Steve N

I think that movie used all the stupids..several years' worth of all the stupids. I'm willing to suspend disbelief in the name of entertainment (Independence Day) but San Andreas was just too ridiculous to even enjoy sarcastically. SN

This reminds me of something that I was a bit skeptical of in the recent movie "San Andreas." The whole movie is of course one long over-the-top 70s disaster movie cliche. Anyway, The Rock is alone in his rescue chopper..which he straight-up steals after abandoning his job when the quake hits (you know..when he's most needed.) He's trying to rescue his (of course) estranged wife from a collapsing building, and puts the helo in "auto hover" so he can go back an operate the winch. Is there such a feature on helicopters, or is that a bit of "Movie Magic." "Independence Day" has to be one of

Now I don't feel quite so bad about that Monogram 1/72 B-36 in The Stash. SN

Awesome pic. Note the B-23 fuselages in the background..that amounts to about a third of the total production run! SN

One of my favorite aircraft in the museum. Unfortunately the interior is largely gutted (and painted interior green..nobody knew better in those days, or much cared.) The fabric on the aft parts of the wings also really needs to be replaced. Still, the restorers did a great job, and it's great that it survived and is on display! SN

The old KP Aero C-3 (Czech-built Si-204) can usually be found fairly cheap. It's a bit crude by today's standards, but builds up into a decent looking replica. All you need are some Luftwaffe markings (Techmod makes a nice sheet with several options.) It's covered with rivets and raised panel lines, but those can be sanded off if you like. The only really major shortcoming of the kit is the sparse cockpit, which is very visible through all that nose glass. The R.V. Models kit is outstanding, but as you noted rather expensive. I think the only "step nose" Siebel kits I've seen were limit

Cool picture! Most C-47s came from the factory with rifle ports in the side windows, but this is the first time I've seen permanent gun mounts installed. I don't know how much good those little Lewis guns would be, but they might give an attacking fighter pause..and they're better than nothing I suppose. SN

Saw it yesterday, and loved it. Best "hard" sci fi flick I've seen in years. Completely eclipses the various Mars mission movies of recent years. Think "Apollo 13" on steroids. No silly alien interventions or fantastic fabrications. The tech is a bit beyond or current capablities (not to mention unaffordable) but everything is based on sound science and engineering. Neil DeGrasse-Tyson gave it his stamp of approval..the only major scientific inaccuracy he pointed out was the dust storm in the opening scene that forces the expedition to leave (and clobbers Damon with flying debris leading

Here's a pic I posted on the other P-38 cockpit thread. This is the unrestored "time capsule" P-38J at the NASM Udvar-Hazy Center. You can see the canvas cover over the top of the instrument panel. This example appears to have originally been olive green, but has faded and shrunk up a bit over the years. SN

Here are a few pics of the P-38J at the National Air and Space Museum. It's a "time capsule" aircraft..completely original and never restored. SN

Aoshima is interesting..their early kits like the Myrt are utter garbage. I picked up their TBM back in the day..the box said 1/72 but it was considerably smaller, and only vaguely resembled the subject. Then around 15 years ago they released a line of Kawanishi Shidens and Shiden Kais that are absolute jewels, as well as a state-of-the-art Ta-152 series that's considerably better than the Dragon kits. They recently released a Ki-100..I understand it surpasses the Fine Molds kit, although I don't know if it's that much better to warrant replacing the FM I already have in The Stash. SN

I saw this one a couple years ago..absolutely a must-see! It's still in my Netflix queue..I may have to watch it again. Harryhausen was the absolute master of stop-motion. My favorite movie of his (and since his work was the real start I consider it "his" movie) was "Valley of Gwangi." I used to catch it occasionally on TV as a kid, when I was at the height of my Dinosaur Phase. The physiology and movement of the dinos aren't really accurate by today's standards (the T.Rex-ish theropod lumbers along in an upright posture dragging his tail) but the effects were state of the art for the tim

Reminds me of that old Kenny Rogers tune: "You picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel..." Seriously though, great job by the pilot. Nobody was hurt, which is the important part. The airplane certainly looks repairable, which is a bonus. SN

I visited the old Squadron shop once in the mid 80s, just before it shut down. I used to drive over to Detroit (well, the burbs anyway) and spend a day crawling through a half-dozen really great hobby shops. almost all are gone now..I think the only one of my old haunts that's still extant is Great Lakes Hobby & Train..and I haven't been there in a couple years. If you can make a bit longer trip (maybe an hour from Detroit) I recommend J-Bar Hobbies in Tecumpseh. A bit off the beaten path, but a great selection of plastic, and run by great folks. And I heartily second everyone's recom

I'm really looking forward to seeing this one..but a bit cautious. I remember all the hype about "Gravity" a couple years ago..when I finally saw it I thought it was terrible. From a scientific standpoint it was about as plausible as "Santa Claus Conquers The Martians." SN

I was just watching "Independence Day." Ridiculously implausible but one of my favorite "popcorn" movies, and full of 80s-esque quotable lines (despite dating from 1996.) My favorite has to be during the first dogfight between the F/A-18s and the alien fighters, when Will Smith looks over his shoulder at his pursuer and yells "Oh no, you did NOT shoot that green $&%@ at ME!" SN

And I suppose it's probably also worth noting that the rear deck under the canopy is Olive Drab..not Interior Green. SN

Zone Five: the new Britmodeller!

I'd use a candle, but hold the sheet well above the flame. You only need to get the plastic hot enough to be pliable..you don't want it to melt completely. Also, if it's too hot you risk damaging the kit. Once it's flexible, just gently pull it down over a solid section of fuselage above or below where the window is, so you can get the right curvature. It may (in fact probably will) take several attempts to get it right. SN

Along the same lines, I have a couple of kits where the photos of the finished model on the sides of the box were actually another company's kit. The initial release of the Academy/Minicraft 1/72 B-17G from the mid-90s had photos of a buildup of the Hasegawa kit on the box, and the AMT X/YB-35 Flying Wing box featured photos of a built-up vac kit on the sides, with wheels swiped from a 1/48 B-25 and props from what looked like a 1/48 P-47. SN

If you want to make replacements for the small windows, it would be fairly easy. Just heat up some clear sheet until it gets soft, then mold it to the contour of the fuselage, and cut out the windows you need. I don't recall if the Squadron Clear-Vax 1/48 set includes the cheek gun windows or not..I'm pretty sure the 1/72 set does. SN

I assume you can download any photos you've uploaded, but if you close your account any online links will go dead.

If I didn't aalready have a couple dozen albums of a couple thousand pics on my account, I'd dump PB in a heartbeat. When I first got an account over a decade ago it was simple and fast, but it's a bloated popup and spam infested mess now. SN

Working straight through the weekend..but I get double-time-and-a-half for working Monday, so I'm not gonna complain too much. SN

I built the Tamiya 1/72 Mosquito a few year ago and used the kit decals, with no trouble at all. Printing and registration were fine, and they laid down nicely. SN