Peterpools

Rob No matter what the kit and its complexity, organization is a key that took me years to come to grips with and learn. Even on the Big Cat I'm working on now, with almost every assembly having right and left parts, each is labeled as soon a it has been removed from the fret - just saves time and guess work and peace of mind. You are going to love the Tamiya Clear Glosses ... awesome for sure.

Kev Fantastic progress as you work your way through each sub assembly. No question, the PE while tedious and very time consuming, makes a huge difference. Enjoying following our progress with every update.

Chris, thanks for p[osting, as this seems to finally answer the very long running question of these Mustangs colors. Nothing could be more definitive then information from Dana Bell.

John Nice progress on the redo - looking mighty good.

Carl Nice progress and agreed, the model is BIG! Of course, now I know how you can have so many projects underway at once and no issues: Fur is there keeping an eye on the goings on.

Rob Love the prep and organization for sure. I always do as you do and label parts I remove from the fret that has at least a right and left, so as not to confuse which is which. I normally use a dot system indicating right and left on both the part and on the instructions to be sure and in case of more then two parts that look nearly identical, I number them. Just keeps the build moving along without discovering later on that the wrong part was installed and now backtracking needs to be done with lady Luck sitting next to me. Years ago, I went down that route and had a bin a very expensive model, as there was no fixing the multiple part eras. Feel the same as you about Mr Color Clear Gloss (there are a good number of them in the range) and I just don't get consistent results. These days I use either Tamiya X-22 or Tamiya LP-9 and no issues or worries at all. Go figure.

Gorgeous work - simply beautifully done. 🏆

Right with you and no better reason for a build. I have a few kits my son gave me many years ago and they are so very special to me.👍

John Nice plan and gong to be a treat to follow.

Rob, thanks so very much, Agree that on the Real Deal, I doubt the crews and maintainers actually read all the stencil data after the aircraft after the aircraft/missile has been in service for a while. It's almost as if the operational maintenance manual has been painted on the aircraft and stores. I wonder how long it stays readable and how much is replaced when/if needed? I do remember your Kai Phantom - awesome build and it seems no matter how much stencil data is added, there is always more to go. My guess is, the F4's easily hold the record for the amount of stencil data on an aircraft. One thing for sure between the kit and Furball decals, almost every stencil marking is included and no way will I be using anywhere near half that amount - just want the flavor.

Chris, Very much appreciated. Surely was a lot of tedious work to apply all of the decals but without them, the missiles would look just close to naked for sure. Only negative, is the four Pheonix missiles are up under the fuselage and wings and not much will be seen - but I knowing it's there just in case and does look good. Thank you for the comments on the PLW's - for mew, I use the, very lightly and have gone away from using black and use a dark brown or gray instead, as a mean s of picking out the details and adding a bit of 'use' but not over doing it - more like a newly use look. Seems it's working.

Kev, very much appreciated on both the modeling and my photography.

Thanks Carl, very much appreciated. Lots of time and work and hopefully looking forward to seeing them on the Big Cat in a few weeks.

Thanks Martin very much appreciated. Hard to believe how much time the loadouts and gear consumed but better now then at the end of the build when I'm normally out of stream.

John Fantastic build. Left a comment and post on the RFI post. 🏆

John Awesome build and the freehand cammo finish is absolutely perfect. 🏆

Mark Got ya. I like the Wild Weasel looks a little better then the single seater but ant Thud is awesome in my book.

Phil I've been on board since day am all smiles that your ZM Mustang is nearing the finish line. So glad you stayed the course, regrouped the troops and have all the issues resolved and moving forward. 👍

Terrific progress on your Big Cat. Weathering absolutely brings out the details on the gear and gear doors. On my Tamiya F-14 GB Twins build, I did the same with the gear and posted an update yesterday showing that portion of the build.

WOW Terrific progress on the Fortress. Looking mighty good and the extra work on the wood floor and seats adds so much.

Phil Looking mighty good and kudos for keeping moving forward. NMF looks just fines as it more then duplicates an oxidized finish.

Oliver One good looking chain link fence and gate.

Rog Exactly ... can't understand how that can be unless it is sloppy engineering or no QC.

Thanks Mike again for the information and thoughts. All the Vallejo Metallics are ordered and on their way. The one item I didn't order (forgot) is the Flow Enhancer which I'll be order with my next week. I've air brushed Model Air a lot over the years and have run into all the issue we hear about; clogging and flow issues at the tip, a nightmare to clean out the air brush if you use anything but their air brush cleaner and all the rest. I now have a brand new dedicated Grex .3 tip AB for just Vallejo Paints, so I'm all set and raring to go as soon as the F-14 is finished and I'm onto my next project.

Mark I'm already waiting for the 105 Thud build - going to be a classic for sure. Go for the front office as well.