PeteJ

Well, maybe. One of the oldest sayings I know is "those who forget the past, are doomed to repeat it."

Ralph, much as I would love to see San Diego, knowing how much attendees complain about the cost of rooms, the convention center down town is out of the question. The best room rates in July and August are at least $250. I believe that IPMS San Diego approached us(San Diego Model Car club) about cosponsoring a bid and I think that just went no where fast. A lot of discussion about what happened in Anaheim(yes, bad news travels far and fast and takes a very long time to die!). I personally like the Florida ideas. Jacksonville would be nice. How about Pensacola? Home of the Blue Angels. We had the home of the Thunderbirds last year. Give equal time to the Navy. I have a sister who lives in that area and it appears that the price of a convention could be reasonable. Lots to do in the area also.

New Orleans in August?? Not unless you want a bunch of modelers sitting on Bourbon street swilling down Hurricanes, Sazerac's and Mint Juleps to try to beat the heat! Hmmmm, yea, ok, I'm down with New Orleans! Oyster bar instead of a banquet. Do we need to bring a model!😉

Ralph, that applies across the board! A photo is only a moment in time. If accuracy is your thing, then choose a moment for your model and provide the reference photo. Aircraft, race cars, tanks and ships can all be changed in a moment to suit a particular situation. Never say never. Because something isn't in place for one or several photos, doesn't mean "never".

It couldn't get any more Nebraska than this!!

I couldn't comment on that. I have never been to Brothers Sebastian. My suggestion, they are less than 5 miles apart. Dine at both and I am sure you will get a fine piece of beef at both. Omaha is a real center of all things beef. How I came to know about the Drover was that several of our local Uber drivers said it was the best. I can't disagree with them. Outstanding steak. What I do know is that Drover has absolutely top quality meat and a whiskey sauce that is most enjoyable. If you do choose the "Both" option, let me know what you think!

Joe, I was back in Lincoln for a ball game in September. Visited a few of my old favorite steak houses. They were all good, but The Drover https://droverrestaurant.com/ is the second best steak I have ever had. Being a Nebraska farm boy, I have eaten a lot of steaks in my 72 years so that is saying a lot. If you are interested, the best steak was a Kobe steak in Japan, but that is a very long drive. 😉

I agree and disagree. Yes this is a very sloppy line but it is one photo of a single aircraft at a single moment in time. To extrapolate that to sloppy lines on other birds, is a stretch. Notice that although the prop is a mess, the checkerboard is perfectly straight and crisp. All of those lines were field applied because nose art was always applied in the field. I am of the opinion that if you are replicating a given aircraft at a given moment in time then yes, that messy line would be necessary to achieve that. Just don't use this example to say that all lines are sloppy and thus any model with sloppy edges or lines could be correct. Don't use this as an excuse for poor painting and masking skills.

Well they are plastic and have to be assembled! May 1st limited production run. They make me smile.

Never thought of that, but you are right. Any of these would look amazing in brass.

Yes indeed. I just got these as well! Looking forward to the marble race!

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I was first introduced to UGears on Kickstarter years ago and was intrigued by the engineering but never got around to buying one of their kits. Well, the other day I got a message on Facebook(I follow them). I did not know that they where a Ukrainian company(that is what the U stands for) with their factory on the outskirts of Kyiv. I have found no information on the state of the factory, but I cannot believe that it is good. The message said that the US arm is donating 10% of the sale price to Ukrainian refugees funds. I don't know about you, but that was the impetus to get me to dig out the credit card. I may just order another one just to try to keep the company afloat after the war is over. To the administrators: If you deem this to be an inappropriate post, please remove it. I am a bit caught up in this moment in history and want to do what I can to help the Ukrainian people in some way.

