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Sounds like this kit is fighting you every step of the way Peter. But it also sounds like you're getting a grip on it too. Carl

Happy birthday Maru! Carl

Peter, not sure if they changed the instructions between the Mk V and your Mk II but here are the Mk V instructions. Just in case they help at all with the placement of stuff, here's the PCM instructions

I started fitting some of the upper and lower fuselage panels. As part of the Aires cockpit set, there's a replacement panel for the hell hole behind the cockpit. Mine was a bit warped and unfortunately I snapped it in half trying to straighten it out. Fortunately it's not as bad as it looks and I found a very straightforward fix. Meantime, in test fitting the spine panel, the fuselage sides were a bit narrow so I added a spreader bar to get the right width. To support the broken hellhole panel, I glued in a piece of sheet sprue that spanned the rear opening. With the two pieces in place. However, I only need the front half as the spine panel covers over where the break is. So that makes things easier. Carl

Thanks Peter, it definitely is looking more like a Hornet. For the paint, the challenge is figuring out the best order to do the tiger head that goes on the vertical tails. It's three different greys surrounded by two other greys. The rest is easier to figure out.

So I sent Jetmads an email this morning and just heard back. It seems anyone who's in Canada, Malta or New Zealand is stuck waiting for their respective postal services to resume accepting packages. Just got to keep waiting I guess. Carl

Wow, this build is just moving along at a brisk clip. Looks nice and tidy. Carl

Glad to hear it wasn't your island Rob. Hopefully those that are affected will be able to return to normal soon. Carl

Harv, I know HLJ carries them and so does my LHS here in Toronto. https://www.hlj.com/search/?q=Wako&productFilter=category%3AAircraft%3B%3Bmanufacturer%3AWako%3B%3Bscale%3A1%2F32 They usually have 2 sets in a pack. The HD are like the fabric that HGW uses and the Standard uses paper for the belts like RB. The HD have to be painted. One thing though. The buckles are plastic so you have to be careful with them. I have broken the odd buckle if you're a bit too rough with them. Carl

Peter, when it comes to AM seat belts, the only company I've found that has included decent instructions on how to assemble them is Wako. They've even laid out the buckles so you can thread them on the fret without clipping them off. I wish some other companies would follow their lead. Here's a pic from their instructions for the Sutton harness.

Now that's definitely jumping into the deep end. Using an AM set and being the guy who gets to write the instructions as he goes. Good plan on gluing the fuselage floor to one side. That should help with placing stuff. Carl

Ok, major milestone in the build. The front and rear fuselage halves are now joined together. Looks a bit anorexic without the flaps and slats or LEXs on. Meantime I've been figuring out what order for the paint colours. Hope to have that figured out soon. Carl

Phil, I'm going check with them this coming week and see if there's been any changes. I've seen a couple builds of the Whirlwind and its seems to go together nicely. As for the Viggen, I think there's a link to someone building that on ARC. Haven't seen any for the Helldiver. Carl

I've run into a small snag. I thought I had a set of AM burner cans but it turns out they're for my Super Hornet. I debated using them anyways as they're close enough but bit the bullet and ordered the correct ones. Meantime I'll continue on with the rest of the build. Carl

Thanks Kai! It worked out better than I'd hoped. The bonus is I can use regular glue to attach them when it's time. I'm going to leave them off for the moment as it'll be easier to mask the tiger head that goes on the inside of the tailplanes. Carl

I can do you one better Ernie. They took the one I ordered to the post office 2 weeks ago to send it out. When they got there they were told Canada Post isn't accepting packages so they're holding onto it until they do. They even sent me a pic of it boxed and labelled. No idea on when I'll get it. Probably at the same time as you do. At least that gives me time to finish the Hornet. Carl

The CF-18 is back on the bench. I finished off engraving the panels lines that were sanded off. I'll double check them when I get to primer. I took a look at the resin replacement vertical tails that I have. They're nice but one was a hit warped and has a bit of mould slip. The big difference between it and the kit ones are the omission of the centre radar fairing. I used a thin chisel to shave it off. Then, once it was flush I had to scrape away the base plate of the antenna. One more to go.

Peter, in Canada the de minimus amount for tax free shipments is $80 CAD. The order was just over that amount. The tax itself was less than $10 but DHL charged a processing/brokerage fee of $19 to collect it. FedEx charges $10 as does Canada Post when they actually bother to check for duties. Not unreasonable but one more cost to add. I'm glad I got the extra paints to spread it out over. Makes its less painful. At least it wasn't UPS who charge $100 for brokerage fees. I don't even bother with companies that only ship UPS for that reason. Carl

Had a credit with Lucky Model for the longest time so I finally used it and picked up a couple of them new fangled 3D decal sets. I also got a set of M134 miniguns for my HH-60 kit. The Hataka paints arrived but I got dinged for taxes and processing fees so that added another $30 to their cost.

That's the Q Branch option for you. I made a stand using leftover sprue from the kit. The decals are on and the cars are finished. Now back to the CF-18.

Incredible looking model there. The foil work is absolutely superb. Nice to see a Canadian Starfighter too. Carl

Me too. The longer nose with the 5 bladed prop or even better, the contra-props adds a measure of mean to the Spitfire. Carl

Got all the assembly done on the Esprits. All that's left is decals.

Slow and steady Harv. But nice clean work at the same time. It looks like there won't be much left of the Fly kit once you're done. Carl

I think I'd better get at least one. Need something to balance out all those Tamiya ones in the display case. Carl