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Heller Classic GB Chat


Wez

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9 hours ago, JeroenS said:

Nice set of toes as well @Graeme H 🙂 

C'mon now, we have just moved out of Winter into Spring, the temp has risen slightly,

Mind you I'm still wearing my T shirt and Shorts that I wore through winter except on my 5 am dog walks, when I would also wear a long sleeve shirt with my shorts, and shoes 😄

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6 hours ago, Graeme H said:

C'mon now, we have just moved out of Winter into Spring, the temp has risen slightly,

Mind you I'm still wearing my T shirt and Shorts that I wore through winter except on my 5 am dog walks, when I would also wear a long sleeve shirt with my shorts, and shoes 😄

Boy that sounds like a rough winter 😎

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18 hours ago, fightersweep said:

Well, I discovered Heller in 1982, aged 13. Anyone that wore even straight leg trousers at my school were accused of sporting flares and therefore of being a smelly "hippy" and summarily executed on the spot. One's school trousers had to have the ability to cut the circulation off at the ankles and were always teamed up with a "Slim Jim" tie and untucked shirt ala Eddie Shoestring.

 

Steve

 

I was at tech college then, being of the spiky top persuasion I subscribed to words of a Mr J Lydon who said "Never trust a hippy", I was definitely a wearer of skinny troos along with DMs.

 

13 hours ago, Chimpion said:

I haven't participated in a group build since Photobucket took away my ability to share photos. Finally got around to using the One Drive storage I have this week so that excuse has gone. With this GB spreading over Christmas and slim chance of getting together with relatives this year, the second excuse that I need more than 4 months to finish anything is also looking shaky, although my offering is quite a substantial kit. The mould dates from 1980 and is pretty much alone in its subject category. It doesn't fly, can't shoot anything and won't fit in a multi-storey car park. That's enough of a hint - I 'll post a photo later.

Andy

 

Chimpion, welcome along, very pleased that your return to GBs is this one, I've seen your chosen subject, the Carbonel tome confirms it as being a 1980 kit and will make a great addition to the GB.

 

Still time/room for people to join.

 

Any mould originally released by Heller before 1 Jan 1986 in its original boxing, subsequent re-release or even released by somebody else is eligible, other manufacturer's kits in Heller boxes aren't though!

 

Come and join us, this one is going to be huge!

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The kick off is getting closer now, best start gathering my Heller stuff together.

 

I've gathered quite a few kits together since the GB was announced, Ebay and a couple of model shows before they bit the dust have been the main providers. Prices have been satisfyingly low generally. The Peterborough show has been a happy hunting ground in the past. I miss it.

The current Heller Classic re-releases, the SMER and other reboxings and the original Heller kits not being too sought after means hoovering up builder kits hasn't broken the bank at all. Gathering over a decent time frame has helped a lot as well. A kit here and there over a year or so means I've hardly noticed them growing here.  I'll never get them all built during the GB but I've given myself a decent pile to choose from. 

 

Three SMER reboxings are strong contenders, as is a Heller Constellation, picked up at Peterborough two years ago! The American flags are missing from the decal sheet on this one, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

 

     20200904-091414.jpg   

 

   20200904-092935.jpg

 

The ARC en CIEL is most certainly getting done, I'm looking forward to this build a lot. Decals need sorting here as well. Best get on their case now, rather than half way through the build.

 

20200814-142852.jpg

 

If I get that lot done, I'll be more than happy. There's a few others available but these ones are the ones that appeal most at the moment. I've over extended myself in a couple of recent GB's and have had a word with myself about that. I'm trying to keep this GB within the realms of possibility.

 

Digging through my Humbrol Authentics, I find I have a near complete French Airforce set. Normally I wouldn't use old stuff if it's in good nick, but this set is incomplete and a tin or two has been used. I may well commit a crime against Collecting and use the tins during the GB. The Green is missing, but I have an old tin of Humbrol 88 that gets called out as the green to use in the SMER boxings, so I'll probably use that in its place.

 

.20200904-100117.jpg

 

20200904-100155.jpg

 

Roll on start day!

 

Tony.

 

 

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@TonyW

 

That is an eye wateringly lush selection of Heller kits there. That Arc en Ciel is one I don't think I've seen before and I think I want one for myself. What a great subject! Also, love the Humbrol set! I think I have eight authentic sets in minty condition that won't get touched, but I do have some of the French colours loose. Should come in useful on my Bloch. I've been using a lot of 40+ year old Humbrol Authentics lately and they all perform beautifully. Glad to have some more "old skool" mix in the GB. I'm off to eBay for an Arc en Ciel now!

