Heller Classic GB Chat

[fightersweep]

1 minute ago, alt-92 said:

I did my 1/72 Ju-87 canopy by hand. 

It wasn't that bad...

My prior, recent canopy masking escapade was a 1/72 Piston Provost and a couple of Harvards. Drove me nuts, so I feel your pain with the Ju-87.

 

2 minutes ago, Enzo Matrix said:

Always works for me!      Mind you the cutting is usually restricted to my fingers...

I haven't sliced anything off as yet, but Tamiya type tape seems to have the same qualities as super glue. It won't stick to the ruddy canopy, but will stick beautifully to my fingers.

[fightersweep]

4 minutes ago, TonyOD said:

I masked the canopy on my Leo last night. I swear I was crying by the time I'd finished.

I don't know whether to recommend you for a medal, send my deepest sympathies, or both.

[Enzo the Magnificent]

1 minute ago, fightersweep said:

I haven't sliced anything off as yet,

Neither have I.  As yet...    I have, however, dropped my craft knife a couple of times so it has stuck in my foot.  Next time I'll take a picture of it. 

[fightersweep]

1 minute ago, Enzo Matrix said:

Neither have I.  As yet...    I have, however, dropped my craft knife a couple of times so it has stuck in my foot.  Next time I'll take a picture of it. 

Ouch! Did that once with a No 11 with a brand new blade. Didn't notice it roll off the work bench, felt something wet on my leg and looked down to see it embedded in my thigh. 

[alt-92]

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

15 minutes ago, Enzo Matrix said:

Neither have I.  As yet...    I have, however, dropped my craft knife a couple of times so it has stuck in my foot.  Next time I'll take a picture of it. 

Been there .... Done that. I also got it stuck in my thigh once. 

[alt-92]

Never with an xacto (knock wood). 
I did get a PE part stuck under a fingernail once while folding. 
Let's say it was less than pleasant 

[Rabbit Leader]

@fightersweep (Steve), regarding Montex masks I tend to agree with Enzo, however I’ve found a novel way to use them. I use as many as I can straight off the backing sheet, usually the ones that want to play ball on flat surfaces. When it comes to ‘curved surfaces’, I use these Montex pieces as a template and make my own out of Tamiya tape. If you prefer Tamiya tape overall, just use the whole sheet as a template. It’s still time consuming, however will save some time and (I personally) think that the cut outs are more accurate than Eduard masks, which I tend to find can be oversize and double the price. It’s still a pain of a job, but might help you. 

Cheers. Dave 

[Foxbat]

Succumbed today and got a couple of kits I'd been lusting after. Oddly, Hannants were doing the latest boxing cheaper than some other sites (and eBay) were asking for the older releases. Same plastic in each box, plus I get brand new decals.

 

Found that last month too; found something on Scalemates then checked and Hannants were doing it cheaper than the Scalemates marketplace sellers. It pays to check.

 

Andy

[fightersweep]

@Rabbit Leader

 

Thanks Dave! Sound advice. The Montex set is only £2, so way cheaper than a Eduard set would be had they done one, so the tip of using it as a template is a good idea. Cheers!

 

@Foxbat

 

Thanks for the tip. I don't usually think of checking Hannants for Heller stuff.

[PeterB]

I too noticed that the Heller re-releases often are cheaper that 2nd hand versions from the usual sources, and of course the decs are likely to be in a much better condition.

 

Pete

[Rob S]

20 hours ago, Rob S said:

 

Hello Pete : 

 

It was the 1982 Catalogue which was the 25th Anniversary of Heller. 

 

I’ll see if I can upload a photo of it later tonight. 

 

 

Should have realised when I wrote the above that 2022 will be Heller’s 65th Anniversary so is that a good enough excuse to do all this again (and probably even bigger as it would include all things Heller and not just “classic Heller kits”) in 2022?  

 

[Rabbit Leader]

12 minutes ago, Rob S said:

... good enough excuse to do all this again? 

Well we normally get to do at least one classic kit GB per year and there’s still a good few manufacturers that we haven’t done as yet. I feel as if I’m a relative GB newbie, however we’ve visited the likes of Matchbox, Airfix, Frog and now Heller in the last few years with classic Monogram / Revell slated for 2021. I’d like to have a crack at an Italian manufactures GB after that so we can unearth all those lovely Italeri & Esci (et al) kits too.. who wants to see sone Zwillings and Gigants being built? 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

[fightersweep]

1 hour ago, Rob S said:

2022 will be Heller’s 65th Anniversary

I've got a copy of that 1982 25th anniversary catalogue myself, and being someone that's still a bit stuck in 1982, the thought that 2022 is the 65th anniversary is a bit scary. Gulp! Where did 40 years go?

 

47 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Classic Monogram / Revell slated for 2021. I’d like to have a crack at an Italian manufactures GB after that so we can unearth all those lovely Italeri & Esci (et al) kits too.. who wants to see sone Zwillings and Gigants being built?  

I would certainly be in with a Italeri/Esci GB. I built a lot of Italeri kits in my younger days, and I rated them fairly close with Heller. I thought kits such as the He-111, Ju-86, Ju-52, Do-217, Ju-188 etc were very nicely done, and still very build-able today. I have a few in the to do pile now. Remember building a few Esci kits too, such as their DC-3s, several of the WW1 types and the F-100, again kits I still rate considering their age now. I think an Italeri/Esci GB would be a popular choice. 

