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Damn, don't know what to say about that. Truly sorry to hear that sort of news. Hope they can do something for Kaiser.

I used to order from them fairly regularly. They do seem to have stuff that other places don't. Haven't had any issues with stock from them, shipping has been a bit slow but they're offering air mail to Canada so that should speed things up a bit.

That is one big box. Whereabouts in Sudbury? My wife is from there. She used to live near Laurentian University and would snowshoe across the lake to work there.

Great news Martin!

Fantastic intro and I'm glad to see someone building the kit after all the trials and tribulations that have gone on with it. Carl

Peter, here's what I've been using. This is with Tamiya acrylics. It's similar to what you have above. Dull Roundel Red – Mix of 75% flat Red (XF-7 ), 25% Hull Red (XF-9) Dull Roundel Blue – Mix of 95% flat Blue (XF-8), 5% flat Black (XF-1) Yellow – Flat Yellow (XF-3) with a tiny amount of flat Red (XF-7) Hope that helps. Carl

The IP was painted semi-gloss black and then the dials were added. They're the same material as the lettering on the exhaust. The pedal assembly was next. Tamiya even includes rubber pads for the brake and clutch pedals. Again, I think it's a bit thick in appearance. The upper framework for the engine bay is next. The upper firewall is aluminum and pre-painted in black. The pedal box and pedals go underneath.

The engine finally goes in. The side exhaust has a heat shield that wraps around it. Then you add some lettering to it. They seem to be made from vinyl and have a very high gloss finish to them. They're self adhesive as well so no silvering to worry about. The headers are threaded through the opening in the side and then attached to the muffler.

Time for some cockpit work. The seats are one piece buckets made from carbon kevlar in the real car. So I painted them semi-gloss black and then used the Hasegawa carbon kevlar film on the backside. Next up was the seatbelts. The individual buckles are plastic but may have been better in PE. The belts themselves are self adhesive fabric and have the stitching detail printed onto them. Assembly isn't as fussy as say a HGW set mostly due to the size. The driveshaft tunnel is stamped aluminum and covered with the same carpet that the floor is. Then one pair of belts is bolted to it. The other pair are bolted to the interior side panels. The lower belts are next and once assembled, are attached to the floor.

Thanks Kai!

Fantastic work on the Spitfire Peter. Can't wait to see it with camo on. I found a PCM IX with the XVI conversion at my LHS. I'm tempted to grab it and use the conversion on their XIV kit instead and make a low back XIV. Carl

Hope you do a WiP on that. Would be interesting to see it.

Oh nice buy there Phil. I remember building a bunch of the old Monogram (possibly Hawk?) PT boats as a kid. They were in a translucent white plastic and one a couple inches long. I've got the 1/35 Vosper boat in the stash to build. Plus a bunch of crew for that too.

I think the Zero has folding wingtips. It's the kit with the most working features that they slowly moved away from.

Thanks Phil! I used Xtreme Metal on the gearbox and the various other shiny bits. The Caterham is a momentum car. They usually have more grip than power so you just throw them through the turns and stay off the brakes as much as possible. Thanks Rob! Overall, the kit has been going together nicely. I did notice that the painted body panels didn't fit as precisely as the NMF ones did on my previous Catergam kit. Speaking of which, Tamiya did a reissue of the standard kit a couple years ago. They changed the box art and added a display base. It's the only time they've done a reissue of any of the kits so far. Hopefully you can find one of those for a reasonable price. Thanks Peter! The alternator and water pump belts are vinyl too. Personally I think they're a bit thick and maybe not as fine as they could be.

Glad to see this back John. The wing fold is definitely a tricky part if not the trickiest part of the kit. I still don't know what black magic I conjured up when I did mine but the theoretical and the actual were one and the same. I like Tamiya's approach with the Corsair in that it's either/or and not "it works!". Carl

Never fails to happen. I go to my LHS to pick up a couple paints. Turns out they're having an anniversary sale and all Tamiya stuff is 20% off. So, my rubber arms twists like Gumby and I pick up the new P-38 for $72 CAD or whatever that works out to in real money. I also got an aircraft carrier for Edward as he wants one but with jets on deck. I know nothing about the kit except that it was so hopefully it's decent enough to satisfy his interests.

Time to do some work on the engine. Here's the basic block with a coat of paint. I then installed the starter and the oilpan. Here's the timing belt. It's vinyl and goes over the cam sprockets. Next up is the alternator. In place on the block. Then it was time to add various lines to the engine.

I'm happy to be that guinea pig And in this lifetime too!

If anyone is interested, Wheels and Wings in Toronto has a pre-owned copy of the HK Lanc on sale for $288 USD with free shipping to Canada and the US until the end of the week. https://wheelswingshobbies.com/hkm01e010-hk-models-1-32-avro-lancaster-b-mk-i-wwweb10105507/

Ernie, thanks for the comparison and thoughts. Not many folks will have both kits in the stash much less build both. Plus you've got the hand on experience from your build. Here's a crazy thought. Use the clear fuselage from the HK kit with the interior bits from the Border one. Then you'd be able to appreciate the internal detail. Not sure how the fit would be but it could be interesting. Carl

I gave Jimmy a raw chicken foot. They're supposed to be really good for keeping their teeth clean. He had no idea what to do with it. In fact it almost freaked him out. It definitely freaked Sue out and it was her idea. After it sat on the kitchen floor for an hour, I have up and threw it out. This is the same dog that'll open the compost bin and steal chicken bones from a rotisserie chicken if you give him half a second.

She looks like a goofball!

Me too! That's why I have robots, dinosaurs, sci-fi vehicles, mascots and ships in my stash instead of just proper serious subjects. Like Spitfires and Corsairs.

The roll bar was next up. The tonneau cover is supposed to go on near the end of the build. You're supposed to split it so it fits around the roll bar. I decided to slide it onto the roll bar first. It's vinyl so pliable enough that I can move it out of the way while the roll bar got bolted in place. Then the rear body work goes on. It's starting to look like a car. Just needs: - wheels - hood - engine - interior