Highlander

Great job. And with that kit.

So, the convention site will be in the city of Columbia? Correct?

Duke of Earl?

That's fairly spectacular.

Amen on the ships, brah. I have a couple that I purchased as an intro for shipbuilding. After hours of examination, I cannot figure out how to fold the PE. And, for a couple of the smaller ships, there are absolutely no instructions on where to put the PE. Or what the PE is supposed to represent.

I learned a long time ago to not make any comments, other than genuinely positive ones, when viewing models. Hoverers generally are not appreciative. They are often defensive and sometimes hostile. Once it got to the "step outside" point. So my approach has become, "If you can't say something nice about......".

For whatever it's worth, I always thin every paint I ever use. It is a bit obsessive, but I would rather deal with paint that is too thin than paint that is too thick. If I'm in doubt, I use one or two drops until I'm sure that the mix is going to work. And I always have a surface (old model or paper or wood) that I hit with the airbrush before I hit the model -- every time I fiddle with anything -- brush adjustment, paint mix, after the brush has been sitting for a minute or so. So, I don't put paint on a model until I'm sure that the mix is going to work.

All excellent points. Thanks for taking the time to point me in several right directions. I have noticed that kicker can discolor both the superglue and, sometimes, the surrounding plastic. As well as introducing bubbles.

Thanks. My next experiment will be with baking soda. I want to see if it sands smoother than talc. I'll take the heating phenomenon into account. BTW, I quit using zip kicker - except when I am using glue to tack two surfaces together. I like to sand before the glue is completely, totally set and zip kicker seems to create a cure that is harder than normal curing. And, therefore, harder to sand.

My bueno. E útil.

Estoy de acuerdo. I also lose interest after I have completed a kit and entered it in several contests. My interest shift to the next kit I am building. Espero que comprende mi espanol pobre.

Contestants who enter well after the entry deadline and the head judge who permits it. I recall a Nats in which a modeler, staying in the convention hotel and who had been present for the previous two days, showing up over an hour after judging began. We had to rejudge every category in which he had belatedly entered a model. I also recall a major regional contest in which judging was delayed for over three hours because some modelers had called in and complained that traffic was delaying their arrival. Others coming from their area left for the contest earlier and had no trouble being on time. There were people removing their models and leaving before judging finished. Their were judges who removed themselves from judging. And there were contestants who removed their models and departed before the results were announced.

Oh, yes. Or who haven't washed their clothes after several weeks of wear. Even with glue marks, misaligned parts, bent photoetch, out of scale modifications. "But it's scratchbult!" Which is related to the -- "I spend (a very large number) of hours on this build so It deserves a trophy" -- argument. Yes. And, on the opposite end of the spectrum, documentation that equals a volume or two of the Encyclopedia Britianica. Which is related to the scratchbuilt and number of hours arguments for trophies. And modelers who overtly politic for their entry -- the modeler who camps out by his entry and explains in excruciating detail why it is the best on the table. I would add "campers" -- like the guy who placed a chair by his entry at a Nationals so he could politic for his entry without cease for two days. I would add contest room samurai -- the modelers who accost judges after the results are announced and demand to explain why the judges' evaluation of their model is completely wrong.

I have been using a kit as a testbed for new techniques. This week I decided to apply the technique of mising some sort of powder with cyanocrylate as a filler. Somehow I remembered that the technique called for talcum powder. After applying it, with OK results, I then wondered if the technique actually called for baking soda. So, in the great tradition of dumbass questions, which is it? Or is it both? And which, if both, gives the smoothest sanding result?

Fine, fine, superfine. Great in so many ways. The organization and work showed in the flawless execution of the Nats. Best Nats I've attended.

Me too. They had some great subjects. I wondered what had happened.

What do you use/recommend for making cylinders and curves with photo etch....like the grill around an exhaust?

As stated above, 1/48 armor is now accepted in IPMS contests....the metal is not an issue. Also, as stated above, the category for that scale will vary from contest to contest ... by itself, with 1/35, with 1/72, or in a combined armor category. Check out the category list for the contest before you arrive at it to determine where you can expect to place your 1/48 kit.

Oh, happy days!

Does Rick Chin still own a hobby shop up there?

So, nary an inkling it seems.

Any inkling of when the seminar list might come out?

Glad BC will be represented. My older son went to University at UVic, so we got up north several times. As far as quilt shops go, my wife is addicted to them as well. But, she may not be coming with me. Which would be a mixed blessing. Nobody to glare at the mounting pile of acquistions and nobody to build her own pile. OTOH, nobody to help me carry stuff around. But, if she does decide to come, maybe the wives can get together and go off and complete our bankruptcy.

Further research shows Italieri with a IIIE which I could convert.

Is there a model available of the Mirage 5? It was an offshoot of the Mirage IIIE and looked much like it, except it had a longer nose that extended the aircraft's length by about half a metre. And the pitot tube was moved from the tip of the nose to below the nose.