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It's really looking good Ernie. Carl

I'm not sure of their size. It does look like the same conversion that they tested on Top Gear when James May drove up that volcano on Iceland. We don't get the Hilux in Canada which is a shame. We have to wait until they're 15 years old to import one.

Happy birthday Tony! Carl

It's Chinese New Year so that makes sense. Most of China shuts down about now for a couple weeks so that the workers can go back to their hometowns. Carl

Thanks Gaz! The new AK Real Colors spray very nicely and clean up great too.

I think we do. I don't generally do too much on the weathering side of things. My most weather beaten build is still my Birdcage Corsair. Thanks Nigel! It's definitely differently from what I can tell. I'm using a profile out of one of Kagero's Battle of Britain books as the reference.

Really looks amazing Nigel! Carl

Crazy weekend with family stuff but I snuck away long enough to paint the wings. The wingtips need some touchup as you can see above so that'll be next. In the meantime, a quick trial run: Carl

Thanks Mike! I agree, I still can't believe no one at Dragon proofread/ built the kit following their instructions. Thanks Gaz!

More like hairball technique.

This should be fun. Can't wait to see more. Carl

Looks good Tony. Glad to see you back at it as well. Carl

Saw this one last summer in Scotland. That would be perfect as a winter beater. Carl

Harv, I can only echo what's been said. Embrace the memories and feelings of happiness. See you when you're back. Carl

Definitely mean. Nice rubber upgrade too. Carl

Great paint job! The squiggles really make that scheme stand out. Carl

She has claws and doesn't hesitate to use them. I have the scars as proof... Besides, this is her right now:

Here's my bench this morning. I'm trying to keep her fur off the bench so it doesn't end up in my paint. I'm failing badly.

Next up, I turned to the engine nacelles. There's no mention of the instrument covers (H3 & H4) that go into the upper nacelle covers. Brett points this out in his errata list. The two parts are handed but they're clearly marked as to which side they go on: There's a small R and L on the tabs so you can't mix them up. Nice touch by Dragon but then they leave them off the instructions. However, they're frosted on both sides so reading anything through them will be a challenge. I installed the ones that will face outwards as they're painted over so the frosted finish isn't an issue. For the inner ones that face the cockpit, I'll see if I can polish them or find a suitable substitution. Another omission from the instructions is the engine instruments themselves. These are part G16. There's a hole on the engine cradle that needs to be drilled out for these to fit. But you only drill out one of each and make sure they're the ones that face inward on the assembled engines. These parts aren't mentioned on Brett's E & O list.

Success! I got the other side of the canopy on without getting glue marks everywhere. I painted and glued on both vertical tailplanes. For some reason I decided to cut apart the nose cone so I did that and then added a small bit of strip styrene to make up for the lost material.

Is that the Tamiya one? How do you like the kit? My LHS has one for $60and we're thinking of getting it for my son. It's actually cheaper than most of the 1/700 capital ship kits. Carl

Speaking of plastic issues, I started mounting the canopy sections to the fuselage. The section immediately behind the pilot has a slight warp in it. Which is more fun being clear plastic and naturally brittle. So I've glued one side first and hopefully will be able to get the second side on and aligned properly. Carl

So not melted but crumbled. Sounds like what some folks have experienced when using enamel washes or thinners on bare plastic or bits with a thin coat of paint. There's been a lot of talk about this occuring on Bandai Star Wars kits. The builder puts a wash on the model and later on finds the plastic has crumbled, usually around joints or alignment pins. They think it has something to do with the spirits in the washes/thnnier leeching out the plastic binders. There's even a warning about this on the bottles of Tamiya panel line washes.

That's a bunch of progress there Cees. I took a quick look and do have some extra intake bits leftover. I have the outer sections as well as a couple splitter plates if you need them. Carl

The paint on the Panzer IV looks great. Same with the Jeep. Carl