Peterpools

John Trying to catch up and in the few days I've been away, geez, she is done. Cammo work looks spectacular and what a stellar build. BTW, Nice avatar - looks pretty darn good.

Oliver Nice work on resolving the primer issue. The Model Air/Vallejo OD actually looks pretty good on my monitor and not too greenish, but the final verdict is how it looks 1:1. I have a zillion bottle of OD paint myself and not one is actually the same shade. Just go with your best feeling as colors and paint can drive you crazy.

Gaz Nice to see you found some bench time and the figure is taking shape nicely. Sorry about the wrist issues you are experiencing and just hang in there and all will be well... just takes time. I know the pain and frustration. Yes, it does always seem, the more the doctors and tests, the more they find. This past month my wife and I seem as if nearly all our time as been devoted to doctors, specialists, specialized testing and a hospital admission with procedures. Just seems the older we get, the more of our time and energy is devoted to trying to stay as well as we can be.

Kev Haven't been on the forum in a few days as medical issues for my wife and myself have been front and center and just everything else has been on pause. Absolutely brilliant paint and decal work - so perfectly done. A flawless build to my eyes, and of course, I fully appreciate all the detailed photographs. Seeing Johns paint work and yours done with MM enamels, I only wish there was a vendor here in the states that sold a full range of enamel colors as in the old days; I sorely miss them. I've contacted a number of overseas vendors and none will ship paints to the US.

Rob OMG - your 1 Man Army Masks have been applied with miliary precision and perfect to my eye. I can only imagine how much harder it was then you are letting on to. When done, no question the finished appearance will be up to museum standards. 🏆

THE WINGS Bench time had been on the backburner as my wife, Diane had been hospitalized for three days nearly two weeks ago, requiring a surgical procedure and glad to report, all is fine now. And of course, I still have my medical issues to deal with as well. Once home and settled, bench time has been tight, mostly late night, allowing for some slow progress. The Wings I followed the instructions’ build sequence and almost no issues, except for a not so great fit of the leading edge MG parts. Just makes so little sense that nearly every manufacture uses some sort of leading edge plug for the MGs and the fit is either pretty poor or in the case of the Mustang, requires the inside wing components to mesh together perfectly and that never seems to happen. Yup, I’m still cleaning up the bottom wing portion. Why no just mold the leading edge MG insert as part of the wing and then have separate MG barrels? The main gear bay was built up following the instructions – part fit was good and a bit iffy in a few spots. The gear bay was primed with MRP Black Primer and followed up with MRP Yellow Zinc Chromate. Details were highlighted with Tamiya Dark Brown Panel Line Wash; the effect is very subtle and the ‘hidden’ details do appear. In order to finish up the MG leading edge parts and knowing I am not nor never have changed a finished Mustang gear position from down and locked to up, for in flight, I'm in the midst of building the gear and after screwing the gear solidly into place, the leading edge gear cover will be permanently glue on. Then the underside of the wings can be cleaned up and finished. Ailerons were assembled and are movable, requiring their share of s/s rods and hinges that needed to be installed. Patience and a semi steady hand; done. Flaps assembled traditionally, no real issues and built to be in the lowered position but are still movable. I decided to close up the MG bays, installed all the detail parts, which I normally do whether they will be seen or not. There still is the notorious bad fitting radiator assembly to deal with and then all that should be then left to do on the wings before attaching them to the fuselage is the final sanding and polishing as a prep for the painted aluminum lacquer finish.

🤞🤞

Dave Right with Rob - looking mighty good and it's always the turning point of a build when it's time to move into the paint shop.

Waited way too many years not to take the plunge.

Gaz I see your point and absolutely, Hasegawa has the arm in the wrong location. Could be back in the day when they designed the kit, an actual aircraft wasn't available to use in developing the kit and checking the details. Too many manufactures do not seem to give enough thought to not only the design of the gear but it's installation, leading to all sorts of frustrations.

Oliver Wish I could help out, but the AK Acrylics is one paint I haven't used. I am a big fan of AK Real Colors which is an acrylic lacquer, pretty much the as Tamiya acrylics. For the acrylics I do use, Mig and Model Air, I exclusively use their thinners as their instructions call for. I've never had any luck thinning with water and when it comes to model air, I have a dedicated air brush for it as it doesn't like any other thinner and will turn to much if the wrong thinner is used. t

Rob Splinter cammo work looks just awesome. I've never wet sanded at the stage you and Gary are now doing with the exception if the clear gloss if needed for decaling. Surely food for thought and some tinkering/testing is going to be called for.

John Surely would be a great feeling and a lot more enjoyment to do a build with zero a cuss factor. Fingers crossed, the repair works out perfectly. 🤞

John What would be a build without a cuss factor? For us, it's part of the senior modeling MO.

John Looking might good and the tail extension with some primer and paint, will look near perfect.

Gaz Nice progress for sure and looking forward to the HGW rivet set going on. Thanks for the CA/Baking soda technique - surely will be using on the Mustang in a few places.

Oliver Looking spectacular - you just never miss a detail or trick.

Rob Hard edge cammo looks spot on the money using the mask set. Normally, I leave the masking on a b it for the paint to set up, which is the time it takes to thoroughly clean the air brush, eye droppers and pipets - normally less then a half hour. Agree with Kev, the Nachtigall finish is going to look brilliant once the markings are on.

HI Oliver NOthing new on it as I've been working on two Tamiya kits: 1/323 P-51D Mustang 1/48 P-38f Lightning. I'm planning on picking up the build later this summer as I clear the bench of other projects. And of course, the trumpeter Devastator has my name all over it and I pre-ordered it as soon as the Squadron started taking them.

Thanks John, the more I think, the worse the headache!

Rob Just keep going on the hard edge cammo; you will pull it off with no issues at all.

Good reasons for sure.

John The tail extension looks good on the Revell tail and should work out well. I was thinking on the Lanc just leaving the engine cowlings off on one side and the other side closed up. Still lots of time to think about it. Biggest thinking needs to be figuring out how to paint it by changing spray booths and then how to display it. I have ideas on both but need to think it completely through.

Kriss Just though I would add to the oldest kit in the stash list: Monogram 1/48 Kingfisher - still have a second and built one for the last GB Heller 1/72 Lockheed 049 Connie - have to build it someday. I have the Fisher engine set for it. Most beautiful airplane ever to grace the skies.

Gaz Some mighty nice progress on you FW190 - the details never escape your eye as the leading edge details look so good. Can't believe after all these years, I've never used baking soda and CCA - I'll have to pick up a box today and give it a try.