CANicoll

Carl, Where do you put these when you are done??

I'm behind this by ONE DAY and John has the cockpit together and the major assemblies all painted. I thought I had mastered painting pieces on the sprues and before assembly but I'm in amateur status compared to John. Wow! I have ONE more Revell P-51D kits in the stash, and it has a mountain of AM for it, including the AMUR flaps I love so much (for the oil canning effect). Gotta love the Revell cockpit - the detail is amazing, and the Barracuda decals really makes it pop. The wings on those carrier Mustangs are FILTHY. I wonder what that is all about? Also looks like there is a placard on the seat on the Mustang at the bottom left of the picture. I'm not touching my Mustang until John is done. Oh yeah, that will be Thursday. I would not even be able to get the parts washed by then if I tried!

Wow, looks like an epic release and thank you so much for the huge number of pictures, and your notes. That is a huge amount of work right there. Were the A-20 wings really that riveted? I wonder about the oil-can effect on the wings but this is one area where I am not well versed.

That is one HUGE model!

AHHHH. Ok, got it! Thanks. How is the new job location working out?

Stunning build! What a beauty. Whew!!

That is a might fine looking ... umm target? My knowledge of armor is soo poor, but when I see what you've done and how interesting it looks with all the details then it captures my imagination. I hear you on the pre-shading. I've also seen where I pre-shaded, laced on a base-coat and obliterated the pre-shading, so did the shading again and then hit it again with a lighter spray to get the effect. Doesn't always work. Can't wait to see more of your build. Chris

You need a better hiding scheme for your stash!!

So smooth! Looking great and the fit looks perfect. Nice work!

And I'll add if the recipient is overseas from the US, I'll substitute a $75 gift card to the Hobby shop of their choice. Unless you REALLY want the F-4C! Chris

Thank you Rob! Very much appreciated!

Ok, finally sorted through the stash and took a hard look at what I may build ( uh huh...) and what I most likely will not. I'll offer up the 1/48 ZM F-4C Phantom II, with the G-Factor Brass landing gear which I picked up at SMW in Telford a few years ago. If the recipient is overseas (from the US), I'll offer up a $75 gift card to the hobby shop of their choice. Thanks to Ernie for organizing this, and I'm voting to have Ernie participate along with the rest of us!

I just scared the daylights out of the cat laughing out loud, and now have a nice scar on my leg where she launched from. Who knew this was going to be so dangerous!

Microscale HO decals huh? Excellent. I would have gone blind trying to free hand the stripes! What acrylic paints are you using?

John, I'm just amazed this is an OOB build - the detail is amazing. The cockpit is fantastic. That level of detail is just something else. I especially like the wear on the seat. How long did it take you to put that all together? Your build speed and quality are out of this world. Are those prop tip stripes paint or decals? I have not built a Hasegawa kit in forever, but you are making it look fantastic. I'm disappointed you are not building Tallahassee Lassie, being a FSU grad, but hey, can't have everything. Vallejo Model Air works pretty well for me. I turned to that when I could not find Model Master Acryl. The problem I have is finding the right colors. Vallejo color matching is horrible. But the paints (and the primers, esp the Gloss Black primer) I think are pretty good once you get the chemistry right. I do love the MRP paints. Respirator and all. The colors you are getting are amazing as well - the blue around the canopy is striking. And I'm a huge fan of painting before assembling, when possible. Great work!

Whenever I can get back to the UK I hope the Mach Loop is active. It would be worth it to haul all the camera gear out there for this.

Gary, thank you so much! Seeing the quality of your work and that of our other friends here is really inspiring (and often daunting!). Cheers! Chris

And here is the flip side of a different F-15, but very cool to see all the hard points and the weathering closer to the engines. I've not seen that before. If you are building certain aircraft, this guy is a bonanza of reference photos! On YouTube.

And I mixed up the photographers. I did the Photo Day with Darren Harbar, who is frequently in the magazine FlyPast, and these pictures are from Daren Edwards. My bad!

Thank you my friend! I appreciate all of the kind comments. Happy holidays early!

Me neither! Apparently the F-35s just arrived in the UK?

Captured this image of an F-15 at the Mach Loop and thought I would share. I did a "Photographers Day" at Duxford with Darren several years ago and it was a blast. Just being out on the flight line (standing in the grass!) and getting bounced by a couple of Spitfires was worth it. And is it my eyes or is the camo actually three colors? Two shades of gray (see the right elevator), and the blue/gray? The blue/gray also looks to be splotchy in spots.

Definitely!! The capillary action is a huge help here. And for wheels/tires this small, I'd hand paint, leaving the tire on the sprue at one attachment point (what will become the bottom) to make it easier to hold.

Ernie, thanks!! Just being part of this group is something special. Chris

John, Super work and a very cool build. The cockpit is so clean and perfect - nicely done. I don't envy you the masking for that paint - wow!! Another Beautiful build of yours!