What non-auto model did you get today?

[unclescott58]

Got this one a few days ago. But forgot to show it until now. This is a N scale trailer house putout by a company called Imex. This is the second Imex N scale product I've purchased (see a couple of posts above). And I've got to say I'm much more impressed with their models in person, than what I've seen of their stuff in ads on the web. The quality of both items I got were much better than I expected. The pictures on the web, for both times did not look great. But, at the prices they were asking for their stuff, I thought I might as well take a chance. I'm very glad that I did. It's nice to get something that's better than what one expects. 

 

[unclescott58]

In today's mail, I got two more building for my train layout. Both are part of Woodland Scenics Landmark Sturctures Built-&-Ready series. And both are extremely detailed N scale building. They are very, very nice. Much nicer than the pictures I posting here can show. 

The first is called Rustic Cabin. Which is exactly what it is. It has wonderful details like two rocking chairs on the front porch, along with a barrel between the rockers and an old milk can by the door. A stack of fire wood along side the porch. A chimney for the stove that will burn that wood. Notice they call it a "rustic cabin". That does mean it's not without some modern amenities. There's a pipes and a meter on the back wall  for electricity. And there's a TV antenna to give a hint to what part of that electricity will be put to use for. Also, one of the windows in the rear, is a bit on the small size, and there is small roof vent above it's general location. I'm guessing that's for indoor plumbing. I could live there! By the way the model does also include an LED light, that lights up the front porch. 

The second building is extremely cool too. It's J. Frank's Grocery. Part of the IGA chain of grocery stores. Two things I get a kick out of right away, are the mechanical horse ride in front of the building. And gumball machine in the front entrance. The gumball machine is painted in such a way, that looks there are really gumballs in it! The mechanical horse ride says "Ride Lone Rider". Amazing detail! Remember, we're talking N scale. 1/160 scale. Plenty of of signs in the windows. Advertising things like tuna for 19 cents. A pound of apples for 5. Etc. There's a loading dock, a dumpster, and other things you'd expect around the back and the sides of the building. This model also has an LED light that lights up the interior of the store. Showing you even more details! 

Boy, am I impressed. Both buildings are a little spendy. But, not really bad when you considered what you get. 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Something I've been after for a long time...a virgin-in-the-box HO scale Bowser Pennsy T-1 kit. This locomotive kit was originally offered by Penn Line in the 1950s, with a lead boiler and not great details. In '55, the kit sold for $39.95...kinda pricey way back then. Bowser bought out Penn Line's tooling around about '63, and retooled several of the kits. This one, cast in zinc alloy, was produced in 1998, and is complete with a ton of brass super-detail parts. One of my favorite locomotives of all time, it's a Raymond Loewy design ('53 Studebaker, Avanti, etc.), and was clocked at 126 MPH. Sadly, all the real ones were scrapped, but some people who love the thing are recreating a full-scale operational T-1 from factory blueprints. The loco constructed from the kit has detail rivaling the best plastic stuff, and two motors. It's said to be capable of pulling a string of 100 cars.

                                                                                                  

 

[unclescott58]

Beautiful engine. ?One of best designs ever. 

[Roadrunner]

This just arrived today, and I'm thrilled to now (finally) have it.

[Roadrunner]

I just had to, honest.

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

I just had to, honest...

Wow. Just wow. That's a big tank. The Mitsu J2M3's pretty cool too. I've never seen one.

[Roadrunner]

45 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Wow. Just wow. That's a big tank. The Mitsu J2M3's pretty cool too. I've never seen one.

Oh, yes, the Jagdtiger box is just ginormous. The Jack is one that I'd been seeking for a while, and I finally found one at a price that I thought reasonable, so I'm pretty happy.

[Mike999]

Just got a model of the "Doctor Killer," the Beechcraft Bonanza V35 in 1/48 scale.  An aviation magazine recently ran an article about "The 10 Most Dangerous Aircraft" and this was one of them.  Minicraft also makes the F33 version with the conventional, non-V tail, which seemed to fix most of the Bonanza's stability problems.

