BlrwestSiR

Definitely a scratch build. Computer mouse on a Hetzer chassis?

Truly sorry to hear about your dog. I still miss my last dog Zoe. She was 14 1/2 when we had to say goodbye. Never easy and it doesn't get easier. Carl

I finished the cut and shut on the right side. So while that dries, I'm going to start on the chassis.

@ScottsGT,Ohhh, that would be a fun place to visit.

The shop said the Alclad wasn't moving for them any more so they decided to just clear it out. A lot of the bottles were various clears and Candy's which would more applicable to cars rather than planes. I did manage to find some NMF paints in the pile so got those and decided to try some of the candy colours since I have cars in the stash. I'm really fortunate to have them in the city. They've been great to deal with over the years. The owner knows that he may not always be able to compete with online prices but does what he can. Truth is, these days with the cost of shipping to Canada the store prices are not far off what they are online. The fun is browsing their pre-owned stuff. They buy lots of collections and you can often find stuff for great prices.

Here's a better view of the changes to the rear deck. I think it better illustrates the reduction in the bulk of the shoulders. Once the left side sets up a bit more, I'll start on the right side.

Great looking model and fantastic pics too. Thanks for sharing them. Carl

Of course they should have put an LS in it since that's always the answer

Sorry, that's in Canadian Pesos. And for some reason Meng kits here go for more than they do elsewhere. Conversely the Trumpy one works out closer to $60 US.

Sorry, should have been 302. The 1965 MkI used a 289 but they went to the 302 for '68 as the 427 got banned.

I haven't been to the LHS since Boxing Day so popped by this afternoon. Picked up a couple books I'd bought for Martin and then saw they had Alclad on sale. Any bottle, $1 each. So I picked up a couple... I also picked up strip styrene for my GT40.

The kit overall doesn't look bad. There are some issues with the engine around the carb apparently and the spare tire is missing. But it was $90 when I got it so for that money, it's hard to complain. The Meng is around $400 for comparison. The fit looks to be good. One of the biggest changes between the MkI and the MkII is the rear clamshell. The MkII has a pair of scoops on each sides, while the MkI has a single one plus a smaller intake on the sail panel. The MkII has a chunkier appearance as a result. To get closer to a MkI, I used a razor saw to cut off the upper scoop. I then used strip styrene to fill the resultant hole. Compared to the unmodified right side, it easy to see the reduction in the bulk. This won't be a perfect copy of a MkI as there are too many things that would need changing. The engine would have to swapped from a big block 427 to a 305 small block, and there would be even more extensive body work to be done. I'm just happy to get closer to a MkI.

Trumpeter released a 1/12 GT40 a few years ago. This was more recently re-issued under the Magnifier brand which I guess is an offshoot of theirs. To get around playing licencing fees, they called it the US Sports Car. The kit represents the GT40 as raced at LeMans in 1966, when it won the race and also took 2nd and 3rd for good measure. This was the MkII version of the car. Meng has also released a kit of the Mk II GT40 in 1/12 and it's supposed to be fairly nice. No one has done a kit of the 1968 version of the car, a modified MkI that won LeMans in the famous/iconic Gulf Blue and Orange. Even in 1/24, the closest is the Fujimi MkII with an old and possibly rare Thunder Valley Miniatures conversion kit.

I think they went a bit heavy on the exhaust staining.

I started filling in the hole with strip styrene. It looks like this is going to work so I'll start a WiP shortly.

Trumpeter's US Sports Car kit. Of course it's a GT40. The kit is the 1966 version that won LeMans. I've never been the biggest fan of the quad intake setup on the car and much prefer the earlier Mk I single intake setup. This is the one that is most famously in the Gulf Blue and Orange paint scheme. It won't 100% accurate but I decided to at least make mine look closer to the Mark I. So I've cut the upper vent off. No turning back now.

And I see I've read it twice somehow. Guess I need to find a newer book to read.

Much lighter fiction fare, but I just finished Starter Villain by John Scalzi. A fun book that upends the usual super spy tropes. Carl

Looks great Rob. Has a proper menace to it. Like a shark.

It looks to be coming along nicely.

I'll try and get some better pics shortly.

I managed to paint the canopy frame. I then glued it to the canopy. At this point, I wondered if it should have been in blue. Checking some pics that seems to be the case. I'm going to leave it for now but will probably try to pop it loose and re-paint it. I then finishes the instrument panel. I sort of left it out when I closed up the fuselage as I wanted to make sure it was centred. It was easy enough to drop into place so no real concerns. Then it was time for decals. Not many which is a relief. The kit decals are very thin and a bit brittle. The star and bars torn apart as they weren't easy to position in one piece. Oh well. I finally finished the prop while the decals dried. Here she is, all done. Oh, except for the wing cannon. I lost one so I've left the second one off until I can find it and then I'll glue them in place. Other than that, it's all finished. Now I have a bit of space on the bench. We'll see how long before it fills up.

Time for another brief update on the Seahawk. The sliding canopy section has a brace inside it. It's made from 2 pieces of OE attached to a central resin keel. I cut the keel off the pur stub and then drilled out the lightening holes in it. To keep it from flexing too much, I i put it on a piece of cardboard while drilling it out. I then glued the PE cross braces on. They mount at an angle to match the frames on the canopy. The instructions show the smaller rear brace at the end of the keel but that's not correct. It should be closer to the middle where I've glued it. Turning back to the main assembly, I re-attached one of the beaching legs as it was splaying outward and causing the Seahawk to list. I also glued on the radar pod while it was upside down.

Bonus entry, it seems they had VR-A taken apart more than I've seen previously for maintenance. The entire horizontal and vertical tailplanes were off.

Finally, some of the armour on display. 1/6 scale I think. A masking nightmare: The Andy's 1/16 Tiger 1: 1/72!!