Peterpools

Rob I can see a little of the work you just accomplished but not much unfortunately. Any chance of retaking the images with more lighting?

Rob What an awesome haul and seems the best way to resupply in these times.

Looking mighty good.

Ralph, right with Carl. Some mighty nice progress.

Phil Nice progress for sure. You know me, I'm not a big fan of weathering but do appreciate light weathering for the flown but maintained look. BTW, Ultimate Model products carries all the holders and that's who I bought mine from plus ones for sanding sticks and tools ... well worth the money. Ultimate Modelling Products | Ultimate Modelling Products (umpretail.com)

Peter brilliant progress. I've never seen you work this fast and yet the precision and level of work is beyond amazing.

John As James Bond said: never say never. I'm betting there will be a few more T-28 down the line' you just have the touch.

John Billiant build and a perfect finish. Your weathering absolutely enhances the build and adds so much to the finish. 🏆

Chris Good question - I have no idea. I would assume a lot of the stencil data is worn off and faded as well. I'm guessing but some of the more important stencils might be redone but I've only heard of this when the aircraft is repainted, which is years apart. Maybe someone who knows can jump is with some firsthand knowledge.

Thanks Chris, shall do. 😉

Chris Some mighty nice progress and with all the tips from the guys, you should be sailing though any of the 'pitfalls' that were present on the kit. Love the pre-painting and weathering - going to be a beauty. One thing about Phantoms - they easily have the record of the number of stencils carried! Rest up it's going to take a good long while to get them all on.

Andy Some very nice work and detailing. Surely going to look the part when your Mossie crosses the finish line.

Carl Looking mighty good - just love the effect of detail and depth.

Ralph ... wow, your Bell X-1 looks awesome and the color is spot on the money. Some mighty nice work. 🏆

Thanks Carl. very much appreciated. I'm right now in the midst of doing all the leading edges in a NMF using the new Vallejo metallics (for at least me). Hopefully after the next few days, the drain on my Tamiya tape supply will greatly ease up.

Scott. I'm right with you and after the Big Cat is done, I'll be placing a refill order for Tamiya tape many rolls to be sure.

Rob, very much appreciated and that sure is an terrific reason to build a WNW's kit. I just finished masing out all the leading edges for their NMF and felt as I used a good few square feet of Tamiya tape again.

Thanks Scott, very much appreciated. Looking forward to seeing your decaling update and you are way ahead of me. I just finally finished masking out all the leading edges that will receive a 'polished aluminum' finished and getting ready to shoot the Gloss black base. Loads of small painting to do as well including the burner cans. Another boatload of Tamiya tapes was used today.

Gus, sure hope the finished gear aby doors equal the rest of the kit. Could be JetMads quality might be pushed to the limit as they are producing so many kits now.

Thanks John Yup, I do remember those days for sure. Just seems Tamiya must make more money on its non-modeling products then kits - my bench is overflowing with them 😉

Thanks Mike and I wish I was but just a lot of work to still do. Hopefully in the next week or so, I'll have the Big Cat done, if it ever stops raining.

John I never knew that but surely, good to know.

HI Chris We have gas heat and it's on but at this stage of the build, no need to take a chance. Waiting a few days surely won't hurt or slow me down as I've been in low gear for the build - just too many medical issues to deal with right now to work at a steady pace.

John You're always in high gear and looking so good.

IT AIR BRUSH TIME Work continues with most of the color coats done. With all the rain forecasted for the next few days, painting the aluminum leading edges will have to wait until the end of the week and better weather. Priming: With all the sub-assemblies and the fuselage completed, it was time to head for the spray booth, spend a good few hours priming and checking for redos. I was pretty amazed there were only a few small redo’s to take care of. Primer of choice: MRP Gray Primer, applied with my Iwata Eclipse HP-CS; 3.5 tip. Color Coats: Initially the undersides and control surfaces were going to be painted in Insignia White FS17875 but both MRP and Tamiya lacquer versions seemed to be a bit too tannish in hue to match the photographs in my Daco Tomcat reference book but most likely the correct color. I decided to go with Tamiya Lacquer for the first coat and when dried, still seemed a bit off color to my eye. When the second color coat went on, very well thinned out Tamiya X2 Gloss White over the Insignia white base coat, the white matched the book very well. The topcoat was MRP Light Gull Gray FS36440 and no issues at all. Being a mat finish and needing FS16440 a gloss finish, I very gently wiped down all the Gull Gray with a Tamiya 3000 sanding sponge and smooth as silk, as I didn’t have the correct FS paint in my MRP stash. The Furball mask set was used for the upper control surfaces – worked perfectly, saving a lot of time and frustration in masking out all the hinges. Next up was all the orange tips everywhere there was a tip to be found. And of course, the only orange I had was an old bottle of Italeri acrylic FS12197, the correct FS number, but the paint was unusable, pretty well dried up in the bottle. I mixed the orange as close as I could get with Tamiya lacquers: Pure Red (2 pts) and Pure Yellow (3 pts) ... looks good and time to move on. Just so hard to believe how much masking has been required on the Big Cat to this point. Seems to me the hobby has become: The many uses of Tamiya masking tape. Wings and stabilizers are only being test fit for the photographs and will be added at the end of the build, which is still a good way off.