Fokker T.VIIIw - Marine Luchtvaart Dienst

Tony May
Did you ever manage to source a set of the dollies for this model? The website for HA Models doesn't appear to be well maintained, although products for 2023 are here on the website & I can't seem to find the products listed at the Aviation Megastore. I'm worried that this might just be a pipe dream... Any advice?

Pieter Stroobach
I usually go here for HA models: aviationmegastore.co..;form_publisher=3846

Unfortunately no dolly's at the moment.

Tony May
I got a hold of someone at the Aviation Megastore after writing this message & apparently there is demand for more of these. They touched base with HA Models to see about whether there were any more available. While there currently are not any there is enough demand for another batch to be made. The person behind HA Models is going to see if there's still enough life left in the existing molds to make more or if he'll have to make new ones. If he has to make new ones it'll just take longer. Either way it seems like we're going to possibly get one for each of our Fokkers! I say that even as I smile looking at the MPM kit sitting 20 centimeters from my keyboard. 😉

I envy you though. Aviation Megastore will only mail things to the United States via UPS & that's incredibly expensive. While talking about this project I also brought up the old Planet Models Fokker T.IVa which I thought was a thing of the past; Until he informed me that they actually have one in stock. It's extremely expensive & shipping costs nearly half again as much. There's a Broplan conversion set I've wanted from there for a while too though & I think this store is the only outlet for them. I might just have to eat those costs if I want my build selection to be complete.

Pieter Stroobach
I know how you feel: titanmodelkits.com/s.._772_Engines%29.html

Tony May
Oh my goodness that is incredibly expensive! That's a half month's rent for my little apartment in this tiny rural community. Haha.. That's a good bit more than the Anigrand B-32 Dominator resin kit I've been kicking around the idea of building instead of my Contrail vac kit.

Purely civilian aircraft are a bit beyond my areas of interest, honestly. I've no idea why I developed a fixation on military aircraft but it is what it is. I will admit that the extras you can get with these look really nice & seem like they would allow you to build one up into a really great model! I noticed that they're planning to release a C-5 Galaxy too. It's scary to imagine how expensive that one might be but once upon a time I would have been desperate to obtain one.

I decided several years ago that for any post-WW2, plus sized, aircraft I would build them in 1/144 scale. As I stated, I live in a tiny apartment & with the value of the dollar having been cut in half over the past 22 years, I don't ever expect to be able to afford a bigger place again. Therefore display space is at a premium. I can't afford to have a dozen 1/72 airliners bought "off the shelf" to fulfill a variety of military roles. As it stands I gave all the large 1/72 aircraft I had, like the Nimrod, B-52, RB-36, KC-135, Canberras, U-2s, Vulcan, etc., to my son even before I was able to replace them.

Even before that I had narrowed my scope of builds to only include subjects from conflicts between 1930 & 1980. While most correspond directly to nationalities & time frames of actual conflicts there are some that are in gray areas like transport aircraft or trainers that served prior to those conflicts which played a critical role in the lead up to said actions.

Bas Tonn
Mooi werk Pieter !!