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Thanks Phil! I'm in no rush to build my P-51 so that would probably work out just fine if you don't use them. Carl

Hi Ernie, no worries. Not like any of us could have predicted what has happened. PM sent. Carl

Thanks Richard! I'll see if I can find it. Carl

Does anyone know if there are AM decals or masks available for the shark mouth markings used by 112 Sqn on their MkIV Mustangs? I'm thinking of building my Revell kit in their markings. I know ZM include them in their kit, but haven't seen any other ones out there. Thanks in advance, Carl

Very purty.

Nice to see these back. Not so much on the fill, sand, repeat. Maybe use CA as a filler? No shrinkage, dries more or less instantly. But you do have to sand it right away before it sets too long and gets rock hard. Carl

I've worked on the kit over the last couple of days in drips and drabs. It seems every time I get to the bench, one of the boys is killing the other one. So not a lot of progress as a result. I assembled the gun barrel. It's a two part barrel like of yore but I managed to eliminate any seam by careful glue application. I then assembled the gun mount and the barrel to it. This is then installed onto the lower hull. From there, I assembled the rear loading hatches. These can be made to work I'd you're careful with the cement. But then again, there's no interior of any kind. I then put the engine deck together. I found that the upper hull was slightly warped underneath so I had to clamp it while the cement dried. With the rear bulkhead in place, I installed the PE screens over the grilles. With most of the upper hull details on, I gave the hull a coat of paint. Once the camo is on, I'll add the periscopes, fenders and tools. Carl

It looks much more realistic now Harv. Great job.

There's a new bit of AM out for the Lanc. Iconicair is releasing a resin large bomb aimer's blister that doesn't have the holes in it that the kit one does. I've got one on order so will try to post pics once it's here.

Nice progress there Rob. She'll need some nose weight to keep her from being a tail sitter. When I did mine, I left the resin cockpit bulkhead loose and added the the nose weight behind it into the joined fuselage. I can't remember how many pennies I used though. Carl

Nice mod there Hubert. That was one of the things I didn't like about my Hobby Zone organizer and why I went with the Arttystation one. Carl

Here's both sets of tracks done and the paint touched up. I then installed the tracks onto the lower hull. I placed the drive and idler sprockets into place on the tracks and then mounted the subassembly to the hull. The remaining lower track was then added. Here she is with both tracks installed. A dry run with the upper hull in place.

Here's the track sets all finished. The lower run of track is added after they're installed onto the tank. Once the glue set, I removed the tracks from the jig. I then carefully pried them open a bit to remove the idler and drive sprocket. This way I can now do the touchups . I then started on the other side.

It's definitely world's easier than the old school tracks. I think the worst still are Sherman tracks.

I'm with John. Try and get the parts you need to swap out. If not, use Tamiya lacquer thinner to strip the paint. It won't hurt the plastic. I've had to do that several times, even on clear parts without a problem. You will most likely need to polish some residue off though but some rubbing compound will take of it. Carl

I think Martin's voting for the Corsair. Me, I like the Corsair a lot but I never see any A-6s get built so that'll be my pick. Carl

No kits or anything model related but I did get some woodworking accessories. This should come in handy when it's time to build my display case.

Onto the time consuming bit of the build. I painted the track parts in XF-84 Dark iron mixed with a bit of hull red. I then clipped them from the sprues and cleaned up the attachment points. Fairly straightforward except for on the longer lengths where some of the attachment points are between the track pins. Then I started the assembly on the track guide. The guide even has a couple notches on it so you know where to place the longer single piece runs.

Thanks Rob! The kit is moving along very nicely. Definitely great for breaking in a new bench and certainly a great first armour kit for someone who hasn't built one before. Carl

Nice pics Martin. Are there any 22/24s still flying?

Poker anyone? The road wheels only needed a quick cleanup of the sprue attachment point. No mould seams. Not sure how they pulled that off but it saved more time. I then got the wheels onto the hull. Here's the idler and drive sprockets. The tracks are link and length. As I mentioned earlier, there's no ejector pin marks on them either. To assemble the tracks, you use the same alignment jig for the axles. The drive and idler sprockets are slipped onto it and then you add the tracks.

Thanks Phil! It's more the kit than anything.

The kit IP looks a bit sparse. Maybe check out one of the Yahu ones too?

Looks good Harv. I think the hard edges are a good match to the pics posted. Carl

Jeroen, so far, it's been a fun build. There's very few ejector pin marks to clean up. In fact, none of the track links have any so those should go quickly. Yup, can't have too many.