WingSpace announces B-25s and a B-17...in 1/32nd scale!

For those of you who just read the name WingSpace and said 'huh?", you're about to become very fond of the name.  Especially if your passion is 1/32 WW-II aircraft.  This new injection plastic company located in the Netherlands has shocked everyone with the announcement of three...count'em...three 1/32 B-25 Mitchell

kits AND a 1/32 B-17G!  Even better, this ain't no "we're working on the patterns right now" announcement.  Not at all.  Photos of test shots are available now, posted on the website of Sprue Brothers Models and, with their permission, on Scaleworld as well.  Besides the shots posted here on the Journal page, the remainer of some 45 photos can be viewed by clicking on the Aircraft link under Reviews in the left hand column.  Please note that all reviews/test shots are listed alphabetically by manufacturer first and subject type next.

Sprue Brothers Models has been appointed the exclusive North American dealer for WingSpace Models.  As a result, you can also place pre-orders for any or all of the B-25 kits at an estimated price of $129.95 and a shipping date of February 2011.  Pre-orders for the B-17G will be accepted with a firm shipping date and price has been determined.  By the way, only 2,500 of each kit will be available.

Rotorcraft Of The Third Reich by Ryszard Witkowski & Remi Pieriot

For those of you who thought there was nothing new or little-known when it came to aircraft of Hitler’s Germany, you just might want to take a look at this little softcover publication from Mushroom Model Publications. 

The word ‘little’ refers only to it’s physical size, which is 7” x 10” with 104 pages.  Inside is crammed more material than you frequently see in the typical 8 ½” x 11” publication.  More importantly, who knew that we’d ever see this much information on WW-II German Helicopters in a single publication.

Inside you will find 134 b-&-w photos, 25 color photos and 20 beautiful color profiles.  If that isn’t enough, you also get 20 1/72 scale plans, though to be accurate, all but two are side views only.  The three-views deal with the Focke-Achgelis Fa-223E and the Flettner Fl-282B-0.  Incidentally, due to the size of the Fa-223E, its plans take the form of a fold-out insert that expands to a sheet four times the size of the book cover.

The authors begin with historical background of Flettner, Focke and Rieseler.  One surprising bit of information is that German development work on rotary wing aircraft go all the way back to 1874.  It’s little wonder, then, that Germany was on the verge of mature, operational helicopters at the beginning of WW-II. 

Considerable space is given to the Kolibri (Hummingbird), which most modelers know as the Fl-282.  The Drache (Dragon), designated Fa-223, will probably cause a double-take because it looks like a conventional aircraft fuselage with a tubular framework extending each side of the fuselage in place of wings.  That’s right, each framework supported a three blade rotor, making the Fa-223 a twin-rotor helicopter.

Not to be ignored is the Fa-330 Bachstelze (Wagtail).  Think you don’t know this little puppy?  Guess again.  The Fa-330 was an observation gyroglider that was designed to be towed by German submarines.  While it met its design requirements (which was to provide improved observation for the submarine while running on the surface), it was generally hated by submarine crews.  After enemy ships were spotted, it took too long to bring it down, dismantle and stow before diving.

The rest of the book is devoted to experimental and paper rotarywing projects, color photos of surviving rotorcraft and color profiles.

Whether you’re interested in filling some of those historical gaps or wanting a truly unique scratchbuilt subject for your next model contest, this is a book you don’t want to ignore.

Distributed in this country by Casemate Publishing (http://www.casematepublishing.com),  Rotorcraft Of The Third Reich is priced at a very reasonable $24.95.  When ordering direct from Casemate, add $6.50 shipping for the first book and $2.50 for each additional book on the same order.



Unbelievable disaster...Part II (and I hope no Part III to come)

I survived the computer problems described in the previous entry and I was beginning to get things under control.  I was gradually catching up on back orders and was hearing from those who I had lost information on.  Unfortunately, I started to relax a bit.  Bad decision.  The new computer suddenly began acting erratically.  This time I didn't take the computer to the technicians at the store that caused my problems in the first place because I had been fortunate enough to become friendly with a computer tech of 25 years experience.  There was one problem, however.  He lives in Wisconsin and I"m in Texas.  We had become acquainted thru a series of telephone conversations.

