Jim,

just out of interest, how was the Encore DII, I bought one from Squadron, got stung for VAT and a surcharge by Fedex....I wont order stateside no more unless desperate...but thats by the by.

The kit ...its beautiful but the resin was pretty badly done in during transit, packed together loose in a single ziplock bag.....the only real problem as I could see. Was your's damaged?

Keith

Hello all,

My LVG arrived today. I'm extremely impressed with the model. The instruction book alone is a treasure trove of info. I'll definitely be ordering more.

Excellent work Wingnut Wings. Keep them coming.

Mark

I wll have to investigate. Wish list
Sopwith Dolphin
Siemens Schuckert scout
SIA 2 seater
Short Folder
Sopwith Cuckoo

Why stop there

hawker Fury, Hart, Demon, Audax,Hind, Nimrod
Bristol Bulldog
Gloster Gamecock
FW44
He 51

So impressed that I just ordered the SE5a, too. Can't help myself.

Mark

My orders sitting in customs for four days now

Luciano

I read an article about Peter Jackson's museum a couple of years ago. Knights of the Skies I think? Has anyone visited it?

Ted

Luciano,
Well,obviously we are following each other. After building all these 1/144th, I too could not pass up on a 1/32nd scale "Biff". At present mine is winging its way here.

1/32nd, what a pleasure, we can almost sit in them to build them up !

Take it easy .................................Bruce

Greetings all;

From Dan-San Abbott we have a list of coming attractions under their comfidential tab - ". . .
1. F.E.2b, upper right on facing page 19.
2. D.H.2 top right center facing page 19.
3. D.H. 9 or D.H.9a, two center photos facing page 19.
4. Hansa Brandenburg W.29. Top left and bottom left center.
5. Roland.D.VIa, bottom right and bottom right center. . ."

Hi all

I hope some of you guys are going to write us reviews of these beauties! From your first impressions here, they sound awesome!

All the best

Rowan

Hello folks. I did not order the Junkers.

The rest are on their way

I guess Rogga have ordered one for himself and one for me.Bristol Figther is my order and if I remember it right, Rogga ordered the LVG.
Still have alot off work in my garden to tend to before I can do anything for the Hobby.

Cheers
Larsa Q

The package left New Zeeland today

Yes Lasse you are right , it was the Lvg , and it also became a Junkers and a Bristol too , , just couldn´t help myself

I got the LVG today and have just finished looking it over. Here is my most honest first impressions.

Remember how Eduard raised the bar a few years back for an overall package? When they went to colour instructions, brass, well moulded plastic and excellent decals in one package? Well this kit is sort of the same, maybe raising the standard overall slightly, but not by a gigantic margin.

Instructions are the best i've seen. Full colour, excellent photos of the real aircraft. This is the single area where this model goes beyond any model kit i've seen so far.

Decals: Well they're by Cartograph, and they are my favourite decal manufacturer by far. My liking for their decals goes back to the old days when i was always building F1 Cars covered front to back in decals. Cartograph decals are amazingly strong and resilient, but still printed as well as anyone else. So 10/10 for the decals from my point of view. BUT i'm not qualified to comment on the lozenge accuracy. Others can do that.

Plastic: Here's where it gets harder. Initially i thought these looked like they were done by Zvezda- but once you look in the kit it's printed on the instruction manual...made in China. Oddly, copyrighted in 2007...it's now 2009. Nothing wrong with the quality and detail, but in some areas i think it looks a bit softly detailed- it has those softish engraved detail like Trumpeter/Hobby Boss kits (though i'm not sure if they are doing the moulding or not). I think if Eduard did this kit in 1/32 we'd have a crisper detailed, though probably harder to build model- and one that would cost a lot more too. Also if Roden did it we'd also have a crisper detailed kit (i truly believe that Roden are actually the best at doing believable surface detail), though a lot harder to build and without those outstanding decals.

