1952

Arrivals For the Week Ending July 19,  2025 –

July 29, 2025

Magpie Squadron

By Mike Smolek

As I build models, I also try to find inspiration for combining them into a single diorama that tells a story. Here I’ve included several 1/35^th scale kits into this WWII era diorama.

Takom kit #2109 depicts the Fries Kran 16t Strabokran: a heavy-duty wheeled field maintenance crane used by Germany beginning in 1943. Tamiya kit #291 depicts a “Blitz” 4X2 3-ton cargo delivery truck with seated crew. Tamiya kit #345 depicts a Panther Ausf.D (Sd.Kfz.171) undergoing maintenance.

I added the Tamiya photoetch accessory kit #12666 to provide exterior engine grills to the Panther and added Tamiya kit #180 depicting a tank maintenance crew working on a Maybach P30 engine.

Next, I added figures from Tamiya kit #201 depicting a German tank crew at rest. Finally, I used my 3D printer to add many smaller pieces (generator, compressor, hand tools, gas torch, coffee cups, bread and jam, etc.) to give the diorama some extra flavor. In particular, I decided the story needed a cat sitting on the Panther that resembled the cat decal marking on the side of the turret.

After I printed the perfect cat, I was inspired to add a squadron of noisy magpies sitting on the crane discussing ways to harass this cat. This evolved into the cat sporting a very distinctive mustache, and the magpie squadron preparing to bomb the cat.

Dioramas like this tend to grow forever depending on your imagination. Eventually you have to put the diorama up on the shelf and move on to the next one which will be just as fun to build.

Rosebud

Hub Hobby’s original building on Broad St in New Orleans has been demolished. Word of it being torn down spread like wildfire.

One of our customers, Jim Letten, was emailed by his friend Martin about the demolition of their childhood hang-out.

The subject line was: ROSEBUD

“Rosebud” was the dying word spoken by Orson Welles in the movie Citizen Kane: a reference to his childhood sled – the symbol of memories of youthful innocence.

Read it here