Landlubber Mike

Very impressive build, wow!

Wow, fantastic! Seeing this kind of work makes me think I need to take up a different hobby sometimes

Really nice work! Very timely post as I was just looking at the ones in my stash this weekend thinking about putting one onto the workbench. I love these cars, and unfortunately, there aren't too many kits out there in the marketplace. The wire wheels in my opinion are really well done and make for an impressive model. If you don't mind me asking: 1. I got a little scared seeing other posts on these kits saying how difficult they were given very poor fit issues. One guy I think said he spent like 800-1000 hours on each of his 😳 Did you find the fit to be that bad or difficult to work through? Hopefully these didn't take you 1000 hours! I was thinking of building them mostly out of the box, but maybe add some detail work to the engines, etc. 2. I was thinking of stripping the factory paint, priming and re-painting mine. I have a feeling after taking off flash and re-shaping pieces to improve the fit, I'll have to do touch-ups anyway, so might as well just paint the whole thing. What did you use to strip the paint? I wasn't sure if these were die-cast metal or some other kind of metal, but I read somewhere that certain paint stripping solutions can absolutely destroy certain types of metal used in kits. 3. Did you find that you had to build the model first, and after all fit issues were resolved, then disassemble, paint, and re-assemble? I read that some builders took this approach. Thanks in advance, and thanks again for sharing! These are beauties! I also have a few of the old metal Hubley kits in the stash that one day I will work on.

Mike, your D.1 came out amazing, just like your other models. I just wanted to thank you for creating and posting your build logs, especially in PDF format (I usually save multiple pages of helpful build logs, but having a single PDF makes it so much easier).. They are incredibly helpful, and I can only imagine how much time it takes you to put them together. They are fantastic resources, and take a lot of the mystery out of building these cool subjects. So thank you very much! Looking forward to your upcoming subjects!

Ernie, just wanted to welcome you back and wish you and your mom all the best.

Looking forward to this one - have the Navy version in the stash

Just wanted to thank you Peter for taking the time and effort to not only run these tests, but share them with us. Really appreciate it!

Wow, that looks really fantastic! Also noted that they are re-releasing the Shinden and Horton Ho 229. I have to say, this type of honesty and candor from Z-M on the Shinden is really cool to see. Even though I haven't built a Z-M kit yet (waiting to get my skills up before tackling the ones in my stash), statements like this make me a real fan of the company. As a very early work from Zoukei-Mura, it still has some issues with roughness and difficult assembly. Nevertheless, it is a kit with an impressive form, and you will surely feel an indescribable sense of achievement when you conquer its assembly.

Quick question - anyone have any ideas on how to represent a WWII carrier's hangar deck flooring? I haven't found many pictures of what it would look like, aside from this colorized one of what I think might be a Wildcat: I can't really tell what the floor is made of - metal? How would I represent it? A dark steel color with scribed lines to represent what looks like big metal floor panels, with some oil and other spills? Since I have the model with panels off, etc., I was thinking about sitting it on a hangar deck in a diorama scene with a mechanic or two. I have this Verlinden set which could supply some of the figures, though with the hoods, I'm wondering if those mechanics would be more apt to be on the landing deck versus the hangar deck: Thanks in advance!

I'm just about at the end of this build. Everything is pretty much painted, decaled and put together (aside from the folded wings which will be attached at the end), and has a coat of gloss pre-weathering, etc. So far so good. I just purchased the Proxxon hot wire cutter so can start making bases for my models, including dioramas.

No kidding! Wow!

I usually use Mr. Surfacer 1200 or 1500. I used to spray straight from the rattle can, but recently started buying the glass jars and thinning it through my airbrush. Grey or black, shoots very clean and provides a very strong bond that doesn't lift off when taped, etc. I've also used Tamiya primers from the rattle can - they go on similarly nicely, but the Tamiya rattle can nozzles I find can spit and otherwise cause problems. For smaller stuff that doesn't need to be taped like cockpit interiors, I've used Vallejo. I don't like Vallejo as a general primer because it can lift no matter how long it has cured. But for small detail stuff, I like it.

Wow, I see models like that and it makes me think I need to take up another hobby. Well done! I could have sworn I was looking at the real deal in 1:1 in those outdoor pictures.

I painted these on my F4F builds using Montex masks. Also painted the chevrons and belly band, but used white line decals for the edges. The order for me was white disc, blue background, then red center circle. The masks didn't sit particularly tightly and I had some running of colors underneath which was annoying. Next time around, after placing the mask, I might shoot a thin coat of clear around the edges of the mask to help avoid colors going under the masks. Anyone else do that?

Ernie - looks great! Martin, you're looking great as well! I wish I had more time the last few weeks as I might have joined you guys, though I'm no where near as skilled or as fast a builder as you both. I really love the squat bulldog type look of this plane. I have this one in 1/32 with the Brengun flaps add-on: And then this one in 1/48 with a crap load of CMK extras:

Feel better soon Harv!

Fantastic work Peter! Very clean, pristine modeling there!

Looks fantastic, really nice job!

Holy cow that's gorgeous, great job! I see models like this and I feel like I have no hope. Can I ask what paints you used and what colors? I wasn't sure if you used a NMF that is picking up that coppery tone, or used paint that color.

I heard you can find the book in a van down by the river...

I have this kit in the stash with the various goodies. Looking forward to your build! I need to get a lot more experience before tackling it. I'm thinking of building the one with the toilet bomb: If interested, Brengun makes a resin duplicate with the appropriate decals: BRL32012

That's really sharp looking Peter, really nice job! Looking forward to watching this one come together in your skilled hands.

A lot of goodies there!

Great work Rob! I have the Royal Class box set which doesn't have the cat mouth decals, but recently found the HGW decals that did. When I saw it, I knew I had to build this particular Hellcat! Good to know that the HGW transfers are very fragile - I'll keep that in mind.

I still have a decade or so to go, but I'm planning to take early retirement when I get there. I think the big considerations are (1) do you have adequate health insurance coverage to cover you until you go onto Medicare, and (2) do you have enough cash in reserves that you don't have to draw down tax-advantaged retirement accounts, take a haircut on any pension, etc. during the bridge period before you take social security, etc. To help those bridge years, I keep telling my wife that since she is three years younger than me, she needs to work three extra years. As I'm sure you can expect, I haven't been very successful at convincing her... Good luck with the home sale!