DocRob

Got her primed yesterday and can't wait to bring on the first layer of polished Aluminium, but have to wait, because there is Kalima outside (again) . This is a hot storm from the Sahara area with lots of dust in it, so not a good day for starting a NMF job. For preparation, I took a lot of time to finely hone all the imperfections of the surfaces and after a rub with alcohol to get rid of dust and fingerprints used Tamiya's rattle can fine primer for a durable surface. I plan to use different shades of Aluminium for painting and has to mask some panels, which is not the best thing to do with metal Colours. I will use detacked masks to keep everything in place, fingers crossed. Cheers Rob

Hi Nigel, sounds a bit fast to take it out of the portfolio. But there is another little helper in form of Yahu Models out there with two IP's for the Meng kit. http://yahumodels.siemianowice.com/132-124 Unfortunately there are more serious troubles with the kit itself. Fitting the numerous body parts is a pain, if you go for a closed fuselage. I stalled with the build and WIP some weeks ago because of that and need some mojo to continue. Cheers Rob

Hy Iwan, you can't have everything For sentimental reasons I will show you that one, found close to my old hood in Berlin. Having no Mig's at all on my tiny island in fact there are only ATR-72 island hopper and a helicopter for those who don't respect the strength of the ocean. Cheers Rob

Good to have you back here. Nice start with that 190, will follow, because I have two F8 in my stash with lots of goodies for two different settings. Cheers Rob

Nice result and a clean build Ron, I would have reduced the shine a little like on the red spinner. How do you keep your spray booth that clean after having done the kit? Mine looks like a Colour slaughterhouse . Cheers Rob

Nice job smoothing the tiny edges of the kit. Your A-7 looks pretty good and nice work on the resin, all blends in perfectly. Cheers Rob

Holy smoke, thankfully no Italian birds in my collection. I will sit on my terrace now and do some real smoke rings with a little cigar and some wine, thinking about my next mottling job or the NMF of my P-47. Cin cin Rob

Very interesting subject and combined with your skillful building a clinic, nice. There is a sequel of related WW1 pilots stories out there. The plot is a little soso to my eye, but the paintings by Romain Hugault are brilliant. No idea though if there exists an English version. https://salleckpublications.eu/Gesamtverzeichnis/Der-Pilot-mit-dem-Edelweiss/ Cheers Rob

Feliz Año Nuevo Señhoras e Senhores, due to summeresque conditions outside, my pace has slowed a little, but some progress on this very pleasurable build is made. Most of the sub assemblies are done and painted. I cut and grinded the places for the navigational lights, to fit in the transparencies. These were drilled and the holes where filled wit transparent red and blue-green. After touching up the engine it was installed in the lower cowling part and the other three cowlings where glued and sanded on the front lip. All the cowling part, the cooler and cooler ring plus the engine where glued in situ, to be able to align everything properly. So far no problems, fit is very good. Same goes for the wing Attachement, nearly no gap here. before gluing together I sanded the leading edges of the wings and fuselage connections with lots of patience, because I think good preparation is the best way for a good NMF. One question for the experts: What is the purpose of the leading edge hole close to the fuselage on the right wing? I found no clear part and photos I took from the original don't show glass either, so it seems to be a vent opening. The smaller square hole beside that one has to be a gun cam, am I right here? Cheers Rob The navigational lights look much better in reality, the Colour dots are just refractions, which will reduce with a silver background

Nice progress Peter, painting stage not to far ahead. On my Birdcage F4U I used the Brassin wheels without problems, the gap was perfect to my eye, but I've heard about that problem with the gap between wheel and hub in other places, so maybe Eduard altered something while producing. Cheers Rob

That's definitely not sprue cutting and gluing together, this is awesome scratching at it's best. Cheers Rob

That's what I call burning rubber Cheers Rob

Looking great, but painting will not be an easy task, lots of tiny parts and seemingly no sub assemblies, you sure like the challenge. Cheers Rob

He sure looks a little weird, but that seems to be caused by the plastic not the paint job. Luckily you can't see the screws on the side of the head, because of the leather helmet . Cheers Rob

Nice progress on that nearly binned kit. Let your magic work. Cheers Rob

I use a lot of Vallejo Air with mixed results. Some are great and some colours don't seem to flow very good on the surface, thinned to different grades. I never liked the retarder though. AK Colours seem to be a little bit better for my liking, better adherence and finer spray. I never use these colors without a good coat of primer (Smelly Tamiya rattle can is simply the best). Never tried MRP or MMP but will follow here to gain from your experiences. Cheers Rob

Looking mighty good, great job with the inner fuselage painting and the IP looks fantastic. You almost convinced me to get rid of my self casted spell about staying away from these four engine behemoths, almost…………….. Cheers Rob

With your speed of building my not very shallow stash would dry out fast. Great to see, that you don't sacrifice quality for quantity. Are you going to rebuild that scene as a dio? Cheers Rob

Sounds like an interesting Project Rick. Somewhere I have seen prepainted 'blurred' plexy glass discs, which simulate rotating propellers without the necessity of an engine. Cheers Rob

Thanks Peter, I thought wiring is tougher than it really is and is taking no more than three or four (intense ) hours. The most difficult part is the drilling of the ignition ring, because the part is thin and holds the steering tubes for the valves as obstacles. Copper or lead, I think booth are good, but for different reasons. Lead is easier to bend, where copper has a better stability once glued. Cheers Rob

Thanks Phil, can't wait to see your P&W 2800. Wiring is easier than thought. Should have known by the time I built my Birdcage Corsair with a Brassin engine and the enclosed (soso) PE-wiring. Cheers Rob

Welcome to LS, I'm sure you found the right place, seeing what you've done with that Fury. The finish looks great and setting and photos are as well. Make yourself comfortable here . Cheers Rob

Thanks Gentlemen, until now this is a real pleasure build and a good time to test some new (at least to me) stuff like wiring a radial engine. Cheers Rob

Almost there with the engine. I added a dot of buff color to resemble the spark plugs and will do ones more to alter the diameter of the wire where the plug is. After some touch ups I call the engine done, shame that I have no P&W logo left. Cheers Rob

Phew, done for the day. Even with a magnifier optic it's quite a task to wire that engine. In all the wiring takes maybe two hours and it actually works, but afterwards you should give your eyes some rest. I used CA glue to attach the pre cut wires to the ignition ring, added some CA with the tip of a toothpick, just to be sure and pulled on every wire to stretch and to test the bond. With pulling the wires a little to the frontend, it was possible to pre paint them. I hope the Colours will stay in place while attaching the loose ends to the spark plug holes. Cheers Rob Bad hair day for the engine without paint With blackened wires hull red connectors and chrome silver attachment points