Dear all,

I am writing this entry to inform you on the situation with the current projects, but more importantly on regards the shipping times. I am also glad to inform that shipments to Australia are finally possible again.

As we all know, COVID-19 has caused a very difficult situation worldwide, in the case of the shipments, they also had an impact on their delivery times due this situation.

I have been checking every shipment one by one since June, in order to see what were the delivery times during all these months, and I have been able to gather some information which obviously was more consistent than the one shown at our post service website.

Why do I say more consistent? Because the post office website tells you that shipment may take 15 days, or that it depends on the country of destination, but having the delivery dates within the tracking codes, I have been able to see in a more accurate manner the delivery times.

 

So bviously, being based in Europe, shipments to Germany, France, Belgium and other European destinations, the shipments usually take a maximum period of  20 days (counting weekends) since posted. Being the average about 15 days, and being Germany the fastest country to have the orders delivered, most of the time in about a week. France used to be pretty quick on last summer but at the end of last year shipping times have increased a bit, where in other cases are still quite fast, so I am wondering that it depends on destination within France.

Within those European destinations, some countries take a bit longer than others, Poland from 12 to 20, Czech Republic from 14 to 25 days.

The surprise for me has been UK, with shipments that took, 6, 9, 11, 9, 10 days, it went to 59 days in the couple recent shipments and well, besides COVID-19, there may be other causes like the Brexit that are making the deliveries to be slower than usual (and vice versa), customs inspections are more careful than before and I must admit, the last couple shipments were shipped without a customs declaration form because they were not required at the time of the shipping (December), but they were required on 1/1. So hopefully and with time, shipments to UK will be delivered as per usual times.

Amongst all of these shipments to EU, there may be always exceptions as the quick a shipment is delievered depends on the workload and situation of the destination country, to that COVID-19 causes are added to the mix.

Outside EU, outside EU there is a thing that I have seen since long ago, and that is that some countries like USA, Canada, Israel do not show the whole tracking status and this is, I believe, due a change in shipping codes (internal national codes) once the package is first scanned at the international arrival station.
Still, the package is registered, and thus they, at the post services should know which International code turned into what national code.

So for this reason, it is hard for me to guesstimate a delivery time to those countries, I have seen packages arrive within 7-15 days (before COVID-19) and I am seeing delays in some particular shipments recently, so I can roughly guess that deliveries may take up from 15 to 35 days in most cases.

This is not happening at all in some other countries outside EU, for example; Russia, Hong Kong, Japan, China, New Zealand, Taiwan, Peru (and some others) they all show the whole tracking information, so that is why I guess that it all depends on how each country handles their international mail, wether they keep the original tracking code or not.

For those listed above, delivery times are usually a month, it can range from 15 minimum to about 40 max, so as far as I can see, shipments are not something consistent because I saw a shipment to New Zealand took 40 days and another one shipped within a month of difference took 27 days.

 

Please note that I am not writing this as an excuse and blame all to COVID-19 (which for the most part, it is the cause of delays) but all international carriers do mention about the issues caused by the COVID-19 and I wanted to give an informative reference to share with you guys and that represents something that I must change within the store.
I cannot keep the same shipping times I had listed prior COVID-19, and due this situation, other shipping options must be included, either private companies or national express services.

I will be studying this carefully during the next days and hopefully come up with other shipping services that you could chose from besides the existing one.

 

Now, regarding the projects, I will be brief as I unfortunately do not have photos to share yet, but I would like to say that the 1/144 catering truck has been started and  that it will be based on the Mallaghan CT6000 chassis with a Mercedes Atego cabin. This time I do plan to make an American style cabin as well which is something I was not able to do with the former catering model.

The B787 rear galley is on its very final stage, all the base work is done and the last remaining thing to do is make the doors and the other two variants of the front module.

After this is done, I will be working on the stock units for the whole galleys (cockpit/front, center and rear) and will be able to finally move forward to work with the B787 cargo holds.

These will be my first cargo holds using this new method, so I expect to have a basic learning on that to move forward onto the B747-8F/-400F.

 

That is all for now, work with projects and new units continues.

Best wishes and stay safe,
Guillem

 

 

Hello all,

I finally have been able to finish all the versions of the cargo loader bridges, in total there are four:

• Standard bridge for standard (single scissors) which is how the kit first released.
• Standard bridge for the double scissors.
• Wide bridge for standard (single scissors).
• Wide bridge for the double scissors.

