Foxbat
-
Posts
1,681 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Events
Profiles
Forums
Media Demo
Posts posted by Foxbat
-
-
If the cherry blossom is a clue, and if there is a connection to an existing model then an Aichi D3A1 would be nice. The Airfix kit is as old as me and the Fujimi kit is very hard to get hold of. It is the least well represented of the Pearl Harbour aircraft and soldiered on beyond Midawy as its replacement was delayed several times. A perfect adversary for all those Arma Wildcats.
Andy
-
2
-
-
This kit has one of two parts I've never yet managed to work out how to fit - the radiators. As I remember them the was a bit that stuck forward on the inboard end that didn't mate up with anything so if I lined it up with the leading edge, the radiators were somewhere about the tail plane and if I put the radiators somewhere reasonable the tab stuck out the front. Can't remember what I did in the end but half the decal sheet with the green stripes is still in my stash so I must have finished it somehow
Yours is looking good.
The other Matchbox thing I never worked out was Mosquito mudguards. Built mine wheels up and hung it from the ceiling which solved that one.
Andy
-
2
-
1
-
-
21 hours ago, stever219 said:
The B-24 may be £30.40 8n Japan but by the time you add in shipping costs, including the infamous Royal Snail/Parcelfarce Customs clearance fees, and VAT any saving is dramatically reduced or eliminated.
No fees on parcels from Japan under £135. You can take that as gospel from someone who effectively uses HLJ as their LMS and orders about once a month from them. There's a sweet spot on shipping too, where the cost per parcel is spread over three or four kits so the saving is still substantial. As long as one of those kits isn't a 1/72 Emily - that wouldn't fit on the plane and has it's own personal ship
Irrelevant in this case, I'll be looking for a Meteor and a few other new Airfix kits from my nearest bricks and mortar shop.
Andy
-
1
-
-
Put my money where my mouth is since I've recommended the same kit here twice recently. I've bought one and started a build thread. Hope it proves useful.
Andy
-
1
-
-
As a cash strapped schoolboy, this was the first Tamiya kit I could afford, and I built it sometime around 1978. I have fond memories of it and have recommended it to a couple of people on here as an ideal starter for 1/35 armour. Time to put my money where my mouth is and build another one myself, just to see if it is as nice as I remember. I got this kit brand new earlier this week from Models For Sale for the princely sum of £8.99 (yes, really, a 1/35 tank plus figures and change from a tenner), so it doesn't have to be that good to be value for money
The current box is unchanged from 1971. There was another release the following year that dropped the figures but I've never seen it.
There is a sprue that has the turret and bits & bobs for the hull. Detail is nice enough (apart from that track for the hull fron
) and the mould would be pretty clean if it was new, never mind 50 years old. There are also a set of poly caps that help capture the wheels on the axles.
Next sprue has the running gear and commander figure. All the wheels are single row which makes construction and painting so much quicker and easier. That commander can go in the spares box - there's nothing much wrong with him except his DAK uniform which ties him to specific time and place. There is a little bit of flash and some mould lines that I don't remember from last time, but it's really not bad and will take minimal cleaning up.
Hull comes as a tub and a deck that has most of the superstructure and storage boxes moulded on. There will be a gap at the side where the storage bin overlaps the track guard - if it bothers you it would be a two minute job to box in with card. Or you could just not look at it upside down. There are battery guides inside the tub and slots in the bottom that betray the kit's motorised toy beginnings. Again, you can fix them or ignore them as you see fit. I'm going to ignore them. Tracks are typical 70's rubber bands with long prongs that you're supposed to push through holes then fix with a hot screwdriver. Small staples will do the same job.
There are four infantry figures too, busy being all dynamic. Again, they're time and place specific (early in the DAK's involvement in North Africa, later I believe they would have short boots and caps instead of the long boots and pith helmet options - see Airfix's very nice HO/OO figure sets for examples) and again they're going straight in the spares box.
Instructions are the standard Tamiya concertina. They have a lot of notes on unit organisation and an explanation of the differences in DAK uniforms over time but it's all in Japanese. Painting guide is basic in the extreme and gives no colour call outs (I don't know when Tamiya introduced their own range, I'm guessing some time after this kit appeared). There are decals supplied for 5 options though, and they cover just about every scheme the Pz. II carried which is great.
