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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Triumph Tiger 80/3HW






Here are some images of Aurora/ESCI's 1/9 scale Triumph Tiger 80/3HW. From Wikipedia. "The Triumph Tiger 80 was a British motorcycle first made by Triumph from 1937. There was also a 250cc Tiger 70 and a 500cc Tiger 90.[1] Production of the Tiger ended with the outbreak of WW2 and never resumed after the Triumph works at Priory Street in Coventry were completely destroyed". "When World War 2 broke out in 1939, the Tiger was developed into the military Triumph 3HW model.[6] The Triumph works was destroyed by German bombers on the night of the 14th November 1940 - along with much of the city of Coventry bringing production of the Tiger 80 to an end. When Triumph recovered and began production again at Meriden,only the Tiger 100 survived in the new production line".

Monday, June 28, 2010

Seaview

















Here are some images plus a composite and kit pictures of Moebius Models 1/128 scale Seaview from the television series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Next to the USS Enterprise the Seaview has to be one the most recognizable images of 1960s television. First featured in the 1961 Irwin Allen film of the same name the Seaview went on to delight audiences with 4 historical seasons of television entertainment. The main purpose of the Seaview was to investigate the mysteries of the open sea. This is a great kit. All parts went together without any difficulty and it also allows for lighting provision if one desires. I used to put lighting in my models but I discovered that over time it becomes more trouble then it's worth, eg: burnt out bulbs, battery replacement and sometimes mild melting. Now if lighting is required I just use Photoshop. Anyway this model is a large 39 inches when complete and it gives you the option to build the 17 foot or the 81/2 foot versions that were used in the TV program. There are subtle differences. Plus this kit also comes with scale matching models of the Flying Sub, the one man submarine, the Apple diving bell and a neat little brochure on the restoration and other facts of the originals Seaviews. The only changes I made to this kit was in the painting of the model. The instructions call for the model to be painted light ghost grey on top and camouflage grey on the bottom and I'm sure that they are the colours of the original. However I painted mine trying to match the way I thought it looked on television and that is dark sea grey on top and light ghost grey on the bottom. The only major complaint I have about this kit are the instructions. They have got to be some of the worst assembly images I have seen so make sure to do a double and even a triple take on the instructions should you decide to build one. I don't understand some model kit companies, they go through all this time and effort to create a fantastic model kit only to then top it off by tossing you a piece of crap like these instructions. Just as a side note Lunar Models used to make a Seaview kit in the 30 inch plus range complete with options and extras before they disappeared off the face of the earth. I wonder if that is where Moebius Models got some and I mean some of their design ideas from for this model. Just a thought.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Here are some images of...







Here are some images of the room in which I store my models in panorama, plus I have many more packed away in boxes. As you can see I have a long way to go before they are all posted. I hope to one day find a larger place where I can display these models proper. Here's to wishing.

s.Sp.Artilleriewagen





Here are some images of Dragon Models 1/35 scale s.Sp.Artilleriewagen. The s.Sp.Artilleriewagen was an armored rail car designed to protect cargo trains.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Shinden





Here are some images of Hasegawa's 1/48 scale Kyushu J7W Shinden. From Wikipedia "
The Kyūshū J7W1 Shinden ("Magnificent Lightning") fighter was a World War II Japanese propeller-driven aircraft prototype that was built in a canarddesign. The wings were attached to the tail section and stabilizers were on the front. The propeller was also in the rear, in a pusher configuration. It was expected to be a highly maneuverable interceptor, but only two were finished before the end of war. Plans were also drawn up for a jet-powered version (J7W2Shinden Kai) but this never left the drawing board. The J designation was used by land based fighters of the Imperial Japanese Navy and W is for Watanabe factory produced (later Kyūshū).

Ameisenbar





Here are some images of Monogram's 1/48 scale Dornier DO 335 Ameisenbar (Anteater). From Wikipedia "
The Dornier Do 335 was a World War II heavy fighter built by the Dornier company. The DO 335s performance was much better than other twin-engine designs due to its unique "push-pull" layout and the much lower drag of the in-line alignment of the two motors. The Luftwaffe was desperate to get the design into operational use, but delays in engine deliveries meant only a handful were delivered before the war ended.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Ferret





Here are some images plus a composite of Italeri's 1/48 scale Mikoyan Mig 37-E Ferret. This is a fictional aircraft designed by Italeri/Testor's as a follow up to their F-19 Stealth fighter. The MiG-37 is a stealth fighter designed using advances in technology from the Soviet Union's space and aviation programs as a reaction to the American F-19 stealth project.

V2





Here are some images of IMEX's 1/16 scale visible V2. Many V2s (A4 being their official designation) that were captured and found intact found their way to the U.S as well as many of the development team. Werner Von Braun comes to mind. These war spoils enabled the U.S to start and venture forth into their space program.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Abandoned Mustang






Here are some images of my diorama of a modern infantry unit using an abandoned P 51 B Mustang as a land mark. The Mustang is the old Revell 1/32 scale kit and is such a bad kit for display purposes as to be almost unbuildable, in other words it's the wrong shape and it's just awful. But it does lend itself extremely well to being a crashed, abandoned aircraft. The Hummer is the Italeri 1/35 scale kit and the soldiers are from a Tamiya kit. It is unfortunate but this scale difference is the result of an event that started in the 1950s. Companies like Tamiya started releasing armor in 1/35 scale while aircraft remained in 1/32 scale and it has been this way ever since. Why this is and why they never changed it to this day is anyones guess. There were 1/32 scale armor kits made (mostly by Revell and Monogram) but these kits were made such a long time ago that they have become increasingly harder to find as the years go by. However the difference in scales I feel are really not that noticeable with this subject. The foliage, trees and earth come from Woodland Scenics.