BlrwestSiR

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

The shocks, and links were then added to the tube. The rear anti-roll bar was fitted to the subframe. That was then bolted in place along with the rear undertray and the rear suspension was done.

Here's the de Dion tube that links the two hubs together. In the kit, it's diecast and pre-painted. The end plates need to be done in silver. I botched that up. So I stripped the end plates back to bare metal and polished them. At the same time, I decided to fill in the ejector pin marks in the tube. The end plates got masked off and I sprayed the tube in semi-gloss black. All done and unmasked.

With the front suspension done, it was time to head out back. The Caterham has a de Dion rear suspension which is semi-independent. The diff is mounted to the chassis and the hubs are linked by a beam but free to move independently of each other. Here's the diff and driveshaft all painted up. And then mounted to the chassis. Next up is the gas tank. This wraps around the diff a bit so needs to go in after the diff. Next up are the axle stubs. One pair goes into the diff, then you attach a rubber boot to them, the driveshaft and finally the rear hub.

Mark, try this email address. Martin gave it to me and I used it for getting a replacement canopy for my Hobbyboss B-24. It did take a bit of time for them to reply but it did work. Carl

Thanks everyone. They become such members of our family. Sue mentioned she's never known me without her. Our youngest misses her a fair bit already. Here he is walking her when he was 16 months old.

Just said goodbye to our dog Zoe. Wasn't unexpected but still not easy. She was 6 weeks old when I adopted her from a rescue. The day she came home. With my other dog at the time, Checkers. The other family dogs. Sunny the cat. Farewell little girl....

I did the FR IX in pink a while back plus an PR XI. There's another version of the FR IX where the camera port has a teardrop shaped fairing around it. This one was flown mostly by RCAF squadrons so that could be another possibility.

Happy birthday Wolf!

The cockpit looks great John. I'm still waffling about switching my jet kits to 1/48 from 1/32. Maybe when in done what I have in the stash I'll make the leap. Carl

Mark, did yours come with instructions? I didn't get any with my D conversion. Carl

Lovely looking Spitfire Peter. The engine is great as well. Can't wait to see it all with paint. Carl

Something to help if you do the digital camo: https://www.greathobbies.com/productinfo/?prod_id=BDRBD0041

Thanks Kai! To be honest, it's the kit that's making this look so easy. Mostly it's just seam cleanup and then screw some parts together. The engine is where the more typical assembly starts.

Peter, I've got a few of them. They do a flat white one which I think would be perfect for the tape that you see on the front cowls of so many F4U Corsairs. There's a textured one for walkways or other coarse surfaces etc.

Peter, the stuff works really well. It's very durable, has some stretch to it and is very thin. Nothing like Bare Metal Foil. Just measure and cut to size. It's the same material I used on the fender but that had a carbon print to it.

Here's the pre-finished body panels. They go on with a couple screws so no fears of glue smears. Next up is the front suspension brackets. Then the first arms themselves. These are cast metal and are pre-painted as well. Upper and lower arms in place.

Not much gluing in the next few steps but some decent progress though. The rear upper shock mounts were screwed into place. These were followed by the rear bulkheads. Floorboards were up next. I then added the steering rack.

I assembled the shocks/dampers. I painted the bodies silver along with the brake rotors. I used Hasegawa's mirror finish self adhesive film on the shock shaft. Then the shocks were assembled with the pre-coloured springs. The transmission was next, a simple assembly. Lastly I removed the excess sprue bits from the chassis and cleaned up the seams.