Peterpools

SUB ASSEMBLIES At this stage of the build, I broke down the Whirlwind into three major assemblies (the fourth: gear to be done later): Fuselage, Wings and Props. The plan being to have each assembly’s seams primed, checked for flaws and corrected. When all is A-OK, the fuselage and wings will finally be glued together, the seams taken care of and then it’s painting time. The Fuselage: The split rudders were added and both required an Evergreen Styrene shim to improve the fit. Horizontal stabilizers and elevators were next and the fit was only so-so at best. What aggravated the situation was there was so little actual gluing surface to get the job done, as the mating surfaces are concave and not flat. I’m not a fan of movable control surfaces and gluing them into position was hit or miss. I much prefer a single piece to do the job with the exception being if the hinges are well done and up to the job and in the Whirlwinds case, they weren’t even close. The nose and 20 mm Hispano Cannons were a fun time and it turned into a slight test of wills to square it away, including drilling out the cannons (at almost 75, finding the centers of the cannons to drill out is a tough act). I needed to remove the nose section when I discovered the cannons didn’t sit correctly (my fault), resulting in a slight amount of damage and then considerable time was needed to square things away. The Wings: Had their own idiosyncrasies and not a good job on my part when I glued on the nacelles in place at 3 AM in the morning - I should have stayed in bed. Lots of filling and sanding and now a done deal. Last items to be added: the office floor, Joy stick and all the glass on the wing tips. The Prop: had been treated separately as there is a lot to do. To insure the three bladed props, sit at the correct angle and height, I built a simple jig. I decided not to use the spinner back plate as the jig, as I though my jig would be a bit more accurate and easier to use. The prop assembly on the left shows the completed assembly, while the assembly on the right shows all the individual parts for the of the hub assembly. Once done, they both will be primed, painted and put safely away until needed. The front windshield was masked and is just being test fitted, while the canopy was masked but won’t be fitted to the Whirlwind until close to the end of the build. The front windscreen being test fitted and the filler work is now competed. The taillight has also been added and blended in. I was very impressed with the ASK mask set - fit was excellent and each mask is number making life a lot easier. Final cockpit details were added: gunsight and the last of the turtle deck bracing All the cockpit floor details are added to the upper wing including the joystick and rudder pedals Prop assemblies and simple jig Canopy masked and the gear and coolant doors had the weathering cleaned up and lightened a bit more.

Carl Got ya .. nice fill in project

Gaz WOW, just love your dio. The Mig's NMF couldn't be any more accurate being a beautiful foil finish - the jeep and figures looks brilliant. Beautiful work and presentation.

In all the years I watched the A Team, I don't ever think I saw them actually hit anything they were shooting at.

Carl Nice choice for your current build - not being well versed or even versed at all in armor, my money is on a modern day battle tank

Rob Nice to see you cutting and gluing styrene again and sure it's a truck or armored vehicle of some kind. How about a hint or two? Just read your follow up post: a Copper State WW1 Italian Lancia. The subject is quite unique and the cammo scheme looks awesome. Hoping for a build thread.

Scott, nice progress on the 'office area and cockpit cage' - the kit details do look good and nicely detailed. Yup, surely a new way of creating locating pins.

Ernie Nice progress on the Big Helldiver. Completely agree that the AM details for the bomb bay are worth the price of admission as they will be visible after completion and look so good. Some mighty nice research work and execution on the rear canvas cover that is taking your build over the top.

Hi Chris and welcome to the party - great to have you on board. Your Aichi M6A1 Seiran is looking so good and the weathering is spot on the money. The yellow leading edges look fine and the only area that needs some additional work is the spinner. The prop is fine and if you feel it warrants some weathering, a bit of chipping on the leading edges is all I would do. Afterall props do get bent, chipped and cracks and need to be replaced. How about a catchup build thread of your Me 262? Surely looking forward to following your build.

Gaz I just thought it allowed ample time for anyone to participate if they wanted to, by making room in their build schedule. I'm not sure what the forums guidelines are for the length of a GB.

