I did a PE swap on a trumpeter BM21 rocket system..all the plastic rocket tubes get replaced with brass tubing and PE is used for the framing.
Damn that was heavy and a real pain to mount on the truck.
I did build a Sherman Calliope for a customer and ever detail was there...every trigger and lock and firing wires was built from scratch.
Also made a brand new rocket launcher for it but that was easy as it's was all plastic.
I might even have pics of these somewhere.

Quote from: zenrat on April 15, 2023, 06:12:48 AMI have a Revell DH2 lined up for the re-engined GB.

Masochist 

      

Quote from: Rick Lowe on April 15, 2023, 06:50:12 PMI often think some of these sets include replacement parts simply to boost the numbers... like gear levers and steering wheels - seriously?
Flat plate ok, but anything that has a round profile? Nuh-uh.

This is one of the reasons I stopped buying Eduard sets a long time ago, which was already back when they were one of the few offering etched sets at all. Too many parts they give you serve no purpose at all, replacing plastic parts that are either perfectly fine or even better than the etched one. I think the last straw for me was when I had bought the Tamiya Dragon Wagon tank transporter (the original kit with the trailer, not the later reissue with just the tractor) and Eduard's two etched sets, one for the tractor and one for the trailer. Only replacing the parts where the etched bits were an actual improvement, I had more than half the parts in those two sets left ... Granted, I would have used a lot more if I had done things like open up all the stowage lockers, but I wanted most of those kinds of things the way the kit moulded them.

Quote from: Rick Lowe on April 15, 2023, 06:50:12 PMIIRC there was/is now a category (in the US, at least) where you get everything completed up to before the painting stage, and stop, so all your work can be seen in all it's mind-numbing glory.

That's also a thing in other places, usually called "naked class" or similar. The very first time I came across something like that was a superdetailed (as it was still called back then ) model of a Marder III in an issue of Military Modelling over 30 years ago, where the author stated he wasn't going to paint it precisely so that the amount of work that had gone into it, would remain clear.

If you want to have fun with a set of PE and a Tamiya then you get both of Arbers Famo PE sets and the 18ton Famo half track.
I've done this and holy poop pickles lads the amount of PE is scarey ..I used just over half of both sets ..yeah it's looked amazing as Arber make extremely nice PE sets.
The amount of PE left over was amazing and if i was to use it all I'd still be building the bloody thing   
I've still got the remains of 2 Arber Sherman sets left over and yep...still a heap of PE parts left over.
Things I don't use PE wise are things like ammo belts..there flat and don't look anything like the real thing ..

Back in the 70s I built a RW Spitfire XII from 3-4 other kits, and left it unpainted on the top just to show the public what a 'conversion' was as most of them wouldn't know how much work had gone into doing something like that. Leaving it unpainted showed up the various colours of styrene used in the different kits of course.

Some years later I gave up and painted it.  That's it in the foreground below.

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I do love seeing things like that Kit..it can really show just how much work we can put into a build..what annoys me is the ppl who don't know what their looking at and say it's just a unfinished model..ya ..well I just wanna slap em kinda hard 

Some builds you have to take an observer through.  You have to explain what you did and what you used or, unless they are very schooled in the subject and the kits used they will not realise how much work you put in.

That's the whole reason for those "naked" classes, AFAIK: because with the paint on, most people, even including model competition judges, are hard-pressed to even tell the difference between a 100% scratchbuilt model and a kit built straight from the box — unless they know the former isn't available as a kit, or have a non-scratchbuilt one to compare with.

When you've built something like Kits Spit you kinda want to have a OTB one sitting there with it so the punters can really see what's going on when you show them how much you've done .
I've seen some scratch builds out there which are so good it would be impossible to  tell if it was a kit or not ..you'd really need to explain it then .

In theory that's a REALLY good idea, but in practice some of those jobs are so horrendous that the very LAST thing you'd want to do is build another one! 

Quote from: PR19_Kit on April 16, 2023, 02:06:57 PMIn theory that's a REALLY good idea, but in practice some of those jobs are so horrendous that the very LAST thing you'd want to do is build another one! 

Pretty sure we've all been there matey 😀.
That's got me thinking now on what model I'd never want to build again 🤔

Here ya go ...my home made chopper ,,version 1 
Remember this was built from random crap out of my random metal crap box ,,found some much better metal yesterday which is far thicker .
Version 2.0 will be much better thats for sure .
DSCF4148 by Phill Harrison, on Flickr
DSCF4149 by Phill Harrison, on FlickrDSCF4150 by Phill Harrison, on Flickr
DSCF4151 by Phill Harrison, on Flickr

Version 2.0 will still use the rulers and cutting arm but the base is going to get a total rework   

Nice, not as slick as the manufactured ones of course, but if it gets the job done, you're good, IMHO.

I've got an etch bending tool that some metal worker made for me. Another modeller I used to know, knew a metalworker and asked him to make a copy of one of those bending tools for him, then asked me if I wanted one too. Unfortunately, it has one mistake that makes it almost useless: he rounded all the edges of the upper piece, including the ones that meet the lower platform, so you can never get a really sharp fold with it. Eventually I bought a (second-hand) Etch Mate that does work well — but still bend most etched parts with long-nosed, flat pliers ...

Cheers Jakko mate 

Wait till ya see version 2  it's gonna look completely different but exactly the same 

Mate when it comes to tools the amount I have is frightening..in a Tupperware container beside me is probably 25 plus pliers and cutters ..I have that many because everyone is different from the next..sizes..shapes ..lengths .
I've got 2 PE benders..both Hold N fold brands ..a 4in and 6in one..both just for that M3 ..course I've used them many many times and yep I do love em 
Ya known I've never counted just how many bloody tools I have ..hell I've got blocks of steel  and alloy of many different sizes and weights...it's crazy mate ..totally crazy 🤪