Peterpools

Ernie The Felixstowe was an amazing. 🏆 I've heard that about the Helldiver and any airplanes in the hands of a good pilot, who is at one and at home with his airplane, always gets the best out of her.

Rob I think the issue might be how I processed the images in Photoshop. Not much will be seen now that the fuselage is closed up. Not offended, just didn't understand what you were saying.

John Absolutely did.

Beautiful build - so very nicely done.

Phil Fingers crossed the seat belts work out perfectly.

Right with Gus

Kev Nice progress and good thing you mentioned that's how the gear is supposed to look - the cant is very similar to a Spitfire. Looking mighty good and the box art scheme is really good looking.

John So well worth the wait for the addition AM decals. perfectly built and finished. Beautiful work.

John Gorgeous build and love the paint scheme. Awesome work and finish as always.

Oliver I needed to step back, sit back and take a good long look and appreciate all the incredible work and details you keep adding. I just have no idea how you not only determine what they are but engineer how to make them. Superior skills and talent

Ernie Right on the money and completely agree that no way did anyone at Infinity actually build the kit OOB and if they did, must have come to the exact same conclusions as you. The real question is why? Being their first kit out of the box and first impressions are so important, they should have gone the extra mile and made sure a beautiful model could be built straight out of the box and just as you said; it can't. Shame on them. I've said for years you love a good fight and will always find a way to win. Geez, talk about difficult, I remember your WNW Felixstowe F.2a build is at the head of the pack! A few of the flying wires had issues and somehow you did figure it out. It's called, never giving in and working out a solution, no matter what. .

Rob WOW, looking fantastic and fingers crossed she stays that glossy.

Thanks Gaz I know exactly what you mean and I don't often fold the wings but for the Skyraider I thought I would give it a try. She is a HUGE Gal and with her wings extended, would eat up a lot of space. I have my Corsair with her wings also folded but any new Corsairs, the wings would be extended.

Much appreciated Martin, getting there slowly but back at it after a scarry medical week for my wife Diane. Doing much better and will be starting infusions this coming week.

Thanks PW I'm making progress and hopefully over the weekend, I'll have the wings done and see how close I get to working wings. If I can get mine to look close to Carl's, I'll be a happy camper for sure.

John Much appreciated and right with you about the front office.

Thanks Phil, I have my fingers crossed.

Rob Thank you for the detailed photographs, as they will come in very handy as I start to assemble all the major assemblies and work on the exterior. I'm hoping to get the wings to actually fold and if I get close to Carl's fit, I'll be very pleased. Working parts just have a way of not working as intended. I'm not sure what you mean:"... I was not overly impressed by the cockpit, which somehow looked a bit flat to my eye ..." I thought the detail level looked great, as it is a full Quinta set and as colorful as cockpits were in the 1970's. As far as the rudder pedal go, that's a known issue and ZM blew it. Not sure if the Trumpeter kits are the same. Yes, while the seat could move forward and I'm not sure if the rudder pedals were also adjustable, as you would have to be a giant to reach them. First two things you always do when settling into the left-hand seat: adjust the seat to reach the rudder pedals, making sure you have full travel to move the rudders to the stops plus the toe brakes and can move all the controls fully, in every direction. Then seatbelts and harnesses. In the case of the model, with the fuselage glued up, even if the rudders were moved forward, they never will be seen. Just nice to know they are there.

Pete OMG - awesome

Rog & Ernie Well said. I've shied away from the Helldiver and have very little interest in the Val or Kate but that's just me. A Beaufighter would have been a whole different story and an absolute purchase. Add a SB2U Vindicator to the initial release list and I would have been all over it and bought at least two! Knowing and understanding your market is the issue as to the necessary building skills is something quite different. I was a very active member of LSP when Brian's lifetime dream kit, the Grumman F7F Tigercat (resin) was released and he jumped all over it and Brian's skills are second to none. I was almost ready to buy the kit but when Brian's troubles and nightmares began (still exist to this day), I decided not to purchase the kit. Adding to Rog's list of Brian's war: the gear and specifically the nose gear is a dog. The nose wheel was terribly weak, needed a wire brace extending out the bottom of the strut and is inserted into the nose wheel: come on guys. For a kit of this cost the gear should have been engineered to a higher standard, cast from brass and included with the kit, not AM from another company. Enough said. The issue here are IM releases. Yes, the Helldiver is a limited run kit and has all the 'building virtues' we have come to expect from such type of kits. Infinity was fresh out of the box and to help purchasers see beyond these fit issues and costs, HPH could have reduced the buyers cost and made it a much more attractive purchase by including a lot of the AM extras with the kit rather then as extras and adding to the final cost of the kit. I'm sure the actual cost put off a percentage of purchasers. I'm an average builder and do not enjoy a good fight to build a model, I enjoy building the kit - there is a big difference. I've been accused as being a Tamiya fan boy and proud of it. For my money it's what a high-end kit should be. Presently, I have two ZM kits underway: their new Bf109 and the out of production Skyraider. Which kit so far has been more rewarding to build up to this point of construction: the Skyraider by a mile. I could go on and on but that's not important. Let's just leave it at as ZM engineering has advanced and the 109 does have a number of fit issues, of which a good deal are mine, trying to figure out the correct part orientation and fit. The Skyraider has folding wings, so the difficulty/fit issues are there but solvable with an addendum instruction page on their web site. Am I going to buy the Fw190, right now I haven't decided but leaning towards the "no" right now. Rog compared the Revell kits to the ZM kits and for my money and enjoyment, I would still go Revell. Revell does have fit issues, nowhere near the details but at their price point, for me, it's a better value when all is said and done. I recently built the Revell Spitfire Mk IIa and was very happy with the kit. Getting back to HPH/Infinity, the kits need to be more strongly marketed as limited production and purchasers need to understand the shortcomings. Online builds and conversations that I've read, the issues of fit have put many buyers off, including me. The Helldiver for the average modeler (which is where I stand in the modeling fraternity), it's a lot to take on and I'm sure there are a lot of Shelf Queens out there residing on the SOD, as the builders were just overwhelmed. Ernie and John are both way beyond the level of the average modeler and I am guessing, the average builder would/will find the kit more then they bargained for. I do hope HPH sells enough Vals and Kate's to stay in the game and learn from all the comments over the web on how to improve their kits. .

Gaz I didn't know either, but I do like the way The Kotare molded on belts look. For my last few builds, I've been using the Quinta seat belts that come in the cockpit detail sets and for me, they look pretty good.

Thanks John - absolutely will.

Hi Carl Your folding wing seam looks perfect and I'm going to try and have it functional as well. If I'm lucky, I'll get close to yours..

Phil Interesting for sure

Oliver - I always listen to my wife's advice, as they are always at least one step ahead and see things we miss. Looking mighty good.