Category Archives: Kit Bashing

Kit Bashing

New F-16 Digital Ghost?

Video

U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis, 28JAN2021.

F-16C Falcon with digital ghost paint scheme, Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nevada, 28JAN2021.

U.S. Air Force photo by Ronald Nial Bradshaw, 03JUN2020.

In 2020, Hill AFB, Utah, painted an F-16 in ‘digital ghost’ style.

USAF photo by Ronald Nial Bradshaw, 03JUN2020.

USAF photo by Ronald Nial Bradshaw, 03JUN2020.

U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Bryan Guthrie, 01MAY2019.

In May 2019, at Nellis AFB in Nevada, F-16 ‘aggressors’ underwent extensive re-paint to become digital ghost fighters.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Bryan Guthrie, 08MAY2019.

Time lapse video of paint stripping:

USAF photo by Airman First Class Bryan Guthrie, 16MAY2019.

Time lapse video (with overly dramatic music) of the painting process:

USAF photo by Airman First Class Bryan Guthrie, 23MAY2019.

First flight video (more overly dramatic music included):

 

VEHICLE I-D: ‘NEW’ F-16 VISTA

Kit Bashing, Technology, U.S.

Repairing 1/1 scale T-38 Talon and other Whiteman Gate Guards (and a reduced scale B-2 bomber)

Video

U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 18JUN2019.

During the middle of June, 2019, 509th Maintenance Squadron ‘low-observable maintenance’ Airmen began work to restore Whiteman Air Force Base’s (in Missouri) T-38 gate guard named Spirit of Heartland.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 18JUN2019.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 18JUN2019.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 06AUG2019.

The T-38 is one of several 509th Bomb Wing static displays on base which also includes the B-29 Superfortress, B-47 Stratojet, B-52 Stratofortress and the FB-111A Aardvark.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 06AUG2019.

In May 2018, the B-29 The Great Artiste was restored.  According to the official report  “…the original aircraft was lost during a crash landing at Goose Bay Air Base, in Labrador, Canada, in 1949. So, another B-29 was painted as a replica for static display. The static display was eventually moved to Whiteman AFB from Pease AFB when the New Hampshire base closed in 1991.”

USAF photo by Airman Michaela Slanchik, 10AUG2017.

In August 2017, a reduced scale B-2 Spirit was donated by Northrop-Grumman.  The B-2 replica weighs 600 pounds and is 22 feet in length compared to the actual B-2’s true length of 172 feet.  It is one of 50 donated by Northrop Grumman.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Joel Pfiester, 13SEP2016.

In September 2016, the FB-111A gate guard underwent corrosion prevention painting, some calling it operation Dark Vark.

In 2015, the Missouri Air National Guard 131st Bomb Wing moved to Whiteman AFB, and brought their F-4, F-15 and F-100 gate guards with them. Missouri Air National Guard video by Technical Sergeant Elise Rich, June 2015:

Guam: 1/1 SCALE F-4 PHANTOM-2 MODEL

Wyoming Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Charles Delano.

Down in the mud, shot-up, Wyoming SLUF

Kit Bashing, Technology

Robot Wars Vehicle I-D: Giant R-C tanks seen tearing-up Washington state!

Video

At the end of April 2019, Yakima was torn-up by highly modified M-1 robot tanks!

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Nathaniel Q. Hamilton, 26APR2019.

The new ‘robot’ Assault Breacher Vehicles were being tested by the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and the British empire’s (Commonwealth of Nations) Royal Australian Army.

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Nathaniel Q. Hamilton, 26APR2019.

These ‘robot’ tanks are not fully autonomous as they’re controlled by human drivers inside a modified M577 Command Post (M113).

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Nathaniel Q. Hamilton, 27APR2019.

USMC video interview (by Sergeant Sylvia L. Tapia) explaining how the Robotic Complex Breach Concept (RCBC) is about reducing the expected massive casualties in the upcoming Third World War:

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Nathaniel Q. Hamilton, 26APR2019.

They can be equipped with different types of plows, and ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor) blocks.

More video by Sergeant Sylvia L. Tapia, 26APR2029:

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Nathaniel Q. Hamilton, 27APR2019.

More video by Sergeant Sylvia L. Tapia, 28APR2029:

Robot Wars VEHICLE I-D: ROBOT HEMTT ROLLING ALONG!

M777 : PROOF THE UNITED STATES IS THE TOOL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE!

Kit Bashing

B-52H Stratofortress Nose Art

Image

B-52H Stratofortress deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, lands on the flight line in support of U.S. Strategic Command’s Bomber Task Force (BTF) in Europe at RAF Fairford, British empire England, 14MAR2019.

B-52 from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, sits on the flightline at Andersen AFB, Guam, 15JAN2019.