 

Revell/Monogram is a funny one with me. I built only a few Monogram kits back then, mostly because 1/72 was my scale and most Monogram stuff I saw was 1/48. Do remember the T-6 and P-47 being very nice models. Revell stuff around 81/82 was in those naff photo boxes, and I remember not being very impressed. Did buy the P-47, Spitfire Mk 1 and Wildcat and thought them all a bit "Meh". Then I bought the very old P-51D and nearly died laughing....even as a not so accuracy obsessed 13 year old, it was and still is a hilarious model of a Mustang. I did build a lot of the old WW1 kits. I did quite like those. For some reason, and this is just my take, as iconic as Revell and Monogram are, I've never had the same warm, glowy feeling about them.

 

Still incredible to think, that despite the classic UK giants such as Airfix, Frog and Matchbox having been previously covered in GBs, that Heller has proven to be the biggest GB ever. I don't think I could have predicted that one.

 

Steve

[helios16v]

I feel we currently have a much larger GB builder base than we had even a year ago...which I'm sure has had a significant impact.  The general availability of a lower cost entry helps as well.

[TonyOD]

1 hour ago, fightersweep said:

Gulp! Where did 40 years go?

 

I have a massive problem with the idea that "30 years ago" means 1990. In my head "30 years ago" means like 1978.

[fightersweep]

1 minute ago, TonyOD said:

I have a massive problem with the idea that "30 years ago" means 1990. In my head "30 years ago" means like 1978.

Same here, although for me, the early 2000s could easily be 40 years ago, while the late 70s/eary 80s feels more like a few weeks ago. Either I haven't grown up, or I have some age related memory deficiency going on. For me, these "classic" GBs are just kits I'm still building. Wait! You mean there are newer brands out there??

[TEMPESTMK5]

4 minutes ago, TonyOD said:

I have a massive problem with the idea that "30 years ago" means 1990. In my head "30 years ago" means like 1978.

Hi Tony

 I understand perfectly what you feel  time flies too quickly , I still feel like my son was born just a few days ago when he will soon be 17, yesterday he was a baby and now he is taller than me

 

Best Regards and take care ..

 

Patrice

[TonyOD]

On 9/12/2020 at 6:21 PM, Enzo Matrix said:

Mistercraft kits are from Poland. They are all repops of kits from other manufacturers, packaged nicely and with nice decal sheets.  However, caveat emptor.   Do your research before buying.  The Mirage is the Heller kit and is a good choice.

I am caveating! I was looking at the Mistercraft reboxing of the Heller Rafale A and wondered if it's worth a punt. Inexpensive, interesting range of decal options. This brand seems to have a rotten reputation for their early stuff but possibly their more recent offerings are an improvement?

 

https://www.super-hobby.co.uk/products/Rafale-A-34160555.html  

 

 

[Enzo the Magnificent]

5 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

who wants to see sone Zwillings and Gigants being built?

Everyone wants to see that!

[Aardvark]

1 hour ago, TonyOD said:

I was looking at the Mistercraft reboxing of the Heller Rafale A and wondered if it's worth a punt. Inexpensive, interesting range of decal options. This brand seems to have a rotten reputation for their early stuff but possibly their more recent offerings are an improvement?

 

https://www.super-hobby.co.uk/products/Rafale-A-34160555.html  

 

No alternative Heller Rafale,  because it's prototype with good differences from Rafale C/M, now in service.

 

By the way, the only model I'm interested in is from Heller that I still don't have.

 

6 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

I feel as if I’m a relative GB newbie, however we’ve visited the likes of Matchbox, Airfix, Frog and now Heller in the last few years with classic Monogram / Revell slated for 2021. I’d like to have a crack at an Italian manufactures GB after that so we can unearth all those lovely Italeri & Esci (et al) kits too.. who wants to see sone Zwillings and Gigants being built? 

....2024 years....on BM "Early A-model GB" after the end of GB, meet a massive wave of depression and disappointment in modeling...

😁😁😁

 

B.R.

Serge

 

[Wez]

1 hour ago, TonyOD said:

I am caveating! I was looking at the Mistercraft reboxing of the Heller Rafale A and wondered if it's worth a punt. Inexpensive, interesting range of decal options. This brand seems to have a rotten reputation for their early stuff but possibly their more recent offerings are an improvement?

 

https://www.super-hobby.co.uk/products/Rafale-A-34160555.html  

 

 

It wouldn't be eligible in the GB having been released in 1989.

[TonyOD]

54 minutes ago, Aardvark said:

No alternative Heller Rafale,  because it's prototype with good differences from Rafale C/M, now in service.

 

31 minutes ago, Wez said:

It wouldn't be eligible in the GB having been released in 1989.

 

Both good points, well made.

[Aardvark]

@TonyOD but with this kit 

2 hours ago, TonyOD said:

 

https://www.super-hobby.co.uk/products/Rafale-A-34160555.html  

 

big problem I see! Prototype Rafale A don't carry such emblems as decals Mistercraft. Decal Mistercraft:

for serial

Rafale C!

The Mistercraft decal does not have elements for the required Rafale A painting, their handmade  is very difficult:

https://www.super-hobby.ru/products/Rafale-A-110534.html

 

Therefore, be very careful with  Mistercraft kit!

 

B.R.

Serge

 

[Islesy]

Have just located a 1:35 Waffen SS figure kit in the loft, hopefully this should be OK? Feel a small diorama vignette coming on...

 

Edited September 30, 2020 by Islesy