Bill_S

Just got back from my club's monthly meeting. It was Secret Santa...

A quick trip to my LHS...

Tamiya Birdcage Corsair. I needed a break from the Z-M 109. Barracuda's cockpit stencils are tedious, but well worth it.

Try them with Cocoa Krispies some time!

I feel your pain (literally), Scott. I have stenosis too. I went in for the shots a couple of years ago, and got a cerebro-spinal fluid leak for my troubles. I had a splitting headache that lasted for four months without letup until we figured out what the problem was. I have to get in for a presurgery consult soon. Until I can get it fixed, I have a prescription for oxycodone. Low dose (5mg), it just takes the edge off.

Awesome work, John. I have a Fisher Tempest in the stash; it's way down in the build queue. I go on vacation for a week and you've completed a 104 and got a good start on this one. Do you ever sleep?

I'm talking about minutes here, Carl. I clean my empty Tamiya bottles, too.

If you want to remove Tamiya acrylics in a hurry, nothing beats good old-fashioned ammonia straight from the bottle. It even eats dried Tamiya acrylics.

For a build starting soon...

Half a dozen 1/2 inch diameter acrylic rods. In case I ever want to do an in-flight display...

I think it's a town in Oklahoma. 😆

I think I've got the tail sorted. It still needs some fine sanding. I got a little over zealous with the file. The leading edge fairings have a small gap. I hope the mis-fit doesn't cause problems later. Be mindful of which set you use; one (the "long" one) is for open cowlings the other for closed cowlings. I've begun on the underside of the engine cowling. I forgot to put in the radiator faces prior to assembly. I checked, and I can pop them in without having to disassemble.

I got an ultrasonic cleaner a couple of years ago; it's been a game changer! I also have an old Badger 350 single action siphon feed airbrush. It's dedicated to spraying Mr. Surfacer. No way am I spraying abrasive granite particles through my Iwata.

Well $hit. How did that happen?

I have a small storage unit. It will fit most of my stash, my ashes, and my gold chariot.

Wings are mounted. At this point, they're only cemented to the belly pan; I'll wait to cement the spar until just prior to fitting the upper fairing. The leading edge fairings are just set in place. I think I'm going to have to fill a gap on the bottom. I've begun work on the tail as well. The join is definitely a little high - I spent a few minutes with a riffler file on the other side. It looks like this now. I took some measurements on the rudder. From what I can tell, a piece of 0.020" (0.5 mm) Evergreen rod should be a good start.

Is it safe? Seriously, there's one thing I learned from the movie Marathon Man. Oil of clove is absolute magic when it comes to tooth pain. Only temporary, but the relief is instant.

Girlfriend: I'm such an idiot. Me: Why, Dear? Girlfriend: Because I complain about how much time you spend with your plastic. Then I go and order you... Me: I'm a lucky guy. I also got this in the mail today. Wet. Is it December 1 yet?

You are correct, Rog!

A couple of items... First F-86 decals and stencils (destined for the old Hasegawa kit). They arrived from Ukraine two weeks earlier than expected! Second, a Bf109G tall tail from a swap with Martin.

Thanks, Carl. Here is where I strayed from the instructions. If you look at the photo, you can see that the leg is cemented to the mount prior to cementing the mount to the fuselage.

You're cruising at warp speed here, Carl. It's looking great; I like the idea of leaving the fuel tank off to cement the cockpit. I opted to leave the landing gear mounts off - it wasn't really clear to me what areas need to remain bare plastic. I cemented the struts to the mounts and painted them as a subassembly.

That's a great price, Rog. Thanks for the heads up!

Very well done, Jerry! Did you put in all the supercharger plumbing on these Jugs?