BlrwestSiR

Sorry to hear about Finn. We lost our dog Zoe in July last year. She was almost 14 and the perfect dog.

I was waiting for you to come up with something suitable. Didn't the Panzer IV have wading gear?

Great job on the tail-ectomy. The fit looks really good for such a big graft. Carl

Thanks Harv! I've started the decals on the engine deck. I then added some around the upper turret. There's going to be some challenges to get them flat. After a first coat of Tamiya Mark Fit Super Strong and some prodding and heat from an old hair dryer.

I managed to get some more done. Mostly peeling the paint masks off. Luke in the lower gunner's seat. I then mounted the quad gun turret which means you won't see anything underneath it. I started doing the panel line wash on the lower hull. It's mostly done now with just the mandibles left. And flipped over, here's the topside. It getting closer to the decal stage. All couple hundred of them.

Nice looking DC-3, opps C-47.

Martin, the crazy part is how fine some of the detail is. Some of it you don't noticed until you put the wash on it. Like here for example.

Ok, I'm finely getting things done and closer to the finish line. The engine panel was the last major sub-assembly to finish. There were a bunch of detail bits to add, some going on top of others. First up was the PE for the engine grilles. These go in from underneath and there's a blanking panel that will fit under them to prevent a see-through effect. I've left that off for now so it doesn't get any overspray on it. With all six grills in place. I then started adding the detail bits. These had been pre-shaded in black. Finally a coat of paint to tie the bits together. There's still one set of parts to go on but I need to apply some decals first as the parts fit over the decals.

Thanks for the tips on the Revell P-51. I still haven't built the one that I have.

My HB B-24 box is full of leftover parts from all my prop kits. The jet kit parts are in a Tamiya F-4 box that's overflowing.

Nice progress there Bill. And yup, canopy masks are a great invention. Carl

Forgot to mention, Great Hobbies list real time inventory so you know what's in stock. Also, if their warehouse doesn't has something but one of their shops does, they'll still sell and ship it to you. Just takes longer to get to you.

For anyone still looking or for those of us in Canada, Great Hobbies and Wheels and Wings have both got some kits in stock. https://www.greathobbies.com/search/results/index.php?srchtype=AdvSearch&srchvendor=WNW&utm_source=Great+Hobbies+E-News&utm_campaign=f51c366a0a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_01_20_08_04&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-f51c366a0a-[LIST_EMAIL_ID] https://wheelswingshobbies.com/aircraft/wingnut-wings/ Great Hobbies has free shipping over $99 and Wheels and Wings have the same but the minimum is $200. Wheels and Wings is my LHS so I don't worry about the minimum. Remember, the prices are in Loonies so figure a 30% discount or more with the exchange.

They certainly are good. I picked up a couple RC truggies a few years ago for $99 each. The regular price was $799 each. That was an awesome deal.

Chris, Here's the VIII https://www.tamiyausa.com/shop/132-aircraft/supermarine-spitfire-mkviii/ And this is for the XVI https://www.tamiyausa.com/shop/132-aircraft/supermarine-spitfire-mkxvie/ Looks like the IX isn't part of the sale. Carl

It's like my Vosper, adding those details really makes a difference.

With the gift card I won in the Christmas raffle (thanks @GazzaS!) I picked up a Water Buffalo. I thought this would be a good back up for the Get Wet group build but I'm enjoying doing the Vosper build.

But it looks good though. Can't wait to see it under a coat of paint and the added details.

There's a XIVe conversion coming soon for the Tamiya Spitfire kits. They're starting with the XVI kit to make a low back XIV Spitfire. So that could be a good reason to get some more donor kits.

Best price I can find in Canada is $149 CAD which is about $110 USD with free shipping. When I bought most of mine, they were around $80-90 CAD with some even cheaper than that. Probably why I've bought in total 13 of them with 4 left in the stash.

I'm with Hubert and agree that using brass rod is a good idea. The nub the kit has for an attachment point just isn't enough.

Nice! I wish they were still that cheap in Canada. Then again, I just checked and still have 4 in the stash. So I guess I'm good for now.

No, the kit was finished by the time I found it. No one will notice unless they look in the cockpit.

Thanks Peter. I just finished adding all the bolts to the first torpedo tubes. Here it is compared to the second one which I haven't started on yet. Now to add the PE details to it.

Peter, BNA really are great to deal with. Having gotten the hang of adding the bolt heads, the other side went much faster. I then started adding the smaller bolts that go on some of the tube flanges. Griffon give you a template so you space them out correctly. Again, I'm subbing in Meng plastic ones instead of the PE versions.