All these Minicraft civil aircraft kits have been around since the 1970s.  Older versions included figures wearing bell-bottom trousers, Afro hairdos and other Seventies gear.  I don't know if those are still in the box.  Minicraft has added new Cartograf decals with civil markings for US, Canadian, British and German aircraft. Plus extra number decals to make your own registration numbers.  I got this one from HobbyLinc for less than 20 bucks. 

[unclescott58]

Great kits. ?I have several. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Following a discussion here recently about the Kaman Huskie H43 helicopter, I was inspired to find one of the old kits. I just received a virgin Testors Canada repop of the Hawk version I built in my yoot. Nice kit, 1/32 scale, and the decals look perfect. The rotor blades are a little warped, but as is common with most rotorwing aircraft, they droop when at rest on the real one, so it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Guess I'm gonna need a 1/32 Huey and Cobra now to keep her company. I wonder if anybody makes a 1/32 Sikorsky H19 and H34.

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy

[Snake45]

52 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

The rotor blades are a little warped, but as is common with most rotorwing aircraft, they droop when at rest on the real one, so it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Guess I'm gonna need a 1/32 Huey and Cobra now to keep her company. I wonder if anybody makes a 1/32 Sikorsky H19 and H34.

Like you're actually gonna BUILD any of them! 

(If you think I'm trying to goad/prod/shame/encourage/cheer you into actually FINISHING SOMETHING, uh, you are correct.) 

[SfanGoch]

16 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Following a discussion here recently about the Kaman Huskie H43 helicopter, I was inspired to find one of the old kits.

This is a great kit, Bill. I have three of the Testors HSO kits and two original motorized Hawk 206 releases. Lone Star Models produces Cobra Company's (Bought the company, BTW) H-43 Kaman Huskie Detail Set LE-01. LSM closes its store site down regularly in order to catch up with casting for orders.; so, if you're interested in getting the set, check the site regularly.

[mod3l Lover]

   Here is a couple I got in the mail on Friday!

Great deal too, I think!?!  15.00 for Caudron,

and 10.00 for water truck!

[DonW]

1 hour ago, mod3l Lover said:

   Here is a couple I got in the mail on Friday!

Great deal too, I think!?!  15.00 for Caudron,

and 10.00 for water truck!

Those Caudrons are so insanely French. Must be around ten inches long?

The truck is a pretty fine machine, especially for that money.

Edited May 10, 2020 by DonW

[Ace-Garageguy]

On 5/10/2020 at 12:21 PM, SfanGoch said:

This is a great kit, Bill. I have three of the Testors HSO kits and two original motorized Hawk 206 releases. Lone Star Models produces Cobra Company's (Bought the company, BTW) H-43 Kaman Huskie Detail Set LE-01. LSM closes its store site down regularly in order to catch up with casting for orders.; so, if you're interested in getting the set, check the site regularly.

Thanks Joe. I appreciate that detail kit info. I had no idea that existed.

[Ace-Garageguy]

On 5/10/2020 at 4:38 PM, mod3l Lover said:

   Here is a couple I got in the mail on Friday!

Great deal too, I think!?!  15.00 for Caudron,

and 10.00 for water truck!

Pretty cool. Great prices.

I need a Caudron for my 1/32 race-plane collection, and I'm always up for any version of the CCKW.

[Mike999]

Unbelievable eBay score last night!  I went looking for the old Hobbycraft 1/48 scale Sea Fury, with the Bay of Pigs decals.  I know the new Airfix Sea Fury is miles better, but it's also miles more expensive and the Hobbycraft kit suits me. This won't be a super-detail project.

AFAIK, the Hobbycraft is the only kit with the correct, 1961-vintage Cuban markings.  There are aftermarket decal sets but the ones I've seen are for later Cuban Sea Furies, not the Bay of Pigs version. 

So I found a Hobbycraft Sea Fury on eBay ending in a couple of hours, with one bid on it:  for $5.30, with 8 people watching.  With that many watchers, I expected a bunch of sniping a few seconds before the auction ended, as usual.

