Peterpools

Chris Oh I know that sound so well especially after the stress crack on the Kingfisher appeared. Mine was in 30 year old crunchy, hard plastic and needed stop holes and lots of extra thin and then let dry for days. Resin seems different and the CCA hopefully will do the trick Couldn't hurt to drill a small stop hole on each end but don't fill them in or the stop holes will not work. Yup, good call on the horizontal stabilizers - sometimes the best course of action, is no action and finishing is the most important action of all. . .

Carl You have me beat for sure. Major painting is now finished and photographs a bit later this afternoon. I've been using AK Real Colors these days and never thought I would find a paint I like better then MRP but Real Colors are just fantastic and so much easier to find. I'm itching to crack open the Kotare Spitfire as well when she arrives and not sure if I'll wait for a Quinta cockpit set or dive right in. .

Gaz WOW, small details and wonderful progress. The figures look so good and add so much to the build - awesome work for sure.

Right with Gaz and Rob - looking so good

Hubert I'll be on board for your 172 all the way. Other then my Piper Colt and a J3, the Skyhawk is my favorite GA aircraft and I have more hours in them then any other airplane.

Oliver, nice progress and the smaller figure is absolutely usable. Smaller figures should be in the rear (force perspective) and you could make then larger by maybe changing heads and Hubert had suggested or a plug in the legs, since we all come in different heights and waistlines. 🙃.

Thanks Chris And so glad you're on board/ I finally finished the top cammo work yesterday and today the undersides Sky and then an update. I do love the Quinta 3D sets over the other as they include a lot more details other the IP and side consoles plus a nice set of harnesses. I've been waiting and waiting for the Lancaster set to reach our side of the pond, expensive yes but oh so complete.

Hubert, exactly on the money. But those earlier days was nearly 100% fun, no AM at all except decals and zero frustration. As I passed my 75th birthday, I've been looking at some 1/72 scale kits and amazed at the cost and only are considering those canopy masks sets either come with the kit or are available as AM - no way could I mask them by hand - the Kingfisher was way too hard and that was 48th scale.

Phil you are so right. Just looking at all the extra work needed to bring the Revell Spitfire up to the painting stages as compared to the Tamiya Spitfires. Old school for sure but not as far back as the Monogram Kingfisher. When I started building again on and off in the early 70's, kits were so inexpensive and now, OMG, they are a major purchase, if you can even find what you are looking for, I've seen some of the newer 1/72nd kits approaching and one or two over the $100 mark! I used to walk into the Squadron Hobby shop and for less then $10 but a 1/72 kit, paint a,d maybe a Microscale decal sheet. Times surely have changed. What Revell does have going to itself is cost vs quality and for the extra wort and some AM, it is a pretty good buy.

Oliver Hard for me to believe that for pure beauty, I'm a Spitfire man over the Mustang and when I finish the Revell kit, I'll have built more Spitfires then Mustangs. I still have three Tamiya Spits in the stash and the Kotare kit coming as compared to only two Tamiya Mustangs in the stash.

Rob Enjoy the beautiful weather and island life. The Arizona will still be there when time allows.

Tim Following and enjoying your progress and of course each update is a trip down memory lane for me as well.

Chris Amazing progress and the Big Cat surely is BIG❗ The wing sits every so nicely and solidly on the center section and all does look so good. I do see what you mean about the horizontal stabilizers having a bit too much dihedral and removing them isn't going to be the easiest operation to perform. Maybe the best way of reattaching them is to use a brass tube running through vertical stabilizer adding both strength and the correct dihedral. Just my less then two cents.

👍

Martin Aces on the freehand cammo work - looks fantastic. I just finished doing the freehand cammo on my Spit (Update tonight) and totally forgot about lightly drawing out the cammo pattern with a pencil as a guide, which would insure a much more accurate pattern applied. Next time, I'll follow your lead. t

John Looking so good and I tip my hat for questioning the nose weight issue ... perfect call ❗

Martin Looking mighty good

Thanks Carl for the explanation and it clears up my cammo schemes question.

The photographs show two different cammo color applications. Was there an A & B set of colors?

Thanks Oliver. I'm torn between the Spitfire and a Mustang for beauty. But when it comes to elegance, for me the Spitfire win hands down. It's the wings and slender fuselage. The Spit is in the paint shop as we speak, primer is done and first color coat is on. Hoping by early next week for an update.

Rob Looking so good under a smooth coat of primer. A milestone in the build for sure. Can't wait to see the color coats going on. Please include a few pics of your waterline tool. Side note: Rob, I also found that sometimes I'll tape off the area I need to use filler to keep it from spreading out way too far and apply it is a few thin layers making sanding easier and less collateral damage. I think the hardest part of filler and sanding is figuring out how to use the right amount of filler and keeping it in a tight space, nice a neat.

Chris Just seems to be one of those projects where there is always one more thing to do. The Big Cat has turned into quite a build and lot of work. So glad you keep moving forward and tackling each as they come. Nice work on redoing the tail and a nice solution for getting the horizontal stabilizers to sit at the correct dihedral for gluing and drying. (I made a note to myself to give it a try when needed). Seems some manufacturers just have issues with the canopy fit and it does take a lot of work to get them to fit and my Revell Spit has its canopy issues as well.

Oliver Was just thinking a little bit out loud and wondering if there were 1/35 scale figures that were on the large side. Fingers crossed on finding 1/32 figures. In photography as in diorama's, odd numbers seem to work best so maybe after you resolve the figures issue, you might do them an a group of three or five. Looking at the truck, it surely is going to be a 'ton' of work but my money is riding on you.

Oliver Amazing work. The crane is the equal in size and knowing you, complexity of the H34. Any chance there might be some 1/35 scale figures that might work?

Scott Sounds like the perfect ticket and the answer to your issues.