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Just catching up on your build Rob. The decal and prep work is excellent as the other have mentioned. I'm not sure I could manage such a fragile model without constantly breaking something.

@intheway, it's Great Hobbies. They're $89.99 and they had a 10% off sale on the weekend. Plus spend $99 and get free shipping. Most folks think of Great Hobbies as an RC ship hut they carry a lot of models too. Carl

LIke the model stash, the Scotch one seems to keep growing...

The Spinosaurus should be a nice model. Their T-Rex is a very nice kit, especially since it's plastic.

The turret is looking good there Ralph.

Okay, after some gymnastics I managed to get to my reference books (They're all buried behind a bunch of model boxes down a narrow aisle in my basement). According to The Modern Phantom Guide, there aren't any significant differences between an E and EJ in the cockpit. EJ Kai is a different story. Here's some pics from his book of an E cockpit. Front: Rear: Here's some from a Japanese book on the EJ You're making me want to build an F-4 now...

That's great news from Tamiya USA on the stabs. There's a couple more parts on there that you need for the build so it's good they're sending you a complete sprue. As for the seams on the lower exhaust area, that's pretty much S.O.P. for the kit. It's should clean up reasonably well. Kopecky Scale Models does make a 3D printed replacement. I need to get to my F-4 references to check on the IP and see how big the differences are between the EJ and the E.

Paul, that AMX-50 looks like an AMX-13 the took growth hormones. The Matilda is a nice kit. I built it when it first came out. Doing the Caunter scheme is a fun bunch of masking. I think the instructions say to do some of it before you put the sponsons on.

Just catching up on your Mossie Phil. It looks really great.

Peter, I know. Who would have thought. The antennae were a single drop of Tamiya Extra Thin on the arm, then stuck the antenna on and a quick alignment and done. The canopies couldn't decide if they wanted to attach to the coaming or the edge of the fuselage plus then I had to hold them while the CA set and they kept moving around. Either way they're all on and I've only got a few small bits left.

Very nice progress Gus. Looking very much like a Viggen.

Hmm, I might have to look into the Sparmax as well.

Lookin good there Chris. It's funny. On the gun vents, I have to fill mine in as I'll be doing a F-4G with my kit. If the broken but really gets to you, there should be alone on the clear nose sprue.

What an amazing project. Talk about a Hens tooth pooped out by a Unicorn! The work so far looks amazing. Is the fuselage painted or decalled? Either way an incredible job. Can't wait to see you out your personal touch on it.

My sister made a last minute trip from Chicago to visit so she brought the Christmas raffle prize I won from @Peterpools that I had Peter send to her to save on postage. Thanks Peter and thanks to my sis for her understanding.

Whoa

Well, a bit of good news but some bad too. I do have a spare stab set but it's incomplete. It's missing the upper starboard stab. I'll check my other spares boxes and see if it's migrated. So close...

Time for a small update. The bench redo isn't done but I wanted to see if the YF-22 nozzles were going to work. First thing I did was shorten them so that they had a straight panel line to join up to the Eagle fuselage. Then it was a bit of tweaking to get it closer dimensionally. Finally a quick mockup test with tape. The nozzles will fit the Eagle fuselage. Topside, I'll need to blend the sides in more but it will take away the squareness of the mods I'd made earlier. The underside will need building up to blend the nozzles in. From the side, I was able to get the nozzles to the same height as the fuselage so there won't be a step. Lastly, I need to add some detail to the insides of the nozzles as there isn't any.

My Silentaire compressor has a leak somewhere so I feel your pain. I replaced it with a Badger but that didn't have the power so I've got a California Air Tools similar to the one Scott posted. It works but is nowhere as quiet as the Silentaire was. It's also nowhere as expensive as a new Silentaire would be. You can get an inline moisture trap. I have mine attached to the hose just before the quick disconnect to the airbrush itself. Several companies make them.

I'll take a look and see if I have a spare stab set. For some reason I have spare gear legs and a full canopy set so who knows. And yes, once you're done with the cockpit, most of the build goes quickly.

Thanks Scott. One of the Canadian online shops has all three in stock and they're on sale for $81 CAD each. So around $60 US.

That's eggs-quisite! Always loved the Final Countdown and you've done an egg-cellent diorama.

Thanks Mike!

I know a couple members ( @ScottsGT at least) on here have built the Fisher A-1E conversion and was wondering what's the best base kit to start with. The instructions suggest any of the 3 Trumpeter kits but is one better than the other? Thanks, Carl

Nice review Fran. I just got the same conversion set the other day. On mine, the nose and prop blades had all roken loose but thankfully nothing was damaged.