One of the nice things about this forum, and the hobby we share as scratchbuilders and kit detectives, is that anyone from anywhere can meet like-minded individuals via this forum and start friendships born of common interest. I just wish we could all get together for beer somehow!
Thanks to this forum, I've come to know a very sharp guy from Japan who has been following the progress of these studio-scale threads for some time now. We've shared knowledge, reference photos, and ideas and he has become a good friend, even though I only know him by his name! Along the way he has pointed out several important things about the hero X-Wings that I hadn't already noticed myself.
This week, he took some reference pics that I provided and came up with this part find:
On the bottom is a picture of the trailing edge of one of the wings of the hero Red 2 model. Right above that is a picture of the part he found. The part?
A wheel shaft from this kit:
Tamiya 1/35 German Hanomag Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Armored Half-track
I already had this kit so I checked it out. I believe this is a solid find!
My friend asked that he not be identified by name, so I'm going to honor that request. I hope everyone will join me in thanking him for tracking down this part.
Thanks again, man!