BlrwestSiR

I've been plugging away at the build. I finished the major subassemblies on the trucks/bogies. I then started on the wheels. I painted part of them in polished steel and then masked them for the German grey. Or rather, the other way 'round after looking at the photos. I then joined the two halves of the bogies. Next up was the endplates and their bracing. This is where I got confirmation that the railcar is indeed ABS plastic. I initially glued the braces on using regular Tamiya cement (the white bottle) as it's tacky and has a bit longer working time. Well the parts fell apart without a singles glue mark. So I switched the Tamiya Extra Thin and no problems after that.

Glad it got to you safely. Now we can do a GB and build Corsairs at the speed of JohnB! Carl

Happy birthday Wolf! Carl

I built the Airfix Sherman and LCM combo as a kid. I staged many amphibious landings with those. Carl

Ernie, it'll be a great tribute to him. If anyone does, you've got it in to do it.

Jeff, thanks for the offer. I'm going to keep this one simple so I don't burn out. So far, it's been fun. Want to try and keep it that way. The amount of stuff folks here know firsthand or know where to find it is awesome. That and the willingness to share it. Carl

Ernie, absolutely no apologies needed. Sorry to hear about Joy's Dad. Glad to hear she was there for him. We'll be here when you're ready. Carl

Phil, you might be right on that one. I'll most likely do a build thread when I get to the kit. Still want to finish the He219 and the rail car first before I tackle anything else. Carl

Looks really nice Jeroen. Good save on the fairings too. Carl

Ok, I've been working at the rail car a bit more. I started on the trucks. There's a decent number of parts for each one. The leaf springs are separate and just need a scrape with a hobby knife to remove the mould seams lines. On the back side, there's brake to added. . The instructions show that the shoe is handed and what to look out for to make sure you assemble it correctly. 4 down, 12 to go.

Nice! I just picked up the Miniart Grant Mk II kit last week. It'll be interesting to see the difference in build up. Are you going to do the Caunter paint scheme? Carl

Happy birthday Martin!

Really nice build. I just picked up the twin float version so I'm curious how you found the multipart canopy? Some folks have complained about it. Carl

There's a section of track and railroad ties but no bed to out them on. So I may try to make that. Thanks Harv! Something really different for me.

Really nice. Same here, I don't think I've seen another one of these before. Carl

Here in Toronto, they've just passed a bylaw that if you're in a public place indoors, you must wear a mask. The same applies for taking public transit. We finally got on the down side of the curve and they want to keep us there. Carl

Finished the B-17 this afternoon. I used Aires resin gun barrels to replace the moulded on ones. A nice fun build.

Ok, time to show the 219 some love. After the wing fix dried nice and solid, i added a second sheet of styrene to stiffen it up. I then started on the wing root guns and ammo cases. I then added the right side engine to the wings. From the underside there will be some of it still visible There's much less from the top. I aslo fitted the engine covers to the port engine. These required a bit of finessing but went in place as designed. Hopefully the right side will go as smoothly and still be removable.

I decided to build something completely different and started on this rail car It cames as a limited edition release with the Takom Jagdpanther which I'll build at a later date. Sabre Models is a company I haven't come across prior to this kit. Like many new(ish) model companies, it's out of China. Construction started with the deck of the rail car. The deck itself is four sections that butt together to form the complete length. Four full length frame supports are then added. One thing I noticed when sanding off the sprue gates was that the kit is almost certainly moulded in ABS plastic versus the usual styrene. Thankfully Tamiya Extra Thin worked fine. I then added the cross beams to the deck. Then the short end supports were glued in place. So far the fit has been great and I haven't had any issues. As I figured it would be easier, I painted everything up to this point using Tamiya German grey as I figured I'd have easier access to it. So that's where I am after about an hour's work. Carl

Great to read up on the how and why of your research Gaz. Carl

The only two reference books I have on the B-17:  The Kagero book has both F and G Fortresses. Lots of pics of nose art and a few colour profiles. Unfortunately none are OD over NMF.

There were several B-17Es and Fs in OD over neutral grey that were rebuilt so would be a fantastic subject for mismatched and weathered paint. Zotz had at least one of them on his decal sheets. There was supposedly another G but the opposite of Little Miss Mischief- OD front with a NMF dear section.

That's a great price for one. I can't blame you for buying.

Looking good there John. Don't forget the sliding mount for the canopy.

Got the decals onto Little Miss Mischief. At which point I realized the tail should be red. Oh well, so much for complete accuracy.