Luft46's Blog

The display cabinet is nearly finished and I have started work on the two figures. The books are from one of the previously mentioned resin sets and apart from painting them titles were added from various 1/72 aircraft warning signs decal sheets, so mostly the titles are Achtung and similar but this is impossible to see from any distance. The figures are 1/200 Preiser architectural ones painted very carefully with a magnifying glass light. Almost definitely overkill but it makes me happy! I’ve also done a playboy magazine for on top of the magazine stack. The male figure is an amalgam of a couple of Masterbox figures with parts glued together by Milliput. This still needs more work before painting commences.

Somewhat disappointingly this mainly online modelling business is closing. Back in the 90’s I bought a lot of resin kits from Earl especially Planet Models Luft 46 stuff. I also bought other stuff but it’s mostly the Planet and Special Hobby limited run injection moulded kits that I still have in my cupboard. A degree of envy from other hobby shops in Australia closed down his Czech connection and left him with a reduced range in recent years. Apart from being cheap he was also very quick in his postage and often double packed his parcels to reduce postage for his customers. Like much of those glory days in the Luft 46 modelling field this aspect is now over. I used to joke that he had a secret pact with the Devil that enabled his kits to come so quickly.
Those days and NKR models will be sadly missed by L46 afficionados.

After some slow progress recently making good progress at the moment. Have selected a figure from a Masterbox set – head is from one figure and the body is from another. I was originally going to use a Hornet head but when offered up to the body it appeared undersize so it was discarded. The chair is now back together after replacement parts were kindly sent by Petr from Plus Model. The figure has been part fitted to the chair with some Milliput added and needing more fettling before placing it on the chair. The books are being slowly painted with decals for the spines of the books to follow later. The desk still needs paints and brushes but is approaching completion.

A progress shot follows

I have been steadily beavering away on this project recently with some progress. Nothing startling done, but just attacking each aspect. The desk is nearing completion with another lamp ready to be added. There are still books, paints etc to add but these are all doable. I can’t see any show stoppers now, just a matter of doing the work. Below is a closeup of the shelves with some figures and planes but the figures need more painting as the size is too big to skimp on detail painting, I wasn’t sure about this till I put it all together. More work is needed but it is getting there.
By way of scale this shelf is 50mm high by 24 mm wide. This is extreme closeup

Good progress over tge last three days on this. The desk now has a computer setup finished and the drawer is filled with paints and equipment. Next up is more stuff for the desktop including a lamp from the Diopark set and maybe making another one also. The chair now has all five castors on again though it may need rebalancing.

I made my usual trip to beautiful Melbourne in early June to sample the usual delights of  Expo and wandering around Melbourne. It was a slightly truncated version but good nonetheless. On arrival it was a wet grey day but this cleared by the early afternoon. Melbourne for me is a mix of ritual and randomness. I usually start with Hearns and spend very little there, this year it was Schonerts Ju 88G from Hasegawa. This thing is festooned with radar aerials and I intend to whif it with a few more just for fun. Rumour has it that Hearns is for sale, admittedly I was asked three times within a few minutes if I needed help so I think times are a little tough.

Next stop was the little group of shops under Flinders Street station. These rather quirky shops with quirky opening hours are a holdover that have long ago left Sydney. One of these spaces used to be a shop but for many years has been an art space. The obligatory busker was also on hand.

On to Vic Hobby which is now owned by the son in law of the Frontline owner, so its still in the family. Another reno here and looking more like the Newcastle store every day except it is much more hobby orientated. I bought something here but not much.
Various perambulations led me through some food and rest to checking out some old buildings. Melbourne’s rep for good food and outdoor dining is still well and truly alive.
Buildings with quirky directory boards

Old style directions

And old style offices

And decoration styles

Eventually wound up in the Block Arcade to see this sign on a new age shop

Obviously the magic isn’t working that well!

The day was rounded out with a visit to Showcase Models to pick up a 1/35 Marder from a Russian company with packaging reminiscent of Novo and a Ju87 book from Hylands. This is another store that seems quieter these days. Then again this trend is universal today, there are less second hand bookshops in Melbourne CBD these days. As for Sydney Elizabeths is the last one left and its a bit out of the way which is the only way it is surviving. Twenty five years have certainly cut bookshop numbers in Sydney, it used to take me all day to wander through them all, now there are way too few.

Saturday was the usual early morning lift to Expo with John, catching up on events and getting ready for Expo. Arriving early allows me to have a good look around and I bought a Panzerwrecks 13, a tank weathering book and no models. Being the defacto resin expert I ended up fixing up the u/c pitot tube etc on a kit that John had bought in. It always amazes plastic modellers how slow and careful this process is but experience is a great teacher.
Noticeable at Expo was the reduced number of entries with the lack of interstate competitors being cited as one reason, another popular one was the tight knit group of regular winners being associated more with the organisers. Possible solutions suggested were to introduce a Masterclass category and a non competition class. The latter is done at Wollongong and seems to draw a reasonable number of entries. Of course some were proclaiming the end but I am more inclined to think that demographics are also an issue, there are less modellers and we are all getting older. Undef 40 modellers are an anomaly now.

Overall Best of Show was a truck so I really didn’t notice this one. Peoples Choice was a sub which was very nice and hopefully photos of this will appear below. I also got to the show on Sunday and this early start enabled me to get anything I had missed. The usual social nature of this event was present so I got to chat with a few fellow modellers. In particular was Dean who had done the Jap fleet at  Pearl Harbour, it was obviously a labour of love involving lots of kitbashing. His comments on armour modelling ofter being a tank and a building at most was pretty true. His dio of the Staligrad waterfront was drawn from the movie I believe.
The rest of the weekend was taken up in social/family stuff,  some AFL X 2 and a quick visit to Minotaur sci fi bookshop.

This was 1/144 scale

The one I repaired

Santa’s plane

Manga madness

There was also someone selling 3-D printers,  the way of the future.
A must read is Cory Doctprow’s book Makers which is free under a Creative Commons licence about this emerging technology. I want one but they are still a bit too expensive for me. The Dalek fascinated me.

Also at the show was a Count the Rivets competition with a jam jar full of pop rivets.  I didn’t win so I am obviously not enough of a rivet counter! This was the 30th year of the show although you wouldn’t have known it from the lack of celebration, unlike the 25th.

Well I am hopefully about to start modelling again after a long hiatus. Part of this has been the realisation that I need an old man’s light ie a magnifying lamp to do fine work now so I got one from Jaycar for $109. This looks like the Starship Enterprise with a gazillion LED’s which even impressed my eldest. The swing arm is strong with a positive positionable action and a decent desk clamp, something many lights lack. One of my older lamps will be reassigned upstairs to the office.
Next job is to clean the desk a bit.

Paint is chaos black from citadel and xtracolour rlm 24. Will need a little weathering, just checked only four wheels hit the ground so a little bit to do tomorrow.

A very rough draft of the final product, lots of work to do yet.

A painful lesson learned from experience is that I label parts where needed so I orientate them correctly when gluing, wish some model manufacturers did this better. The labels indicate orientation for this piece, ie this is the back on the long side and this is the top. Simple isn’t it! Below is a quick shot of the table, things to be added still include a coffee cup, coffee cup stain, lamp with cord, computer, some brushes paint tubes, turps bottle, cleaning cloth, sandpaper and whatever else I can think of….. Nearly forgot the magazine stack and open magazine or book.