CANicoll

Really nice work on the adaptation! Not sure I would have thought of that. Thanks for the pictures!

Rob, your skill with the Flying Bridge PE and all that brass is amazing. Can't wait to see this progressing. And yeah, have also had some issues using Thin CA. Mostly ending up on my fingers. I also now use an applicator to apply it (the very few times I use it). Since I do very little small PE work and what I do is pretty basic compared to your work, I tend to use CA gel. A lot! Not sure how useful you would find it. Sadly, I can't add anything to the Hi-Fi discussion. My most sophisticated stereo setup was an MCS stereo from JC Penny's (a department store). And the ones in my vehicles. I do like my music which tends heavily to rock music from the 70's, 80's etc. I'm sure I'd be very happy listening to what you and Hubert listen to. Must be our age!

Mike, A build log! Great idea. I've also annotated the instructions but since I don't (usually) build in order, I can miss my notes. So a build log makes an awful lot of sense! I get you on maintaining the mojo. But I usually just have two builds going so I can switch back and forth. How you keep up the amazing work after so long is amazing. Great job! Chris

Peter, It is such as great looking aircraft with so many different marking options. On the wish list!

Thanks Gary! Much appreciated! Glad I'm done so can spend more time on the Get Wet GB, and the next build. Have to figure that one out tho. What next?!

Thanks Peter! This was a warmup for a SEA F-4 Phantom, trying different things out. I do wish there was a really good Voodoo kit out there!

Beautiful!! Nice job on the LT4, that looks like such a nice, clean fit. I have to agree, the chrome on that Vette is too beautiful to black out. Kids these days! But nice line of work your son is in. Well done dad!

Mike, TEN builds??? I've gotten TWO builds confused, and you have other wood builds too. How do you keep them organized?? The walrus will be a very interesting build. BTW, those aren't ejector pin marks, its styrene acne. That's just terrible engineering these days. How much will you see from the outside? The windows look as small as the ones on the Catalina - hence can't see anything except through the blisters. You certainly have a wide range of interests!! I have two submarine kits and am not even to the point of THINKING about cracking them open. Chris

TWO steering wheels! Oh man. My dad had a Mobil Station which I worked at starting when I was 12 years old. Oh yeah, I crushed some number of cardboard oil cans in my day! And also checking the oil, the air filter (on the TOP of the engine - can you imagine such a thing!!), and the level of the water in the battery. Those oil spouts looked like a dangerous tool! The kids these days have never driven a vehicle with manual steering, manual brakes (drum brakes!) and most can't drive a manual trans. My oldest son, 29, drives a manual. Loves it!

I have an AccessPort now that tunes my car and it is amazing the wide range performance I can get out of it. Crazy...

Those were the days. You played with the timing by turning the distributor by hand. Changed the jets in the carb to get more fuel flowing. Now it is all about the ECM tuning, and turbos are electrically controlled. I can't even find my spark plugs these days...

Thanks, Peter! I'll keep working on them to see if I can do better.

Thanks Gents! The worst part is the pilots will not be that visible under the canopy. Oh well!

I'm not quite up to making my own figures, but appreciate the thoughts, guys. Swapping heads would have been a pretty good idea. Here is where I'm at so far: These guys just look horrible close up! Arrgh. Hopefully the pilots look a bit better! Testing the fit and it is TIGHT. These are the kit figures and had to remove one of the 'steering wheels' to get the legs to fit. Arms, well, they will be another story... Painted now, and glued into place with some white glue so I can move them later if necessary. And both halves. Once the pilots are in place, I'll construct seatbelts to the cockpit seats. Getting there! Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone. Italy gave England a late run but came up short in the Seven Nations Championship. Chris

Thanks Rob and Gary - Now that the poses are basically correct, and I have a better idea of what detail can be seen, I'll do the painting in earnest. Rob - thanks for the link, I didn't see anything there, but it did give me the idea to check out Hannants as SB didn't have any tropical figures that I could find. Was hoping to maybe find a maintenance crew/ground crew set. I'm sure there is one out there. Phil, Figures are something I need to get better at. Hoping Gary/@gazzas does a tutorial on how he does his masterful work! She will be 'in flight' but the dio I was thinking of is just too big to do. In 1/144 maybe!

We definitely have come a long way but it is good to see that some of the old kits still hav some life left in them. I just wish there was a bit more AM for them to really spruce them up. Thanks for the comment!

Did a bit of adjusting of arms (heating over a candle) to try and get a more realistic pose to the crewmen. Since the idea is this is a search and rescue mission, these guys would be looking out their blisters for downed crewmen, as well as potentially airborne threats. These pics are before some touch-up but after (for this poor fellow) some surgery on his left arm to position it down. Right arm was straightened to brace against the blister. This guy is leaning over his machine gun and his right arm will rest on the internal framing by the blister. Did some touch-up painting, trying to replicate a pretty severe tan, as well as faded uniforms. Will keep playing with the skin tone, but the uniforms look a LOT better to the eye than close-up in these pics. My figure work leaves a LOT to be desired, for sure!, Ugh, these look bad!!

Worker benefits there are much better than here. I worked for a telecom company that was acquired by a French company. They got a year's notice of layoffs. Plus benefits. I got 30 minutes to close out my accounts...

Wrapping this one up. Not a fantastic build, but the idea was to get some experience for a future 1/32 and 1/48 F-4 Phantom in SEA camo. The kit was for a Canadian F-4 and the decals were so old they shattered upon application. But it still is a very cool looking aircraft so maybe somebody will make a nice kit one day! This is the perfect example of a 5' model. Looks good at 5'. Don't come closer!! To really do this plane up right, resin engines would be nice, and then some detailed armament. And MUCH better pilot figures! The decals I came up with are too thick, and too old anyway. Oh yeah, this is a bit of a tail-sitter as well. Had to stuff a nail (yep, a nail!) up through the front nose gear into the nose to keep in on all three tires. Didn't take much weight, just a little. Resin engines would make a huge difference, however. There is life in these old kits, and a lot more detail than I remember. Maybe we need and "Oldies but Goodies" build category. I'm in!

Started work on the figures for the Cat, specifically the waist gunner positions where I'm hoping to show them looking out the side blisters. I THINK these guys, molded in black plastic, came from an old Monogram B-17G kit. Right now trying out positions - need to move a few arms, maybe bend a few legs. Also trying out the paint colors. Umm, Maybe my Model Master Acryl is a little bit old? Mixed it up, seems to be working ok so far. Here are the basic positions: Lots of work still on the figures, one of the big problems is, well, they are pretty tall! The kit gunners are both bent at the knees and waists. But trying to show these guys looking out like they are searching for downed airmen. A little bit of progress!

Are we going to do a group build of the Tamiya Mk VIII that so many of us purchased? Here is one of my other projects - the 6" hairpin legs showed up today for the upper shelf. Different workbench time!

Does it leave a mark behind? A residue on the paint?

Thank you, sir!! Took me a while, but it was a pretty good build. Cheers!

Don't we all!!

Looking good!!