RonG

Amen on the Zero landing gear! I have broken off the small doors at least 5 times. One can't even rest the aircraft on one's workbench with the doors sticking out (they will snap off in a wink), unless it is upside down or propped on a raised stand of some kind. (I find I am balancing it on paint bottles all the time!) It would have been better to save the doors until the landing gear was in place. Ron Gove

I have been working on the Tamiya 1/32 Zero Fighter (Zeke) off and on for the past several months. It is a wonderfully detailed kit but it is irritatingly difficult because of all the movable parts. How do IPMS members feel about moving parts? IMHO they are a big waste of time and resources. After all, we don't play with our models (do we?). Why do we need landing gear that can fold in and out? Gear, flaps, canopy etc. that may be fastened in alternate positions is one thing, but fully movable just seems darned silly to me. Grumpy old man Ron G

Re the subject line in my post, I must have had a fit of mental aberration! There is no "r" in my last name.

Hi I just recently enrolled in the IPMS, mainly to get some hints to improve my models. I have been model building since 1950 or 51; I vaguely remember trying to assemble a sheet balsa airplane with Elmer's Glue-All and I couldn't have been older than 7 or 8. I soon switched to plastic and spent all my allowance on plastic models and stick & tissue paper airplanes. Since the time I got married in 1966, I have been building wooden ship models (e.g., Model Shipways type kits) with only the occasional plastic model if something perked my interest. My wife and I are both retired now and we travel about 5-6 months a year in a 25' travel trailer. As you might guess, this environment is not well suited to ship models. I was able to assemble an almost complete hull for the HMS Granado (Jotika kit) on the road but it is no longer practical to work on it out of a tool box. Hence my renewed interest in plastic models. On our last trip I brought along Tamiya's M1A1 Abrams tank kit. I nearly completed it during our 2 month trip (it was a rainy day project and we had great weather. ). Being the kind of person who never goes into something half way I now have a 1/2 dozen or so plastic kits lined up for this winter and onto our next camping excursion. Maybe a 6 kit backlog isn't much to most of you, but I do have 4 partially completed ships to finish and another 4 I haven't even started! I am afraid I won't live long enough to complete all my projects. Ron Gove Leesburg, Virginia