Landlubber Mike

Looks like a really nice kit Peter, especially in your hands. Looking forward to seeing it come out of the paint booth!

Looking great Carl! Love the color scheme.

Great model PW! Love the paint scheme on this one - excellent job!

Wow, that would be epic! A good solution for the lack of AM and to deal with the massive size.

If I remember correctly, the Revell canopy needs to be built up from many pieces - the panes might have been individual parts. Seems a bit crazy.

Good luck with the kit Peter. I'm sure you will get it figured out with your skilled hands! I know what you mean by multi-piece cowlings - I haven't built many plane models, but have come across them in the past and I'm not a fan. Nice to know the Tamiya kit goes together nicely. I have a ton of Eduard, Quickboost and Aires aftermarket for it, so we will see what happens. I spent many hours trying to select from the very cool pin-up schemes that are out there. I have young girls, so I wanted to pick one that wasn't lewd like many of the ones that are out there. I ended up going with this Kitworld decal set, and will do the Helen Jo. Has a little bit of everything - NMF, pretty girl, checks on the cowl, and a colored tail:

PW - I found this kit on a FB site last year with a lot of the aftermarket goodies for a great price so picked one up. I had always wanted to build one on the HpH catapult set. If you go to HpH, they also offer replacement parts for the Revell kit (probably just parts from their own Arado kit), including the canopy (as well as control surfaces, floats, engine, and cowl I believe). I placed an order directly with them for the catapult, canopy, and other aftermarket with no problems. *EDIT* Just saw that Martin suggested HpH for the canopy.

Great start Peter! Looking forward to following along! I have a Tamiya 1/48 kit on the shelf that I'd like to get to one day as I love the paint and pin-up schemes on these planes.

Two for me this year, both 1/48 scale. First is the Special Hobby Buffalo 339-23, second is the Tamiya F4F-1 converted to an FM-1 via the Wolfpack wingfold set. On the plus side, I have in process three plane models more than 50% done, three 1/700 ships more than 75% done, and four 1/24 car models about 50% done. Hopefully these will all see the finish line in 2024, as I'm itching to start some other kits.

Not a fan of Kitlinx at all. They stiffed me on two Taurus engines - never included them in the box, didn't respond to multiple emails, etc. Don't trust them!

Wow, at first I thought I was looking at the real thing! Nice job!!

I was wondering the same - seems like you would have to make a ton of annual purchases to make it worthwhile.

I love the P-47 and all the cool paint and pin-up schemes. Looking forward to watching your build!

Wow, nicely done Peter! Way to kick off 2024! What's next?

Thanks Kevin, really appreciate it! You should definitely get back to the Baltimore - maybe after the Scharnhorst!

I've seen folks use soft putty to make blast bags. It doesn't take much or need a precise shape.

Wow Kevin, fantastic work! The bridge is amazing. It's quite large - almost a model itself.

Wow, that's looking fantastic Peter!! Can't wait to see it put together!

Very cool! How do you like building the Gundam models? They seem really interesting, but I'm trying not to open a new gateway for hoarding kits.

Wow, what a great year Peter! Very nice collection there. Hope you are having a nice holiday and best wishes for 2024!

Always love your work PW! Happy holidays and 2024 to you!

Love it PW! Your dioramas always tell an interesting story. When I started reading the title to the thread, I knew it had to be one of yours. Happy Holidays!

Looking great Peter! With all the Corsairs on here - *cough* @JohnB *cough* - I broke down and picked up a 1/32 Tamiya Birdcage off one of the FB auction sites. Will be eagerly following your build for tips!

Wow, that worked up into a nice model, great job!

Nice job! I have this in the stash with the Pontos detail set. I might start it as my next 1/350 build. Heard it builds well.