BlrwestSiR

Lol. Thankfully, the Akutan Zero doesn't need a T-6 wing. It does get a USN two tone grey camo scheme with stars though.

Mike, I'm hoping it's all I need. Oddly enough, there's been a bunch of AM released recently for the kit. Aerocraft does a resin canopy and brass gear and Reskit is doing burner cans.

Go for it! You're doing the Revell and I'm building the Tamiya so they're different enough. As for Zeros, the Tamiya I have is going to end up as the Akutan one.

Our guy watches while I scoop the litter box and the instant I'm done, it's "Thanks dad!" and he jumps in to use it. Can't wait for the big reveal.

Thanks guys! It was fun finding it all and seeing what I'd done in the past.

There are another two but I have idea what they're from. Lastly, there was this body shell from a 1/24(25?) Monogram stock car kit. That's as far as I got with it. I think the rest of the kit is around somewhere. There's more in the cold room I need to dig out but I don't have the space at our house for it so it'll have to wait a bit longer.

I was at my folks place tonight and went in the cold room to get something when I found some miniatures I'd painted at least 30 years ago. They were from a couple series of RPGs, one called Jovian Chronicles, the other Heavy Gear and were made locally. They're all mechs done in white metal. This is probably my favourite of the Jovian Chronicles ones.

Great review Ernie. Thanks for the history on the type, particularly the origin of the type. It's definitely going to be a beast when done. I'm looking forward to when you start your build.

The Tamiya kit has two issues with it that show its age. The first is the complete lack of side console detail in the cockpit. They're basically flat and Tamiya would have you use decals to represent the side consoles. The resin cockpit takes care of that. The second one is even more of a head scratcher. The fuselage aft of the cockpit has raised panel lines. The forward fuselage and wings are recessed. No idea why they did that. So a re-scribing is in order and that's where I've started.

Probably one of the best angles for the Tomcat.

Ok, I think most of us are of an age where we'll recognize that quote. Just in case anyone needs a refresher: The Final Countdown was the film that established my love of the F-14 Tomcat, well before Top Gun. Tamiya and Revell then obliged with 1/32 kits shortly thereafter. I had both and mangled both in my youth. So besides being my favourite hairdryer, this is a re-do of my first try at this venerable kit almost 40 years ago. A few years ago, I managed to pick up a copy of the original release with a Teknics resin cockpit set for $100 CAD. Then found another one for even less. Some of the AM including the all important HAD decals for the VF-84 Tomcats used in the film. I ended up adding a set of Aires burner cans, wheels and a bit more miscellaneous bits.

Great looking base Scott. Hope you remembered to use the clean kitty litter.

You mean a million small parts flying in close formation.

It's now here in Canada. My LHS has it in. Which means I might be able to get one at Heritagecon next weekend.

I'm guessing CH-54...

New to me as well. Like many of the pics he posts, Martin always finds neat stuff. Carl

Ernie, it's a great idea and looking forward to the new format. Of course this means I may have to get more of the new 1/48 jet kits...

Thanks for the preview. Looking forward to the start of glue and paint flying. I'm very much a late model Spitfire fan (can someone say Griffon power?) but it's definitely worth adding a kit of this caliber to the collection and rounding things out. For the cockpit, a better match might be RLM 02 and not 66.

I just an email from Kotare. Almost all orders are now sent. They said NZ Post had an issue with the notification of tracking numbers for some orders so not everyone might get a tracking number. Hopefully that means mine and Peter's orders are on the way.

That's a nice surprise to come home to.

I read this and then looked over to one side of my bench where there's a spare set of Tamiya cowlings. Their kits come with 2 sets: one in grey and another in clear. Just say the word and I'll send them your way. I'll even make sure I send the right ones this time.

Great start. Talk about mixing and matching AM to get the best results.

Gary, the kit looks like it was worth the wait. I still haven't received my shipping notice but I'm in Canada so about as far away as you can get from them.

Nice big solution to your Mossie woes.

Nice assortment of items there Chris. The Spitfire camo masks should work on the VIII. The pattern is the same but the colours are different.