External fuel tank art.

B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 96th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, sits on the flightline after arriving for exercise Lightning Focus at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Darwin, British empire Australia, 29NOV2018.

Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, 02JUN2016.

 

Video: USAF B-52 TAKES PART IN AUSTRALIA’S CELEBRATION OF THE VIETNAM OCCUPATION!

 

Kit Bashing, Reviews

1/144 Boeing 777: Eastern Express v Minicraft

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I’ve been able to get some 1:144 scale Boeing 777-200s (United Nations-International Civil Aviation Organization B772) for cheap; some Minicraft kits (made in China) being offered in an ‘as is’ grab bag sale (turned out they were complete, but one had a broken fuselage), and a two-for-one sale that got me Eastern Express issues (made in Russia) in both the -200 and -300 versions.

My biggest complaint about airliner kits is how much they cost versus what you get, that’s why I buy them only when I see them offered at great discount (and It’s really amazing that aftermarket decals can cost more than the kit, depending on the manufacturer).  Airliner kits are basic, and even the nicer Revell Germany kits have fit problems.  While the Minicraft airliners have fit problems the Eastern Express kits take the cake.

The Eastern Express Group kit requires a lot of pre-assembly sanding down of parts due to the amount of flash and other problems.  You must dry fit the parts in order to avoid nasty surprises, such as the lower wing trailing edge needs to be thinned down to size in order to fit, however, the trailing edge of the flaps/ailerons are molded as part of the upper wing, giving a nice sharp trailing edge. The Minicraft Model Kits’ wings have blunt trailing edges, you’d have to spend time thinning down both wing halves to get a sharp trailing edge.  The wings of the Eastern Express and Minicraft kits are very close in shape, size and detailing.  Eastern Express has no mounting points to attach the wing to the fuselage, you’ll have to make your own spar.  Minicraft uses interlocking fingers, apparently their engineers thought it was a good idea but the fingers actually interfere with getting a tight fit against the fuselage, they have to be thinned down or removed.

The Eastern Express fuselage is in three sections, allowing for different length mid-sections to model the -200 or -300 (you only get the sections described on the box). I lined up the competing kits’ fuselages starting at the tail end, the vertical tail tip on the Eastern Express is more angled, the overall diameter and length of the Minicraft kit’s fuselage is larger.  The Eastern Express nose section is smaller than the Minicraft kit, but it looks more Boeing-like to me.

The horizontal tails/elevators look similar in shape and detail, but Minicraft’s are noticeably larger.

While the Eastern Express fuselage is smaller than Minicraft’s the opposite is true for the turbine nacelles. I’m considering swapping the very large Eastern Express nacelles with the Minicraft nacelles, the size difference is painfully noticeable when you compare the diameter of the intake lips.  Minicraft’s nacelles will need just a little work to fit them onto the Eastern Express wings, but the Eastern Express nacelle pylons will need to be thinned down to fit into the Minicraft slots.

Here’s some pictorial evidence, which you can see more of the image by clicking on it:

I didn’t mention landing gear, most airliner kits do a bad job of representing them anyway (example; the Minicraft’s doors don’t come close to matching the wheel well openings, as if they were meant for a different aircraft), plus I normally build airliners wheels up and condemn them to eternal flight by hanging from the ceiling.

Update, December 2022: I finally finished building the Minicraft Boeing 777.  I marked it with aftermarket decals for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The aftermarket decals look good from a distance, up-close you can see how thick they are. I had to remove a couple of the smaller markings, because they curled-up and refused to lay down, no matter how much clear I coated them with.

It was going to be a gift for the couple who had spent big money reserving airline tickets, hotels and tickets to various Olympic venues.

The Minicraft turbine nacelles definitely look too small.

Of course, due to The Pandemic hyperbole, first the Japanese government delayed the games by a full year, then banned foreigners from coming into Japan altogether!  The highly disappointed couple did get their money refunded, and this year they finally get their very own 777 Tokyo Olympics airliner.

1:72 F-100 SUPER SABER KIT KLASH, OR MORE REASONS WHY YOU CAN’T TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS

VEHICLE I-D: NEW KC-46A PEGASUS (Boeing 767)

Kit Bashing, Reviews

1:72 F-100 Super Saber kit klash, or more reasons why you can’t trust scale drawings

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As far as I’m aware I’ve collected every North American F-100 Super Saber (I prefer the U.S. English spelling versus the Queen’s English spelling Sabre [for some unknown reason preferred by North American]) kit in 1/72 scale, I feel confident I can honestly direct you as to which F-100 kit to spend your hard earned cash on (please don’t make the Too Big to Jail banks rich by using credit).

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I also have several books with scale drawings, and once again the ‘authoritative’ drawings themselves don’t match-up.