The main difference between the two, besides the wide being widder than the standard, is that those that are to be equiped on the double scissors, their pivoting points are located narrower between them underside the bridge.

Also, the bridges and platform are going to be presented as seen in the photos, with their resin base in order to a) save me some time preparing, b) allowing you to quickly see which bridges you have.

As a side note, and I think I haven’t mentioned it earlier, the details are so small that upon looking close to the bridge and platform, you can actually see the rollers facing left or right as per the real rollers on the Commander loader.

 

Hopefully these images can give you a better insight on how the scissors and bridges are assembled the one another.

Now my headache comes when thinking how I am going to provide these parts that are to be an accessory for the cargo loader.

Obviously, those who purchased the cargo loader should also have the option to select wether use the wide or standard bridge for the double scissors, because you can use your loader’s main body and transform it to double scissors or single scissors/wide bridge if you have not glued the body pivot points as explained in the instructions.

If so, the fact that the bridges will be sold separately, I too need to include the control cab as well as the other resin parts (rotatory lights, driver’s cushion) and photo etched parts that go on top of the bridge, right?

Suppose that you assembled the cargo loader with the standard bridge, but would like to use the wide bridge, I cannot just provide the bridge as it would still miss the control cab and ladder/handrails, therefore the purpose of switching bridge styles or scissors would not work.

 

This is something I have been thinking about for the last days, naturally the PE would increase the cost and time, as basically the PE of the standard kit is solely focused on the bridge parts. Shall there be an option, lets say, for those who haven’t build the loader yet and that only want to use one single configuration? In such case, PE would not be required as it is already in the base kit…

This is something I am going to have to sort out now as there are only four days for the release of all these items. Probably I will end up offering as many options as possible because everyone’s choice may be different, so PE will increase the cost, but that is something that not everyone will have to pay if one is just interested in one single config and hasn’t started the standard kit yet.

The rest of the items are half the way produced, so I will be restocking several items on Friday 12th.

There is going to be a small change on the packaging of the: LD3 trolleys, Tow tractor TLD JST-25, GPU Houchin C690, GPU TLD414, baggage carts (Open and closed types). These models will now be packaged in the smaller blister as there is no point in packaging such small tiny parts into the blister I have been using so far, there is a lot of space that is not used and this will also allow for a product with an overall less weight and volume which means that it may also save you on shipping costs.
The instructions for them have been redimensioned to fit the smaller blister and they are still perfectly readable, so that is the way that these are going to be packaged from now on.

 

I also had the chance to advance with the B787 rear galley and I am glad to say that finally the problem I had was overcomed and that it will be moving forward once I have all the items (most) back in stock at the store.

 

That is all for now, I will be restocking as many items as I can on Friday 12th, so hopefully I can have the time to do all.

Best wishes,
Guillem

Hello everyone,

I have finally managed to finish the double sill for the Commander FMC15i model, this variant is officially known as “Universal”.

 

This “Universal” variant will allow for the loader to reach main decks; A330F, B777F, B747F etc.

You may wonder why it is taking so much time to restock the cargo loader, here are some things that have been done:

The initial units have been made, most is packaged, however, this model has gone through some changes specially for me to speed up a little bit the packaging process. When you receive an item and see its contents, you can imagine and multiply those parts by 10 or 15 which are the units I usually make, so for this reason, there are some parts of the model that will be produced differently:

The pivoting pins: Those were made with brass, cutting 8 3mm portions for each model kit was becoming a problem due the material itself. So far I already wasted four cutting blades, and yet not without problems with a bur in one of the ends of the rod which made it harder to fit inside the holes.

My decision was to change this material for a plastic rod, we are talking about a 0,75mm rod, so the modeler would be able to cut clean without any problem 3mm rod sections for the different pivoting points.
Concerned about the strength? There is virtually no difference on the model whatsover, because the force is hold by the different cross bars and blockers, these themselves hold on each other together with the body to keep the unit tight. The 3mm long plastic rods are basically fixed to the outter scissor or support so that the inner scissor can rotate at that point. So it is positive to have these rods with plastic as they allow for a better bonding with the resin as well as allow easier sanding if needed.

