Merry X'mas

I have been busy doing my Chrismas shopping with my family lately so that's why there was no updates lately. Anyway, I think 2006 is not a good year for 1/144 world as many things were slowed down or cancelled. We do have some new stuffs such as the 1/144 die cast from Yujin but overall I'm disappointed. I wish 2007 would be a better year. Anyway, wish you all have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!

Pegasus Russian Farm House

The above picture is copied from Obake blog. This is new to me as I haven't heard anything about this from Pegasus before. Anyway, looks like an interesting subject. It's a must buy item to me.

Regarding the Dragon Stugs, el-basser's blog has some close-up pictures and the tracks look very nice. Check here for more.

Guess what will be the next Cando release from Dragon, the answer is...

According to the preview slip included in the box of the Stug III & IV, it seems the next release from Dragon is ......( music : da...da...da.....) - another Tiger I. Although it's a new mold but how many Tiger Is do you need?

Cando Stugs III & IV

For sure this is the best Christmas Gift I will buy for myself - the Cando Stug III & IV. I found a couple pictures from Japan and they look very good so far. Hope they will release in the US very soon. Can't wait...

F-Toys Acroteam Collection 2

Here is a picture of the new Acroteam Collection 2 from F-Toys. Release date Late Feb, 2007. I think besides the F-5E, all others are not that attractive to me.

1st Birthday of wtmblog

Hi fellow bloggers

Today is the anniversary of wtmblog. I started this blog exactly last year today. There are more than 16,000 click in the past year so it's about 50 per day. It's not a very good number but I think it's not a bad number as well as 1/144 is not a very popular topic in the U.S. (or in Europe). I think there are more viewers in Asia but since there was no such blog in English when I started so I decided to create one in English to serve my fellow 1/144 collectors (as most news are coming from Asia).

English is my second language so hopefully everyone can understand what I'm talking about and like what I share with you regarding the 1/144 world. Unfortunately, it seems Japan's market has switched the focus from the 1/144 world to something else such as 1/48 in the past year. For example, only one release of WTM and one relase of Cando this year proved that. And there are a lot coverages regarding 1/48 in most Japan magazines but most 1/144 coverages are gone. Forward looking, I think the 1/144 airplanes still look good and the release of WTM in the US can stir things up a bit (not so optimistic in my opinion from what they offer and the pricing). But if they start releasing something new not been released in Japan before, I'll be a happy guy.

Anyway, I'm happy with my blog so far and will try to keep posting as frequent as possible. Unless I expand the scope of this blog to something else, it's tough to have a new post everyday since the 1/144 activities are very few today. I think the direction of this blog is what I need to think about in the near future.

At the end, I would like to thank everyone who visits my blog and wish you all have a happy wonderful December ( Stugs, Stugs, Stugs. 8-)..... mouth watering ).

Metal Troops - Horch 4x4

I also received this Horch 4 x 4 the other day from Metal Troops. You know soft skins are hard to find items so this is a good addition to my collection. The kit overall looks very nice. The painting is pretty good as you can see from the picture. One problem again with this kit is the wind-shield, same as the Steyr, it's a block of resin. If you really want to make it nicer, you need to cut it open and replace it with a piece of clear plastic sheet. It's not a difficult job but difficult enought for me (not taking a risk to break this $25 kit) so I won't do it. If you are mostly a collector like me, it's a big drawback. If you're a modeller, you should get it as the above mod is quite simple.

The kit also comes with 2 sitting figures as a bonus. I assume one is a driver and one is an officer sitting at the back. However, even I broke the driving wheel, I couldn't place it in the driver's seat. And that's why you see them both sit at the back as shown in my picture.

In summary, if you are a collector like me, you should get a hold of one. (More than one is too expensive to me as cost + S&H is over $25). I still think Pro-hobby has a more reasonable price (see those armor cars in my previous post).

Pro-Hobby - Daimler Mk III and Humber Mk II

How are you guys doing? Did you have a nice Thanksgiving holiday?

I had taken pictures of these 2 UK Armor Cars before I went on my vacation but Blogger just screwed up so I couldn't loaded any pictures. Anyway, back to these kits, they are from Pro-hobby. Made of metal. If I recall correctly, the price is around 1000 yen each. I regret I only bought 1 each as the price point is ok for a pre-painted die cast tank and I like them very much after I receive the real thing. The detail is fine to me and each also comes with a figure. You can also post them as the turrent hatch opened or closed. I highly recommended them if you want any armor cars or UK armors. If you prefer to wait for Takara or Dragon to come out something like these, you may have to wait for another 20 years (if you're lucky).

