BlrwestSiR

Sorry for the late reply Hubert. It was my father-in-law's 90th birthday yesterday so we were out all day. I think it's the angle of the pic. The gear definitely angles forward. I'm fairly sure it matches what is shown in the instructions.

When I bought this kit, I knew next to nothing about the plane. This has certainly been educational about the type.

Rob, my Porsche is still in the box. I haven't started it yet. I haven't had the courage yet to start it.

Got the Sea Fury gear doors painted. Flaps too. And installed.

Wow, not an easy thing to assemble there Rob. Nice problem solving using the tape instead of the spacer. It's really like building an actual car. On my MFH Porsche 956, the brakes have separate pads for the calipers along with the spring clip that holds them in place.

Excellent!

Really fantastic work on the Cobra Rob. Lots of work but the results have been well worth it.

Like Martin, I've got the Big Box Horten set coming. I've also got the JetMads Draken ordered. DBMK has a new Sea Fury coming later this year. That's got my attention even though I need to finish the Fisher one on my bench. This has started happening to my stash. I've managed to go from none in 1/48 to 7 in the last couple of years.

Some stunning progress there Rob. The instrument panel looks very convincing and the polish you've achieved on the paint is spectacular.

Good model hygiene. Helps keep resin and plastic strong.

Yet more work done on the Sea Fury.

I do know whatever they are, they're about the size of the roaches in Taiwan.

Gus, I've never done the canopy dip before using Future or any other product so this is a first for me. I've had it for a bit so thought this might a good chance to try it. I dipped the pieces straight into the jar, it being just big enough. Then I left them under a cover on some paper towel to dry. The finish felt a bit soft along the edges still but that's where it pooled so it may not have fully dried yet. I'm going to let them sit a bit longer and then see.

Sacre vache! More progress on the Sea Fury. At this rate, I actually stand a chance of finishing it.

So, I wonder if the canvas was for weathering sealing the canopy when the planes weren't used? Or why it's there in the photos Martin posted. Back to the model bits, I tried the Dunkin' donuts route and dipped the canopy in AK Gauzy. First time I've done this. Looks like they're clearer. Once it's fully dry, I'll mask and paint the framing.

I painted the trim on the body. I also did the head and tail light buckets in chrome. The engine vents on the rear deck were done in black too. On the interior, I sprayed the dark grey sections of the dash and door cards. These were then masked for the lighter grey sections.

The canvas cover definitely makes sense. The fasteners certainly line up with the holes on the ones without the covering. The blown canopy looks like a P-47 bubbletop.

Martin, I would not have noticed either except for the mention in the instructions and that they were frosted.

Nice selection Mark. The Detail and Wonder gear sets are really impressive. I have a couple of different ones from them all they've all been excellent.

Thanks Rob! I was worried that with the remaining frames being so thin, I'd break them. Thankfully the resin had a bit of flex to it which helped.

Time for the canopy. The casting is generally very clear and fairly thin too. There are a couple small casting flaws but I'm not going to deal with them and possibly make things worse. The rear panes on the canopy are done frosted over. They're to be cut out I wasn't going to bother originally, dreading the idea of hacking into a train canopy. With them frosted however, I felt I didn't have a choice so I used a scriber to carefully cut them out. It went better than I'd hoped.

Amazing detail.

F always looked a bit pudgy to me. Sort of like how the Nissan R33 Skyline looked like it had spent too much time at the buffet line compared to the previous gen R32.

Great choice Rob. There's a 3D printed engine designed for the Hasegawa kit but it requires a bit of cutting. I've always been a big fan of the Stratos myself. I have a few in the stash including both the Doyusha and recent Italeri ones in 1/12. The Italeri isn't as bad as it's being made out to be. Not perfect but not a hot mess either.

And a 1/72 A380!