It's hard to believe I haven't updated this thread in almost half a year.
Work has been incredibly busy and while additions to my collection keep on coming, I've slowed down the tempo somewhat now that I have damn near every piece of diecast I set out to buy when I first started collecting. It goes without saying that I have very little space now and I have to slow down out of financial consideration as well. I may be moving this summer to an apartment of similar size, but we're purging some furniture we don't need and we'll have a storage unit in the building we're moving into. That will make things a lot easier for my Lauren & I, as the size of my collection seems to be adding some strain to our marriage
I can laugh because that's an understatement, and it isn't adding strain so much as increasing the amount of strain that already existed when I started collecting 1:32 tanks back in 2007 when we had only 450 square feet in our first apartment. 40 diecast tanks in that scale pushed her over the edge. 500 diecast aircraft and tanks of a much smaller scale seem to be less strain somehow
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Almost all of the large scale stuff is gone, except for my 1:32 Forces of Valor Matilda II, which I have kept because I'm fond of the type (have been ever since I read Colin Forbes' "Tramp in Armor"). I also kept my three 1:35 Dragon Tiger Is because they are pieces of art compared to the Forces of Valor tanks I sold off, and I would never be able to build a kit and make it look a fraction as good.
^ my three Dutch F-16s by Witty and Gemini Aces in front of the soccer flag I bought during the World Cup last year. Orange is great, what can I say.
The Hobby Master RAF Harrier GR.7 and GR.9 are still there on the shelf below. I think I'll be upset about the disbandment of the RAF Harrier fleet for a long time.
^ I rearranged the Vietnam War and Korean War shelves last month over a few beers. Took quite a while. I ran out of room on the SEA shelf after I got the F-111, so I decided to split the shelf between USAF and USN/USMC aircraft of that period. Less looks a lot better in my humble opinion. I finally had room to get out the first Hobby Master A-1, which is a peach (apart from the glue fogging on the canopy of course). The "Thor's Hammer" F-100 looks great, too. The first two much-sought Hobby Master F-4s take "center stage" over the F-111. In my opinion, all three of the aircraft in the center are show-stoppers.
The Korean War shelf now has the first two Falcon Models releases on it, the Panther & the T-33.
^ three USN and one USMC aircraft of the Vietnam War, including the first Hobby Master Skyraider.
^ five USAF aircraft of the Vietnam War, including the most recent F-100, "Thor's Hammer".
^ a shot showing the re-arranged Vietnam War and Korean War shelves that is more recent. The Korean War shelf had to be rearranged even more to fit the recently released HM Korean War Skyraider of VA-195 "The Dambusters". Looks great with the torpedo, don't you think? What you may also notice is that I switched the RAAF aircraft out for a full shelf of Hobby Master Texans & Harvards. What you see are all 18 of the releases out so far, including all four exclusive releases on the far right, and not including the most recent three releases (USMC, Swedish AF and Spanish AF) which will be here soon enough. These Harvards and Texans are about the easiest to set up out of all of the diecast I have in my collection. Once you set them up, they're steady on their undercarriage and stands and aren't going anywhere. There are no fiddly bits and there is no fuss. I think the two RCAF Harvards (far right) and the Luke Field Texan (second from the left in the front row) really steal the show.
^ the top two shelves showing a late-war set of RAF and RCAF aircraft and more noticeably, four heavy bombers and a B-25 on top. I haven't had the B-25 out since I first started collecting - it was one of the first 10 aircraft I bought, and it is still one of the best bargains I've gotten through dealing with fellow forum members. The Halifax ("Friday the 13th") and Lancaster ("Phantom of the Ruhr") dominate one side while the two most recent Corgi B-17s, "Memphis Belle" and "Hell's Angels" dominate the right. I really wish I had enough room to display all of my heavies at once.
^ the second Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Avro Arrow, RL 201, sitting next to where I am typing this out right now. I had to put RL 203 away because they won't both fit on the desk, and Lauren would murder me if I cluttered the desk more than I already do. We share this desk, so I have to be a tad considerate right?
^ two gorgeous photo-recce Spitfires by Hobby Master. "The Last" is probably the best out of the lot so far.
^ the first Hobby Master Spitfire I in 1:48 sitting next to one of the Franklin Mint Hurricanes in the same scale. I rather like HM's new Spitfire and plan on adding quite a few of them to my collection.
^ three Corgi SE.5s, including the most recent release, McCudden's specially modified mount.