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I was recently approached by a relatively new member of our group (Mad City Modelers) looking for help with a model he wanted to build for a family display he is making. Actually, Sean is making two displays, one for him and the other for his brother. Each display will include models of vehicles with special significance to the family: various autos and motorcycles, a sailboat, a San Francisco cable car, a railway car (from a trans-Siberian trip), etc. The centerpiece of the display will be a Baby Grunau IIb glider flown by his grandfather, Vladimir Smetana, when he lived in Czechoslovakia: Grandpa Smetana's story is quite interesting. An avid soarer, he left Czechoslovakia with his wife and Sean's mother in 1969 after the Soviet Union invaded. After a brief time in Austria as refugees, they immigrated to Oregon and later moved to California. Vladimir worked as an R&D machinist in the automotive, off-shore oil and the aerospace industries. Some of his handiwork was sent to Mars on the ill-fated Mars Observer mission (and is now 'Lost in Space'). Vladimir had a life-long passion for flight which he passed on to Sean, and both became paraglider pilots (pictured below, in California): Sean and his grandfather: Anyway, back to the build . . . Sean had two 1/72 Grunau Baby kits from Czech Master Resin for us to work with: The CMR kits were well molded but suffered the usual issues of resin kits: a few pinhole bubbles in the surface, and one kit's wing was warped. Those were easy enough to fix. Obviously, the kit decals did not have the same registration numbers as grandpa's Grunau Baby, so I printed a set of decals using the photos Sean had given me. My approach was for me to build one kit, step-by-step, demonstrating the relevant modeling techniques, and for Sean to follow along with his kit. That worked out very well. Here's how they turned out! As builds go, this wasn't very difficult -- the hardest part was dealing with some very small parts. What I enjoyed most was the opportunity to share my experience with a new modeler. Thanks for viewing! - Bill

Czech Master Resin (CMR) is to reissue its 1/72nd Gloster Gamecock Mk.I - in RAF Service - resin kit with ref. CMR72-243 Sources: https://www.4pluspublications.com/en/model-kits/news-in-preparation/ https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/CMR72-243 V.P.

Czech Master Resin (CMR) is to reissue its 1/72nd Kokusai Ki-76 "Stella" resin kit - ref. CMR72-5061 Sources: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/CMR72-5061 https://www.aviationmegastore.com/en/modelling/kokusai-ki-76-stella-reissue-czechmaster-cmr72-5061-82249.html V.P.

Czech Master Resin (CMR) is to reissue an improved version from its 1/144th Avro Shackleton MR.3 resin kit - ref. CMR144-001 Source: https://www.aviationmegastore.com/en/modelling/avro-shackleton-mr3-raf-saaf--improved-reissue-czechmaster-01-50952.html https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/CMR144-001 V.P.

Over in the Revell 1/72nd scale Hawk build sponsored by Jadlam I built the commemorative 'Spitfire/19 Squadron' BaE Hawk. Then a bug bit me and I felt like building more 19 Squadron aircraft...I am not sure why, but there it is. I'll try to keep them in this GB as much as possible then switch them around to different threads. The list of aircraft is excellent and includes a couple of different Spitfires, Bulldogs, Snipes, Hunters, Meteors, EE Lightnings, Phantoms...and that's only about a third, maybe...Since I started off with the Hawk I figure now I would go back to almost the beginning, after the Shorthorn, 504, Caudron G3, Scout, etc...and build this lovely resin kit from Czech Master Resin. I have had the kit for a few years so it is time. Then I'll move along to the Bulldog afterwards. Or maybe the Snipe...Hmmm...or jump right into the Hunter? Who knows! Pedro Nuno Soares built this kit over at Internetmodeller and I will be using his build as good advice. http://www.internetmodeler.com/2005/september/aviation/cmr_dolphin.php Here are some neat pictures... And this one is fun. Some backstory...I grew up very close to The Olde Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Rhinebeck, NY, along the Hudson River. In the summer I would spend many weekends watching Cole Palen and others fly their biplanes, simulating dogfights, etc...there were DVII, Albatros, Pups, Camels, Avro, Triplanes, and many more. Here is nice image of the Sopwith Dolphin Cole and company built. Coincidentally it is 19 Squadron...!😉 I saw this aircraft fly frequently. I think Dick King is at the helm, but I am not sure. --John

Since I haven't uploaded anything to this site yet, here is a test run. Here are a couple of images of the Czech Master Resin Hansa W.20, an experimental craft designed by Ernst Heinkel to be used on U-boats...the idea was they would be kept in a special watertight shed on the deck of the U-boat and then unfolded and put together for reconnaissance flights while the boat was on the surface. Only three were ever built. This was a lovely little kit to build and lots of fun. The molds were excellent, the decals fit well with no problems. Like many resin kits, it lends itself to a bit of scratch building and additional details, like rigging, some brass for radiator lines and the occasional electrical line. Rigging is all stainless steel .005 ethicon. I can't remember the color, but I think it might be Mr. Kit German Naval Light Blue-Grey. I built this around 9 months ago. It took about 5 days. https://www.flickr.com/photos/109367999@N03/34363874640/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/109367999@N03/34363874120/in/dateposted-public/ OK...I seem to not be able to load the images, just the URL...can't I just attach them from my desktop? --JDCM

Scale Resin (http://www.cmrmodels.com/modely-scale-resin) is to re-release Czech Master Resin 1/72nd NA.39 & Blackburn Buccaneer S.Mk.1 resin kits - ref. A7201 & A7202 Source and preview: http://www.hyperscale.com/2015/reviews/kits/scaleresina7201previewbg_1.htm V.P.

My build... Czech Master Resin - 1/144th Martin Mars. by Totallyrad.co.uk, on Flickr