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Peter, I keep waffling on the Tamiya 1/48 Tomcats. I've got three of their 1/32 ones in the stash with a bunch of AM, including the Final Countdown markings.

I'm waiting for the CF-100...

Rob, ground crews applied the tape to seal the panels in front of the pilot to prevent oil from leaking onto the canopy. They would change the tape as needed so the shape would often change. Some show an octagonal pattern around the circular panel and others would also seal the larger panel around it. It depends on the Corsair. Hope that helps.

Closest was at a Monster Jam when they let us run our RC trucks off the same jumps the full size ones used. I was running a 1/5 monster truck and I caught the ramp at a bad angle and just missed another guy's head by inches. 35 lbs of metal, rubber and plastic at 60km/h in the face would not have been pretty...

That was seriously fast. Wow, amazing finish there John. Carl

What about time traveling carrier-based aircraft? I mean, they splashed the Zeros and got the kill markings for them.

It looks good Rob. @nmayhew has a point. The Corsair wing roots got heavily worn even towards to front as that was the easiest way to access the engine covers. There were work stands that attached to the front of the wings. Also, the oil tank in front of the pilot was notorious for leaking which meant ground crews were frequently replacing the white tape that you often see in pics.

John is on a different level. I can't even work on the same kit for more than a couple minutes, oh look squirrels! ... Ahem, back to what I was saying. The closet any of us mortals could get to John's speed would be to literally snip all the parts off the sprues, put them in the box, pour in the paint and glue and shake. I guarantee the finished model won't look anything like what he can do in the same amount of time. Which is a long way of saying I'd love to see you in the raffle as well. Carl

Most vinyl masks have a shelf life. Once the vinyl is cut, you have to use them within a few months or they can shrink/warp. Sometimes if you're careful and patient, they can be used. Not always though. I don't mind them as I can reuse them if needed and if my placement isn't 100%, I can pull them up and move them with ease. Of course, they can always stretch a bit at that point if you pull too hard. Kabuki ones are great but not always available. Maketar gives you the option of either type when you order them. DN Models only does vinyl so I have to figure out when I'll be using them before they age out and do so accordingly. But DN will do custom stuff so it's a trade off. As for Montex, they're hit and miss. Inexpensive, varied subjects, but you don't know how old they are when you buy them and the black vinyl they use for the canopy masks are horrid. But I've used them and had decent results. Carl

Peter, there's a strong squirrel influence at my workbench. Not the best thing I'll admit. It's good and bad. Sometimes I'll be at a point in a build where I have to wait for something to dry or arrive. Then I'll jump onto another project so I'm using the bench time I have. Other times interest fades a bit and I'll switch things up. The Falcon is a great example of that. The ZM 109 was getting to me a bit so I knew the Falcon would go together without a thought. Just wasn't expecting the paintwork to be so tedious. Which made me realize my compressor wasn't up to the task. So while waiting for a new one, the Whirlwind hit the bench. And so on... Honestly the Whirlwind has been the prefect kit to work on. I know the fit isn't perfect but that means I'm looking at everything a bit closer and tweaking as needed. The paint scheme is simple and I don't have to worry about the heavy pre-shading or what have you.

But that's why we have a stash!

Good looking M51. Too bad the Israelis didn't have more variety in their camo schemes. Carl

I haven't had much time at the bench but did get some work done on the Whirlwind. Wings are together and the nacelles are on. Some small gaps but overall it all fit together nicely with some fettling. The bench(es) is(are) getting a bit out of hand though. This is the one I'm supposed to use for painting. And this is the one for building on. Yeah, not much room for either.

Nice work on the half-track. Can't believe how tiny it is. Carl

Just motoring along there John. Good idea on the invasion stripes to do them first. Carl

Great photos. Thanks for sharing. Haven't seen a monotone F-35 before. Carl

I've been looking off and on at upgrading my airbrush compressor. The one I currently have is a Badger with a tank. It's not bad, but painting the Millennium Falcon kit has shown that's it's underpowered. It's also not the quietest. @ScottsGT's recent purchase also helped get me looking at some more powerful options. The plan was to get one on Boxing Day. While browsing Amazon on Tuesday, they had the one I was looking at on sale for $157 CAD so $110 off. Needless to say I went for it now rather than waiting. It just arrived and was waiting for me when I got home from work. My current Badger is behind and to the right. The tank and motor are both bigger so it should work out nicely. It's also quieter which is a bonus. Not as quiet as my old Silentaire but I don't have the $1,700 to replace that one. The Badger will go to my son Edward who wants to do more airbrushing. So that'll make him happy.

That should get you the odd model or three.

Nice to see the Helldiver coming together. Underwing ordnance can be a pain at times. I'm not looking forward to doing the duplex rocket setup that some late war Mossies carried. Carl

I recognize that space. Looks a lot like mine.

Peter, the results are making the extra effort/frustration worth it. It looks good and a whole lot better than the alternative which is the Trumpeter kit. Carl

Rob, nice story. The Scout is definitely an interesting find. Sometimes, you never know what's out there. Maybe do it as a static model? Carl

Great work John. Can't wait to see more. Carl

Paul,I think pretty soon you're going to have the whole Tamiya catalogue in your collection. At least armour wise. Carl

I've found using masks for Stars and Bars to be more challenging than RAF roundels. There's a lot more elements and they're generally smaller so easier to get mis-aligned. Using the frosted tape that you did to hold things together worked out for you nicely. I have a roll of transfer film that I bought off Amazon. It was fairly inexpensive and will last a long time.