Bill_S

On my want list!

Sidewall detail on the Revell kit - typical of 70s vintage kits. It's all gone. The Hasegawa pit is actually a decent fit into the Revell fuselage. My first experience with casting resin. Quite a learning curve. Quite a few flat parts easily made from sheet stock. I cast copies of the Hasegawa gear well inserts. too. Just a little tweaking, and I got an excellent fit into the Revell wing.

I started these a while back. Some of you may have seen them on LSP. Three kits; two Revell N1K1-J and the Hasegawa N1K2-J. I have the Scratchbuilders Rex conversion for one of the Revell mid-wing Georges. While the molding on the Revell kits is very nice (and subtle), it's raised. Complete rescribing is in order. Also, the Revell cockpits are very basic and there is no gear bay detail. I've used the Hasegawa pit as a starting point for the earlier birds. All three variants and different instrument panels. I bought three copies of the Brengun PE interior set for the Hasegawa kit. I've used some, but there was quite a bit of scratchbuilding along the way. Resin inserts installed prior to cutting off the underwing cannon gondolas. I had to epoxy a piece of brass square stock to address a major warpage issue. Landing gear bay filled. Lots of filling and sanding!

Thanks, Ernie. I'm thinking about dragging it to my local show/contest this weekend!

I started this one for the Vietnam GB over on LSP. I didn't finish on time, but I finally got it done. Aires cockpit, Sierra Hotel intakes and burner cans. Eduard PE everything. Decals from an old Microscale sheet. Though I had prepainted PE instrument panels, I think the Eduard ones look grainy; I painted the bare ones in the Aires set. Perhaps of interest: the seam between the upper fuselage and the wing root had a significant gap. I stuck a balloon up the tail end and inflated it while the gap filling CA dried. It worked better than I thought it would!

Your Corsair builds are fantastic, John. Have you finished the -1D yet?

I'm just glad to be back with friends.

I missed all the drama, and I'm glad of it!

That's the stuff!

Thanks, Gents. I plan on double-dipping for the foreseeable future. Too many that I consider friends have made the switch; I like to see what you guys are up to!

I gave up on tube glue long ago. Try the Testors glue in the black plastic bottle. It's thinner than the tube stuff, but works very well. A caveat, though - the tip likes to clog, and there's an internal plug that won't allow you to stick a needle all the into the reservoir.

My first post here. I miss the old gang. Getting ready for my local contest next weekend. Still a few small details to iron out, but they'll be ready! All Hasegawa, all 1/32. J2M3, Ki-84, and N1K2-J.