CANicoll

Wow, that is REALLY cool!

Thanks Rob and Peter. Rob - now that you mention it, I think I may have had some fogging problems as well but that was when I left the liquid mask on for a long time. But to be safe, I'll cut up some tape. Thanks for the reminder! Peter - I'm rapidly getting to the point where one of my buy-decisions is if I can get a mask set for the canopy. Doing all that tape works just sucks the joy out of the build for me - I feel like I spend all that time for little return. Until pulling off the tape/mask and seeing nicely framed glass.

Ernie, You named my three favorite AVG pilots - all three signed my Tiger Fire print, and we share a mutual admiration of Tex Hill. My former wife sent my copy of his Biography to him and he signed it and returned it. A great birthday present! I missed seeing him when he came to DC and I still regret that. Love your build and I'll have to remember those clamps for the future. We have a ton in the woodshop and they are definitely stronger than what I have. I also like the P-40 but guess I have not found a kit that says to me "Build me!" I followed Peter's build and those problems put me off a bit. That is a lot of money to have to fight the build. Maybe your build will change my mind. Really interested in the colors you choose. They faded so much, like Peter said, it almost doesn't really matter what you start with. The wear and tear these aircraft endured is really something. A testament to the ground crews keeping them flying. You know, I've never seen an AVG modeled with any patches from gunfire. Hmmm For the P-39, I didn't mind the SH kit too much. Mine was free - it was a giveaway at the Phoenix Nationals (I wandered in during vendor setup to take some pictures and it was sitting on a table, with a sign that said 'FREE' on it). It is a simpler kit than the KH kit, but it was an OK build. The KH kit for me was an unmitigated disaster. Not a single panel on the plane fit properly closed. The KH folks came to our local show/competition and when I asked them about the fit problems I received a snotty response "well, that was an early kit". I've built a number of the Eduard 1/48 P-39/P-400 kits (they have reissued the P-400!) and really like the engineering and quality. They build up nicely.

Tim, Now you need to update your signature - no more 'In progress 2022: 1/16 Sopwith Camel skeleton'!

Looking really good, Ernie! Are those the kit barrels or did you substitute them? CN

Bit the bullet and sat down to finish the masking. Found an error in the Eduard instructions, which I think is pretty rare, and also this aircraft would be PERFECT for the T_FACE masks, inside and out. First the error: Eduard switched the places of two of the masks - fortunately it was VERY easy to see the problem as one of the masks has a cut out, and the other does not. Pardon the messy notes! The fit of some of the masks was not fantastic so I augmented a few with slivers of yellow tape. Otherwise, the masking was a huge help for this huge job. Have not filled in the windshield with liquid mask yet. Thats a few masks!! And still have the fuselage windows to mask. Not to mention doing the national insignia. The clarity of the pieces just amazes me, too. Especially being this old, there is very little distortion. They have been dipped in Future. Now I really have to get onto painting the figures...

Wow Tim! Its NAKED!!! Really a cool build, extremely detailed, and very impressive 3D printed cowling - looks great. Did you drill all of the rivets/holes around the cowling opening? That is a lot of work - whew. The engine is a work of art by itself - and what did you make the prop out of? That looks super. Nice work! Chris

An amazing job there, Ernie at home or on the road. Beautiful cockpit, by the way. Definitely looking forward to the rest of the build. Which plane are you building, which markings?

Hmmm. I've seen it done on a jeep, but that was easy - spray a muddy brown or dust around the arc. I think for the Cat, will just leave the windows clean.

Actually, I used to drive a '70 340 Duster!, with a 3/4 cam and the 727 Torqueflite trans. That was a beast. But really would love to get my hands on a TA Challenger. The Subie is a 2018 Limited as I really have to have a sunroof. After I burned through the stock brakes in 4 hours at the track, I upgraded the brakes to the 6 Pot STI Brembos rotors, and 18x9.5 wheels with Michelin AS3+ tyres to get some wider rubber underneath. It is a blast on the track (with track pads of course! Big heavy car, front brakes take a beating).

