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Awesome! Can't wait to see more. Carl

Rob, sadly no. That would be way beyond my skills. Thanks Peter!

Phil, I didn't add any new display cabinets but I have been thinking of making another large one like the one I did before.

Well, I decided to get out another sub kit to work on in between steps on the CF-18. Got the land based companion there too since they're basically the same kit.

Looks like there's a new set of in flight crew figures coming out. https://www.hobbyeasy.com/en/data/apgyyv44xyjr7ifgjlpx.html There's upper turret and rear turret 'gummers' too.

Guess I know what I'm selling my kidney(s) for. Carl

Anyone going to do one of the other schemes? I know the Fields and Meadows is the default but it can't be the only paint job. Of course, once I found out I was getting a Viggen I ordered the mask set. Carl

Thanks folks! Progress is coming along nicely. Better than I had thought it might. I installed the resin intakes. By leaving the front half unglued it was easy enough to bend them apart slightly and slip in each intake. Before I did that, I painted the interiors in white and added the engine fan faces. Here you can see both intakes in place and the front still unglued. Once the CA dried, I aligned the sides and houses them together. Next up was the fuselage sides. To get the edges lined as best as possible, I inserted a piece of sprue to act as a spreader bar. This was temporary as it lifted the gear bay high enough so I could glue it to the side but too far from the top. I then glued the side panel in place along the MLG bay and fuselage bottom only. This left a small gap along the sides. But once the bottom seam was dry I inserted a knife blade and pushed the spreader bar loose. The fuselage gap then closed up. Once this side dries, I'll see if I have to do the same on the other side. I closed up the front fuselage halves as well. This was straightforward without any issues.

Peter, I agree. The LHS didn't have it listed on their website and it wasn't with the rest of the kits in the series that they had. If you can find it online, it's easily double what I paid for it. As for the size of my stash, it's not too bad. It has gone up a bit but the boys "help" when they raid my dwindling 1/72 kits for new projects. Carl

The missiles and drop tank look great Peter. I've got a set somewhere for helping you find and drill the centerline on cylindrical shapes. I'll see if I can dig it out. I haven't tried it but might be handy in these circumstances. Carl

Happy birthday Bill!

That's great price for the two of them. Just don't try a double build with them like I did. Or let your son test fly it once it's done. Carl

I picked up another BSG kit. These are getting harder and harder to find, especially at reasonable prices. Just need to find a Galactica herself now.

Your F-4 is coming along very nicely there Peter. With decals generally being the bane of my existence, it's great to hear they're working so well. Carl

Thanks Peter. There are a few places that could be fussy so I'm trying to anticipate and solve them before I glue things. Hope it works.

Thanks Phil! Zoe actually sat on Sunny. Dropped 40lbs of collie butt on him to get him to move over and share her dog bed.

Ian, condolences on the loss.

I started work on getting the intakes fitted. The kit ones have a full trunking to them but the diameter is too small. The resin ones I picked up improve on that plus reduce the number of parts considerably. Doing some initial test fitting, I saw that I needed to remove a bit of the lump on the rear of the intake so they could clear the MLG bays. I also found I needed to have the lower wings glued in place to the upper fuselage half before I joined them together. I added some styrene sheet to the inside of the lower fuselage to help space the intakes and reduce any mismatches between them and the fuselage. I determined that I could join the rear section of the fuselage and still be able to separate the front section to get the intakes in. I added some tabs to strengthen the joint. All joined up and drying at the moment. Meantime...

Actually, I do like them. I find it much easier to get them to fit a seat than the Eduard ones. But I still prefer the HGW or Wako ones the most.

Definitely looks good there.

Got a bit more done on the cockpit. The Aires set uses PE with clear film for some of the instruments. My first attempt at painting the PE ended up a mess so I stripped it and started over. I primed the parts and then sprayed them Dark Gull Grey. I then masked off the individual bezels and painted them with NATO black. I then cut them out and applied them in the appropriate location. I gave them a wash and a dry brush to make some of the details pop. I took the same approach with the side panels. Here's a dry fit of the cockpit so far.

Nice looking Hornet Smitty. Thanks for sharing.

One last pic of the plane most associated with bushplanes. It's well worth the visit if you're ever in Sault Ste Marie. Carl

Some of the fire fighting exhibits. They also have a fantastic 3D immersive film that really helps to show what it's like fighting a forest fire.