BlrwestSiR

Gear bays were white. Easier to spot leaks. Cockpits were grey. I think sometimes black on late '40s, early '50s

Ernie, glad to hear from you. You've been missed here. Carl

I'm skipping right over the RLM 02/66 debate and going straight to Dark Gull Grey!

Here's a recently released video by Bandai on the Perfect Grade Unleashed RX-93 I mentioned previously. 2,500 parts...and like almost all recent Bandai kits, it'll be snap/press fit.

Okay, here's a few pics. The Amusing kit has the Maus turret rather than the one in the Trumpeter kit. The camo is a combo of different schemes to reflect a vehicle built from sub-assemblies. That and I I wanted to have fun with it. I did a simple mod to the side skirts to make them removable.

I'll grab a couple when I get home.

A quick radome fairing for my Horton. I made it from a P-51 drop tank and Apoxie Sculpt.i did a test fit on the canopy too. With the wings dry fitted:

Thanks Rob. I don't think there was actually any 2 seaters built so it's all mostly conjecture. As Hubert said, ZM is doing their 2 seater with a tub. That's what gave me the idea to do mine in the same way.

Looks imposing. I built the Amusing Model version a couple years back. Simple but enjoyable.

So far, the fit has been good. There's some light flash in places that needs clean up. Definitely doesn't have as much (internal) detail as the ZM kit for good or bad. The wings have only three main parts- upper and lower halves plus a wing rib at the root. The big miss is the lack of painting instructions. I would suggest maybe downloading the ZM instructions for detail colours.

After finally getting the Takom Ho229 combo kits, I couldn't wait to start hacking one up. @Martinnfb and I have been talking about the 2 seater B version which doesn't have the right nose and cockpit for the proposed night fighter variant. Right being subjective since it was only proposed. Anyways, that led to the idea of doing it as a What-if. I thought of a USN carrier based version say early '50s. So here I am. Fuselage inner frame. Cockpit with styrene side panels to make a tub. Mocked up.

Paul, it's a very nice kit that's for sure. The option to swap the exposed engine for a closed cowl is a nice touch.

I think I ordered it last June. I had almost forgotten about it as for some reason, Lucky sent the rest of the order earlier but not the P-40 even though it was in stock at the time.

I finally got my GWH P-40 kit that I ordered from Lucky Model I don't know how long ago. I'll be doing this in RAF desert colours when I get to it.

Some very nice tools there Paul. I agree that Dspiae tools are generally very high quality.

Your work looks so clean and precise there Rob. Nice choice on swapping out the braided line.

This also arrived today.

Go big or go home: I can't believe we got this less than years after we got the RAV4 but our needs have changed.

I don't think it's a re-boxed Trumpeter kit. Das Werk partner with Takom to do the moulds for their 1/16 kits so I'd be surprised if that wasn't the case. I think it's more coincidence that they're coming out at the same time. Yup, full RC but you still need a radio, batteries and charger. The original Japanese release came with a radio though.

What blue did you use for the transmission Mark?

I had to do something similar when I did my CF-104D. I did a NMF one though.

There's also a price difference. So far the Tamiya is around $1,200 CAD, the Trumpeter approximately $400 from China and the Das Werk one $279 on pre-order from a Canadian shop. The Trumpeter one is also a 2A6 while the Tamiya and Das Werk ones are 2A7 versions. Of course the Tamiya one is a full function RC kit less radio and batteries.

And here are the Leading Edge instructions for the 1/48 sheet. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/leading-edge-4820-caf-cf-104-starfighter-camouflage-scheme--282164 Carl

I'm not sure if this helps or not but on the Scalemates page for the Belcher Bits CF-104 decal sheet there are instructions for the same camo scheme. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/belcher-bits-bd6-canadian-cf-104s--1007328 Scroll down the page to find the link.

😆