Peterpools

Will be following and in its day, an awesome kit.

Ernie Join the club. As I hit my late sixties, my steady air brush hands weren't as steady as they use to be. After chemo, it was worse, but over time I improved and found alternatives to freehand cammo. I now look at it, I just I'm glad to still be able to build and do the best I can. Maybe we're like aging athletes (🙃), the glory days are behind us and new adventures ahead. I have all my Iwata and H&S air brushes for close to twenty years and except for changing seals, tips and needles, all work just fine. I do have a Grix I use for Model Air paints and it's equal to my other air brushes in every way.

Kev Always something for sure. Hope you locate the info shortly and can get back to the build

Kev Thats awesome and wish I did the same. But over the years, numerous moves and flipping between hobbies, most of the older build s have long vanished. Wish I still had them or even pics but times for me were different then.

Kev Nice start and the wood deck work looks great. Thanks for going through your painting technique. Holy Smokes the PE Orange 1/72 German 20mm quadruple Flak 38 set looks awesome.

Gaz Still a memory and that's part of the hobby for me - remembering when.

Thanks Paul and neither did I. I now make it a point before buying an older kit to look at its history on Stalemates to see what changes the kit has gone through and the correct kit number and box art for the latest version. I learned a valuable lesson when I bought the 1/12th Tamiya F1 Ferrari 312T. An expensive kit in the original boxing and after having started the kit, discovered the later releases had a lot of changes, extra details, PE and new and better decals. Lesson learned. Glad you will be along for the ride.

Chris Right with you and there is something about the old kits that keep drawing us back into their realm. Can't wait to see you work your magic on the Black Cat - an iconic airplane and kit for sure. I started the clean up last night as I want to finish the P-40 this week before diving into the Kingfisher headfirst. Flash, not too bad, raised panel lines and details are really good - just have to be extra careful to avoid sanding and removing them. Funny, how looking at basically hand drawn instructions back in the day, while sort of crude compared to today's offerings, are so easy to follow, clean and clear. With all the computer-generated instructions of today, I wonder if we really improved the instructions?

Thanks John Hard to imagine anyone into the hobby as long as us, not having at least one in the stash and also not having built one over the years.

Carl Just the opposite - always thought the Kingfisher was a tough, reliable aircraft and served everywhere in the Navy. Had the KH kit and just never had the erg to build it - now, wish I did. The KH kit would be a great entry for the GB.

Gaz I understand and initially agree about not fully retiring, just cutting back on the hours and stress for all the right reasons. Those were exactly my plans, but it just didn't work out that way. By the time I was in my early seventies, I had cut back my hours and was right on course, then cancer struct and life changed forever. If you can retire healthy and have your retirement savings set, retire - you just never know what life has in store for you. I never made my retirement and due to illness had to retire - but without all the plans we had made.

Mike Their site is down and so much of their decals are not available from my normal vendors. I guess, as we age and retire, small one man business fade away - what a shame.

Mark Perfection - the engine build portion is awesome.

Carl In your hands, the Vosper will be a piece of cake.

Much appreciated Mike. I thought long and hard before selling the KH Kingfisher but in the end, I knew I wasn't going to build it. Knowing your talented building skills, I'm looking forward to following your build when you dive into the kit. I've always been partial to the Monogram Kingfisher and knew that when I was ready, I would buy and build it again. Just worked out to be the perfect GB build for me. This morning I've cleaned up the major parts and without much work, the fit is quite good. I'm making a list of parts I'll need to add and replace and still deciding on which paint scheme to use. I was surprised to see yellow Wings Decals has closed up shop and finding a fresh decal sheet for the Kingfisher isn't in the cards, so I'm going with what is in the box.

Thank Phil While the kit is from 1967, the PE and updated decals are from 1993. Still look pretty nice and equal to a lot of kits being done today.

Mark Much appreciated. I started test fitting and cleaning up the parts today and the detail is amazing. Molded into the wing is the manufacturing data: Monogram, 1967. The kit has been reissued a load of times and mine was molded in 1993, with updated decals and some PE. Going to be a fun build for sure.

Thanks Mark If I remember correctly, I built one in 1971 (model is long gone).

Well, the official start date is here and I'm finally able to start the Kingfisher, which I've had for quite some time. Just a few opening pics and I'm off and running. The Official Day and Time photograph

Mark Glad to see you doing this kit. I've never seen it as a build thread. Will be following start to finish 

Kev Nice choice for the GB and will be following all the way.

Phil Going to be a terrific GB project and will be following with great interest.

John Looking good and some mighty nice work in the wheel wells

Ernie Looking mighty good and I'm with Scott - you have achieved the art of natural weathering. 😉

A very Happy and Healthy New Year to our LSM family across the globe.