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The funny thing is I never went as they usually just have paints listed. Only recently have they started adding kits. So I think it'll be worth checking out more often.

I've been placing the odd paint order from a hobby shop near me called Sunward Hobbies. In a recent email, they said they had some in-store specials so I finally went by to check them out. Right when you come in they have several 1/32 kits on sale. Some were package deals in bags. Some were just the kits with no AM. I saw a couple and grabbed them. First up is the hard to find Kinetic F-86. It came with some AM including the equally hard to find Avionic resin 'pit. Upon opening the box, I also found Golden Hawks and stencil decals from Leading Edge. Definitely a bargain at $100 CAD. Next was a Hasegawa FW-190 D9 The bag it came in was pretty full: Plus Theres a few more bagged specials including a Kitty Hawk OV-10D with two Big Ed sets and SAC gear in it for $200 CAD and a Special Hobby P-39 for $80 CAD also with the Big Ed set. Here's the P-39 And the OV-10 If anyone on here wants either of those, let me know and I can try to go back later this week and get them for you. Carl

Stopped by for the first time at a hobby shop near me. This is what they had on the shelves: Yeah, I think they have primers and thinners in stock.

Get better John. I stopped by a LHS and saw this and immediately thought of you. Carl

Thanks Mark! Might just have to pick that up. Looks fun enough. Carl

How is the Phoenix model Mark? I saw that at my LHS and was curious about it.

Happy birthday Harv! Hope they let you have something cake-like. Carl

Martin, those look cool. Not the drone but Fantastic Plastic makes the bubbleship. https://fantastic-plastic.com/oblivion-bubble-ship---catalog.html

Martin, there are lots of cool mecha kits on the market. Kotobukiya and Bandai make a lot of them. Here's my Metal Gear Rex And GUNHED. Both are from Kotobukiya.

Lucas put them in there for his kids. Rob, the Bandai Star Wars kits can be addictive. Just be careful if you use any enamel washes as they have been known to make the plastic crumble. Carl

Harv, take it easy. Sorry to hear about the new heart attack. Glad it was minor. You got enough scars on ya if you're anything like me. Rest up, enjoy the reading and looking forward to you getting better. Carl

The overall shape isn't bad but the rivets are brutal. Plus the radio hatch door is a very thick plate more than a hatch. The exhaust stacks are a pain to assemble. Someone made resin replacements but I don't recall who. Not one of the big players. The biggie is the way too shallow cockpit floor. The new kit from Great Wall actually had the floor as the top of the wing like it is in reality. The only AM cockpit that I've found that is the correct depth is the PE one made by Part. Everyone else's isn't truly the right depth. Carl

Peter, you're welcome! I learned to use paint masks years ago when I painted RC car bodies all the time. One thing I highly recommend is getting a roll of transfer tape. It's a low tack film that you use to transfer the masks from the backing sheet to the model. They help keep things aligned and in place and reduce the chance of the mask sticking to itself when you least expect it. They can be a bit hard to get used to using (mostly when trying to get the mask off the backing paper) but once you do they're well worth it. Carl

Dennis, it's not that bad.in my experience. At least the one I built went went together fairly well. Much better than their Hurricane. Definitely needs dry fitting though. Carl

Here's the final result. Here it is next to the tail for my Polish AF Tiger Meet F-16. That one is also done with masks. Maybe someone should just come out with tailplanes kits for all the Tiger Meet artwork.

The next mask is an outline of the tiger's head. This mask had to be carefully aligned within the tiger stripes. I forgot to grab a pic of it before I sprayed the next colour, which was Light Ghost Grey. I then added the inner shape of the tiger's head. I free handed the placement but I think I got it relatively even all around. I then sprayed Zeon MS Grey which is very similar to Gunship Grey. This forms the outline of the head Next was the mask for the details in the head. This was "weeded" and the excess bits discarded. Then it was applied in place. The final colour of Dark Gull Grey was then sprayed.

I then placed the mask into position. The transfer tape helps here as you can move it around a bit and get the alignment right before pressing down. With this in place, I masked off any gaps and around the edges. I then painted the second colour which is Dark Gull Grey. With the mask removed I now have stripes.

Tiger tail time. This had to be the hardest part of the build hands down. So far anyways. 439 Sqn' s mascot is a Sabre tooth tiger. This has appeared on many of their earlier Tiger Meet planes such as the CF-104. On the CF-18, they decided to do a low vis version. The first version was much simpler, the same colour as the stripes. On the later jet, they made it a bit more complex. On top of that, there are the Tiger stripes all around it. After some careful planning I decided to do it in the following steps. I first painted the entire tail in Gunship Grey. Once that was dry, I could start on the paint scheme. I asked DN Models if they could make masks for this project and after taking a look at it, they agreed to do them for me. Only thing is I shouldn't have waited so long before starting this project as vinyl masks don't age too well. Here's what they looked like when I took them out. The vinyl and the backing material expand and contract at a different rate once the vinyl has been cut. This gets worse as the older they get. They don't actually shrink as some folks say they do but they do get warped. These are 2 1/2 years old. This is not anything to do with DN Models. They were perfect when I got them. This is one of the reasons I wanted to get to this build so the masks wouldn't get any worse. Anyways, back to the model. First thing I did was get the mask for the stripes in place. I removed the excess material, in this case not a lot. I then used transfer tape to pull the mask off the backing paper without it getting all crumpled and possibly warped even more.

Thanks Peter! There's a small gap on the bottom but I'd much rather have it there than on top. The fit overall had been pretty good, just the odd spot to watch out for.

Eject!!! Eject!!!! Ejector pin marks!!! Almost looks like a pin cushion.

Catching up with your build Rob and the brush techniques you're using on it. Then I have to process the photography lessons mixed in between from you and Peter. Lots to digest. Combined, its making for a very informative build and some great looking results there. Carl

The ED-209 is a great kit. Way better than the old Horizon Hobbies vinyl thingy. I'm still trying to figure old what greys to use before I build it. Carl

The Tamiya primer in jars can be thinned with either of their lacquer thinners regular or with retarder) or either Mr Color lacquer thinners (regular or Leveling). Hope that helps. Carl

With the upper halves dry, I fitted the underside halves of the LERXs. They didn't fit flush and after some repeated test fits, I realized that there was some interference. There is a tab/extension on the end of the LERX. It was too long so I shortened it a bit, test fitting as I went. You can see the difference in the two below. The one on the right has been shortened. ThIs resulted in a much better fit. So it's slowly moving forward on this build. Meantime, I've tentatively looked at another Canadian aircraft build. Another multi engine subject. I'll see how far I get.

Peter, some great progress on your Corsair. The wing spar has caught a lot of people out by gluing it in place. I think it's the most common mistake made on the kit. I've left the gear off mine until after the paint is done so I think it's a good move to keep them from getting damaged. Which in my case is a good thing as it's sitting on my bench. Somewhere. Here's the last I saw it.