Dave Ambrose

I think it's safe to say that continental private equity firms are different from their Anglo/American counterparts. My favorite coffee brand, Peet's was bought by JAB in Luxembourg. I was worried that quality would slip, and that I'd be reduced to drinking Starbuck's coffee. That hasn't happened. The coffee is just as good as ever, but the tea has undergone some changes. They merged it with another of their brands and explained that they were having supply problems due to increased demand for premium teas. We're getting by. They also own a bunch of other coffee companies, and Keurig. They seem to be making the synergies work for them. That's what these companies are supposed to do. I'm going to guess that there will be changes, but it seems like the continental equity companies are indeed in business to make money rather than bleed the cash, and stiff the suppliers like the American companies do. One advantage they have is access to eastern European mold making and manufacturing facilities. Their costs and capabilities are on par with China, and much closer. That takes a lot of time out of the product development pipeline, which reduces costs. I can't find what other companies they own, but it seems like they will take advantages of their portfolio, and the Revell acquisition is either part of an existing strategy, or the nucleus of a new plan. But, the long term challenge facing any of the traditional model companies is bringing younger people into the hobby. I feel like it can be done, but it needs a completely new strategy that hasn't been tried yet. Revell's previous management was good at marketing to people like us, but we're not the future.

We actually have no limit on disk space for the site. In this context, anything included in a post is site content, and in accordance with our terms of service. I don't see anything that would cause you to hit any kind of space limit. I have encountered problems with files that contain spaces, or extended characters. There are also restrictions on the file types, but so long as they are gif, jpg, or png, you should be fine. I did resave those settings in case that makes a difference. Try it again, and PM me if you into any more issues. Attach the problematic image file, if you can.

This is a great topic. I've been afflicted by the same thing. My Achilles heel being paint drama, and biting off way more than I can realistically do in finite time. I've been addressing this a couple of ways, and it seems to be helping. First off, I scaled back the difficulty. I'm a lot more careful about biting off more than I can chew. I've decided that box stock is a nice category for the moment. Second, I started going back to some stalled projects to find that my skills have improved by rather a lot since I suspended work on them. They're getting done, and looking pretty good in the process. Third is to realize that very few people will look at my build the same way I do. Yes, there are imperfections, but they see the big picture, which is a nice car. I can see that too, if I want. I started this year off pretty well, and I'm hoping to keep it going.

Thanks. This is one of my favorite cars.

A staysail schooner, nice. Gonna follow this one. If the models are anything like the real ones, any time you spend getting the frames just right will pay you back tenfold by the end of the project. It's a principle I've followed on a lot of projects, and it seems to be very true, almost regardless of context.

Recently, it seems that motion gifs for avatars has become A Thing(tm). Please do NOT use any flashing avatars. They can induce seizures in epileptics, Yes, this really is a problem. I've seen it and had to fix the errant software. If we see any of them, we will remove them immediately. Please do not put them back. Smooth motion is OK. Thanks, Dave Ambrose

Looks like he forgot to renew his domain and it got hijacked.

That shouldn't happen. What type of device are you using to read the site? Is anyone else having this problem?

I've run into problems with the air supply pulsing when using a diaphragm compressor and no air tank. The tank doesn't have to be large, but you need may very well find you need something.

I stopped using that stuff altogether. Could never get it capped tightly enough. I switched to the Gorilla Glue CA in the little tubes. They seal up tight and the glue stays good until the glue runs out, assuming I don't leave the cap off.

I've been using India ink applied with a Speedball quill pen. Doesn't matter what paint chemistry you're using, as it's a straight solution of bootblack in water. There's no vehicle (binder) to react. I usually apply it after primer, and before paint.

I'm sorry to hear about your cat. It's so hard to say that final goodbye. They insinuate themselves into your life, and in my case, the hobby table too.

I heartily approve. Love the D-Types. That's a very nice looking kit.

I've noticed that the Sci-fi section (including Gundams) at my local hobby shop has been growing, mostly at the expense of armor, but also airplanes. Model cars have stayed about the same, but this is Southern California. We have a thriving car culture. Sci-fi and Gundam modelers tend to be a lot younger than your average IPMS meeting too. That's clearly where the market is heading, and seems to be where the development dollars are flowing. Moebius released a couple of super nice kits with the Proteus, and Discovery. Automotive subjects generally have very good coverage. Some are probably way overdone, but still popular. There's a robust secondary market, which eats into sales of new kits. I suspect your typical model car practitioner has a large kit stash and will only be selectively buying new kits. We're to a point where the things people really want are somewhat esoteric and are never going to be very popular. Moebius is a business first, and the development money follows the sales.