DSC_0065

Detail & Scale Number 4 (1980) uses drawings by Rockwell/Ed Moore/Terry Smith.  Detail & Scale Volume 33 (1989) uses drawings by Dana Bell and Terry Smith. Bunrin Do’s Famous Airplanes of the World Number 22 (May 1990) uses drawings that look like 1:72 but no scale is given.

Revell: According to Detail & Scale, this kit first came out in the 1950s and is a piece-o-crap (photos confirm this), it’s much larger than 1:72 scale.  It’s supposed to represent a ‘A/C’ version of the F-100.  According to Detail & Scale-33 it was last issued in 1987.

Detail & Scale-33 also talks about other ‘1:72’ scale F-100 kits issued by different companies in the 1960s-70s, apparently all actually being scales that are not 1:72.

IMC/Lindberg:  According to Scalemates, the IMC kit was the first 1:72 scale Super Saber, out in 1965. Lindberg currently issues it.  IMC marketed it as a ‘D’ version yet it has the wing of a ‘A/C’ version (Lindberg wisely dropped the reference to the ‘D’ version). The surface detailing is spurious.  Detail & Scale-4 doesn’t mention it, and Detail & Scale-33 simply calls the kit a “gimmick with battle damaged parts”.   I was surprised to find the wing, elevators and canopy matched dimension and shape of the Ed Moore and Terry Smith drawings! The vertical tail is too skinny, tall, and set too far back on the fuselage.  The fuselage is a little long at the ass-end.  The extra long external fuel tanks are too fat and the fins are grossly over-sized.  You get separately molded air intake mouth and exhaust/afterburner butt-hole (this is the part that makes the fuselage too long).  No weapons come with the kit. Compared to the Dana Bell drawings the fuselage and wing measures out the same as the previous drawings, but the elevators are narrower in span.  The same can be said about the Bunrin Do drawings.

Hasegawa/Frog:  According to Scalemates, the Hasegawa kit was issued first by Frog in 1970, then Hasegawa in 1971.  According to the reviewers in Detail & Scale, it’s accurate shape-wise, but represents the F-100D before all the field mods were applied by the USAF, so it can’t accurately represent a service aircraft.  Never-the-less Hasegawa continues to re-issue the thing, and people continue paying too much for it.  Compared to the Ed Moore/Terry Smith drawings the fuselage, wing and elevators are a close match.  The one piece canopy/windshield is smaller than in the drawings.  Compared to the Dana Bell drawings the wing/elevators have too great a sweep-back. You get separately molded air intake mouth and exhaust/afterburner butt-hole, but the fuselage is too long at the air intake and afterburner. The canopy is even smaller compared to Dana Bell drawings.  According to the Bunrin Do drawings the wing is very slightly narrower in chord, but good in span. The elevators have too great a sweep-back. The fuselage is too short and too skinny, the canopy is still small. The old kit comes with two styles of external fuel tanks, but not the extra long ones, plus what looks like napalm bombs and Bullpup missiles.

ESCI/AMT-Ertl:  Scalemates says this kit first came out in 1982.  Reviewers in Detail & Scale-33 praise the kit for being the most accurate F-100D at that time (yes, better than Hasegawa).  ESCI was also the first to release a two seat ‘F’ version.   It has detailed landing gear, extra long external fuel tanks, separately molded intake mouth, two styles of IFR probes and two styles of after burners.  The only weapons are Bullpup and Sidewinder missiles. The wing is a close match to the Moore/Smith drawings, but the elevators are too narrow in span. The fuselage is slightly long at the mouth, the vertical tail is too tall. The canopy/windshield (molded as one) is the closest to matching these drawings.  The wing is also a close match to the Bell drawings, but the elevator is not only too short in span, the sweep-back is too great.  The fuselage is even longer, yet the tail is only slightly taller.  The canopy looks good, but the windshield area looks small.  Going by the Bunrin Do drawings the wing is just slightly narrower in span, the elevators match the shape and sweep but are slightly undersized in overall dimension. The fuselage is shorter and narrower, yet the tail matches the height of the drawing.  The canopy/windshield looks like a good match.

Click the pics to make bigger:

Pioneer-PM:  This monstrosity was unleashed in the early 1990s by British empire company Pioneer.  It’s made by a company called PM, based in the NATO country of Turkey.  The air intake mouth is molded as part of the fuselage halves.  It’s marketed as a ‘C’ version but has the wing of the ‘D’ version.  It comes with extra long fuel tanks, Bullpup missiles, blobs with fins that’re supposed to be bombs and an IFR probe that’s missing the receptacle end. Oddly the wing and elevators are a close match with the Detail & Scale drawings, yet the fuselage is too small in overall size (as is the canopy/windshield).  Bunrin Do drawings show the wing to be slightly smaller in overall dimension, the elevators having too great a sweep-back, and the fuselage is even smaller, so small you’d think it was a different scale.

