CANicoll

Ernie, Just saw this... whoa. SO CLOSE, but glad to hear you and all are ok. Wow...

OMG! How many pieces are in this kit???? Looks fantastic!

Very cool to see the progress! Thanks for sharing.

Freed the weapons pylons from their 3D printed frames. I found three tools very useful in separating the part from the 3D printer links: Xuron 9180 PE sheers (right side of photo), nippers, and a knife with an #11 blade. Where the Xuron scissors don't fit, the #11 blade does a nice job on the thin connections. The #11 blade does a good job of cutting off any nubs (shaving) and then a final smoothing with a medium/fine grit sanding board. So far so good!

Made some progress test fitting the wings to the fuselage. The cool thing about the Tamiya set up is they use screws to hold the wing bottom to the fuselage and the wing top to the wing bottom. Looks like there will be a little bit of a seam to deal with on both sides of the fuselage, but nothing extreme. Also the two scoops on the side of the nose needed some filler but may still need a bit more blending. Right side: Left side: From the top: Added the two scoops on the sides of the nose. These will be painted the camo color in the final scheme. Taped up and ready for the primer coat and underside color.

OMG. OK, I just figured out (from what you said) that if I attach the tubes to the burner cans the entire assembly can slip in afterwards. Doh!!!! THIS is exactly why I appreciate your comments and suggestions so much. And I am EXACTLY at this point so your advice is incredibly timely - thank you!

THANK YOU Martin!!!!!

Kevin, that is beautiful wood - I turn pens but have not used Padauk yet. You definitely have good taste in wood. I blew about $100 of Canarywood trying to get a cribbage board cut properly on a CNC machine. The 3D cuts were beyond the ability of the machine to consistently cut. FINALLY got it to work. Your model work is terrific, too!

John, that is interesting. I don't recall having this specific problem with my two Revell P-51D builds (but I also bookmarked your 'More Revell Fixes' Thread which is wonderfully helpful). I usually use the Aerocraft canopies to address the narrow windscreen and the wavy canopy problem, with the AMUR resin flaps to solve the 'valley' effect Revell flaps suffer from. Trying to find my build threads of those Revell Mustangs.

Carl, The work you are doing is awesome! What a cool subject and you are killing it. Wow! Nice work on the replacement flaps - definitely a better profile and fit. Excellent.

Peter, still amazed at the amount of detail you are able to pull out of the Eduard kit. I agree that their 1/48 efforts are terrific but you continue to make the best of a terrific kit. Excellent shading on the fuselage fuel tank - nice work! I've gone through the same canopy challenge. Especially in 1/48 the differences are so small.

The only 1/32 Revell kit I think is good is the new P-51D. That one is a pleasure to build with some AM bits. But it has a really nice cockpit.

Carl, VERY helpful, as usual, thanks! Definitely appreciate the tips. I was thinking I needed to add the coaming to the fit and this is perfect timing. I do have some flat styrene to add. The challenge I have with the burner cans is that I'm not sure where to anchor the exhaust tubes the cans are attached to. The styrene pieces have a flat part which is attached with a screw, but the resin tubes do not have a ready attachment point. I just had the thought to cut off the resin tubes and attach the flat bit to the resin tubes. This will get the tube off the floor of the wing and should help with the can fitment. Lots to work on!

Martin, Love this work. What material did you make that bag out of? That is amazing. Very cool detail work, like dropping the armor plate. In the bottom photograph above, what is that liquid seeping out of the lefts side of the fuselage? Any ideas?

That Paudauk is nice wood but you finished it beautifully - a nice complement to your build!

Had similar problems on my Revell Me262 B-1a/U-1 Nachtjäger "Red 12". I think I actually glued the fuselage from the bottom first to try and minimize that top seam - it was brutal. The wing root gaps were pretty pronounced, too. Oh well, one to work on later. Good luck with the Corsair.

John, that cockpit is beautifully done. Wow. Your dry brushing is top notch.

Making progress! Did some test-fitting of the cockpit and exhaust/burner cans along with the fuselage and wing bottom. Have a few things to look out for... First - It is STARTING to look like a Phantom!! Second, this thing is BIG.... The resin intakes with the splitters dry fitted look good as does the nose, which is just sitting there. The splitters stand a bit proud of the fuselage so will have to work on that a bit. The left-side now shows a gap underneath. It is tight on top and the side, but the bottom has a gap. The Right side is on the bottom in the picture below. Not too bad though. It does look like the intake is not squared up to the fuselage. Will have to check that. One thing I've noticed about the bluing of the exhaust is that the blue appears starker in the photographs, then to the eye. The burner cans are just sitting there, and I have not worked on dry brushing them yet. Notice the gap in between the fuselage and the wing bottom in the top picture (below). That may be a dry fitment issue, or the resin parts may be just a bit too big. Or, more likely, the resin parts shifted when I was closing up the fuselage and that is causing the gap. There are some parts that go around the burner cans that have not been painted yet and so are missing in these pictures. What is really showing off pretty well is the Quinta cockpit set. The seats are just sitting there for now. Tight cockpit, lots of knobs and switches. That's it for now!

Peter, Thank you so much for your comments and I am really grateful for the support. I learn a lot watching your builds!

Put on a new set of springs to see how it impacted the ride. Lowered the car about 3/4" but stiffer. The performance under speed and load is much better now. Stock New Springs. Visually just a little bit lower.

Had a few minutes so decided to attach the intakes. I'd say 'pretty good and good' as far as they go. Here goes: Left side fit beautifully. VERY little filler required as you can see. Even from the top, the fit was terrific and required no filler between the intake and the fuselage. Nice!! The right side is a bit of a different story and it may be my own doing. The side seam was just a bit wider than on the left side, but certainly manageable. You can see the panel lines lined up perfectly. Yay! The top view is a little different story. No matter how I cajoled, clamped, held, squeezed, etc, this was the best I could do. I used CA Gel which sets up in about 20 seconds but also is a defacto gap filler. Once I was sure everything was set - the front of the intake was hard on the fuselage support and the back edge as tight as I could get it, I held it in place for a good two minutes, - just to be sure. On the top and especially down alongside the intake and the fuselage there was a good 1-2mm gap that needed to be filled. This may have somehow been my own doing: When I first removed the fuselage plastic intake to make room for the GT Resin intake - I started on the right side (since mostly I view my aircraft from the left... See, there is a method to my madness!). I'm thinking that I did something different on the left side after first tackling the right and that caused the poorer fitment. I say 'poorer' because this is still a terrific fit. Once I get this all painted and such, I'm thinking this will be a faded memory.... Its beginning to look like a Phantom II!

Thanks Carl! I appreciate the feedback. I was wondering the same thing. I might work to tone that down a bit....

Martin, Thank you! Jets are very new to me, so all the metallic work is also very new to me. But following you, Peter and everyone here is a HUGE help. Cheers! Chris