I've done a bit of digging and fortunately German divisional markings often changed over time so I can pin the units, location and probable colours down:
1. 18th Panzer Division, Operation Barbarossa, Summer 1941 - overall Dunkelgrau (RAL7021)
2. 3rd Panzer Division, summer 1943 - Olivegrün (RAL 6003) or Rotbraun (RAL8017) splodges over dark yellow (RAL7028)
3. 15th Panzer Division, North Africa 1941 - overall Gelbbraun (RAL 8000)
4. 21st Panzer Division (after its reorganisation and redesignation from 5th Light Division) 1942/3 - Braun (RAL8020) with spots of Grau Grün (RAL 7008)
5. 6th Panzer Division, spring/early summer 1943 - overall dark yellow (RAL7028)
I have my own preferred matches for all of those, but that's a can of worms for another day
Time to just build it now.
Andy
-
5
-
-
Linden Hill did one a long time ago but I've never seen it. Great Wall Hobby did a limited edition release with the Swifts markings that is still available. That's all I've found in 1/48.
Andy
-
When you and she are ready for the step up to 1/35, seriously consider this from Tamiya: Pz.II
Bin the figures and what you have left is a lovely, simple, well engineered build with no flash that is small enough to brush paint and cheaper than a lot of modern 1/72 kits. It was my first 1/35 tank when I was only a bit older than your daughters and still one of my favourites.
As a 1970's mould it has accuracy and detail issues compared to modern kits, but as a starter that you can be proud of when it's done it takes some beating.
Andy
-
2
-
1
-
-
That Challenger is a nice surprise. Briefly wondered what they have lined up for missing number 32602 later in the year, but that code was the German infantry that came out late last year.
Andy
-
1
-
-
Late to the party, but I'd agree wit the above - a Maultier (mule) conversion of a late model Opel Blitz with the simplified wooden cab that replaced the original rounded steel one. Quite unusual, Google finds lots of Maultier pictures and lots of Einheits pictures but I haven't seen one (yet) that matches your model and has both.
Andy
-
M3 half track and M7 105mm GMC. There has never been a kit of either in 1/48 and Hannants show none currently available in 1/35 The original M3 kit dates back to 1975 and the M7 is from 1984 so maybe those gaps point to new tools. They are the only real gaps left from the allied side in NWE 1944-45.
Andy
-
1
-
-
Great to have these available again and at a very good price - so good I've pre-ordered mine and got another 10% off that
Andy
-
It's interesting (to me at least) that in the past Airifix have done straight reboxes of Academy kits, but this year they're being a bit more subtle. As mentioned above the Pz. III Ausf J is a European one where Academy have made theirs DAK specific. Also the Acdamy Brummbar is an early one where the Airifx is a mid production. The StuG IV is less clear cut as the pictures I've seen of both look essentially identical and neither specify a production period.
I get the feeling that having tested the water, these are now collaborations to cover as many bases and sales as possible without taking them from each other.
Andy
-
1
-
-
44 minutes ago, AMB said:
How do you know - it's not been released yet? I have seen excellent jobs made with the current Airfix 1/48th Buccaneer without the need of another one! Would prefer to see something different made that really needs a new mould.
Two reasons why I'd like a new one[1]: the old one has long been out of production and there will never be another run which means I can't just pop to my LMS and pick one up, and (probably related) the price of unbuilt old kits is often more than the price of the new one[2] - (diminishing) supply & (steady) demand and all that.
Andy
[1] I'm only qualified to speak for myself, and then only just
[2] five of the eight on eBay this morning are priced between £75 and £123. One of the cheapies was only listed today and is already at £24 with nine days bidding to go. Another is at £69.95 and has no box. My favourite seller of pre-owned kits has none in stock and I can't remember last time I saw one. Google also doesn't find much.
-
1
-
-
Got the scale wrong, but I thought this was a very Airfix type. Looking forward to it, never built an Anson but I really should.
