Gondor's Grumblings

[McColm]

Just take things easy,  I'm finding kits all the time when I'm rummaging trying to find other parts.

[Gondor]

Although in yesterdays post I said I was buying parts and models from outlets in the UK, I don't limit myself to purchases just from the UK. Over the last year I have ordered paint from Poland, etched brass and decals from Switzerland, decals from Spain and recently decals from Italy. Some of the stuff is obscure and requires a search through the internet to find an outlet that has what I am looking for especially when you know someone made something and it happens to be a something that you want. Other times it can be a case of trying to find a cheaper outlet or as far as the paint is conserned, somewhere that has the Hataka paint set that I am after. Life does get "interesting" when trying to decipher web sites in languages other than English when that's the only language you know to any extent. 

Gondor

[Pellson]

Have a think on how many modelling related outlets that provide a homepage in Swedish.. 

On international trading - how geo you find the post Brexit trade with EU based suppliers? From my horizon, trading with UK companies has become somewhat of a hazard, some claiming VAT twice and the customs more often than not delaying the package or even actually misplacing it. A significant deterioration from pre Brexit, accordingly.

[DogfighterZen]

I've had to do the same to buy most of the stuff i have because Portuguese shops used to be very limited, although that's been changing in recent years.
Still, to buy kits like Monogram's F-16XL or Italeri's YF-23, i had to go through countless sites of shops and auction sites, finding one of the XLs in Canada, one of the YF-23 in the US... Managed to find the Hasegawa 1/72 F-16E Desert Falcon i'm currently building as the F-16W in Australia's Frontline Hobbies site.
Regarding the language issue, doesn't your browser show a translation to English option when you right click anywhere on a webpage?
It may be due to the language settings i have on my PC but if your using windows or android, it should be able to do that. On my phone i click on the 3 black dots on the right upper corner of the page and the option shows up further down the bar.
That's how i get around that issue, even when researching other stuff so if you guys weren't already aware of this, i hope it helps.

[Gondor]

Have a think on how many modelling related outlets that provide a homepage in Swedish.. 

On international trading - how geo you find the post Brexit trade with EU based suppliers? From my horizon, trading with UK companies has become somewhat of a hazard, some claiming VAT twice and the customs more often than not delaying the package or even actually misplacing it. A significant deterioration from pre Brexit, accordingly.

Not found any Sweedish sites that supply what I am after, yet. Last year some sites/countries were very expensive to ship from, these days its not so bad. As for Brexit, my own personal view is the idiots in Westminster were just that.

I've had to do the same to buy most of the stuff i have because Portuguese shops used to be very limited, although that's been changing in recent years.
Still, to buy kits like Monogram's F-16XL or Italeri's YF-23, i had to go through countless sites of shops and auction sites, finding one of the XLs in Canada, one of the YF-23 in the US... Managed to find the Hasegawa 1/72 F-16E Desert Falcon i'm currently building as the F-16W in Australia's Frontline Hobbies site.
Regarding the language issue, doesn't your browser show a translation to English option when you right click anywhere on a webpage?
It may be due to the language settings i have on my PC but if your using windows or android, it should be able to do that. On my phone i click on the 3 black dots on the right upper corner of the page and the option shows up further down the bar.
That's how i get around that issue, even when researching other stuff so if you guys weren't already aware of this, i hope it helps.

I usually manage reasonably well as most sites do have a flag somewhere on their pages for translations although I will see what comes up with a right klick next time.

Did you know that the Monagram F-16XL has a flat wing rather than one with a leading edge droop which is along the same lines as with the Vulcan and later EE Lightnings?

Gondor

[Pellson]

Have a think on how many modelling related outlets that provide a homepage in Swedish.. 

On international trading - how geo you find the post Brexit trade with EU based suppliers? From my horizon, trading with UK companies has become somewhat of a hazard, some claiming VAT twice and the customs more often than not delaying the package or even actually misplacing it. A significant deterioration from pre Brexit, accordingly.