Second, I took these pictures using my new camera. It's a Nikon S9 (for my wife) as my old Sony Cybershot is huge. I still haven't figured out what is the best setting yet so I think these pictures do not show what the camera can really do. Any comments?

Project 144 - another link

Thanks makino san to provide this link.

Project 144 - More pictures

More pictures from Project 144 can be found from this forum. I like this Centurion.

Project 144

Oh. I just found out Fumi's blog has some pictures from Project 144. Some interesting dioramas. Not much new items so far. You can also click here or here to access the pictures. I think more pictures will be posted from other Japan sites in the next few days. Cheers.

Blogger screwed up again

I tried to upload something but it seems Blogger screwed up again as I can't upload anything using IE or Firefox. Anyway, will try again when I'm back from my vacation later this week. Happy Thanksgiving!

Panzer Korps - StuG III & StuG IV

Probably not a surprise to you. Dragon US has just published the Panzer Korp StuG III and StuG IV. Release date : January 2007. It seems the only tank missing from the Cando lineup is the StuG III A in box 14044. Any one like me waiting for a StuG III A to complete the Wittmann collection, don't miss the chance. Click here for Dragon's site and the original Cando page.

BergPanther

This mouthwatering resin BergPanther looks very nice. Check el_basser's site or sculptor's site for more pictures.

1/144 Pegasus Figures - cont'd

After years of waiting, Pegasus finally has released these 1/144 figures. We have many tanks, planes from different companies but there are not that many companies produce real 1/144 figures.

The first time I saw these was from the Pegasus web and later there were some pictures with some unpainted figures on the sprue. May be they found it hard to price a couple un-painted 1/144 figures so they decided to sell them pre-painted now. I probably will re-paint some of them so either way does not impact me (except my wallet).

I think you may agree it looks a bit bored if there is no figure in any diorama. They may not be good for wargaming but I think they are a welcome addition for collectors. I know Preiser also has some German Panzer crews but they are hard to find anyway.

There are 5 sets in this first releases - Modern US - desert and NATO uniform, WWII German (early), WWII Americans & WWII Russians. I think the figures are very well sculpted. The painting is ok but I think the WWII German set and Russian set used some glossy paint so they look too glossy to me. May be they will look better if you re-paint them.

My first impression of these figures is they are a bit smaller than others. But if you look at the picture at the bottom, you can find they are not really that small.

I wish these sets sell well so Pegasus will keep producing more figures such as late WWII German or some other figures not in action. Anyway, check here for more details.

The long waited item - Pegasus 1/144 Figures

I have received the 1/144 figures from Pegagus and I'm editing the pictures. Here are the first couples. The first impression is pretty good and they look a bit on the small side (scalewise). More details tomorrow.

Takara - Famous Airplanes of the World - Special

If you like the "Famous Plane of the World" Series from Takara, the item in the above picture may interest you. It was a special in the past and it seems it is going to be a public sale this month in November. Yen 1500 each bundled with one of the plane below. Here is the original link.

Another Big Bird but not from Cafereo

While I was spending my Saturday afternoon browing the web as usual while my wife and kid were taking a nap, I found this JU52 from Eduard. It was very well built and I like his idea to use the picture frame as a base and the sea surface looks pretty real to me. Here is the link. I think the only thing missing is a couple figures to give it a life.

Japan Sinks D-2 and more

If you visit my bayareahobby page regularly, you may notice I have updated it with a couple of new items which I received recently.

I ordered a couple big boxes of the Japan Sinks D-2. Unfortunately, none of them has the item #9. Bad luck, I think. Anyone has a spare wants to exchange just let me know. Anyway, it's just a piece of sea surface with a small part of the Deep Dea Drilling Vessel with a crane to lift the Shinkai 2000 (which is included in another box) from the Sea.

One 1/144 item I like is the UH-60J of JASDF. It's similar to the one in F-Toys Heliborne 3 but the one from F-Toys is for JMSDF. The color is different and the details are different too. More pictures can be found here. I'm not a big fan of planes or choppers but I like these very much.

The LCAC is another item I like. They are in 1/700 but they can be put into the Transport Ship LST-4001 Shimokita. With the price of yen3000 for the ship with interior details, I think it's a bargain (think about you may spend $20+ for a special version of 1/144 armor or plane). I'm also thinking to paint these LCACs in green and bought a couple M1A1 to put them in as used by US Marines.

You may wonder why I haven't mentioned the talking point of these series - the little diorama as shown on top. Because I think it's an interesting point which worths its own page so I leave it later, may be tomorrow. Stay tuned.

There are a couple news on the long waited Dragon Cando Stugs, or some interesting items from Pro-hobby and Metal Troops. BD99 has covered them in his page so I'm not going to repeat here. Check them out if you're interested.

