ScottsGT

😡

Link to completed builds.

It’s the wrong scale! I know the Trumpeter kit has the turned down exhaust as well. Not sure about oleos though. (Stupid auto correct wants Oreo. Damnit. Now I want Oreos too)

And tucked away in the display.

Forgot one

Finally! This kit has been patiently waiting in the stash for 3 or 4 years to get built. Of course after buying it I start reading a few issues presented when building it. It’s true! So I kind of pigeon holed it until the USAF introduced the newest Splinter scheme last year. I finally found a source for vinyl masks and decals and of course “Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!” One bit of AM I bought years ago (and panicked at first when I couldn’t find it right away after the move) was the Kopecky exhaust. Kit part is just way too small. Unfortunately Kopeckey doesn’t provide instructions with the parts and after digging online I kind of figured it out. The kit wheels and tires were an absolute joke. More like flat tires. So ResKit to the rescue there. I also splurged for the Quinta interior set. Kit issues, other than too small of an exhaust and flat tires….bad sink marks everywhere. Some almost unfixable unless you want to spend the next three years sanding off the RAM details around gear and weapons doors, correcting sink marks and replacing ram edges with Evergreen stock. Gear doors were not called out correctly and the nose gear door arms won’t even reach the glue points. I had to epoxy the doors to the fuselage. Cannot install the landing light since it would get in the way of the door. PE rail in the canopy with the grips just would not go in place. I don’t know, maybe I’m just that bad of a modeler? Wing gaps were horrible. I’ve seen some builds where they added Evergreen stock to fill them in. I simply used sprue goo. Same with the tail feathers. Big gaps and an unusual way of designing them. Kopeckey makes replacements for these as well. I highly recommend over kit parts, but I was too hard headed to realize this until it was too late. I’ve seen these kits up for sale cheap after someone got started. I almost snagged one to build a “What If” Thunderbird. Nope. No way. Not gonna happen now!

Only reason I did this one clean is because I don’t think Splinters carry load outs. Just cat and mouse games training pilots. My B and C models will be dirty. Actually thinking of doing folded wings on the Navy bird. Someone got me hooked on the folded wing look. 🤡

Calling it done! Sneak preview of it completed. Once I clean the bench I’ll start another thread in the right area. With more photos of course.

Carl, one dropped right into place. The other took some massaging into place using a file and a sanding stick.

Todays lesson boys and girls?? Don’t trust kit directions! Went to install landing gear doors. It shows this is how it’s done. Just to make sure door angles were correct I went online and looked at pics. Yea, like a P-51’s inner doors, only open during gear movement. This is how it should be. Thus would have been another one of those plan ahead moments.

Made it out to Yosemite in the fall one time. Everything was dry and there was nearby forest fires. Everything was smoky and hazy. Made for cool pics of Half Dome and El Capitan. Spring is apparently the time to visit Yosemite. We did Jackson Hole (tourist trap, would never go back) Grand Tetons and Yellow Stone in July. We actually got snow flurries at the Grand Tetons. Those would all be great places to go if it wasn’t for all the tourist like us. Hugely crowded! Most photographed barn in the nation. The wife… Of course we do the fly out and rent a car thing. We would probably kill each other if locked up that close in an RV for that long of a trip from the east coast.

LOL! Fortunately on the Skyraider it’s about 99% covered up if you build it with the front flaps closed.

That calls for flame throwers. Burn it all down because they have family.

Ok, #9. Is that a current stash or will we be getting a yearly Christmas package for the next 10 years?

Those are as bad as the Kitty Hawk radials.

Looks like fun! Awesome lifestyle for those that enjoy it. Now head west and go check out the places around Vegas and Utah. I was fortunate enough to travel to Vegas with work about a half dozen times. Took an extra few days and traveled around. Zion is a must see!

And this is where I give you your hard earned “You Suck!” Award. I’m jelly!

Funny you should say that. I’ve added all three since then! Steeds pedal spring made it feel like a normal clutch. for a while I was driving without any spring. Another bright idea from Ford. Having a clutch pedal that tries to push you out of the drivers seat.

Ahh yes. The EPA gas saver mode.

Looking great Carl!

Funny manual trans story time. When I got my 2015 Mustang my wife insisted to drive it because she knows how to drive a manual. Told her OK, and as we started out the driveway I tried to explain how the six speed shifter “works”. “I know how to drive a damned manual transmission! You need to shut the F up and let me drive!” Okay, then why are you in 5th gear? She was in the process of shifting from 2nd to 3rd, but because she didn’t know how the shifter worked she went to 5th. I was an instant humble and she hasn’t driven it since that day 9 years ago.

Some might pay extra for that.

Finally finished up the decals today. After a few hours dry time I went with my old acrylic dull coat, Microscale’s Micro Satin. I was afraid of melting the Alps printed decals. I just sprayed the top with the flat since the bottom still has the Have Glass pearlescent clear on it.

I’d be in for a 1/16 as well. One of my favorites. Honestly, that one and the M4A1 Sherman are the only two I’d like to build in 1/16.

Saw a documentary on the Antonov. Seems like they have a breakdown on just about every flight they had to ship parts in to complete the trip. Almost like the C-5. My Dad was on the C5 design and test team. He told us some interesting stories of that big bird.