Not found any Swedish sites that supply what I am after, yet. Last year some sites/countries were very expensive to ship from, these days its not so bad. As for Brexit, my own personal view is the idiots in Westminster were just that.

Not arguing nor trying to break any forum rules here, but owning Land Rovers makes it a must to trade with the UK, so I have my opinion clear.. 

For modelling, i'd really like tips on good 2^nd hand kit shops within the EU as Kingkit, which otherwise have a rather decent catalogue, have been a night mare post Brexit. Any really good alternatives to big yellow H would also be good, this more due to customs.  God, why did they have to mix politics into a trade union..

[DogfighterZen]

I've had to do the same to buy most of the stuff i have because Portuguese shops used to be very limited, although that's been changing in recent years.
Still, to buy kits like Monogram's F-16XL or Italeri's YF-23, i had to go through countless sites of shops and auction sites, finding one of the XLs in Canada, one of the YF-23 in the US... Managed to find the Hasegawa 1/72 F-16E Desert Falcon i'm currently building as the F-16W in Australia's Frontline Hobbies site.
Regarding the language issue, doesn't your browser show a translation to English option when you right click anywhere on a webpage?
It may be due to the language settings i have on my PC but if your using windows or android, it should be able to do that. On my phone i click on the 3 black dots on the right upper corner of the page and the option shows up further down the bar.
That's how i get around that issue, even when researching other stuff so if you guys weren't already aware of this, i hope it helps.

I usually manage reasonably well as most sites do have a flag somewhere on their pages for translations although I will see what comes up with a right klick next time.

Did you know that the Monagram F-16XL has a flat wing rather than one with a leading edge droop which is along the same lines as with the Vulcan and later EE Lightnings?

Gondor

Yeah, i know the Monogram has some inaccuracies but although i already have a few XL kits, i'd love it if the same kit was reissued, just as it was and i bet i'm not the only one who feels that way. 
I still have one Monogram kit, two Lonestar conversion sets(single and twin seat) and the Skunkworks 1/48 F-16XL-1 kit but i'm not sure if any of them have the correct wing foil design. Maybe not but that's what we have and i guess that it's the same with the YF-23, every kit ever released, including the 1/72 Italeri/Revell/Testors, Dragon/DML kits and the Hobbyboss 1/48 kit all have the same wrong intake shape but that one, like the Skunkworks XL-1/-2 kits are all there is of these birds so, not much we can do about it, sadly.

[Gondor]

Just realised that I didn't get around to scanning some drawings for some real world builds I have planned. Hasagawa are the only company in 1/72 who have versions of the F-15SG and F-15EX which externally look the same to me. Of course being Hasegawa kits they are based of the rather old being based on a kit from 2012 which is also based on a kit which can trace it's roots all the way back in 1988. The Revell kit from 2001 is the Hasegawa kit so no point using that one for a modern kit but that's a mute point as regardless to get a cheaper kit than the dedicated SG or EX boxings requires four partsto be made, the sensors either side of the rear cockpit and the new tail boom sensors, the rest is minor details and are all detailed in the Miliverse decal sheet so I plan to scale the up to 1/72 and scratch build my own conversion to produce these two versions with my own choice of base kit.
Also caught a video on YouTube about how to get started with 3D printing, at least with the software first, free of course, so that's me turning to the Dark Arts now 
I never was good at casting, drawing yes so 3D CAD we shall just have to see how it goes.

Gondor

[DogfighterZen]

Cool, good luck with the 3D adventure! Let us know how it progresses.