Italeri/Revell Germany/Tamiya/Academy:  Time to set things straight.  This kit is not a re-box of the ESCI kit, it is a re-tooled/so-called improved version of the ESCI kit, first coming out in 1998. The surface details, and the wheel well/air brake well details, are exactly the same. The sprue layout is different.  The external fuel tanks are much shorter than the ESCI tanks. You get optional IFR probes and afterburners. For weapons you get two ‘dumb’ iron bombs and two rocket pods. For some odd reason Italeri added a spurious frame to the canopy, about two thirds of the way back on the canopy, rendering it useless.  The most noticeable change (besides the canopy guffaw) Italeri made was to the length of the fuselage, which now matches the Moore/Smith drawings. The tail is still too tall. The wing is slightly shorter in span to the Moore/Smith drawings, but the elevators are a close match (the opposite of the ESCI kit).  Compared to the Bell drawings the wing is a better match, still slightly short in span. The elevators match the shape but are also slightly short in span.  Interestingly the fuselage is too long for the Bell drawings, at the mouth, and the tail is still slightly too tall.   For the Bunrin Do drawings the wing is too short in span, slightly narrow in chord. The elevators match.  The fuselage is too short, yet the tail matches the height of the drawing.  Revell AG (Germany) re-boxed the kit at the same time Italeri first issued it.  Beware, Tamiya re-boxed the kit starting in 2001, and I’ve seen it command prices over $20 U.S. (just because it has Tamiya’s name on the box), Academy re-boxed the kit in 2017 also commanding a high price for it, don’t do it!

Trumpeter:  And the winner is! Starting in 2009 Trumpeter issued what every Super Saber builder wanted; super detailed kits in the ‘C’, ‘D’ and ‘F’ variants. The kit comes with separate flaps and slats for the wing. Optional IFR probes. Detailed exhaust/afterburner section (only the early non-f-102 style of afterburner). Air intake trunking (but the mouth is molded as part of the fuselage halves and is narrower than the other kits).  Optional factory air brake or field modified air brake. Optional extended or folded nose pitot.  Boarding ladder.  Highly detailed interior parts.  The instructions make it look like the canopy suffers from the now ubiquitous ‘parting line’ syndrome that most Asian kits are infected with, but the canopies that came with my kits (the ‘C’ and ‘F’ versions) were free of this parting line.  For the ‘C’ version the instructions want you to attach the tail hook which, according to my references, the ‘C’ version did not have a tail hook. The weapons load is extremely limited (as is with all the kits reviewed); Sidewinders and ECM pods depending on the kit version.  The external tanks are about the size of the Italeri kit’s. Detail & Scale-4’s drawings show the wing to be much too short in span, the elevators are a match.  The fuselage is almost a direct hit with the tail being slightly too tall.  The canopy and separately molded windshield both look slightly small.  Compared to the Bell drawings, in Detail & Scale-33, the fuselage is almost a direct hit with the nose being too long.  The canopy looks good, but the windshield still looks small.  The wing is too short in span and slightly narrow in chord.  The elevators look like a match.  With the Bunrin Do drawings the wing is good span-wise but way too narrow in chord.  The elevators are too long in span. The fuselage and tail are too short.  The canopy is slightly small, but the windshield looks good.

Conclusion: Avoid the odd Pioneer F-100, with its 1:72 scale wings and 1:80(?) scale fuselage.   If you want something cheap that you can assemble and paint in less than a day, then hang from the ceiling, then Lindberg’s re-issue of the ancient IMC kit is for you (sometimes you can find the Hasegawa kit for less cost than the IMC/Lindberg kit so go for that then).  The old ESCI kit is still good-to-go for building something you want to proudly display on the shelf, but don’t waste your time and money on aftermarket detailing sets.  If you want the most detailed F-100 kit available (and you were thinking of buying an ESCI kit plus detailing sets) then it’s the Trumpeter kit hands down, no need to buy aftermarket detail sets (but you can if you’re obsessive and rich ).  Even with its flaws the Trumpeter kit is still better than all the other older kits available.

P.S. The most needed aftermarket item for these kits is a good variety weapons set.

Gate Guards:  F-100 Super Sabre

1/600 MOSKVA: AURORA VS AIRFIX

BLACKLIGHT REVELL DEAL’S WHEELS

HEINKEL HE-51: HASEGAWA VS. ICM

GEORGIA’S MUSEUM OF AVIATION MODEL SHOW, 2017

RED DEVIL AWARDS 2017, ARE THEY REAL OR ARE THEY MODELS?

