Peterpools

Rich Just blown away - incredible work Keep 'em comin Peter

Hi Oliver How have you been - hopefully well and in top form. I've had my ups and down and last September I was diagnosed with cancer, gone through chemo therapy and feeling much better - the side effects from the chemo was the hardest part. I'm recovering nicely and hopefully will be hanging around for a long time. Just so glad you're here on our forum so we can enjoy and appreciate your work. Keep 'em comin Peter

Kai Nice work not letting the smallest imperfections slip by. Keep 'em comin Peter

Mark Absolutely sunning finish - I've never seen better - just beautiful Keep 'em comin Peter

John All the faith in the world that you would work it out. Keep 'em comin Peter

Phil Thanks for the note - I should have known you did that. Keep 'em comin Peter

Kai Can't wait to see the Mirage roll out of the paint shop Keep 'em comin Peter

Mike Keep 'em comin Peter

Oliver OMG ... brilliant and amazing work - just incredible. I remember following your Huey Diorama, which was in a class by itself and a IPMS Nat Winner but the level of detailing you have reached equal to the real deal. Keep 'em comin Peter

Awesome work and you certainly have found your niche in the art world Keep 'em comin Peter

Mike WOW! Beautiful work. Keep 'em comin Peter

Gaz Wow - thanks for the update and tutorial .. perfectly done. Keep 'em comin Peter

Carl Yikes .. going to be a spectacular build .. will be following all the way from my front row seat. Bench and paint racks look mighty good as well. Keep 'em comin Peter

Tom OMG ... brilliant work. See what you are accomplishing, makes my complaining about the P-39 a non-issue Keep 'em comin Peter

Call me crazy but after I finish the P-39, I'm ready to go on a Special Hobby kit myself: The Tempest MkII. Has the looks and lines of the Sea Fury. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Phil Sure feels that way Keep 'em comin Peter

Martin Going to be finished .. no matter what Keep 'em comin Peter

Hi Ant Much appreciated and not going to fold - she will be finished Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Mark and welcome to the party. Not giving up the ship and still planning on finishing Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks John I'm hanging in there and giving the P-39 my best shot. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thank Gaz - much appreciated It's certainly is a bear of a kit and buildable, just a matter of time and sweat to get it done; so wonderfully engineered. Completely agree about the demise of KH, "I just think it's a self-inflicted wound" It's said to see a large model manufacturer close up shop but after the P-39 and already having the Kingfisher in my stash and knowing their reputation - I don't think I would purchase any more if their kits, as long as they are available. Keep 'em comin Peter

Thanks Gus Challenges - the key note of the kit. Still slugging away and making some progress .. John was sure right in his assessment of the kit after building it: a high cuss level build. Mid engine - I'm a fan and solves a lot of problems and absolutely creates others. I'm thinking Ferrari here Keep 'em comin Peter

Hi Kai Much appreciated and so far, the good old P-39 has been a fight to the end ... firmly convinced the designers for the P-39 and Mirage has at least trained together in the past! Making tiny progress steps as each step is just full of fit issues and obstacles. Working on the nose panels and what a mess - nothing fits and at this point, I need to see how the front windscreen fits before gluing the fuselage halves together and working on the six access panels - Oh what fun. While slugging it out with the nose section, I assembled the main gear wells and wings - nothing new here surely it wouldn't be too much to have asked for: a small wing spar - nope just a few small stubs to play with. Still staying the course Keep 'em comin Peter

CLOSING UP THE FUSELAGE (I Only Wish) First up was to remove the Big Allison as there was no need to install it after I decided to close up the engine access panels. Secondly, with the addition of the excellent Eduard Brasin Exhausts that blew the kits offering away, that sealed the fate of the engine – plus it’s saved the engines added weight behind the main gear, reducing nose weight to help prevent a tail sitter. I made a three-part mounting plate for each set of exhausts from Evergreen sheet, glued them into place on the inside of the fuselage and the job was done. The rear, upper radio deck was added and that closed up the engine and rear portion of the P-39 from view. After test fitting the clear armor plate behind the seat in the bulkhead, I still didn’t install it as I wanted to finish doing all the test fitting and see how the two fuselage halves joined together. A bit of tweaking and oh no, my major fear right from the start raised its ugly head: using the PE floor raised the height of the forward bulkhead, instrument panel and ammo drums, prevented the forward fuselage halves from closing up over the front bulkhead. No way to back track and the only answer was to sand down all the offending parts until the fuselage halves came flush together without clamping. Message to myself: in the future, do not use the PE Cockpit floor – way too much added work and fuss. In the end job done and the fuselage above the front bulkhead now closes without clamping. The nose gear wheel well was glued into place, the last part before I could glue the two fuselage halves together but I’m still holding off as I just have a bad feeling and want to leave some wiggle room just in case. Time now to work on the nose portion of the P-39. Right from the start I knew I didn’t want the gun bay open with all the access panels removed and that meant dealing with a boat load of parts and alignment issues. What parts would be needed to close up the access panels were built and added with my fingers crossed. In my humble opinion, way too many parts that didn’t fit all that well together. What Kitty Hawk should have done is mold the access panel/cowl in two parts for those of us that want it closed and for those want wanted to have everything hanging in the wind, just leave cut lines in the inside so the parts could be cut apart as needed. From this kit, reviews of other Kitty Hawk builds, this seems to be a stable mate of their design philosophy: just way too many parts for an assembly when less could have done the job. After countless attempts and playing with the six panels that make up the P-39’s nose panels, I had the assembly taped together. Right now, I’m looking at six bad fitting parts that are going to require a lot of sanding and filler and then my least favorite part of any build: scribing. Hubert’s note: “one of the worst fitting areas I believe is the rear spine panel, where the R2D2 located” is spot on. I do feel bad about such negative comments after the bad news regarding Kitty Hawk going out of business but this is just my view of the kit under construction. If they were still available or down the road, would I buy another one – no way. Yes, I do have Kitty Hawk’s Kingfisher in the stash and will be building it down the road. Thanks for checking in Peter

Thanks Rob, much appreciated and hopefully not to far down the road you’ll work your magic on on a 1/72nd scale kit. I’m sure I miss phrased my ‘in between, fast builds’ thoughts. On long and complicated builds, I tend to flounder at times and need something a lot simpler to work on and keeps my modeling juices flowing until I’m ready to resume work on the more difficult project. I tend to work in stages on the more complicated builds and look forward to taking in between build/ breaks with a simpler, easier and quicker build. Just my way of working which helps me not wander too far away from the bench. Keep ‘em comin Peter