At any rate, he talked me thru all of the problems, which basically resulted in building a completely new computer.  Again.  Along the way, we finally found out that all of my problems could be traced back to the original problem described in Part I.  Apparently the techs who built up the first computer never bothered to check the specs for the new motherboard.  The first motherboard required a 500W or greater power supply, as did the second motherboard that I installed in the current computer.  However, the box that they installed all the components into came with a 380W power supply...which they never bothered to identify.  End result?  The original new computer ran for a couple of months with an underpowered power supply, which eventually killed the motherboard.  The only thing salvagable was the CPU.

So, the computer is FINALLY up and running, reliably, and I'm just about caught up on my backlog.  Except for two or three people who have pending orders that I have no way of contacting.

Now, what about Scaleworld?  It will be back to it's original form before long.  Several new books are on the way to me and hopefully other products will begin hitting the mailbox as well, such as airbrushes and paint.

Richard Marmo

Unbelievable disaster (or why I hate computers)!

For any readers I have left, you are about to read a tale of the good, bad and normally impossible.  A year ago, I posted a note explaining that I had suffered a total computer meltdown (not me, the computer system I was using at the time).  The one that went down on me was a Windows 98SE box, which necessitated my converting to a Windows XP box.  So far, so good, though it did cause a considerable delay.  A couple of months after that, my new system was infected with a major virus attack that locked things up to the point that I had to hire a company to clean the computer out and get the beast running again.  While that was going on, I became involved with a lovely lady.  Nothing wrong with that, of course.  In fact that development was highly desirable.

One thing led to another and I married the lady on January 17, 2009.  At the same time I was trying to catch up on all the delays caused by the computer problems.

The next step in this ongoing disaster was a total computer system failure (back around April or May), combined with a computer store doing an improper backup while they were building a new computer for me.  There is much more to this sordid tale, but the gist of it is that I have lost all of my emails and business records dating back for the last couple of years. This has resulted in a total inablility to contact customers, check on records, etc, ad infinitum.  In other words, I have been totally dead in the water for the last several months.

I ask that ANYONE who has had reason to contact me for ANY purpose, but ESPECIALLY orders of CD-ROMs, wood bases, resin castings or modelbuilding services please contact me again.

There are several outstanding orders that I am aware of, but do not have the information necessary to either fill them or ship them. All I can do is wait until each individual gets mad enough to contact me, wanting to know where his order is.

This disaster was the result of circumstances that were totally beyond my control (other than getting married). I ask for your patience and co-operation and assistance while I work to get this train wreck back on the tracks.

If you haven't heard from me, please drop me a line at

tennexican@mindspring.com

And no, Scaleworld is not dead.  Just operating with a severe limp at the moment.  Product samples that have been received WILL appear here and new samples received will appear within a reasonable time.

Again, my apologies for the situation.

Thank you,

Richard Marmo

Model Building Services by Richard Marmo

The Modeler’s Weapons Shop

Scale Publications

Scaleworld

Available Again After 44 Years

Those of you who have been building models long enough may remember a thin, softcover book compiled by Jay Frank Dial called United States Camouflage WW-II.  It consisted of official information gleaned from Tech Orders and other documents that directed the application of camouflage on both USAAF and USN aircraft.  Also included was information on the various styles of U.S. national insignia and dates when the design changed.

The information Jay compiled was considered ‘must have’ over 40 years ago and it is still as useful today as it was then.

Published in 1964, there was only one print run and the book is virtually impossible to find today  But things have just changed.

Jay’s book has been restored and enhanced as a 55 page PDF document.  Besides the original material that’s been reproduced unchanged, an index has been added to make navigation easier (Jay didn’t include page numbers) and ten photos of actual aircraft have been added to assist in visualizing how some of the camouflage schemes looked in real life.

Whether you keep it on your computer’s hard drive or print it out, this is still an essential reference for anyone who builds WW-II aircraft. As a PDF, it downloads immediately after payment is received online.  Once payment is made, a thank you email is generated to your inbox.  All you do is click on the download link contained in the email and the file is on it's way. There’s no shipping charges, nor do you have to wait with bated breath for the mail.

Price is a very economical $9.99 and it can be ordered by going to  http://modelersweaponsshop.freeyellow.com/camouflagebook.html