Peterpools

Thanks Rob I do the same but with a sharp needle in a pin vise but I still struggle finding the center. The more I think about it, I was always had issues with drilling out gun barrels - never understood why.

Ernie Agreed and I need to look at it a different way. One area that they should have improved was the instructions - same as with the Whirlwind. Poor, vague instructions just lead to a lot of frustrations and redo's, which I'm knee deep in now.

John Tri color paint scheme is looking so good and has your magical touch all over it

Chris Looking forward to your Me 262 photographs and build thread. Glad you're on board, as LSM is a wonderful forum and a great place to hang out.

Thanks Mike, much appreciated. I'm getting there and making progress.

Thanks Phil, very much appreciated

Welcome aboard Scott and look forward to following your work.

Ernie Your perseverance is amazing and shame on them. I just never understood why some companies that produce AM sets and details have fit issues. Afterall, they have the actual kit to work fit and surely with their talent for creating detail parts, fit should be as important as detail. ❗

Carl Nice progress on the Starfighter's fuselage work and completely stand on your side of the fence on having all the panels and speed brakes closed.

Thanks Carl Got ya but once it's done, the worst is behind. For me the least liked stage of any build: filling, sanding and scribing, of which scribing is number one on that list. One super plus for the Starfighter, with its thin and small wings, a huge plus in my book.

Thanks John Getting close but I'm still a bit away as there is a lot to still do before I reach the turn for the home stretch. Hoping to be there after priming is done and all the redos are finished and I'm sure the Whirlwind will have more than its share.

Agreed for sure

Martin, thanks for the video - pretty cool how they pack the kits. Any videos on how Infinity actually produces the kits?

John Nice progress and a Brewster Corsair for the collection - now something. painting is my favorite part of any build and once there, you're officially in the homestretch.

Thanks John Making progress and with some luck, I should be priming and painting by next week.

Thanks martin, much appreciated. Those ugly seam lines are actually seam I filled with CCA and then checked with a Sharpie and then followed up with more CCA. They are sealed and hopefully gone for good.

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.