BlrwestSiR

Me too! Back when I was in university, we went to a friend's cottage for Reading Week. It was -30°C and there was 3 ft of snow. Someone has a pic of me BBQing with just the BBQ and a small path dug out to reach it.

I missed this initially but man ,does it look impressive. Carl

I decided with the Spitfire just about done, I'd throw the leftover bits into my spares box. At that point I decided to sort the sprues out a bit. Seems I have a lot of Spitfire sprues: I think I have enough 250lb bombs there to arm a Lancaster. And arm it with 20mm cannon too. But oddly, almost no underwing bomb racks.

My wife's Scottish. So my father-in-law reminded me I have no choice but to like whisky. Thankfully I do. But I do enjoy bourbon and even the odd rye.

It's not in view but the litter box is just over from my bench.

Here's how it looks as of this morning: Barren and kind of desolate, isn't it? He's out of frame but Edward is working away on the other half of the bench trying to make a diorama. I've never used acrylic water goo so this could get interesting.

Had two glasses (8oz each) of that at my sister's wedding. I didn't feel so good the next day.

What I love about this place is that we can let let out our inner child (sometimes not so inner ) and just have fun. Now to go take the Guiness out of the fridge before Ernie drops by. Carl

That sounds about right. Except for the coffee bit as I don't drink the stuff. Too bitter.

Mmmm, beer. She's getting there.

Thanks Ernie! My bench is much improved from an organizational standpoint. In fact, so is the area around it. My boys have room on the bench now for them to build their kits which means I don't have to clear room for them every time they come down. Although they're learning to leave kit sprues everywhere. Not a good thing. Getting into my seat wasn't bad. The route was pretty clear. Unless the dog followed me down and brought the cat with her. Then it's fun trying to get the instructions out from under him. Or one of my tools. I much prefer when they're in their allocated spots:

Tamiya Merlin! Always a good choice. Just can't tell if it's for their Mustang or Spitfire kit as the supercharger isn't on yet. I've been fighting that desire for the last week. I really want to get my Spitfire done. Must resist.... Carl

Dauntless? Looks good whatever it is. I could use some of those gremlins.

I was lucky to have stocked up on most supplies just before the gov't ordered non essential businesses to close. What I didn't grab, I was able to via an online order. Dale, I was looking at some of the prices you paid for your supplies. I thought we got hosed here in Canada! Some of those prices are close to double if not more than what I paid. Carl

While my boys today built their ship models, I worked some more on the Spitfire. I got the exhausts trimmed and cleaned up. I painted them with Mr Color Burnt Iron and glued them in place. Once dry, I started installing the cowls. These were a bit off compared to my previous experiences with them but they're still not bad. Finally, with the prop in place

Thanks Dennis! They are addictive.

I got the rad fairings all painted up and installed. I started by painting the black. This was masked off and the white was done next. Then the Med Sea Grey was sprayed and the fairings installed. At the same time the lower cowl was painted and installed. I then assembled and painted the MLG. Yup, there's two sets there as I could decide if I wanted to use a set of (horror!!!) SAC legs. I've used them on previous Spitfire builds and they've held up over the years. They were already in the stash so might as well. Here's the finished gear. It turns out I didn't have the correct hub spoke pattern from Barracuda so I used the kit ones including (more horror!!!) the stock rubber tyres. Looks like I've broken a bunch of unwritten rules here. The important bit, the Spitfire is on its legs now.

If he likes cars, Revell has some under their Build n Play that are decent. They're very simple, go together well and can be played with after. Most of the other snap kits they have aren't as nice. Airfix has a Quick Build series that are like Lego in the way they go together. Unlike the other kits I've suggested, those can be built and taken apart over and over again.

But an F-4 could still fly with its wings folded. Just wasn't recommended. I think I'd add some correctly sized burner cans to your list. The kit ones are very undersized. Some folks will cut the tailplanes apart so they can install the exhaust section to the fuselage and clean up the seams easier. I've done it both ways. Don't forget to sand down the raised panels on the fuselage. Some are BDR patches and others aren't so check your references. Carl

Here's some listings for you: https://store.spruebrothers.com/SearchResults.asp?searching=Y&sort=7&search=Cute&show=90&page=1&brand=Tiger Model Meng make ships and tanks as well. https://store.spruebrothers.com/category_s/2009.htm?searching=Y&sort=7&cat=2009&show=60&page=1&brand=Meng For the Star Wars kits, CultTV Man usually has a good selection. They're also readily available on Amazon too. https://www.culttvmanshop.com/Star-Wars_c_7.html Edit: I forgot about Freedom Models even though Martin and I were talking about them yesterday. They do some "cute" planes kits as well. They're not bad either. One nice thing is they include more than one version in the box. Some even have three full kits. You'll have to scroll down a bit. They call them Compact models. https://store.spruebrothers.com/category_s/2563.htm If you really get into these, Retro Wings and Kasl both make AM detail sets for them.

Any of the Tiger model ones are quite good. Same with the ones by Meng. If you're looking for a nice snap fit kit, also consider the Star Wars kits by Bandai. They're very well engineered and go together nicely. You can also get away without paint on them. Here's their TiE fighter kit I threw together in about 45 minutes. This was completely OOB with no paint or glue. Hope that helps. I've got two boys 6 and 9 so let me know if you have any questions about kits. Carl

Thanks for the info. That's good to know as I haven't decided if I'll get AM turrets yet. Carl

Looks good Harv! One more side to go. At least they're not the tiny things I had on my Marder. Carl

Heresy!!! We'll, that will atone for some of it.

I finally figured out how to attach the bands for mounting the barrels to the bomb racks. Profimodeller gives you some PE latches but they are way too big to be used. I decided to cut some metal rod and fit it between the ends of the bands. I then installed the RB rad screens. These are made from very fine PE and are much better than the kit parts.