Ernie With the Ukraine GB just finishing up, may I make a suggestion of GB's being just one per year, running from January 1st through June 30th. This will allow everyone time to decide on their entry, plenty of time to work it into their build schedule and complete their entry. I'm really liking Martin's suggestion and thinking about an entry already.

Carl Sometimes you just hit paydirt when you least expect it. it's like watching Antiques Roadshow. Sometimes you find a Two dollar nothing and it turns out to be worth thousands. Of course, with my luck, I would pay a thousand for it and find out it worth two dollars

Wouldn't that be cool

One good looking build and dio

I think I still remember the story way back when the Air Force matched it's Starfighter up against the Phantom and the rest is history

Thanks Ernie, very much appreciated and I'm right with you and how I wouldn't jump on a RCN Banshee in 32nd scale.

Cees +2 ... nice to see the build back on the bench and up and running.

Ernie Terrific progress and no question, your Helldiver is going to cross the line in grand style. You are so right in those kits such as Tamiya Corsair and Mosquito (I've built them both) without locator pins and with kindergarten instructions would be the same to build as the Helldiver and that's hitting the nail right on the heads. Tamiya, ZM and GWH (plus others), go the extra mile, key parts, have accurate locator pins and fantastic instructions and that's one of the biggest reasons they are always at the top of my build list - pure fun and almost no frustrations (I do insert my own frustrations into any build 🙃). I just think at what both the Helldiver and Whrilwind could have been had they had those kit qualities.

Sherman Smoot, Rest in Peace as you fly west.

My Holy Grail wish list is small and most likely will never be filled but I can dream: 1/32 or 1/48 scale, molded to the ninth degree of current technologies and detail: 1.Lockheed L-049 in Eastern Airline Livery. For me, the most beautiful airplane that ever graced the skies 2. Sky Kings' Cessna 310, The Songbird A really bad pic but you get the idea. Just look at those lines and beautifully sloping fuselage. There is an You Tube video of Arther Godfry talking to his good friend Captain Eddie Rickenbacker (president of EAL at the time) and then flying the Connie with a full crew coast to coast. Yes, Arthur was fully rated for the Connie and one of the Hollywood personalities that was a fully rated pilot. I believe if memory serves me correctly, Arthur owned and flew a Piper Apache back in those day. I do have the old Heller 1/72 scale kit in the stash, ATP EAL Decals and I know somewhere the Fisher engine/cowl set. The Songbird Cessna 310; the photo is just the correct model of the 310..

Terrific progress and some mighty fine work brush painting all the details. I hope you are following Nige's Modeling Bench Channel, as he is building the Lancaster and doing an amazing job - loads if how too's and 'rivet counting' in the right way: an amazing build and channel to follow.

John Looking so good and you have the "Corsair" magical touch for sure. Tamiya should make you a Corsair Ambassador.

Thanks Phil And glad to read you pulled your SH Tempest off the SOD and finished it. I'm suffering the same while part fit is an issue and takes work to correct the issues, so much could have been avoided, turning the models into an enjoyable build rather then nights of frustrations if SH had spent the much needed time in correcting and ensuring the instructions were builder friendly and left no questions on how parts are to be assembled and exactly where and how they are to be located. They surely put too much time and effort into the instructions looks but missed the mark. I commented on Ernie's Helldiver build that every manufacture should do more then one test build using the instructions by builders who have not been associated with the project and correct the instructions as to what issues and problems they find. This will surely remove a lot of the frustrations and promote sales down the road.

Ernie Way to go and so glad you kept at it with no give in your determination❗ Absolutely looks brilliant and again, no matter how detailed the resin parts are; accurate and easy to follow instructions are the name of the game. Every manufacture needs to understand and realize that their instructions can make or break a kit, ease build frustrations and keep the enjoyment in the build. I seriously doubt most companies actually test build their kits from the instructions and done by builders who have not been involved with the kit at all. Martin is amazing in his abilities to find the perfect reference photos - how he does it, I haven't a clue but thank goodness he goes beyond the extra mile. JUst

Martin I just don't know how you do it but the pics are just what the doctor ordered for Ernie. Awesome detail pics for sure.