With 1 minute to go, I placed a bid that brought the price up to $6.00.  And nobody bid against me!  So I got it for $6.00 plus shipping.

Edited May 16, 2020 by Mike999
omit

[unclescott58]

1 hour ago, Mike999 said:

Unbelievable eBay score last night!  I went looking for the old Hobbycraft 1/48 scale Sea Fury, with the Bay of Pigs decals.  I know the new Airfix Sea Fury is miles better, but it's also miles more expensive and the Hobbycraft kit suits me. This won't be a super-detail project.

AFAIK, the Hobbycraft is the only kit with the correct, 1961-vintage Cuban markings.  There are aftermarket decal sets but the ones I've seen are for later Cuban Sea Furies, not the Bay of Pigs version. 

So I found a Hobbycraft Sea Fury on eBay ending in a couple of hours, with one bid on it:  for $5.30, with 8 people watching.  With that many watchers, I expected a bunch of sniping a few seconds before the auction ended, as usual.

With 1 minute to go, I placed a bid that brought the price up to $6.00.  And nobody bid against me!  So I got it for $6.00 plus shipping.

Bay of Pigs Sea Fury? I'm surprised that a kit using that theme was ever offered. I'm sometimes amazed by the odd things that are made into model kits. A Bay of Pigs Sea Fury? 

[unclescott58]

On 5/10/2020 at 3:38 PM, mod3l Lover said:

   Here is a couple I got in the mail on Friday!

Great deal too, I think!?!  15.00 for Caudron,

and 10.00 for water truck!

I like the Caudon Racer. Those between wars racing planes are some of my favorites. And the William Bros have offered a few cool kits of that era/genre of planes. 

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Mike999 said:

Unbelievable eBay score last night!  I went looking for the old Hobbycraft 1/48 scale Sea Fury, with the Bay of Pigs decals.  I know the new Airfix Sea Fury is miles better, but it's also miles more expensive and the Hobbycraft kit suits me. This won't be a super-detail project.

AFAIK, the Hobbycraft is the only kit with the correct, 1961-vintage Cuban markings.  There are aftermarket decal sets but the ones I've seen are for later Cuban Sea Furies, not the Bay of Pigs version. 

So I found a Hobbycraft Sea Fury on eBay ending in a couple of hours, with one bid on it:  for $5.30, with 8 people watching.  With that many watchers, I expected a bunch of sniping a few seconds before the auction ended, as usual.

With 1 minute to go, I placed a bid that brought the price up to $6.00.  And nobody bid against me!  So I got it for $6.00 plus shipping.

The BOP SFs are a special interest of mine. Been researching them for years. VERY little good info on them. 

I'm not sure the markings shown on the kit box are accurate for BOP. Most of the pics I've seen of them at that time are just hastily-applied camo (overall dark green, or two shades of green), with FAR and a number (541 comes to mind--I'd have to check) in yellow, no national emblems or tail striping, although perhaps a couple of them were so marked. 

Probably the best book I've found on the subject is Playa Giron by Santiago Rivas, and even it doesn't have the kind of photo coverage of the FAR Sea Furies that you'd wish for. The photos just don't exist in much quantity, it seems, at least outside of Cuba. 

But if you think those references are scarce, JUST TRY to find a picture of one of the Navy's A4D Skyhawks of VA 34 in BOP markings. Such photos might not exist at all, and if they do, are probably still classified, or in tightly held private collections. 

Someday I'd love to have BOP B-26, Sea Fury, T-33, and A4D on my shelf....

[Mike999]

24 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

The BOP SFs are a special interest of mine. Been researching them for years. VERY little good info on them. 

I'm not sure the markings shown on the kit box are accurate for BOP. Most of the pics I've seen of them at that time are just hastily-applied camo (overall dark green, or two shades of green), with FAR and a number (541 comes to mind--I'd have to check) in yellow, no national emblems or tail striping, although perhaps a couple of them were so marked. 