I will however, include the rod under the main bridge platform (the one that goes perpendicular to the crossbars) in brass material because there is more of an structural element there.

This change of rods became a problem with the FMC15i body and its joining points inside it, since the holes had to be designed just a bit larger, so several modifications where needed and the body was reprinted again.

More modifications; both the platform and brdige will come with their correspondent bases. That means, modeler will need to cut the platform off the base, a task very easy to do, but if we consider that I had to do this for 32 bridges and platforms, it was more time added to the list.

Another reason for this is because the “Universal” bridge is different than the “Standard” one only from below, in the sense that the pivot points underneath the bridge were displaced to adapt to the double scissors. Also, a “Wide” variant has been made, so it is nice to have these bridges with their bases as they have the correspondent names on it so you can easily see which bridge is what.

A bit of time will be required to cast in polyurethane resin these new bridges and platform.

 

Next, the making of the units for the stairs truck and the tow tractor TLD JST-25 has been started, I am going to be producing units eventually and have them fully packaged. Worker figures (all variants), chocks and cones will be restablished (they are already made).

 

The tow tractor TLD JST-25 with cab will be modified, I will try the clear resin + window maskings for the cab, so this will become an accessory for the JST-25 meaning that the “Cab” version will be discontinued but that the cab + masking + driving mirrors would be an accessory available separately.

This will allow for customization within the product page, as with the loader, it will be available as “Standard”, “Universal”, “Wide” or “Universal wide” versions. I will however, set as independant product those new bridges in case you wish to change it for your current models. So only the bridge, scissors and pins will be included, yet I am thinking if PE should be included or not. Maybe a smaller version of the current PE set will be made with only the pin covers and handrails.

 

As you can see, a lot is being done, it is not easy to work with things that move in the case of the scissors for the loader, so some trials and error are necessary. I may need two more weeks to have all of this done, so I will start to set release dates on the product pages during this week.

 

The B787 rear galley is currently being redone, the most difficult point has been addressed, so I hope to have the rear shell done soon. Detail parts and L4/R4 doors will be next work to do.

I am also planning on making a Youtube channel, I would very much like to display the models as they are not “flat” as seen in the photos, so that may help you see how these would look like as if they were in front of you.
I will also use the channel for building guides, I am not a Youtuber nor pretend to gain anything from it but just to share how do I assembly those GSE kits in order to be a complement to the current included instructions.

That is all for this week, work continues, the cargo loader as well as most of the other GSE models will be available within a couple of weeks.

Best wishes,
Guillem

Hello everyone,

It has been some time I haven’t updated the blog, so I wanted to write a few words regarding the restocking process and to share some thoughts that I had in the last few days.

I am currently in the process of production for the 1/144 Commander Cargo loader FMC15i. The first parts are being baggaged, although the photo etched parts are yet to be produced. I am aware that this takes quite some time to complete, so far, this loader is the item that requires most time, parts of it are created with different methods in order to have a better kit, I am currently at about 70% completion.

Items are being out of stock at the store, so I am also working on the production of those.

These days have been and are very busy, I not only focus on production, but I am also trying to achieve a higher chance of success in the resin and photo etch processes, as not always these come out right, I have been doing some tests and found a good balance finally, temperatures really impact very much on the making of the resin parts.

Some good news and bad news; bad news is that I had to take a step back on the B787 rear galley and the double scissors for the FMC15i. I was not totally satisfied with the result, so I am modifying these elements, untortunately I may not have them done by the next restocking. The positive side of this is that in the case of the B787 rear galley, the modification to do is minimal and on the double scissors, they have been made again and I am going to test them soon.

The good news is, the new equipment that I incorporated in the production is working very well, I was very surprised as basically, not much adjustments were needed, however, because of the file formats are different, all the work that I have done so far had to be resaved and converted, a few files were presenting issues but are being fixed now. Once this is ready, I will be able to restock in more quantities.

The other good news, now that I am able to create my own masking templates, a whole lot of useful ideas came to mind that will greatly allow me to make some projects that at that time were unreachable for me to make.
Being able to make masking templates means that I will be able to make crystal clear cabins. This means that there is not going to be a need for acetate windshields, but instead, the whole tractor cabin or catering truck cabin will be crystal transparent an thus the included maskings will protect the windshields in the painting process and allow for a better finish (similar as the clear cockpit windshields in the model kits). I cannot give much more details on this, but I am defenitely going to try it for the next project (catering truck).

