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Harv beat me to it but, wow sums it up. Carl

Smitty, I know about it but haven't tried it. A lot of the more recent plastic track sets come with a jig to help you assemble the individual link tracks. I've used some of those and they work very well. Hope that helps. Carl

Peter, the recent Special Hobby kits are really a jump in quality. Much better than their earlier efforts. Supposedly they're going to do a Fury, Sea Fury and Typhoon to round out the family lineage. I have their Tempest V and it's basically the same kit that you have but a different nose/engine. Mine came with the resin half engine but I've got the Barracuda rain nose I'm going to use the engine in a PCM Tempest. Waste not, want not. Carl

Peter, sorry to hear about the canopy woes but glad to hear you can get the replacement parts to fix it. That's not always so easy here. Otherwise the Phantom looks great. Looking forward to the fix and seeing her all finished. Carl

Got the sub Lotus masked off. Some over spray in spots but that part's done.

It was a good show. Started off with a CF-18 solo display as always and ended with the Snowbirds. In between was a C-130, P-51, F-35, Canso, and a aerobatics plane that I don't know. I don't have pics as all I had was my phone.

Peter, I finally heard from my aunt. She and my uncle are fine. The basement in their condo flooded so the elevators didn't work for a day but that was about it. I'm glad to hear they didn't get anything worse. Carl

Hope they solve things for you Harv. Isn't bourbon a blood thinner? Or is that only in large quantities? Carl

I thought you'd like that one.

I just used their F/A-18 in my build and it fit without any sanding/grinding too.

I missed out on the Bimota but you've got me looking at their Honda Africa Twin bike now. Will have to see if the budget allows for it. I built the NR a few years ago. The real bike was pretty impressive with its 32 valve 4 cylinder. You know the engineers are running the company when they come out with an engine like that. Carl

The Canadian International Airshow starts in a couple hours so I'm going to take the boys. It's a quick 15min bike ride from our house. Then, I'll see if I can get a bit of bench time.

Wait, two different Aires cockpit sets that fit their respective models without grinding everything paper thin??? Definitely time for a lotto ticket. I'm like you John, I play the same numbers weekly. Carl

Just catching up with your progress and it looks fantastic as always. Carl

Yup, like the others have said- a fantastic looking finish. Carl

Stunning engine there Rob. I love the heat staining on the exhausts. I've done the odd bike kit and have thought of doing one. I recently missed out on a Tamiya Bimota which would have been cool with its truss frame and dual swing arms. Carl

So I found my old Tamiya airbrush. Man, is it simple. It's mostly plastic and single action. There's no air valve so the air just seems to flow through it constantly. I can't recall if that's the way it's always been but I tried it and it still works. HLJ has them for around $30 so I was half tempted to get a new one to see. That of course led me down a rabbit hole and I ended up getting something else instead. I found a Procon Boy double action trigger style airbrush on eBay for $130 CAD and the seller shipped it via FeDEx. It's got a fan style spray pattern that you adjust from vertical to horizontal so should give the coverage desired. I'll give it a try later this weekend and let you know how it works. Carl

I think I found out why I'd put the Esprit back in the box. Masking the trim and window frames... Now to do the sub version. Carl

Thanks Rob! Looks like I might have a project for next spring. I was thinking of Muskoka chairs originally (they're like Adirondack chairs but Canadian) but I like that yours are something different.

Thanks gents! Got the second vertical side of the intakes glued in place. I still had to do some sanding but it wasn't too bad. There's a bit of CA for filler too around the intake join but again, not much Now onto a bit of re-scribing the odd panel line or two. Carl

Peter, saw this on the news this morning. I'm glad to hear that you're high and dry. My aunt is in Queens but haven't heard from her family yet. I'll check with my folks as I'm sure they'll have been in touch. We had some heavy rain here a few days ago and some parts of the city flooded then but nothing like what NYC is experiencing. There's a major highway that almost always floods these days but there's a huge infrastructure project that recently started to help mitigate that in the future. Stay safe and same goes for your brother Joel. Carl

International travel is still too screwed up so it's too early for me to say either way. Carl

Nice job on the planning stage there Harv. Looks like my CF-18. Having tackled a couple Fly kits, they definitely need planning and test fitting when you put them together. But if you take your time, they do seem to go together well. Carl

Rob, those chairs look amazing. Got any plans for them that you could share or where to buy them? Sue would love something like that too. Carl

I'm still impressed by all that rivet work. Even if it's only 38. Carl