GROCERY STORE USES MODEL PLANES TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS!

IDAHO CAT CAUGHT INSTRUCTING HUMAN HOW TO BUILD CORVETTE!

1:48 F-105G WILD WEASEL SHOWDOWN, HOBBYBOSS VS MONOGRAM

1:72 SHOCK & AWE LOCKHEED F-104 STARFIGHTER, OR, WHY YOU CAN’T TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS! 

FUJIMI, ESCI, AIRFIX, HASEGAWA, MATCHBOX, REVELL & HOBBY BOSS. MORE REASON NOT TO TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS?

Kit Bashing, Reviews

1:600 Moskva: Aurora vs Airfix

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One of the first ship kits I built was the 1:600 scale Aurora Moscow helicopter anti-submarine ship (not to be confused with the Moskva of the Atlant class of missile cruisers, aka Project 1164).  I also built the Airfix version, and there are differences.

Back then it was the final two decades of the Cold War (unbeknownst to both NATO and Warsaw Pact) and we average kit builders in the United States didn’t have access to reliable information on Warsaw Pact vehicles.  Most publications in English would only say that what we now know was Project 1123 Kondor couldn’t handle rough seas, and that production was halted after only two ships were launched.  I always doubted such NATO propaganda because if the ships were so bad why were they in use until the mid-1990s?

Today we do have access to reliable info (including Kagero Top Drawings #55 book, with detailed scale drawings of things like missile launchers, for those of us who read English), and we have at least one aftermarket detailing set for the 1:600 scale Moskva.  I spent a lot of money on a Russian magazine supplement before learning about the Kagero book.  I also got a hold of the photo etched set #618 by White Ensign.

The Aurora Moscow was first issued in 1969, and for some reason last issued in 1972.  Airfix issued their Moskva in 1973, and as far as I know last issued it in the late 1990s.  In the early 1980s it was issued in the U.S. under the MPC brand.

The Aurora and Airfix hulls are just short of 13 inches (33cm) long, the Aurora being slightly shorter than Airfix.  The Aurora hull is also taller and skinnier than the Airfix hull.  The anchors are molded onto the Aurora hull and both kits have different shaped hull openings and portholes.

Both kits have chunky plastic for the radar antennae. Both kits do not come with missiles for the missile launchers.  Both kits do not have the massive retractable sonar dome located towards the front of the bottom of the hull.  It was this massive dome that was probably the reason the tall ship reportedly nose dived into the water during rough seas.  Apparently NATO was unaware of this dome during the Cold War, or for some reason it was never mentioned in publications made available to the general public.

The Airfix Kamov helicopters are molded in two halves and don’t look good.  The Aurora helicopters are molded in one piece, they look good but not quite like Kamovs (more like Kamovs than Airfix).  The plus with the Aurora kit is you get optional retracted/folded rotor blades.  The Aurora deck is one piece with more detailing than Airfix, and even has optional position hanger doors and space in the superstructure/funnel (molded in two pieces) area.  The Airfix deck is in three pieces, it has optional position hanger doors but the space in the superstructure/funnel (molded in three pieces) is blanked off.  The Airfix helicopter deck has recessed spaces to represent elevators.

The big open ass, I mean aft end, I mean stern of the ship is plane Jane in the Aurora kit, with two life boats.  There’s some kind of blocky details in the Airfix kit.  Aurora gives you davits to hang the life boats on, while Airfix gives you upside down ‘U’s to set them on.  The propellers, I mean screws are different in shape and size between the two kits.

The ship has two large cranes, Aurora uses chunks of plastic to represent them while Airfix gives you a better looking multi-part system.

Click on the pics to make them bigger:

The White Ensign photo etched set has thin brass parts for the radars, railings, davits, cranes, hanger doors, missile launcher detailing, much better details for the ass end, ship name plates (Moscow & Leningrad) and parts for the Airfix helicopters (including tini-tiny landing gear parts which’l probably bend under the weight of the plastic).  A major problem with White Ensign’s instructions is that they leave out where to use the differently shaped hand rails.  Also, you get PE rotor blades in the extended position, but not retracted.

If you love 1:600 scale ships the best way to get a good looking and close to accurate Moskva/Leningrád is to kit bash the Airfix and Aurora kits, use the White Ensign Models PE set, and scratch build missiles, as well as the sonar domes under the hull.

Note: Research is also key to making as accurate a Project 1123 as you can.  The ships had numerous different hull numbers and even different ‘paint jobs’ over the decades.  You’ll need to find color photographs of a specific hull number, especially overhead views which’l reveal what color/colors the decks were painted.

 MOSKVA CLASS SUBMARINE HUNTERS, STOP CALLING THEM AIRCRAFT CARRIERS!