These are  a lot of mix of emotions these days, I feel things are growing and I am currently changing aspects of how and where do I save the parts, preparation of materials etc. As more and more items are being produced, I must have things better organized and available.
Of course this mixes with the emotions for what I see on TV about the Covid-19 which is a problem that it seems is getting worse and worse. I do not know how 2021 will go, but I prefer to think about all the ideas and projects that I hope to start very soon and have in the back of my mind the idea that better times will come.

Wish you all a happy weekend and please, stay safe.
Guillem

 

Hello everyone,

Today I am sharing a couple photos of the progress done so far with the rear galley for the B787. I wanted to share this earlier but it took me more time than I thought.

This time I will be making three different versions of the front module for this rear galley. As I have seen in several photos, there are different configurations; some have no flight attendant seats at all and toilet doors instead (like the one here pictured) other version has a single FA seat in the middle and the two toilet doors at the sides, and the third configuration has 3 FA sets, one at the center and one at each side.

I believe that the -9 version is the one that should have the 3 seats due the higher number of passengers, it is obvious that there are also a few more FA in the aircraft. This is a bit difficult for me to clarify because it is hard to know where the photo was taken from, and even so, each airline may have their own customization for their aircraft interiors.

Work continues with this as I have to make the doors and design the photo etch, but so far so good, fitting tests are also done.

These days I have been doing some other tests that are related to the painting of the models and I felt that I always needed maskings for the windows if I wanted to use the clear plastic parts. I can still remember how painful it was to use the liquid mask for the A350 model build I did some time ago, being it so little quantity to add, it became a bit transulcent thus not knowing exactly where the mask was and if it was enough, later it was quite difficult to fully remove it.

Although I know there may be some masking sets out there, I decided to give a shot and try to make my own, so far I have done some tests with the A350 windows and the overall result is in my opinion very good, in the sense that the cut is sharp and the paper is of very good quality.

 

My idea is to continue working with this, and if results are successful, then I may be releasing them for everyone else whom like me, would like to use the clear plastic windows but that find it difficult later to paint the model, this has been in some cases, the reason why I opted to use decals for the windows. It may also be useful for covering the rims to paint the tires so these are other elements I may include in the mask.

 

Another progress is being done with the livery decals, the artwork is on its final stage and I am doing the last retouching and checks. The artwork will be done and printed but I will also have more work ahead as I plan to change a bit the instruction illustrations.

 

Restocking of the models will go according to plan as the material arrived delayed only for a couple days, so production has been restarted and the goal to have the Commander FMC15i back in stock at the end of the month is still as planned. I would like to restock other items such as the 787 forward galley set, so I will be putting those items back in stock progressively.
Work continues with the double scissors for the FMC15i, it may be a bit more difficult than I first thought, but nonetheless, the project is pretty advanced and I expect to start the first tests very soon.

That is all for now.
Stay in good health and stay safe everyone,
Guillem

Hello all,

I wanted to share a small update on the 1/72 GPU TLD414.
After several issues, I managed to finish all its parts, so I expect to release this model next month.

 

This is a comparison with a couple of 1/144 scale models.

 

The B787 rear galley is on its final stage so I am going to write another update within a couple days.

Although all orders are now being processed and shipped without any issues, you may have heard on the news about Storm Filomena. A big part of Spain is covered in snow and the different services are working to open routes; roads, train, even the airport which has been closed and expect to be opened again soon.

This is going to affect me to receive mateial once again (which I ordered prior this big snow), this delay is due the problems in the transit caused by this snowy storm. There is not much I can do, as I received an email today notifying me about the possible delay on my shipment, re stocking will have to wait a bit more.

I will, however, continue preparing things, working on other areas, as you know these items require quite a lot of materials and steps so I will continue working with them.

There are several items that require re stocking at the store, so I will be working on those progressively, at the same time my goal is to release the rear B787 galley together with the restocking of the forward/cockpit. For the FMC15i I expect to have made the new double scissors which I want to have available at the same time of the loader restocking. Date still stands (end of January) but it will all depend on this storm and if I can get the material on time.

 

I will be sharing another update of the B787 rear galley very soon.

Everyone take good care and stay safe,
Guillem