Hasegawa tend to have that habit of reboxing old kits with new parts for different versions. I've had the F-15SG and EX on my watchlist but decided that the price wasn't worth it for the few parts like you've mentioned, i also think they're easy enough to scratch build so i'll use the cheap Italeri F-15C and E kits or even the 1/48 Academy kits i've recently bought.
The F-16E kit i'm building at the moment is the same thing as the F-15SG/EX kits, just the old F-16A kit with new sprues for the E's bits. That's why i'm using the Hase 1/48 F-16E's parts on a Tamiya 1/48 F-16CJ kit to produce a better E representation. The quality of detail on the Hase parts is as good as on the Tamiya kit so there's no obvious way to tell that the parts are from another brand's kit and it should be an easy kitbash to pull off.

[Pellson]

Re the F-16XL and it's inaccuracies - I find myself less and less inclined to correct kits these days. Sometimes I do, but many times I don't. Most inaccuracies are so small that they're basically forgettable in 1/72, and the larger ones, I tend to try to write away in a backstory (Kits 2nd law, if memory serves), but then again, once in a while, I find amusement on correcting. It depends..
A future project of mine is to modernise an XL with the electronic spine and make it a twoseater strike machine. I have an F-16I donor, but as the XL is a little bit longer than the std Viper, I need to cut and plug a little. Not a biggie, but as I haven't yet decided on operator, it'll sit in the Stash^TM until such a decosion is made. And then, mojo usually comes along easily.

Re the CAD/3D - Interesting angle of attack. I will follow with interest.

[Gondor]

Re the F-16XL and it's inaccuracies - I find myself less and less inclined to correct kits these days. Sometimes I do, but many times I don't. Most inaccuracies are so small that they're basically forgettable in 1/72, and the larger ones, I tend to try to write away in a backstory (Kits 2nd law, if memory serves), but then again, once in a while, I find amusement on correcting. It depends..
A future project of mine is to modernise an XL with the electronic spine and make it a twoseater strike machine. I have an F-16I donor, but as the XL is a little bit longer than the std Viper, I need to cut and plug a little. Not a biggie, but as I haven't yet decided on operator, it'll sit in the Stash^TM until such a decosion is made. And then, mojo usually comes along easily.

Re the CAD/3D - Interesting angle of attack. I will follow with interest.

That's what I was thinking of doing with the F-16XL myself though saying that I have no idea how long it will be before I get around to it, hopefully some time this century 

Gondor

[DogfighterZen]

Yah, i'm the same, depends on what inaccuracy and how noticeable it is. I won't waste time trying to raise the exhaust by 3º degrees on the Monogram XL, for example.
The same plans here for a twin seat XL but i'm gonna use the Lonestar resin conversion set with the Hasegawa Sufa so, i won't have to extend the fuselage, the conversion has a full fuselage and tail included.

[Gondor]

Yah, i'm the same, depends on what inaccuracy and how noticeable it is. I won't waste time trying to raise the exhaust by 3º degrees on the Monogram XL, for example.
The same plans here for a twin seat XL but i'm gonna use the Lonestar resin conversion set with the Hasegawa Sufa so, i won't have to extend the fuselage, the conversion has a full fuselage and tail included.

With you on that although it's amazeing how little a change in angle can have a big visual effect. As I align optical equipment I notice differences as much as 0.2^o in output over a roughly five foot distance which works out as roughtly half a centimetre height change which is quite visible for such a small change.
Not something I have to worry about untill Friday though. The last day of my sick line is Wednesday and I have put in for and got Thursday off so I have just a short day on Friday to help ease myself back into work. Less stress after a muscle injury is a good idea I think.

Gondor

[DogfighterZen]

I'm aware that small changes can make a big difference but i'm able to live with the inaccuracies as long as they don't spoil the overall look of the finished model.
I guess it depends on the level of detail and accuracy one is trying to achieve and the amount of work one is willing to put into it.
Good call on taking it easy to go back to work.

[Rheged]

The last day of my sick line is Wednesday and I have put in for and got Thursday off so I have just a short day on Friday to help ease myself back into work. Less stress after a muscle injury is a good idea I think.

Gondor

What a sensible chap!!    May I wish you a gentle but effective return to your work of collimation (at least, I think that's the word for optical alignment)