumbled on it just now, but we can all agree that the plane looked good and was equally good at doing its job. It was from time when design was beautiful and tech had style, time when sleek curves of a car were matched only by... khm I am not writing that... but rather the daring boldness of its creator who may have had slight disregard for safety. Anyhow, this was a product of its time and one of the last of its kind in a country over the pond. One of last civil aviation ventures of still existing corporation... guessed it? Of course it is our Lockheed C121-A Constellation! In MATS livery to boot. Heller kit №80382, original mould 1982, re-released in 2020-something. Supplied in atrociously thin cardboard box with only protection for sprues being a box and some paper. I first need to unpack it all and count pieces that have not fallen off a sprue or came in multiple parts instead of one. How do I know they did? Because I repacked it after receiving in mail. Likely no aftermarket parts unless you count some paints and (unless I forget, which I shouldn't) some finishing touches borrowed from my other hobby/trade/whatever-you-call-it that are still to be delivered. @2996 Victor this one would like to be included in participant list please. @Mjwomack @Snafu35 new entry to the club, a small constellation of Constellations.
  10. How do you even paint something like that assembled? Looks great and interesting how it all comes together in the end.
  11. Closing remarks, omissions, fixes and why this kit is delightfully simple but really needs a corrective reissue. How parts look out of the box you all have seen already, not Meng/Takom/Airfix/Trumpeter/whatever but not that bad as everything you need is there. No shortshots, no mismoulded parts, no sink marks. Everything looks perfect in details department. AMG included handtools like ordinary pliers here! Not tube-chewing both-hands-using giant cutters but pliers! Or something like them anyway. Instructions by steps (one issue per line): Step 6: photoetch part PE1 does not have necessary scoring lines to bend like that or enough length forthat matter. Step 7: part B5 is used only once in whole build, AMG tell you to use two for some weird reason. Step 7: Part D11 has nearby markings of unknown use. Suggest removing them if really not needed. Instructions in general are overcrowded by part callouts in every possible place. Alright, but that does not make it easier to notice when something is not called out (page 6, step 10, turret assembly -- missing autocannon part number) or is but on a page with about 40 redundant part numbers (page 5, step 8, jerry can assembly -- missed decal (not on photos because need to put it there now). Feels like they were just naming every part in every possible appearance to avoid missing them or what? Some parts intermittently disappearing from diagrams, appearing before their callouts are made is not helpful either. Highlighting position of door-adjacent parts in step 7 would help greatly as I forgot about the diagram and went off of rough estimates, them proving partially correct and wrong at the same time. Decals curl on themselves sometimes when pulled out of water (yes... sometimes they float off when pulling paper out), almost impossible to move without breaking but look good. No idea what rose (№9) and cross-like drops (№8) are for, no callouts or mentions anywhere. Overall it's a good kit and you get decals that HobbyBoss omitted and covered up with marker (at least edit them out properly then! It's not that hard!), neat model, real wheels and lots of spares: hand tools, 20mm cannon, jacks, bolt heads, etc. Right, now that missing decal for completeness sake and marking this as done for real. Edit: make a cut between number plate decals and number denoting them (№1-4) if you don't want this (floating for photo purposes):
  12. Speaking of that. Look! I have done it already. Here come the photos one by one.
  13. Forgot about steering gear photos, silly me! With everything painted and meticulously assembled (no, I did not go for PE shovel, reserved for spares bin) it was time to tackle the turret situation. Problem: it's got no tabs and not an interior model. Solution: add tabs. Frontal is slightly thinner so it can detach accidentally only in one orientation. IF it can at all -- tight fit. Scrap flat number pieces + Tamiya extrathin with CA and paint on top and around. Looks almost factory-made. Next decals, photoshoot and marking it as done in that order.
  14. Back to the project and this time it's done. After previous post here is how it ended up looking: A little bit different, right? Steering gear was pretty easy to install and I would even say it should go on the model as one of finishing touches instead of whenever manufacturer suggests. It is important to not mix up triangle brace pieces becaus, surprise!.. they have notches cut out. Had to modify the model a bit with snippers adn a piece of older plastic. Middle wheels have leaf springs which came as hollow parts. Fileld those in with garbage plastic, CA and whatever fit inside (no ham sandwich though), painted and glued onto the hull. Have to also note that it is here that instructions started looking weirder every time. If anyone finds a part like this please tell me. There isn't any on PE sheet, sprues or anywhere. With that done we move onto photoetch. First it was painted (no photos), cut out, cleaned up wehre glue goes and attached to the model like this: If you wanted to bend it all neatly how instructions suggest, good news! Ya can't. Won't be enough material left afterwards. In fact, had to bend them outwards to go over linkages. Hitting "submit reply" to not lose what little progress made on this post, closed page once already (thankfully post got saved as draft).
  15. @S-boat 55 Logged in on mobile quickly to add that Ebay is pretty much useless here because chance of getting "item does not deliver to your country" notice is about as close to 100% as it may be. That is roughly 99%+ And price is a consideration also because screwing up on a cheap (yeah, right) model is not the same as its more expensive and hopefully better alternative. At least Bismarck isn't Concorde in terms of kit price, availability and their general quality or lack thereof. We have options. Edit: no, even desiring to have a model of 1/72 Concorde, one of the two truly supersonic passenger planes, current Heller/Revell/whatever offering is not an option.
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