Peterpools

Mark WOW, the gear looks tremendous i details are outstanding

Mark Steady progress - and your Viggen is approaching the finish line. Amazing work.

Fantastic build, brilliantly done.

Carl Looking good and always a big step in a build; closing up the fuselage as so much work has gone into the build up to that point.

Ernie Your progress is amazing, always moving forward and your detail work keeps bringing the Helldiver up to a new level. I was completely blown away by the Resin2 Detail FastFix Wright CYCLONE R2600, looks spectacular and 3D printed with the ignition lines already on ... now that's simply brilliant.

Thanks Dennis, yup, she is starting to take shape and hopefully all the hurdles are done with. Lots of seams to play with but other then the gear that might offer a bit of a challenge, I'm back on course.

Ernie much appreciated. Truly and elegant airplane and just a shame she never was given Merlin's. The Whirlwind actually isn't a difficult build and the only real issues I've encountered have been due to the poor instructions, which look great but once inside, fall short in aiding the builder. No question, after your helldiver build, the Whirlwind will be a piece of cake.

Thanks Carl for your help as always, it was the perfect fix and shame on SH for not correcting the parts, which are impossible to use as provided or at least add an addendum to the instructions.

John After all the work you did on the Trumpy Corsair to fold the wings, extended wings would be my guess.

jerry Very nice work and the signed card from Tex Hill, priceless.

John I should have guess and glad you're back building another Tamiya Corsair - let me guess, your favorite aircraft of the Second World War and your favorite model as well. Front office looks perfect and I just love the Quinta 3D cockpit decals. Of course, the burning question: wings folded or extended?

TEST FITTING PART 1 With all the major assemblies now glued up, it was time for some serious test fitting to see what lay ahead. The Fuselage: The major seam between the two halves required a lot of sanding as alignment was fair at best. I tested the seams after sanding with a Black Sharpie, followed with wet sanding though 2000 grit and where thin black lines showed, those were very thin cracks in the seam that were filled Extra Thin CCA. When dry, wet sanding once more and all was good. The black lines remain as they are sealed in with the CCA. The engine/main gear nacelles were assembled and the seams work was done as with the fuselage. I found using the bulkhead trimming method Carl and I came up with worked very well and I was able to install the front and rear bulkheads after the nacelles were assembled, seams filled and wet sanded, making life a lot easier. The wing needed some of TLC, initially glued up with Revell Contacta Professional Glue and then followed up with Tamiya Extra Thin. Lots of taping and clamping was needed to keep everything tight and aligned while the glue setup for a good 24 hours. The photographs show the Whirlwind taped together, testing the fit of the assemblies, showing where and approximately how much tweaking, filling and sanding lay ahead. The top of the lower portion of the rudder was short and needed some Evergreen Strip to fill in the gap. The upper rudder doesn’t fit well either and surely there had to be a better way to mold the parts. As I progress through the build, the Whirlwind is showing just how big she is and will be destined to sit beside the Mossie in the display case. Making slow but steady progress, while the build mojo is running strong. Bulkheads are in and I'm one happy camper.

Bill - HolIy Cow, the results look fantastic and you are surely onto a new technique that looks mighty good. 'm going to do some testing.

Kai Right with the guys. Nice weathering on the wing fold area - looks spot on.

Thanks Kai, I'm making progress and getting around the roadblocks. Just seems to me Special Hobby needs to devote more time to the instructions after they test build their kit a few times and note what parts need to be corrected by the builder.

Carl Nice progress as the front office 'tubs' with their injection seats, belts and harnesses look fantastic.

Thanks Andy, very much appreciated. Building a race car with a gloss finish is so different then military modeling and helps keep the mojo alive and well.

Gaz The negative of macro shots .. you see what normally wouldn't be seen. How about a few photos from a normal distance and I'm willing to bet the Mig looks just fine

John First time I've ever seen this kit built and you certainly did justice to the kit. Love the NMF .. looking so good.

John Absolutely, they should understand that well done instructions, with clearly drawn details and parts placement, makes up for a lot of kit inaccuracies and tradeoffs.

Gaz WOW!!!!! When is your build going to start, as I have my front row seat already reserved for the journey

Terrific work - looking so good

Hi Oliver, Very much appreciated your very kind comments on my GT40. I had one, I would never drive it; just wash and wax it.

Harv Glad to hear you're feeling better each day. Looking forward to following your build again when you feel up to it. I know how you feel as I've also had coronary issues after all the chemo. Just keep fighting and pushing ahead, better days to come for sure.

Ernie You make it sound mighty tempting and seeing what you are going through, it's a lot more work then the Whirlwind