Plamo Radiocon Show 2006

There is nothing so far from the show on the 1/144 armor area. The only thing I'm interested is the 1/144 Gun Tank in Gundam Igloo (above) and some other Gundam kits. There are a lot 1/35 or above new kits though. Too bad, I think they are too big to fit in my home. Anyway, check Runchickens or Hobby Shop Midori for more pictures. If you also like Armor Core, I think those 1/72 Armor Core figures are very cool.

Mercedes-Benz G4

Above is the Mercedes-Benz G4 from "Yokosuka Military Model Arsenal". I pretty like what they produced so far, like this Horch Flak 30. I think this Mercedes G4 is an interesting object. May be Pro-Hobby will release it too. Stay tuned.

Lauda Model Factory

Hi all, I'm back from my full-time job. Not much news but certainly this guy's work cheer me up. If you like the Bf-109 in my last post, I found he has a site with all his works. This is the link to his 1/144 planes. Bookmark it as I think they are wonderful works. The Comet below is still for sale in Yahoo. It's not what I can afford but if you have $1000 spare money, check it out. Again, I have no connection with this seller. I'm just a fan of his works. If you look at the hand-made machine-gun in metal at the bottom, you may also wonder how he did it.

What a piece of work!

Below is a 1/144 BF109 in Yahoo Auction! in Japan. By the time I write this, it's selling at around yen60,000. Amazing. If I have that kind of skill, may be I can earn my living from it. Here is the link. I have no connection with the seller.

Cafereo F4 Special Thunderbird and Blue Angel

If you are a F4 lover like me. You shouldn't miss these F4 Specials from Cafereo. 700Yen each. Target Release Date: Late October.

Japan Sinks! Operation D-1

I have been busy uploading some of my new collections to my homepage. I'm going to post them here in the next couple days. The first one is the hot topic, the Japan Sinks D-1. Quality-wise, I think this is below par from Takara. Those two CH-47 have some fitting problem (as least the set I received), I need to drill some holes bigger in order to attached some small parts. On the other hand, a wing of the airship is missing as well as the left wheel cover also disappeared. Hopefully you guys are more lucky.

As a 1/144 collector, you should not miss these 2 trucks - a big Type 73 Truck and a small Type 73 SUV/Light Truck. Again, you can combine these 2 with another 3 trucks from D-2 to become a small diorama. Last but not least, the quality is the best in this series. For example, if you compare these to those German trucks from Metal Troops, these Japan Sinks are value for money. First, you can get 2 vehicles in one box. Second, the SUV has a clear windshield. And then, the windshield has wipers (painted). I think the guy who sculpted these together with the JGSDF from Konami is a genius. The painting of these trucks is also top quality.

I'm not a 1/700 collector but those 2 1/700 ships (on top) and the air ship (below) are also quite nice. The only disappointment are those choppers which I think I also have some CH-47 and Super Puma from F-Toysa and too many deep-sea submarines (3 including the secret item).

Overall, an interesting topic with some interesting items. My suggestion is to get one set if you can. If not, just pick the trucks or the 1/700 items if you are a 1/700 collector. More pictures can be found here.

F-Toys Twin Engine Series 2

Here is another picture on F-Toys Twin Engine Airplanes 2. I think may be I'll just pick the Hs-219s. I want the BigBird 2 from Cafereo more.

CGD - Diorama Bases

Quiet! Quiet! Quiet!

There was not much to talk about lately so I showed you something which I bought and was very impressed about the quality of these diorama bases from CGD. I bought directly from CGD and the price was quite reasonable. I think the pictures can tell you more than my poor writing. More pictures can be found here. Feel free to comment. As usual, tanks and figures are not included.

Panzer Korps - M109A6 and M1A2 SEP

Here are a couple pictures of the Panzer Korp M109A6 and M1A2. I used the Gunze H27 as shown in instruction for the base paint. I don't quite like the glossy finish as you can see from the picture to the right. Although I have covered it with multi layers of matt coating, you can still find the tank is still a little glossy. More pictures can be found here and here.

The base is what I bought from CGD. I bought a couple and I quite like the finish. Will show more pictures later.

Cando Tiger I - US & Japan versions

Normally there are not many differences between Japan and US versions. However, the Tiger I which Japan first released in Japan was using a different mold than the same tank released in the US later. As you can see from above, the side armor between these 2 versions are visible. The Japan version is more like a straight line and the US version has different slopes for 4 side armors. Check the pictures and you will know what I mean. The paint scheme also has slight differences. Since the special Tiger I of the Japan version is rare and very expensive now and the cost of US version should be pretty much in line with other Cando specials (a lot lower than the Japan version). Please be careful not to buy the wrong tank with the wrong price.