BlrwestSiR

That is one shiny plane. That's more or less the scheme I'm aiming for but RCAF markings rather than the CAF ones.

I found that when I was trying to figure out what serial to build. Thanks for finding it again and posting it.

Ok, so Martin and I have been talking about Starfighters lately. That sort of pushed this to the front of the queue on my end of what I wanted to start next. I won't be getting too crazy with the build as far as AM goes: There's a resin burner can, wheels and PE bits for the IP and seats. For markings, I'm using the Canuck Models decal sheet There's only one problem. There aren't enough markings in the set for a complete plane. I'm going to have to splice something together once I get that far in the build. Onto the subject I want to build. Originally I thought of doing 12641 which is outside the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. But the insufficient number of decals put pause to that. 641 would have been beat too as it's the same code on my CT-133. Then I read about 12666 which was nicknamed Triple Sick. In the book "Starfighter" the pilot mentions how after he crashed the plane, the ground crew would buy him beers as they were so happy they no longer needed to work on the plane as it had a rep for being a pain to maintain. Hopefully that won't translate into my build of her. Carl

Ok, onto the home stretch. I attached the beer kegs to the bomb racks. The rack fairing has a pin on it so I drilled a corresponding hole in the kegs and installed them that way. The braces had to be trimmed down slightly to fit. With that done, I had just the antenna and mirror left. Then while unmasking the canopy I realized that I hadn't done the cockpit door. So the outstanding parts are in the left. With those parts painted and attached, the plane is now done. For what is usually my go-to for a stress free build, this one took longer than I expected.

So true. I've yet to build their Mustang. Every time I come close, something else jumps out at me. The only thing I find fiddly on the Spitfires is the control surfaces. The PE bits to make them moveable are annoying.

All done! Onto to my next project. Carl

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