Category: Blog news

Hi,

I wanted to write this short entry to say that I am still working on the new parts for each GSE model (except baggage carts and dollies which will be packaged as always). These are not “new” parts per se, but rearranging them so that they are on a base.
This takes quite some time because small adjustments on the base of some parts are required, but most of it is done. I am also testing to see the ease of removal from the base and so far all looks very good to me. Spares are still included.

There is no detail loss and the parts are well arranged with numbers beneath them, which is going to lead me to readjust the instructions with this extra bit of info as well. I may also do a complete change on the ilustrations but that will require some extra time.

I’ve been also working on the airliner decal illustrations (first for the A320/A321 family, then the A350), I already have the silk screens in my possesion but there is still some work to do with the laser parts of the set. I am working on the illustrations so that I can represent the aircraft as realistic and nice as possible, as I also wish for these instructions to be a small “collectable”.

Work goes on, as I am testing each GSE model, the new restock is being done, the B787 galleys for example are nearly done, and there will be more units initially than what I used to restock so far.

Wish everyone is doing well and wish you all a nice week.

Best wishes,
Guillem

 

Dear all,

In this entry I will be writing about something that I felt I needed to mention.

As you probably know, restocking is something that always takes me a very long time, it is often the case that a model becomes out of stock and it takes weeks for me to get it back in stock, this is not because I am not working on it, but for the reason I will explain below.

I have been taking some considerations and I reached a point where I could not be spending hours and hours cutting hundreds and hundreds of tiny parts cause I felt I was in a way doing something that a modeler should be doing instead and that no kit or manufacturer ever does, which is provide all the parts cut off their base. Can you imagine Revell or Zvezda or any other plastic kit manufacturer for that matter, cutting all the parts from their plastic burrs and baggaging them pre sanded and ready? It would take a lot of effort that I can actually invest in other matters such as Photo etching which I finally was able to fix.

I have done some tests with the cockpit and galley parts as you can see from these photos:

Click on the image to show closeup details

This is not much different than what I used to do long ago, and in my opinion it presents more positive points than cons.

• Customer won’t have to be worried to open a bag and have lots of tiny pieces lying around to pick a specific one.
• Now, thanks to the base, I can add numbers below each part to make things easier to understand in the instructions.
• Instructions will have a specific step that will show where the cut to remove the part off the base needs to be done at (even though this is quite self explantory).
• Having the parts in their bases makes it for a more tidy presentation, modeler can cut the part that need to be used whilst leaving the others on the base.
• Level of detail is still the same as the previous parts.
• For some specific parts, the painting may be done easier as they are already on a base.
• I still include spares knowing that some parts may be quite small.

The only con that comes to mind is the extra need of material, which in my opinion, is well worth it.

Here is another example with most of the AST-1 Towbarless pushback truck parts:

Click on the image to show closeup details

 

In my previous entry I was mentionig that I was not sure to do this with the GSE models, but seeing the results, I will certainly be doing these modifications to the following models:

• Towbarless pushback AST-1F 600
• Belt Loader TUG660
• Ground Power Unit Houchin C690
• Ground Power Unit TLD414
• Tow tractor TLD JST-25
• Stairs truck  TLD ABS1740
• Cargo loader Commander FMC15i (and all its double scissor extra parts).

Some parts will still be provided as they were before, such as the cabins, main bodies (in the case of Belt loader, JST-25, cargo loader, stairs truck).

All in all, the best advantage of this is for me to prepare these more readily and have them available more often, have time to work on other areas such as each PE, as well as have more time to work on current projects.

 

This process will take me some time but I am already completing the first batch of B787 galleys (all sections). So my objective is to update all those parts and have the items (all of them) ready simultaneously and therefore start this cycle with everything in stock.

I hope that you guys agree with me that this is a more plausible way to provide those parts, to cut off the base those parts, a small cut is all it’s needed, but this saves me many hours that I can use to produce other parts of the kit and also to have these items in stock more often, which is important for me to keep this thing moving.

On a last note, the A320/A321 (and neos) as well as the A350-900/A350-1000 silk screen decals have arrived home and will say only one thing; they look gorgeous.
I won’t be giving more info until I have everything ready (laser parts as well as the new instructions which will be presented as an A4 sheet, no bends).

 

Work continues to adjust all those parts but work also continues with the ongoing projects.

Wish you all are safe and sound, please take care,
Guillem

 

Hello everyone,

I thought to give an update over the weekend, but I am not sure I could have the chance, so I am writing this entry to give some info on the status of the current projects.

These have been difficult days, change of seasons are often an issue for some people, thus I am not much in the mood for many things, but I have to go on with my work which at the same time helps to keep my mind on track.

Today I will be writing about the airline decals, the B747-8F project, the B787-9 cargo holds, catering truck and some changes that I will make in the store as well as in my schedule.

The airline decals, or perhaps better said; the detail part of the airline decals was printed and I am awaiting for them to arrive. I mentioned long ago that I would make public who is behind those silk screening prints, but at the moment, I will keep this to myself, I am not obligated to anyway, so simply a silk screen work which I am sure will be of very good quality, I may mention the manufacturer once I have these decals with me.

That is only one portion of the whole thing, these airline decals are something that requires a lot of time, adding many details results in not having much space for more, so everything from there increases the costs to produce, as these silk screen decals have 3 special colors that also increased the cost, because I did not want to use black and standard red for those small details, too much contrast in my opinion, but that is just my taste that some may or may not agree with, everyone has thier valid opinion.

The detail sheet for the A320/A321 and their Neo versions (altogether) is a bit more than half an A4 sheet, so I have had to arrange what was gonna be printed silk screen, what is printed black and what is printed “photo real”, then of course the livery itself.