1:600 USS IOWA CLASS KITS: AURORA, MONOGRAM, OTAKI, REVELL. AN APPEAL TO AIRFIX!

1:72 HEINKEL HE-51: HASEGAWA VS. ICM

Business/Economics, Idaho, Kit Bashing

“Get your stuff it’s time to leave.”: U.S. industrial/mining/logistics layoffs, July 2018

Incomplete list of U.S. Mining/Industrial/Logistics job loss/shutdown announcements made in July 2018.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

The Washington Post: Millions of educated, experienced workers have been tossed aside

ALABAMA: Hyundai plant could be first shut down under tariff plan

ALASKA: Oil giant reports 2018 profit, compared to big 2017 loss

ConocoPhillips Swaps Assets With BP, Expands Alaska Base

CALIFORNIA: No more Barbie or Hot Wheels? El Segundo based Mattel announced plans to eliminate at least 2-thousand-2-hundred toy jobs around the world, due to massive crashing sales possibly due to the death of retailer Toys R Us! Already Mattel laid off 140 people at its El Segundo HQ! Furniture company Minson Corporation issued a shutdown WARN for its Montebello ops, 113 jobs gone by September!  Freight Handlers Incorporated (FHI) issued a shutdown WARN for its Riverside ops, 115 jobs gone by September! Recycler Aqua Metals issued a shutdown WARN for its Alameda location, 12 jobs gone in September.  Golden State Overnight Delivery Service issued layoff WARNs for its Gardena and Santa Ana ops, 138 jobs gone mid-September!  ITW Bay Area Label issued a shutdown WARN for its San Jose ops, 54 jobs gone by October.  MV Transportation eliminating 135 jobs in Visalia, by the end of September!

COLORADO: Drillers Fuel Record Oil Output in Rush to Finish Wells

FLORIDA: C&S Wholesale Services eliminating 319 jobs in Orlando by October!

IDAHO:  Bankrupt and suddenly dead Indiana based Koontz-Wagner Custom Controls suddenly laid off 51 people at its now dead Caldwell ops.

ILLINOIS: Iconic cosmetics maker/seller Avon (now known as New Avon) just sold-off its last U.S. factory, in Morton Grove-Chicago, to a French company, 3-hundred to 4-hundred jobs affected!  The French company will make products for British empire United Kingdom owned Walgreens-Boots Alliance.  One of the last U.S. plastic model kit and RC toy manufacturers/distributors, Hobbico, officially chapter 7 bankrupt dead, resulting in iconic Revell kits being 100% German owned.  In Chicago, MW Industries issued a shutdown WARN, 49 jobs gone by Xmas.  In Aurora, Jacobson Warehouse issued a shutdown WARN, 134 jobs gone due to consolidation operations!  Stack-On Products issued shutdown WARNs for its operations in Wauconda and McHenry, 153 jobs gone in October!

INDIANA:  In Bristol, Diversified Machine warning 5-hundred employees of layoffs due to losing a contract with Ford!   Chapter 7 bankrupt and suddenly dead Koontz-Wagner Custom Controls suddenly laid off 104 people (according to official WARN) at its now dead South Bend factory and HQ, one employee told local news media there was no warning: “No one knew about it to 9 o’ clock this morning when we had a meeting and they told us ‘We are shutting the doors. Get your stuff it’s time to leave.'”-Ron Randolph, employee for 16 years

Japan based Wire-Maker TOKUSEN Says it Will Idle Clark County Operation

IOWA: Construction industry tool maker Black Cat Wear Parts laid off ten people, blaming it on the tariff war with British empire Canada.  Winnebago Industries eliminating 31 jobs by the end of August.

KENTUCKY: Greeting card maker American Greetings shutting down its factory in Bardstown, more than 250 jobs lost between September 2018 and February 2019!

MASSACHUSETTS: Partly taxpayer funded uniform maker Pepperell Mills now chapter 11 bankrupt busted and liquidating.  Technetics Group shutting down ops in Oxford due to “the current industrial gas turbine market”, 97 jobs lost.

MINNESOTA: United Sports Brands eliminating 20 jobs in Minnetonka, by November.

MISSOURI: Lawnmower engine maker Briggs and Stratton cutting production and warning of mass layoffs at its factory in Popular Bluff, in “coming weeks”, due to lack of sales.  Also in Popular Bluff, Mid Continent Nail Corporation cut production by half and laid off 60 people, blaming lack of sales on new tariff wars.

NEW YORK:  Fischer Price laid off 50 people at its HQ, as part of parent company Mattel’s plan to eliminate thousand of jobs globally!  Advanced Motors and Drives issued a layoff WARN for its East Syracuse location, 51 jobs gone between August 2018 and March 2019.  Verrino Construction Services now chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to lack of cash caused by lack of sales. Hebeler Process Solutions issued layoff WARNs, at least 60 jobs gone in September due to a sudden loss of sales from a major customer.