 

@Wez

 

Ah! More similar tastes then! Even though I liked a lot of the new wave, synth and some of the pop stuff in the charts at the time, I was discovering the back catalogue of The Damned, and for 82, their new album Strawberries which I still love to this day. The looks at our school was either a bit new wave/punky, trendy or Mum at Army and Navy Stores/local market stall.

 

Steve

 

 

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On 1/26/2019 at 5:56 PM, Enzo Matrix said:

 

Stop showing me things like this...!     I'll only want to build one.   :frantic:  

Until you realise just how are you going to do those spirals on the Spinners!  hence my one stuck in its box for years.

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51 minutes ago, fightersweep said:

Same here. Seems to be hens teeth which is a shame. One on eBay from Japan currently up to £44.

The Amiot and Potez SMER boxings were £18 for the two, including delivery, from an Ebay seller this week. The SMER Leo was £11 delivered.

 

They are out there ! 

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2 hours ago, TonyW said:

The Amiot and Potez SMER boxings were £18 for the two, including delivery, from an Ebay seller this week. The SMER Leo was £11 delivered.

 

They are out there ! 

Try this one.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMIOT-143-ARMEE-DE-LAIR-FRENCH-AF-MARKINGS-845-1-72-SMER/363000320870?epid=1336848590&hash=item5484815366:g:jBoAAOxyzGlQ5H2v

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In preparation, I've taken delivery of the Mistercraft Bf 108: Cheaper than the original Heller kit, and with decals for 14 (yes, 14) subjects. Oddly, the French are not included, despite Nord continuing to build it after the war. I already have both this and a Heller original in the stash, but they are not readily accessible. And just because there are so many subjects, I've ordered two more ...

1134920-13641-49-720.jpg

 

The latest projected build list is ... classified.

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13 minutes ago, klr said:

In preparation, I've taken delivery of the Mistercraft Bf 108: Cheaper than the original Heller kit, and with decals for 14 (yes, 14) subjects. Oddly, the French are not included, despite Nord continuing to build it after the war. I already have both this and a Heller original in the stash, but they are not readily accessible. And just because there are so many subjects, I've ordered two more ...

14?! How do you choose?

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4 hours ago, TonyW said:

The Amiot and Potez SMER boxings were £18 for the two, including delivery, from an Ebay seller this week. The SMER Leo was £11 delivered.

 

They are out there ! 

Yes! Got my wires crossed in my previous reply. The Amiot and others are still quite easy to find and crop up quite cheaply, but that Arc en Ciel is a rare kit and quite sought after. They don't turn up very often at all!

 

Steve

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1 hour ago, klr said:

I already have both this and a Heller original in the stash, but they are not readily accessible.

I'm trying to visualize a stash that is so big you just cannot get to all the boxes 🤔

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6 minutes ago, JeroenS said:

I'm trying to visualize a stash that is so big you just cannot get to all the boxes 🤔

Well, if it's anything like my stash, then most of it is in my storage unit six miles away. It's a great way of forgetting what you actually own, and every trip there is like Christmas day :D

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54 minutes ago, fightersweep said:

Yes! Got my wires crossed in my previous reply. The Amiot and others are still quite easy to find and crop up quite cheaply, but that Arc en Ciel is a rare kit and quite sought after. They don't turn up very often at all!

 

Steve

It would be nice if Heller reissued the kit. I guess that's always a possibility, assuming the mould still exists.

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8 minutes ago, fightersweep said:

Well, if it's anything like my stash, then most of it is in my storage unit six miles away. It's a great way of forgetting what you actually own, and every trip there is like Christmas day :D

That's a good one... Maybe I should get a unit for all of my.... 25 boxes 😋

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25 minutes ago, JeroenS said:

I'm trying to visualize a stash that is so big you just cannot get to all the boxes 🤔

😀 No, it just means they are in another part of the country that for COVID-19 reasons, I am not currently able to reach.

 

Having said that, the stash in question is an imposing construction. I'm not quite sure where certain kits are, and others are buried so deep that it would be hard to extract them without bringing many other kits crashing down ...

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29 minutes ago, klr said:

😀 No, it just means they are in another part of the country that for COVID-19 reasons, I am not currently able to reach.

The technical term for this is a Deep Stash.

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