Peterpools

Some mighty nice work for sure.

Ernie Nice work on the interior- looking mighty good.

Ernie MRP RAF Interior Gray Green looks mighty good and surely looks the part.

THE HOME STRETCH Paint work, decals and masking are finished, or at least as much as I am planning on doing. Pin washes were done and for the first time, I made my own oil washes along with some Ultimate Model Products panel line wash. Once dried and cleaned up, Alclad Semi Matte Clear was air brushed on and the ‘feel’ looks good. Exhausts and the upper exhaust shields were glued in place, as well as the prop and spinner. Working on the gear, which I have to confess, I missed the mark here pretty badly. I decided to have the canopy in the closed position (just resting in place for now), as almost everything can be seen in the front office, as the glass is crystal clear, plus the AirScale shoulder harnesses still need to be made and installed. I’m in the process of wrestling with the carpet monster, as I dropped the antenna and can’t find it; par for the course. The last of the smaller bits and pieces still need to be added: nav lights, antenna & aerial wires, pitot tube, engine cowl braces and a few other goodies and the 109 is done. The fuselage radio access panel needs to be painted, decaled and installed as well (completely forgot); one of the casualties of the long break between stopping and starting again. What I enjoyed most: the cammo air brush work and learning to use paint masks.

Rob The mains look great. Need to give the AK's chrome adhesive tape a try and see how it goes.

I've been using the Contacta more and more. Just need to take a bit of extra care as to how fast/much comes out of the needle.

Awesome Grumman Aircraft and looking forward to a build thread hopefully, not to far down the road.

Rob Much appreciated. Completely agree, using masks instead of decals is a whole new discipline that needs to be followed but the results are so well worth the extra work.

John Base cammo looks perfect. Looking forward to your next update with the weathering applied and on the homestretch.

Rob Some mighty nice arrivals from the mainland

Very nice start on the front office and interior.

Thanks Oliver. Making nice progress now and getting ready for the seal gloss cote and then the semi gloss/matte - not sure which yet.

Bill Nice work on the interior - looking mighty good. Just can't beat Quinta 3D sets.

John The one I have been using: I think it's pretty much the same but the applicator is a thin tube for greater control.

Hi John As of late, I've been using a lot of Revell Contacta Professional Glue - not exactly a tube glue but way different then Extra Thin. Give it a shot, I'm sure it will fill the bill and isn't stringy at all.

Anyone have an update or can share information on this new 3D printed Phantom? It's not the one SB was working on and a completely new kit. From what I've seen (not much) looks absolutely spectacular.

Thanks Martin Back in the saddle and rolling.

John Nice progress for sure and completely agree with Carl ... you can't have enough Corsairs.

Thanks Phil Right with you, no question, for me, the hardest part of the build ... the spinner spiral decal.

Thanks Kev Making nice progress now, decals and masks are done, some panel lines washes and then the last of the clear cotes. Could actually be done over the weekend if there aren't any unforeseen obstacles.

Carl Nice surprise seeing what you didn't remember what you had.

Rob primer looks like glass - so very well done

Thanks John Just had to get my head in gear as to where to pick up the build. All the small air scoops in the tulips need to be painted black and then a few more decals and this phase is done.

BACK IN THE SADDLE It’s been quite some time since the ZM 109 was front and center on the bench and the irony is the build stopped as I needed to buy paint masks for the upper wings and fuselage crosses. The DN mask set had arrived a while back and now I’m waiting for cockpit glass masks for the P-38. The 109 is back on the bench and underway again. Fingers crossed all goes well, as I needed to review where I left off and pick up the build at that point. Of course, the morning I was ready to get underway, the forum was down; not good. Full confession: except for canopy masks, I’ve never used a single aircraft paint mask; I have bought them in the past but just never used them. I struggled to figure out how to get the crosses on correctly and the fuselage crosses also needed the center of each cross painted RLM 74, it’s a lot harder then I thought. I finally remembered about marking the masks and the placement marks on the model after the fact – next time I’ll know. Decals are by Cartograf, beautifully done and nothing more need be said. The white could have been a bit more opaque but more then usable. The tulips around the nose took a lot of time to get right and they did fit perfectly. Just take your time, A few more decals to go and this phase of the build will be completed.

Kev Keep 'em comin