Peterpools

Thanks Martin, I never knew or even thought. Nice to know for dry brushing in the cockpit.

John It's a good feeling when things fall together rather then fighting an uphill battle.

Gaz Quality and well engineered kit. Can't wait to start mine

Thanks Martin, they might have worked but at this stage of the game, the kits cannons are cleaned up, drilled out and will have to do. With my luck and how the build has gone, any tinkering will lead to a disaster. 😉

John Good call... the nose looks like a perfect fit and a much better choice then the Tamiya nose. Nice choice for the markings as well.

John Can't wait to see the completed nose grafting pics.

Thanks Dennis, priming today.

Thanks Mike,. very much appreciated. I'm actually priming later today and finally I feel as if I'm over the hump. I used a paint booth for years but not religiously. Since being now in remission and through chemo therapy, I am ever so vigilant about chemicals, paint, paint fumes and never air brush without using a paint booth and a very good respirator. I use a paint booth I purchased from Micro Mart, single extractor motor and about 16 inches in width: Fold Up Spray Booth for Spray Painting Models (micromark.com). The Whirlwind just squeezes in and to turn it around or over, I need to pull it out, reorient it and then back in she goes. Even the Spitfire was a tight fit. I have another and much larger spray booth I use to use but haven't set it up as it has two extractor motors and double the exhaust ducting: Artograph 1530 (Artograph 1530 HOBBY MODEL SPRAY SYSTEM® (madisonartshop.com) which is 30 inches wide. Most likely I'll eventually wind up hooking up the Artograph 1530 as it's much more convenient to use and our home renovation is done.

FINALLY KNOCKING ON THE DOOR PREP FOR PRIMING PREP: It’s been a lot of work to reach this point, countless go backs, redo’s, cleaning up mistakes, errors and blunders; one by one they have been slowly corrected and redone as best as I can do. With the wings and fuselage assemblies sanded, polished and cleaned up, it’s time they were attached together and of course, a few more gaps and seams now needing attention. The front windscreen and canopy were masked using the ASK set and they are superb, easy to work with, very complete and each mask is numbered making life a lot easier. The windscreen was carefully glued to the fuselage with Tamiya extra Thin and a spot of filler was required – a nice, tight fit. The oil cooler doors were added, slightly in the open position for a bit of added interest. Gaz had pointed out the nasty mold seams on the cannons in the macro shots for the nose repair and since there were no Master Barrels sets available, I spent a lot of time cleaning up the seams as best as I could, using my magnifier lamp and a brand new Tamiya blade. Not perfect but much better then before. I decided to risk it all and add the two front antennas as the glue points are very small and trying to do this after painting is a disaster waiting to happen for sure. I just need to exercise care for the balance of the build and hopefully not knock them off. Masking: Just seems masking these days takes forever and I decided I would use foam blocks in the wheel wheels so I could sit the Whirlwind down during all the painting stages without worry of marring the paint itself and also act as nice chunk of masking. Both prop assemblies are also now ready for priming. PRIMING TIME: Here we come. The canopy still needs to be tacked in place Mighty wide wingspan - reminds of a Gooney Bird

John I take the Fifth Amendment. Just glad you have the Revell nose to work with.

Scott Right with you: What were they thinking or better yet why weren't they thinking things through. progress may seem slow but it takes a while to undo what KH did and then do it correctly.

John Oh no, sounds like I must have been involved somehow as parts are missing and a change of plan is now the order of the day.

Ernie Agreed the Helldivers fate after the war was seen by so many other aircraft, especially with the dawn of the jet age. ✈️

Paul Nice progress and the Mr Surfacer texture looks spot on.

Chris Right with you, the HGW belts give me a battle and I have a set of the new Airscale seatbelts coming for my ZM 109 build.

Gaz Nice start on the front office. Parts do look very well detailed and brush painting is going to be a challenge for sure. One of the best features of ZM's instructions is all the colors for each step is shown at the bottom of the page - mighty handy.

Martin Keep those detail photos comin, as they are going to be a big help when I get going on my ZM 109 right after the Whirlwind.

Hi Gaz Nice choice for your color scheme and markings. You're 100% correct about 74/75/76, as I'm going with the kit Hartmann scheme on my 109. I've never built a 109. When I get going, right after the Whirlwind, this is going to be all new ground and your build is easily going to be a major reference for me.

John Nice work on the Aires cockpit, looking mighty good.

Thanks Kai Appreciate you pointing out my blunder and it's fixed. This afternoon, I finished all the priming prep work and should be ready to prime in a day or so.

Rob Nice additions and I can't wait for your Corsair build to begin, as I'll be with you all the way. I've followed every one of John's builds and enjoyed each. I have a few Tamiya Corsairs in the stash as well and am looking forward to building at least one next year and am always taking notes. BTW, have to buy a set of those GIANT Tweezers😉

John If so, I can't thank you enough for your contribution to the P-51B cause.

Scott Awesome build and I need to look at the dates on posts so I don't seem like a senor with CRS.

Scott, late to the party and the drop tanks surely look like the 600 gal type.

Rob Nice steady progress and I completely agree the detailing looks just fine for what can be seen after the body shell is in place. Looking forward to the cammo painting stage - going to be a lot of fun.😉