NORTH CAROLINA: American Tire Distributors suddenly laid off 1-hundred people because “…the industry is going through its largest change in decades”.  Home furnishings maker Heritage Home Group (Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, and Drexel Heritage) now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.  Mattress maker Serta Simmons shutting down its factory in Whitsett, 112 jobs gone by September!

OHIO: Chinese owned (Hong Kong) vacuum cleaner maker TTI Floor Care (Oreck) issued a shutdown WARN for its Glenwillow ops, at least 75 jobs gone starting in September due “to changing business circumstances” forcing the company to consolidate operations.  Germany based Siemens issued a shutdown WARN for its Aero-Derivative Gas Turbine ops, 134 jobs gone “due to conditions within the global energy market”.

OKLAHOMA: Aircraft parts maker NORDAM Group now chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to problems with Pratt & Whitney Canada, local news media say NORDAM is the second biggest employer in the state.

U.S. oil production hits 11 million barrels a day

PENNSYLVANIA: ArcelorMittal Plate issued a layoff WARN, 125 people in Conshohocken jobless by September!  Jacobson Warehouse issued a shutdown WARN for its Lancaster ops, 62 jobs gone in September.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Tariffs Imperil BMW in South Carolina

SOUTH DAKOTA: Hultgren Construction now chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to lawsuits over a deadly building collapse.

TENNESSEE: TEC Industrial Maintenance & Construction laid off 238 people due to a lost contract!

TEXAS: Bankrupt and suddenly dead Indiana based Koontz-Wagner Custom Controls suddenly laid off 52 people at its now dead Houston ops.

WASHINGTON: Germany based logistics company Arvato issued a shutdown WARN for its Yakima ops, 168 jobs gone by the end of September!

WEST VIRGINIA: MRC Global shutting down its Nitro distribution center, 38 jobs lost to consolidation ops.

Diversified Gas & Oil buys EQT assets

Pinnacle Mine to lay off roughly 90 miners

WISCONSIN: Mayline-Safeco laying off 127 furniture makers in September, as part of plans to shutdown operations at several locations by November! Cooper Power Systems eliminating 52 mechanic jobs by September.  In Waukesha, General Electric (GE) laying off 236 people by shutting down its Distributed Power Facility!

U.S. INDUSTRIAL/MINING/LOGISTICS SHUTDOWNS, JUNE 2018: “GLOBAL RACE TO THE BOTTOM.”

Business/Economics, Kit Bashing

Deutschland Über Alles!: Revell USA is dead, long live Revell Germany!

12MAY2018 /21:37 UTC-07 Tango 06  (23 Ordibehesht 1397/27 Sha’ban 1439/28 Ding-Si 4716)

“It is a sad time for the model building community… I have not seen anything ‘official’ from Revell, but It has been confirmed to me by a reliable source that Revell USA has in fact closed their doors.”-UP Scale Hobbies facebook post

Another victim of the so called recovered economy, the end of a long model building era in the United States, Revell USA (Revell-Monogram) is dead!

Starting out in California in 1943, as a subcontractor for plastics manufacturers, its first job reportedly being parts for washing machines, followed by anything relating to HO (1:87) scale train sets.   It was known as Precision Specialties.

When the company decided to focus on toys the name was changed to Revell (Wikipedia says it’s from the French word reveille, however Revell is a English/French family name that goes back to medieval times).  In the 1950s the focus was originally on model cars, but shifted to U.S. Navy ships, the most infamous being the constantly re-issued and horribly inaccurate USS Missouri.  This is humorous because supposedly the USN kits were considered so accurate that the Soviet Union bought Revell kits to learn about U.S. warship development (maybe that’s why the U.S.S.R. was constantly behind in the naval arms race).

Purportedly this crappy kit is what got the ball rollin' for Revell

Purportedly this crappy kit is what got the ball rollin’ for Revell

The success of Revell’s ship kits led to the company producing kits of almost anything you can think of.  However, this didn’t stop Revell from succumbing to the same economic forces as other industries, as I’ve previously explained in 1:72 SHOCK & AWE LOCKHEED F-104 STARFIGHTER, OR, WHY YOU CAN’T TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS! PLUS MASSIVE HISTORICAL CONFUSION ABOUT REVELL-MONOGRAM!