And the brass: the kits worst part for me. It's only the belts anyway. You know the sort of brass you get in dragon or trumpeter kits? Sort of thick like it's tank armour. That's what these are like. They may be ok with annealing...time will tell.

So that's what i think from my first look. Overall my point is that these look to be outstanding models, but don't think you have to throw away the Roden models you may already have. On the plastic alone, Roden can well and truly hold their own still. Just the rest of the package is better with wingnuts. Hopefully they won't double up on too many subjects and go against each other directly.

And those are my initial impressions. The government just sent me $900 (to spend and help the economy!) and at least part of it will be going to help the NZ economy instead. I'm definately getting at least the Junkers as well.

Andrew

OK i've now spent far more time looking at the parts much closer than the intial quick look i did above. And i now think that the way they have done the detail on the plastic parts is actually about as good as you can get. It is soft where it should be and nice and sharp where it needs to be, like the engine parts.

And even though moulded in China (by i assume Trumpeter/Hobby Boss), they kept the mad riveter locked away...which is just as well for a WW1 subject.

These really seem to be a new standard.

Andrew

Hi Andrew

Could you get some pics and text together for a First Look review? What you've already written is a excellent basis, but it'd be great to get such an important release onto the Frontpage.

All the best

Rowan

I was putting some microsculpt decals on a D.VII when my wife came into my workroom with a large box. They couldn't be here already. I ordered mine on Thursday, and they arrived today. Five days to get from there to here. I figured it would take around two weeks. After I got over my initial surprise, I cut open the box. There were three beautiful kits and a nice little wingnuts wings shopping bag.

Gentlefolk, You should take the opportunity to pick up one of these kits. They are nice.

Hey All, My Wingnut kits came today. They're so sweet I could cry. I'm already goin' to town on my J.1.

Hah! They only take 3 days to get to Australia! For the first time ever, here is something that we can actually get before everyone else instead of 3 months behind the rest of the world.

Andrew

Greetings,
I emailed a thank you to WW, got a polite reply a few hours later. Told them they had ruined the last 6 months of my life. On the table I had started scratchbuilds of 2 of the four WW subjects!

Current projects(all 1/32):
Staaken RVI
Brisfit(now worthless)
Junkers J.1(")
Voisin X. LAR

I see! Well, could you do me a favour and start scratchbuilding a Phoenix D1 and Sopwith Triplane? That should, therefore, soon result in WW putting them onto the market then...?

Andrew

Greetings Kevin What you have experienced is one of the oldest situations in modelbuilding.
Laws of Modeling 101.
: . .'Theorem of Progression'. . .
The 'progression develops' thusly.
1.) As soon as you scratchbuild a model, a manufacturer will release a vacuform kit of it.
2.) As soon as you finish the vacuform kit, an injected molded version (this includes slush plastic, resin or metal) of the prototype will be released.
3.) As soon as you convert the injected molded kit of the prototype to the version you want, your version will be released by another manufacturer who will, include the refined versions of the decals, resin or photo etch that you had suggested to them on their website. But they will not mention you or provide you with gratis examples for your trouble.
4.) You can't win.(Because manufactures will inevitably simplify their processes.)
5.) You can't break even. Unless you value your own work.
6.) But, you can publish an article that will give you a chance to review their kit and point out its flaws. . . "

The kick is they skipped the vac & slush mold kit and went straight to the high pressure injected mold.

Has anyone in the UK received their kits yet...mine has been sitting in clearance here since the 12th......10 days.... 6 days to order process and ship as far as the UK then over 10 to clear customs...kin rediculous!

I agree with Stephen on the modelling law though..... it's fate.

So true..I had just finished compiling my supplies and reference to build the HMS Rodney in 1:350, and in 1 week I recieved word that a major manufacturer has an iminent release sceduled.....thus is the game,freinds

Received my LVG yesterday. A pure jewel...

Do they have an RE8 available for sale? I went to their site and did not see one available..