Latest Acquisitions (2025)

[LeytonO]

A new pair of Glasses, on the face of it 😁 not a very exciting acquisition.
I wear varifocals and apart from some minor distortion get on very well with them for everyday use.
One problem though is that model making (amongst other things) is mainly at a middle distance
This is neither a reading or distance vision length and consequently not always that sharp.

My daughter is an Optician(she would correct me and say Optometrist) anyway I digress.
She suggested what they call occupational lenses, basically a pair of glasses for a specific focal length.
Measured my eye to usual working distance and made me up the pair shown below.
Nothing fancy, single vision in basic frames, no coatings, thinning etc so very reasonably priced.

Just the job and well pleased with them, apparently they are very popular with people for regular computer use.
Well worth considering and not something you would immediately think of.

[Geoffers]

Thanks Rich, I have the same problem so this is a great suggestion 😊

[adt70hk]

Ok chaps, so a few arrivals in recent days.

Remember the broken figure for my 88 crew? Well, Peddinghaus sent me another full set, not just the broken figure. All credit to them!

Next a bit of an experiment. I have a number of planes that need weight in the nose so I bought some Liquid gravity....fortunately I paid £5 less than the normal £14ish thanks to an Amazon voucher.

However, from my fishing days I know that (at least here in the UK), you can still buy lead shot below a certain size and down to a very small size and so was curious as to what the cost-to-weight comparison would be. So I visited the tackle shop that is a short walk from home.

FYI both the liquid gravity and lead balls are c. 1mm across.

The comparison** was about what I expected but I thought I would share it with you. Price:

• Lead shot - £5 got me 28g = 5.6g per £
• Liquid gravity - £14 got me 240g = 17g per £ (but thanks to my discount I got 27g per £)

However the weight, unsurprisingly went the other way - albeit not enough to overcome the price difference. Remember that when weighting a plane nose, you're restricted by the size of space you have to put the weight in and I mostly deal with 1/72. Results as follows:

• Liquid gravity - 4ml weighed 20g = 5g per ml
• Lead shot - 4ml weighed 28g = 7g per ml....so 40% more per ml

So in short, if you want to use this type of solution over big lumps of lead, Liquid Gravity is much cheaper and unless space is at premium

Fortunately, I think still have quite a lot of small lead shot still out in my shed, so I'll have to dig it out at some point. At the moment I have not been able to to find anyone who sell micro-lead shot in bulk quantities as you never need a lot for fishing but I'm working on it.****

ATB

Andrew


** just bear in mind that this was done with domestic scales, not scientific ones, so take the results with a modicum of care.

*** actually I might just have found someone selling it quantities that might make it work out.....but need to do the maths....will keep you posted.....

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[Neil]

I had a £15 off if you spend £75 voucher for Airfix, and as it is my birthday soon, I wrangled an exemption from the ‘no more models until you’ve done 6’ clause so I bought these:



and got this free:



That then qualified for a free tank kit - only I misread it, so I actually got a tank bundle:




so £15 off, plus a free kit, free shipping and then 3 others kits! Result!

Only, I don’t do tanks and I’ve no interest in the quick build at all. Maybe I’ll give it to the Salvation Army kids Christmas presents.

[PaulTRose]

wasnt planning on buying any kits til after xmas but..........

I have some very distinctmemories of doing the Belvedere when i was about 12ish......so over 50 years ago lol....... and since Airfix reissued it ive been planning on getting one....... And yesterday i got an inkling that its being dropped from the catalogue so had to buy one sharpish just in case its true

I have a bold and cunning plan for the Guards lol

And hobbycraft had a 3 for 2 offer on so needed something to make it 3.......always thought the 262 was a pretty plane and there here wasnt much else took my fancy

Edit..... Just been on scalemates...... Belvedere was new tool in 1959......Guards was 1961........262 is the baby at 1997 lol

[pjgtech]

That Belvedere looks interesting.... 8-)

[Jim R]

Now seeing that Belvedere built will be fun. And a cunning plan with the Guards 👍

[PaulTRose]

My plan for the Belvedere is not to do the silver and white scheme but the grey and green camo

Interesting aircraft..... Only made 26 and in service for less than a decade yet saw active service overseas

[davecov]

I had a familiar (to me at least) subject arrive in kit form, namely the newly-released Trumpeter 1/700 HMS Queen Elizabeth (06751):


I only had a quick peek inside the box:


Of note is the pre-painted flight deck and lifts. Unfortunately, the flight deck has over-scale tie-downs which are more like potholes. Filling those would be a bit of a pain, to say the least, seeing as the deck is already painted.

Dave

[pjgtech]

Whoahoow! My new Airfix German E Boat (1:72) has arrived, pre ordered a few months back, as its a re-release of this old classic, so had (almost) forgot about it.... Not sure if its new tooling or not?
Looking forward to doing this one, another kit that I built as a kid (badly!) that I now want to try again and do a much better job.

[pjgtech]

Also got another delivery today, from our very own SMS, (Thanx John)...
Various scatter materials for diorama's, should last me a good while, as I tend to only use small amounts...
I now have a good selection if this sort of material.

[PaulinKendal]

Couple of new miniatures to paint.

[PaulTRose]

They look really cool...... The casting looks really crisp and sharp.

[Jim R]

They look interesting. I imagine the skin tones on the Lioness will be a challenge.

[adt70hk]

Hi all

So picked this up on an eBay auction for a good, if not great price....about 20% less than new.

Not that I'm trying to curry favour with an US members 😉 but when I get around to it, I think I will do the version with US markings, as I have more than enough Mossies in the stash that will have RAF markings.

ATB

Andrew

[peterairfix]

having done most of airfix's 1/24 aircraft this one seem's to have escaped me until now.

[Geoffers]

I picked this up in Hobbycraft yesterday.

It was on sale for £3.50, I’ve been looking for something suitable for a while so that I can do this.

I find it makes it easier rather than having the instructions lying flat on the bench.

Geoff.