Andy
-
18 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:
Follow up on the price increases using the Vulcan as an example if it cost £58.99 when it went up for pre order in 2020, it should cost inflation adjusted just under £61 (should being the key word, I'm no economist I just googled inflation since 2020 and did the maths). Yet it now costs £72.49. Definitely other costs behind it
Someone in the trade said on another forum he is having huge problems getting stock as the price of a container has gone up from £2000 to £12,000 a time in the last 18 months. That not only increases costs to us, but he said he can't hit announced release dates on new kits unless he can fill a container at the right time as shipping part ones for the sake of the few new kits just isn't viable.
I suppose Airfix are hitting the same problems even if they're looking at tens of containers a time instead of single ones.
Andy
-
1
-
-
Check out IBG, the do a great range of plastic kits of British stuff no one else does. IBG at Kingkit Avoid the Universal Carriers though - they're great kits if you have tiny fingers and the patience of a saint. I have neither
Also have a look at The Plastic Soldier Company. Their kits are a bit simplified for wargaming, but they build quickly and easily and paint up lovely. The 'Reinforcement' single sprues are a great way to start or expand a collection without spending loads PSC British
Andy
-
Epic - truly epic. I've seen some astounding builds in BBGBs but this sets the new standard.
It doesn't look any worse than one of my standard builds either
Andy
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, Olmec Head said:
And a start at 10 minutes to Eleven in the morning. The watch is a Vostok Amphibia dive watch with Russian Airborne emblem. I bought it last year straight from Russia. They are still using a 1960s auto movement and have 200m depth rating. And only about 70 quid imported via Ebay.
Got to love a Boctok
I do and have had several over the years all with different dials. Still got one plus a Chaika which uses the movement from a ladies watch plus a big spacer to fit the man size case - it's wafer thin, probably thinner than you could make a battery plus mount for a quartz watch.
Spitfire is looking good too.
Andy
-
Tamiya 1/48 Austin Tilly,
HQ Company, 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade, 1st Polish Armoured Division,
Falaise Sector, France, August 1944.
Built almost straight from the box - I swapped the Division sign from Polish 4th Infantry to Polish 1st Armoured, using 15mm decals from Plastic Soldier Company.
Akan, Hataka, Tamiya and Citadel paints and inks.
Andy
-
34
-
-
Well a bit later tna planned, but that's the way of the world. Since I had time to play with I treat myself to a spot fo brunch. Goose sammidges with home made chutney.
Lots of detail painting, tidying up and decalling followed. Gave everything a coat of matt varnish, then a little drybrush with Tamiya flat earrth to tone down the white markings got me to here. More pics in the gallery. Compulsoty penny shot
The standard scheme would have the census numbers along the bonnet sides and a white star on each door, but as the Poles are wont to say "Nie jesteśmy Anglikami bonny lad. Żadna z tych bzdur dla nas like". Your Poles may vary
Andy
-
3
-
-
Bum!!! Not going to make the Superman straight 24 hour limit, but begging your indulgence, another hour should have it finished, so well within the "Two 12 hours sperated by no more than 12 hours" thing.
This is where it stands at noon:
So close. So, so close 😢
Andy
-
2
-
-
5 minutes ago, JeroenS said:
Those 2 hairy beauties, again no help from them I suppose?
No, they had a go at some Warhammer figures then had a nap while they waited for me to paint them. No help at all with the Tilly 😕
Andy
-
3
-
-
Not nearly enough music videos in this thread. So here's a couple, and a question; can you self plagiarise, or was Ritchie stuck for ideas and just recycling riffs?
I used to annoy an ex (just by continuing to breathe as it turned out
) by singing the chorus of one over the other. Simpler times...
Andy
-
2
-
1
-
-
Still a ton of detail parts to add, a couple of touch ups and the camo to do on the tilt when the base coat is dry. Then it's just decals and weathering. 105 minutes to go? No problem
Andy
-
2
-
Arma Hobby NEW 1:72 P-39Q Airacobra
in The Rumourmonger
Posted · Edited by Foxbat
Given current affairs I really can't see a Polish company replacing a kit with Russian markings (their VVS Hurricane according to the first post) with a kit of a Russian subject.
There are a few French types they could do that would give options for Polish markings, or a world of single piston engined types that would fill gaps in their range. Not long to wait to find out
Andy