Monogram's classic 1974 issue Do 335, Monogram was Revell's biggest competitor at that time

Monogram’s classic 1974 issue Do 335, Monogram was Revell’s biggest U.S. competitor at that time

By 2012, longtime model kit builders thought economic bad times were over for Revell when an employee owned, Illinois based company, called Hobbico bought and merged Revell USA and Revell Germany (GmbH).  Wrong again!  In January 2018, Hobbico went bankrupt busted and began liquidating its divisions.  Immediately, Revell Germany issued a statement saying they were not impacted (“Hobbico’s bankruptcy filing was made in the United States and is strictly limited to the company’s U.S. operations, Revell-Germany is unaffected.”).

For decades (since 1970s) Revell Germany has reissued British Frog kits

For decades (since 1970s) Revell Germany has reissued British Frog kits

Revell USA production was halted in April, even shipments of already packaged kits were stopped. A group of investors called Quantum Capital Partners aus München (for some odd reason many U.S. and British sources are calling the group Blitz GmbH, my source is Revell Germany itself) which bought both Revell Germany and Revell USA.

The month before Revell was sold-off, Revell USA announced the much longed for reissue of the coveted Deal’s Wheels Baja Humbug

According to bankruptcy court documents, on 13APR2018 Quantum Capital Partners of Munich won the rights to Revell with a bid of about $3.9-million USD.  Revell USA ceased to exist, Revell Germany will continue as if nothing had happened.  I should point out that the $3.9-million was the high bid, apparently there was only one other bidder, it’s just more proof the model kit industry is in decline.  Hobbico was hoping for $10-million.

According to a press release by Revell Germany, Deutschland is the new home base for all Revell operations, including ops in North America: “Revell is pleased to partner with Quantum Capital Partners who supports the company in its further international growth.  At this point, I would also like to thank all trading and business partners for the Thank you for your confidence during the transition period in recent weeks.”-Stefan Krings, president of Revell Germany

“Revell is a renowned and well-established company and has been an impressive and internationally established successful toy brand. We will build on this strength and the brand with its unique positioning as a model maker….”-Steffen Görig, Quantum Capital Partners

Since its founding in 2008, Quantum Capital Partners (QCP) has taken over several dozens of companies including BASF, Bosch, Deutsche Bahn and even Airbus (even joining with the Islamic Investment Bank to make sure Airbus aircraft are Shariah compliant)!

Classic Hasegawa Voodoo, one of the first jet kits I built in the 1970s

Classic Hasegawa Voodoo, one of the first jet kits I built in the 1970s

By the way, Hobbico’s demise also affected Japan’s Hasegawa and Italy’s Italeri as Hobbico had become the distributor of those brands in the United States.

Italeri's old M47 (from late 1970s) is so good that recently Korea's Academy issued it

Italeri’s old M47 (first released around late 1970s early 80s) is so good that recently Korea’s Academy issued it

FALLING DOWN: U.S. MODEL KIT/RAILROAD HOBBY DEMISE, 2016-17

BLACKLIGHT REVELL DEAL’S WHEELS

Kit Bashing

Idaho shows A-10C Pride with City Nose Art

Image

Idaho Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant John Winn, Lewiston-Nez Perce Regional Airport A-10C pride ceremony, 23SEP2015.

During uncertain times when the Obama regime was wanting to kill all A-10C Thunderbolt-2s, the Idaho Air National Guard dedicated A-10s to the cities of Kuna, Lewiston and Eagle.

Pride of Eagle unveiling, 29JAN2016. Idaho Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Joshua C. Allmaras.

Idaho Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Joshua C. Allmaras, 29JAN2016.

29JAN2016, unveiling of the Pride of Kuna. Idaho Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Joshua C. Allmaras.

Idaho Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Joshua C. Allmaras, 29JAN2016.

Idaho Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Joshua C. Allmaras, 29JAN2016.

Unveiling of Lewiston A-10C. Idaho Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant John Winn, 23SEP2015.

Dedication at Lewiston-Nez Perce Regional Airport. Idaho Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant John Winn, 23SEP2015.

Even the Lewiston police had to get involved. Idaho Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant John Winn, 23SEP2015.

Even the firefighters love A-10Cs? Idaho Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant John Winn, 23SEP2015.

Idaho Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant John Winn, 23SEP2015.

The city nose art is on the right/starboard side, only.

Idaho Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant John Winn, 23SEP2015.

NATO TURKEY LOCKS-DOWN U.S. LED NATO BASE! HALTS IDAHO A-10C AIRSTRIKES AGAINST ISLAMIC STATE!

PROOF THE A-10 THUNDERBOLT WAS TO REMAIN A USAF MAINSTAY UNTIL 2040: TAXPAYERS SPENT MORE THAN $2-BILLION ON UPGRADES!

Martial Law 2014: OBAMA REGIME TO STEAL WHAT IS LEFT OF IDAHO AIR NATIONAL GUARD’S AIR ASSETS!

2012 POCATELLO AIRPORT: IDAHO NATIONAL GUARD A-10C THUNDERBOLT 2