Ahh, gotcha. What about rough sanding (60 grit paper) the plywood to really roughen up the surface? I thought masking the Cat canopy was a lot of work!! And/or put down some staples or screws - not fully flush with the board? Gives the clay something to grab onto?

I know you said its plywood, but no need to varnish it to keep it from warping?

I'm completely at a loss. Everyone has presented pretty reasonable suggestions and solutions, so not sure why the crack keeps spreading. Was there any problem joining the fuselage that might be putting stress on the plastic? Otherwise, I'm clueless as to what to suggest. UGH! Feel for you though! Second thought - maybe its 'battle damage'? Or training damage? Reaching for straws here.

Nice looking target!!

Especially with kits I've never built before, I'm usually skipping around building things out of order so this happens to me more often than I care to admit. Also when I'm doing multiple builds at one time. Worse things have happened! It was 13 when I woke up and its 22 now (windchill of 17) so time to go hit the workbench and see how much more trouble I can get into!

That looks like a bit of work, and the work he is putting into the conversion is admirable. Looks good!

Ernie, I'm sorry to hear of Flash's passing. So much life lived in his time. My condolences. Chris

Thanks Mike! Definitely a different resin but the lines are a bit different between the two tails. Interesting. Can't wait to see your build! Chris Here is the latest - started the masking process and this is going.to.take.a.while. 26 masks just for the canopy. Whew. And masks for the windshield wipers! And worked on the join-seam for the tail a bit. Some squadron white putty... Splitting time with the Voodoo -which is up on her wheels! Check her out here.

Added a few (incorrect!) decals as I had absolutely nothing that was close to accurate - oh well! But got the plane up on its wheels finally. Have to paint the missles which go underneath. But did run into two build problems. Attaching the wings before inserting the nose gear or the weapons bay was a no no. The nose gear bay did fit, with a bit of sanding and some persuasion. The weapons bay, on the other hand. Nope, not going to fit. So the weapons platform was fitted into the opening (pictures later!) so the result is the platform is fixed, rather than rotating to show the two different missles arming the aircraft. My bad on not following the build order closely enough. Will fit the engines/exhaust after the flat coat. That's it for now!

Conversion? Uh oh!! Is that a Tamiya conversion?

Nice to get to know your postal folks! That is funny. I knew my former postman and he would do special things for me as well. Nice gentleman!!

Wow, Peter, just beautiful!! Your patience with the color certainly is paying off - what an eye-catching build. Definitely looking forward to the full unmasking.

The twins! Working on the Voodoo as a break from the Mr. Surfacer fumes...

Rob, Definitely expectations are different around the world. But this is not the first time I've been watching the app, expecting a delivery, and knowing that no vehicles came on campus (FedEx, UPS, etc) and then I get an update via the app of some problem : 'Resident not home' or 'Please verify address' it is more a matter of Probably too many packages to deliver so by the end of the day, some just don't get delivered. I wish they would just say - 'we missed our delivery date, will deliver tomorrow'. The Spit did show up the next day, and was sitting at my door - No signature! Oh well - worse things happen. The panel lines are definitely an enigma. I've seen a Catalina up-close and those panel lines are not nearly as visible as on either the resin tail or the acadamy kit. Even if you look at the rest of the Monogram fuselage - there are not many panel lines to be seen. I may just have to bite the bullet and hit those panel lines ONE MORE TIME. A smooth tail will probably look better than the current lines. Just looking just to get some consistency between the tail and the rest of the aircraft. I think the fuselage detail is pretty impressive, actually. Too bad Mr. Belcher was not able to come close to the detail that Monogram has.

Kevin, the base is fantastic and really will set off your beautiful build. The details add to the boat so can't wait to see more of this. Nice job! We have a full woodshop here, including the bandsaw and a routing table (and hand routers). So very lucky to have access to all of that and learning a whole new world of woodworking. One of the guys turns Pens so I have two blanks to do that sometime (he has a mini-lathe which is awesome).