BlrwestSiR

Supposedly this kit was developed at the request of a hobby shop in Alberta. Unfortunately the owner passed away but Raymond, the owner of Kinetic carried through on his promise to do the model. I'll definitely be picking up at least one of them and I suspect my sons will too. We see the Snowbirds practically every year when they perform at the CNE. One year we saw them twice, once at the CNE and the other time at Brantford where the CWHM brought out their collection of airworthy planes. Including VR-A

Peter, the pearl clear has fine flake in it so would be more for a car model. It's a gloss finish. I'm curious if it would work on the Have Glass paint which has a similar pearl effect. The GX100 is supposed to be a very high gloss clear. I have yet to try it out but will see how it works soon enough.

Don't you mean a million random parts flying in close formation?

Having the right approach is absolutely key to some kits. The Bandai Falcon I'm building is press fit and absolutely superlative in that regard. Everything goes exactly where it's supposed to and how it's supposed to. They've keyed each alignment pin/fastener so they can only go in one way, even to the point of making the pins asymmetrical so you can't put a similar looking part in the wrong spot. They even point it out to you in the instructions. Which means it would take serious work to screw it up if that's even possible. But, it's a huge amount of work painting it to look reasonably good. So in that way, it's a different challenge. The few short run kits I've done, I have generally enjoyed. Even the ones that folks have complained endlessly about- Fly, PCM, Special Hobby. Sure, I've had a couple go sideways but I learned from them. Like don't accidentally drop them when they're almost finished. But Ernie, as much as you make it look easy, rigging is still a black art.

The LHS had their annual Boxing day sale so I went to get some supplies. While there, I noticed that all Tamiya kits were 20% off so I broke down and got a couple. Not my favourite jet by a long shot, but at $87CAD I decided to make like the RCAF and get one. Now to wait for suitable markings. Our youngest came along and he picked up the old Airfix 1/24 Spitfire for $35CAD. Hopefully it isn't too bad a build. I'll definitely have to give him a hand with it. One other thing, I was looking at the F-35 instructions and noticed the nose gear leg goes in early on in the build. But it goes in folded!!?!! Later on though, you clip off a piece and unfold it to the extended position. Talk about clever engineering...

I just back from the LHS with 2 bottles of Mr Surfacer Primer in black so I'm getting ready too.

They're as bad as the moose in some parts of the country. If you're not paying attention they just jump right out at you. Thankfully that looks like it wasn't a self-cleaning oven one. Those ones can cause real damage.

Thanks again for organizing this Ernie. You the bestest! Carl

Or in one piece.

I bet you were even outside bbq'ing in shorts.

Talk about a stocking stuffer!

And Toronto!

The one with all the Vallejo is supposed to be for my boys but I may have expropriated some of it for my clutter.

It's a cartoon AIM-54 believe it or not. Can't remember who made it.

Phil, it's actually not that bad. Ok, the middle bench isn't that bad. No comment on the other two. Merry Christmas to the far side of the pond!

Only -9° C here in Toronto. Sue copped out and threw the dog out in the backyard. He's from Northern Manitoba so had a ball playing and wouldn't come back in. Meanwhile, my folks' flight landed on time at Pearson at 830pm but they didn't get out of the airport until 1230. My mom said it's total chaos inside. Carl

That is so very organized. You'd probably have a seizure if you saw my bench(es). Carl

Tamiya Centaur? How is it as a kit?

This is the beginning of the storm that's supposed to hit us.

Peter, the paint came out great. Good idea to stick to the Mr Color. It's a paint you know how to use and doesn't need learning any new handling tricks. Try the Mig paint on a test kit and see how it works.

Merry Christmas everyone! Stay warm and safe, especially those of us in the path of a winter storm. Carl

A Christmas card I sent out a few years ago.

Thanks Hubert! Ardrei is indeed great to deal with. When their Seahawk comes out, I'll be getting a copy for sure. Carl

Someone makes a P-38 floatplane conversion. Just can't think who it is.

That was fast. The quality of the cutter is really impressive, like most of their tools.