Probably the best book I've found on the subject is Playa Giron by Santiago Rivas, and even it doesn't have the kind of photo coverage of the FAR Sea Furies that you'd wish for. The photos just don't exist in much quantity, it seems, at least outside of Cuba. 

But if you think those references are scarce, JUST TRY to find a picture of one of the Navy's A4D Skyhawks of VA 34 in BOP markings. Such photos might not exist at all, and if they do, are probably still classified, or in tightly held private collections. 

Someday I'd love to have BOP B-26, Sea Fury, T-33, and A4D on my shelf....

I have that Playa Giron book and mostly got it for the pix of M-41 tanks and other armor. A good resource but like you say, not all that helpful for us model geeks.  I read somewhere that the M-41's came directly from U.S. Army stocks, with the white stars and other markings quickly painted over. And in some cases, still faintly visible under the fresh Olive Drab paint.  If I ever build one, I'll try for that look.

After reading at a bunch of BOP and Sea Fury sites, I'm not sure that rudder stripe is right either.  But I like the looks of it, so I plan to use it.  There was a lot of confusion about those planes.  I think the last Sea Fury shipment went to Cuba just as the Batista govt. collapsed in 1959 (along with some Hawker tech reps).  There are even arguments over whether they were painted green at the Hawker factory, or after they got to Cuba.  At least one grainy B&W photo seems to show a Sea Fury with mottled brown over the green.  But the pic is so bad, it's hard to tell if that's the paint or just shadows.

I have a special interest myself in all those "little wars" that were going on in the 1960s.  Another fun project temporarily stalled: an armed AT-6 Texan used by the Katanga rebels during the Congo Crisis.  IIRC, they used bomb racks from Fouga Magisters, hammered in place under the wings.

[Snake45]

14 minutes ago, Mike999 said:

I have that Playa Giron book and mostly got it for the pix of M-41 tanks and other armor. A good resource but like you say, not all that helpful for us model geeks.  I read somewhere that the M-41's came directly from U.S. Army stocks, with the white stars and other markings quickly painted over. And in some cases, still faintly visible under the fresh Olive Drab paint.  If I ever build one, I'll try for that look.

After reading at a bunch of BOP and Sea Fury sites, I'm not sure that rudder stripe is right either.  But I like the looks of it, so I plan to use it.  There was a lot of confusion about those planes.  I think the last Sea Fury shipment went to Cuba just as the Batista govt. collapsed in 1959 (along with some Hawker tech reps).  There are even arguments over whether they were painted green at the Hawker factory, or after they got to Cuba.  At least one grainy B&W photo seems to show a Sea Fury with mottled brown over the green.  But the pic is so bad, it's hard to tell if that's the paint or just shadows.

I have a special interest myself in all those "little wars" that were going on in the 1960s.  Another fun project temporarily stalled: an armed AT-6 Texan used by the Katanga rebels during the Congo Crisis.  IIRC, they used bomb racks from Fouga Magisters, hammered in place under the wings.

Good stuff! I've already done one "Soccer War" FAH Corsair, and hope to do at least one more. Hope to do an armed French T-6 and at least one of their AD-4Ns from Africa. I also dig the pre-Tonkin Gulf Vietnam stuff--T-28s, B-26s, and VNAF Skyraiders. 

[SfanGoch]

Airfix 1/48 B-57B

It was mailed on April 30 and has been sitting in the Jersey City Network distribution Center since May 6. I'm going to get Airfix A10101  English Electric Canberra B.2/B.20/B.62/B(1)6

 

in order to model one of the eight B-57As accepted by the USAF in 1951.

I'm having a PITA time trying to find both of the DMold Modelworks B-57B and B-57G Forward Fuselage resin sets

I sent the owner, Dmitri Malkov, an email a while back; but, he hasn't replied as of yet. These are fantastic looking sets.

[Snake45]

Kewl! B-57's not high on my Want List, but it might be kind of fun to do one in VNAF markings.....