There is still a lot to do, new instructions are being made, which I hope to improve over the last ones with more detailed information and with help regarding the colors to paint the model.
That is all I can say for now about these decals. I may comment further but regarding the passenger windows, which is something that the model companies should really improve, basically spacing and sizing.

The B747-8F project will move forward soon, this is the third kit that I had to use and I hope it is going to be the last one (at least for work). Revell does not seem to keep much stock of the freighter models, so I also want to make a conversion for their passenger kit as well as for the Zvezda model, meaning you will be able to transform either in the full opened main deck and cargo holds detailing.

The reason for the B747-8F (later, 400F) to advance is that the B787-9 cargo holds are progressing as desired, I have no photos of it just yet, but I expect to update the blog at the beginning of next week with some more information and share the basic structure.

Regarding the changes that will occur at the store, it is basically about restocking times.
I really hope that you can understand that cutting, preparing and packaging hundreds and hundreds of tiny parts is a very time consuming task. So there is going to be a day of restocking each month, I may do restocking at the end of the month or at the 1st of the month.

This is very positive for me because it allows me to have the time to restock each individual item simultaneously, so that the customer can have a better chance to find the desired items all available.
Naturally, it may be possible for a certain month to not to have enough time to make units of a specific item, in such case, it will be restocked on the next month, this will be easier for me instead of setting restocking dates differently for each model.

This is an example image about how I have to organize every part of the B787 galleys prior packaging, this is only a part of the whole kit, for 12 galley sets, parts of about 2 to 3 mm in size:

This will be changed, and I may already be doing it right away with this new rear galley and have it done as well for the forward/center sets.

It is something I can specifically do for the galleys, so basically these parts will be standing on a base and will be ready to cut off by the modeler, this will save times for me which can be focused on preparing more units and/or work on other items/ongoing projects. This is not being lazy but practical, naturally as always with these galley sets, spares are going to be included.

It will resemble the traditional way to arrange the resin parts on a base as any other resin kit do.

This is something I prefer to not to do for the GSE models, as they have more complex parts and it would be risky and difficult to remove those parts off a base by oneself, if I do it and break it in the process, I can easily replace it.

Another change I will make is basically in my schedule, this is not something of much interest for others, but instead of working on the projects during the weekends, I will spare some time for me to make video reviews of building process about the GSE models (currently working on the Commander FMC15i) that will be later uploaded at Youtube as well as trying to build some airliner models for my own leisure and motivation, making a B787 build with the galleys and cargo holds is something I wanted to do for a long time now and as a human being I guess I also deserve some time to rest on the weekends even though the work done then will still be somehow work, but I guess a bit more fun.

 

Lastly, a quick screenshot of the progress with the catering truck, featuring the Mercedes Atego cabin. Note that an american version will follow and I want to have it by the time of release.

One thing that has to be said is that the 3D for printing requires some things that the rendering graphics don’t, a render of a 3D model may be used for a realistic purpose, and while the GSE scale model must also be realistic, its 3D model need to have some details just a bit bigger or done differently for them to print properly, this is usually needed on panel lines, they sometimes need to be thicker in the 3D design to look realistic on the model.
The cabin above in 1/144 scale will be around 15mm tall and 15mm wide, presented with full clear high quality anti UV resin as well as maskings provided.

The delay on the restocking of some models and the release of the B787 rear galley as well as the 1/72 Houchin GPU is due the issues I am finally resolving with the material needed for the PE. Finally I found an alternative that works, and I also have changed some things on the process, so I hope to get back on track about it soon.

That is all for now, there is a lot of work going on, enough for me to keep my mind positive even though it is hard to do so these days.
Take good care everybody,
Guillem

Hello everyone,

The B787-8 / 787-9 rear galley is finally on its very final stage. The only remaining aspect to make are the decals layout.
The rear shell as well as its parts; doors, latches, handles, seats, PA etc are done. Because it would increase the cost of producing this, I decided to provide the forward module as seen in the picture, with the two toilet doors at each side, but provide up to 5 FA seats so that you can modify the module to decide which version to make, there will be more info on how to make those modifications (if you like) which mainly will be sand down / apply putty to cover the lines and make it a flat panel to allocate the FA seat. Two FA seats are always located at the rear module of the galley.

 

The blog has been silent for a little bit of time but that does not mean work has been stopped.

The B787-9 cargo holds have been started, later, a 787-8 version will be made as you know, the 787-8 is shorter than the 787-9.

The catering truck is also progressing forward, upon finishing the cabin, work is currently being done on the cabin interior and soon with the drive gear prior starting with the chassis.

Also, new units of items are being produced of which these will be added to the store at the end of the week:

1/144 LD3 Trolleys.

1/144 Baggage cart “closed type”.

1/144 Baggage cart “open type”.

Production of the next items has been started and will be available at the end of the month:

1/144 B787 forward galley/cockpit (in advanced preparations).

1/144 B787 center galley (in advanced preparations).

1/144 B787 rear galley (in advanced preparations).

1/144 Towbarless pushback AST-1 F 600

1/144 Cargo loader Commander FMC15i.

1/144 Medium / short haul flight crew figures.

 

I am trying to make sure to have all the GSE items as available as possible, so I will also be restocking the 1/144 GPU Houchin C690 soon.
Additionally, I am working on the first Youtube video which is going to be about the Commander FMC15i loader model and a build progress of it.

Still, I am fighting with the PE process thanks to the Brexit, which has basically left me without raw material to produce them as I haven’t had news from the distributor since the last two months. I am therefore at the moment looking for different options which I am sure will work as well.

That is all for now, wish everyone can be safe and sound.
Guillem

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