Peterpools

Looking forward to both the FW190 and Me109, as it seems we have been waiting forever. I know I’m in the minority but I was hoping for the Basic kit version, keeping costs and engineering times down. Seems ZM original concept of both a SWS and a Basic version, the Basic version has been dropped. Of course I am planning on buying both kits. Keep ‘em comin Peter

Bill Enjoy the kit and looking forward to a build thread. Keep ‘em cominn Peter

John Alclad Dark Aluminum is looking mighty good. Can’t wait to see the paneling Keep ‘em comin Peter

Gaz Now I understand what you are trying to accomplish. It’s not that the color disappears but blends in shade with a complimentary shade in B&W. Not sure it will work without filters which allows the photographer to control the intensity of shades of gray. For example a red filter turns a blue sky sky to a very dark gray. Also, old B&W photos tend to fade, adding to the effect. Completely agree about the art side of modeling vs the historical side - two completely different camps. Keep ‘em comin Peter

Kai Aces on the preshading - looking real good. Like your selection of dark gray with a hint of blue. Keep ‘em comin Peter

Oliver Holy Cow .... brilliant work .... simply amazing Keep ‘em comin Peter

John Your paint work looks fantastic smooth as silk - touch of the master. Keep 'em comin Peter

WOW! Gorgeous looking wood for sure. Keep 'em comin Peter

Right with Harv and nice to see you're back at the bench. Keep 'em comin Peter

Phil So a Sherman seems to be in your plans for upcoming builds. Nice choice. Keep 'em comin Peter

Tom Big doesn't come close .. Gigantic might be a better description Keep 'em comin Peter

Carl Nice progress and nice fix for the lost rivets. Keep 'em comin Peter

Incredible, just incredible Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz Not sure about the monochrome vs color. I've spent years enjoying photography and do shoot a lot of B&W work. I'm not sure exactly what you want to accomplish but the lighter the color up to a Mid tone the better the chances it will not show up well in a B&W photo. Flat, dull lighting helps a lot. Nice work on your figure - the details are bringing it to life Keep 'em comin Peter

Gus Nothing like tinkering to get the feel of new paints. Looking forward to your next update with some fresh paint applied to the Cheetah Keep 'em comin Peter

Kev Nice work on the front office. I too love the Quinta sets and find the same issues with the handles and levers - applies to PE as well. Your solution is the only solution that worked for me. Keep 'em comin Peter

Ron You're off to a great start on the 'Pete' and the size of the 1/16th Cummins engine: it's huge! Keep 'em comin Peter

B'man Much appreciated. KH chose the path and completely agree, it's a shame their kits have so many faults that could have been fixed prior to releases. The Kingfisher is a must for me and i need to gather up the strength to tackle the kit down the road. Carl's points and warning are well taken and John B actually built one. Only other 1/32 P-39 I know of is the Special Hobby kit. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Gaz She certainly is starting to look the part Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Ant Much appreciated. I'm hanging in there and going to finish, no matter what. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Carl Just feels good to be in such good company and lots of help to climb over the obstacles. Yup, know what you mean about the Kingfisher and it's on my must build list as for some strange reason, I have a fondness for the airplane. At this stage of the game, nothing surprises me about KH kits any more Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Kai Indeed, seems both kits have way more in common - just wish it was the good parts. Trying to look ahead and see what pitfalls are lurking around the corner.Appreciate the thumbs up on the photographs Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Harv Sure has been a struggle but I'm determined to finish, no matter what. Keep 'em comin Peter

Hope the pilots work out OK Keep 'em comin Peter

Gluing up the Fuselage Finally, all the interior work I planned on doing was completed and I turned my attention to mating up the two fuselage halves. Lots of test fitting, tweaking and then it was time to glue the fuselage halves together. I started with the bottom seam as it fit rather well and was the best starting point. The upper fuselage was glued together from the rear of the cockpit back to the tail. The small portion in front of the IP was not glued together yet, allowing for a bit of wiggle room when fitting the windscreen and upper cowling parts, as that’s the plan. The left and right hand sides of the front cowlings were now fitted and glued in place, left to dry, with some fancy seam filling yet to come. Looking at loads of photos, especially Martin’s, it was obvious, KH went way overboard on the size of the screws that hold the panels in place. They aren’t rivets, nor bolts but flat head, single slot screws, so I removed them and might add some with small holes drilled in their place. The two upper cowling panels, will be installed after the wings, so I can add nose weight as needed, to help prevent a tailsitter. Just couldn’t think of a more confusing way of installing parts that didn’t fit well to start with. I played around with a filler strip in front of the windscreen, trying to adjust the width for the best fit I could, so the windscreen would have a good chance of fitting and come close to the correct height and curvature for the top cowl panels; just one shot at it to get it right. Talk about the pressure being on. Right now the 'glass' is just resting in place. The top spine panel that Hubert so correctly identified as the R2D2 panel cover is the worst fitting panel/part on the kit – nowhere close to being in the ballpark and I am assuming KH thought everyone would leave it open/off to see inside the rear fuselage. I spent hours carving and fitting and when glued in place, the gaps were filled in with two applications of my home brew of sprue glue and then a few more with Tamiya White Filler. A ton of work to fit one simple access panel! I started working on the rudder and vertical stabilizer for a good fit and I’m close and as good as I’m going to get. I’m amazed at the progress I’ve made over the past week and this coming week modeling will be on the back burner as I have a few doctor appointments and oral surgery on Friday – Oh what fun. Thanks for checking in Peter In all four photos, the 'glass' is just resting place, while work is needed to obtain a good, tight fit, so far it isn't looking too bad