The Airforce just released 50 downloadable high resolution images of the restored 109 in there collection. I can't imagine that there are any photos that will give you better detail! https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196264/messerschmitt-bf-109g-10/fbclid/messerschmitt-bf-109g-10/

Ok, I have wanted to build one of these since I saw them on Kick Starter. Very interesting laser cut wooden models. I know a young person who is interested in making technical stuff and decided to get her one of these. I ordered one on Amazon and had something happen that had never happened before. They cancelled my order. Well being the determined old codger that I am, I went to the web site for UGears https://ugears.us and to my surprise found out that the U stands for Ukrainian. That explains the order being canceled, but it made me more determined to get one. Well, I ordered directly and I now have a package on the way with a tracking number. I know it is small but every little bit may help.

So far from this discussion, it seems that very little has been solved by this "new" class. I understand what the NCC is trying to do, but it will never be a "fair" evaluation of building skill only as long as there is such a significant variation in the quality of kits available. The only true way to eliminate all this is to have a single kit class. Pick out one readily available kit for each class(aircraft, ship, auto, armor, and scifi) and let the building begin. Forget all the other hogwash. Way to complicated and full of loopholes and definitions.

Thank you! You took the words right out of my mouth.

When I bought my Optivisor 30 years ago, I was uncertain which lens to get so I bought 4. The #3, #5, #7 and #10. I am glad I did. I started with the 3 and 5 used the most. As I got older I had to move up the scale. I am now use the 7 and 10 the most. I also use my glasses under the visor kind of like a bifocal. Works well for me. New lenses are not ridiculously price for a precision piece of optical equipment.

Just for an idea if anyone from San Marcos is watching, here is a photo from the Laughlin AFB, Del Rio, Texas Heritage air craft site. Looks like a lot of potential for a special decal sheet that represents south west Texas.

Ok, I just thought to search Two Bobs for them and was surprised to see that they still had them listed as "in stock". Here is the link https://www.twobobs.net/contents/en-us/p732_2020-IPMS-Nats-Decal-Sheet.html

They did list them on this forum for purchase. I bought several sets to support the lost income to the club. I looked for the post that offered them but couldn't find it. They were for sale from Two Bobs. If they decide to redo the decal sheet, then perhaps they would reoffer them.

Just wondering if anyone organizing the convention in San Marcos knows? Are you designing a new decal sheet or are you going to reuse the original. If you are going to design a new one, it might be fun to have a class or special award for models built with the 2020 sheet.

Andy, like many things in life, this hobby is what you choose to make it. It can be very casual or all consuming and everything in between. Welcome and I would strongly urge you to find a local club to join. Sharing the hobby with those of a like mind is the best part.

I'm pretty sure I am not alone, but I am in the final thrash trying to get everything done for Vegas. This always happens. Nothing quite done and only 9 days to the table. I was think about why I wait to the very end, late last night when I think I arrived at an explanation. The deadline makes us decide when the project is good enough. It is not perfect in my eyes but it has to be done, like it or not. It seems that if I start 2 weeks ago or 2 years ago, there is always something to fix or do better. Therefore for there comes a point at which it is good enough and I must stop dinking with it. The deadline forces this decision. So I guess I can expect a "final thrash" any time I go to a contest. How about you. Do you do any different?

I know this is a weird thing to be posting but I got a couple of rolls of these and think they are outstanding at the modeling bench! I use a lot of paper towels for cleaning airbrushes and other tools and I was happy when Bounty came out with the smaller sheet tear lines but I still felt I was still throwing away a lot of unused towel. Now Brawny has a 1/4 sheet option. These quarter sheets are just the right size for airbrush cleaning as well as regular brush cleaning and a lot of other things that we use paper towels for. I am sure my paper towel consumption is down by at least half to a quarter. I hope these stay around! However if it is like most things I really like and use, I doubt they will be available in a year or so! https://www.brawny.com/tear-a-square?gclid=CjwKCAjwmK6IBhBqEiwAocMc8uiLZFJDE1dTFmGnsG1I0rKu2mJuQYdeRBBjwu8HRPhcIAUOsL4QthoCPAMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds